Chapter Text
Gaster had heard the blip coming from his laboratory for the last half hour but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. He was convinced something was broken, looking over all his equipment until he looked at the radar. One blip had shown up for the first time.
That radar had been sending signals out into the void to see if anything came through. It would signal back items that had fallen into the void and he would make periodic trips out to collect the lost items. But items did not send back signals to the radar that make a blip. He started to panic. Whatever was out there was alive and moving and he needed to get to it fast. But beyond his small ‘home base’ Gaster had created in the void, he would be lost, so many years ago when he first fell to this desolate place he had made a tracking device. One that was a small radar that would send back static signals if it hit something.
Gaster garbed his radar, umbrella, threw on a scarf, and stepped outside into nothingness.
"Where . . ."
"Where am I?"
"Hello . . .? Anyone . . .?"
"Is . . . is anybody out there . . .?"
"Someone!? Anyone!? Can anyone hear me!?"
" . . ."
"It's dark."
"It's so dark here."
"Someone, anyone, if you can hear me . . ."
"Say something . . . please . . ."
“No one can hear me, can they . . .?
“I guess not.”
“To be honest, I'm not even sure if I can hear myself.”
“It's so quiet here . . . ”
“. . . and yet, sometimes,”
“I swear I hear something . . .”
“Something like . . . scratching?”
December called out into the shapeless dark. The only thing she could see was herself as though she was being softly lit from an unknown source. She got up and started to walk in no direction in particular. She hoped she would stumble upon something, a land marker?? Anything. But as she walked she saw nothing.
Dess started to panic, she didn’t know what to do or where to go. She wandered for what felt like hours. All she could wonder was this was a bad dream? Was she trapped here alone?!
Dess started to take deep breaths to not panic, but like a water pump, with each deep breath tears welled up in her throat. She broke down.
Dess cried until she couldn’t any more and then she laid down, arms and legs splayed out, eyes closed. She heard the scraping noise get louder and quieter and she focused on it, just listening. Listening to nothing.
Then she actually heard nothing. She realized that she had been hearing what could only be described as white noise so loud you couldn’t hear it, couldn’t hear your own voice. And when it had suddenly stopped, all that remained was the scratching noise, loud and clear. It was in fact not scratching but sonar fuzz and it seemed to have found what it was looking for. Dess’s eyes flew open.
Above her was a tall older looking skeleton, scars on his face, glasses, and dressed in a vest and scarf. He held the sonar at Dess and an umbrella that covered both of them.
Dess, startled, jumped back with a scream. As she flew back she flew out from under the umbrella the man was holding and suddenly the noise hit her ears all at once. A loud static noise filled her ears and she covered them in pain.
The skeleton dashed over to Dess with the umbrella and suddenly the sound was gone, as though he was blocking the static rain from falling on her, her ears rang.
“I am so sorry” said the man, “I did not mean to startle you-”
“It’s ok!” Dess jumped to her feet and grabbed the man’s sleeves “I am - there is someone else! Please, I need your help.” The words were falling out of her mouth.
“What is your name?” The man said calmly.
“My name is December Holiday, I live on 162 Main Street. My parents are Rudy and Carol Holiday, I don’t know where I am-”
“Slow down, it is alright” the man said calmly and Dess realized she was spitting these words out at a hundred miles an hour fighting back tears. Dess loosened her grip on the man’s sleeves and the man laid a bony hand on her shoulder. “Young lady, how old are you?”
“15.”
“Alright December my name is Dr. WingDings Gaster, just call me Gaster. I am going to bring you back to ‘home base’ alright? We will figure out how you got here and what to do.” Dess nodded as Gaster warmly wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She softened a little. “Can you hold this for me dear, no pun intended.” Dess gave a relieved chuckle, feeling more calm now that an adult was here. At that took the umbrella from his hand and made sure it covered the both. Gaster took the sonar, flicked a switch and it crackled as it looked at an unseen spot. Gaster twisted them both around until the sonar's crackle became more clear as it landed on something.
As they walked Dess asked “Where are we Gaster?”
“Something I call the void. There is nothing here”
“Then where are we going?”
Gaster gave a small chuckle. “There may be nothing here but I made something for myself here, I call it ‘home base’.”
Dess nodded, understanding better now, looking over at Gaster “Are others there?”
Gaster looked back, face still. “ . . . You’re the first person to come here.”
Dess paused, “How do I get home?”
Gaster side and said quietly, “That is something . . . I have not figured it out yet.”
Dess stopped and they met eyes. “Am I stuck here.” Gaster's mouth opened but no reply came out.
He eventually replied, “It’s just you and me for now.”
Dess didn’t notice ‘home base’ in the distance at frist. What she did notice was the static snow that started to fall. The small blocks fell silently onto the floor and while Dess was looking at the ground Gaster turned off the radar. Dess looked up at the sudden silence at what looked to be a door. A perfect blue rectangle set into a nothing void. They stepped through it.
It led to a narrow hallway decorated in a string of Christmas lights. Warm light araderated from down the entryway and Dess followed it into a clearing. She could see six doors. A bathroom, a small kitchen cluttered but clean, a living room with an armchair, a knitting basket snug against it, bean bag, tv, radio, and a large bookcase stuffed to the brim. Three doors were closed and she couldn’t see in. The whole place felt off putting to Dess until she realized that there were no windows, it was like some bunker. But despite it all there was love put into it. Soft lights, art on the walls, miss matched plates. It felt like it could be home, but to Dess it was anything but that.
“That room right there,” Gaster pointed at one of the closed doors. “It’s a storage closet that I don’t use. I will get you the air mattress and blankets for the night.” Dess glanced at the clock on the wall. 10:42. She guessed pm. She walked over to the room and opened the door. Closet was not a good word for it as just a small room. One string light lit it. Nothing was in there but a broom and a few boxes. This was going to be her room now, for as long as she was here and it made her stomach upset.