Chapter 22: Chapter 22
Meanwhile, back at Undyne's house, Papyrus had finally finished telling Sans all that Undyne had told him, so they left her bedroom in the back and walked towards the front of the house.
"Geez, Pap," Sans said looking up at him. "You didn't have to go into so much detail. You could have just told me she's depressed because she thinks her life is pointless."
"I thought you needed context," Papyrus said.
"I didn't need that much, bro. Seriously, I don't know how Frisk has not come by to complain once. Kids can get impatient."
"He used to be alone and homeless, Sans. He's used to keeping himself occupied. Speaking of which, I wonder where he learned how to play the piano and why he stopped. It sounded great."
"Why don't you ask him for yourself?"
"Okay…he's not here, Sans," Papyrus said as his expression immediately fell.
"What?" Sans asked as his eyes darted around in panic until they fell on the note on the piano bench.
Sans short cut to the bench while Papyrus looked around for him.
"Frisk?" Papyrus asked fearfully while looking under the sink. "You're not hiding. Are you?"
"No, he's not," Sans said gesturing to the note. "He's looking for Undyne."
"What?" Papyrus asked picking up the note and reading it out loud. "'Dear Sans and Papyrus, I heard Undyne outside, so I'm going to check it out. I'll come back if I don't find anything. If I'm not back when you see this, just check start checking nearby. Frisk.'"
"Dumbass!" Sans said out loud while running out the door. "At least, he was specific. Let's go, Papyrus!"
"Wait, Sans! Where are we going?" Papyrus yelled as he ran after him.
"We're checking out the neighbors' houses first to see if he went there. I pray for his sake that he's still alive. He ain't strong enough to face a monster by himself, especially not Undyne."
Further away, Frisk, Undyne, and Napstablook were out by the snail racing track cheering on their snails to make it to the finish line as they stood at the starting line refusing to move.
"Come on," Frisk said quietly. "You can do it."
"What part of kick their asses don't you understand?!" Undyne yelled.
Their efforts were fruitless. Napstablook's snail crossed the finish line before the others did.
"You pushed them too hard," Napstablook said. "They couldn't take it."
"Well, damn," Undyne said.
"Oh, well," Frisk said. "It has never worked anyway."
"Frisk, if you knew it wouldn't work, then why would you cheer?" Undyne asked.
"I don't know. I thought maybe cheering less every time would eventually make them feel comfortable enough to go faster."
"Why didn't you tell me to do that?!"
"I don't know. I guess I didn't think about it."
"How could you not…?"
"Excuse me," Napstablook said. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I figure you'll be leaving soon so I was wondering if I could give you my phone number so we could text."
Napstablook smiled and handed Frisk a piece of paper.
"Sure," Frisk said taking the piece of paper. "I don't know where my phone is now, but when I find it, I'll have to add this into my…"
"FRISK! You're alive! Thank God!" everyone heard Papyrus yell before Frisk was suddenly pulled by his soul over to where the brothers were standing next to the fence at the end of the race track. "Hey! You found Undyne."
Sans stopped Frisk right in front of him, but he did not let go of his soul. He was out of breath, and although Sans was trying to suppress it, Frisk could tell he was less than pleased. His heart began beating faster.
The two stared at each other for a moment while Napstablook and Undyne watched silently. Papyrus stood there looking as intimidating as he could resisting the urge to play with the snails on the racetrack. There was no sound except the water flowing in the distance.
Sans did not break his stare, but he said calmly, "Frisk, do you remember what we agreed on earlier?"
"About what?" Frisk asked nervously.
"About going off by yourself."
"Oh, yeah, uh, you said not to do it."
"Yes, and what did you do, kid?"
"I left to look for Undyne, but I left a note…"
"Oh, yes," Sans said sarcastically pulling the note out of his pocket. "The note that said you would be 'nearby.' What was that supposed to even mean?"
"I was going to be with Undyne so I didn't think you would worry…" Frisk said.
"We were worried sick!" Papyrus yelled. "We only figured out you were gone like ten minutes ago, but we were still worried. You're grounded, mister!"
"Agreed," Sans said.
"What?!" Frisk yelled. "For how long?!"
"I don't know," Sans said letting Frisk's soul go so he could stand on the ground. "I'll decide later, but for now, you ain't going anywhere. Now, put on your sweater. We're going home."
"What?!" Frisk said yelling at Sans while he was walking away. "Sans, this is so unfair! I'm sorry I ran off, but I made Undyne feel better. I made myself feel better, too. I did something right for once. I don't understand why you're acting so pissy. Why am I being punished? I don't want to be locked up. I told you I hate being locked up. I'm not going back if you're gonna just lock me up."
Sans turned around and let his calm façade drop completely. His eyes glowed blue with anger. Frisk had only seen Sans like this one time before. Napstablook disappeared in fear, Undyne pulled her spear out, and Papyrus trembled in fear while Sans walked quickly towards Frisk.
"Sans…?" Papyrus asked quietly.
"Don't hurt him or I will end you," Undyne said jumping in front of him before Sans picked up her soul and tossed her aside into the snail race track.
"Argh!" Undyne yelled landing on her back.
"Undyne," Papyrus said jumping over the fence and running over to her. "Sans, what is wrong with you?"
Sans picked Frisk's soul up again, pulled him in close until their faces were practically touching, and said, "I'm gonna drill this into your thick skull since you're too naïve to figure this out for yourself. You may have been strong enough to survive with the humans and the monsters once, but right now as you are, you don't have a prayer. You are only half-healed, and down here, that ain't worth shit. You are nothing but an easy target for monsters who want to kill you, escape with your soul, and kill humans like your parents."
Tears started falling from Sans' eyes. Frisk couldn't comprehend it.
"Sans?" Frisk asked.
"You ask me why I'm being 'pissy?'" Sans continued with tears flowing faster. "I don't know. Maybe it's because you're vulnerable, physically and psychologically. Maybe it's because you've tried taking your life twice in two days. Maybe it's because you've been manipulated and nearly murdered by a psychopathic flower. Maybe it's because of how you've destroyed your body with those blood rituals. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because I blame myself for not looking after you when you needed me the most. Maybe I'm mad at myself for being too damn paranoid to help you or see who you really were underneath your aloof behavior and letting your pain almost destroy you. Maybe I've just started really getting to know you and care enough about you to not let you die doing something stupid!"
"Sans, I'm sorry…" Frisk said starting to choke up himself. "I didn't mean to…"
"I know you didn't, but now, you're going to let me protect you and I will, even if I have to break your legs," Sans said lifting Frisk higher.
"Sans, please, don't…" Frisk said fearfully before Undyne did a somersault in the air and grabbed him while Papyrus tackled Sans onto the ground causing him to let Frisk go.
Undyne landed with Frisk in her arms and said pointing a spear in his face, "That's enough, Sans. I will not let you hurt my new buddy! If you want to break his legs, you're gonna have to fight me."
"I wasn't going to actually hurt him, Undyne. I'm more worried about you. You're the reason I was worried about him in the first place," Sans said from the ground.
"What is that supposed to mean? Frisk helped me feel better. Are you saying you don't trust me with him?"
"Guys, please," Frisk said trying to squirm his way out of Undyne's hold.
Papyrus got off Sans and said, "Everyone, stop! It's clear everyone here has issues. Why don't we go home and talk about it? I've been reading about depression. I can do therapy now. That could be Frisk's punishment. Okay?"
"Fine," Undyne said finally dropping Frisk onto the ground causing him to fall on his side and making her spear disappear.
"Sure," Frisk said standing up and rubbing his thigh.
"That works," Sans said standing up and finally beginning to calm down.
"Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus yelled happily leaping ahead. "I get to be a therapist. This is going to be amazing!"
Undyne glared at Sans for a second before walking ahead.
"Sans," Frisk said. "I'm sorry."
"Me too, kid," Sans said with a smile.
Frisk smiled and walked on ahead.
"You're still grounded," Sans said.
Frisk groaned while Sans laughed out loud.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone