Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Papyrus came to, he found himself pressed against the wall with something lodged between the ulna and radius of each arm. A sharp burst of pain traveled down his arms throughout the rest of his body as he tried to pull free.

“probably not the best idea to do that buddy. you’ll be doin’ more harm than good,” a low voice drawled.

Papyrus turned his head and saw that several blue bones had been pierced in between both of his ulna and radii against the wall, effectively trapping it so any movement would cause damage. The tall monster checked his HP.

56/680

He was sure his HP had been lower. Had the Sans healed him? The idea was preposterous to him. He was an enemy, and he’d just killed a resident monster in cold blood. No monster from his world would heal a beaten enemy.

“this arrangement ain’t the most comfortable for you, but i can’t have you goin’ around terrorizing the underground,” the short skeleton replied.

Papyrus watched as he walked over and sat down in the green lumpy couch. He still had that obnoxiously laidback grin on his face with hands buried in the pockets of his jacket. Papyrus frowned deeply when he noticed the pink slippers. At least his own brother actually wore sneakers.

Papyrus looked around, noting that he sat, trapped against the wall, in the left corner of the living room directly across from the stairs to the second floor. The door of the house was barely visible in his peripheral vision. The tall skeleton suspected that it blocked him from the view of anyone in the house’s doorway. Papyrus couldn’t understand the reasoning behind this arrangement and decided to let that go for now.

“MY HP WAS MUCH LOWER. YOU HEALED ME. WHY?”

“can’t have you falling down now, could i?”

The answer only served to confuse Papyrus more. Everything this Sans did confused him.

“WHY? I TRIED TO KILL YOU SEVERAL TIMES! ARE YOU NOT ANGRY? ESPECIALLY AFTER I KILLED THAT MONSTER?”

“tibia-nest it takes too much effort to be angry,” the imposter-Sans replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Papyrus gave a small huff before commenting in a much calmer voice that previously, “You’re puns are just as horrid as my brother’s.”

“hey, humor’s pretty subjective. can’t please everyone.”

“Well both of your jokes are awful,” the tall monster said shortly. “How long have I been out?”

“eh, a bit more than half a day.”

“YOU’RE JUST GOING TO KEEP ME TRAPPED HERE?” Papyrus stated more than asked.

“after that stunt you pulled? yeah. think of it as house arrest.”

That means no one else knows what I did? It’s almost as if he’s… hiding me. The idea only led to more confusion for the tall skeletal monster.

The two fell silent. Papyrus felt irritation simmer inside him, having nothing to do except watch this strange copy of his brother lounge around doing nothing productive. His mind slowly began to drift to his own Sans, wondering how he was managing without Papyrus there to whip him into shape. His mind soon went to thoughts of how he ended up here, in this strange backwards version of his own world. Or the better question of where he was and how he was going to get back to his world. His ruminations soon got rudely interrupted.

“anyway, since you’ve finally calmed down enough to have a conversation, i have a few questions for ya.”

Papyrus’s sockets narrowed suspiciously at the blue-clad skeleton. Then he realized he had no real choice in the matter. Not that he couldn’t guess what questions were going to be asked. After all, he also had information to gather of this place.

“You want to know where I come from and how I ended up here,” Papyrus stated matter-of-factly. “I will only answer your questions if you answer mine. Otherwise, you can forget it.”

“sounds fair. information for information,” the Sans agreed before turning to face Papyrus. “how did you get here?”

“I woke up in that most childish looking bed of, I assume, your brother’s. It is most juvenile and uncool.”

“juvenile and uncool?” the imposter began evenly. “heh, look here pal, my bro is the coolest. i’d say your get-up’s way more juvenile. as if you’re compensating for something.”

Papyrus’s magic sparked in reaction to his sudden burst of rage, causing him to jerk his arm forward. Sharp bursts of pain coursed throughout his body from the blue bones. The tall skeleton watched as his HP began to drop, digit by digit, until it stopped at 46/680. This mysterious effect sparked his question.

“MY TURN,” Papyrus demanded. “You’re attacks are weak yet my HP drops as if poisoned. Why?”

“oh that? just a nice little effect my attacks have on anyone with high LOVE. the higher the LOVE, the worse the damage.”

Papyrus’s sockets widened in surprise. It explained how, despite this Sans’s weak stats, his attacks did so much damage to Papyrus. He had greatly underestimated this Sans and would have to be more careful. Papyrus could only imagine what that ability would have had in his own world. It would’ve definitely made taking over the Underground and getting rid of troublesome monsters much easier. Too bad he was somehow stuck in this saccharine place where the ability went to waste. Though if he were to somehow make it back to his world with this Sans, he could easily use that ability to his advantage. The only issue was somehow getting the Sans to come with him.

The tall skeleton’s mind ran through numerous plans. He eventually settled on obtaining more information and getting to know this skeleton better. Look for any weaknesses and exploit them, though if this monster truly was similar to his brother, Papyrus could already come up with a few.

“so where’re from?” the small monster asked.

Papyrus remained silent for a few seconds, reorganizing his thoughts, before responding, “As I’ve said before, I come from a world where its kill or be killed. Only the strong survive. The weak simply exist to die.”

The corners of Papyrus’s mouth lifted slightly into a self-satisfied smirk as he noticed the Sans’s fists clench through the pocket of his jacket. Papyrus had finally struck a nerve.

“Oh? Is there a problem? You seem a bit tense.”

The Sans’s smile tighten, coming off very forced.

The smaller monster ignored the comment and simply replied, “so any ideas how you got here? you’re brother still back in your universe? know about multiple universes?”

“HEY! THAT WAS THREE QUESTIONS! BUT MULTIPLE UNIVERSES?” Papyrus asked, the question throwing the tall monster into a loop.

“yep. timelines that diverged enough to become their own world so to speak.”

Papyrus sat there in shock. Were his brother’s theories on multiple universes true then? And he somehow got transported to this soft copy of his own universe? That certainly explained some things but Papyrus still had a hard time grasping the concept. There were other Papyruses and Sanses?

“so if you’re here, then where’s my brother?” imposter-Sans uttered in a slightly accusatory tone, as if his being here caused this Sans’s brother’s disappearance.

“How should I know?” Papyrus answered indignantly, already beginning to get fed up with these questions. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if he ended up taking my place. Hmph, if he’s as weak as you, maybe he'll get himself killed.”

Papyrus let out a surprised howl of pain as he felt two blue bones shift against his arms. After the pain subsided, he glared up to see the Sans looming in front of him, eye sockets pitch black.

“hey, pal, i suggest you watch what you’re saying” the Sans threatened. “my bro may be the nicest monster in the underground but he is by no means a pushover.”

An unfamiliar emotion spouted forth within Papyrus from this Sans’s unrelenting defense of his brother. His own brother had long since stopped supporting him. After all the training and effort he had put into becoming Captain of the Royal Guard, his Sans failed to show an ounce of appreciation for it. This world’s Sans, however, seemed to personally take offense to any ill words against his Papyrus. Seeing that absolute loyalty made Papyrus want to be left alone, away from the presence of this blue-clad Sans.

“Leave me be, I’m feeling tired,” Papyrus grounded out, trying his best to suppress this inexplicable feeling.

The native Sans was caught off guard by his response, eye lights blinking back in bemusement. He took a few steps back from Papyrus.

“you ok? come to think of it, you haven’t eaten since you got here,” imposter-Sans said. “got some leftover spaghetti if you want. though, i’d say you’re too caught up at the moment to eat it, heh.”

Papyrus didn’t understand what this monster was trying to accomplish by offering food and goading him with awful jokes but it made his anger boil.

“I’M NOT HUNGRY! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Papyrus snarled.

He had almost attempted to wrench free from his bone restraints before he stopped himself. He gave his most intimating glare at the Sans, who simply raised his arms in surrender.

“fine, fine. i’ll leave ya alone. need to catch up on my naps anyways. later.”

Papyrus waited until he heard the upstairs door close before feeling himself relax, his emotions still in disarray from the last conversation. Silence reigned over the room. As he mulled over his feelings, Papyrus couldn’t help but feel terribly alone, forced to sit in this corner. Even back home, at least he had his Royal Guard members to order around, as well as his brother even if they rarely acknowledged each other. At the thought of his brother, Papyrus inwardly cringed and forced his thoughts elsewhere. Eventually, sleep overcame the tall skeleton.

Papyrus heard the crunching snow indicative of footsteps behind him as he ran as fast as his skeletal legs can carry him. He suddenly tripped over a rock and fell headfirst into the snow. The icy substance fell into his eye sockets and nose hole. He found himself trembling, though he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or the fear of getting caught by the infamous Royal Guard pair, Dogamy and Dogaressa.

He let out a yelp of pain as something cold and sharp bite into his right clavicle. He felt a pair of strong paws grip his left leg and lift him into the air, leaving him dangling upside down.

“Dogaressa, I’ve finally caught him!” Dogamy growled out.

A towering dog dressed in black armor stepped besides Dogamy. Both of them had a battle axe in their hand.

“Ready to say good night, pup?” the low timber of Dogaressa’s voice taunted as she raised her weapon.

“No hard feelings. You either join the Hunters or are left to dust.”

Papyrus tried summoning his magic but only fear flooded his entire system. Without warning, Dogaressa let out a howl of pain as a sharp bone pierced the arm holding the battle axe.

“let go of my bro you shitty mutts!” a voice growled.

Papyrus turned and smiled in relief as he saw a short, stout skeleton run towards him. A flurry of bones shot toward Dogamy, who dropped Papyrus. As soon as he fell, Dogamy was lifted into the air and slammed into Dogaressa, followed by sharp femurs erupting from the ground. A few of them struck the dog couple.

Papyrus watched in amazement as his brother forced the two dogs into retreating.

“We’ll be back and you’ll be sorry!” Dogamy threatened as he ran off.

Ignoring the stinging pain coming from his shoulder, Papyrus ran up to his older brother.

“paps, did they hurt—“

“SANS! THAT WAS AMAZING! YOU’RE THE COOLEST!” the teenage Papyrus exclaimed, his voice dripping with admiration.

“heh, of course i am paps. anyone that hurts ya will get double the hurt back from me,” his brother responded with a wide grin.

“JUST YOU WAIT, BROTHER! I’LL TRAIN TWICE AS HARD TO BECOME STRONG!”

“i’m sure you will, bro. after all, you’re just as great as me,” his Sans answered warmly.

“I’LL BECOME CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD! I’LL BE ABLE TO PROTECT MYSELF AND YOU! NYEH HEH HEH!”

When Papyrus woke up, he found himself staring at a set of wooden stairs. Memory of the previous day’s events seeped into him. He was currently stuck here in this much too soft world, or universe, as the imposter-Sans had called it. He huffed in annoyance as he found himself still pinned against the wall.

His mind drifted back to his dream. No, it was more like a memory. A memory from way back before the relationship he had with his brother became what it was now. How things have gotten so bad between them, Papyrus couldn’t even remember. It all seemed so long ago.

All of a sudden, a loud pounding came from the door. Papyrus’s head snapped in that direction, which he discovered was blocked by the lumpy green couch. The pounding continued, and Papyrus had half a mind to start shouting at the imposter-Sans to get up before he heard the door upstairs opening. The sound was soon followed by footsteps coming down the stairs.

“coming, geez, don’t gotta break down my door.”

As the Sans passed Papyrus, he gave a gesture for him to remain quiet. Papyrus gave him an indignant scowl before nodding slightly. Papyrus mentally cursed at the Sans for putting him in the inconvenient position where he couldn’t see past the couch.

“oh hey guys, what brings you here?” the Sans asked casually.

“Ah, Sans, we’ve received a report of, uh,” a deep female voice began hesitantly. “Basically, a monster reported seeing your brother attack and kill Snowdrake.”

A pregnant beat fell upon the room. Papyrus felt a chill run down his spine as he realized the voice, although lacking the rough quality, belonged to this world’s Dogaressa.

“you sure that monster wasn’t seein’ things dogaressa? you know my bro would never hurt anyone.”

“Well, yes, Sans. It’s hard to believe that he would. It would be completely out of character,” a male voice, belonging to Dogamy, agreed. “That’s just what has been reported to us.”

“who’s the monster?”

“I’m afraid we can’t disclose the information. It’s part of the legal right of the witness,” Dogaressa explained.

“Yes, and well, there’s not many skeleton monsters but the witness clearly described a ‘tall skeleton monster wearing all black and red’.”

“hm, that sounds mighty suspicious. you sure it’s not some monster tryin’t impersonate my brother? he doesn’t have anything that’s black and only the scarf and boots are red,” the Sans rebutted evenly.

“I see,” Dogamy answered.

Papyrus had to give the native Sans praise for his composure. If Papyrus had been accused that to his face, he would be demanding to see the witness to have him killed. Accuse the great and terrible Papyrus without evidence was a crime back in his world, though in this case, the evidence clearly did point to his murder of that Snowdrake.

Just when Papyrus thought everything was in the clear, he heard Dogaressa ask, “May we speak to your brother Sans?”

“uh, i wouldn’t recommend it. he’s been sick all week. nasty skeleton illness that causes our joints to stiff up and makes it difficult to move. ‘nother reason why it couldn’t’ve been papyrus. i can bring you up to his room to see him if ya want.”

Papyrus nearly screamed at imposter-Sans in rage before he heard Dogaressa respond.

“That’s quite all right. To be honest, I find this whole situation hard to believe as well. Anyway, we hope your brother gets better. Have a nice day, Sans.”

The door closed soon after the couple left. The imposter-Sans let out a sigh as he plopped down onto the couch.

“whew, crisis averted. for now at least.”

Papyrus’s eye sockets narrowed. He had thought this Sans would readily turn him in for his crime but just now Sans had lied on his behalf.

“You’re not going to let the Royal Guard take me in for questioning or punishment?” Papyrus asked, confused.

“nope not a chance. too much at stake here. besides, it’ll take too much effort to explain this mess to ‘em.”

The emotion he felt yesterday came crashing back into him at full force. Papyrus finally, in that moment, realized what that emotion was. He had experienced it before, ages ago.

Jealousy.

And it reignited the anger he had felt yesterday.

“SO YOU’RE JUST GOING TO KEEP ME TRAPPED HERE IN YOUR HOUSE?” Papyrus demanded with suppressed rage.

“you want to leave eventually, don’t you?” the Sans asked.

“OF COURSE! THIS PLACE DISGUSTS ME!”

“then i’ll let you go when you stop tryin’ t’make every monster here a target—“

“I AM NOT SO HORRID THAT I WOULD GO AROUND KILLING EVERY—“

“you’re right. can’t take over the underground if everyone’s dead, can ya buddy?”

Although the Sans had the same casual grin on his face, he felt like he was being judged. As if this monster had the right to judge Papyrus when he was covering up Papyrus’s crimes. And for what? Protecting the innocence of his brother and guaranteeing a way to get him back. It now became obvious to Papyrus that this Sans would do anything to ensure the safety and well-being of his brother. It made him unbelievably angry and resentful.

“YOU’RE NO BETTER THAN ME FOR TRYING TO COVER UP MY CRIMES!” the Royal Guard Captain shouted.

The Sans stared at him in bewilderment but Papyrus didn’t give him a chance to respond.

“I SEE WHAT YOU ARE NOW! A HYPOCRITE!” Papyrus continued vehemently. “YOU SPEAK OF MONSTERS NOT KILLING OTHERS HERE BUT WHEN I DO IT, YOU LET ME GO WITH BARELY ANY PUNISHMENT.”

There was a beat before the Sans argued weakly, “what? do you not believe even the worse person can change?”

Papyrus could tell that though the smaller monster hides it well, the tall skeleton’s words were slowly affecting him in some way. It gave Papyrus a sense of self-satisfaction.

“DO NOT GIVE ME THAT! HAS THE IDEA OF MY BECOMING A BETTER MONSTER EVEN CROSSED YOUR MIND? OF COURSE NOT! EVERYTHING YOU DO ALL COMES DOWN TO YOUR DEAR BROTHER, DOES IT NOT? SO IF IT CAME DOWN TO IT, YOU WOULD KILL ANOTHER FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR BROTHER! IN THAT CASE, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE ME!”

The native Sans looked as if he’d been struck, not expecting to be called out on this. The small monster stared at the ground, his eye lights blinked out. He didn’t respond for a long time; so long that Papyrus almost felt a tinge of fear of accidentally killing the monster with his words. Slowly the blue-clad skeleton got up from the couch and dragged his feet towards the stairs, not even giving a glance at Papyrus.

“wow, uh, if that’s how ya feel ‘bout me, i won’t try t’stop ya,” the Sans mumbled wearily. “’m gonna catch up on some Zs.”

Papyrus watched as the monster made his way up the stairs, shoulders slumping more. The tall monster noticed a fatalistic weariness in the Sans’s movements, as if he were carrying tremendous weights on his shoulders. He heard the door shut softly.

Papyrus glared at the green couch, as if it offended him. For the first time since arriving in this word, Papyrus finally managed to get a response other than jokes and dismissive quips from the imposter-Sans. He just wasn’t sure this was the reaction he’d wanted; he had expected anger or at least a rebuke but all he got was resigned acceptance.

Hmph, I don’t have to feel bad for what I said if it’s completely true!

As the rage and jealousy faded, a trace of guilt began to take its place. Papyrus stared at the couch, the stairs and eventually upstairs, wondering if the native Sans was truly sleeping. His mind began to drift back to the dream he had earlier and then to his brother. Was he the reason their relationship grew so turbulent? The more Papyrus considered over these thoughts, the more regret he felt. The feeling only grew after what seemed like hours with no signs of the Sans coming back downstairs. The small monster failed to show up for the rest of the day.