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Would you care for a story? One that’s rather long? One so long, it’s divided into nine parts? Or, one that’s very complicated? Yes? Well, we continue with part two of our story…
We continue our story in a snowy landscape. The snow glistens on the trees and the light glints off of the long carpet of snow. The purple door slowly opens as a figure steps out - Oh! There! Don’t you see that?! That figure… in the shadow of the trees…? No? Well then… Moving on, I guess… Nobody ever listens to me…
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Frisk opened the door leading out of the RUINS. They stepped out, closed the door behind them, took a step forward… and fell flat on their face. They lept out, shivering like mad. They were in a long corridor-shaped clearing, a bridge in the distance with bars in the way. Or they would be, if they weren’t too big to trap even the biggest troll. Tress made the wall and snow carpeted the floors. If somebody made a home out of this area, then this would be the entry hall. They took another step, then lept up with a howl as they realized that they had gotten snow in their shoes. They pulled and tugged at the door back to the RUINS, but it was shut fast. Frisk sighed. Apparently they were just gonna have to live with the cold. They heard Gaster barely containing his mental laughter. He found it funny whenever Frisk slips up. Frisk opened their mouth, but decided against saying anything, and walked on through the “entry hall.”
The walk was starting to get boring. They had been walking for a long time and the bridge showed no sign of getting closer Frisk stifled a yawn as they passed through the hallway. They passed over a dark brown branch on the snow and continued to walk farther and farther. They hadn’t gone far when the branch behind them snapped with a loud crack. They spun around, hand outstretched, darkness swirling around their hand as Gaster instinctively triggered his powers. A Gaster Blaster materialized and annihilated the stick… and the surrounding snow and ground. Frisk lowered their hand as the Gaster Blaster disappeared, really frustrated with Gaster. Really?! You just had to announce your powers to the whole of Snowdin before we even encounter our first monster?! What is wrong with you, they snapped mentally at him.
Sorry! It was a reflex action.
Oh yeah. Definitely a reflex, since that was your son you nearly vaporized.
WHAT?! Now’s a fine time to tell me!!!!
Ugh, let’s move on. I’ll hurt you later. Frisk continued to move on, the hairs of their neck standing straight up. Up ahead was the bridge, getting closer every step they took. Just before they crossed, they heard footsteps, then soft breathing. They could feel Gaster freeze, but Frisk wasn’t afraid. They knew who it was. The footsteps stopped when the figure was right behind them. “H u m a n…” it said with a soft, cold voice. “D o n ‘ t y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t a n e w f r i e n d ? T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h a n d . “
Frisk slowly turned around to face the figure, who had an outstretched hand in greeting. They could hear Gaster start and think: that figure… he looks familiar somehow… as they outstretched their hand to grasp the figure’s.
When their hands met a loud farting noise sounded from the figures hand. A whoopee cushion. Frisk and Gaster could now see the figure clearly. He was a skeleton, wearing a blue hoodie, literally the only piece of clothing he wore that was suitable for the cold. He also wore black and white gym shorts and on his feet were blue slippers. He burst into laughter, saying with an English accent, “heh heh. The o’l whoopee-cushion-in-the-hand trick. Works every time… hey kid. You alright?” Frisk was staring at the skeleton in shock. They didn’t mean to stare. They had meant to laugh. Gaster had taken control for a bit and stared in shock. They could feel their right hand outstretching, their mouth opening, one word coming out of it: “Sans?”
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Gaster had tears in his eyes as he looked at his son for the first time in decades. Honestly, he never thought he would set eyes on him again. Even if he had managed to get out earlier, Sans would have been long dead by now. He could see Sans’ eyes widen in shock, stutter, “G… G… Gaster?” Gaster weeped for joy. He could feel Frisk smiling. They retook control and explained: “Yeah. He’s here, inside my head. We’re trying to separate from each other.”
“But - but, he’s dead. He died years ago…” Tears built up in his eye sockets. “No...NO! I can’t believe it! I searched for him for years! I never gave up on finding him, even when Papyrus, Undyne, or Asgore told me it was hopeless!” His pupils disappeared. Gaster could feel Frisk tense up, flex their hands, call on his power. Their hands glowed a faint grey as they gave control of their muscles over to him, thinking as they did so, you know what he’s about to do. I don’t want to hurt him, but we need to convince him that you’re here, inside me. Gaster swallowed hard. Sans continued his speech, tears now flowing freely: “After decades of searching, of calling on every favor I had, I finally gave up. I knew it was hopeless. And now you show up, claiming to have him inside of your mind. No. You’re lying. And now you’ll pay the price. DIE.” With that, a wall of bones formed behind him, which he launched at the pair. Gaster wiped the mental tears away. It was time to save his sons. Starting with Sans.
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Frisk was at a total loss. They thought furiously as Gaster jumped them over, under, and around Sans’ attacks. They didn’t even notice when a bone accidentally buried itself in their arm. Luckily, the thing was going at around 900 miles per hour, give or take. It didn’t stay in their arm for long. Gaster healed Frisks bone, which had a bone-shaped hole in it, and closed up the wound pretty quick. Frisk didn’t care though. They were still thinking. How could you save somebody who was so unwilling to listen to them? Then they remembered something. They could touch a monster's head and see their happiest memories. The reason that they still lived on. Maybe they could do the same with Sans. Than Gaster barged in. Wait. You could read monsters memories and you never told me?! WHAT is WRONG with you?!?!
No. Get used to it. Listen. I need you to get close to Sans. Like, close enough so that I can touch him. However, when I touch him, I’m gonna vacate this body temporarily, so you will have full control for about 5 minutes. Got it?
Yeah, but will he sense the intrusion?
We’ll have to find out. NOW! Frisk took control of their right arm as Gaster launched them towards Sans, twisting and leaping to evade Sans’ bone attacks. Frisk stretched out the hand that they had control of towards Sans. Sans roared in anger and sweeping his hand to the side. A Gaster Blaster appeared above him, aiming down at the pair. On instinct, Frisk brought their hand up, the hand already swirling with green energy. The Blaster fired. A beam of white energy roared towards the pair. A green shield expanded to life in front of Frisk, grabbing the blast and flinged it into the trees. Sans’ eyes widened, but he didn’t have time to register it. Frisk had already slammed their hand on to Sans’ forehead. And everything went dark.
Frisk woke up into a black landscape, featureless except for a few hotspots of light that signified Sans’ memories. They shuddered. It reminded them too much of the Void, and they knew how well that had worked out. Welp. No more putting it off. They picked their way through the memories. Some were familiar, from this and past lives: a bite to eat at a fast food restaurant, a long golden hall, the king pacing back and forth, the six SOULS already contained by him in glass containers behind him, dust, a bloody knife, and Snas sitting on the floor, bleeding.
Then they passed into the next hotspot of light particles and the memories became more relevant to Frisk’s goal. A baby-bones with a red scarf chasing something, probably a baby Sans, around a couch while a tall skeleton sat on said couch chuckling. It was Gaster. However, Frisk didn’t see another skeleton. Huh? Who was the mother then? Did she suffer the same fate as Gaster? Was there a way to bring them back, like Gaster? They filed that thought away for future use and moved on the the next memory.This next one was worse: the pit underneath the CORE, a baby Papyrus leaning over it, screaming; Asgore standing there silently, not saying anything, tears building up; Papyrus trying to jump over as well, to try to but Sans held him back, saying, “There’s nothing you can do, Paps. he’s… gone.”
Frisk started to cry. How did Sans carry around this pain?! No, how did he keep his pain a secret for a hundred years?! It wasn’t humanly possible! Then they felt a push, then a shove, then an overwhelming force trying to push them out of the memories. It was Sans! He wanted nobody to know what happened. Well, Frisk wasn’t gonna go down so easily. They were filled with *DETERMINATION.* They started to glow a bright red as they fought against Sans’ will. But they were in his mind, at his mercy, and they couldn’t hold on anymore. They allowed themselves to be swept away in the force of his anger. But when they were being removed from the memories, their outstretched hand grazed a memory.
It was a continuation of the memory of Gasters death, but from a free angle. They experimented and found that they could manipulate the angle and direction of the view In it, Sans and Papyrus were crying, but, off in the shadows, was a human. They wore a pink and purple shirt and their eyes were a mix of pink and purple. Frisks breath caught. Who was that? Then, they looked directly at Frisk, like they could see Frisk hanging on for dear life. They smiled, then chuckled, then laughed. It was a bone-chilling laugh. A laugh Frisk had heard only once before, at the end of the world, from only one other person. But… this wasn’t them. This was someone else. Frisk opened their mouth to curse them off, but just then Sans pushed harder and Frisk was ripped away from their ledge. They hurtled out of Sans’ head and returned to Gaster’s, still shell-shocked from what they had seen.
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Gaster felt Frisk leave his mind. Finally. They were someone else’s problem now. He couldn’t rest though. Sans put him to work, dodging Gaster Blasters, breaking bones, teleporting away from walls of bones and Gaster Blaster. Then, his body began to ripple and convulse. Gaster had just enough time to create a permanent shield in a globe around him before he collapsed in agony. Sans stared in confusion, then screamed, and grabbed his head, and collapsed in pain. Gaster’s body shifted and morphed. But he was in too much pain to notice.
When the pain stopped and Gaster could sit up, he saw his own body: a black lab coat, tall pale figure, brown jeans and shirt. Gaster marveled at the transformation. The moment was only brief though. His skin bubbled again, but it wasn’t as painful as the last time. He returned to Frisk’s form. Apparently Frisk was back in their head. Gaster waved his hand, the shield vanished. Sans stood, massaging his forehead and looking at Gaster with shock, and… joy. “G? Is… is that you? I couldn’t believe you at first. What happened to you? Why are you in that body?” Who… who is the human?”
“Oh, them? Their name is Frisk.”
“Okay. Well Frisk, if you’re in there, just know, I never stopped searching for you, even after your SOUL was destroyed. And, it was nice to meet you.”
Gaster felt Frisk start and explain, “Hey, Sans. Nice to see you again, even though this first meeting was… interesting. We’re trying to get to get to the CORE. Can you help us?”
“Eh, sure. But first, meet me at Grillby’s. Dinner’s on me.” Gaster laughed. His son was as lazy as he remembered. Frisk laughed.
“I’ll be there. And I expect a burg with a normal amount of ketchup, please.”
“Heh. Well, kiddo, I’m not getting anything until I can talk to you, and only you, not Dad. Can the two of you separate?” Gaster flashed back: Frisk falling into the Void; Gaster reaching out, snatching their SOUL; Frisk screaming; a small, barely noticeable, figure in the distance, smiling widely. He gapsed. No… no, it couldn’t be.
“...G? Are you OK?”
“Uhhh… yeah, I think so. I thought I just saw something. So, I think I could separate, but I need to get to the CORE first. I can’t do it now.”
“Shame. I really need to talk to them. Hey. Frisk, do you think you could escape into my mind again so I can talk to you again? ...Don’t worry. I won’t kick you out again.”
Gaster felt Frisk nod, felt them pass into Sans’ head, and braced themselves for the pain.
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Frisk woke up, once again in the chaotic black landscape of Sans’ head. They stood up, looking around wildly for Sans. Was he gonna show up? They waited. And waited. And waited. Then, they had an idea. What if they tried to talk to Sans? They shrugged. They had nothing left to lose. They reached out, and asked: Sans?
Finally. I was waiting for you. Where’ve you been kiddo?
Uhhh… here? I’ve been waiting for you this whole time.
Welp, we need to talk. About something you remember very well.
… What are you talk -
Your genocide. You murdered everyone I knew. Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, me.
Oh. Uhhhhhhh…
Look. What you did was unforgivable. I should kill you. But then Gaster would die with you.
Frisk could feel the air grow sharp. Sans’ thoughts became more gleeful. But… if I kill you here, He never needs to know about it. And he’ll still be alive… ;)
Sans, I-I understand. But I’m not looking for forgiveness. Or death. What I did has no justification and I’m not looking for one at all. I just want you to not look at me the same way you looked at Chara, that moment in the hall, when they stood over your bloody body.
…
I wanted to say, regardless of what happened, I want to move forward with our lives. It’s happened, it’s over, let’s move on. Please.
… Hmm. Would you do anything to redeem yourself?
Uhhhh I, I guess?
Even eat Papyrus’ Spaghetti?
...Maaaaayyyybeeee… NOT!!
C’mon kid, just imagine the pastabilities.
I’M OUT!
They focused on Gaster and jumped into him, eager to get away from the Hindenburg explosion of puns that Sans was no doubt preparing to unleash. But not before they heard Sans think: I can finally move on huh…
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Gaster braced himself for the pain of changing bodies, but the pain never came. He probed around in his head, and realized that Frisk was already back inside his head. You okay, he asked.
Yeah, I’m fine. I just… I thought I saw something.
Huh. Welp, we can talk about it later.
Sans walked up to Gaster, picked him up, and carried them to a small clearing. Gaster could see a hot-dog/sentry stand and a lamp in front of them, and the door back to the RUINS behind. Sans plopped them down in front of the lamp and said, “My bro’s now a human-hunting FANATIC. You don’t need to see him just yet. He’s slowly become more and more of a narcissist since you, ya know, the incident. You dying destroyed his spirit. He withdrew from his friends and family and hid from the world, here.” Gaster stared at Sans, shocked. WHAT?! Paps was destroyed by his death?! How had he not noticed this in his watching of his children?! Frisk gasped in shock and horror. Gaster felt the teardrops plop onto the snow. It kinda made sense. He and Paps were always so close. If he could see Paps, talk to him, tell him that his father was alive again. How would he react? Probably the same way as Sans. It was hard to believe, after all. Sans didn’t wait for a reaction. He scanned the area for a hiding place. Then he appeared to spot one. He pointed, saying as he did so, “He’s coming. Quick, behind that conveniently shaped lamp.” Gaster didn’t see another option. He walked to the lamp and stood behind it. It matched his body size perfectly. What a coincidence.
Then Papyrus walked into the clearing. Gaster gasped. From a distance Paps looked the same as before: tall, much taller than Sans, red boots and mittens, red scarf, quirky confident smile. But Gaster knew his son better than anyone. He could see the pain in Paps’ eyes, the shattered glass look, the slight slouch, and he knew that what Sans said was true. Papyrus, the one he knew, had died with Gaster, all those decades ago.
He shuddered, and he could feel Frisk doing nothing, just staring at Paps in shock and horror. And… pain? Huh. Gaster shuddered once more, but the motion caused the lamp to shudder a bit. Not enough to fall, but definitely enough to attract attention. Papyrus and Sans swiveled around, Sans had a look of shock on his face, while Paps spun around, his hand already outstretched, and glowing orange. Gaster tensed, ready to jump away if needed. Sans saved them by grabbing Paps’ outstretched arm, saying, “Calm down bro. It was probably just a mouse. Or an Icecap. Those things like to roam around and be annoying. You know that.”
A long tense moment passed, Sans staring at Papyrus, Paps staring at the lamp, Frisk and Gaster staring at both Sans and Paps. Finally, Paps lowered his hand, saying as he did so, “Very well, brother. Tell me, have you seen a human recently?”
Sans was a good liar. He didn’t even blink as he said, “Nope. Haven’t seen one in years.”
“Oh! Well then, I will see you later.”
“But, but, aren’t you working a ton?”
“YES! I must capture a human! Then Undyne will be proud of me!” Gaster started. Undyne was Papyrus’ childhood friend. No wonder he was trying to impress her. He wanted to regain his old friends. He no longer wanted to be alone, with only Sans keeping him company. He wanted friends. He wanted family. He wanted a home.
Papyrus left, and Sans called out, “Okay now, you can come out.” Gaster walked out from behind the lamp and kicked it over. He wasn’t sure why. To the right they saw a hill with a brown object at the top. The hill was, once again, snowy. They walked towards it, but Sans stopped them. “You know, Paps has been looking for a way to get back what he’s lost. And capturing a human would be the easiest, if not best, way to do it. So, maybe you should present yourself to him.” And with that, he was gone. Gaster steeled himself. Squared his shoulders. And continued onward, their heart and soul filled with DETERMINATION. DETERMINATION to SAVE his second son from the demons of the past.
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Frisk started to recognize landmarks. There was the path up to the top, where, well, there was nothing except for a long river/one-way shortcut to the Reaper. To the left was the sentry post they had just left, where they realized how far gone Papyrus was. Further ahead was a small hill with a small brown-and-orange box and a brown sign. Frisk drew closer to it. It said, “This is a box. You can put any item you want in it or take items out. The same box will appear later, so don’t worry about coming back here later. Sincerely, a box lover.” Frisk smiled. This must have been written by a monster who was a little too interested in the magic of boxes. Then Gaster asked, Aren'tcha gonna put something into the box?
I would, but I don’t have anything to put in. All I’ve got is a stick and… Frisk reached up and peeled off something beige, sticky, wet, and gross. A BANDAGE?! That’s disgusting!!
HAHAHA!!! Well, throw them away, I can get you better gear.
How?
...I can do this thing where I alter the world around us. I can only do it on small things but…
… And you’re mad at me for hiding abilities from you because…?
...
Well? I’m waiting…
Ugh, let’s move on. Just drop the stuff. No one will miss it.
True. Ok then. But, you have to take it off. There is no way that I am touching this thing.
...Fine. Frisk felt their left hand reach up and rip off the bandage, take the stick out of their pocket, and throw them both to the ground in disgust. They felt something in the world shift. Just a little, barely noticeable. But Frisk was Gaster and vice versa. They could feel what he felt, see what he saw. So they got to see their hands shift, shiver, and shatter into 0’s and 1’s. What? Code?? Here?! In this world?! The numbers spun, faster and faster. And then, it stopped. Their hands reformed, but in one hand there was a locket and in the other, a knife. Frisk was shocked. It worked? It worked! There was only one problem. Why a knife, they asked of Gaster. Why? You know I hate killing others.
Closest thing to a defense object I could find in this world. And your pack is now filled up with Butterscotch Pie slices.
WHAT?! Yes! But, why was a knife the only thing you could find that would work?
It doesn’t matter. C’mon. Let’s keep going.
He wasn’t telling Frisk much at all. Frisk opened their mouth, decided not to push, closed it, walked past the box and saw a SAVE point next to it. They pressed their hand to it and walked on, slipping the locket over their head and the knife into their jean pocket as they walked.
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Gaster reflected on what he told Frisk and what he did, giving them new weapons. Was it the right choice to make? Would they use the knife for defense? Or would they…? No. They wouldn’t. They couldn’t. He shook the thought away. It was time for more pressing thoughts. Like, what do they do now? Up to the river, back to the post, or forward, to whatever laid ahead? North was a dead end, back east was nothing interesting. And a south pathway didn’t even exist. The only way was west, down the other side of the hill. Gaster made to step forward when something appeared in front of them.
A battle initiated immediately and the world around them turned dark. The four options of FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY. A gigantic ball with an icicle for a hat and tiny tiny legs strutted into battle saying, “Do you like my hat? Do you? Do you? Of course you do. Everyone likes my hat.” The little monster looked so absurd and pompous, Gaster had a hard time to keep his laughter in. Even so, he felt Frisk glare at him, and he shrunk farther away from that glare. He knew firsthand how angry they could get. He turned his attention back to the monster, who, according to Frisk, was called an Ice Cap. It apparently wonders frequently why it isn't named “Ice Hat”. Gaster wondered how old it was and how to keep him from fighting them and to make them walk away. Then he thought, why not ignore it? It wants to have people notice it’s hat. So let’s not notice it. Gaster pressed on the ACT button and hit an option called, “ignore.” A squeaky voice popped up in his head saying, “you turned away from the Ice Cap,” and Gaster swiveled mechanically away from the Ice Cap, almost like someone was controlling his movements outside of him and Frisk. Huh. This was… interesting. Welp. I’ll look at it back at the CORE. After many subsequent ignorance of the hat and complaints from the Ice Cap, it stalked away, muttering to itself, “they just don’t understand quality fashion.” The world returned to normal color and Gaster stared after the retreating ice ball. Did that really just happen, he asked Frisk, who was also staring after it.
Yep. Now let’s really keep moving. We need to meet Papyrus and Sans. Paps and Sans. Just the mention/thought of their names made Gaster depressed. He still remembered the look in Paps’ eyes when he first saw them.
Alright, then. Let’s go. Gaster squared his shoulders and walked west, to see his children once again, for the second time in decades. And it might possibly be the last.
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Frisk passed the box on top of the hill and walked down the other side. Well, it wasn’t really Frisk. Gaster was taking over for a while. That was all right. Frisk needed thinking time as well. There wouldn’t be much more time though. In the next room, then they would meet Papyrus and help him. And hopefully he wouldn’t mistake them for a rock again. They crossed into the next room, apparently interrupting a conversation between the brothers. Papyrus was saying to Sans, “So, as I was saying about Undyne-,” when he seemed to notice them. He looked at them, then back at Sans. But Sans was staring at the human. Paps looked back at the human, and Sans looked at Paps. Paps looked at Sans as Sans looked back at Frisk. This went on for some time. So long, in fact, that Frisk sat down on a rock and got Gaster to create some popcorn. They ate the whole bag as Paps and Sans spun around wildly until they got dizzy. Paps turned to the trees and asked, “Sans? Why is the world spinning around me?” It took some time for Paps and Sans to regain a sense of up, down, left, and right. When they finally did, They looked at Frisk, then back at each other. “Sans!!” Papyrus said. “Is that… a Human?!?!” Frisk jumped, thinking that he was talking about them. But he was looking behind them, to a small gray rock, sitting in the white carpet of snow. Frisk sighed. Why were they expecting anything else? Sans looked just as confused. He turned to Paps and said, “uhhhhh… I think that’s a rock, bro.” Paps turned to Sans. “Oh.”
“Hey, what’s that in front of the rock?”
“Oh My God!! Is that a human?” Papyrus had finally noticed them. He turned to Sans to confirm what he saw. Sans nodded in confirmation. Papyrus very nearly jumped for joy, yelling, “Oh My God!!!! Sans! I did it! I found a human! Undyne will… I’m gonna… I’ll be so… Popular!!! Popular!!! Popular!!! Popular!!!” Papyrus finally got control of himself. “Ahem. Human! You shall not pass this area! I, the Great Papyrus, will stop you!! I will then capture you! You will be delivered to the capital! Then… THEN!!! … I’m not sure what happens next. In any case, continue… only if you dare! Nyeh heh heh heh!!!... Heh… heh…” Papyrus walked off. Sans, Frisk, and Gaster watched him walk, then jog, then flat out sprint. Sans turned back to the pair and said with a smile that didn’t match the rest of his face. “Well, that went well.” Then Sans, too, vanished. Frisk and Gaster stared at the spot where Sans was half a minute ago, then Gaster turned and walked Frisk’s body out of that area.
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Gaster wadded through the snow, which was becoming deeper as he walked, he swore. Several times he lost Frisk’s boot in the snow and had to dig around, shivering whenever the snow touched his bare skin, until he found it. As he walked he saw a brown cardboard version of Sans’ sentry post. It was old and obviously neglected, like whoever had built it had left it a long time ago. The was a large brown sign on it. Gaster drew closer to see what was on it. It said, in Papyrus’ handwriting, “You observe the well-crafted sentry station. Who could have built this, you ponder… I bet it was that very famous Royal Guardsman!! (Note: not yet a very famous Royal Guardsman.)” Gaster smirked. His kids always had a weird sense of humor. He felt Frisk doing nothing, just staring at the sign. He decided to question them a bit more. What’s up?
…
Hey, kid?
Oh! Sorry, I was just distracted.
What’s up?
Nothing. Just thinking… Who was that person in the Void, when you “borrowed” my SOUL?
Oh… Them…
I saw someone in the CORE from Sans’ memories, the day you fell in… another human. But it didn’t look like them. It was wearing purple and pink, and their eyes were purple. But it had the same laugh as… them…
Huh. Purple, you say…? I wonder… Never mind. I won’t be able to know until we get to the CORE.
...OK. Let’s go. Gaster shook his head, trying to dispel the nagging feeling of worry and fear in his gut, and marched on, only to promptly get both boots lost in the now 2-foot-deep snow. “@%#$@!@ @$%# BOOTS!!! WHAT THE @%!$@#% @$!*!!” Gaster could feel Frisk dissolve into laughter as he hopped around howling, trying to find his lost boots. 5 minutes later, Gaster tugged his snow-filled boots onto his frozen feet. Frisk wiped a tear from their eye. Then Gaster realized, as he lept up howling again, that he had snow stuck in his boots. A lot of it. Frisk, again, convulsed with laughter. Gaster waded forward, muttering, Oh shut up.
It felt like eternity, but they made it to the right. Finally, the snowfall lessened and the blanket of said snow that they were walking through thinned, until they didn’t have to lose another shoe. They came to another post, looking more like a hotel reception desk. In front of them was another, smaller, neater sign with the words, “Absolutely NO MOVING!!!” on it. Huh. They crossed to the desk and looked around. There was no one here. Peculiar. Frisk spoke up: Don’t move, no matter what happens. Gaster ignored them and walked forward, but was stopped by a dog with 2 swords rise from under the desk. “Did something move? Was it my imagination?” the dog asked. “I can only see moving things. If something WAS moving… for example, a human…” Gaster tensed. Frisk rolled their mental eyes and explained to him, Now listen. To dodge his attacks, don’t move an inch. If they’re light blue, don’t move. If they’re white, avoid them as usual. Gaster nodded. The dog finished with, “I’ll make sure it NEVER moves again!” Another battle initiated and the 4 options popped up again. “Doggo blocks the way!,” exclaimed the small, squeaky, and very annoying voice in Gaster’s head. Frisk started, took control of Gasters left arm, and hit the ACT button. They then hit “pet,” but Doggo moved out of the way of their hand, saying, “Don’t move an INCH!” He slashed his left sword at them, the blade glowing light blue. Gaster remembered Frisk’s warning, and stood quite still. The blade passed through him as if he didn’t exist. While Gaster was standing quite shocked, Frisk tapped ACT again and hit “pet.” This time, the annoying voice in their head said, “You pet Doggo,” and Gaster mechanically reached out and stocked Doggo's neck.
Doggo became quite excited by this. “WHAT,” he yelled. “I’VE BEEN PET?!” Doggo flopped down to the snow and bared his belly, panting happily. Gaster walked over and scratched Doggo’s belly. Doggo panted happily and curved and arched his body. Eventually Gaster stopped and backed away a bit. Frisk guided the hand they were in control of to the MERCY option, which was now shining bright yellow, and pressed their hand to it. Doggo stood up, bowed his head in their direction, and ran back to his desk. The world returned to normal and Doggo said, “S-S-S-Something pet me… something that isn’t m-m-moving… I’m gonna need some dog treats for this!” With that, he sank out of sight, back to whatever place under the desk he had made for himself. Gaster stared at the desk, shrugged, and walked on.
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Sans saw the human/Gaster/Frisk/whoever walk up to him. He felt he should warn them about Papyrus. But… there was something else… something he didn’t see… maybe in the trees… Welp. He could worry about it later, at Grillby’s. He leaned in close to Fraster and as he did, he thought, Heyyyyyy! That’s my new nickname for them. Fraster!!!* He whispered, to the waiting pair: “Hey, here’s something important to remember. My brother has a very special attack. Here it is: If you see a blue attack, don’t move. It won’t hurt you.” He could see them nodding. He continued on.
“Here’s an easy way to keep it in mind: imagine a stop sign. When you see a sign, you stop right? Stop signs are red. So imagine a blue stop sign instead. Simple, right? When fighting, think about blue stop signs.” With that, he teleported away to Snowdin Town, right to the entrance of the town. The townsfolk waved to him as he passed by. Some of kids ran up to him and hugged his legs, asking as their parents tugged them away, “Where’ve you been Sans?! Grillby’s been looking all over for you, and Paps is inconsolable! He didn’t talk to us like normal! Did something happen?”
“Nah, kids. He’ll be fine,” Sans replied with a forced grin. “Do you know where he went?”
“His house. It’s where he always goes now.”
“I’ll go there. Thanks kids.” Sans raced back toward the house, which was, as usual, decorated with lights and bones. He didn’t bother with the door. He just teleported straight to Paps’ room. There, he found Paps in bed, sleeping. Sans shook him and his eyes flew open with a gasp. But his eyes… they were no longer white with black pupils. They were pure purple. Sans backed away in shock. What was happening…?! But he didn’t have time to process it. Paps lunged from the bed, a murderous gleam in his eye, arms outstretched. And he was headed straight for Sans. Sans didn’t have time to react before Paps slammed right into him. After some struggling, Sans was pinned beneath his brother, Papyrus’ hands around his throat. Sans should have been worried. He wasn’t. He was terrified. Papyrus was tough. Tougher than Sans. He could very well strangle him. But Sans still had one trick up his sleeve. With the last of his energy, he yelled, sending out a burst of power in a wide circle around him. Papyrus was hurled off him and smacked into the bookshelf. He crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Sans was horrified. Did he accidently kill his own brother?!
He ran to Paps. As he crouched in front of him, Paps opened his eyes. His normal eyes, not the pure purples. Sans exhaled in relief, not noticing he’d been holding his breath until now. “Ughh…” Paps groaned. “Why does my head hurt? Why do you look so worried? And why do I have a sudden craving for smoothies?” Sans didn’t answer. He had already thrown his arms around his brother and wrapped them tight, refusing to let go. Paps was shocked, but soon wrapped his own arms around Sans. The pair sat there for a long time, each refusing to let go of the other, each crying a bit, each lost in their own thoughts and memories. It was a long time of hugging and tears before Paps asked, “Sans… he’s back isn’t he? Dad’s back…”
* I regret nothing.
And now… back to your regularly scheduled visit with Gaster And Frisk!
Frisk stared at where Sans was previously, then noticed the underground’s version of an skating rink. “OHHHHHH!!!! An ice skating rink!!!” They ran for it, hopped on, pushed off with their feet, and fell flat on their back. A sudden but brief pain erupted in their spine. “Ugh. Ow… That’s the last time I’m going ice skating.” Frisk got up and, muttering to themselves, and looked around. They looked north, to where a happy snowman waited. Then they looked west, where the path to Papyrus’ puzzle was sitting. They turned away from the snowman and headed west. They saw a brown wooden table, with a microwave and a bowl of spaghetti on top of it. But Papyrus was nowhere to be seen. Huh. They saw the plate of spaghetti, still cold. They took the spaghetti. Maybe Paps would like it. They continued on, worried.
They looked all over Snowdin, but Paps was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Sans, for that matter. Huh. That was weird. They crossed a bridge over a watery chasm and stopped. Without warning to Gaster, they turned around and walked back to the side of the bridge they came from. What are you doing? Snowdin village is the other way. Gaster questioned Frisk like this nonstop until they got off the bridge. Just in time to see a familiar white flower with yellow petals disappear into the ground. Frisk mentally smirked at Gaster. That’s why.
Wait. Is Flowey following us?
Yep. He needs to learn that people want to left alone sometimes and don’t need a flower stalking them. Anyway, let’s go back to the village. We need to find Papyrus.
Yeah… Let’s go…
You okay?
Yeah… I just feel like we’re missing something here…
Frisk entered the town and started to look for the kids, the ones who knew Sans and Paps best. Eventually, they found Monster Kid, a small yellow, spiny-headed kid. He and Sans know each other really well. Frisk could ask him. “Hey, have you seen Sans or Papyrus? It’s really important that I see them.”
“Sans? Yeah, he’s at his place. It’s also where Papyrus went. Is Paps okay? He seemed to be… crying? Uhhhh… hello? Have you been listening to me? WELL?!”
“... Oh? Yeah, sorry. I was unfocused for a sec. Anyway thanks! Talk to you later bye!” They rushed off in the direction of Sans’ house. Monster kid looked after them, shook his head, and walked home muttering, “What a weirdo.”
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How funny. In the Ruins the whole area revolved around Toriel. Here the town revolves around Sans and Paps. But why where they both at their house? Why was any of this happening- NO! We need to find Sans and Paps. Gaster snapped. He had dozed off again. He couldn’t afford to, not with his kids missing. He reached the house, with it permanent Christmas decorations. He considered breaking in through a window. That’d be the easiest way to get in. Then Frisk asked, Why not try the front door? Gaster looked at the door, then at the window. He walked over to the door and gripped the knob. He turned the knob, which turned easily at his touch, like it was oiled just yesterday. The door swung open without a sound.
Gaster looked inside. Are you serious? It was that easy? … Whatever. He stepped inside and looked around. Nothing had changed in the last 100 years. Everything was the same as it was when he fell down. Then he heard crying. Laughter…? It was coming from Paps’ room. He charged up the stairs. He threw open the door to Paps’ room and saw Paps and Sans on the floor, arms wrapped around each other, smiling through their tears. Paps was all disheveled and Sans was still gasping for air. Their clothes were rumpled and Papyrus’ face was bruised and bloody. How can a skeleton bleed anyway? Is that even possible? Gaster stopped in the doorway. Sans looked up and saw him standing there. He nudged Papyrus. Hard. Paps looked up, grumbling and muttering to himself, but stopped when he saw Gaster standing there.
Gaster smiled, and could feel Frisk doing the same. Sans got up and brushed off his clothes. He looked at Gaster, than Papyrus, then smiled. “I think the four of us need to talk,” he remarked. “Let me get some takeout from Grillby’s and then we’ll talk.”
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Frisk raised the burger to their mouth. They hesitated before biting into it, but only for a moment. They opened their mouth and bit into the meat. It was good, but not as good as Toriels Butterscotch Pie. Grillby made good fast food. Frisk looked around the table with ridiculously tall legs as they chewed. They weren’t the only ones sitting there. Sans was going to town on a double burger, while Papyrus nibbled on a plate of hot spaghetti. Sans opened his mouth to take another bite, then stopped and set the food down. He leaned forward toward Frisk and asked, “So G, how about you tell us what happened? Paps’ still in shock.”
“I don’t believe it!” Papyrus was outraged. “I saw him fall into that pit! He’s not here!”
Frisk looked up at the pair of eager/skeptical skeletons. They took a breath and looked each skeleton in the eye. A white dot flashed in Frisks eyes and they could see an answering flash in Sans’ and Papyrus’ eyes. The floor rippled, waved, and eventually yielded to a rapidly widening pool of inky black darkness, almost alive, like the darkness back in the Void. Frisk, Sans, and Papyrus fell into the darkness.
Panicked, Frisk reached out to Gaster, but he was silent as a tomb. Of course. They were witnessing his memories. He needed to keep them all in his mind, which took all his willpower. Ugh. Frisk would wait for G. For now, they could just lean back and witness the 3-D memory experience Gaster was taking them on.
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Papyrus was shocked. How had he gone on not knowing that G was here? He had thrown away his family, his friends, all to find a purpose in his life again, to fill the hole in his heart. Was it all for nothing? Did he throw his life away for a false dream? … Well, that was all in the past… It was time to move on. But for now, it was time to watch Dad’s memories. Heh. How quickly he’d come to think of Gaster as “Dad” again. How times change. … Huh.
He saw all of Dad’s memories from after the fall: him waking up in the featureless landscape, running around the Void, trying to get out; realizing that he could make things here; making a batch of cameras for the Underground; setting up a computer system much like the one in his office in Hotland; depositing the cameras all over the Underground, but in Snowdin especially, to watch his kids. Then the memories became more recent. Papyrus saw the human fall in; saw them show their red SOUL to Dad; saw Dad snatch it; saw him take one last look at the Void and teleport out… and… huh…? Another human… hmmm… Papyrus didn’t have time to think about it. The black endless tunnel faded, and they woke up sprawled in Papyrus’ living room, like they had sleepwalked here from the table in the kitchen.
Frisk/Gaster was the first to get up, Papyrus not far behind them. He crossed the room over to Sans, but he was asleep. Again. Papyrus swore Sans was awake during the memory tunnel of trippiness. He shook Sans until he groaned and woke up. “Finally!” Papyrus was uncomfortable being this snobby. He was worried. Afraid that Dad would be taken from him a second time. And with him, Sans…
“Uggghhh,” Sans moaned as he rubbed his forehead. The human crouched down next to Sans. “Are you Okay?” they asked of Sans.
“...Yeah, my head hurts. Did that really… happen?”
“Yeah. That happened. Just so you know, I’m Frisk. Gaster’s resting from exertion of his power.” Frisk helped Sans up. After a gesture from them, Papyrus rushed over to help. “So,” Frisk said once Sans was up and stable on his own. “How about helping us get through the rest of the Underground so we can break through the barrier, Sans and Papyrus?”
Papyrus started. He could warn them about Undyne, the path ahead, and Asgore. This could be his way of helping Dad. He raised his hand and spoke: “I’ll take you to Waterfall. After that, well, you’re on your own.” Frisk nodded. Papyrus guessed they had been expecting that. Gently, he took their hand and led them out of his house, maybe… for the last time...
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Frisk wasn’t even concentrating on anything. They didn’t notice Doggo bark a greeting at them, or the villagers shouting greetings at them, or the literal hundreds of Icecaps chasing them for ignoring their one brother. Papyrus shook off that mob. Finally, they arrived at a border. Behind them was the freezing town of Snowdin. Up ahead, they could hear the sound of water crashing, falling, and flowing. Their feet were wet and getting wetter.
“This is the entrance to Waterfall,” Papyrus said. “It’s always warm and wet there, so I go there when I need to thaw out. Just, be careful in there. The protector of Waterfall, Undyne, HATES humans. If she finds you… well… Just, don’t let her find you. Also, one to get anywhere near the barrier… you need to get past Asgore, the king. He’s, well… you’ll see.” Frisk nodded. They understood. They were about to turn around and walk into Waterfall when they considered. They turned back to see Papyrus already walking away. They sprinted after him and hugged him. Paps stiffened, but he quickly turned around, knelt, and returned the hug. The two stood there, silent. Then Paps broke away, smiled at them, and walked away.
Frisk turned towards Waterfall, unsure what would come next. But they knew one thing: they were DETERMINED to do everything in their power to help everyone they met. To ease one’s suffering; to pick someone up; to help anyone in dire need. They would do those things. And, one way or another, they would finish their journey.
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Epilogue...
As Frisk crossed into the wet, rainy Waterfall, Gaster fast asleep, Frisk wondering about what would come next, they failed to notice the shadow in the trees. It was the form of a small child, about Frisk’s size. It smiled wide, showing white, straight teeth. It said, in a female voice:
Ḩ̵̢̮͓̻͂̽̈́̄͑͗͐͆̌͐e̴̼̳̤͔͊̅̓͂͋̈́̈́͝͠ẖ̴̛̛͍̩̙̺͉͍̻͉̬̄̋̂̈̎̎͜͝ȩ̵͓̻̼̜͇̣̭̾̿h̸̡̛̺͔̰̞̜̭͐̀̀̋͗̏̈́͘͝͝è̶̳̳̠͓͇͚̭̳̭̙́̇̓͐́͊̋h̴̡̨̻̺̺͇̆͜ͅe̵͍̜͊͐̊̐̀h̷͉̼̋̈́͗̅̕e̷̬̤̓̈́̎̈̈̔̇h̵̢̼̜̱͑͋͊̔͜͝ͅe̸̘̱̣̖͎͕̞̜͚͊̀̊̇̑̍̉̏͋̚̕ḥ̷̯̝̤̫͒̃̀͋̔̀͛͝.̶̥͉̮̲̘̠̹̮̈̃̽̑̐͆͋͠͝.̴̘̓́̍͑̌̊͋̀̓̃̈͝.̶̧̢̡̰̦̝̼̹͚̮̫͙̄̈͒͂͂͐̑̓̄͘͝ ̷͙̯̞͚̩͚̙̫̻̏͛̅͂̈̔Ṣ̸͔̲͕̞̲͙̫̾͠͝͝e̴̢̧͍̱̘͍̽̆̒̈̃͝ę̴͕̥̲̜̪̃̇̑̐̇͂̈͛ ̶̡̛̼͙̻̰̬̠͑̌͐͘ÿ̷̨̞̬̩̖͇͎̟̣̞̐̌ô̸̧̨̤̭̗̙̌̒́̀̓̈́͛̒͒̏̕ů̴͕̺̔͐̾̈̈́͋̿̓͗͝ ̷̡̦̱̮̝̣̩͔̳͓̀̒̃̉̈̒̈́͜͜͠s̵̨̛̫͈̦̳͙̊̽̉͗͐̊̔͛̕o̵̮̣̺͚̞̻̫͎̊̉́͘͜ơ̴̧̼͇̰̞͍̹̪̯̦̿̽͑̒̐́̈̏n̶̢̡̲̟̬̪̹͇̒̿͑̇̈́̆̌͌̉̉͝.̷̰͕̟̫͚̦̒̈́͜.̵̢̞͇̜͈̣̤̯͔̟̏̆̀̉̈́͊͒̈͌͝.̸̢̫͚̫̺̬̖̯͑́ ̴̣̳̞͔͖̬́͑̑̾͂͝C̷̨͇̟̺̼̩͖̤̝͉̄̋̀̌̎͊̉̀̀͂́̚͜h̶͍̟̜̙̳͍͌̐̓̌̀̽̓̽͝͠a̵̗̤̭̫̼͕͚̻͖͉̙̣͊̆̎̀̌̈́̅͘͘͠ṟ̸͎̤̟͍̰̽̈́͌ă̴̡͙̯̹̽̆̏͂͋̉̕͠.̸̪̫͕̒̀́̂͒̂̂͜.̴̪̘̟̦̖̊̈́͛͆͝.̴̨̮̫̻̞̣̦͈̲̈́ ̵̡̥̗͔̹̣̣̜̥̟͎̒͂͠I̸̧̛͓̙̬͇̲͕̱͚̫͙̙͌͗͘'̸̧̧̡̻̱̮̙̠̖̩̥͍̐͌͠l̶̘͉̑̅͝l̴̺̑͗̇̋̓̓̌͂ ̵̹̣̦͓͎̪͓͈̙̝̔̃͛̍͛̉̏̈͛͠b̵̜̯̫̿̐͆͆́̏̎͛̈ȩ̵̢̝̜̯̘͕̣̮̜̅͗͐̎͌͘ ̶̢͕̜͇̺͖͚̤̺͇̑̓̏̀̌͌̑̂̽̋͝ͅͅn̶̡̬̰̟̯̑̓̊̇̌̍́͆͗̈͗̕e̵̗͉̮̹̾̏͗͛̈́͊̍͠ȩ̵̡̬͚̯͙̳̥̱̗̺̍͌͜d̵̻̹̭͙̤̬̆̾̾̃̈́͒̐̔̕͝i̷̡̩͓̲̘̝͕̎̔͌̽ņ̶̰̬͓̠̈́̐͑͛̇͒̚ĝ̷̡̳ͅ ̵̙͙̜̣̹̰͇̿̉̎́͆͌̕t̵̨̩͔͈͉͉̹̝̮͉̩̎̎͗̉͌͝ĥ̸̢̛̦͚̻̹͖̊͐ͅͅa̶̧̡̘̤̤̦͔̭̹̓͛͝ͅͅẗ̵̫̘́̌̀̌͝ ̶̤̯̖̯̝̲̹̿͗̈́́̽H̸̳͙̖̻̬̠̤̜́̋̅̔̀̏̏̏̊̓̈́Ả̵̧̦̣̣͖̌̋͘T̷̟̣̣̹͙̑́̆͑͝ͅE̸̪͙̜̎́̐͒͐͋ ̵̠͚͉̣̙͈̺͙͖͠ǫ̴̨͎̻̼̯̯̯̺̱̣̌͌f̵̩̥̪͍̯͓͖̟̹͓̘͐̎͆̌͘͘͝ͅ ̴̧̹͇̟̮͉̺̥́͆y̷̧̛͕͖̥̘͕͍̰̘̞̏̊̅̿̊̾͋͘͝͠ó̵͇̓̉̌̐͒̑̎̏̋͋͘ú̶͔̝̮̘̽r̸̥̍̀́́͑͆̀͝s̷̢̛͍̙̥̥̙̩̥͇̭͍͒̽͆̓̉̑̈́̒͊.̴̻̩̮̜͎̺̻̏͊͑͝.̷̘̹͙͕͚̩̝̒̔.̷͔̆͊̋͑̈̓̅̒̍̎͋̉”̴̧͙̘̺̳͎̹͍̮̊̂̐̊̇̋͝͠
It laughed a cruel, sinister laugh, and it’s left(?) eye flashed with a purple light, then it melted back into the trees. However, it would be seen again. And soon… Very, very soon…
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