#dadby

“everything is temporary, everything will slide! love will never die, die, die. i know that ooh~ birds fly in diff-”

Sans’ distracted half-mumbling, half-singing was interrupted by the creak of the basement door. He looked up from the machine he was actively working on and smiled a truly lazy smile at the monsters walking down the stairs. Alphys and Papyrus were coming down the steps with milk crates full of scraps in their arms. Alphys had one crate of electronic components. Papyrus had three full of scrap metal and bits of wiring. Sans quickly lept over and took the wobbling crate on the top of the stack out of his brother’s arms and carried it over to the lab bench.

“thanks, guys,” Sans chuckled, “it’d take me hours to find all this stuff. it’s been a while since i did any tinkering, so i’ve got no idea where the dump is up here. i’m nowhere near as good at machines as you are, alph, but i thought i’d give this a shot.”

Alphys set her loaded box on the table next to the one Sans had set there and shoved her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her finger. “I d-d-don’t know if I would say that, S-s-sans. your ideas for the heating coils in the hot fridge were genius! I, um, would never have thought about running electricity through ionized air like that.”

Sans blew out a huff of air. It wasn’t a sigh; it was more like an expression of fond exasperation.

“i didn’t come up with that one, alph, the humans did. i…”

He hesitated. How exactly did he learn about that? He couldn’t remember ever actually reading about it. He could vaguely recall someone telling him about it, someone tall that he looked up to, even if they were eccentric. He usually had a pretty good memory, but this one was slipping away from him. Apparently his memory wasn’t good enough to transcend timelines. That had hurt a little bit to learn, especially when he found out that the plant could remember where he couldn’t. It was hardly going to stroke someone’s ego to find out a plant had a better memory than they did… What was he thinking about again?

Sans blinked at the two monsters who were blinking back at him. He was pretty sure that, by the expressions on their faces, Alphys and Papyrus had no idea what he was talking about, either.

“uh… sorry about that. i’ll just get back to my project.”

Alphys’ face flushed with an expression Sans could only name as bravery and determination. She stepped forward and said, “I-I-I’m going to help, Sans. I want to be able to remember when Frisk LOADs, too. That’s what your machine is for, um, right? To help everyone remember?”

Sans nodded, too surprised to respond properly. How had she known that?

“I’LL HELP, TOO! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SPENT ENOUGH TIME WORKING ON THE PUZZLES IN SNOWDIN TO BE OF GREAT USE!”

Sans looked between the two of them until he got dizzy. Then he shook the cobwebs out of his head. If they wanted to help that was fine by him! “go ahead, guys. paps, do you think you can take apart the scrap with me? i can’t- no, we can’t do anything until we have more parts. and alph, maybe you can take a look at my code? i keep getting a stack overflow error that i can’t track down. there has to be an infinite loop somewhere, i just can’t find it.”

Both Alphys and Papyrus nodded their heads and grabbed the right tools for their respective jobs. Sans smiled. This machine was going to be finished in a snap!

=====

The living room was full of silence as the council of war got underway. Toriel and Asgore were sitting on either side of Frisk on the couch. Flowey was leaning in a window on the wall to their right. Undyne was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, her boots squeaking as she did so. Gerson was sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs that flanked the couch and faced the fireplace. Finally, Grillby was leaning against the other chair. His arms were crossed and his face was unreadable.

Grillby was the first person to break the silence. “..... We must do something about….. those awful people. They have done….. too much to hurt my boys and as….. Frisk has said, they are not above killing others. What should….. we do?”

Toriel broke the thoughtful quiet that followed his words. “The police would be the best option, would they not? They are trained and paid to do this kind of work.”

“NO!” Two voices and one set of arms objected. Frisk had signed as emphatically as they could. Asgore looked absolutely horrified, and Grillby was resigned. Toriel tilted her head in confusion, and Asgore answered her with an explanation.

“The police are not very nice, Toriel. They are one of the biggest groups of anti-monster people around. They are also very… bribeable. The parents of our datemate and his brother are quite rich. They would easily be able to pay their way out of this. The police would be more likely to arrest us than them.”

Frisk nodded vigorously and signed, [There’s a reason I made sure no monster joined the force. They hurt Undyne really bad a few times before I figured out it was them. That’s the reason her arm doesn’t go above her head anymore. They pulled it out of its socket completely.]

Toriel looked shocked. She protested, “But, they are supposed to protect and serve!”

Grillby shook his head. “..... There is nothing in their oaths about that. They….. are supposed to enforce the laws and….. protect the ruling class. They are notorious for….. bending the truth and attacking minorities like us….. humans of color….. and disabled people of every sort.”

Toriel’s face grew a layer of determination that had Frisk worrying about her health. Monsters weren’t really built to handle it… but, then again, Toriel was a Boss Monster. Maybe the rules were different for them. She said firmly, “Fine then, no police. But when we do go after them, none of us are going alone. And neither of the boys must be involved.”

Gerson agreed, “That’d be a bad idea. Who knows what they would do if they got their hands on them? And Frisk already said that they attack us if we go on our own.”

Frisk nodded. [It took me 19 LOADs to realise it wouldn’t work. I don’t want to do any more.]

Asgore, Toriel, and Grillby all shuddered as they thought about how much pain that must have caused Frisk. The others nodded in agreement. Flowey said, “I doubt we’ll get away with this without a few more, Frisk. But there’s definitely a few tricks that can make you have to do less. For one thing, you need to avoid a fight screen. They’re both crazy powerful and they cheat, just like Sans. They also aren’t above using attack magic outside of a fight screen, so be ready for that. Finally, don’t go after them together. They’re way more powerful as a team.]

Undyne narrowed her one eye. “You seem to know an awful lot about them for someone I’ve never met before, flower.”

Flowey shrugged. “I had the power to LOAD and RESET long before Frisk did. I’ve done everything under the sun in the name of boredom. Frisk is a goody two shoes by comparison. They hardly killed anyone their first time, and they didn’t kill anyone at all in this timeline. Not even Jerry.”

Undyne frowned. “Don’t think you’ll get away with saying that because of this, but you’re right. It’s always better to divide your enemies’ forces. It’s just good tactics.”

Toriel nodded. “Then it is decided. No police, no going alone, and divide them up to make them weaker. Now, how will we accomplish this? Should we split into two teams and go after them at the same time, or should we concentrate our forces on one or the other?”

Gerson coughed and motioned to Flowey. “If the plant’s right about their power then I’d say we go after one at a time. That way there are more people to back each other up in a fight.”

Frisk signed, [Roman spends most of his time at the house, so we should go after him there. The only problem is the servants. They’ll probably side with Roman. After all, he’s the one who’s paying them.”

A devious smile crossed Undyne’s face. “Not if someone else doesn’t pay them more. I bet they only put up with those parent creatures because of the money. We could send them an offer to work for better wages somewhere else.”

Asgore frowned. “But who could we convince to pay them like that? Normally it takes quite a while for a servant to be hired. There are interviews and paperwork galore!”

Undyne’s smile only grew. “The university, of course. They’re putting together a training college for home aids. I’m sure they’d love to get all of their positions filled by people who have actually worked in the industry. And if you suggest it, I’m doubly sure they’ll be on board.”

Toriel nodded while Asgore sat there, stunned. “That is a most agreeable plan. We’ll make the appropriate calls as soon as we decide what to do about Coursiva.”

Grillby spoke up. “Perhaps we can….. go and retrieve her from her….. workplace. What is it she does again?”

Flowey answered, “She works for one of those think tank places. It’s one of the ones that goes after disabled people, especially autistic people. She hates them so much it’s ridiculous. That think tank is behind the stupid fad for not vaccinating your children. There’s a reason those things exist!”

Everyone in the room nodded. That whole idea tree was stupid as heck.

“Then, the plan is this: We go after Roman in his home while his wife is at work, then we track down Coursiva at her workplace and bring both to the Embassy for… further investigation. If we can prove that they have done what we think they have done then we can banish them to the Underground, can we not? That seems like a fitting punishment to me,” Toriel said decisively.

Gerson nodded. “We can put them in room 3b. That’s the most secure room in the Embassy. I’d challenge anyone to break out of that.”

“UGH.” To the right, Papyrus shifted in his seat, trying to be comfortable. “I WISH THEY WOULD JUST START ALREADY.”

“Patience Papyrus, this is a big day for a lot of people.” Grillby couldn’t help but softly chuckle. Papyrus was a monster who rarely hated anything. But his one true nemesis would always be having to sit still in a chair. He was simply too animated to be contained in one spot for long. He figured that out long ago, when his kindergarten teacher would call him in a panic, only to find Papyrus happily doing his schoolwork outside. How he managed to escape unnoticed proved he was the complete opposite of Sans, who enjoyed staying in one spot for hours at a time. Papyrus lived for the outdoors.

Angel above, kindergarten was years and years ago.

It was hard to believe that such a tiny little skeleton grew up into a monster that was easily taller than nearly everyone in the room. He stuck out terribly even when seated. A few monsters had to move around him just to see. It was clear how much he hated being here, but there was something far stronger keeping him there, and that was the bond he shared with his brother. Those two would do anything for each other.

Grillby allowed himself to slip back into the past for a while, tuning out the excited chatter and Papyrus’s fidgeting for now. It was difficult to understand just how much time had passed. Good memories and bad ones alike past by with speed. Nothing passed so quickly before to the old general. Not even the first few centuries of entrapment under the mountain went by as fast.

He could still vividly recall finding the two tiny skeletons rooting around in the trash behind his bar. How small and sick they both were. How long it took to get them to believe that not everyone was out to hurt them.

Sans was so fragile both in body and mind. It took years of finding the right therapy and medication before he can actually begin to live the life he was supposed to have from the very beginning. Scars faded, including those horrifying bar-codes, now only remnant grooves with no meaning to anyone else but themselves. Sans rarely spoke, rarely instigated anything, even just asking for something to drink was just too intimidating to him. There were many nights passed holding him and promising that nothing would ever hurt him again, and more time until he believed it.

But here he was now, years later, about to get his bachelors degree in theoretical physics. The first of many, he was told. Sans fully intended to collect plenty of PHDs under his belt, but this was the first stepping stone to that dream. He was happy with his smiles now reaching his eye sockets, all genuine. He had a large group of friends, including his dearest two, Undyne and Alphys. Alphys was in the same class as Sans, while Undyne went off to boot camp with Papyrus. All four made it a point to meet up as often as they could.

It was a transformation so subtle, it hit him then just how much the two have changed.

“OF COURSE IT IS A BIG DAY!” Grillby was snapped out of his thoughts by Papyrus. “BROTHER IS GETTING A PIECE OF PAPER THAT SHOWS WHAT HE ALREADY KNEW BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL.”

“Yes, Sans is very smart, but that piece of paper is what he needs in order to continue his dreams.” Grillby laid a hand on the taller skeleton’s shoulder to get him to sit still a little. “It’s like your certificate, you are now a licensed professional. His just….needs a lot more certificates.”

“FATHER, YOU KNOW THAT WE WILL BE HERE AGAIN FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES. HE’LL NEVER STOP GETTING THEM. I ONLY NEEDED ONE.”

“It’s different for you. I am sure that they do not give out college degrees for tracking lost people and digging out cave-ins.”

“AND THAT’S WHY I DIDN’T GO TO COLLEGE. THEY SHOULD HAVE THOSE! I TELL YOU FATHER, THAT IS UNFAIR.”

Grillby laughed. For someone with past like his dear Papyrus, he turned out completely different than what most people would have expected. Born to be tortured and forced to kill, Papyrus instead has turned into one of the most kindest he has ever seen. Grillby did his best to nurture that in his youngest, and he grew up into someone who would help anyone regardless of who they were. It made sense he would go into his current line of work, search and rescue. His beastly form, designed to kill humans, instead helps him dig out trapped monsters and find lost children. Even as a powerful creature, he always looked kindly, and is adored by children.

Sans’ beast form was the complete opposite. Being so short and stout, he was like a large teddy bear. He would park himself in one place and not move for hours. He often ended up as a cuddle buddy for anyone looking for a nap, as he just looked so cuddly

Gaster did his best to design creatures of violence and death, but he failed. He completely and utterly failed.

And, Grillby was happy for that.

Before he could say anything further, the lights dimmed, and the current dean of New Home university floated to the stage. The crowd hushed and Papyrus did his best to sit still and pay attention. The dean opened up one of his mouths, and began to speak, and Angel above, was it awful to listen to.

Grillby heard all the boring introductions as the dean droned on about a story of a frog trapped in a bucket of cream and something about never giving up and butter and it related to science somehow. Grillby felt himself sighing along side Papyrus as they waited for him to finish the convoluted story and get on with it.

The ceremony didn’t even start, and already Grillby could see Bertram in the row in front of him, sobbing into a handful of tissues. Frank was doing his best to keep Gnash awake as the poor guardsmen kept nodding off. The crowd was doing their very best to stay seated and wait out the terrible story.

FINALLY the story ended, and one by one they began to call students out to retrieve their diplomas. Each student was met with applause and cheering, but then….

“Sans Fire!”

Sans stepped out, his graduation cap crooked and with a size too big robe. He of course, was met by cheers, along with the howling of the Snowdin Canine unit, and “THAT’S MY BROTHER!” shouted over the noise. Sans went to shake one of the many, many tentacles of the dean and took his diploma case. There was a soft ‘bzzt’ and said tentacle was pulled back sharply, as Sans showed off the joy buzzer hidden in his palm. The dean harshly pointed at one of the seats on stage, as Sans grinned. He then turned around and scanned the crowd before resting his eyes on Grillby. It wasn’t like he was hard to find, after all.

Grillby could feel tears of magma build up around the embers of his eyes as Sans winked and nodded, and went back to sit with his fellow students.

For a moment, he was speechless.  A strange feeling overcame him. The past and the present blended together for a moment, and he could almost see that tiny six year old Sans sitting up there instead of the adult he is now.

“FATHER! THE CHAIR!” Papyrus suddenly shouted.

Grillby jerked in alarm and looked down, to see that some of his tears had fallen and started to set the chair he was on fire. Bits of flame fell down and set the tacky carpet alight. A commotion broke out around him as fellow parents evacuated the space around the flame and Papyrus went into full ‘rescue’ mode. Grillby was trying to apologize as Papyrus moved him away from the flames as to not make them worse.

From his seat up on stage, Sans watched and sighed as Alphys patted his back. The commotion at least, livened up the ceremony, as now the dean was trying to calm people down with another long boring story.