Welp...here we go.

As the week had past, Papyrus had been filled with nothing but enthusiasm. As always, he would clean the apartment, do puzzles, and basically do what he always has been doing before, but he was excited to spend some time with his father.

It was night time, Papyrus was sitting upside-down on the couch. He was playing around with his puzzle cube. While he would normally have an easy time solving it, this time the cube was starting to frustrate him. He was tempted to throw it at something, though he didn't know where to throw it.

Eventually, Sans walked into the door. He sat down next to Papyrus, upside-down. "so whacha doin'?"

"Just playing with the puzzle cube," Papyrus said as he handed it over to his brother. "Here, would you like to try it?"

Sans shook his head. "nah, that thing's just gonna leave me...PUZZLED for days!"

Sans smiled his usual, cheeky grin as Papyrus glared at him. Gaster walked into the room, looking down at his two sons. He had a hand over his mouth, (I...don't think that's how you sit on a couch).

"we know that," Sans said, bluntly. Gaster tilted his head. (Then why are you sitting like that?)

"Because it's fun," Papyrus said as he tried turning his head right-side up. "You should try it!"

Gaster chuckled nervously. He sat down next to Sans, turning himself upside down. He began to blush as he held his robe down (or up?). Papyrus looked over at his father and smiled. "See? Isn't this fun?"

(...Yes, it is), Gaster said, though Sans could tell that his father was lying through his...hands?

(So, Papyrus...are you excited to come with us?)

"More then anything," Papyrus said, happily.

Sans' eye widened, he looked over at Gaster. "wait, aren't we s'posed to go to the core, first?"

(Oh, right!) Gaster signed, (Thanks for reminding me!)

"U-um..."

Gaster and Sans looked over at Papyrus, the youngest skeleton in the group was rattling, like he had seen a ghost. "I don't have to go to the Core with you, do I?"

Gaster shook his head. (Of course not, you can just stay here until we start heading over to the lab. Does that sound good?)

Papyrus nodded. "Yes it does, thank you."

Papyrus still remembered when he came to the Core uninvited, where he nearly fell into the white abyss below him. So if Sans and Gaster were heading to the Core, it was probably best if Papyrus just stayed back here. Besides, they'll all have plenty of time to bond at the lab. That was enough to make him happy.

It was morning, Papyrus was standing outside of his apartment. His father and brother stood in front of him, Gaster had his hands clasped together, smiling.

"You're not going to be gone for too long, right?"

(Of course not), Gaster signed, (We will be back very soon. And if we're not back by at least an hour, then be sure to call us).

Papyrus nodded. "Don't worry, I will."

Gaster gently headbutted Papyrus' skull. "Be good, all right?"

Papyrus nodded as Gaster backed away from his son. He looked down at Sans, (Let's go!)

"all right," Sans said as he started following his father. "see ya later, bro!"

"Good-bye," Papyrus said as he waved to his family. The skeleton walked back into his apartment, he picked up the broom and started sweeping the floor. He continued to smile, wondering what the lab would be like. He wondered if any of Gaster's assistants loved puzzles, or if any of them were like Gaster, himself...

...Actually, that might not be a good thing. Still, he was certain that the lab was a nice place to visit.

Once Papyrus was done sweeping, he headed into the kitchen to do the dishes. He may as well clean up before his family got back.

Papyrus was finished cleaning, he sat back down on the couch, looking at the time on his phone. Sans and Gaster left roughly two hours ago. Frowning, Papyrus tried to dial Gaster's phone. He waited patiently, hoping that his father would pick up.

...But nothing happened. He tried to dial Sans' number, tapping his foot impatiently. "Come on! Come on! Pick up!"

...But again, nothing happened. Papyrus was starting to worry, he felt a chill running down his spine. He tried dialing Gaster's number, again...but it was useless, he wasn't answering. Papyrus placed a hand over his chest, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "It's all right, they said they would be right back. They must have gotten lost in traffic!"

However, things got worse when the power went out. Papyrus looked outside. It wasn't just the apartment building, but all of New Home, no, the entire underground was suffering from a big blackout. He could only assume that something happened at the Core.

Papyrus couldn't wait any longer. He grabbed a flashlight and headed out of the apartment. He was on his way to the Core.

Papyrus was standing outside of the entrance, once again intimidated by the Core's appearance. It had very little light inside, so he dug his flashlight out of his back pocket.

As he moved further into the Core, he felt himself tense up. He felt as though someone was watching him, though no matter how many times he looked back, nobody was there. The fear ran deep through his marrow, but he had to be brave, he had to keep going.

Eventually, he came across what was supposed to be a crossroad. He saw that one of the bridges was out. He flashed his light over to the other side, he could see Sans lying against the wall. Papyrus was relieved to find his brother, he began to call out his name. "Sans?"

No answer. This time, Papyrus tried to yell. "SANS!"

Again, there was no answer...there wasn't even a response. Papyrus began to worry. He could use gravity magic on Sans, but he didn't want to risk losing his brother into the abyss. The best thing he could do for now was to look for another route in order to reach Sans.

Papyrus continued to walk along the dark hallways as his shoes clacked along the floor. The plus side of the Core being turned off was that he didn't have to worry about booby traps. However, he couldn't help but worry about his father. Was he all right? Was he trying to find a way to turn the power back on? Knowing Gaster, he couldn't have left Sans behind without a reason.

Eventually, Papyrus managed to find a control room. Just like with the rest of the Core, he could see that everything was turned off. He made his way over to the control panel, flipping switches and pressing buttons until one of them finally turned on the entire Core. Fortunately, most of the traps were turned off. Unfortunately, Papyrus felt the Core rumble. When he looked outside of the control room, he could see that the layout was completely changed. Not only was it going to be harder to find Gaster, but Papyrus was going to have to look for Sans, again.

He made his way down through a corridor, finding himself inside an empty room. Unfortunately for him, Gaster wasn't in here. He quickly left the room, calling his father to see if he would get any response. "Dad!? DAD! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

And yet no matter how much Papyrus called for him, he would not answer. He was starting to worry, what if Gaster was lost? Or maybe he was dead?

Papyrus shook his head, now wasn't the time to draw conclusions. He raced through the Core, searching and searching until he found Sans, once again. However, instead of leaning against the wall, he was now laying on his side. Papyrus couldn't see it before, but there was a dent in the wall where Sans was laying. The smaller skeleton also had a fracture forming on the back of his head. Papyrus panicked. He helped Sans sit against the wall. "What happened to you?"

No response. Papyrus placed a glowing green hand on Sans' fracture in an attempt to heal him. While the fracture didn't go away, Sans was able to regain consciousness. He looked dazed, his pupils were more faded then usual.

"Are you all right, Sans?"

"wha-" Sans cringed as the pain rushed through his skull. Papyrus looked down at him with concern. Again, he tried to heal the fracture on Sans' skull, but it was too deep, it would have to heal on its own for now.

"how'd you get out here?" Sans asked.

"Don't worry about it," Papyrus replied. "Have you seen dad, anywhere."

"ugh..." Sans started rubbing his skull in confusion. "i can't really think right now, sorry."

"Oh dear," Papyrus muttered. He gently picked Sans off the ground and started walking. "How about we take you home for now? You can talk to me once you're feeling better."

Sans nodded as he clinged onto Papyrus like a koala. As happy as Papyrus was to find his brother (again), he still worried about Gaster. Was he safe? And how did he also lose Sans in the process? He wasn't certain...but for now, he had to take Sans home. Who knows, maybe Gaster was on his way home, too?

Shortly after they got home, Papyrus placed Sans onto the couch to let him nap for a bit. Afterwards, he tried countless times to call Gaster. But no matter how many times he's tried, his father wouldn't pick up the phone.

Papyrus furrowed his non-existent eyebrows. He turned his phone off and put it in his back pocket. He looked down at Sans with a worried glance. "You don't think he's abandoning us, do you?"

Sans didn't say anything, since he was already asleep. Papyrus smiled warmly as he gently ran his fingers over his brother's skull. Despite the crack on Sans' skull, he was doing all right. After all, he's had worse injuries then this.

Suddenly, Sans' phone started to ring. And since he wasn't able to answer, Papyrus had to do it for him. He gently took the phone out from Sans' pocket and started calling. "Who is this?"

"U-um...is Sans there?"

"He is, but he can't come over right now."

"Why not?"

"Because he's not feeling well. Plus, we're waiting to see if dad comes home."

"Wait...you have a dad?"

"Of course we do," Papyrus said in a confused tone. "He's Dr. Gaster, remember?"

"Um...what are you talking about?"

"Wingdings Gaster? The skeleton with a crooked smile and a black robe? Royal scientist of the underground? Does that ring any bells?"

"U-um...If you could've just said that Sans was sick, you don't need to make things up."

"BUT I'M NOT MAKING THINGS UP!"

The phone hung up before Papyrus could say anything else. He sat there with a disgruntled look, placing Sans' phone down on the coffee table. "Unbelievable!"

Sans began to stir, he sat up slowly as he rubbed the crack on his skull. He still looked a little dazed from his injury.

"Are you feeling any better?" Papyrus asked.

"it still hurts," Sans replied, "but other then that, i'm fine."

"Well...can you tell me when the last time you saw dad was?"

Sans began to think, he looked up at the ceiling as he placed a hand on his saw. "let's see...we were just finished with the core's maintenance...and then the bridge started to collapsed...then dad threw me at the wall...that's all...i can...remember." A grim look crept onto Sans' face.

"Is something wrong?" Papyrus asked. Sans gave him a blank look, it was like he was trying to process the question. Papyrus scowled as he waved a hand in front of his brother's face. "SANS!"

"wha-?"

"Is everything all right, brother?" Papyrus asked. Sans replied with a nod. "e-everything's fine, dad's just on vacation right now."

"Well that's rude!" Papyrus yelled angrily, "Why would he go on vacation and leave us back here!? We were supposed to go to the lab!"

"beats me" Sans replied with a shrug. He got off the couch and started heading into his room. "now if you'll excuse me, i'm just gonna take a nap."

"But it's not even noon," Papyrus complained.

"doesn't matter, i'm still tired."

Once Sans left the living room, Papyrus began to think of what he should do next. He didn't know how to cook, but neither did Gaster. He was willing to give it a try...and if worse came to worse, he could just fix it with the fire extinguisher he kept near the sink.

Still...he felt that something was wrong. He knew Gaster wouldn't just abandon them like this, and it was weird for one of his assistants to forget about him. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask around...right?

He walked back to the coffee table and picked up Sans' phone. He started talking to one of his assistants. "Hello? is someone there?"

Sans had just woken up, his head was still somewhat in pain thanks to the fracture on his skull. And knowing Papyrus, he must've ran off to grab some spider donuts. Nonetheless, the smaller skeleton crawled out of bed and headed out of the room. However, he was shocked to see that Papyrus was sitting on the couch, like he was waiting for him. He looked distressed.

"h-hey, bro," Sans greeted, "what's with that look? did i do something wrong?"

"Calm down, I'm not mad at you!" Papyrus replied, his voice was unusually quiet. "I just wanted to ask you something, that's all."

Sans smiled nervously, unsure of what Papyrus was going to say. "w-well, what's up?"

"Well, I did some asking around, today, and..." Papyrus' voice sounded like it was going to crack. "...Dad's not coming back, is he?"

Sans looked away, his fingers began clacking together. "W-why would ask me something like that?"

"Sans, answer me!" Papyrus yelled, "Is Dad REALLY on vacation? Or are you just making things up?"

"...hehe...he," Sans shrunk back, like he was scared of what Papyrus might do to him if he said anything. However, Papyrus walked closer to him. He placed a comforting hand on Sans' shoulder. "Brother, please...tell me the truth!"

"i-i wish i could," Sans replied, "but...you might not like it."

"Sans..."

"i'm sorry, bro!"

Papyrus gave him a worried look. He knelt down to Sans level and hugged him. He wished that Sans would've said something, sooner, he wished that his brother didn't have to lie to him, but he was finally glad he knew the truth. It upset him that Gaster was no longer with them. And since he was gone, Papyrus would have to be the one to take care Sans.

After all, he was the only family he had left.

...And it only gets worse from there!