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“U-Undyne? P-Papyrus? Where’re the k-kids?” Alphys asked as she peered out of the kitchen into the living room, holding an empty packet of instant noodles in her paws.
Undyne and Papyrus were seated on the couch, holding a game controller each. At least, they were holding a controller each. Undyne’s controller had been flung clear across the room and would had smashed against wall if it wasn’t been attached to a wire. Papyrus’ controller was on his lap as he grinned widely at Undyne.
“Wipe that grin off your face!” Undyne was yelling at him, “That’s the third race you’ve won in a row! Where did you learn to play racing games!? I’ve never seen you play these sorts of video games back Underground!”
“I APOLOGIZE IF I DRIVE YOU CRAZY, UNDYNE,” Papyrus replied innocently, still grinning widely at Undyne.
“APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED!” Undyne shouted, getting so excited she leapt up onto the couch, towering over Papyrus.
“Guys!” Alphys managed to screw up her courage to raise her voice over the others. She immediately flushed red and backed away as they turned to gaze at her in surprise.
“I-I-It’s time for the k-kids to g-go to b-bed,” she explained, “T-Toriel said t-they should be a-asleep by 10, i-it’s almost 11.”
“Oh, right, the kids.” Undyne hopped off the couch and turned to Papyrus, “I forgot we were babysitting them for a few days while the Dreemurs went off for a human-monsters relation meeting. Where are they anyway?”
She gazed around the living room. Aside from Papyrus and Alphys, only Sans was there, dozing on an armchair, complete oblivious to the yelling that had ensued.
“I BELIEVE THEY ARE OUTSIDE, I DID HEAR FLOWEY SAY HE WANTED TO SEE THE STARS TONIGHT.” Papyrus suggested.
“O-out-outside!? It’s dangerous o-outside at this time! N-not to mention c-cold!” shrieked Alphys.
“Don’t worry about that, Alphys! We’ll get them inside right now and put them straight to bed. Come on Papyrus!” Without waiting for an answer, Undyne took hold of Papyrus’ arm and headed to the front door.
They peered outside the door, looking around for the children. The Skelebros’ new house on the surface was a lovely bungalow with a small garden around it. Surrounding the house were trees, their leaves turned brown for the autumn. They could see the lights from other houses, as well as the empty street under the streetlights. However, there was no sign of the children.
Undyne grew impatient. “FRISK!” she yelled in a voice so loud that even Papyrus was worried she would disturb the neighbours, “FLOWEY! CHARA! WHERE ARE YOU!?”
“Up here!” came Frisk’s distant voice. The two monsters gazed upwards, and saw Frisk peeking down at them from the roof of the house, smiling sweetly. Beside them drifted Chara, still very much dead and a ghost. Flowey’s face peered over the roof as well.
“How’d you get up there!?” cried Undyne, horrified.
“Flowey helped me up,” replied Frisk cheerfully. Undyne and Papyrus noticed that Flowey had made a sort of ladder on the wall of the house with his vines, leading up to the roof. Flowey gave the two a mischievous grin.
“HUMANS AND FLOWEY, YOU MUST COME DOWN IMMEDIATELY. IT IS TIME FOR YOU ALL TO GO TO BED.” Papyrus said.
The three children groaned in unison. “Do we have to?” Flowey whined, pouting.
“Yes! Now get down here before you guys catch a cold or something!” The air was chilly from autumn, causing Undyne to shiver as she still wasn’t able to handle the cold.
“Make us!” yelled Chara gleefully, before sticking their tongue out.
“VERY WELL.” Papyrus casually manipulated gravity around him and Undyne to float upwards towards the children.
This was unexpected for everyone. Undyne yelled in surprise as she found herself drifting towards the roof. The children panicked, not wanting to be caught. Papyrus calmly landed on the roof, picked Frisk up, and placed them on his shoulders.
Frisk giggled, they enjoyed being piggybacked by Papyrus. Flowey didn’t even bother to escape, knowing the skeleton and the fish monster would catch him anyway. He simply frowned at them, crossing two leaves as if he were crossing his arms.
Chara, however, was far more stubborn. As Undyne attempted to grab at them, they floated away from the roof. Being a ghost had its perks, for they were no longer bound by the laws of gravity.
“Get back here, punk!” shouted Undyne.
“I absolutely refuse!” they declared, “I do not want to go to bed! You cannot make me!”
“CHARA, PLEASE.” Papyrus walked to the edge of the roof, still carrying Frisk. “IT IS GETTING LATE AND I DO NOT THINK LATE NIGHTS ARE GOOD FOR YOUNG HUMANS!”
“I am a ghost and at least a hundred years old.”
“THAT STILL APPLIES! NOW, PLEASE COME INSIDE. I SHALL READ YOU A STORY BEFORE YOU REST. I AM VERY GOOD AT READING STORIES AND I HAVE MANY INTERESTING BOOKS TO READ FROM! I WILL MAKE IT THE BEST BEDTIME YOU HAVE EVER HAD!”
“Yeah, come on, Chara. I’m getting sleepy anyway,” Frisk said.
Chara remained obstinate, determined not to go to bed. They shook their head and said, “I want to make a wager: we shall play a game. If we win, we should be permitted to sleep at any time we choose. If you win, then we will head to bed immediately with no complaints.”
“Sounds good! What sort of game?” Undyne asked as she grinned. She always enjoyed a good challenge.
Chara thought for a while. “Rock paper scissors,” they replied.
“I was hoping you meant a video game, but I’m up for it! What do you say, Papyrus?”
“THAT SOUNDS FUN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEVER LOSES A GAME OF ROCK PAPER SCISSORS! AND I AM SURE UNDYNE WILL NOT LOSE AS WELL! COME ALONG, WE SHALL HAVE THIS GAME INDOORS WHERE IT IS WARM AND COSY.”
They were soon back in the house, deciding to have the game in the living room. They planned to do five rounds of the game. Papyrus managed to cox Alphys and Sans into being referees, making sure there was no cheating from either team.
“And do not try to help our opponents the same way you assisted Frisk during Mettaton’s quiz,” Chara warned Alphys, who shrank back and nodded, still being rather afraid of them. This earned Chara a sharp glare from Undyne.
“Wait! I just realized something!” Undyne said suddenly, “Our team only has two people, and your team has three! That’s not fair at all!”
“THAT’S ALRIGHT! I AM CONFIDENT WE CAN STILL WIN, UNDYNE. DON’T WORRY ABOUT A THING.” Papyrus winked at her.
“i’ll be keepin an eye socket on these kids, it’ll be fine,” Sans said, also winking at her, still slumped over in the couch and grinning lazily.
With that, the game began.
Alphys gave the signal, prompting the five of them to throw rock, paper, or scissors with their fists. For the first round, Papyrus threw scissors and Undyne threw rock, while Chara threw paper and Frisk threw scissors.
“Paper beats rock!” cried Chara triumphantly as Undyne glowered.
“AH, BUT SCISSORS BEATS PAPER!” Papyrus said, “I AM SORRY TO CUT YOUR GAME SHORT, CHARA.”
Chara pouted, and then frowned even harder after they noticed he made a pun.
“I threw scissors too, so I guess I gotta deal with you again, Papyrus?” asked Frisk.
“YES, WE SHALL DUEL ONCE AGAIN. AND FLOWEY-” Papyrus turned to Flowey, looking confused at the tangle of vines he was holding up, “-WHAT IS THAT YOU’RE THROWING?”
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s paper,” replied Flowey indignantly.
“It looks more like you’re flipping the bird at us,” commented Undyne.
“It’s PAPER, idiot. I’m not making rude gestures at you, I swear.”
“That’s a paper-thin excuse,” said Sans casually. A groan went around the room at the awful pun, although Papyrus was seen grinning slightly as he turned away from Sans.
“Okay, look, let me just-” Flowey reached some vines to the table in the living room, grabbing a bunch of crayons and paper the kids had left there earlier that day. He very quickly scribbled a crude drawing of a stone, a rectangle that was supposed to be paper, and a pair of scissors. “-there. Now let’s get a move on.”
“COULDN’T YOU JUST USE THE PAPER FOR “PAPER” INSTEAD OF DRAWING A PIECE OF PAPER ON A PIECE OF PAPER?”
Flowey’s eyes grew wider. He flushed in embarrassment and glared at Papyrus. “S-shut up!” he snapped, “Let’s keep going.”
Papyrus and Frisk dealt again, with Papyrus winning with his scissors against Frisk’s paper.
“O-one point for Undyne and Papyrus!” Alphys announced cheerfully but nervously.
The game continued. Chara won the second round, followed by Flowey winning the third round, putting the kids in the lead.
Undyne looked annoyed, but managed to win the fourth round. Both groups were now tied for the fifth round.
Despite this being a simple game of rock paper scissors, everyone was tense. Undyne gritted her teeth as she would when she was fighting. Papyrus stood more stiff than he usually would. Frisk was intensely focused, humming a battle theme under their breath. Flowey’s vines appeared to have grown thornier as he stared nervously at his opponents, while Chara glared daggers at them.
Even Alphys and Sans were getting into the game. Alphys was sweating buckets. Sans was quite literally sitting on the edge of his seat, any sleepiness he felt was gone.
The final round felt like a duel in an old spaghetti Western movie, where the hero cowboys stood in the empty, dusty street, facing their rivals. Both sides had their hands at their waists, but instead of preparing to grab revolvers to fire at the other side, they were simply preparing to throw rock, paper, or scissors.
It felt like forever before Alphys finally meekly said, “Go!”
Amazingly, both Undyne and Papyrus threw rock, while Frisk, Chara, and Flowey all threw scissors.
“U-undyne and Papyrus w-win!” Alphys breathed a sigh of relief as she announced.
“Welp, we won your game.” Undyne managed to grin again, feeling all the tension slide off her back, “Now you have to go to bed!”
The kids looked distraught, wondering how they could have lost and each of them wishing they had thrown either rock or paper instead. Well, they did make a promise to go to bed if they lost, so now they had to. There didn’t seem to be anyway out of this, unless-
An idea came to Chara. Acting quickly but also very foolishly, they flipped the living room table over and yelled, “SCATTER!”
Flowey ducked into the floor, somehow being able to burrow throw the carpet, tiles, and bricks. Frisk fled upstairs. Chara floated through the floor of the living room and disappeared.
“Oh come ON!!!” shouted Undyne, “You punks PROMISED to go to bed!!!”
Papyrus thought quickly, “UNDYNE! ALPHYS! GO AFTER FRISK UPSTAIRS! SANS AND I SHALL GO AFTER FLOWEY AND CHARA IN THE BASEMENT!”
“Okay!” Undyne grabbed Alphys’ paw and practically dragged her up the stairs.
Papyrus and Sans headed to the basement door, unlocked it, and descended down the stairs.
Undyne and Alphys looked around the upstairs room for Frisk. Undyne, in her frustration, began lifting up furniture with her immense strength, thinking that Frisk could be hiding underneath them.
They finally found Frisk hiding under Papyrus’ car bed, shivering as they heard Undyne yelling for them while picking up and slamming down furniture. They gave a tiny squeak of terror when they saw Undyne lifting their hiding place over her head, glaring down at them.
“There you are!” yelled Undyne, looking annoyed, “Get out of there! Don’t make me have to drag you to bed and tie you down so you don’t run away again!”
“L-listen, Frisk,” Alphys said gently, seeing that Frisk was afraid, “Undyne’s right, you d-did make a promise to go to b-bed if you lost. It’s o-okay to lose, a-and it’s getting really l-late so w-we’re all tired. P-please make this easy for e-everyone so we c-can all go rest.” She bent down and gently laid a paw on Frisk’s hand.
Frisk managed a watery smile, now feeling guilty about running away. They stood up as Undyne gave Alphys a grateful grin and a nod.
As Undyne placed the bed back on the floor, the three of them became aware of an unpleasant smell that had been slowly filling the house during the game of rock paper scissors and while the kids were hiding. They all came to a horrified realization that it was the smell of smoke.
“M-my ramen!” shrieked Alphys, “I w-was cooking it and I f-forgot to t-turn off the s-stove!”
“Papyrus and Sans are still down there! And the two other kids!” Undyne looked panicked, “We have to stop the fire and save them!”
As this was happening, the skeleton brothers had reached the bottom of the stairs to the basement. The lights were off and the room was in total darkness. In the blackness, they heard some scrambling noises, followed by a thump and two scared yells.
Papyrus flicked on the lights. On the floor laid Flowey, his vines in a heap around him. Chara was hovering near him, their knees pulled up to their chest. Both of them appeared to be utterly terrified, yelping in fright when the lights turned on.
“Oh, it’s just you two,” Flowey said in relief, “Where was the light switch? We couldn’t find it and were just going around in circles in the dark!”
Chara gazed around the room, looking bewildered, “This room appears much smaller now than in the dark,” they commented, “As we were searching for the light switch, the room seemed to stretch infinitely. We could not even find any of the walls. How could that even be possible!?”
Papyrus gave an aside glance, while Sans shrugged, attempting to appear casual, “you both just got turned around in the darkness. come on, you both really gotta go to bed.”
“Ooh, wait, what’s that?” Flowey pointed to a strange machine at the end of the room, partially hidden underneath a large sheet of cloth.
The two children went closer to it, gazing in interest at the large number of buttons, levers, and tiny screens on the machine. Both skeleton brothers looked horrified, but could do nothing to stop them.
“Was this what you were hiding in your basement back in Snowdin?” Chara asked, turning to grin at the brothers, “I knew it! I knew you both were hiding something mysterious! What is this? Do tell!”
Before the brothers could think of an excuse, they heard Undyne’s voice yelling from above, speaking so rapidly in her panic they almost couldn’t make out what she was saying, “Papyrus Sans Alphys forgot to turn the stove off and now it’s on fire you gotta get outta there!!!”
It took them a second to realize the danger they were all in. The brothers and the two children rushed to the top of the stairs, only to find the entire place filled with smoke.
“How are we going to get out?” Flowey asked, backing away from door.
“YOU CAN BURROW YOUR WAY OUT! AND YOU CAN PASS THROUGH WALLS, CHARA!” Papyrus suggested.
“But what about you two?”
“WE WILL BE ALRIGHT! WE’RE ABLE TO LEAVE ON OUR OWN!”
“yeah, it’s fine,” Sans continued, “you should leave now. we know a shortcut.”
The children did not question this, wanting to leave as fast as they could. They left through the floor and resurfaced at the entrance of the house. Alphys and Frisk were already there, gazing back through the open front door in terror.
Undyne was about to descend into the basement, coughing and being stifled by the smoke, but still wanting to save Sans and Papyrus if she could. She was very much startled when she found that the brothers were standing behind her.
“How...how did you leave the basement without going past me!?” she exclaimed.
“THERE IS NO TIME FOR THAT! WE SHALL EXPLAIN LATER! FOR NOW WE NEED TO PUT OUT THE FIRE!”
“You got any fire extinguishers in your house?”
“yeah, we do. most humans keep one in their houses so we got one for our house too. it’s in the corner of the living room over there.”
Papyrus ran to retrieve the fire extinguisher. Soon, they managed to put out the fire, which thankfully didn’t spread any further than the stove, even though the saucepan being used to cook the instant noodles was completely burned. With that done, they opened all the windows on the lower floor to let out the smoke.
By the time the house was aired out, all of them, even Papyrus, were feeling tired from the excitement. The children no longer protested about bedtime and went straight upstairs to bed with no fuss.
Papyrus carried Sans, who had fallen asleep on the floor, back to his room and deposited him unceremoniously onto his bed. He wished the others goodnight, promising to make them a good breakfast tomorrow, before returning to his room. Undyne and Alphys went to bed in one of the guest rooms, falling asleep almost immediately, while the children took the other guest room.
Frisk was soon asleep, but as Chara and Flowey were about the doze off, they suddenly remembered about the machine in the basement. They really had to ask the brothers about it. What was it for? Why were the brothers hiding it in their locked basement? Did it have anything to do with-
Before they could think much about it, they both had fallen fast asleep as well.