A/N
Hey folks! It's me, the author! My notes are going to be here this time around because I got a few things to say.
First! Thank you all soooo much for your attention! I love it when I get new readers and I love that so many old(ish) readers stuck around so long! (blows a kiss) I'm so happy so many of you love this story so much!
Secondly! I'm sorry to do this, but this fic will NOT update next week. I got camp to go to!
That's all from me! For now….
Tra la la
Sans trudged over to the next room, hands in his pockets and murmurs in his heart. Thoughts and theories whirled about in his skull. But he made sure his grin was present as he became visible to his remaining friends. He walked into the middle of Papyrus kneeling in front of the human child, showing them some of the tricks he could do with blue magic and bones. Asgore apparently had slunked away to a backroom to avoid Toriel. Which was completely understandable.
"Hi Sans!" Frisk chirped, holding Toriel's hand. The large goat woman turned to look at him, whispered questions in her eyes.
"Sans, Alphys just left in a bit of a rush. Is something happening?" she asked.
Sans shrugged "Alphy just thought of something interesting. she is a scientist, so, yeah."
Frisk nodded "That makes sense. Undyne went with her." They added.
"YES SHE DID." Papyrus said, bouncing to his feet. "IT'S GOOD TO SEE DOCTOR ALPHYS SO MOTIVATED."
Sans nodded "yeah."
…
"You're really bad at keeping a conversmashun" Frisk muttered.
"It is pronounced 'conversation', my child." Toriel corrected. She snickered a bit and gave Sans a wink "And frankly, I disagree."
"DO YOU AND MY BROTHER SPEAK OFTEN, MISS TORIEL?" Papyrus asked. Toriel nodded.
"Ah, yes. He is quite an intriguing story teller." She said. The tall skeleton and human child turned to look at the small skeleton.
"…REALLY?" Papyrus blinked.
"Maybe he just does better if he can't see who he's talking to?" Frisk suggested. They hit their balled fist to their palm "That makes sense! I mean, Sans is really good at reading facial expressions so maybe they can be a bit disshtracsting-"
"'Distracting'." Toriel corrected softly. She smiled at Sans "And that could very well be it. Most people are better at speaking when not face-to-face."
Sans gave a wink "well t, in our case, it'd be face-to-waist."
Toriel laughed "Oh goodness, Sans."
"THAT IS TRUE. YOU ARE QUITE TALL COMPARED TO MY BROTHER, MISS TORIEL." Papyrus chirped.
"Sans is smoll." Frisk giggled.
"rude." Sans muttered. He gave another wink "i consider myself fun-sized."
"Hah!" Frisk laughed.
"More like…" Toriel trailed off.
"…PUN-sized?" Sans grinned. Frisk burst into a giggle fit as the two older pun-lovers chuckled along.
"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus screeched, throwing his hands onto his face and groaning in pain at the pun. He stomped his foot angrily. "SANS, YOU WERE JUST DEAD! CAN YOU NOT GO SO CRAZY WITH PUNS!?"
"eh." sans winked "you just don't find 'em punny."
"HA!" Frisk howled with laughter. They slapped one small hand across their knee "You're killing me!" Sans's eyes went black and he forced an awkward laugh. Papyrus fidgeted awkwardly.
"Um…My child…" Toriel stooped down to whisper in their ear "Probably not the best phrase to use right now…."
"Huh?" Frisk blinked. They thought a moment when a vibrant red flushed across their cheeks "O-Oh! S-sorry Sans!"
"eh." the blue-eyed skeleton shrugged "no skin off my back."
"Because you're a skeleton!" Frisk pointed "I get it!"
"SANS, YOU USED THAT JOKE RECENTLY." Papyrus pouted, crossing his arms "GET SOME NEW MATERIAL."
"eh. good…" he winked and pointed one boney finger at him "point."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGH!" Papyrus groaned "SANS!"
"I thought it was funny." Frisk chirped.
"It was, but still." Toriel said "Perhaps we should back off on the jokes for now. Unless they are unavoidable of course."
Papyrus sighed "I SUPPOSE THAT'S BETTER THAN CONSTANT PUNS."
"That it is." Toriel nodded. She thought a moment "Perhaps a walk would benefit us all, hm?"
"Yeah!" Frisk grinned. "Let's go for a walk!" They ran over to Sans and gripped his hand. The two exchanged a smile and Sans ruffled their hair.
"eh. sure. for once i actually do feel kind of restless." Sans said. He looked to his brother "how 'bout you, Pappy?"
"OF COURSE!" he struck a familiar pose "THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS READY FOR WALKS!"
"heh." Sans chuckled. He gave Frisk a quick wink, then led the way out of New Home. The four took a leisurely stroll, chattering on about anything that might keep their minds off of recent events. Frisk hummed responses as Papyrus rambled on about spaghetti. Sans and Toriel offered some brief comments. It seemed like a quick journey through the long, gray corridor that led to the Judgement Hall.
One step through and sudden everything lit up golden through windows made of shards of colored class. Marble columns stood on at attention on the sides, straight as soldiers. Papyrus's voice seemed even more boisterous, echoing off the walls and coming back as a boom. It didn't take long for him and the human child to make a game of it.
"HELLO!" Frisk yelled, cupping their hands around their mouth.
Hello Hello Hello… greeted the echo.
"HIYA!" Papyrus waved.
HIYA Hiya hiya…. Responded the walls. The taller skeleton and the human shared in a giggle, finding great amusement in their little endeavor. Sans and Toriel chuckled, their young companions' glee beginning to rub off on them. The two shared a bit of a smile and watched their friends with fond expressions. So even that lengthy hallway didn't seem as long anymore.
About halfway through, Papyrus yelled out:
"HOW ARE YOU TODAY?" He bounced eagerly as he awaited his echo to respond, cupping on hand to where his ear should be.
"Pretty swell, how about you?" responded a voice.
"Uh…." Frisk frowned, looking around "…That….was an echo?"
"…I DO NOT THINK SO, HUMAN." Papyrus blinked.
Sans spread his feet apart, glaring around. Toriel flexed out her claws, bringing forth a bright orange flame. Her free hand pulled Frisk to her side.
"WHERE ARE YOU, PLANT!?" Sans shouted. His words didn't echo.
The group waited for a response, the two more hostile ones ready to leap into action. But the only reply they got was the CRACK of marble and stone as vines broke through. From their left, the slivery foliage quickly entangled Papyrus. From the right, they lashed out and pulled Toriel back to the wall.
Papyrus let out a yelp of surprise as he slammed against a column, the vines tightening painfully around his ribcage. Toriel immediately began to bite and claw. But her restraints seemed to predict this. They lashed out and crushed her paws against the wall.
"PAP!" Sans yelled, beginning to dart for his brother.
"GOAT MOM!" Frisk shrieked. Upon hearing the child's cry, Sans skidded to a halt and turned back to them.
"Kid, don't get close to them-" he tried to warn, grabbing their wrist.
"B-but-!" Frisk choked down a sob. They only spared the blue-eyed skeleton a brief, desperate glance before staring at Toriel. "M-Mom!"
"MOMMY MOMMY!" Cried a high voice. Sans and Frisk looked down and forward to spot a small flower poking up from the ground. Flowey leaned forward, hissing the words through his teeth "THAT'S what you sound like!"
"Let them go!" Frisk yelled, stopping their foot. Sans pulled the human child in closer, lifting his left hand out of his pocket. His mitten burned off, dissolving into dust from the wild blue magic blazing from his fingertips.
"You heard 'em, PLANT." Sans growled "Just let 'em go. And be snappy."
"Hmm….. Hmmmm…." Flowey hummed, bending his stem back and forth with each 'hm' "See, the thing is, I COULD." His lips parted into a sinister grin "But, then again, I don't want to."
Sans's eyes began to burn. Blue flames crawled onto the sides of his skull and his Soulstrings lashed about wildly. The shadows of the hall became darker. His grin only seemed to widen. "WRONG CHOICE, SPROUT-"
"GUESS AGAIN, SMILEY TRASHBAG!" Flowey cackled. Sans didn't care enough to respond, summoning up a Gaster Blaster when he stopped suddenly. Choking.
Struggling to breath, he shakily looked down at his small charge. Frisk smiled up at him. With Chara's eyes. She leaned up into his face and said silkily "I win this time." He didn't have time to offer a comedic retort before she yanked his SOUL out of his body.
"BROTHER!" Papyrus screamed, pulling foreward on his restraints. Sans's body fell onto the ground, settling as dust.
"Frisk, why would you-" Toriel started, staring wide-eyed.
"Wrong human, MOTHER." The last word was spat. Chara smiled at Toriel, silencing her with shock. The SOUL reached for the dust with shaky dim strings. Chara tore them out, harshly and with a sickeningly SNAP! The girl giggled and strolled up to the flower, looking down on him. "Good work, Flowey."
"Oh, Golly." Flowey chirped, bending his stem and blushing ever so slightly "Thanks Chara." He straightened and bared his teeth into a gleeful sneer "Now you're gonna cross the Barrier, right? AND DESTROY ALL THOSE STUPID HUMANS-"
"No." Chara interrupted. Flowey blinked his confusion, leaning back as the human knelt before him. She smiled warmly and held out the SOUL in her cupped hands "It's for you, Asriel."
Flowey stared at the SOUL, then back up at his sister. "W-what?"
She leaned in and hugged him "I miss being with you, Azzy. I want us to go back to how things were." She withdrew, offering the SOUL again "With us. As brother and sister."
Flowey looked up at her, eyes wide and watering. He smiled "Thank you, Chara!"
Chara smiled, tilting her head, and pushed Sans's SOUL into the flower, who absorbed it eagerly.
Light blue flashed upon the collision, blinding everyone for the moment it lasted and a moment more. Papyrus blinked his eye sockets, desperately trying to adjust them and he felt the vines give way. He landed on his hands and knees but was still struggling to see. When his vision cleared, he saw one more child than what there was before.
Chara was helping up a small, goat-like monster in a striped sweater. But the monster seemed more like patchwork. Where his ears were supposed to be were two large yellow petals. His tail replaced with a vine adorned with various thorns. And when he blinked open his eyes, they were dark, dark black with white pinpricks for his pupils. He smiled up at Chara with fangs a bit too sharp. Then he straightened himself, still holding on his sister's hand. The two smiled at each other, then to the other two monsters in the room.
"What do we do with them?" Asriel asked.
"Oh, that's obvious." Chara chirped. Her eyes seemed to glow "We play with them." Asriel looked at her for a moment, grinning broadly. He threw his head back, cackling wildly. The Flower's dark smile spread across the former prince's face.
"SOUNDS LIKE FUN."