Ch. 4: Fighting for Mercy
Gaster wouldn't let them take his soul from him, not without a fight.
Cyan magic lit up his eye-sockets as he looked back up at the doctor and the king. Yellow flickered about in the light blue as Gaster let suppressed rage at the injustice of everything he had endured boil up from deep inside. Before the other two monsters had a chance to react Gaster leapt from the table, summoning a bone spear with a razor edge he launched it with precision. It sheared the doctor's entire left pocket cleanly from his lab coat, the doctor jumped back as Gaster dived for it quicker than he had ever moved before. Snatching the bundle of fabric from the floor he bolted toward the door.
Gaster was through it just as they started after him. He immediately summoned bones from the floor around himself to push back the guards that stood outside the door. Once past them he ran with a speed he'd never thought was possible. His soul hammered against his ribs as it poured it's energy into his body, he was quickly panting from the rush of it. He didn't have a plan, he just knew that he had to move. He sped down the halls, putting everything he had into pushing himself beyond his limits. His soul heaved with effort and elation as he realized that he was outpacing them.
He ran and ran, rounding corners and changing direction until he lost everyone who was chasing him. A few turns later he chose a random door and ducked quickly inside of it. Closing the door he checked his surroundings, it was a small dark room with some cabinets, counters and an exam table. He ducked behind the table, leaning against the storage doors underneath it. He tried to slow his gasping breaths as he wrapped his arms around his heavily shaking knees, he rest his head against them and his eye-lights dimmed to their normal white dots as he let the magic go.
He tried to be as quiet as he could while straining to listen for monsters passing in the hall. In moments he heard the muffled pounding of his pursuers nearing the hall with his door. His still fitfully pounding soul refused to calm and he grew ridged as their thundering feet approached the room he was in.
The many pursuers quickly passed by, racing down the hall in a sporadic group and not slowing as they kept moving. Gaster tried again to relax, letting his body slowly go slack as relief ran through him. He felt the expense of so much energy so quickly catching up with him now that he had stopped. He had never before used that much energy at once, it had made him feel so alive. Was that what it felt like to be free?
His joints started to stiffen and lock up, and he started to feel lightheaded. He still clutched the bundle of fabric tightly in one trembling hand as he smiled faintly to himself. He was still trying to get his breath back as he wheezed with soft puffs of air that would pass for laughter. The look on the doctor's face when Gaster had thrown the bone at them, at that moment they had seen Gaster as more than just a subject. They had seen that he was a real monster.
Gaster heard the first warning beep of his collar as he fought to stay conscious, the sound sent a jolt of panic through his slipping mind. He shouldn't need another injection so soon after the last, but he had used up far too much energy pushing himself to escape. He usually only had two for a whole day, three rarely for a bad day. He didn't have long to get another injection before it would be too late.
Stupid, he'd been so stupid. He should have made a plan, he should have paid more attention to where he was going. He should have taken the doctor's right pocket instead of their left. He tried to think of where he was, going over the halls and turns he had traveled in his mind. His thoughts were getting hazy and it was hard for him to track where he'd run to, he'd never moved so quickly before. He had traveled in the direction of the magic testing range, it couldn't be that far from where he was now. He just had to get his bearings and make it down a few halls.
Gaster tried to push himself to stand but his stiff joints resisted and wouldn't unbend to support his weight. He tried to crawl around the table toward the door but he was barely able to move his shaking frame. He tried to call on his magic but his soul shuddered in his chest, having nothing left to give him. He collapsed halfway to the door, the edges of his vision were getting dark.
This wasn't supposed to happen. He tried to fight down the despair and fear that welled up in his chest as tears brimmed in his eye-sockets. For just a little while he had been free, he wished with all his soul to just live. He tried uselessly to make his limbs move but they responded less and less. The world was fading so fast.
He was so tired and it was getting hard to think, he would just rest for a while. He pushed aside the small part of his mind that still panicked at that thought. Buried away the last of his reason that knew what would happen if he stopped now. He curled tightly in on himself as he felt the tears roll down his face. It wouldn't be so bad, he would just rest a little and then everything would be fine.
A shred of him still felt the lie. His shallow breaths were slowing and he felt his soul flutter weakly in his chest, struggling to hold on. He felt his wish for freedom slip into his mind and he feebly grasped for it. He held onto it mournfully for one last time before he discarded it, he didn't need it anymore. The darkness quickly took his tired mind as he let go.
