Chapter 4 - Interlude: Puzzling Memories
A few years before Frisk’s journey began…
In their dreams, unbeknownst to the other, both of the skeleton brothers saw flashes of strange images. Sans saw the sterile walls of a lab, from within a tube filled with liquid, an unfamiliar skeletal figure peering deep into his soul. Floating hands took him out of the tube, gently laying him on a bench. The figure was looking down on him… smiling…?
Papyrus was led to a room, then commanded to shift. An exciting sensation flowed through his body, something rising up from deep within him. He lowered himself to all fours, as the room seemed to significantly shrink before his eyes.
He ran through a long, narrow tunnel of an obstacle course, the world becoming a blur as projectile spikes flew his way and hellish flames flared around him. Any hazards fired at the skeleton – both the magic bullets of monsters and the physical bullets of humans alike – he either swiftly evaded, or simply bounced off his strengthened body. Somehow, a part of his subconscious knew… he had been designed to withstand all sorts of assaults from even humans.
The skeleton’s claws and fangs tore through targets made of solid steel like they were mere tissue. An unimaginable high flowed through him from the rush of power he felt in this shape!
Tearing through all the minor targets, he reached the end of the tunnel, the metal hallway opening up to a circular arena, the walls of which extended up high. With steps that shook the whole building, a lumbering mechanical construct emerged into view, vaguely humanoid in nature. It was an approximation of the kind of technology Surface humans had access to, based off material that fell down.
Several compartments on its body opened, revealing dozens upon dozens of missiles! Papyrus could only get a glimpse of them for a second before they all launched out and closed in on him from all directions!
However, the beast was prepared, responding with lightning-fast reflexes! A jagged bone – not anywhere near similar to the usual round shape of his magic, countered each and every missile! Their explosions occurred far away from where he was standing, and the shrapnel that littered the area didn’t so much as scratch his toughened frame.
The warmech’s assault continued. Before the smoke even cleared, gunfire emerged from within it! Papyrus leaped out of the way of the bullets, bounding around the enemy robot in circles. The bullets continued to follow him, leaving indents in the floor. Eventually, the rattle of gunfire ceased, changing to the click of an empty gun. That was his chance!
Focusing all his power in his legs, the beast leaped into the air, looking down on the enemy from above. His jaws parted, light starting to shine from within. It started off small, smaller than a flame of a matchstick, but quickly intensified exponentially to brighter than even a supernova.
Yes… this was… the ultimate destructive technique. Able to eradicate anything from the world. His entire body vibrating with the magical force behind it, he unleashed the massive blast onto the robot! The entire world was filled with light… Then he woke up.
They both dismissed them as simple dreams – Sans’ love for the science fiction genre, coupled with Papyrus finding about such works via ‘osmosis’ naturally led to imaginary scenarios based around such aesthetics.
Of course, whenever they had excess energy to burn, felt threatened, or just downright stressed, their forms did change to release it. And naturally, because the forms were more animalistic and violent in nature, all they had to do was spend a while in the wilderness to let the beasts do their thing, working it into their schedule.
That was a natural part of life for them, entirely disconnected to the strange facility as far as they knew. Neither of them spent more than a single waking moment thinking about those dreams… Up until now.
As usual, it was another same old weekend in Snowdin. At this time, Papyrus had already set his sights on becoming a member of the Royal Guard… but right now, he was too young to even be considered for a position.
But that wasn’t enough to put down the Great Papyrus! For every day until he was old enough to apply, he would train with his homemade obstacle course! With a smile on his face, he marched out of Snowdin, heading towards the forest.
One of Sans’ many friends offered to provide technology for him. With their gadgets, and his brilliant mind, he managed to set up his magnificent Gauntlet of Deadly Terror! He didn’t yet have the resources to implement it on a rickety bridge as he hoped, but according to the advanced, extensive calculations he made, his “draft” version of it deep in the forest already carried 74.2% of the intended experience!
Flicking a switch, the skeleton took on his custom-tailored challenge! Cannons fired! Spikes swung! Blades sliced! The several minutes just rushed by, and it was over in an instant, leaving a panting Papyrus at the end.
He didn’t feel the same rush as he did in his dreams. Papyrus didn’t want to think that his idea of an obstacle course was lousy, but… compared to the one he went through in his imagination (there was no way they could be memories), this felt extremely watered down. But for now, with his current materials and expertise, it was the best he could do.
The crunch of snow alerted him to a new arrival. It sounded like someone with the short stature of a humanoid child. There were only a handful of people like that in the village, and out of them, the most likely one to be out here in a place like this was… Well, this is unexpected! But not unwelcome! “Sans, what a pleasant surprise! You’ve finally decided to join me for training-”
Papyrus turned around with a grin, but rather than the eyelights of his brother, he was instead met with the bright orange eyes of a human. It wasn’t his older brother, but instead a orange-haired boy who looked a few years younger than Papyrus himself.
A shock, like his bones were hollow and liquid was flowing through him, coursed through the skeleton’s bones, before giddiness quickly started to overtake him. Almost like the excess energy of a sugar rush, he jumped for joy, cartwheeling around the open space and running in circles, all the while exclaiming, “I met a human! I met a human!! Nyeh-heh-heh-heh-heh~!”
This was the best day of his life! Not because monsterkind was closer to their alleged freedom that the skeleton never really believed in, but because if he brought the boy to the Royal Guard, they would certainly make an exception for a teenager like him to get in!
Stopping his mania-fuelled sprint right in front of the human, Papyrus pointed an exposed bony finger dramatically at him. “Stop right there, human! I, the Great Papyrus, am here to capture you! You are to be escorted to my lovely shed, where you shall be treated to the finest and most enticing of refreshments! Then, you will be personally escorted straight to the King himself!”
The boy looked completely confused and wary, as if he was looking at an abstract art piece few sane people could understand. A few seconds of stunned silence followed… before he got into a fighting stance, tightening his bandana and raising his fists. “Are you… one of the people Miss Toriel warned me about…? One of Asgore’s henchmen?”
Papyrus’ eyesockets sparkled at the mention of the name. “Yes, indeed! Asgore’s most loyal aspiring henchman!” That technically wasn’t the truth, but he wanted to look impressive in front of such an important figure.
“I see… In that case… I’ve got no choice but to break straight through you!” With the energy of a wild, rampaging bull, the boy charged straight at the skeleton! As he ran, he threw a punch, putting all his momentum into it!
“Very well! I, the Great Papyrus, eagerly accept your challenge!” With a graceful backflip, he multiplied the distance between himself and the human by hundreds, casting his Blue Attack on the boy with a swift ping. Long range battle was his domain!
A storm of bones came at the boy, almost as if it was raining solid calcium sideways. Despite being just a child, the orange-haired boy deftly wove between the bones, like an action movie hero dodging projectiles in bullet time. Papyrus was truly putting his all in, but not a single one of the bones hit the boy.
This didn’t dampen Papyrus’ spirit at all. Rather, his passion flared up an equal amount in response! “Nyeh-heh-heh! Impressive! Most impressive, human! However! Do not think this is the full extent of the Great Papyrus’ abilities!”
With a distortion that tore through the air like paper, a huge draconic skull emerged, hitting the ground in front of Papyrus. His Special Attack… his Blaster! Blade-like fangs and wicked horns painted the picture of a truly terrifying beast, its skull alone taller than himself… but physical strength wasn’t its most powerful asset by far.
If the human boy was agile enough to evade his bone projectiles, then he would simply fill the entire area with a magic attack. “Ready or not, here I come!” His laser was set to stun, not kill. But from the pure heat, light, and sound the fearsome blast emitted, it would be impossible to tell. Everything in the hundred metres in front of him at least would have been caught in the attack.
Papyrus was confident enough in his own Special Attack, he felt no need at all to confirm the result of the blast before dismissing the skull. Therefore, the surprise was immeasurable when a gloved fist barrelled straight for his head. “Wha-!!”
Ducking into a sliding kick, the skeleton evaded the blow, rising back up to his feet and turning to face the boy. The child’s fist instead connected with the snow beneath him, creating a small creator far bigger than the weapon that caused it.
For a few moments, the skeleton was confused… before quickly realising what had happened. “You figured out the properties behind my Blue Attack so quickly… Wowie! You’re quite the fast learn- Oh!” Another punch narrowly missed his skull, the mere wind from that being enough to punch a hole in the tree behind his head.
“In that case…!” Clicking the fingers on both his hands, a long bone materialised in each one. The boy’s next punch – one Papyrus wouldn’t have been able to evade – was blocked by the right bone, a powerful vibration travelling through it and up his arm. If he weren’t holding on so tightly, it might have been knocked straight tout of his grip! “En garde!”
“UUUUUUOOOOOOHHHHH…!” At this point, Papyrus should have noticed the clearly desperate, sweat-drenched expression on the boy’s face… but he was far too busy enjoying himself. For once, he had a challenge!
For the next few moments, they continued to clash their weapons, fist to bone. Papyrus’ bones worked both as offence and defense – trying to take one of the boy’s punches head-on would be suicide, so he used them to both block and redirect his blows. They additionally gave him the range he needed to attack while avoiding getting into the child’s punching range.
On the other hand, the orange-eyed human’s blows were comprised of pure power. With the physical form of humans, his attacks naturally had more weight to them. A punch with normal effort was nearly enough to knock one of Papyrus’ bones away. A punch with all the boy’s force behind it would…!
An orange aura fired up around the boy, putting both his fists in front of him and thrusting forward with all his might! “HNNGH…!” Papyrus crossed his weapons in front of him and tried to hold it back, but it was like trying to hold back a massive boulder on a steep incline!
This life-threatening situation was enough to push his mind to its limits. Like the last bit of toothpaste that came out of the tube with herculean effort, a move to reverse the tide of battle was squeezed out of his mind!
In a move that on the surface, worked completely contrary to his goals, Papyrus released the bones he was holding and leaped back! With the sudden lack of resistance, the human lurched forwards, stumbling into thin air.
These handful of seconds gave Papyrus the tiny window of opportunity he needed! Producing a small, knife-sized bone, he flicked it at the human’s leg! If a fighter who relied on close combat like him was immobilized, he would be entirely unable to fight back – easy pickings for being captured! “It’s my victory, human!”
A triumphant, practically glowing feeling started to well up in the skeleton… only to be swiftly replaced by an immense, stabbing pain, far worse than anything he had ever felt in his life. As if his very soul had been pierced through. “A-ah…” Trembling… slowly… Papyrus looked down. The same bone was sticking out of his chest.
The boy expected him to throw the bone! He even predicted the location he would aim at! When the magic bullet shot out, the human simply grabbed it and threw it back right at him! No sooner had Papyrus realised this than the boy closed the distance between them and made his decisive, winning move!
Like a hammer and nail, he punched the bone further into Papyrus’ chest! With the intent behind it, it blew a hole right through the skeleton. Blood splattered the snow behind the two of them, slowly flaking into dust.
Papyrus was completely taken off-guard by the boy’s attitude – up until now, the skeleton only saw this as a fun game. He had no idea… that the human was fighting to kill, like a desperate cornered animal. And because he had misread the situation, the skeleton was going to pay the price. The pure, unadulterated shock running through his mind… was enough for the other side of himself in his heart to awaken.
Abruptly, his eye sockets ignited with a blazing draconic fury. Horns erupted from his skull, whereas his teeth swiftly sharpened into fangs.
This feeling inside of him… this wasn’t the same as his usual transformation. This felt like something thousands of times more intense! Something far worse! And yet, he didn’t care. An increasingly loud voice at the back of his mind encouraged him to welcome this shift. As the energy washed over him, his wounds healed, the hole in his chest sealing with the boy’s arm still inside it and ripping it clean off.
The child screamed, but Papyrus wouldn’t let him get away. He latched onto the boy with lengthening claws, a growl bubbling up from within his throat. He no longer looked like a skeleton monster, but a demon.
The child tried to fight back, but the skeleton’s strength had multiplied a hundredfold. Like his remaining arm was caught in a bear trap, no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t budge.
With a sound that resembled the cracking of twigs, but amplified to be ten times as loud, the skeleton’s horrifying mutation continued. Growing frame and spikes tearing through his clothes, face pushing out into a muzzle as his hands and feet stretched into paws…
Body changing to a quadrupedal stance with a snap, the creature crashed to the ground with the human. He coughed up a spray of blood, feeling like his organs were being crushed beneath the beast’s immense weight. Any remaining resemblance to the eccentric, overconfident skeleton the boy first fought was quickly wiped out, having been replaced by a creature that had crawled up straight from the depths of hell.
The last thing the human saw was those terrible, predatory jaws slowly open wide. In his final moments, he realised what it was like to stare death straight in the face.
By the time Sans arrived, it was already too late for the child. The scene the skeleton arrived to was like something out of a gory horror movie. The pristine white of the snow was stained red all around. Barely any of the boy remained, the beast Papyrus had become crunching on the remains of the head and torso, as if the small corpse was a mere snack to it.
With the child’s physical shell destroyed, an object emerged from the remains. Something that the beast was truly after. A bright orange heart – the child’s soul, which hovered in mid-air before the dragon.
As the hellbeast’s jaws parted, Sans felt a cold grip wrap itself around his mind. He absolutely couldn’t let his brother take it in! If he absorbed it… if he absorbed it, then he would…! Then he would…!
Then he would what…? Sans knew what a monster with a human soul could do, there wasn’t a single person in the Underground who didn’t know how the legend went… but why was a voice at the back of his head screaming for Papyrus not to have it, no matter the cost?
“PAPYRUS! NOOOOO!” Leaping into the air, Sans snatched the soul away from the dragon’s jaws, causing it to chomp on nothing. Having been denied its rightful reward, the beast let out a terrifying roar, a thunderous otherworldly noise which made it feel like the entire cavern was quaking.
A fragment of hope welled up within Sans, but it was quickly crushed, escaping from his mouth alongside a spray of blood and air. Its tail had whipped around, slamming into the short skeleton and sending him flying into a tree! He hit the wood with a sickening crack, seeing stars.
To make matters even worse, several more cracks started to echo throughout the air… and it wasn’t from the impact. “Uuu… Aaah…” Sans could only make weak moans as his body slowly began to rebel against him.
The invasively close sound of crackling – as if a bonfire was directly next to his skull – flowed through his skull as horns extended, while running his magic tongue along his teeth confirmed they were starting to sharpen into wicked fangs. Strange energy flowed through all his bones as they started to expand, his shirt feeling increasingly tight as his ribcage barrelled out.
Sans wanted badly to fight back the change – he had never been in that terrible state at the same time as his brother, but he knew that it would only end in pain. But the gleam in the dragon’s eyes, hungry for the soul clenched in Sans’ increasingly bestial hands, told him that he wouldn’t be allowed the chance for a breather.
It lunged at him, salivating jaws opened wide, but once again, much to its increasing chagrin, it missed! It let out another roar of fury, irritated by the pest before it. Whirling around, it realised that somehow, the strange, tiny monster that held its prize was in the exact opposite direction.
“Papyrus! Stop this! Turn back to your usual, kind self!” Sans’ voice was becoming rougher and rougher, stumbling slowly down in pitch. Drool was starting to leak from his own mouth, with all his blade-like teeth pushing up against each other. His face was starting to periodically twitch, a low pressure on it. It was as if his mouth wasn’t big enough to keep everything contained.
His plea fell on deaf ears. With a piercingly sharp click, the beast’s jaws unhinged and a terrible light began to gather within.
VRRRRRRRRRR! A pulse of pure, concentrated magic erupted from within the dragon’s maw. Sans barely managed to roll out of the way (feeling the searing blast of hot air), but as he did, he felt a tight, painful squeeze on his hips and shoulders, accompanied by a crack. When he tried to get back up to his feet, his centre of gravity dragged him back down onto all fours. Not good…!
His worried gaze looked down to see his hands practically unrecognisable. They were already half-forepaws, his thumbs steadily sliding up his wrists and shrinking into useless dewclaws. He could feel his body threatening to burst out of his clothes, several rips at the seams already present from his thickening bones.
The pressure on his face was starting to give way, a muzzle slowly but surely forming. And with that, came the foreign presence starting to pierce his mind. A drive to mercilessly destroy whatever tried to harm him or his master (master? Where did that come from?). An exhilarating high rising up within his chest, the allure of power tempting him to give in to the transformation. And, worst of all… A bottomless, insatiable hunger – the desire to greedily devour the soul he was carrying, march out of the Underground, and consume as many humans as he could.
Realising the terrible thoughts flowing through his skull, Sans raised a forepaw and slapped himself, snapping himself back to reality. Just in time, giving him the opportunity to sidestep out of the rampaging dragon’s path.
He couldn’t run away – that would just make it eventually head for Snowdin or the Ruins. He couldn’t fight with all his force – he didn’t want to kill his brother. He couldn’t even do nothing – if he changed, there would be two terrible beasts for the community to deal with! Weighing up all his options… left Sans with only one path.
There was only one chance to do this. If he failed, then that would be it. However, he had to at least try! For his brothers’ and neighbourhood’s sake! “Haaaaaaaaaaa…!”
The part-beast charged straight at the fully changed beast, a quadrupedal gallop coming naturally to him! Predictably, it charged back and fired its laser of death, straight down at him. However! That was exactly what Sans wanted! When it fired its blast, it had to stay still to gather up power. For that brief moment it was stationary, that gave the opening he needed to strike!
Sidestepping, then leaping with all his power into the air, he cast his blue attack on himself and slammed his own body into the dragon’s skull! With a force rivalling a small meteor, there was enough force behind it to knock the beast out cold, stirring up a huge tremor as it collapsed to the ground! Pacified, the unconscious form smoothly reverted and shrank until it was the familiar shape of his brother. It was as Sans expected – with the perceived threat gone and energy expended, Papyrus could revert.
Sans allowed himself a grin, before realising that there was one more thing for him to do. If he lost total control over his thoughts, there wouldn’t be someone to turn him back. So he had to do this on his own. Conjuring up a mental image of the force changing him in his mind, he grabbed it, and pushed back with all his might!
The changes did indeed recede, but it happened painfully, unevenly and in jolts. First, his shoulders and hips snapped into humanoid positions while leaving the beast-like proportions unchanged, giving him a strange, semi-feral look. Then, his muzzle collapsed in partway, making him look like a bizarre, semi-feral pug skeleton.
Though the further reversions happened in a more proportionate manner, it still happened in spurts, and it still felt painful to carry out. Like it was something he had to force… The moment he thought that, the transformation stuck, as if a metaphorical gear had been jammed. He was left deformed: significantly taller, spikier, and more fearsome than he should have been. A growl bubbling up inside him, Sans gave one final push…!
“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Papyrus lurched up. If he were a human, his heartbeat in that moment would have been faster than that of a hummingbird’s. For a few seconds, he had no idea where he was or what he was. Taking deep breaths to calm himself, he managed to regain enough presence of mind to take in his surroundings.
He was… in his room…? He looked down at himself. His pyjamas were completely soaked in sweat. So that was what the ‘dream blood’ was… His gaze turned to his clock. Afternoon already!? How long had he slept in!?
“Everything okay, bro?” The skeleton’s eyes focused on the short-statured skeleton monster by his side. This was the first time in forever Papyrus saw it – Sans’ ever-present grin wasn’t there. He was frowning, eyelights filled with concern.
“I… I’m fine. Nyeh-heh… Just a nightmare.” Papyrus reassured him with a chuckle, before breathing a deep, genuine sigh of relief. It was just a particularly visceral nightmare… he didn’t turn into a hideous abomination… he didn’t rip a human apart… Thank goodness it was just a bad dream… Just a bad dream…
He buried his head in his hands, wiping away the tears he didn’t know were there. As he dried his face, he noticed an odd sensation. Eh…? Were my fingertips in my regular form always this sharp…? Papyrus pulled his hands back. Each of his phalanges were tipped with a pointed claw. They couldn’t be called razor-sharp, but they were definitely pointier than he was used to.
A cold sweat broke out on his body again. What did this mean…? Whenever he was forced into that beastly form, he could always change back! Did this mean… that he really did kill…? No. Jumping to a conclusion like that would be ridiculous. He could have just changed slightly in his sleep. The skeleton summoned a bone attack to use as a makeshift nail file… but to an increasing dread in his ribcage, the claws split the bone attack straight in half.
Two comically large thick red gloves landed on his lap before he could continue. “Don’t forget to put your gloves on today, Pap. We both know how im-claws-ible it’s always been for you to go around with your bare hands without damaging anything.”
“Glad you’re sharp-witted. Anyway, I’m off to work hard again, being the dutiful brother I am.” With that chuckle, the short skeleton turned to leave, likely to slack off at his post again. When he turned his back to Papyrus, the younger brother could swear he started hallucinating: a short tail, the tip just barely showing from the leg of his shorts, was nervously wrapped around his leg.
“Yeah?” He turned around calmly, his face once again a poker face of a smile.
“Answer me truthfully. Did a human child die today?”
Without a hint of hesitation, Sans answered with a blunt, “One did. The kid was wandering the forest lost forever, and he died of hypothermia. Poor thing… I don’t even feel like making a pun about it.” To prove his sentence, he lifted a newspaper with the heading “Human corpse discovered in Snowdin. Cause of death determined to be hypothermia.”
Papyrus felt slightly guilty for feeling relieved at this. So he didn’t lose control of his beast form and maul a human after all…
Meanwhile, Sans was relieved for a completely different reason. Pulling the strings and manipulating the news through his connections managed to work out after all.
With how wonderfully Toriel’s day started, she would never have guessed the terrible twist fate had in store. After seeing off that orange-haired boy, she was anxious, but hopeful. Perhaps, this time… perhaps, this time, the child would make it through… that was what she always thought to herself once the current child left.
It was time for her afternoon tea with her friends – as it was her turn to be the hostess, she was shopping for pastries. Unfortunately, her favourite snail pie was off-limits – while she couldn’t get enough of the taste, the monsters she talked to on a regular basis felt the exact opposite.
Therefore, spider pastries and cider were a close second. It was also a good place to catch up on the latest news of the Underground, considering the vast network they had, extending to almost every corner of the massive cavern they called home. Their connections were almost more like the squirming tentacles of a massive octopus, than spiders. But regardless, they weren’t malicious. At least, that Toriel had heard of.
Unlike most days, when there were rarely more than five people at once in the spiders’ bakery, the room was absolutely packed! Practically the entire neighbourhood was shoved into the room, excitedly chatting about something.
“That’s wonderful! One step closer to freedom!”
“Ribbit, ribbit! (I can’t wait to find out what Surface insects taste like!)”
“I-I hope that we’ll all be nicer to each other on the Surface… O-or I’ll be able to just hide from bullies…”
A smile spreading across Toriel’s muzzle, she approached the commotion. This could only mean good news! “May I know what happened, everyone?”
“The King captured another soul!”
The warm feeling in her chest instantly turned ice-cold. No… not another one… Her head pounded, as the world started to spin…
“M-Miss Toriel…? What’s wrong!?” Monsters within the bakery quickly started to gather around her, trying to support her.
She gently, yet firmly pushed them away and sprinted off, all the way to the flower patch where her adopted human child first landed. When she was sure no one was nearby, she collapsed to her knees and wailed. Again… again…! Why did this keep happening!?
Meanwhile, somewhere in a place outside of regular time and space, within a ‘sea’ of darkness… floating like a message in a bottle, was a document from long ago. No one would ever set eyes on this thin sheet of paper again… Despite the information written on it being of vital importance.
The optimal outcome would be to bypass the Barrier without any violence… but as the prince’s untimely end demonstrated, we need a way to ensure our absolute victory and turn around this dire situation. The most powerful sapient beings on the planet – humans – require a counter of much greater power.
Therefore… after years and years of work, my two finest creations have been brought into the world. Though they may have begun life as unimpressive humanoid skeletons, those forms were mere designed as shells, or ‘eggs’ of a sort. Low-energy cocoons to use as their true forms grew and developed.
Though I did not intend for them to have personalities, let alone sapience, that problem should be swiftly rectified in the situation they are required as weapons. If they were to continue transforming into their beast forms as they age… they would no longer be able to revert.
The final element to complete their maturation would be a human soul. With that, everything will begin. Unlike regular monsters, who fuse with the souls, my weapons will devour them, taking all the soul’s power into their own. Converting the soul into fuel for their own form.
Their Determination, their magical powers, and their abilities to take in more souls will grow and grow, until they can dominate the planet and wipe out the humans, leaving a pristine world for monsterkind to inhabit.