Your Best Friend

[ … LOAD FILE: PAPYRUS ]

[Sans froze as a huge flash of light enveloped his brother.] [For once he didn’t care that he didn’t know what was happening all he cared about was…] *PAPYRUS! [He had to cover his eyes as the light grew stronger still. It’s all he could do. If Flowey had continued to attack he wouldn’t have known, but based on what was happening it was likely that they were both just as distracted.]

No, what are you doing, you IDIOT!?

WHAT ARE YOU DOI

[ He probably wouldn’t have to keep it up for too much longer. ]

[ Papyrus has hold of his soul in both hands, one gripping more on the orange part, the other on the blue and white. It’s fully manifest, burning ever so slightly. ]

[ He’s sweating a little. He looks strained. ]

[ … He’s trying to pull it apart. ]

[His eyes squint slightly as he tries to figure out what Papyrus is doing, and one of the bullets graze his bone slightly.]

[- 0.2 HP.]

[He was lucky it wasn’t more, but he was worried about what Papyrus was trying to do. He chuckled a bit to try and hide the fact he was tiring out, but the sweat on his brow betrayed him. And now he was distracted by not only Flowey’s words but Papyrus as well. His eyes kept flicking up now to check on his brother…it looked like he was trying to separate the souls…he had a bad feeling about this.]

#;f2f #sunnybcnes #asleepysentry #!ONIBCNES EVENT

[ A cruel, shrill cackle as the bullet connects. He does so delight in when he manages to land a hit on Sans! ]

[ But wait. What’s going on? ... ]

What do you think you’re doing!?

[ Sans’ diverted attention draws Flowey’s attention to Papyrus. What is he doing? And how? ]

[He shrugs a bit, only moving slightly to dodge each individual bullet. One or two might have grazed his coat, and he was only getting started, but as long as they didn’t hit him he was fine. He just needed to keep Flowey focused on him.] *heh. guess when you see some timelines that have actually made it.

[He has to pause to try and dodge another bullet, it went between his ribs barely missing his soul. Stay focused Sans…] *makes you realize there’s a reason to care.

[ He’s not happy about Sans being in the line of fire, but… He’s confident in his brother’s ability to dodge and keep Flowey talking. ]

[ Papyrus focuses again, drowns out the conversation, grounds himself, steadies his breathing. The mismatched monster-human soul begins manifesting again, cupped into his armoured mitts. ]

[ The near-misses on Sans keep Flowey focused enough that he just keeps sending bullets at the smaller skeleton in the same swirling patterns, grinning maniacally. ]

What makes you so sure this one will, huh?

[ The two skeletons shudder back into place, back into reality behind Flowey. The amount of shortcuts they’re doing in such a short time is a little disorienting to Papyrus, but this was definitely a matter of do or die. ]

[ He just wasn’t sure which option was do and which was die. ]

[ While they’re still close, he whispers something to Sans. His voice is low, and uncertain. ]

Keep him distracted. Please. I need to try something.

[He wouldn’t have been able to handle this many shortcuts in a short time if he hadn’t have practiced with Skellie. He was at least thankful for that.] [He listened to his brother and nodded. He didn’t know what Papyrus’s plan was but he could at least handle his part of it. Now just to try and think of a good way to manage it, but with the bullets already done closing in on where they just where he didn’t have time to think of one. He popped himself back in front of the flower.] *heh…nice try pal. but if you got a bone to pick with pap, you gotta deal with me first.

Seems like he’s not the only one who’s gotten bullheaded. You’re not normally this eager to do something before he’s dusted. What changed, trashbag? What’s convinced you to actually protect him?

[ Bullets swirl and encircle Sans, shooting inward one after the other. ]

[He panicked, and reflex took over.] *Papyrus!! [He shorcuted to his brother, trying to push him out of the way of the vines. His mind wasn’t able to catch up with his movements yet, or even what he was seeing. The soul was beginning to fizzle into existence in front of Pap’s armor, a blurry cloud of orange white and blue trying to stabilize. What was he trying to do?] [Sans didn’t have long to analyze it before his body made contact with Papyruses and they toppled to the ground.]

[ A yell of surprise as Sans collides with him, and Papyrus topples. He tries to roll with it, but his attention was elsewhere at the time - the manifestation fails this time. ]

SANS, ARE YOU OKAY???

[ He scrambles up and lifts Sans onto his feet. But his eyes are on Flowey. They’re burning an intense orange. ]

[ He wasn’t sure what Papyrus had been doing, or why he wasn’t fighting back, but he returns that fiery gaze with a scowl. ]

C’mon, Papyrus. Don’t you wanna show your best friend how strong you are? Hee hee.

[ Those vines lash about viciously each side of Flowey in a threatening gesture, and more bullets form, forming a wide ring around the both of them. ]

[Sans hadn’t noticed the vines yet, he was just trying to make sure that Flowey focused on him…maybe a little too much.] *heh… [His eyes went dark] *you’d know wouldn’t you? [He was prepared to shortcut again, to give Papyrus an opening. But he hadn’t moved yet, he was going to stand there till the last second if he had to to hold Flowey’s attention and give Papyrus the best chance of catching the flower off guard.]

[ The longer Sans kept Flowey’s attention, the better. ]

[ Papyrus shifts his feet to root himself again, steadying breathing to manifest his unusual mismatched soul outside his armour again. It’s more difficult in the heat of battle, and it beats like a war drum from the adrenaline, and his fear - ]

[ Thorny vines whip out at both Sans and Papyrus, Flowey’s face twisting cruelly. ]

Oh yes. You’ve gotten really good at it. I wonder how good your brother is at dodging? I’d love to see just how good he’s gotten training with murderers!

[Surprise! There was a brother instead] [Sleepy popped right in front of flowey and used his left hand to use the part of his magic he still had a handle on to do his best and help Pap over the roots if he could, he wasn’t exactly looking at his brother. His gaze was focused on Flowey.] [If he couldn’t attack, at least he could distract.] *hey there bud. nice trick. it’s kinda like mine.

[ Hearing Sans’ voice behind him, and the sound of his shortcut, he spins fast and summons bones to sweep away Flowey’s bullets with a growl. ]

[ No… There wasn’t much use fighting this one outright. But there’d be no talking to Flowey now. He was just going to keep taunting them… ]

[ He’s oh-so-quick to pull out his phone, make a shockingly quick text with his free hand, bone club levelling and dispersing in the other. His hands are freed again soon enough when the phone is returned to his inventory. ]

#;f2f #asleepysentry #sunnybcnes

[ Ooh, this was infuriating! But so FUN! He’d never fought them both at once before - and this was the first time he’d really, truly fought Papyrus! ]

[ Still. The trashbag was just being annoying. He’d stopped Papyrus from tripping and alerted him to the pellet ambush. Vines raise up from the snow and curl threateningly, ready to lash out and strike at Sans. ]

I hope you’ve had plenty of practice! Hee hee. But then, your specialty is avoidance, isn’t it, Sans?

[He’d been standing around long enough. Flowey fired first, he was done sitting around.] [He shortcuted over next to where Papyrus had just been, standing in front of the flower his eyes closed and his hands in his pockets as if this was a normal day.] *heh….one thing you might not know about my bro… [He shrugged a bit and then opened his eyes, his lift eye glowing bright blue. He’d hadn’t used much magic while staying with Cyprus and Skellie, so he had plenty to spare.] *i’m always lookin out for him. [He took his left hand out of his pocket and aimed it at the flower, ready to summon a volley of bones, or blasters. No one messed with Papyrus, and endanger his friends and their entire timeline like this flower had.]

[He smirked and clenched his left hand, but instead of summoning an attack he shortcuted himself backwards about 10 feet to where he’d tried to summon it from…throwing himself off guard. He’d spent so much time working on the shortcuts Skellie had shown him, the ones the kid had constantly described as “summoning attacks but backwards” that now…he was having trouble using his magic forwards again…this…could’ve been better.] *h-heh… [It would take him a moment to recover, his mind racing to try and think of a back up plan. There was an opening.]

[ Papyrus had noticed Sans stepping in where he’d shortcut out - he was quick to send a wave of protective white bones in front of Sans to obscure him from the malicious flower. ]

[ And also quick to summon up that large, nasty-looking blue bone attack kanabo he’d so grown to love swinging around. ]

DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, FLOWEY.

[ In he rushes - for a direct attack, roaring ferociously. ]

#;f2f #asleepysentry #sunnybcnes

A double team? How brutal! And such ferocity, Papyrus! Hee hee. Your friends from those other timelines have really been quite the influence!

[ He taunts mercilessly as he slips into the ground again, leaving nought but roots for Papyrus to charge into and trip up on... ]

[ Popping up again behind Papyrus, and readying some more of his wonderful Friendliness Pellets. ]

NOT LIKE THIS.

I DID NOT EARN THIS.

#sunnybcnes #;f2f #!ONIBCNES EVENT

What do ya think you’re doin’ with that soul there, buddy?

I WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHY YOU’VE BEEN DOING WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING.

WHY YOU’VE BEEN SAYING YOU’RE MY FRIEND AND THEN DOING THINGS THAT FRIENDS SHOULDN’T BE DOING.

LIKE TRYING TO TURN ME AGAINST MY OTHER FRIENDS, AND ENCOURAGING ME INTO UNNECESSARY DANGER.

#;f2f #sunnybcnes #!ONIBCNES EVENT

Aw, Papyrus, you misunderstood! I never meant to push you away from anyone, and I certainly didn’t mean to endanger you unnecessarily!

I ASSURE YOU IT WAS ENTIRELY NECESSARY!!!

You want to become STRONGER, don’t you Papyrus?

[ He whips around quickly, already on edge, eyelights burning just a touch as he sets his gaze on Flowey. ]

HELLO. IT IS A LITTLE LATE, YES. BUT I’M ALSO NOT ON A PATROL.

I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU.

#sunnybcnes #;f2f #!ONIBCNES EVENT

Really? What did you wanna talk about, friend?

[ ... That’s an intense look on Papyrus’ face. This was not going to be all too friendly a chat. ]

@sunnybcnes

[ Out pops the flower, bouncing in greeting, as soon as Papyrus stops walking out in the woods. ]

Howdy, Papyrus! Isn’t it a little late for you to be doing a patrol?

#;f2f #sunnybcnes #!ONIBCNES EVENT

[He faltered slightly. It was hard to notice, but there was a small twitch at the edge of his smile that showed this talk was getting to him.] *heh, well you know my bro. he’s hard not to love. [He shrugs a bit.] *skeletons are apparently pretty popular. [He starts to turn toward Grillby’s, looking as if he was ready to walk away.]

*but like you said the guys at Grilbz are probably wonderin ‘bout me. *wouldn’t be polite to keep em waiting

[ Soft sigh. Just mild disappointment. ]

Yes, skeletons are quite popular, aren’t they? I guess I ought to let you go then, hee hee.

I should probably go catch up with Papyrus, anyway. I’d love to hear about all the fun he’s been having recently!

[ With that, the flower pulls back into the snow, deep into the dirt beneath it. ]

#;f2f #asleepysentry

[He smirks a bit and shrugs] *that’s news to me. [His grip on his phone weakens as he feels slightly more at ease.] *pap usually tells me about his best friends. haven’t heard about you in a long time. [The part about missing Papyrus though, well Sans could relate but he wasn’t going to let the Flower get to him. He knew the flower was just trying to get his sympathy, and it wasn’t gained easily.]

[ Slight pout. ]

Golly! That’s a shame... But I mean, he hasn’t been here for a while, so we haven’t really hung out!

From what I hear, he’s been making a lot of new, interesting friends.

[ Folding his leaves a bit. Doing his best to look downtrodden. ]

#;f2f #asleepysentry

[He chuckled a bit, and shrugged]

*here and there. heh, guess i get around. [He wasn’t going to just tell Flowey. He wasn’t the kind to be straight forward with even some of his friend. If the flower thought it was going to get info out of him it was mistaken.] *heard you uh, are good friends with pap. [But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t try his own hand at getting the flower to talk. Or just stall for time.] *how’d you meet my bro?