Hey guys! Thanks to those who follow and favorite this story! I really didn't expect that so quickly to be honest.
Also, I gotta apologize for getting this story up so late. Explanation will be at the bottom of the page.
With that, let's get on to the story!
I do not own Undertale or its CHARActers (lol). Undertale and its characters are owned by Toby Fox. I only own Shen and any potential OC characters.
"OC Speech"
OC Inner Thoughts
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Darkness.
That was the only thing that could be seen or felt at the time. It was absolute darkness that could even be felt through your bones. That is, if you could feel anything after an experience like being electrocuted like I was.
…Am I dead? I tried to speak, but I couldn't even move my lips. My body felt like it was paralyzed. I could get my eyes barely open, but when all you could see was darkness, what was the point?
…heh. This is a little too anti-climactic to be the afterlife. Just complete darkness? I was expecting either a golden kingdom in the sky…or God forbid an underground full of demons and flames.
All of the sudden, I felt like I was sinking into the darkness. It felt like I was drowning in it, almost like it was water. …I guess this is it. I close my eyes and start recalling my life from when I was a toddler. At around 3 years old I was always exploring the neighborhood and getting into trouble. Pfft! I would've put a leash or a bell on me with how bad I was. Then again, I probably would've found a way to get out of it. Hahaha!
At age 5, my pre-school teacher (can't remember her name for the life of me…oh wait) told my parents that I was one of the most gifted children in the class. Funny, I remember at that time that I had no confidence when answering any questions that she had. Even when everyone else was completely confident…I guess I was smarter than I thought.
I sweat dropped. Uhh, sorry mom. I know you always wanted me to apply myself and go to a top-tier university, but boring classes are boring.
Age 14, I finally passed the test in order to obtain a Red Belt in Tae Kwon Do. My parents took off from work in order to see it. They were so proud of me. I remember. That was one of the proudest moments of my life. We later celebrated and they let me choose any restaurant that I wanted to eat at. So, I choose IHOP.
….
What can I say? I'm a sucker for their pancakes and fruit-flavored syrups.
Then came the part that I wish I didn't have to recall. One of the most grievous moments of my life: hearing about my parents' death.
…
…..
A tear starts to fall from my eyes. Following is another one. Afterwards is a downpour of tears. I start gritting my teeth and balling my fists from the emotional pain.
Dammit. Dammit! I widely open my eyes, a mix of rage and despair shown in them. "DAMMIT!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I ball my fists tighter than ever before. Blood starts pouring out of my hands. "I can't let it end like this! I don't want to die yet! There is so much that I wanted to do and I REFUSE TO DIE, DAMMIT!"
After that I start breathing heavily, closing my eyes, and trying to relax. I felt like I got some of my anger off my chest. Then, I realize something...
"Wait…I can talk again?" I try to raise both of my hands above me, but feel a slight shock come to my arms. "Ow! What the- wait…" I open my eyes in a mix of shock and confusion, "I can feel pain too!" I try raising one of my hands, still feeling a shocking pain, but gritting my teeth while forcing it above my line of sight. I look at the palm of my hands, "…I'm bleeding. It's safe to assume that you don't bleed when you die. Then…that means-"
"That you are still alive, yes?"
"!"
Shocked and frightened at an unfamiliar voice, I try to look to where those words have been said. However, that was difficult since I was still lying down. So, I try to raise my body, gritting my teeth in pain as pulsing shocks continue to hurt my body. Am I still feeling the effects of being shocked? No, more importantly…
After finally raising my upper body from the "ground" – hard to tell what the ground here is when everything is just a dark void – I see a tall, slender shadow approaching me. I blink a couple of times, trying to adjust my eyes to whomever this "person" was. After some continuous blinking and him appearing ten feet in front of me, I managed to make out his appearance. And let me say, the amount of SHOCK I felt before is nothing to how SHOCKED I was now (pun intended).
Before me was a man who was wearing an all-black suit…or it would be if it didn't look so…goopy? Despite the…goopiness(?), he was taller than I expected. At least, he was from my point of view. I still had trouble standing up, so it was hard to tell.
However, the most SHOCKING part (okay I swear this one was not on purpose lol) was his face. He had a skeleton-looking face; completely white facial features with hallow eye-sockets – one round and the other shaped like a crescent – with white pinpricks in both. His eerie smile matched the shape of his crescent eye. After getting a full-body look at him, I realize that it isn't just his face that looks skeletal, but his hands as well. Both hands had a hole through them.
You've gotta be kidding me…
Despite the pain from what felt like continuous shocks going through my nerves, I quickly try to pick myself up from the "ground" that I was sitting on. As I struggle getting up, almost tripping, I meet him face-to-face…sort of. Now, I am about 6 feet, which for my age is pretty tall. However, he still towered over me despite his goopy stature. He looked almost, if not, 7 feet tall!
But the important part is not how tall he is, but who he is. This person in front of my eyes is a character of a game that I frequently play – a game that I was going to play before I was electrocuted. He is a character from the game Undertale; Alphys' predecessor, the previous Royal Scientist: Dr. W.D. Gaster.
I was dumbfounded, flabbergasted even. How is it possible to be face-to-face with one of the characters of Undertale? Did I play video games so much that I can't tell reality from fiction anymore?
Does reality and fiction even apply when you are dead? Oh wait; I'm not dead am I?
I sweat dropped, a nervous smile on my face. "Ha. Haha. What is this? This has to be a dream." I start rubbing my eyes and shaking my head. "And I really need to wake up."
"This is no dream and this isn't the afterlife either young man." His words sounded…weird, almost like there was background sound in his voice. Despite that, I still understood what he was saying. Is it because he speaks in hands? If that is the case, how can I understand what he is saying?
Gaster continues to…walk (hard to say when I can't see his feet, nor hear his footsteps) around and observe me a bit closer. I take a step back in response. "Even so, this is quite the turn of events. A human from another world, an alternate reality…and he was able to resist being absorbed by the void? How…interesting..." he mumbles to himself with his grin and…pinpricks(?) growing wider.
"Uhh…" I start looking around awkwardly while sweat dropping. My pulse was rising. I was starting to panic. Stop! Stop! Calm down me! Breathe. Breathe… I close my eyes and start my breathing exercises that I learned in Tae Kwon Do (Martial Arts Breathing for those who are interested). It allowed me to relax enough to process my thoughts on this situation. First, I need more information. After all, if this is anything like the fan fictions I've read, then he probably needs my help to free monsters…best case scenario...hopefully without taking my soul. If it is not that then… I can only pray that it isn't what I think it is….
I raise my head, looking face-to-face with him. "H-h-hello!" Great start me! Major confidence! I've never been good at talking to new people. "M-my name is Shen. Nice to meet you!" I nervously smile and hold up my hand for a handshake. "If I may ask, who are you?" It's probably for the best if I pretend that I don't know him.
"Oh! How impolite of me. I apologize. I tend to have a one track mind when I find anything that fascinates me. It can be quite dreary here in the void after all." He smiles kindly and accepts my handshake. I smile back, finally able to relax. "Allow me to introduce myself then. My name is Doctor Wing Ding Gaster." I notice when he holds my hands tighter and when I look at his face his smile turned to an eerie grin. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"
Shock. Sweat. Goosebumps. Hair standing on end. I was experiencing all of this at this moment. My mind racing at 1000 mph. I was starting to panic, hyperventilate even. I quickly retrieve my hand away from him. YEAH! OKAY! THAT'S CREEPY!
I quickly turn around and start the breathing exercises again, slowly but steadily calming down. OKAY! Okay! Well, I guess this proves he knows what I am… A PLAYER. Oh boy. I don't know how he sees me if he considers the PLAYER as the one who is controlling Frisk…
I slightly turn my head in order to glance back at him, looking at his eyes which show distrust to me (presumably because of who and what I am) as well as fairly mild amusement to my reactions. …The fact that I don't know what kind of Gaster I am in front of is…frightening. Is he in mad scientist mode due to being in the void for too long…? No. It certainly doesn't feel like that. If it was, he probably would have captured me already, trying to take my soul… Does he require assistance on getting out of the void? Saving monster kind? Or perhaps something else entirely?
…
Well…being timid, frightened, and only thinking to myself is not going to get me anywhere... As scared as I am of him right now, I need clarification of what potential part I will play.
… well, mom…dad…give me strength!
I take a deep breath and exhale. I then look back at him with a bit more confidence.
"Since you are saying that, is it safe to assume that you know who I am?"
"No. I do not know who you are. However," He closed his…sockets for a moment before opening them and looking at me, his pinpricks glowing a purple hue. "I do know what you are. In your world, you are the one who controls the Child of Fate. The one known as…PLAYER."
My eyes widened at his explanation. It was as I suspected. "Wow. Just…wow. I know that Undertale had a few characters that would break the 4th wall, but…" I close my eyes in thought for a few seconds before widening my eyes as a thought struck me. Nervously I asked him, "If I said that I have only played this game completely once and it was in a Pacifist Run, would you believe me?" It's true. I didn't have it in my heart to kill any monsters. In fact, the only monster I killed by a shocking accident was Toriel, and I immediately RESET after that. My heart could barely take watching a Genocide Run on YouTube.
Gaster continued to stare at me with those purple pinpricks of his. Then, they slowly changed to blue. Huh…I wonder if that represents his powers? If I recall correctly, blue represents INTEGRITY. I wonder…is he seeing if I am lying. Does it work like a lie detector. Or maybe he is reading my expression, like Sans.
"Hmm…That expression you are wearing," Bingo! It's the…Wait- that is Sans line! Is he rea- "No, child. I am not reading your mind." EHH?But- "The expressions you are using make it quite obvious." Gaster starts chuckling at my flabbergasted, mixed expressions.
After composing myself, I coughed and sweat dropped. "Yeah, I never had the best poker face and people always said that I was expressive. Though I guess you realized that a while ago."
Gaster laughs lightly. "But because of that, I can tell much about you without much effort." Huh. I'm not sure if that is entirely a good thing. "Not only are you expressive, but you are...a curious one. I can tell that you seek information and knowledge both as a safety measure for yourself as well as for your own intellectual curiosity. Very good."
I nod to him. "Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight 100 battles without disaster. That was a quote I learned from my Tae Kwon Do instructor who liked quotes from the Art of War…drilled that quote in his students' heads, including me"I sheepishly smile while scratching my cheek.
"I feel like your teacher and I would get along nicely." He genuinely smiles at me. Huh. Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought. "But onto different matters. Honestly, I am in need of your assistance. I can tell that you were telling the truth about yourself and could use your help. As for what the problem is, well, you probably have a good idea what the issue is. It pertains to the monsters and the Child of Fate, or the 8th Human…"
…I was afraid of that…
And this is the end of chapter 2! Sorry for getting this up so late. Honestly, this was supposed to go up around late December, but unfortunately I was behind on my Pokemon YouTube videos that needed to go up (if you are interested, find me on /ProjectIceman).
Anyways, I haven't figured out how I should start Shen's journey. Should I start him in the room at the beginning? Should I have him at Judgment Hall? Throneroom? Leave some comments if you have any ideas and I will most likely implement them.
Look forward to the next chapter since it will have Gaster training Shen on his special soul trait! (though I don't know when it will be posted lol)
And with that, I'm out!