Me: Okay. I sorta goofed last chapter. The Gaster Revival isn't the arc name. Because reviving Gaster will take more than one alternate universe, and more than one try. The end of this chapter is where this arc starts.

Chara: Welp. At this point, my brain is mush.

Frisk: My brain really hurts...

Asriel: Did I ever have a brain...?

Me: Here, enjoy this headache. This was harder than I thought it would be... Hope it was worth it...probably not...

Chara: You suck.

Toriel: CHARA!

Chara: What?!

Chapter Start!


"Oh my golly, Tori."

"Yes, Asgore."

"Oh my golly, Tori!"

"I see her too, Asgore."

"Oh! My! Golly! Tori!"

"Good heavens, Asgore..."

"A smol Tori. She's...she's...she's so smol..." Asgore reached down and picked up the smaller Toriel by the sides. "And...and...a-and...SHE'S SOOOO CUUUUUUUTEEE!" His eyes turned to sparkling stars of admiration.

"...sup." Smaller Toriel waved to Asgore lazily with a very relaxed expression, completely cool with Asgore picking her up as if she were some super fluffy stuffed animal. Because in a way, compared to him, she did kind of look like one. She turned to the smaller Asgore. "hey bro. looks like you're pretty big and strong in this timeline."

"Woooah! Amazing! Do you think I can look that big and strong someday, Tori?"

"i dunno. probably."

"Wait...obviously this version of Mom and Dad are from an Alternate Universe...but they're brother and sister?" Chara tilted his head. "...Welp. My brain is fried. Can either of you explain this?"

"sure. just grab a seat. gotta tell ya though, this honestly won't take too long." The smaller Toriel said. Asgore nodded as he sat down in the middle of the room, placing her on his lap and hugging her midsection. She looked up towards him with a casual smirk of amusement. "so that's how it's gonna be, classic gori?"

"Indeed~"

"heh. alright." She adjusted herself as comfortably as she could, before looking up to everyone in the room. "you all already kinda know who i am. toriel dreemurr. but obviously i'm not the toriel you know, as she's standing right to frisk." She nodded to her Classic self. "i am from an alternate universe, and so is my brother. i'll boil the concept of it down to this: me and asgore switched places with sans and papyrus, while asriel is switched with gaster." She shrugged. "other than that, everything is mostly the same between our universe and the classic universe right here."

"Huh. That shouldn't be too hard to understand." Frisk said with folded arms. "So if you two took Sans and Papyrus's place...that means they're Kings of the Underground!"

"i've been told classic frisk is a smart one, if only a bit gullible." Smaller Toriel smirked. "anyway, to clear up the confusion, just call me Alter!Toriel. and my older brother, Alter!Asgore."

"You mean the AMAZING ALTER!ASGORE!" Alter!Asgore chanted, puffing out his chest. "But yes, it would be much easier to tell us apart if you refer to us as that. Maybe we could come up with special codenames to better tell us apart!"

"that's a sweet idea, bro. you'll probably come up with good names for all of us."

"Ooooooh no! I'm not going to create your nickname for you! You do that yourself, sister!" Alter!Asgore puffed his cheeks. "And I know that you can! Someone who stays inside and plays sudoku all day has to have plenty of nicknames at the ready! You have no excuse except just being a lazy fluffball!"

Classic Toriel blinked and turned to Alter!Toriel. "You play sudoku?"

"i like to exercise the brain. me and my bro are puzzle masters."

"She would be better, if she wasn't some sort of Lazyfluff!

"NYEH?! I CALL MY BROTHER A LAZYBONES!" Papyrus stated in surprise to Alter!Asgore's claim. Alter!Asgore gasped as he pointed to Papyrus while looking at Alter!Toriel.

"I've found someone who understands! Tori, just because we've reached the Surface, doesn't mean you can keep being so gosh darn lazy!"

"i'm not that lazy. i sell pies at my pie stands."

"Those haven't been made official yet! They're still illegal!"

"not if they don't catch me. what they don't catch, doesn't hurt them. eventually i'll get my vendor's license. besides, i doubt that they'll bust me for selling butterscotch cinnamon pies, with extra whip cream." Alter!Toriel smiled. "god, what i wouldn't give for some whipped cream right now..."

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO FANTASIZE OVER WHIPPED CREAM!"

"Hey, it's just like when Sans fantasizes over ketchup! Fuhu!" Undyne grinned.

"here ya go." Sans reappeared in the room, tossing a can of whipped cream to Alter!Toriel, while he got himself a bottle of ketchup. Both of them grinned as Sans chugs his ketchup, while the latter places whipped cream on a piece of pie that suddenly manifested in her paw. She then begins to peacefully eat the now whipped cream pie before her.

"Oh yeah. I forget that people like Sans can try to defy logic when they're lazy enough to abuse it and make it work at the same time." Chara noted.

Alter!Toriel sighed as she eats some of her pie, as her eyes turned around to gaze at Sans. Something about her look was full of curiosity. And for the moment, a majority of this curiosity was very much satisfied. He was a lot like her. Or more accurately, she was a lot like him, because he's from the Classic Timeline. She studied how much different that Classic Sans would be from her own Sans. To be honest, they didn't feel too different from one another. One significant difference was that her own Sans was nowhere near as lazy as this one. She didn't even need to see the laziness in action, she just knows.

Sans would raise his head and see her staring at him. "somethin' the matter?"

"huh? oh! it's nothing." Alter!Toriel shook her head, quickly becoming flustered. "i was just thinking about a couple similarities you may have to my version of sans just by looking at you. and to be honest, you two are more similar than i thought you'd be. it's just that mine feels a lot more responsible than yours, without losing too much of that touch of laziness."

"eh. understandable. like you said, in your universe i'm the co-king of monsters, along with papyrus. i don't really need to guess much on what happened and what's currently happening, right?"

"like i said, aside from you and me being swapped, asgore and papyrus being swapped, and asriel and gaster being swapped, a lot of things aren't as different as one might think." Alter!Toriel shrugged. "course there are a few minor things here and there...but there truly isn't a lot different between our universes."

"It's true!" Alter!Asgore nodded. "I had to raise Toriel for a majority of her life, with a bit of health from Sans of the Ruins. Sometimes he would let us in and help me take care of her. Because honestly, where would she be without me?~" The line was clearly affectionate, if not a bit teasing.

"probably stuffing myself with pie and lying on my couch most of the day."

"YOU DO THAT ALREADY!"

"I must say, this is rather...strange." Classic Toriel pawed her cheek. "Geno Alphys has told us all about the conepts of Alternate Universes...and yet it still feels so far out of my complete understanding."

"the multiverse is a complicated place, classic me. no one will blame you for feeling confused." Alter!Toriel shrugged. "yeah, geno alphys is the one who contacted us for a little bit. said that she needed our help. everythin' is cool in our universe. so i figured, 'sure. why not?"

"And the AMAZING ASGORE is always willing to help anyone in need! Even across space and time!" Alter!Asgore grinned while posing heroically, teeth flashing. "That's just the kind of monster that I am~" Papyrus seemed pleased by this.

"WE HAVE A COMMON DAILY GOAL! HELPING OTHERS! NYEHEHEHEH!"

"NYOHOHOHOHO!"

"NYEHEHEHEHEH!

"NYOHOHOHOHO!"

"NYEHEHEOHOHOHOHO!"

"NYOHOHOHEHEHEHEHE!"

Papyrus and Alter!Asgore gasped at the same time. Then they grinned widely and shared an epic high-five. "COMBO LAUGHTER!"

"...What...is...happening...?" Chara was completely lost. Muffet was lost as well, but all she did was giggle.

"I have no idea, but who cares? This is fun to watch!"

Shamir was quietly seething as he glared at Alter!Toriel, who seemed...no...she was completely spacing out a bit, losing her train of thought because of Alter!Asgore and Papyrus's antics. He tightly clenched his fists as he thought back to how casually she had defeated him in battle. She's never received nearly as enough damage as she dealt him during their duel. He knows for a fact that she noticed that he was in the room, yet here she was pretending that she hasn't. Not only was that insulting, it was very rude.

"...you got somethin' to say, kitty-cat?" Alter!Toriel asked without turning to him. The entire room went quiet from her question. "listen pal. you're from a timeline going through a genocide route. i can understand why that would make you a bit angry when you saw frisk; and from what i can tell, your timeline is gone and yet you survived. though i don't really take kindly to you trying to attack my frisk because you couldn't gain a proper victory against yours." She shrugged. "my frisk is a total sweetheart. she won't purposely hurt anyone anymore."

"Another version of me. And again, I'm a girl." Frisk said blankly.

"the multiverse is weird like that, kid." She turned to Shamir, who was trying his best not to lash out at her, because he didn't have the energy and wasn't in the condition to do so.

"You've defeated me...you've kept me from doing my duty."

"and like i told you, you were stomping around in another timeline causing trouble. ya thought i was just going to ignore you when you started attacking frisk? you left me no choice but to take you down."

Sans raised an eye socket. "you tried to attack her frisk?" Even though she was a different version of Toriel, she was still Toriel. He definitely senses that she's a lot like him and still a bit like her classic self. One thing that remained similar was Toriel's motherly protectiveness over Frisk. It wasn't too hard to figure out that attacking Frisk in her presence was an absolutely terrible idea. And he could properly see the results of such a poor decision. He shook his head grimly. "bad idea, dude. bad idea."

"and in my timeline, his duty means squat." Alter!Toriel shrugged. "especially because undyne called off the royal guard ever since we got to the surface. just like classic undyne did, am i right?"

"Yeah. Wait a minute..." Undyne blinked. "If Asgore is swapped with Papyrus...then...does that mean that Papyrus trained me, while I trained Asgore?!" She gently palmed her skull. "Woooah...that sounds so weird..."

"yeah. then my brother went on to train me in fire magic. turns out we have varying, amazing amounts of creativity despite only having fire to work with." Alter!Toriel nodded. "but there's a lot of things one can do with fire, if you just put your mind to it. gori and i certainly have."

"So did I!" Asriel cheered. Chara gently patted his head.

"We all know how creative you are."

Alter!Toriel blinked. "wow...you're shorter than asriel by at least half a head. and yet you're trying to pet him?"Chara was soon sulking in the corner, on his hands and knees and grumbling about how little brothers shouldn't be taller than their older brothers, completely disregarding Sans and Papyrus's details. Muffet was quick to try to comfort him, laughing uneasily as she patted his back with her three right arms while petting his head with her top left arm. Alter!Toriel sweatdropped. i think i just unintentionally roasted him. roasted...hmhm~

Frisk shrugged. "Chara is a bit sensitive about Asriel being taller despite being the middle child of our family."

"It's just not fair..." Chara whimpered, hiding his face in his poncho.

Muffet continued to gently pet his back. "There there, Chara Dearie..."

Geno Alphys sighed. "We keep getting off-track. Let's stick to one subject at a time, shall we?" She turned to Sans. "Continue."

"oh. um...right." Sans coughed a bit as he stood away from everyone, sighing deeply. "alright, friends and fam. i've been keeping somethin' from all of you for all of the previous timelines up to now. i don't wanna bore you with too much details, so i'll try to keep things simple. i've been working on a machine in my basement during our times in snowdin. considering the situation i was in, i had to start over a lot of times. now that it's pretty much over, i've been able to progress with it more than i ever have before. since the kids did a test run and accidentally ended up in another alternate universe, i knew that i was at least heading in the right direction. and before long, with geno me amd geno alphys's assistance, i was able to finally complete it. with a power source to keep the machine going, and a universal remote to control the destination somewhat, i would finally be able to complete my mission. the mission i set for myself even before all this timeline business happened."

"Sans...you set yourself a mission so serious that it was before all of this started?" Undyne asked.

Sans nodded. "i was trying to find a way to put gaster back together." Most of them were a bit confused for a moment. He didn't blame them.

"Gaster. W. D. Gaster, or Wingdings Gaster. The Royal Scientist before Alphys." Chara assisted. "I might not know what the heck is going on with him fully, but I know enough that his entire being is stretched thin throughout time and space. Whatever caused him to end up that way, everyone forgot that he even exists. Before now, only Sans was able to fully remember him."

"...yeah." The tone in Sans' voice made it clear that he wasn't happy about that situation, not even a little bit.

"Still, to think Gaster held himself together long enough to leave some of his essence behind...he's more powerful than we thought." Asriel said, scratching his ear a little as he and the others processed this new information. Then he blinked as he looked towards Alter!Toriel. "Wait...if I switched places with Gaster...then does that mean...?"

"...it's a different case with you, asriel. we'd best not talk about it." Asriel noticed how she turned away from him almost immediately, as if it were very difficult to look at him. This only made him wonder what exactly did his alternate self do to her.

"Okay. I believe I might be starting to follow you all on this." Classic Asgore sagely stroked his beard.

"His beard looks so awesome..." Alter!Asgore beamed cheerfully. Made him wonder if he could grow a beard like that.

"that's a true king's beard." Alter!Toriel chuckled.

Classic Asgore blushed as he shook his head to regain focus. "Your objective is to gather the pieces of Gaster and put him back together."

"Precisely. He is spread so throughout space and time, that if he's not concentrating hard enough, he'll vanish into another point without his input. However...if he IS concentrating hard enough, he'll be able to stay at one certain position of reality for a while, like in the Gaster room. Long enough for us to gather a majority of his essence in these vials to contain for later. If we collect his essence in a reality that he is currently maintaining his form the longest, that's how and when we gather the essence."

Alphys seemed to understand. "So we can't just randomly choose which reality to go to to do this. We have to track him to a place where his form is most stabilized, and within that short time span, that's when we collect his essence."

"Exactly! We already know that Gaster is trying to pull himself back together. We don't need every piece of him in order for it to work. All we need is a majority of them to gather in one place where he can stabilize his form, AND make it stick."

Papyrus raised a hand. "OH! IT'S JUST LIKE A PUZZLE!"

Alter!Toriel nodded. "'cept that instead of trying to gather every single piece of him, we only gather and store enough in one single reality where he can permanently stabilize his form. basically, he has some of the puzzle pieces. we find other pieces in other realities, then gather them into one place, and let him complete the rest of the puzzle. aka, restabilizing his body."

Chara shook his head in amusement. "Hmph. Gaster is basically an inter-dimensional puzzle that needs some assistance in putting himself back together. At least now we have an actual game plan."

Asriel jumped up, tighening his scarf. "Golly, this is amazing! We have a plan! We can SAVE Gaster!"

Sans grinned. "i have my doubts...but i can't lie when i say that this might actually work."

"SANS. THIS IS QUITE A CONUNDRUM YOU'VE BEEN KEEPING FROM US. BUT SINCE THE CONCEPT IS RATHER DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW, I CANNOT BLAME YOU FOR BEING SECRETIVE ABOUT IT." Papyrus placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'M SURE YOU HAVE YOUR REASONS. EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT THE BEST, IT'S BETTER THAN DOING IT OUT OF SELFISHNESS."

"yeah...you're right about that. i'm through keeping things from you, pap. the longer i've done that, the longer i've been through different amounts of hell."

"...Then leave it to us, Sans. We'll help restore Gaster to his stabilized form." Asriel declared. "You've been stressing about him for a long time. Let us help you ease this burden."

"You can count on us, Sans." Frisk nodded.

"Yeah, Comedian. We respect that you haven't given up on this; but you've been mentally exhausted for a staggering amount time. Let us take the reins from here." Chara grinned mischievously. Before, Chara referred to Sans as 'That Comedian' in a derogating tone. Now he does it teasingly, much closer to camaraderie than actual malice.

Sans was genuinely caught off-guard. That doesn't happen often. "w-wha...? you three don't have to do that."

"We want to."

"Our mind is made up, Sans."

"Besides, we weren't asking for your permission."

Sans rubbed his neck awkwardly after the last one. "heh...i guess it can't really hurt that much, right...?"

"besides. it's not like they'll be alone or anything. not only do they have one another...but they also have us." Alter!Toriel smiled. "me and gori here will be watching over them, since we know that our classic selves will be still quite busy managing things on the surface."

"Indeed! There's no need to worry! These children are in our certainly capable hands!" Alter!Asgore saluted.

"...We're practically teens, now. If not preteens." Chara deadpanned.

Classic Toriel smiled. "It sounds very dangerous...but...I feel compelled to trust you, Alter!Toriel. I will worry and worry...but I leave them under your custody, while me and Asgore manage things on the Surface in the Classic Timeline."

"heh. thanks for thinking so highly of me. you won't be disappointed."

"So. Is there anything else we should know about you and your brother?"

Alter!Asgore folded his arms and tilted his head. "Well...I drive a purple convertible, I like making scones and tea, and I train with Undyne a lot. Tori has a pet snail named Slimey. You already know she likes sudoku and sells pie at illegal pie stands, which by the way, YOU NEED A VENDORS LICENSE." Alter!Asgore emphasized towards his sister, who simply shrugged. After initially feeling frustrated by his sister's nonchalance, he smirked as he remembered something else. "When Tori was eighteen, she had a crush on Sans!"

"pffffffffffffft!" Sans spit out all of the ketchup he was currently chugging, out of shock. Classic Toriel gasped, with a simple 'Oh My!' While Alter!Toriel blushed heavily, her calm demeanor broken, and she grabbed her brother by the shirt.

"why would you tell them that?!" She shouted, her face flushing bright pink. She then turned to the others and shook her head. "i-it was just a small crush! he was just really nice to me when he was helping out me and asgore, i grew attached to him too! and like asgore said, i grew out of it!"

"Of course we know this. But that doesn't mean that your daily visits have changed, have they?~"

"alright, that's enough bro. they don't need to hear more..."

"What with their love for puns, especially fire and bone jokes."

"we get it, i had an embarassing crush and we spent a lot of time together. no need to go into detail."

"Yep. Never a dull time to hang out with the skeleton in the ruins. He knew that young Tori had a bit of a thing for him. Not only was he flattered, he really got a kick out of it.~"

"shaddupshaddupshaddupshaddupshadduuuuuuuupp!" Alter!Toriel uselessly punched Alter!Asgore's chest as he kept snickering about her embarrassing adolescent years attached to Alter!Sans. Chara acknowledged right then and there that in an alternate universe, they were definitely siblings. And it fits that Asgore is the older one since he's doing the teasing.

"NYOHOHOHO!" Alter!Asgore calmed down, eventually catching his breath. "Haha...in all honesty, she did grow out of it. But that doesn't mean they aren't close. Super close. Bestest best friends close!"

"one of the most important people on your life, close?" Sans turned to Classic Toriel. "yeah. we definitely get it."

Chara turmed to Shamir, who was just sitting there quietly, taking all of this in and being completely and totally lost. Alter!Toriel said that his timeline was most likely completely destroyed, and he tried to attack her Frisk...which resulted in a very severe beatdown. He was most likely feeling very bitter about his defeat being mostly casual. His pride was shot, which most likely left him feeling angry, and he was very confused in his new temporal environment. He needed to be watched carefully.

"Mom and Dad. I'm pretty much gonna be going on an interdimensional journey to put a scattered Royal Scientist back together." He then pointed to Shamir. "I need you to watch the cat." He said both of these in the most reserved voice he could currently muster.

"WILL YOU STOP SPEAKING AS IF I'M NOT HERE?!" Shamir shouted, cutting off all of their thoughts at once. He growled angrily. "Nothing you say makes any sense!"

"yeah. we figured that out a long time ago." Alter!Toriel shrugged. "you're gonna be left outta the loop for a while, pal. sorry about that."

"You can't just decide that all on your own! It's become quite clear that I've gotten involved in this conflict, and I don't intend to just sit around here while it goes on!"

"yeah. the last time a conflict involving you started, it ended with me burning you to a crisp. are you sure you want to have a repeat of that kind of pain? i'm more than willing to dish it out if you try to do something stupid, but i'm afraid you won't be able to take it." Alter!Toriel closed her eyes. Shamir was feeling a lot of strange emotions right now. His home wasn't coming back, the involvement of Gaster proves this, since he's the one who brought him here after she defeated him. She can't completely blame him for feeling very lost, agitated, and confused. It's a whole new world, and it's completely unlike his own. Many people would be feeling lost after such drastic change. It's been like that in many more places than the Classic Universe.

"...i'm gonna hafta agree with her. there's so much going on here that you won't be able to bring yourself to understand after one go. so until you can catch up to speed, you'll be feeling outta the loop for a very long time, pal. sorry. really, i am." Sans sighed. Of all the lost people in the Void, Gaster sent someone here who clearly doesn't like Frisk or Chara, is confused by Classic Toriel and Asgore's actions, even more clearly wants to pick a fight with Alter!Toriel, and has no idea what's going in whatsoever. he must have really been in a rush...

Alter!Asgore realized that it was becoming even more tense in the room than before. "...We don't have to go right now. We understand that this might be quite a big decision for you, especially when it comes to traversing the multiverse to put Classic Gaster back together."

"We've already made our decision." Chara insisted. "However, we will definitely need the day to think about it, due to the jaguar tryin' to pull the 'this is my duty' card when it came to his conflict with Alter!Toriel over her Frisk. We need to get it to him straight that me and Frisk aren't bad guys, and that he doesn't have much to worry about here."

"Indeed, that would definitely be best." Toriel nodded. "Shamir will stay over at our house until the children are ready to leave. I'll have to pack them plenty of monster food to be able to keep their energies up."

"cool. i can probably whip up some of my own snacks for the interdimensional road. butterscotch cinnamon pie for the win." Alter!Toriel smiled. "welp. me and gori are gonna return to our universe for a while and get ourselves ready. if you're ready, then we can leave as soon as we can. remember gaster glitches so much, he can't stay in one place for long." She turned to Alter!Asgore.

"...What is it, sister?"

Alter!Toriel put on a rather adorable face, eyes sparkling and muzzle a bit pouty, holding her arms out to him. "cawwy meh back home, big bwother?~"

"You can't be THAT lazy!" Alter!Asgore facepalmed. "...Ugh. Fine. I can't say no to that face." He then tenderly picks her up, surprising most in the room. They were roughly the same size, yet he picks her up as if she were a light feather. He was just as careful while carrying her away. "Do you think we made a good impression with our Classic selves?"

"eh. i think we did alright." Alter!Toriel huffed as Alter!Asgore was carrying her towards the machine, in which a temporal rift opened. "...ugh. i'm gonna have to cancel my sudoku challenge with sans. he was really looking forward to that."

"I'm sure he won't mind too much. He's a very understanding person."

Alter!Toriel smiled as they stepped through the portal. "...yeah. heh, forgot about that."

(Entrance To Underground)

Shamir blinked in utter disbelief. He was standing next to Chara, Muffet, Frisk, Red, and Asriel. He was blinking multiple times in order to truly comprehend what he was seeing. He rubbed his eyes a little before blinking at least three more times.

"Take all the time you need, pal. We'll wait." Chara said smugly.

"...This...is..." Shamir muttered in disbelief. "The Barrier...where is it...?"

"Broken. Gone. Never to be brought up again, if we have any say in it."

"...But...but how...?"

"Everyone's Determination, that's how." Frisk nodded quietly. "We broke the Barrier with everyone's help. And with everyone's help, that's how it's going to stay."

"We hope to manage this by keeping things civil with the humankind. No one's going to be able to handle yet another war." Asriel said with lowered eyes, worried by such a thought. Coming to that conclusion would force them to Reset. And no one wanted another one of those. That was the first and primary reason. The second...

"The humans won't start a second war. Because not only would that be pointless...they'll lose. End of story." Chara said as if it were a fact. The implication was that the monsters won't be the ones fighting...Shamir reminded himself to exercise caution around him.

"Still...this is all incredibly sudden..."

"Hey, it was for me too. Heck, I still can't remember much from my past life. But I can't go hurting my head over it every day. I'm choosing to accept my new time period as it is." Red said. Shamir turned to her to ask what she meant, only to stop when she held up a paw. "Long story. Little patience. Just know, I was confused, but now I'm happy."

"Basically. So please know, Shamir. We're not your enemy, and we don't wish to be. We'd much rather be friends with you than be enemies."

"Trust me, dearie. You don't want to be an enemy of the Dreemurrs." Muffet said with a bit of a warning tone.

Shamir sighed. So much confusion, yet not that much answers that can satisfy said curiosity. He was far from inside the circle. He needes time to adjust, and to accept the fact that he was just used as a pawn for something big and out of his comprehension.

"Well, you seem reaasured now. I think we can finally go to sleep now." Asriel yawned as he turned around and began walking back home alongside Frisk and Red.

Shamir nodded as he began following them. Chara suddenly grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Hey...Shamir. I know how you and me stand just by looking at one another. I can understand that you won't be thinking highly of me or Frisk anytime soon, and I certainly don't blame you. However...acting on those feelings is something different. You don't have to like us. But to be perfectly honest with you...I could care less. I'm going to be helping put Gaster back together. And when I get back, I'd better not see a scratch on any of my loved ones...and if there is, they'd better not be from you. Or else."

Shamir blinked. Chara's poncho was overshadowing his face. "And...suppose I do...?"

Chara chuckled ar the question. Then he slowly lets go of Shamir's arm, and raised his head to look Shamir in the face. His eyes widened at the face being presented to him.

"You'd be in for a VERY unpleasant experience. =)"

The jaguar monster felt himself completely paralyzed by the face and tone. Chara was completely serious. The difference between Red and Shamir, the latter has more reasons to try and hurt him, or Frisk. And he's made it very clear that he won't allow either to happen. Afterwards, Chara smiled and patted his shoulder while walking past them. "Goodnight."

(The Next Day)

Asriel slowly sits up from the bed. And instead of yawning, he out on a rather strong-willed expression. Chara and Frisk also sits up in their beds, looking very Determined. All of them jumped off of the bed at the same time, nodding towards one another.

"Alrighty, brothers. We have a couple hours until we traverse the multiverse. Maybe this time we won't have a mishap like last time. We'll actually be in control of where we're going, right?" Chara asked while hugging them closer to him. "Seriously, I don't want that happening again. If we know where we're going, that's great."

"Geno Alphys assured us that incident won't happen again. We'll be choosing which universe we go to this time." Asriel said with a nod. She adjusted the remote so that it currently tracks down where Gaster's presence is strongest. Once we track it down, we'll have a limited amount of time to gather the essence into the vials she prepared for them. Then we head into the next one whenever we can...after helping whatever issues that are in the timeline, that is."

Chara nodded. "Very good. It's nice to know that we'll be somewhat in control with our travels. Especially interdimensional travel. That stuff isn't to be taken too lightly, unless we wanna face some serious complications." He released his brothers from his slightly rough hold and patted their heads. "Let's head outside. They're waiting for us."

Chara wasn't bluffing. Most of the others were standing outside. And quite a few of them had things packed for their journey. Toriel has made them each a Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie. Asgore had tea packets, all were labeled with Golden Flower Tea. Alter!Toriel had neatly wrapped hot pockets...in her pockets. She said they were made by Alter!Sans back in her timeline...she denied being embarassed about this. Undyne and Papyrus made pasta for them...Asriel and Chara immediately gives it all to Frisk, who was too polite to turn it down in Papyrus's face. Red had a LOT of Cinnamon Bunnies for Asriel, while she had one in her mouth, no less. Muffet had a bag made of suoer strong spider webs, and it managed to form a makeshift bookbag for Chara, where she packed a load of chocolate bars, chocolate donuts, chocolate jawbreakers...she spent a majority of last night on them. Alphys was not ignorant of this dedication.

Soon Classic Toriel and Classic Asgore got on their knees as they hugged and kissed their three sons good luck. "Stay safe, children. We can already tell this journey will not be an easy one...but we have faith in you." Asgore reassured them.

"And besides...we technically will still be by your side." Classic Toriel said ,nodding towards Alter!Toriel and Alter!Asgore.

"just...stay safe, kiddos. the multiverse is a crazy place, especially when you're chasin' someone like gaster down. plus, the muliverse is also big. you can't underestimate anyone you come across, no matter what." Sans warned.

Chara shrugged. "Meh. I like a good challenge."

Red walked up to Asriel, giving him the Cinnamon Bunnies and allowing him to out them in his rainbow bookbag. "You're gonna need all the cinnamon you can get, Asriel. You'll be gone for a while, so I went the extra mile."

"Golly, thanks Red." Asriel smiled.

Red sighed as she got a bit closer to him. "You'll be on your own. I won'twatch your back." She then clutched onto his shirt and narrowed her eyes. "If you make me worry more than I should be, I'm kicking your tail when you get back. Prince or no Prince. Understood?"

Asriel sweatdropped a little. "Ehehe...y-yes ma'am..." Red released him with a huff. He sighed as he pulled her in for a hug. "I'll be back soon. That's a Dreemurr Promise." Red pulled back from him a bit. After a moment, Asriel leaned in and gently nuzzled her nose. Red hesitated a little, then nuzzled him back, her tail softly wagging. Soon, Asriel's fluffy tail also began wagging. Both of their eyes closed while this went on, not paying any mind to Toriel, Asgore, Undyne, or Alphys's squealing.

Asgore! Asgore look! They're nose nuzzling! Oooohhhh it's so precious!

I know, honey! I see it! It's exactly like the two of us in our youth! I even remember you grabbing my shirt in a threatening yet caring manner!

NGAAAAH! Dammit stop being cute, you fluffy pipsqueaks!

I'm shipping them SOOOOO damn much right now...

Muffet was finishing up on her magic enhanced web satchel for Chara, stepping back and clasping her center hands. "So...I suppose you'll be gone for quite some time, Chara-Dearie. Chasing after pieces of a reality shattered scientisr." She lowered her head. "Judging by what you tell me abkut timelines...you're likely going to be putting yourself into some serious danger..." She tightly closed her eyes. "And...I just-"

Pat.

"Hm...?" Muffet opened her five eyes to notice that Chara just placed a caring hand on top of her head. It made her blink in confusion.

"Muffet, you're acting like something bad is going to happen to me. Your faith in me should be a smidge higher than that." Chara said, rustling her hair slightly. "C'mon. You know I wouldn't let my Spider Princess worry me handling myself in an adventure."

Muffet suddenly found herself blushing madly. Did he just call me...HIS Spider Princess?!

That's right, I can make up cute nicknames too! ...wow. I've REALLY gone soft. Chara took his hand off of her head, then poked two index fingers into her forehead, just above her eye. "I'll make up for this with an extra long tea session. Sound like a plan?"

"Y-Yes!" Muffet nodded quickly.

"Cool." He pulled back and turned towards Asriel and Frisk. "Alright you two, huddle up." Frisk and Asriel walled up to Chara, entering a three way huddle. "We've got ourselves quite a mission on our hands. We're actually gonna help Sans and Papyrus reunite with Gaster. He probably won't be easy to find, given how spread out he is. But as long as he appears somewhere his essence pulses strongly, we'll be able to gather enough to put him in one place where he can out himself back together."

"That about sums it up." Frisk nodded. "We don't know what we might face out there. Just that it'll be unlike anything we've ever seen. We know alternate universes can be dangerous, and we know some are safe. But in order to help Gaster, we have to take our chances with either."

"Frisk is right. It might be tough, but we have to go." Asriel said strongly. "Out of everyone, Gaster is the only one we couldn't save...that changes now. Sans has been working himself crazy to get him back, and he had to keep him a secret from Papyrus. It's time that he rest, and leave the rest to us." Asriel declared, Chara and Frisk readily agreeing with him. The magical aura shifted a bit around Asriel. He was taking charge a little bit, and neither were disagreeing with him. It's one of those rare times that his status as royalty shines through.

"Alter!Toriel. Alter!Asgore. Don't come with us on this first alternate universe. We want this first stop for ourselves." Chara decided, turning towards them. Both of them blinked strangely at this sudden request, but they heeded it regardless.

"fine by me, kiddos. we'll play mission control and keep you posted." Alter!Toriel shrugged.

"Wish you best of luck!" Alter!Asgore nodded strongly.

"The first destination has been set to where Gaster's presence is currently strongest. Be sure not to waste too much time, and to stay on track." Geno Alphys hands the remote to Frisk, as he points it in front of himself and opened a temporal rift.

Asriel stood in front of it, then looked behind at his brothers. "This is it. He's waited long enough. Papyrus and the others have been oblivious long enough. And Sans have been suffering for this for far too long. Now's our chance. The New Frontier is before us. By the time this journey is over, we will have SAVED W. D. Gaster!" Asriel punched one fist into his paw. "Watch out, multiverse! You're about to see what the Dreemurr Trio can REALLY do!"

"Undyne's rubbed off on you more than I thought." Chara smirked. He was more than ready for this. The thrill of a new challenge awaiting him on the other side of this portal, filled him with Determination.

"I agree." Frisk chuckled. The thought of ending a majority of Sans' suffering and mending a family-related or not-back together just like he did with the Dreemurrs, filled him with Determination.

"Alright then, let's do it!" Asriel cheered. The thought of Saving W. D. Gaster, finally freeing him from hos eternal torment...filled him with DETERMINATION! Asriel bravely jumps through the portal first. Frisk follows shortly after. Chara casually walks in while flashing a peace sign to his loved ones, before he too disappeared into the portal.

Asgore and Toriel grabbed each others paws, watching the portal close, which took their children once they stepped through. A single thought echoed through their heads: Be safe, children. Watch out for one another...

Muffet and Red looked towards one another after watching the trio leave. Especially the exits for Chara and Asriel. A small blush brushed against their cheeks as they had a shared thought for the respective boys: He's so cool...

[? Universe]

"Ow..." Frisk muttered as he sat up with a bit of effort, rubbing his head. "That...definitely wasn't one of our best landings.."

"Tell me about it...ugh...Asriel! Get your fuzzy butt outta my face!"

"How about you get your face out of my fuzzy butt!?"

Asriel and Chara untangled from their heap, now simply lying on the snow. With a pained groan, they both sat uo and realized that they were in Snowdin. That was easy enough to tell. Chara stood up and dusted himself off. Asriel and Frisk also got up and looked around. Frisk takes a look into the remote Geno Alphys handed him, and sees that it's gently pulsing. Gaster is definitely in this alternate universe.

"Alright. We're here. Now all we have to do is find where Gaster is currently glitching out. He's never going to be in the same place every thime he appears in one universe. We have to keep that in mind." Chara said.

"Right. Sooner or later, we'll find him and gather the essence we need since his presence is strongest in this universe, currently. Our time is limited. Not too short but not too long, either." Asriel nodded as he looked back towards the direction of the Ruins. "I wonder if we'll still find Mom there..."

"Unlikely. These universes are random as hell sometimes, Azzy. We need to be carefu-"

"Yo."

Chara narrowed his eyes as he swiftly turned around and pushed Frisk and Asriel behind him, though they still eased over his shoulders anyway to see what 's got him so cautious.

All three of their jaws dropped.

There was another Frisk right in front of him. Once again a female, around their age. She looked a bit confused by what's currently happening.

Then there was Asriel, which shocked Classic Asriel greatly. He was wearing a dark blue coat with sky blue jeans and a rainbow scarf, much like his own. He looked completely confuzzled. And he looks absolutely adorable with that look.

And the last one, standing in front, was Chara, female, and the oldest of the trio. This Chara had a lime, unzipped hoodie, a white t-shirt underneath said hoodie, red gloves and red boots. This Chara looked much more relaxed than Classic Chara, who was currently very confused.

What...the...WHAT?

The alternate Chara in front of him giggled at his gobsmacked expression. "Well then...looks like all three of us have a Pretty Mirror, hm?"


Me: Welp. There's that. Storyshift Arc is ago, folks. Not a lotta people do these, either. So I figured...Y Not?!

Frisk: What about Alter!Toriel and Alter!Asgore?

Me: Not to worry, I'm not disregarding Altertale right after they show up. Their roles will come soon enough, but not right off the bat. They'll definitely be sticking around for a while, but will currently stay in the Classic Universe until they're needed elsewhere.

Frisk: I suppose that's fair.

Asriel: This is weird...this is all before the Barrier is Broken. Nothing is seriously fixed yet...and even more strange, me and Chara are still alive...

Frisk: I wonder what the purpose of this arc will serve, besides being the first stepping stone to us helping stabilize Gaster's body?

Me: It serves as that purpose...as well as character development for Classic Chara.

Chara: Hm...?

Asriel: What is it, Chara?

Chara: I don't know why...but the moment I entered this universe, I had the almost irresitible urge to kick Mettaton's ass. But I'm sure it's nothing. I don't really like Mettaton, but he's not the worst guy in the world. He's a friend here...right...?

Me:...Until the next chapter...