Chapter 6: Broken bones
Papyrus couldn't say it.
His buoyant voice sunk like a rock in water. "What am I saying?! You're...you're a human, I'm a monster." He drew a long sigh reeking of melancholy. "I must capture you! Then I can finally fulfill my lifelong dream! Powerful! Popular! Prestigious! That's Papyrus...the soon-to-be newest member of the Royal Guard!"
"Done talking yet?" A corner of Naruto's lips slightly raised, his voice held new levels of smugness. "You think I care if you're friends with me or not?! I'm not lonely...I...I have tons of friends!"
"Well...then I certainly won't feel bad for capturing you!"
"And I won't feel bad for kicking your ass!"
Gray particles formed over Papyrus' glove, they clumped together into a milk-white bone. "Nyehhhh! Take this!" Papyrus hurled the bone and it perched softly on the snow beside Naruto. "WHAT HOW DI-I mean, don't worry you swift sawyer, there's more where THAT came from!"
'That bone...it came out of nowhere! He didn't even have to mov-' One of the bones conked Naruto in the jaw, another bone to the forehead made him stumble back. Standing, even for a second, proved to be futile with the seemingly unlimited supply of bones.
"Nyahahaha!" Papyrus laughed, throwing more bones. "Run for as long as you like, you'll get tired then I'll capture you!"
'...uh...wait, I have something!' Naruto caught a bone flying above his head.
"You caught my attack?! No one's ever done that before!" Papyrus threw even more bones to counterattack. Naruto moved the bone around, deflecting each of the incoming attacks. "Now you're using my own attack to help you...nyeh...so what?! Let's see if you can handle my fabled 'blue attack'!"
'Blue attack? Right, I just won't move for this one!'
Papyrus' back hunched, he held his hand out where blue-tinted particles materialized into a vibrant blue bone. Papyrus had a tight grip on the bone while he marched towards Naruto. "Behold!" Small bursts of maniacal laughter slithered up Papyrus' hollow throat as he swiped the bone through Naruto's torso.
Feeling no signs of external damage, Naruto felt for his soul. 'Huh?!' What was once a ruby red color was now cobalt blue. "What happened to me?!"
"You're blue now, that's my attack! Nyeh heh heh heh heh heh heh!"
He shivered. "Wh-What happens when I'm blue?!"
"It makes my already great attacks, even greater...or it should!" Papyrus backed away, he raised his arms and an army of tall, lean bones rose in conjunction. The bones eagerly rushed for Naruto.
Naruto tried going in for a jump. It was impossible. 'I...I can't jump?! Is it because I'm...' His thoughts came to a sudden halt when a bone from under the snow thrashed him into the chilling atmosphere.
"...! PAPYRrusssssss!"
He landed in a lumpy snow pile, giving no time to catch his breath, another array of tower high bones came his way.
"Ha-ha! I hope you're not feeling overwhelmed by all the bones I have, because I got a special attack coming up! I can almost taste my future popularity!"
Naruto moaned, barely dodging the latest line of attacks. 'This isn't working...I...can't keep on doing this, he's my...' "Hey Papyrus...it's...not too late, is it?"
"Too late for what?"
He smiled. "To get some of that ramen you were talking about!"
"Of cours-ugh, stop it! I can't let you hang out with me, I need to capture you! I'll finally be in the Royal Guard and I'll be so popular, the king will even trim a hedge in the shape of my smile! Undyne, she'll be so proud of me, my brother...we'll he'll stay the same, but I can't drop this opportunity, so give up or face the wrath of my special attack!"
The bones stretched taller, bobbing up and down as if they were a wave, but it didn't flicker the slightest emotion for Naruto while he approached Papyrus. "I lied when I told you I wasn't alone...but..." Naruto navigated through a short row of bones. "...Even if I'm a loner, can we still be friends?"
For the longest time, Papyrus stared at Naruto. "...someone like you is really rare and I don't think they'll let you go...but who cares?! I...won't...I won't be your..."
He still couldn't say it.
'I'll have to try that, yeah,'
Naruto watched as Papyrus balled a cluster of gray particles and threw them above his head. He looked up. 'What the hell?!' Bones miraculously grew out of the sky, they dangled in the air itself.
"This is my second most devastating attack yet!" Papyrus announced, then added, "-if I were you I would give up!"
Naruto took a cautious step forward, one of the bones fell down, blocking his path. He backed up. '...that's it, that's what I'll do.' The bones were falling fast, at the rate they were going, moving quick wasn't an option, it was necessary.
'I get now. The human...he's coming towards...me!' "J...just give up already or face my special attack!"
"Another one of your stupid bone attacks isn't going to-" Naruto fell forward, emitting a shaky oomph on the snow.
'The human's down! This is a perfect chance for me to capture him!' The snow suffered from the heaviness of Papyrus' painfully slow steps. 'All the fame, all the glory, all the fans, I can have it all in just a few more steps...'
'...but...I can't have...him.' Papyrus flinched when the human made a sudden jolt. "Human...?"
Naruto lifted his head and pulled himself up.
"Oh!" Papyrus looked at the human in horror, a thick red liquid was oozing from his nose which caked the upper half of his body. He'd never seen it before. 'Wait...he has spaghetti sauce all over himself! He carries around a jar of spaghetti sauce too?! No, no, I can't be wavered by his tricks!' "So human, you've survived my second most fatal attack, never fear, for now I will use my special attack!"
"Yeah! Not very long from now I will use that special attack!"
"Last chance to give up before I use that special attack!"
"Behold my special-"
"That's it! Just give up already on making me give up!" Naruto pounced on Papyrus' wide chest, he tipped over and the two of them fell backwards.
His cherry red scarf knitted between Naruto's fingers. "I...I WON'T LET YOU CAPTURE ME!"
"Then...'huff' I guess that's how it'll be. You obviously can't defeat me, I see you, quivering in your...boots...Therefore I, the Great Papyrus, elect to grant you pity! I will spare you human, now you just have to accept my mercy!"
Naruto let go of his scarf. "Heh...you'll be saved from my super strong punch, lucky you."
"Sorry Undyne, I'm not going to be part of the Royal Guard anytime soon...but...it won't be so bad, you're here after all and even if you are a total loner, you can still be my friend!" Being called someone's 'friend' was a foreign concept to Naruto, not wanting to mess it up, he chose his words carefully. "Um...ok!"
"Wow! I have friends! Who knew the only thing you needed to make them was to give them awful puzzles and fight them in a life-or-death battle! You taught me a lot about making friends today, human!"
'Hehe, I'll try it out someone just to make sure!'
"...I, the ever-so-great Papyrus, grant you permission to proceed, and on top of that, I'll give you directions to the surface. All you have to do is continue forward until you reach the end of the cavern, then when you reach the capital, cross the barrier."
"That's it? Sounds easy!"
"Welllll...there's also the magical-seal-trapping-us-all-underground problem. Anything can enter through, but nothing can exit...except someone with a powerful soul...like you! That's why the king wants to acquire a human, he wants to open the barrier with soul power, so us monsters can return to the surface!"
'I feel so much better knowing why the monsters hate me...I finally understand what Toriel was talking about back in the ruins.' "Then, I just won't wave until I find another way to open the barrier and free the monsters...without me, um, dying."
"Wowie, that sounds great, but you can't do all that without being filled with my amazing cooking! If you're still up for that ramen, feel free to come by and hangout! Nyeh heh heh heh heh heh!"
XxxxXxx
Papyrus leaned back on the wooden board of his house. Each passing second he steadily becoming more and more nervous, only the spaghetti-scented wood polish smothered all over the house calmed his nerves. 'Yep, things should run smoothly, I have everything planned out!'
"Yo Papyrus!"
"H-human?!" His skull jerked right. "...oh, it's just you."
Sans smiled, ending his walk on the first step. "I think I'll be staying in bed today, I'm running a femur."
"SANS!"
"I can't fool you, after all, you see right through me."
"OH MY GOD SANS-wait, I hear the human coming!"
Sans wasn't too surprised Papyrus already grown acute to sounds the human usually made, his hand relaxed on the bronze doorknob. "You don't think he'll be upset when he finds out we have no ramen, do you?"
"What do you mean? Ramen is just spaghetti in a pork broth, and we have tons of that!"
"Right."
As Sans opened the door to go inside, the human walked up to Papyrus, his face was happy, happier than he'd never seen before. "Papyrus! Where're we going to eat?!"
"The best place in the entire town-" Papyrus took Naruto by the hand and dragged him all the way to the library and back. "-My House!"
Date Status: Start!
Date LV: 9001
The inside of Papyrus' house was pretty average compared to Naruto's expectations, sure they had a purple-blue chevron carpet but other than that, it was your typical couch, TV, end table, gigantic portrait of a bone set up.
Naruto took off his ice adorned sandals before entering in. "This place looks kind of...weird."
"I know right?! Anyways, whenever you're ready, we can start this 'dinner date' and do whatever you're supposed to do!"
"W-what?! Who said we were on a date?! I'm just here for the food!"
"I've been friendzoned before it even started! Woe is Papyrus!"
*Hangout LV: 9000
Naruto entered the orange tiled kitchen and Papyrus followed suit. "So during the few sentences it took you to get here, I had just enough time to make your ramen, it'll taste so great!"
'That's...a weird scent for ramen.'
Papyrus went over to his extra long sink, he opened the door. "Usually I put my emergency bone supply under our extra long sink, but I also put the bowls in there too!"
"Arf!"
"What?!"
An annoying white dog, carrying a bone twice the size of it, scrambeled out from under the sink and right under Papyrus legs. "Darn it! Catch that meddling canis lupus!" Naruto took a step forward and the white, furry beast was already clear out of his house.
"Curses!"
*PAHHHHHH-PA-RAAAAAAAH
Hangout LV: 8999.5
"SANS! PUT THAT TRUMPET AWAY!"
Papyrus turned around, he grabbed two bone-esque bowls and set them the stove top. "...I'll be back, I just remembered something..." Papyrus left the kitchen, heading straight for a stinky white sock hanging from the cord of their game system. 'Not even the sticky notes I placed worked!' "Sans! Please pick up your sock!"
He heard a weak 'ok' in response.
"And don't put it back down, move it!"
Another 'ok'.
"You moved it like two inches, move it back to room own where it belongs!"
Yet another 'ok'.
"And don't bring it back!"
One more 'ok'.
"It's still here!"
The barrages of ok's finally stopped. "Wait, didn't you just tell me to not bring it back to my room?"
"...Forget it!"
*SLAM-CLANK*
"What was that?!" Papyrus went back inside the kitchen, Naruto was knocked out cold on the floor lying next to an empty bowl. "Oh no! The taste of my ramen was so powerful, he couldn't handle it! That's ok, I prepared for an event like this to occur!"
Hangout LV: -121300.676
He picked up Naruto and set him on their lime green couch. "Ah-his shirt is drenched with my delicious ramen...HEY SANS, WE DON'T HAVE ANY HUMAN-SIZED SHIRTS DO WE?"
"Nope."
"I guess...I guess I'll just put my shirt making skills to the ultimate test!"
OoO
'I bet you're happy you left that old hag's house...you wouldn't of made your first friend if you didn't.'
'Yeah...'
'It doesn't matter anyways, one friend out of all the others who despise you, it's only a matter of time before he turns on you. This place is different, they don't have to keep you alive.'
'No...this one, he's different. He's not like the rest, he's...'
'A monster.'
"..."
"I THINK HE'S AWAKE, SANS!"
"I'm right here, bro." Sans stood back, catching a quick glance of Papyrus. 'I hope all his other hangouts don't end up like this.'
"Papyrus..." Naruto muttered, propping one arm on the couch.
"Yes, human, do your cravings want more of my delicious ramen?"
He hopped off the couch. "'Course not, your ramen tastes gross!"
"Well, that's the last time I change my range of cooking!"
Naruto threw open their window. Sputtering a sloppy goodbye, he jumped out of the window. Papyrus and Sans looked at each other. "Do humans usually do that?"
"No, only him."
Hangout Status: Complete
Earn: 0 EXP, 0 Gold, the gift of knowledge
XxxxXxx
-Waterfall-
The thin layer of dry air grew stickier as Naruto walked further past his and Papyrus' battle site. After a while, his heel hit a gravel surface. "Ah, this place is so COOL!" He ran over to a stream of rushing water and dipped his hand inside, water trickling between his finger crevices gave him nothing short of a smile.
He stood back, staring starry-eyed at the group of gray waterfalls feeding into the water. 'I don't see Monster kid anywhere, I guess he's running late.' Naruto passed by a sharp corridor and met with another one of Sans's sentry stations.
"Oh, it's you, hey."
"Eh, I thought you were too lazy to work at two sentry stations."
"You'd be surprised, besides, two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks. In fact, I'm going to Grillby's, wanna come?"
"I got something better to do. I don't like Grillby's anyways."
"...no, let me re-word that." He leaned in, his ribcage against the table. "I'm going to Grillby's, do you wanna learn about some incriminating information or not?"
He nodded. Not really knowing the word incriminating, but it sounded important.
"Since you insist, I'll pry myself away from working," Sans left the station and motioned for Naruto to follow. "Here, I know a shortcut."
OoO
"Fast shortcut, huh?"
"Yeah,"
Naruto and Sans walked inside the lazy pub, immediately when Sans was there, it became a different atmosphere. Naruto couldn't exactly put it into words but it felt, welcoming.
Sans usual routine in Grillby's consisted of receiving some hi's and hello's from the regulars and a cheesy pick up line from the drunk bunny, then sitting himself down in one of the slightly crooked stools at the bar.
An eyesore of a fish leaned back in his stool, and said, "Sans, weren't you here a few minutes ago for breakfast,"
"Haven't had breakfast here in at least half an hour."
"You must be thinking of brunch."
Sans spun around, he shrugged his shoulders and everyone laughed.
"Heh, everybody knows your name in Grillby's, that's why I like it here, anyways, let's order."
Naruto eyed Sans suspiciously.
"Don't give me the look, hey, I'll even let you choose whatever you want."
"I want-"
"Actually, you pretty much only have a choice between fries or burgers."
"What."
"Fries or burgers."
"The hell is that?"
'What kind of human doesn't know what burgers and fries are...troublesome kid, I'll order for him.' "Grillby, we'll have a double order of burg." Grillby turned and headed to the back door.
"I don't want a burger."
Sans watched Grillby stop at the door. "Quiet down, kid, trust me, you'll love it."
Grillby went ahead. "I hate burgers!" He stopped again.
"Liar, you told me a few seconds ago you didn't know what it was."
The back door closed, Sans sighed and turned to Naruto. "You gave me a lot of trouble there...on purpose too...but I guess it's ok, you kind of remind me of my own brother. Be honest with me, do you still think Papyrus is kind of cool?"
"He's an even bigger dork than before...but...I really like...being with him!"
"Heh, you're right in some ways, it's probably because of his outfit, well, I think it's pretty cool. He wears it every day believe it or not, he'd only take off that thing if he really had to, well, at least he washes it every once in a while. If you take washing as bringing it in the shower with you. I even bet you're the type of kid who'd wear the same thing everyday unless it got torn or something."
Grillby pushed open the back door while carrying a plate of two burgers in one hand, he set the plate down and continued cleaning the cups. "Here's the grub, want some ketchup to go along with the burger?"
"Wait-wait, save it, you probably don't know what that is either." Sans screwed off the ketchup cap and chugged it straight from the bottle. He slammed the now empty bottle on the counter. "~ah."
Sans scratched his pelvis. "You are a lot like Papyrus, it's uncanny. Is that why you call him a loser so often?"
"...whatever."
"My brother, he really wanted to be apart of the Royal Guard...one day he went to the head of the Royal Guard's house and begged her to be in it. Likewise, she shut the door in him because it was midnight, but the next day she woke up and still saw him there waiting, seeing his dedication she decided to give him warrior training...it's a...working progress. I would've never thought he'd ever give up becoming one, but for you, I guess he had second thoughts. You must be something special, kid."
Naruto stared at the counter, there was nothing he could say. Nothing he wanted to say, at least.
"This is off topic, but have you heard of a talking flower?"
His memories flooded in. "Are you talking about that creepy flower, Flowey, ya know him?"
"Nope, doesn't ring a bell. Though I'm pretty sure it's just an echo flower, you know what those are, right? They repeat things that people say over and over. Interestingly enough, yesterday my brother told me of a flower that pops up when no one's around and whispers things to him. Flattery, advice, encouragement...predictions...I think it's someone using an echo flower to play a trick on him."
"Yeah, of course," 'What would Flowey even want with Pap anyways, it's not like he did anything...'
"But, I'll look into this Flowey character you're talking about, flowers have been a problem with someone lately...welp," He scooted off the stool. "That was a long break, I can't believe I let you pull me away from my job like that."
"I guess I forgot what I was about to say..." For some reason, he said that part a little bit louder than usual. "...you were right about not liking burgers, that thing hasn't been touched, it's only fair you foot the bill then."
"Sans...I'm going to get us all out of here. One way or another." Naruto went towards the door. "Thank you for everything, Sans."
*click
"..."
"...that kid, trying to play me like that, Grillby, put it on my tab. I'm out of here."
A/N: Sorry this chapter was a little late, but I finished it. The next chapter will maybe come out some time next week, I'm really excited for it too, I've been waiting for Naruto and Undyne to finally meet
Oh, and it might be kind of weird that I reversed the Papyrus battle, but I wanted for his blue attack to have some affect on Naruto. I also wanted the Papyrus battle to turn out like Toriel's where his attacks would gradually grow weaker because Naruto was literally dying from his bone attacks lol THAT didn't happen.