Skeletons and Robots (Discontinued due to lack of time)

Chapter 30: Kidnapped

[REVISED]

"Okay, why the hell did I do this." I almost cried out, my legs carrying me awkwardly back and forth. "I saw Nami. Nami saw me. What did she think? Was she horrified? Was she-" I was cut off by blue magic, dispensed by none other than Sans the skeleton. He let out a long, tired sigh, and hopped off the chair he was sitting on. "Bud, kiddo, friend, it's not that easy. Nami probably couldn't think anything. She probably saw you, and then forgot you were even there shortly after. That's what soft resets do, yup. At least you got her, though. Good job." He shrugged, trying to look innocent. I huffed and shoved him out of the way, marching over to Alphys. I flicked the embedded spear right in front of the lizard, making sure the clink was heard. "Hey Alphy." I said, my tongue rolling on her nickname. I sounded intimidating. I wanted to keep it that way. "Know how to fix this?" I purred, leaning in close to her. She let out a muffled cry, as my hand was on her mouth now. "Tsk, tsk. No need to be scared. It's just me, your ol' buddy Neo!" I laughed maniacally, toning it down to a normal laugh after a minute. "Jeez, do I need to be fixed." I chuckled at Sans, who gave a nervous half-smile in return. I then whirled around to face Alphys again, and my mainframe glitched. I laughed the same maniacal laugh, then stuttered backwards a little bit, and repeated "buddy Neo!" a couple times before coughing up oil. I fell to the ground, clutching my abdomen. That was not the first time that had happened. I drew in a breath, which was shaky. I noticed I was shivering violently, on my hands and knees like a robotic animal.  (I s2g if one person says "Five Nights at Freddy's" I'll kill you).
Sans drifted over to Alphys, his breath snaking down my neck as he walked past. Using blue magic, he picked her up. "Fix him. For your own good." He said, a strange tune to his voice. Worry. A want, a powerful want. He wanted for me to be okay. On normal circumstances, I would have been happy, a smile plastered on my face. But at the moment, I was locked in a grimace, unable to move from my doggish stance. I watched Alphys from the corner of my eye, following her arm, which reached into her pocket and taking out a wrench. It was really big. Comical. With the wrench, she battered my arms and legs, much to Sans' disapproval. "It's okay, Sans! S-Sometimes damaging something c-can fix it!" She said, trying to sound enthusiastic. I weakly held up an arm, and smiled. "It's 'kay." I muttered, before laying my head back. I allowed myself to shut off.

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  "Momma, look! Arn't the lights so pretty?" Sans shrieked playfully, tugging at his mother's fine satin gown. Her vibrant and bouncy orange hair seemed to glow off of the cool blue and turquoise hues, chiseling her already-sharp features to clear statements. She pressed her teeth together, gripping her son's hand tighter. In her other arm, she cradled her younger son, Papyrus, who slept quite soundly there. His young skeleton eyes were frozen open eerily, but the active pupils whizzing around the eyes weren't visible within them. Valeria glanced at him tentatively, the etchings and tattoos that sculpted her face practically popping from her cheekbones.
  "Please, Sans, behave yourself in there. We only come because the new queen seeks our blessings. " She rasped, her voice cold and melancholy. Sans nodded sincerely, tucking his head inside of his loose-fitting suit. His mother's icy look lightened, and her lips hinted at a smile. "Don't worry Sansy, I have met her before. She is very nice, and I think you will find her sense of humor to be much better than mine." Sans perked up at his mother's words, his eyes beginning to shimmer.
  "Come on, then, we haven't a minute to lose, if we are to make your bedtime." His mother chirped, and the three strutted anxiously through the door.
Inside, a feast for kings awaited the trio. A long oak table stretched across the vast room, monsters dipping in to grab morsels of food helped themselves to the delicacies offered. Elaborately spiced roast beef presented itself, it's sides scattered with various vegetables and dressings. There was also a fruit bowl, brimmed with fresh looking apples, pears, and oranges that glimmered in the mellow lighting. There was also yogurt and an assortment of refreshments, but the only thing that seemed appetizing in the least to Sans was the clear bottle of ketchup next to the roast beast. He licked his lips and his eyes widened.
"Momma, look. Ketchup." He grunted, tugging eagerly at her dress. She glanced eat him carelessly, then her eyes bounced to the ketchup. Sans's mother's eyes lit up with joy, for her son knew that ketchup was her favorite thing to eat.
"You are right, dear. How about we eat after visiting the new queen?" She murmured pointedly, clicking her black lace-top heels. Sans licked his mouth and nodded, leaning away from the table. Valeria sashayed down to the dance floor, blocking her son from the monsters enjoying themselves around them. They all had some suspicions to do with the sudden divorce if Sans's parents, and most of them were beginning to take that extra step away from Sans and his mother when they sat down at places. Valeria, being such a meek and friendly person, had obviously gotten hurt feelings from their actions, for she had taken Sans into town less and less since the divorce. Sans didn't mind, since he didn't have many friends anyway.
The three skeletons then continued down a long, richly carpeted hallway. Laughter and commotion could be heard through the walls. A presence filtered through the air, one not quite of that world. It seemed to float effortlessly through the halls and rooms, unseen and undisturbed. Valeria sensed it, and squeezed her son's fragile hand tighter. She had been able to acquire peace since the divorce, a sense of tranquility. Her husband had born too much stress onto her family since their marriage, and a woman of her stature could only take so much pressure before important decisions she had to make would be made much more difficult by her lack of judgement. Finally, since the divorce, everything was okay. Personally, Valeria couldn't personally bear to think about the trouble in later years that might have befallen them if they had stayed married.
Valeria stopped before an engraved metal door. Turning to her son, she bent down and gingerly touched his cheek.
"Okay, now, remember to be respectful." She whispered to her boy, and he nodded in agreement. It was a pathetic nod, however, a nod that a child might muster after being scolded my someone important to them. Those are the worst kinds of nods, as they always lead to rebellion.
As one might do, Sans expected a certain thing when he crossed through the door. He had painted a picture in his head of what the queen and her visitors might look like and act like, and he had carefully sculpted everything down to the last detail. The queen herself would sit high on a ruby-studded throne, a small and devious smirk sitting upon her lips. Her legs, concealed underneath her long, flowing ocean blue dress, would be crossed regally, her hind paws pointed towards the carpeted ground. Her visitors would appraise her, bowing their heads in respect and muttering humble words. Men would give her gifts and well-wishes, while ladies would gossip over her beauty and stature. That, Sans thought, was what might meet his eyes when he first approached the queen. However, that was not at all what came of it.
When the metal door was pushed open by Valeria, a new feast of sights never seen before aquatinted themselves with Sans. Maiden monsters chortled with laughter, leaning against their spouses for support. However, those spouses could not support even themselves, as they too were laughing messes. Families with children pranced around, eagerly directing their children to freely touch the objects in the room. One small boy was even sitting on the extra throne! However, something did not quite feel right through the warm atmosphere to Sans. Everyone seemed to be having fun, except for the queen herself. The queen was absent. Her throne, empty. Sans shook his head, eyeing the crowd.
"Momma, where is the queen?" Sans piped, leaning foreword on his tippy toes. His mother chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Why, she is right there, talking to Mr. Grillby. Do you want to say hi now?" Her voice echoed in his ears, and his eyes jumped hastily in the direction of Grillby. There she was, sure enough. How had Sans not noticed her before? Perhaps it was due to her ability to blend in with the crowd, for she appeared to be quote normal, save for the shimmering tiara on her forehead. She was, as he had suspected, a goat. But she was young, and her laughter seemed to ignite the room better than the flame of the torch monster she conversed with to her left. She wore a baby blue dress that made her white coat stand out, and, unlike his mother, the queen wore no makeup. Sans turned to his mother cautiously and pointed in the queen's direction.
"Why Momma, she looks so young! Are you sure that is her?" He inquired. She nodded, and Sans noticed the queen's head swivel in their direction. A shiver crawled up his back as she excused herself from the conversation and began to stride confidently towards them. Sans glanced up, panic settling in his stomach. His mother had turned straight as a board. Sans scurried behind the folds of her dress, inhaling sharply.
"Good evening, my queen. If I may humbly introduce myself, I am Valeria." Sans felt his mother bow down on top of him, and he too crouched to keep concealed. He heard the queen chuckle. Her voice truly was that of the fresh morning dew, and of the night air.
"Please, let's not get to that point. I am Toriel, but call me Tori. " She tittered, smiling warmly. "Who is this?"
"Oh, that is my son Papyrus. " Sans then heard his mother reply, with maybe just an ounce of pride in her tone. The queen began to tickle him.
"Why, he is lovely, Valeria! I have heard so much about you and your family, for as you know your husband is our royal scientist. He is such a lovely man, and so kind too. You two must be so happy together." Sans felt his mother cringe.
"We actually just recently divorced." Valeria stated coldly, her eye sockets unmoving. Toriel blushed, then bashfully sputtered, "Oh, I am sorry, Valeria. I never really liked his work anyways."
"Oh, it is quite all right, your majesty. As with you, you are very lucky to have found his highness. Congratulations on your marriage."  Sans rolled his eyes. They were talking like boring ladies having a tea party. Why couldn't anything interesting happen? Sans sighed a long and hard sigh. Unfortunately, goats have very keen ears, for Toriel straightened up.
  "Do you have another son? I saw him looking at me earlier, and just now I think I heard him." She asked, and Sans felt his mother lightly kick him from underneath her dress.
  "Yes, my son Sans. He is hiding behind me, I think he is a little bit shy in front of you for some reason. Come on, Sans, come meet Toriel." His mother cooed warmly, although Sans could easily distinguish the bitterness hidden inside of her words directed towards him. Sans shook his head, although no one could see him from his position.
  "Here, let me try. Sans, I am going to tell you a joke."Sans perked up. A joke? His mother had told him the queen was good at jokes. "Sans, if a plane full of 500 bricks is flying, and one brick falls out, how many bricks are left in the plane?"
"499?" Sans whimpered shyly.
"Good! Now, how many steps are there to put an elephant in a refrigerator?"
  "Open the refrigerator, put the elephant inside, and shut the door. " Sans stated, his jaw quivering shyly.
"Good, my child! Now, there are four steps to putting a giraffe in the refrigerator. What are they?" Her voice was eerily cheerful.
"Open the refrigerator, take the elephant out, put the giraffe in, and shut the door.." Sans stated, peering out from his hiding place at the queen. An eager smile stood proudly on her face, so exaggerated that Sans felt it would pop off of her features and run across the room at any moment.
"Good!" She said, "Now, the baby lion is having a birthday party, and all of the animals are invited. Unfourtunantly, one of them does not come. What animal is that, and why couldn't it come?" Sans cocked his head. Was she pulling his leg? These were so easy, and they weren't at all funny.
"The giraffe, because it is in the refrigerator!" He awnsered confidently, stepping towards the queen. She egged him on, jesting, "Okay, now, say there is a treasure, and it is on an island in the rainforest. The island is usually surrounded by crocodiles. Now, a raider is trying to steal the treasure, but to get to it, he needs to swim across the lake. He knows he will die, but he swims anyway. He does not die. Why is this?"
"Because the crocodiles are all at the lion's birthday!" Sans cried.
"Yes! And now, last question: on his way back with the treasure, he did die. How did he die?" Sans did a double take. What? This question was so much harder than the others, for some reason. The others had been obvious, so he must have misheard the last question. He began to ponder this, but he was interrupted by Toriel's cry of victory.
"Because a brick fell on his head!" She chortled with that same magic laughter that he had heard before, and Sans watched in shock as his mother laughed too! It wasn't a fake laugh, either. Her cheeks had burnt up with delight, and a certain warmth had grown into her face. Her laugh was a beautiful sound, too; silken and flowing, her voice stayed in rythym, as if singing a song. Sans had never heard his mother laugh before. Papyrus, hearing his mother's laugh, mimicked it and chuckled some as well. Soon, Sans, too, found himself laughing. The joke wasn't even funny.