Chapter Text
Red began to stir in his sleep, groaning as he slowly came to his senses. He had another restless night, this one caused by a intensely heated fight between Edge and himself. A fight that ended when Edge slammed the front door, hard enough for Red to wonder about the house's foundation, as he stormed off into the night.
Red sat on his lumpy mattress, blinking the sleepiness away as he tried to gather why it felt off in the house. He reached over to his cell phone, turning it on, realizing it was later than he expected, normally awoken early by his brother for breakfast and work. It clicked at that moment, the house was just too silent, not a single creak of a floor board or clanging of pots and pans from the kitchen. No wafting smell of coffee brewing hanging in the air. Quickly throwing on the freshest looking clothes from a nearby pile, forgoing his usual sniff test, Red slowly eased his door open, glancing around suspiciously.
Nothing, he saw nothing in the upper floor hall. Silently he crept over to his brothers room, listening first before knocking, softly, three times. No sounds responded back in reply. Usually Edge would respond if he was inside or if any danger was present, even if those moments had been a rarity.
Worried, Red creaked the door open, glancing inside, seeing the still made bed, looking as untouched as always. No sign of his brother was present. Relieved that nothing wrong was a foot, Red proceeded down the stairs. Everything was in place, nothing seemed to be amiss, aside from the lack of activity. After finally checking the kitchen, Red found that he was all alone in the house.
Red relaxed, their home was still secured. A vibrating in his pants caught his attention. Turning on his phone, he noticed a message from his brother. “GO TO WORK.”
Red growled in annoyance before shooting back with a “Right ‘Boss’” and shoving his phone into his pocket. Deciding to forgo breakfast, Red marched to the door, shoving his shoes on and slamming the door closed behind him.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Red huffed as he made his way through the fresh blanket of snow to his sentry station.
The rest of his day passed uneventfully, Red struggled to keep himself awake. He knew he had to be vigilant as rumors of a new gang forming and attacking locals. This has caused longer hours for both Edge and himself, tension and stress between the two as they tried to filter out the ruffians. Snowdin was under Edge’s jurisdiction and he’d be damned if he didn’t keep the town orderly.
As Red slowly began to succumb to exhaustion, a snap sent a jolt down his spine. Somewhere nearby a twig was snapped. Red groaned to himself before lifting his head enough to speak.
“You fellas really know how to ruin a perfectly good nap.” He grumbled before dodging out of the way of a swing of a dagger.
Turning to the forest, Red began to make out the features of the gang. A menagerie of rabbit and cat monsters began to filter out. His first attacker being a scruffy and lean rabbit, maybe a few inches shorter than he was.
By Red’s count he was outnumbered 30 to 1. Fifteen he would break a sweat, twenty would have have him struggling, but Thirty. Well, things weren’t in his favor.
“You fellas have a bone to pick with me?” A red, sharpen bone materializes in Red’s hand. The scrappy rabbit lunge at him, Red easily dodges him, using his bone to trip him up. A series of fish bullets shot towards him. Red jumped out of the way, hurling a series of Bone attacks back at the cat still not out of the tree line.
After dodging a few more bullets and the scrappy rabbit’s dagger, the final monster appeared from the tree line, a ripped and towering rabbit monster. Red made note of him, coining him to be the leader of this gang. He stood in the back with a wretched smirk on his muzzle.
“This town belongs to us now!” The boss rabbit monster bellowed. The gang howled in agreement before rushing into attack.
The scrappy rabbit came at him, causing him to have to focus on defending himself over trying to gather his magic to shortcut right out of this situation. He just needed a little bit of space, just a small window of opportunity to just pop right out of there. But with being exhausted, the barrage of bullet attacks and the threat of getting knifed in the back, Red just couldn’t ground himself enough to focus.
Suddenly blood-red, bone stakes erupted from the ground around him, dusting or injuring many of the monsters who were unfortunate enough to be to close to Red. Red smirked as the odds far favorable for them. His body begins to relax, sliding one of his hands back into his pocket, confidence radiating from him, knowing his bro has his back.
Red looks over at at the boss rabbit, noticing an irritated ear twitch. “Still think this is yer town, bub?”
A few of the braver grunts charged forth, sending their attack bullets towards the brothers. Edge easily picks them off. The Rabbit boss growls, losing about a third of his gang. “Retreat!” He barks, glaring at Edge as his group runs past him back into the forest.
Both towering monsters stood motionless, glaring their opponent down. Bone spears hovered over Edge’s shoulders, poised to strike. Neither said a word as they face off, the air tense with magic and ill intent.
Soon enough the Rabbit boss backs his way into the forest, leaving the trampled snow and dust covered clearing to regroup with his wounded gang.
“Yea, you better run with yer tails tucked between yer legs” Red spat after them, dusting off his jacket as he turns around to face his brother.
“Fuckin’ ballsy of them, eh? Trying to take us on.” He chuckled. Edge continued to watch the tree line, glare not breaking from where the Rabbit monster once stood.
Red raised a brow bone, “Boss?”
“HOME, NOW.” Edge growled out before turning his back on his brother and marching in said direction.
“Tsk, right” Red huffed, grumbling to himself as he trudged after Edge. He has to move quickly to keep up with Edge’s commanding pace.
With little trouble, Edge and Red made it back to their home. Edge opening the the door, entering the threshold after stomping the snow off of his boots. Red following soon after, tossing his shoes off his feet before making a beeline straight for the stairs.
“Sans.” He heard Edge call after him.
“You know what, Boss, I’m really not in the fuckin’ mood right now, so whatever you have to say, you can just shove it!” Red barked back as he marched up the stairs.
THUMP!
Red’s eyes widen as he heard something heavy hit the floor. His soul suddenly was beating way to fast in his chest. Red turned around on the stairs, in what seemed like slow motion.
There on the floor, Edge laid motionless, face down, from where he had fallen over.
“Paps…. PAPYRUS!”