Chapter 39: Sentry Duty

"Sans, go meet your new baby brother." said a deep familiar voice.

"Don't ya mean half-brother or did you forget about mom?"

"Sans I-"

"SANS, apologise to your mother this instant."

"She's not my mother. I don't like her. I never have," Sans said. "She's always acting so chummy with you, always making those awful jokes trying to impress you when they're not funny at all."

"Is that how you really feel about me?" a soft voice spoke.

Sans looked at something above him and his face turned blue.

He snorted, huffed and turned towards someone standing next to him.

"Are you just going to forget her?" he asked.

"Hmm? Are you talking about your mother? No I'll never forget her for as long as I live."

Papyrus woke up in a cold sweat. Had that been a memory of the past?

It was strange that the doctor said he had long term memory loss because he could remember the past just fine. His name, his brother's name would be gone if he had long term memory loss wouldn't it?

Sure he couldn't remember names of new places or new people but if it wasn't long term memory loss what was it?

He had thought Sans was his brother but his memories said otherwise so did that mean Sans was his half-brother?

Something about that greatly disturbed them. Was that the reason Sans was hardly around anymore? It was strange, while he and his brother had never been the closest he was certain they had never been so distant.

Even if his brother had disliked him the moment he was born, he'd always eat with them. That much he could remember. So why was he distancing himself?

Could it be intentional?

His brother had been acting strange that one day apologising for something he couldn't even remember. He had thought that his brother had needed his forgiveness and had accepted it.

Yet nothing had changed.

Every time Papyrus brought it up, Sans teleported before he could even utter a word. Only time he could do it was when he arrived home from school but Sans always napped on the couch.

"so papyrus, how was school?"

"IT WAS GREAT."

Every time he came home from school it was this. Sans always conveniently fell asleep afterwards.

It was like his brother was avoiding him. Did he do something wrong? Maybe Sans didn't like him anymore.

'HE PROBABLY WOULDN'T EVEN NOTICE IF I DIDN'T RETURN,' he thought.

One particular day, Papyrus had been walking home from school when he decided to drop by Grillby's instead.

Most of the monsters lurking about had immediately pinned their sights on Papyrus.

Honky however got up from his seat and approached him.

"Hey haven't seen you here before. You wouldn't happen to be related to Sans would ya?"

"NOT AT ALL."

'THEY KNOW SANS BUT IT LOOKS LIKE HE DIDN'T MENTION ME AT ALL."

"I was going to say you two look alot alike. What's your name anyway?"

"PAPYRUS."

"Can I call you, Rus?"

"SURE."

"Come sit with at the front with me."

"ARE YOU SURE IT'S OK?"

"Yeah."

Papyrus sat next to him at a seat in front of the pub.

Grillby came by.

"So are you going to order anything, Rus?" Honky asked.

Papyrus frowned.

"I guess I should have asked if you brought any money. That's alright, it's on me so get whatever you'd like."

Grillby handed him a menu.

Papyrus looked through it with distaste.

Most of the things on the menu were what Papyrus considered notably greasy and sugar laden. Someone had always told him not to indulge in those kind of foods.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY MILK?"

Honky chortled with laughter.

"You're gonna have milk? What kind of drink is that?"

"He can order whatever he likes," Grillby said.

"Still, milk?"

"IT'S GOOD FOR STRONG BONES."

Grillby filled up a glass with the white substance before handing it to Papyrus.

At around that time, Sans burst in.

Papyrus slowly turned to look at the monster who was at the entrance.

'SANS?! WHY DOES HE LOOK LIKE THAT?!'

Honky looked up from where he was sitting to glance at the skeleton.

"Hey Sans fancy seeing you here."

"have you seen a tall skeleton around here?"

Sans was panting, sweat beading down his skull.

"What's the matter, Sans. You look worried."

Papyrus turned to glance at Sans curious to his brother's expression.

Sans' pupils shrunk.

"papyrus? what are you doing here?"

Honky's eyes widened.

"Wait Sans is your brother!?"

Papyrus snorted.

"PAPYRUS? WHO'S THAT?"

Sans' pupils disappeared.

"what are you talking about? you are my brother."

"NO I'M NOT," he huffed.

Sans' shoulders slumped.

"papyrus, you can't be serious."

"AND WHY NOT? IF WE ARE BROTHERS THEN WHY ARE YOU AVOIDING ME?"

"papyrus, why don't we just talk about th-"

"NO, YOU'LL JUST LEAVE."

"do we have to talk about this here?"

"YES OR I'M NOT GOING HOME."

Sans' skull turned blue.

"you're being stubborn."

"NO YOU'RE CLEARLY UPSET ABOUT SOMETHING AND YOU WON'T TELL ME. DO YOU HATE ME THAT MUCH? I KNOW WE'RE ONLY HA-"

"no, papyrus if anything-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME."

"i'm not," he said before chuckling to himself. His smile was strained. "how could i hate you? you're my own flesh and blood."

Sans' skull fell against his brother's chest concealing his tears.

Papyrus was surprised as his brother embraced him.

"i'm just so glad you're alright. i looked everywhere for ya and when i couldn't find ya i panicked."

"THEN CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG?"

Sans was silent.

Grillby patted Papyrus on the shoulder.

"Some things take patience. I'm sure Sans will talk to you when he's ready."

Papyrus patted his brother on the shoulder.

"SANS, I'M SORRY FOR WORRYING YOU."

Suddenly he heard Sans snore.

"SANS!"

"Just let him sleep, he looks like he needs the sleep. He always comes in here looking like he's hungover. He's probably stressed out with everything."

"STRESSED OUT? WHY?"

"Well he mentioned he works alot."

"I SEE."

'COULD THAT BE THE REASON WHY HE ALWAYS SLEEPING?'

Days passed as Papyrus was heading back home from school. He spotted a monster with a long horizontal body and spaghetti arms was alone outside of town.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Papyrus asked curiously.

"I was having fun until they DITCHED me."

"WHY? YOU LOOK COOL TO ME. WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

"Jerry."

"ARE YOU COLD? IF YOU'RE COLD YOU COULD COME TO MY HOUSE."

"Thank you," Jerry said, his cheeks dusted with red.

As they had headed to Papyrus' house, he heard something in the kitchen.

"SANS, IS THAT YOU?"

"hey."

It came from the kitchen.

"ARE YOU COOKING?"

Papyrus inquired in confusion.

"yeah, why? did you need the kitchen?"

"OF COURSE NOT, I HAVE A GUEST. BROTHER DO NOT DISTURB ME."

The two headed upstairs.

Papyrus got a coat from the closet and handed it to Jerry.

"SO I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MAKING FRIENDS."

"Really? It's not that hard. You say hello and introduce yourself. You talk about your hobbies. This is the stuff you'll do together."

"STRANGE, I CAN'T REMEMBER ANY OF MY HOBBIES. IS THAT NORMAL?"

"Have you even been on Undernet?" Jerry asked.

"NYEHHEHHEH, CAN'T SAY I HAVE."

Jerry took out his cellphone.

"Here's a video of a monster burping in Semi Code."

Papyrus watched it partially in disgust and interest.

"WHAT'S SEMI CODE ANYWAY?"

Jerry opened another video.

"OH SO IT'S A COMBINATION OF SOUNDS THAT SPELL OUT LETTERS."

"Yeah, a monster created it after he was lost in darkness and needed to communicate."

"papyrus, dinner is ready."

Sans called out with his naturally loud voice.

"COMING BROTHER."

Papyrus and Jerry headed downstairs and sat on the green couch in the living room.

Sans came in the living room wearing blue oven mitts carrying two bowls of some kind of pasta bake.

He was wearing an apron with the phrase, 'Boneafide Cook'. His skull seemed to be shiny, beading sweat.

He looked exhausted.

"THANK YOU SANS."

Sans left and returned minutes later joining them on the couch squeezing between Jerry and Papyrus. He had a bag of chips and a large bottle of soda, plopping handfuls of chips in his mouth before chugging down the soda.

After a while, Sans let out a burp.

"SANS!"

Jerry chuckled.

"That was cool, dude."

"it's almost as if my brother wanted a friend as cool as me."

"NO!" Papyrus said, visibly shuddering.

"yes."

Papyrus groaned in exasperation.

"I'M LEAVING."

He stomped outside the house.

Jerry followed him when Sans began to speak.

"i was worried when he started giving me the cold shoulder."

"What? Why was he giving you the cold shoulder?" Jerry asked.

Sans chuckled.

"i was such a fool. He was wondering why i always looked so tired. i guess i shoulda said something, huh?"

Jerry shrugged and following Papyrus outside.

Most days he and Papyrus were almost inseparable and it helped that being involved with the brothers almost felt like being a part of a family.

One day however Papyrus spotted a tall blue fish like woman heading to Grillby's.

"WHO'S THAT?" Papyrus asked.

"Her? That''s Undyne, she's the captain of the Royal Guard. She's so cool and strong. It's too bad we'll never be in her league. I heard she spits on nerds."

Papyrus sighed.

"So Papyrus what do you want to do today?"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?" He asked, his eyes still pinned on Undyne.

"Why don't we go by the river and skip stones."

"SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA."

Jerry walked to the river not noticing Papyrus didn't follow him.

Papyrus turned and saw a yellow flower with a face on it.

"OH WHO ARE YOU?"

"My name is Flowey."

"Hi Flowey."

"Hey, I couldn't help but overhear that you wanted to join the royal guard. What if I told you that I know how you can get in."

" HOW? JERRY SAID SHE'D NEVER LOOK AT A NERD LIKE ME."

"It's simple. Only nerds would befriend someone like Jerry. He's so lame. You have to get her attention. Do something that'll make her notice you. Try to join the Royal Guard. You'll have to be very strong though."

After they finished talking, Jerry met up with Papyrus.

"What took you so long?"

"UM, WHO ARE YOU AGAIN?"

"Jerry. You were following me and then you walked away."

"OH I DIDN'T NOTICE YOU LEFT," Papyrus said with shame.

"Ha, ha did you see that skeleton hangin' with Jerry. How lame," a rabbit monster who was walking nearby spoke.

Papyrus tensed.

He tried to have fun but all he felt was shame.

The next morning, Papyrus approached Sans as he was heading to the living room.

"SANS CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING?"

"what is it, bro?"

"CAN YOU TRAIN TO ME TO BECOME STRONG SO UNDYNE WILL LET ME INTO THE ROYAL GUARD?"

"where did you get an idea like that?"

"WELL I GUESS I WROTE IT DOWN IN MY NOTEBOOK SO I WOULDN'T FORGET."

"your notebook?"

"YEAH, I THINK I'VE BEEN WRITING IN IT DAILY. THERE'S OTHER ENTRIES IN THERE," Papyrus said. "I'VE MADE UP MY MIND THOUGH. I INTEND TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD."

Sans sighed.

"slow down bro. do you know what you're even committing to? you'll be committing your life to getting up early morning to grueling training. do you really want that?"

"YOU WORRY TOO MUCH. SANS, TRY TO RELAX. DON'T WORK YOURSELF TO THE BONE."

Sans chuckled.

The next morning Sans laid on his back on his lumpy bed. His socks and slippers were on the floor with his other dirty laundry.

What was the point in cleaning it up when it was only going to get messy. When he did clean his room he had faint flashbacks of someone reprimanding him to keep his room neat, a shadowy figure with no name like the one he saw by the door as he slowly opened his eyes and jumped banging his elbow on the bed frame.

He sighed in relief when he saw it was just Papyrus.

"geez, don't scare me like that."

"SORRY BROTHER."

"why are you here anyway? what time is it?"

"IT'S SEVEN O'CLOCK."

Sans groaned and covered his face with a pillow.

"too early."

"WELL YOU SAID I HAD TO COMMIT TO IT SO WHY NOT START NOW."

Days went by as Sans trained his brother.

Still there were days when Sans would sleep all day without waking up at all and Papyrus tried to let him rest while he could.

He wondered why his brother slept for so long. Flowey had become a dear confident of Papyrus' concerns.

"I'M A LITTLE WORRIED IT'S TOO MUCH FOR HIM," Papyrus said. "I WISH I COULD HELP HIM IN SOME WAY. IT'S FUN JUST TRAINING AND BONDING LIKE BROTHERS BUT IT'S HARD TO GET HIM TO OPEN UP."

"You know, I think I've seen him around. He works double shifts at Grillby's and the hotel in Hotland. It must be hard work with the bills and everything. I heard a house could be very pricy in the underground," Flowey said.

Papyus sighed.

He had to get Undyne to let him join and if it meant ditching Jerry so be it.

Sans headed home after work. He spotted his brother on the floor doing push ups.

"papyrus what are you doing?"

Papyrus winced.

"I REALIZE I HAVEN'T BEEN THE MOST PRODUCTIVE BROTHER. SO I WANT TO HELP YOU ANYWAY I CAN."

"by doing pushups?"

"NO SILLY, I'M TRAINING FOR THE ROYAL GUARD SO I COULD PROTECT YOU."

Sans' face heated up.

"ah you didn't have to do that papyrus."

"BUT I WANTED TO."

"you're the greatest brother, a skeleton can ask for."

"UM SANS, CAN YOU HELP ME TRAIN?"

"of course.'"

Papyrus knocked on Undyne's door.

"W-Who?"

She caught sight of Papyrus.

"Papyrus? What are you doing here?"

"WE KNOW EACH OTHER?!"

"Of course we do, silly. We were friends," she said before staring down at his notebook. "What's that you got in your hand."

Papyrus looked down.

"IT'S A NOTEBOOK."

"Why do you have a notebook in your hand?"

"I DON'T KNOW GUESS I'LL READ IT."

He glanced at it.

"OH, I WROTE SOMETHING RECENTLY. THAT'S WHY I'M HERE. YOU'RE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD RIGHT?"

"Of course I am. Are you sure you're alright? You seem a little braindead."

"I HAVE SOMETHING TO ASK OF YOU? UNDYNE, I WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD."

Undyne was silent for a moment before she started bursting with laughter.

"You can't be serious. Papyrus. Why's a lil' cinnamon roll like you busting your bones to join the royal guard?" Undyne asked.

"I'M REALLY STRONG."

"Oh really? Fight me one on one," Undyne said, a sneer on her face.

"YOU'RE ON."

Undyne walked outside.

Papyrus stood opposite of her conjuring a white bone in his hand.

Undyne conjured a light blue spear.

"On the count of three we fight. One, two, three."

Papyrus threw his bone in which Undyne dodged before firing a barrage of arrows.

Papyrus' gaster blaster appeared above him.

"What the-"

It shot an energy blast at Undyne.

Undyne swiftly dodged it but just barely. It nicked her cheek.

"Oh that does it."

Undyne fired yellow arrows.

Papyrus dodged one coming from the front but was swiftly hit in the back.

"UGH. HOW?" He asked in confuddlement.

"The yellow arrows hit you from the opposite direction they are fired."

Papyrus dodged the next barrage making Undyne growl in frustration.

It seemed he was getting better at anticipating her attacks the longer they were in battle.

She fired blue arrows to throw him off guard as he blocked the yellow arrow with his white bones.

He tossed white bones to counter the blue arrows before firing a prison of blue bones.

Undyne struggled to move but was paralysed.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus asked, holding his hand out.

Undyne glanced at him flabbergasted.

"What was that?"

Papyrus looked at her with confusion.

Undyne sighed.

"Oh it's nothin'."

"SO CAN I JOIN?" Papyrus asked.

Undyne chuckled.

"Um, I'll keep you posted."

Days had gone by and Papyrus grew worried.

"what's the matter?" Sans asked.

Papyrus frowned.

"I THINK UNDYNE'S AVOIDING ME. I KNOW SHE SAID SHE'D KEEP ME POSTED BUT IT'S BEEN THREE DAYS."

"then why don't you visit her?"

"THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. THANK YOU SANS."

Papyrus dropped by Undyne's. He knocked on the door.

Undyne answered the door.

"Oh Papyrus, what are you doing here?"

"I DROPPED BY TO ASK WHETHER YOU HAVE ALREADY DECIDED IF I COULD JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD."

"Oh that reminds me. I'm a little busy with some company. I'm so sorry."

"THAT'S OKAY. I'LL COME BY TOMORROW."

The next afternoon, Papyrus and Sans dropped by the house.

Papyrus was just about to knock when he saw the note.

"AH, I GUESS WE MISSED HER."

"i think she's avoiding you."

"BUT WHY?"

Sans shrugged.

"maybe she's swimming with the fishes?"

"WELL SHE DOES LOOK KINDA FISHY."

"i was only joking bro. i can't believe you missed such an obvious pun."

"SANS!"

The two headed back home.

Once they had passed by a pool of water upstream. Undyne swap up after she heard the footsteps vanish and sighed sinking to the bottom of the water in relief.

"HI."

Undyne nearly jumped out of her skin.

"AGHHH, P-Papyrus what are you doing in the water? Don't you need to breathe?"

"I'M A SKELETON."

Undyne groaned.

"ARE YOU AVOIDING ME?"

Undyne chuckled.

"No, what makes you say that?"

"WELL I'M GLAD YOU'RE NOT AVOIDING ME. YOU'RE THE ONLY COOL FRIEND I HAVE."

Undyne sighed pulling Papyrus out of the water.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

"My house of course."

Undyne led him inside and got a green towel tossing it to him. She took out a container of spaghetti and began to cook in the kitchen.

"ARE YOU MAKING SPAGHETTI?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with it. I'm hungry," Undyne snapped.

"I LOVE SPAGHETTI. CAN I HAVE SOME? IS ANY OF THAT FOR ME?"

Undyne grumbled.

"Yes, but next time you're cooking your own."

Papyrus blushed.

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE SPAGHETTI THOUGH."

Undyne beamed.

"So how about I teach you? Think of it as our training."

"WOWEE!"

The next evening Sans arrived for work. Many monsters came to watch his show on a day to day basis.

Many of them were unrecognisable so it was surprising when Sans spotted Venus sitting amongst the crowd next to a blue crane monster.

'what's he doing here?'

He'd have to ask him after the show.

"so something interesting happened the other day. i was baking a pie when my brother comes in the kitchen. he looks famished so i ask him if he wants to eat some pie. lo and behold he says 'NAH, I DON'T HAVE THE STOMACH FOR IT'."

The crowd booed and hissed.

"I don't get it," one of the monsters in the audience spoke.

"because we're skeletons we don't have a stomach."

The crowd was silent for a moment and then they bursted with laughter.

This went on for hours until the performance ended.

Venus approached Sans after the show.

"Oh it is you," he said, his leaves fluttering with excitement. "I didn't know you worked here."

"small world," Sans said. "who's that monster with you?"

"You mean the crane? That's my wife," Venus said. "Her name's Ostra."

"Pleasure to meet you."

The crane shook his hand.

"so what are you doing over here anyway?"

"Me? I was just meeting up with...wait, you said you wanted to meet with the orange guy and that cat from the photo right?"

"yes."

"Perfect. Then come with me," Venus said.

Sans followed them into the crowd until they met with a cat-like monster that looked like the one from his photo.

"Ostra, I didn't expect to see you here."

The two monsters embraced.

"Oh I came here with my husband to stay at the resort," Ostra said. "I heard they have the best room service."

"Oh is that skeleton also with you?" The cat monster asked.

"No, he's a friend of Venus'."

"Say Wendy, there was something I wanted to ask about," Venus said. "My friend, Sans here has a photo of a monster who looks exactly like you."

"Really?" Wendy asked before scrutinising Sans more thoroughly. "Well I don't recognise him from anywhere."

"do you happen to have a sister?" Sans asked.

"Not at all. I've always been a single child," Wendy said.

He sighed.

"well i guess that's that."

"Still I hope you find whoever it is you're looking for."

"i guess i better be heading out."

"Say Sans, are you stopping by Grillby's tomorrow? You gotta show us all your comedy routine in it's entirety. That sh-t was hilarious," Venus said.

"i'll see what i can do," he said before heading down one of the halls. The hotel rooms were on one side and Mettaton's office on the other.

Sans was about to knock on Mettaton's door when he overheard him talking with Tootie.

"I can never understand why she was ever your friend. Surely you have better taste. Everyone says she's a fraud. You heard what happened to all those monsters that fell down. No one has heard from her ever since."

"SHE'S NOT A FRIEND. NOT EXACTLY. SHE HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL BUT I DON'T THINK IT'LL LAST. SHE HAS HER LIFE AND I HAVE MINE. AFTER SHE'S FINISHED WITH MY BODY WE'LL PROBABLY GO OUR SEPARATE WAYS."

Tootie smirked.

"If it was anyone else I would probably feel sorry for them. She don't look like she has very many friends. Who would stop her if she walked a destructive path?"

Sans knocked on the door.

"WHO IS IT?"

"it's sans."

Mettaton groaned.

"COME IN."

Sans opened the door and stepped inside.

"IS THERE A REASON YOU'RE HERE, DARLING?"

"you forgot you owed me for the show?"

Mettaton grumbled before fetching him his money ignoring the smug grin on Sans' face.

On the way back home, Sans dropped by the lab. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"it's sans."

"Come in."

Sans stepped inside.

Alphys paced the lab nervously.

"what's been goin' on? haven't heard from you in a while. how's your experiment been going? you were pretty insistent on using those blueprints."

"that's just it. it didn't."

The phone rang.

"oh dear."

Sans waited.

"are you gonna get that?"

"just ignore it," Alphys said. "i've turned them in to monsters, Sans. they're unrecognizable. i can't. that's why they're downstairs. i have to fix this."

"do you need some help?" Sans asked.

Alphys sighed.

"i'm fine. only...i'm afraid to go outside. listen can you get me some dog food."

"oh do you have a couple of dogs or something?"

"hehe, something like that."

Sans glanced at her skeptically.

'she's lying but I won't push her.'

As Sans headed out he spotted a note on the desk.

"it's all your fault."

Sans crumpled it up and tossed it in the trash.

He teleported to Asgore's throne room.

Asgore jumped at the sight of Sans.

"Oh Sans, I didn't expect to see you. I thought you'd at least go through the gate like everyone else."

"your majesty i have a favor to ask you. can you keep an eye on alphys?"

Asgore looked confused.

"What's this about?"

"i'm worried about her. i have a hunch. i just hope i'm wrong."

Sans teleported home.

It was as he was heading to his room that he saw Papyrus in the kitchen.

"papyrus, what are you doing?"

"I'M COOKING. BROTHER, YOU'RE LATE. WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?"

"you're cooking?" Sans asked with surprise.

"YEAH UNDYNE'S TEACHING ME. I HEARD SHE WAS LOOKING FOR NEW RECRUITS FOR SENTRY DUTY. I THINK YOU SHOULD JOIN. YOU'RE SO STRONG," Papyrus said. "i don't know. i mean I'm not that good."

"NONSENSE YOU'RE VERY STRONG BROTHER. YOU COULD DO IT I BELIEVE IN YOU."

Once Sans had become a sentry working under Undyne, Papyrus showed him his post by the entrance of the ruins.

"where's your post?" Sans asked.

Papyrus showed him his spot. It was desolate and covered with snow.

"um, it's a little empty don't you think?"

"YOU THINK SO?"

"hold on. i have a solution. i'll be right back."

Sans headed in the direction of the ruins and vanished.

He came back no more than a second late from the other direction with a large box floating in front of him.

"WHAT'S THAT?"

"it's your new sentry station."

Sans took a knife from the pocket of his jacket and cut a large hole in the center and set the mouth of the box on the ground.

"there, all done."

"OH MY, IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL."

"ha ha, you think so?"

Papyrus embraced his brother.

"too tight, too tight."

Papyrus let go.

"well i should get back to work."

After Sans had gone, Papyrus headed to his station. A good thirty minutes passed before a rabbit monster with a bloated stomach walked by his station accompanied by a mouse monster several inches shorter than them.

"Excuse me, do you know where two find that guard dog with the blackish grey fur?"

"YOU MEAN DOGGO? HIS POST IS FURTHER TO THE EAST."

"Ha ha, thanks. Can you be a dear and accompany us? I don't want to get lost," the rabbit said.

"SURE!"

Papyrus left his post and followed them to Doggo's post.

The rabbit told the mouse to go far.

After he was far away, the rabbit dug out a cage from inside their coat.

"WHY DID YOU WANT TO GO TO DOGGO'S POST?"

The rabbit smiled.

"My mom said we couldn't play past that point. She said it was too dangerous and a human might come that way. I'm hopin' they do so I could sock them silly."

They set the cage on the ground and opened it.

A brown squirrel ran across the snow in fright.

"Who's there?" Doggo spoke. "A monster? No, they're louder. So could it be a squirrel?"

Doggo ran after it.

"SQUIRREL!"

The image of Doggo pounching towards them caused the mouse to shiver with fright.

The rabbit chucked as he pummeled the mouse to the ground.

The squirrel ran for the trees never to be seen again.

Papyrus ran to them.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

The rabbit could barely hold back a snicker.

The mouse glared at the rabbit.

"You set that up?"

"You can't prove it."

Doggo got to his knees.

"I fowled it up again didn't I?"

Papyrus sighed.

"YOU COULDN'T HAVE POSSIBLY KNOW THEY WERE THERE."

Doggo frowned.

"Maybe my dad was right. Maybe I'm not good at anything. Maybe there's nothin' for a dog like me. He said there's no place in the world for a blind dog that could only see movement."

"DOGGO, DON'T SAY THAT. I'M SURE YOU'RE GOOD AT YOUR JOB," Papyrus said.

"NO, DON'T TRY TO COMFORT ME. I HAVE TO CONFRONT IT SOONER OR LATER."

The next morning, Papyrus was just about to go to work when he spotted the rabbit cornered by the mouse and a red horned monster.

'LUCY,' he thought.

He recalled confronting that monster before and remembered them being very strong.

"Are you the monster who was picking on my buddy, Twinkle? Maybe someone ought to show you your place peasant."

Lucy grabbed the collar of their shirt and tossed them in the snow.

The rabbit tried to get up but Lucy stomped on his face.

"Lucy, stop," the mouse said.

"Why should I? This is fun."

Papyrus ran in before he could think and grabbed her by the back of the cloak.

"THEY TOLD YOU TO STOP."

Lucy turned while the rabbit spat out some snow.

"Long time no see. How's your brother doing by the way? Still nursing his broken pride?"

She elbowed him in the ribs causing Papyrus to relinguish his grip.

"What will he think if I kill ya?"

"I WON'T LET YOU."

Papyrus shot bones at Lucy.

Lucy dodged it with ease.

"Those lil' bones won't work on me."

Lucy ran towards him.

"Look out," the rabbit spoke.

It was too late as Lucy kicked him in his chest and he fell backwards.

Papyrus got up and summoned a gaster blaster firing at Lucy.

Lucy wiped the cut on her cheek.

"Well that's new. You're stronger than you look. That makes me mad."

Before Lucy could make a move, Twinkle poured a bucket of water on her head.

She sputtered.

"Wh-what? Twinkle? Why did you-?"

"It's fine," Twinkle said with a smile.

Lucy sighed.

"Alright."

Papyrus approached the rabbit.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

They looked at Papyrus with awe.

"I could have handled her myself you know?"

Papyrus sighed.

"I'M SORRY. WHAT'S YOUR NAME BY THE WAY?"

"Boris."

"BORIS-"

"No, I don't want to be friends. It's lame."

With that he headed back to town.