Here goes your drama ! Have fun :D

Chapter 18 : Karma

Papyrus was singing out loud, shaking poor dolls from left to right with energy. Charlie fled the room a few hours ago now, annoyed, unlike Sans, lying in one of the beds, his pupils lost on the ceiling.

Toriel's words kept repeating in his head, especially what she said about karma. It used to be a purple type of magic, very effective, that could deal as much damage as the level of violence the enemy had. If the target never hurt anyone, it couldn't do any damage. On the contrary, if they was a relentless murderer, they could die in almost one hit, their health points drained in the process because of their guilt. Toriel said that magic was long gone in the monster community, but that monsters with low health used to be able to use it, and that, maybe, it was his case.

So far, Sans only controlled blue magic, and that weird teleportation thingy, more or less. But if he had a weapon like this… He couldn't stop thinking about how hard Gaster would be hurt with one hit. It was bad, no child should want their father's death. But he couldn't stop himself. Gaster assuredly hurt people in the past. He fought in the war, he probably killed humans before, maybe even monsters with all his sadistic experiments. It occurred to him sooner that maybe Papyrus and him were not the first ones to become victims of his ambition. How many people did he manipulated, tortured, killed? He had no idea.

He sighed. He didn't even know how this karma thingy worked yet. Maybe Toriel was wrong. He was nothing special. Why would he have a gift like this? Why him? Papyrus deserved it a lot more.

"Nyeh eh eh!" suddenly screamed Papyrus. "Now you have no choice no more! You have to hug me and be nice, because I, the great Papyrus, order you to! And I won't hesitate to use my special attack if you keep resisting! … Nooooo! he said with another voice, beating the second doll with the first one. Have mercy! You beat me, I surrender! It's too late! Here goes my special attack! Nyeh!"

Papyrus collapsed on the back and rolled on the ground several times, mimicking magic battle noises. Sans snorted, amused by his little show, then froze. When was the last time he saw Papyrus having fun? Smile for real? His little brother seemed so peaceful and happy in his little optimistic world, he didn't even hear him laugh. Sans wished it would never change. He preferred much more seeing him far away from all the agitation. Papyrus didn't deserve anything that happened to him.

"Oh no, Sans! He got me! Move your butt and save me!"

Papyrus grabbed a third doll and made it hit the white one he was holding before, that he threw against the wall. Sans then realized that white puppet was Gaster, while the two others, now hugging each other, were them. He didn't know if he should feel flattered to be the hero in Papyrus' little story or very concerned to see him throw his dad like this. Oh well, he thought, smiling a little. This was some sort of karma too, right? After all, their dad couldn't keep treating Papyrus like a dog and expect him to be forgiven every time. Sans had already noticed that Papyrus was very observant and very far from the cretin his dad thought he was. His brother probably knew more about the situation than what Sans assumed he did. He didn't know if it was good or bad.

"What?" asked Papyrus, looking at him. "Why are you staring at me like that? Can you make your eyes normal again? I don't like when they're all black. That's creepy, Sans. I don't like it."

"Uh… Nothing." Sans blinked, surprised. "I was just thinking you hadn't played like this for a long time, that's all."

"That's because we were on the road." Papyrus deadpanned, like he had said something stupid. "There's no dolls on the road, Sans." Very proud of himself, Papyrus went back to his roleplaying game, where he left it.

Sans got down off the bed and stretched like a cat. He gently scrubbed his brother behind the skull before leaving the room to see what the others were doing. In the living room, Undyne was reading on a pillow near the fire, squinting so hard to try to read the story by herself. In the armchair behind her, Toriel was doing the same thing, except her book was way bigger and without any image, which Sans would never understand. What was the point of reading books if they didn't have any image in them? It's like a dinosaur encyclopedia without the dinosaurs! The human was not around though, probably playing outside or in Toriel's room.

A nice smell of pizza was fluttering in the room, announcing what was on the menu tonight. He couldn't wait. Sans loved pizza. Not as much as he loved Papyrus, but that was a close second.

"Are you alright, Sans?" Toriel asked, still reading. "Do you need something?"

"Not really. Do you need me to do something? I'm a bit bored."

The book went down on her knees for a moment, while she thought about his request.

"Well, if you really are bored, I didn't wash the dishes yet."

"Can I help too, Lady Toriel?" Undyne asked with a small voice.

"Of course!"

The little fish lady dropped her book on the ground and ran to hold Sans' hand. The dishes were not exactly what Sans had in mind, but he didn't complain. It looked like an opportunity to finally have a heart to heart with Undyne. Since the beginning of their adventures, he felt like he hadn't paid her enough attention. She never complained either, despite all the terrible things she went through, and he was clearly growing attached by now, so why not?

Sans dragged two stools near the sink so they could reach the dishes. He ran the water and gave a dish towel to Undyne, then he started scrubbing the first plate, still covered in bolognese from earlier. Sans thought he hadn't eaten spaghetti this good in a long time. Well, his dad was not really a model cook. His style was more cans, pastas, pizzas, burgers and fries. They were lucky to not have a stomach or him and Papyrus would probably be ill by now.

Sans rinsed the plate and put it in the drainer. Undyne grabbed it energetically and wiped it, smiling so hard, like it was the best thing she was doing today. Like this, she looked very similar to Papyrus. The littlest thing filled her with enthusiasm. Sans had the feeling those two would grow inseparables when everything would be over.

"So, tell me. What do you think of Papyrus? He's cool, uh?" he asked maliciously.

"Yeah, he's nice. He always wants to talk and play with me. He's funny, and smart, and cute, and… Yeah, I like him." she answered, blushing furiously.

"I think he likes you too."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. You know, my bro can't play that often with other children. You help him a lot to think about other things. My brother is the coolest anyway. He's very good at listening to people, he wakes you up in the morning… He has some flaws too, of course. First of all, he doesn't like my amazing jokes, and I think that's a major flaw, it's heartbreaking."

She chuckled, warming the skeleton's soul. Touché. He had managed to cheer Undyne a lot more these last few days, which was a good sign. He liked the feeling

too. Like Papyrus, she deserved to be happy. Sans had grown attached to her very quickly, and he felt bad she had been dragged in their problems in the first place. Like the brothers, she went through a lot already. Somehow, he knew all of this would probably link them all for life. You couldn't just forget about everything that happened. He hoped so, actually.

"Thanks for everything you did for me." Undyne said, like she was reading his mind. "I know you were not forced to take care of me after… What happened. I'm glad I met you and Papyrus. You two are nice."

"I'm glad too, Undyne. I'm not sure what I would have done if your mother hadn't found us. I suppose we're even. But, uh… You can stay with us, you know, once everything is over. We won't give up on you. I know we're not… My family is not really perfect, and I'm kinda the one who's taking care of everything, so Gaster doesn't get a word in this. I don't even know if I want to see him again."

"Mommy said the war makes people stupid. Maybe he's just stupid because of this."

"I would love to believe this." Sans answered, half smiling. "But I know it won't be like that. Nothing will ever be the same with him. He can't just… Use us for his experiments and expect that Papyrus and I would close our eyes. This is not how trust works. Pap' could forgive him, but I know that he would just use him against me to make sure I never escape him then. Not everyone is a good person."

Undyne stayed silent, slightly worried. Sans needed to get this off his chest. He didn't even know why he was saying this to her. He just… He just had to talk, drowning in his resentment.

"When he brought me to his lab at the camp, he said he wanted to train Papyrus with magic. But I know he doesn't want to train him like Toriel did. He's just realising Papyrus might be more than just an annoyance, a thing he can use to his advantage in his damn war. Like me. He never loved Papyrus. He never hugged him, or smiled at him, or even complimented him. He never paid attention to how hurt Papyrus can be when he's pushing him away like he's nothing. It is entirely his fault that Papyrus is not that comfortable around people, that he can't make friends easily, that he has troubles… You're the only one he made friends with since… Since my mom died."

His fingers tensed on the plate he was scrubbing, more and more agitated. His left eye took on a light blue color, and a weird smoke escaped from his eye socket, stronger and stronger. Undyne flinched and called his name, more and more worried. Sans didn't listen to her.

"And one day…" he continued. "One day he will pay for this. I don't know when or how, but he will pay for this. You can't be bad and get above all the consequences. That's not how it works ! That's not fair !" he suddenly screamed, very angry for some reason. A huge animal skull appeared behind him, echoing his feelings.

Quickly understanding that Sans was not acting normal at all, Undyne jumped from the stool and ran towards the living-room to call Toriel for help. He didn't even see her leave, too absorbed in what he was seeing.

In front of him was standing the ghost of all his problems, the source of his anger and hate. Back turned to him, so fragile, and unconscious of the danger threatening him. If only he could just… But would it be reasonable? Was this a good decision to take? How would Papyrus react?

But Papyrus was not here. He would not see a thing. All it would take was one hit, in the heart. It was all he needed. He lifted his hand. Surprised, Gaster turned around to look at him, and got welcomed by a rain of sharp translucent bones. They crossed his body like butter. The scientist screamed, but no sound came out of his mouth. It was frustrating, but Sans had not yet used his worst weapon. The blaster came close to its prey, eyes shining the same bright blue his invoker had.

"This… is… not… fair!"

He shot. Gaster's soul exploded in a thousand small shards under the powerful strike.

And suddenly, Sans remembered. Gaster was not here. He couldn't hurt them. They were under Toriel's protection. Then… What did he attack? He snapped out of his trance in a blink of an eye.

The kitchen's table got smashed with bones and the biggest blaster he had ever seen was floating next to him, mouth full of magic smoke, in front of what was left of the wall leading to the outside, collapsed, and still burning.

Shocked, he looked for a long moment at the mess he made, then at his hands. What even happened? He gasped, terrified, then took a step back. His legs shook badly and he fell on his knees on the floor. Toriel rushed next to him. He hadn't even seen when she entered the room. Under a force field near the door, Undyne and Papyrus were hugging each other, crying in distress, panicked.

What was he doing?! He had to calm down! He was scaring Papyrus! Why couldn't he calm down?

"Everything is alright, my child." Toriel said with a calm voice. "This is nothing. Your magic probably reacted to Papyrus' one earlier and needed to express itself. But you are fine, and your brother is fine. There's nothing to worry about. No one is hurt."

"No!" Sans screamed, jolting away from her hands, hysterical. "I could have killed you! My magic is unstable and dangerous and I could have killed you! Stay away from me! I can't do that! I can't do that, he said I can't do that and that I was dangerous! He said… He…"

"Sans, I believe you are having a panic attack. Can you tell me five things you see around you? Do it with me, please."

"No! I can't! I'm sorry!"

"Sans! Sans, no!"

Toriel couldn't be fast enough to catch him before he ran through the hole he made in the wall. The queen tried to follow him, but his blaster blocked the way, growling menacingly at what it thought was a menace. Sans heard Papyrus scream his name, but he didn't stop running. Straight. Still straight. Until his legs gave up on him.