Chapter Ten (Alternative Title: Fight or Flight. Bonus Alternative Title: Adrenaline and Sensory Overload)

A/N: Font typed like {THIS HERE} is meant to imply Gaster is speaking in WingDings (since I can't seem to get them to work :/ sorry)

I could hear a strangely loud male voice roughly panicking in my ears. My face scrunched up, whenever I moved it felt like my body weighed a thousand pounds, and I finally coaxed my eyes open to see Chris staring down at me worriedly. I picked myself up— I was in the bed? When did I get into the bed?— and noticed Chris was holding out an array of donuts and cupcakes in boxes. He opened his mouth to begin to say something but before he could I snatched up four donuts; I didn't even chew them as I swallowed and Chris eye's seemed to widen in amusement. I added a cupcake for extra measure and sat back on the bed with a long sigh. The empty feeling in my chest was already filling some thankfully.

"I was going to say that I had more in the fridge," His light snicker rang out lowly as he added, "You didn't tell me I was literally going to be talking to a gigantic female spider. Is she always so damn intimidating?"

"That's just Muffet. Did she point you in the right direction for more magic filled food?" I watched him nod as he sat the remaining donuts in the cupcake box and sat it onto my bedside table while he sat next to me on the bed. I felt my magic pool into my mouth as my tongue emerged and stretched it lazily to grab a donut as Chris watched me before he doubled over laughing. I chewed thoughtfully with my right eye open, "What? I'm lazy what'd'ya expect when I can stretch my tongue out?"

That seemed to only encourage his laughter as I grumbled a thank you. He was telling me he had to travel all the way to Mount Ebott, which was apparently why he had taken so long, and he updated me on the status of the monsters. They had begun building a properly sizable village and from what he had come to understand from one of the locals ("The dude was literally a dog with a blind eye seeing dog?" "OH! You met Doggo! I hope you told him hello for me and didn't sneak up on him.") That apparently the King and Queen along with Frisk had gotten support from the mayor to build a small settlement at the base of the mountain; even stating since the monsters seemed peaceful and they had lived there for so long it was theirs by rights.

"I wish I could have gone with you." I whined out just as the doorbell rang out. He sat up to go answer it, I shimmed off the bed and into my clothes, and got to the living room just in time as he had just answered the door. I stopped dead in my tracks as I noticed who was at the door and he seemed to trail off what he was saying as his eyes met mine. The tidal wave of anger caused my eye to light up and I felt my hand glowing purple as I slammed the door shut with a wave of magic so hard the entire living room shook.

"What the fuck, Joanie?!" Chris shouted out and moved over to me just as the door was blown off the hinges, "THE DOOR!"

The flame monster was standing in the doorway now, his flames were roaring to show his anger, and he stepped towards us both. I instinctively pushed Chris back as I slipped my tentacle like ropes out with a low growl.

"Grillby," I spat his name out and could hear Chris angrily shouting about how he needed to get the fuck out of the house before he called the cops. I could feel him trying to pull me back to protect me, I wrapped him up and sat him far away into the hall, and without missing a beat wrapped Grillby's hands to lift him off the ground as I snarled out "I don't allow cheaters into my home."

"Wait… THAT'S GRILLBY," Chris shouted out and I heard him stomping as he passed me. I wrapped him again and sat him back rougher this time onto his behind on the floor of the hallway, "I just want five minutes alone—"

"You wouldn't last a minute." Grillby's voice was low and I could feel him heating his wrists up to a boiling temperature. I was beginning to feel the tentacle scorching as I struggled to keep my hold. I barely dodged a string of his own fiery ropes as his faced softened for a moment, "I didn't want to hurt you, Joanie, and I hadn't ever been serious with anyone before. I didn't know if it was going to last. Sans and I aren't together."

"Oh. Well in that case; that makes everything better. Casual fucking's allowed." His face lit up happily as I sat him down on the ground but still held his hands in my grasp. I heard his voice gently call out, "Really?" I smiled genuinely for a moment, feeling it slip into a menacing grin, as I growled out, "No. Not really."

I lifted him again and arched my throw to slam him into the carpet successfully. His body thudding against the floor caused the whole house to shake. His body was heating up again to an unbearable temperature, I couldn't hold him still any longer, and the moment I freed him I got knocked in the shoulder with a long fire rope. My cry out turned into a roar as I felt my magic bubbling. I was steadily losing control of how much magic I was using, my fury seeming to fuel it further, and I made two long bones that I held in my hands to charge at the burning monster.

The bones were slicing through the air neatly as Grillby danced away from the attacks and I caught the living room chair with my bones as it sliced neatly in half; until I connected with his leg to sweep it out from under him. I slammed the bone down through the carpet and yelled in triumph. I hadn't expected him to fall into the momentum of his tumble and backflip out of harm's way. His fist caught the side of my mandible, sliding over to where Chris was standing as I grunted out, and gingerly rubbed my burnt jaw when I felt his ropes grab my neck bones to lift me in front of the overheated monster. I struggled as four more was wrapped around each of my limbs; between the heat and the gentle tug as he tried to tear me apart I screamed out. The last of my air was being pushed out of my throat, the room was beginning to spin, and just as I thought I was going to die I fell to the floor crudely.

There was a loud hissing noise and when I looked up Grillby was screeching out in pain. I looked over to Chris, who held an empty bucket in his hands, and then noticed how wet the floor was. He had doused him with a whole bucket of water! Grillby's flames were faltering for a moment while I coughed to regain my composure. I stood up with an effort just as he burst into a blue smoldering flame; a thick blast of flame pushing Chris roughly into the wall as he thudded onto the ground like a rag doll.

The rage that stewed as I watched his head flop to the side was horrendous, as magic filled my bones I felt like I was splitting apart, and I lifted my newly shaping maw to let out an ear piercing bellow. My body had shifted into a large hound skeleton form as I heard my bones pop to fit. My spine was elongating as sharp juts of bone stuck out of the top, I could see my ribs growing to curl, and I fell onto my hands as my arms and legs lifted my form higher. The right eye that always glowed purple was giving off a purple smoke-like flame as the last few bones of my long tail formed; I thrashed it against one side of the wall to the other while my claws dug into the carpet.

"IF YOU KILLED HIM YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE." I howled out and lunged at my prey with my mouth agape and my fangs dripped with purple saliva. Grillby was stunned in place, only managing to narrowly escape, and I caught onto his pants leg with ease. My head flung to the opposite side to slide him closer to me and I roared into his face angrily as purple spittle dripped onto his face creating a loud sizzling noise. Determination seemed to fill me to the brim, I barely felt the fire rope weakly attempting to choke me around my neck or pick me up and throw me, and I stomped on the rope causing Grillby to cry out as it jerked him towards me more, "I… WILL… KILL… YOU."

The purple aura lifted him off the ground to pin him on the wall so I could go check on Chris without worry of being hit. A small whimper escaped my body, taking my muzzle to his neck to check his pulse, which he thankfully still had and I licked the side of his face lovingly. 'He's still alive… Thank god… I don't think I could take it if he died.' I thought sadly as I turned back around to assess Grillby with a low rumble radiating from my chest.

I let him go with a thud as I stood protectively in front of Chris, "LEAVE. I WILL NOT ASK YOU TWICE. IF I HAVE TO I WILL RIP OUT YOUR THROAT." I saw him nod quickly, taking off through the busted door frame and down the road, and I turned back to Chris to lay my head onto his lap sadly. It wasn't too long before I felt him stir from underneath me as I hopped up to lap at his face happily; my tail wagging against the wall without me being able to control it. His eyes fluttered open and I yipped loudly causing him to scream out once he laid eyes on me. I whined and backed up with my tail between my legs as I spoke tenderly, "I DIDN'T MEAN TO SCARE YOU. IT'S JOANIE. I WON'T HURT YOU. ARE YOU OKAY? DO YOU NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL?"

"J-Joanie," He reached out to place a hand onto my snout and I whimpered pitifully as my purple eye watched him wearily. I allowed him to use my head as a prop to stand and once he was on his feet he said, "I don't think I need to. Where's Grillby? Did you…?"

"NO. HE WILL NOT BOTHER US ANYMORE, BUT NO I DID NOT KILL HIM, ALTHOUGH I WAS TEMPTED." I bent down to lick Chris' face before adding, "I NEED TO GO TO MOUNT EBOTT. WILL YOU BE SAFE HERE?"

"I-I can go with you and—"

"NO. YOU CANNOT. I MUST DO THIS ALONE. I HAVE NO IDEA IF I WILL LOSE CONTROL AND I WILL NOT PUT YOU IN DANGER. THAT IS FINAL. STAY HERE," Chris face pulled into a frown and I could see his lower lip pout. I thought he was going to protest further, but instead he pulled my nose down some to give a tight hug, and kissed the top of my maw affectionately, "I LOVE YOU. I WILL BE BACK IN A FEW DAYS HOPEFULLY."

"I-I love you too." I turned around and began to run out into the approaching darkness. The feeling of my body teleporting was rougher when I was in this form and I ended up dumping myself onto the floor of the Hotlands in Mount Ebott. I hated the humidity of this place, it was stifling hot, and I could feel sweat pour down my body as I struggled to trot along in the heat. Noticing my pace was wavering and my vision seemed to be filled with black dots; I shook my head angrily to try and continue on. That action only caused me to fall over onto my side with a long wheeze. I thrashed a few more times to get up, but ultimately failed to get back onto my claws as I settled in to sleep where I was.

{"Joanie?

Joanie, can you stand?

W-what happened to you?"}

I could remember certain things as I laid unconscious. Everything smelt like I was in a hospital room, there was a cracking feeling all over my body that shook me almost awake a few times from the agonizing pain it caused, and I was aware of something warm and wet sliding over my forehead a few times in between it all.

Trying to focus before I opened my eyes; I listened to what I could hear. There was the faint sound of someone scribbling something off to my right signifying that someone was in the room with me. 'No shit Sherlock Holmes,' I sarcastically thought, 'I'm on some kind of bed, there is a blanket on top of me, and if I can manage to move quietly I could check and see if I was still that huge hound thing.'

The blanket wasn't noisy thankfully. I felt my rib cage had gone back to my original body state; as I let out an inaudible sigh of relief that I wasn't stuck in the form. One eye socket slowly opened and peered out into the bright room to scan where I had heard the scribbling. A tall recognizable figure dressed in a long black coat was leaning over a desk in the corner of the room; he seemed to have his attention on his work.

"G-Gaster?" I winced at how sore my throat was and Gaster turned around in his chair with a flabbergasted gaze. I noted he looked considerably less… Sludge-like and I could actually make out that he was a skeleton monster now, "Y… You're l-looking… A whole lo-lot less… Drippy."

I could see the ends of his mouth tug into a smile as I coughed a few times. A cold hand was placed onto my head, something was hovering over my body as I resisted the urge to bat it away, and he seemed to speak to the floating sensor in another language entirely. It sounded like bells and dinging noises when Gaster spoke to me.

{How are you feeling?}

"I… I can't understand y-you."

{Sorry,} He was signing now with a sad smile, {I forgot no one else speaks Wing Ding. I asked how you were feeling.}

"Oh," I sat up a little on the bed and rubbed the back of my skull absentmindedly, "I feel sore all over and I think my throat feels like I tried to eat beach sand; but other than that I think I'm fine."

Gaster passed me a glass of Spider Cider and a Spider Donut. I thanked him while I emptied the cider and ate the donut in one bite as he continued, {I would like to run a few tests to make sure you did not overexert yourself… If that is okay?}

"Sure. I trust you, Gaster." His cheeks turned a deep red color like he was blushing and I couldn't help but giggle at the sight. He led me into a separate open room that looked like it was made out of some strong looking metal. I fussed with the loose nightgown I had on for a moment before asking, "What now?"

{I want you to focus on burning your eye.} I could feel it sizzling to life and squeaked a little as my whole vision was flooded with a purple haze. Both of my eyes had lit up instead of my right eye. Gaster's reaction seemed to match mine as he scribbled something down in amazement, {Alright, that's enough of that. I am going to release some targets for you to attack. They will be floating at different speeds and will not attack you back. Are you ready?}

I gave him a strong thumbs up as I watched him stride quickly behind a reinforced unbreakable type glass wall and press a button on the wall. There was a buzzing noise, a group of circular flying bots shot out of an opened door, and surrounded me above and around like flies. Summoning a bone as long as me I took and swung it over my head in a circle; smashing into the closest bots and rendering them into dust. The bone dissolved into two in each of my hands, as I hopped into the air knocking the remaining slower ones down, and grabbed the last faster ones with my aura to slam into the ground satisfyingly. I heard another buzzer sounding out as Gaster stepped out from behind the glass and began writing down something furiously.

{Can you summon these?} I could see a goat skull that I had seen Sans wielding form beside him. The most notable differences was the horns on his were long and curving upwards, the fangs dipped well passed its mouth, and both of its eyes glowed a deep crimson as it mimicked Gaster's eyes. I explained that I had never done that before and asked him how to do it. He seemed to tap his chin bone thoughtfully for a moment as he signed, {Picture the Blasters forming in your head. Each component slotting together in its respective place. Pick a target and picture it completely obliterated. Then fire and it will do the rest.}

I aimed myself towards the other wall away from Gaster and closed my eye sockets as they lit up in a purple smoking flame. I looked inward to imagine the skull form, ignoring the shifting feeling I kept getting, and opened my eyes again. I picked a spot on the wall, willed its mouth open ('why was I feeling my mouth open?'), and fired a large purple beam at the spot for a long moment. Gaster seemed to be in shock and I heard myself let out a whine. I noticed I had shifted back into my hound form and felt my skull pull into a grimace.

"I SEEM TO HAVE DONE THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WAS TRYING TO DO." Gaster's face broke out into a grin as his laughter boomed through the room and he bent over. I focused my magic inward like I had done to achieve this, the feeling of shifting wasn't even painful anymore, and I yelled out as I was bare-boned in front of him. Gaster stopped laughing and took off his lab coat to hand to me while his reddened face looked away, "Sorry Gast! I wasn't trying to do that. I don't think I have the Blasters, I think I just turn into that hound thing, and that's it as far as Blasters go."

I noticed the galaxy print inside the jacket and snugged into it happily as Gaster patted the top of my skull affectionately. We walked back into the hospital smelling room, he sat down to write some things, and I took a seat beside him to curiously watch him write. It must have been his native tongue because I couldn't read it at all; but I still watched him neatly print the symbols.

Gaster's skeleton form was taller than I was and much thinner, with tired looking dimly lit eyes, and the only traces left of his other form was the holes he had in each of his hands. He caught me staring at him, winking over at me as he stuck his black tongue out a little, and I felt my entire face flush as he signed, {Do I look that different?}

"Yeah," I stated as I hid my face underneath his lab coat and mumbled out, "So am I healthy doc?"

I heard him give a light chuckle as I lifted my head out from the coat, {You seem to be in impeccable condition.}

"Good. Are you planning on going to the Surface?" Gaster's smile fell and he looked down at his notes to avoid answering my question. I promptly put my hand over his to stop him from writing with a concerned look on my face, "Talk to me Gaster."

{I… I have a desire to see the Surface. I am just… Unsure.} He look at me sadly and let out a sigh. The chair squeaked as he sat up, motioning for me to join him, and we stepped out into the boiling Hotlands as I groaned in protest; earning a fairly faint smile from Gaster, {The only people who remember me are Alphys and my younger brother Sans…}

"Wait," I held up my hands and grimaced, "YOU'RE the brother he was talking about that died when he and Pap were younger?"

{I am. They call me their older brother, which I allowed them to do willingly, but that is a lie. I am not their older brother. I created them. I technically helped you shape your monster form too. Although, the two processes you each went through were vastly different, but the end result stays indifferent.}

"If you helped me form into this body; how did you get back to normal?" We had just passed the beginning of the Core, I was struggling to keep up with Gaster's pace, and I heard him making a grunting noise as he about tripped on his own feet.

{When you overloaded Chara's SOUL with your own SOUL, the anomaly began to collapse due to one of my inventions I had prepared to amend timeline paradoxes, and simply put: a SOUL from one of the first timelines cannot exist with a SOUL from this timeline; especially when that SOUL is a timeline anomaly within itself. A dangerous variable.} His hands still signed with fast precision, but his face looked lost in thought, and I watched both his hands and the ground as we walked to keep us on track, {Once the anomaly broke down and only their SOUL remained I had to work swiftly. The timing had to be meticulous and it had to be the second their SOUL was flickering out of existence. That was when I could slither my own form into it and take over with none of the anomaly left as well as the paradox engine not tearing me apart again through time and space.}

"Sounds like one hell of a complicated plan, G," We were standing in the room before the barrier now and I could tell he was nervous by the way his hands kept fidgeting. I patted him on the back and gave him a light smile, "Ready to see the Surface?"

Gaster nodded and together we stepped out into the sunny evening.