"... Murder rate has started to increase again, and officals are wondering if the previous murder epidemic might be repeating itself..."

The news in the background hummed through the air as warm water cascaded down slender bones of Papyrus' hand, carefully scratching a small chunk of food refusing to be cleaned from the plate. The morning sun crept through the window in front of the sink, the warm summer air lingering into the room. It would be a shame that summer was almost over, but Papyrus would enjoy it while he could.

The T.V report, though, brought a different emotion from the tall skeleton. When the monsters had first arrived to the surface, murder rates were high. It was becoming a problem, and Papyrus had experienced one of the killers in action. It had been terrifying to watch, he had been worried. Every night, he would go about to each window to ensure they were locked. The Great Papyrus wasn't as Great as he used to be.

During that time, he had tried to find Sans. Even if Sans didn't forgive him, Papyrus just wanted the chance to apologize to him, to tell Sans that he deserved better. Papyrus would make himself better, and he did. Papyrus was in a better place now, but it didn't matter. Sans was still gone, there hasn't been any word from him in 17 years.

The last mention of spotting Sans had been from Undyne, calling Papyrus in a frenzy about what she just experienced. Sans had been hurt, on the verge of death, and there were a bunch of CreepyPasta with him. Not just the few they had expected, they had even threatened Undyne's safety. Papyrus drove to her house as fast as he could, but it was too late. Sans and the Creepypasta were just... gone.

It was as if they suddenly disappeared. The murder rates gradually went down to more tolerable levels in the area, to where people didn't have to be scared about murderers breaking in any night. Of course, there were still murders, as there was no way to completely eliminate it, but it had decreased a good amount. It was as if Sans took the CreepyPasta and just disappeared with them, to the point where the unusual murders dealing with technology shot down from multiple a day to just once a month, than down to barely even once a year. The organ removals increased slightly, but the stabbings and candy body stuffings shot down as well.

However, it seemed this period of time had closed, as for the last week, murders suddenly shot up suddenly and randomly. Several houses burned down, bodies found with half chewed organs in them. It was so sudden and shocking that police were worried that what happened over 15 years ago might be repeating itself once again. Whatever was holding these killers back seems to be out of the way, and it's even worse than before.

A bit worrying, as Sans had been with them before. Did something happen to Sans, and that's why the CreepyPasta were going rampant?

Papyrus had originally tried to find his brother at first, but only found dead ends. He was just gone, there were no traces. Even the government came to the conclusion that they must have injured and killed the CreepyPasta during their break in so much that the CreepyPasta had retreated. Undyne made no moves to correct them, keeping the fact that she had healed the only one severely injured a secret. After several years of barely any activity, the government put the CreepyPasta search to a close, and Papyrus accepted that he wouldn't be seeing his brother anymore.

That was fine, if Sans didn't want to see him, Papyrus understood. It was his choice, Papyrus just wished that his brother would be happy in his new life.

And Papyrus had picked up his act and realized where he was failing in his training. He had been so focused on himself that he failed to realize what others needed, taking into consideration what other people said. Discovering the differences between constructive criticism and insults helped, and Papyrus finally got the nerve to open his own restaurant with that in mind. Now he was running a successful business and overall, was doing good in life. It was just the missing detail of his brother that kept Papyrus from achieving true happiness with life, the one small piece of family that was supposed to be there.

But as long as Sans was happy, Papyrus accepted this was their fate. He messed up, he knew that very clearly.

Undyne and Alphys had also improved their lives. Undyne was working with Asgore to ensure monster and human peace, and Alphys had become the head scientist at her field. The two lived with one another, but decided against having children, as neither of them really knew how to care for one.

Toriel and Asgore seemed to be doing alright, but they too decided against having any children. At least, anymore children. The two had gotten over their deceased children, but in the end, the scars were still there. As much as they loved children, having some more didn't appeal to them after what happened.

A small, almost silent knock broke Papyrus out of his thoughts, the skeleton looking in the direction of the front door. He hadn't been expecting any company, it could be another surprise visit from Undyne and Alphys. However, that knock had been too silent to be Undyne's, she usually pounded on the door, or sometimes just walked in without even knocking. Maybe Alphys?

Dropping the sponge into the warm water, Papyrus grabbed a nearby towel and made his way to the front door. Alphys probably was stopping by to hang out, as Undyne was no doubt still in work.

The doorknob felt warm as he pulled it open, looking out of the door expecting to see the small yellow lizard monster, only to find no one. The front porch was empty, there was no one in front of the door. Papyrus figured he might have imagined the knock, as it sounded rather light, so he moved to close the door.

That's when he noticed the figure.

They were across the street, peaking out at him from behind the telephone poll. Half of their body was hidden behind it as the other half stood out, hands gripping the edge. Although they were hidden across the street, Papyrus still noticed that the child was a monster.

A skeleton monster?

Papyrus blinked, but the child still stood there, real and alive and staring back at him with timid eye lights. There were only two skeleton monsters in the underground, and Papyrus had never had any children. That meant...

"HELLO?" Papyrus called out to them, taking a step out of his front door.

The child jerked from his sudden movement, moving slightly behind the telephone poll to hide more of their face. Long, magical purple hair flowed from their skull down towards the ground, almost brushing their feet. They seemed incredibly nervous and skittish, gripping onto the brown wood as if their life depended on it.

So that's why Papyrus decided a different approach, deciding to carefully proceed. He didn't want them to run away, this was Sans' child. That meant Papyrus' niece, this was his niece. A part of his family, someone he was related to. Although his head was spinning, Papyrus remained calm, going with a calm voice.

"Do you mind if I walk across the street?" Papyrus asked, in a more calmer voice.

No response. The girl remained stationed, staring at him. She blinked once, but that was the only reaction.

"I'm going to come closer, don't worry," Papyrus said, "Tell me if I get too close."

Papyrus took a careful, calculated step towards the girl, who continued to stare at him with her large eye sockets. Without any negative response from her, Papyrus continued forward, making his way slowly across the street after he checked for any traffic. Around halfway there, the girl had stopped looking at him and instead chose to look at the ground, fingers digging into the wood as she started to use the edge of her fingers to pick at it.

And at this distance, Papyrus could make out her better. Her skull resembled Sans', there was no doubt that she was his child. Round and big, large eye sockets with glowing eye lights staring down at the ground, flickering around nervously. Her magic hair was a gradient purple, going from dark to light. However, something seemed to be leaking from her eye sockets, and at closer inspection, Papyrus found this to be some sort of dark black liquid that had the consistency of syrup. Her clothing outfit was dark, a grey sweater covering her torso with black leggings, along with brown fur boots on her feet.

Standing a few feet away now, the girl refused to look at him, nervously digging into the wood with her boney fingers. She didn't make any noises, and she looked like she might run if Papyrus did anything too sudden.

"Are you the one who knocked on my door?" Papyrus asked her.

No response. Her fingers only quickened on the wood.

"How come you knocked on my door?" Papyrus asked.

Again, no response. A small indent was starting to form in the wood. The girl looked extremely nervous from being here, like she might burst out crying. Did something happen?

"Are... Are you Sans' child?"

Now that brought a reaction. The girl didn't look at him, but a small nod was there. Small, but definitely there. This was Sans' kid, he had a kid. Sans had a family.

Papyrus had a niece.

"Are you all alone?" Papyrus asked.

Again, another nod. Small, but there. What happened?

"Could you tell me what happened? Did something happen to Sans?" Papyrus asked.

The girl didn't respond, the picking at the wood quickening once again.

"Do you want to come inside?" Papyrus asked.

There was no response, but the girl stepped out from behind the pole, keeping her eye lights to the ground. She twiddled her fingers in front of her, avoiding eye light contact with Papyrus at all costs. It wasn't much, but it was still progress.

Progress towards answers.

《》《》《》

Aw yeah bois, first chappie here we go!

Also Addy seen above was drawn by the lovely jesterscanvas, make sure to go follow them!