Chapter Text
You don't know how it happened.
You don't why it happened. (until explained later)
But it happened.
All of you were just having a great time earlier, Frisk was celebrating her thirteenth birthday and had invited her closest friends to the forest near Mt. Ebott. Monster Kid was there, happily playing volleyball with Undyne and Alphys, even Asgore joined in the game. Napstablook was there ghosting the music in place of Mettaton, who was displeased in missing out. Tables filled with food and gifts (a large pile of it was from the robot star) were set up nicely in the middle of the clearing and watched over by Toriel. Sans and Frisk were firing jokes at each other, you couldn't help but laugh as Toriel join in with bad puns of her own. Papyrus, by some miracle of God, had managed to make spaghetti from the grill. No one questioned how he managed to do it.
All in all it was a perfect day and soon to be night.
At least it was until Papyrus began to wilt throughout the party. At first it was just him stopping what he was doing and rubbing his right temple, like he had a headache. Sans was concerned of course and asked he was okay, but reassured that he was fine just felt... off. The shorter skeleton nodded but glanced at Undyne, who was watching in worry along with Alphys. After a moment, the headache faded and Papyrus was back to his energetic self; so everyone resumed the party though the three kept an eye on him.
He remained his bouncy self for another hour and eventually the scare faded away for fun.
~~~~
“okay, okay...” Sans grinned at Frisk, “how did the pastry chef hurt himself getting out of his chair?”
“How?” They asked, trying their best to keep from smiling but failing. Toriel was hovering nearby as you shake your head, failing as well to keep from grinning.
“he rose too quickly.”
Mother and child burst out laughing, leaning into each other for support, you had the decency to clap a hand over your eyes as you giggled. “Oh god, that was totally bad.”
He shrugged, “i don't know what you mean, i thought it was humerus.”
“No, stop...”
“wow, talk about deja moo, i knew i heard about this bull before.”
Toriel and Frisk were both howling by now, crying from laughter. You were crouching, feeling tears pricking your eyes as your sides heaved and started to ache. Sans was chuckling in amusement in making his friends laugh. You clamped your mouth shut, turning your giggles into a strange hissing sound. You couldn't help it and slapped weakly at his legs to get him to stop as he continued to pop out bad jokes and puns one after another.
“what do you call a pile of cats?”
“What?” It was Toriel, she managed to stop long enough to ask before giggling again.
“a meowtain.”
You give him a half-hearted glare as a snort escapes you. He merely grins and was about to say another when it happened...
A clattering of pots and a strangled cry had everyone stop exactly what they were doing and whipped around to eye the grill area. The grill had toppled over, taking the pots of spaghetti and sauce with it and spilling the contents all over the grass. Papyrus stood next to it, his hands clamped tightly over his right eye. He was trembling and mumbling to himself, slightly bent over as if to contain what was happening.
In the time you spend to blink, Sans went from standing near you to being at his brother's side, touching his arm to get his attention. They spoke to each other quietly, and if you didn't think it was physically possible, you saw Sans' face pale. You were quick to get to them as well, hoping to be of some help. Apparently, everyone else thought the same and came crowding in to see what was going on. You glance at Undyne as she pushed her way through to the front and watched as she studied what was going on with a critical eye before inhaling sharply.
What? What was wrong?
Your answer came from Papyrus, turning to look at the rest of the group, his smile was strained, forming a grimace as he kept one hand pressed to his eye socket. And you could see the thin wisp of an orange flame leaking from the cracks where the fabric of his glove didn't press hard enough. He had a guilty look on his face, trying to form words. Sans didn't leave his side, nor removed his hand from his brother's are but he was shaking his head in denial.
The lanky skeleton looked at Undyne, “It... Its happening...”
Right away you notice that he wasn't being his flamboyant self, shouting or gesturing wildly. This was serious. Even Undyne became serious though her expression showed her fear.
“You're sure?” the fish warrior asked, wincing as Papyrus nodded. “I mean are you absolutely sure? I mean in all the years we were trapped-”
“Yes.”
Everyone jerked back in surprise at the sharp and almost commanding tone he gave when he answered, his glare almost withering. It was... just so out of character for him, more so at the fact his voice had deepened. Even Frisk flinched at the tone. The wisp flared in response and he grunted, hunching his shoulders as the pain sharpened.
“What's going on? What's wrong with Papyrus?” you asked, looking around at all the grim faces. They collectively flinched at remembering you were there. Ah, that was right... they never told you about this... problem before. But no one spoke up, too worried about what was going on that rather given an answer. It was Papyrus that gave it to you, his lone pinprick eye looking toward you.
“I'm... I'm losing control of my magic...”
“Losing control? How? What should we-?” You don't get much further than that as everyone jumped in shock when the wisp flared and burst into a larger flame, far large than Papyrus could keep in check and he screamed, collapsing to his knees and struggled to keep his wild magic under control. The crowd backed away, feeling the intensity of the magic that poured out of him. Even Sans was beaten back by it, which you knew ate at him since he was so desperate to stay with his brother.
Papyrus turned toward his friends and family, the bright orange ring staring back at them. He didn't want to hurt them. He knew, if they stayed any longer they would get hurt and it would be his fault. He gave them a pleading look, still struggling to delay his loss of control. “Run. Please.”
“Paps, I'm staying.”
It was Sans, refusing to budge as the others heeded the tall skeleton's plea and fled for safety. Frisk twitched, torn in what to do but was dragged away by Toriel, but they were reaching out, calling out to him in sympathy; even going as far as to pull back but failed against their mother's strength. Monster Kid whimpered, looking at his hero with sorrow before finally giving in and fleeing, amazingly without tripping over his own feet for once. You stayed and Undyne stayed as well because of it.
Papyrus stayed on his knees, glaring at the three of you that refuse to leave. He panted, the ground quaking a little in response of his magic level. “What do you think you're doing?” he hissed, giving you a chill that ran down your spine with that flaming eye staring you down, “I said for you to run!”
“Well tough shit about that, I'm staying.” Sans snapped back, his left eye flaring blue as he glared at his brother; seemingly trying to will Papyrus into accepting his presence. It came down to a quick clash of wills. You were crying as the two bickered, the whole situation was scaring you but you didn't know what to do. What could you even do? Papyrus was obvious in a huge amount of pain, you could feel and obviously see his magic growing more wild and erratic despite his best efforts to contain it as best as possible for your escape. Undyne was trembling and so was Sans but neither moved. They couldn't, didn't want to.
There wasn't anything you could do... except let it run its course... as painful as it was.
“Damnit, Sans!” Another first. Papyrus had never once swore in anyone's presence for any reason. Not even when extremely angry and upset; and those were very rare times. The shock of the notion clearly clued you in on just how desperate he was getting to get the three of you moving. Tendrils of magic lashed the air, clawing at it. Several tore trees away, one knocked the tables over and another smashed the DJ stage. Undyne saw fit to grab you and leapt back further from danger but still within sight of him. The earth continued to rumble, steadily getting worse; almost groaning in pain itself. “Don't argue with me! Just GO!”
The stockier of the brothers faltered a little when his brother leveled the glare on him solely. The blue flame flickered against the orange, signaling that Sans' resolve was crumbling as the heat of Papyrus' magic grew. “P-Papyrus...”
“I said GO!” Papyrus roared at him, forcing Sans to step back in shock. His guard dropped in his desperation to get his brother to flee. The magic saw its chance and seized it; two of the tendrils pulled back from their lashing and coiled around him, engulfing him in their fire. More poured out of his eye to tear up the terrain; several trees that were untouched before burst into fire from the heat.
He shrieked.
You screamed in fear for him, rushing forward in attempt to save him but Undyne held you back. You wailed, kicking the air as you tried to struggle free from her grasp. “Papyrus!! Hold on!” You cried out, unsure if the words were lost against his own screams. You flail and struggle but the fish warrior kept a tight grip.
“Don't be stupid!” she yelled back, tightening her hold on you against your thrashing. She was starting to feel the effects of the rising heat. “His magic will murder you!”
“But we have to help him! He's in pain!”
“I KNOW! But we can't!” You suddenly realize that Undyne's body was shaking against your own, her face was partly hidden by your hair. As close as you were to her, you swore you heard her choke back a sob. Obviously, she wanted to help him as much as you did, to run into him and just embrace him and tell him it was going to be alright... but she knew... knew that it was practically suicide at this point. And had there been a way to stop it all... it would've been done by now. But there wasn't. The thought made you wail louder in despair. She whispered against the back of your head. "We... We just... can't help him now..."
Unable to stand the intensity of magic any further, Sans blinked to your location, wincing in pain from the slight burns he suffered as he was forced to flee from his brother's side. You watched his body tremble, saw his jacket rise and fall as he heaved in air but you weren't sure if it was exertion or keeping himself from crying. That thought was abandoned in favor of you hearing him suck in his breath sharply.
Sans suddenly went stiff, his arm snapping up in protection as he trained his gaze toward his brother's direction. “We have to go. Any longer and we'll burn alive from this.” he told you, the words painful to say for him, but the tone was a warning. Undyne's grip tightened on you. You stop your own wailing long enough to realize that Papyrus' shrieks had stopped and the only noise you could hear was the roaring wind that rushed around the area, caused by the magic's out of control nature.
Why was he so silent? Your breathe hitched. He didn't die already did he? No... if he had, Sans would be bursting into tears and the flailing magic would've evaporated by now. But you could still hear the magic going berserk around you, shrieking in outrage. Confused, you peer over the skeleton and freeze in horror.
Papyrus was staring at you.
Both eyes were two orange flames and they focused on the three of you intently. His gaze swept over each one, studying... calculating.... Was he..? His expression was still that of pain, the taller skeleton quivered on his knees, from still trying to delay magic's eagerness to escape. But his eyes were not his own any more, the magic taking further control of him and they were marking you three...
You felt a surge a terror going through you.
Sans' hands grasped both you and Undyne as Papyrus struggled again, shaking his head before opening his eyes again, for a flicker of a moment his eyes returned to their normal pinpricks of light.
“Please... Run...” He cried out, tears streaming down his face. He looked so tired, you realize he couldn't stall it any further and let his arms drop to his sides as his eyes flickered again; the orange ring flashing back into place in his right eye socket. The ground quaked harder in response, a crack forming as if divide him from everyone, protecting you. Sans twitched, his grip on both you and Undyne turned vicelike. The magic broke free, roaring in triumph as it surged outward. “NOW!”
An orange wall of light rushed forward and Sans' left eye flashed blue, letting his own magic sweep over his passengers. You both grimace, closing your eyes at the odd sensation as the stocky skeleton pulled you through his warp to escape the magic that threatened to devour you.
…
You reappear next to everyone else, but they don't take notice. Instead their gaze were fixed on the tower of orange light that spear the night sky. And above that, the howling scream that was no doubt Papyrus being back in torment. It strangely quiet, alien even save for the agonized howl echoing around you. Undyne placed you back on your feet as she and Sans too watched the light. The shorter brother, trembling in both rage and sorrow, hands flexing with helpless energy. It was torture for him too, hearing his only family wail and cry in anguish and can do absolutely nothing to help him. A sheen of tears formed in your eyes as you stared out at the light, listening to the screaming and wondering exactly how none of you saw this coming. He didn't... hide it from all of you, did he? No... that wasn't his style... he was too open and honest to hide something that terrifying from everyone. So then why? As you try to recall the events to find out what was going on, something flickered through the light. It was a small movement, mostly dismissed but Undyne's trained eye caught it.
“Shit! EVERYONE MOVE!” she ordered sharply, something they didn't that was heading their way. The yell startled the group, looking toward her in surprise and confusion. Her gaze flicked to them in annoyance and threw her arm to the side, "Don't just stand there, gawking at me!" She hissed as she gestured to the sky. "Something's coming, so get those asses in gear and run!"
A streak of orange was moving away from the tower and hurtling in your direction. The majority of the group didn't know what it was and fled further away, screaming in terror; you notice that once again Frisk resisted, having an inkling that they probably knew what it was. Again, Frisk lost in the battle of strength and was yanked away. Toriel knew Frisk could take care of themselves in battle (they were hard to hit) but maternal instincts left her no room to think and merely dragged her child with her for safety. Later Frisk wouldn't think ill of their mother but Toriel will apologize all the same. But they weren't the only ones that probably knew what that thing was. Apparently Sans and Undyne knew it too as they shifted into a more defensive stance. You would've taken off as well but... something told you that wouldn't have worked. Instead you stayed with the two monsters, waiting as the star-like streak smashed into the earth in front of you.
Both battle trained monsters narrowed their eyes, Sans' eye flashing blue in preparation and Undyne summoned one of her spears in her hands. Curiously, you peered between them and toward the smog of dirt that drifted in the air. What was it that fell? You felt a presence then and felt an odd chill settle over your soul.
“I see...” A voice drifted from the clouds of dirt. It was deep and smooth yet the tone was stonic, as if it was used to being in command.
You freeze. Was that?
Something moved in the smog, a glowing eye pierced the thinning dirt screen.
“You didn't run. Good.”
A wind blew the dirt smokescreen away and the three of you gasp in shock.
In front of you stood Papyrus... but so much more terrifying. Instead of an over-exaggerated flamboyant pose, he stood dignified. His voice, whereas Papyrus' was normally loud and expressive. This one was much more quiet but still held a power of its own. You felt like if it suited him, his voice while barely rising in volume would still sting like whip. He was dressed in heavy looking dark gray armor. Spiked shoulder guards and chest plate weighed over his torso; clawed gauntlets covered his hands in place of his normal snow mitts; while armored leggings and boots protected his legs. In his hands, he held a pair large sharp looking bone swords, sharp teeth lined the back of the blades; clearly designed to rip right through defenses. A spiked horned helmet adorned his head, covering most of it save his face, with his back to the fading light, covered it in shadows. The only thing that marked him as Papyrus was the skeleton's prized red scarf that was still wrapped around the skeletal knight's neck.
The look of his right eye stopped all three of you dead in your tracks. It was cold, calculating and to your horror... malicious. And it showed no hint of recognition for either of you.
You shivered as he continued to burn that bright orange eye at you.
You feel like you're going to have a bad time...