Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

♩ Lost in the darkness, silence surrounds you 

Once there was morning, now endless night 

 If I could reach you, I'd guide you and teach you,

To walk from this darkness, back into the light.... ♩

Darkness was all he'd ever known. Being trapped in an endless void, with no light in sight. No hope of ever seeing his loved ones again. Of seeing his sons again. He wouldn't be surprised if nobody even knew he was in this void. It's not like the Void was something commonly known in the real world. 

  The only company he had in this void, were his followers who had fallen with him. Over time, their life began to drain--as was seen by the gray tone their appearance began to take on. They became mindless as they wandered the void. But, they would not find anything. There was nothing in this void. He was the only one who seemed to understand that.

  It was curious that he was still aware, when the others clearly weren't. So, why was he any special? Why hadn't he lost his sense of awareness from a prolonged time in the Void? There was no point in finding an answer. What would he even do if he did know?

  Dark. Darker yet. Darker. 

  Still dark. Yet, even darker. 

  Darkness... Silence....

  ....

 ....

...Light....?

  "I'll probably be the first to admit this, but handling patients like this isn't something we're fully equipped to handle." Dr. Evard Sintony explained. Him and his higher up, Dr. W. D. Gaster were in the psych ward of Newer Home's hospital. The ward itself was still fairly new, as cases of monsters becoming mental were still few in number. Unfortunately, the few cases that did exist, were quite dire, and we're hard to treat.

  "Why is that?" Gaster said, his voice carrying an unusual underlying echo of another font. Almost like an accent of sorts. Common English Fonts weren't his original. "Well, cases like them are so few and far between, and we haven't been able to find many cases recorded from the past." As they spoke, two nurses passed them by, escorting a patient who was clearly absent--as it was obvious from the look in their eyes.

  "Which patient can I see?" Gaster requested. Dr. Sintony quickly looked over his clipboard, the shorter monster quickly skimming each page's contents. "Well... Oh, here." He eventually landed on a certain patient. Evard then led Gaster to the room where the patient was being kept.

  Upon arriving, the room was remarkably small. It only had a single bed, a chair next to it in the corner, and a small window. The patient in question was sitting in the chair, with a monitor just next to her to make sure she didn't go into any form of distress. The patient was almost reptile looking in appearance, but she had almost beige colored short fur. She was dressed in simple hospital scrubs, her hands folded neatly on her lap as she starred off into space.

♩ Deep in your silence 

  Gaster knelt down onto the ground just in front of the patient. He looked up to her, as he put a hand on her knee. No reaction. It was as if she wasn't aware of his presence. She simply continued to look ahead into space, completely absent. The skeleton moved his hand from her knee, and into her hand. He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb to try and get a reaction. Still nothing

♩ Please try to hear me... 

    "She won't respond to you, Doc." Sintony told from where he stood just nearby. "Give me a moment..." Gaster's grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly, as his magic began to glow. Suddenly, the patients SOUL appeared just before him. A monster's SOUL would usually glow in a white color. It's not enough of a glow to light up a dark room, but it's still a healthy glow.

  The patient's SOUL, however, wasn't glowing normally. The glow was dimmed by a darkness surrounding the white. A darkness that was slowly choking out any light in the monsters soul. Judging by how much darkness was already surrounding the upside down white heart, Gaster could tell she was already too far gone. 

  Too far gone? What was he thinking? Clearly he wasn't too far gone, and he was the one lost in a literally void. This patient was right here in front of him, waiting to be helped. Just as he had been. "There must be a way..."

  "We've tried all we can, but we can't help her. There are others worse off than she is, who we also can't help." Dr. Sintony sadly explained. Gaster sighed, as her SOUL returned to it's place. He stood up. "I don't believe she's too far gone yet." He answered, giving his subordinate a determined look. "There has got to be a way to help them, my research shows there is."

  "Well, do you expect you research to find an answer?" Evard wondered, as they exited the room. "I intend to find the answer through my research, Dr. Sintony."

♩ ... I will find the answer,

I'll never desert you

 I promise you this,

Til the day that I... die♩

Chapter Text

  "Dad?" Gaster looked up from his notes to see Papyrus entering the small lab. Although Gaster did the majority of his work at Newer Home Laboratories, he had a small side building next to their house specifically for his non-work related projects. "Oh, hello Papyrus." He greeted, before taking a moment to finish the sentence he'd been writing.

  "I was wondering where you were. Sans and I were going to grab some Grillby's." Papyrus started. "We were wondering if you wanted to come along?" Gaster looked up to the clock on the wall. It was barely a minute past noon. The meeting with the directors wasn't for another hour and a half. He looked back down to the notes he'd been taking. They had to be completed before the meeting. "I mean, it's perfectly alright if you rather not-"

  "Nonsense, Papyrus." The older skeleton scrambled all of his papers into a notebook, and closed them together. While attaching a pen to the book, he continued. "I'd love to have lunch with my sons. Just us three." Papyrus smiled, beaming. "Great! Let's go then!" With that, Papyrus left the home lab. After his son was out of the room, Gaster removed his lab coat and exchanged it for his darker spring jacket. Before leaving, he took hold of the notes he'd been writing, and tucked them under his arm. With that, he was gone.

  "foods here." Sans suddenly said. Gaster's gaze practically shot up as Grillby himself placed his food in front of him--as best as he could anyways, despite the papers that were on the table. "Oh! Thank you."

  "Thank you, Grillby!" Papyrus thanked after. The flaming monster gave a simple nod in response, before returning to the counter. 

  Not long after the three began to eat, did Gaster pick up his pen once again to scribble his notes away. "so. whatchya workin' on?" Sans curiously asked as he dipped his fries into the ketchup. "...Huh?" Gaster eventually mumbled, taking a moment to have a bite of his own food. "Are you working on something important?" Papyrus asked this time. "Oh. Yes, quite important."

  "so important ya had to take it with you?" Sans wondered. Gaster looked from his sons, then back to his work. Well, he was practically finished anyways, he may as well take a break. "I didn't want to keep you two waiting on me, when I just had a few more things to finish up." He explained, placing all the papers back into the notebook. "It's actually my notes I intend to present to the Board of Directors this afternoon." Gaster further explained. "We would've understood if you were too busy to come have lunch with us, Dad. I mean, you've told us how important your latest research is and-" 

  "And I said that was nonsense, Papyrus." Gaster re-iterated, before adding, "Taking a break for lunch will in no way hinder me." A smirk grew on the older skeleton's face. "Now, lettuce eat before our food gets cold." Papyrus deadpanned, as he watched his father take a bite of his salad side dish. Sans audibly chuckled. "heh. egg-xactly dadster!"

  "Sans!"

Chapter Text

♩ There's a face that we wear...

...in the cold light of day....

  The door of the room opened, as the first few board members made their way in. Evan Miles, Director of Newer Home's hospital, swung his briefcase in front of his designated place at the large table, while his monster colleague, Sal Castoro--director of Newer Home Laboratories--switched on the lights.

  As the human and monster sat down, Senior Hospital Director from the next town over, Harald Dresden arrived. The older human was followed in by Professor Herman Snyder. The two paused to look around, obviously noticing Sal to be the only monster in the room at the moment. The Senior Doctor, Professor and a few other human members of the Board were quite indifferent to monsters.

  But, in order to keep the Board from collapsing, they had to keep up their appearances. That, they could do--although not quite gladly. Some human members would prefer to give their harsh opinions to the monsters. It was only by their other human colleagues that they hadn't done just that.

♩ ... it's society's mask, it's society's way...

... And the truth is...

...that it's all a Façade! ♩

  As the other Board members were settling into their seats, the monster king himself entered the room. Asgore was followed in by the remaining board members--Dr. Alphys, Professor Nadia Marsh, Dr. Shawn Aguirre and Ms Nova. Nova was one of the few monsters at the meeting, and she was there to conduct said meeting.

  "Good afternoon, everyone." Asgore's voice greeted, as everyone else seated. "We will begin this meeting as soon as Dr. Gaster arrives, which should be shortly." The king explained, before taking his own seat. 

  Not long after, Gaster arrived. He remained quiet as he made his way to his seat at the table next to Alphys. He wasn't particularly fond of all the humans in the group, so he planned to only speak on behalf of his research, and not for any other reason to the humans. Once the Royal Scientist was seated, Nova made her way to the small podium at the end of the table.

  "The Board of Directors for Newer Home's Hospital and Laboratories is now met." She announced, before adding, "The order of business will be conducted by the secretary of His Majesty," She looked to Asgore respectfully. "Myself. Miss Nova Hill."

  "Get on with it." Professor Snyder suddenly said. Nova had to restrain herself from giving the human a warning look. She continued. "Proposal number one three one, presented by Dr. W. D. Gaster." The bunny-like monster looked towards the scientist in question, before looking to Asgore. "His Majesty will now address the board."

  The monster king stood up from his seat. "As Directors of Newer Home's Hospital and Labs, we are aware of the research on SOULS that Dr. Gaster has continued to do even after Monsterkind has been freed." Asgore began. "And although not all of you may agree with his work, his high reputation merits him a proper hearing."

  "I'd rather not have to hear and agree about all this, strange magic with souls..." Professor Snyder remarked, as he shifted in his seat. Asgore looked to the human. "Normally, if you are feeling that way, I would ask you why you decided to take on the position of being a member of this board. But, this isn't the meeting for that." Snyder did a poor job of hiding his subtle huff in response.

  Asgore looked to his right, to where Gaster sat. "Dr. Gaster, you may present your proposal." He sat down, just as the skeleton stood up from his seat. "Thank you, sire."

  Gaster looked to the crowd of eyes which had their attention on him. He began as politely as he could with, "Distinguished colleagues, I have been studying SOULS for nearly all of my career. It is just recently that my research has begun to point towards more beneficial--and dare I say--miraculous treatments." A few skeptical looks were seen looking back at him. "This is science that can shape tomorrow for Man and Monster kind. This is what I'd like to show to you today." A silence was shared across the table. Gaster took that as a cue to continue.

  "There is two sides to each of us, good and evil, MERCY and LOVE. Think of the world we could create if we were able to extract the evil from a person's SOUL. It would be a world without any anger or violence between our races, and we would be able to live in peace with each other."

  "I am close to finding the very key to duality, using chemical and magical formulas that could and would alter the pattern of a person's personality. It would lead them towards evil or good." He paused, watching everyone's reactions. "In our hands is the chance to make history."

  "Dr. Gaster," Miss Nova spoke up. "Maybe you should move on from the niceties, and get onto the matter at hand?" She requested. Gaster gave a nod. "Of course, my apologies." He quickly apologized.

  "Humans and Monsters are each the embodiment of two opposing forces--evil and good." He began. "If we had the ability to control each of those, we would be able to eliminate all evil from man and monster kind. My experiments thus far have convinced me that, given the modern science at our disposal, it isn't far off when this separation will be possible." 

  Gaster stopped briefly, taking a careful look at everyone's expressions. The humans in the room looks incredibly skeptical, whereas the monsters looked curious, with a touch of doubt. Understandable. What he was saying sounded somewhat farfetched, but he hadn't lost their attentions yet.

  "To achieve such a separation," He continued. "I must be allowed to try my formula on a psych patient--whether it be human or monster." Dresden immediately spoke up. "And what if you're right, Dr. Gaster? What will happen to the evil?" Gaster's eye met the older human's gaze.

  "Despite the best efforts of modern medicine, there are still limits to how far it can truly help people. Limits that can doom them! And not knowing how to treat those who have been dubbed 'too far gone' is just unfair to those poor souls!" Gaster stated, before adding, "For the sake of compassion and medical science, I can save several of those very lives. If you give me one person!"

  "Dr. Gaster, you're treading on dangerous grounds. In legal terms, I'd say extremely unsound!" Professor Snyder remarked, giving Gaster a scolding look. "It sounds to me as though you're playing with fire. You aren't God!" Gaster gave the man a piercing look from across the table. Then, Professor Nadia Marsh added, "There is such a thing as ethics! What kind of Doctor do you think you are? Some kind of 'savior' for your kind?"

  "I'm not claiming to be anyth-"

  "Because judging by your behavior here, you obviously can't differentiate the two!" Nadia interrupted. Gaster was silent for a moment, before he answered. "Professor Marsh, I am simply a scientist. I never claim to be moralist." Marsh and Snyder both raised their eyebrows at him. 

  "D-Dr. Gaster," Alphys suddenly spoke up. "I-I've always a-admired your work w-with S-SOULs. I mean, y-your research is what I l-learned from, and from t-that I w-was able to w-work my way up to where I-I a-am..." She began, sounding a little flustered at the second part of her words, before stopping herself from rambling. "B-But, I think t-that in this instance, you're going a b-bit too far." Gaster bowed his head down, beginning to feel a bit frustrated. But, he kept his composure.

  He looked back up to address the rest of the Board. "Listen, I understand it's your decision that will either allow or deny me this request." Gaster started. "But if you decided to say 'no', then the world will be the one to lose--not me. I beg you to grant me your approval!" Director Miles spoke up next. "I think that's enough of your ranting, Dr. Gaster. We agreed for Newer Home to have a hospital for the soul purpose of saving lives, and the laboratories to help with important research humans have already been working on!"

  "He's right. This quote-unquote 'research' is just absurd!" Dr. Aguirre added, before the senior Director Dresden added, "Never in my years have I seen someone come forward with such an insane proposal! You're basically asking to experiment on the mind, using magic." A few more voices spoke up against the proposal following Dresden.

  In answer, Gaster opened the small briefcase he'd brought with him. He took out a vial. It appeared to be holding a liquid, but said liquid was glowing red. He held it up for everyone to see. "... This is the chance to take charge of both our fates." He began. "Deep down, you all must know tomorrow will be too late! There is one rule in life that we cannot alter; The only thing constant is change."

   A grumble could be heard from Miles. "Oh good grief, enough doctor." The human's tone raised a bit, as he then addressed Asgore. "Dreemurr, he's your 'Royal Scientist', you tell him!" Snyder demanded. Asgore paused, looking over to Gaster. The two made eye contact, Gaster's expression looking to be pleading. It was an incredibly long minute, before the king finally gave his answer. "... We should take this to a vote."

  Nova was finally able to speak up again. "Members of the Board," She began. "Your verdict please. All those in favor, say 'I'." The bunny-like monster paused, giving time for anybody to say 'I'. After waiting a second longer, she then said, "All opposed, say 'nay'." Right as Nova finished, the room erupted with a single 'nay' in unison. However, that didn't keep Nova from noticing the two who didn't say 'nay'. "Dr. Alphys, your Majesty?" The two looked to her, then looked to each other. Then, they both said they abstained.

  Gaster sighed, as Nova continued. "With seven votes to none, and two abstentions, proposal number one three one is rejected."

  ".... If I ever needed any further justification for my research," Gaster suddenly began, tone low. He looked to everyone in the room, as he replaced the vial in his briefcase. "You have just provided it!"

  "Look, Dr. Gaster-"

  "No, you look, Mr. Dresden." Gaster interrupted, making eye contact wit the senior director. "Look at yourselves! You're shown something you don't understand, and it makes you fearful. Mix that with anger that I know you posses not only towards my proposal, but still towards our kind, and you've got your darker side showing through." The humans fell silent.

  "I have presented you with the opportunity to control and completely eliminate the evil that's inside each of us, and yet you rather not so much as humor me!" Gaster told, before seeing Dresden open his mouth again to speak. The skeleton cut him off. "I will show you all, it can be done!" And with that, Gaster took hold of his briefcase, and left.

Chapter Text

  "Oh, is that the little dipper?" Papyrus asked, as him and Sans were lied down in the grass looking up at the stars. "huh? where?" Papyrus's red-gloved hand pointed to where he was looking. "oh yeah. good eye." Sans complimented, as he too noticed the constellation. "I've been reading books in the Librarby about constellations." Papyrus told. "cool."

  "Do you think we can see Aquilla?" Papyrus wondered, scrutinizing the night sky. "nah. not 'til late summer, i think." Sans answered. Papyrus let out a small disappointed huff. "Too bad."

  "hey, I don't planet these things, bro!" Without so much as looking at him, Papyrus gave Sans a light shove. "That was terrible!" The two then heard a familiar giggle just next to them. The skele-bros looked over, and saw Frisk sitting on the grass next to them--Flowey popping out of the grass just next to her. "You and your stupid puns, ya smiley trashbag!" Flowey insulted, ignoring Sans' small glare.

  "Hello, human! What a surprise to see you here." Papyrus greeted, looking up to see Frisk laying down next to them. "Hi! Mind if we join you?" Papyrus nodded. "Of course you can. We were simply waiting for our father to catch up. He's a little late." Papyrus explained. "Oh, I see." 

  "Are you guys looking at constellations?" The human wondered. "yup. can you spot any, kiddo?" Frisk stared hard at the beautiful mass of stars in the sky. "Um... I don't think I can."

  "i'm lookin' at leo. you see?" Sans pointed out the constellation, and showed what the shape was. "Oh, that's the lion one, isn't it brother?" Sans nodded. "you're not lion, bro." He punned with a smirk. Papyrus's hands came to his face in cringe, as Frisk simply laughed again. "I'm not gonna stay here if you keep tossing puns around like that!" Flowey told, sounding just as annoyed as Papyrus--if not more. "then why don't you go hang out with some dandy lions."

  "Good one!" Frisk commented. "No it wasn't!" Flowey argued, his little petal 'arms' crossed in front of his stem. "Oh come on, where's your sense of humor?" Frisk teased. "Probably in the bottom of the void..." Flowey sarcastically answered, before the four then heard, "Is it? I don't recall seeing it there."

  "oh, hey dad." Sans greeted, as Gaster finally caught up with them. "Sorry I took so long." Gaster apologized, as he sat down on the grass. "I ended up getting caught up longer than expected at the Labs, and then it took me a minute to find you two." He explained. Papyrus glared at his brother. "Sans! You were supposed to tell dad we were going to star gaze here tonight!"

  "sorry. guess i forgot." Sans apologized, in a nonchalant tone.

  "And hello to you, child." Gaster greeted, looking over to Frisk. "Hi Dr. Gaster." She politely greeted back. "We're you here by yourself?" Frisk shook her head 'no'. "Mom's by that tree over... there." She pointed out a tree not far off where Toriel was sat against. "I see."

  Just as they looked over to her, they saw Toriel call Frisk back over. "Well, guess we're leaving. See ya!" Frisk said, getting up from the grass. "Farewell, Frisk!" Papyrus said, Sans followed with, "see ya, kiddo." With that, the skeletons were left alone.

  "so, how'd the meeting go?" Sans wondered, as Gaster lied down next to the two. "Oh, well, it could've been better... my request got turned down." He answered, trying not to sound too glum. "Oh, I'm sorry, Dad." Gaster shook his head a little, as he took off his glasses. "Don't be. I'll find a way to conduct that experiment. It'll just have to be through different methods." He told, while he cleaned off the lenses on the hem of his sweater.

  "I'm sure you'll find the answers you're looking for. I believe in you!" Papyrus said in an upbeat tone. "Thank you, Papyrus." Gaster answered with a smile that his son reciprocated.  

  "How's your speech for the ceremony coming?" Gaster asked as he put his glasses back on--changing the subject to the upcoming Guard Ceremony. It was an upcoming event where Papyrus and a small few other monsters were going to become official Royal Guards. "It's nearly ready for you to revise!" Papyrus told happily. "Although I'm honored you'd want me to revise your speech, I don't really see why. The only speeches I've ever given were as Royal Scientist, which is vastly different than for a Royal Guard."

  "I just want to be sure I get it all absolutely perfect, and I know you're a perfectionist!" Gaster smiled. "Very well, then."

  "is that orion?" Sans began, changing the subject once again. "i can't really tell." Gaster tried to see what Sans was seeing. "Where?" The smaller skeleton's hand pointed up to where he was looking. "i think i see part of it there, but i'm not sure..." Gaster looked at the spot of stars for a minute, before seeing the whole constellation. "You're right. You see, there's three stars that are vertical, and two other stars far below and beneath for his shield." Gaster began, pointing as he spoke. "Another cluster of three stars, and above that is three more spaced out stars in a sort of triangular shape. That's his torso. Then there's two other stars above his torso, indicative of his arm, and then those stars there," He pointed to a lower point of the constellation. "Are his waist."

  "Wowie..." Papyrus marveled, as he too began to notice the shape of the constellation. "That's so cool!" 

  "It's pretty... astronomical." Sans laughed, as Papyrus stared them both down. "i'm starry you don't like our space puns, bro." Sans added, causing Gaster to let out an amused chuckle. "No you're not..." Papyrus mumbled with a faux pout. Sans simply looked back to the sky, to try and spot anymore constellations. As they did, the two of them didn't notice when their dad seemed to space out into his own thoughts.

  He had to think of some way to continue he research. That was going to be difficult if he didn't have a subject to experiment on... unless...? Just as suddenly did the idea strike him, did Gaster shake it from his mind, for now. He quickly brought his attention back to the present.

Chapter Text

  Gaster had let his sons go on ahead of him. He had some thinking to do, and so, he stayed a small while longer where they'd been stargazing. He'd been too distracted by other responsibilities he had to do during the now previous afternoon from being able to think of what had happened at the meeting.

  Generally, he thought himself to be someone who stuck to the rules--the way of things. If the Board said no to the idea of letting him test the formula on a live subject, then Gaster had to respect that.

  However, that didn't mean he was to stop his research all together. This was just a minor setback, and he wouldn't let it stop him. On his walk back to the house, he was playing out the idea he'd had earlier. The pros and the cons. The more Gaster thought of it, the more the pros outweighed the cons. He couldn't let his personal prejudice get in the way of progress towards the betterment of both Man and Monsterkind.

  And so, he made up his mind. Tonight wouldn't be his first all-nighter, and it certainly wouldn't be his last.

  Upon arriving home, Gaster went straight to his personal lab. Unbeknownst to him, Sans had spotted his return from a window. By the time Gaster was hooking up his spring coat, Sans had already popped up just at the small lab's entrance. "hey." Gaster looked over his shoulder, stopping himself from pulling out a few items. "Oh, Sans. I thought you'd be asleep by now."

  "nah, i'm still up." Sans told with a shrug. He gave his dad an odd glance, as he opened up a journal, along with a folder or two. Gaster also seemed to be sporting a small smile. "you look to be in a good mood, considering how that meetin' went." Sans commented, as he leaned against the door. "That's because I am. I've decided who my volunteer will be for the experiment." Giving Gaster a confused look, Sans jokingly asked, "um, you don't got somebody tied up out here or somethin', do ya?" Gaster gave Sans an amused look. "No, no. Nothing like that, Sans."

  "then wha-"

  "Is Papyrus already asleep?" Gaster suddenly asked. "wha-? oh, yeah. he's says he's got lots to do tomorrow, so he already hit the sack." Sans answered, finding it weird how quickly his dad changed the subject. "Well, goodnight then, son." Gaster said to him. "uh... yeah. yeah, goodnight, dad..." Sans slowly answered, as he was about to teleport. Sans gave his dad one final glance, before vanishing.

  Gaster sighed. "I'll tell you about this later, Sans..." He quietly said to nobody. "Alright, then."

  Gaster made a reach for his lab coat he'd left on a nearby hook, and then put it on. After, he went over to the journal he'd pulled out, and grabbed a pen.

  💣︎✌︎✡︎  📄︎☠︎👎︎📪︎  📂︎📂︎🖳︎🗄︎⌛︎  🏱︎💣︎📪︎

   (May 2nd, 11:56 PM,)

✋︎  🕈︎✌︎💧︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  ⚐︎☠︎☜︎  ❄︎⚐︎  👌︎☜︎☝︎✋︎☠︎  ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎  🏱︎✌︎❄︎☟︎📪︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎  ✋︎  💣︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎ 👌︎☜︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  ⚐︎☠︎☜︎  ❄︎⚐︎  ☞︎✋︎☠︎✋︎💧︎☟︎  ✋︎❄︎📬︎  ✋︎  ☼︎☜︎✌︎☹︎✋︎☪︎☜︎👎︎  ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎  🕈︎☟︎☜︎☠︎  💣︎✡︎  ☼︎☜︎✈︎🕆︎☜︎💧︎❄︎  🕈︎✌︎💧︎  👎︎☜︎☠︎✋︎☜︎👎︎  👌︎✡︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎  👌︎⚐︎✌︎☼︎👎︎📬︎  ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎  🕈︎✌︎💧︎  💧︎⚐︎☹︎☜︎☹︎✡︎  👎︎🕆︎☜︎  ❄︎⚐︎  👍︎⚐︎🕈︎✌︎☼︎👎︎💧︎  🕈︎☟︎⚐︎ ✌︎☼︎☜︎ ✌︎☞︎☼︎✌︎✋︎👎︎  ⚐︎☞︎  🕈︎☟︎✌︎❄︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎  👎︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎  ☞︎🕆︎☹︎☹︎✡︎  🕆︎☠︎👎︎☜︎☼︎💧︎❄︎✌︎☠︎👎︎📬︎ 

(I was the one to begin this path, and I must be the one to finish it. I realized this when my request was denied by the board. That was solely due to the cowards who are afraid of what they don't fully understand.)

✋︎  😐︎☠︎⚐︎🕈︎  ☠︎⚐︎🕈︎📪︎  ✋︎  💣︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎  🕆︎💧︎☜︎  💣︎✡︎💧︎☜︎☹︎☞︎  ✌︎💧︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  💧︎🕆︎👌︎☺︎☜︎👍︎❄︎  ⚐︎☞︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  ☜︎✠︎🏱︎☜︎☼︎✋︎💣︎☜︎☠︎❄︎📬︎

(I know now, I must use myself as the subject of the experiment.)

♩ How will it be?

Will I see the world

Through different eyes?♩

  Putting the pen down, Gaster stood straight again. He pulled open a nearby drawer that contained several types of syringes. Some were designed to be injected into a skeleton's bone, others for monsters who actually had flesh. The type he grabbed was designed, and magic laced for the purpose of being injected into the SOUL. 

  Once he'd grabbed the appropriate syringe, he then took out the small vial. The lid was made to have a syringe poke inside to extract the liquid. Having pierced the tip of the small syringe into the lid, Gaster then flipped the vial upside down. He extracted 10 milliliters exactly, before pulling the syringe from the vial's lid. After he'd placed the small vial down, Gaster held up the transparent syringe towards the light in the center in the room.

  The light managed to intensify the already existing deep glow of the formula. It managed to make it look as red as blood, and made it sparkle like a sort of... warning light. The way the glow seemed to dance in it's small glass confine was almost capturing to see. But, Gaster didn't let it distract him for long.

  Bringing the syringe down from in front of the light, Gaster used his free hand to summon his SOUL. The white glow had a few dim spots, but that was solely due to his prolonged time in the Void. So, he ignore it. Wasting no time, Gaster injected the magic, chemical formula into his SOUL. Quickly following, he returned his SOUL to where it belonged, and immediately began to take notes. He took a 'breath' before taking the pen to write in wingdings.

💣︎✌︎✡︎  📄︎☠︎👎︎📪︎   📂︎📂︎🖳︎🗄︎🖮︎🏱︎💣︎

  (May 2nd, 11:57 PM)

✋︎☠︎☺︎☜︎👍︎❄︎☜︎👎︎   📂︎📁︎   💣︎☹︎   ⚐︎☞︎   ❄︎☟︎☜︎   ☞︎⚐︎☼︎💣︎🕆︎☹︎✌︎    🕈︎☝︎🖮︎📬︎ 

(Injected 10 ml of the formula WG7.)

  Gaster took a moment to press his hand to his chest.

🏱︎🕆︎☹︎💧︎☜︎  ☼︎✌︎❄︎☜︎  ✋︎☠︎👍︎☼︎☜︎✌︎💧︎✋︎☠︎☝︎📪︎ ✌︎  🕈︎✌︎☼︎💣︎❄︎☟︎  ☜︎💣︎✋︎❄︎💧︎  ✋︎❄︎💧︎☜︎☹︎☞︎  ❄︎☟︎☼︎⚐︎🕆︎☝︎☟︎ 💣︎✡︎  👍︎☟︎☜︎💧︎❄︎📫︎📫︎☞︎☼︎⚐︎💣︎  💣︎✡︎ 💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎📬︎

(Pulse rate increasing, a warmth emits itself through my chest--from my SOUL.)

  A small smile began to form on Gaster's face, as his emotions begun to change for what would have been thought to be--under different circumstances--no reason at all. "Slight feeling of... euphoria." He wrote, before a small chuckle sounded from him. After a moment, he then contradicted with, "No noticeable behavioral differences."

  The small laugh continued for another beat, as Gaster place down the pen again. His hand came up to his glasses. He momentarily removed them, so as he could gently rub at his bad eye. Then, he picked up the pen again. "Light headedness... My bad eye is beginning to feel irritated..." That last observation was strange, to say the least.  

  Gaster paused again from writing. He paused to go over what all had been happening so far. The formula had been injected, and he could almost immediately begin to feel its effects. It did make him feel strange, but that was to be expected--all things considered. He supposed there was still room for error, but he'd be able to overcome it-

  A sudden sharp pain made itself known in his soul. Gaster's hand came up to grip at his chest, as he bent over in pain. What was this?! This wasn't something he was accounting for, this--this unbearable, soul-wrenching, soul-splitting pain! Almost as if something was trying to take over him. Gaster found himself to have fallen to his knee, as the small warmth in his chest began to feel more like a radiating heat. The irritation of his bad eye was beginning to worsen--almost like how it felt when he had tried to use magic to 'fix' it.

  It wasn't going away. The pain continued to intensify, and Gaster fell fully onto the ground, curling in on himself. He tried to use his healing magic to try and remedy the situation, but to no avail. The pain was too much for him to concentrate on such magic. His hand came up to his right eye as he could feel it begin to glow--what color, he couldn't tell. He could feel his consciousness begin to slip, as he could almost feel something else taking over.

  Then suddenly, it all went black.

♩ What is this feeling of power and drive...

... I've never known!...

...I feel alive!♩

  He stood up slowly, right eye glowing a blaze of black--with a small sliver of red. He took a moment to look at himself, before a wicked smile slowly grew. "...𝔉𝔯𝔢𝔢!" He quietly exclaimed victoriously. Then, he looked around. A journal had been left open, the pen still sitting there.

  He shuffled back over to it, and took off his glasses. He took a moment to skim over what had already been written in wingdings while putting the glasses down. He decided to add to the entries. But, before reaching for the pen, he hesitated a moment. Changing fonts, he wrote: 

  𝔐𝔦𝔡𝔫𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩!

𝔄𝔫 𝔲𝔫𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔡... 𝔡𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔬𝔭𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱.

  He put the pen down, and looked around again--wickedly grinning from ear to nonexistent ear. A sudden thought came to him, as he glanced towards the door of the lab. He couldn't leaving looking like this.

  Ditching the now disheveled lab coat, he exchanged it for a dark colored trench coat that was hung up out of sight--probably because Gaster found it to be too heavy for the spring. But it would do just finely. Hung next to it was a dark gray fabric fedora, with a black band around it. He took that too. Taking one last look around, he found an unused cane tucked away. He shuffled towards the cane, and took it--leaning on it to get the feel.

  He turned towards the door. "𝔉𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔪𝔢, 𝔇𝔯. 𝔊𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯..." He said aloud, in an almost sign-song tone. He went to open the door. "ℑ 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔬𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰..." With that, Mr. L. I. Black disappeared into the dark streets of Newer Home.

Chapter Text

  "D-Do you need any h-help with that?" Alphys asked, as she watched Gaster carrying a box towards his personal lab. "No." He simply answered, as he continued on his way. "Can I-I ask what that i-is?" She then wondered, following the skeleton's pace. "They're just things from my home lab. Don't worry about it." Gaster told her in a neutral tone. 

  "Y-You know, I'm kinda s-surprised to see you in today." Alphys commented, as the two made it to a set of elevators. "Well, being able to set my own schedule means I can change it when I need to."

  "S-Sure, but uh... I dunno. I s-sorta thought you were going to t-take a well-earned... b-break." Alphys explained. Gaster gave her a small side glance, before entering the elevator. Alphys stayed put, finding something strange about his silence. She'd been finding his overall demeanor to be strange over the past week. It had all started when Gaster asked her to pass along a message to Asgore, saying he'd need to sit out the upcoming Board Meeting. The meeting itself wasn't going to be about anything significant. It was more of a routinely affair than anything.

  But still... There was something strange.

  Stepping into his space of Newer Home Laboratories, Gaster's stride was stopped when he heard a voice say, "I'll be out of your way in a second..." A dog monster, looking to be Alphys's height, and wearing her own white lab coat, was looking around the secluded lab space. "My um, colorimeter broke. There's not that many spares, and since Dr. Alphys said Dr. Gaster would be out today, that I could borrow his-" She looked over her shoulder.

  "O-Oh! Dr. Gaster, hello!" She greeted, facing the skeleton fully. "... And to you, Dr. White." Gaster answered, looking confused. "Well, since you're here, can I borrow your colorimeter?" Bree asked, giving her higher up a kind smile. "I'll be done with it before I go home." She assured him. Gaster sighed, and went to place down his box. Then, he took out the instrument in question. "Here."

  "Thank you. Okay, I'm gone!" With that, Bree White left to return to her own tasks, only for Gaster to stop her on her way out.

  Alphys's wandering thoughts were abruptly brought back to reality when her stride was broken by someone she'd walked into. She looked up to see Asgore--his hands were partly outstretched to make sure she didn't fall backwards. "O-Oh, your M-Majesty! I-I'm so s-sorry!" She profusely apologized, taking a step backwards and anxiously adjusting her glasses. "It's quite alright, Dr. Alphys." The monster king assured her. "You appeared to be distracted anyways. Are you alright?"

  "U-hum... Well, I d-do have s-something on my m-mind." She confessed, knowing that keeping this from Asgore would do no good. "Oh?" She continued. "D-Dr. Gaster. He um... has b-been seeming l-like h-he's... I don't know..." Alphys realized she wasn't quite sure what it was she was finding bizarre. "What ever do you mean?"

  "I-I'm not quite s-sure. H-He just seems sorta, like, o-off." Alphys tried to explain. "... Is he here today?" Alphys nodded, before adding, "I j-just saw him bringing s-stuff from his home lab i-in. I-I know you t-told me to ask him to t-take the next day or t-two off, a-and he was going too!"

  "But he didn't listen?" Asgore assumed. Alphys slowly shook her head 'no' in answer. Asgore sighed. "I fear he's been becoming too enveloped in his work as of late." The monster king told. "I've even heard from Sans that he says Gaster's been practically locked away in his home lab-"

  "Dr. Alphys?" Dr. White suddenly asked, approaching the two. "Where is the- Oh! Your majesty!" Bree gave a polite half-bow. "How good to see you!" She greeted, momentarily forgetting why she wanted Alphys. "Thank you. And to you as well, Dr. White." Asgore answered, giving the newest hardworking scientist a kind smile and nod.

 "Oh, right. Where can I find these chemicals? I don't remember." Bree asked, handing a small slip of paper to Alphys. Her higher up read the paper, before asking, "You need these?" Bree shook her head 'no'. "Dr. Gaster asked me to get them for him. He's busy with something else, and said he needs those pronto."

  "O-Oh... I s-see..." Alphys glanced up to Asgore, the two exchanging a slightly worried look. She looked back to Bree. "D-Don't worry about it. I-I'll get them for h-him." Alphys explained, before White nodded. "Well, in that case, I've got stuff to do. Goodbye, your Majesty!" Asgore gave her a small wave as she left.

  "S-So... W-What do we do about D-Dr. Gaster?" Alphys wondered, bringing the subject of conversation back to what it was before Bree interrupted. "I think we ought to be patient with him for now." Asgore answered. "P-Patient?... Okay, then."

  Weeks continued to pass, and Gaster had all but locked himself away in his office in Newer Home Laboratories. Asgore had kept asking of Alphys if he'd taken a break from his work yet, to which she'd always have to answer with 'no'. She would add that it was almost impossible to speak with him, as whatever Gaster was doing had his full attention. Even Sans--who had begun working in the Labs again since his father's return--was unable to get his attention.

♩ You have your work, and nothing more!

You are possessed, what is your demon?♩

  Every day when he'd come home, Sans would be asked by his brother if he'd been able to speak with their dad. Every day, he'd have to say he was unable to. Then later in the night, Sans would see Gaster return home, only to go to his home lab. And after, he'd leave again. But nobody working the late shifts at the Labs said he'd return during the night. Only that he'd come in at the crack of dawn.

On a few occasions, Papyrus would go out of his way to bring a lunch to his dad and try to get his attention. Every time, he'd be instructed to set the lunch down, and leave. Nothing more would, or could be said in those short exchanges.

  Eventually, Asgore felt the need to try and intervene. "He still hasn't taken a break?" Alphys shook her head 'no', as the two made their way to Gaster's office. "I-I don't u-understand what has him so... so c-consumed! He w-won't even tell me or Sans!" She said, as the door of his lab space came into view. "I'll have a word with him. Hopefully I'll be able to convince him enough is enough."

  Having been so absorbed by what he was writing in his latest journal entry, Gaster didn't even realize the door to his office had been opened. "Gaster?" The skeleton let out a small annoyed sigh. "I'm afraid I can't speak with you right now, I'm very busy-" He froze when he saw Asgore standing by him. The monster king was sporting a serious look of concern. One Gaster hadn't see in years.

♩ There's something strange, there's something wrong,

I see a change - it's like when hope dies.

I, who have known you for so long,

I see the pain in your eyes!♩

  "Can I ask what it is keeping you so busy, Gaster?" Asgore asked, tone level and stern. "Important research, you clearly wouldn't understand." Gaster answered, standing from his seat. The comment puzzled Asgore for a moment, before the realization hit. "... This is about the experiment the board rejected, isn't it?" Gaster said nothing. "You aren't experimenting on yourself, are you?"

  "... No." Gaster lied, trying to get Asgore off his case. The king gave him a scrutinizing look. "You aren't experimenting on yourself. Are you, Gaster?" He asked again, trying to call the skeleton's bluff. "No, sire." Gaster lied again, sounding more convincing this time. Asgore sighed. "Gaster, listen to me. Your family is worried. Your king, is worried." He began, as he saw Gaster's gaze wander away. "I can see it plain in your eyes. Whatever this... demon it is possessing you. You're in pain."

  "I'm fine-"

  "And I'm not finished." Asgore stopped him. "I want you to take a break. Before you do any harm to yourself." Gaster shook his head slowly and mumbled, "📬︎📬︎📬︎  ❄︎⚐︎⚐︎  ☹︎✌︎❄︎☜︎📬︎" Asgore tried to meet his gaze again. "What was that?" Gaster looked up to him. "... I'll... see what I can do, sire. But please understand, I won't really be able to rest until I've completed my research."

  "Even if you take so much as a day, it would placate me." Asgore told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Take a day to spend with your family. Sans and Papyrus are worried." Gaster sighed, and slowly nodded. Asgore gave his shoulder a squeeze, before leaving.

Chapter Text

  He was remaining remarkably unnoticed amongst the few monsters walking the dark streets of Newer Home. With each step, a tap would resonate from the cane hitting the sidewalk. It didn't take that long for him to make it to his destination. Newer Home's Hospital. And just as he arrived to the modest parking lot, did he see his prey exiting the building.

  Herald Dresden.

  The human had obviously been kept late. How convenient. Mr. Black smiled sinisterly behind the collar of his trench coat, as his right eye's glow increased. He began to follow the human.

♩ Murder, murder- Makes your heart thump!

Murder, murder- Makes your nerves jump!

Murder, murder- Makes your blood pump!♩

 Her lungs were on fire, considering how fast she'd just ran. Bursting through the doors of the Royal Guard Station, Carley's mind was still catching up with her feet. Did she seriously just run from the hospital, and to the Guard Station?? What was she thinking, that wasn't what was important. Carley took a second, standing in the lobby of the station catching her breath.

  "Are you okay?" Asked Faun, who had approached the cat monster form the reception desk. "I... I need to... speak... ha!" Carley tried composing herself. The moment she tried to, the gravity of the situation suddenly pressed down on her. "O-Oh crap..." Her uneasy voice suddenly mumbled, as she began to slowly fall to her knees--traumatizing imagery coming to the front of her mind. "Carley?"
  "What's going on?" Dogeressa suddenly asked, coming to the two. "What's wrong?" Carley suppressed a sob, before quietly answering. "... H-He's dead!.... A-A h-human... I-I s-saw... he's d-dead!" Dogeressa didn't hesitate to escort Carley somewhere more private to speak.

♩ Bloody murder, in the night!~ ♩

♩ Murder, murder- Doin' folks in!

Murder, murder- Is the worst sin!

Murder, murder- Has me screamin'...♩

  "And thank you for buying our paper, sir!" The monster at the news stand thanked, as Professor Herman Snyder purchased an afternoon edition of the very intriguing looking headline. "Fallen Human in Newer Home!" Other monster citizens were gathered nearby the stand, taking in the words of the paper. Murmurs could be heard amongst the crowds as such a story would be a shocking thing to hear of in Newer Home.

  Snyder began his walk down the street as he read. He scoffed and shook his head. "It was probably a monster..." He said to himself. "I mean, they were locked down in that mountain for a reason after all." The human was unaware of the person following him. After he'd finished reading the paper, the professor folded it up and held it under his arm. 

  His stride paused, as he looked down a long alleyway. He then looked ahead of himself. Cutting through the alley would be quicker, he thought. And so, Snyder turned left--stranger still on his tail. "... It's a shame to see Dresden gone." Snyder continued to himself. "I quite admired him and his career..." The human shook his head and stopped walking. He looked down to the ground. "... Such a shame..."

  "ℑ𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢." A voice suddenly added. With that, Herman Snyder was knocked to the ground from behind. He was only able to look up long enough and see the face of a monster--his eye glowing wildly from beneath his overshadowing fedora. The monster raised up his cane, and before Snyder knew it, everything went black.

♩ Murder, murder- It's a curse, man!

Murder, murder- It's perverse, man!

Murder, murder- Nothin's worse than...♩

  "Poor guy." Whimsalot commented from where he was hovering near the body. "This is the second fallen human in four days." Undyne added, as she and other guards investigated the crime scene. The alley itself was kept off limits from civilians while the guards did their jobs. "Judging by his injuries, I'd say another murder." Dogeressa commented, as her and Dogamy were looking the guy over. "Oh, really?" They nodded. "Alright. I'd still want to hear what the autopsy report says before we confirm anything."

  Undyne did another look over, confusion clear on her face. "This is so strange..." She started, arms crossed in front of her chest. "Two murders, here in Newer Home. Is this the doing of a human to try and make monsters look bad? Or is there a monster who really has it in for humans?" She asked curiously, simply trying to understand the situation. 

  "Lesser Dog." The dog guard looked up to his captain. "You pick up any scent?" He gave Undyne a negatory bark in response. "From the smell of it, the perp never left the scene..." Doggo started. "He's not still here, is he!?" He asked, suddenly looking alert. "No, nobody else is here." Undyne assured the half blind monster. "Whoever it was, probably used magic or something to cover their scent..." The captain thought for a second. "Are there any unusual smells around here that would be covering up?"

  "No." Dogamy confirmed. "Well, we've gotta keep looking until we find some kind of lead."

♩ Bloody murder in the night!~ ♩

   "Another autopsy report?" Bree asked, as her and Alphys were filing away paperwork. "Y-Yeah... I'm j-just glad I'm not the one d-doing the... autopsy.." Alphys told, as she photocopied the report. The copy would be filed away. "I can't imagine what kind of person you'd have to be able to do an autopsy..."

  "I-I don't know either-"

  "Dr. Alphys?" The two looked to the archive room's entryway to see Gaster slowly making his way in. He looked like he was all but dragging himself into the room. "D-Dr. Gaster? Y-Your still h-here-?" Gaster waved off her question. He reached into his lab coat pocket, and pulled out a slip of paper. Handing it to Alphys, he then asked, "I need you to... get these for me." 

  Adjusting her glasses, Alphys read the paper. "B-But... we don't h-have these chemicals." Gaster nodded. "I'm aware." She gave him a puzzled look. "... W-Why do you n-need these-"

  "It's none of your business!" Alphys flinched at the suddenly raised tone. Gaster's expression softened slightly, fatigue still clearly visible. "Please. I need those as soon as possible..." Alphys looked down to the paper again. "... I-I'll... s-see what I can d-do..."

  "Thank you."

♩ Murder, murder- On our doorstep!...

   "I don't think enough people stop to appreciate the finer things in life." Evan Miles commented. Himself and Professor Nadia Marsh were walking together along the darkening streets of newer home. The director had been kept late again, like the night when Dresden had come in the early evening to speak. The two men ended up staying late at the hospital discussing business. Herald left first, and that was the last Evan had seen of the man. He shook the thought off.

  Nadia had more than gladly offered to take an evening stroll with him. And so, here they were.

  "Oh, I agree. There's nothing quite like taking a quiet stroll in the night." Nadia commented, taking in a cleansing breath. "Leaves you with a sense of... surprise maybe?" Evan gave her a side glance. "I mean like, you never know what you'll come across at night!

  "I see." Evan agreed. The two fell silent, as the elephant in the room made itself known. 

  "Are you going to the funeral?" Evan wondered. "Snyde's?" He nodded. "Yes, I got invited. Although, I'm not sure why. He was only a colleague." Nadia commented. "Why have your colleagues invited to your funeral, right?" Evan let out a small chuckle, before looking to Nadia. "While I don't intend on dying anytime soon, if I did, you wouldn't be invited as just a colleague." He told her with a smirk. She smiled back.

  "ℌ𝔬𝔴 𝔰𝔴𝔢𝔢𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲." The two looked behind themselves at the new voice. "I beg your pardon, this is a private conversation!" Evan told, pointing a finger towards the person's direction. "ℑ𝔰 𝔦𝔱? ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔢." Evan scoffed and crossed his arms. "Who do you think you are, following people around and eavesdropping on their conversations?"

  A glow emitted from beneath the brim of the person's hat. "I asked you a question, answer me-" A knife to the gut silenced him immediately. Nadia gasped, horrified, as she backed up. The figure pointed his cane towards her. "𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔱'𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔤𝔬𝔫𝔢, 𝔑𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔞!" He said, before she took off in a run.

♩... Murder, murder- So watch your step!

"That will be all, thank you." Dogamy thanked, as he finished taking Nadia's statement. The minute she'd watched Evan get murdered, Nadia immediately ran. Turned out, they weren't that far from the Guards Station. It only happened to be no more than two blocks away. 

  Unfortunately for the Guard, though, Nadia was unable to see any of the murderer's features. All she knew was that had had dark clothes and a cane. That wasn't much to go off of. Still a dead end--except, now they knew their suspect was a male, as Nadia said what his voice sounded like.

  Nadia nodded, and shakily sat up. "Would you like me to escort you to the door?" Dogamy offered. Still in shock, Nadia shook her head 'no'. She then slowly left.

Murder, murder- Take one more step,♩

  Once outside, she didn't realize somebody had been waiting around for her. Said same somebody followed Nadia as she walked to... she wasn't even thinking of where, just that she was walking. All she could think about was that Evan was dead... and oh heavens, she saw him get murdered and-

  "𝔖𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔞 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔨𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢..." A hand from behind began chocking Nadia by her necklace chain. She gasped, trying to break free. "𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔑𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔞?"

  "... pl...ea...se!"

  "𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔩, 𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔰𝔨𝔢𝔡 𝔫𝔦𝔠𝔢𝔩𝔶..." And with little needed effort, Nadia was gone.

♩ You'll be murderer in the night!~♩

   She didn't have to look at her watch to know it was late. It had been a long day. Bree was quickly putting her sweater on and making sure not to drop her knapsack, all while rushing out of the Labs. She wanted nothing more than to be home at her apartment, in bed. Thankfully, the apartment complex wasn't that far of a walk.

  Bree felt nervous about walking home in the dark. Especially with the murders that have been happening--the most recent having happened the night before. What if she was next?! ... Wait, but the victims were usually humans... She isn't a human. You're fine, Bree... She thought to herself. Nobody is going to hurt you, and you'll be home in no time!

  The dog monster's thoughts were interrupted by footsteps from behind. For a second, she thought she knew who it was walking up behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Bree saw a figure walking behind her. He walked with a cane, wore gloves over his hands and also had dark clothing to overshadow his face. Although, it didn't quite cover up the small glow from under the rim of this monster's hat.

  "...Oh!" Bree quietly exclaimed, when she realized the monster had stopped walking, and that she'd been staring. "I-I'm sorry... for a minute I-I thought you were somebody else..." She quickly excused, nervously wringing her hands together. "𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔞 𝔪𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔞𝔩𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰." Bree let out a nervous laugh, although she found the stranger's answer odd. 

  The stranger stepped closer. "𝔄 𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔩𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔱𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔢." He warned ominously. "Oh. I-I don't usua-" Bree was cut off when the tip of the other monster's cane gently met the bottom of her chin. He forcer her gaze towards him. "𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔡𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔭𝔢𝔬𝔭𝔩𝔢." The monster's eyes met Bree's. Her eyes widened, as his eyes were full of pure evil. She blinked, and he was gone.

♩ Murder, murder- Once there's one done,

Murder, murder- Can't be undone!♩

  The news reporters--both human and monster--were all trying to make room to reach their microphones or handheld recorders up to the podium Asgore was speaking from. Each of them were all eager for answers. Why were humans turning up murderer on the streets of Newer Home? Didn't the monsters want peace with humans? Maybe they should be put back in the mountain they came from. Maybe that human child should have never freed them! And hey, they could lock the human up with them, since she's already living with monsters.

  "Citizens, and friends of Newer Home," The monster king started. "I understand you must be worried and frightened about what has been happening. I can assure you I have my Guardsmen on the case. We will find the person responsible for these deaths. Whether they be a human or a monster, I assure you, they will be charged accordingly."

  "Is it true that one of your citizens has been killing humans as a way to enact revenge?" Asked a human reporter. "I cannot confirm nor deny that. But such an act of violence is not something we in Newer Home tolerate."

  "Is it safe for humans to even be in this town? How will they be able to come here without feeling as if they'll be killed on the street?" A monster reporter wondered next. Asgore let out a small sigh. "For visiting humans, I ask you be vigilant while in Newer Home until the killer is unmasked."

  A sudden eruption of questions came from the crowds--none of which were distinguishable. "Thank you for your time." With that, Asgore stepped down, with Undyne making sure nobody tried to go after him for more questions.

  It had been almost two weeks since the first murder. The Royal Guard had zero leads, and were at a loss of what to do. No leads, no witnesses, no evidence. Just fallen humans. Undyne kept getting the same updates from her guards. "We couldn't sniff out a trail." Or, "There was no evidence or even a murder weapon at the scene." Or even, "Nobody saw or heard anything." It was so infuriating.

  While the Guard was investigating, the people of Newer Home were trying their hardest to not let fear get the best of them. Almost nobody was seen walking the streets alone, or even at night. People were always walking with at least one other person, or took a vehicle to travel around town. They felt safer that way.

  And that's how Toriel and Frisk were walking in town. Together, being watchful and mindful of other people. Flowey was also discretely following them, in case anything did happen. That way, he'd be a witness. Despite what the flower denied to her, Frisk was still able to see what tiny bit he cared. The two were walking to the small river's crossing, where River Person was awaiting passengers. 

  Once Toriel payed the crossing fare, and both herself and Frisk were onboard, River Person began rowing--the boat swaying smoothly with the water's flow. River Person began to sing.

♩Tra la la.... Tre le le...  ....

...beware the man  whose hands...

...for blood, demands.♩

Chapter Text

  "Look, Sans!" Papyrus called, as he found an opened journal on one of the home lab's surfaces. Sans walked over from where he was looking, to see what his brother pointed out. "what'd' you find, bro?" Papyrus flipped a few pages over. "anyink sayin' what dad's up to?"

  "Sans, this is not the time for you puns!"

  "... you're right, sorry bro." Sans apologized, as Papyrus all but resisted the urge to glare at his brother. The taller skeleton instead turned on a nearby lamp, and went on with what he'd found laying open. "I think this is dad's journal. Should we read it?" The two looked at each other. "i mean, he's not tellin' us anything anyways. may as well."

  "...Right." Papyrus looked down to the text. Of course, it was mostly written in wingdings, with the odd exception of the font changing to blackletter. "Can your read it? I'm not as good of reading this as your are, brother." The taller skeleton asked. "sure, bro." Sans agreed, sliding the journal closer to himself to read.

  "'may 28, 10:45 pm. we'-" Sans faltered on the strange choice of wording. "'we... are here alone.'" Papyrus began to slowly wring his hands together as he listened. "'terrible. more terrible than any wild animal stalking it's prey'-" Before Sans could read any more, a voice interrupted them. "What are you doing?!" The brothers looked up to see their father standing at the door. "Dad, we-"

  "Why are you in here?" Gaster asked them sternly. "Well, we were worried about you and- and we saw that you'd left the lab unlocked, and-" Papyrus began explaining. "you don't talk to us, so we wanted to see what it was you're really up to." Sans added before his brother could finish. Gaster quickly walked towards them, grabbing his journal. "And you thought you'd find it looking through my journal?!"

  "We didn't want to have to violate your privacy, dad!" Papyrus told, as Gaster tucked his journal away. The older skeleton sighed, before dropping into a nearby seat. "look, we get it. your work's unusual and hard. we're havin' to watch what it's doin' to you!" Sans said, before Papyrus followed with, "But, we know you've got to move forward. You believe in this so strongly!"

  "... It's gone beyond..." Gaster's tired voice began, as he removed his glasses to rub at his bad eye. "It's like an addiction, and yet... I know the truth is inside, somewhere!" His tone began to sound distraught. "I know the truth is in there, I can't explain it to so much as myself, less so to you two, but I know the truth is in-"

  "It's okay!" Papyrus assured him, as he knelt down at his feet and took hold of his hand. Sans also stepped closer, with a worried and sympathetic look. "... I-I'm sorry." It was clear Gaster's emotional resolve was wearing thin. "don't be... just- is there anything you need us to do?" Sans asked in answer, as Papyrus gave a small nod. Gaster fell silent for a moment. His sons were also silent, waiting for him to answer.

  "... I've never needed my sons more than ever." Gaster slowly began, as he put a hand on each their shoulders. "And I love you both, so dearly." He looked up to them. For a moment, he couldn't help but see a part of their late mother in each of their gazes. He continued. "But--as much as it pains me to ask this--I need you to leave me alone until I've completed my work." The brothers could see the regret and the torment in their father's expression. "... It's for your own good. Just until it's finished." Papyrus pulled his dad into a hug.

  "... We still believe in you." He started, as Gaster wrapped his arms around his son's shoulders. "And we understand. We'll wait." Papyrus backed out of the hug, and gave his dad a smile. Gaster smiled in return, unshed tears in his eyes. The taller skeleton was the first to get up and leave. Sans stayed for a minute longer.

  The short skeleton pulled his hand from his jacket pocket, to reveal a photograph with wingdings text written on it. He'd found it in a binder from a different shelf. Sans held it out to Gaster--who replaced his glasses and took the photo. "... don't forget." He simply said, before taking his leave. Gaster looked down to the photo. It was of him, Sans and Papyrus. Gaster sighed, leaning back in his chair.

  This work was becoming tiring, and yet, he couldn't just give up on it all. He'd dug himself too deep to call it quits now. No, he had to continue. There was no choice now.

Chapter Text

  The night shifts were so spontaneous, trying to plan around them was hard. Bree was trying her hardest to stay awake as she sorted files to be either archived, or dropped off for her colleagues. Even though most of the folders were on various and different topics, all of the words seemed as though they were saying the same thing due to Bree being so tired out.

  She let out a huge yawn as she made her way down to Gaster's lab. Some files had to be dropped off so he could look though them himself. Making her way out of the elevator, Bree walked down the halls to get to where she needed to be. Upon arriving to Gaster's lab, Bree saw the door had been left partly open. That was probably the fault of a member of the cleaning crew. They tended to be forgetful at times.

  Walking to the nearest surface, Bree promptly dropped the folders she was holding. Then she sat down in the nearest chair to rest her legs a moment. While doing so, she looked around. It didn't look like Dr. Gaster had tidied up in quite a bit. Papers were slewed across surfaces, empty vials in disarray, just overall not as organized as usual. Maybe she should tidy up a bit as a help. After all, Alphys wasn't the only one to take notice of how tired and worn out Gaster had been looking recently.

  Bree got up, and made her way to the nearest pile of papers. As she gathered them up in her hands, the dog monster couldn't help but curiously skim over each paper's contents. The content wasn't stuff she'd heard of anyone else in the labs doing. Maybe it was that research Gaster said he was doing as a side project? Or was it even a side project? She didn't know.

  Once the surface had been cleared of papers, Bree noticed a small notebook. It still looked to be in pristine condition, as if it had only recently been purchased. Picking it up, Bree curiously flipped through it. It seemed to be a journal of some sort. The words were all written in blackletter. The font made it seem like Bree was looking through an ancient text. Did Gaster write all this? She'd assumed he'd wrote personal notes in wingdings, not blackletter. Curious.

  Some time of reading through the small handful of entries, Bree suddenly realized something. Gaster didn't write these entries. Someone by the name of 'Black' did. The more she read, the more concerning the entries got. They began to get disturbing. The next entry was about how this 'Black' individual had killed those humans. Bree all but froze as she read about the murders that were still being investigated by the Royal Guard.

  Having read such a disturbing entry, was she to tell her higher ups? Does she tell the Guards? Or, does she stay quiet? What if this 'Mr. Black' were to find out she read all this? He'd probably find her and silence her. The thought caused a chill to run up the dog monster's back. Bree quickly dropped the notebook, and ran off. Hopefully, Black wouldn't know she'd been reading his notebook. Oh stars, she hopped he wouldn't!

  A late night cup of tea always seemed to do the trick whenever Undyne couldn't fall asleep at night. Just sitting at her kitchen table, with complete silence, and the warm beverage. Usually, she'd make Asgore's golden flower tea recipe. After much trial and error, she finally got the hang of making it. But, tonight, she didn't have any golden flowers available for the tea. So, she settled for chamomile.

  Undyne usually had many reasons for not being able to fall asleep. Being Captain of the Royal Guard had it's stresses, that was for sure. And of course, the upcoming Guard Ceremony at the end of the week still had much to be done before the event itself. But tonight, it wasn't just the expected stress of being the Captain, and of the upcoming Ceremony that had her awake. It was also her undying curiosity about the letter.

  Not that long ago, Alphys had given a letter to Undyne. It was from Gaster. She'd said that Gaster asked the letter be passed onto Sans and Papyrus in the event he were to become ill or go away suddenly. In the meantime, Undyne was entrusted with one of the letters. There were two others for Alphys and Asgore--which they kept. She looked over to her kitchen countertop. There it was, sitting on the counter. The names 'Sans and Papyrus' written in wingdings on the envelope.

  Well, it was none of her business. But then, Undyne thought back to how worried both Alphys and Asgore had been looking lately--no doubt about Gaster. They were probably dying to read their letters too. The letter wasn't for Undyne, so what would be the harm in reading it? And then again, it will probably end up being written in wingdings for the skelebros, so she wouldn't be able to anyways. May as well find out!

  Getting up, Undyne went to grab the letter. Opening it up gently, she pulled it out of the envelope. And just as she suspected, it was written in wingdings... hold on, some of it was written in blackletter. That was weird. Undyne couldn't think of any monster she knew who spoke in blackletter, let alone a monster like Gaster. It was so odd. Unable to stop her curiosity, Undyne read the parts in blackletter.

  Her eye was wide in shock once she'd read all she could. Quickly putting the letter down, Undyne went to get her phone. This couldn't wait until morning, Asgore needed to read that letter now.

Chapter Text

  The nip of the pen scribbled away into the silence of the morning's earliest hours. Gaster continued to write another entry to his journal. Said same journal he used to document every aspect of the experiment. He couldn't afford for any detail to be missed, as he probably wouldn't be able to remember it for future reference.

 💣︎✌︎✡︎  🖮︎❄︎☟︎📪︎  📂︎🖳︎🗏︎📁︎✌︎💣︎📪︎

  (May 29, 1:30am)

❄︎☟︎☜︎  ☜︎✠︎🏱︎☜︎☼︎✋︎💣︎☜︎☠︎❄︎  ✋︎💧︎  ⚐︎🕆︎❄︎  ⚐︎☞︎  👍︎⚐︎☠︎❄︎☼︎⚐︎☹︎📬︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  👍︎☼︎☜︎✌︎❄︎🕆︎☼︎☜︎  ☟︎✌︎💧︎  ❄︎✌︎😐︎☜︎☠︎  ✌︎  ☟︎☜︎✌︎✞︎✡︎  ❄︎⚐︎☹︎☹︎ ⚐︎☠︎  ☠︎⚐︎❄︎  ⚐︎☠︎☹︎✡︎  💣︎☜︎📫︎📫︎🕈︎☟︎⚐︎  👍︎✌︎☠︎ ✡︎☜︎❄︎  👌︎☜︎  💧︎✌︎✞︎☜︎👎︎📫︎📫︎👌︎🕆︎❄︎  ⚐︎☠︎  ⚐︎❄︎☟︎☜︎☼︎💧︎📫︎📫︎🕈︎☟︎⚐︎  👍︎✌︎☠︎☠︎⚐︎❄︎📬︎

(The experiment is out of control. The creature has taken a heavy toll on not only me--who can yet be saved, but on others--who cannot.)

❄︎☟︎☜︎  ❄︎☼︎✌︎☠︎💧︎☞︎⚐︎☼︎💣︎✌︎❄︎✋︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎  ✌︎☼︎☜︎  👌︎☜︎☝︎✋︎☠︎☠︎✋︎☠︎☝︎  ❄︎⚐︎  ☼︎☜︎👍︎🕆︎☼︎  ⚐︎☞︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎✋︎☼︎  ⚐︎🕈︎☠︎  ✌︎👍︎👍︎⚐︎☼︎👎︎📬︎  ✋︎ 💣︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎ ☼︎✌︎👎︎✋︎👍︎✌︎☹︎☹︎✡︎ ✌︎☹︎❄︎☜︎☼︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  👌︎✌︎☹︎✌︎☠︎👍︎☜︎  ⚐︎☞︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  ☞︎⚐︎☼︎💣︎🕆︎☹︎✌︎  ❄︎⚐︎  ❄︎☼︎✡︎  ✌︎☠︎👎︎  👍︎⚐︎☠︎❄︎✌︎✋︎☠︎  ✌︎☠︎👎︎  ⚐︎✞︎☜︎☼︎👍︎⚐︎💣︎☜︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  🏱︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎☼︎☞︎🕆︎☹︎  ✌︎☠︎👎︎  👎︎✌︎☼︎😐︎  💣︎✌︎☝︎✋︎👍︎  ✌︎❄︎  🕈︎⚐︎☼︎😐︎  ✋︎☠︎💧︎✋︎👎︎☜︎  💣︎☜︎📬︎  ✋︎  😐︎☠︎⚐︎🕈︎  🕈︎☜︎☹︎☹︎  ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎  ✋︎  ☼︎✋︎💧︎😐︎  👎︎☜︎✌︎❄︎☟︎📬︎

(The transformations are beginning to recur of their own accord. I must radically alter the balance of the formula to try and contain and overcome the powerful and dark magic at work inside me. I know well that I risk death.)

  Gaster's writing was interrupted by two people practically barging into his lab. "Gaster, what is the meaning of these letters?" He turned around and was met with Asgore and Undyne approaching him. "Who is L. I. Black?" Gaster gave them a frustrated look. "Those letters were only to be opened in the event-"

  "'In the event you become ill or have to go away suddenly'." Asgore finished, an exhausted look of frustration on his face. "You have gone away, Gaster. And clearly you are ill." The two stared him down. Gaster slowly backed himself towards his chair again. Sitting down, he asked, "... Please, leave me be-"

  "Not until we get some answers." Undyne then demanded, before also asking again, "Who is L. I. Black?" Gaster simply answered with, "... A colleague... closely involved with the experiment. If anything should happen to me, he should have the wherewithal to finish my work." He looked back up to them and was met with looks of great confusion and concern.

  Asgore's tone softened. "Wing Dings," He began slowly. "I'm not asking as your king, but as your friend. I need you to tell us everything." He asked him. "I've told you everything-" Asgore interrupted. "Gaster." He said simply, his tone now carrying a warning. "Everything comprehendible-" Gaster tried to say. "Gaster!" Undyne warned next, before Gaster's voice rose. "Everything I can comprehend myself!" The two fell silent.

   "... And now... I must ask you a favor." Gaster began after a beat, wondering if he even dared asking this. He looked to Undyne. "Go to the labs, and get the chemicals that have been brought in for my immediate use." He reached for a piece of paper and wrote down what he needed. Undyne was somewhat stunned in shock that his mind was back to his work just like that. "If you are unable to ask Alphys, then try asking Bree White. She knows which chemicals they are." Gaster handed her the paper, just as Asgore asked, "Why do you-"

  "No further questions, sire." Gaster told him, before adding, "I can't dare leave this room until the next step is complete." Undyne slipped the paper in her pocket with a sigh. "... Yeah, okay." She complied. "Gaster, you know I trust you with my life." Asgore started. "I suppose... we ought to trust you with your own." He said, before both himself and Undyne took their leave.

♩ What is this strange obsession that's tearing me apart?

Some strange, deranged expression

Of what's in my heart?♩

  The skeleton sighed. Getting up, Gaster returned to his journal. He picked up his pen, and began writing again.

💣︎✡︎  ☹︎✋︎☞︎☜︎  ✋︎💧︎  ✋︎☠︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  👌︎✌︎☹︎✌︎☠︎👍︎☜︎📬︎  💣︎✌︎☠︎✡︎  ☹︎✋︎✞︎☜︎💧︎  ✌︎☼︎☜︎  ✋︎☠︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  👌︎✌︎☹︎✌︎☠︎👍︎☜︎📬︎  ✌︎☹︎☹︎  ⚐︎🕆︎☼︎  ☹︎✋︎✞︎☜︎💧︎📬︎  ☟︎✋︎💧︎  ☹︎✋︎☞︎☜︎  ❄︎⚐︎⚐︎📬︎

(My life is in the balance. Many lives are in the balance. All our lives. His life too.)

♩ Am I the 'man' I appear to be?

Or am I someone, I don't know? ♩

 He placed the pen down, and began speaking to himself. "He wreaks his vengeance on a contemptible world of humans, then disappears within me like nothing more than a stain of breath upon a mirror." He probably wouldn't write down those exact words, as skeletons don't breath. But, it was the best example Gaster could think of in that moment. "He's found the perfect hiding place." He placed his hand over his chest--his SOUL. 

  "His cruelty incarnates everything I've wanted to eradicate from out natures." 

♩ Will what I fear to be...

... be so? ♩

Chapter Text

  Toriel was always one to get an early start to her day. Six AM sharp every morning, that's when she'd wake up. After having a quick breakfast for herself and Frisk, the two left. Toriel made a stop at Muffet's first, before they continued to their destination. Upon arriving, Toriel knocked on the house's door--while Frisk stood just at her side. Papyrus answered the door after a beat.

  "Good morning, Miss Toriel!" He greeted cheerfully, before looking to Frisk. "And good morning to you, young human!" Frisk giggled at the tall skeleton's peppy demeanor. "Hello, dear. I realize we're here a little early, but would I be able to see your father?" Toriel requested, before adding, "I've brought him some breakfast."

  "...Dad?" Papyrus paused a moment. "Oh, he's... still in his lab, I believe. Go on ahead." He answered. Toriel nodded, as Frisk all but invited herself into the house to stay with Papyrus while her 'goat mom' went to see Gaster. "Thank you." The boss monster thanked, before going around to the side of the house.

  Coming up to the home lab's door, Toriel tried the handle. It was unlocked, so she let herself in. She was about to call out the scientist's name, but paused. Something felt wrong. The lab itself looked to be in disarray, which wasn't the usual with Gaster. He was always tidy and organized, especially when it came to his work space. Looking across the room, Toriel saw Gaster sat at one of the counter tops. His back was facing towards her from where he sat on the stool, hunched over something that had his attention.

  More quietly than she intended, Toriel walked over to the skeleton. She took a peek over his shoulder, and saw a journal. He was writing in a journal, in a mix of both wingdings and blackletter. How strange. Toriel thought to herself. Gaster was also quietly muttering to himself as he wrote gruelingly slow, and less neat than normal.

  Gently, Toriel placed a hand on the scientist's shoulder. "Gaster-" The nip of the pen he was using came up and cut across Toriel's cheek. She at least received a point and a half of damage from the hit. She took a sudden step back, a hand coming up to meet the now bleeding cut on her cheek--while the other put down the coffee cup. Out of instinct, she began using her healing magic to undo the damage.

  "... T-Toriel?" Gaster's tired and unsure voice quietly asked. Toriel heard a small gasp come from Gaster as he seemed to realized what had happened. "... O-Oh, I'm so sorry!" He quickly apologized all the while coming up to her--his own healing magic glowing. "Y-You just frightened me... I swear...." Toriel gently swatted Gaster's hands away and gave him an understanding smile. "It's quite alright, dear. It's my fault really, I should have announced my arrival to you."

  "I-I'm sorry all the same." Gaster apologized again, sitting back down onto the stool--adjusting his glasses. His eyes seemed to be showing an internal conflict, almost as if he were internally scolding 'himself'. Picking up the coffee she'd put down, Toriel offered it to the obviously exhausted skeleton, along with the pastry she'd also bought. "I've brought you some breakfast."

  "... You didn't need to do that." Gaster told her, taking the food, and then adjusting his dark coat so as to cover his shirt. "... Thank you." She smiled, trying not to look concerned. "Are you alright, Gaster? Asgore's told me how worried he is about you." Opening the Styrofoam container holding the pastry, Gaster answered with, "I'm fine... Please, don't worry about me." Toriel craned her head down a bit, to try and get another look at Gaster's face. He turned more the other direction. "Now, are you certain? You know there are many who are here to help if you so need it."

  "I realize that... and I am sure." Gaster answered, before taking a bite of his breakfast. Toriel sighed in response. Obviously, Gaster wasn't going to talk--not even to her--no mater how much she tried. "... Don't hesitate to ask, alright?" She requested, only earning a small nod from Gaster. Toriel gave the scientist a small rub on his shoulder, before taking her leave.

  Not long after she left, did Mr. Black return again.

  Asgore arrived just as the skelebros were leaving the house. On his way, he'd seen Toriel and Frisk walking from the skeletons' home also. He caught up to Papyrus, and the two exchanged a brief conversation. The talk ended with Papyrus saying that Gaster was still in the home lab. Then, the Monster King continued along the sidewalk to go deliver the chemicals in Undyne's stead.

  Upon walking into the small lab, Asgore saw Gaster's form sitting on a stool and hunched over the countertop. He was wearing a surprisingly dark coat for being indoors--the collar came halfway up the sides and back of his head. He too could almost immediately tell something wasn't right. Asgore kept the small bag of chemical vials concealed beneath his arm.

  "Gaster?" He cautiously called out. "𝔚𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔇𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 𝔊𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔦𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔫𝔬𝔴," A low, evil sounding voice started--void of Gaster's wingdings undertone that would sound when he spoke. "𝔑𝔬 𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔪𝔞𝔧𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔶. ℑ 𝔡𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔠𝔱𝔬𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔰𝔬𝔬𝔫." The voice said, almost mockingly. Asgore slowly approached the form sitting at the counter. "Where is he?"

  "𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔳𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔦𝔣 ℑ 𝔱𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲." The monster looked over his shoulder to Asgore--his dark glowing eye nearly concealed behind the coat collar. "I was told to leave these chemicals with Dr. Gaster." The other monster practically interrupted with, "𝔏𝔢𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔪𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔤𝔬." Asgore took a step back, and held up a ball of fire in his free hand. "Either tell me where Dr. Gaster is, or suffer the consequences. It's your choice Mr. Black."

  The other monster smirked and shook his head. "Yes, I know who you must be, and I can see why Gaster is afraid of you." Asgore told him. "Now, tell me what you've done with him." The monster's smirk led to a small laugh. "𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 ℑ 𝔡𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔥𝔦𝔪?" He asked, slowly getting off the stool. "𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔪𝔢!?" Mr. Black quickly shrugged off the dark coat, to reveal a shirt stained with dried blood. Asgore's eyes widened as he stepped back again.

  Mr. Black continued to chuckle, as he made a reach for a nearby syringe. Holding it in one hand, he used his other to summon his SOUL. The sight of the once white heart, was now glowing ever so pitifully. It was surrounded with darkness--different than the darkness from the void. It looked as if it were encased in another, darker soul. Asgore was left speechless. "𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱'𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯, 𝔄𝔰𝔤𝔬𝔯𝔢?" Mr. Black taunted, as he held the syringe close to the SOUL. "𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔣𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔠𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢, 𝔥𝔲𝔥?" He teased, before the point of the syringe was piercing the SOUL.

  Asgore watched in horror, as Mr. Black fell to his knees in agony. After what felt like an eternity, the cries--that no longer sounded to be Black's--quieted. A moment of quiet settled, as Gaster took in a gasp of breath. "... S-Sire?"  Still shaking, he looked up to the monster king. "... Black was... right." He tiredly started, reaching for the counter's corner to lean against. "... Y-You're afraid."

  "I'm appalled!" Asgore told him. "... But I warned you... even as Black, I warned you..." Gaster answered, leaning his back against the counter's leg. "Oh goodness... Gaster, you have destroyed your soul!" Asgore stated what was already obvious. "... Perhaps, but only so that I can try and help those who inhabit such torturous darkness." Gaster explained, trying to justify the whole situation. "... But now, I must ask you to leave."

  "What?!"

  "Leave, sire! Black is contained for now, but with the chemicals you've brought, I'll be able to subdue him for good." Gaster tried to tell the monster king, as he slowly stood up to sit on the very stool he'd been on moments before. "I-I can't just leave you like this!" Asgore countered, giving Gaster a hand to stand by. "Sire, you must. Please, it's the only way!"

  "I..." Asgore hesitated, before sighing heavily. "I don't like this." He began, as Gaster gave him an apologetic look. "How can I trust you to even be able to fix this?" Gaster looked down, crossing his arms over his chest to try and hide the blood on his shirt. "... You can't." He confessed sadly. "Give me until tomorrow night." He looked back up to the king. "If I'm unable to fix this by then, I ask you do as you see fit in either helping me..." Gaster hesitated. "... or putting me out of my misery."

♩ Somehow I've got to rebuild all the dreams the wind has scattered,

from what fate has shattered--I'll retrieve what mattered!♩

  Asgore's eyes widened. "I won't let it come to that." He assured the skeleton, before beginning to take his leave. "Tomorrow night, I'm telling this to Sans and Papyrus, and then Undyne. We'll help you." Gaster smiled sadly. "Thank you, sire." Just before Asgore left, he turned back around and asked, "Your shirt... is that your doing, or his?" 

  "If you knew him," Gaster looked down to his shirt. "You wouldn't ask." He looked back to Asgore. "Now, go on! I beg you..." Asgore shook his head and left--against his better judgement.

♩ ...When it seems all hope has gone,

I have got to carry on!♩

Chapter Text

  She flinched hard when one of her colleagues dropped a pen. This was insane, her nerves were finally getting to her. Not that long ago, Gaster had returned to the Labs after not coming in since... she'd lost count. But, Bree could tell something was wrong. For one thing, he had an unusual demeanor about him ever since he arrived. Another, he was going around without his glasses. Bree thought he needed those to see? ... Maybe he'd broken them, and was waiting for a new pair? That had to be it.

  "Hello, Dr. White." Gaster's voice greeted from behind. Bree quickly turned around and was met with her higher up staring her down. "O-Oh, hello. It's good to see you in again." Dr. White greeted, trying to sound sincere. In all honesty, she felt intimidated by Gaster and she wasn't sure why. She'd felt like that ever since she'd read that journal in his personal lab.

  The last entry she'd read really put her on edge. This 'Mr. Black' person had written in the journal about killing those humans. Bree didn't know what to do since reading that. Does she go to the Guards? Does she tell Dr. Alphys? Or does she not say anything at all? Maybe in not saying anything, Mr. Black won't know she'd read the journal, and she wouldn't be in any danger.

  "Can you come with me?" Bree realized that Gaster's voice almost sounded forced. It also was missing the wingdings undertone. That was another strange thing. Gaster was speaking in a normal English font, but he had no undertone--no accent font. Bree slowly nodded, and got off her seat. Gaster turned around to walk off. The dog monster followed.

  After having walked through the labs for a while, Gaster not saying anything, Bree finally spoke up. "Where are we going?" The skeleton monster remained quiet, as he led Bree to the elevators near the back of the building. Once the doors slid open, he held out an arm inviting her in. Bree entered, Gaster following.

  The elevator ride felt oddly tense, almost as if Bree had done something to upset the doctor. He was simply staring forward and staying silent, even when she asked again what he needed her for. Something was definitely wrong. Maybe it had to do with Mr. Black? Dr. Gaster must know who this Mr. Black character is, and he's taking Bree somewhere private to tell her about-

  Wait, what if Dr. Gaster was told that Mr. Black knew she read the journal? So, was Dr. Gaster taking her somewhere to hide while he went to confront this mysterious Mr. Black? That was the only reasonable explanation Bree could come up with, as Gaster's silence wasn't of any help.

  The elevator doors opened after the car had gone all the way to the bottom sub-floor. The floor where the significantly scaled down re-make of the CORE was. The smaller CORE itself was what helped draw energy from the old CORE still running in the underground, not far from the Labs. After all, trying move that huge machine was a no brainer.

  "Is something wrong with the Mini-CORE?" Bree started to ask, as they exited the elevator. "B-Because, Dr. Alphys would be better help than me. This isn't really my... area of expertise." She explained. Gaster was still silent while they walked through the hall leading to the metal platforming around the Mini-CORE. As they stood by the metal railing, Gaster took a glance around--as if he were looking for any witnesses. Bree also noticed he used some of his magic for a brief moment. Following the observation, she thought she'd heard something break not too far away.

 "ℑ'𝔪 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔳𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔫𝔢."

  "W-What...?" Bree asked, taking a nervous step back. Gaster's voice had changed. Suddenly, she felt extremely unsafe. The skeleton looked to her, and Bree immediately recognized those eyes. The eyes of that monster from the other night when she walked home. The one who told her about meeting dangerous people. "...You-"

  "ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔧𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔞𝔩." Mr. Black stated, keeping a hand concealed beneath Gaster's lab coat. Bree took another step back. "I-I don't know anything!" She lied, beginning to panic. He smirked and shook his head--not ignorant to her lie. " 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 ℑ'𝔪 𝔠𝔲𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔬𝔣," He began. "𝔚𝔥𝔶 𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰?" Bree looked around, hoping somebody would walk in on them and save her neck. But nobody was there at that moment. "I-I don't know..."

  "ℑ 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔱 𝔦𝔯𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶." Mr. Black commented, looking away for a moment. His smile grew, before his wicked glare returned to Bree. "𝔈𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔰𝔬, ℑ 𝔠𝔞𝔫'𝔱 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔤𝔬 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴." Bree's eyes widened as he unsheathed the knife that was previously concealed. "... What do you m-mean?" She asked, stepping back again. Bree only had to blink for Mr. Black to vanish from her sight. "𝔜𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔱, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫." The dog monster quickly spun around to see Mr. Black now standing behind her. She took off in a sprint along the metal catwalk. 

  Bree heard Mr. Black let out an evil chuckle, before he appeared in front of her--obviously with the use of magic. "𝔒𝔥 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔯, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫'𝔱 𝔯𝔲𝔫 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔢!" He proclaimed, grabbing the collar of her shirt with his free hand. "H-Help!!" Bree cried out as loud as she could... But nobody came. "𝔑𝔬 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲." Mr. Black started, bringing his knife up to her neck. "ℑ𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔶 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩, 𝔦𝔱'𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔪𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔣𝔲𝔩."

  "P-Please, I-I'll-"

♩ There's a beast at the door, and he's wild and free!

But we don't let him in, 'cause we don't want to see-

What is lurking... right behind the Façade!♩

  Dr. White hadn't been seen in the labs for a while, but she hadn't been seen leaving either. Alphys wandered the Labs, asking those she passed if they'd seen her. They all had the same answer, which was that they hadn't seen her either. The yellow reptile monster had already looked everywhere she'd probably be, and had even called her phone. But nobody answered. She was getting worried.

  After having put in a call with the owner of the apartment building Bree lived in, who also said she hadn't come home, Alphys decided to check the lowest sub-level. It was on a whim, since Bree never did any work surrounding the Mini-CORE. And also since one of her colleagues mention the camera feed down there had gone out and had asked she check it. As the elevator doors opened, Dr. Alphys began making her way down the halls. Once she made it to the metal catwalk, she saw a pile of what looked to be clothes on the metal surface.

  Alphys looked around as she made her way over. Nobody else looked to be around. Looking down, the pile of clothing consisted of a lab coat, a light mauve turtle neck, and a pair of pants. A feeling of dread made itself known, as Alphys knelt down. The clothing was covered in dust. She quickly searched the clothes for any for of ID. 

  It was Bree's clothing... and Bree's dust. So, that meant she was.... The scream of shock was one Alphys had never made before. The reptilian monster thought the scream was coming from somebody else. But no, that was her own scream of terror upon finding the remains of Dr. Bree White, in the depths of Newer Home Laboratories.

 "✋︎🕯︎✞︎☜︎  ☟︎✌︎👎︎  ☜︎☠︎⚐︎🕆︎☝︎☟︎  ⚐︎☞︎  ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎📬︎"

"ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔰𝔞𝔶 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔳𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔢𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥, 𝔚𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔇𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰."

"✋︎  🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎  ☹︎☜︎❄︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  🕆︎☠︎☹︎☜︎✌︎💧︎☟︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎  ❄︎☜︎☼︎☼︎⚐︎☼︎  ✌︎☠︎✡︎ ☹︎⚐︎☠︎☝︎☜︎☼︎📬︎"

"𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔤𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔬?"

"🏱︎🕆︎❄︎  ✌︎☠︎  ☜︎☠︎👎︎  ❄︎⚐︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎📬︎"

"𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔲𝔤𝔥! '𝔓𝔲𝔱 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔪𝔢'? ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔫𝔬𝔴?"

"🕈︎✌︎❄︎👍︎☟︎  💣︎☜︎📬︎"

Chapter Text

♩ Lost in the darkness, silence surrounds you...

once there was morning, but now, endless night.

I will find the answer, I'll never desert you...

I promise you this...

'till the day that I...̴̯̝̭̋ ̵̧͚̖̋̀D̷̢̺̮̚I̶̻͆͌̐Ë̸͉̖̊ ♩

  Gaster furiously flipped through the pages of the second journal. The one Black had been keeping in his personal space of the LABS. The skeleton skimmed it's contents, with the intention of burning it later on. Once Black had been taken care of, Gaster would burn the journal and hopefully move on with his life. Putting the journal aside, he made a reach for the latest chemical formula he'd created. He grabbed a syringe to fill, and was about to summon his SOUL when he was interrupted.

"𝔇𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔨 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔟𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔢?"

  Gaster gripped at his chest, as the all-too-familiar pain made itself known with Black's taunt. Answering with silence, Gaster held his composure as best he could. The demon's voice continued.

"𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔩, ℑ'𝔪 𝔰𝔞𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔞𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔰𝔦𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔶 𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔰𝔬. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔑𝔈𝔙𝔈ℜ 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔶 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔢!"

  Taking a breath, and standing up a little straighter, Gaster didn't hesitate to argue with Black aloud, as it was only them in the home lab during the darkest hour of the night.

"✡︎⚐︎🕆︎📬︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎🕯︎☼︎☜︎ ☠︎⚐︎❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ 💣︎⚐︎☼︎☜︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎☠︎ ✌︎ ☞︎✌︎👍︎☜︎ ✋︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💣︎✋︎☼︎☼︎⚐︎☼︎📬︎ ✋︎ ⚐︎☠︎☹︎✡︎ 👍︎☹︎⚐︎💧︎☜︎ 💣︎✡︎ ☜︎✡︎☜︎💧︎ ☞︎⚐︎☼︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 👎︎✋︎💧︎✌︎🏱︎🏱︎☜︎✌︎☼︎📬︎"

("YOU. YOU'RE NOTHING MORE THAN A FACE IN THE MIRROR. I ONLY CLOSE MY EYES FOR YOU TO DISAPPEAR.")

  The sound of Black's amused chuckle was like a pounding inside of Gaster's skull. The evil voice argued back with,

"𝔉𝔬𝔬𝔩, ℑ'𝔐 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔣𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔦𝔯𝔯𝔬𝔯! 𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔞𝔰 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔢 ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢!"

  So, that's what he thinks? Well, Gaster won't allow this to go on.

"✌︎☹︎☹︎  ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  ✌︎☼︎☜︎  ✋︎💧︎  ❄︎☟︎☜︎  ☜︎☠︎👎︎  ⚐︎☞︎  ✌︎  ☠︎✋︎☝︎☟︎❄︎💣︎✌︎☼︎☜︎📪︎ 
 ✌︎☹︎☹︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  ✌︎☼︎☜︎  ✋︎💧︎  ✌︎  👎︎✡︎✋︎☠︎☝︎  💧︎👍︎☼︎☜︎✌︎💣︎📬︎  ✌︎☞︎❄︎☜︎☼︎  ❄︎⚐︎☠︎✋︎☝︎☟︎❄︎📪︎  ✋︎  🕈︎✋︎☹︎☹︎  ☜︎☠︎👎︎  ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎  👎︎☜︎💣︎⚐︎☠︎  👎︎☼︎☜︎✌︎💣︎✏︎ "

("ALL THAT YOU ARE IS THE END OF A NIGHTMARE. ALL YOU ARE IS A DYING SCREAM. AFTER TONIGHT I WILL END THIS DEMON DREAM!")

  Black still had more to say, as Gaster's unrelenting pain continued. Black answered back with, 

"𝔒𝔥 𝔥𝔬, 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪 𝔪𝔶 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡. ℑ𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔑𝔈𝔙𝔈ℜ 𝔈𝔑𝔇! 𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔤𝔬𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔫! ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔶 𝔫𝔬 𝔪𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔞𝔶 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔡. ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔩𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔥 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔫𝔢!"

  Gaster had to try and keep his feelings of dread at bay, lest Black would feed off of the skeleton's fear. Trying to gather confidence, Gaster shot back with, 

"💧︎⚐︎⚐︎☠︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  🕈︎✋︎☹︎☹︎  👎︎✋︎☜︎📪︎  💣︎✡︎  💧︎✋︎☹︎☜︎☠︎👍︎☜︎  ☟︎✋︎👎︎✋︎☠︎☝︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎📬︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎🕯︎☹︎☹︎  ☟︎✌︎✞︎☜︎  ☠︎⚐︎  👍︎☟︎⚐︎✋︎👍︎☜︎  👌︎🕆︎❄︎  ❄︎⚐︎  ☹︎⚐︎⚐︎💧︎☜︎  👍︎⚐︎☠︎❄︎☼︎⚐︎☹︎✏︎ "

("SOON YOU WILL DIE, MY SILENCE HIDING YOU. YOU'LL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LOSE CONTROLL!"

  In no time, Black gave his answer. Almost as if he didn't even need to think about it.

"𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫'𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔩 𝔪𝔢, ℑ 𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲! 𝔈𝔞𝔠𝔥 𝔡𝔞𝔶 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔪𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔳𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔬𝔲𝔩!"

  This was beginning to get infuriating. Black didn't have control... did he? No, what was Gaster thinking!

"✋︎  👎︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎  ☠︎☜︎☜︎👎︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  ❄︎⚐︎  💧︎🕆︎☼︎✞︎✋︎✞︎☜︎  ✌︎💧︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  ☠︎☜︎☜︎👎︎  💣︎☜︎📪︎  ✋︎🕯︎☹︎☹︎  👌︎☜︎👍︎⚐︎💣︎☜︎  🕈︎☟︎⚐︎☹︎☜︎  ✌︎💧︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  👎︎✌︎☠︎👍︎☜︎  🕈︎✋︎❄︎☟︎  👎︎☜︎✌︎❄︎☟︎📬︎ 
 ✋︎🕯︎☹︎☹︎  👌︎☜︎  ☼︎☜︎☺︎⚐︎✋︎👍︎✋︎☠︎☝︎  ✌︎💧︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  ❄︎✌︎😐︎☜︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎  ☞︎✋︎☠︎✌︎☹︎  👌︎☼︎☜︎✌︎❄︎☟︎📬︎ "

("I DON'T NEED YOU TO SURVIVE LIKE YOU NEED ME, I'LL BECOME WHOLE AS YOU DANCE WITH DEATH. I'LL BE REJOICING AS YOU TAKE YOUR FINAL BREATH."

  Black's laughter grew at the response. Gaster knelt over in pain, one hand clutched to his chest, the other to his skull. The evil voice continued on.

"ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯-"

"☠︎⚐︎✏︎"

("NO!")

"𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔩 𝔥𝔦𝔪𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣 𝔟𝔶 𝔪𝔶 𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢! 𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴, 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔉𝔒ℜ𝔈𝔙𝔈ℜ, 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔩𝔩 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔊𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨!"

  Gaster took a breath, bracing himself on the edge of a nearby countertop. He was unsure how much more of this his SOUL was able to take before it eventually gave out and shattered. This had to end, one way or another!

"✋︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎  ⚐︎✞︎☜︎☼︎  ☠︎⚐︎🕈︎📪︎  ✋︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎  ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  👎︎✋︎☜︎✏︎"

("IT'S OVER NOW, IT'S TIME YOU DIE!")

  Another laugh from Black.

"𝔒𝔥, 𝔫𝔬𝔱 ℑ! 𝔒𝔑𝔏𝔜 𝔜𝔒𝔘!"

  Ah! But Gaster refuted with,

"✋︎☞︎  ✋︎  👎︎✋︎☜︎📪︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎  👎︎✋︎☜︎  ❄︎⚐︎⚐︎✏︎"

("IF I DIE, YOU DIE TOO!")

  Black's amused demeanor was beginning to meld into being irked. He argued back with,

"𝔜𝔬𝔲'𝔩𝔩 𝔡𝔦𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔢, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲!"

  Gaster immediately refused the argument.

"👍︎🕆︎☼︎💧︎☜︎  ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎📪︎  👌︎☹︎✌︎👍︎😐︎✏︎  💧︎☜︎❄︎  💣︎☜︎  ☞︎☼︎☜︎☜︎✏︎"

("CURSE YOU, BLACK! SET ME FREE!)

  It seemed Black had to be the one to state what was apparently ever so obvious in that moment.

"𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔟𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔡, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔄ℜ𝔈 𝔪𝔢!"

  Gaster was beginning to feel winded--surprisingly. He couldn't loose to Black, not now!

"☠︎⚐︎✏︎  👎︎☜︎☜︎🏱︎  ✋︎☠︎💧︎✋︎👎︎☜︎📫︎"

("NO! DEEP INSIDE-")

  Black interrupted Gaster's thought with,

"ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨!"

  Enough was enough! Mustering up as much strength as he could, Gaster made a reach for the loaded syringe still on the counter. He barked back with, 

"☠︎☜︎✞︎☜︎☼︎✏︎"

("NEVER!")

  Summoning his SOUL, Gaster heard Black proclaim in reply,

"𝔜𝔢𝔰, 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯!"

  Gaster just about growled in response to Black's persistence. He lined up the syringe to his SOUL.

"👍︎🕆︎☼︎💧︎☜︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ 👌︎☹︎✌︎👍︎😐︎📪︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ❄︎✌︎😐︎☜︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎ ☜︎✞︎✋︎☹︎ 👎︎☜︎☜︎👎︎💧︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ☼︎⚐︎❄︎❄︎ ✋︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👎︎☜︎🏱︎❄︎☟︎💧︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ✞︎⚐︎✋︎👎︎✏︎"

("C︎U︎R︎S︎E︎ Y︎O︎U︎ B︎L︎A︎C︎K︎,︎ Y︎O︎U︎ T︎A︎K︎E︎ Y︎O︎U︎R︎ E︎V︎I︎L︎ D︎E︎E︎D︎S︎ A︎N︎D︎ Y︎O︎U︎ R︎O︎T︎T︎ I︎N︎ T︎H︎E︎ D︎E︎P︎T︎H︎S︎ O︎F︎ T︎H︎E︎ V︎O︎I︎D︎!︎")

"ℑ 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢 ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢, 𝔊𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯!"

  Plunging the tip of the syringe into his SOUL, Dr. Gaster all but shouted his reply, gaining the last word of the internal confrontation with Mr. Black.

"☠︎⚐︎📪︎ ☠︎☜︎✞︎☜︎☼︎✏︎"

("NO, NEVER!")

   The dark had overtaken him for such a long time, he was surprised he was still alive. The pain of Mr. Black's existence was so overbearing, that it almost seemed like the sweet release of death when the weight was finally lifted. A part of him had wanted to just let go of it all, so that Mr. Black would no longer be able to reign his terror. And that part of him almost did.

*But his SOUL refused.

  When the light finally peaked through the darkness, along with the fog lifting from his consciousness, Gaster was met with Sans and Papyrus knelt down next to him, trying to get his attention. As he came to, he simply smiled as they helped him sit up. He hadn't felt this free in what felt like an eternity. Or so he thought, anyways.

Chapter Text

  Several days had passed since Dr. Gaster's confrontation with Mr. Black. Ever since then, he'd not heard from the evil being. He could only believe it to be a result of the formula he'd used. Since using the latest mixture of the formula WG, Gaster didn't have a need to continue perfecting it, or testing it on himself. Although it still needed some fine tuning, he was still hopeful that it could eventually be helpful for those who truly needed it. But, that would have to wait.

  Standing in the kitchen, with a modest breakfast-for-three cooking on the stovetop, Gaster took a moment to pause and take in the silence of the early morning. Other than the sound of the food cooking under his watch, there was peace in the house. He'd missed not having that dark voice at the back of his mind practically torturing his every thought.

  Sans was still asleep, and Papyrus was quietly going about his business in his room--as he didn’t want to wake anyone who might still be sleeping. The younger skeleton was no-doubt dressing himself in his formal uniform for the ceremony later that morning.

  Outside a nearby window, Gaster could hear the birds singing their morning tune. Even though it'd been almost two years since the monsters made it to the surface--only one year for Gaster--he still found their return to the surface almost unbelievable. Considering, with how long everyone had been waiting to see the sky again, Gaster had become accustomed to accepting his fate underground. He smiled, not taking the surface for granted.

  Just as Gaster was about to dish out their breakfast, Papyrus quietly entered the kitchen. "Oh! You're already awake?" His father gave him a nod, moving the skillet off the still hot burner. "I thought you'd still be asleep." Papyrus confessed, as he stood in the doorway looking a bit awkward. He was usually the one to make breakfast every morning. "Well, I decided to make breakfast this time." Gaster started, picking up two of the three dished out servings. "I've made something special, since it is a special occasion today." He looked to Papyrus. "After all, my son's going to officially become a royal guardsman." Papyrus gave his dad a smile. 

  "What is it you've made?" He then asked, all while casting a glance back towards the staircase to see Sans slowly making his way down. "Your mother's crepe recipe." Gaster paused, looking at the magic-food he'd just finished preparing. "I don't think they'll be as good as how she used to make them." He confessed, before putting the last plate on the kitchen table--along with utensils. "I'm sure they'll taste wonderful." Papyrus began, making his way to his seat. "Thank you."

  Not longer after Gaster and Papyrus were seated, did Sans join them. "crepes? they look good." Sans complimented, making a reach for his fork. "Thank you." Unable to help himself, Gaster tagged on with, "Bone à petit." Papyrus's hand froze, his forkful suspended just before his mouth. Sans chuckled, as Papyrus all but glared at Gaster--who was already happily eating away at his serving. 

  Not long after breakfast, Gaster and Sans got ready to leave the house to make it to the ceremony on time. Papyrus was finally going to make it into the Royal Guard, and there was no way either of them were going to miss such an occasion. Gaster'd even revised his son's speech the evening before---not that it needed it. All the words written were clearly from a place of sincerity and passion. The aspired skeleton was going to do great.

  Before the ceremony commenced, Gaster and Sans had taken the chance to say hello to others also attending the event--while Papyrus went off with the rest of the monsters who were going to also part of the ceremony. Among the other monsters they spoke with, were Toriel, the bunny sisters who used to run Snowdin's shop and Inn, Muffet, and also Frisk. There were plenty others, but they didn't have the time to speak with them, as Undyne and Asgore were already atop the stage ready to begin the ceremony.

  Everyone was seated, watching the stage intently. Undyne was speaking her piece into the microphone on the podium, while Asgore stood off to the side. Behind her were lined the to-be Royal Guards for Newer Home. Papyrus stood proudly amongst them, waiting for his cue to come up and say his speech. When Undyne gave the skeleton the cue, the audience gave him a small pre-round of applause. Papyrus placed his speech down on the podium's surface, and looked to the audience.

  Suddenly, a fog came over Gaster's senses, just as Papyrus began to speak his words of honor and inspiration to the crowd. It felt all too familiar of a fog, and part of him was already expecting the pain that was surely to follow any moment now. No, no, no! This couldn't be happening, not now! "...dad?" Sans whispered, having noticed the panic in his father's expression. But Gaster didn't so much as acknowledge him, as he leaned forward in his seat--hand grasping at his chest.

  He thought he was gone, this wasn't happening! He continued to think to himself. "...-re you oka-?" Somebody's voice asked, but all of his senses were seemingly melding together--nothing was making sense. Using his free hand, Gaster removed his glasses and began rubbing at his bad eye. He was still leaning forward heavily, and beginning to panic.

  Next thing he knew, more echoes of voices were heard, as he could only assume he'd fallen from his seat and onto the ground. "... n-not.... n-now...!" He quietly muttered to himself. "...n-not...h-here...!!!" Gaster was beginning to curl in on himself, as the pain continued to course through his body. He was completely unaware of the scene that had now been caused. Sans was still trying to get his dad's attention, while Toriel, Ms. Nova--who had stopped recording the ceremony's events--and a few other monsters had come over to see if they could help--even Papyrus stopped mid-speech to go see what was happening and why his dad was in pain.

  As Nova knelt down to help, a hand came up to her neck suddenly--squeezing it with a death grip. She gasped, as the person grabbing onto her forced her to stand back up--they too getting up off the floor. "𝔐𝔦𝔰𝔰 𝔑𝔬𝔳𝔞, 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔟𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰~!" Another monster had managed to pull Nova from Black's grasp before he could harm her any further. Once freed, she quickly shuffled back and away from his grip. Mr. Black took his own pace back away from everyone, taking a look around the room--right eye ablaze with a black glow. Everyone looked too afraid to even approach him. 

  "Dr. Gaster?" A voice in the crowd spoke up, to which Mr. Black abruptly refuted with, "𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬 𝔚. 𝔇. 𝔊𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯, 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔏. ℑ. 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨!" There was a hushed silence for a moment, before Undyne and Asgore finally made their way towards Mr. Black. They were stopped by Papyrus, who gave them a pleading look. The two stopped, as Papyrus slowly approached Black. Slowly holding a hand out, he asked, "... Dad?"

  "paps, i don't-" Papyrus quickly side glanced the same pleading look to his brother, before looking back to 'Gaster'--who had a neutral, almost considering expression on his face. Papyrus managed to take hold of the other monster's hand, but in a moment was pulled inwards against him. Black held a pointed bone he'd summoned up to the center of Papyrus's chest, while he held onto the skeleton tightly with his arm. "Don't touch him!" Undyne demanded, as herself and Asgore continued to approach--magic ready to go.

  "𝔑𝔬 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔲𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰 𝔏.ℑ 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨, 𝔬𝔯 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔰!" Undyne took another step forward, and was about to intervene when Black's voice bellowed out a second time. "𝔑𝔒 𝔒𝔑𝔈 𝔱𝔬𝔲𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰 𝔏. ℑ. 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨!" Undyne stopped in her track, realizing he was being completely serious. She looked to Papyrus. He looked afraid, but still hopeful that he could somehow reach Gaster despite Mr. Black. Papyrus gave Undyne a small and subtle nod, before saying, "Dad? I know it's you... and that you'd never hurt me."

  Gaster looked before himself. He could feel Papyrus shaking in his grip, and could see Sans's magic glowing from his left eye--obviously ready to defend his brother. Pointed bone disappearing, he quickly let go and took a step back. "...I-I... Papyrus?" He quietly began. "O-Oh, I'm so s-sorry!" He quickly apologized, taking another step back. Undyne approached, magic spear pointed out in front of her. "... I-I-" Mr. Black looked up to the Guard Captain, and gave her a wicked sneer. "𝔇𝔬 𝔦𝔱!" He taunted mockingly, holding his arms outwards. Undyne's expression clearly read as one of uncertainty. Gaster gave her a pained look. "J-Just do it! End my suffering!" He begged, falling to his knees. "End all our suffering!"

  Undyne took a quick glance over her shoulder to Papyrus and Sans. They'd just gotten their father back a year ago, only for this to happen? She couldn't bring herself to do it. "I-I... can't..." Her gruff voice sadly admitted, her arm beginning to shake as she held onto her glowing spear. Gaster's look of pain was accompanied by frustration, as he suddenly took hold of her spear. Everyone was taken off guard when he thrusted her spear into his own chest--into his own SOUL. Undyne quickly made her spear disappear, and took a step back in shock.

  "Dad!" The skeleton brothers cried in unison, running over their father's now dusting form. "no, no, no, no....!" The two quickly fell to their knees next to their dad. Papyrus gently brought Gaster's head and shoulders onto his lap. "Dad...!" Papyrus cried, as Gaster's hands slowly came up to cup the sides of his sons' faces. "... I... love you... both..." He began, as his life continued to slip away in form of dust. "... A-And... I'm... proud..."

  "dad... no..." Sans quietly said, tears already falling from his face and onto his father's hand which he ahold of desperately. Gaster's own tear stained face gave them a both a soft smile--one truly free of any pain or torment. "...Y-You're free now..." Papyrus began quietly, as Gaster's eyes began to close. "... Y-You're with... us now..." As the remains of Gaster dusted away, Papyrus even more quietly muttered, "...w-where you'll always be..."

~fin~