Final chapter! I know I said the last chapter was my favorite to write, but THIS chapter is my personal favorite over all! I would just like to say that Flowey is absolutely HILARIOUS to work with!  

Sans was missing.

Again.

It had been days since anyone, monster or human, had seen him. The entire monster race had been combing the city for days, franticly searching for any sign of the beloved, comedic skeleton. Undyne had yet to stop swearing, masking her worry with the constant urge to bench press everything...usually Alphys. The scientist herself had been spending most of her time, when she was not being suddenly lifted off her feet by her crazy girlfriend, making some machine that was supposed to pick up on Sans' soul energy and lead them right to him. Of course, it wasn't working yet, but she was hopeful.

Toriel and Asgore were taking turns looking after Frisk, one watching them while the other joined the search party. It was slightly difficult, even after a year and a half on the surface Toriel still refused to speak to her ex-husband unless absolutely necessary. To make things even more complicated, Flowey had appeared on Toriel's doorstep about a two weeks ago, grumbling in a large pot with Frisk at his side. They'd made him spill everything; who he was, how he'd come to be that way, his RESETs. Frisk had said nothing of their own experiences, but was overjoyed when Flowey had teared up a little, the first real emotion he'd ever displayed in that form, when Toriel burst into tears and hugged the pot close.

And Papyrus...

Well...

Papyrus was losing his goddamn mind.

He refused to sleep, to eat, to even go home until he found his older brother. When the other monsters had long since retired for the night, he was still out on the streets of the city, trying to find any trace of Sans' presence. In fact, he'd only been home once since Sans' disappearance was discovered, and that was when Mettaton had forcibly dragged him back for some sorely needed sleep and food. Even now, he paced back and forth in his backyard, worrying incessantly and refusing to step one foot indoors and rest.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT, METTATON!" Papyrus gripped both sides of his skull with his hands. "WHAT IF HE WAS KIDNAPPED AGAIN?! WHAT IF HE'S LOST AND HE CAN'T FIND HIS WAY HOME?! WHAT IF HE'S DEAD AND I'LL NEVER EVEN FIND HIS DUST!!!" The hysterical skeleton sobbed, swaying on his feet. His boyfriend caught him just in time.

"Stop worrying so much, Papyrus, I'm sure Sans is fine! He may not have a lot of HP, but he has some of the most powerful magic I've ever seen! He can handle himself," Mettaton soothed, shifting to sit down in the grass and lay Papyrus in his lap. He idly stroked his skull, murmuring words of comfort while simultaneously keeping an eye on Frisk and Flowey, who were playing nearby. It was one of the few times Flowey was trusted, and supervised, enough that he was let out of his pot. The former prince was burrowing all over the yard, chasing the human child in what looked like a weird game of tag, Frisk shrieking with delight.

The robot star watched with wary eyes as Flowey sunk back below the Earth's surface once more. He had no idea why, but the little flower just made him...uncomfortable. He wasn't the only one either. Maybe it was the fact that the soulless monster used to be the beloved Prince Asriel, borderline unbelievable with how fundamentally different their two personalities were. Or was it his smile – something about it just screamed off. Whatever it was, whenever Flowey glanced in his direction, Mettaton's entire being locked up, crawling and itching with the instinct to run.

Frisk stepped carefully, dancing around the roots of the large, ancient maple tree that was the centerpiece of the Skelebros' yard, every other sign of life radiating out from it. Suddenly their face broke out into a wide, devious grin as they jumped up onto the largest root.

Right as Flowey resurfaced.

The former prince slammed his head – er, whatever flowers had – right into the bottom of the arch of the root. "AHRG! Holy fu – Frisk! Get back here you brat!" Flowey rubbed his injury with one warped vine, casting a murderous glance up at the offending root. He did a double-take, expression going flat, jaw slack. "Uh...Frisk? Sparkly Robot? Papyrus? You guys might want to get over here!"

Papyrus was upright and sprinting over to the little yellow flower in record time, leaving Mettaton in his dust, Frisk hot on his heels. Mettaton was quick to follow. "YES, FLOWEY? WHAT IS IT?" All he did was point wordlessly upwards with his vine, head still tilted in the same direction.

The two monsters and human followed his gaze, their faces soon identical to Flowey's expression of disbelief.

Sans, yes Sans, was lying on his back on a thick branch high above them, close to the top of the humongous tree, his limbs dangling over the sides. He was so high up, actually, that Papyrus couldn't distinguish the dusty pink of his brother's slippers from the stark white of his bones. His hood was pulled over his face, obscuring it from view, but his body language showed all the signs of the elder skeleton being in a deep, deep sleep.

Papyrus blinked once, dramatically slowly, before beginning to shake, bones rattling loudly. His right eye began to spark with orange, twitching. Frisk stepped in front of him, a tight, nervous smile on their face. "Hey! At least we found him, right?" Their hands stuttered, smile faltering. "Papyrus?"

"Papyrus, darling, if you just calm down, them we can work on getting him down, alri–"

"SANS!!!" Papyrus' shout was deafening. Even Flowey winced, ducking bellowing the ground in an attempt to muffle the sound. "SANS, GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!!!" The sleeping skeleton didn't even twitch. Papyrus let out a frustrated scream, stopping his foot in agitation. He opened his mouth again, right eye glowing a bright, florescent yellowish-orange, but Flowey interrupted him before he could even begin his rant again.

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait, hold on, Papyrus, I have an idea. Plus I'd rather you not dust us all with your screaming, holy shi–" Mettaton cut him off with a deadly, warning glare. Flowey muttered something under his breath, something that sounded suspiciously like 'stupid glittery pile of scrap' before closing his eyes. The ground rumbled, and suddenly Flowey was shooting into the air, his stem extending rapidly until it was about as thick around as the maple tree. Papyrus, Mettaton, and Frisk watched from the ground as Flowey leaned close to Sans head, his sickening, fanged grin visible even from a distance. There was a long, drawn out silence. Then–

"WAKEY WAKEY, TRASHBAG!"

"GAH!" Sans' eyes snapped open, starting so violently he fell off the branch. Milliseconds later, after a chorus of shrieking from all but Flowey, who was cackling madly, he vanished mid-air, a flash of light and a few sparks of bright blue magic where he once was. A slightly muffled shout of pain, panic, surprise, and sheer confusion echoed from the house. And then Sans was standing at the base of the tree, glaring up at the slowly shrinking – and still laughing – Flowey. "jesus fuck, flowey, what the fresh fuck was that for?!"

Sans spun around, grumbling with his hands shoved in his pockets, fully intent on marching back angrily to the house, but the second he caught sight of his 'audience' his eyelights vanished, smile growing almost painfully taut and strained. "oh, h-hey bro, how's it goin'?"

Papyrus tapped his foot, hands on his hips and eye still sparking. "HOW IT'S 'GOING', BROTHER, IS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN MISSING FOR DAYS. DAYS, SANS! THE ENTIRE MONSTER POPULATION HAS BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU! AND YOU ARE JUST HERE, IN OUR BACKYARD, TAKING A NAP!"

Somehow, Sans' sockets darkened further, his figure trembling lightly. "d-days, huh? must be a new record, right bro?" Papyrus said nothing. Sans shrunk. Suddenly his soul was being pulled from his chest, glowing the deep blue of gravity magic, and he was yanked into the air, floating along behind his younger brother as he walked purposefully back to the house. "hey wait! papyrus! put me down, c'mon bro!"

Flowey snickered loudly. Even Frisk attempted to hide their giggles. Mettaton, however, appeared to be on Sans' side. "Papyrus, darling, don't you think this is a tiny bit excessive? Sans is fine!"

"SINCE SANS INSISTS ON BEING SO IRRESPONSIBLE, NOT TO MENTION WORRYING ME TO DEATH, I AM GOING TO BE PLACING HIM ON HOUSE ARREST FOR A WHILE. WE ARE GOING TO BE SPENDING SOME QUALITY TIME TOGETHER UNTIL HE LEARNS TO NOT RUN OFF, OR AT LEAST LEAVE A NOTE TO TELL ME WHERE HIS LATEST NAP WILL TAKE PLACE."

Sans paled, his bones almost glowing. "you can't be serious." Papyrus simply tightened his magic a little bit more. The older skeleton winced. He flipped himself midair, turning to face Frisk and Flowey. His eyelights had yet to come back. "frisk? c'mon, wanna help these old bones out? please?" Frisk's only response was to dissolve into a fit of laughter, flopping onto their back on the soft grass. Sans' expression dropped into one of flat acceptance. "great. even my own kid finds my suffering hilarious. alright, bro, since my back-up has resigned me to my fate, do your worst. i can handle whatever bones you throw at me. that is assuming, of course, that you have the guts to do it." He winked. Flowey snorted. Papyrus groaned.

The blue glow around Sans' soul disappeared, and he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Papyrus kept walking, grabbing Mettaton's hand instead and dragging the star along. "YOU KNOW WHAT NEVER MIND. I'M GOING TO GO SEE IF DR. ALPHYS HAS MADE ANY PROGRESS WITH THE TRACKER. AND CALL OFF ALL THE SEARCH PARTIES." He spin back around, pointing accusatorially at his brother, eye sockets narrowed. "YOU BETTER STILL BE IN THAT EXACT SPOT WHEN I GET BACK OR I WILL PUT YOU ON A LEASH."

Sans gave him a thumbs up. "hear ya loud and clear, paps." He waited until the couple was long out of sight before turning to wink at the two kids, eyelights back and shimmering mischievously. There was a faint pop! and he was gone, leaving a shower of blue and yellow sparks in his wake. "hey, so, can you two do me a solid and not rat me out to papyrus? i'm rather fond of my freedom." Frisk and Flowey looked up. Sans was back on his branch, in the same position except this time he was on his stomach, smiling lazily down at them. Frisk nodded in enthusiastic agreement while Flowey just grinned toothily. Sans hoped his shudder wasn't obvious from down there. No matter who that devil plant used to be, he would never be able to fully trust him. Despite that, he let his eyes slip shut, the sound of Frisk's delighted laughter as they and the flower resumed their game lulling him back to sleep.

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"SAAAAAAAAAAANS!!!"

  Well that's all, folks! I hope ye enjoyed this little story of mine!