Puzzle Pieces

Trash

Since Undyne became Captain work had become long hours of meaninglessness. Monsters were being forced into the guard, into sentry positions, and more monsters dusted daily. No one was ever where they needed to be and Undyne was rarely found.

The only bright side to the whole thing was that Sans had been forced into the Sentry. It was claimed he was a burden to society despite working four jobs as it was and being the main consumer of mustard and alcohol in the Underground. Now he worked five jobs, comes home drunk, sleeps, and more times then not threw up what ever Papyrus gave him to eat... which he supposed wasn't really a bright side.

Everything was starting to get on his nerves with everyday having the possibility of an attack on either him of Sans. Even more when Sans worked in all the most likely areas for an attack. He was easy bait and weak beyond belief. It was a constant stress on Papyrus. That and how Undyne was flaunting her position in his face by giving him every shift possible. The only thing really keeping him functioning was dirt brand coffee and the fact he was still young enough to be in strips and that gave him a bit of energy.

So it wasn't really much of a surprise when he snapped. When his brother stared back at him with wide drunken eyes and a hand to his cheek. He hadn't lost any HP, there wasn't enough intent for that, but that didn't mean it hadn't hurt. Papyrus was almost horrified that he felt better, that it had felt good in a morbid sort of way. His LV stirring greedily under his bones, begging him for more. He soon felt disgust settle in his bones and left the house quickly hopping his brother would forget by the time he became sober enough to remember.

It wasn't long after that, that he had snapped at his his brother in public, grabbing him by the scruff of his jacket and pushing him into the snow as he yelled. Many widened their path from the spectacle, and many started to avoid him. It was later that he heard from some gossiping rabbits on why.

"Those two used to love each other."

"If he's cruel enough to hurt his own brother what would he do to us?"

"What would he do if we hurt Sans."

So people feared him, feared what he did. That would be better than them thinking he was some pushover that could be messed with.

It had been another year before anything really happened. A year of times getting harder, of people turning crueler, of more dust and less food. A year for his brother to start to fear him. It was a year before anyone had actually decided to attack him. Why with him publicly challenging Undyne to her position of captain, he was fully expecting it. What he hadn't expect was how it all went down.

They had been just children. Waiting for him on the path when he went to check on Sans at his post. They might have been a few years younger than him, all looking and running up to him in a babble of words and worry. He supposed the amount of dust in the air would have made anyone worry.

When they told him one of their friends were dusted, he had clenched his scarf just a bit tighter. He could have saved them if he had been a couple minutes earlier, could have stopped the EXP hunters and saved a child. He could have done what he promised and he hadn't.

He told the children that he would find the culprit, and they had walked past him back towards town and then the one in the back jumped him. He had always had a soft spot for children, most knew it just from the way he would sneak some of the town kids coins. It was a weakness, his weakness, and that weakness only created more.

Marrow splattered the ground red as he staggered forward and flung the teen at some tree. His magic flaring as monsters came out of the trees and the youngest of monsters ran away.

Bone jutted out of the ground as a protective barrier while he tried to open his eye, but the sharp sting of pain and the feeling of marrow in his socket forced him to close it. He counted the monsters and briefly felt that there had been more, briefly remembering Undyne's father and a few molluscs. He cursed silently, remembering his brother's probably sleeping self and quickly sending a cascade of bones at any would be attackers.

They were scarily easy to handle, being able to be turned blue easily. Some dusting as he hit them others hanging on with barely a full HP. He raced off towards his brother, prying his eye open on the way. There had just been a tiny scratch on the top, but it had caught the inside of his socket and would likely hurt for a few days, but it would be manageable.

He felt the hum of magic before he saw it. Bones and spears littering the ground with a wide range of other types of bullets along with the tall tail sign of marrow in the snow.

Papyrus took the first monster down easily, but it caught the attention of all the others and suddenly they were ignoring his brother who was just lying in the snow and attacking him. Dust began to coat the air heavily with each blow he gave, his goal being his brother who was spilling marrow all over the snow.

Of course the closer he got the more tired he became and the harder it got. He was taking more hits than he would care to admit and his worry grew stronger every minute.

His eyes caught sight of Undyne's father and he felt his newly gained LV stirring as he drew closer to Sans, as he raised a spear. Suddenly all there was, was red. A hum of magic buzzing through the air as screams got choked out by dust and a check rolled off Papyrus's bones.

He panted as the light began to fade and he approached his brother, looking down at him and the spider web of a fracture branching off his eye socket. Red pouring slowly from the wound.

Papyrus delivered a sharp kick to his brother's side, rousing the skeleton awake with a gasp as he rolled. "GET UP." Papyrus spat and then headed back the way he came. He heard Sans stagger quickly behind him, Papyrus taking the time to whip the marrow from his face.

It wasn't long before they reached the first massacre and He took the time to tie up the survivors and drag them to town for judging. His anger boiling slowly in his bones.

"bro-"

"SHUT UP YOU USELESS SCAP OF MAGIC!" He felt his magic spark in his eyes enough to burn red, enough for the the guard he passed to look away and citizens to cower. Right in the middle of town he dropped his victims and rounded on Sans. "YOU CAN'T EVEN DEFENDING YOURSELF YOUR SO USELESS! I ALWAYS HAVE TO SAVE YOUR HIDE AND QUITE FRANKLY I'M SICK OF IT! CAN YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT OR ARE YOU JUST PHYSICALLY INCAPABLE OF IT?!"

"bro-"

"NO, YOU DON'T GET TO BRO ME SANS YOU HAVE LOST YOUR PRIVILEGES OF THAT AS SOON AS YOU BECAME THE GARBAGE THAT YOU ARE! AND FOR FUCKING ONCE DO YOUR FUCKING JOB AND DEAL WITH THESE IDIOTS!"

He watched the flicker of fear in his brother's eyes, the flicker in everyone else's. They feared him, and the would continue to fear him because one day soon he would be captain of the guard and he'll be damned if he didn't keep his promise. Even if that meant everyone had to fear him in order to do so. 

A/N: Kinda had a bad week and probably will continue to have a bad week so I decided I'm going to post a chapter toady and one on Sunday to feel a sense of accomplishment. If anyone here follows my Tremotale comic I'm just going to say it might be late because god only knows when I'll gain the motivation to work on it. I totally blame English class.