A/N: This chapter was beta'd by Yours the Author, thank you so much! :) i hope you all enjoy~
She considered him for a moment, "Can I go if I let you do whatever?"
"sure."
Frisk huffed in relief, "thank you!" she cried, while Gaster stared daggers into Sans from a distance.
"no problem kiddo." Something about the way Gaster's eyes burned with disgruntlement unnerved him.
Sans grinned in jest, "what? it worked didn't it?"
…
Frisk's mouth set into a hard line as she conceded to the deal she made with the devil.
Also commonly known as Sans.
As per their agreement, Gaster was standing not within arm's reach, across the other side of the room while Sans did all the work. For once. His brother would be so proud.
She gnashed her teeth together and hissed as yet another needle withdrew from her arm.
"good thing i know a thing or two about this, huh," Sans quipped, chuckling at Frisk's blanched pale face.
"But that hurts," Frisk muttered, her arm rock hard from tensing.
"well, look on the bright side," Sans offered, placing the sample on the table and quickly pressing a gauze to her elbow, "at least gaster over here isn't doing it. you'd be bone…tired…of..." he paused, unable to think of how that joke was going to end. "huh."
Frisk grinned, "You're way out of practice!"
Sans' eyes narrowed, "guess i need to bone-up on my puns."
"You can start by stopping the bone puns," her eyes gleamed playfully. The young skeleton shook his head, a smirk plastered on his face. He swiftly passed the final sample on to Gaster, who went on to test it wordlessly.
Perhaps this was a much easier way of getting Frisk to go through with the testing after all.
"Can I go now?"
"uhh…"
"You promised!" she whined in a singsong way that made it clear she said it in jest.
"yeah, yeah, whatever," Sans clutched a wrist bracelet from the drawer and passed it to Frisk, "but only if you wear this."
Frisk inspected the bracelet, concluding it was a real-time tracker for her vitals.
"That wasn't part of the deal!"
"deal or no deal?" he smirked, offering it out to her again.
The child growled under her breath, snatching it up from him and shoving it on her wrist.
"Now can I go?"
"yep. will let you know what we—" but Frisk had already launched up to walk out the room, "…find."
Gaster drew closer now that the human wasn't around, "She will get lost again."
Sans snorted, "yeah, let her. it's funny."
…
It wasn't funny to Frisk however, who had somehow found themselves in the same area of the lab as the day before. When she had tried to escape.
Total darkness.
"This way, human," a disjointed voice called out from behind her. She froze instinctively, before relaxing at the realization she was allowed to go now.
Despite the dark, Frisk recognised the voice and hummed in agreement, following the creature through the shadows of the murky room.
The tall monster led her out of the darkness wordlessly, eventually approaching a door. He opened it for her; Frisk forced a smile.
"Thanks," she murmured, not making eye contact but continuing to walk out. She heard the door slam behind her, jumping at the startling noise.
Hopefully now she could have some time alone. No needles, threats or disturbances.
She began her long trek back home.
...
Toriel stuck a fork into Papyrus' plate of pancakes. But these weren't any old pancakes.
"So! How are you enjoying! My! Butterscotch cinnamon toffee pancakes laced with the finest grown ground coffee beans from the garden of yours truly!?"
The motherly creature made a face, "Papyrus, I haven't even had a mouthful yet."
He frowned, "Well...! Hurry up! I can't wait to ask you again!"
Tentatively and a bit fearful for her life, Toriel forked down a serving and waited for the after taste to set in.
The grounded coffee left a bitter taste in her mouth, he definitely added too much of it. But it wasn't...bad?
"It is lovely Papyrus, thank you."
The tall brother beamed enthusiastically, "I knew my culinary skills were improving! Should I save some for Sans?"
Toriel chuckled wholeheartedly, "If you like, dear."
With that, Papyrus brandished a knife and began to cut a slice for his brother, hoping he would enjoy it as much as Toriel did.
As he inserted it into the fridge, the sound of quiet footsteps could be heard plodding down the stairs.
Toriel glanced up from the table and spotted Asriel tentatively hanging on the staircase.
"Ma? When is Frisk coming home?" he enquired, wrapping his arms around the banister.
"I hope soon, dear, she has just gone with Sans and Doctor Gaster to find out where she got her magic from."
Asriel craned his head, "But when she comes home... will she try to hurt us again?"
Toriel forced a pained smile, "Frisk did not mean any harm, please do not think otherwise."
"But..." he was conflicted, "The hall...she blew it all up!"
"Yes, but that was not her fault. Frisk did not mean to hurt anyone," Toriel sighed, "and that is why she is with the scientists now."
"Your mother is right, Asriel!" Papyrus chimed in, continuing to recut the cake slices as he wanted nothing but the best for his brother. Which included pancakes, apparently.
Asriel looked unconvinced; there was no way the attack wasn't malicious. Not after she watched a peaceful royal feast end in a room of flames and screaming right in front of him.
"Okay..." he resigned anyway.
Toriel smiled, standing up from her armchair and taking his hand, "Come along, my child. Let's get you back to bed."
The young monster frowned, briefly stealing a glance towards Papyrus before following her.
As she walked Asriel back up the stairs, another door creaked open from behind them.
Both monsters turned around to see Frisk scrambling into the house, quickly slamming the door behind her. Small hands trembled wildly, her brown hair a dishevelled mess.
"Oh dear," Toriel muttered, torn between walking Asriel to his room or greeting Frisk.
Papyrus took up the role, "Welcome back, human!" He announced, wrapping a long arm around her shoulders, "You were gone an awfully long time!"
The wristband monitor beeped, and Frisk glanced at it in irritation. Clearly it had been making noises the whole way home.
"What's that?" Asriel curiously asked, stepping closer to her.
Frisk tentatively held her arm out to him, "It's...for my vitals."
Asriel leaned over it, touching it hesitantly, "You mean to stop you using your magic?"
"No..." her eyes narrowed, pulling her arm away again, "It sends my life signs to Sans and Gaster."
"Oh," Asriel's shoulders slumped, "Do you have control now?"
Frisk sighed, "I'm trying, Azzy..."
"Will you blow up our house?"
"Asriel, come here!" Toriel demanded sternly, then turned to Frisk with an apologetic expression, "Sorry about him, dear."
She shrugged, expecting no less from the inquisitive creature, "It's fine."
Toriel was half-way up the stairs before she paused, "Frisk, will you come upstairs with us? I will tuck you both in at the same time."
With the monitor digging into her skin, Frisk itched at her wrist, deciding it was better if the day ended as soon as possible, "Yeah, I'm right behind you,"
There was a small hum of acknowledgement before the footsteps continued traversing up the stairs.
With a quiet exhale, Frisk followed suit.
…
Thirty minutes later, the children were finally in bed; in their own home. At last. It had been so long since everyone had been together…it was the first time since Asriel came back that Frisk was home too. Papyrus had gone home with Sans so Frisk could have some normality for the night.
Smiling, Toriel opened her human created snail-keeping book and began to read through the next chapter: How to Keep your Snail Alive for more than 3 days (the results will shock you!)
"Ah…humans are so strange," she thought to herself, sliding a finger to the next page and curling it over.
Do not allow animals to eat your snails. That's a sure way of killing off your snail pets!
"Now why on earth would anyone want to—"
Her thoughts were cut off by a howling scream coming from upstairs.
The sound tore through her soul like ice, her blood running cold. This was soon followed by the rapid thumping of footsteps running around a room.
Launching upright, she immediately padded over to the stairs, heart pounding and fearing the worst, "Asriel? Frisk? Are you two alright?" she tried to ignore the crack in her voice.
"MOM!" she heard a voice shriek from Asriel's room, but she was already half-way up the stairs.
She hobbled up as fast as she physically could, launching through the door and into their room. As the door opened, a whoosh of smoke wafted her senses.
Squinting through the smog, Asriel was sprawled out on the floor, and opposite him was Frisk's eyes twinkling blood red. A wall of smoking scarlet fire surrounded them both. The blaze was trickling over to the wooden bed, in danger of setting it ablaze.
"Mom, she's tryin' to kill me!" he cried shuffling back as far as he could go without touching the flame looming behind him.
Toriel froze in sheer panic for a second, moments passing before decidedly pushing aside all the why's and collected herself. A lone flame appeared in her hand, and she turned to Frisk, although not intending to do anything with it.
"Frisk! Stop this unruly behaviour at once! What on earth do you think you're doing?" she shouted, eyes darting wildly between her and Asriel, fearing for his life. Fearing that he'll get ripped away again just as suddenly as he was brought back.
But the human child didn't answer, still staring down Asriel with a look that haunted her.
And it was just then that she noticed the look that was actually on her face.
Pure unbridled terror, such horror that she had never seen bestowed onto the child's face before. Her pupils had blown wide, twitching hands were throwing fire particles everywhere.
Then she put two and two together. Frisk wasn't threatening him, in fact she probably wasn't even awake at all.
Unsure of whether any sudden movements would provoke her more, Toriel decided to release the fire magic in her hands and dug into her pockets for her phone. Pulling it out, she immediately dialled the number for the skeletons. The reply was instant, as if they were aware that something was going on.
"tori? that you?" the almost out of breath voice of Sans asked from the other end of the phone, "the hell's going on?"
"I do not know, my friend! There is fire everywhere, Frisk is out of control, I cannot contain it!"
"damn. yeah, we noticed. her vitals are through the roof. we're…i'm almost there."
It was just then that she realised Frisk was still wearing her wristband, and silently she thanked the stars that the little monster had ever considered the idea in the first place.
"Mom!" Asriel cried again from the floor, but Toriel was at a loss on how to save him. In this state, Frisk was more powerful than both of them; and Asriel hadn't even gotten his powers yet.
"Just…just stay within the circle, dear, okay?" she tried to muster up some courage to her voice, as to try calm down her son, "Help will arrive soon, you must stay focused and stay in the circle."
The circle of fire continued to spark, making Asriel whimper.
"is that Asriel?"
Oh, Sans was still on the line.
"Yes, it is," she mumbled, hands shaking.
"oh jeez."
"Yes…"
At that moment, Toriel heard the telling slam of a door from downstairs, and the rapid rumbling of footsteps. She held her breath in anticipation and relief.
By the time Sans barged into the room, his eye was already lit a cerulean blue with a darkness on his face that Toriel was sure she had never seen before.
"kid, stop this."
Only the crackling of fire was heard over the silent response.
"now."
Still nothing.
His entire demeanour dropped, "huh, usually that triggers something."
He instead turned his attention to Asriel, lifting him in the air carefully and placing him a safe place away from the ring of fire that now only contained Frisk inside it. With ease, he too lifted her out, placing her beside himself, well away from Asriel.
But she didn't react.
Sans stared at the blaze that stood before them, lifting a hand that caused the flame particles to envelop into each other and grow dangerously close to the roof. They watched enamoured, as the flame fell back to the ground just as quickly, before sizzling out entirely.
He sighed.
Toriel stared blankly at the state of the room, the residue of smoke still clouding her vision. Her attention was quickly drawn to the sound of Asriel doing an interesting mix between hyperventilation, crying and coughing.
She knelt down beside him, "I am so sorry you had to see that, my child," she murmured, pulling him into her arms at long last. "I am not sure what happened, but know it was not your fault."
"I-I-I did-did-didn't d-do anyth-i-i-ing!" he choked between gasps, shaking in his mother's embrace. "I was sl-sle-sleeping!"
"I understand. Frisk is unwell, and you were right, it was not a good idea for me to agree to bring her home so soon," she murmured, hoping the other child couldn't overhear. Luckily or not, she was still unmoving from the opposite end of the room. "It was selfish of me. I wanted my family home."
"It's not your f-f-fault," Asriel's voice grew quieter as he began to calm down.
Sans remained silent, watching Frisk with an unnerving feeling in his fictitious stomach. She hadn't even moved since the moment he walked in the room, barring the jittery hands.
With a quiet sigh, he stepped towards her, a gnawing worry that she would freak and set fire to the room again.
"hey, kid," he murmured, cautiously taking another step forward, "what's the matter?"
Nothing.
He shrugged, "welp, worth a try."
Not even a smile. He could feel Toriel's eyes bore into him from behind. But looking at the kid's face…her expression was blank, barring her eyes. Her eyes pupils were huge, petrified still.
"hey," he tried again, noticing the kid didn't react and stepping right in front of her, "kid—"
He nearly jumped as her eyes shot up to meet his for the first time, somehow even more scared than before. She raised her hands in defence, but he quickly lowered them again.
"hey now, none of that, yeah? it's gonna get expensive."
To his surprise, the kid's face grew slack and she collapsed, managing to grab her under the arms just before she hit the ground. "ah, damn it. tori?"
The older mother padded over, carefully taking Frisk from Sans and laying her gently on the floor.
She was unconscious now, and no-one in the room was any wiser as to what had happened with her. Toriel lay the back of her hand on Frisk's forehead and paused for a moment. No fever.
"so uh…how much were the tables?"
Toriel inhaled to supress a chuckle, shaking her head at him. "That doesn't matter right now, my friend."
"I-is she gonna be alright?"
Toriel and Sans turned towards the source of Asriel's voice.
"well, it don't look goo—"
"Yes, my child. Frisk will heal and become her old self again. Won't she, Sans?" the end of the sentence was spat with such vigour Sans was impressed.
"uh…yeah."
Asriel's smiled cheerfully, before his entire expression dropped into that of panic, looking at something past them.
Both Toriel and Sans felt worry in their gut, knowing the only thing Asriel could possibly be looking at was Frisk.
They turned back around, and was met with Frisk's wide eyes again, except this time her entire expression mirrored Asriel's and was now that of terror.
She scrambled onto her feet, trying to get away but falling over, as if her knees were jelly. She tried again, attempting to stand and simultaneously run away, causing her to fall over again. She panted and cried at the effort, terrified of the invisible enemy in the room.
"What's…?" Toriel started, unsure of how to explain it herself.
Gnashing his teeth together, Sans firmly grabbed Frisk by the shoulders and tried to get her to see reason.
"kid, look. look at me. look at me."
But the kid didn't want to look at him.
"look at me, i'm here. hey," he put herself in front of her, but her eyes saw straight through him.
He frowned.
"Frisk, please tell us what's the matter?" Toriel pleaded, kneeling beside them both. Frisk tried to stand again, collapsing and trying to crawl away. Her breathing escalated into panicking gasps, sounding more like she was choking.
"I don't know what to do," Toriel admitted, backing towards Asriel again, almost as if she were paranoid about her lashing out again.
Sans ignored her, firmly grabbing the child again and turning her to face him, "frisk, kid, look at me, please, you need to breathe," he muttered, trying to hide his confusion and concern. Knowing that in the past it had helped, Sans lit his eye up blue again and tried to comfort her that way, but it was to no avail. "it's gonna be ok, but you need to breathe, you're scaring the hell out of everyone."
Sans took hold of Frisk's shoulders and spoke directly at her, but she saw straight through him and continued choking. "kid, you need to breathe,"
More sobbing.
"i don't think she's with us," he murmured, taking her head in his hands and noticing her eyes were glazed over.
"What? What do you mean?"
"i mean i don't think she can even hear us. or if she's even awake,"
"What's wrong with her, mom?" Asriel asked, worry straining his voice.
"i don't know what the hell this is but she's going back to the lab," Sans declared, taking her arm and noticing the sweat beads across her skin. He ran a pulse check on her wrist, which was of course going abnormally fast. "i'm gonna call alphys."
"Frisk is quite ill, so now she's going to see a doctor," Toriel offered, knowing quite ill was a huge understatement.
Sans' eyes glazed over to the ground in thought, before noticing the wrist he was holding was starting to twitch.
"No…no…no…no…please…stop…"
Sans narrowed his eyes at the words that had finally left Frisk's mouth.
Soon enough the fear in her eyes returned, and frantically she tried to get out of his reach again. "ok, tori can you call alphys, i need her here to help me get Frisk over there."
Toriel brought out her phone immediately, expecting the request a mile away, "Of course."
"what are you seeing, huh? the hell has driven you to such…weirdness,"
"Don't hurt them, please…" the kid only whimpered in response, clearly not seeing him.
"heh." The irony.
...
Ten minutes later and the little yellow reptile found her way into the room, pausing to take in the mess. The remnants of black smoke was all Alphys needed to figure out the cause of the destruction. Frisk was fading in and out of consciousness, much like Chara was when she was very sick. This had Toriel terrified.
"alph," Sans snapped her out her thoughts and she quickly stepped over.
"Wh...what happened here?" she glanced at the dust around the room and assumed the worst, "Did someone..."
"Everyone is alive, but Frisk is gravely ill," Toriel informed, her voice hushed with Asriel asleep on her lap.
"Oh...I-I see," Alphys knelt in front of her with a medkit, "I-I haven't really dealt with human medical stuff before, I've only heard about it...but that's because we didn't see any...also I did do a lot of research so I'm not entirely clueless! A-and-"
"alph, if i didn't trust you i wouldn't have called you."
"...R-right, yes, sorry," there was a nervous chuckle as she opened the case. She hovered her hand over something before pausing, "What did she do?"
"exactly what it looks like."
The tenseness in Sans' voice had Alphys on edge. She took a small circular object from the box and pressed it to Frisk's wrist. She flinched, but almost immediately sagged back down with a groan. Her features relaxed.
"sedative?"
"Um...yes?"
"good idea."
"Oh! Thanks," she smiled nervously, taking her readings again.
There was no fever, and her heart had slowed back down, but her mind was going insane.
"If this is magic related then Gaster might have a better idea," she offered, packing her items away, "Let's get her t-to the lab!"
...
"Please," Frisk whined weakly, being carried across gravel path, "P-plea-ase" she sharply inhaled, "H-hel-p m-me,"
Alphys drew her mouth into a straight line, "We're nearly there..."
"I ca-can't...can't..."
"calm down kiddo, it's ok,"
"He-he's got me..."
Sans froze.
"what?"
"My-my hea-ad..."
"what? who's got you?"
The only response from Frisk was her becoming deadweight, signifying to him she had passed out again.
...
Finally, they arrived at the lab. Gaster was surprised to see everyone singed. Except Alphys, of course. But he drew the pieces together rather quickly what with Frisk having red magic, deciding there must have been a fight of some kind.
"I-It's as if she's having a bad nightmare that she can't come out of…we've tried everything," Alphys was saying, feeling surprisingly confident in her remarks. She was determined to help the child.
Frisk was placed heavily back onto the table she swore she would escape from, still partly unconscious. While everyone crowded around to do some tests, Gaster grabbed her wrist and read the wristband.
His brows drew together instantly. "I do not like the look of those readings," he asserted, his eyes narrowing even further as he came across one specific read out.
Sans noticed his curiosity and peered over to look himself, "what is it?"
It cannot be.
"Strangely familiar."
Impossible.
"you're being cryptic again, g,"
Gaster blinked out of his haze and glanced down at the younger enquiring skeleton.
"I have a theory, but I am hoping I am wrong," he speculated, taking a step closer and drawing together some magic. His right eye glowed a deep bronze, idly aware of Sans own eyes widening in what was likely to be protest. It was true, he never usually called upon this side of his magic. Not for a long, long time.
"what are you doing?"
He ignored him, reaching a skeleton hand to Frisk's face. A rising concern blossomed in his chest as her eyes flew open and faded into the same colour.
The last thing he heard was the demanding protests of his skeleton associate before he made the connection. And the world went dark.
…
The world was pitch black, no sky or ground to create a world out of. There was a harsh howling of wind brushing through her hair, but nothing else that signified where Frisk stood was real.
But almost as if it were there the entire time, a figure loomed in front of her. It was cloaked and shaking, melting, fading out of existence. Was this even existence?
She had to find answers though, so there wasn't any other option than to communicate with the mysterious figure.
"Uh…hey? Sorry, I don't know if I'm supposed to be here…I was…uh…" she thought for a second, trying to remember where she was before she woke up here, "…I was sleeping…?"
For a moment Frisk was beginning to wonder if the figure was even alive at all, as the only thing she was met with was silence. But the long stretches of stillness passed, until finally there was a response.
"You are correct. You should not be here." A deep voice echoed throughout the room—the world—wherever it was. It sounded infinite, but like nothingness at the same time. "And neither should I."
Frisk pursed her lips, anxious all of a sudden, "So uh…what do you mean? Where am I and why am I here?" then she paused, "Actually, who are you? I'm Frisk."
A low chuckle that was so quiet it was almost inaudible. "I know who you are, human."
That wasn't unnerving at all.
"Okay…again, who are you, disembodied creepy voice?"
There was a deep sigh, before two skeletal hands came out of the cloak and pulled the hood down. At least she guessed it was a hood as there was a skeleton under it. In fact…it looked familiar. Too familiar. Maybe there was a reason for her terror of Gaster in the real world, assuming this place wasn't even a world at all. Because this guy looked exactly like him, except with an appearance a lot more cracked and melted.
Maybe it even was him.
She swallowed hard, dreading the worst, "…Gaster?"
The creature smiled hollowly, "So, you do know me. That's good. That's good."
Her eyes widened, "But what are you doing here?"
"I've been here for a millennia. An eternity. Or forever, there is no time here."
Frisk tried to look past his cryptic manner of speaking, despite her latter question not being answered "And what is here?"
"The void."
"Ah, yes…" she narrowed her eyes, "what?"
"You are in the void. I brought you here."
She clenched her jaw, "Yeah I can see that, but why?"
"You have the ability to bring us out of the void," but his mouth turned into a creepy grin, "Or rather, just me, but using your soul."
Frisk blinked rapidly, trying to process the information. "I…am I still dreaming? Is this something creepy nightmare or some sick joke? Did Sans get this off you, except a lot less cruel?"
"I cannot make the journey alone," the creature continued, "I have tried so very hard over the eternal years, eventually I just gave up. But I needed a human soul—"
"Well you ain't getting mine, take me back!"
Frisk instantly regretted those words as she was lifted into the air and suddenly nose-to-nose right in front of the creature faster than her mind could even process it. She sharply inhaled and tried to wriggle out of the magic's grip.
"I need a human soul," it repeated, and seemed to be eying her, "You broke the barrier."
She smiled as innocently as she possibly could, "I sure did."
"That was what was missing."
"Bucko you are not making any sense right now."
"Stolen words from your skeletal friend? I'll be sure to tell him you said hello."
"Listen here," Frisk spat, calling upon her magic as her eyes grew red, "Not only am I human but I have magic now. You might be able to make things float but I overpower you."
The grin from the creature extended to nonsensical proportions.
"Is that so?"
She swallowed, internally berating herself for being so challenging towards a huge threat that had somehow brought her from reality into the void within seconds.
A maniacal expression plastered onto his face, and all of a sudden Frisk felt her throat tightening.
"Try saying that again."
Frisk struggled, eyes bulging as she tried to gasp for air.
"I apologise, it seems I cannot hear you."
She flailed, trying to smack him away as the fight or flight instincts kicked in.
"You are like a worm to me. Stop struggling. Give me your soul and end this."
Despite everything, she managed to find it in herself to shake her head, still uncovering strength left in her to fight in spite of suffering.
There was a sigh from the other creature, the lights in his eyes dilating, "I do not wish to resort to other methods, they are so…impractical. Predictable. Pitiful, even," his grin grew back, "But that's a small price to pay to return to the mortal realm."
"Like…what…?" Frisk spat, still straining under the choking hold.
"I could pick off your friends, one by one. But I won't kill them. That's pathetic. I will bring them here to the void. They can suffer for an eternity like I have."
Frisk made a wheezing noise at the back of her throat, "Even…your own…sons?"
There was something, something in his eyes in response to that, but it was quickly washed away by the maniacal expression reasserting itself, "If I must."
Don't hurt them…please…
"You…sick…freak…" now the feeling of terror every time she saw his face in real world made sense. He had been watching her from the void all this time. But why was there two of them?
Any attempt at logical reasoning was abruptly lost to the void however as her brain began to raise flags at the lack of any oxygen. Black lines danced around the edges of her vision, crawling inwards and expanding, raiding her eyes until her own eyes rolled back.
"I am disappointed. That was too easy."
Seconds later, the familiar burning sensation spread from her chest to her arms, and she knew what was coming this time. An explosion of heat erupted from her, releasing the choke hold and sending them both flying in opposite directions.
She gasped for breath, silently thanking whatever deity had given her red magic as it might have just been her saviour. Not giving herself a chance to relax, she threw a hand up and set a wall of red flames in Gaster's general direction.
He simply craned his neck to the side in curiosity and lifted a finger, fizzling the fire out with ease.
"Fine…" Frisk hissed, getting up from her knees to her feet, "My best clearly isn't good enough. I'll just try harder," she lifted another hand, and an enormous ball of fire soared towards Gaster's general direction. He teleported out of the way, causing an empty ring of fire to appear with nothing inside it.
"That's your best?"
Frisk huffed, "You just suffocated me, I'm not up to my best right now."
"Try harder, then," he lifted a finger in the air, then pointed at Frisk. All of a sudden a dozen hands materialized out of thin air and hurled towards her. She yelped and jumped out the way, but the projectiles continued following her.
Aware of a smirk upon Gaster's face, Frisk quickly turned and raised both hands, setting fire to all the projectiles, which all subsequently fell to the ground in a blaze.
"And that's your best?" Frisk snarled, the next ball of fire already forming in her hands. There was an expression of slight annoyance on Gaster's face, before he raised a finger to the sky, Frisk being immediately thrust into the air.
But there was no ceiling, no sky, or anything to stop her, so she kept going upwards. She flailed, trying to somehow will herself to go back down, but she kept going higher, and higher…
Until without warning she was plummeting again, but it wasn't a force by gravity, no. She was being forcefully pulled to the ground by magic.
Frisk squeezed her eyes shut, before a thunderous bang collided with her ribs and pain erupted throughout her body, pain tore into every part of her nervous system. She didn't dare move, in fact she decided she was never going to move again. Blackness swirled at the edge of her vision, and she knew her time was up. There was no word from Gaster, but distantly she heard footsteps coming closer, until her consciousness faded entirely.
…
Gaster sharply inhaled, pulling back from the child's face, the orange glow dissipating subsequently. He wasn't aware of how wide his eyes were but began to catch on when Sans and Alphys were staring at him worriedly.
He realised, and collected himself, stepping back from the child and straightening his clothes out.
"what'd you see?" Sans asked with such hesitance in his voice that it was clear Gaster's prior reaction was all he needed for an answer.
"…Exactly what I hoped I would not see."
"and what would that be?"
He ground his jaw, "I believe I just encountered my original counterpart from this timeline."