#something tells me toriel might get suspicious

[akanemnon]

Sorry, Noelle... They're a little slow on the uptake.

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

#deltarune #undertale #crossover #crossover comic #utdr #deltarune fanart #undertale fanart #twin runes #twin runes comic #my art #kris dreemurr #frisk #deltarune susie #noelle holiday #aside from getting a glimpse into what kris does on a regular basis #now we know that both their parents are prrrrooooobably stuck in that dark world #something tells me toriel might get suspicious #if anyone gets the schedule reference I'll be hella proud #the bitten phone case makes a triumphant return #come on... it was too good not to keep even if the school project mini series isn't canon

[brewingcoffi]

Yay it will let me send asks now! Anyways how does clover react to all the changes on the surface? A LOT would have changed after all (especially if they were REALLY a cowboy)

Actually, I made separate concepts exploring Clover’s Homelife. Including the dialogue from In-game.

Concept 1.

If Clover was REALLY a Cowpoke (Yes, there IS a neutral word for Cowboys/girls, they’re also known as Wranglers or Ranch Hand!) then I would think that Clover depending if you wish to include Flowey from the previous posts about the AfterMath; Would be confused, but would also try to wander aimlessly trying to find their hometown/house, for they prioritize getting back home SOON as possible, the news about the human souls? The monsters? Those can wait.

I doubt anyone will notice a kid that has missing for a COUPLE of years, but I bet they will surely notice the sentient flower with a face of course. But since it’s [Insert what year you think.] I bet Clover and Flowey will be given suspicious stares and glances. They think it’s a Halloween costume 😭

Until maybe, somehow. Someone will recognize the child that looks awfully similar to the kid that disappeared in Mt. Ebott OR maybe someone realizes that KID has a REAL gun on their hands, maybe which may in a cause. Might get the police involved.

Fun fact: Me and a moot discussed that, when Frisk buys the Gun and Cowboy hat from Batty and Catty, they can have to option to return those two items back to Clover when they both meet again in a cutscene during Undertale.

Which of course made me split the scenario AGAIN, into 2 alternate time-lines.

Scenario 1. (Clover and perhaps Flowey get taken to the police station for questioning)

Or…

Scenario 2. (Clover and perhaps Flowey escape the police, making them wanted by the police.)

Take note, This AU takes place during the Pacifist Route of Clover, so Fighting the Police is a BIG NO NO.

(I also wanted to detail Flowey telling Clover to attack, like what happened between Chara and Asriel. Which reminded him about it.)

Either way, Both scenarios and concepts will only lead to ONE THING. Clover and Flowey get into Hiding.

This leads to Concept 2. Based on this information what on what could presumably Clover's home life be.

Concept 2.

This could be the reason why Clover was so PRONE to be able to get persuaded to stay with Toriel or ANYONE.

Clovers parents were probably poor and weren't treated right, which would make sense as to why Clover wants Justice. Or perhaps Clover didn't really HAVE parents and was probably in a cramped orphanage.

Nevertheless, Concept 2 digs into Clover's home issues. Even though I wish I could explain more, but in a short story.

Clover DOES find their house, there's only one floor, no windows, and it looks abandoned. Flowey questions it, and Clover shrugs and states ‘💛Always been like that.’ Making Flowey so DAMN suspicious about Clover's home life. And once Clover opens the door, it just all-in-one room, no walls to have privacy, just like Starlos house. But way more dirty, dusty, and cramped, there are some broken glass on the floor which Clover avoids, scattered garbage and papers, a typical thing you see for a hoarder type room.

Or Clover was just homeless kid who lived with poor and cramped conditions that they felt like they got robbed of something and wanted justice not for themselves but for others too.

Either way, Flowey takes notes of it and looks uneasy and nervous about Clover’s home life. Which causes Flowey to talk to them about the situation they are in.(Maybe making a fanfic or comic about the convo.)

#art #uty clover #uty #ut yellow #Uty Au #Undertale #undertale au #undertale yellow art #Undertale yellow #undertale yellow spoilers #clover #clover undertale yellow #flowey #flowey undertale #Undertale flowey #undertale yellow clover #undertale yellow au #Revived!Clover au #Revived! Clover Au #my au #my post #coffi answers #ask answered #character analysis #analysis #character study #uty spoilers #I think… #undertale yellow

[patchwork-crow-writes]

There's a lot of speculation about what the Chapter 3 secret boss will be based on, with people guessing things like something of Asriel's, such as the contents of his drawer you can look in, or the suspiciously-similar OC he designed on his computer, or even the TV Darkner itself.

But I don't really see anyone talk about something that jumped out at me almost from the beginning - Asgore's flowers that Toriel keeps throwing in the trashcan. And you might be all like "What? When did that happen? What even is that?" but hear me out a moment.

Long post under the read more!

So when in the Dreemurr's house at the beginning of each chapter, you can inspect the trashcan, and it'll mention that it's "emitting a pleasant floral scent". And you think nothing of that, because some people spray air freshener in their trashcans to stop them smelling bad. But by visiting Asgore at the end of Chapter 1, he'll give you Flowers, which you can give to Toriel, who mentions that she'll find somewhere "suitable" for them. Then in Chapter 2, inspecting the trashcan again reveals that the floral scent "has increased".

So this tells us that Asgore has been trying this for a while, and every time Toriel gets his flowers, they go straight into the trash. And I mean... yeah? They're divorced, seemingly in rather acrimonious circumstances, and while he'd quite like things to go back to how they were, she seems very much past it all. Seems like an understandable, if rather cold, response to unwanted advances from an ex.

So... what's the deal here exactly? Well, consider that darkners are beings born from objects in the light world that exist to serve some sort of purpose - namely, to serve lightners. And consider, also, that darkners are capable of becoming resentful should they become unable to serve this purpose and are abandoned - the prime example of this is King from Chapter 1. Finally, consider that all of the secret bosses up to this point have originated from items that are typically discarded - the Joker card for Jevil, a spam email for Spamton.

With me so far? Good, because it gets better.

Imagine a beautiful bouquet of flowers, painstakingly arranged with care, with the singular intention of winning back the love of somebody you wronged. Imagine that love and care suffused into the resulting darkner, eager to serve this purpose. Imagine they reach their intended target, how they might feel when they are met not with pleasure or gratitude, but weariness and scorn. Imagine the despair they must feel when they are thrown away, abandoned, never to fulfill their destiny, never to see the light ever again.

Now imagine this happening again. And again. And again. Day after day, week after week. Imagine the love of their creator turning to obsession as he tries anything and everything he can to win back his lost love. Imagine the increasing exasperation and disdain that his desperate efforts are met with time after time. Imagine being forced to absorb these incredibly intense and conflicting emotions as you are tossed upon a growing pile of your past selves, corpse upon corpse upon corpse, into a bottomless pit where life, love and optimism slowly putrefies into death, resentment and nihilism, where the only constant is that soon there will be more of your number to join you.

What kind of a darkner could possibly result from such a horrifying cocktail? And what would such a being do when ostensibly given a second chance by some... mysterious benefactor?

And that's even BEFORE you get into the whole Flowey parallels, with a plantlike being who becomes increasingly bitter and twisted as he loops through time again and again and again, and eventually becomes a monstrous godlike entity through the power of SOULS. A plantlike being that USED TO BE THE SON OF THAT GAME'S TORIEL AND ASGORE.

...if this doesn't convince you that those flowers are going to be Chapter 3's Secret Boss, then nothing will. And if they're NOT the Chapter 3 secret boss, my jimmies will be considerably ruffled. So there lol

#rambling #deltarune #theory #chapter 3 #secret bosses #Asgore #Toriel #flowey is mentioned

[themediummultiverseau]

Will papyrus ever be included in the storyline, maybe sans opening up to him about it, or he gets suspicious about sans's behavior and corners him or something?

Aaaand are there any prominent side characters that we'll see?

Papyrus notices that his brother has been leaving the house more, and at first, hes overjoyed! Sans was finally leaving the house! But, he realised after a while, that he always dodged the question as to where he was going. (Sans, being the secretive little fuck that he is, refuses to tell anyone about the ghosts.) Worried, Papyrus follows him one day, only to find him walking al the way to the park. And then he just stops, and starts talking to air.

Papyrus is CONCERNED (tm,) and goes back home to wait for Sans to come home. It takes him HOURS to come back, (he visits everyone he can,) and, when confronted, he once again try to avoid the questions.

Papyrus says he followed him, saw him talking to air, and was considering getting him professional help, his depression had been bad before, and if he was starting to see things now as well...

Sans is forced to tell the truth.

And he does. For the next few hours they sit and talk about the ghosts. Papyrus want to believe him, really, he does! But he cant help but still be worried, so says takes his phone out and googles "Nightmare - Prince" and shows him the results. He then goes through the lot of them, showing death reports, news articles, anything that appears really, and Papyrus finally believes him.

From then on, he insists Sans takes something for them every time he visits, and often makes them food to give (more often that not, its spaghetti,) and asks how they're doing. Sometimes, they go and Sans acts as a medium, for them, so Papyrus and the ghosts can talk directly.

Killer and Dream especially take a liking to him, while Dust is pretty scared of him (he looks way to much like his won brother its actually scary,) and always ask how he is when Sans comes without him.

Side characters.. It depends what you mean by that.

Every Sans you could ever want can exist here, they just might not haunt the town,

(i got lazy when drawing here, so its just a messy sketch but yk)

(Red - shot, epic - shrapnel, Fresh - car crash, Outer - fell)

Alternatively, most of the ghosts had family members, most of them had a Papyrus look alike, (Papyrus isn't reincarnated here, but every Sans deserves a Papyrus, even fate believes it so)

(Nim (Dream and Nightmares mother, Queen), Phantom (Dusts brother,) Horror had lots of siblings, ect...)

Buuut, while many of the original Undertale cast have been spread out throughout the years, Toriel, Chara and Frisk are all based in the present time.

Toriel, after the death of her son, adopts two kids, twins, who were considered "difficult" children, (really there were disabled, but why would they care about that, - Chara has some mental issues, and Frist is mute and has sight problems.) They're lovely kids , and they visit quite regularly, typically with their mother. Sans was named their Godfather (Papyrus was considered, but he told them Sans was a better choice, ) because Toriel knew he'd love them.

Sans and Toriel met at a comedy gig, both preforming on the same day, and became friends instantly over their shared love of stupid puns. (They're not together, this universe has no canonical relationships, everyting's platonic here, but ships are totally allowed and welcome if you wanted lol.)

Holy moly, that was a lot of work lmao, would you believe it, i dont think ive ever actually drawn Papyrus before? I have no idea why, just havent, ill have to do more so in the future cus hes fun.

Ive also never tried to draw anyone from the angle Sans is at in the first drawing, think it looks fine as long as you ignore the feet lol.

No, i didnt get lazy drawing the ghost in the first, it was a stylistic choice! /j /sarcasm, also, Hi, im Whisp, i hate backgrounds!)

Please excuse me attempt at drawing a wimple for Nim and the tricorned hat for Phantom, they're very difficult!

All of Horrors siblings there don't have names, they were just designed on the spot really, so if anyone has and names for them, ill take them on board!

But hope it all looks okay, this is all full of firsts lol. Have a lovely day everyone! :)

#sans au #undertale multiverse #undertale art #undertale au #undertale #bad sanses #classic sans #classic papyrus #papyrus #sans #undertale frisk #undertale chara #dreamtale au #dreamtale nim #dusttale papyrus #fell sans #fresh sans #outer sans #epic sans #horror sans #dust sans #cross sans #nightmare sans #killer sans #bad sans gang #MMAU #askthemmau TheMediumMultiverseAU

[amaranthineoceans]

Everything Weird About Deltarune!

Spoiler Warning for Undertale and Both Chapters of Deltarune! Really! I Literally Go Through Everything I Can Remember About Them!

This is a long post so get comfortable. Also note that my brain doesn't process thoughts into words very well so some of these might not be worded in the best way. :)

Deltarune. The first teaser chapter was released on October 31, 2018, and it came out of nowhere. We've all gone through this, but I'll try and go through every single painstaking detail I can remember. Feel free to reblog and add/correct things.

The weirdness begins right off the bat. The title is an anagram of UNDERTALE. We all know Toby likes to use anagrams when he wants to indirectly tell us when things are related, so it's no surprise that when you go to download DELTARUNE, it warns you that the game is designed for people who have played UNDERTALE. You think, "Cool, so it's a sequel? Or maybe a prequel? A different perspective of UNDERTALE perhaps?" You were wrong; so terribly, terribly wrong! I'll elaborate on this later.

Before you download the application, the terms of service that you must agree to beforehand reads simply and plainly, "You accept everything that will happen from now on." This detail was kinda brushed off in the beginning, because, hey, it's Toby Fox. He does weird stuff all the time. But even in the first chapter, it's apparent that the concept of choice, or more accurately, the lack of it, is a very present theme in the game. I would like to remind you that Toby has announced that there will be one ending in the game. One. I'll elaborate on this later.

The program (as in, what the game is called in your files) is named SURVEY PROGRAM. Why not just call it Deltarune like it is when you download chapter two?

The game launches you, without a title screen, without any setting adjustment options, straight into a reference to the theme of the entire franchise: the lack of choice. A strange formless voice guides you through "making a vessel", with what we know now as a fountain in the background. You have the option to make some very disturbing choices in this character creator, such as making its favorite flavor "pain" or expressing your feelings about it with options such as "fear" and "disgust." You name your "creation," tell the formless voice your name (which is different from your vessel's name) and watch as said formless voice muses over your name at an agonizing pace. It thanks you for your time and tells you that your wonderful creation, (cue music cutout and background removal) will now be discarded. "No one can choose who they are in this world." The screen slowly turns white as the voice says, "Your... name... is..."

It gets weirder. The next scene appears from the whiteness and showcases Toriel calling "Kris" out of bed. Kris' area of the room is very bare in contrast to the other side, which we later discover is Asriel's.

It's Toriel. Why is Toriel here?

Kris is kind of an anagram of Frisk (the protagonist of UNDERTALE) but without the F. I highly doubt this is a coincidence.

Speaking with Noelle is the only reason you can proceed (see what i did there?) while finding a partner in the classroom. This means you can't go through the 1st chapter without knowing who she is. Is it because of the Snowgrave route?

Ralsei is just suspicious to me. There's no way he was just waiting in that castle his whole life alone without some mental toil. So either he's insane or he wasn't alone the whole time. What happened? Is it related to how he can close his eyes and see what Susie is going through when she's apart from the party? Was he just watching everything? Is he related to the formless voice?

Susie's icon is the only one without color in the Dark World.

Jevil's fight is more difficult than Sans'.

Your actions have little consequence in the first chapter. If you choose to go genocide, the only difference in the ending is being run out of the kingdom, and this doesn't carry over to the next chapter. Again, lack of choice, people.

If at the end of chapter one, you walk around town, it's mentioned (notably by Noelle) that you're usually not this talkative. If you go to the hospital and speak with the receptionist, they mention that you used to play the piano in the corner. If you decide to attempt to play the said piano, an out-of-key bash can be heard and the receptionist comments on how you used to play beautifully. If you try this in chapter two, the result is the same. All this is confirmation that Kris is acting noticeably weird.

When you leave the Dark World and walk around town, you can find Sans. He "pretends" to recognize you, and if you tell him you recognize him, he tells you it's funny, considering that you two have never met before. He winks. I'm pretty sure he knows that the player is there.

The mention of Papyrus in both games, but the purposeful lack of him. Like he's avoiding you.

If you go upstairs while inside Asgore's flower shop, there are flowers in glass cases resembling his SOUL collection in UNDERTALE. There's a red flower.

You can't enter the church.

The clock in the storage closet shows a different time than all the others in the school.

If you go all the way south in town and into the woods, the music stops and you come across a rusty, double door is in a hill covered in crass. It's locked. If you go this way in chapter two, however, you watch a cutscene where you and susie happen to find Monster Kid from UNDERTALE (or someone resembling them) and an owl kid in front of the door. The owl kid is pressuring Monster Kid to (presumably) break inside, telling them that they don't want to be a wimp like Kris. Does this imply that Kris is connected to this strange door somehow?

The ending. You know what I'm talking about.

Did Kris actually rip out the SOUL (I say "the" because I'm not entirely sure it's Kris') and knife because they wanted to eat the pie? Did they only eat the pie because Toriel caught them?

Why did they look at the player? Are they sick of being controlled? Is that why they freaked out after the Spamton fight? (later)

Anyway, now we're at chapter two.

DELTARUNE Chapter Two was released on September 17th, 2021. 17. Entry Number 17. Sound familiar?

Asriel's part of the room is different from the last chapter. I don't think this means anything sinister, but I think it means Kris notices different things about the room as the story progresses. My theory is that it will become more sinister in each chapter.

Ralsei getting super excited to see Susie and Kris after a day. As in he has separation anxiety and it breaks my heart. not anything suspicious but it makes me sad so it's on the list.

Kris and Susie's rooms. Ralsei REALLY doesn't want them to leave. Seriously get this boy a therapist. Or a stuffed animal. SOMETHING.

Kris having to gather everything from the storage closet so that people appear in the Dark World????? Why??????????????? They had to do the same thing for the computer lab too.

The golden door. I don't trust it.

How/why the heck did Noelle and Berdley go into the Computer Lab Dark World? I don't see either of them just walking into pulsing void doors without Susie.

Apparently the knight has been gone for a bit and can corrupt people's minds? The king in the first chapter doesn't seem like he can be redeemed but Queen just seems,,, not bad, but a little crazy. I wonder what happened.

Then again, name ONE person in this franchise without trauma.

Spamton.

Horror doesn't bother me. Spamton? Spamton bothers me.

SPAMTON. ENOUGH SAID.

A Kromer is a type of hat invented in the '70s. Nobody named Mike is associated with it, that I can find.

SPAMPTON. HOW DO I EVEN DESCRIBE IT.

HIS SONG IS THE ONLY ONE WITH WORDS.

The way he asks Kris is they want to be a heart on a chain their whole life. Like, dude, no wonder they were screaming after the fight.

WHERE DID THE YELLOW HEART COME FROM. YELLOW MEANS JUSTICE. WHY DOES JUSTICE APPLY.

Kris screaming after the fight and the player not being able to hear it. Don't you dare tell me that's just how the game is designed. There are sound effects characters make throughout the game. None that I can think of apply to Kris, apart from when they rip their soul out.

Ralsei brushing off the Spamton fight. Either that's his coping mechanism or he was trying to shut Susie and Kris up to protect them from... something. I'll touch on that in a minute.

According to Queen, DETERMINATION is a key factor in creating a fountain.

Also according to Queen, Kris, Noelle, and Susie all have DETERMINATION SOULS.

Ralsei freaking out about Berdley making a fountain implies that he may also have DETERMINATION. Why I'm bringing all this up will make sense soon.

How was Noelle able to cast Snowgrave... a spell that she, according to her, didn't know?

The Snowgrave route is so twisted.

You manipulate Noelle into killing Berdley and then, when you get back to the computer lab and investigate his corpse, the text box says that he doesn't seem to be awake. As if you're in denial?

Burgerpants recognizes you. Not Kris. As in the player.

The ending. I don't think I need to describe it. Kris is very methodical without the SOUL. (I say "the" because, again, I'm not 100% convinced it's theirs.) I'm saying this about how they left clues that someone broke into the This proves that they are NOT a mindless, vengeful husk.

HOW DID THEY MAKE THE FOUNTAIN WITHOUT THE SOUL INSIDE OF THEM. DID THEY FEED THE SOUL TO IT AFTERWARDS? IS THAT WHAT THAT WAS?

Another point I would like to make is my theory that Ralsei knows much more than he would have us believe. I might put this into a different post because I have yet to gather my points into a coherent bullet point list, so keep an eye out for that.

Anyway apart from Toriel and Susie being VERY heavy sleepers, I think I've gone through everything. I have a few theories.

1. Kris is possessed by the player and figured out that they could make a fountain from Queen and related to Spamton freaking out about freedom. They then decided to make a fountain going by the logic that "this would tick the player off." This is one of my top theories that assumes that the SOUL is theirs.

And 2. Kris is possessed by both the player and the knight. I think the formless voice at the very beginning of the game is the knight, and they somehow needed the player to possess someone with DETERMINATION. If so, then why Kris? We know from Queen that Noelle and Susie, and maybe even Berdley also have DETERMINATION. The most plausible thing I can think of is the fact that human souls are stronger than monster ones.

I do think that the popular theory (about the one that suggests that the Dark Word is nothing but a figment of a child's imagination, and the events that occur in said Dark World are simply children playing with toys) has been thoroughly dashed due to Berdley's murder in the genocide route of the second chapter. Unless he's not dead. Regardless, how the events (or lack thereof) that occur in the second chapter play through the next will be interesting, especially considering Toby's announcement about how there will be one ending to the game. So either Berdley isn't dead, or he will be.

Aaaand I think that's it! Sorry for the long post; let me know your thoughts and if I missed anything!

#deltarune #deltarune chapter 2 #deltarune theory #deltarune theories #deltarune chapter two theory #deltarune chapter two theories #snowgrave #pipis route #deltarune snowgrave #video games #indie game #deltarune spoilers #ralsei #kris #susie #undertale #sans

[moved10-17-22]

Warning! Deltarune Ch 2 Spoilers ahead!

So chapter two has left us with more questions than answers.

Here are my thoughts and questions regarding some things.

So Kris seems to be the knight, but for some reason King, Queen, and others don't recognize him? Does that have something to do with him not having his soul at those times?

Ralsei is SUPER sus. He knows about the town and school. He knows about the school's layout. He knows about how darkners appear in the light world. He can somehow travel between dark worlds? And is able to survive in other dark worlds while other darkners cannot? He also only tells you about the world ending after Susie, Kris, Noelle, and Birdly decide to expand the dark world. That seems suspicious that he wouldn't tell us right off the bat like he did with the original prophecy. Why not tell us the whole thing to begin with? Is he a Lightner? I don't think he could be Asriel, because Kris should recognize him if he was.

Queen might be Lancer's mom? He calls her "a wild mom" but at the same time, he isn't always clear with the way he talks. And if she is, then how? As it was established that darkners from one world can't survive in a different one.

Asriel has a room in the Queen's castle. So he apparently has been to this dark world. But if it's new, then how would that work?

The man behind the tree gave us another egg. Is he Gaster? If so, then what does he get out of giving us eggs???

Gaster seems to be connected to Kris/the knight. King, Queen, and Jevil all speak about the knight and Seam mentions that Jevil meeting the knight is why he went mad. However there are similarities between Spamton and Jevil's interactions that lead to their madness. Spamton's phone call that was "Nothing but garbage noise" is most likely Gaster, as Gaster's noise on our own phone is referred to as the same thing.

Noelle's sister seems to be dead? She mentions it just being her and her mom to her dad, her breakdown when asked to spell "December" in the spelling bee, and her seeming somewhat sad when talking about Dess leads me to believe something happened. I wonder what that was. If I recall correctly, in Undertale, it's just Noelle and Dess who are known to be alive. Rudy was mentioned to have passed by Asgore and their mother has never been mentioned. It's interesting to see the differences.

Something happened with the bunker when Kris was younger. Maybe that's what connects him to Gaster? The sound the bunker makes IS Gaster's noise slowed down.

Susie definitely doesn't seem to have a good home life. She's always hungry, seems genuinely surprised when people care about her, doesn't want to be near her apartment building, doesn't bother to call her parents, and so much more. It just seems so sad.

Undyne and Alphys finally met! Glad to see that they are just as gay for each other here as they are in Undertale.

Madstablook may like Asgore? At least I'm assuming that's who was speaking at Napstablook's house, as the repeating dialogue seems more like them than Mettaton.

Apparently Kris just "does this"? Like they disappear for long periods of time and that's considered normal? Alphys also tells Toriel they're normal, though maybe that's because Kris was standing right there?

Toriel is definitely a mom to all. I love her, lol.

Why did Kris open the door and turn on the TV before creating the fountain? Why did he slash the car tires?

Why does he keep removing the soul? If it was because he dislikes our control, then why would he willingly put it back?

#deltarune chapter two #delta rune #deltarune #deltarune ch 2 #deltarune chapter 2 #deltarune spoilers #deltarune chapter 2 spoilers #deltarune chapter two spoilers

[sorio99]

Deltarune Chapter 2: Live Thoughts

So, since the new chapter of Deltarune came out, I've played it all the way through, so, here are my thoughts as I had them. Basically a live-blog, but, not live anymore, I wrote these in my notes app before.

NOTE: Obviously there are going to be ALL THE SPOILERS for Deltarune Chapter 2 in this, as well as Chapter 1. Reader discretion is advised.

Wow, okay, so I was wrong about it being immediately explained.

Various descriptions have changed, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the change to a new game, or the one to a new chapter.

I feel like Berdly is definitely a m’lady guy.

Okay, so, we’re not skipping class this time.

I really wish we could call Toriel and tell her we’re gonna be late again, but I couldn’t see an option for that. Maybe Kris told her on the ride to school.

Okay, so, Noelle is definitely adorable, and a huge lesbian.

Susie seems lovestruck too, kinda.

SHE HAD CHALK, AND SHE DIDN’T TELL ALPHYS BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT SHE AND SUSIE COULD GO GET IT TOGETHER OH MY GOD

Okay, honestly wasn’t expecting the closet to work again.

Fricking LOVE the new transition.

Okay, so, Ralsei knows about, the real world? How, why, and what?

Oh, that, makes, a little sense? But also, if we hadn’t brought the toys over to the closet then, would they all be, dead?

AND WHAT IS RALSEI IN THIS CONTEXT?!?!

Okay, but I love the new town.

Holy shit, save points have storage, AND a spare list? Hell yeah.

So, we’re all level 2 now. I guess they moved from EXP based (or, execution point based?) to Milestone.

Love the basement for bad guys, with K. Round standing guard.

Bitch said “Child abusers live in Hamster Cage”.

Wait, he uses the hamster wheel?

I don’t know if I believe the king about his “bluff” or not. I think not, but, I don’t know.

I can see the “Susie moves to Ralsei’s castle to escape her abusive home” fic already.

RALSEI GAVE KRIS A TRASHCAN, AND SAID IT WAS FOR THE MANUAL IF HE GIVES US ANOTHER ONE OH MY GOD IM SO SORRY MY SWEET FLUFFY BOY

And of course, the moss call-back.

Oh god, Susie just said “My own room, huh.” and my heart is ready to shatter.

This girl has one actual food item in her fridge, and it’s just salsa

Oh, scratch that, there’s ice, crumbs, and jawbreakers in there too?

Oh, okay, Ralsei did give her actual food.

Entering Lancer’s room gives the cartoon Splat sound effect from Chapter 1, and his bedroom is identical to Chapter 1.

Perfect.

And the sound effect, plays in reverse when leaving? Okay.

So, explore until we’re ready to leave, huh? Seems, suspicious.

Oh my god, I just realized, the LightCandy is literally the chalk Noelle gave Susie. What the fuck.

So, for giving the Top back his cake, we get regenerating SpinCake that heals everyone for 140. Nice.

Battle challenges, huh? This should be interesting.

So, we can get a ClubsSandwich, $100, or…Jigsaw Joe’s entire life savings. Okay.

Aw, Clover has separate heads in their dialogue box!

Just realized this “dojo” also has their bed. Odd.

Alright, let’s take these challenges!

Oh, so if we act with Kris, than spare with Ralsei or Susie…got it!

He has a mercy meter. There’s a mercy meter now. I love this.

Oh, of course his life savings is exactly one dollar.

I can already tell the Graze challenges are gonna be the biggest bitches.

Okay, so, being able to rematch bosses, with different gimmicks and attacks, but based on the same logic? Always amazing.

I love the little cut-ins from the other characters with certain lines, like Susie and Lancer revealing “for a price” means zero dollars.

“Cookie and Wife”?

The Blacksmith runs a bakery where he can fuse items…okay.

Imma get a Silver Card.

What the fuck, Mr. Society?

Okay, so, we’re “leaving” through the way we came in, so “surely” we’re going back “home” to the “real world” and our “family”. Sure.

LANCER was added to your key items.

Oh was he now?

And so was Rouxls, “even though no one wanted that.”

Oh, we, actually went back to the light world. Huh. Actually wasn’t expecting that.

Jack of Spades, and the Rules Card. Makes sense.

Still LV 1 here, thankfully. No murder yet.

Okay, thankfully I can call Toriel now.

…Undyne, what the fuck?

Also? This, car horn music, I guess? Is, um…interesting.

Oh, the, computer lab. Where Toby was in Chapter 1. Okay. Makes sense.

“Guess this means we can’t start our project.” I’d say the biggest obstacle is more that we have no clue what the hell this project is supposed to be.

Hmm, we could use the computer at my house, or we could have a fun Toby Fox adventure…

My house!

I knew Susie wouldn’t allow it, also, you always wanna jump in big pits? That’s, worrying.

Computer lab time!

So, computer themed, maybe?

Rouxls jumped out, apparently. According to Lancer.

Okay, this build up is creepy, where’s the fluffy boy?!

Who is SHE?!

Was

Was that Noelle’s chatter sound?

Asking for help?

OH MY GOD

ITS THE REINDEER LESBIAN

SHES BEEN TAKEN

NOOOO

And, I suppose, this must be, our queen.

Q5U4EX7YY2E9N. Sure. I’ll stick with Queen, yeah.

Oh, she’s a computer! That…that’s probably not, great?

Oh, those plugs are bad, brainwashers. Okay.

Okay, they’re both tired…but Ralsei isn’t here. Fuck.

Aiming at moving targets is hard.

2 Werewires spared, only 4 to go, I guess!

RALSEI IS BACK, YAY!

Fun Gang, back together, working to save Susie’s soon-to-be-girlfriend!

Rhythm game to start a new bumping song. Nice.

Might live blog less from here, since, you know, the game is starting proper.

God, I love Deltarune’s look and sound, it’s so clean? And expressive, and AAAGH, I just love it!

I love angry Ralsei.

First lose control laughing moment: Kris and Susie squishing Ralsei like a toothpaste tube, to play an arcade game.

Did, did I just play Punch-Out inside an Undertale?

Curing computer viruses with Syringes…sure.

Sweet is the rhythm guy! Nice to meet you, Sweet! You and Toby are great at this music thing.

Hey, Susie can act now! Awesome!

Ralsei too, because of bullying! Yay!

Now the whole gang’s dancing!

(This is where I took my first real break, to process stuff and relax, and also to sleep)

In between thought: it’s kinda interesting that, in Chapter 1, Susie basically had to be forced to care about Kris, Ralsei, and Susie, but as soon as Noelle is in the slightest bit of danger, she’s immediately like, “We have to save her or die trying”, huh?

“Reverse diss-tracks, where the vocalist puts themselves down and praises Queen…or noise music.” That’s some, interesting taste in music.

“All our songs are only 4 seconds long!” Damn, so you’re, like, Vine musicians?

So, the Knight is opening alternate fountains, that create dark worlds out of, more mundane places? Interesting…

So, someone new is leading the rebels. This, can’t go well.

Smorgasbord 2.

Oooh, a TP raising Item! Nice!

Oh, the guy who was already working for Queen is a Werewire now. Okay.

66 up arrows. Hmmm, I wonder if I can retry at some point…

Oh boy. Here’s the queens…wait what?

Oh my god.

Go kart time.

Noelle, you traitor! How could you!

Oh, okay. Berdly I believe more.

Also, “beloved”.

I love how Queen apparently didn’t even ask him.

“Light Nerds” Good one, Queen.

That’s one weird Check for Berdly.

Berdly, for God’s sakes, Noelle is a lesbian, you idiot.

You know, given this villain rant, I think I hate Berdly more than I do King. And I’ve dealt with both bullies AND abusive dads.

Oh god, Roller Coaster Tycoon murder (also Berdly is dead)

Garbage! Saved by it again.

Oh, this place looks glitchy.

Also, Susie, you’re not the king of the trash pile. You’re QUEEN of the trash pile.

Oh god, please don’t tell me she’s dying.

Okay, good, she just needed fluffy boy hug.

Fork in the path, advantageous to split up, huh? But there’s three of us, and, two paths probably.

Okay, I can either go with the Fluffy boy who might secretly be evil, or the mean girl who might get lesbian scenes…hmmm…

I’m flipping a coin.

Okay, Ralsei it is!

Oh, Susie is upset at me getting to pick.

Oh, they’re going together.

Oh, this can’t be good.

If I had a nickel for every indie game with a cat themed metropolis on my pc, I’d have two nickels. You can finish the meme.

I swear I just saw Noelle on the right. Something big in the streets, hmmmm…

Okay, definitely saw Noelle that time. Shame the Poppups, popped up.

…I get it, Toby, but I’m still mad.

Blocked 10 ads…okay, I still love this game.

God, I’m already missing my party members.

Okay, so I still have Lancer, but, I’m really hoping Noelle listens to reason, because Lancer is, not.

Oh god no, don’t fight me now Queen. And please don’t join me.

Alright, nobody likes Berdly. Figured.

God they’re so dumb.

“G-got any room for another truce?” Noelle, I would do a No Mercy run for you, of course I’m going to help you.

I can’t believe “No Triple Trucies” is even an option.

Yay! Noelle in party!

“LV1 Snowcaster. Might be able to use some cool moves.” She’s got Heal Prayer, a more powerful (but more expensive) Pacify, and a damaging Ice move for only 16% TP.

I love her.

I don’t know what a sugarplum is myself, actually.

Noelle, you have a one track mind, and I like it.

Lancer, she’s not a cream, and we’re not making her a bad guy.

Oh, and she’s scared of mice, I love it!

Ah, she’s never been in battle before, let’s see how this goes.

See? That wasn’t so bad, Noelle.

Oh, she’s a natural!

“Needles aren’t scary…” Tell that to anyone under 20, Noelle.

Also, “subtle” pro-Vax message?

Oh my god, I just love her animations.

So, the virus and the syringe are fighting…hm…

Okay, so, first, Noelle’s defend animation, also perfect.

Second, so Ambyu-lance’s bullets block and destroy Virovirokun’s…hmm…

Have I mentioned how much I love Noelle? This funky little Christmas Lesbian can do no wrong.

Oh my god, she can’t even confidently say we’re friends, and hearing Kris say it makes her happy, I love her so much.

Okay, so, Queen drinks Battery Acid. Makes sense for a computer.

Kris is so done with this shit, I can tell.

I am both scared of and loving Queen.

Oh Jesus Christ Berdly what the fuck is that.

That is not greatness that is…I don’t know. I’m pretty sure even tumblr isn’t horny for you, Berdly.

Christ, he’s gonna break Queen by being an idiot and then he’ll be the Chapter boss.

Her eyes say lying. Of course.

“I Did Not Know You Had… Nipples” that’s, a good point.

…Berdly, you disturb me.

Second lost control laughing moment: Noelle’s cardboard robot face, and Queen just saying “Wow Cool Face”

Lancer, what is the “illusory nipple technique”?

Oh, of course the music bots built the statue. Berdly would never do manual labor.

Oh, and, they built the next “big” thing…hmmmm…

Why are we, flavors of tea???

Okay, that should be all the werewires for now.

The, clothing store, sold me, a useless mannequin, for $300. Of course.

I am going to touch the cheese.

Maus!

Cheese maze, purposely ruined to spare more Mices.

Hmm, Berdly talks about Noelle’s crush. $20 says he actually thinks it’s him, or maybe Kris at a stretch.

Noelle is now immune to mice! Yay!

Oh, CD Bagel, Seedy Bagel, just got that.

Okay, sacrifice pacifist run to kill Berdly…I’m tempted.

Uh, Berdly, Noelle just one shot both your allies. I’m not alone, you are.

Jokes on you, buddy, I’ve been dodging A+ for years!

“(He hit me in the face with a tornado…)” Yes, Noelle, and I have papercuts on my eyelids. He do be an asshole.

Oh good, they both made Battery Acid Pies. Now we’re in a car together. Perfect. This is exactly how I wanted things to go.

Potassium

Who is this trash man?

Spamton, huh. Oh boy.

Oh god, this song has lyrics.

Oh joy, a mini boss on my own. Just what I wanted.

Oh, new game over screen! Nice.

Anyways, I hate this guy.

Okay, just one more deal, I think. I wonder what’s next.

I’m not giving you my credit card info, dude.

Oh damnit, 1% more.

Okay, I’m very scared now.

Oh, I lost $51. That’s, fair.

Okay, back in the car.

Oh my god, Queen loves Noelle too. Perfect.

Lancer took the mixtape! Nice!

Oh, he ate it…nice!

DECEMB…

Oh god she’s a little kid.

December.

I’m so sorry, Noelle. I really hope you’re going to be okay. We’ll figure out what to do.

Queen, why does everything you have explode?

Now the prize is on my head.

Susie and Ralsei! You’re back!

She can slightly heal me now…cool!

And she taught him Sarcasm. I love them all so much.

Uh, Susie! You can have it!

Okay, so, now Susie is both gay for Noelle, and suspicious of her. Amazing.

And Noelle is turned on by the threat of being killed. Have I mentioned I love these dorks?

The gang’s all here!

Uh, just got past fireworks, and, where’s Noelle?

Oh, okay. She was just watching Fireworks.

Oooo, catching mice minigame!

Oooo, more elaborate but simpler to control mice minigame!

Oooo, bucket hole!

Also, nice gay Noelle moment noted.

Oh no, please don’t take the perfect girl away from us!

Okay, so, I don’t like Berdly, but, Acid river? Bit much…

Oh, okay. He was never in danger. I hate both of you. GIVE US BACK NOELLE

GOD DAMNIT NOT THE CAGE AGAIN.

Oh, great, now we’re captured too. Except possibly Ralsei.

She only plays mobile games. Burn her.

For once Berdly is correct.

Queen, you are dumb.

Is that the super Mario world fade?

I don’t, next question.

No looking at my Search history!

Oh, hey, we can chat in here.

LANCER TIME!

YES I MISSED YOU YOU DOPE

Lancer, never say Pants hole again, and never say you were inside it either.

Lancer, do you still not know our name?!

So this is how they lampshade the tutorial-Toriel thing, huh?

Oh no, Lancer, please don’t die in here.

Um, are there rooms for all the kids at school?

Asriel…

Puzzle time!

Plot twist: Susie is not Susan.

Berdly is dumb.

Admittedly, I did brute force that second one a bit…

Okay, now Susie has outsmarted both me AND Berdly. This is sad.

Oh god, he’s gonna cry now.

Oh, my god, that’s what December meant. That’s why Berdly cares about Noelle. That’s why…oh god.

Oh wow, Susie’s a gamer. This is incredible Lore.

Oh wow, first Lancer’s face returns, now Berdly is Anime. I love this game.

Oh my god, Ralsei in a tux. I love him.

Alright, so, Lancer needs to go back to Castle Town, and we need to get the heck to Noelle. I hope Berdly’s plan actually works…

Aw, I wanted him to stay tuxedo…

Color Cafe, huh?

Oh god, Rouxls came here. I am terrified.

I love this hype manor song!

Toby Fox, why is there so much 3D Shenanigans in this 2D Top Down RPG???

Note: from here, I end up going to the secret of this chapter. Do not read if you don’t want to be spoiled on that plotline. Skip to where I say Pancake Batter.

Okay, I’m going back, and I’m gonna find this third blue check mark.

Okay, found it, now to get back to the guy…

Yay, fireworks, again!

East treasure’s hallway leading to Basement on 1F…

Oh dear.

So there’s a secret here after all…where is…

Found it!

Okay, how to open this lock, now…hm.

Well, one thing was in the field, so, maybe in the city?

Oh Jesus it’s Spamton.

$28, not a penny more.

KeyGen, huh…

If this is as hard as Jevil, I’m gonna be pissed.

Oh, great, just Kris going in. Again. Fantastic.

Oh what the fuck.

Oh Jesus Christ I hate this build up.

Oh, and I died on the elevator. That’s fun.

Okay, so I hate this elevator. A lot.

Okay! Took like six tries, but I made it past the elevator! Now, let’s see what’s waiting for me…

EmptyDisk…hmmmmmmmm…

Maybe take that back to Scamton or whoever?

…Ralsei, Susie, what are you two doing?

Okay, trash man, you better like this.

Oh Jesus Christ.

Okay, this is not what I expected to follow Jevil’s lead. But, let’s see what happens when I turn this disk in.

Oh, nothing happened. Sure it did. Just gonna walk away then…

Oh, wouldn’t you know it, something happened!

Okay, so big puppet robot man. This is terrifying.

THANK YOU SUSIE!

Roller coaster boss! Again! Oh good!

YELLOW SOUL!

Can’t write notes, gotta kill.

Spamton, oh my god. And it’s Neo’s outfit. How the fuck did I not realize before?

Im terrified, let’s GOOOOOO!

Holy shit is that the Undertale Game Over message??????

Many tries later

Okay, I think it’s actually Ralsei and Susie talking…

Quitting the game so they can get their healing items out of storage and buy some good ones extra later

Okay, third turn, and I’ve only been hit once! Granted, it did almost 50 damage to Susie, but, still, doing better this time!

Even more death later

Did he just, attack himself?

Is he surrendering?

I…I did it! I did it in one sitting! Minus quitting so I could grab healing items that did more than 40 HP!

Oh, he killed him by freeing him…….okay.

Dealmaker, huh? Let’s see what this bad boy is…

+4 defense, +5 magic (even on Kris?), and $+30%…”and…?”

Okay, Ralsei, you get that, Susie get’s Jevilstail, and I get many questions.

Alright, now back to the actual plot!

Oh…Kris has goosebumps, and Susie’s asking if they’re okay…no. I’m saying no.

I love these two so much. Now let’s save the adorable lesbian.

Pancake Batter. Alright, we’re good.

Sorry, Noelle, got distracted.

Mouse wheel!

Tasque manager helped!

Man, this room is big and empty, with an odd exit door and screens on the north wall. Hmmmm…

Toby!

Thank you annoying dog!

Okay, I still love this music. Just wanted to say that. Anyways, PROGRESS!

We’re tea covered now. Except Susie. She’s tea filled.

Oh god, I don’t trust Berdly with Susie.

God, Knight teased.

Duck ride with Fluffy Boy.

Okay, so, puzzle time, methonk.

High Five!

More duck ride!

Ralsei, do you wanna do the kissy?

Oh boy.

Oh jeez.

Oh damn.

Rouxls.

Ralsei, you read my mind.

Oh Jesus it’s the tank from the first game.

Okay, so, we, take houses? Okay.

I can’t believe some people thought this dork was Gaster.

Wow, I beat him in like 3 and a half turns because I blocked him in.

Another God Dammit because SOMEONE didn’t pay attention to what happened to Lancer.

His head is still blue…

Hey, Camera! Peace signs and hugs!

Mostly hugs.

Yay, more Susie and Noelle time!

Oh my god, my heart is breaking.

Okay, I love these adorable girls.

Oh boy, this is, weird.

“Point and hearts come out” or “Eat moss”. The choice of a generation.

Fair point, Susie.

She likes scary things, huh.

Kinky

Have I mentioned how much I love these two? Because I do.

Susie and Noelle are best girls ever, no objections.

Oh good, Berdly, don’t ruin this completely, okay?

I fucking knew it.

Noelle, you’re going to kill him, and that’s okay with me.

Susie, stop squishing him like toothpaste!

Oh boy, I get big “final boss” energy right now…

Werewerewire?!

Okay, so I just stole from Noelle’s room.

Okay, boss time.

Shit, I should’ve healed up.

Okay, so, I died, but, I can fix that!

So, this boss is calling back to how the town’s internet has gone out, a fact I didn’t even learn until watching other content last night when I should have been sleeping, because I forgot to talk to Alphys during the brief chance I had.

Also, now both she and Ralsei have made reference to the real world outside…hmmmm…

So I guess the plot is about Google search being evil…yeah that checks out.

Bitch, did you just funny runny way?

Hmm, I’d say 50/50 odds of him being a drama Queen vs. him trying to trick Susie into caring about him.

Yep, he’s trying to score a kiss. Berdly…get a job.

Alright, let’s save Noelle, and possibly the whole town.

The “Roaring” Knight?

Oh god, the determination…who is this Knight, what is going on, and how involved are we?

Wait wait wait wait wait wait WAIT

When she described the Knight making more darkness, she said they took their blade, and showed an image of a knife. Was…was this…

HOLY SHIT IS KRIS’S NIGHT SELF THE KNIGHT?!?!

Oh. It was a giant robot. Not a statue.

Susie’s dancing!

Oh yeah, he can fly.

Resistance! Yay!

Okay, so, we sentai up in this bitch.

I wonder how the hell this story would go if we didn’t go pacifist then? Because in Chapter 1, all that really changed was how the boss was defeated in the cutscene, and like a couple details later. This is, a lot more than that.

Okay, so, three rounds of HP, punch out for her turns, just keep attacking. Got it.

Two rounds down, one to go!

Yes, eat your own Baseball, bitch!

Oh, suicide attack. Well it was just a robot.

Oh. She still has us.

Oh fuck the robot is Noelle’s mom. Fuck.

Okay, so, Queen is dead.

Oh fuck, don’t take over the world with darkness all of you, please.

The Roaring?

Oh fuck, new legend lore.

Titans, Fountains, enveloping the land in devastation. Oh jeez.

Lost eternally in an endless night…that’s not paradise. That’s hell.

QUEEN IS ALIVE?!?! AND DIDN’T KNOW ANY OF THAT?!?!

Thank you, Susie!

Okay, that’s a good ending for a second chapter, it’s dark fountain time!

Susie, please don’t turn evil.

…

And, we’re in the computer lab!

Wait, Ms. Boom? Does, does Gerson have a daughter, or wife?

Lost control laughing #3: this

I love this game so much. Time to explore town again.

Okay, Alphys does crush on Undyne still, at least.

Oops, I just let all the prisoner dogs out.

Awww, Undyne likes Alphys too!

Napstablook, I love you.

Oh shit, Asgore used to be a pig?

Oh god, this Rudy storyline is gonna be depressing all the way through, huh?

Susie, can we steal the tower of the gods?

Hey, we can actually go back to Ralsei’s dark world?!

Okay, this is gonna be interesting.

Oh thank god, we can save in the epilogue now, cool.

Oh cool, King and Queen together.

Oh my god he calls her Queenie Beanie. I love this.

So, a card and a computer fucked to make Lancer, who is a card. Okay.

Okay, so Lancer DOES know Kris’s name! Just not Ralsei’s!

New battle challenges! Yes!

Might save “Ch. 2 All-stars” for another time, though…

Perfection is the mannequin reaction.

Oh my god there’s a dedicated room for listening to music I love this

Alright, time to skedaddle back to the real world.

Okay, so Alvin is Gerson’s son, and he’s depressed. Fun.

Oh, MK and Snowy are by the creepy bunker. That’s…fun.

Okay, so, Susie scared them off after they insulted Kris, because Kris said something about the bunker…hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

Hey, Nice Cream Guy is one of the Ice-E’s employees! Nice!

Ah, PizzaPants. Never change.

Oh hey, it’s the little guy, who’s clone is a Gaster follower. And the bird guy’s still in the library, and the donut guy is still in his car…

Hey, Catty and Bratty are becoming friends again! Cool!

Omg, Sans’s store is open. Do I…go in?

Hell yes I do!

Okay, so, Grillby’s music still, but, different interior. Interesting…

Sans, a day and 2 years in this game are not equivalent. It’s a day and 3 years.

The trousle grows further away.

Oh jeez Susie’s been drinking the milk. Oh god.

Cool, Susie’s seeing Onion too!

Oh, never mind.

A song is coming from deep under the water…either Shyren is involved, or this is gonna take a turn.

See you, Su-

Oh! Hey mom! Meet Susie!

Pie for all!

Oh my god, Susie, my heart is breaking.

Okay, so Alphys and Toriel know about the chalk. That, kinda makes Susie thinking she’d get expelled for it, really depressing.

Okay, so, Toriel and Susie are gonna make Pie together, that’s cool. Still, pretty worried about, Kris.

Uh, I just ran the sink, and, uh…

WHAT THE FUCK

OKAY SO MY SOUL IS UNDER THE SINK, KRIS WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHY IS IT BLACK OUT THE WINDOW WHERE ARE YOU GOING

WHAT THE FUCK

…so we get a cute scene with Susie and Toriel, then Susie asks where Kris is and…they do this sometimes?

I’m very concerned.

Okay, Toriel is concerned too, enough to say “hell”. Even Susie is shocked.

Okay, so, they’re coming back, uh, okay, this isn’t good, right?

Stopped the faucet, opened the drawer, and…we’re back?!

Kris what the fuck are you doing

And why couldn’t we find Asgore in the town?

Okay, so, we’re all sleeping in the living room. I, guess tomorrow’s the weekend, probably? I don’t know?

Susie, doesn’t have caring parents, I guess?

Oh god, Susie wants them to come to our world, but, Lancer is a playing card, he can’t…I don’t know. I’ll say it’s “far-fetched”.

There’s a festival, apparently. This seems…suspicious.

I’d take Ralsei, so you could take Noelle.

She’s asleep.

That, might not be good, in this context.

Okay, so, we’re asleep too, I think?

Oh god, Toriel’s tires are slashed, that can not be good, in any way.

Okay, night time, Toriel and Susie are asleep…now what are you doing, Kris?

That, knife…

Okay, so, yep, they’re the Knight, and they just opened Darkness in their living room. This is, not, good. And, the tv’s on, and the door’s unlocked…

What the fuck is happening?

Ending credits song sounds, techno? Is this more of Don’t Forget? Or a remix? I hear the lyrics at least.

“To be continued in Chapter 3” OH IT BETTER BE, TOBY

So, yeah, that's Deltarune Chapter 2. In conclusion: this explains nothing, raises 120% more questions, and overall is still an incredible, wonderful game. I also like how each Chapter so far has been almost as long as a full play through of Undertale, and yet we're still somehow only 2 sevenths of the way through. Oh yeah, did I not mention? After completing it, it brought me to a chapter select with SEVEN DIFFERENT CHAPTERS, only two of which were available. So, you know. THAT'S FUN!

In actual conclusion, please play this game, it's free, it's amazing, and also buy the soundtrack on Bandcamp so Toby can make some kinda living.

#deltarune #deltarune spoilers #deltarune chapter 2 #deltarune chapter two #deltarune chapter two spoilers #deltarune liveblog #shut up sorio #I have so many more thoughts #just give them a while to coalesce into something coherent

[songfell-ut]

I give up, here’s Chapter 17

I should’ve posted this a week ago, but I’ve been like “nuuu it’s cool no one minds a 25,000-word chapter” and yeah here’s only 15k that I finally split off into its own thing. Chapter is here, hi @lostmypotatoes

The Grand Hall lived up to its name: Frisk had never been to the nicer parts of the humans’ castle, but there was no way it could be more amazing than this place, which had a ceiling hundreds of feet tall blanketed with tiny lights, speckled marble columns that reached nearly all the way up, and beautiful murals on the walls showing forests, rivers, even the ocean! Monsters stood in long lines along a central aisle of sparkling white sand, so new that it had obviously been made for the humans’ visit, stretching up a gentle slope to the foot of the grand staircase leading into the Underground.

Queen Toriel had taken Frisk from the house in the Ruins through a snowy town – how did it snow inside the mountain? – and on her first-ever boat ride, which ended all too soon in a place called “Waterfall”; from there, they hurried down to the Grand Hall just in time for the Royal Guard to announce the human delegation. Luckily, instead of having to walk through all those monsters, they used a partly-hidden network of hallways to emerge right at the head of the staircase. Toriel gave the child one more pat, telling her to be good and stay where she was, before the Queen walked out to take her place beside Asgore, nodding to the guards.

Frisk was glad she didn’t have to talk to the King yet; he looked like a bigger, hairier, scarier version of his wife or son, scowling and fidgeting around until Toriel cleared her throat. They stood just in front of Prince Asriel, who noticed the child and gave her a friendly nod before he turned to face the aisle. Frisk crept out far enough to look around the rest of the cavern, wondering why humans talked about the Underground as if it was some kind of filthy mudhole. It was such a beautiful place, with boat rides and snow and twinkling lights…

Something like trumpets sounded, and the Grand Hall’s enormous bronze gates swung open. The monsters all put on their politest expressions as the delegation came through the entrance and headed up the aisle, with the frontmost humans stopping at the bottom of the staircase. “Greetings,” boomed King Asgore, extending his arms and flaring his purple cape out like great wings. “Welcome to the Underground, one and all!”

On cue, the monsters broke into cheers and applause. As the echoes faded, a fussy-looking human stepped forward to give a long speech about greetings and honor and honorable blah blah blah; it was starting to get boring when he was cut short by a cry of “Mama!” and someone rushing past him.

“Chara!” Forgetting her dignity, the Queen of monsters hitched up her robe to run to her estranged daughter. They nearly crashed into each other halfway down the stairs, Toriel’s crown falling askew as the human leapt into her embrace. There was a lot of murmuring and more genuine applause, which swelled into a full ovation as Toriel sank to her knees, holding on as though her child was drowning and her arms were a life preserver.

Asriel had also hurried down to meet his sister, and Asgore was starting toward them when it happened: Chara looked up for the briefest second, and when she saw Frisk near the head of the stairs, the woman’s eyes flashed sheer hatred, as though she wanted her dead on the spot.

Frisk jerked back so hard that she stumbled and nearly fell. When she caught her balance, she found herself looking down at Asgore; he was staring at Chara, and followed the woman’s gaze back up to Frisk. For a long second, the King regarded the human child with a question in his eyes, as though he wanted to say something, but knew better; then Chara was all teary smiles again, hugging Asriel and extending an arm to “Papa!”

The applause grew even louder as Asgore joined them, parents and siblings joyously reunited, and Frisk could have cried with rage. Why did Chara have to hate her for being there when she was lucky enough to have her own perfect family? Couldn’t Frisk have had more than a couple of minutes with those wonderful monsters before Chara stole them back?

It was too much. The child sniffled, and turned to trudge back down the hallway, trying not to think of what her mother was going to say when she found out where Frisk had been.

But as she approached the branching path that led to the Grand Hall floor, she came to a sudden halt: someone further down the hall was shouting, “I’M TELLING YOU, IT IS DEFINITELY THIS WAY!”

“sure, bro,” another person mumbled, his deeper voice echoing up the passage.

“SANS, PLEASE! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE CORRECT DIRECTION THIS TIME! THERE IS NO NEED TO LOOK AT ME IN THAT TONE OF VOICE!”

“relax, pap. i’m just impressed you know all these different ways to go.”

The voices weren’t moving—she was trapped up here. Frisk held her breath as the louder person demanded, “REALLY? THEN WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THAT SMIRK?”

“…uh, bro? this is how I always—”

“DON’T LIE TO ME, BROTHER! THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNOWS WHAT A SMIRK LOOKS LIKE! IT’S A REGULAR SMILE, BUT IN THAT TONE OF VOICE!!”

“you got me. it means ‘pap is the coolest and knows all the directions.’ you like it?”

“…I SEE! NYEH-HEH. YES, I DO LIKE IT! FROM NOW ON, YOU MAY SMIRK ALL YOU WANT!”

“aww, thanks, bro. you’re the best…and that’s the tooth.”

The joke was so dumb that Frisk had to laugh. Whoever it was, they sounded friendly enough, not to mention silly. Were they humans she hadn’t talked to on the way here? Or—

“DID YOU HEAR THAT, BROTHER?” She jumped as the voice came closer. “IS SOMEONE THERE? SOMEONE WITH EXTREMELY BAD TASTE?”

“hey! i think they’ve got great taste. i mean, they obviously speak our tongue.”

Frisk laughed again, and was only a little afraid when the strange pair came into view. They were skeletons—not just thin people, but actual, literal bones that walked and talked. One was very tall, dressed in showy red boots and some kind of fake armor, while the other was much shorter, in clothes far too casual for an event like this. Why was he wearing pink slippers?

Both of them were also looking her over. With the tiny little lights in his sockets trained on Frisk, the taller one bent down to whisper to his brother. “OH MY GOD, SANS!” he yelled. “IS THAT A HUMAN?”

The short one stared at her for a moment, then nodded, and somehow closed one socket in a wink. “i dunno, pap. he doesn’t look that monstrous to me. who’re you, kid?”

“My name is F—Kris,” she said, giving them a bow, “and you’re right. I’m a human.”

“OF COURSE I AM RIGHT, HUMAN, FOR I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! HOW PLEASANT FOR YOU TO MEET ME!” The tall skeleton struck a heroic pose. “HAVE NO FEAR! WE MONSTERS HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE AND THEN BECOME FRIENDS! THEREFORE, YOU MAY SIMPLY REFER TO ME AS ‘PAPYRUS,’ EVEN IF IT IS ONLY HALFWAY CORRECT.” He indicated the other skeleton. “THIS IS MY OLDER BROTHER, SANS. DO NOT BE DISTRAUGHT THAT HE IS NOT AS GREAT AS I AM, AND TRY TO BEAR WITH HIS TERRIBLE JOKES, NYEHH.” Nudge. “SANS! SAY SOMETHING THAT IS NOT TERRIBLE!”

Sans was watching her carefully; he looked like he was smiling, but Frisk had the feeling it was just how his face was made. He wasn’t happy to see her at all. “sure,” he said coolly. “the name’s sans. sans the skeleton.” Papyrus nudged him again, and Sans sighed, as if resigning himself to his fate. “yeah, i know what his majesty said.” He put on a wider grin. “welp, nice to meet you, kris.”

Fakeness or not, the monsters she’d met so far were still much better than any humans she knew. So Frisk smiled shyly at him, and whispered, “It’s nice to meet you, too, Sans.”

His smile dropped a little. They regarded each other for a few seconds; to her delight, his mouth rose again in genuine approval. “heh. you seem like a nice kid.” Shrug. “pap’s right. we’re all gonna be pals, so…”

Papyrus looked pleased as Sans took his hand from his jacket pocket. But as Frisk reached out to shake it, Pap’s smile suddenly vanished. “WAAAIT A MOMENT,” the taller brother said suspiciously. “SANS, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT—”

Too late. The moment Frisk grasped the skeleton’s hand, something erupted in a palm-tickling explosion of Pfffffftttttppppppfffffffff…ffffffppp…pppf…pp……p.

Silence.

“OH. MY. GOD,” Papyrus said in the voice of doom, and rounded on his brother. “SANS, YOU IMBECILE! YOU HAVE BROKEN THE HUMAN! LOOK, IT ISN’T MOVING! IT—”

Frisk couldn’t hold it in: she howled with laughter, and only got louder as Sans pulled his hand back to reveal the rubbery, air-filled contraption that had made the rude noise. “what can i say? it’s always funny,” he said proudly. “quite a gas.”

“HOW COULD YOU, BROTHER?! THIS IS A CLEAR VIOLATION OF ACQUAINTANCE ETIQUETTE!” raged Papyrus. “HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO ASCEND THE HEIGHTS OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP NOW THAT YOUR IDIOTIC PRANK HAS DAMAGED THE SMALL HUMAN?!” Papyrus stabbed a gloved finger at Frisk, who was now doubled over. “IF THIS IS HOW YOU ARE GOING TO BEHAVE, YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO HOME NOW! YES, HOME! YOU CAN PICK UP YOUR ROOM IN CASE WE HAVE HUMAN GUESTS!”

“i dunno, bro,” said Sans, winking at Frisk again. “it’s probably too heavy for me. you should get it instead.”

“NYEHHH! I MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT GET IT!”

“aw, pap, don’t be so hard on yourself. i’m sure if you just try harder—”

“LEAVE!! NOW!!!”

Funny as the brothers were, that seemed harsh to Frisk—the nearest houses had to be pretty far away from the Grand Hall, and making Sans walk all the way back because of a few jokes was a little much. She eyed Papyrus doubtfully, wondering if he was like humans after all.

“it’s fine, kiddo,” Sans told her, as if reading her thoughts. He winked one more time. “don’t worry, i know a shortcut. so, eye will see ya later.”

Before Frisk could react, Sans was…gone. Baffled, she looked around, then up at Papyrus. “HM? OH, YES. SANS HAS DEVELOPED HIS MAGIC EXACTLY ENOUGH TO BE AS LAZY AS POSSIBLE,” the tall skeleton said distastefully. “I CAN ONLY HOPE HE IS ACTUALLY CLEANING HIS ROOM NOW. MORE LIKELY, HE IS—”

There was a sound of clapping and cheering from the Grand Hall. “THAT’S RIGHT!” Papyrus threw his red scarf over his collarbone. “COME ALONG, HUMAN! I SHALL INTRODUCE YOU TO THE OTHER MONSTERS! YOU WILL BE DELIGHTED TO MEET THEM, ESPECIALLY THE ROYAL GUARD, AND THE FEELING WILL BE MUTUAL! NYEH-HEH! FOLLOW ME, NEW ACQUAINTANCE!”

“Um…” Frisk bit her lip. Papyrus was a lot to take in, especially without warning, but he didn’t seem to be faking his enthusiasm, or his kindness. Frisk looked at him, made up her mind, and smiled again. “Can we be friends now?” she asked, holding up her hand.

The skeleton’s cheekbones turned bright pink, somehow, eye sockets going wide and glittery. “REALLY?!? WOWIE! I CAN’T BELIEVE I—” He made a noise like a cough. “I MEAN…O-OF COURSE YOU WANT TO BE MY FRIEND, KRIS! I AM EXTREMELY GREAT.” Papyrus leaned down a little to take her hand. “COME ALONG! AS A FRIEND OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS, YOU SHALL BE KNOWN AND LOVED BY ALL! NYEH-HEH-HEH!”

Frisk sure hoped so, especially if the other monsters were as nice as he was. Even if they weren’t, she’d already made new friends, exactly like she was supposed to. Mama couldn’t be mad at her for that, and Chara couldn’t take them away from her!

 ~

 The dream with Asriel was a fitting end to a frustrating night. Sans had picked the biggest inn he could find and asked for a room with the biggest bed they had, only to find that it still wasn’t big enough for him. He didn’t want to try sleeping in his disguise, which meant another night stretched out on the floor, longing for the massive bed in the High Priestess’ quarters. He never would have thought he’d want to go back to the humans’ castle—that damn bed had spoiled him for life! Not to mention that when he was sleeping in it, he had Frisk all to himself…

He had just started dozing off when the door to the next room opened and closed, a couple of human voices whispering back and forth. Sans made the mistake of concluding that that was it, and was completely unprepared for the sounds that exploded through the wall a minute later.

Sans was not an expert on human…anything, but he knew was he was hearing, and that he was hearing it very very loudly. At that point, he had several options; after mulling exactly one of them over, he sat up and ran a thread of magic through the lamp fixture over the bed, worming it through the conduits in the wall and into the next room. From there, he could feel the vibrations of the bed moving – ugh – and spread his magic in a thin layer under one side of the mattress; then he twitched his hand, and grinned at the shrieks and thuds of the couple being dumped onto the floor.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t need to do anything else. The humans got dressed in a hurry, grabbed their things, and left, and did not come back. Sans let his magic dissipate and settled down, feeling a little smug, but mostly annoyed that the sounds were still stuck in his head.

The giant skeleton tossed and turned, dreamed, and got up in the morning a lot later than he intended; he was so unrested, and so disturbed at having seen Asriel – had it been real? Why and how would the Prince visit him of all people? Why now? – that he barely remembered to put his chain back on before he left the room. He forgot to ask directions when he checked out and had to grump his way around town at random, looking for the stables the warehouse lady had mentioned. He had to get the carts and horses, then go to all the stupid places and get the stupid things…

Well, this wasn’t the right way: he was on a street lined with cute little cafes and humans sitting around in fancy metal chairs. He stopped to get his bearings, and nearly swore as his stomach growled. At least there were food stands everywhere…but what the hell was a “crepe”?

A minute later, he found a place to sit down and gnaw on a couple of folded-over, chocolatey things, which were actually pretty good. There wasn’t much to do as he ate but people-watch, which would have been kind of neat if the people in question weren’t humans. They followed the overall pattern he’d observed at the castle, where the men were loud and stupid-looking, while the women were also loud and ranged from scrawny to actually-lumpy to extremely lumpy. Even the ones with nice faces were still too…human, without any soothing voices, or graceful movements, or sweet expressions…

It made him wonder yet again if Frisk’s SOUL was the real reason he’d been so drawn to her; the first time he’d seen it, he was scared shitless, and then he wanted to rip it out for strictly non-romantic purposes. Was it because she’d reminded him so much of Kris? Or would he have just eventually fallen in love with any human who was powerful enough for him, even if she was a gross person on the outside or inside?

…Nope. It was because she was Frisk. Satisfied with that line of introspection, Sans finished the second crepe and tossed the wrappers in a trash can, forgetting that she wasn’t there to yell at him for littering. Time to ask someone for directions to a more useful part of town.

The first person he talked to just shrugged, and the next pointed him the wrong way entirely, but an irate half-hour later, Sans was back on the right track. This street seemed much dingier, with fewer people around; it smelled weird, too, like horse pee and desperation.

Maybe that was why someone had started following him. Sans smiled to himself, wiggling his fingers inside his coat pockets. Should he get further into the back alleyways before he confronted the guy, or—

“Heya.”

Sans glanced to his right. A man in his early twenties was standing by a side street, nodding at him. “C’mon this way,” he said. “Got somethin’ to show you.”

           “I don’t think so, pal,” said the disguised boss monster. “Whatever ya want, you’re wastin’ yer time. Don’t have any cash on me.” Without waiting for an answer, he speed-walked further ahead, grinning as he heard a soft whistle behind him.

           Sure enough, someone was waiting right around the next corner, an older man in nice clothes. “Excuse me, sir,” he said loudly, “but do you have the time?”

           Sans thought of the old woman again and snorted. “Nope,” he replied, and tried to walk around him.

           The man quick-stepped back into Sans’ way. “My. Her Eminence doesn’t pay you enough to buy a watch?” he asked innocently.

           What the hell? He wasn’t wearing the armband. “Who said anythin’ about—”

The distraction almost worked: the guy made a sudden feint toward him, and if Sans had been any less alert, he’d have backed right into the human sneaking up to grab his neck with a wire loop. Instead, Sans pivoted and slammed an elbow into his would-be assailant so hard that he felt the guy’s ribs crack. The man who’d stopped him cursed under his breath, turning to run.

Almost absent-mindedly, Sans waved a finger in the fleeing human’s direction. There was a shnk of bone erupting from the pavement, and a muffled scream as the man’s ankle was impaled mid-flight. The rest of his body yanked to a stop and hit the ground in a twisted heap.

Footsteps pounded toward them, and Sans turned to face the first guy who’d talked to him, then one other human. They sized up the situation and moved to either side of him, one armed with some kind of club and the other sporting a huge knife.

Sans gave a low laugh as bloodlust started bubbling to the surface. Finally! This was what he’d been waiting for! No more playing cute and harmless! No more letting people do whatever the hell they wanted with him! No witnesses!

Really, the only problem was that it was too easy. Sans let the one with the knife get in close, then grabbed his arm and broke it at the elbow, spinning the would-be assassin around and shoving him into the guy with the club. Both humans hit the ground, but the knife guy was up in a moment, scrabbling for his weapon with his good hand. Sans kicked the knife away, pinned both of his palms to the ground with a couple more bones, and lifted the remaining human by the neck with his magic.

Was that it? He glanced around at the one with the wire loop – on the ground, struggling to breathe – then the guy with the impaled ankle, who seemed to have passed out. The third was staring at his hands and making weird noises – not very knife of him, ha ha – and the last one dangled a few inches off the ground, clawing at the red mist around his throat.

Sans hummed under his breath, surveying the four men with an artistic eye. Well! Where to begin? Might as well start with the one he was holding up. The human windpipe was so fragile that one good crunch would do it…but no one said it’d have to be a quick crunch. Sans began to apply pressure, slow and hard, and grinned as the man’s eyes bulged in terror—

           Out of nowhere, he froze mid-squeeze as a strange emotion hit him. It was…nostalgia, and then—guilt? That was it; the longer Sans stared at the captive human, the less he enjoyed the guy’s fear and despair. He knew exactly what it felt like to be trapped by someone stronger, didn’t he? Back in his jail cell, cowering behind a human witch’s barrier, knowing she could do any damn thing she pleased to him—had he looked like this to her?

           Sans shook his head in irritation. What was he thinking? That was different! He wasn’t Frisk, and these guys had tried to kill him!

           …just like he’d tried to kill her before and after she stopped him from hurting anyone. What had she done to retaliate? Kept him safe, given him her own stupidly oversized bed, let him sleep for over a day, and fed him more in one sitting than he’d eaten in goddamn weeks.

Sans tried again to shake it off, to rationalize that no one in their right mind would hold a psycho like him to Frisk’s standards, but when he looked again at the human in his grasp…

No, dammit! These assholes had attacked him out of nowhere, and he’d defended himself! Surely she wouldn’t expect him to just stand there and get murdered?

…But none of these guys could move under their own power anymore, much less hurt him. Now Sans could see Frisk snarling up at him in all her tiny, furious glory: “If you kill anyone and you cannot look me in the eye to tell me why it was necessary, I don't want you to come back at all!”

           Argh! It wasn’t fair! She wasn’t here to stop him—she would never even know! Why should he quit right when it was finally getting good? Couldn’t he at least nick ‘em a few more times, enough to make them sorry? They might be pretty sorry already, but… “But,” Sans mumbled out loud, scowling.

Now he was thinking of Dr. Serif. The boss monster could practically hear his cool, smug voice: “But what, Sans?”

           Tch. If he had to be hearing things, he’d much rather it be Frisk. He knew he should’ve taken a shortcut back to the Underground last night. Then he could’ve seen her and…done…something? Maybe he wouldn’t be so damn frustrated now, his mind jumping all over the place…

           “Sans.”

Oh, shit. What about the fortune-teller? “Don’t kill anyone.” That guy had been right about stuff so far; would something happen to Frisk if Sans ignored his stupid, cheap advice? For all he knew, it could—

           “SANS.”

           “What?” he snapped. “Whaddya want, Doc…tor?” He gaped at Dr. Serif, who was standing only a few yards away, arms folded. “The fuck are you doin’ here?” demanded Sans, releasing the human from mid-air and ignoring his wheezing.

Dr. Serif came closer and made two gestures. A skeletal hand popped up and seized the fallen human by the throat, glowing green before vanishing. “He should live,” the royal sorcerer said crisply. He glanced at the man whose hands were affixed to the pavement, and the one up ahead. “In the meantime, do you plan to leave these gentlemen like that?”

           Sans was still mad that he couldn’t leave them dead, but… He made a disgusted noise, and the bones all vanished. “Ya gonna tell me why you’re here, or what?”

           “What.” Dr. Serif walked past Sans and snapped his fingers. Two pairs of disembodied hands sprang out of thin air, and one latched onto each human’s head; to Sans’ immense discomfort, the hands glowed blue, and each man obediently got up with sluggish, jerky motions – even the one with the shattered ankle –  to come sit in a row, legs crossed like schoolchildren. “Why did you attack this man?” Dr. Serif inquired. “Only speak if you have useful information.”

The human with the broken ribs mumbled, “He’s the High Priestess’ agent,” in a voice that made Sans feel even weirder. There was good old-fashioned violence, and there was this. “Gonna hold him for ransom and lure in the skeleton.”

“Do not lie to me.” The humans jerked, eyes going glassy as the blue intensified. “This is not an instrument of live capture,” said the royal sorcerer, retrieving the wire loop with yet another hand. “Why do you, or your employers, want him dead?”

There was a round of silence. Evidently, no one knew, or probably cared. They’d had their orders, and that was that.

Sans stepped closer. “Were you the ones going after Frisk a few weeks ago—the High Priestess? Are you gonna try it again?”

“Wasn’t us,” said one.

“No one’s supposed to kill her anymore,” said another, and his associates nodded slowly.

Dr. Serif blinked a few times. “According to who, and since when?”

“Last week. Someone paid the Assassin’s Guild to blacklist her. She’s untouchable—anyone who goes after her gets a bounty put on his head.”

Sans had never seen the royal sorcerer so taken aback. “I didn’t know that was even possible. It would cost several hundred thou—no, a million dinar to make it worth their while,” he muttered. “Do you have any idea who did it?”

More silence. Meanwhile, Sans was not that surprised to find out there was a formal guild for murderers. Humans were such fucking scumbags.

“Are you affiliated with poachers, then?” was Dr. Serif’s next question.

“Yeah,” they all said at once.

The doctor’s foot tapped a few times. “Does your attack on the priestess’ agent have to do with the timing of his delivery to the Underground? Fewer monsters will be venturing outside if food is being brought directly to them—I assume you wanted to prevent this?”

Sans watched the men’s faces stay blank. That was probably too many words for them. “What’re you gonna do if ya can’t catch any monsters?” he asked instead.

The blue light intensified again, and someone finally mumbled, “Ransom. The High Priestess will pay to get her agent back. She won’t know he’s dead yet.”

Dr. Serif frowned. “And you’re hoping she’ll send the boss monster to rescue him?”

Nods. “It’s worth a hell of a lot of money.”

There was an odd pause. “For his magic?” the doctor asked.

“And ransom. She’s screwin’ it,” one man said tonelessly.

Dr. Serif grabbed Sans’ shoulder to restrain him. “Surely you’re not taking that rumor seriously,” he said. “It can’t be worth the danger of trying to capture such a powerful monster—he was relatively weak when he was first caught, and two men still died of their injuries.”

“Lady payin’ us says it’s true. She doesn’t want Her Eminence arrested for mis…missen—”

“Miscegenation?” growled Sans.

“Yeah. That. She wants us to catch it, but not kill it. We’ll keep it and get a shitload of magic, then sell it back later. Win-win.”

“Hm. So, your employer is a woman who wants to help the High Priestess? What is her name?”

No one answered. The blue light flickered, and one man finally said, “Dunno. We just got a few letters, and payment up front. Pretty sure it’s a rich lady ‘cause of the handwriting and the way the paper smelled, but we don’t know for sure.”

The doctor stared the man down, still holding Sans’ shoulder. “And she has hired you to hold the skeleton prisoner…for how long, exactly? And through what means?”

The human shrugged. “She said she’d tell us more once we killed this guy.”

Dr. Serif thought about it for a moment, then snapped his fingers again. The skeletal hands tightened, and Sans watched the men writhe in tandem and fall sideways like puppets with cut strings. “Well, that was more interesting than expected,” said the royal sorcerer. His hand tightened on Sans’ shoulder. “Come along.”

Sans shut his eyes as magic surged around them. It didn’t have the rushing-through-space feel of his shortcuts; this was more as if the ground had jumped out from beneath their feet and just as quickly hopped back into place. He opened his eyes and started. “Where—”

They were standing outside a large, well-kept stable. The doctor released him, saying, “I must commend you for not killing any of those men. We’ve acquired valuable information, and once they wake up, word will get around that the High Priestess’ agent is not to be trifled with.” He smiled, ever so slightly. “They will not recall I was even there.”

Sans gestured impatiently. “What the fuck was that about? Someone wants human-me dead, but they just wanna borrow real me to keep Frisk outta jail? An’ someone else’s paid out the ass to keep her alive? What’s—”

“It could well be the same person.” The royal sorcerer brushed some dust off his robe. “What is miscegenation?” he asked curtly.

Sans’ toes curled. “Boning a monster. It’s a literal crime. I heard somebody talking about it last night.”

“Interesting,” the doctor said slowly. “No one spreading that rumor in the city seems to know about it yet.” Sigh. “If you overheard it here, I suppose it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows.”

Sans didn’t want to talk about that right now, or ever. “How long were you following me?” he asked instead.

Pause. “Long enough.”

The boss monster didn’t like that, either. “Whatever,” Sans mumbled. “But thanks fer gettin’ all that stuff out of ‘em. You’re pretty freaky, but I guess ya come in handy.”

He heard the familiar sound of someone ignoring a pun, and then “You’re welcome.” Dr. Serif crossed his arms. “I was sent here to intercept you and the High Priestess. Given that I have not seen Her Eminence with you, may I assume you were foolish enough to come alone?”

           “Uh…”

           “As you were also foolish enough to leave the castle when and how you both did, I am not surprised.”

           Sans snorted. “Ya think that was my idea?”

           “No, but this almost certainly was.” The royal sorcerer gestured to the smushed roll of papers in Sans’ front pocket. “Come along. There should be three carts on reserve in Frisk’s name here, for when you were supposed to have picked them up on your way to the Underground.”

           Sans followed him into the stable. “What, ya didn’t like us bailin’ on you?” he asked, taking childish pleasure in the older skeleton’s annoyance.

           The doctor reached back without looking and took the papers from Sans’ pocket. “Hello,” Dr. Serif said cordially to the human behind the counter, who stepped right up to assist them.

           This turned out to be prophetic: the doctor not only accompanied him everywhere for the rest of the morning and afternoon, he took complete charge. He made things so much smoother that Sans couldn’t even be mad about it; people listened to him, and he could fully answer their questions while Sans inspected the cargo and supervised the loading. The doctor also signed the bills of lading, reminding Sans after the first visit that as a perfectly normal human and not a monster in disguise, he was not “Sans” and needed to pick a pseudonym already.

           They had almost no time to eat lunch or dinner, electing to grab a couple of sandwiches as the drivers brought the carts to the second-to-last warehouse. “So, was it your idea to swoop in on us like this?” Sans asked. “I know it was annoying to wake up and have us gone, but—”

           “His Majesty is extremely unamused by his daughter’s behavior,” said the royal sorcerer, in a tone that wiped the smirk off Sans’ face. “To be very honest, I am glad I will not be there when Her Eminence receives this.” He extracted a long, expensive-looking envelope from his robe. “His Majesty assembled the paperwork yesterday for—”

           “The adoption thing?” Sans interrupted. “Is it true?”

           Dr. Serif made a face. “No matter where I go, the speed of gossip remains constant.” Another sigh. “Whatever you’ve heard is likely true. Should Frisk’s mission prove successful, His Majesty is prepared not only to pardon her theft, but place her directly in the line of succession.”

           Sans took a long sip of water, trying and failing to figure that one out. “I thought ya said he was pissed off at her. Why…?”

           “Tell me, Sans. Knowing Frisk, do you think she would appreciate being pressured into accepting such a heavy responsibility, especially in anticipation of her little brother’s death? His Majesty knows exactly how she will feel about it.” Dr. Serif paused for a huge bite of his sandwich. “Also, he may personally be unhappy with her actions, but he knows better than anyone that if she can outmaneuver him, then she is worthy of the throne.”

           Fuck. “Yeah, when ya put it like that—”

           The royal sorcerer glanced at him. “Out of curiosity, when did you learn that the King was her father?”

           “Not till we were almost t’the Underground. I kinda found out by accident.”

           Dr. Serif half-smiled. “It’s been common knowledge ever since she was brought to St. Brigid’s. And…by any chance, did she ever tell you anything about her mother?”

           Sans had to whack himself in the chest as the last wad of his sandwich threatened to get stuck in his windpipe. Why did human bodies use the same damn tube for breathing and eating? “Only that she’s dead,” he rasped. “Why?”

           “Wipe your hands, please, and put this somewhere safe until you can give it to her.” Dr. Serif held out the gilt envelope. “It contains copies of all the relevant documents, including an investiture of nobility—she would technically become a duchess first, then Crown Princess upon the death of the King or the Prince.”

Sans scrubbed his hands on his shirt and took the envelope. He was thinking so hard that he almost didn’t notice Frisk’s full name in fancy cursive across the front; then he looked again, and stared at it for a minute, and finally said, “Huh.”

           “You don’t seem entirely surprised,” the doctor observed, sounding almost disappointed. “Have you already heard something to that effect?”

           “Yeah. I had a long talk with Grillby the other day, and…I wasn’t gonna ask Frisk, but I was kinda wondering, and then she said…” Had the King done the calligraphy himself? “I never did hear her last name. I figured the High Priestess just doesn’t need one.”

           “It was not hers to use for most of her life, and I would be very surprised if she chose to do so now, or ever. According to what I have gleaned from Rosa, the name does not have pleasant associations for Frisk—another fact of which the King is very aware.”

           “Holy shit.” Sans looked at the envelope again. “He’s callin’ her that ta piss her off?”

           “It is technically her legal name and belongs on a document of this importance. So, yes.”

           “Shit.” Sans scratched the back of his head, thinking even harder. “So whoever filled out the paperwork for him knows her name, too? Which means everyone is gonna know about it by the time we get back?”

           The doctor raised an eyebrow. “You’re coming back with her, then?” He let the question hang in the air, and Sans ignored it till Dr. Serif continued, “You are correct. I am genuinely sorry to leave this with you, but you will have to give her the news before you return, or else she will be completely blindsided. Please don’t do that to her.”

           Sans wasn’t going to admit that the thought had already crossed his mind: throw the envelope away, let her enjoy the rest of her time in the Underground, and feign astonishment when they got back – hopefully triumphant – and found out she’d someday have the power to do literally anything she pleased, such as freeing monsters with a single decree.

           Except…she was already helping monsters, and had already spent three lonely, stressful years as High Priestess. How much worse would her life be if she became the actual Queen? Would it technically fit that second fortune? Fear stabbed him so hard that he could barely breathe—what if she got surrounded by advisers and hangers-on determined to harass him away from her? There was no telling how long her father and half-brother would be around, and they probably wouldn’t let her keep a pet skeleton around, not to mention a suspiciously bony kid…

           Sans couldn’t help it. Dr. Serif eyed him warily as the boss monster snickered again: a fucking crime. It was too perfect.

           The carts were ready now. The boss monster tucked the fancy envelope into an inner pocket and resolved to quit thinking about it for now. Frisk could handle this; she’d know what to do. If she didn’t, they’d figure it out together.

 ~

             Thankfully, the rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. By the time they were ready to head back to the Underground, the sun was just touching the horizon.

           Everything had fit into three large-ish carts, which Frisk had accurately predicted would be a better idea than two really huge ones. The drivers were nervous about starting so late in the day, but Dr. Serif had implied that they were just headed to the city, the road to which was well-lit and patrolled by watchmen. Sans got a huge kick out of seeing the humans’ faces when the procession reached the outskirts of the village, went about a hundred yards, and came to a sudden halt. “You may remove the horses now,” said the doctor. “Please return to the village. Here is a small gratuity for your trouble.”

           If the humans had questions, they were effectively answered by the five-hundred-dinar pieces Dr. Serif placed in each of their hands. They unhitched the horses and jogged them back in the fast-fading light without a backward glance, leaving the loaded carts sitting in the road.

           From there, the disguised monsters waited until no one was in sight – not difficult, given the hour and the cold – and then enacted the plan they’d agreed upon earlier: Sans encased the lightest cart in a film of red magic, thought carefully about the place by the river where Undyne had attacked him, and teleported the whole thing there. No more than ten seconds later, a large patch of blackness crept over the pale bedrock; Gaster rose from it head-first, followed by the carts, and everything settled into place as the ground shimmered back into ordinary rock-ness.

           “What the crap?” Sans pulled his chain off. “How do you even have that much magic?”

           Gaster brushed himself off again with two extra hands, keeping his own tucked beneath his flowing black coat. He glided in a circle around the carts, checking that they had made the journey safely, and nodded. “Surely you’re not worn out from one spell?”

           “No, but I’m a damn boss monster!”

           The older skeleton smiled. A hand appeared in front of Sans, holding a gray orb slightly bigger than the hole in its palm. “Humans use these to store magic. Keep at least one on your person at all times and let it absorb your ambient power. Put it away when full, then repeat the process. Do so regularly, and you will soon have a supply built up for contingencies exactly like this.” The hand vanished. “Has Her Eminence used the teleportation spell I gave her yet?”

           Sans remembered the brooch she’d gotten on All Souls Day, and shook his head. “I don’t think so, but she wears it a lot.”

           “Good.” Gaster looked at the nearly-night sky. “Lead the way.”

           The boss monster wondered exactly how many more of those stones Gaster had squirreled away in whatever fold of subspace he was using, and contented himself with the fact that the creepy bastard still seemed to be on their side—Sans hadn’t forgotten the fortune about bewaring him, but right now, he didn’t have much choice. Even the lightest of the carts was much heavier than the wagons full of monsters had been, and as tired as he was, he doubted he could’ve pulled or teleported them all on his own.

Gaster’s extra hands were pulling and pushing two of the carts with apparent ease as they followed the river. Sans tried to think of something that would pass the time without leading to invasive questions, and finally thought to ask, “The solar panel demonstration went okay?”

           “Oh, yes.” Gaster’s voice was neutral, and it was impossible to read his expression in profile. “Someone attempted to sabotage it by cutting several of the wires on the main panel, so I used my own magic as a substitute. It was most impressive, if I say so myself.”

           That sounded like one problem too many. They had enough crap to deal with in the Underground without worrying about sabotage or the King being passive-aggressive or some random lady who wanted to keep him away from Frisk! Get in line, he thought bitterly.

           “How is Her Eminence’s mission going?” asked Gaster, as if reading his mind.

           “Pretty good, I think. Asgore hasn’t met with her yet, but he’s letting her do whatever.” Sans felt the corners of his mouth lift. “She’s spent a couple nights with Undyne and Alphys at Toriel’s house, havin’ some girl time. They went shopping yesterday, ‘n pro’ly today.”

           Gaster nodded. “I don’t know how you intended to do this alone,” he said, glancing at the carts, “but given your accelerated timeline, I suppose it was the best way to let her enjoy herself for a day or two. It will also help her cause if the monsters see a great deal of her firsthand.”

           Sans knew what he meant—all Frisk had to do to win them over was be herself. He didn’t notice that he was smiling until he felt Gaster’s stare; the other skeleton was suddenly in front of him, drifting backwards as Sans walked. “Don’t mind me,” murmured the royal sorcerer, examining the boss monster’s sternum.

           “What’s my LV?” Sans asked bluntly.

           Gaster reappeared beside the cart. “You are at LV 16.”

           Sans was…almost surprised. Gaster gave him a hard look. “The first time I checked, you were—”

           A sound off to their left made both skeletons stop to listen. It was faint, but unmistakable. “Keep going,” Gaster said, and they picked up the pace, both assuming their disguises.

           There was no question of outrunning the humans, so they let the sound of hoofbeats gradually overtake them. “Well, well,” said the first rider, pulling up in front of the carts and forcing them to stop. Two more poachers rode up alongside, and three more brought up the rear. Each man had a coil of chain slung over his shoulder, and their leader carried a heavy crossbow. “What are you doing out here so late?” he demanded. “Where you headed with all that?”

           “The Underground,” Dr. Serif said calmly. “We have no monsters or valuables with us, so if you would kindl—”

           “Bullshit.” The leader nodded to the other men. “Search ‘em. There’s gotta be—”

           Sans didn’t even see what happened next: an unseen force yanked each man out of the saddle to hit the bedrock, filling the air with thumps, whinnying, and curses. “This is your last warning,” said Dr. Serif, still sounding very reasonable. “Leave us, or you will suffer.”

           When the men didn’t answer – except for more profanity – the doctor made a gesture. This time, Sans glimpsed the skeletal hands smacking the horses on the rump, one after another; the animals screamed in panic, nearly trampling their riders as they bolted in different directions.

The poachers gaped at each other, then at the human-shaped skeletons. “What the fuck are you?” demanded the leader. With no warning, he whipped up his crossbow to fire at—

           —Gaster, whose body had vanished, leaving nothing but an eerie smile and empty sockets. “Well, then,” he murmured, his eyes lighting blue and yellow. He glanced at Sans. “Please go on without me. I will see you back at the castle in…” He paused, counting on a set of hands. “…nine days.” The fingers snapped once, twice, thrice. “My regards to Her Eminence.”

           Sans opened his mouth to object, and the ground dropped out from beneath him.

 ~

             Silence descended in his wake, leaving the poachers in abject terror. Without the carts’ lanterns, it was impossible to see anything but the light in Gaster’s sockets. “Well,” the monster said. He looked at the men with mild curiosity, like a child with a jar full of insects. The leader jerked as a hand suddenly latched onto his face. “Can I trust you to keep this little encounter a secret?” asked Gaster.

The man nodded frantically, clawing at the hand as blood began welling under its phalanges. The others nodded, too, babbling reassurance.

“Good,” the skeleton said pleasantly. The humans had exactly enough time to start hoping before his eye-lights dilated, illuminating the hideous, masklike face. “What a pity that I do not believe you.”

There was a gruesome sound, and another, and another, and another. Silence; a tide of magic rose and swept over the bedrock, leaving nothing behind but a few splashes of blood.

Gaster nodded in satisfaction and turned to rinse his hands in the river, humming Sans’ favorite song. He paused long enough to chuckle to himself, then brushed his coat off once more, extracted a fresh stone from his coat, and vanished.

 ~

             The sentries outside the Grand Hall’s gates rolled their eyes as another knock came from within. “Any sign of him?” someone asked through the crack.

           “No,” the rabbit monster snapped. “For the last time, you don’t need to keep asking every ten minutes! We’ll tell you when he—”

           A long, low sound from the opposite direction cut him short. “Sans?” called the guard.

           “The one an’ only,” a gruff voice answered over the rise. In the still, cold air, they could now hear the sound of wheels on sandy rock, and the labored breathing of a boss monster managing three heavily laden carts by himself. “Can I get some damn help here?”

           Twenty minutes later, Sans had recovered enough to get up from the cavern floor and hobble through the swarm of hungry monsters by the gates, some of whom had been waiting all day for their share of the food. “You guys don’t need to inspect it,” the colossal skeleton informed the guards, who were busy walking around the carts and poking them at random. “Me an’…someone I trust watched ‘em load it up.”

           The rabbit guard looked at his partner, then at Sans. “This came from humans, right? It’s probably gotta be—”

           “It’s gotta get out to people now,” Sans growled. He pointed at someone randomly. “Go get more help, whoever’s awake. I’m gonna go find Her Majesty.”

           “No need,” said a clear voice. The monsters all bowed out of the way as Toriel stepped off the patchy gray sand of the central aisle. “I am glad to see you back safely, Sans. Thank you so much for your efforts,” said the former Queen. “Please, get some sleep. I will handle the rest.”

           Sans was so tired that he could barely stay upright, but he shook his head. “I’m gonna check in with Asgore first.” Toriel’s face darkened, and he sighed. “C’mon, To—Your Majesty, ya know he’ll freak out if he finds out this came in without ‘im knowing.”

           The other boss monster sighed, closing her eyes. “True. And if you go now, you may run into the Captain and Dr. Alphys. They will also want to know you’ve arrived safely. But after that, I want you go straight home! Do you hear me?”

           He did, but sleep could wait: if those two were at Asgore’s house, then Frisk might be, too. His magic flared up, and without another thought, the skeleton took himself straight there.

           Remembering how easily the women had detected him before, Sans aimed for the end of the house near the master bedroom, and caught himself with only a slight stagger into the wall. Voices were coming from the living room; the boss monster waited for his vision to clear, then pushed himself upright and crept down the hall to listen.

           “It is lovely,” Asgore was murmuring. There was a musical clinking of fine metal and china—the King must be looking at the tea service Frisk had picked out for him.

           “Yeah, she was pretty proud of it. Everything she’s brought has been awesome,” agreed Undyne.

Sans scowled. Frisk wasn’t here after all. Well, he didn’t have enough magic to zero in on wherever she was, and Undyne was still talking, so he might as well eavesdrop. “She got me some targets, and comi—uh, battle strategies, and stuff for my scales. It was really thoughtful,” said the Royal Guard Captain.

           “And I can finally finish Adventure Lady!” Alphys exclaimed. “C-can you believe it?!”

           To Sans’ surprise, Asgore chuckled. He didn’t think the King knew how to do that anymore. “I’m glad to hear it, Doctor. I know how much that was bothering you.” Clink. “What about the agricultural implements Sans mentioned?”

“Yes, Y-Your Majesty. We spent a few hours today looking them over—she knows how to treat plants so that they can go days without being watered! We t-talked about different chemicals that can improve the quality of our soil, specific nutrients for whichever crops we decide to plant first, and all the seeds she brought. The next step is to decide which fields to convert to pasture if we want to raise c-cattle or sheep.”

“Hmm. Yes, that would be wonderful.” Sans heard tea being poured and china clinking again. “What else has she been up to?” asked the King.

“We went shopping for clothes yesterday,” the Captain said, “and Mettaton is teaching her how to dance. It was pretty fun—did you hear he wants to have a big party before she leaves?”

“Yes, I have. Some festivities could be good for our people, but…we’ll see.”

“Right.” She cleared her throat. “And just so you know, Majesty, we’ve spent the past couple nights at the Ruins.”

A long pause. “I…see. Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah,” Undyne said quietly. “Everyone did.”

“That…” Asgore heaved a great sigh. “That’s good to hear. What about today?”

Undyne’s chair creaked. “Today was a little more complicated. She checked on some of the people she brought back—not that she busted in on anyone,” the fish monster added hastily. “She only got started ‘cause Vulkin asked her to come visit.”

Asgore made a startled noise. “Vulkin wanted to see her? Why?”

Sans wanted to run in and shake the King like the idiot he was, but he edged back and tried to think nicer thoughts as Undyne answered, “She said Frisk was the only human who ever gave a crap about them, basically, and her family wanted to meet her. We ended up staying for over an hour.” Another pause. “Also, Majesty…Frisk’s got this thing she does where she can hum something at you, and it’s…really nice. Not hypnosis or anything sneaky, it just…” Sans could almost hear Undyne shrug. “Right before we left, Vulkin started getting worked up, and Frisk calmed her down just like that.”

“She’s done it for us, too, right before bedtime,” said Alphys. “I haven’t s-slept so well in forever.”

“Hm. She has other abilities, then, besides creating barriers?” He poured more tea. “Have you investigated her capabilities in that respect?”

“N-No, Your Majesty. She wanted to have your permission before she made any, even j-just to study them in the lab.”

Sans got the feeling that Asgore was a little put out by Frisk conducting herself so well. “If you believe she is trustworthy,” said the King, “then by all means, study her barriers as fully as you can. The knowledge may prove…useful.” More clinking. “Thank you for your time, both of you. Get some rest. And…” His voice softened. “Please thank her for the gift.”

The giant skeleton smiled a little. Before they could get up and notice him lurking in the hall, Sans used the tiniest wisp of magic – all that he had left – to whisk himself outside to the courtyard. He waited by the tree, foot raised as if in mid-step; when the door opened, Asgore saw him and started. “Sans! You’re back!”

“Hey, Majesty.” Sans raised a genuinely weary hand. “Yeah, I just got in with all the stuff. Everything’s fine. Just wanted to let you know.”

“Thank you very much,” the King said heartily, another trace of his old self showing. “I’ll be down right away.”

“Uh.” The bigger boss monster fake-coughed. “Please don’t, Yer Majesty. Someone’s already got it under control.”

Blink. “Some…oh.”

“Hey, you,” Undyne said, moving around Asgore and hopping down the stairs in one easy bound. “How’d it go? Are you okay?”

“It’s fine, ‘m just worn out.” Sans let out a full-force yawn. “I’ll walk back with you guys,” he said as Alphys came down the steps.

“All right, then,” Asgore murmured. “Thank you again, Sans.” The skeleton nodded, and they politely waited for the door to close before turning to leave.

“Don’t even think about it” was the first thing out of Undyne’s mouth. “She’s asleep already.”

Sans was too tired not to ask, “Where? Tori’s again?”

“I’m not telling you!” snapped the fish-woman. “We had a lot of fun yesterday, but today was pretty rough on her.” She eyed him as they stepped into the elevator and waited for the grating to close. “You don’t look so hot, either.”

“I will be in a minute.” Sans swayed on his feet as the elevator descended. “After all, we’re goin’ to Hotland.”

Undyne twitched. “Nope. We’re not doing those.”

“Aww, c’mon, fish-face.” Yawn. “I’m just gettin’ warmed up.”

Twitch. “I’m serious, boss. Drop it.”

“Drop it like…it’s hot?”

“I SAID—”

The elevator ground to a halt, and he felt Alphys tug on his coat. “L-let’s go to my lab, Sans. You can take a nap and get some magic back befo—not yet!”

Sans had the impression of falling and something grabbing him, but he didn’t pay much attention till Undyne heaved him onto the lab’s concrete floor. “Ow,” he tried to say, but it was too much effort; he decided to pass out instead.

 ~

             They weren’t heading to the family’s main house; for some reason, Asriel had insisted she come with him to the one in the Ruins, where he and his mother had been living before the delegation arrived. He’d told her that he had a surprise for her, but he was so anxious that she didn’t think it was going to be a good one.

           Good or not, she had to admit that when Asriel opened the bedroom door and motioned her inside, she was very surprised: she backpedaled so hard that she crashed into his legs.

           “It’s all right,” said Chara, very quietly, from her seat on the bed. “I wouldn’t be glad to see me, either.”

           “Chara,” Asriel protested.

           “It’s true.” The woman watched Frisk lean into Asriel, clutching his robe with one small hand. “Isn’t it, Frisk?” she added.

           The child inhaled sharply, looking up at the Prince in alarm. “It’s all right,” he told her, smiling with such affection that she had to smile back. “I know all about you, Frisk. You’re ten years old, and you’re a girl, and you belong here. In fact, you could say you’ve come home.” He looked at Chara, beaming. “Right, sis?”

 ~

             Sans must have teleported from the lab at some point – maybe in his sleep – because when he properly awoke, he was in his own room. The boss monster sat up and turned the light on with a speck of magic. A glance at the clock made him do a double take: how was it almost ten o’clock?! Sans sprang to his feet and zipped down to the living room.

           No one was there, but he heard children running around outside, with the occasional shriek of happiness, or anger, or possibly disembowelment—he never could tell with kids. There was Papyrus’ voice, and Undyne’s; then he heard Frisk, and without thinking, he took another shortcut out beside the house.

           Before San could get his bearings, a handful of snow hit him upside the head. “Morning, boss!” shouted Undyne. “About time!”

           “GOOD MORNING, BROTHER!” Papyrus raised his head from beneath a pile of children. “WE ARE AT WAR! WOULD YOU CARE TO JOIN US?”

           Sans blinked. “War?”

           “Yes, indeed,” Frisk said gravely, and he looked up to see her standing on the balcony, not far above his eye level. Magic rippled through him in gentle waves as she smiled. “Is everyone ready?” she asked the monsters.

           The giant skeleton came forward for a better view as the children sprang to their feet, or paws, or seahorse tail. Frisk dipped something into a narrow bottle, raised it to her mouth, and leaned over the railing to blow a stream of huge, wobbly, fast-floating bubbles.

           In an instant, the kids were charging after them, leaping and clawing and even biting them joyfully out of the air. Frisk dipped the stick again and angled herself toward Papyrus to blow another round of bubbles; instead of popping them, the younger skeleton surrounded each one in blue and sent them flying in all directions, which was Undyne’s cue to materialize a short spear and leap after them, yelling, “Come back here, you cowards!”

           When the last bubble had been vanquished, Frisk made even more of them, almost obscuring the pack of children; this time, Papyrus used his magic to grab all the bubbles, and instead of chasing after them, the kids tackled him again. Undyne coordinated the assault, directing her troops to surround the enemy and attack as a unit, ignoring Papyrus’ protests of being muuuurdered and that she could not have his pirate-ship bed once he was dust, because for the hundredth time even if she did have an eyepatch that did not mean she deserved to be a pirate more than him. Then everyone scattered again for Frisk to send another batch the kids’ way, and two more groups for Papyrus to keep away from Undyne.

It was hard to say who was enjoying themselves the most. Sans hadn’t seen his brother playing like this in…how long? Even some of the adult monsters were coming over to watch, standing around and chatting with each other, or asking Frisk how she’d made the bubbles and happily accepting the extra bottles she tossed down for them. It was like she’d never left…

A thought struck him, and he backed further away from the house to crane his neck all the way upward. There it was, the thin brown haze of negative energy that’d been accumulating since he absorbed the last round of it. …But—

Sans had avoided looking too directly at Frisk, and tried to take another quick peek now, only for his eyes to lock onto her. She’d taken off her cloak, revealing one of probably many new outfits: a dark-green velvet dress that accented the curves of her bust and hips, silver earrings that shimmered as she bent down to refill the bottle, and gray boots that reminded him of the fact that she had feet.

And when he finally managed to look back up toward her face, he was ambushed by the sight of a black choker. The damn thing looked like a collar, but it wasn’t even trying to be practical; it was just a little bit of lace hugging her neck, and a flagrant reminder that most things wearing collars had nothing else on. He’d contemplated keeping her as a pet, once upon a time, before he even—

           Suddenly, Undyne vaulted onto his shoulder, crashing his nasal ridge into the bottom edge of the balcony. The Royal Guard Captain rapped him on the skull with the butt of her spear, dispelling the last of his lust-induced stupor. “Quit staring, moron,” she hissed, and gestured to Frisk. “C’mon, lady, we need more bad guys to kill,” the fish monster said in a normal tone, raising her voice to finish, “unless Papyrus is too weak to keep going!”

           “I AM NOT!” The skeleton stomped his foot in feeble rage, trying to catch his breath as Undyne leapt down. “BUT PERHAPS…PERHAPS WE COULD TAKE A BREAK, FOR THE CHILDREN?” Two small monsters ran circles around him as he desperately added, “THEY SEEM VERY TIRED, NYEH-HEH!”

           Frisk bit her lip, and Sans wanted more than ever to scoop her up for a giant hug—not only was it always hot when she did that, it meant she wanted to help Pap without hurting his feelings. Luckily for everyone, his mouth-related thoughts suddenly turned in a more wholesome direction. “Hey,” Sans murmured, catching her attention. “Ya know what you oughta do?”

           The others stopped as Frisk leaned down to hear him whisper. “That’s a wonderful idea,” the priestess said warmly, and Sans felt his skull turn red. “Here, Undyne, I want the children to help me try something,” Frisk told her, dipping the wand again. “You two can supervise.”

           Papyrus was happy to accept his new role, and Sans also paid close attention to Frisk’s lips as she blew a long, low stream of smaller bubbles. The kids grabbed at them and squealed as a sound followed each pop—to their delight, every bubble now contained a tiny burst of music.

           Undyne reached out to poke one. “What, did you whistle into ‘em?” She jumped at the sudden sound, then laughed, popping another one. “That’s so damn cool!”

           “Sans thought of it,” Frisk said. She was grinning from ear to ear, almost prancing in place. “Here!” This time, instead of a single pitch, she whistled a scale of several notes, sliding up and back down; when the children popped them, it produced a whole tangle of sounds. The adult monsters drew closer as more bubbles drifted and burst, scattering bits of music through the chilly air.

“Yo!” cried Monster Kid, bounding nearly straight up for emphasis. “Guys! Let’s try to make ‘em into a song again!”

The adults chuckled and shook their heads, but the children loved the idea. And as it turned out, they were right: the sheer futility of trying to break the bubbles in the right order was so much fun that, before they knew it, nearly every monster in the field was chasing after them. No one could hear much of anything over all the shouting and laughter, but that was okay. Everything was okay.

“Sans?”

Still smiling, the giant skeleton turned to face Toriel, noting that she was coming from the ferry and not the Ruins. “What’s all this?” she asked.

“We’re slaughtering our foes in glorious battle,” a cute little bunny said in passing. “It sounds pretty!”

“LIKE THIS, YOUR MAJESTY!” Papyrus demonstrated with a couple of quick jabs.

Toriel’s eyes widened as the sounds made a faint chord. “How wonderful!” She looked in amazement at the crowd of happy, energetic monsters. “You haven’t even received your rations yet—is this an early celebration?”

“Nah, it’s just fun,” Undyne said cheerfully. “People were fighting over who was gonna get what, and the kids were upset, so Frisk showed ‘em how she could make this stuff. Next thing you know—” Quick as scaled lightning, the Captain flicked an energy-toothpick at a bubble overhead, grinning at the resultant chime. “F sharp! Nice.” With a salute to Toriel, Undyne was off again, lifting a couple of random children onto her shoulders.

“How wonderful,” Toriel said again. She sighed, looking fondly up at the balcony. Frisk was starting to puff a bit, but clearly determined to keep going. “What a fine young woman she’s become! It’s almost like having Chara back with us.”

Sans shuffled his slippered feet. He knew it was the highest compliment Toriel could give, but the comparison really rubbed him the wrong way. Not only had he heard a lot of things recently, he couldn’t shake the dream he’d just had—the Prince so eager to have Frisk and Chara back together, and the child trying to be good, but unable to hide her fear and uncertainty…

And speaking of Asriel: “Tell her I’m sorry.” What was that about? Who was—

Suddenly, the dreams clicked together in his mind like puzzle pieces. Asriel had tricked Frisk into meeting with Chara, knowing perfectly well that the poor kid didn’t want to. Was he only sorry for that, or had something else happened afterward, awful enough to make Asriel want to apologize from beyond the friggin’ grave?

Toriel was saying something, and the skeleton shook his head. “Sorry, Tori. What was that?”

She cleared her throat. “I was asking if you’ve met the boy who’s courting her. Frisk said he’s very kind, and wealthy, but…she didn’t seem terribly enthusiastic.”

           Sans almost laughed out loud. So much crap was going on that he’d actually forgotten about that guy! “Had some girl talk, huh?” he asked carelessly, shoving his emotions way, way back down and hoping his eyes weren’t glowing.

           The goat monster chuckled, still watching the field. “We stayed up the other night to discuss where to distribute all the food you were bringing. Afterward, yes, we did talk about her love life.”

           He made an indifferent noise. He was fine. He could do this. “I met the guy once,” he said. “Kinda boring, but I guess he could be worse.”

           Toriel nodded. Her ear twitched as a longer, sweeter trill came from above—Frisk was pulling out all the stops, Sans thought proudly. “Were you there when she spoke to the fortune-teller?” she asked.

The skeleton made himself shrug, as if he wasn’t screaming internally. Stupid girl talk! How much had Frisk told her?

Well, the fact that Toriel hadn’t murdered the shit out of him meant she probably didn’t know everything yet. How she was failing to connect the dots between Frisk and Sans’ human love interest was beyond him, but he’d keep playing along for now. “Yeah, I went with her to that festival,” he said. “Pretty weird stuff. Apparently, she’s on track to have a kid soon.”

           Toriel grimaced. “I certainly hope not. Frisk is much too young for that kind of responsibility.”

           Sans snorted, and Toriel turned to glare at him. “Sorry, but ya haven’t seen her in action,” he said. “The first time I met her, she kept me from killin’ a whole bunch of people, all by herself, an’ she wouldn’t let ‘em kill me back. She got all bloody fixin’ up some kid who came to ‘er for help at two in the morning, she’s payin’ everything for three or four different orphanages that I know of, she keeps tabs on anyone in the whole damn kingdom who might need help, and she’s workin’ on freein’ us, too.” He shook his head. “She’s not a little kid anymore, Tori. She’s got so much crap ta deal with, and she’s been takin’ care of it all on her own. As long as she finds the right guy, it’s…”

           He had to stop before he got any more worked up. Luckily, Toriel was too deep in thought to notice. “That does sound impressive, but you’re right. Her happiness depends on whether she can find a good husband, one she can trust to stand by her and care about her children—”

           Now they were both grim and silent. “Just a few more,” the human called from above them.

She sounded so breathless that Sans shook his head, reaching up to tap on the railing. “Hey, Frisk? Quit it before ya pass out.”

           Toriel listened for a moment, then nodded. Sans watched her stride out to the middle of the field and clap her hands. “Everyone,” she said, “I am glad you’ve enjoyed yourselves, but please return to your homes now. The Royal Guard will be here shortly to deliver your share of the supplies that Frisk arranged for us and Sans brought in last night.” The former Queen nodded benignly in their direction. “Thank you, both of you.”

The giant skeleton was rather embarrassed by the round of applause that followed, though Frisk seemed to take it in stride. Then again, it could be the fact that she was barely conscious. “Time to come in, Pap,” Sans said, jerking his head as the monsters bid each other cheerful farewells and went their separate ways. The children still seemed more excited about the bubbles than the prospect of food—were the poor little bastards just used to being hungry by now?

           There was no need to ask Undyne to take care of Frisk: she had already jumped straight onto the balcony and was assisting the human inside. Sans teleported into the living room, where he immediately got in the way of the Captain half-carrying her down to the couch. “’m fine,” Frisk muttered.

Sans leaned over her, scowling. “Ya need your breath, kid. Don’t use it all up next time.” Now that he was closer, he could also see dark circles under her eyes. “How much sleep didja get last night?” he demanded, and looked at Undyne. “Were you guys at Tori’s house?”

“No,” the goat monster said, shutting the door behind her and coming to sit beside Frisk. “Mettaton kept her up so late that she spent the night at the resort.” Toriel’s hand came up, glowing green, and brushed Frisk’s cheek. “If you had stayed with me, child, I’d have made sure you rested properly.”

The priestess rubbed some feeling back into her lips. “I beg to differ,” she said a moment later. “Remember how afraid I was to fall asleep that second night? Undyne was already mad because I caught her cheating at cards—”

The Captain swelled like a pufferfish. “For the last time, I didn’t frickin’ cheat! My 6 got stuck behind my queen, and I didn’t know it was there when you asked for it!”

“Mmmm-hm.” Frisk let her head fall against Toriel’s shoulder as the goat monster stroked her hair. Sans had to look away, more irritated than ever—how stupid was it to be jealous of someone mothering her? Especially considering what she’d had for an actual mom…

“Anyway,” said Undyne. She glanced at Sans, saw his expression, and whacked him again to get his attention. “You know what your damn human did to me?” Frisk smirked as Undyne pantomimed writing huge letters across her own face. “GO FISH. Is that the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard, or what?”

Sans snickered. “What? She was probably just being supportive. You know, ‘go—”

Frisk and Toriel dissolved into laughter as the Captain smacked her forehead with one webbed hand. “Argh! That’s the same dumb thing she said!”

“It’s all right,” the human said, in what Sans gleefully recognized as her pre-pun voice. “I guess our humor is just that sofishticated.”

“NOOOOO,” moaned Papyrus, who had just come inside. “NOT YOU, TOO, NYEHH!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Sans, winking at Toriel as she covered her face with one hand. “Are you mad enough to krill someone?”

“SO HELP ME, YOU TWO, I WILL LEAVE THIS HOUSE AND NEVER—”

“But it’s so nice to sea you,” Frisk said, and Sans snorted so hard that he had to sit down before he fell over. Toriel was giggling uncontrollably, clutching her sides; Undyne just shook her head and retreated into the storage room behind the kitchen cabinet.

Papyrus looked mollified. “YES, I KNOW. BUT I—” He stopped, and they nearly died as they watched it hit him. “GRAAAAH! IF HER MAJESTY WAS NOT HERE, I’D—”

“It’s all right, Papyrus,” Toriel said behind her hand. “I know I can trust you to control your temper.” Papyrus nodded, and the goat monster added, “You’ve always been a pacifisht!”

Undyne poked her head into the kitchen, raising her voice over the din: “Pap! Get away from those nerds and come help me! We need to make room for your stuff when it gets here.”

The younger skeleton sighed dramatically, even for him. “NYEH-HEH! I SUPPOSE I MAY AS WELL. AT LEAST SOMEONE AROUND HERE WILL BE DOING SOMETHING USEFUL!”

“Thank you. You’re the least shellfish person we know,” squeaked Frisk, at which Papyrus made an incoherent sound and stormed off into the kitchen.

Sans was pounding the floor, the women nearly sobbing. “Children—children, please,” Toriel said weakly, wiping her eyes. “Really, it’s time to calm down now.” A long pause… “We can’t keep kraken up like this!”

“Oh my God, they’re gonna kill themselves,” Undyne grumbled from the storage room. They had closed the cabinet door, but it wasn’t soundproof enough. “Let’s move some of this stuff to the shed, and…hey, what’s this?” She picked up a heavy package lying in the back corner. “Huh. Looks like one of Frisk’s. Pap, go ask—”

“SANS! POSSIBLY FRISK!” Papyrus charged into the living room, hoisting the box over his head and nearly tripping over his brother. “IS THIS A FORGOTTEN PUZZLE?! MAY I OPEN IT TO KEEP IT COMPANY?”

“Oh!” Frisk gave a last snrk and accepted a clean handkerchief from Toriel to wipe her face. “Actually, Papyrus, that one is for Sans.”

“Wha?” The giant skeleton sat up and quirked a brow at her. “What’re you talkin’ about? I was with ya when we bought all this crap, and I don’t remember you gettin’ me anything.”

“That’s because you weren’t paying attention,” the priestess retorted.

…She had a point. There had been quite a few times when they were in a shop and he was so bored that she could’ve been plotting the death of all monsterkind without him noticing.

“SURPRISE PUZZLES ARE THE BEST KIND! OPEN IT ALREADY!” urged Papyrus, shoving the gift at his brother’s face.

“Yeah, boss,” Undyne said from the kitchen. “Don’t be so damn shy.”

“I’m not bein’ shy! I just…I wasn’t expectin’ it.” Scowling, Sans grabbed the package and dug his phalanges into the lid. One good rip would get this over w—

“Sans!” Frisk’s voice made him hunch his shoulders like a guilty kid. “If you tear it open like that and break something, I will end you! Do you understand?”

The others watched the colossal skeleton set the package down gently, unwrapping the paper and moving it aside as though it was made of glass. Toriel and Undyne exchanged disbelieving glances as Sans located the box’s tucked-in corners, eased them loose, and picked at the ribbons tying it shut.

But a moment later, as he removed the last layers of tissue paper, their amusement faded into gasps and murmurs. Inside the box lay a chessboard gleaming in white marble and flawless onyx, each of the pieces individually wrapped and set in neat rows.

Undyne chose one at random and peeled the paper away to reveal a knight astride a black pegasus, wings spread and hooves ready to strike. “Whoa!” She picked another, this one a rook carved in the shape of a ruined tower, complete with crumbling bricks and a few tiny bird’s nests in the windows. “Where’d you find this?! Are you gonna teach him how to play?”

“We did most nights back at the castle.” Frisk shrugged. “He beat me every time.”

“Incredible,” murmured Toriel. She took the knight and held it up to examine the sculpting of its plumelike tail. “Humans have such an amazing capacity for beauty. I never could understand…” The goat monster sighed, handing the piece back. “What do you think, Sans?”

Sans couldn’t answer. He’d calmed down a lot after all the fish puns, and he would have been fine just hanging out with everyone until the Royal Guard came by. He hadn’t known Frisk was going to give him anything, much less something beautiful and thoughtful and completely perfect—like her, dammit. How was he supposed to stop feeling all these feelings when she kept doing things?

The pause became more and more uncomfortable as he glowered at the chessboard, heat building around his SOUL until he wanted more than ever to just rip his clothes off right there. “PSST! BROTHER!” Papyrus nudged him. “YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SAY, ‘THANK YOU FOR THE MAGNIFICENT PUZZLE, NYEH-HEH! I SHOULD ASK THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO PLAY IT WITH ME, AND WEEP GENTLY WHEN I LOSE!’”

Sans fidgeted, and Frisk looked expectant. “This’s…ya know, ya didn’t hafta waste a bunch more money on somethin’ we—” His head snapped up, startling everyone. “Hey, there’s the Royal Guard! They probably need help, right? Let’s go help!”

“SANS,” Papyrus began, and huffed as his brother disappeared. “THAT’S NOT WHAT I TOLD HIM TO SAY AT ALL! HOW DID HE GET IT SO VERY WRONG?”

 ~

             Sans was not surprised by the others’ reactions when they joined him a few minutes later at the cart by the town Christmas tree. He could only imagine what they’d been saying, though the glare Undyne was giving him made her opinion pretty clear.

           “Good day,” Toriel said to the cat monster holding the supply list, ignoring Sans entirely. The cart had just come through Waterfall, the sacks and crates patterned with condensation that was already freezing into ice crystals. “I have a very selfish request,” the former Queen continued. “As you know, I was awake for the entire night, and I am extremely weary. I would like to bring my share home with me now, unless of course you need me to—”

           “You were up the whole night, Lady Toriel?” Frisk repeated, one hand on the side of the cart. She frowned, then rounded on Sans so fast that he flinched. “You want to be helpful, don’t you? Then you can take her and her things back to the Ruins!” An imperious gesture at the three guards. “The list, please,” she ordered in her High Priestess voice.

The cat-lady handed it over, bemused. The tiny human ran her finger down the page, nodded, and turned to the cart. “It should all in that crate, there, and that stack of—look where I’m pointing! Yes, that one, and those over there. No, don’t put it—”

           Sans obeyed her as fast as he could, setting the boxes neatly beside Toriel. Frisk checked them over again, then handed the list back to the feline guard. “That should be correct, but if you find any discrepancies, let me know. Has everything gone according to plan so far? No thefts or serious disputes?”

           “No, milady,” the guard replied. “We should be finished by this evening at the latest.”

Frisk smiled. “Excellent work. Please keep it up.”

The Royal Guard all saluted. Toriel’s eyebrows were raised, and Sans wished she’d look at him so he could mouth Told you so. “Good job, guys,” said Undyne, not bothering to hide her grin. “It looks like you’ve got this under control, so Frisk and I are gonna go see Alphys now. You coming, Pap?”

           “HMM.” He glanced from her to his brother and crossed his arms, clearly torn. “SHOULDN’T I STAY AND HELP PUT OUR FOOD AWAY?”

           “Oh, but Sans wants to help so much, we shouldn’t take that from him.” Undyne looked daggers – spears? – at the giant skeleton. “He can come right back here and do it after he drops off Her Majesty. Right?”

           Dammit. “Right,” grunted Sans.

           Frisk was already starting to turn away. He cast around for an excuse to talk to her again, and said, “Hey.” She glanced at him as he rummaged in his inner pockets. “Ya want those invoices back?”

           The priestess frowned at him. He hated it when she did that, especially when he deserved it. “I suppose it could be useful when I talk to His Majesty.” She started to extend a hand, and her eyes widened. “That’s right,” she said to the guards. “Did you give him my note?”

           “Yes.” The dragon guard cleared his throat. “He said no.”

           “What R02 meant to say,” the cat monster, “is that King Asgore regrets he will not be available to speak with anyone today.”

           “But he does want to talk to Sans,” the rabbit said helpfully, “and Dr. Alphys.”

           “I see,” Frisk murmured. “Thank you.” As Undyne glared at R01, the human stepped back, pulling her cloak around her. “You’d better keep them to show His Majesty, then.”

           Sans shrugged, rolled the papers back up, and opened his coat wider to find exactly where they’d been. All he could think about was reaching over to tug down her choker where it was riding too high on her throat; he forgot what else was in his pockets till he noticed her staring at something inside his coat. His SOUL tingled in alarm: the King’s golden envelope was sticking up partway, with the letters FRISK D showing. “Sans? What is that?”

           “…Uh.” Fuck. It was too late to disappear again. He glanced around at everyone listening, and at Frisk, who was already unhappy because of him. Was this really the time to tell her what her father was planning, and that the humans all knew her name now? “It’s…I-I’ll show ya later, I promise. There’s a bunch of stuff we’ve gotta talk about.”

Her frown deepened. “Agreed.” Just like that, Frisk turned to smile at Papyrus. “Shall we?”

“CERTAINLY!” He gallantly held his arm out to her, neither of them noticing how Sans’ socket twitched.

Before the bigger skeleton could say something stupid, a touch on his radius made him spin around. “If you could take me home now, I would greatly appreciate it,” Toriel said quietly.

“Sure.” He gave Frisk one last glance. “Have fun, guys.”

Undyne made another face at him, and Papyrus waved. “GOODBYE, SANS! HAVE FUN! PLEASE BE USEFUL TO HER MAJESTY AND NOT RUN OFF AGAIN BECAUSE YOU ARE EMOTIONALLY INCOMPETENT!”

Sans twitched again, and Frisk smirked. “Have a good rest, Lady Toriel,” she said over her shoulder.

“Enjoy yourselves,” Toriel replied cheerfully. But the moment the trio was out of sight, the goat monster’s smile vanished. “Back to the Ruins, please,” she said coolly.

Sans had a headache already. “Yes’m,” he mumbled. At least all this inner turmoil meant he was generating plenty of magic: she laid a hand on his arm, he made a swiping gesture at the crates, and they were all standing in the entryway of Toriel’s house, easy as butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

“I wish I could do that,” the goat monster commented, not for the first time. “Can you bring those to the kitchen for me?” She strode ahead, briskly opening cabinets and moving things aside to make room. “Also, please tell me what the matter is.”

Sans grunted, twitching a finger to waft the crates over. “Do me a favor, Tori, and gimme a check. You can probably see it for yerself.”

Toriel obligingly turned and squinted at his SOUL. “Good heavens,” she said after a moment, and looked up at him. “Sans, what in the world…?”

           If it looked half as turbulent as it felt, then it was probably pretty scary. “I wasn’t kiddin’ the other night,” he muttered.

“I…didn’t think you were. Still…” She rubbed her eyes, swaying a little with sheer tiredness. “I did want to ask you something. I heard you telling the guards last night that you inspected the carts alongside someone you trusted. By any chance, was that…?”

Well, there was a convenient misunderstanding if he’d ever heard one. “Was that what? Someone I’m totally nuts about an’ hafta stay away from because she’s a human, and just friggin’ deal with it?” He rapped on his chest. “Does it look like I’m dealin’ with it?”

           “No, you are not.” Toriel crossed her arms at the waist. “Sans. I know this must be difficult for you, but—”

“Let’s play pretend for a minute,” he said conversationally. “Imagine I came up to you sometime real soon with a human an’ said, ‘Here ya go, meet the wife.’” Just saying the word made his SOUL ache further. “What would you do?”

           Her eyes narrowed to golden slits. “It would depend,” Toriel said with deceptive calmness, “whether you would prefer I be kind, or truthful. Do you want my blessing to try and find happiness for a few short years, and to be even more alone in the world once she d—”

           That did it. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Tori! Ya think I don’t know how screwed I am?” Sans snarled, and her mouth fell open. “I didn’t tell you about this so you could give me a kick in the goddamn teeth! I told ya ‘cause I wanted to talk with somebody who might have some idea what I’m goin’ through! If that’s too much to ask, just fuckin’ forget about it!”

           “I am sorry, Sans! I truly am!” There was a puff of smoke as Toriel threw her hands up. “If you could marry a human, I would be the first to congratulate you! But as things are…” Her face contorted. “What does my opinion even matter? You know that I have no power here, no matter how many people keep calling me ‘Majesty’! I can do nothing to help you!”

           “You could still be my goddamn friend! That’s all I wanted!” He kicked at nothing. “But no, yer so worried about botherin’ little ol’ Gorey that—”

           Whump.

           Sans stared at the scorch mark at his feet, a smoking, blackened ring on the tiles. Then he looked at Toriel, whose hand was still aimed at the floor, her chest heaving as though she’d run the entire length of the Underground. “Do not. Talk to me. About. Asgore,” she said through gritted fangs. “That wretched man has already cost me my entire family! Do you think I enjoy catering to his paranoia and living in fear that someone else I care for will be banished, or die? What do you think he would do if you were to wed a human? What would happen to you, and to her? If Asgore decided you were truly a threat—”

He could feel his eyes burning, and didn’t trust himself to say anything. Toriel gulped. “It is not safe for you to marry a human, Sans. It is not safe for any human down here! You’ve seen it for yourself! Frisk is the only one he will even tolerate, and he could still…” Another shake of her head, ears flapping against her cheeks. “You know Asgore. All he has to do is ignore her until she leaves. It would be so easy, wouldn’t it?” The goat-woman buried her face in her hands. “Those damned men would just shrug and say that she failed in her mission, and I would never see her again! I can’t lose anyone else, Sans! I can’t—”

           The skeleton’s anger subsided as he watched the former Queen’s shoulders rise and fall. He took a couple of steps toward her, sliding his hands into his pockets. “What happened with Chara?” he asked quietly. “Why wouldn’t he let her come back?”

           Toriel’s fingers curled, claws digging into her muzzle. “It wasn’t her fault,” she muttered, eyes hard and dry. “He said he didn’t blame her, but he still agreed to send her away. And when that bastard human would not marry her as he promised, Chara needed us—she needed her family! But Asgore said she was lying, and he sent her away again! I didn’t see my little girl for ten years, Sans! And then—”

           Sans stayed silent. Toriel let her arms fall, and slid down against the cabinet until she was slumped on the kitchen floor. “I got her back, and it was too late. She hated us both,” she said dully. “She died hating me, Sans. And she was right. I couldn’t protect her from Asgore, and when the accident happened, I could not protect her or Asriel. I was right there, and I could do nothing! All I did was send the humans away, and he even begrudged me that!” The goat monster gripped her robe, nearly puncturing the fabric. “Now my only friend comes to me for a sympathetic ear, and what do I do? I sneer at him for confiding in me and complain about my troubles!” She scrubbed her eyes with her sleeve. “I’m completely useless, as always.”

           “Don’t say that, Tori! Remember that one little thing where ya kept the humans from declarin’ war on us an’ sealing the whole damn Underground? Besides…” Sans shuddered as something else came to him. “For all we know, he woulda had Kris killed, too.” He crouched to her eye level. “You saved Frisk’s life, Tori. Are you sayin’ that wasn’t worth somethin’?”

She swallowed again. “I…I don’t—”

“An’ she grew up to be High Priestess, and she saved my life when I got caught. If it wasn’t for you, she’d be dead, and I’d be dead or worse.” He shook his head. “If she was dead, we wouldn’t be gettin’ any food deliveries, or monsters comin’ home, or random bubble parties—” Despite himself, he chuckled. “Or fish puns—”

           Toriel managed a smile. “That was fun, wasn’t it? Poor Papyrus.” She gave a long, deep sigh. “I may have saved her life, but as far as I am concerned, you are the reason she has come back to us. Thank you, Sans.” The goat monster got to her feet and wiped her eyes again on her sleeve. “I…I still don’t know what to tell you about your human. I haven’t even asked you her name, what she is like, how far your relationship has progressed—may I assume you intend to keep courting her?”

           “Uh…” Sans ducked his head, scuffing his slipper over the burned floor tiles. “Tell you the truth, she’s kinda the one courtin’ me.”

           “Sans!” the goat monster scolded him. “You’ve found a woman with enough magic, strength of mind, and good taste to fall in love with you, and you’re letting her do all the work?”

           The skeleton scratched his neck vertebrae. “…Yeah?”

           Toriel gave him one of her squinty, pursed-mouth glares, and he held up his hands. “I know, I know! It’s just…there’s all this stuff, but it’s her, an’ I never met a her before, an’ I—”

“All right, all right.” Toriel sighed again. “I still wish you would change your mind, but I understand that it’s not so simple.” She couldn’t conceal a yawn. “We can talk more when I’ve had some rest. I promise.” To his surprise, she took his hand and gave it a good squeeze. “In the meantime, go and help the Royal Guards, and then apologize to Frisk. That was the most lovely gift imaginable, and you behaved as though she’d handed you a steaming pile of—”

           “Yeah, yeah.” Sans lifted one shoulder. “Okay, Ma, I promise I’ll be good. Go get some sleep.”

           “Yes, dear. And, Sans—” She gave him a look he couldn’t interpret. “I hate to be intrusive, but…if everyone is gathered again this evening, could I please join you? If it’s all right with the others?”

           Sans made a rude noise. “Of course I’ll come ‘n get you. We’re almost halfway through her offishal visit.”

           Toriel laughed. “Well, water you still doing here? Go on!”

He chucked, raising a hand. “‘Kay. See ya, Toriel.”

           “Thank you, Sans.” She swatted at him playfully, letting him dodge out of the way. “Now, shoo!”

#songfell #why am i like this for reals

[franstastic-ideas]

Pacifist Horrortale

I've been thinking for a while on how Horrortale comes to be because of a Neutral Run, and, well, when I first heard that Horrortale actually wasn't technically an AU where the monsters were a lot more violent and hungry and scary, but it was actually a sequel and these are the same monsters from the same universe as Undertale, just from a bad future, it really shook me, and for a long time it made me not want to touch anything related to Horrortale.

It was just too much to handle at the time I discovered it. I'm aware that HT is an entirely fanmade creation and has no actual impact on the canon UT game, but the fact is, it's entirely too easy to imagine all this happening should you leave the game finished on a neutral run and never touch it again.

But then I thought about it again, and I realized something: Horrortale is still a possible future for the characters even in a timeline where Frisk didn't harm a single monster and left the Underground on the best terms with everyone.

I've thought of this, and it got incredibly depressing incredibly fast, so I just thought I'd warn you in case any of you began to think about it too. I’ve made a handy list ready so you can avoid thinking about what a Pacifistic Horrortale might be like too.

Whatever you do, DON'T imagine shortly after Frisk leaves the Underground, that Queen Toriel falls ill, eventually falling down and dusting despite Alphys’s best efforts.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine a still grieving Undyne having to take her place and realizing quickly that being leader of the Underground isn’t something that she’s prepared to do emotionally or responsibly.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine the monsters’ population beginning to slowly decline through a combination of lost hope and hunger, and Undyne has to watch it all happen while seated on New Home’s throne that’s entirely much too big for her to fill.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine that one fateful day, Sans notices how tense and stressed Undyne is and tries to make a joke to lighten the mood, but in her frustration she punches him, and she realizes too late that she actually hurt him and left permanent damage because his bones had become too soft.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine Sans reeling back from her while Undyne tries apologizing all in vain as he runs out of the now empty throne room howling like a wounded animal, avoiding her from that point onward not out of resentment, but as a natural and instinctual habit of self-preservation despite knowing and believing it truly was an accident.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine Alphys slaving away in her lab, struggling and grasping at straws for a solution to the Underground’s hunger crisis and repairing the gaping hole now in Sans’s skull – she briefly considers turning those that have already fallen down but haven’t began to dust yet into Amalgamates as a desperate final option to save their lives.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine that once Sans has fallen down, Alphys injects Determination into him in an effort to save his life and fix his skull. She doesn’t tell him what she’s doing until the needle goes in. His one eye that’s left working turns red and he gets bigger, but in his pain the first thing he does is attempt to attack her in the same manner as a frightened animal would.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine the monsters that remain attempting to hold onto their love and memory of Frisk to stay sane, but when another human falls into the Underground, in their hunger, one strikes out. And then they swarm over the motionless body... And so this cycle repeats itself.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine that Sans, desperate to keep his younger brother fed, consistently lies to him about the source of where their meals comes from, as he knows Papyrus would never consume it otherwise and would choose starvation if he knew the truth.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine that this entire time, Frisk has been working tirelessly to prove the monsters’ existence on the surface and is trying to find help in breaking the barrier. It takes her a few years, but finally, her claims are humored and a small team is assembled to explore the cavern underneath Mount Ebott, unaware of what lies in store for them.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine Frisk discovering that the Underground is nothing like how she left it. She is welcomed with open arms, but several monsters she had once known are missing and the ones she can identify are barely recognizable and severely malformed. Something feels so wrong, but nobody will tell her what happened while she was gone.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine Frisk being separated from her team shortly after she arrives, every single one of her human company disappearing without a single trace as to where they had gone and every single monster denying having seen or knowing anything. Everyone is far too ashamed to confess to Frisk what they have done after being granted her mercy so long ago.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine Frisk stumbling upon the mangled bodies of the missing humans just outside of Snowdin Town, and finding Sans covered in blood and his eyesockets shedding tears of remorse.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine Sans trying to pacify her, apologize to her, console her, anything to get her to stop looking at him like that as she sobs and trembles with blatant fright in her form.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine Papyrus overhearing the commotion and discovering just where his meals have been coming from. His trust in his older brother is shattered; he had been suspicious, but dismissed every sign pointing in that direction because certainly Sans wouldn’t lie to him about such a serious matter. But he did, and now an ashamed and disgusted Papyrus decides to starve from this point onward instead. But Sans loves him too much to allow that, and this same mad love now extends to Frisk as well.

Whatever you do, DON’T imagine Sans preventing Frisk from performing a RESET; he can’t do it again – he can’t let her turn back time when he feels everything will only come to this once more, another five years of living without her and watching the world around him decay into madness. So he abducts her as a last ditch effort to keep her with him and what’s left of the Underground he once knew forever. And Frisk discovers that his corrupted determination to keep her with him outweighs her own - she can’t perform a RESET as long as Sans has her.

Just... don't think about any of this, people. Just don't.

#franstastic writes #horrortale #frans #sans x frisk #yandere #yandere sans #pacifist horrortale

[missholoska]

Can we have a sequel to Undertale - Swap MH meetups where Classic Sans and Noodle, Classic Undyne and Axe, etc. (Basically the character taking their place) meet up (With the exception of Frisk and Chara ofc since you tackled those already)? I'd love to see what Papyrus would think of a version of his brother that's, you know, not lazy

absolutely you can that’s even more my jam

UT Sans & Noodle:

chill skells eating garbage food together :’>

despite the weirdness of seeing their own personality in each other and still expecting this version of their brother to start shouting and running off somewhere like they’re used to, they still end up treating each other as brothers (UT Sans being the older bro, of course).

it’s just a nice goofy hangout until UT Sans starts punning and then Noodle’s like “alright i’m out you can have him back now”

UT Papyrus & Neptune:

THE GREATEST, MOST SANSATIONAL HANGOUT OF ALL TIME

UT Papyrus is the more surprised of the two by his brother’s counterpart - a version of Sans who actually does things? incredible. meanwhile Neptune is less surprised by UT Papyrus’ usual energy since Noodle has his energetic moments too, but he’s very excited to meet a Papyrus who’s like that all the time!

UT Paps is still annoyed by the gratuitous bad puns, but clearly something would be wrong if a Sans hated puns so he can put up with it. they’d spend the time rushing around being cool dudes, sparring together and generally being good bros (again, Neptune being older) until Neptune inevitably runs out of energy and has a nap while UT Papyrus carries him. some things are universal constants.

…honestly though Neptune might be a little bewildered by the hotpants. his brother does not tend to show that much femur

“COULD I, UH. OFFER THE GREAT PAPYRUS SOME LONGER SHORTS?”“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?? MY BATTLE BODY IS A LOOK!!”

UT Alphys & Sci-Fi:

one minute the cutest geeking out together, the next a lot of intense nerd rambling about bad anime sequels and Top 10 Shows That Made You Believe In The Power Of Friendship Again

there will be no cross-universe cheating in my house but neither can deny that seeing a version of their girlfriend in glasses is adorable

Sci-Fi and UT Alphys working together would be a Scientific Dream Team and they’d create the coolest gadgets :D

“S-so, um… b-buff girls, right?”“Oh my god buff girls are great.”

UT Undyne & Axe:

meeting a strong version of her favourite little nerd is just the cutest and coolest thing to UT Undyne very relieved that this even more intense version of Undyne doesn’t have access to dangerous chemicals.

Axe isn’t surprised to see UT Undyne still uses spears (again, she’s just glad they don’t explode with poison gas on impact), but UT Undyne’s reaction to Axe’s, uh, axe? damn that’s a cool weapon

they gatecrash their friends’ other meetups just to see who can lift all of them the easiest

UT Undyne plays piano and Axe loves her anime theme songs, so they’d also have a duet where UT Undyne plays piano covers of anime openings while Axe sings the lyrics~

UT Mettaton & Swap MH Napstabot:

like I mentioned in the previous meetups ask, MTT would be so excited to meet a version of his cousin with a robot body. admiring the gadgets on their gauntlets, love this hairstyle darling, floaty legs?? and they’re monsterkind’s beloved music star? he could not be prouder.

Napstabot is much more surprised to meet Mettaton, still instinctively calling him ‘Happs’ at first but they adjust to his new name immediately. they’re still a little shyer about sharing their music compared to MTT showing off his brand, but his compliments double their self-esteem that day.

the show these two put on together would go down in the history books :’D

UT Napstablook & Swap MH Happstablook:

a very… familiar meeting for the both of them :’> it wouldn’t take long for both to start treating each other like cousins, just like when their own respective cousins were still ghosts.

a quiet hangout consisting of eating ghost sandwiches, UT Napstablook working on a new spooktune remix while Swap MH Happsta writes in his diaries, and chilling with the snails.

occasionally one of them has a moment that surprises the other by how similar they act to their robotic version they’re used to, and neither draws attention to it but it warms their ghostly souls.

I did not expect to have this many Emotions about ghost cousins help

UT Asgore & Orchid:

in a word? tense.

UT Asgore would be quietly shocked to know a version of Toriel could do the same things as him, given how against all that UT Toriel is. Orchid would be very quick to mention it was never her choice, but that anger would just as quickly turn into self-hatred knowing she’s no better than him. she’d at least acknowledge that this version of Asgore had the guts to stick to his decision.

and this meetup sounds so miserable even the characters themselves would notice, so UT Asgore would try to say something meaningful about second chances on the surface. but he’d probably word it some goofy way at the end and that’s what gets at least a hint of a smile from Orchid.

UT Toriel & Dandelion:

UT Toriel would still take issue with knowing Dandelion made the call to kill humans, but her opinion of him would definitely be more positive than how she feels about UT Asgore ahah

Dandelion would be quite glad to meet a version of Toriel whose life isn’t as consumed with grief as Orchid’s, and like the previous meeting of Toriels I think they’d end up talking about both their past and present children. also probably a mention of their respective door pals?

…I swear I was just gonna leave that last sentence without going off about Soriel but I had a thought I can’t not mention: in Swap MH’s post-pacifist Orchid and Neptune get together a few months earlier than my headcanon for when UT Toriel and Sans start dating, so if UT Toriel isn’t already with her Sans at that point then Dandelion just quietly sips his tea with his eyebrows raised knowingly at the way she talks about her skeleton friend.

“…What are you smirking at me like that for?”“Ah, nothing, don’t worry about it. }: )”

UT Flowey & Swap MH Temmie:

Swap MH Temmie probably just assumes UT Flowey is another identical Flowey from the village at first and just keeps up her act. UT Flowey is much more suspicious about this living plushie Temmie but tries to figure them out with his usual friendly facade.

if they meet post-pacifist and therefore aren’t still trying to be antagonists, maybe they’d actually talk openly? they’d both be pretty surprised to know who the other used to be, and very curious to know about how the living version of their respective human sibling is doing.

oh also, UT Temmies meeting Swap MH Floweys: a bunch of weird creatures repeatedly yelling “Howdy!” and “hOI!” over and over and calling each other their best friends. anyone witnessing this just walks away in silence. their mind will never know peace, forever confused and haunted by whatever the Heck was going on there.

UT Monster Kid & Swap MH Asriel:

I’m not sure if UT MK really knows about Asriel and the significance of seeing him alive? they might just be like “hey, you’re a kid too! you kinda look like the king and also my teacher :D”

Swap MH Asriel on the other hand - he knew Swap MH Monster Kid before their death, and wasn’t inseparably close but they were still part of his family. so he’d be a lot more sentimental about meeting them :’>

Swap MH Asriel wouldn’t tell UT MK that they died in his world though (that’s just weird), he’d simply appreciate getting to spend time with them again. they both talk about the cool adults they idolise and practice magic together.

“Hey, MK, do you wanna guess how old I am?”“Um… 10? Maybe 11?”“Close! I’m 113. :3”“???!?? YO????”

#paulgrobe #holoskart asks #underswap mh rambles #I wish I could draw some of these but I got enough plans I'm taking ages to get to already :'D

[ticklishshenanigansau]

Ticklish Shenanigans: Chapter 28

I Have Made Very Poor Life Choices

Mod Yosh ~ Papyrus, Angel Mod Kitty ~ Sans, Flowey

Angel rushed to the back of the house and rapidly scrambled up the rocky staircase, squeezing through the open window before leaping off the counter and racing up to Sans' room. She leapt up onto his bed and let out the loudest, squeakiest meow she could muster. ---- Sans roused at Angel's frantic meows, pushing himself to a sitting position and rubbing at his sockets sleepily. "hmm? s'matter, angel...?" ---- The calico took in a deep breath before shouting desperately at a breakneck pace. “It’s Papyrus, he’s going into the woods with Flowey, I heard them talking about a deal and Papyrus said he would take your place and he’s really scared and he’s alone with Flowey and you have to do something!” ---- Sans's eyes went dark. No. No! This couldn't happen! Not to Papyrus! Bolting out of bed in terror and fury, Sans tapped into his magic as it roiled in pure panic, ready to teleport, but still hesitating. If he went to put a stop to this, it might be the end of the line. Flowey might rush off to RESET. And, in that case, he might have to incite a FIGHT to the death. But, Papyrus...! Clutching his head Sans sank to his knees, looking up at Angel, his pupils blinked back and he pleaded, "i ... i need t' h-have a clear head...! h-help me c-calm down!" He couldn't mess this up, there had to be a way to fix this, and the crushing anxiety he was under wouldn't do anyone any favors. ---- Angel nodded before rubbing up against Sans and purring loudly, trying to use her charm and affection to mellow out his emotions. It would always work before, she could remember that much, so hopefully it would work now. She battled against a rising mewl of distress to keep from freaking Sans out anymore than he already was. ---- Sans closed his eyes, trembling as he gently nuzzled and pet her, feeling a little comforted in the moment. "th-thank you ... thank you...." Taking a shaky breath, he rose and looked at her. "stay here, okay, angel? i'm gonna go help pap. don't come lookin' if i take awhile. if ya have to, talk to frisk, or toriel, but only as a last resort. try to wait, all right?" He reached to give her a parting pet before vanishing from the room, not waiting for an answer. ---- Angel’s purrs immediately stopped and she whimpered in worry. She decided to heed his order and stay in Sans' room to try and sleep the stress and worry away. ---- Sans made several blind jumps in the woods, hoping to find some clue as to where his brother might be. Papyrus couldn't teleport — well, as far as he knew anyway — so, he couldn't be too far in. But, Flowey would want to make sure it would be secluded and distant enough from the edge of the trees in order not to attract attention. And they both knew Papyrus could be loud. ---- ~~~ ---- Once they had found a place to settle, Flowey hopped down to plant himself in the dirt, summoning just one vine to drape over the skeleton's shoulders in mock amiability. "Golly ... what a little mess we've all gotten ourselves in, haven't we?" He chuckled softly. "It seems Sans has compromised the deal by telling you about it. How reckless of him. I thought he'd know better. You know better, though, don't you, Papyrus? You understand that you can't tell Sans about anything we discuss right now or anything that happens because of it, right? Because Sans was very adamant that he was the only one to be on the receiving end, and if he knew you were sacrificing yourself for his sake...? Well ... Sans would call off the deal himself and then you can all say goodbye to your memories...." His grin didn't look amused, or even threatening, it was just kind of ... there. "Of course, if I don't have any sessions with Sans, he'll naturally get suspicious. But, I'll let you shoulder half of them. Maybe more if you're feeling generous about it. What do you think, friend?" ---- “I.... I'll take as much as I can.... I won't tell Sans....” At this point, Papyrus was trembling so much in fear that his bones begin to softly rattle. ---- "That's a good boy...," Flowey cooed. "Honestly, I wasn't going to have a session with your brother today." He was going to keep his word to Angel, really. "But, why don't we give you a little test drive, hmm? So you can see the extent of what you're agreeing to, and then you can decide if that's what you really want. There's no shame in turning it down, hehe.... Sans wants it all to himself, after all, so really you'd be doing him a favor either way, wouldn't you?" ---- “I said I'll share this burden with him! When I say something, I mean it!” The younger skeleton found that dread was making him snappy. ---- Flowey chuckled. "If you say so." Suddenly, several vines burst up from the ground and bound him down tightly, tendrils hovering tantalizingly over him. "But then, there's been a lot of things said that nobody seems to mean lately." ---- Papyrus whimpered as he tried to pull against the restraints, but each vine held fast. He shut his eyes tightly and braced himself for the tickle torture to begin. ---- Flowey started off slow, but not at all mercifully, stroking vine tips on all sides of his spine, pulling off the skeleton's boots to tease his soles, all at an agonizingly crawling pace. "Golly, I did really hope we could have had what we once did, Papyrus. But Sans had to go and ruin that, too. Such a shame." ---- Papyrus gritted his teeth tightly as he squirmed and struggled as much as he was allowed, determined not to give Flowey the satisfaction of giving into the torment without a fight. ---- "Oh, I see, you want to give me the silent treatment, don't you, friend? Well, I'm sure that won't last too long as ticklish as you are, hehe!" The tendrils began to prod and scritch along the grooves of his spine, worming between his toes, and starting to climb up and wiggle at his ribs. ---- Papyrus began to slowly crack, snickering and whimpering loudly as he struggled harder against the vines. His eyes were so tightly shut tears already began to form, and his jaws hurt from clenching them so tightly. “S.... St.... Stohop...!” ---- "Already? Is that what you really want, friend? Did Sans also tell you he's not allowed to ask for mercy? If you really want to take on part of his sessions, then you'll do the same. Don't tell me 'no' or to stop, and don't beg, or I won't let you do this for him." He added a couple vines to tease at his neck and hips. ---- Papyrus was about to respond, but upon Flowey's vines stroking his hips he gasped before letting out a loud, high-pitched squeal, which was quickly followed by uncontrollable laughter. Thankfully, he was unable to speak through this much laughing, so the no-begging rule wouldn't be too much of a problem. He bucked and yanked at his limbs as he practically screamed in hysteria. ---- "Gollyyyyyyy, is that a sensitive spot, or what?" Flowey giggled, honing in on the spot that was making the skeleton thrash the most — stroking and prodding and poking relentlessly at his hips — then tightening the vines even more to further restrict his movement. "Why don't we focus there for awhile? Hehe!" Sans stiffened, swearing he heard something like a distant screech. Turning in the direction of the sound, he took another shortcut, pausing to listen. He shouldn't teleport too much at once, or he'd start to eat up energy he'd possibly need if things got dangerous. ---- At this point, the poor skeleton could barely move, only able to thrash his head and clench his fists, as he shrieked in ticklish agony. Oh, stars! Is this what Sans had to go through every day with this menace? He was still glad he had decided to share this burden with him, but a part of him actually regretted doing this in the first place. In the end, it didn't even matter; he was laughing far too hard to beg for mercy as he was forced to endure the merciless tickling on one of his sweetest spots. Tears already began streaming down his cheeks as he continued to shriek and wail. ---- The sounds of distress were much closer now and Sans could barely breathe, once again drowning in anxiety. His little brother was being tortured and it was his fault. He never should have told him what he'd agreed to go through. How could he have been so selfish as to put Papyrus in jeopardy like that!? Nearly consumed by guilt and horror, Sans tried to focus on the thread of anger that was also lashing inside him. How dare Flowey do this!? The creature had some major retribution coming, and Sans was more than willing to dish it out if it would help save his brother. Estimating the remaining distance, Sans's pupils disappeared and he teleported within a few feet of the two he sought. "L e t   g o   o f   m y   b r o t h e r," he demanded in righteous fury. Flowey was startled enough to stop tickling the younger skeleton, head whipping up to look at Sans. ---- Papyrus hunched forward as the torture stopped abruptly, coughing at the intake of too much air at once. He looked up weakly at Sans in horror, and his voice cracked in fear as tears continued to fall down his cheeks. “S-Sans, what are you d-doing here?! Y-you have to get o-out of here!...” ---- "I ' m   t a k i n g   r e s p o n s i b i l i t y." Sans resolutely took a step toward them, staring down the flower with a hollow expression. "Y o u   s a i d   y o u ' d   l e a v e   e v e r y o n e   e l s e   a l o n e." Flowey grew on his stem until he was taller than the older skeleton, hoisting up the younger from the ground, splaying him out like a marionette. "You said you wouldn't tell anybody." "I   k n o w .   N o w   l e t   h i m   g o." "Or what? You'll attack me while I'm holding your brother?" Several vines crossed over Papyrus's chest-piece, tugging him closer to Flowey's stem. "... ...no." "This is all your fault, you know. If you hadn't been such a tattletale, none of this would be happening, would it? I told you things would get nasty if you told anyone." "...i know. but i'm not gonna let pap take my place. i-i don't want to fight a-anyone on this. pap knew and the d-deal was still f-fine as it was." "Hmm, actually, I think this is the perfect punishment for you, Sans. You wanted to share what was going on with you with your brother? Well, now you can in the most literal way!" "n-no! i made a mistake, but i'm not gonna let pap suffer for it!" "Oh, but he wants to, don't you, Papyrus?" ---- Papyrus hung his head and wept softly, and once he was addressed, he nodded. “I-it's not fair for you to go through this alone, brother.... I told you I'd share this burden with you, and that's what I intend to do. Please ... just go back home before we both lose something. I'll be fine. He won't hurt me if I don't beg.” He looked up at Sans pleadingly as more tears fell and his voice cracked heavily. “P-please!... Just l-listen to me and go!” ---- Tears trickling down his cheeks, Sans brokenly stood his ground. "i-i can't s-stand to know you're suffering, papyrus ... i can't!" He trembled intensely as he addressed Flowey. "p-please...! i-i'll t-take on twice as much! i'd let'cha go at it a whole d-day! anything! as long as it's just me! n-not him, please!" "Golly, this is clearly the worst thing for you. Why don't I have you watch this time? Maybe that will teach you to keep your mouth shut when I tell you to." Gasping, Sans dodged a vine that came swiftly for him. Honestly, he didn't know if seeing or imagining what his brother was about to go through was more horrendous, but either way it was too much. "d-don't do this...!" "Keep still, you filthy trash! Or I'll make this session extra long. Maybe even a whole day? Thanks for the idea, hehe!" Sans froze up at that, then fell to his knees. He couldn't just let this happen! Was there truly nothing he could do that wouldn't make the situation worse? He felt a vine wrap around him, but he didn't struggle — until another one wrapped around his mouth. "Now, be a good boy and be grateful to your brother for being so brave to take your place." A tendril flicked at his tears and he flinched with a heart-broken sound. He was so useless. So helpless. Why did he think he could make a difference? Turning his attention back to the younger brother, Flowey grinned. "Why don't we make things a little easier to get to, friend?" Vines began to tug away his armor. Sans averted his eyes with a muffled sob. ---- “It's okay, Sans.... I'll be okay. I chose to do this for you. I'll be fine. I am the Great Papyrus after all, n-nyehe....” Papyrus’ chuckle morphed into a cracked sob. He had been hoping to save Sans by doing this, not make things worse for everyone. How in the name of King Asgore did he even find out?! Both he and Flowey were sure no one was watching them! He flinched as his armor was removed, and he glared weakly at his tormentor through an expression of pure hatred. “I hate you. I hate you so much. I had never trusted you, not ever since the day you had kidnapped and tortured Sans back in the Underground. If anyone deserves to burn in Hell, it's you for doing this to my brother!” ---- Flowey stroked a vine across Papyrus's cheek. "Let's not say things you'll end up regretting, friend. Now, why don't we pick up from where we left off! We were having so much fun!" Cradling the taller skeleton in a horizontal position, a half-dozen tendrils made their way back to his now-more-exposed hip-bones, trailing and skating and prodding. Sans wanted to take some solace in his brother's words. He wanted to be reassured as much as his brother wanted him to be. At the very least, he had to try not to fall apart for Papyrus's sake. ---- Immediately throwing his head back, Papyrus shrieked with uncontrollable laughter, thrashing and tugging as hard as he could on the vines holding his limbs out. He hated being tickled on his hips this way, he absolutely hated it! But he knew he needed to endure it and be strong for Sans' sake. He was still absolutely livid at Flowey for forcing Sans to watch him writhe in ticklish agony. He knew how much he meant to his older brother, and he could only imagine what must be going through his head right now. ---- Flowey kept a few vines there to lightly tease as he moved the rest to stroke his spine and poke into the vertebrae. Sans closed his eyes, unable to watch his brother suffer. Hearing it was killing him enough already. He couldn't help starting to weep in despair. ---- Papyrus let out a shrilly squeal as the tugging on his arms became more frantic and desperate, tears falling down his cheeks and flying every which way as he thrashed his head around. The teasing on his hips was light enough to allow him to at least stammer the beginnings of pleas, but he kept them to himself. ---- "Golly, you know, if it wasn't for you, Papyrus, I wouldn't have known about that extra sensitive spot on your brother!" Flowey said brightly. "Though I'm sure I would have found it eventually, hehe. I wonder how well it works on you?" A few vines slithered up from underneath him, prodding at the grooves where spine and ribs met. Sans's eyes flew open and he shook his head with a stifled cry. Don't do that! Don't touch him there! ---- His sockets widened and his cheeks flushed so orange they almost turned red, and he let out a squealy moan. “Nyaaaahhhaah!...~” He panted and trembled heavily, absolutely mortified that he hadn’t been able to stifle such an undignified sound. ---- "Oh, well, that's rather interesting isn't it? Almost funny, even compared to that garbage over there." He gave Sans a jostle in his grip. The vines transitioned to zipping up and down his backbone periodically while stroking and sliding over his ribs. If Flowey had guts to hate, Sans would have that base covered. This creature may have once been Toriel's son, but he had none of her compassion. What kind of person would find this fun? Did Flowey find this fun, or was he doing this merely because he could? What would happen to Papyrus after this? Would he lose his enjoyment for tickling as he himself had that first time? Would his little brother pretend to still like it to keep him from worrying? He couldn't stand the thought — just as he couldn't bear the here-and-now. Sans wanted Papyrus to be happy. He so selfishly needed it. But he didn't want his brother to feel pressured into hiding his true feelings as he'd had. How could he have failed this badly? He was the older brother! He was supposed to keep Papyrus safe! His little brother was his world, and he could do nothing but sit there and let this happen to him, even after everything he'd resolved to do to help. He sniffled and sobbed quietly in anguish. ---- Oh, great cosmos! Flowey was far more merciless than he originally thought, and that little experimental touch on the grooves on his back left him feeling terribly humiliated. At least he wasn't going to abuse him in that manner on top of the tickle torture. No, don't jinx it! He heard Sans' muffled sobbing over his own laughter and Flowey's tormenting taunts and laughter, and seeing his brother break down right in front of him once again made his world collapse. He was almost on the verge of giving up hope on escaping Flowey's eternal torment.... Almost. He had to stay positive just as he always had, for Sans as well as for himself. He just had to.... ---- "Just think, friends, the two of you can have alternating sessions with me and then bond over what you've been through! That's what you like to do, right? Talk about all your tragedies together?" Another set of tendrils snaked their way under Papyrus's arms, twisting and scritching, while a few others wiggled and played with his toes. The vines at his torso slowed, but stayed at their tasks. Sans was as much of a wreck as he would be if he were on the receiving end of the torture — and really, wasn't this just another form of it? Seeing someone he loved tormented in a way he was all-too-familiar with himself — knowing exactly what his brother was going through. Geeze, Papyrus could probably see him crying too, and that just made everything so much worse. ---- The vines at his underarms was way too much, and Papyrus couldn't keep down his pleas any longer. It was like trying to choke down laughter; it was physically impossible. “P-please stahahaaap!” ---- Sans twitched in terror, uncertain what Flowey would do at the forbidden utterance, also stung that his brother had been driven to begging. All at once, Flowey did stop, withdrawing all but the vines that held Papyrus in his grasp. "Golly, I guess you made up your mind then? You don't want to help your brother with this burden, after all? Or did you want to rephrase that, friend?" Don't...! Just let me be the one! I don't want you to go through this anymore, ever again! Sans pleaded through streaming eyes. ---- Papyrus panted heavily, choking back a sob that bubbled up in his chest. He looked up tiredly at Sans, and, after a moment's hesitation, he shook his head at him. He would not let Sans go through this alone. He had made a vow to share any and all burdens with his poor brother, and this would be no exception. He looked back up at Flowey and rasped, his metaphorical throat sore from laughing and screaming so loudly. “I.... I meant ... please stop going easy on me....” ---- Flowey grinned. "Golly, what a great attitude! I knew you had it in you, friend! But let's just make sure no more misunderstandings happen." A vine threaded between the younger skeleton's teeth to gag him before he started up a relentless assault on Papyrus's hips and feet. Sans lowered his watery gaze, hiccupping a sob. Why did his brother have to be so stubborn in trying to help him? Sans was suddenly surprised by a small burst of warmth in his SOUL. Not just because Papyrus clearly loved him so much, but he hadn't given up. He was still giving it his all. The confliction of not wanting his brother to suffer, but also not wanting him to give in battled intensely within the smaller skeleton for a moment. Well, if he wasn't so self-sacrificingly stubborn, he wouldn't be Papyrus, darn it! Despite everything, a very small, half-hearted chuckle broke through his crying. ---- Papyrus yelped and whimpered, breathing noisily through his nasal cavity in panic. Now he understood why Sans hated being gagged; it was so difficult to breathe. He shrieked and cackled anew behind the gag as the vines tortured his sensitive bones, finding it had become even harder to breathe than before. He also couldn't laugh out loud or thrash his head around, which made things a million times worse. ---- Flowey suddenly sprung his vines on all of Papyrus's sensitive places at once, though he kept it slow and gentle and teasing. Sans flinched at the sounds of panic and distress that his brother was able to vocalize, knowing how awful that particular predicament was. He wished he wasn't gagged himself so that he could reassure his brother, or negotiate with Flowey to make it stop. Finally, Flowey gave Papyrus's hips a rather malicious working over before withdrawing altogether — everything from the tickling vines to the restraints and gags on both brothers. "Well, that sure was an entertaining session! We'll do this again soon! I'm sure you two can make it back home on your own, so I'll see you there!" He gave them a wink, sticking out his tongue before ducking under the ground. ---- Papyrus wailed behind the vine around his mouth at the finale, and once the tickling finally ended, he gasped and coughed, falling limp on the forest floor. His bones tingled so badly and the tears still rolling down his cheeks tickled like mad, but he was too exhausted to wipe them away. He felt humiliated and violated, but at least it was finally over, and he had saved Sans from yet another session two days in a row. Pride and happiness swelled up in his chest, but they were quickly shadowed by fatigue. He was sure he was going to faint within seconds. “A.... Are...,” he struggled to speak to Sans, managing to roll his head to the side so he could look at his brother. “...y ... you ... 'k-kay....?” He was too tired, too light-headed. He wasn't able to keep his eyes open, and so they slid closed as he slipped into unconsciousness.

#Undertale #Ticklish Shenanigans #Main Story #Sans #Papyrus #Flowey #Angel

[hoodie-lover]

King Papyrus

The people were waiting for Papyrus to walk out to the balcony, Sans was right beside him, holding his hand. The brothers were shaking as the two walked out to greet the saddened subjects of the Underground. 

“PEOPLE OF THE UNDERGROUND, TODAY WE MOURN THE LOSS OF MANY GREAT, GREAT PEOPLE. HEROES, IDOLS, FRIENDS, AND FAMILY. BUT AS WE LOOK BACK ON THE HAPPY DAYS OF THE PAST, WE MUST ALSO WORK TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE.” Papyrus said, his arms trembling as he looked out over the silent crowd. 

“you can do it bro. i believe in you.” Sans said and Papyrus took a deep breath and resumed his speech. 

“AS WE START OVER ON OUR QUEST FOR FREEDOM, I WANT YOU TO KNOW, I WILL NEVER GIVE UP. AND YOU SHOULDN’T EITHER. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF OUR IMPRISONMENT, MONSTERS WERE OVERCOME BY DESPAIR AND MISERY. PEOPLE WERE GIVING UP LEFT AND RIGHT. BUT A FEW GAVE UP, GIVING UP. AND WE STAND HERE TODAY. WE MUST BE THOSE PEOPLE WHO GIVE UP GIVING UP AND WORK TOWARDS OUR FUTURE.” Papyrus said, murmurs starting in the crowd. 

No one made a sound as Papyrus had the crown placed on his head. Sans was standing by him as they walked back into the castle. 

“you ok bro?” Sans asked as the two walked out to the coronation party. 

“YEAH.” Papyrus said, his purple cape flowing behind him as he smiled. 

“alright.” Sans said as the high class monsters greeted the duo. 

They were kind and welcoming to Papyrus, though Sans was on guard and keeping his walls up. 

“I am so glad you want to help monster-kind King Papyrus. What do you have planned?” A man asked, sipping some wine from a small glass. 

“I DO NOT WANT TO KILL HUMANS. IT WILL HURT OUR TRANSITION TO THE SURFACE IF WE DO. AND IF POSSIBLE, I WANT TO KEEP THEM IN CONTACT WITH THE SURFACE OR MAKE CONTACT, THAT WAY OUR ESCAPE WON’T BE OUR FIRST TIME INTERACTING.” Papyrus said, and the monster was surprised. 

“Naive, but possible.” They said, a puzzled expression on their face. 

“WELL, PEOPLE NEED TO HAVE HOPE. AND I AM WILLING TO MAKE SMALL CHANGES IF NEED BE, BASED ON WHAT HAPPENS. WE CAN’T SEE THE FUTURE.” Papyrus said and the monster smiled. 

“Well, I’m going to help in any way I can. I really don’t want another war.” He said and Papyrus thanked him and walked off. 

Sans was being bothered by a random monster who was berating his lack of formality and small physical stature. He was tempted to grab a juicebox just to mess with them, but he decided against it. 

“SANS! CAN YOU COME OVER HERE?” Papyrus called and Sans gave a sigh of relief. 

“sure bro.” Sans said and he walked over to his brother. 

“DO YOU THINK I’M DOING GOOD?” Papyrus asked, ringing his hands. 

“yeah. you’re doing awesome.” Sans said and Papyrus gave his large smile. 

“THANK YOU SANS. I’M REALLY NERVOUS ABOUT REPLACING ASGORE, HE HAD SUCH A GOOD REIGN, AND WAS SUCH A GOOD KING.” Papyrus said and Sans smiled. 

“but you’ll be just as good if not better. trust me paps. you’ll be great at this.” Sans said and Papyrus wanted to believe him.

“I LOVE YOU SANS.” Papyrus said and he gave Sans a large hug, lifting his brother off the ground. 

When the party was over, they went to their new rooms. Sans had taken Toriel’s room and Papyrus had gotten Asgore’s. All of their old stuff was moved to the memorial for the King, and Toriel had her own grave as well, everyone knew that if she was alive, she would have come back. 

Papyrus was a kind king. He could be found helping his subjects out with their problems, whether it be financial or social. One of the biggest changes he made was reforming the mental health industry. Since Sans had depression, and was unable to get proper help for it, Papyrus was quick to amend that mistake. Which was lucky for him, since it was next on Asgore’s to-do list. If you couldn’t find the king, chances were he was in the kitchen. With help from the chefs, he was actually good at cooking and often made his own meals or made meals for the royal staff and guard, mostly spaghetti but no one seemed to mind. 

Sans was in charge of the paperwork. Something he never slacked at, anything he found to be problematic or suspicious was brought to his brother’s attention immediately. They weeded out a lot of corruption that way as Sans was merciless in his prosecution of the guilty. People who knew him were surprised at his effectiveness, not at what he was doing. 

The biggest challenge however, came when a human did fall into the Underground. The royal guard wasted no time in finding them and whisking the child away to the capital. 

“HELLO HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT KING PAPYRUS! MIGHT I ASK HOW YOU FELL DOWN?” Papyrus asked when the human was brought to him, they were small and fidgeting with anxiety. 

“Some kids were being mean to me and pushed me down. I-I don’t want to die! Please don’t k-kill me!” They said and Papyrus smiled kindly. 

“I WOULD NEVER DREAM OF THAT. YOU ARE CLEARLY NO THREAT TO US, SO WHY HARM YOU?” Papyrus said and the child burst into tears as they gave him a large hug. 

“DO YOU HAVE ANY FAMILY? WE CAN HELP YOU, OUR ROYAL SCIENTIST CAN HELP YOU GET IN CONTACT WITH YOUR FAMILY. THOUGH IT NEVER HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE, WE CAN SURELY TRY!” Papyrus said and the child nodded. 

The walk to the royal labs was short and brief, though the elevators were annoying and the heat unbearable. The royal scientist was tall and lean, they were a very kind man and were more than happy to help the child. While their predecessor, Alphys liked to focus on engineering and chemistry, Susan loved to study magic and how it reacts to human technology. They wrote their thesis paper on it and Papyrus had chosen them for this very purpose. 

“Hello my king! Is this the human I heard about?” They asked and when Papyrus nodded they squealed in delight. 

“It is so nice to meet you! I have always wanted to meet a human!” They said as they shook the human's hand. 

  “Hi. Can you help me find my mommy?” They asked, their dark hair falling over their dark eyes as they ringed their dark skinned hands with nervousness.

“I most certainly can! Do you have a cellphone on you by any chance?” Susan asked and the child nodded.

“Here you go.” They asked and Papyrus gasped in shock.

“I FORGOT TO ASK YOUR NAME! I AM SO SORRY! WHAT IS YOUR NAME YOUNG ONE?” Papyrus asked and the small child laughed at Papyrus’ mini freak out. 

“Kate.” They said and Papyrus gave a large smile. 

“Such a wonderful name.” He said and Susan’s machine started up. 

“I just need to connect a monster phone, to Kate’s phone, and call the number, Kate what is your mom’s number?” Susan asked and Kate told her with no hesitation and a wide smile. 

“Thank you dear!” Susan said and she held her breath as she dialed the number on the monster phone she connected to the human one. They had built a cell tower that reached the top of the mountain, and Susan showed it could carry a magical signal, convert it to a non-magical signal, and be received on non-magical tech. 

“Hello?” A voice said, and Kate gasped as she ran up to the phone and cried out. 

“Mommy!” The woman gasped as well, and could be heard sniffling. 

“Kate? Are you ok? What happened?” She asked and Kate told her everything, about the barrier, the monsters, and how she couldn’t leave, but would be ok. 

“You brave girl. Can I talk with the monsters?” She asked and Kate called over Papyrus. 

“HELLO MS. KATE’S MOM! I AM THE GREAT KING PAPYRUS! WHAT DID YOU WISH TO TALK ABOUT?” He asked, and Kate’s mother began to cry. 

“Call me Jane. I just want to thank you for keeping my daughter safe. We have heard so much about murderous monsters, it’s nice to know that someone who will keep the fallen children safe is on the throne.” Jane said and Papyrus blushed slightly. 

“THANK YOU JANE. YOU CAN CALL YOUR CHILD ALMOST ANYTIME, WE JUST NEED TO WAIT UNTIL WE CAN MERGE HUMAN TECHNOLOGY WITH OUR OWN. UNTIL THEN WE CAN ONLY CALL YOU FROM THE ROYAL LABS.” Papyrus said and the woman was thankful. 

“I WILL LEAVE YOU AND YOUR DAUGHTER TO TALK FOR AS LONG AS YOU WISH, OR UNTIL NIGHT COMES. IT WAS WONDERFUL MEETING YOU, AND COULD YOU TELL THE REST OF HUMANITY WE MEAN NO HARM?” Papyrus asked and Jane was more than willing to honor his request. 

When Papyrus left the labs and was back in the castle, he was shaking. And Sans was willing to help him calm down. 

“I CAN’T BELIEVE WE MAY BE ABLE TO STOP A SECOND WAR BEFORE IT STARTS.” Papyrus said and Sans seemed happy for him. 

“i knew you could bro. and isn’t there a face time thing humans can do? if we can figure that out, we can have the parents meet face to face with their kids, proof they’re ok and we truly mean no harm.” Sans said, smiling a genuine smile, a rare treat these days. 

“I’M SCARED BROTHER. WHAT IF THE HUMANS DON’T BELIEVE US? WHAT IF ANOTHER BAD ONE COMES AND-” Papyrus said and Sans stopped him. ‘

“we’ll be ready. and if we can get in contact with human officials before or during the attack, we might be able to save ourselves. we need to be careful, but we have a genuine chance of getting out of here.” Sans said, praying Frisk wouldn’t come back.

#Post-Undertale Neutral Route - King Papyrus Ending #Worried Papyrus (Undertale) #give up giving up #new fallen human #human monster interactions #papyrus is a good king #Sans is scarily efficient at rooting out corruption #hopeful ending

[morethanithoughtofficialblog]

Chapter 6: Welp, it surprisingly succeeded

In which not only you have hope.

*Toriel's POV*

I haven't felt this happy in such a long time. (Y/N), a sweet and wonderful young lady, has made our wildest dreams come true. Now she's our ambassador, and she'll continue fighting for us. She is just that wonderful! I couldn't be more grateful!

Asgore and I started to walk back to the house, talking happily about our plans for the future. Such a happy event even made me forget all my problems with my husband. It's just a miracle!

However, when we arrived... the mood completely changed. The owner's daughter looked like she was about to cry, the owners themselves looked uncomfortable, and everyone else was silent.

And Sans was missing.

"Oh my... what happened in here?" I asked, calm as I could.

"Mrs. Dreemurr..." Surprisingly, Emily was the one who answered. I didn't interrupt her, indicating she could continue. And she shyly did. "They had a fight. Alphys started to speak negatively, and Frisk shouted at her. Then, Undyne intervened and fight back. Papyrus tried to help, though, but he failed, receiving a hard push from Undyne..."

I was surprised, especially by my daughter's behavior. Just when I was about to open my mouth, Emily continued.

"...then Sans lose it. He screamed at Undyne, then he punched her. Then, for some reason, he punched Dr. Gaster as well..." She started to weep, and I was in shock.

I never saw Sans hitting someone. And even less his own father. Do I know my friend as I thought I did?

I was about to scold my child when I was interrupted. Emily gasped for air, the continued.

"Sans apologized. I know he didn't mean it. He was just angry that Papy got hurt..." she took a pause to stand straightly, and then spoke with more security. "He thanked me for everything, saying that it was good while it lasted. Then he teleported, and... he cried."

I saw how everyone's reaction was the same as mine's: shocked eyes full of guilt. I felt guilty of thinking less of him from hitting his father, but know that I remember, Gaster has never been the best with his sons. He may have done something.

Also, to hear that my favorite comedian was crying, I couldn't just take it easy.  

But, instead of guilt, I saw something else on Papyrus's pupils...

And then I realized it was fear.

"SANS! WHERE ARE YOU?!" he shouted while he rushed upstairs, worry taking over him. This shocked us even more. Because yes, you may worry if a close one is crying, but there's nothing to be afraid of.

Unless...

No. It can't be.

Sans is just too cheerful for that- it couldn't possibly be.

A few minutes after, for everyone's surprise, Sans walked downstairs. He immediately went to the couch, something he normally does. But I noticed something besides he was lazy...

He was tired.

Really tired.

"My friend- Sans" I spoke, more worryingly than I thought I would "Are you feeling better?"

"yes, tori. don't worry 'bout me, k?"

I sighed in relief, noting he used his usual expressions. That's the Sans I know.

Before I could answer, Asgore decided to say the news. I would have disagreed, but I realized this could lighten the mood a bit more.

"Listen up, everyone..." he made his way through the center, all eyes on him. I smiled "We made it"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Sans's POV*

I walked downstairs with Papyrus at my side, feeling like the scum of the Earth. Then I realized that the kings have arrived.

I'm not ready to hear the truth.

I immediately went to the couch so I could feel safer. This was my plan: whenever they finally spit it out, I would hide on the couch so I can't hear everyone's sobs. My hoodie would also help.

This plan always worked on my house- why it wouldn't in here?

I suddenly feel tired.

Like, really tired.

Oh boy.

"My friend- Sans" Tori said worryingly, making me turn towards her. "Are you feeling better?"

How did she- shit. They told her.

Don't let her know more, Sans.

"yes, tori. don't worry 'bout me, k?"

She sighed in relief, making me relaxed. She won't ask anymore. And I'll be safe...

for now.

Suddenly, the king made his way to the center, catching everyone's attention. Tori smiled, and I frowned.

What?

"Listen, everyone..." he firmly said, making me suspicious. "We made it"

...

WHAT THE-

If I had a drink, I would have surely spit it out by now.

We all stared in shock until Paps broke the silence.

"OH MY GOD! SANS! WE DID IT!!!!!" he exclaimed happily, while he held me in the air. Then the realization hit everyone and they started to celebrate. Even Emily and her parents.

"OH YESSSS BABYYYY!" Mettaton shouted excitedly, stretching his legs 'glamorously'. Ew.

Everyone was clapping and jumping, shouting and forgetting the fight we had. Even Gaster was smiling, for God's sake!

But who...

Wait, did (Y/N)... Oh lord, God bless her.

And at that moment, I swear, I was happy. Truly happy.

The impossible turned out to be possible. Then, by any chance, maybe I will be happy in the future. Maybe I will change. Maybe.

But now the 'maybe' doesn't seem too far.

Now I'm filled with HOPE.

Since it was dark outside and we were tired, we didn't make a party. I mean, for today.

So we all went to sleep. And with all, I mean everyone.

Even me.

Not before calling (Y/N) in the bathroom, of course... the guys are just too annoying if, well, a boy talks with a girl their age. And she's probably on her twenties, so... yeah.

I dialed her number and had an anxiety attack on the bathtub. What was I even supposed to tell her?! I'm such a fucking idiot.

"Hello?" she answered kindly, and a little bit startled I think. "This is (Y/N) (L/N). How can I help you?"

Oh, she doesn't have my ID? I would feel offended, but hey, I'm a freak. Not even I would save my ID.

"uh, eh... hi (y/n). it's me, eh, sans. y' know, sans the-"

"Oh! Hi Sans!" she interrupted me, with a slight new hint of confidence in her voice. "I'm sorry, I didn't look at the ID when I picked up the cellphone. The sound startled me so much I just immediately answered. I apologize..."

Oh, so she does have my ID? Weird.

"Anyways, is there something you want to tell me, Sans?"

Oh, right. I almost forgot why I was calling her. I mentally facepalmed myself, then almost slammed my head on the bathtub before reconsidering it. I decided not to do it, though. Last time it happened it hurt like fucking hell.

"i, uh... just wanted to thank you for everything, kid" Kid? Dude, what the- "i mean, (y/n). the kings just gave us the good news and... i thought i should thank you for all your effort and disposition. no one else had the courage to do it, so... yeah... thank you"

There was an odd silence after that.

Oh lord, did I just screwed up?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Your POV*

Sans was thanking me for what I did...

Sans.

Sans.

I stood there in shock, unsure of what I should tell him. I've never seen this side of him. He normally just jokes around me and kink-shames way more than anyone else has ever done. And now, he is sincerely thanking me for everything.

...

Wow.

Is this a plan of Papyrus?

"I, uh... it's really nothing Sans. I did my best, and I'm glad it turned out well"

"i heard that you are our ambassador now. is that true?"

Oh shit, he's right. I'm the ambassador, therefore, I might see this dude again...

...

Just don't say anything stupid.

"Oh yes! That's true! I'll be helping you guys more in the future. Especially for... discriminatory causes" I let out a sigh, not wanting to scare him. But, again, he is most likely an adult. He needs to know, sooner or later. And the sooner, the better. "You see, we humans may be quite... egocentric. Most of humanity does things for their own benefit, without caring about the others. And some people may try to hurt you, just because you are different. Not in rights nor in feelings, Sans. Just in looks... and in souls I suppose"

"yeah... we may be different than you guys..." He took a long pause, and I was trying to think of something to say, but it would be rude to interrupt him... again. After a few moments, though, he spoke:

"that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right? eh, i mean, you are pretty cool, and my brother would love to see you again, so... yeah. i know you're different than them, which is why they have criticized you, but still... we are different species. would you be ok with being friends with different people?"

"Of course I'll be okay with it, Sans! Monster or human, a friend is still a friend!"

Wait, did he just said something about me being criticized? There's no way he could have known...

"But what do you mean about me being criticized, Sans?"

"i'm not stupid, (y/n). i recognize disapproval looks anywhere. i may have listened to some comments as well..."

Of course, that sneaky skeleton.

"and that's why i'm mostly asking you, anyway. are you sure you want to keep up with this crap?"

Am I? People have been looking at me quite different these days. I lost touch with some work partners, even. But...

How am I supposed to give up a friendship? And more, if it is with Papyrus? He's just really sweet and charming, one of the best people I've ever met. Even if he may be a kid, he is just wonderful. If the price I need to pay is to get all those looks forever, then I'll pay for it. I have gained worse things, anyway.

"I'm sure, Sans. It's not like I haven't endured worse things. I can take it. And, besides, it will be worth it"

"...ok. just be careful, tho. there's a dangerous world outside"

"You don't say"

#sans x reader #more than i thought fanfiction #more than i thought #chapter 6 #sans #x reader #undertale

[s-bitty-place]

Long on mobile, adopting more

Draceana had filled out the paperwork, smiling wide and happily as Erratic the Inky began talking to the Dream about home and how there were some new bitties in the making. It would be Frisk, Chara and a Sans variant of an AU that connects monsters with their soulmates but it’s a fell variant of it (although the actions would be similar to a Swap universe). Dracaena wanted to take a walk, so Tam and Erratic could tell them about the hyperactive household that held mostly Sans-type bitties.

“Who’s Major?” Teeth asks so innocently when Erratic talks about the other skeleton.

“He’s mom’s friend, like a brother but he’s a swap and fell child. He’s like a handy-man.” Tam, the Tol Paperjam told the first Papyri type, knowing the others will fuss and spoil him for a while.

“How long is her place from the shop?”the Mumcher asks and Tam smiles at the motherly Toriel version. It might be tough for her since most Inky bitties were childish and loud but the ones that were a bit calmer would be helpful to keep her sanity.

“You can call me any polite name, I’m Dracaena but I also go by S. As for my place, I normally teleport to other adoption centers when adopting. I just want Tam and Erratic to explain the basics of each bitty we have.” Dracaena chuckles and the Dream looks at her in thought.

“Miss, what are our names?” The Dream asks and Dracaena chuckles.

“Mom lets us name ourselves, says it’s more polite to let us choose our names.” Erratic tells his new siblings. Immediately Tam saw the mischievous grins from the Horror and Nightmare, obviously coming up with a joke name.

“How about Banana?”the Horror chuckles and Dracaena smiles,amused as she knew that they will help with pranks now.

“Theres a dirty joke there darling, are you sure you want your name to be that? I’ll let you look up names when we get home.” Dracaena sighs and the Horror shakes his head, amused at her mindset. The Mumcher was happy about finding a name for herself,now to think.

“That would be lovely!”the Teeth chirps. Dracaena decided it had been long enough of a walk and decided to open a portal, just right outside of the home/ adoption center. Major was outside, uprooting any week before realizing his bond sister was back.

“Welcome home sis, Wildflower and Blue Smoke have been helping me out.” Major greeted, coming over with a Wyvern Snas and a Faun bitty flying beside him. Both noticed the new family member.

“Welcome home Mama, Yasha’s asleep in the nest and Koga’s playing with Bam to keep him company.” Wildflower told her, Smoke timid with new bitties but landed in Dracaena’s horns as that was the normal place for landing of the flying types. Unfortunately for him, he landed on the side the Nightmare was on.

“Why are you scared?” The Nightmare asks Smoke who whimpers at being called out.

“He’s a Wyvern Snas, they’re timid with new people and even if Ma has relaxed him enough for new bitties that everyone has agreed to, the experience is different to each creature.” Wildflower answers, sitting beside his friend as he explained. The Nightmare nodded, understanding that the species are naturally timid now that it’s explained. The Teeth was excited as Dracaena and Major went in, all of the Inky bitties asleep, making Dracaena suspicious.

“Fandom gave them some camomile tea and it knocked them all out luckily. Sugar Cube,Hope and Floss should be near Bam and Xee is watching the bitty babies.” Major informed, Dracaena nodding in relief before going through the back door because she just wanted to check on the adoption house before walking to the main home where they went in the front door to see the open kitchen on left, ladders up to cabinets and an open cabinet door showing that there was some implemented into the cabinets. On the right was a small space for relaxation and in front of the relaxation space was a living room that was open. Between the kitchen and living room was a normal table with two seats near each other and a 5” wall around the edges other than the two spots for the two monsters to eat.

“What happened there?”the Dream asks and Major chuckles at the wall.

“Floss and Sugar Cube we’re nodding off in the middle of dinner one night and fell off- Yasha and Koga caught them luckily, so sis decided to put walls into the table as well as install ladders because someone thought it would be okay to get a snack in the middle of the night.” Major answers, Erratic flushing a violent rainbow at the mention of the snack. The Nightmare looked at Erratic in curiosity.

“Did you get hurt?”Nightmare asked and Dracaena chuckles.

“He fell of the counter and went back into an ink form. Instead of dying like normal monsters from a height that normally kills, his sub-species actually just goes back to ink and absorb the magic back once they’re safe.” Dracaena tells the goopy bitty who nods and looks at the other with a curious eye.

“Your back!” Was a squeak from Bam who had just came down in a rope and pulley-like an elevator system(that Major had installed)- before Tam was poking to be let down. It was customary for the first two of the adopted to hug and talk if they had been away for the day. Dracaena decided to go to the couch to let the others down. They got up and slid down her arm, the Nightmare holding onto the Dream to keep the other safe. Soon enough, the others came to the couch, the three children in awe of the Mumcher and combining her hair with their phalanges, making her feel happy as Hope(the Flamester Papyrus) was talking about daily life. Yasha was still tired but greeted the new family members, it wasn’t time for him to patrol the grounds but Dracaena brought new bitties home and he wanted to be polite.

“The baby bitties are asleep for a little. They can’t wait to be shown.” Xee told Dracaena who chuckles and nods, Teeth getting spoiled by Fandom as the latter showed different kinds of food that was for bitties- homemade because Fandom liked cooking right now and Dracaena was picky if she got any food at the store for them, often cooking meals for them as equals.

“Have you guys figured out your names?” Bam asks, seeing that the Dream he was talking to’s brother was talking to Tam.

“I’m still unsure.”Dream says and Dracaena gets out the phone she got specifically for the bitties because of reasons and put it at the end of the couch, up against the armchair.

“I was actually thinking Tart.” Teeth said and Dracaena cooed at the dessert name.

“It’s nice.””You have a wonderful sTart there.” Was the outpour and with a couple of name puns, the newly named Tart was giggling with the others.

“Do my teeth not scare you?” Tart asks, now remembering one of his fears.

“It’s just uneven fangs, Xee has fangs and we seen the generic picture of a Teeth when Ma told us which ones she most likely will adopt.” A small voice came, it surprised the newcomers but at least Blue Smoke was opening up quicker with them, getting a bit braver once with some others for a while. The Teeth was shocked but seeing the others smile and the younger ones just smiled at him in amazement.

“Thank you.” Tart said, deciding to sit down beside Koga who had Yasha curled up on his lap. Tart’s brother decided to let Tart have some space to talk to others. Major had decided to start dinner a while ago as to get a good meal into the bitties before bed. Normally it was dinner,bath then bed for the day-time bitties which the only nocturnal bitty was Yasha in which case would get breakfast and dinner with the family, Dracaena bathing him before tucking him into the basket with the nest for him and Koga.

“No need to thank us, have any of you thought of names?” Xee says, scarf kinda muffling his voice as the Dream and Nightmare pair were looking at twin related names.

“For dessert, should we do Ambrosia or chocolate sundaes with some exceptions?” Major asked and Dracaena chuckles.

“Why not both? I’m sure Hija will not mind going to the store if we’re short on something.” Dracaena answered, all new bitties looking curious.”Hija’s my hatchmate, my biological brother.” She answers their questions that were thought.

“Really?” The Mumcher asks and Dracaena nods.

“He mated to a human friend of mine-she rehabs bitties and works in our old home. She normally takes a-ok bitties back to their adoption centers if she can but if not, she asks me to foster them in the meantime. They stay in the bitty shop normally. If there’s a physical or mental problem then she does all she can to help them and keep them at the rehab station.” Dracaena told the HorrorTale Toriel that smiles at the people Dracaena has surrounded herself with.

“Dinners almost done, we’re having some chicken alfredo and dessert is a choose.” Major informed, coming in to get some bitties so Dracaena doesn’t need to worry about bitties on her tail or head. Erratic smiles as he, Tam, Bam, the twins of Dreamtale and Xee took Dracaena’s shoulders, the Horror and Tart taking her hands. Major took the others, the fae bitties being a bit too lazy right now but still being loved on. Once at the table,they were dropped off(not literally dropped) onto the table, very carefully with the new bitties.

“What’s chicken alfredo?” the Mumcher asks the elder bitties who smile softly.

“It’s spaghetti noodles with tiny bits of chicken and alfredo sauce instead of tomato paste.” Tam explains and Tart looked happy at the dinner that was coming. Once it was on plates for all, the two monsters returned to the table and put it in front of all of them. The Paperjam bitties took their food and sat near Dracaena while the others spaced out on the table. The five new bitties stayed near each other and talked, the Horror and Nightmare watching as they ate.

“My brother and I found an ethnic group that sees twins as two halves of a whole. They’re called the Yoruba and we decided Kehinde would be me and Taiwo would be my brother! Even if it’s a little different.”the newly named Kehinde tells Dracaena who nods in listening, Taiwo watching as he ate. The Horror bitty beside him was a messy eater, luckily Tart was a bit better at being clean as he ate. Mumcher had been listening to the others’ day and Xee had been talking about the baby bitties with her. Essentially they were just formed a few days ago and the bitties were so excited to be seen, reference sheets taking a bit longer than Dracaena likes to admit.

Once dinner was done(after giving some of the bitties a second serving) Major brought out the Ambrosia and sundaes, giving some to all of the bitties. The Horror took a bite of Ambrosia and purred, Dracaena surprised but also amused because Major was great at making desserts,tacos and mustard from the mustard plants. Must be the benefits of having an Underswap Sans and an Underfell Sans as parents.

“Soo good!” The Horror moans in delight at the dessert. Major flushes but the compliment is taken fairly well. Dracaena snorted, making Taiwo and the Horror look at the monsters before smirking at Majors flush.

“Something wrong Major?” Taiwo asked, Major sighing as he figured the playful picking on would have been eventual.

“Got nothing Major to say huh? Like da dessert though.” the Horror picks on and Major sighs, silently cursing his Underfell parent for the name yet again. The other bitties were giggling as they finished their sweets.

“Alright, bathtime.” Dracaena says, the fae bitties going on excitedly. Taiwo looked like he was about to say something but Bam went over to him.

“Us PJ’s have the same design of liquid cleaning, so Mama puts us in charge of toweling and lifeguard duty.” Bam told Taiwo who nodded as they went with the two monsters for a bath. The Horror was talking avidly with Major about the next project on Majors list, making a functional bitty mansion that will be able to go into the house pipes and so everyone had a room-not like the houses he had made for them- and was able to talk about things without worrying about Dracaena hearing or him. Once at the bathroom, there was a regular bath/shower combo and beside it was a foot by foot square of a bathtub for group bitty bathing. The new ones were flushing at what they noticed, the fae, beside Yasha who had began patrol after dessert, were getting a hottish side of lukewarm water in the tub with varying heights due to the highest a bitty could be in the tub was 5”, so Tart had to use the monster/human sized bathtub.

“Hey Miss! I think I know what to name myself!” The Horror bitty called, Taiwo, and the PJ’s away from the water, especially the couple inches that were ready for Tart.

“What is it dear?” Dracaena chirps, making a note to find soft fabric for clothes.

“I want to be called Ambrosia.” The newly dubbed Ambrosia told S who nods and hums. The Mumcher hadn’t said anything about what her name would be, but it’s okay, Dracaena would wait-it took Blue Smoke a couple days to tell her.

“Ambrosia, the nectar of the gods.” Dracaena jokes, Ambrosia smiling wide at the joke.

“We normally take a group bath, are you guys gonna be comfortable?” Wildflower asks, S nodding as she looked at the new bitties. Tart didn’t really mind, it was a family bath, the Mumcher helping the kids but the other two were flushed because it was different.

“You don’t have to take one with the others. I did one on one for a while but kept loosing track of who was next so Wildflower and Xee didn’t have a couple of baths so I implemented family baths.” Dracaena told the two softly, making sure they understood it was for both health and familial reasons. They nodded, stripping to their underwear and go in, Dracaena not bothering them if they wished to bathe with underwear, however the plushie Ambrosia had since they adopted him had to stay on the side. It was within his arms reach if he became panicked, which the others wouldn’t quite understand, only knowing it was part of his species and knowing that it was a good thing to have.

“Mama, is it okay if we call her Mummy?” Hope asked Dracaena who chuckled and nodded.

“As long as she’s fine with it, I don’t mind.” Dracaena told the child, already knowing that most of the bitties(soon Inky’s and the new bitties) were under her charge, lightening the load a little.

“I’m okay with it, are you sure you want to share the title?” The Mumcher asks and Dracaena nods.

“I’m sure you’ll help her out a lot.” Major chuckles and S huffs, already knowing that Major was thinking about the Mumcher adopting her.

“Okay, well I like the name Demeter, Kehinde showed me the name earlier and I was thinking of something like that.” The Mumcher told Dracaena who nods.

“Thank you for telling me your name, if you don’t like it, for whatever reason, I have the rule that you can change it and nobody will not question it little Demeter.” Dracaena told Demeter who nodded in happiness.

Once bath was over, Dracaena used different cloths for different bitties to dry off, using a soft black washcloth to help Kehinde dry off while using a soft violet washcloth to dry Ambrosia off. She made sure to clean the bashed part of the skull to prevent further infection or just to keep it clean, either way, it seemed relaxing to Ambrosia and he fell asleep quickly at the cleaning. Due to not having little homes for them yet, Dracaena had already used part of her closet to set up a safe space for the five at the bottom with comfortable beds,and a couple hammocks. She had to leave the crib(she had found an old wooden crib that was low to the ground in the attic somehow) outside of the closet for Tart.

“Can brother sleep with me?”Tart asks and she smiles softly while nodding; having to get the underwear off of Ambrosia and put on some clothes that the others found-mainly some hoodies that were for some Inky’s (though they never really use them) and a couple of doll nightgowns. It was one of the only things that they had on short notice ( since Dracaena can be a bit impulsive with bitties) and they would have the clothes cleaned and dried sometime in the morning. At each window in the room, they had installed a door for Yasha when he returned. Major had said night before going to his house that he also used as a shed that was across from the main home.

Once all tucked in, they went to sleep. Dracaena barely dreams and if she does, it’s either because of a stressful day or Major decided to tranquilize her( she got insomniac sometimes and that was the best way to get her to sleep).

As the morning rose, Wildflower, Kehinde and Dracaena rose to the sunlight, Yasha tiredly coming in and letting S feed him before getting his bath. After his bath,Fandom came downstairs as Koga took his mate to the hanging nest. Afterwards, Dracaena finished laundry for the new bitties and thought she saw Taiwo in the corner of her eye in the shadows in the laundry room.

“I’ll take the clothes to them, Ambrosia and Tart will wake up any time now.” Taiwo says and the skele-dragon nods as she let him get the clothes. After a little while, all home bitties were up, Erratic talking about the Inky bitties in the shop and how it works with Kehinde.

“So, you guys come from ink and magic?” Kehinde asks.

“Not just any magic, art block magic. Like when an artist, a writer, song person or anything that’s art comes up, but that’s rare to find an Inky that was formed like that. Normal Inky bitties come from Ma’s experimental magic with inkwells, making it a bit more difficult for others to manipulate into an Inky like myself.”Erratic explains and Dracaena shrugs as the newbies look at her.

“The shop’s gonna get busy with Inky bitties being little spaz-nuggets, so I need to take you all with me.” Dracaena told them and they nod. Demeter drew in a crowd since Inky bitties could tell a motherly aura in an instant, others were looking at the new bitties in rapt fascination as some studied them,making Taiwo and Ambrosia a little uncomfortable until the attention was turned on their siblings, some of the younger Inky’s just listening to the two. At least Kehinde and Tart would be great playmates and their siblings would be great watchers/ protectors, seeing that it was focused on how much trouble one of the Inky’s could get in trouble easily. Demeter had already won the younger bitties with her magic and how she listened to them.

Dracaena liked having a schedule with her bitties and so far, the newest members did not have a problem with it.

Taiwo(Nightmare!Bitty)

Kehinde(Dream!Bitty)

Tart(Teeth!Bitty)

Ambrosia(Horrortale!Sans Bitty)

Mumcher(Horrortale!Toriel Bitty)

by @dotchi13

Xee(Xee Bitty)

By @theamazingfey

Blue-Smoke(Wyvern!Snas Bitty)

By @moonsbittybabies

Hope(Flamester Papyrus!Bitty)

By @sansbyandson

Koga(Sweatie!Bitty)

Yasha(Dreamy!Bitty)

Wildflower(Faun!Bitty)

Fandom(Sing-Song!Bitty)

by @ajadeideidy

Sugar-Cube and Floss(Jiggy!Bitty)

by @shyeevee66

Tam/Tapper and Bam(PJ!Bitties)

by @7goodangel

Erratic(Inky!Bitty)

by myself

#Dotchi13 #Dreamtale twin bitties #Horrortale bros #fae bitties #Ajadeidey #shyevee66 #Jiggy boys #Flamester Papyrus bitty #bittybones #bittybone #inky bitty #Wyvern Snas #Xee bitty #storytime #story

[for-a-flower]

Fatality

(Just in case the title doesn’t make it obvious, there’s death in this one so beware.)

           While continuing through trees on either side of the path, Frisk was attacked by a Snowdrake and Icecap monster.  He managed to escape both with only a few bruises.  Frisk reached a large cardboard box standing in the snow and stopped for a breather.  He noticed a note taped to this sloppily assembled structure.  The child read it to himself in a whisper.  "You observe the well-crafted sentry station.  Who could have built this, you ponder?  I bet it was that very famous royal guardsman.  Note: Not yet a very famous guardsman."  Frisk giggled.  This was clearly written by Papyrus.

           The human shivered then moved on.  He limped due to a sore ankle which had been injured while running from another fight.  As Frisk walked, he thought about Sans and Papyrus.  He wanted to know more about them.  He wanted a chance to talk to Sans more . . . which was something he had neglected with Toriel.  Frisk worried what might happen if any monsters found out he killed her.  Would they believe him if he said he hadn't meant to?  Or would they try to kill him too?  Frisk sighed.  Killing him wouldn't be difficult.  He was already slower, cold, and injured.  The human stopped in the snow as pain shot through his leg.  He cringed but he had to keep going.  He knew his ankle wasn’t broken, just strained.  He could deal with it.  He was going to make it out of the underground and he'd make sure of that.

           A yellow spark flashed in front of Frisk.  He stopped, eyes wide.  He glanced around, focusing his attention toward various trees around him.  No one else was there.  The glint of yellow had long gone already.  Frisk was sure this time that he had done something to trigger that.  But what?  Did he have a magic ability that he never knew about?  What did the spark mean?  Why did it only last for a moment?  Something so brief seemed it would have no use at all.  Frisk reluctantly kept walking.  He didn’t want to stand in the cold to figure this out.  It was unlikely he’d make sense of it right now.  Frisk was getting quite hungry.  He had to find Sans.  Maybe he had some food or something.

           The child approached a sign and paused to read it.  "Absolutely no moving!" it said.  Frisk glanced ahead but couldn’t make out anything odd from here.  He shrugged and kept walking.

           He stepped in front of a wooden sentry station just as a black and white dog lifted its head to bark loudly at him.  Frisk stopped suddenly in alarm.  "Did something move?!" the dog barked.  He leaped through the opening of the sentry station, landing softly in the snow.  His brown eyes glanced around suspiciously as if he couldn’t see the human who stood a few yards in front of him.  The dog growled, a scowl across his snout.  "Because if something did . . . like a human . . . I'll make sure it never moves again!"  The dog monster summoned two cyan magic swords, one in each hand, then charged toward the human.  Frisk screamed, ducked quickly, and rolled out of the way.  The dog swung both swords at the ground, striking the snow near Frisk.  He paused and spun around to scan the area with narrow eyes.  "Where'd you go?"

           Frisk lay on the cold snow several feet away, but he shivered from fear more than chill.  "Hello?" he called softly.  Maybe greeting the dog nicely was a good idea.

           The dog jumped, glancing left and right.  "What was that?  Who are you?  Don't you dare move an inch!"  He lifted the swords and proceeded to swing them a couple times in Frisk's general direction as if he couldn’t see the human clearly.  Light blue energy flung from the blades as a sweeping magic attack.

           Frisk's eyes grew wider.  “Yikes!”  He scrambled to his feet and turned to run away.  The young human managed a few running strides before three streaks of energy hit him across the back.  Frisk yelled and collapsed in the snow, gasping in pain as he rolled over onto his back.  He opened his eyes slowly as the dog approached.

           This time the black and white dog stopped beside the human, his eyes fixed directly on Frisk.  "I spotted a human!"  He raised both magic blades.

           Frisk frowned, trembling weakly.  Unable to get to his feet, he lifted a small hand.  "Wait . . . I just . . ."  Without further hesitation, the dog executed a direct attack.  Both blades stabbed Frisk through the stomach.  The child flinched when an overwhelming pain rushed through him followed by thick darkness.  Panic overcame him as his life slipped into endless shadows.  As he fell through the dark, the pain gave way to numbness.  Yet somehow a low voice spoke out to him from the Void.

           "Chara," it said.  "Wake up.  You are the future of humans and monsters.  Don't give up."

           Frisk didn’t know this voice.  Nor did he know who Chara was.  He didn’t know why he was hearing this, but he knew he didn't want to give up.  "No," Frisk thought.  "I'm scared.  I . . . don't want to die."  In the middle of his thought . . . something began to change.  The numbness of death gave way to a strong pulse of life.  Frisk's strength flooded back.  The dark world around him shifted as sound and light suddenly returned.

           Frisk gasped and opened his eyes.  He paused to squint in the bright light, then looked around quickly.  He stood in the snowy forest near the dog's sentry station.  Still in a panic, Frisk put a hand to his stomach.  There was no injury, no blood or pain.  He lifted his shaking hands as he tried to calm himself.  “I’m not dead?  What . . . happened?” he whispered.  After taking a few deep breaths, he rubbed his stomach where he had suffered a fatal blow only seconds earlier.  He still felt completely fine.  "How . . . ” he whispered.  Frisk glanced over a shoulder to make sure no one had come down the path behind him.  "How?  How am I alive?"

           Strangely enough, he wasn't hungry anymore.  His sore ankle and burns had been healed too.  Confused, his gaze drifted down to the snow as he shifted to deep thought.  "When I was here last time . . . I saw a yellow spark . . . like magic or something.  I came back here after I died.  I must have . . . gone back in time?  Whoa!"  Frisk lifted his head.  "That's not possible. . . . Is it?  But maybe here it is.  I didn't want to die and now I’m back here.  So . . . somehow I made that yellow spark and marked a time.  Maybe it’s kinda like . . . a save point in case something happens to me.  But how did I do that?"

           Frisk glanced down the snowy path ahead.  He knew he wasn't going to figure it all out right now.  He needed to keep going.  Maybe he’d discover more on the way.  Right now he had to figure out how to get passed that dog ahead.  Frisk took a deep breath then started toward the sentry station again.  He got an urge to take out the toy knife but ignored the feeling.  Besides, the dog had warned him not to move and what had he done?  Ran all over the place.  This time he had a different plan of action . . . or more like a plan of inaction.

           The child hesitated before crossing the path in front of the station.  He couldn’t think of a way to cross without moving, but maybe he could convince the dog to leave him alone anyway.  Reluctantly, Frisk stepped into the dog’s line of sight, who stiffened up in surprise.  "Did something move?!"  Frisk stopped.  The dog jumped out with two magic swords like before.  "Because if something did . . . I'll make sure it never moves again!"  The dog dashed toward the child, swords raised.  Frisk ducked to the side, rolling in the snow.  He stood up behind the dog, freezing in place before he was seen.  The dog looked around, his eyes darting from left to right.  "Where'd you go?!"  Each time the dog glanced away, Frisk snuck a few steps down the path. 

           The dog began swinging both swords in front of him in a nervous sort of way.  "Come out!  Come out!" he said.  Once Frisk had made it several yards down the path, he took off through the snow.  The dog spun around and caught sight of him.  "Human!" he barked.  Frisk glanced over his shoulder as he ran.  The dog charged after him.  "Don't move an inch further," he growled.  Frisk skidded to a stop, as his little heart raced.  The dog stopped a few feet away, losing track of the child.  He swung both swords, flinging blue streaks of energy toward Frisk.

           In fear, the child closed his eyes yet remained completely still.  He had no idea this would work.  He heard the swish of magic energy and felt a tingling as the stuff passed through his body harmlessly.  Frisk opened an eye.  The dog stared.  "What?"  He whined pitifully.  "Is anyone there?"  Frisk heaved a sigh of relief.  The dog's ears drooped.  He lowered his swords.  "I thought I saw someone."  Reluctantly, the monster turned and moved away, shuffling back to his watch-post in defeat.

           Frisk remained completely still until the dog had climbed back inside the sentry station.  The human child then continued down the path.  "That was terrifying," he whispered.  As flakes of snow floated down around him, Frisk’s pounding heart slowed to a normal pace.  He shivered again.  Even though he was quite cold . . . in a way it was refreshing and calming.  The snow was pretty . . . the area quiet.  He took it in as he went.  Just one step at a time.  He'd make it to the exit eventually . . . wherever it was.  Perhaps Sans would help him find it or tell him what it looked like.

           Only minutes later, Frisk stopped when he saw Sans up ahead.  What a coincidence.  The short skeleton stood alone near a patch.  Frisk bolted toward him.  "Sans!" he called.

           The skeleton greeted him with a usual smile.  "Hey, kiddo.  What's up?"

           Frisk glanced back toward the dog's sentry station he had just escaped from.  "That dog . . . he had some kind of blue energy swords.  What was that?"

           "Oh, I should’ve mentioned that earlier," said Sans.  "Some of the monsters in the underground have special magic that significantly damages anything moving.  It’s always cyan.  So, if you see that kind of attack later on, you can avoid it by simply standing your ground."  He chuckled a little before continuing.  “Think of it this way.  When you see a stop sign, what do you do?”

           “Stop,” said Frisk.

           Sans nodded.  “Stop signs are red.  So, when you see a blue attack . . . just think of a blue stop sign instead.”

           Frisk stared.  “Uh . . . Okay?”

           Sans chuckled.  “Good luck, kid.”

           The child paused, his expression of confusion switching to one of concern.  "Wait . . . did . . . you see that whole thing?"

           Sans didn’t seem to understand why Frisk asked this question.  "Hu?  You avoiding those attacks like a pro?  Yeah . . . I saw it all," he said.  Frisk sighed.  Sans must not have seen him die.  "Anything else?" said Sans.

           "Well . . .”  The child glanced down, shivering a bit.  “I'd like to get back home if I can.”

           Sans nodded.  "Don't we all."

           "Monsters . . . you've all been trapped down here for a really long time . . . right?"

           "Yep.  Most of us don't even think we'll get out."

           "How long has it been?"

           Sans shrugged.  "Hey, I'm not sure, kid.  I wasn't here the whole time.  Kinda hard to know if I wasn't around.”

           Frisk sighed.  “My village on the surface has legends about it but . . . they’re so old now, no one seems to know how long ago it really was.”

           “Well, don’t know what I can tell ya,” said Sans.

           "Anyway, do you know where the underground’s exit is?"

           Sans put his hands back in his pockets.  "No need to be worried about it.  You'll get there.  Just gotta keep going a bit at a time," he said.

           "Trying to keep me hoping?" asked Frisk.  Sans nodded.  Frisk smiled.  "Thanks.  But I don't know what the exit looks like.  I don’t want to miss it."

           "Don't worry, kid.  You'll know when you see it.  Papyrus is waiting for you ahead with a puzzle.  You should check it out."

           "Alright."  Frisk stepped around Sans, took a few steps, then stopped to look back.  "Wait, Sans?"  The skeleton was already gone.  Frisk stared a second.  "How does he keep doing that?" he thought.  He shrugged and continued onward.

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Full Chapter List

#undertale #fan fiction #snowdin #doggo #frisk #sans #death #long one again #part three #frisky business #foraflower au

[guessilltryagainlater]

Underswap headcanons of mine!

Papyrus is still Sans’ little brother

Undyne still thinks anime is real

Gaster is not the riverboat person

Gaster is still lost to the void

Sans is exuberant and joyous but he believes in you for more nihilistic reasons (ie if the monsters can’t learn to get along with the humans there is no point in getting to the surface, you’ll ultimately help them if he keeps believing in you, etc.)

Papyrus really doesn’t smoke that often, only Muffet and Sans know about it (he doesn’t know that Alphys does, too)

He does, however, sometimes light lollipop sticks on fire

Alphys cares about the skelebrothers, Sans especially, but they genuinely kinda weird her out

Papyrus especially

He’s definitely hiding something

She’s constantly inventing gadgets and weapons and armor, because she still has a huge interest in science and robotics

Undyne is definitely timid, but there’s a subtle psychotic tilt to her personality

She does a lot more genetic experimentation in an attempt to make monsters stronger (not using dt anymore, for obvious reasons)

She really misses Papyrus and tries to reach out every once in a while

He comes by everyone once in a blue moon, he really doesn’t like Waterfall...

He used to spend a lot of time in the lab/have an interest in science, neither of them can remember why he left

Papyrus drinks a lot of coffee

Like

A lot

But he puts a bunch of honey in it

Sans gets mad at him for drinking so much sugar coffee

Despite the tremendous amounts of coffee he still doesn’t do much

(He pretends to sleep a lot more than he actually does)

Asgore doesn’t fight you in an effort to prove you can survive

He just begs you a bunch until he eventually lets you go

He’ll answer if you call him after that, but doesn’t say much

Toriel is way harder to beat than Asgore

She totally spiraled waaaay worse

Sans secretly keeps a little notebook of his favorite jokes from Papyrus

Annoying cat

In a genocide run, Papyrus still won’t kill you

He is nearly impossible to beat, more so than Sans

He basically forces you to reset

He doesn’t believe in you, but he believes in Sans

And he still just can’t bring himself to kill

Alphys gives Sans baking lessons, they’re still both terrible at it

He actually already knows how to cook

Alphys maintains a bit more of an attitude about you for a little while, even after you’re friends

Idk I can’t think of anymore right now but I might add more later!

Edit:

Papyrus can play anything with strings but prefers bass

Sans plays the trumpet (because he didn’t want to encourage any of his brothers “terrible” jokes)

Alphys thinks anime is real

Undyne asked for Alphys’ help to build Napstabot, so she knows the truth

Toriel still bakes, and offers you pie instead of tea

The Temmie-Flowey thing still feels off to me but I can’t think of something better lol

Edit:

Toriel is much colder to you initially, and tries to talk less, but she slips up enough that you can tell how much she doesn’t want to do this

Been toying with the idea that Frisk’s ghost possesses a Temmie plush and wreaks UT Flowey-esque havoc with their ability to save and reset, while Asriel’s soul can still only persist as Flowey, except he only shows up if performing a genocide run like UT Chara

Sans still reads to Papyrus except he’s the ones who gets cranky if Papyrus doesn’t let him. It’s for educational purposes. Obviously.

Asgore never leaves you alone in the Ruins since he only makes tea, so he makes silly dad commentary throughout most of it.

Alphys suspects that Sans would make an excellent guard, but won’t make him one until he starts taking it seriously. (And bc of his stats)

He won’t.

Napstabot is a scaredy-cat.

Alphys has trust issues, but views them as a weakness and tries very much to be less suspicious.

#papyrus #sans #alphys #undyne #toriel #asgore #undertale #underswap #us papyrus #us sans #us alphys #us undyne #us asgore #us toriel #headcanons #back on my bs