All attempts of calling Sans on quick-dial ended in a service error message.
Then, Papyrus remembered that he couldn’t find a phone anywhere on Sans’ jacket. He checked the pockets before laundering them.
It’s possible that it was lost at the bottom of the ocean.
Papyrus tried to scroll down his contact list for Grillby’s bar. Usually he’d use it to order takeout. This time, he’s searching for his brother.
His hand wouldn’t stop shaking. His Eye wouldn’t stop burning. It’s hard to read with the mixture of glare and movement, let alone to swap to the correct spot.
His first tangent was to look for the nearest flat surface in the living room. If there was one in the first place. As much as he’d like to use the couch or coffee table, there were just too many fragile objects piling on top of each other and getting in the way.
The only sure, secure empty spot was the floor itself, so Papyrus sat down and placed his phone on the ground.
How he wished that he had a fleshy thigh now. They look like a nice place to rest phones on. But then again, his legs would be shaking along with the rest of his being.
After a whole lot of bone-rattling struggles, he finally managed to dial Grillby’s.
Papyrus lied down and pressed the side of his skull on top of the phone.
“…Hello…?”
“G-GRILLBY?” said Papyrus, “C-CAN YOU PASS THE PHONE TO SANS? I. REALLY. REALLY NEED TO TALK TO HIM.”
Did Sans know anything about this ‘nothingness’?
Was that the reason why he gave up on living?
His brother was the brightest genius of the Underground. He had to know something.
Anything.
“…Sans is not here…”
The skeleton’s jaw went slack. A Grillby’s without Sans?
“…I’ve not seen him since this morning…”
Papyrus whimpered. “WHERE DID HE GO? IS HE SAFE? IS HE ALIVE? I-I’M SO SCARED FOR HIM AND EVERYONE AND--”
His words ended with a long, loud whine.
“…Are you still at Alphys’ lab…?” Grillby asked. The man of fire understood the youngster’s fears.
“Y-YES…”
“…I’ll be right there… Then we’ll look for Sans…”
“THANK YOU.”
The call ended there. Knowing that Grillby will come over brought some sense of relief.
He rolled over and let himself collapse.
Soon, all will be well in the world.
Except…
The DEMON refused to stay quiet.
“I’ll kill you!” they screamed. “I will come back to kill you and you and YOU AND YOU AND YOU AND ALL OF YOU TRAITORS! I am the DEMON of Hyperdeath! THE BE ALL AND END ALL! ”
The screams had yet to end. Papyrus did his best to ignore them. Muffle the sounds. Shift farther away from the entrance to the lab. Pretend it doesn’t exist.
It went on, and on, and on…
Then, it stopped. The sudden silence was deafening.
Uncle Gaster emerged from the lab.
“Papyrus?”
“WHY DID IT GO QUIET?” asked the young one.
“The ritual’s completed,” Gaster answered. “Frisk is safe. Worry not about them, my concern is now on you.”
The elder slid to Papyrus’ side and lowered himself closer to the ground.
“You said you saw ‘Nothingness’. Does this phrase fit the description? ‘Dark, darker yet darker. The shadows cutting deeper’.”
Papyrus nodded. “YES. IT’S JUST. NOTHING. COMPLETELY NOTHING. IT’S WORSE THAN BEING BLIND! W-WHAT WAS THAT…?”
“It’s what I call ‘The End’,” he answered.
“I DON’T UNDERSTAND.”
“The death of existence, Papyrus. It’s the point where all timelines cease to exist.”
“WHY? HOW?” Question after question swam around Papyrus’ poor overworked noggin.
Gaster replied, “I’m afraid I can’t provide an answer. No one knows what causes ‘The End’. Not me. Not even your brother.”
“But fret not. It’s nothing more than just a possibility. Your human friend had proven themselves to be quite responsible. I reckon that as long as they’re not careless with their powers, the worst will not come true.”
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“This is what it means to be a Chronograph, my boy. Time and time again, you will see visions of what may or may not come to pass.”
Papyrus realised that Sans had tried to protect him from this fate.
Gaster placed both hands on Papyrus’ cheekbones. The parents residing within wished to hold their son to comfort him. His will aligned with theirs.
“I understand it can be frightening,” he said. “But it’s not all bleak. You will need training as not to be swayed by despair. With courage, kindness and integrity, you can see the path of hopes and dreams.”
“Papyrus. Never lose yourself to mere possibilities. The future is not set in stone. Remember this. Always.”
“OKAY…”
What else could he say? If it was just a passing vision, then there was nothing to worry about.
“Now, take slow breaths. Still your mind. Calm your magic, and the Eye will follow suit.”
Gaster waved over the burning right socket.
As he did so, Papyrus saw a strange substance that doesn’t belong on a skeleton.
“UNCLE GASTER, DID YOU DIP YOUR HANDS IN KETCHUP?”
The old man jerked his arms back. Papyrus could see them clearer now. Both hands were coated in an unfamiliar red liquid.
Offering his hands before the young man, Gaster asked in fear:
“Papyrus, what do you see now?”
“SOME WEIRD RED LIQUID. IT’S REDDER AND DARKER COMPARED TO THE KETCHUP SANS DRINKS. REMINDS ME OF PAINT.”
Then they heard Alphys scream Mettaton’s name.
Gaster bolted straight towards the lab. He didn’t even wait to materialize back to his full height. “Everyone, get out of there!” he yelled.
Then there was another scream. Glass shattered. A struggle followed after, which ended with a loud thud.
Papyrus wanted to get up and run. Wanted. Except his knees refused.
He heard Undyne summoning her spears. “Asgore, take Alphys and --”
…The words were interrupted by a sickening squelch and a howl of pain.
Lots and lots of pain.
He couldn’t believe that voice belonged to Undyne. He had never, ever heard her so vulnerable before: not when she lost her left eye in a training accident, nor when she had set her house on fire.
A sense of urgency welled up within Papyrus’ SOUL. He forced himself on his feet and started running.
Run.
Run towards his friends.
His family.
Papyrus pushed through the lab doors. He found himself standing before utter chaos.
Asgore had his back on the wall with Alphys wrapped in his arms. He drew out his trident, ready to deflect anything that came in his way.
Uncle Gaster meanwhile tried to halt the gushing of that strange red liquid with his hands. It came from a gaping stab wound on Cenna’s chest. To Gaster, it didn’t matter that he had holes in the middle of his palms; he had to try.
Humans leak when they get hurt. That’s what his brother told him.
They call it ‘blood’. Lose too much of those and they will die.
A gash destroyed Undyne’s remaining good eye. She clutched her spear and swung it around, lost in darkness and in panic. She kept yelling in a stream of incomprehensible swearing.
Mettaton’s robotic shell lay broken on the ground. Dust leaked out from a deep cut on his back.
What about Frisk, his favourite human friend?
Cenna was in critical condition and unable to speak. Yet, despite so, she stared at Papyrus and struggled to point to his left.
He glanced there.
The human child leapt from the corner, armed with a glistening knife.
Papyrus stepped backwards just in time to dodge the swipe.
“FRISK!” he called out.
It’s only now he could see the severity of the situation. Frisk’s entire being was trapped in the same webby substance as the knife. They stretched from head to toe, threatening to engulf them whole.
It reminded Papyrus of twisted roots. No, that was too kind… These were the tangles of a puppet’s strings.
Tears of terror streamed down the child’s face. Their throats were bound, cutting off their voice and thus any means of warning others.
The skeleton raised his guard. He readied his bones to dodge and capture. “WHAT ARE THOSE STICKY STUFF?” he asked, “WHAT IS GOING ON???”
“Greetings. Didn’t I tell you I’ll be back?”
Chara’s voice loomed overhead.
It didn’t make sense. Uncle Gaster told him that the ritual was a success.
They should be deader than dead.
Frisk tried to pull away, but the webs curled tighter around their limbs. They forced the child to walk closer and closer to Papyrus.
“As long Frisk lives, I live. Because we’re both one and the same!”
Uncle Gaster yelled from the other end. “Don’t listen to their hubris, Papyrus! They’re just trying to demoralize you!”
Chara’s sneer echoed throughout the air. “Oh? Maybe you should concentrate on saving that bitch first, old man.”
He outright ignored her insults. “The DEMON survived because they had a hidden vessel somewhere! One that is obviously NOT the child. Destroy their link to the world we’ll be rid of this insolence once and for all!”
Then Papyrus asked the most important question of all: “BUT WHERE IS THIS VESSEL?”
“I don’t know!” Gaster answered back. “I don’t have the Yellow Aspect to expose secrets!”
Yellow. Other than Cenna, the only other person who had that level of truesight was…
Sans.
Fear threatened to knock Papyrus down. But, he remained steadfast and prepared to defend.
“HELP IS ON THE WAY,” he said, “GRILLBY IS COMING OVER, AND HE’LL FIND SANS FOR SURE! W-WE’LL JUST NEED TO CAPTURE THE HUMAN UNTIL THEN!”
Chara burst into a haunting laughter as Frisk continued to struggle.
“Papyrus, Papyrus, Papyrus… you ARE an idiot after all! Do you really think you could rely on that Trashbag forever? If he’s so capable, he wouldn’t have gone MIA in the first place!”
“Besides, you’re forgetting something. Frisk is not your average kid. They’re the Legendary Hero: Humanity’s Ultimate Weapon! Do you understand what that means?”
Chara forced Frisk to bring out their SOUL. Their brilliant glow intensified more and more as the seconds ticked by.
“I can feel their Determination pouring in like a waterfall! Seeing you so terrified made them even MORE determined to regain control of their body. And in doing so, I -- The DEMON of Hyperdeath -- will soon have the ability to RESET once again!”
“When I drag all you useless lot back Underground, I will kill every single one of you. And then I can finally execute true ‘eternal peace’!”
It happened in a split second.
At the end of Chara’s speech, a knife stabbed straight through the red, glowing heart. The strike caused the SOUL to crack.
“No… NO!” The DEMON did not want this result. “What are you doing??? We don’t have enough Determination yet!”
Frisk grinned. It was not malicious. Rather, it was one steeped in sad goodbyes.
“Sorry,” whispered Frisk. With all their remaining control, the child of mercy pushed the knife further down the essence of their being.
Chara started to panic.
“No no no no no no no no YOU IDIOT stop please not now not now not now!!!”
Their HP fell at breakneck speeds. Papyrus acted on his protective instincts to reach out for the knife.
Alas, he was too slow. Frisk’s HP reached zero. Their SOUL snapped in half and exploded into shards.
The pieces fell on the mittened hands of the skeleton. They lasted just for a moment before dissipating into the air.
Frisk’s lifeless body fell into his embrace.
“FRISK…?” he said. “FRISK, YOU’RE NOT TURNING INTO DUST, SO I KNOW YOU’RE ALIVE. YOU ARE ALIVE, RIGHT?”
To Papyrus, there was no reason why Frisk should be dead.
They didn’t bleed out.
They’re not injured or sick.
They’re as whole as a human could be.
“SO PLEASE, WAKE UP.”
Humans are stronger than monsters.
They shouldn’t die so easily.
They shouldn’t die without saying a single word.
Without saying goodbye.
“WAKE UP!”
Yet, the child’s corpse grew cold in his arms.