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ticklishshenanigansau · 6 months ago

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LaughterLand - Chapter 21: Transformation

(story by Mod Secret, art by Mod Kitty)

“Y-You want us to do … WHAT?!” Papyrus stammered nervously, as Dropwart approached with the spoonful of dangerous-looking potion.

“Well, come on now, dearies.” She grinned excitedly, though she was careful not to spill a single drop of the violet liquid. “Which one of you wants a taste? You know how hard I worked to prepare this little mixture. One of you needs to be my official taste-tester!”

"No way!" Papyrus retorted, already tugging at the bonds that held him to the wooden stake. "We helped you make that disgusting thing, you leave us out of the tasting part!"

Dropwart snickered under her breath as she approached Papyrus with the large wooden spoon. "Oh, I don't think I'm giving you much of a choice, my deary!" she said in a teasing tone.

She abruptly shoved the spoonful of violet liquid directly into Papyrus's face. The younger skeleton clamped his jaws down tightly, turning away from the sweet smelling potion.

"Come on now," Dropwart cooed teasingly. "Just a teensy weensy baby taste for little old me?"

She talked to him like a mother who was trying to spoon feed a baby. If Papyrus was able to speak, he would have shouted at her to treat him like the grown skeleton he was. But he didn't dare open his mouth, he didn't want to risk any possibility of her forcing that dangerous potion down his throat.

"Pretty please with sugar on top?"

Dropwart continued to patronize him as she danced the spoon around his face, trying to find an opening. Papyrus could only grunt in retaliation and forcibly turn his head away. She wasn't about to give up that easily. Before he could do much of anything else, Dropwart grabbed at his chin, squeezing it tightly in her clammy green hand. She forced him to face her, but still, Papyrus kept his mouth closed.

"Come on, Bonesy. Open wiiiide!"

Her tone was still cheery and playful, despite the forceful way she was holding his face still. Papyrus could feel an ache in his jaw, partially from the pain of her holding him so tight, but also from the pressure he had put on his mouth to remain closed at all costs.

His sockets suddenly shot right open in a comical bug-eyed expression. Something was tickling at his toes again. The hissing sounds coming from just below them was enough to confirm that Dropwart's pet snakes were playing with his feet using their soft feathery tongues. Papyrus groaned and squirmed, the tears were already starting to form in his sockets again. He let the image of the horrific potion be his motivation to keep his jaw shut, but he couldn't twist away from the tickling tongues, and he was starting to become desperate.

Sans, meanwhile, was trapped in a kind of brain fog. The harsh tickle attack on his secret sweet spot had left him so exhausted and out of it, it was hard to register what was even happening. Multiple times he tried to shake his skull back to sanity, just to be left feeling dizzy. Parts of his vision were still blurry and hard to make out. So all he could really concentrate on was his breathing. He took low and steady inhales and exhales, each one bringing a small dose of renewed strength and clarity. Although this was the farthest thing from being an ideal place to slow down and take a breath, for the moment he was no longer being tickled out of his mind, so he took the opportunity to regain at least some of his energy back.

It wasn't until his vision returned to normal that he could finally make out the sound of Papyrus struggling, along with Dropwart's teasing persuasion.

"Come on, deary, just one little swallow and I'll let you go. Don't you want to get down from there?"

Sans weakly looked up to see what was happening with his brother. His expression shifted to one of disbelief when he saw Dropwart trying to force the wooden spoon of potion into Papyrus's mouth. His gaze swiftly cast down to the snakes as he felt one just barely graze against his foot. His poor brother was fighting tooth and nail to not have to swallow that horrible liquid, but from the look of how he was barely holding it together, Sans knew he was rapidly losing strength. Sans knew he had to do something to get her attention away from Papyrus. He could only think of one thing. As much as it terrified him, as badly as he didn't want to go through with it, he would do whatever it took to save Papyrus.

"H-Hey...!"

His voice was soft and ragged from all the intense screaming that had been torn out of him. He reeled back, wincing in pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw that neither of them had noticed him, he must have been too quiet. He took a steady breath in, ready to try again.

"Hey!"

His voice was hoarse, he ended up coughing after speaking up louder, but at least he got their attention. Sans finished coughing and glared daggers at the old witch.

"I'll take it," he said coldly.

"Really?" Dropwart's golden eyes glimmered with excitement as she released Papyrus and pulled the spoon away from his face.

"Sans, no!" Papyrus yelled.

Even the snakes had ceased their attack on his feet to watch their master approach the older skeleton. She gingerly held the large wooden spoon up to Sans’s mouth, a devious grin spread across her face.

“But…. But ONLY if you keep your word,” Sans quickly blurted out, causing Dropwart to momentarily freeze. “You said you’d release whoever was brave enough to taste-test this garbage … right?”

Dropwart’s eyes narrowed, though her toothy grin still held onto its mischievous shape.

“Of course, deary,” she replied coolly. “Just one little taste, and you’ll be on your way!”

From the way she sounded, Sans wasn’t entirely sure if he believed her. But more than anything, he didn’t want Papyrus to be the monster Guinea Pig for whatever that potion was meant to do. Beyond that, even if he was released for a fraction of a second, it would be all the time he needed to attack. He swore to himself right then and there that he would fight through whatever exhaustion his body was facing and do whatever it took to bring this crazy old crone down.

“Fine,” Sans replied bluntly.

But before he could properly prepare himself, he felt Dropwart forcibly shoving the spoon into his mouth. He retaliated with a harsh grunt as the wood clanged against his teeth.

“That’s it, deary … drink every last drop.” Dropwart snickered as she tipped the spoon up to let the liquid travel down the older skeleton’s throat.

Sans obeyed, but nearly gagged immediately as the overwhelming taste engulfed his mouth. It was too sweet for words, the saccharine flavor was almost violent with how overtly saturated it was. Like it was pure liquid sugar, or syrup or sweetener, or a horrible combination of all three. It was enough to churn his nonexistent stomach, but still, he swallowed hard. Feeling every drop of the warm, runny liquid slither down his throat and into his system, it was a truly sickening sensation.

As she finally pulled the empty spoon away, Sans coughed and spat, fighting back the overwhelming urge to gag a second time. As he took in another deep inhalation, gravity abruptly pulled him down to the floor as the ropes around his wrists and ankles suddenly vanished. He fell to the floor with a loud THUD! His bones feeling heavier than stone.

As Sans shakily got to his knees, he saw Dropwart's curly-toed boots step in front of him. He weakly lifted his head to see her looming over him, her piercing golden eyes gleaming with delight.

"Well, deary? How do you like it? Good flavor? Nice consistency? Come on, be brutal."

This was his chance. Though he didn't anticipate just how sore his joints would be from being restrained for so long, he fought against the pain. He readied his knees underneath him, preparing to pounce. His hateful glare burned into the creature who dared to hurt him and his brother.

"Oh, I'll be brutal alright!" he growled deeply.

In a flash, he lunged for Dropwart, ready to tackle her to the ground and land a hearty blow on her protruding green nose. But just as quickly as he took off from the floor, he was aggressively pulled back down by the snakes' tails gripping onto his ankles. He felt the wind burst out of chest as he hit the ground twice. Despite the aching pain surging into his bones, he still gritted his teeth and clawed for Dropwart. Trying in vain to pull himself in her direction, but was held back by the hissing serpents.

"Well now!" Dropwart gave a haughty smile down at the older skeleton still desperately trying to attack her. "I believe I said that I would set you free … but if my precious pets want to play with you still, then who am I to stop them?"

As she unleashed her signature shrieking witch cackle, Sans let out a cry of distress as the snakes forcefully yanked him backwards, once again wrapping him up in their colorful coils.

"Noooo!!" he cried as he fought against them. They tauntingly hissed at him from opposite ends of his skull, threatening him with their feathery tongues. "You…. You evil … vile … wicked old—"

Sans stopped himself as he felt an old familiar tingling sensation deep down in his ribs. He couldn't see what was happening, as the snakes’ slithering bodies had him wrapped up good and tight in a bundle of coils. But he just knew that one of them must have wriggled a tail under his shirt to get after him again.

"Pffftt—Hahahahahaha!! Ahahaha!! Oh nohohohoho!! Noho!! Stahahahap!! Not agahahahain!! Ahahahaha!!"

Sans uselessly kicked and struggled against the snakes as he felt the tickling sensation slowly starting to engulf his ribcage. Dropwart let out an excited giggle upon seeing the laughing skeleton.

"Ohohoho! Goody! I just knew it would work!" She clapped her fingertips together like a giddy child, bouncing on her toes with elation.

"Oh no! Sans!!"

Papyrus pulled against the ropes still securing him to the stake, terrified for his brother's lack of stamina in this situation. He had already been through so much, Papyrus feared for his well-being and sanity as the tickling continued.

"Let him go!!" Papyrus demanded as he tugged. "You said you'd set him free! Tell your pets to stop tickling him, now!!"

Dropwart let out another amused cackle at Papyrus's useless command. She turned to give the younger skeleton a knowing grin.

"Afraid I can't help you there, Bonesy." She smirked. "My pets aren't the ones who are tickling him."

Both skeletons' eyes shot open with a combination of shock and confusion. That's when Sans realized with horror that the tickling sensation was starting to spread closer to his underarms and spine, and it certainly didn't feel like the flicking of a tail going after so much space at once.

With a simple wave of her hand, Dropwart commanded her snakes to release Sans from their clutches. Sure enough, as the skeleton fell back down to the ground with nothing physically touching him, the horrible tickling was still plaguing him.

"Wh-Wh-Whahahahahat?! Hahahahaha!! Wh-What the—AAGH!! Ahahahaha!!! Whahat's going ahahahahan?! Ahahahahaha!!

Sans writhed around on his back, unable to control his laughter as the tingling spread like wildfire up to his underarms and down to the underside of his ribcage. After a moment of frantically clawing at his shirt, Sans noticed a faint glow coming from just underneath as it started to ride up over his spine. Quickly gripping the rim of his shirt, he yanked it up to reveal the entirety of his ribcage was glowing.

He noticed the glow was steadily spreading across his body, it had already consumed his underarms and was now heading for his spine and hips. Everywhere that the glow had consumed was engulfed in the ticklish sensation. It was absolutely unbearable! Even the act of lifting his shirt up, in turn lifted his underarms. Although they were already being tickled Sans couldn't stop himself from curling in on himself after getting a good enough look at the state of his bones.

Papyrus just stood there with his mouth agape once he saw the state of his brother's ribcage. It didn't take long to put together that this mysterious glow was the cause of Sans's ticklish stress. Papyrus could hear Dropwart snickering with delight, immediately he gave her a dangerous glare.

"What did you do to him?!" he harshly scolded, eliciting another amused giggle from the witch.

Then it dawned on the both of them, the strange color of the spreading light. It had matched the phosphorescent violet color of the potion that Sans was forced to swallow. The potion was tickling poor Sans from the inside, and there was nothing he could do to stop it!

"AAAAGH!!! AHAHAHAHA!! PLEAEHEHEASE!! PLEASE NOHOHOHO—AHAHAHAHA!! I-HEEHEEHEE-I CAHAHAAN'T!! I CAHAHAN'T!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!! M-MAKE—AAAGGHAHA!! MAKE IT STAHAHAHAHAP!!"

Sans pleaded, hopelessly thrashing on the floor as he watched the violet glow rise up from his sleeves to tickle at his upper arms. His whole body tingled and trembled hopelessly as the tickling sensations got worse and worse with each passing second.

"Heeheehee! There is no stopping it I'm afraid, deary," Dropwart teased as she loomed over the hysterical skeleton. "You'll just have to let it run its course."

Sans looked up at her, tears desperately flooding from the corners of his aching sockets. Laughter pounding out of him as he spasmed on the floor like a fish out of water.

"PLEHEHEHEHEEHEEHEE...!" He trailed off as the glow overtook his forearm and consumed his hips and pelvis. "PLEHEHEHEHEA....PLEHEEHEEHEE...!!"

He didn't have enough air to choke out another plea for mercy. The pupils in his sockets were reduced to tiny pinpricks as frantic desperation washed over his face. He would have given anything to make the tickling stop, and if his expression wasn't making that sentiment clear enough, then he would have outright spat it out if he had the breath to do so. It was all-consuming. Not just his body, but his mind raced horribly with unyielding pleas for mercy.

"Make it stop!" were all his frantic thoughts could scream. "It's too much! Just make it stop!"

He moved his fingers to clench into his hand as a last-ditch effort to feel anything other than ticklishness. But to his horror, his fingers wouldn't move. His skull rolled over to his left side to see what was happening. Nothing was holding him down, and to his dismay he could feel every inch of his body, however hypersensitive it had become. But when he went to close his left hand, it wouldn't move. It laid there lifeless on the wooden floor.

In a panic, he tried his other hand but found the same terrifying result. He couldn't move his fingers, or his hands, he even came to realize that his toes had ceased wiggling. As he looked back up at Dropwart, his neck became stiff and still until he realized he could no longer move his head. His body was completely paralyzed and still being mercilessly tickled beyond his breaking limit. For a moment Sans just laid there, his already hysterical laughter now intermixed with screams of terror and helplessness. It was one thing to be tickled while being restrained and unable to free himself, but being tickled whilst being trapped inside his own body was a manner of hysteria that Sans had never before experienced.

Dropwart stood over him, beaming with delight. She had clearly noticed how he could no longer move and by the look on her face, this had come as no surprise to her.

"Oh, no need to fret, my deary...." She grinned mischievously down at him as he continued to scream. "It'll all be over soon."

Her voice was practically distant as Sans continued breathlessly cachinnating, he could have sworn he could hear it echoing as he felt his mind trying to black out. He was so lost in the madness, that he couldn't even register that his limbs were starting to shrink. Inch by inch his arms, legs, and even his torso were starting to get smaller and shorter.

"SANS!!" Papyrus shrieked when he realized what was happening.

This entire time, Papyrus had been pushing himself past the point of exhaustion to try and break out of the ropes. Using his brother as motivation, he wanted nothing more than to scoop Sans up in his arms and run away from this place as fast as his legs could carry him. While he didn't know what he could do to help him overcome the tickling potion in his system, at least they both would be out of harm's way. But nothing Papyrus tried was getting him out of the restraints, all he could do was just stand there and watch his brother suffer on the floor.

Papyrus rapidly blinked his sockets in utter disbelief as he noticed Sans starting to shrink. He couldn't believe it, surely this must be some kind of a trick, or an aftereffect of being tortured for so long by so many different feats of unfamiliar magic. But it was real. It was happening. Papyrus could tell by every individual reaction of delight coming from Dropwart. Sans was shrinking!

"SANS!!" Papyrus screamed at the top of his nonexistent lungs. "SANS!! WAKE UP!! PLEASE BROTHER, SNAP OUT OF IT!!"

To Sans's relief, he was starting to feel the effects of the potion starting to wear off. At first, it wasn't that noticeable as he was still caught in uncontrollable fits of laughter and screaming. But slowly over a span of minutes he could notice the intensity of the tickling potion starting to decrease. It wasn't slowing down nearly as quickly as Sans needed it to. Every sharp inhale served as a silent plea for the effects to go away faster before choking out another burst of desperate laughter.

But after way too long, the ticklishness finally became bearable, and Sans was able to take in deep, albeit shaky, breaths in between incessant giggling. The skeleton could still feel himself trembling even after the tickling came to a complete stop. He silently prayed that Dropwart would leave him alone long enough to recover at least a little bit, which thankfully she did.

As his breathing returned to a comfortable place, he looked up to see Dropwart's face practically glowing with giddy excitement. He glanced at Papyrus to see an opposite expression of complete horror on his brother's face. But what caused the older skeleton's anxiety to return was when he realized that he still couldn't move. His body was still paralyzed on the floor, and no amount of struggling was making a difference.

"P-Pap...?" Sans fearfully stammered, grateful to at least still be able to speak. "What's going on? Why can't I move?"

At first, Papyrus stood there, still too stunned to speak. But realizing that Dropwart was likely going to blurt out the answer, Papyrus knew it would be better to hear it from him.

"Sans…," he timidly replied. "Y-You're a … doll!"

“I’m a … WHAT?!”

Sans was certain that he didn’t hear Papyrus clearly, it had to be a mistake. It just had too! He attempted to turn his head to look at his arm, but all he could move were his pupils as they strained to look to his left. He could see his arm, but something was clearly off. It looked … softer? It almost looked like it was coated with a gentle layer of fuzz. He still couldn’t move it, and straining his eyes to look the other way yielded the same results. He couldn’t believe it … he was actually a doll!

“A DOLL!!” Dropwart cheered and skipped around the room like a cheerful schoolgirl. The force of her feet landing on the floor scaring the life out of Sans. “I can’t believe it, my very own poppet! No true witch should be without one, you know!”

She picked Sans up by his midsection to hold him with both hands, looking him straight in the eyes. It was the strangest, scariest sensation for Sans to be picked up off the ground with no control of his body to even so much as catch himself. Instinctively, he tried to struggle and fight against her. But his new ragdoll body lay limp, lifeless, and totally helpless to gravity. He could only stare into her face, unable to form an expression of fear, or even to tremble.

“You…. You change him back!” Papyrus yelled boldly. “You turn him back to normal right now!”

The Lilac Snake hissed dangerously at Papyrus as if to try and silence him. But this time, the younger skeleton’s fear was replaced with a defiant anger as he continued to glare at Dropwart demanding to change his brother back.

Dropwart ignored Papyrus’s angry cries as she examined Sans. She gently lifted his arms and admired the stitching across his face, as if he were an actual hand-made doll. Every little detail about her magical handiwork made her beam and giggle with elation. As she switched to just holding him with her left hand, her right hand held up one single finger.

“Now for the true test,” she mused as her finger moved down towards Sans’s midsection.

“W-Wait! Hold on!” Sans stuttered fearfully watching her giant finger move closer to him. “Wait! What are you gonna…?”

He trailed off as he felt the tip of her nail suddenly lifting his shirt up. Before he had a chance to protest further, she wriggled her finger underneath and proceeded to scratch along his new doll ribs.

“AAGH!! Ahahahahahahaha!! Oh-Oh nohohohohoho!! Ahahaha!! Stahahahap!! Stop!! It tihihihihihickles!!”

To his horror, his ticklishness still remained, even while in doll form. In an instant he was thrown right back into the helpless fit of laughter he had been in when he first felt his body become paralyzed. A deathly dread filled his very Soul, he now knew what she was planning to do to him.

“Oh, how utterly PERFECT!” Dropwart practically shrieked in delight. “We’ll brew up another batch for your friend over here, and then you two will be my endless source of ingredients!”

“WHAT?!” Sans screamed, all at once forgetting the ache that was still present in his throat. “NO!! NO YOU CAN’T!!”

Sans didn’t want to believe any of this was happening. This crazy witch turned him into a helpless plush doll and was going to make him and his brother her forever tickle slaves! There was nothing he could do to stop her, this form wasn’t even allowing him to blink! It was worse than being tied down or restrained. At least even in the tightest of bonds Sans could attempt to distract himself with useless struggling. But now, even that luxury was denied him and it was undeniably maddening. Once she repeated the process to drain him of enough laughter to make a new potion for Papyrus, he would suffer the same fate. Sans never felt so doomed in his life.

“LET HIM GO!!” Papyrus growled as he continued to struggle, practically trying to twist his fingers around to claw at the ropes. “Let go of my brother! Y-You horrible old witch!!” He wasn’t as good at coming up with insults as Sans, but Papyrus had finally had enough and was bold enough to at least try.

Again, Dropwart ignored Papyrus and excitedly started gathering empty glass vials from the wooden shelves. Sans let out a series of panicked yelps as he was yanked around in her hand. Realizing that she couldn’t hold him and all seven new glass containers all at once, she passed a good amount of the empty containers to the Magenta Snake.

“Ooh! Bring the paintbrush, deary!” Dropwart excitedly instructed.

The Magenta Snake grabbed the paintbrush and the twisted black wand off of the table with its tail before slithering towards the back of the room. Papyrus couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed it before, but what lay beyond the cauldron and the wooden table in the back of the room was a large red curtain. It covered the rest of the cottage, obstructing it from view. Papyrus watched as the Magenta Snake carried the vials and the wand through the curtain and disappeared behind it.

The snake returned moments later to retrieve the pile of pastel feathers on the floor, clearly with a goal of bringing everything Dropwart had used on the skeletons to the secluded back area of the cottage. As the Snake finished picking up the last of the feathers, it slinked away, returning to the curtain. This time Dropwart followed it, carrying about four empty vials in one hand, and holding onto Sans in the other.

“Hey! Wait! Where are you going?!” Papyrus called after them, not wanting to let Sans out of his sight. “You bring him back here!”

Before following the Magenta Snake behind the curtain, Dropwart turned to give Papyrus a snarky smile.

"Oh, don't worry, deary … this one will keep you company," she said referring to the Lilac Snake, who gave a grumpy-sounding hiss from the corner of the cottage. "And when I come back … you'll never be parted from your brother again."

She let out one final diabolical cackle before closing the curtain and disappearing into the back with Sans. It only took a moment before Papyrus could hear Sans's laughter replacing the silence of the cottage. It was slightly muffled due to the sudden distance between them and the sound coming through the curtain. But Papyrus could still make out Sans's pleas for mercy as well as Dropwart's patronizing tone.

"Oh no, my deary, much too hearty!" Papyrus couldn't tell if she was talking to Sans or the snake. "Remember, we must start off with a light tittering sound! Try flicking your tail around the back of his head!" That answered that question.

Papyrus knew he had to get out of this somehow. Whatever it took, he had to rescue Sans. He strained at his arms and legs, gritting his teeth and pulling against the ropes with everything he had left in him. He stopped abruptly when he heard the harsh hissing sound of the Lilac Snake. Clearly, being left out of the Tickle Party had placed it in a sour mood, and it wasn't about to take its eyes off of Papyrus.

Papyrus knew in an instant that he couldn't mess around as long as the cursed serpent was keeping an eye on him. He wouldn't put it past it to satisfy its own need for hunger by tickling him out of punishment for trying to escape. Papyrus couldn't take that risk. Besides being unbearably unpleasant, another tickle attack would leave him even weaker. Then he'd REALLY be in no condition to help his brother.

"NOO!! NO-AHAHAHAHAHA!! STOP!! STO—AHAHAHAHA!!"

Just as the thought of Sans crossed his mind, Papyrus could hear his brother's helpless wails of laughter and begging. No doubt the experience being even worse for him since he could no longer move. Dropwart must have already collected the softer doses of laughter if she was already making Sans laugh that hard. Papyrus had to think of something fast, he knew there wasn't much time left.

Trying to think like his brother, Papyrus's eyes darted around the room. Looking for something, anything that could possibly help him escape. The only thing that really caught his attention was a lit candle that had been resting just above him on the top of the wooden shelf. He kept thinking if he could just knock it down to his hand, he could use the flame to burn the ropes across his wrist. But there was nothing he could do to knock it over without alerting the Lilac Snake. If only he could use his magic, he would surely be able to defeat it with one of his special attacks.

"OH NO!! PLEASE!! NOHOHOHOHOHO!!"

Another burst of laughter echoed from behind the curtain. The sound of Sans's distressed begging completely interrupted Papyrus's thoughts and he shuddered just thinking what his poor brother was going through.

"Come on … come on! Where was it?" Came Dropwart's voice, obviously searching for something while still mercilessly tickling Sans.

Although Papyrus knew he didn't have much magic to give while being trapped in this world, he knew there had to be something. He managed to pull off one bone construct back when he and Sans were hanging upside down, maybe he could manage to pull it off again. Remembering how sturdy the head of the snake was, the younger skeleton decided it would be best to focus on pulling out a bone construct for the purpose of knocking the candle down. He didn't have much time left, and he didn't know if he had the energy to pull it off. But he had to try … for Sans.

He closed his eyes, trying to block out the world around him, which was already proving to be challenging as another anguished howl of laughter tore from Sans, causing him to flinch. As hard as it was, he knew for the moment that he had to completely block his brother out in order to find a spark.

While in the midst of concentrating, Dropwart peeked her head out from the curtain and beckoned for the Lilac Snake to come closer.

"My dear little pet," she cooed, patting it affectionately on the head. "Be a dear and show me where that snorting spot is again, will you?" The serpent hissed happily, following Dropwart back behind the curtain.

Now, thankfully, Papyrus had been left alone, but concentration was still proving to be difficult as Sans's screams of laughter were now intermixed with sharp snorting sounds. Papyrus shook off the noise and focused, surprised to have found one tiny spark almost immediately.

Much like all the others before it, it was small and pathetic. Papyrus knew that it was going to require a lot of mental energy in order to sustain it. But as another bout of sobbing laughter echoed through the curtain, Papyrus was more determined than ever to make it happen. He clenched his teeth, and shut his eyes tightly. He tried to bring the spark to life as fast as possible without letting it slip away. But in his haste, it was almost lost immediately, a clear sign to take his time and be careful. Papyrus tried his best to push the stress of time out of his mind. Tried hard not to think about Sans and the unending torment he was facing, and especially tried not to think about what would happen if he failed. He had no time or mental stamina to fret over anything but his magic.

Little by little he felt it starting to expand. His Soul grew warm with the new presence of magic steadily filling it up. His mind began to ache, the more he manifested the power to keep growing, but if he could just push a little bit more, that would be all he needed. Inhaling deeply, he pulled the last of his mental strength, until at last he felt the spark engulf his Soul. The feeling was warm and pleasant, he hated the idea of letting it go so soon. But his brother needed him, and that was all the motivation he needed.

He snapped his fingers, summoning a single bone construct to form before his eyes. Immediately, he felt the weakening shiver as the magic once again depleted from his Soul, but he ignored it, instead quietly instructing the bone to place itself at the top of the shelf. He could hear Sans starting a new round of screaming as Dropwart hit a particularly bad spot on him. Fearing that she was already going after his grooves, Papyrus worked quickly.

Carefully, he nudged the candlestick closer and closer to the end of the shelf. As it teetered over the edge, Papyrus reached up with his fingertips, ready to catch it. With the gentlest of pushes, the bone construct tipped the candlestick over, sending it tumbling down. It fell much faster than expected. Papyrus's Soul thumped anxiously in his chest as it fell towards his hand. Thankfully, he managed to catch it just in time. Letting out a brief sigh of relief, he got to work.

Sure enough, Dropwart had Sans placed onto his belly on a separate wooden table as she wriggled a feather up his shirt, mercilessly teasing at his sweet spot. The doll laid there in a puddle of his own tears. As surprised as he was that he was still able to cry in doll form, he was grateful to be resting on his chin so he wouldn't accidentally drown in them. Dropwart gleefully collected another vial of "Hysterical Laughter" and pulled the feather out, giving Sans a brief moment to catch his breath.

"So, deary, you ready for the grand finale?" Dropwart teased as she twirled the feather between her fingertips. "Just one more to go and we have our next batch"

"Nohohohoho...!!" Sans miserably sobbed in distress, adding more tears to the puddle. "Pleeheease!! Please no mohohore!! I can't take anymohohohore!!"

Dropwart chuckled in amusement before lifting the back of Sans's shirt once again. "You know, deary, you really should be using this time for breathing instead of crying—"

"HEY!!" Papyrus's sharp yell from the entrance of the curtain froze everyone in startlement. He stood there glaring angrily at the witch and her two snakes, the single bone construct gripped tightly in his fist. "Back away from my brother!!"

Papyrus threw the construct hard, aiming hopefully for Dropwart, but instead smacking the Magenta Snake on the nose. The serpent reeled back in pain, before abruptly lunging for the skeleton in anger. Papyrus fought hard, grabbing vials off the back shelves and shattering them against the snakes' heads. But before he had a chance to grab for either Sans or Dropwart, he was tripped by their long tails. This time they bound him up so tightly, he feared that his bones would crack. Dropwart angrily approached the younger skeleton, waving a long pointed fingernail in his face.

"Now is THAT any way to behave?" She seemed genuinely frustrated with him, but her tone and behavior still reflected that of a mother about to scold and punish a child. "How did you even get out of that?"

At first Papyrus refused to answer, but groaned with pain once he felt the snakes starting to squeeze the life out of him.

"Well?!" Dropwart practically roared in his face.

"The … candlestick...!" Papyrus strained. "By … the way … part … of your shelf … is now on fire!"

Dropwart quickly opened the curtain, sure enough, the wooden shelf that was standing next to the stakes in the ground were now steadily being engulfed by flames. She let out a high-pitched shriek of rage, stomping down hard on of the pieces of her shattered vials, destroying them even further. She angrily pointed a finger at Papyrus's face.

"You are going to CLEAN UP this mess, Mister!" she growled, all sense of childlike giddiness and fun completely gone away. "And then I'm gonna turn you into a doll, then you are going to replace every single form of laughter that I had on that shelf for the next year! Do you hear—"

There was a knock at the door. Everyone inside the cottage froze before slowly turning to stare at the front entrance. The knock happened again, this time louder than before. Nobody quite knew what to do, even if Dropwart was accustomed to visitors, it's not like this was the best time. After several moments of uncomfortable silence, there was a loud bang as the door exploded off of its hinges.

The once clean entryway to the cottage was replaced with a gaping hole in the wall. As Papyrus looked at the faces of the perpetrators, his Soul froze, his nonexistent stomach became ill with terror. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be! But … it was.

The Cheshire Cat slinked his big red body into the cottage. Followed by the lumbering Tickle Monster, who was clearly the one responsible for the door's destruction. As his eyes cast down to the floor, Papyrus could see the shadows of two eerily familiar floating children.

The Cat looked at Papyrus, looked at the Sans doll on the table, and then up to Dropwart with that old familiar devilish grin spread across his face.

"A thousand pardons for the intrusion, Madame," he said politely. "But I do believe you have something of ours."

#Tickletober #Tickletober2024 #Undertale #LaughterLand Story #Sans #Papyrus

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