Sans kicked his feet, humming lightly to himself as he listened to the sound of Papyrus and Undyne running about with Dogandgy, playing fetch. He felt oddly… light. Giddy. Happy? Not quite 'happy'. But… relieved. Incredibly relieved. And that made him happy.
He slowly swayed his head left and right, keeping in time with his tune. Lemon Bread snored lightly, her light breath accenting his song. In his mind, it made it happier.
But…
He looked down the hall Alphys had disappeared some time earlier. Slowly, his feet stopped their erythematic kicking and his skull stilled. He kept his eye sockets trained on the mouth of the hall that suddenly seemed so much larger, so much…emptier, than it was.
…
He shook his head and trained his gaze back onto his slippered feet. They began to kick again, but with a bit less…bounce.
He suddenly straightened up. Did he… Did he imagine it?
It sounded so soft, it sounded like it wasn't even enough to be considered a whisper. It was… Was it-….?
It wouldn't hurt to check. Sans swung his feet off the bed and headed towards the hall. On the way, he passed Lemon Bread, whom he gave a light pat as he walked by. Another quiet not-even-a-whisper brushed through his skull and he hastened his pace. He ignored his reflection in the wall-length mirrors. He ignored the golden flowers to his right. He didn't notice the flickering reflection of a child following him, eyes glowing red in the dustiness.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks when he noticed the vines. They crept down the walls, across the ceiling. Around a small, yellow form-
"ALPHYS!" Sans screamed. He threw his left hand up, lit up his eye socket and bombarded the noose with narrow, sharpened bones. They skewered the vines, reducing them to frays of ropes and dropping Alphys's body to the floor. Sans ran forward, skidding to his knees to hold up the scientist. She was completely still. "Alph?"
Alphys coughed coarsely, her chest spasming as she struggled to breathe. Sans beamed a grin briefly before gently lowering her back onto the ground.
"hang on, alph. i'll be right back." he said. "i got to do some weeding here."
"Oh how kind of you." said the referred plant. Sans's eyes lit up blue. Both.
He didn't notice.
"The Smiley Trashbag." Chirped the voice "How noble to rush in to save your friend. WHEN YOU'LL DIE."
Flowey cackled wildly as little white 'friendliness pellets' began to surround him. Sans put his hands in his pockets, looking around lazily before the attacks were blasted away by a wall of blue magic.
Flowey's smile dropped.
"Eh?"
"Don't feel like dealing with you, sprout." Sans muttered. Dragon-like skulls materialized out of thin air and their jaws opened. A powerful light begun to spin in its mouth, working only for seconds before blasting of fire out of its mouth. Flowey let out a loud, startled shriek as it quickly slid out of the way. The blast hit the edges of two of its petals and reverted them to burnt, curling crisp.
"AH!" Flowey shrieked, curling over on himself "OW! OW!" he spat out several curse words before burrowing into the ground with a quiet, slight noise.
…
Floop.
"hahahaha…." A soft chuckle broke the silence. Sans lowered his arm and went back to kneeling next to his friend. He put an arm behind her shoulder and gently lifted her up. Sans tilted his head and plastered on his best, kind-of-comforting grin. Alphys forced open her eyes and the corners of her lips lifted slightly into a tired smile. "I get the 'floop' thing now." She said softly.
Sans chuckled "Yeah. Plants floop. Skeletons fwoosh."
Alphys laughed softly and sunk deeply into the fluff of Sans's coat. She went limp.
"alph?" Sans blinked, feeling his…er, figurative heart sink. He lightly shook her. "alph? come on, alphy. get up. say something. not funny." He shook her a few more times. Suddenly he felt cold on his chest and he lifted Alphys up in the air, bridal style. Sans knew he was stronger than he looked, being able to carry Alphys with relative ease. But he felt so, so weak as he ran back to the bedroom. "UNDYNE! PAPYRUS!" he yelled.
They ran into the room the same moment he did.
"Alphys!" Undyne screeched. She ran forward and scooped he scientist out of Sans's arms. "Sans, what happened!?"
"she got attacked-"
"EXPLAIN LATER." Papyrus waved him off. He looked at her through Undyne's arms, sweat slicking down his skull. "CAN YOU PUT HER ON THE BED OVER THERE?" Undyne shook her head, setting her mouth into a determined frown. "OKAY. BUT SIT ON THE BED." She did that, clutching onto Alphys almost fearfully. Papyrus mumbled under his breath, apparently reciting something "I KNOW A LITTLE BIT OF HEALING MAGIC, IT'S NOT MUCH, BUT-"
"STOP EXPLAINING AND JUST DO IT!" Undyne snapped. Papyrus nodded in response, took of his gloves, and set his hands above Alphys's bruised neck. A soft orange light shone from his hands and slowly, the bruise faded slightly. Her breathing became deeper, more stable. Sans looked to Alphys, then to Papyrus, and that repeated several times as he silently argued with himself who to fret over. Lemon Bread woke up from all the commotion, and was now dabbing Papyrus's forehead with a wet rag that a creature that looked similar to Snowdrake had brought over. Dogandgy was in the corner, shuffling its paws in worry. They were all silent except for the sound of Papyrus's magic, Alphys's fickle breathing, and the slow tick-tock of a distance clock.
It wasn't until she softly said something that they relaxed. Sans gripped Papyrus's wrist and gently pulled him back. The younger brother stopped his magic and slouched, panting slightly at the exertion. Lemon Bread offered him a glass of water which Papyrus accepted with a grateful smile. Sans patted him on the back.
"you okay, bro?"
"YES BROTHER, I'LL BE FINE." Papyrus said "WOWIE! I'M CERTAINLY GREAT."
"sure are, bro." Sans grinned.
"Alphys?" Undyne said. The lizard in question muttered something again and slowly opened her eyes. When Undyne grinned down on her, she scrunched up her face in confusion and looked around the room until she spotted Sans. She struggled out of Undyne's hold, much to Undyne's displeasure, and hurried over to him.
"S-sans!" she stammered, coughing wildly into her hands.
"woah." Sans blinked, reaching to support her. "calm down alph. you almost died there-"
"S-sans they're g-going to tr-try and kill you!" she shrieked, breaking down into a coughing fit. Undyne quickly was kneeling by her, letting Alphys lean against her shoulder as she gently gripped her. Lemon Bread squeaked in fear and looked at Snowdrake-Look-Alike, who attempted a comforting smile. Dogandgy nuzzled Sans affectionately, getting behind him and pricking its ears.
"WHO'S TRYING TO KILL SANS?" Papyrus asked, looking around as if the culprit was around the corner.
Alphys shook her head "Th-the flower- er- s-said-" she coughed, struggling not to cough. Undyne rubbed small circles on her back.
"Breathe, Alphys." She muttered.
"Fl-Flowey m-mentioned 'Chara'-" Alphys said as she broke down into another fit.
Sans froze. His eye sockets went blank.
"CHARA?" Papyrus asked, oblivious to his brother's plight.
Undyne furrowed her fish-brows, frowning. "Chara, Chara…. Isn't that the name of the first human who fell down?"
"OH, YES!" Papyrus chirped "THE KING'S DAUGHTER, RIGHT?"
Alphys nodded "Y-yeah. B-but-"
"WAIT, SHE'S GONNA KILL SANS?" Papyrus frowned.
Alphys nodded again "And s-so i-is Flowey- er… a fl-"
"WHAT? FLOWEY IS GONNA HURT SANS?" Papyrus frowned. The lights in Sans's eyesockets came back on and he, as well as Alphys, gave the younger brother a questioning look.
"You know Flowey?" Undyne asked.
"OF COURSE I DO!" Papyrus grinned. He put his hands on his hips and posed dramatically. Lemon Bread grabbed the end of his scarf and waved it about like a cape for him. "FLOWEY IS MY FRIEND!" he frowned and dropped his arms. Lemon Bread dropped his scarf "OR AT LEAST, I THOUGHT HE WAS."
"pap." Sans frowned. He forced a grin "eh, I'm sure he is-"
"Papyrus, he tried to kill me." Alphys said, her words overlapping Sans's.
Papyrus looked shocked. And then mad. He crossed his arms and stomped his foot angrily "THAT IS INCREDIBLY RUDE! WELL SURPASSING RUDE, I MIGHT EVEN SAY! FEAR NOT, DOCTOR ALPHYS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL RIGHT THIS WRONG! FLOWEY WILL FEEL THE FULL WRATH OF MY SCOLDING-NESS."
He continued to ramble on in this manor for several minutes, the amalgamates listening intently.
"So….Who's Flowey?" Undyne asked. Alphys poked her fingers together.
"In short, a sentient, killer flower."
"Oh. So, not a friend." Undyne muttered. Sans shook his head.
"not in the slightest."
Undyne shot the small skeleton a cynical look, which he returned. "what?"
"You were going to tell Papyrus that Flowey was his friend, weren't ya?" Undyne growled.
Sans shrugged "eh. just so he wouldn't be upset-" he was cut off by being picked up and noogied.
"STOP BABYING HIM, HE'S A DAMN ADULT!" Undyne howled. Sans warped out of her hold, balancing on her head with his hands in his pockets.
"HEY, ARE ANY OF YOU LISTENING TO ME?" Papyrus pouted. Lemon Bread and Snowdrake-alike rose their stubby hands, Dogandgy barked in confirmation. "OH. THANK YOU." Papyrus nodded to his audience.
"GET OFF MY DAMN HEAD!" Undyne hissed, frantically swiping at the small skeleton.
"come on, undyne." Sans winked "i'm just trying to get… a head, in life." He chuckled as Undyne screeched in rage. Snowdrake-alike laughed and Lemon Bread tilted their head as Dogandgy slapped its paws against the ground to mimic clapping. Sans made a show of bowing.
Alphys had climbed onto one of the beds and decided to take a nap until everyone decided to take things seriously.
A/N
WOWZA you guys were NOT happy with the last chapter. I'm sorry? It's okay though, I didn't kill Alphys! See! She's alive and all that! Ah yes, return of the humors. Hahahaha….. I like writing humor in between soul-shattering moments. Updating on a Tuesday again. For no reason other than I don't want you guys to be mad at me anymore. I love you. Please take me back.
….Yeah, I pretty much responded to all your reviews in the AN there. Actually, speaking of responses: for those people I can PM, can I reply to your reviews like that? Thanks!
Tra la la, Friends in Ruins