Humans, if you were to categorize them in really general and broad terms, were completely and undeniably: weird. If you were to be more specific with your terms though, - well, they would still be weird - but at least you would have a better idea of what you were dealing with. The crux of the problem lay, however, in most of them not being open or even accepting about their quirks. As individuals, they seemed to like acting as if they were the one that was not weird or, the only one that was weird, and everyone else just didn't understand.

And, well, shit, that was just a confusing way of looking at things.

Monsters, on the other hand, were all kinds of weird, but also a pretty much an open book about it. For instance, there were monsters who liked to wash things, people - anything really. They announced it. They made sure you were aware of it. If you didn't want a bath that day, you'd better avoid any monster wanting to wash you. So, if you somehow ended up wet and smelling nice, well that was just you not paying attention.

Monsters were pretty straightforward. You knew what made them tick. Or tock, as the case might be. You really didn't have to think about it too much.

Humans, on the other hand, waaay too much thinking. It was exhausting.

Why was he thinking about humans anyway?

Oh right.

His younger bro had been going on, and on, about humans, and how fascinating they were, all day. Swap Papyrus didn't care about humans on most days. Maybe on Thursdays, and possibly on Fridays if he had any left over caring - which rarely happened. That day happened to be a Wednesday if one took a calendar's opinion seriously. So it was no wonder when a long pause happened, Papyrus wasn't particularly caught up with the conversation.

"Hm…" he commented. This was usually good enough for participation, but Swap Sans was not really in the mood to let him off the hook easily.

"This is IMPORTANT!" declared Sans, snapping the last syllable, like he always did when he wanted to emphasize something, and a single exclamation point just wouldn't do. He walked backwards in front of him to make sure he had his full attention. "Paps! Now that the barrier is gone, we're free to go anywhere! Live among humans!

Sans spread his arms before him to mime all the freedom they had. His small arms didn't quite show the scope with it, but his smile and especially his eyes, proclaimed it. Papyrus couldn't help but smile at his excitement, even he didn't quite share it.

"That's cool. If humans want to be around me, they can come live here" Papyrus looked around lazily at their surroundings. They were walking through the woods, about 10 minutes away from their home in Snowdin. (5 minutes, if Sans had it his way) It was close to whatever passed for dusk in the Underground and about the only sounds around them was the crunching of the snow beneath their feet and Sans chattering. All in all, it was all very peaceful.

Sans huffed. It wasn't a secret that he been increasingly getting bored with life in Snowdin. The fall of the Barrier and end of the "threat" of humans, derailed his dreams of becoming a Royal Guard. This didn't exactly discourage the small skeleton but it left him with no immediate goals. Never the one to stay down for long, however, Sans concentrated on doing daily "good deeds" rounds instead. This basically meant that he went around town helping people and monsters alike.

Whether they liked it or not.

Sometimes he would get his brother involved. The last few days being one of those "sometimes".

A slime monster family had needed help moving some of their possessions to their new home at the Capital. Normally, this would be a two day trip if you walked. This time it took five, because, well slime monsters, especially slime monsters carrying their life possessions, were not exactly known for being fast. It had been a pleasant trip for the brothers though, and they got to see how their Underground world was changing with the Barrier gone.

Not only were there humans in the Underground but also, monsters from alternate universes (a side effect from the fall of the Barrier nobody had expected). Their presence was sparse compared to the new humans braving the Underground. The openings to alternate universes were not very reliable and, really, not a lot of monsters were brave - or rather, foolish - enough to go on visiting different worlds.

It came as a shock to no one that the alternate monsters that they saw most commonly were Sans(es?). There was just something about his little brother and his alternates, that just loved to court that kind of adventuring. So far, however, his brother seemed to be in the minority when it came to levels of energy. Most of the Sans-es they had met were closer to Papyrus in personality and energy conservation philosophy. It was all really curious, and confusing and again, Papyrus didn't care about the whole affair on most days.

With one exception.

And that exception had come in the form of his and his brother's alternates from a world known as Underfell. They had been the first alternates they ever met and, the only ones that had really left an impression on the tall skeleton. Especially Underfell Sans.

He, he, just worried Swap Papyrus.

He was short, maybe a little huskier and a younger brother like his Sans. Unlike his brother, however, he was withdrawn and prone to anger. He was very physical and had only seen him use magic once or twice. It was obvious why too: he wasn't very skillful at it. His magic was chaotic and unfocused. It was almost as if he wanted to get hurt. Which set off all sorts of brotherly alarms in Papyrus since like most Sans, he only had 1 point of health.

For the sake of preventing confusion, he had taken up to calling him Red instead of Sans, inspired by the color of his eyes. His older brother, ended up with the nickname "Fell", mainly because Swap Papyrus wasn't excessively creative, and to a lesser extent because he wasn't incredibly fond of the guy.

Red had stumbled upon the rip that connected their worlds and ended up staying a couple of days with the Swap brothers, under the pretense that he needed a "vacation". Swap Sans, "Blue" as he ended up being called by his Underfell counterpart, had been beyond himself with excitement not only at the new visitor but at possibilities of whole new worlds to visit. He pestered Red with questions and dragged him around town showing him around. When it looked imminent that Red was going to ask Blue to stop by punching him in the face, Papyrus intervened and took under his "wing", so to speak, by asking him to sit next to him in the couch to watch tv.

Swap Sans had not been too happy about it but soon had busied himself in the kitchen preparing dinner for everyone.

"So… what's your brother like?" had asked Papyrus completely ignoring the tv. He was curious even if he wasn't ready to admit it.

He was ignored. At least that what he thought until he realized that Red just couldn't find the words right away.

"He's not you, that's for sure" he finally said. He smiled sarcastically which looked so wrong in a face that resembled his brother's so much.

Papyrus raised a mental eyebrow but didn't ask any more questions.

Red's answer became painfully honest when he finally met Underfell Papyrus two days later. The even taller skeleton was all sharp points and glowering. His introduction to them was framed by a surprise bone attack while they were outside their home gathering wood. Papyrus had almost been hit and Sans had stumbled backwards into a snowbank.

Red immediately ran up to his brother to put an end to the attack. Fell was obviously pissed that his brother had disappeared on him without warning. Papyrus -could- understand that. He would be upset if Sans did that to him. Sure. Although he was also sure he wouldn't go around attacking random monsters.

The Fell brothers argued loudly and angrily. It was … disconcerting to say the least. Papyrus and Sans watched them in quiet disbelief. They themselves had argued in the past, but never that intensely. One would think that the Underfell brothers hated each other and that was just ... unthinkable.

Out of the corner of his eye, Papyrus saw Sans unconsciously pull on his blue scarf to cover his mouth and nose to hide his distress. He hadn't seen him do that since he was a baby bones. Monsters tended to think that Sans was way younger than he actually was because of his stature and cheery demeanor, when in reality, he was a young adult. He went out of his way to act the way he believed an adult monster would and took pride in not showing weakness. So, to see his brother upset like that, made Papyrus decide to do something about it.

He patted his brother in the back reassuringly and started walking towards the arguing pair. After a moment of doubt, Sans straightened his clothes and his back and followed his big brother's example. Their argument had devolved into insults and cursing by the time Papyrus decided to walk over. He didn't rush as he needed time to think what the hell he was going to say to these two.

Then he saw Fell grab Red by the front of his shirt and throw him to the ground.

"HEY!" Papyrus shouted then almost fell over as Sans rushed past him to stand in between Fell and Red.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Sans yelled at Fell. HE'S YOUR BROTHER!"

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?" asked Fell towering over Sans.

"HEY, HEY!" exclaimed Papyrus reaching them and grabbing Fell by the arm. "Don't talk to my brother like that"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" yelled Fell jerking away from Papyrus. " I WILL END YOU!"

"Just calm down, ok buddy? Nobody wants a fight" said Papyrus trying to keep his voice calm. The last thing he wanted was to have to fight another version of himself. He motioned towards Red who was being helped up by Sans "Why are you attacking our friend here?"

"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND THAT FOOL!" answered Fell his eyes glowing red.

"It's fine, it's fine" said Red rubbing his head. "It's just the way my boss says "hello"" The sarcastic smile came out again. It sent shivers down Papyrus' spine.

"IT'S FINE?" he asked "I thought he was your bro?"

"Well, yeah …" Red waved a concerned Sans away. He cleared his throat "He IS. He ... is also my boss"

"THAT'S RIGHT!" declared Fell "I AM THE GREAT AND INVINCIBLE PAPYRUS AND THIS FOOL IS MY UNDERLING"

"I… " started Papyrus.

"THAT'S HORRIBLE!" interrupted Sans "He's your BROTHER! Why are you calling him an UNDERLING?!"

Fell narrowed his eyes at Sans. "He hasn't earned the right to call me his brother, yet", he explained in a tone one would use when stating the most obvious thing in the world.

Sans gasped. Red quickly stepped in front of him before he could say anything else. "Yes, yep, that's just the way it is"

Sans looked ready to argue but a look from both Red and Papyrus shut him down. Instead he folded his arms in front of him and muttered under his breath about how this whole situation was just wrong.

"Look, this all sounds … uh … "Great" … However, I … WE … would really appreciate it if you didn't go around hitting your brother" said Papyrus letting his right eye glow orange for emphasis on the you-really-don't-want-to-piss-me-off subtext of his statement.

Fell regarded him without breaking eye contact. "Who are you?" He asked suspiciously.

"Apparently, I'm you from another timeline. Like your cousin, twice removed?" said Papyrus smiling faintly.

When in doubt. Joke.

"You're me?"

"Yeah! Don't you see the resemblance?"

"Hardly…."

It took a lot explaining but eventually Fell seemed to accept the fact that he just wasn't in another part of his homeworld but rather in a completely different world with its own timeline.

He wasn't thrilled about it but hey, at least he wasn't yelling or attacking anybody anymore.

In the end, he declared that him and his Sans needed to get back to their own world immediately and, to the Swap brother's chagrin, the smaller skeleton agreed. Papyrus had the suspicion that he was just doing it to avoid another confrontation. He knew he couldn't force him to stay. Doing so would make him no better than Fell. However, he made the suggestion that they could come back and visit anytime, and while this got a scoff from Fell, Red smiled and, Papyrus was happy to see that it was genuine.

There were other visits. Sporadic due to the nature of the portal between their worlds. Sometimes it would stay stable for days, weeks even, then it would fade and disappear for equally random periods of time.

The majority of the visits involved Underfell Sans coming to their world by himself. None of these visits lasted very long and Papyrus was pretty sure that Underfell Papyrus didn't know about most of them. His little brother was always happy to see his alternate, but it was obvious that Red tended to gravitate towards Papyrus, so he left them alone whenever possible.

"I think he's just lonely" he said once "I bet his brother is lonely, too"

The Swap brothers only visited Underfell once, and that visit had been cut short due to the fact that Blue had almost gotten himself eaten. It had actually been one of those situations that would've been hilarious if it hadn't been so terrifying.

So the visits stayed pretty one sided.

As far as Papyrus knew.

"Papyrus" he heard Sans say before he almost bumped into him because he had stopped suddenly.

"Look" Sans said pointing towards something in front of them..

Papyrus looked up and saw the silhouette of a tall skeleton standing at the beginning of Snowdin's main road.

"Is that Fell?" Sans asked then he leaned forward and a big grin appeared on his face "IT IS! HI!"

Sans took off running towards Fell. Papyrus raised an eye ridge. Red was nowhere in sight. How long had it been since he had last seen him? One, two weeks? Why was Fell here?

A loud cracking sound reverberated through the quiet landscape. The world became tinted in red.

Time slowed down as Papyrus realized that the sound had come from his brother being hit with a red bone attack on the left side of his head and arm. It had been so sudden and vicious that it had sent him flying into a tree. His small body went limp and slid down to the snowy ground.

"SANS!" yelled Papyrus as he ran towards him but a barricade of red bones taller than him came out of the ground to stop him. They manifested all around him, caging him in.

He whirled to his right to confront their attacker. "FELL! WHAT THE FU…."

"Just like him, he's weak on his left side" said Underfell Papyrus walking calmly towards Sans unmoving body. "Gonna have to fix that"

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" yelled Papyrus manifesting his Blasters. He may be trapped but his magic certainly wasn't. "YOU LAY ONE FINGER ON HIM AND … ARGH!"

His chest exploded in pain as ribs and vertebra broke and fractured. He looked down and saw that three long bones had come up from the ground and skewered him through his rib cage barely missing his soul. He hadn't even seen Fell look at him, much less move his command hand. How…?

Papyrus closed his eyes trying to regain whatever control he had left. He shuddered in agony as he tried to pull free from the bones, but they were too long for him to be able to do so without help. Stars danced in front of his eyes. Unconsciousness was only a few breaths away.

He lurched his right hand forward, releasing a wild attack from one of his Blasters. He missed and was glad about it when he realized that Fell was now carrying an unconscious Sans in his arms. The left side of his face and his arm peppered with nasty long cracks.

"LET .. HIM … GO!" Papyrus rasped between breaths. His Blasters dissipated. His magic no longer able to sustain them and keep him alive at the same time. He desperately tried to get a read on his little brother's condition. His hp was down to half. He was seriously injured but at least he was not fallen.

"Don't worry. He won't die" Underfell Papyrus said commanding his attention back "Unless you do something foolish, like coming after him"

Papyrus tried to free himself again to no avail "WHAT … ARE YOU … TALKING ABOUT? WHY…"

"Why?" repeated Fell. He looked down at Sans and for a moment, his features seemed to soften only to sharpen again the next. "You could say I'm collecting what is owed to me. He said he I could be his brother too…"

Fell laughed without mirth. "If … if only he hadn't met you two…"

Papyrus could feel his legs losing the strength to keep him upright. Somewhere in the distance he heard someone shout in alarm. "I… I… don't understand …. Fell … please…"

Fell sneered "Blue is coming with me. I will train him and make him as great as me. I won't make the same mistakes I made with that fool. If you know what's good for you and him, you will not follow us. If I see you anywhere near him, I will kill him, then you"

That fool. Red.

"Where … where IS HE?" gasped Papyrus "What did … YOU DO TO HIM?"

"I did nothing" said Fell. He held Sans' body tighter and turned around to leave.

"FELL!" demanded Papyrus. Tears of frustration and fear streaming down his face.

Underfell Papyrus walked into the forest and just before the shadows engulfed him, he turned around one last time.

"I did nothing" he repeated.

"He killed himself"