Chapter 17: Bonetrousle
Blocking our way, with a brilliant smile, scarf fluttering in the breeze, striking a cool pose, was Papyrus.
It was great that Papyrus used some magic to weaken the storm around us, but I could still feel the cold winds slicing through me.
Papyrus took notice of our new friend. "Is that...?"
"Yes, the dog you had hanging in the air," I replied. "Frisk is now his owner. His name is Toby."
"HM..." Papyrus sounded. He didn't seem to like it, but he also seemed to recognize there wasn't much he could do about it. So instead, he said, "VERY WELL, I'LL ALLOW IT. BUT IF YOU MAY, COULD HE STAND TO THE SIDE? I DON'T WANT HIM TO BE IN THE WAY OF OUR BATTLE!"
Toby barked, and dashed off to the side, where he proceeded to flop onto the snowy ground.
"THANK YOU," Papyrus said.
"Okay, Frisk, just give me a moment. I need to think of how we do this," I said to her, keeping my eyes on the skeleton, who was preparing his first attack.
"NYEH HEH HEH!" He shouted, as he sent forth a wave of bones, sliding across the ground... which harmlessly passed us by.
What the heck? I thought. Is he trying to test us?
I felt a tug, and looking over, Frisk signed, looking towards Papyrus, tell him... that he's so sexy, he's bad to the bone!
I almost repeated what she said, but I stopped myself. No way was I about to get caught off guard and accidentally translate another flirt from Frisk-
"WHAT!? FL- FLIRTING!?" Papyrus exclaimed. "SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR ULTIMATE FEELINGS!"
I turned to him in shock. "How- how did you-? Do you know what she said!?"
"O-OF COURSE! I WAS TAUGHT SIGN LANGUAGE BY MY PHENOMENAL FATHER!"
I should've known... Papyrus was Wingding's son. He was the one who taught me sign language, after all, so of course, he'd teach his son. Sans probably also knew sign language.
...But this meant that I couldn't stop Frisk from flirting with him.
Oh g**, I thought.
"W-WELL, ANYWAYS! I'M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS!"
Frisk looked up at me, and then signed, do you know how to make spaghetti?
Yeah, I signed back.
I like spaghetti! Can you make us some!
"YOU LIKE SPAGHETTI! OH NO! YOU'RE MEETING ALL MY STANDARDS! I GUESS THIS MEANS I HAVE TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU...?" Papyrus exclaimed.
"Uh, can we stop and talk about this," I pleaded. But Papyrus didn't give me the chance.
"LET'S DATE L-LATER! AFTER I CAPTURE YOU!"
I could see on Papyrus's expression, that he was thinking about the date he just promised Frisk. While that was happening, he sent forth another easy-to-dodge bone attack.
After I dodged the attack, I sighed, and exclaimed, "look Papyrus, we don't want to do this whole song and dance. We don't need to fight."
"SO YOU WON'T FIGHT... THEN, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE MY FABLED 'BLUE ATTACK'!"
Suddenly, he sent forth a large wave of bones... which were all blue attacks.
Of course, we stood completely still. They couldn't hurt us as long as we didn't move. Sans did warn us about this.
But as they passed by, I began to feel something. It felt kind of fimiliar, too. I couldn't place a finger on it until...
Our Souls popped out, and were now covered in a blue glow. Suddenly, my body felt heavier, and I found it a bit harder to move.
"Blue Soul magic," I said, "I should've realized." Sans had it, and I knew how to use it. Of course, that would be another thing Papyrus was taught.
A tiny bone slid towards us. It almost caught us by surprise, and thanks to our slowed movement, we had to jump over it.
"YOU'RE BLUE NOW, THAT'S MY ATTACK!" Papyrus explained. "NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"
Sans, you bastard! I thought. He knew about this, and was hinting at it with his "blue attack" talk. And he could've just straight out told us when he used it himself to help me off the bridge earlier, but NO!
Can you stop this? Frisk signed to me, hopeful.
"N-no," I admitted. "Just because I use the same kind of magic, doesn't mean I can stop it. I could use Blue Soul magic to overside another Soul mode, but only if it's a different color. And if someone is using the same kind of magic on me, I can't disable or control it. He's got us trapped.
"AH HA, SO YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH BECOMING BLUE! YES, INDEED, THIS IS MY TRAP!" Papyrus replied.
The battle continued as Papyrus sent forth new waves of bones at us, which we had to jump over, since we weren't fast enough to run around them with Blue Soul magic holding us down. Luckily, Papyrus's magic had also given us the ability to jump really high. Though, Frisk still tripped on one of the bones mid-jump. I helped Frisk back up, while Papyrus continued to ramble on.
"HMM... I WONDER WHAT I SHOULD WEAR..." he said as he... dabbed marinara sauce behind his... "ear".
Okay, I thought.
"WHAT!? I'M NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT DATE THING!" Papyrus exclaimed as he noticed me staring, and sent forth another wave of bones, this next set even taller than the last.
After we managed to dodge those, I noticed Papyrus was dabbing more stuff on the sides of his skull. Some kind of cream...
"Listen, Papyrus, we don't need to fight... Frisk, she would like to-" I started, trying to get through to him. But he got excited and cut me off.
"NYEH HEH, DON'T MAKE ME USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" he announced.
"Huh?" I sounded.
The next wave was more tricky, as we had to control our jumps to back to the ground and duck onto some higher bones. He then began to dab powder on himself now.
"Does... that serve a purpose?" I asked.
"OH, DON'T MIND ME!" Papyrus replied. He then chuckled. "I CAN ALMOST TATE MY FUTURE POPULARITY!"
His next attack now included more blue bones, which came AFTER normal bones.
He's getting trickier, I thought, looking over to him, where he was now dabbing juice on him.
"PAPYRUS, HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD!" the skeleton said.
As he kept up the attacks, which were getting more and more tricky, I could tell that he was caught up in his own head. He had big dreams...
And that worried me.
Using... slime now, Papyrus contiuned. "PAPYRUS, UNPARALLELED SPAGHETTORE!"
Preparing to evade his next attack, I had to take a moment to check on Frisk. For the most part, she was okay. I guess she must've had an idea on how his attacks worked, after so many Resets. She still got clipped a bit, but she was doing fine.
Me on the other hand, I was trying to dodge and figure out how to fix this situation. ...Without hurting anyone.
Yogurt, now? I thought, looking to Papyrus. I noticed the stuff he was using had some brand name on it. "MTT-Brand"? I didn't recognize it.
"UNDYNE WILL BE REALLY PROUD OF ME!" He continued.
He finally seemed to realize that he didn't have ears. And I was starting to have some thoughts about Papyrus's dreams. What did he really want?
My body went on autopilot, avoiding attacks, as I continued to listen to him.
"THE KING WILL TRIM A HEDGE IN THE SHAPE OF MY SMILE!"
"MY BROTHER WILL... WELL, HE WON'T CHANGE VERY MUCH."
"I'LL HAVE LOTS OF ADMIRERS! BUT..."
"WILL ANYONE LIKE ME AS A SINCERELY AS YOU?"
"SOMEONE LIKE YOU IS REALLY RARE..."
"AND DATING MIGHT BE KIND OF HARD..."
"AFTER YOU'RE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY."
"URGH... WHO CARES! GIVE UP!"
That last one seemed to hurt Frisk emotionally a bit, as I noticed. But I could tell the Papyrus was conflicted.
"GIVE UP OR FACE MY... SPECIAL ATTACK!"
Here we go! I thought, getting ready to dodge his next attack.
"YEAH, VERY SOON I WILL USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"
Dodged another wave of bones.
"NOT TOO LONG AND I WILL USE THAT SPECIAL ATTACK!"
And dodged another wave...
"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE... BEFORE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"
"Oh, just get to the point, please!?" I shouted, annoyed.
"HM, VERY WELL! BEHOLD...! MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus announced.
He made a show of swinging his arm out to showcase his ultimate magic... but, well... I had to try to hold back my laughter.
Toby, the "good boy" he was (well, that sounded a bit mean. I just met the dog, but he seemed nice enough. Except in this case), had decided not to stay uninvolved, and had begun munching on a stray bone.
Apparently, a very important bone.
"WHAT THE HECK!" Papyrus exclaimed. "THAT'S MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"
I couldn't hold my laughter back anymore.
"Oh my gosh!" I laughed, speaking hysterically. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think this would happen!" And then all that came out of my mouth following that statement was loud chuckling.
Papyrus glares at me, and then back at the dog. "HEY! YOU STUPID DOG! DO YOU HEAR ME!?"
Toby looked up, caught by surprise from Papyrus's shouting.
"STOP MUNCHING ON THE BONE!"
...And Toby began to scoot away.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! COME BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"
"Hey, don't shout at the dog," I tell him, trying to calm down. I just didn't want him going after dogs anymore.
Papyrus sighed. "OH WELL. I'LL JUST USE A REALLY COOL REGULAR ATTACK."
"Go for it!"
"WELL... HERE'S AN ABSOLUTELY NORMAL ATTACK."
And Papyrus began a prolonged bone attack. I motioned for Frisk to stay close, as I helped as over the waves of magic projectiles.
Then things got interesting.
First, Toby ran over, still with the bone in his mouth, leaping onto Frisk, dropping the bone long enough to lick the girl, before grabbing the bone dashing off again.
Okay, I thought.
Then, bones came at us saying "Cool Dude", followed by a bone... wearing sunglasses... riding a skateboard.
And then came the hard part.
A wave- no, this was a dense forest, of bones. Low enough that we could jump over it... except we'd land on top of it. To make things worse, there was a single, massive bone, that towered over us. And I wasn't sure we could go around it with bone forest in front of it, which was slowly approaching us.
Thinking of a solution, I quickly called out, "Frisk, I need you to get on my back!"
Frisk was still trying to get up from her dog's ambush, and was lucky enough to not get hit by Papyrus's other stylized attacks (so much for normal), but she obliged, and I'm able to pick her up piggy-back style.
"Okay... well, time to prove me wrong." I knew that you couldn't control Soul magic if you weren't the one to cast it. But now, I think it was time to try, and just overpower his control.
Focusing all of my determination into my magic, I attempted to take control of Papyrus's Blue Soul magic and make it my own. Why did I think I could do this all of sudden? I didn't know, but it was the best idea I had.
"Here goes nothing!" I yell, as I make a running dash, trying to will my magic to let me jump high. Really high!
Just focus. Keep focusing.
...
Somehow, I pulled it off. I jumped over Papyrus's massive bone forest.
And the end of it all... one last tiny bone.
Honestly, I just kicked it, and let myself take the damage. Not like it was much, I guess I just wanted to... throw Papyrus a "bone".
"WELL...!" Papyrus said, running out of breath. I guess all this use of magic was getting exhausting. "'HUFF' IT'S CLEAR... YOU CAN'T 'HUFF' DEFEAT ME!"
"Oh man, I'm so weak, there's no way I can beat you," I say mockingly, but I try to make it sound legitimate. Which I'm good at.
"YEAH! I CAN SEE YOU SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS! THEREFORE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU PITY! I WILL SPARE YOU, HUMANS! NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO ACCEPT MY MERCY."
Frisk just fell on the ground in joyous exasperation, while I just said, "yeah, we accept. No more fighting!" kneeling down next to the little girl.
The aura of magic dissipated, and conveniently, the blizzard winds started to die down at the same time, clearing the area around us and giving us a chance to see around us.
Papyrus was standing there with a big smile on his face. But then it turned to an expression of realization, and then anguish.
"NYOO HOO HOO... I CAN'T EVEN STOP SOMEONE AS WEAK AS YOU... UNDYNE'S GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED IN ME. I'LL NEVER JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD... AND... MY FRIEND QUANTITY WILL REMAIN STAGNANT!"
This depressed me. But I was also concerned. Was he really just trying to join the Guard just to make friends?
I could tell Papyrus was very innocent. It was like no one had ever told him what was really going on.
And if that was true... then I had to know...
"Papyrus?" I asked. "Do you know why the Royal Guard wants human Souls?"
"OF... OF COURSE! THE KIND WANTS TO OPEN THE BARRIER WITH SOUL POWER," he replied. "ANYTHING CAN ENTER THROUGH IT, BUT NOTHING CAN EXIT... EXCEPT FOR SOMEONE WITH A POWERFUL SOUL. ...LIKE YOU!"
"Yeah, I get that. But... do you know how to get that power from a human?"
"I... UH..." Papyrus was at a loss for words. He didn't know.
But I did.
"Papyrus, do you know what happens to the humans that go to the king?" I continued pressing.
"I'M... NOT SURE..."
"Papyrus," I say softly, "in order for a monster to use the power of a human's Soul, they need to take that Soul. And to do that... the human has to die."
"WH-WHAT... I DON'T... UNDERSTAND..." the skeleton whimpered, tears starting to well in his eyes.
"Papyrus, if we're captured and sent to the king, he'll kill us. That's why we have to go to him on our own terms, without getting caught by the Guard, and face him ourselves," I explained.
"BUT I... I HAVE TO BE PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD," Papyrus exclaimed. "THAT WAY I CAN MAKE FRIENDS... AND I... AND I... I... BUT I... I DON'T WANT TO... ...LOSE YOU..."
Using the same tone that Toriel would've used to calm me down when I was upset, I said, "Papyrus, you don't need to join the Guard to make friends. And you don't have to give up on us. I mean, we're your friends, right?"
Papyrus perked up at that. "DO YOU MEAN...!?"
"I mean, Frisk really wants to be friends with you. So much so, she didn't want to fight you, she just wanted to BE your friend. And as for me... well, how could I not want to be friends with such a lovable, charming skeleton such as yourself." I was probably laying on the compliments pretty thick, more than I probably needed to, but the overall message was true. I wanted to be friends with the son of my best friend.
"I... I CAN'T BELIEVE... THAT YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH ME? WELL THEN... I GUESS I CAN MAKE AN ALLOWANCE FOR YOU!"
"Of course, Papyrus, I've already done so for you," I replied.
Frisk got up, and happily ran over to hug the skeleton, no longer afraid. Even Toby reappeared, jumped on his leg, and began liking him. Shockingly, Papyrus did not react, though I'm sure he noticed. I guess he was too overjoyed to care.
"WOWIE..." he said with tears of joy. "WE HAVEN'T EVEN HAD OUR FIRST DATE... AND I'VE AlREADY MANAGED TO HIT THE FRIEND ZONE! WHO KNEW THAT ALL I NEEDED TO MAKE PALS... WAS TO GIVE PEOPLE AWFUL PUZZLES AND THEN FIGHT THEM?"
"Woah, slow down there, partner," I told Papyrus. "Firstly, we need to have a discussion about that 'dating' thing with Frisk," I notified him, and I wasn't even planning on getting to get into his misconception about what the "friend zone" was. I mean, I guess he wasn't wrong, but still... "Also, if you want to make friends, then just talk to people. Don't bug and annoy them, but start a conversation. Get to know them, and let them get to know you. If they share your interest, great! If not, it's not a big deal. You can't be friends with everyone. And also, be honest, too, not that I think you'll have a problem with that!" And I finished by giving him a big smile.
"I SEE... THANK YOU. YOU REALLY TAUGHT ME A LOT, HUMAN," Papyrus replied.
"Chara," I corrected.
"YES, CHARA. I HEREBY GRANT YOU AND... FRISK?"
I nodded.
"YES, I GRANT YOU AND FRISK PERMISSION TO PASS THROUGH! AND I'LL GIVE YOU DIRECTIONS TO THE SURFACE."
"Actually, I think we know way there," I replied. I hoped I didn't have to explain HOW I knew, but I wanted to save Papyrus the trouble.
"OH, I SEE. AREN'T YOU A SMART COOKIE. WELL, ANYWAY! THAT'S ENOUGH TALKING! I'LL BE AT HOME BEING A COOL FRIEND! FEEL FREE TO COME BY AND HAVE THAT DATE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"
Then Papyrus ran towards us, and made a running leap over us.
"Well, I hope things work out for him," I said.
Frisk looked up to me and signed, when can I date him?
I sighed... "We really do need to talk about this flirting thing."
Frisk pouted.
"Oh, don't give me that. Flirting is not the only way to make friends." But still, I figured that Frisk should finish making her bond with Papyrus. "But... you can hang out with. Your too young to date, making friends is something any age can do."
Frisk excitedly jumped up and down, before calming down to sign, thank you, mommy.
"I'm not you mom," I groaned. "I told you this."
But Frisk wasn't listening, as she skipped back into town, the same direction Papyrus went.
"Okay... let's make sure she doesn't go too far," I said, as I began to follow her.
Author's Note: And so, Papyrus has been defeated without him dying, and Frisk is happy. She's now more comfortable with monsters than ever. I good result I must say.
So, let's talk about the elephant in the room first. Chara telling Papyrus the truth about the Royal Guard. Well, it really isn't the truth about the Gaurd, but what Asgore's goal is. Well, I'll admit, it's more of a "me" thing, than a part of Chara's character.
It's obvious Papyrus doesn't know what's really going on in the Underground with the need for humans, between his battle and the event where you first meet him for real (the part where Sans tricks Papyrus into thinking he saw a rock, before correcting him). I kind of felt, deep down, that he should've been told the truth at some point. I get wanting to preserve his innocence, but I also feel that you can't do that forever. He is his own person, and he could find out.
It sounds better to me to be honest with sensitive information like that, instead of letting them found out by themselves. But you should, at least, tell them in a way they could understand, so you got to be careful with how you tell them. But if they find out themselves, it could end up being really bad. It's not necessarily easy, and it might not always seem kind, but honesty is the best policy.
But that's just how I feel, and I think, after thinking about this after having it planned for so long, that my opinion must've bled into the story somehow. And this might not be the last this happens, either.
At least with Chara, she is known to admit the truth about something she feels guilty about, like how she told Toriel and Asgore about her plan to break the barrier with Asriel, after he died, because she felt responsible for that. So it's not out of character for her to do this, at the very least.
Anyway, the fight itself. I don't have much to say. Aside from making smalls changes in accordance with the AU, I played it pretty straight. Chara overpowering Papyrus's blue magic to avoid his final attack is big, compared to... however you were able to jump so high in the game itself. I actually don't know how you did that. Maybe Papyrus secretly helps you. Maybe it's just Undertale's weirdness. It's not explained, so this is mine. ...For the AU at least.
With nothing more about the chapter to say, I will say this. Excluding the mid-bosses (like the Mad Dummy, or RG 1 and 2), the futures boss fights have far more exciting ideas planned to make them unique for the story. To a point for some (you'll understand when I got to them), but definitely more than this fight had.
And to end off, next chapter will be the last chapter in Snowdin, then it's off to Waterfall! Next chapter will have both Papyrus's date / hangout and the chat with Sans in Grillby's (can't forget that place).