Instant Story

Flash fiction fresh from my fingers to your mind!

Challenge #01117-C020: Death of Monsters

Sans: The actual Grim Reaper -- Gallifreya

[AN: I've seen Reaper!Sans on Tumblr and I have yet to see a coherent attitude with it. Please forgive me for any and all mismatched headcannons]

"...and peek-a-boo," read Sans, "I found you."

"...wowie," mumbled Pap in his half-doze.

"G'night, Pap," Sans gently stroked his brother's skull, easing Papyrus into dreamland. He put the book away and crept into his room. Careful not to make a sound. He lit both his eyes and reached through the firmament for the robe and his scythe.

Time for his night job.

The boots were the hardest part of it, of course. Sans preferred to lounge around in slippers or unlaced sneakers all day. Because the tight, confining boots of his night job were a regular torture. And they were practically stilts, so that he passed the height minimum.

What was on the list tonight?

Ah yes. The evening arm wrestle with Gerson. Check. A stern note about his 'game' with Little Gnoll and fixing it so that the kid would live. Oh. And Mrs Plakely.

He could ignore the stern note. It wasn't as if there were many skeletons around to do the work. And Papyrus had already washed out of the pre-selection checklist. Hah. Pap would let everyone live, whether they wanted to or not.

And there was more than one way to show mercy.

Aching after his appointment with Gerson, Sans appeared for Mrs Plakely. Her every breath was a battle. Her eyes sunken and her body weary.

She looked him square in his glowing eye and said, "About time, you tardy bastard."

Sans grinned. She was a teacher to the last. "I'd have brought a note, but a dog ate it."

"Oh get on with it."

"Sure you don't want your glasses?" he asked. "That way you can control your pupils." Sans swung the scythe right on time.

He liked to make sure they went out laughing. Mrs Plakely's ailing body dissolved into dust and her soul lingered in the space between seconds.

Thank you, she 'said'. You've always done good work.

And then she was gone. Off to whatever afterlife that Monsters got. That was it for the official business, but he decided to stop on by Napstablook's for some nice, old-fashioned lying on the floor.

It was a better way to spend the night on duty... as opposed to a busy workload.

(Muse food remaining: 46. Submit a Prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories! Or comment below!)

Challenge #01116-C019: One Relatively Quiet Evening by the Lake of Fire

So... how does Satan feel about this? http://radberto.tumblr.com/post/93236132738/sadyayo-i-always-thought-it-was-funny-as-shit (Couldn't find which of the people I'm subscribed to posted this, so I Googled it - have a random blog!) -- RecklessPrudence

[AN: Take a look at these rules. They're generally along the lines of "respect other people" for the most part. Also, if you actually look at biblical Lucifer in the Old Testament, he's not actually all that evil. Heck I don't think he even did that

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Challenge #01115-C018: On the Road Between Nowt and Nowhere

"Is your brain EVER attached to your mouth?" -- Knitnan

Of all the demons in all the multiverse that Raflgast the Sable could have snagged, he had to ensnare one who was lacking a brain-to-mouth bypass. And not much going on in their brain, by the sound of things.

"...Na if yer goin' wi' a cosine limit between plus an' minus Plank's by Pi by th' factor o' current gravity in inches per second per second..."

"Demon," Raflgast growled.

"...the relative brane

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Challenge #01114-C017: Monologue of a Vampire

"...In truth, I'm no more a little girl than you are. I was once, of course. Three hundred years ago. Vampirism tends to keep one remarkably... fresh. It's been quite a boon looking like a child. No one ever suspects a thing." -- Anon Guest

Half a world away, before it turned, there had been a girl who called herself Daphne. She realised that it was easy to be invisible. You had to wear ribbons in your hair and skip everywhere. It

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Challenge #01113-C016: One Victorious Afternoon in a Battlefield

One of these days I wanna see a stereotypical-female-armor-design boobplate-clad character remove their helmet, and reveal they’re a man.

“Uh… well, Mom was a soldier, and since Sis was too young to fight, I got her hand-me-downs.” -- Anon Guest

The battle raged on, but it was clear that it was almost coming to a close. So far, one warrior left a swathe of ruined bodies behind her. People knew her by her armour. Delenna the Double Dangerous. Famous in story

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Challenge #01112-C015: Performance Piece

A scrap of data is recovered. Death's Belief Speech, from Hogfather. Doesn't matter if it's the book or the movie.

For those who haven't read it, a clip from the movie is here.

Not as anything unique to humanity, but rather as a comment on Sophonts as a whole, from a human who would have very much liked to meet the rest of the universe. -- RecklessPrudence

[AN: I would also love to meet the rest of the universe, but I have

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Challenge #01111-C014: To be Good Parents

Speaking of created peoples - whether biology or technology-based - and whether they can be trusted/will rebel/will have morals/all the standard concerns:

"If we do our jobs right, our children are better people than we are." -- RecklessPrudence

The station officials had cleared out a medbay for the anxious parents. A standard Medik and a Wave of the Future Medtech stood by. Patient and implacable.

It was one thing to be first-time parents. It was an entirely different level

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Challenge #01110-C013: Fear of the Gifted Child

http://thefingerfuckingfemalefury.tumblr.com/post/129483030883/ayellowbirds-sorceringing-the-vegan-muser -- RecklessPrudence

There were skeleton spiders in the lab. No, not the exoskeletons, which novices animated for practice, but actual spiders made of bones.

That one had a rib cage for an abdomen.

"Clerita... what the flying hell?"

Clerita, the problem child, the one who was always so far ahead of everyone that she seemed like she was behind, looked up from her current project. A bird with bony pinions. "Uhm," she said.

"Why?" demanded

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Challenge #01109-C012: One Fine Afternoon in the Vicinity of a Library

Pooka or Pookas, turn it or them loose. Have fun! -- Knitnan

The man was having a pleasant conversation with what looked to be a chair of thin air. Which immediately caught Shayde's interest.

"You stay away from that man, demon," warned Riflgast. "He has an affliction of the humours and is seeing things."

"Nope," said Shayde. As if she could see what the fellow was talking to. "He's got a case of th' Pookas, ye ken."

Riflgast almost fell off his

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Challenge #01107-C010: Strange Things are Happening

  1. The mysterious case of the sock in the night-time

  2. "And that's why I'm not allowed in the garage unsupervised anymore" -- Anon Guest

[AN: For those keeping score, this reduces my overlap count to 25]

1)

Papyrus was happy. He was now part of the royal guard. Even though his duties consisted mostly of watching over New New Home (King Asgore was still terrible with names) and preventing humans from causing trouble, he took his duties seriously.

"HALT! WHO GOES THERE?"

The

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Challenge #01106-C009: Once More, Into the Brig...

"It's a thrilling tale of a dried apricot, four bags of flour, and a torch." -- Gallifreya

Ax'and'l blinked very slowly. It was telling that he was getting used to these levels of crap. And if he let on, he knew that Hwell would only invent new and more interesting levels of crap.

"Save it for getting free drinks at the bars, and even then, I'm letting it known about your capacity limit." He sighed and turned to the Security Guard. "What's

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Challenge #01105-C008: Smart Way to Die

"Never teleport your brain out of your own skull without a backup plan. No good will ever come of it." -- Anon Guest

The last thing he smelled was ozone. Then there was an alarming darkness. There was no pain, any more. The eyes came online, first, showing him a fine view of his own dead body. Right now, the skull cavity would be filling up with blood as his heart went through its last, spasmodic beats. And as his blood pressure

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Challenge #01104-C007: Special Education

Person #1: Why don't I ever see you stopping by to talk to your niece?

Person #2: Her parent says I'm a bad influence. I still say C4 is an acceptable substitute for playdoh - the store was out! It's not like I gave her any detonators - it was perfectly safe! -- RecklessPrudence

Lots of kids had Best Relatives. And for Mary, her best relative was Aunty Phyllis. Aunty Phyllis had the catchphrase, "Some people just overreact about things." Usually in

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Challenge #01103-C006: That Which is Lost

They were at least the person's equal now, and with a three-nil record in killing them. If only they'd stop coming back, more insane each time, so they wouldn't have to do it again. They had admired them, once. -- RecklessPrudence

[AN: Oooooh, nice. First totally gender-neutral prompt EVER. Well done]

Before the fall...

Chara was the friend only Frisk could see. The year that Frisk stopped talking, Chara could hear their thoughts. Chara couldn't eat or drink, or make messes. They

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Challenge #01102-C005: Curse? What Curse?

http://bonehandledknife.tumblr.com/post/133846067890/wewerenotthefirst-dude-what-if-a-prince-is

Have fun! -- RecklessPrudence

[AN: Adult content warning: the link inside that post leads you to an article about some very interesting toys]

Camilla had wanted to undo the curse straight away, of course. She had never meant to turn her fiancée into a dragon in the first place. She should have known something was dodgy about that newt's eye extract.

And yet... Frederik was taking his transformation so well. He loved to fly, and

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