"Your Highness?

"Your Highness, please.

"Asgore?"

The king didn't look up as the dark figure flickered and sparked in the doorway.

"It's not working, Gaster. Go ahead and say it."

The figure reappeared next to the figure curled on the steps. The king hadn't sat in his throne for weeks, now.

"It is not working," sighed Dr. Gaster. "All the subjects, all of the experiments. There have been some... interesting results-" The king's ear flicked, and the skeleton coughed nervously. "But they are not of importance. I don't have all the necessary materials."

"So, we're still trapped. The only way to get out of here is..."

"Seven human souls. There is a chance that humans might fall down here, but until then..."

Everything went black - the candles blew out, the sunlight vanished. Asgore sighed deeply.

"We must make do with what we have. We need a stable power system."

Asgore leaned away from the pinprick white pupils - the only source of light in the palace.

"Gaster, I already told you, I need your brains elsewhere. You're the Royal Scientist, not an electrician. If you-"

"My assistants are almost completely in control of the True Lab experiments, anyway." He walked away, his attention focused on a vase of golden flowers which almost glowed in the dark. "You have met Alphys, yes? She is already talking of her own set of experiments - fusing a living soul with an inanimate object, seeing if it produces any... results of interest."

Asgore wasn't even listening, relighting the candles one by one with his fire magic. Gaster hummed and flickered impatiently. For a second, Asgore saw double - one world where Gaster's silhouette stood in front of him, one where he was nowhere to be seen.

"What's the FUN VALUE?"

Gaster's eyes sparked, and all the candles lit up purple.

"Same as the last time three times you asked. Sixty-six. It does not change for you, only for me."

Asgore smiled sadly. "I do believe you make all of that up."

Gaster's smile never changed. "If you want to believe that, you are welcome. In world 13, I don't exist, and Alphys has always been Royal Scientist. In world 42, you just ordered a pizza. In world 101, Toriel never-"

Asgore's eyes narrowed. "Never what?"

Everything froze for a second, and Gaster reappeared on the other side of the room. Asgore blinked.

"What were we talking about?"

"The CORE."

"You're electric experiment? Gaster, I said n-"

"It's not an experiment! It would be a safe, effective way to provide stable energy to the Underground. You need that. Your subjects need that."

Asgore paused, and Gaster tucked his hands into his pockets.

"Very well," he sighed. "But I will not throw all my funds into this. How does it run?"

"It would be a rather complex system of machinery flowing through quant-"

"Doctor Wingdings."

Gaster's pupils flickered purple.

"It runs on determination."


Hey guys! Bit of a teaser here- the first chapter should be up very soon. The incredible Toby Fox owns Undertale (and I am not him), and the cover image is by mnstrendy on Tumblr.