All I want for Christmas

Day 8: An odd race part 1

Frisk was excitedly waiting at the bottom of the hill. They had been looking forward to this day the whole week and were eager to finally spend some time with their friends again. Papyrus had asked if they wanted to make a sled race and of course everybody had agreed. Even Asgore was coming, although he had chosen to watch, rather than participate. Grillby had agreed to do the same.

"HUMAN FRISK! ARE YOU READY TO RACE AGAINST THE GREAT PAPYRUS?" The tall skeletons voice trailed through the cold air. Frisk turned to see him running towards them, dragging Mettaton with him. Sans and Grillby followed at a slower pace, the small skeleton waving a short greeting.

"Hello darling" the robot chirped, gently breaking out of Papyrus grip. The lanky skeleton was basically exploding with uncontained glee.

Before either Sans or Grillby got the chance to talk, Toriel appeared behind the human child, a classic wooden sled behind her.

"Ah, there you all are. Good afternoon." The former queen smiled, her eyes wandering over the small group.

"Now we just have to-"

"NGHAAAA. FINALLY found you punks." Interrupted Undyne the bossmonster with a loud snarl. She came running towards the other monsters, Alphys safely tucked in her arms. The lizard-monster had her hands over her eyes and squeaked in surprise and fear. Grillby and Sans both took a step back simultaneously, getting out of the danger zone just in time, before the former captain of the royal guard crashed into Papyrus, losing her grip on Alphys in the process. Mettaton helped the befuddled scientist up, while Undyne chased Papyrus through the snow, screaming at him to stand still.

Frisk giggled at the scene. Oh, how they had missed this.

"heya al. what've you been up to these past weeks? any interesting science updates?" Sans greeted Alphys, as she found her footing again. The small lizard joined happily into a scientific conversation with Sans, not stuttering once, while she explained a new formula to him.

As much as Frisk enjoyed these moments between the two nerds, all the math's they were talking about made their head hurt. They shifted their focus to Undyne and Papyrus, who were laying in the snow by now. The fish-lady had the skeleton in a death grip, rubbing her knuckles against his skull madly.

"NOOO. UNDYNE. STOP! DON'T NOOGY THE SKELETON!" Papyrus screamed out, trying and failing to escape her grasp. Mettaton stared at the scene with a hidden smirk, his gaze on his boyfriend.

"So, where is Asgore?" Grillby's quiet voice ripped Frisk out of their amused stare. They looked at Toriel, who just chuckled softly.

"Oh, he should be here any minute now. Don't worry. He was never good at telling the time." Grillby nodded with an amused grin.

"I apologize for being late." The booming voice of the former king resounded, just as Toriel had finished her statement. Frisk giggled, watching the big fluffy bossmonster hurry towards the friends, a kind expression on his face.

"Hello old friend, it's nice to see you." He patted Grillby's back when he came to a stop in front of him.

"It's nice to see you too." The elemental answered politely. His composure straightened just a bit, but he quickly loosened up again.

Frisk took the casual chaos of the odd group to firmly grab the cord of their sled and start running uphill.

"The last one on top is a numbskull!" They screamed, voice pitched high from their contained glee.

"Be careful my child." Toriel laughed, but she turned to follow the small human uphill at a slower pace,waving goodbye at Grillby and Asgore. Undyne was on her feet just a second later, running as fast as she could through the snow. A disoriented Papyrus was left alone on the floor, before the events seemed to catch up with the tall skeleton.

"HEY, WAIT!" He screamed, hurrying to get on his feet. He grabbed a confused Mettaton and ran up the hill, the robot stumbling behind him helplessly.

"Papyrus, wait! I'm build to be a star, not a runner!" He exclaimed, but it didn't help the robots position in the slightest.

Sans chuckled, winking up at Grillby.

"have fun talking with king fluffybuns, yeah?" He teased with a wink at the ex-king, before he took one of Alphys' hands firmly, snapping his fingers and disappearing with her in a bright blue flash.

"first" he laughed just seconds later, standing at the top of the hill. Alphys grabbed him tightly, a little wobbly on her feet after the teleport.

Frisk pouted.

"That's cheating." They cried out in mock offense, strumbling over their own feet.

Alphys let out a small giggle, as Undyne rushed past Frisk and made it to the top in under two minutes. Once there, she picked her girlfriend up, twirling her around.

"That's the first time you were actually faster than me in a race." Undyne stated proudly. Sans just grinned, watching the kid, who was passed by a relatively slow Papyrus, followed closely by Mettaton. The robot looked at the short skeleton with an expression that read 'why did I sign up for this?'.

Frisk watched their friends, a familiar warmth expanding in her chest. Determination to keep them happy flowed through their small body as they finally reached the top of the hill themselves.

Toriel was the last to reach the group, a relaxed smile on her lips.

"I guess that makes me the 'numbskull'." She said warmly, laying a paw on Frisks hand.

"What are we waiting for? Let's start this race already." Undyne grumbled suddenly, moving to draw a starting line in the snow.

"So... there will be t-two teams r-right?" Alphys asked, fiddling with her coat. Mettaton nodded as response, although his face still showed some of the regret he felt about joining the seemingly crazy group of monsters. Papyrus was already settling himself on their shared sled, a wooden one, just a bit fancier and bigger as Frisks, leaving enough space for the two tall monsters.

"mhm, maybe. you wanna go with me kiddo?" Sans asked grinning, a mischevous glimmer in his eye lights. Toriel gave him a look, before she sighed and took the cord of Frisks sledge in her paw. Frisk watched the former queen with hopeful wide eyes, preparing for the wild ride they knew they could expect from the laid-back skeleton.

"Go on my child. I don't particularly trust Sans a hundred percent with this, but I know he will be careful." Toriel sat on the sled, scooting towards to the starting line.

Undyne threw herself on the wok she had brought with her, settling a slightly trembling Alphys on her lap.

Sans waived the kid to his side with a wink.

"ya feel brave today kid?" He asked, amusement in his voice.

"COME ON LAZYBONES! GET GOING ALLREADY!" Papyrus scolded him impatient. Frisk just nodded a bit uncertain. Sans grin widened, then he snapped his fingers, his left eye socket blazing blue for a moment, as two large beastly skulls popped in existence right next to him. The smaller blaster had a rope in between his fangs and looked at Frisk expectantly.

"T-that's cheating! A-again." Alphys remarked at the sight of the large floating weapons.

"c'mon al, they know the rules. 's not the first time they're doing this." Sans reassured, climbing onto the bigger skull and settling on its forehead.

"just hold that rope tight." He mumbled to Frisk, who was carefully climbing their blaster too. They felt a bit uneasy sitting on its face like this, especially because it was their first time riding one all alone, but the quiet purrs the blaster made helped her calm down. Toriel was silent, completely abandoning her motherly, protective attitude. Before Frisk could spend a thought at her adoptive mothers behavior however, Undyne started counting down.

" 3...2...1...GOOOOO!"