FlowerGlitch

Coming Soon.

## Story Prose

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Papyrus doubled over, grabbing at his throat and wheezed. It was the worse pain he'd felt up to that point in his young life. The brothers weren't supposed to be rough housing, knowing the fragile health of his older brother, Sans. But Papyrus was in the habit of teasing Sans in order to get around this. He couldn't remember what he'd said to make him so angry. Sans had picked up a fallen piece of bamboo and swung it at his neck.

Neither of them had expected the stick to be so sturdy. Sans laughed, until he realized Papyrus couldn't breath and passed out.

Papyrus remembered waking in his room, his father sitting beside him. A rod had been strung through Papyrus's jaw and into the neck bone.

In the lantern light, Sans stood off to the side, gripping at his robes tightly, his skull soaked in tears. Their father turned to scold him. “I'd beat you if you weren't so incompetently weak. Instead, you'll pay for this more severely. You're now your brother's keeper. Papyrus is the heir to this family. And don't think of sabotaging his health. If he dies, you'll be following him to the grave.”

Papyrus could feel the sting in Sans's expression. Had his actions really been so bad? Had Papyrus really almost died? Sans couldn't answer. The absolute heartbreak in his expression burrowed into Papyrus's soul.

THIS  WAS  MY  FAULT.  I  MADE  HIM  ANGRY.  IT'S  ALL  MY  FAULT...

It would be a month before Papyrus could speak again. And not very well. All the while he suffered seeing his brother despair. One little mistake had cost him everything. He wanted to say he was sorry, to beg Sans to forgive him. He didn't want to be the family heir.

By the time Papyrus found his voice again, it was too late to apologize.

It remained exceedingly difficult to talk, even on good days, Papyrus resorted to learning sign language, which meant that Sans had to learn it too. He could tell his brother was begrudged in the beginning, but having a secret language that was all their own helped bond them in some way. They could talk dirt on other people without them ever knowing, even to their face. It made Sans laugh, and that was good enough for Papyrus.

Despite the shift of their noble title, Sans still far exceeded Papyrus in intelligence, and Papyrus in turn in strength. Sans continued his studies in magic and administration while Papyrus learned the ways of the warrior.

The eerie silence of the warrior skeleton earned him great respect among monsters. Even Sans seemed content with the arrangement.

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Years later, their father would go missing. He had been a cruel man, to the both of them, leading Papyrus to suspect his brother. But he said nothing. Maybe doing their old man in would leave Sans satisfied enough to allow Papyrus to lead their clan in peace.

Even when suspicions were pointed at himself, he would not confirm or deny any involvement. In fact, he'd rather be blamed then allow anyone to come after his brother.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Sans hadn't completely covered his tracks. Mere days after Papyrus has been declared the head of house, General Undyne and a platoon of soldiers arrived at their front door. “We have a reliable witness that saw Sans push Gaster into the core. I have a warrant for his arrest. He's to be brought to the Emperor's palace.”

The warrior narrowed his eyes sockets and gave a firm shake of his head. “WHAT  WITNESS?” his deep voice gurgled.

“That's of no concern to you. These are direct orders from Emperor Asgore himself. You will not defy him.”

For Sans, Papyrus would absolutely defy the Emperor. But before he could protest, he heard his brother's voice behind him. “it's okay, boss. i killed the old man. it's best i go with them, not cause any trouble for you...”

He turned in surprise at the smaller skeleton. Why? Why did he admit it so quickly? The expression on his brother's face showed he felt like a burden. And the warrior had never felt more helpless watching the soldiers take his brother in chains.

As soon as they were gone from sight, Papyrus rushed to the stables. He saddled and mounted his white horse, Doomtrotter, before riding out alone for the palace, ready to do anything to defend Sans.

Moving swiftly would save the smaller skeleton's life. For the Emperor, so enraged from losing his most trusted alchemist, he was prepared to dust Sans at the front steps.

“STOP!” cried Papyrus, his voice so rarely heard it shook the guard to silence. He rushed the stairs, threatening to run down Undyne's men, and swung himself off the horse. “PUNISH  ME  INSTEAD.  IF  YOU  KILL  HIM, YOU'LL  HAVE  TO  KILL  ME  TOO,” his voice unintentionally growling.

“papyrus, no!” cried Sans. But it was too late. Papyrus had spoken directly to the Emperor himself.

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Perhaps it was Papyrus's show of devotion. Or it might have been the threat that if both skeletons were executed, the Snowdin Clan would be left in chaos. The warrior made a gutsy move, and Asgore had to consider his decision carefully.

“I'm impressed by your show of loyalty to your brother. However, I fear that loyalty is greater than it is to me. This can not go unpunished. Papyrus of Snowdin, kneel before me,” the Emperor commanded.

Resigned to his fate, Papyrus knelt. Asgore seized the warrior by his skull in one claw while carving a curse with the other. Three red broken lines over the left eye. When the monsters were finally free from the underground, Papyrus would not be. His soul cursed to remain under the mountain.

It was well enough for him. Sans was released and he rode with Papyrus on his horse back to Snowdin in silence. Back in the stable, Sans turned sharply to Papyrus, “why did you do that? why would you give up your chance at the surface- no, your life for me!? after everything i've done to you!”

Papyrus stared at Sans, bewildered, and signed. Brothers. Had to.

'had to!?' i killed our father! what about him!? Sans signed aggressively.

Papyrus narrowed his eyes and frowned. Hesitation, he wasn't sure how to answer. So he just told the truth, plain and simple. But I like you.

Sans froze before signing. after i've been a jerk to you all these years, you 'like me?' He held his hands up in confusion.

True, Sans could have stood to be nicer to Papyrus. But- Papyrus knelt down, pulling his brother into the first willing hug he could remember. “UNDERSTAND.  MY  FAULT.  I'M  SORRY.”

He felt his brother shaking. First with fear, then with tears as he hugged back. “you moron. i don't blame you. it was that bastard who was hell on you. hell on us... i just couldn't stand it anymore...”

“I  KNOW.” Feeling his own tears, he pulled away to look Sans in the face and signed. Let me protect you now. You are all I have.

Sans wiped his face on his sleeves before signing. stupid bonehead. and all i've been doing is protecting you... He smiled.

After that, things were better. Papyrus finally had the brotherhood with Sans he'd longed for. Until the day the flowers appeared...

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When the humans fell, they would always come from the ruins. But that was the realm of the mad Empress, forbidden for any who served the Emperor. And so, Snowdin was the first threshold for any human who wished to pass.

Papyrus had captured two human children, killed two others. Two more at some point slipped past his guard before finding their fate with Undyne.

He felt no qualms about his mission. All humans, children or otherwise, had been responsible for the suffering of his people. That is what his father had taught him. And even if it meant he'd be unable to see his own freedom, he felt no less determined to save monsterkind.

But one day, he woke in agony. Buttercups grew out of his spine, legs and arms. When he tried to pull at them, he felt his soul being ripped as well.

The yellow flowers grew everywhere, despite the wintry conditions. Panic and confusion rose among the citizens of the town. Everyone had buttercups growing out of their bodies. Most suffering of all were his soldiers, unable to move and transformed into living flower patches.

Where is Sans? Papyrus felt panic. His brother wasn't in his room that morning. Anyone who could still move reported they hadn't seen him.

Riding out, Papyrus checked every sentry station to the ruins, then towards Waterfall. The buttercups had spread there as well. For fear the invasive plant was infectious, he road back... Only to see them on the road.

Sans held the hand of an adolescent human monk, both covered in the yellow flowers. The expression on his brother's face was tired, unamused. Bewildered by this strange interaction, he rushed up and signed. Sans, who is this? Do you know what's happening? What are these flowers?

“bro, i can't explain. just let us pass. i'm taking this human to the emperor...”

What was he up to? He wasn't just going to let them pass without an explanation. He started to sign, when a strange flower with a face appeared over the monk's shoulder, “He's just going to attack us again! Let's go!”

Again? The flower gave Papyrus a strange sense of deja vu. He leapt off his horse before looking at the monk, who appeared to have been made blind from the flowers. Are they the one causing this? I'm not going to let-

“Oh, ENOUGH!” the flower cried. Strange red thorn vines erupted from the ground, knocking Papyrus aside.

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The human screamed.

“what the hell are you doing, asriel!?” cried Sans.

“He kills Frisk every time! Let's just go!” yelled the flower.

Papyrus recovered slowly after being knocked into a tree, looking up to meet his brother's eyes. He didn't understand that look of desperation as Sans turned and teleported the flower and the human away.

“...SANS?” Papyrus heaved. Despite lacking context, the warrior couldn't help but feel betrayed. “SAN-N-NS!!” his voice cracked as he stood, shaking. The crushed flowers under his clothes were extremely pained. He gripped his face, falling back to his knees.

He didn't know what was happening. Scared, confused, hurt. His breathing grew heavy as he threatened to weep. Then, an orange light appeared. A box with the word “RESET” within it. Reset? Reset what? What magic was this?

But what did he have to lose? Reaching out, he touched it with his hand... and woke back in his bed. The flowers were no longer crushed... but one extra grew from his right eye socket, partially blinding him. He rode out again, not bothering to hear the pleas of his servants. This time, he knew where to find them. This time, he remembered.

Terror filled his brother's expression as Papyrus charged from hiding, slicing the monk child in half with his bone sword-

And he woke again in his bed. Another flower from the wrist, making his fingers feel numb. “WHAT  IS  THIS?  THE  FLOWERS,  THIS  RESET  MAGIC.,” his voice hissed in frustration as he met them for the sixth time.

“Pap, they're not doing this on purpose. The flowers get worse the more we hurt them- Every time anyone touches that reset box. Please, just let me take them to Asgore!”

“WHY  DIDN'T  YOU  BRING  THEM  TO  ME  FIRST!?” he cried, already having his sword ready. Before Sans could defend himself, again, Papyrus was dodging the rising vines. Sans teleported. Papyrus reset.

There were no more words to exchange. This time, Sans fought back. The warrior lost count of the resets he could remember. Twelve? Fifteen? Each time he was getting weaker, until eventually Sans pinned him down with his bone magic. This time, Papyrus did not reset. The agony of continuing to repeat this scenario was too much. Nothing he did or said could stop Sans.

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Papyrus laid in the snow, feeling defeated and abandoned. Then, he was just angry. Beating his fists against the ground until they bled, he cursed the human for turning his brother against him.

But he wouldn't reset. Whatever this magic was, it was only hurting them both. With his damaged pride, and more than a few more flowers growing on his body, he slunk back to the mansion, hiding in the darkness of his room.

Days passed and the underground grew quiet. Papyrus expected at least some kind of word from the capital, about the human, about his brother... But nothing came.

Eventually, Papyrus emerged. He ordered all who were left in Snowdin, less than a dozen peasants, to take up arms and following him to New Home.

Much like Snowdin, everything was covered in the buttercups. Every guard or sentry they passed were completely immobilized by the infection. There were no other survivors they could find.

Making his way through to the palace and to the throne room, Papyrus feared the worse. And as he imaged, he would find the Emperor, the human and his brother, collapsed into patches of yellow flowers.

His mind tuned out the sound of his servants searching the rooms around them as he approached. The talking flower was no where in sight. Carefully kneeling down by his brother, checking for a response. But Sans's sockets and mouth were full of the flowers as well. He hadn't dusted, which meant he was still alive. A living hell.

Jaw dropping, Papyrus slowly shook his head as he looked to the human leaning against his brother's back, just as paralyzed by the flora.

“Lord Papyrus!” said one of the rabbit monsters who ran in. “T-There's no one else who can move. You- You're the only noble left... You're the only one who can break the barrier...”

It was so much to take in. His brother, his kingdom, on top of that his curse to remain underground and yet to be the only one who could free them.

The sound of the human's groan brought him back to the moment. He turned to them, as they tried to smile through the blur of yellow. \*they should be free, you whispered. a bright red soul appeared above you.

Papyrus gasped, reaching for it quickly before it could shatter. The human... was trying to help them?

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His brother hadn't turned to dust, which meant he was still alive. He decided he would tend to the matter of the immobilized as soon as the others could get past the barrier.

The six humans souls were brought before the skeleton warrior, and he absorbed them all, gaining power onto a god. His size grew, bones stretched and extended. Wings and extra limbs appeared. Papyrus took no time to evaluate his new form before turning to shatter the barrier.

But there were no cheers, no celebration. The few survivors who were left looked to him, uncertain what to do.

“YOU  ARE  FREE  NOW.  BUT  WHERE  YOU  GO,  I CAN  NOT  FOLLOW,” he said, sworn to keep the promise of his punishment.

Reluctantly, the survivors would go, leaving the god-warrior alone in a kingdom of flowers. When the last of them had gone from sight, he turned back to look over his brother. He tried to speak with him, ask him why, why he couldn't trust him in the end? Searching for answers for the flowers that even plagued his new form.

But no matter what, Sans was incapable of responding.

Papyrus wrapped his arms and wings around his brother and the human, holding them both for the longest time...

Then, came the static. The strange white noises. Tears fell from his skull as Papyrus lifted his head, looking around. What were those lines? Strange long boxes, appearing in and out of his vision. Words, numbers, symbols all scrambled together appearing in an out with unnatural colors.

Red strings pierced the walls like needles and began to pull on reality itself, revealing white spaces in-between.

Papyrus stood as he heard the distorted voice of Sans echoing around him. Turning back towards the exit, a skeleton stood. It looked like Sans, but not quite. White coat, a red scarf, blue and red melting eye sockets. Words and numbers flickering in and out around him.

“WHO- WHO  ARE  YOU?” Papyrus summoned a great sword into his hand.

Something akin to laughing cut in and out as the demonic skeleton grinned, blood dripping from his teeth. “NO-NOT NOT H-HIM HIM. YOU AAREEE NOTT MMYY BBRROTTHER- NNOT PPAPYRUS.”

There was no time to prepare. The red strings came from every side, grabbing at the warrior's new wings and limbs.

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“WHAT!?  UNHAND  ME!” Papyrus roared. He pulled against the strings, which stung and cut into his bones. But as he did, he watched as parts of his reality were sliced and disappeared. All around him bizarre strings of surrounded his vision.

He felt one- two of the human souls ripped from his body and shattered. The strange corrupted Sans teleported in front of him, swinging bloody bones in his hands.

Papyrus swung his blade just in time, slicing through the strange form of the skeleton. It's unnatural screams pierced his skull. Still, he kept swinging the blade madly, attempting to cut himself down.

When his feet found something of ground again, he looked back to where the human and his Sans rested. But just as he reached out to them, they both dissolved into boxes of code... leaving behind nothing but a few fallen petals.

“SANS, NO!” Papyrus screamed, scrambling to the spot.

But the red strings seized him again. Papyrus could see his own blood dripping as three more souls were ripped and shattered. All that was left of his world dissolved into a white void around him.

The demon appeared before him again, a terrible mess of those odd boxes covering the wound where Papyrus sliced. “HHEEY- TTHHAAT-S RUUDDE.”

Gasping, the warrior didn't think he'd have time to recover before he was torn to shreds. He reached out, summoning the reset and was about t0-

A bone pierced his arm, forcing his hand away. The demon grabbed his jaw, throwing his neck back. How was this creature so strong? Papyrus had human souls on his side and still felt like he was being sliced like butter.

He could feel the corrupted code moving in and out of his form, until it forced out the two remaining souls, scattering them as well.

“m-m-mmmy ppappyrusss- let's try again.” the demon said, lifting up a bone spite filled with strange numbers running within it.

“... SANS?” There was pain, a deep sorrow he felt from this creature that resonated with his own. He felt the spike embed into his chest, his body flooded with the strange numbers and code, threatening to implode his mortal form. His mind glimpsed remnants of himself and Sans... across different worlds and different times, but none of them complete.

“... HOW  DID  I  DIE?” he barely managed to say.

The demon's face fell. A small glimmer of recognition and horror.

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Only for a split second did Papyrus recognize something of his brother's face on the creature. Until something struck him, creating a loud buzzing sound. Light flickered and flashed through the demon as it screamed. It's strings were loosened, nearly dropping Papyrus to the ground.

In a daze, he shook his head, meeting the face of a new skeleton. This one had a vague resemblance to himself, but wore some kind of white uniform. “Are you alright? Don't try to move!” he said.

“Y-Y-YYYOOOUUUU!!!” the demon screamed, looking far more chaotic than before as it glared down at them.

The new skeleton drew forth a taser rod, aiming at the demon as it sparked threateningly.

“Skep, status report,” a woman's voice came through a black box on his shoulder. He grabbed it and spoke into it. “The Fatal\_Error instance  is attacking a Flowerfell Papyrus variant.” He said, then called up to the creature. “I advise you to back down at once!”

“Fatal\_Error. This instance has an infectious code. Please make sure victim is clean before extraction,” said the box.

As they spoke, Papyrus grabbed the bone stake in his chest, ripping it out. He coughed as blood flowed from the wound and his mouth. The skeleton called Skep looked to him in shock. “Hey don't-!”

But the demon charged, filled with rage. Skep swung the rod at a pair of strings coming for them, sending a shock at the glitching skeleton. “Fatal is not backing down, my target is fatally wounded! I need an extraction, now!”

Papyrus felt the other skeleton bend down, wrapping an arm around his waist. Though he could tell Skep was here to help, everything had happened so fast, he wasn't sure of the right thing to do. Both of these beings were from beyond his world of understanding.

“Approved for quarantine. Room G44. Prepare for extraction in three-”

Several glitchy Gaster blasters appeared, charging their attacks.

“Two- One-”

Papyrus felt the very edge of the blaster's energy reach them before they were teleported into a strange white room. He hadn't the energy to understand where he was or why. Blacking out, he fell into Skep's arms.