Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers

A door opened, and five children and a goat woman passed it, entering Snowdin Forest.

Sans had expected the children, but not the goat woman.

There goes the script…

At least, Sans could see that the little demon went good on his promise. Lv1. Not a single speck of dust on him. Not that the others would have let him. He could tell that he was feeling guilty about that. He was a bit withdrawn compared to the others, partially hiding behind the goat woman, who was clearly the queen, and the old lady that he befriended through the door. He was scared of meeting him, for good reason.

Compared to him, the other Frisk was a ray of sunshine who was almost skipping. She was very excited, and she even waved at the camera in the bush, probably giving Alphys quite the fright.

The queen was Mama Bear mode, looking around ready to assault anything that looked threatening to the children. If only she knew how much they didn’t need her to defend themselves. But it meant that Sans won’t be able to do his whoopee cushion routine without probably receiving a fireball in the face. Or he will have to modify it to look less threatening, but it would ruin all the fun.

In the end, Sans decided to wait at his station.

Now, how to make Papyrus not say that he wishes to capture a human to send to the king…?

“I never loved this part of the forest. These trees make it look so unsettling,” Toriel said. “And it does not help that it is the most remote area of the Underground. Nobody ever comes here. It would be easy to fall into an ambush.” She shook her head. “How did I ever think that it was a good idea to let the children go alone with this area being the first in their journey? Thankfully, my friend should not be far.” She frowned. “It is also cold here. I should have given you warm clothes.”

“It’s okay, Toriel, it’s not that cold,” Kris said.

“I see something ahead,” Phantom said.

As she said, ahead of them, they could see a small bridge passing between bars. The bars were too wide apart to stop anyone. Well, Toriel may have to duck a bit.

Toriel got confused. “Why are there bars?”

The children shrugged, even if three of them knew the answer.

They traversed the bridge and passed the bars, arriving at a station where they found Sans sitting and drinking ketchup.

He lazily waved at them. “oh, heya. didn’t expect someone to come out of this door.”

“That voice.” Toriel approached the skeleton. “Would you be…?”

“hey. i recognize your voice too. so ya decided to come out? name’s sans.”

“Hello, I am Toriel. Nice to finally see you face to face.” She looked around at the station. “What is this place?”

“a sentry station,” sans answered. “my job is to look out for humans, but don’t worry, i’m too lazy to run after them. they risk nothing from me.” He winked. “and i gave you my word.”

Toriel sighed in relief. “Thank you, Sans.”

“my brother, papyrus, however… well, he isn’t officially a sentry, but he is the captain’s protegee, and he really wants to capture a human to join the royal guard. but don’t worry, i already told ya ‘bout him, he doesn’t have a mean bone in him. ya’ll see, he will sooner befriend the little ones.”

“I can’t wait to finally meet him.”

Frisk pointed down the path beyond the station. “I think that I see him approach. Tall skeleton with an orange-red cape and a white armor?”

“yup, that’s him. be ready.”

Sans barely said that that Papyrus arrived at the station.

“what’s up, bro?”

“YOU KNOW ‘WHAT’S UP’, BRO-OH, YOU HAVE COMPANY! WAIT A MINUTE…” He looked alternatively between the five children, focusing more and more, approaching them, rubbing his chin, bending, approaching his head to the point that he was almost invading their personal space. Then, he gasped. “SANS! OH MY GOD! ARE THEY… HUMANS?”

Sweetie Void waved at him. “Hello, Mr. Papyrus! Yes, we are humans. Nice to meet you!”

Papyrus gasped again. “OH MY GOD!!! AND FIVE OF THEM AT ONCE! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!”

Toriel held back a laugh.

“Wow! Mr. Papyrus! You look so cool!”

The compliment took Papyrus by surprise. “NYEH?” Then, he took a pose, hand on his hip, cape floating to the wind. “OF COURSE! I’M THE GREAT PAPYRUS AFTER ALL! I DO MY BEST TO BE AS COOL AS POSSIBLE!”

Phantom took a pose. “I’m cool too!”

Papyrus stared attentively at her, then nodded. “YES. YOU ARE COOL. PAPYRUS APPROVED!”

“Ya must be very strong,” Apple Death said.

Again, Papyrus took a pose. “I TRAIN EVERYDAY WITH UNDYNE, THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD HERSELF!”

“Uh… Can you show us?” Frisk asked.

“OF COURSE!”

The skeleton then proceeded to show some impressive attack patterns with his bone projectiles. The children all applauded.

“That’s impressive, Papyrus,” Toriel said.

Papyrus was suddenly reminded that the children weren’t alone, and he blushed. “OH, THANK YOU, UH… ASGORE? SINCE WHEN DID YOU SHAVE?”

Toriel made a fake cough. “Actually, I am his ex-wife.”

“REALLY?! WOWIE! EVERYONE THOUGHT YOU HAD DISAPPEARED!”

“I went to hide, but I decided to come out of hiding. I am Toriel, nice to meet you, Papyrus. Your brother told me a lot about you. And I am glad that you are going along with my charges.”

“YOUR CHARGES?” Papyrus asked before he looked at the humans. “OH! THEY ARE WITH YOU! I GUESS THAT I SHOULDN’T CAPTURE THEM, THEN.” He then sighed in disappointment. “MY FIRST HUMANS, AND I CAN’T EVEN TRY TO CAPTURE THEM. I WILL NOT BE A ROYAL GUARD ANYTIME SOON. AND I REALLY WANTED TO TEST THE PUZZLES WE MADE.”

Sweetie Void patted his arm. “How about you still try to capture us? But if you win, you give us back to Toriel? We will say to Captain Undyne that you managed to capture us.”

“REALLY?! CAN I?!” Papyrus asked pleadingly to Toriel with puppy dog eyes.

Toriel sighed fondly. “Yes.”

“YES!!!” Papyrus shouted to the point that the whole forest probably heard him. Then, he cleared his throat. “HUMANS! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! PREPARE TO BE BAMBOOZLED BY THE TERRIBLE PUZZLES THAT SANS AND I PLACED IN YOUR PATH! AND THEN! YOU WILL BE! CAPTURED! CONTINUE, ONLY IF YOU DARE!!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”

The children applauded.

“Good speech,” Phantom complimented.

“THANK YOU! I REPEATED BEFORE THE MIRROR A LOT!”

“he waited for this moment for a long time,” Sans said.

“INDEED! NOW, TIME TO GO! THE PUZZLES WILL NOT SOLVE BY THEMSELVES!”

“Mr. Papyrus?” Kris called.

“PLEASE, STOP WITH THE ‘MISTER’. JUST CALL ME PAPYRUS.”

“Okay. Papyrus?”

“YES, LITTLE HUMAN?”

“My brother is feeling a little down. Can you give him some Special Papyrus Therapy, please?”

Frisk stared at her in shock. “What?”

Even Sans looked at her weirdly.

“OH! I SEE! YES, I CAN DO THAT!”

Then, Papyrus picked Frisk up and put him on his shoulders. “Wah!”

“FEELING DOWN? UP YOU GO! THAT’S MY MOTTO!”

Frisk looked down at Papyrus, then looked at Sans and gave an apologetic smile and shrug.

Sans silently sighed.

“NOW, ONWARD!” Papyrus exclaimed before he began to advance, followed by the children, then by Toriel, then finally by Sans.

Toriel caught up with Papyrus. “Papyrus, do you know what a skeleton tiles his roof with?”

“HMMMM… SNOW-PROOF ROOF TILES?”

“No, silly! A skeleton tiles his roof with…”

Toriel, Sweetie Void, Kris, and Frisk exclaimed at the same time, “SHIN-gles!!!”

Sans held back a laugh.

Papyrus got a funny expression. “I CHANGED MY MIND!!! THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!”

“Come on, Papyrus, where is your funny bone?” Sweetie Void asked.

“he must have lost it by working himself down to the bone,” Sans said.

“Come on guys, throw him a bone, he puts a lot of backbone into his work,” Kris said.

Sans stared at Kris as if he was a proud father.

“STOP IT!!!”

“Come on, stop giving them the cold shoulder,” they suddenly heard.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Snowdrake who winced.

“Y-you know, because it’s cold, and…”

Sweetie Void and Kris laughed and applauded, the latter saying, “Great pun.”

“I would even say, cool pun,” Frisk said.

Snowdrake stuck out his tongue. “Bleh. This one has been done again and again.”

“You don’t beat a classic.”

“True.”

“NYEEEH!!! I’M OUTTA HERE!!! COME, LITTLE HUMAN, WE HAVE SOME PUZZLE TO PREPARE ANYWAY!”

At that, Papyrus ran away, Frisk screaming on his shoulders. The scream quickly turned into cheer.

Sans laughed, then stopped once he understood that his brother was now alone with the little demon.

“i will keep an eye socket on them,” he said before he moved behind a tree and disappeared.

The group then continued, passing beside Papyrus’ station, then encountering Doggo with whom they played fetch and who they petted before Toriel had time to attack him for saying out loud that he would kill a human.

Doggo may have a tough look, but like all dogs, he was a big softy.

They showed an Ice Cap that he didn’t need a cap to be appreciated, they took a piece of the Snowman, and they caught up with Papyrus, Sans, and Frisk for the invisible electricity maze.

Once Papyrus explained the rule, Toriel got worried.

“Will the electricity hurt?”

“OH, DO NOT WORRY, THE SHOCK IS NOT WORSE THAN A JOY BUZZER.”

“Uh, Papyrus? You should give the orb to them,” Frisk said.

“OH, RIGHT! GO ON, MY LITTLE PUZZLE ASSISTANT! GIVE THE ORB TO THEM!”

“Mmh… There is only one orb for four of them. Three of them will not be able to do the puzzle.”

“EASY! THEY GO ONE AT A TIME! ONCE ONE PASSES, YOU GIVE THE ORB TO THE NEXT ONE.”

“But then, the ones who aren’t going first will know the path.”

“THAT’S TRUE. HMMM… HOW TO SOLVE THAT?”

“How about we close our eyes?” Phantom proposed.

“GOOD IDEA, COOL KID! ANYTHING ELSE?”

“Nothing else comes to mind,” Frisk answered.

“GOOD. THEN GIVE THEM THE ORB!”

At that, Frisk took the orb and went around the maze, thus not leaving any print in the snow to reveal the path.

“You aren’t making it easy for us, uh?” Kris said jokingly as she took the orb.

At that, Frisk stuck out his tongue before he walked back to Papyrus and Sans.

Papyrus rubbed his hair with a “GOOD JOB!” In return, Frisk gave him a big proud smile.

Kris, holding the orb, slowly entered the maze, the others closing their eyes. She didn’t remember at all the path from back in her universe. She ended up touching a wall, making the orb shock her. Her body shook because of the electricity and she quickly moved away from the wall. Then, she shook her head to recover her senses and continued into the maze.

Toriel stared at the whole process in thought. “Is not a puzzle supposed to be able to be ‘solved’? How do you ‘solve’ this maze? I do not see any way you would be able to traverse it without being shocked.”

Papyrus raised a finger and opened his mouth only to say nothing. He lowered his finger, then rubbed his chin. “THAT’S A GOOD POINT. A PUZZLE SHOULD BE FAIR. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TRAVERSE THIS MAZE WITHOUT BEING SHOCKED, BUT UNLESS YOU ALREADY KNOW THE PATH, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. I WILL HAVE TO THINK OF SOMETHING.”

“How about a device that beeps when you get close to a wall?” Frisk proposed.

“THAT’S AN EXCELLENT IDEA! I’M GOING TO ASK THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS AS SOON AS I HAVE THE OCCASION! I’M PROUD OF YOU, MY LITTLE PUZZLE ASSISTANT!” Papyrus congratulated before he rubbed Frisk’s hair again. “WE WILL MAKE A PUZZLE MASTER OUT OF YOU, YOU WILL SEE!”

After that, Frisk was positively shining, making Toriel smile fondly. Sans, however, wasn’t very happy to see his brother get close to his murderer, but there was nothing he could say about it without sounding crazy. Also, Frisk had to get his perfect ending, which included befriending everyone in the Underground, or else, he ran the risk of events repeating.

Kris reached the end of the maze, then Frisk took the orb from her and went to give it to the next kid. Then, he saw the footprints left by Kris in the snow and quickly went through the maze to cover them.

“I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT THE FOOTPRINTS! GOOD THINKING, MY LITTLE PUZZLE ASSISTANT!”

One by one, the kids completed the maze, all of them laughing by the end of it. Apple Death tried throwing snow at the walls, only to discover that the walls weren’t physical so you could simply traverse the area if you didn’t have the orb. This got her a pat on the head and a “WELL TRIED!” from Papyrus once she reached the end.

“YOU ALL MANAGED TO ‘SOLVE’ THE MAZE! GOOD JOB! BUT BE PREPARED! THE NEXT PUZZLE IS MADE BY SANS! IT WILL BE SO DASTARDLY THAT I’M SHIVERING!”

“it must be the cold,” Sans said.

“IMPOSSIBLE! WE SKELETONS DON’T FEEL COLD! NOW COME, MY LITTLE PUZZLE ASSISTANT! SANS!”

Papyrus then put Frisk on his shoulders and grabbed Sans by the hood before he ran away, cackling. Frisk laughed too, but for a different reason.

“He certainly has a lot of energy,” Toriel said.

Continuing their journey, they bought some Nice Cream, keeping one for Frisk. Then they played a little golf game, getting a blue flag and winning 2 golds.

They reached Papyrus, Sans, and Frisk, with the Word Search. The kids easily solved it, but Sweetie Void pointed out the error in it that made it impossible to solve normally, making Papyrus yell at Sans. They then agreed with either Papyrus or Sans whether Junior Jumbles or Crosswords are harder before Papyrus ran away with Frisk and Sans again.

They ate the spaghetti that Papyrus prepared. Toriel warmed it with her fire magic. It tasted… not good, but they still managed to eat everything. Phantom especially didn’t mind. As Infinite, she had had to eat really questionable stuff to survive.

They encountered Lesser Dog, and like with Doggo, they played fetch and petted him. They petted him to the point that his neck reached the cavern’s ceiling.

They ditched Jerry. He was a lost cause.

They easily found the secret switch indicated by the map hidden under the snow, allowing them to continue and encounter Dogami and Dogaressa. Again, this ended in another session of fetching and petting.

The X to O puzzles weren’t a problem, although, with the help of Frisk, Papyrus had been able to make his puzzle look like his face in time, which made it better. Papyrus was also very happy to know that they ate his spaghetti.

Then came the puzzle with the colored tiles, which ended like it ended every time before: with a straight line of pink surrounded by red.

A very disbelieving Papyrus silently left, followed by Frisk and Sans, under the hidden laughs of the children and Toriel.

They undecorated Gyftrot. Toriel wanted to have two words with the teens that did that to him.

They encountered Greater Dog, which ended like with the other dogs. This time, Sweetie Void and Kris made him pick them up, putting them on his shoulders. In his armor, he was big enough that a child could sit on a shoulder. After that, the dog agreed to accompany them, the children remaining on his shoulders.

They traversed the long bridge and found Papyrus, Frisk, and Sans at the end.

“I HAD SOMETHING PLANNED FOR THIS BRIDGE, BUT THEN, MY LITTLE PUZZLE ASSISTANT POINTED OUT THAT IT WASN’T A PUZZLE BUT AN OBSTACLE COURSE, WHICH IS NOT AT ALL MY STYLE. AND I AGREED. SO, NOTHING TO SEE HERE!”

Greater Dog barked.

“GREATER DOG! I SEE THAT YOU MET THE HUMANS! DID YOU CAPTURE THE ONES ON YOUR SHOULDERS? I HOPE NOT! I’M THE ONE WHO IS SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE THEM!”

“No, he didn’t capture us, he is just a good boy who is guiding us to Snowdin Town,” Sweetie Void explained.

“Also, you should have said to the dogs on the way that you had dibs on us, they all tried to capture us,” Phantom said.

“AH… SADLY, I HAVE NO SAY IN WHAT THE SENTRIES DO. YOU SEE…” He took a pose. “WHILE UNDYNE IS TRAINING ME, I AM NOT YET PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD, SO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE SENTRIES, OUTRANK ME. BUT IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE UNDYNE MAKES ME ONE! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AFTER ALL! AND CAPTURING YOU WILL BE THE PROOF THAT I’M READY! BUT NOW… THERE ARE NO PUZZLES LEFT. SO I GUESS THAT IT IS TIME FOR YOUR FINAL CHALLENGE: ME!!! YOU WILL FIGHT ME, AND IF I WIN, THEN I CAPTURE YOU!”

Phantom grinning, remembering how tough Papyrus was as he showed at the beginning of the forest. “Bring it on!”

“Oh… I’m not sure if…” Toriel began in worry only to be stopped by Apple Death patting her side.

“Don’t worry, Toriel, Ah’m sure that he’ll be careful. Even if we’re hurt, it’ll all be in good fun. And we can always heal after with some food.”

Toriel sighed. “Very well…”

“AS SOON AS YOU REACH THE END OF SNOWDIN, THE CHALLENGE WILL BEGIN!” Papyrus announced before he looked down at Frisk. “IT MEANS THAT IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO JOIN YOUR FRIENDS SO YOU CAN FACE ME! WE HAD A GREAT TIME TOGETHER, BUT WE MUST PART WAY!”

“Okay.”

At that, Papyrus ran toward the town.

Sans, who was left behind, looked at them. “i guess there is no avoiding it. but don’t worry, he isn’t dangerous. as the one with the bow said, it’ll all be in good fun.” He eyed Frisk. “i will still keep an eye socket to ensure that there are no… accidents.” With that, he walked away.

The group followed him into the town and, deciding to get it over with, went straight to the end of Snowdin, Greater Dog leaving them before Grillby’s. They entered a fog and found Papyrus there.

“HUMANS! YOU HAVE ALREADY COME! YOU MUST BE AS EXCITED FOR THIS BATTLE AS ME! BUT BEFORE THAT, ALLOW ME TO SAY SOMETHING. SINCE THE INSTANT WE MET, YOU HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT NICE TO ME! YOU SOLVED MY PUZZLES WITH JOY AND LOVE! YOU ATE MY SPAGHETTI! WE HAD… FUN! BUT… HERE COMES SOME COMPLEXE FEELINGS. YOU SEE, AS A ROYAL GUARD APPRENTICE, IT IS MY GOAL TO CAPTURE A HUMAN. WHY? I DON’T KNOW, WE JUST DO THAT. BUT AS A RESULT, WE AREN’T SUPPOSED TO GET ‘BUDDY BUDDY’ WITH HUMANS. BUT AFTER ALL THIS NICE TIME WE SPENT TOGETHER, I… I REALLY WANT TO CONSIDER YOU MY FRIENDS. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!”

Sweetie Void grinned while she used the cover of the fog to prepare something. “Listen to your heart!”

“MY HEART? I’M A SKELETON, I DON’T HAVE A HEART!”

“Alright. Listen to your SOUL, then.”

“MY SOUL? HMMM…”

Suddenly, Sweetie Void threw something at Papyrus. What she threw hit him right in the face.

“NYEEEH?!!”

“SNOWBALL BATTLE!!!” Sweetie Void yelled.

The kids cheered and began to prepare snowballs.

Papyrus was speechless. Then, he glared at Sweetie Void. “SO YOU WANT THAT KIND OF BATTLE, UH? YOU DO KNOW THAT IT MEANS THAT I WILL OFFER NO MERCY, RIGHT?”

“Do yer worst!” Apple Death said.

“IF YOU INSIST. DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, NEVER LOST A SNOWBALL BATTLE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”

Thus began an epic snowball battle, Toriel remaining on the sideline with a hand on her mouth. Sans eventually appeared and took Frisk by surprise by throwing a snowball at him from behind, the skeleton giving him a shit-eating grin. Frisk grinned back, then threw a snowball, only for Sans to dodge it.

Sans was so focused on Frisk that he didn’t see a snowball hit him from the size. Surprised, he looked and saw the responsible: Kris, who was smirking while tossing a ball repeatedly.

Sans’ eyes turned black. “this is on, kid.”

In the chaos, nobody saw Sweetie Void slipping away, back toward Snowdin. Once in the middle of the town, she screamed, “SNOWBALL BATTLE! AT THE EXIT OF SNOWDIN! COME QUICK!”

Many monsters, especially children, cheered and ran to join the fun. The dogs, who heard her, exited Grillby’s and ran to join too, wanting to play.

Chara, with Frisk’s permission, used the cover of the fog to take his place and participate, his need to join in the fun eventually winning out.

And so, the epic snowball battle became legendary, lasting for a whole hour. The fog made it even funnier because it was difficult to see who was who, so teams rarely lasted long.

“So, what does your SOUL say, Papyrus?” Sweetie Void eventually asked when she found herself right beside the tall skeleton as if by chance.

“IT SAYS… THAT PROTOCOLES SHOULDN’T STOP ME FROM MAKING FRIENDS!”

“Exactly! And don’t worry about Undyne. I’m sure that she will see the Friendship Side quickly enough.”