Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale, and I'm not making any monetary profit off this fic.
Content warnings: Mild gore and fighting.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy.
Once again the man in the VOID watched as his son, his pride and joy, his lab partner, his most successful experiment, destroyed the human and the ghost that accompanied them. Gaster sat, or got as close to sitting as one could in the VOID, and observed the hall of gold and blue and red. The colors, Gaster imagined, were vibrant, but to his eye sockets, veiled by the VOID's darkness, the room appeared muted. The gold was a rusted bronze, the blue a moody grey, and the blood a gruesome brown.
The child screamed as the sickening liquid protruded from their spine and splattered up against the young skeleton. Unlike the videos on 'human history' Gaster had watched, where the blood gushed upward like some demonic fountain, this blood just oozed around the weapon, splattering at Sans. It was anticlimactic. The room filled with silence.
Sans hadn't just attacked the child's SOUL, but their body. Bones, blunt instruments thrown upward at determination fueled speeds had impaled the kid, who's body now twitched on the raised weapon. The SOUL floated from their body and shattered. As it did, it released the child's very essence, up for any monster to absorb, but no one did. Then it was gone. For a brief moment, Sans looked physically ill. And then the RELOAD happened. The human returned at the end of the hall. Sans smiled, an act.
This went on and on. That is, until Gaster got an idea.
The human died again, death number 223. This death had been less spectacular than all the others. The child wasn't vaporized by a blaster, or impaled by a bone. Their body was in tact. They had simply taken a few hits too many on their SOUL. Gaster approached the fading thing and reached out his long, decaying fingers.
He felt the power of the SOUL pulse under him.
Patience.
Bravery.
Integrity.
Perseverance.
Kindness.
Justice.
And above all, DETERMINATION.
The SOUL fueled him, and through sheer force of mind he willed himself into existence.
The colors were no longer dim. The human lied dead at his feet. Feet...he had feet! He looked down at himself, his form when merged with a SOUL, was a skeleton. He was tall, with a lab coat and big glasses and he could move without becoming a puddle of mush on the floor. He was his old self again...with a few tag alongs.
To either side was a ghostly form. The first, the human Sans had been fighting. A young dark haired child with a pink and blue stripes on their sweater. The second was a freckled ginger with big red eyes and blushing cheeks and a yellow and green sweater. Sharing their SOUL Gaster could feel their memories, and their names, Frisk and Chara. They stared at Gaster, Frisk in shock, Chara in suspicion.
Then there was Sans, who stared in horror. He couldn't see either of the ghost children. His eyes were fixed on Gaster.
"My son." Gaster spoke, all attention on the young skeleton. He kneeled and cupped Sans's cheekbone, a warm smile directed at the man who stood before him.
*d-d-dad.* Sans gulped. *how? am i...dead?*
"I have absorbed the human's SOUL Sans. I fear it can only last for a short time. I am here to help...in any way I can."
Sans was at a loss.
Gaster stood and looked back and forth between both children. He felt that they were both emotionally distraught, completely off their hinges, and corrupted by LOVE and fear.
"Frisk." Gaster spoke. The human looked on silently, scared of the new monster. "I can sense you are a good person. Chara," He turned, "I can sense that you are lost. Your past timeline, the one where you both SAVEd everyone, proves that you can each be good. It proves that you can both find your place." As he spoke he felt his new power, he knew what he could do, and he would do it. "And I know that you have both done bad, unforgivable things. Maybe for self protection, maybe out of fear, and absolutely out of desperation." He raised a non-existent eyebrow at Chara who scowled in return. "So, I will cut you both a deal, a sort of plea bargain if you would." He held out his hand, and Frisk's SOUL manifested in his palm. He smiled.
Sans looked on, speechless, watching, confused. He knew never to interrupt his dad when he talked to himself. He just hoped that Gaster would explain….something.
Gaster misinterpreted Sans's silence. He trusted that his son, his brilliant son, was putting together the reality of the situation in his head. He assumed Sans knew exactly what was happening. No need, and no time to explain. Gaster turned to the second fallen child.
"Frisk. Do you know what sort of magic a SOUL can perform?"
Frisk shook their head.
"A single SOUL has the power of the sun. Maybe more. A half a SOUL can perform miracles. So, would you be okay with giving half your SOUL to Chara, so that they could gain their own form?"
Frisk's eyes went big, "Yes!" They responded excitedly.
"And Chara, would you accept such a gift?"
"I...I…" Chara looked horrified, they saw Frisk's downright joyful expression and couldn't say no. "If it didn't hurt Frisk." They squeaked.
"Then it is decided. Chara, I will use the power of this SOUL to grant you a physical form, on one condition. Both of you will RESET. You will free the monsters. And if either of you lays a hand to hurt another living being, I will take your SOUL to the VOID where you will both be in eternal darkness and suffering. My son, of course, will help me to enforce this condition. He will watch after you both, mentor you, and if the time comes, judge that you must be destroyed."
*w-what, dad, I ca-"
"Be at peace son," Gaster reassured, "I know what I'm doing."
he cleared his throat and returned his attention to the children, a sternness in his voice. "If you do not accept these conditions, then to put it simply, your ride is over. I will take you both to the VOID with me now. What do you say?"
"We accept." Frisk said, nodding with DETERMINATION.
"Then it will be done."
Gaster focused on the magic of the SOUL. He was DETERMINED to perform the resurrection spell. He raised his hand. The ghost children floated upward, as did the SOUL. And then, the small glowing heart broke into two. Half of the SOUL returned to Frisk's body, following Frisk's spirit. The once lifeless child sat up and spluttered a cough, shivering pitifully. The other half flew at Chara's ghost, and slowly, Chara became tangible. Their body forming in the air.
What was created out of Chara was a bizarre hybrid. Only, one wouldn't know that by looking at them. They looked like theirself, but their body was made up of magic, like a monster's, rather than the carbon based being of a human. Their SOUL was a halved heart. Chara fell to the ground, and coughed.
"Sans. Take care of them." Gaster said, "Promise me you will." he could feel himself fading as he spoke.
Sans gasped for air, but couldn't find it. His dad was dying before his eyes, again. He felt like a little kid. He could barely think as he choked out a *y-ya, ya sure.*
Gaster grinned, his face melting as he did, then looked to the children. "And you two, RESET." The words were garbled, like he was speaking through water. The room once again went dim. Gaster returned to the VOID.
There were tears in Sans's eyes. A demon child shivered and coughed on either side of him. He hated them both. If his stupid father hadn't roped him into yet another hairbrained scheme, he would have vaporized the pair on sight. But instead he glared at the floor.
He took several steps back, his eye lit blue. *You two heard the man,* He said, his voice tight and dark. *RESET, now, or I kill you. Both of you." He summoned 2 blasters and pointed one at each of the children. *Understood?*
From the void, Gaster beamed with pride. His son always did have a talent for coercion, even if the young skeleton hated the practice. The old scientist sat back and watched. What would unfold would surely be an amusing show.
Oh Gaster, what are we going to do with you? Thank you all so much for reading, and have a great day.
And thank you to my beta Kimmy for proof-reading my fic!
Please reveiw!