A Three Way SWAP

Underswap

UF PAPYRUS

Papyrus could tell something was up. He was beginning to think that he was having a strange dream. Sans continued, "WOWZERS, IT'S GETTING LATE BROTHER! TIME FOR YOU TO READ ME MY BEDTIME STORY! MWEHEHEHEH!" Papyrus was in shock. He replied, "NO, NO WAY I AM READING YOU A CHILDISH STORY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU RIGHT NOW, BUT I NEED TO THINK." Sans, eyes now wide, replied, "B-BROTHER? ARE YOU FEELING ALRIGHT? YOU NEVER...NEVER ACT LIKE THIS. I DON'T LIKE IT. DO YOU NEED TO TALK ABOUT WHAT YOUR FEELINGS?" Papyrus snaps back, "SINCE WHEN DO WE TALK ABOUT FEELINGS! I CAN'T-" He stops himself, seeing tears in Sans's eyes. Papyrus continues, "W-WHOA, DON'T CRY, DON'T CRY, I-I'LL READ TO YOU. WILL THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY?" Sans looks up, "YES, BROTHER. THANK YOU!" Something was really really wrong. No one ever says thank you.

Papyrus heads into Sans's room and Sans hands him a book to read. "PEEK-A-BOO WITH FLUFFY BUNNY....YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?" Papyrus says. Sans says, "NO! YOU READ THIS TO ME EVERY NIGHT! THE ENDING ALWAYS GETS ME, MWEHEHEHEH!" Papyrus looks at his brother, then sighs starts reading. When the book is done, he gets up. Sans seems calm and happy. As Papyrus is about to leave the room, he hears Sans softly say, "GOODNIGHT BROTHER. I LOVE YOU!" Papyrus is shocked by this. He shuts the door and goes to his own room without responding. 

While lying on the bed that was supposedly his own, he felt a strange feeling inside his nonexistent stomach. This didn't feel like a dream. Everything felt real, but it couldn't be real. No way Sans would have the energy to act like that all day, and his eyes were blue instead of red. Papyrus was sure he was going mad. This version of Sans worried him though. He reminded Papyrus of himself when he was younger. So full of hope and happiness. So innocent. Papyrus knew that this version of Sans would surely be killed out there in the real world. In his world, it was always kill or be killed. 

The next morning as Sans woke up, he went downstairs and started on his breakfast tacos. Papyrus came down after a long night of thinking. He decided that he would try to stick with Sans and protect him, because he obviously needed protecting. As Papyrus sat down, Sans served him a burnt taco, similar to the one made last night. "GREETINGS BROTHER! ARE YOU FEELING BETTER TODAY? I SEE YOU'RE STILL WEARING THAT SUPER COOL UNIFORM!" Papyrus responded, "YES, BROTHER. I AM FEELING MUCH BETTER....HEY, I WAS THINKING. MAYBE TODAY I CAN SPEND THE DAY WITH YOU! FOLLOWING YOU AROUND, YOU KNOW. WE CAN MAKE A DAY OF IT, WOULDN'T THAT BE FUN?" Papyrus was doing his best to try to sound cheery, though he felt like an idiot talking like this. Why did he even want to follow this Sans? Why would he even care if he gets hurt. Sans had a sparkly, excited look in his eye. "WHY, OF COURSE, BROTHER! YOU CAN HELP ME CAPTURE THE HUMAN, WE CAN WALK AROUND AND TALK! YOU CAN WATCH ME TRAIN WITH ALPHYS! THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN! MWEHEHEHEHEH!" Sans was clearly excited about this. His brother was finally going to see what he does everyday. This was a chance for Sans to make Papyrus proud!

As the brothers were walking around, there was no sign of the human. Papyrus guessed that the human was probably wandering around Snowdin town about now. He would usually try to confront the human up by the edge of Snowdin near the entrance to Waterfall, but he knew humans were dangerous and wanted to keep Sans away from them.

"BROTHER, THE TOWN SEEMS...KINDA EMPTY. DID YOU NOTICE?" Sans says. Papyrus looks around. There's dust in the air. That kid. That kid must be killing everyone, this was not good. Sans continued, "YOU KNOW, I WAS THINKING ABOUT TALKING TO THE HUMAN. I AM PRETTY SURE THEY ARE TRYING TO HEAD TO THE CAPITAL. WE CAN PROBABLY CATCH THEM BY THE EDGE OF SNOWDIN! WANT TO GO?" Papyrus wanted to say no, but Sans had already turned around and started heading towards Waterfall. 

Papyrus ran to catch up to him and called out, "WAIT, WAIT. WHAT IF THE HUMAN IS DANGEROUS? IS TALKING TO THEM REALLY THE BEST IDEA? MAYBE YOU SHOULD LET ME FACE THEM?" Sans shushed him, which shocked Papyrus, then Sans continued, "I BELIEVE IN THE HUMAN. IF I OFFER MY FRIENDSHIP AND TRUST, THEY'LL SURELY BE BETTER! WHO BETTER TO HELP THEM OUT THAN ME?" Sans seemed confident that this would work. Papyrus was shocked at how stupid Sans seemed right now. He couldn't just stand by and watch this happen.

They got to the edge of Snowdin. "ALRIGHT BROTHER, YOU HIDE BEHIND THAT TREE AND WATCH HOW IT'S DONE! MWEHEHEHEH!" Sans seemed excited to show his brother that he could indeed convince the human to turn their life around. As the human showed up, Papyrus grew worried. He saw Sans welcoming them with open arms, the human took a step forward. Papyrus suddenly panicked.  "HE'S GONNA GET HIMSELF KILLED." 

The human swings, ready to hit when Papyrus sends in a bone attack to shield Sans. Sans looks at the human, then at his brother. He wasn't sure what felt worse, the fact that the human was about to hit him after he had offered his own friendship, or the fact that his brother didn't trust that Sans could face the human on his own. Feeling upset, Sans for the first time ever, fled the battle. 

The human, confused, stood there for a while, but then moved on to waterfall. Papyrus waited until the human was gone, then ran to Sans. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT, BROTHER?" Sans asked. Papyrus replied, "UMM, I JUST SAVED YOUR FREAKING LIFE. YOU'RE WELCOME! THAT HUMAN WAS ABOUT TO KILL YOU YOU IDIOT!" Sans looks up at his brother, then down at the ground. "I-I'M SORRY. I REALLY THOUGHT I COULD CONVINCE THEM TO BE GOOD. I WANTED TO IMPRESS YOU, BROTHER. I'M SORRY I FAILED. I CAN'T EVEN FIGHT A HUMAN ON MY OWN." Sans was crying now. Papyrus didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to handle crying. "WHOA-WHOA. SANS. IT'S ALRIGHT. YOU DON'T NEED TO IMPRESS ME. COME HERE." Papyrus felt so weird. Why was he trying to make Sans feel better? Sans almost got himself killed. He should be yelling at him. Sans hugged him, and they both just sat there for a while.

 Sans squeaked out, "ALPHYS IS GOING TO BE SO DISSAPOINTED IN ME." Papyrus responded, "NOW NOW, THAT SCIENTIST PROBABLY DOESN'T REALLY CARE. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT." "SCIENTIST?" Sans asked. "ALPHYS IS CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD, AND CAPTURING THE HUMAN WAS MY CHANCE TO SHOW HER THAT I AM CAPABLE OF BEING A ROYAL GUARDSMAN." Papyrus was confused. What happened to Undyne?? Then he felt a strange question arise in his head. "HEY, BROTHER? AM I IN THE ROYAL GUARD?" Papyrus felt so stupid asking a question like that. Sans began to quietly laugh. "MWEHEHEH, YOU? IN THE ROYAL GUARD? PAPYRUS OF COURSE NOT!" Papyrus wasn't sure if Sans was insulting him or not, but he knew one thing for sure, this wasn't his own world.