Chapter Text
Papyrus awoke. He put his bony hand on his skull in an effort to fully recollect himself. The skeleton looked around his room, first at the foot of his racecar bed, his numerous action figures and pirate flag that Undyne gave him, his bookshelf exhibiting an eclectic array of writings from Advanced Puzzles for Critical Minds to Peekaboo with Fluffy Bunny, his computer, where he chatted with and read what his friends and other monsters in the Underground were doing on UnderNet, contrasted nicely with the snow gently falling on his windowsill outside.
Papyrus went downstairs. He saw Sans, feeding his pet rock with a sprinkle shaker. He said to his brother,”Good morning, Sans! How’s your rock doing?
“Good morning, Papyrus. My rock is doing good,” Sans said.
Sans finished feeding his pet rock and as he walked to the kitchen to put the rainbow sprinkles away, he said,”Breakfast is in the fridge. Let’s eat,” while pointing at it. The brothers ate. They then hung around home for a while before Sans said, “Papyrus, I’m heading to Grillby’s. Do you want to come?”
“No, I’m going to see Undyne, she hasn’t been back at her house since the human came through yesterday,” he said.
“Okie-dokie, then,” Sans said, as he walked out the door.
Papyrus walked out of the house, eventually coming to the edge of Snowdin. He felt the familiar cool, slightly humid air of Waterfall, in comparison to the snowy cold of Snowdin. Although he was unaffected by the harsh conditions of he and Sans’s home, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t still feel it. Usually, when he went every day to meet with Undyne, the Captain of the Royal Guard who mentored him, he got a feeling of excitement and anticipation. This time, though, he felt more uncertainty and unease. He thought back to his encounter with the human, he knew that the human seemed off, especially with a slight amount of dust on their hands, yet the human was interested in being Papyrus’s friend. This was confirmed when they hung out together at Papyrus’s house. What about the disappearance of Mettaton? The robot TV star Papyrus loved hadn’t broadcast since yesterday, when he did his finale. Although Papyrus didn’t watch it, he heard everyone discussing how sad it was. Could the human have been responsible for the deaths of these people? He wrestled with this dark thought, yet Papyrus found it hard to believe that notion, especially considering his friendship with the visitor from the Surface and that the human didn’t hurt anybody else. In seemingly no time at all because he was thinking so hard, he arrived at Undyne’s house. “Undyne, are you there? Surely, you must’ve returned home now?” No response. “Well, I guess while I am here, I could wait for her.” He thought about the human again, he remembered talking to them about waiting for Undyne, before the human continued onto Hotland. He continued to ponder and wait.
Meanwhile, at Grillby’s, Sans had ordered some french fries. He was eating them, when he heard the members of the Snowdin Canine Unit talking, Greater Dog had a sad expression, “Did you hear about Asgore?” Dogaressa asked pensively.
“Yeah, I did. RG 01 and RG 02 saw his dust in the castle,” Her husband Dogamy responded.
“I haven’t heard anything from Undyne. She’s most certainly dead too. That’s sad. She was a good boss,” Dogressa lamented.
“Don’t forget Mettaton, and Alphys disappearing after Mettaton’s destruction,” Doggo said. He then turned frustrated,”Agh! It all boils down to that human tromping through the Underground last night! I should’ve taken them out when I could!”
“Yeah, we all should’ve.” Dogressa added, matching Doggo’s frustration.
At the mention of the human, Sans’ eyes turned dark, but he managed to collect himself. After all, it’s not like they killed Papyrus. He said to the assembled dogs,”I’m just as fed up as you are, but we need to think about what comes next for the Underground.”
“Sans is right. Just getting angry won’t change the fact that we need a new king,” Dogamy said.
All of Grillby’s erupted in concurrence. Greater Dog’s face turned to a smile. Even Lesser Dog got up from his Poker game against himself, extending and contracting his neck in agreement.”I remember from Royal Guard training it being mentioned that if Asgore died without any heirs, then there is to be a gathering of monsters to pick a new king,” Doggo said.
Politics Bear then came in, saying,”Rumor has it that there are already monsters assembling in the Last Corridor to elect a new ruler. Thaaaaaat’s politics.”
“Then we have no time to lose,” Sans said.
“We have to go to the Last Corridor. It is our duty,” Doggo urged.
With that, all of Grillby’s got up and ran to the Last Corridor. Only Red Bird and Grillby himself were left. She said,”Grillby says he has to stay and watch the bar, but he genuinely wants to go.” At the Last Corridor, Politics Bear was helping organize the assembly of monsters, who appointed him as Speaker. Sans arrived among the seemingly never-ending inflow of monsters coming to elect a new king. Politics Bear transferred his Speaker duties over to Sans, with the assembly confirming him.
After a while, the monsters stopped trickling in,”Well, that’s all the people that can come,” Sans took a moment to reflect on his judgement of the human that took place just yesterday, and now, the monsters have assembled in the very same room to elect a new king after the human killed Asgore. At this angry thought, his eyes turned dark, but he brought himself back and continued to speak,”This meeting of the monsters assembling to elect a new monarch of the Kingdom of Monsters shall come to order!” No sooner did he say that monsters started putting themselves forward as a monarch. “Make me queen, dearie,” Muffet said.
“No, make me king. I don’t know much about ruling and all this royal business, but I loooooove politics!” Politics Bear proposed.
Countless monsters also erupted in a cacophony of wanting to rule the Underground. “Order! Order in the Last Corridor!” Sans shouted out. All the monsters were silent. Sans continued,”Let’s be reasonable about this. We know that after Asgore and the former queen, the next monsters of rank are Undyne, Mettaton, who are both dead, and Alphys, who disappeared. This only leaves one monster of prominence: Papyrus. He is also a very nice person. I’d know, I’m his brother.”
“Papyrus, Papyrus, Papyrus,” the monsters chanted.
“All in favor of Papyrus becoming the King of Monsters, say I,” Sans said.
“I,” the monsters replied.
Sans and Papyrus were back at their house. They were just resting around when they heard a knock at the door. The brothers answered the door. The Snowdin Canine Unit was standing outside. Dogamy said,” We the Snowdin Canine Unit of the Royal Guard are pleased to announce that Papyrus is now King,” he looked towards Papyrus,”Or should I say Your Majesty. We will escort you to the castle so that you can assume the position.”
“King?! Wowie! I can’t believe it. I can’t wait to tell Undyne!” Papyrus said with elation.
“Uh…Papyrus, you can’t.” Sans said.
“Why?” Papyrus asked.
“She’s on vacation, as are Asgore, Alphys, and Mettaton,” Sans said.
The skeleton brothers and the Snowdin Canine Unit left, though not before packing their things. As they began the journey to New Home, all knew that this was the start of a new beginning.