Chapter Text
Swap layed in bed after a long, LONG day of training and missions. A dull ache in his side, he groans and rolls over. Almost regretting challenging Dream to a duel. He was close! So so close to beating him. And he took THAT as a win.
Swap let out a low chuckle, one day he'll beat him. He just has to keep training and getting stronger. Sitting up and stretching his arms. He needed to find something productive to do. Even after the long day, he's restless, feeling the need to go move, to go run around. He was also incredibly hungry.
Pushing himself up and out of bed and stretching a little bit more. The ache in his side was nothing he couldn't handle. Checking the time, he saw it was roughly 9pm. Cool, a late night run through snowdin forest never hurt a skeleton.
Deciding to change out of his battle body. He opens up his closet, seeing a sweatshirt and sweatpants. He didn't often wear more comfortable clothing then his battle body. He just didn't want to wear something as tight as usual. He felt like he needed to wear something looser.
After getting dressed he looked out the window. Fresh snow softly falling down out the dark cavernous 'sky'. Almost getting twitchy by the impulse to be outside.
Quietly he opened his door, looking around for his brother. Glancing around he noticed Paps wasn't on the cough. Which mean he could be out or in his room. Swap hoped his brother wasn't at muffets again! He goes there too often! None the less, he made the effort to send a text he was going out for a late night run and that he'd be right back. Assuming his brother was too busy or asleep to check.
Swap started making his way towards the stairs, noticing the light under Papyrus's door. He was probably in there asleep. Good with him, that means there's a chance he doesn't notice Swap missing for a few hours. Unless Papy had another nightmare. Then he'd notice him gone.
Going down the stairs and out the door. He stepped out into the cold snowy air. A breeze brushing through his bones. It felt so NICE! He was kinda hot anyways. So it wasn't that cold to him. Most monsters here in snowdin felt the cold more then the skeleton bros did. He felt almost better outside in the cold.
Swap walked to the forest and started jogging through it. The soft crunching of snow following him. Dark in all directions, yet he could see just fine. He was so lost in the amazing feeling of this run that him being able to see clear as day didn't even pop up into his mind.
He forgot about his aching side, running through the forest expelling all this pent up energy.
The forest was his safe running place, hardly any monsters came out here. Sometimes there were animals. It was his safe place. His territory.
He wasn't sure how long he was running for, or exactly to where. At some point he snapped to. Realizing he was very deep in the forest. The snow had started to pick up. Coming down faster and faster.
Oh great, he had no idea which way was home, or even town for that matter. That wasn't good. He dug around for his phone, hoping to just call someone to help him out here. But it was gone. Where did it go? Did he drop it? Oh no no no!
Swap started to panic, he was lost in the middle of the forest. Why did he run so far out here!? Trying to control his breathing he looks to see if he could see footprints in the snow for which direction he came from. Nothing, the snow had already covered them back up while he stood there.
Swap shakily pulled in a breath, attempting to calm his nerves about the situation. A phantom ache in his chest, the actual ache in his side. He smelled something near him without trying to. Some kind of rabbit. Off someone nearby in the snow.
He was hungry...
Swap shook his head, he couldn't eat a wild rabbit. What was wrong with him? He needed to get back home to eat! But he didn't know which way that was and his hunger continued to grow.
He heard the rabbits little squeaks, smelled it...
He felt a stab in his soul. Pain shooting through his entire body. Swap gasped, grapping his stomach and stumbling to his knees. He ended up kneeled over, shoulder in the cold snow. He felt so hot, burning, everything was burning. The pain was overwhelming.
Whatever was happening was coming tonight and it wasn't stopping.
The first crack sounded out, seemingly loud in the quiet forest. Swap yelled out, a cry for help. No one was going to hear him, he'd ran to far. A few memories flashed through his mind, painful memories. What were these? What was this!?
The cracking continued. Swap gripped himself, skull sliding into the snow. Tears from the pain starting to fall from his sockets.
It felt like every bone in his body was on fire! All he could think about was the pain. Then came the worst part of it, everything cracking and popping. It felt like some parts of him were being pulled apart. He distantly heard a thumping in the snow, but he closed his eye sockets and gritted his teeth. Which also burned like fire. With a yell, he felt his shoulders pop backwards, causing him to release his hold on himself and fall the rest of the way into the snow. Its cold harshness not doing much to help with the burning heat his body was going through.
He withered around in the snow, he heard tearing in the back of his mind. Was it his clothes? He clawed at the ground, trying anything for it to stop. No matter how little sense it made. From his head to his feet. It hurt. He almost phantomly felt something else by his legs but couldn't dwell on it through the pain.
After what felt like an eternity of pain and sufferingly hot heat. It finally died down, he lay there panting in the snow. Unable to comprehend what was going on. He just knew it all hurt and he felt like he had little energy left.
His mind was turning foggy, he tried his best to hold on, but he slipped deep overrun by urges and insticts. What was he doing? He wasn't sure...
But he knew, he was hungry.
After a few moments of exhaustion, he managed to move. Pushing himself up off the ground. Wobbling before holding himself upright.
Hungry. .
Sniffing the ground, he picked up the scent of the rabbit. It had fled some distance. But he knew where it was.
He smelled it.
He started to lurk towards it. Claws lightly stepping through the snow, softly crunching. As soon as he got close enough to the unsuspecting prey. He snapped it up between his jaws. Crushing its body and effectively killing it instantly.
He ripped into the animal, tearing it up and eating it. Something felt distantly wrong about doing this. But he didnt care. He was hungry.
The sound of crunching flows through the forest.
Papyrus (underswap) woke up, rubbing his skull. Looking over at his clock, seeing it was 1 in the morning. Ugh. He didn't have the energy for this. He decided to get up, there was something tickling his funny bone. He always had these off putting feelings after going through so many resets.
Getting out of his bed. He exited the room without a moments haste. Getting hit in the face by cold air.
Cold air. What? Looking over at the front door, it was wide open. Snow Getting inside the first foot or two of the house. The hell? Sans (swap) would never leave that open.
Looking over at his bros room, that door was also wide open. Which idmeddlety made his anxiety spike. This wasn't normal.
Running over there. Sans was no where to be seen. Where was he!? A genocide run flashed through Papyrus's mind, the image of Sans's head getting cut off. He ran out the door, using magic to shut it behind him. It was to late at night for the human to have started their run. So what the hell happened to his brother? Papyrus took a moment to breath.
His phone! Maybe Sans has texted him saying he'd be Alphys house or something like that! Pulling his phone out his pocket, he saw a message from hours ago. "Going out for a night run, be back soon paps".
Papyrus looked around, it was 1 in the morning. Surely he would have come back by now if he could. Something had to be wrong. While maybe he was overthinking. He had just gone through a genocide by temmie. The horrible thing loved to play with everyone. So excuse him if he assumed the worst happened. Surely he's not dead...
Papyrus saw a couple footprints in the snow. Ones that the growing snowstorm couldn't reach as they were under edges of trees and such. So he atleast saw Which Direction his brother went in.
Jogging that way, he saw a black corner of something sticking out the snow after about 10 minutes or running and shouting for his brother.
He lifted it with his magic. Grabbing it without bending over. Papyrus eyes went wide, it was Sans's phone...
"Surely he just dropped it and didn't notice..." Papyrus muttered, trying his best to be hopeful when he hardly had any hope anymore for anything anyways.
He continued jogging, it was getting harder and harder to see. It was already difficult in the dark, but now with the snow starting to rage. It was incredible hard.
"SANS! SANS! WHERE ARE YOU? SANS!" Papyrus called, over and over. After an hour of going in the same direction. Hoping Sans had also just gone in the same direction. It took him almost 2 hours to even find another clue of Sans. Papyrus picked up the shreds of some of the clothes Sans had in his closet. Shredded apart by rips and cuts.
An old memory rubbed the edge of his mind. He froze there, holding this clawed remnant of a sweatshirt. He knows what happened. But he was praying that this would never happen to Sans. He didn't know where he was, but he couldn't have been in the right mental state.
Papyrus decided to keep calling out, over and over. Until his foot hit something in the snow, looking down, it was all red. Soaked with the blood of a mostly eaten animal. Papyrus stared at it. The clear sign of what Sanses mental state most likely was. He couldn't imagine it being caused by anything other then the pain. He pushed some snow on top of what was left of it, giving the poor thing some kind of last respects.
Papyrus was tired, he was very tired from all this. But he pushed on for his bro.
Papyrus had been looking for hours now, it was 5 in the morning. Exhausted and incredibly deep in the forest. Which wasnt much an issue for him. He could just shortcut home.. the issue was there wasn't anymore signs of Sans.
Until...
A low rumbled growl, coming from behind him. Papyrus slowly turned around, turning towards it. Through the falling snow and the dark. He could see the 2 blue eyes clear ats day. Glowing intensely, slowly moving closer.
"Hey there Sans... its me, Papyrus, your brother." Papyrus said, trying to see if words got through to his brother.
He watched his brother step into view, this big bone beast, a little taller than he was. Which was actually small for the size he should be like that. Spikes and claws and teeth. Very much with the skull of a gaster blaster. He kept approaching Papyrus. Slowly and stalking. Clearly not recognizing him.
Crap.
Papyrus took a slow step back, earning the growl directed towards him to get louder.
He couldn't think of anything else to do beside use magic to get the chance to put some sense into his brother.
Papyrus pings Sans's soul with blue magic and throws him down into the snow. The beast of his brother rawring and scraping to get up. Snow Getting pushed around. His tail whipping into the snow and throwing it into the air.
He didnt want to do this to his own brother. But he needed him to calm down so he could try and talk to him. Maybe put some sense into that skull of his.
Threat! Threat! Fight!
Swap has found the skeleton roaming the forest calling out a name. It was almost familiar, the voice, the name being called. This monster was roaming on HIS territory! Invading his space. So he needed to drive the monster out.
But it sent him into the snow, scrambling there, thrashing. Not allowing him to be able to stand, to run away.
THREAT! THREAT! RUN!
Swap laied there, losing all his energy to this strange trap! He was trapped.
"Sans... come on sans. Its okay." The skeleton said. Slowly approaching him. He gave a warning growl but it didn't stop the guy from getting closer. Was this monster going to hurt him? After all the pain he felt already?
"Hey sans, its okay, look, im not gonna hurt you."
He watched him approach, staring at him. Was that his name? Sans? Hmm. How does this monster know his name? Maybe he wasn't going to hurt him... maybe he can relax.
"Hey bro, there you go. Relax, its me, papyrus. Your brother.." at that, Swap was left confused. Papyrus? He... he knows a Papyrus. That was.. that was...
Papyrus put a hand on Swaps skull. Gently petting him.
Swap snapped out of his beastly phase, the fog in his mind clearly up. Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god. What happened? What- what was he!? Why was- why was he this THING!?
The pain, he remembered pain, so much pain, and hot fire in his bones. Is this what happened? He turned into some crazy beast!? How!? Why!?
Swap whined, clearly displeased with his predicament. Which allowed Papyrus to tell he was back to his sense but clearly distressed.
"Hey bro, its okay, calm down. You probably have a lot of questions. And I owe you a lot of answers, but right now. Let's stay calm and not fall off the deep end again okay?" Papyrus reassured, releasing the blue magic holding Swap down.
Swap inched closer and butted his skull into Papyrus, whining. Tail whipping around. He did have a lot of questions, a LOT of questions.
Oh god. What would happen if Ink or Dream found out about this!? Would they kick him off the team!? Deem him a dangerous threat!?
By the second, Swaps anxiety was growing, allowing the fog to keep into the corners of his mind. He flinched when he felt Papyrus petting him. And it- it was strangely and embarrassingly- calming.
Swap leaned into it, taking deeper breaths to calm down. After a few minutes it worked. The anxiety was still there. Just not threating to overwhelm him.
"How'z about we go back home and ill help you fix this?" Papyrus asked. To which all Swap could do was nod his head. Unable to produce words.
The world blinked and they were back in the warm house. Papyrus had teleported them there with what little strength he had left. Clearly exhausted, the skeleton sat down on the couch a little out of breath.
Swap stood up on unsure legs. Not used to the idea of having to stand on 4 legs instead of 2. He carefully made his way closer to his brother and set his head on his lap. Giving him a soft whine to try and show his concern for him.
Papyrus reaches out and pets Swap again, taking a breath.
"Thanks bro for the comfort. Even tho I'm supposed to be the one comforting you." Papyrus sighed. Leaning back into the couch Silent for a minute before looking back at Swap.
"I have a lot to explain to you, don't I? Well... where do I start..." Papyrus trailed off. Unsure what to say. With one more big sigh. He starts.
"Whe don't have parents, I lied about them dying when you were a baby... We were made in a lab you see... Our... Creator. Made me years before he made you. Once he saw I was his 'successful' experiment. He wanted to start on a second one..." Papyrus looked at his hand. Eye light lighting up with magic, claws forming before he shakes it away and his hand returns to normal.
Papyrus pauses, having a hard time with this conversation.
"When-... when you were just a baby bones, i got attached to you. And when I saw him start the experiments at a younger age then he did with me. Hearing your baby screams and crys. I couldn't let you suffer like I had to...." Papyrus looked away.
Swap listened quietly, taking this all in.
"I killed him, and ran away with you. Raised you on my own. I couldn't- I couldn't let him do it again. I feared the day would come where this blaster side of you would one day kick in and force its way out. But as time went on, nothing was happening. So I thought maybe... he messed up and you'd be spared the pain of turning into this-... beast." Papyrus finished. Still looking away.
Swap sat there, processing this. His life has been built on lies?? But he couldn't be angry... Papyrus was just trying to protect him. And... he's been lying to him about Ink and Dream. So what right did he have to be mad? It was just so much though. So much to think about and process. He felt something touch his leg. Making him jump, only to find out it was his own tail.
Papyrus looked at him. He looked back. Lowering his head and whining. How can he return back to normal? That what he wanted to know now.
"So- it shouldn't ever be nearly as painful as it is the first shift. And it shouldn't be too hard to help you return to your normal body.. lets go to your room."
They walked up the stairs. Swap taking a annoyingly long time figuring out how to walk and climb up the stairs. But before long he was getting the hang of this body faster then he'd personally like.
Papyrus took the time to explain the process of turning back, which while it wasn't as painful. It still hurt. He'd be content to never be in that form again. Afterwards, he asked Papyrus for some space and sleep. In which Papyrus couldn't argue with. They were both exhausted. It took so much energy for Swap to change back.
Tomorrow he could take some time to think about it...