Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Papyrus skipped along the path towards the Lab, humming happily, his bright red boots pounding the ground. He was only slightly nervous, after all, Flowey said Gaster had changed. No need to be afraid, of course he trusted the flower! Why would he lie?

“I wonder why he decided to change. Do you know?” He asked, stopping as a small yellow flower popped out from the ground.

“Of course I know! I know everything! He finished his tests the same day Mo-… Toriel found you, and he was going to stop and give you clothes and make you people before Toriel came! He never got the chance, though, because she came to rescue you. Now he wants to apologize and join the family! I could go get your brother and Toriel now if you want, but we wouldn’t want to make your dad wait! He’s been expecting you! Do you want me to go get them while you go ahead and say hello?” Flowey asked, glancing at the corner of the lab, barely visible at the end of the path. He needed to hurry this up, before the skeleton’s brother and the stupid goat realized he was missing. They might ruin his fun! He’d always be able to Load and try again, but that would take awhile and he was already getting bored. The heat was slowly making him wilt, as usual, but he welcomed the feeling. At least he was feeling something, and that was still endlessly satisfying!

“Oh, I was hoping you’d stay with me? I… I’m kind of scared.” Papyrus said, fiddling with his long scarf. “I know you said he’d changed, but-“ he trailed off, looking at the yellow flower.

“Of course I will, best friend! I’ll be right there the whole time! Don’t worry for a second!” Flowey said, grinning up at the skeleton child. Looking at the robes and scarf his moth- Toriel had made for him, that she had spent so much time making, almost made him feel something. Not anger, not quite. Not sadness either, so what was it? Jealousy? Of course not, he wasn’t jealous of this skeleton, that would be silly. Besides, he couldn’t feel emotions. He could recognize what he should be feeling, usually, but nothing more. Flowey shook himself out of his revere and saw that Papyrus had moved forward quite a bit. He popped underground and came back up right next to the Lab, waiting for the skeleton to catch up.
Papyrus started slowing down and looking over his shoulder as he neared the door, getting more and more hesitant. He tugged on his robes, wishing that Sans was here with him. Preferably Mom too. What if He didn’t change? What if He just wanted to take Papyrus and Sans back and hurt them again? No. He wasn’t going to think like that, not on such a happy day. He just… wanted Sans and Mom here. That way Mom could protect him if He decided to hurt him again. He wouldn’t care if they took a bit longer, right? Just long enough for Mom and Sans to get here. “Hey Flo-“ Papyrus started as he reached the door, before being cut off when Flowey knocked at the door.

“Yes? If that’s you again Asgore, I’m eating fine, thank you!” He, Gaster, The person Papyrus had never wanted to see again, the person who had hurt them so many times, called from behind the door. Despite assurances to himself that He had changed, that He wouldn’t hurt them anymore, Papyrus found himself taking a step back, two steps, three, before preparing to run away and wait for Sans and Mom. He heard the door quietly creak as a confused skeleton in a lab coat opened the door.

“Wha-“ He said, standing in the doorway, taking in the strange sight. Flowey had vanished, watching from out of site around the corner of the Lab. Papyrus started to run, but found himself floating in air and drifting backwards as his soul turned blue. Papyrus spun around and watched as Gaster jerked him inside and slammed the door. “What are you DOING here?! After you escaped, after she rescued you, why would you EVER come back here?!” Gaster asked, his voice both a whisper and a yell.

“Y-you said you wanted to meet me! You said… you said you’d changed! That you didn’t want to hurt us anymore! Flowey said so! Flowey said you wanted to…” Papyrus said, trailing off and whimpering in fear as Gaster didn’t release his hold on his Soul, all the pain and fear finally catching up to him.

“I-what? Flowey? I never-“ Gaster said, cutting himself off and trailing though the many thoughts going through his head. His browbone furrowed as his hand was stretched in front of him, holding the small, scared, skeleton child. “Who’s Flowey?” He finally decided on asking.

“Flowey, the yellow flower, don’t you, didn’t he, didn’t you say, did he lie?” Papyrus curled into a ball, still floating in the air. “N-n-n-no, he wouldn’t lie, we’re friends, you aren’t going to hurt me!”

“A flower?” Gaster laughed in spite of the situation. All this time plotting, planning, trying to figure out how to retrieve his subjects without conflict, and 2’s daydream had brought him straight into his grasp! “I don’t think your friend can help you now, I’m afraid.” He said, tightening his grip on Pap-… 2’s Soul and carrying him to an unused storage room until he could fix the beams Toriel had destroyed.
“N-no, no, no, no,” Papyrus repeated, sobbing as he was dragged into the storage room and dropped onto the floor.

Gaster sighed, leaning back in his chair. What was he thinking? The queen was sure to notice Two missing soon, she had apparently treated him, it, like a child. Like something other than the thing IT was. This would be the first place she looked, and there was no way he could keep Two hidden from her angry search. He considered attacking her, killing her so she couldn’t tell Asgore, so she couldn’t rescue the subject. He immediately dismissed the idea, she was much more powerful than him. At least, that’s what he told himself. He didn’t have compassion anymore, he didn’t care about people anymore. He was too far gone for that now. For now he had to focus on hiding the subject, or putting him somewhere out of her reach. He quickly checked the monitors, seeing Two’s tracker still in the storage room, and One’s tracker still in the ruins, still, probably sleeping. Gaster had about 5 hours before they woke up and another 3 hours before they could make the walk. Enough time, hopefully, to find a way to hide Two. Gaster sighed and resigned himself to a sleepless night.

Chapter Text

Papyrus curled into a ball in the corner, sobbing. Gaster had just come in with the medical gown, that awful awful medical gown, and forced Papyrus to change, taking away his beloved scarf and boots and robes that Mom had worked so hard on, calling him Two and saying he wasn’t a person, he was a THING and he didn’t deserve clothes and he was going to hurt him again. “H-he changed! Flowey said he changed! He wasn’t going to hurt me anymore!” He cried, his voice muffled. Papyrus took a deep, calming breath as he slowly uncurled. He tried thinking happy thoughts, hopeful thoughts, but none would come to mind.

He quickly sat up, his fear becoming a tiny bit less overpowering. That’s right, Flowey was bringing Mom and Sans! Mom would rescue him! He just had to wait, and Mom would come back again. She said she would never let anyone hurt him or his brother anymore, and he trusted her. Papyrus took a deep, shuddering breath and stood up. If he got out on his own, escaped, surely that would make it easier for Mom to rescue him! She wouldn’t have to look for the small room he was trapped in.

Papyrus started looking around the room, no bigger than a closet really, and took a step towards the door, bony feet clicking on the hard tile. The door was locked, not that he had expected it to open. Looking around, he saw an air vent, like the one Brother had tried to hide inside when they played hide and seek, in the ceiling. He didn’t see the green leaves that quickly pulled themselves away from the opening as he looked up. The rest of the room was empty, a white painted wall and white tile floor with a thin layer of dust.

A nagging voice itched in the back of his head, quietly worming it’s way to the front as Papyrus explored the small room. Flowey could have lied, he lied about Him, he might not get Mom, he could be stuck here forever. Reality came crashing down, and Papyrus followed suit, crashing onto the floor as his legs gave out. Mom wasn’t coming, Brother wasn’t coming, he was going to be stuck here forever, pain, pain, pain pain pain... Papyrus screamed as he remembered every bone being broken, every time He picked up the hammer or the saw, screamed as he felt the plate, that stupid PLATE being screwed in again and again and again…

It was supposed to be simple. A nice, quiet mission from Asgore to see what project Gaster was so obsessed with that he couldn’t have a cup of tea or eat a decent meal. Slip in unseen, slip out unseen. Alphys’s specialty. Still, her breath quickened as she hacked the cameras inside the lab, setting them on a loop. She slipped in through the secret side door she had installed a long time ago just for missions like these. “O-ok A-alphys, you can do this. It’s a m-mission from A-asgore, s-so you h-have to.” She whispered to herself before silently slipping inside.

The small bits of fabric she had wrapped around the claws on her feet allowed her to walk silently on the tiles, when she would have otherwise clicked loudly. She glanced at the actual camera feed on her cell phone, making sure Gaster was still in his office, before quietly slipping past the closed door. Alphys was just in the kitchen, seeing what food Gaster had in the fridge, (all junk food and instant noodles) when she heard a scream. It sounded muffled, and even with some of the best ears in the underground, she barely heard it.

She quickly checked the cameras, but Gaster didn’t appear to have heard. Alphys rushed in the direction it came from, checking the cameras again as she heard another one. She almost passed the storage room door, but she heard the sound of muffled sobbing from behind it as she rushed past. Taking a step back, she faced the door and took a deep breath. Alphys checked the cameras again, noting that there wasn’t one behind this door, before she stretched a hand out and touched the doorknob. It rattled a bit, and the sobs instantly cut off. She could barely make out a small gasp and a scramble before she opened the door and froze in shock.

Papyrus curled into the corner, shivering in fear as the door opened. “I’ll be good, I’ll be good, don’t…” He trailed off as he saw, not the larger skeleton he was expecting, but a lizard monster just a bit taller than him, wearing a white lab coat just like He did. “A-are you His assistant?” Papyrus asked, curling even tighter and slipping his arms around his legs. He seemed to calm down a bit, but was still scared.

Alphys stood frozen in the doorway, looking in. A small skeleton was curled into the corner, looking scared for his life. Alphys tried and failed to think of a reason,  why such a small CHILD would be locked into a small, empty room wearing nothing but a medical gown that looked oh so uncomfortable.

“A-are you His assistant?” The child asked, looking up at her like she was going to hurt him. Had this child been hurt before? Had Gaster hurt him? The world started to twist, and she couldn’t think straight, and suddenly she was looking up from the floor, a small, bony face looking at her in apparent concern. The fear had been pushed to the side, though it was still painfully present.

“Are y-you ok? Y-you j-just fell over.” Papyrus asked, the urge to flee out the now open door overpowered by the urge to help this poor person, this person he didn’t know and could hurt him and suddenly he was so scared but there was nothing he could do and-

“I- Are you- Did he- I don’t-“ Alphys started, cutting off Papyrus’s train of thought, a million thoughts running through her head at once. She shook her head and decided on a course of action. “H-hi, I’m A-A-Alphys. What is your name?” She asked him gently as she stood up. Something seemed to make him sad, and he looked away, pausing for a moment.

“I’m Two.” Papyrus hesitated, before looking back with hope in his eyesockets. “Do you know my Mom?” He asked, his voice tinged with hope, almost overpowered by sadness.

“Oh.” Alphys said, unable to think of anything else to say. His name was Two? She looked down at the floor, but as her eyes fell, she froze, looking at his hand. Was that… metal? She studied it for a minute, before recoiling in shock. Metal had been driven into his bones with SCREWS, horrible metal screws, and for a moment she thought she might throw up. Looking closer, she saw the “WDG 2-P” Etched into the metal. Gaster’s initials. The world swam dangerously and started to dim, but she managed to stop herself from fainting again. She barely caught what he said, and had to repeat it in her mind a few times before she understood. “Y-your mother?” Alphys asked. “Um, w-what does s-she look like? Is she a-“

“She’s really big, and she has horns, and claws, and she’s really nice!” Papyrus interupted “Her name’s Toriel!”

“T-t-t-t-toriel? The Q-q-queen is your Mom?” Alphys stuttered, looking panicked. “I, we all thought she was d-dead…” She trailed off. Did the queen know Two was here? Was she the reason he- No. The Queen wouldn’t allow this. She wouldn’t hurt any children. Especially not MONSTER children. With a gasp, Alphys realized she hadn’t checked the cameras. Looking at them now, Gaster had just left the office and was walking straight towards them.

“Gaster’s coming! D-don’t tell him I came, alright? I’ll be back, I’ll be right back! I’ll go get someone to help you!” She whispered to Two, backing out and shutting the door, locking it. Running silently down the hall, she wondered what she had gotten herself into.

She wasn’t a hero, and she didn’t even know where the Queen was hiding. She’d heard rumors of someone living in the Ruins, but she had no idea if that was the Queen or what she should do and how did someone become a hero anyway and surely someone would come to rescue them someday but she promised Two. She promised Two she would come back with help. And she would. Alphys began the walk towards the Riverwoman, hoping she could get a ride to Snowdin. The ruins were very close by, it should only take twenty or so minutes to get there. She completely forgot about turning off the loop on the cameras as she rushed out the door.

Sans woke up to an odd emptiness where his brother should be. “bro…?” he whispered, reaching over. But his brother wasn’t in the bed, or anywhere that he could see. Maybe he had gotten up early to help Mom with breakfast. As if the thought had summoned her, the door opened and Toriel peeped her head in, grinning.

“Time to wake up, breakfast is ready!” She called. “Where’s Papyrus?”

“wasnt he with you?” Sans said sleepily, before registering what this meant and bolting out of the bed. “maybe he went outside?” He said, going over to the door. Toriel shook her head.

“He couldn’t have, I would’ve heard the door.” She said worriedly. “Did he-“

“no. He took him, didn’t He?” Sans said, his voice flat and quiet. He had finally done it, He got past Toriel, He was hurting Papyrus again and there was nothing he could do and he was hurting and he couldn’t stop it, couldn’t even there to help.

“We don’t know that yet, Sans.”

“yes we do. where else would he have gone?”

“Let’s go downstairs and see if the door is still locked before we jump to any conclusions.” Toriel said, turning and leaving the room with Sans right behind her. They walked down the stairs, Sans anxiously pulling at his pajamas, pajamas he still couldn’t believe he had, even though it had been over a year. They stopped just in front of the door, the large, heavy door that could only be opened from the inside. It was open, an inch or so of space where cold air blew in and a good bit of snow had gathered. A small pile of dirt and snow was scattered just inside the entrance, and a tiny hint of yellow, perhaps a piece of a buttercup petal, was barely visible. Almost as if a flower had gotten caught in the door. But neither of the people looking now saw it, or thought it worth mentioning.

“Oh.” Toriel said, because that was all she could say. That beast of a monster had her child and she wasn’t going to let that happen. She was going to go rescue her son and make Gaster pay. Make him pay for taking away her precious son, for ever, ever hurting her children. She slammed through the door and almost marched straight into the yellow lizard monster running towards her.

“Q-queen Toriel!” Alphys said as Toriel stopped and took a few steps backwards, almost sliding out on the snow because of her sudden stop. “I-I… I kind of need your help.” Alphys said, looking at the ground and wringing her hands.

“I’m sorry, I’m kind of in a hurry. Have we met before?” Toriel asked kindly, starting to walk past her, looking anxiously at the pathway.

“O-oh, I’m sorry. I’m A-Alphys, we’ve never m-met before. I-I kind of think you’ll really want to hear this, though.” Alphys said, looking up in a rush of bravery. “Gaster has a skeleton locked in a small room and he said he was your kid and I need your help because I can’t rescue him on my own and I said I’d help but I don’t know how please help me I’m so sorry your majesty!” She took a deep breath and looked back at the ground after her rush of words. “I, I understand if you hate me, I’m such a coward, I should have just faced Gaster and rescued Two but I couldn’t I was so scared-“ Alphys was cut off when Sans walked underneath her and looked up at her.

“you know where my brother is,” He said, giving her a look much softer than his normal hard stare, but still a glare. “and you havent taken us to him yet?” Toriel, who had stayed silent throughout this exchange, took a decisive step forward.

“If you know where my son is, let’s go.” Toriel pushed aside images of lighting that entire cursed Lab on fire, and instead focused on getting to Gaster before he could harm Papyrus. “Do you know a shortcut? The journey usually takes me around 3 hours nonstop, and you don’t look at all tired.”

“Oh, did you not know…? Follow me.” Alphys said, leading the way to the Riverwoman’s boat through the cold, cold snow. The people in Snowdin had quite a shock when they saw the yellow lizard striding back with the Queen they had assumed dead for so long and a skeleton child. “Is that-“ “It’s the Queen!” “Skeleton child…” “What?” The people whispered to each other as they walked by. Stepping onto the boat and paying the Riverwoman for passage to Hotland, Toriel took a deep breath. Maybe… she should see a certain someone on the way. Someone who she hadn’t talked to in years, since the death of that poor young child. He could help, that she was sure of. But did she want him to help?

The doorknob rattled soon after Alphys left, and Gaster walked in to find Papyrus sitting in the corner hugging his knees, tear streaks going down his skull. He looked up when Gaster came in, his eyesockets blank, before dropping his head back onto his knees and sighing.

“I can’t hide you from the Queen when she comes, and I can’t fight her. She is much too powerful. So I’m going to need you to do one last thing for me.” Gaster said, grabbing Papyrus’s soul and pulling him off the ground. Papyrus didn’t even flinch, and floated, unmoving. “Don’t make any noise, and you won’t get hurt.” He began walking, and put Papyrus back in the room with the beams, which were now restored. “I need to make more of you if I’m to continue my research, and I need to prep the tools. I don’t want to risk you escaping, so you will stay here. And don’t think Toriel can blast through these, the operation panel to turn them on and off is secure against all magic and is very well hidden. It’s made of a special kind of met- pft, you wouldn’t understand. Your brother was the smart one. Besides, she won’t be here in time to do anything, much less hear you scream.” At this, Papyrus let out a high pitched wail from the middle of the floor. “I’ll be good, don’t hurt me, please… please… please…” Gaster flinched, before resolving his gaze and walking out of the room.

Chapter Text

Papyrus shivered with anticipation and fear, the visit from Alphys all but forgotten. What did He mean, one last thing? Was he going to…? No. Gaster wouldn’t ki-. Papyrus shook himself firmly out of that train of thought. He instead tried to focus on when Mom would come to rescue him and he’d never have to see Gaster again, even if he changed. It was an awful thought, but Papyrus couldn’t bring himself to feel bad, as hard as he tried. He never, never wanted to see Gaster again.

Gaster sighed, watching One move through the river, apparently on the Riverwoman’s boat. He wasn’t prepared for that, he was under the assumption that Toriel didn’t know it existed. That meant he only had around half an hour to set up before Toriel got here. That could be a problem, if everything wasn’t perfect, the entire thing could fall apart, with him either in jail or dead. One thing was for sure, he needed One for the plan to work. And Gaster already had a probably stupid and almost impossible plan in mind. Well, if it didn’t work, he would be dead and wouldn’t have to face Asgore, which wasn’t a bad alternative.

Toriel leaned forward on the boat, as if that would make it go any faster. “How much longer until we get there?” She asked for the 7^th or 8^th time.

“Y-y-your majesty, we’ll be th-there in a f-few minutes.” Alphys said for what seemed to be the hundredth time.
“Fine. Do you have a Cell Phone? I have one, but I no longer have Asgore’s number. I wish to call him and have him meet us, I believe he can help. As much as I’d rather do this without him, I don’t know if we can defeat him.” Toriel asked, sighing. “At least, not without risking the children. And I’m NOT willing to risk them.”

“Y-yes, I do. I-I’ll call him.” Alphys said, dialing the number and holding the phone to her ear.

“Yes, Alphys? Did you finish your mission?” Asgore asked.

“U-u-um… K-king A-a-asgore… T-t-t-the Q-q-queen wants t-t-t-to m-meet you.” She stuttered, cringing,

“Wh… What?” Asgore asked.
“Toriel wants to meet you in front of the castle!” Alphys burst out before hanging up the phone and taking a deep breath.

“Thank you, Alphys. Now, we need a plan.” Toriel said. “Should we wait to hear what As-, what the King has to say?”

Sans sat at the front of the boat, staring silently at the water rushing by. He turned when they began talking yet again. “i wanna help.” Sans said, almost too quietly to hear.

“Absolutely not.” Toriel said, looking at him. “He already has one of my sons, I’m not letting him have two.”

“but i-“ Sans started, before Toriel cut him off with a firm but loving voice.

“No.”

“fine. but im coming to watch.” Sans said. Toriel started to reply, but was cut off when the boat hit the shore. “Beware the man who speaks in hands.” The Riverwoman said as they stepped off the boat, before floating away down the river. Toriel started walking quickly towards the castle, Alphys and Sans scurrying along behind.

Asgore rushed to his bedroom, almost tearing the flowers as he dropped the watering can and ran out of the flower patch back to his house. He didn’t care that he was still in a flowery t-shirt and pajama bottoms, Toriel wanted to see him. That thought was constantly pounding in his mind. After all this time, Toriel finally wanted to see him, to talk to him again. Maybe she had finally forgiven him. A goat could hope, after all.

He rushed through the house, his claws scrabbling on the floor as he rushed out the front of the castle and to the room directly before the Riverwoman’s stop. As he scuttled to a stop, he saw Toriel striding up, along with Alphys and a small… skeleton? Was that a skeleton child? Asgore blinked, and rubbed his eyes. Looking again, the skeleton didn’t disappear. But… Gaster didn’t… weren’t they all dead?

“Hello, Asgore.” Toriel said, her voice cold and steely.

“T-toriel…” Asgore said, reaching out with one paw. Toriel flinched back, flashbacks of him standing over the poor child, that poor child, playing over and over again in her mind. Asgore took a step back, arm falling to his side, a sad and hurt look in his eyes.

“Y-y-your m-maje-“ Alphys started, clearly wanting to end the awkwardness between the King and Queen, before being interrupted by Sans.

“we need your help. mom trusts you… so i guess you have to be able to help, right?” He said, giving Asgore a glare and edging closer to Toriel. He hadn’t been suspicious of Alphys, not for long, she seemed too weak to harm him. But this monster, while looking a lot like Toriel, was large enough to kill him in a single blow. Although pretty much anything could do that with his HP so low.

“I- What?” Asgore asked, his thoughts running through his head lightning fast. Had this skeleton just called Toriel, mom? That… that couldn’t be. How could Toriel even think about having children after what happened to Asriel and Chara, his precious children? How had she adopted this skeleton into her life? And wait… where had this skeleton even come from? Surely Gaster would have told him if he had children.

“Yes. My child, this is Asgore. He’s the one I told you about before, when you asked why I left the castle. He can help us rescue Papyrus.” Toriel said, looking at Sans and smiling, before turning back to Asgore. “This is Sans, my son. Gaster has kidnapped his brother, Papyrus. I guess you need to know at least some of the story… Sans, is it alright if I tell him?” She asked Sans, who had been looking at Asgore with an expression that was part confusion, part worry, and part fear.

“i guess.” Sans said, looking at her. “can… can i tell him?” he asked.

“If you wish, my child.” Toriel said, looking down at him with a worried expression. “Are you sure?”

“yup.” Sans turned to look at Asgore again. “gaster created us in his lab.” Sans gestured towards the white building, barely visible around the corner. “he screwed these into our hands and tortured us.” Sans said, lifting up his hand to show to Asgore. Asgore sucked in a sharp breath, shocked and horrified. A metal plate was screwed into the bone, with the letters “W.D.G 1-S” engraved into the metal. Sans looked away, unable to meet the taller monster’s eyes. “he tortured us, and then mom came and rescued us and gave us birthdays and gyftmas and-“ He cut himself off. “but gaster just came and took my brother, papyrus, and we need to get him back, before he hurts him again.”

Sans started shaking, and sat down heavily, his legs apparently not able to hold him up. His left eye glowed a bright purple, mixed with blue, and he looked again at the lab. “so can we please hurry?”

“He what?” Asgore asked, his voice soft with anger and sadness. Apparently that didn’t need an answer, because Toriel just shook her head and picked Sans up, curling him into her chest. She looked up at Asgore and Alphys, and the three of them began making a plan to rescue Papyrus. Little did they know… Gaster was also making plans. And scientists are supposed to be good at plans, right? (Who made Gaster a scientist anyways?)

Gaster sighed, looking at the monitor once more. One’s soul was in the room in front of the lab, which was a bit worrying. He’d expected to have more time. The Riverwoman must have rushed them here. That wasn’t good, but he would just have to rush ahead with his already rushed plans. He expected Toriel to rush in, probably leaving One to be watched by Alphys, which was perfect. He had no idea Asgore was with them, but it wouldn’t change much. He had Two right next to him, a tight grip on his soul.

“Don’t make any noise, and don’t try to run. It won’t work, and I don’t want you getting hurt unnecessarily.” Gaster said, standing up and pulling Two along with him. Two nodded before curling into a ball and allowing himself to be floated along. Gaster positioned Papyrus, hovering above the door, before hiding behind a very conveniently shaped lamp he had placed right next to the path to the lab. If everything went to plan, they’d see Papyrus and rush towards him, leaving Gaster behind and letting him go retrieve One, who was the key element in his plan.

Gaster sighed. He couldn’t believe he was doing this to Toriel, the person he once considered almost a mother. When had he gone this far, far enough to not even regret what he did? Far enough to not feel guilt when he picked up the hammer, far enough not to feel guilty even now, when he planned to steal Toriel’s childr- NO! They were his SUBJECTS, that he had made for this purpose. They were not CHILDREN, they were THINGS. Things that he MADE. And he wasn’t ready to lose them, to give up on the project after it had gone so far. After all, he was doing this to save them all, to help Asgore.

Asgore and Toriel straightened up, and Alphys sighed anxiously. “W-why can’t I h-help?” Alphys asked.

“I need you to watch over Sans, I can’t let Gaster take him too.” Toriel said. She set Sans down, and he stood up. “but i wanna help! he’s MY brother! and i’m the only one who know’s what He’s capable of!” Sans said, even stomping his foot. Who knew that the skeleton could be so dramatic, and act like a normal kid who wanted one more cup of hot chocolate?

Flowey giggled at the drama of it all. He had no IDEA what Gaster was planning, and no idea at all of how this would go. He knew Toriel’s plan, which was to rush directly in and demand that He gave her child back. Gaster seemed much more sneaky, however, and this looked like it could go in any direction. Flowey quickly burrowed to Waterfall to get a drink and cool off, before quickly rushing back. This was exciting! He didn’t want to miss a single second of it!

Toriel stormed forward, Asgore at her heels. The door to the lab soon came into view, along with the small skeleton floating above it, his SOUL blue. His mouth had been covered with his orange scarf, but he seemed to be trying to say something, gesturing to an oddly shaped lamp. His SOUL suddenly returned to normal, and he dropped down to the ground. Toriel was there immediately, scooping him up into her arms. Papyrus reached up and pulled the scarf off of his face, yelling “Gaster went that way! He went to get Sans!”

Gaster dropped his hold on Two and sprinted, rushing towards One. The appearance of Asgore shocked him, almost making him give up and just run away. But he steadied himself and stuck to plan. Alphys saw him coming and opened her mouth to yell, but before she could get a single word out, he threw her to the ground with blue magic, her head hitting the ground and knocking her out cold. Alphys out of the way, Gaster reached towards One and grabbed his soul, aware of several bones hitting him, only doing one damage each. With a flick of his wrist, Gaster had One completely immobile and hovering in front of him.

“If you don’t want your brother to get hurt, you’ll do exactly as I say.” Gaster said. Sans couldn’t nod, couldn’t do anything, but Gaster took the lapse of bones being thrown at his face as a yes. Gaster turned and started walking back towards Toriel and Asgore, and his Lab, Sans held high above his head. If the other monsters attacked him, Sans would fall to the floor and turn into dust. He couldn’t do that with his brother, which is why Gaster needed One.

Sans internally screamed at himself and his weaknesses, despite all of the battle training, he still couldn’t do anything against blue magic. Now Gaster was going to hurt them again, He already had Paps and now Gaster had him and Toriel was going to be so sad, but Gaster might KILL her if she tried to stop him and that was worse, worse than knowing he was going back to the room behind the beams.

Gaster quickly approached Toriel, who had just finished standing and had a deadly look on her face. Flame wreathed her hands, burning hot and deadly.

“Stay back, protect Papyrus.” She whispered to Asgore as she took a few steps forward, seeing Sans floating above Gaster’s head. “Put. My. Son. Down.” Toriel said, her voice soft and terrifying. Her entire body shook with rage as she tried to contain the urge to launch fireball after fireball at his face.

“I’m sorry, Queen Toriel. I cannot do that. I must ask your forgiveness, and I do hope that you will not be too upset. I need these subjects for my work, and I can’t make more. I need them to get us all out of here, to make sure Asgore doesn’t have to kill anyone else.” Gaster’s voice broke slightly, letting slip to a torrent of emotions.

“I’m afraid you will not be needing them any longer. You’ve committed crimes, more than I can even imagine. So I’m telling you, as your King and friend, to put the child down. We can work something out.” Asgore said, standing regally with Papyrus behind him. His look was equal sadness and determination, and focused slightly behind Gaster instead of directly on him.

“I cannot do that, your majesty. I need them, so you’ll never have to hurt another human.” Gaster said, looking blank and empty. “That’s why I hurt them, why I created them in the first place. So I can find a way to break the barrier, so you don’t have to kill anymore. So you stay the same, no matter how I change.”

“WHAT?!” Asgore bellowed. “You TORTURED innocent CHILDREN, so that we can escape here? So that I stay the SAME?! Gaster, I was WILLING to make that sacrifice! I already HAVE! I don’t care what happens to me! I’m willing to do whatever it takes, so that the monster CHILDREN and their parents, and grandparents, can get out of here! Escape our prison!”
“But I can make that sacrifice for you instead… I can kill the last human and break the barrier. Your soul won’t have to take any more damage!” Gaster said.

“I’m sorry we have to do this, friend, but you’ve left us no choice.” Asgore said, looking sad. He made a motion with his hand. Gaster felt something hit his head from behind, and as everything went black, he could barely see a tear fall down the King’s face.

Chapter Text

Sorry I haven't updated this week guys, I've been sick. Not sure exactly what I have, but I believe it's a sinus infection. I've been too tired and just generally felt too bad to do anything but sleep and lie on the couch watching YouTube and Leverage. I'll try to have an update on Wednesday. Again, really sorry.