That next morning, Gaster wakes up early and kisses his still sleeping family goodbye. He gets a mumble from Vrinda so at least she KNOWS he's leaving this time. Gaster goes straight to the King's little house and gathers him, Toriel and a couple of ATK unit members.
A roaring yawn from King Asgore. He rubs his eyes and looks around at the group.
"Good morning everyone. Dr. Gaster seems to have something very important to say to us all, so please pay attention. Dr. Gaster, please share."
Gaster rolls out the map that the king and queen brought with them and circles a small area.
"ABOUT FIVE MILES TO THE NORTH EAST IS A BOMB SHELTER. I WON'T LIE TO YOU ALL, I WENT LOOKING FOR FOOD FOR MY WIFE AND CHILDREN. I FOUND THIS BOMB SHELTER AND I WENT INSIDE."
Toriel gives Gaster a look that he sees from the corner of his eye. Of course she'd be a little upset. But he doesn't care one bit.
"I HAD TO GO IN PRETTY DEEP TO FIND THE FOOD. THERE'S ENOUGH IN THERE TO FEED EVERY SINGLE MONSTER IN THIS GROUP." This seems to get everyone's attention.
"It'll feed EVERYONE?" One of the ATK monsters says in shock.
"EVERYONE I TELL YOU. THERE'S BABY FORMULA AND BABY FOOD AND RICE AND WHEAT, THERE'S EVERYTHING. FRUIT, VEGETABLES YOU NAME IT AND IT'S THERE. I SAY IF WE WANT TO GET EVERYONE FED IN A TIMELY MANNER, WE'D BETTER HEAD OVER THERE RIGHT NOW TO TAKE THE FOOD…. YOUR MAJESTY YOU LOOK UPSET. PLEASE SPEAK YOUR MIND." Gaster says, looking up at Toriel.
"But what if something does happen and the humans are without food?"
"WITH ALL DUE RESPECT YOUR HIGHNESS THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD." Toriel's eyes go wide, not used to having someone speak to hear like that.
"THE HUMANS WANT TO MURDER US ALL AND BLOW OUR DUST IN THE WIND, AND YOU'RE WORRIED THAT THE HUMANS MIGHT GO A LITTLE HUNGRY EVEN IF IT'S THEIR OWN FAULT? LISTEN, WHEN YOU HAVE A CHILD YOU'LL UNDERSTAND. IF YOUR SEVEN MONTH OLD AND THREE YEAR OLD CHILDREN AND YOUR SPOUSE ARE STARVING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU /ARE/ GOING TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSES FOOD TO KEEP THEM ALIVE AND HEALTHY. I DON'T KNOW ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE HERE, BUT I'M GONNA MAKE THIS CLEAR. I WILL DO ANYTHING IT TAKES TO PROTECT THEM AND KEEP THEM ALIVE INCLUDING STEALING FROM THE GENOCIDAL HUMANS." The fiery passion in his eyes is enough to shut everyone up. Some other members of the group nod in agreement.
"NOW, THE EASIEST WAY TO GET THERE IS TO JUST GO IN A STRAIGHT LINE TO THE NORTH EAST. I SPENT HOURS ZIGZAGGING LIKE A FOOL SO I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THIS PATH IS EASIER. I'LL LEAD YOU ALL THERE SO WE WASTE AS LITTLE TIME AS POSSIBLE. YOUR HIGHNESS IF YOU'D LIKE TO STAY HERE THEN PLEASE DO. I JUST THOUGHT I'D TELL YOU AND KING ASGORE WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON."
Toriel is in a bit of shock. Gaster is very forward and blunt with his feelings. She thinks that perhaps he resents the royal family for being so spoiled while the rest of the monster race has been suffering for so long… All she can do is understand and nod her head.
"We'll stay here. Thank you for informing us."
"Wait wait wait a second, I'll go too. I can carry a lot!" King Asgore says quickly, putting both of his big hands on the table.
"Please let me come with you!" Gaster looks up from the map at the King and can see that he's serious… It's true, Asgore is a very strong very large monster. He could indeed carry a whole lot of food. And the faster they snag the food and return to town, the better.
"ALRIGHT THEN. LET'S HURRY UP EVERYONE, BEFORE WE'RE SPOTTED SOMEHOW."
It's settled, and a group of forty monsters leave the town. By this point, several families have woken up and are waving and wishing the others good luck. Vrinda is standing with the civilians, Sans at her side and Papyrus in her arms. She waves with Sans and then takes Pap's little arm and has him wave. Gaster winks at them with a big smile and the gatherers leave.
It doesn't take long. A brisk speed walk of an hour to the shelter and another hour back gains many families food. A few more trips are taken and before everyone knows it, night is upon them again. All of the hard labor the monsters did carrying huge heavy sacks and crates of food was well worth it. Everyone gets to eat. Every family is full and they actually have a little food to spare. Fires outside are off limits in case a group of humans spots them. So any fires that ARE made are held inside bigger buildings with the windows and doors open. It provides at least a LITTLE cover while everyone boils water or heats up cans.
The monsters decide to stay for an extra two days since they appear to be safe. It's a well-deserved resting period for everyone.
Gaster and Vrinda play with the boys. Sans like trying to help Papyrus walk and right now he's holding his hands and scooting back slowly so Papyrus can keep up. The youngest screams and laughs with excitement at taking some of his first steps. The parents cheer the children on.
"Go, Papyrus go! The greatest walker of them all!" Vrinda says and claps.
"GOOD WORK SANS! SLOWLY NOW. YOU'RE BOTH DOING SO WELL!" Gaster gets on one knee and holds out his hands to Papyrus. Sans leads Papyrus to Gaster and flops back into his father's arms with a laugh, taking Papyrus with him. Gaster "oof!"s and catches them both. Vrinda just claps and cheers, proud of all of her boys. It's been a while since they've been able to relax like this and just play with the boys. It's really nice.
"Alright, my turn!" She says, throwing one end of her red scarf over her shoulder. All three boys stand up straight, yes including Papyrus, and Vrinda walks over and takes Papyrus' hand. She walks him slowly in the thin grass and just basks in the glow that is Papyrus' excitement for walking. He's so happy and she almost can't handle it. She laughs when Papyrus belly laughs. He almost falls over a couple times when he's too busy laughing and not focusing, but Vrinda straightens him out. Sans runs over to Papyrus' other side and takes his hand, walking slowly. Gaster watches them all from his spot and waves when Sans turns and waves at him excitedly.
Eventually Papyrus gets tired and a bit cranky, so the play settles down a bit. Gaster goes through some math with Sans, counting by ones to a hundred, and by tens to one thousand. He praises Sans heavily, proud to have such a smart son. Sans totally soaks all that pride up and beams like a well-watered flower.
Dusk falls and some monsters start to go inside as it gets colder. Gaster is called to a little group meeting about what they're all going to do next. He wonders why the hell he's been dragged into this position. He was never really an important figure for anything. Just like everyone else, he ran from home with his family and did his best to survive. Sure, he did some scouting to find their new home in one of the caves of the mountains, and sure he collaborated with the REAL monsters in charge in making the formation they're using to move around in, but should he really be in the same room with the royal family and some very real fighting units? In Gaster's mind he's just "some guy" that sorta kinda did some things, but this is a bit much!... He bets it's that damn "Dr. Gaster" title that people have been calling him and Vrinda. It makes him sound official when he's really not. It's a little worrisome, but if these monsters want Gaster to be there for the meeting then he really can't say no. Especially if it gets him special information that he can use to protect his family better. So Gaster just kinda sucks it up and deals with his awkward feelings.
An anteater monster from the ATK unit tacks a large map to the table on all four corners and uses a stick from outside to point to locations.
"We're pretty surrounded by mountains at this point. Here is Mt. Mobuku, Mt, Ebott being the closest, and Mt. Bosque. Moving out tomorrow is our best option. If we stay here for much longer we could be cornered." They say, pushing up their round glasses up their long snout. The others nod a little.
"IF WE WERE TO GO FURTHER EAST THOUGH WE'D HIT THE COAST. WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF ROOM TO ESCAPE… THE AMOUNT OF ABANDONED AEAS GOING THIS WAY ARE GETTING SMALLER AND SMALLER. WHAT IF WE HEAD NORTH?" Gaster says while he slides his finger up the map. Asgore shakes his head.
"Unfortunately that is not an option. The North is very densely populated. Even if there were some route to get up there while avoiding humans, the conditions up there aren't very good. I worry that we'd lose some of us."
"If we were to go South East though once we break away from the mountains here—"
"No no no, we'd still get cornered over there too."
Everyone sighs all at once, frustrated that there don't seem to be any safe places for them all to go. The entire human race seems to want to eradicate the monster race. There are billions of them and really only thousands of monsters left after most of their cities and towns were burned down and… neutralized. The group they have right now is probably the last of their kind…
"Perhaps we should all sleep on this… I can see that we're all getting frustrated and tired. Tomorrow, we MUST come up with a plan and then leave." Asgore says finally. The other members of the group nod.
"OH, YOUR HIGHNESS, I'VE BEEN MEANING TO ASK… WHAT SORT OF MAGIC WERE THE HUMANS USING TO FIGHT YOU?" Gaster says suddenly. The others look at him… then at Asgore. Their king folds his strong arms over his chest and he sighs.
"It was very powerful. Just as strong as my magic. I was very shocked because I knew humans had only very small amounts of magic and they weren't even using what they had. But golly have they been training. Even as we were running away from them, their magic reached us rather far away and it was still strong… Why do you ask?" Asgore says. He watches Gaster tap his chin in thought silently for a few seconds.
"CURIOUS IS ALL. WE ABSOLUTELY CAN'T LET OUR GUARD DOWN ONCE WE START WALKING AGAIN. WHILE YOU AND THE OTHERS WERE GONE, OUR ATTAK AND DEFENSE UNITS WERE FIGHTING OFF HUMANS EVERY NIGHT FOR A WEEK AND A HALF, AND THEY RARELY USED MAGIC. THEY MOSTLY JUST USED HANDHELD WEAPONS. BUT IF THEY DARED TO ATTACK YOU, ASGORE, THE STRONGEST MONSTER ALIVE, WITH MAGIC…. I JUST REALLY THINK IT'S WISE TO HAVE EVERYONE ON HIGHER GUARD THAN NORMAL. IF THEY DO ATTACK US WITH MAGIC THEN WE HAVE TO SHOW THEM THAT OUR MAGIC IS BETTER, STRONGER." The others nod in agreement. Monsters are literally MADE of magic. How could they lose in a duel against a human using magic? There's no way. Showing those humans what magic can do might just scare them off and force them to stop this war all together!
"While I don't like fighting," Asgore says. "We absolutely must protect our people… I'm sorry it's come to war everyone…"
Once the little meeting is over, Gaster walks home thinking hard about their options for getting out of this little pocket they've walked themselves right into. He walks into the shed and sees Vrinda putting the boys in their baskets. Sans sees daddy though and hops out of his tucked in position to hug his father's legs.
"Daddy!" Sans shouts. Gaster picks him up and smooches him all over, getting some giggles from Sans.
"Aw, I had him all tucked in and everything." Vrinda says jokingly. Papyrus does a little wave from his basket and Gaster sits down with Sans in his lap, leans over and kisses Papyrus and then sets Sans back in his basket.
"WHOOPS. HEHE. ALRIGHT FAMILY LISTEN UP. IT SEEMS THAT TOMORROW WE WILL HAVE TO LEAVE THIS PLACE AND CONTINUE WALKING."
"Aw man… We can't stay here?" Vrinda says as she re-tucks Sans into the basket. Gaster shakes his head and leans against the door.
"NO. WE STUDIED THE MAP THAT WHOLE TIME AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE SORTA WALKED RIGHT INTO A POCKET OF MOUNTAINS. THREE OF THEM. IT'S JUST NOT SAFE TO STAY HERE FOR MUCH LONGER OR WE MIGHT JUST GET CORNERED. THAT WAS THE BIGGEST CONCERN…. WE'RE NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHICH DIRECTION WE'RE GOING TO BE HEADING YET, BUT TOMORROW I'VE GOT TO GET UP EARLY AGAIN SO WE CAN MAKE OFFICIAL PLANS AND THEN HEAD OUT." Gaster sighs and slumps tiredly. Vrinda pats his leg.
"I know you'll all figure something out. I wish I could help…"
"TRUST ME, YOU TAKING CARE OF THE BOYS WHILE I'M FORCED TO BE AWAY IS HELP ENOUGH. I KNEW THAT DR TITLE WOULD GET ME INTO TROUBLE SOME DAY. THEY THINK I'M AN ACTUAL DOCTOR, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?" Vrinda just giggles and scoots closer to Gaster.
"I can. You helped a lot of people back in the cave. The people who you helped look up to you sweetie."
"I WISH THEY'D LOOK UP TO ME A LITTLE LESS AS A DOCTOR AND MORE OF A FARM HAND TO BE HONEST."
The two chatting quietly sends Sans and Papyrus to sleep. When Sans starts snoring, the parents look down and decide they should head to bed too. They snuggle up together and rest easy.
()
Four hours pass until some noises wake Vrinda up. She yawns and stretches and takes stock of her little living space. The boys are still in their baskets… Gaster is still at her side sound asleep. The noise is strange, but it sorta sounds like a stampede? She stands up quietly and carefully from the ground and goes to the door. With a small creak, Vrinda opens the door just a little bit. In the distance she can see smoke from small fires. But when she takes a look closer to their camp…..
Thousands of humans are running at the abandoned town. How…. HOW could they have found the monsters?! Vrinda turns and shakes Gaster harshly.
"Gaster! Gaster wake up!" Gaster's eyes are open immediately and he sits up, the two head-butting each other accidentally.
"WHAT IN THE—"
"Gaster the humans! There are TONS of humans here! We have to run!" Vrinda's eyes are huge and she's rattling violently with fear. Gaster stands up and goes to the door. He looks out and sees… God save them. His heart drops. There's no way they'll make it out of here…. There's so many of them…! No! No, he has to protect his family! Behind him, Gaster can hear Papyrus crying, scared from the shouting. Sans is awake and looking around frantically. Other monsters that heard Vrinda's shouting are waking up now and panicking, running around their borrowed homes for weapons or to hide.
"Wingdings, come ON, we have to run!" Vrinda shouts. She's got Papyrus wrapped up in her red scarf around her torso again. Sans grabs Gaster's pant leg and stares at him with wide terrified eyes.
"WHERE, WHERE ARE WE GOING TO RUN?" Gaster says mostly to himself. They're cornered. They're really cornered! It doesn't matter which direction they go, as long as they get out of here. Gaster picks Sans up and then grabs Vrinda's hand and runs for it. Other monsters have begun to run for it too. Every direction has a monster sprinting, some bumping into each other and tripping, some rushing out to fight the humans and meet them half way. Asgore is one of them. He's in full armor and he has a giant red trident in his hands sprinting with heavy steps. Oh god oh god oh god! The humans dust the few monsters that made it to the front line and completely bum rush the town. It's a total cluster fuck of bodies, both monster and human, fighting.
Papyrus and Sans scream and cry from all the noise. So much screaming in the air. But Gaster runs on with his family, anywhere away from the humans.
"Gaster, they're catching up to us!" Vrinda shouts as a large group of humans run right towards them. The only reason she can tell in this darkness is because the moon is huge and bright in the night sky.
"DAMMIT ALL. I'LL TRY TO HOLD THEM OFF." A gasp from his wife is all he has to hear before he stops her before she speaks.
"VRINDA I'M SERIOUS, I'LL—"
"Shut your mouth Wingdings Gaster you and I are NOT splitting up do you understand me?!" Gaster's never EVER heard her shout at him like that, but he's pretty sure humans are worse than his wife's wrath.
And yet it doesn't matter in the end. A wave of monsters comes from in front of Gaster and Vrinda and the monsters and humans clash with the family right in the middle. Gaster holds his wife close, but in the struggle and fighting, Sans is pulled away from Gaster and then dropped to the ground. A human tries to spear him, but Vrinda uses her magic to hit the human away. She picks Sans up quickly into her arms tightly and busts her way out.
"Gaster come on this way!" She shouts and pushes through. The monsters let her go past and she runs into the open. She turns around to say something to Gaster, but he's not behind her.
"G-Gaster?! WINGDINGS!" She yells. But if Gaster responded, she couldn't hear. There's too much yelling. From the side of the fighting group she just escaped, five humans rush at her. There's no time. She can't wait for Gaster…
"Oh god Gaster, please be okay, please!" Vrinda says as she runs as fast as she can. She jumps over fallen logs and rushes past trees and tall bushes, hoping to lose the humans in the brush and in the dark.
"Mom, what about daddy!?" Sans says through his sobs.
"He's okay Sansy sweet heart, I know he is! We'll see him a little later okay?" Sans doesn't believe that for a second. He wants to but… he's already seen so much.
Two humans catch up to her and start yelling.
"There it is! Hurry up before it gets away!" The human man says. He's tall and strong. Vrinda looks forward and does her best to keep running. Magic hits her in the back and it pushes her over onto her side. The ends of the scarf that were tied on Vrinda's back are ripped and torn. Vrinda just manages to catch Papyrus in her arm before he goes flying.
The second human jumps next to her and stomps on one of her legs, breaking one of the bones. Vrinda screams in agony, her yellow magic beginning to flare up in her eyes. The human rolls her over and yanks Papyrus right out of her arms.
"A baby? God they're spreadin'!" The human woman says to the man behind her who's walking up.
"No, give him back!" Sans screams. The woman looks at Sans and can't believe it. They're ALL skeletons!
Before the woman can do anything though, yellow magic completely encases the woman's head, cutting off the oxygen supply. The lady drops Papyrus right into Vrinda's waiting arms. She uses her magic to hold what's left of her leg together and she continues running. The man chases them, but Vrinda uses another wave of magic to cut his arm clean off. The man's screams chase Vrinda and her sons for a good long while. She manages to get away until she can't hear them anymore.
Vrinda sees what appears to be an abandoned gas station and she limps inside as quietly as she can and hides under the front desk. It's almost pitch black inside. Hopefully that helps. Vrinda pants and tries to take deep breaths so she won't be heard. But Papyrus is still screaming. Some person just yanked him away from his mommy.
"Oh baby please be quiet, please, mommy's here, it's okay." Vrinda says as soothingly as she's able to. Her leg hurts so bad… It's excruciating and her magic is wearing out…. Can she heal it?
"Mom! Mommy are you okay?" Sans says through tears. He sees her leg is completely broken into pieces where it snapped.
"I'm okay baby, I'm okay. Are you alright? We took quite a spill didn't we?"
"I'm okay mommy, but your leg—"
"I'll fix it up right now so we can move faster. Can you do your best to quiet Papyrus down?"
"Y-yes!" Sans takes Papyrus from Vrinda and rocks him back and forward. He can see the scarf is completely ripped up and dirty now. It used to be so vibrantly red and beautiful… Now it's almost destroyed at the ends.
Vrinda focuses hard on her leg and manages to heal it up a little bit. Just enough so that it won't fall apart when she runs next time. Now she turns to her boys. They have so many giant tears going down their poor faces. Vrinda takes one end of the torn up scarf and rubs each of their eyes with it and smiles.
"It'll be alright boys. Mommy will protect you no matter what, okay? Do you trust me?" She says. Sans looks up at her and hugs her tightly with his one free arm.
"Yes…" Sans says quietly. He's so scared. Papyrus, his poor baby brother almost got taken away and hurt by that lady… And the man hurt his mommy and she almost couldn't walk. And his daddy…. His daddy isn't even there. Gaster always was the one who protected them with his brute strength and now he's not here at all. What if he's dead? What if he's dust like those other monsters?
Sans' tears start to bubble up again and he buries his face in his moms fading yellow dress.
BANG! The front doors of the gas station are kicked in by one human man. A different one than before.
"I know you're in here you damn monster freak." He says in a low voice. Vrinda quickly holds Sans and Papyrus close to her. She's so thankful that Papyrus isn't crying right now. It may only save them for a little while longer, but it's better than no time at all.
The man slowly walks through the store, one quiet step at a time. Vrinda can feel the man's magic radiating from his direction. The humans may have learned to USE magic, but they're pretty awful at hiding it.
"I saw you hobble in here. I know you're here, so just come out and let me dust you already. Don't make this harder for both of us alright?" The human says. Vrinda thinks that's an interesting choice of words… Does he not WANT to be here?
The footsteps get closer to Vrinda's right side until she sees his black shoes. She prays that he doesn't bend over to see under the counter….
But he does. He bends over and sees Vrinda.
"Gotchya." He says. He grabs her ankle and drags her out ferociously.
"No! No no no please don't!" Vrinda begs when she sees the man reeling back to hit her with a metal bat. A quick swing hits her in one arm, breaking it completely off. She screams in pain and rolls to one side.
"Lis-LISTEN TO ME! We don't have to fight! PLEASE, I have—"
"Shut UP already!" The man yells, hitting her in the hip. Another scream.
Sans watches his mother reel on the ground, chips of bone from her broken arm clicking on the tile when it falls. All he can do is hold still and grip Papyrus tightly. He's so scared he can't even make a noise. It's all so surreal… This man is killing his mother. But he can't help her…
"Get OFF OF ME!" Vrinda screams at the top of her lungs, her yellow magic blasting the human into the back wall where cigarette boxes go flying and glass rains down on him. She stands up and pants, magic bursting from her hands and lights half of the building up.
"Fine. You wanna fight, you freak?! You want to kill a monster who's never done anything to you?! FINE! We'll do this your way then!" Sharp broken bones appear from thin air and float beside her. She lifts her hands and the bones go flying at the guy. The man dodges most of them by rolling out of the way, but one gets him in the thigh. He yelps and stands up quickly so he can use his own magic. White magic surrounds the humans bat and he swings, a white blade flying in the air. Vrinda only just misses it, her yellow dress getting a cut by her ribs. She retaliates and sends more bones flying in crazy directions. A white magical barrier surrounds the human and it protects him, the bones splitting into a billion pieces.
"Hurry up and die, damn you!" The man yells.
"You first!" Vrinda screams while sending another huge wave of magic. It's weak but it's still strong enough to crack the human's small barrier.
"If I'm going, then I'm taking you with me!" The human's magic bubbles up around his whole body and it only grows and grows and grows like a tsunami. Vrinda's eyes widen and she steps back a few feet. What the hell is this? It's going to crush her! No! The boys! She uses all of her magic to make a square barrier as strong as it can be and she pushes hard with a shout.
The two magic sources collide and explode, the entire top of the gas station being blown apart. Vrinda is hit hard and then sent flying through metal tables and chairs through the front window of the store and into the dirt and grass outside. She doesn't move.
Sans watches horrified. The noise alone shocks him and Papyrus into stunned silence. He was under the counter so luckily the blast didn't get him or Papyrus too badly... But they were blown back several feet, and a big piece of wood hits Sans on the right side of his face. It hurts so bad and his hand jets up to hold it. It reminds him suddenly of Gaster's eye. Is his eye going to crack too?!
The human pants, obviously never having used so much magic before. He sees Vrinda just beginning to stir and groan in the grass and he walks towards her. Once he makes it to her, he slowly puts his foot on her skull and presses a little.
"Now. Would you just. Hold. Still?"
Vrinda knows this is it… She can already feel her soul quivering behind her ribs. Things are becoming blurry. But, she can't fade just yet. She can hear Papyrus screaming and crying suddenly from inside the store. The human looks in that direction. No! No no no no! She lifts her hand and uses the rest of her magic which faintly covers her hand. She's never done this right before so she just hopes it works. "Please stay safe my boys." She thinks to herself. The human looks down at her using magic and panics. He lifts up his foot and stomps down on her head as hard as he can.
()
In the blink of an eye Sans sees that his location has changed. He's outside now, sitting at the base of a tree. Papyrus continues to cry and flail his limbs around, trying to break free of the red scarf swaddling him tightly. Sans gives him a small nudge.
"Papyrus, shush, look. Look, we're outside!" He whispers loudly. Papyrus looks around, knowing the word "outside" and sees trees. He hears a river near them and it sooths him. Sans looks around too. How did he and Papyrus get there? He stands up and quietly peeks behind the tree. The gas station is pretty far away to his right. It's only a small red line and some shiny broken glass now. His mom moved him here? But how? Why?... Sans squints and sees the tiny figure of the human from just now stepping away from a pile in front of him. The yellow dress blows lightly in a breeze.
He suddenly feels sick to his stomach… His dad's gone… and now his…. his mom? Is his mom gone too? Sans' stomach starts doing flips. No way. No way! This can't be real! He and Papyrus are alone now?... They're alone… His mommy is dead…
Sans leaves from behind the tree and stares at the scene. It's so small he can't make it out very well. But his mom's dress laying there with dust inside of it is crystal clear… He can't deal with this… He can't deal with this! Sans makes a run for it with Papyrus in his arms, an end of his moms red scarf trailing behind them a little.
Smoke. There's a bunch of smoke coming from somewhere. Yelling and metal clanking and magical sounds are echoing in the air. It's the town they were just staying in. Sans wonders if he should go back… It doesn't sound good. How can he sit here and do nothing while everyone else is fighting? He wants his mommy… He wants his daddy…
One set of footsteps runs up to Sans.
"Hey kid!" A human man says. It's the human man that killed his mother… Sans turns around quickly to see him with wide eyes. The man realizes they're skeleton monsters and he stops dead in his tracks. His eyes are a little wide… Skeleton monsters. The human can hear in his head some of Vrinda's words. "Please! I have—"… Two kids. She was going to say she had two kids… What has he done?... That baby crying that he couldn't find in the store. It was HER baby…
Sans take the opportunity of the man not moving to run for it. He's not very fast at all but he sprints for it. The only place he knows is the town. Surely he can find someone there to keep him and Papyrus… But wait, if he gets close to them, won't they just die too? Sans slows a little. But he hears another pair of footsteps running at him. Not the humans', but a familiar one. It scares him though so he runs quickly. Purple magic surrounds him and lifts him in the air.
"SANS WAIT!" Someone calls. Sans' eyes snap open from their terrified closed position and he looks around. Familiar purple magic that would throw him in the air sometimes.
Large arms surround him and Papyrus and hug them closely. It's Gaster!
"SANS, PAPYRUS THANK GOD I FOUND YOU! ARE YOU OKAY? LET ME LOOK AT YOU." Gaster, turns his boys around and holds them closely. He can see that Sans has some damage to his right eye, and that the scarf swaddling a very scared Papyrus is ripped.
"MY POOR BOYS… TELL ME SANS, WHERE IS YOUR MOTHER?" Gaster seems pretty banged up himself. His clothes are torn, revealing some black and purple plasma that makes up his form. It's transparent and his skeleton can be seen inside. His hands are chipped all over and the thin bottom crack on his eye has gotten longer.
Sans can't speak. How can he tell his dad that his mom is gone?... How is he supposed to say it?...
"SANS?... WHERE IS YOUR MOM?" Sans can hear the slight change in his dad's voice. It's fear. Panic. Sans just gulps and points in the direction of the store. Gaster doesn't feel good… Sans isn't speaking. Why won't he just say it?
Gaster turns around and starts to walk towards a gas station… He can see the roof is blown off and the windows are broken out. He and everyone else heard a huge explosion, but no one was really sure what it was. It was the thing that helped Gaster escape from a cluster of fighting monsters and humans while everyone was distracted for half a second.
He notices something familiar though. A yellow dress laying on the ground. Gaster stops walking. He just stares wide eyed and doesn't move an inch… His wife's dress… Dust. Gaster carefully sets Sans down with Papyrus without ever taking his eyes away from the clothing. Sans watches his daddy walk slowly over to the pile of dust… His heart aches…
"VRINDA?" Gaster says quietly, as if the dust will answer. Slow steps, slow steps. Once he gets up to the dress he just stares silently. The dust is in the shape of Vrinda's silhouette. Everything that's ever happened to him starts to flood back.
Vrinda that dumb city girl strolls right into his dusty village and all Gaster can do is sass her. He helps her family and makes a lot of eye contact with her while he works. She always seemed interested in what he was doing before he looked at her and she'd give him a glare. The memory of the two sewing her scarf and laughing and having a great time float by. They talked more and more and finally they told each other how much they liked the other. It was the best feeling in the world. He was so filled with love. The two told each other every single day that they loved each other for years. Getting married was amazing. It was a gathering of the entire village. The two held each other close every day and every night, just lying there loving each other and reveling in the others presence. Even when they were chased out of their home with their first born they would all stay together and sing the others praises. Papyrus was born and it seemed to bring them even closer together somehow.
And now Vrinda's dusted form lays in front of him. She was clearly hurt before she was killed. Her dress is ripped and burned in some places.
Gaster's knees become weak and he falls to them. He reaches forward with shaking hands and goes to pick up some of her dust. But his hands stop. He leans forward and places each hand on either sides of the dress where his wife's ribs would be.
"VRINDA?" He says again. This time he reaches for the sides of the dress. He picks it up and watches the small grey and white particles slip to the ground….
Gaster didn't get to say goodbye. He didn't get to tell her he loved her. They were just…. torn apart. She was scared when he saw her last. She was scared and he couldn't stop it. He couldn't stop the two from getting separated and he couldn't stop those humans from hurting his family. He wasn't there when this place exploded and he wasn't here to stop someone from killing his wife.
Gaster is unable to stop the first sob that comes from his mouth. He hugs the dress close to his chest and finally can't contain his grief. Huge deep sobs push their way out and giant tears cloud Gaster's vision completely. His entire world crashes around him. All of the support pillars that held him up are crumbling…
Sans watches from afar the devastation of this reality. He holds Papyrus tightly and hugs him close, starting to cry as well. He can't watch… It hurts so much…
Gaster curls in on himself and the dress and sobs hard. This is too much… It's too much. Gaster swears his can feel his soul splitting in two. The deep, thick, heavy feeling in his chest hurts and he just can't believe that he wasn't there. He wasn't HERE! His beloved wife is really and truly gone and it's his fault for not being strong enough. If only he were here! This loss is agony on his very existence. It's torture. It's actual torture sitting here clinging to what was once his precious Vrinda.
A small pair of feet slowly walk up to Gaster's side. When a small hand touches his arm, he looks up from the dust and dirt and sees his children. Their big, sad, tearful eyes stare up at him. They need him…
"Daddy?..." Sans says nearly under his breath. "I'm… sorry you're crying…" Is all the three year old can say. Gaster puts a hand to his own face to try and cover up the tears. He can't even hide his sorrow from his children. He's so damn weak!
"SANS… DO YOU… UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?" Gaster says, unable to keep his voice from shaking. Sans nods a few times.
"Yes… Mommy isn't here anymore… She's with my Grandmas and Grandpas now… right?" Even saying it brings fresh blue tears to Sans' eyes.
Gaster has to be strong… He has to be a father right now. He has to disassociate and do what must be done. For his small children.
"YES… SHE'S WITH THEM ALL NOW… AND… I KNOW HOW PROUD SHE WAS OF YOU FOR BEING HER STRONG BOY. YOU AND PAPYRUS BOTH…"
"Are we going to see her again?..."
Gaster carefully folds the dress into a square, only able to keep a small bit of her dust inside. How can he answer such a question…? If he says yes, Sans might constantly be scared of dying. But if he says no, then Sans will start screaming.
"MAYBE. I'D LIKE TO THINK SO, WOULDN'T YOU?" He looks back at Sans again and gives his boy the smallest smile. Sans nods… Gaster shifts his body to pick his sons up and then stands, putting his wife's dress under his arm. He steps back from the silhouetted dust of his beloved and gives it another long look…
"I LOVE YOU VRINDA…" He says quietly.
"I love you mommy." Sans repeats.
Gaster forces himself to turn his back on the dust and walk away… Sans clings to his brother who's been oddly silent this whole time and to his dad's tearing shirt. Another wave of realization hits Sans and he starts to sob into his dad's chest. Of course Papyrus doesn't understand, but so much is happening and he doesn't get it. He starts crying too. Gaster can only listen and hold them close as he walks away.
()
The village full of fighting gets closer. Gaster wonders what he's going to do… He has to help, but he has his sons who need him more than anyone… A shadow passes over them. Gaster looks up and sees Civetta his owl friend. The girl looks down and sees him and makes a nose dive before spreading her wings and stopping midair then landing on her feet.
"Wingdings! I'm so glad I found you! I was looking all over! Hey where—" Gaster quickly shakes his head and gives her a small look that she immediately recognizes as "Don't bring it up." She's seen the face many times during their friendship. But the meaning behind this look is deep. She can see that all three boys have been crying their eyes out. Vrinda isn't there…. Civetta just stays quiet for a while…
"CIVETTA, WHAT'S GOING ON IN TOWN RIGHT NOW?" Gaster says to quickly change the subject.
"O-oh! Well, we seem to be winning for now. But I heard some of the humans talking about back up and reinforcements. King Asgore and Queen Toriel said that once we get the humans numbers down more, we'll make a break for it to go North East… We've uhm… Well, out of four thousand we have three thousand left. Everyone is fighting really hard right now. I was too, but I couldn't find you guys so I went looking…" Civetta rubs her feathered arm awkwardly and can only barely hold back tears. Her friend is gone… It all happened so fast.
"WHAT ABOUT THE HUMANS NUMBERS?"
"Well… they came at us with what appears to be three thousand. I guess they figured they'd only need that many… But they're down to one thousand five hundred… That's my guess after looking from the sky."
"LET'S MAKE IT ZERO." Gaster says. Civetta looks Gaster in the eye and can see a faint purple glow… He means it. And Civetta knows when to get out of his way.
"Y-Yeah… But what about them?" She glances down at the children really fast and then back up to him. Gaster thinks… His sons NEED him right now…
"IF WE CAN DRIVE THE HUMANS TO RETREAT FOR A WHILE THEN WE CAN ESCAPE FOR A LITTLE WHILE… SO FOR NOW LET'S JUST CHASE THEM AWAY… HOPEFULLY IT'LL BE AS EASILY DONE AS IT IS SAID."
"I agree. Uhm… I think that for now you guys should just stay out here. The humans won't be coming this way. I'll tell the king our plans and hopefully his listens to them. If they come to pass, I'll come find you guys again okay?"
"YEAH… THANK YOU CIVETTA." Gaster nods. Civetta stares at her friend sadly. The poor guy… the poor kids!... She jumps in the air and flies back to the fighting. Gaster turns and walks off, not really paying attention to where he's going. Away from the loud noises and fighting, that's all he knows.
Sans finally looks up for a second and then points.
"Daddy… Over there. That's where mommy put me and Papyrus." Gaster's taken from his walking trance and he looks at where his son's small hand is pointing. He walks over to it and looks.
"SHE PUT YOU HERE?" He's too nervous to ask him exactly what he means for fear of starting another crying session. But Sans talks anyway.
"Yeah. Pap and I were hiding under the counter. But Papyrus started crying and then mommy's magic put us here. It was really weird." What on EARTH does that mean… Mommy's magic put us here…. Wait… Wait a second. Did she finally do it?
Gaster and Vrinda were working on their magic constantly while they were on the run. Gaster could teleport some things and Vrinda wanted in on such convenient magic. So he would teach her when he was able. She couldn't do very large objects. A piece of paper, a pen, a potted plant. She was doing pretty well, but it would suck a lot of magic away from her. She just wasn't born with the skill needed to teleport larger objects. But it looks like at the last minute she was able to teleport their sons to safety…. Vrinda finally did it.
Gaster sits down with the boys and sits Sans next to him. He takes Papyrus from his brother's arms carefully and holds him up.
"PAPYRUS, YOU'RE SO QUIET… CAN YOU MAYBE SMILE FOR DADDY?" He brings Papyrus in for a big kiss to his head and he gets two small hands bapping the side of his face. Papyrus coos. He seems to think that everything is better now because his daddy is there and he's smiling. So everything MUST be alright! Papyrus finally wriggles around and laughs. Gaster brings Pap in again and removes the scarf from around him, allowing the baby to stretch finally. This makes him VERY happy. He flails around in Gaster's lap until he rolls out onto his belly and starts to crawl around. He doesn't go more than a couple feet from his family though.
Sans looks at the scarf in his dad's hands and then up at his father's face. He's staring at some fading red thread. Sans wonders why. What is it about the thread?... He can't find enough energy to ask.
Hours pass and morning breaks. Several humans ended up turning tail for now and running away just like Gaster had hoped. There are a few more humans left alive than he'd like… Sans and Papyrus have fallen asleep in Gaster's arms. Gaster himself is so tired, but he can't sleep. Every time he closes his eyes another memory will pop up and kick the sleep right out of him. He hears something overhead. It must be Civetta.
The owl lands on her talons.
"Gaster!" She calls. The weary skeleton stands up with his boys and walks out from behind the tree.
"CIVETTA. LOOKS LIKE OUR PAPER THIN IDEA WORKED IN THE END."
"Yeah. We did pretty well. There's still a lot of loss… but we started to seriously outnumber the humans and they were getting tired. So uh… we made it sorta… for now… How are… you guys holding up and stuff?" Such a subject… She never thought she'd have to speak to her friend about something like this.
"PAPYRUS IS BETTER THAN I EXPECTED, BUT SANS ISN'T DOING VERY WELL. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT HE SAW…."
"And you?"
"SHITTY." A rare curse from Gaster. Civetta just nods. She turns around and starts walking towards what's left of the group and Gaster follows. Not another word is said on their way back.
When they break from the trees, they can see to the right the monsters picking up the pieces of their thrice shattered lives. Some weapons are broken, some monsters are injured heavily and the town has been set on fire. The humans seem to like doing that… There are piles of dust everywhere. All shapes and sizes. Family members cry over some of the piles.
"CIVETTA… CAN YOU PLEASE WATCH THE BOYS WHILE I GET TO WORK HERE?" Gaster says. Civetta looks at him and the boys in his arms.
"But… shouldn't you get some sleep?"
"I'LL SLEEP WHEN EVERYONE IS DOING A BIT BETTER. WE DO HAVE TO LEAVE HERE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE AND IT'S BEST IF EVERYONE FEELS AS GOOD AS THEY CAN FOR TOMORROWS WAVE. I KNOW THEY'LL BE BACK WITH THOUSANDS MORE… SO I HAVE TO DO THIS."
"Gaster—"
"PLEASE CIVETTA… I HAVE TO KEEP BUSY…" He looks over at his friend sadly. Civetta sighs and holds out her arms.
"Fine. But when you finish PLEASE come back… They'll want you when they wake up."
Gaster hands his sons over carefully to his feathery friend and steps back with a nod.
"YEAH…" He turns around and walks away, waving to a few people and already calling out orders to line up if they're injured. Civetta watches him go and just shakes her head. She looks down at the boys and then snuggles them close, apologizing under her breath as she walks off to rest.
()
Gaster heals people as best as he can, getting nods and thank yous and tearful hugs. Everyone notices that the second doctor isn't there… She must have been one of the casualties. It explains Gaster's lack of… well, his normal self.
Finally he finishes and goes to find Civetta. She's cooped up with his sons that are still sleeping, holding them close and keeping them warm with her poofy brown feathers. Gaster takes this time to sit and close his eyes finally. But every time he thinks he might fall asleep, the reality of his new life hits him like a truck. Vrinda isn't there to talk to him anymore…. He pulls out her dress from under his arm. He never let it go. Gaster brings it in front of him still perfectly folded and he runs his hand across the fabric. The buttons are so old… He didn't get to buy her any new clothes.
"OH VRINDA… WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO WITHOUT YOU?" He whispers to himself. After all the crying he's done, he figured there were no tears left. But a fresh wave of tears start to spill from his eyes. He clutches the dress close again and curls in on himself, knees to his chest.
It's only until Sans wakes him up that Gaster realizes he'd actually fallen asleep. The sun was coming up and peeking through the wood. Gaster looks down at Sans who's sat next to him and cuddled himself into his dad's side as much as he was able to. The small little skeleton looks up at Gaster and actually gives him a small smile. He returns it.
"MORNING SANS… DID CIVETTA KEEP YOU WARM?"
"M-hm."
"GOOD, I'M GLAD." Gaster puts his legs down and then picks Sans up and gives him a tight loving hug. Sans wraps his arms around his dad's neck and hugs him back.
"I love you daddy." The boy says, gripping the back of Gaster's shirt and rubbing his cheekbones on his shoulder. Gaster kisses his sons' skull and rubs his back.
"I LOVE YOU TOO, SANS."
They sit quietly for about ten minutes until Papyrus wakes up, who then wakes up Civetta with his movement. They all leave and eat with several others outside. Everyone's face has a story to tell. It's easy to pick out which monsters lost someone… The morning is quiet and very cold. Monsters huddle together for warmth and Gaster is glad he and his boys are all skeletons…
After everyone packs up and readies themselves, the entire group begins to walk. Gaster has been relieved of his defense squad duties to watch over his sons. Just like his wife, He has Papyrus in what's left of Vrinda's scarf and Sans in his free arm. Many hours of walking heat everyone up pretty nicely. The sun is shining on everyone. Not a cloud in the sky.
"Daddy?" Sans asks quietly. Gaster hums in response.
"Are we going to be okay?" Gaster looks down now at his son and gives him a confident smile.
"WE ARE GOING TO BE OKAY. I WON'T LET ANYONE HURT YOU OR PAPYRUS EVER."
"Daddy…. Please don't go. Like Mama did. Please don't turn to dust…" Sans is almost too quiet to hear, but his pleas ring very clear in Gaster's mind.
"I WON'T. I SWEAR IT, I WON'T EVER LEAVE YOU BOYS LIKE THAT. YOUR OLD DAD WILL BE AROUND FOR A LOOOONG TIME."
Sans nods silently and clings to his dad… When he moves his head to rest his chin on Gaster's shoulder, he sees something behind the group.
"Daddy… I see them."
"WHAT?" Gaster turns around quickly. Several other monsters turn around too.
Behind the group come the humans again, attacking from behind this time. Kill the stragglers and work their way up to the stronger monsters.
"SON OF A-…" The monsters in the back of the group both groan and scream, running forward quickly. Gaster turns and runs with everyone else. But not out of fear. He's looking for Civetta. His eyes dart around looking for his feathered friend and finally he spots her ahead of him. He dashes for her and yells over the noise of running, terrified and crying monsters.
"CIVETTA. I NEED YOU TO TAKE THESE TWO AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN. FLY SO THEY CAN'T GET YOU EASILY!"
"What?!" Civetta yells. She takes one look at Gaster though and knows he's going to do what he wants if she likes it or not. So she takes Papyrus from around Gaster's torso and then grabs Papyrus. She gives them a toss in the air and then jumps up, catches them in her feet talons and flies off quickly.
"Daddy!" Sans yells, holding out a hand and flailing a little.
"I MADE A PROMISE REMEMBER!? I'M GOING TO KEEP IT!" Sans watches his dad fade away on the ground. The scene is made clear. Half of the monster group run away and the other half linger back to fight. He sees his dad being joined with many others. An old tortoise man, a fire monster, dogs and many others. The humans are larger in number and a rainbow of color starts flaring from their side, ready to attack.
Gaster stands ready, taking a deep breath. He's going to do his best to make good on what he told his son. Don't die. He has to hold them back so his people and children can escape…
A tortoise monster runs up next to him with a giant hammer.
"Listen son, if you have a death wish you'd better get it over with!"
"I COULD SAY THE SAME TO YOU. GERSON WAS IT?" Gaster says, taking a look at the old man. Gerson is already quite old, but he's heard gossip about this man. They call him the Hammer of Justice.
"Darn tootin'! Think you can keep up kid?! Gyehehe!" The old man cackles.
"Ah now don't get me wrong, I don't LIKE killin'. But someone's gotta do it, ain't that right Doc?" With a glint in his old eyes, Gaster can tell this guy has seen a lot in his long life.
"YEAH…" A flame monster joins the two of them and then more and more monsters run up. Once the humans get close to them, the monsters charge.
So many bodies clash and run into each other. Metal against metal clang and reverberate in the air, arrows fly, spears are thrown from both sides, even gunshots are heard. The sound of magic permeates the entire area too. Fire, lighting, chunks of earth and rocks fly around. Sometimes the magic colliding will explode and send everyone near it soaring.
Gaster's purple magic bursts from his one good eye and bones start flying and stabbing humans left and right. They fall and he jumps over them to the next humans. He wastes no time bringing out the big guns. Two scary dog skulls, the blasters, float in the air and make terrifying noises when the magic charges up. Humans see them and start to run. But giant purple and white beams scream from the blasters and obliterate them, bones and all. Even some monsters look at Gaster and his weapons and are shocked. The size of them, the strength! The amount of magic coming from them… Just how strong is this damn guy? It's almost like he's a… a boss monster or something.
Humans run and try to avoid the giant skulls and their master, but they can't get away fast enough. The skulls chase them, biting their heads off one by one as if they were bobbing for apples. Sometimes a brave human will dare to go near Gaster to try and surprise attack him, but the doctor turns and uses a small purple magic beam to slice their heads clean off of their shoulders. By now he's left a trail of blood and bodies behind him.
What freaks a lot of humans and monsters out is how freakishly calm he appears to be. He doesn't LOOK angry or full of absolute murderous rage, and he doesn't look happy or joyful that he's killing all of these humans. He just looks… neutral. Like he's shut everything out and is just focusing on his job. The only thing that gives away any emotion (to the monsters at least) is the intense blazing magic from his eye. He nearly becomes a black shadow in contrast to all the light exploding from his devilish pets.
The fighting lasts for a long time. It starts to get dark. Even with all of the strongest monsters fighting, their numbers are fading quickly. Everyone is running out of magic. But looking around at the human fighters, Gaster can spot at least six or seven of them that are still totally full of magic… How? If MONSTERS are low on magic, then how are those damn humans still full on theirs? Did they only join recently? Or maybe… they're REALLY strong?
A sharp pain stabs through Gaster's back while he isn't focusing and it's dragged all the way down to his hip. He shouts and arches away from the pain and turns around. But he doesn't see an adult. He sees a human child with blond hair and a machete that's nearly their size.
"A CHILD?" Gaster says out loud in utter amazement. Why is a KID here? They seem ready for battle though. Not an ordinary child it seems.
While he's preoccupied with the child, an adult human bum rushes him and tackles him to the ground. Gaster's blasters disappear.
"You damn freak!" The human screams. They punch Gaster several times in a row before Gaster can use any of his… uh... his magic? Is he out of magic? God in heaven he's out of usable magic… And he isn't physically strong enough now after using so much magic at once to get this damn human off of him! But he tries dammit! Gaster swings his right fist into the humans face several times right back, but his wrists are grabbed and pinned to the ground. From above him he sees the child with the machete walking up to his head, charging their machete with light lavender magic.
"Hurry up you stupid kid, kill it!" The human screams at the child. The youngster raises their machete to stab down, and they thrust it right into his right eye. Gaster screams and struggles against the human on top of him. He can't get away! No no no dammit he made a promise! He PROMISED his son that he wouldn't die! But he has no magic to protect himself with! Oh god this PAIN! The child rocks the machete back and forward until the blade end gets caught in the crack going up his eye and they can't get it out. They pull and stab, pull and stab trying to free the weapon from their enemy's eye. Gaster can't believe the amount of pain he's in right now.
"Shut the hell up!" The adult shouts. He stabs two knives in the ground in Gaster's hand holes to keep him from moving and surrounds his own hands with magic and starts to choke Gaster. Being half skeleton, choking wouldn't normally work. But choking with magic is a whole other story. This human seems to be experienced in this…
Gaster struggles and shouts silently. The kid finally manages to get their weapon out of his damn eye hole and reel up to swing down again, but a large hammer completely smashes them from the side and sends them flying. A burst of flame magic and white fur crash into the human on top of Gaster and sends him flying too. Gaster gasps for air now that the hands are off of him and he coughs hard. Even rolling to his side is a chore right now. He thought for sure he was a goner…. He almost broke his promise…
"Doctor Gaster!" Asgore shouts. He bends over on one armored knee and stares at Gaster with concern.
"How are you bleeding if you're a skeleton?" He asks suddenly. Gaster can't believe this imbecile. But he can't find the words or the breath yet to answer him. Asgore rolls the doctor to his side and then sits him up.
"Can you at least nod if you're alright?" Gaster ponders this… He almost died. And…. He's very seriously considering falling back. Not for himself, but for his children… So Gaster shakes his head "no", doing his best to clear up his blurry vision. His right eye is even MORE cracked now… When will this eye stop being targeted for heaven's sake?
"Alright, I'll send you back. You've done enough for now. Thank you Gaster." Asgore says. He waves someone over and then rushes off to keep fighting. A flame monster rushes over to Gaster and grabs his arm, pulling him up to his shaking feet. They walk Gaster to the back and point to the east where the other non-fighting monsters are. They can't help him, they've got to go back. Gaster understands perfectly and nods a little. He turns and walks back… Part of him feels shame that he had to leave the way he did. But another part is patting him on the back for knowing when it's time to quit and go to his children. He feels a little less bad having to leave when he sees several other monsters walking back a few yards away from him. Gaster stumbles forward until his falls against a tree, clinging to it so he won't fall…
Vrinda… He hopes he killed the human that murdered his wife. If he did anything he hopes that it was avenging his Vrinda… That's part of his excuse anyway. A bigger part of him knows that he was venting his anger and suffering onto the humans. He doesn't feel bad though. And that KID. That child! Are the humans so desperate that they'll just take kids with some decent magic and send them to war? Unbelievable. Humans really are the worst…
After several more minutes of slow pained walking, Gaster sees the group of monsters unable to fight. Finally… He sees Civetta sitting with Sans and Papyrus, writing some complicated math in the dirt that the boys just take as weird drawings. But the second Sans sees a figure in all black walking towards them, his head snaps over to look. He gasps and stands up and runs.
"Daddy!" Sans screams and almost trips on a branch to get over to his father. Gaster falls to his knees and holds his arms out just in time to catch his son who crashes into him. It's one of the better pains he's felt in life.
"Dadadadadada!" Papyrus says. He stands up carefully and toddles over to his daddy and lands in his other arm once he gets there.
"MY BOYS, I'M BACK. SEE SANS? I TOLD YOU I WOULDN'T LEAVE YOU." Sans just smiles and nods quickly, hugging his dad as tightly as he can. He's so happy that his daddy made it, just like he said he would!
Civetta runs over and takes a good look at her childhood friend. His clothes are burned in several places, his neck bones appear to be…. Bruised? There's black blood coming from some wounds in places she can't place because of the black clothing. His eye's crack has gotten wider and looks more jagged than before. And she can feel that his magic is all gone, save for the reserve that keeps him alive really.
"Thank goodness you're back, Gaster… I'm very very happy to see you. You don't look so good though." She says. Gaster shakes his head a little.
"I'LL LIVE… BUT YOU WON'T BELIEVE SOME OF THE THINGS I SAW CIVETTA… HUUHH…" He leans forward a little too much…
"Daddy?" Sans says, panic filling him. His daddy is acting weird and… is that blood coming from his mouth? Gaster coughs a few times, covering his mouth with his elbow. Lots of blood. How irritating. If only he'd gotten a little less from his mom and more from his dad in the flesh department…
"Ooooh no!" Civetta says, finally seeing the problem. That huge rip in his back from what looks like a giant knife wound?
"Doesn't ANYONE here know healing magic besides Gaster?" She calls to the group of people behind her.
Gaster's vision gets extra blurry and he feels light headed. He doesn't notice for a few seconds, but he's wobbling and is unable to hold himself up. It feels like he's underwater almost. It's kinda nice in a weird way. Everything goes black and the world stops spinning. The only thing he hears is a small thud that he can't quite place before he loses consciousness.