Red pushed up against the tree, looking up at the darkening sky. They did it. They were escaping!

If only they could make progress, really. None of them had escaped to the surface, they had no idea where to run. All they knew was to get as far away from Papyrus as they could.

Red knew his way out around the beartraps, but once they managed to escape from the forest, the extent of his knowledge ended. This was all new to him, to everyone that had been kidnapped. All he could hope was that Sans managed to hold of Papyrus long enough. His fake crying better be good.

There was no where for them to go. All Red could do was lead them down the gravel road, pressing forward with the hopes of finding something.

Papyrus thought of everything, didn't the bastard? But if his old Sans was like him, then...

They had a chance.

Alphys was still alive, they knew that. She was here somewhere, but Papyrus would expect them to go looking for her. While Red did hope to somehow stumble onto her, he knew it would be unlikely.

That's why they were going back to the mountain.

Alphys had built the machine, they all knew that. It was why Undyne was there, so Papyrus could hold her as a hostage. But the old lady behind the door could still be in the ruins, that gave them a good place to hide, in the Underground. Where they had an advantage over Papyrus.

What Red really wanted to go for was the notes in Alphys' lab. If he could get the proper materials and notes, Red could rebuild the machine Alphys had created. Now that he knew it was possible, he could potentially recreate the results. Sans was the only other one in this universe that had the scientific background, but he was out of the picture right now. Red had to go rebuild it, to save all of them. The old lady knew all of the places to hide in the ruins, she could help hide them if Papyrus ever searched the Underground.

Not to mention, Red still had the token hiding spot.

In Snowdin, there was a hiding spot he always used. A guaranteed hiding spot, just along the trees. Red himself used it whenever Papyrus was in a bad mood, or whenever a monster got a little too angry at him, but it was perfect. If it really came down to it, they could hide there. The cold air of Snowdin was blend in with the cold air that always followed them.

The mountain was impossible to not miss. It was their only chance to get away, having followed the road to climb up. Red clutched the tree he had been leaning against, looking ahead. The hole was right there.

And so, they jumped down.

Red hated not having his magic, but there was nothing he could do about that. How the heck did Papyrus even get his hands on magic restraints?

Flowers brushed against his ankles as Red staggered up, looking around the ruins. They were bare. Empty.

A little too empty.

So the Sanses continued forward, passing by solved puzzles and old vines. Where were all of the monsters?

"Howdy!"

While Red had somehow become the unspoken leader, it had been Blue who answered, kneeling down to question the small flower.

"Um, hello there!" Blue asked.

The flower retreated back at the sight of more than one Sans, none of them looking exactly like the Sans that belonged in this universe.

"What are you guys- How- I saw Sans kill himself, how are there more than one?" Flowey asked.

"We're not from this universe, Papyrus kidnapped us," Blue explained, "He used Undyne as a hostage so Alphys would build him a machine to cross universes. Can you help us?"

"No, no, I'm not going to go against Papyrus," Flowey said, retreating back into his vines from the fear of the name. "He killed so many monsters, he even killed Frisk and broke the barrier to escape with Sans! That guy is crazy!"

"Yeah, we f*cking know," Red muttered.

A 'shh' sounded from next to him. He rolled his eye lights, but nevertheless let Blue continue to speak.

"Do you know where the person in the ruins is?" Blue asked.

"Toriel?" Flowey asked, "She's gone."

"What do you mean?" Blue looked worried now.

"Dead, kasplat," Flowey said, "Another one of Papyrus' victims. She was the only one who got close to figuring out where Sans was, she thought it'd be a great idea to avenge Frisk by defeating him and saving Sans. That's how I saw Sans kill himself, because I had went with her, you morons. The idiot had sacrificed himself to go with Papyrus so no one else got hurt, but when he saw Toriel get killed, he realized that Papyrus wouldn't be stopped unless he was killed. So he decided to kill himself, the trash bag told me it'd be all over when he did. Guess it wasn't."

"Are you going to tell him we were here?" Blue asked.

"You guys don't get it, don't you?" Flowey asked, "Over half of the monster population is dead because of him. It won't take him long to drive around and once he sees you guys aren't there, he'll come down here. I'm going back into the ground the moment he shows up, I'm not confronting that psycho."

"Papyrus isn't psycho, he's just lonely!" Blue had argued, "I'm sure he just misses his brother."

"Misses his brother, wants to kidnap his brother and kill alternate versions on him, whatever you believe, kid," Flowey grunted, rolling his eyes. "But here, I'll help you a bit."

A vine rolled out, holding out something. Blue opened his hands, accepting the object.

It was a knife.

"The reason everyone keeps dying by Papyrus is because he catches them off guard," Flowey said, "Like Grillby, he followed the bartender into Waterfall and pushed him into the river. Or like Frisk, he had attacked her when she had tried to confess to him about Sans. Toriel didn't last because she couldn't get close enough. If you guys can get close enough and stab him, you can kill him."

"I-I can't kill him!" Blue said, "He's my brother!"

"Well, you-"

The sudden distant sound of someone falling onto the flowers alerted the skeletons, making them look over. Flowey gave a curt "Good luck!" before he dove back into the dirt, disappearing.

Just like that, they were running.

No one else would have jumped Underground, it could have only been Papyrus. Of course he had an advantage over them when it came to transport, he used to train everyday and had a car. They were short skeletons who had to walk the entire distance. Sans had probably managed to distract him enough to get them this far without him catching up, but now it was up to them.

They had enough of a headstart to run through to the end of the ruins, noticing the doors were left wide open. Red had slammed it closed behind them before catching up.

"Maybe if we just try to talk to Papyrus, now that we're not chained, he'll listen to us!" Blue had said.

"We're not doing that you f*cking idiot!" The other skeleton next to him yelled.

Red caught up, his hand clutching onto Blue's wrist.

"We're definitely not doing that," Red said, "But follow me, I know a hiding spot."

Papyrus was catching up, that was clear by the sound of the ruin doors. He probably had heard them talking to Flowey, he knew they were down here, and that he was on their tail. But he didn't know the hiding spot, it was their only chance.

Once Red managed to reach it, he crammed them into it, brushing the snow to cover the entrance. The hiding spot, while simple, was the best thing Red had ever found. There was an old tree that had been bent over at an angle, creating a large hold underneath the trunk and roots. When someone covered the outer edge with snow, it would simply look like a tree, with no evidence of someone hiding below. Sure enough, when he had gotten there, the snow was covering the hole. Red had brushed the snow back in once they were inside, sealing themselves off.

They'd have to wait him out. Papyrus may be obsessed with them, but his favorite was still at home. His injury would need to be watched, the bandages would need to be changed. Sans would need to be fed, he would need company. Papyrus, while he liked having multiple versions of his brother, preferred the one that looked most like his Sans. If they waited him out, Papyrus would go back to his house, and give them plenty of time to get out and go to Hotland.

Red wasn't sure how long they had waited until Papyrus started the fake calling, the fake crying.

"Please, I just want my brother!" He sobbed, his voice distant.

Blue looked sadly at the exit to the cramped area, and Red vigorously shook his head in a firm 'no, shut up'. He was going to get them all captured again! It was clearly a trap!

The voice grew closer, and it was evident Blue had been the one Papyrus was trying to guilt. Blue looked antsy, pulling at his sleeves as he kept looking at the exit. Red wanted to go over there and strangle him.

"I-I can't-" Blue whispered.

"Blue, no!" The other skeleton next to him hissed.

But it was too late. Blue was yelling out, telling Papyrus it was going to be okay.

There was barely a second before the snow on their hiding spot was being kicked in, red gloved hands reaching in. Red screamed and threw himself back, silently thanking that he was the furthest from the insane guy grabbing. Black had been the unfortunate one who was grabbed first, being pulled out and-

~~~~~~

"Wait."

Red looked up from his story, staring at Gwen with confusion.

"You guys had said there was only three of you," Gwen pointed out, "You, Sans, and Blue. Who's Black?"

Red's eye sockets went wide, and his fanged mouth crammed shut, the skeleton retreating back into the chair.

"Uh oh," He muttered.