Me: Hm...I do wonder if this chapter is good enough...

Chara: You're just...you're never gonna stop wondering that, are you?

Frisk: No author is perfect, ya know! Just stay determined!

Asriel: We started with cheerfulness...now we have to watch our situation get worse. Maybe we'll be able to deal with it. I hope we can manage. We probably might manage well.

Me: Almost forgot, Storyshift is owned by voltrathelively of Reddit. Of course things I do here are non-canon. Kay? Kay.

Chapter Start!


(Accessing Storyshift Memory, One month after Chara's fall)

Somehow, the Dreemurrs have kept Chara out of monster's sight with utmost efficiency and caution for over a month. If she were to be seen by any other monster, she would be in immediate danger. So if she wanted to play with Asriel outside of the house, monsters were to not see her. It was difficult to manage such a setup, but Asgore was able to succeed in setting up specific times in which the monsters would be most unaware of Chara's presence. Times were chosen when she was least likely to get caught, and they've worked so far without fail.

Unfortunately, Chara had the justified fear that this sort of streak can't last forever, not with this much constant pressure. And she would soon be proven right.

Chara slowly opened her eyes, somewhat ready to begin the next day anew. Though she noticed a couple of things seriously wrong with her environment. First off, she wasn't in her room. She was aware of this, due to waking up on a cold hard floor instead of a warm soft bed. Secondly, it was too dark for her liking, her crimison eyes might be the only thing mostly seen from someone else's perspective. And finally, the bars. The steel bars before her. They could only mean one thing...she was a prisoner.

No...No! What am I doing here?! Where IS here?! Chara panicked, looking around and seeing no way of escaping her enclosed space. What's going on?! Where's Mom and Dad?! Undyne?! Asriel! Where's Asriel?!

"...hey. human." Chara jumped at the voice, skidding away and dropping on her side when she heard someone speak to her. In front of her, on the other side of the bars, stood a stocky skeleton. A skeleton wearing pink slippers, black basketball shorts, a blue jacket and a t-shirt...and royal garbs such as a crown and cape. Is...is this the one? Was he this 'King Sans' her family was cautious abou? "my name is sans. king sans the skeleton." Well, that mental question was answered fairly quickly.

"Where...where am I...?"

"you're in new home, just slightly far away from the CORE. but that won't matter too much for you, will it?" Sans sighed, turning away from the bars. "it was awfully sneaky of you to hide away with the dreemurrs for so long. asgore really knew how to keep you off surveillance. but eventually information has been given to me on why the dreemurrs suddenly began closing themselves off from other monsters. they were keeping you a secret...on purpose. i can't imagine why they'd dk that, especially since you're the last one needed..."

"Last one needed...?"

"you carry the final piece to breaking the barrier. seven human souls are needed to break it. you're carrying the last one."

"W-What?!" Chara felt a sickening feeling in her stomach as she bscked away from the bars, sloely realizing why the Dreemurrs were so desparate to keep her away from King Sans at all costs. "W-Who...who could have told you about me...? No one saw me, and they didn't tell anyone about me."

"i was told by a talking buttercup, with a face. he didn't explain his motives for doing this after a full month, but i suppose it doesn't matter now." He shrugged. "once i found you, i grabbed you and left while the dreemurrs were sleepin'. wasn't gonna drag you out while they were awake and could see me. i woulda caused a ruckus."

Chara stood up weakly as she stared at the skeleton, the fear emitting off her in constant waves. "Well...you have me. What comes next?"

"i've been keepin' you here...because i wanna know somethin'. why didn't they tell me about you? i can't exactly ask them myself because of obvious reasons. but why were they so adamant on keeping you hidden? they oughta know that you're the main key to the monsters freedom, yet they insisted on protecting you...why?"

To be perfectly honest, Chara wasn't feeling up to answering the questions of her captor. He wasn't fooling her. As soon as she gives him the answer he's curious about, he'd kill her. That's not even the main reason for her resistance, but it was a big one nonetheless.

Her main reason for her quiet resistance was the fear of getting the Dreemurrs into even more trouble than they might already be in. It was very clear that she was the first human they were able to see for themselves. She and Asriel quickly bonded with another, hence why they were very determined to protect her. This is the happiest Asriel has ever been, and they'd like to keep that streak going without alerting King Sans. But since that's no longer going to happen...she wondered how they'd react to her disappearance. It's been at least a couple hours, since she was sleeping for so long.

"...kid. i'm trying to make this as painless as possible for both of us." Sans sighed when she didn't respond to him. "what was it that made them try to keep you hidden?"

"Maybe you should ask us yourself." That sounded like Toriel. Clanking this way in her Royal Guard Armor. And she didn't sound happy at all.

Sans felt regret chilling his bones. The amount of regret he feels for being so hasty was absolutely bone-chilling. heh...

"Star...Blazing!"

Sans ducked quickly as rainbow stars shot over his head and made contact with Chara's prison, destroying the bars. Asriel ran through the smoke and helped Chara up. She watched him with curiosity and shock. "Asriel...you...?"

"Don't worry about a thing, Chara. You'll be alright." Asriel reassures her, gently leading her along while holding her hand in his paws.

"tori...i thought i had the royal guard stand...ya know...guard over this area." King Sans joked, though he really was wondering why none of the Royal Guard has shown up to impede Toriel's progression.

"I'm the Royal Guard Captain, Sans. I simply handed everyone cinnamon bunny snacks and asked the all to take the day off." Toriel deadpanned. Sans silently cursed her for being such a benevolent boss who occasionally hands out free snacks to all of her subordinates. "Now onto the real issue here. The human child. I'll be taking her back, if you don't mind." It wasn't a request.

Sans narrowed his eye sockets. He saw that gleam in her eyes, a threatening, motherly gleam that threaten pain. But since she was so close to Sans, she was giving him a chance to end this before it began. It clicked for him instantly. "...tori. you didn't."

"That's a decision I made, and I plan in sticking to it. Surely you can look over this one human?" She asked gently. She may not have seen the other six humans, but she wasn't foolish enough to just assume that Sans took them prisoner. Chara was just lucky that he chose to try and find answers first than killing he outright.

King Sans ran a hand over his skull, quickly becoming stressed with the way things are headed. He really didn't want things to head down this road, but the conflict of interests was beginning to make this appear unbelievably difficult. "tori...lemme just say...you have really bad timing about this. six souls. we only need one more. she's the last one we need. you knew this, yet you're choosing to adopt this one as your own?! are you serious?!"

"This is the first human we've laid our eyes upon, and we saved her life when she could have died of hypothermia. I am completely serious, Sans. Me and Asgore have already agreed upon it taking her as our own since she has no family to go back to, and we even had Undyne agree with us. Asriel was especially eager to take her in." Toriel said strongly. "Asriel has always wanted a sibling anyhow. He doesn't mind at all that she's a human. They bonded very quickly, and his love for her is clear."

"ah. now i know why you're really doin' this." Of course Toriel would do something like this if it were for Asriel. She's throwing most of her reasoning into the wind for Asriel's sake. of course the small fluffy kid has to make friends with a HUMAN child. now there's no way for me to dissuade her to back down.

"Sans...we'll be taking our daughter back now. Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be." Asgore said gently, appearing behind Toriel with a concerned, cautious expression on his face. He was wearing a white lap coat and pants, with a yellow shirt below said coat, and wore circled glasses. Currently they lied in his coat pocket since theynwere unnecessary at the moment. He was well aware of what this could escalate into, and wished to avoid it as best as he could.

"you too, asgore..." Sans said lowly. "it's a bit funny, because i was about to say the same thing, kinda. listen. just...forget about her. it'll be better for everyone..."

"I can't do that. Especially not now." Toriel gently shakes her head. "Please, Sans...just allow us to leave with our child. I don't want anyone getting hurt, not from this."

"...it's too late for that, tori. no matter how we slice it, we're going to be hurt by this choice you're making. i wanted to make this as painless as possible, but now that's not gonna happen." Sans said quietly, his eye sockets becoming overshadowed. As he was saying this, Asriel and Chara were slowly moving away from the wrecked jail, trying to stay unnoticed. But it didn't go as smoothly as they thought. A Gaster Blaster began manifesting above Sans' head, and slowly turned towards them. "this will hurt no matter what path we take now. so i might as well take the path that hurts us the least. i'm doing what has to be done." for him...

Toriel's eyes widened as she sees the Gaster Blaster beginning to charge up and aim solely for Chara. "Sans...don't." Sans didn't respond, the large skull continuinging to charge. "Don't do this Sans, please don't do this." Her pleas went unheeded, he even used his telekinesis to keep her in place, making her grunt in pain. The maw begins to open, more energy charging. "Sans!"

Asriel and Chara froze once they saw the blaster aimed solely towards Chara. It discharged it's energy all at once, firing towards Chara. Little time to think, Asriel instinctively pushed Chara out of the way. All the others could currently see was the blast hitting their spot and smoke picking up all around them.

Toriel and Asgore's eyes dulled with horror, while Sans pinpricks shrunk considerably. The smoke slowly cleared, showing that Chara was lying on her side a few feet away from the blast radius. After the smoke continues to clear itself, Asriel is shown lying facedown in a burned heap, covered in soot, and heavily burned on his arms. The others took great relief that he's just unconscious, and not dust. But this did nothing to stop them from worrying.

Asriel...why...? Chara mentally mumbled, her eyes locked onto his unconscious form.

"ASRIEL!" Asgore shouted as he ran towards his fallen son to check upon his injuries. Sans' expression was one of shock, his eye sockets dark once again. His grin was much more strained now. All attempts at ending this the way he sees best were being thrown out the window, and the situation continues to worsen. He didn't expect Asriel to take the shot for Chara like that.

He also didn't expect Toriel to throw a fireball at him. He barely snapped himself out of his stupor and dodge in time. Then he dared himself to look Toriel in the eyes. She had looked pissed before. But now she's completely livid after seeing her son take heavy damage after he tried to blast her adopted daughter. Talking her from her position was now even more impossible.

"...How...dare you hurt my baby...!" Toriel snarled furiously. She was well aware that she would be acting irrationally after this point, but she didn't care. Her birth child was seriously injured due to an attempt on the life of her adopted child.

Neither of these crimes will go unpunished.

[Music: Der Skelettkönig and Sans]

Toriel officially lost all of her patience for Sans' actions. She brought her paws together, and pulled them apart slowly, until a fiery staff with a ball of flame on the end formed on her will, and she swung said staff horizontally, shooting five fireballs towards Sans. He had to react quickly, sidestepping to the right, and was able to sense the raw fury that emanates from the flames.

"tori, just let me-" Sans had to move out of the way again, narrowly avoiding another fireball just barely torching the shoulder of his jacket.

"You don't get to 'Tori' me, Sans. Not now. You've gone too far!" Toriel snarled as flames covered her hand, and she clenched it tightly. "You expect me to defer to your side after this?! Have you even begun to realize just how selfish you're being?!"

Sans shook his head as he began chuckling darkly. "heh...hehehe...i'm being selfish?" He then glared harshly at her while another Gaster Blaster forms over his head. "just what exactly are you doing right now. defending the final human?! of course the last human that falls down here that you find first is the one you want to protect. now you're only gonna prolong her suffering."

"Why does she have to suffer at all?!"

Sans fired the blaster, shooting a blue beam of light towards Toriel. She rolls out of the way, unfazed as it zooms right past her and explodes once it hits a nearby wall. Gripping her flaming staff, she swings it again and shoots six fireballs at the skeleton. He dodges all six of them by sidestepping over the first three and jumping over the latter three. Though the last flaming orb swerved upward and exploded against his back, launching him into the wall, followed by a trail of smoke. He landed roughly on his feet, just barely able to stand.

Fully absorbing the reality that she was taking this seriously, Sans raises his hands as multiple sharp bones towards her, though none of them are meant to be lethal. Toriel swiftly twirls her staff while moving forward towards him, effectively shattering all of the bone shards attempting to stab at her into flaming pieces. Sans sweated from the ever-increasing heat of her flames, and he had to jump back to avoid a fiery swing at his legs. Her eyes darted upward as one of her paws shot upward as a streak of fire shoots out and strikes him in his chest. He's fallen back onto the ground, groaning from the burn marks beginning to take form on his jacket.

"ya think this is easy for me? i don't like what i'm doin', either. but i'm only doing this because it's the only way we know of." Sans told her. "seven human souls are needed to break down this barrier, so six humans need to die. yet you're choosing to guard the last one we need."

"You couldn't possibly find it necessary to kill all of them, could you?! We should have found another way!" Toriel shouted. This was looking grim for the both of them. They were shouting and fighting one another because they've been keeping things from one another. One side was to keep Chara safe so she could he happy with Asriel. The other side was dirtying their hands for the sake of monsterkind, and didn't tell anyone about it.

"unlike you, toriel, no one else is willing or patient enough to try and find another way! they're sick of this hellhole and they'd like to leave as soon as possible!" Sans raises his hand as a blunt bone rose from the ground and strikes Toriel hard in the stomach. She needed a gasp of much needed air before she recovered from that. "i'm the king, toriel! and as much as that sucks for me, it means that i'm only one who should have my hands dirty, so that none of you will have to go through that!"

"And so this is how you choose to represent us?! Monsters willing to abandon all of our moral standards just to be free from the Underground?! We'll only be proving the humans right in locking us down here!"

Toriel rushed towards him this time, swinging her stand at his head. He ducks under it quickly and shoots more bones at her, which she dodges by rolling to the right. "do you need to be reminded of how many monsters died in the war? they struck at US first, and many of us were lost! instead of giving us a strong warning, they tried wiping us out! they kill a majority of us, yet we're the only ones who are in the wrong when we kill a mere six of them? that's not a fair ratio, toriel!"

"We cannot pin the sins of the humans ancestors on their descendants! That will truly make us the monsters they see us as!" Toriel jumped back as a Gaster Blaster fired at her feet, then she grunted as the skull head rammed into her until she went crashing into the wall. She once again needed to catch her breath as she fell down and held herself up with her paws. "We will find another way to free ourselves. But I will not sacrifice Chara in order to achieve that goal! I refuse!"

"you can't just refuse, toriel! not when we're SO damn close!" Sans shouted in desparation. It took her this long to notice that he dropped her shortened name in response to her anger and her actions. "and you certainly can't do it just for your son, asriel! he'll find other friends! it's just bad luck that his first friend had to be a human!"

"Chara being my son's first friend is merely ANOTHER reason why I can't let you kill her! It will devastate him!" Toriel shouted in defiance as a killer of fire rose up in front of her, and she pushed it forward towards Sans, who used a row of bones to counter the powerful flames. Though he couldn't keep it up forever, as Toriel throws a medium sized fireball after the fire pillar strikes Sans' bone barrier, causing an explosion to occur and for Sans to be launched a few feet away once again. He landed on his feet once again, as he glared at Toriel with his eyes glowing cyan. Toriel glared right back, her eyes reflecting flames.

"why are you making it harder than it needs to be?!" Sans begins using his Gastee Blasters more swiftly, multiple draconic heads forming all around the room and firing at her with ever increasinf precision.

"You're the one who's making this difficult!" Toriel retorted, breaking into a dash as she continues ro avoid the cyan blasts, occasionally shooting multiple fireballs from her paws that would be canceled out by a few bones swings via telekinesis.

"she's just one human! she's holding the last soul needed! you can't expect monsterkind to accept this choice you're making!"

"I'm against this choice no matter what! Not only is it because Chara is just a child, she's already befriended Asriel! I cannot separate them in such a heartrending manner!",

Sans' eyes began glowing a brighter cyan as a Gaster Blaster began reforming over his head. "dammit toriel, your duty as the royal guard captain is to look after the monsters first! you're supposed to be on my side on this! understand that this isn't easy for me either, but someone has to do it! you can't turn your back on the monsters like that!"

Toriel glared as she gathered a torrent of flames in her paws. "My duties as a mother and wife will ALWAYS come before my duties as Royal Guard Captain! My family comes before all else! And Chara is now a part of it, human or not! I expected you to understand that I can't just turn by back on her, either! It will break Asriel's heart!"

Sans was about to fire off the Gaster Blaster over his head, but flinched as it was quickly shot out of the air by another pillar of flame piercing through it. He was once again forced to warp out of the way of another torrent of flames from Toriel's right paw, though was knocked back by a precise fireball from her left paw. He focused on manifesting another Gaster Blaster while holding off her raging flames with walls of bones.

Toriel was having none of it.

Raising her paw upwards, a swirling ring of flames appeared around her. It slowly expands into an ever-widening radius, until she mentally shifted it over to Sans, who was now surrounded by the ring of fireballs. Clenching her fists, all of them came at Sans from multiple directions. He narrowly manages to dodge six of them, but felt two of them collide with his ribs and two others explode next to him and knock him off balance. It was all she needed to rush forward and swing her flame staff hard and fast, knocking him aside until he hits the wall, cracking it slightly as he slumped to the ground.

This time, he wasn't able to recover enough to keep fighting.

[Music Stop]

Toriel's stamina vastly surpasses his. If he had a bit more of it, the fight would have been much longer, since their power was very closely equal. The former was only breathing slightly hard, while the latter couldn't even pick himself back up. Their battle was over.

"...Sans. I'm taking Chara with me. I'm sorry, but I can't just allow my son's very first friend to die in such a manner." Toriel sighed sadly as she turned away and began to exit the room. Asgore looked just as upset as she was, gently scooping up Asriel and Chara, following her out of the room.

"...i just wanna see my brother again..." She heard him whisper weakly. He stayed collapsed, but he managed to be loud enough to be heard.

"...I know, Sans. But...this is the happiest Asriel's ever been. Be she human or not...I can't let anyone take her away from him. As their mother...I just can't do it." She gently set her helmet down on the floor, as well as the upper half of her armor, then her lower half. This left her in a blue t-shirt and blue jeans. She gently yook Asriel into her arms and nodded solemnly to Sans. "I'm leaving the Royal Guard. If anyone else tries to come after Chara, there will be consequences. Goodbye." She turned and continued to move onward.

"leavin' the royal guard, huh? leaving before you can get fired. hehehe...hehe...heh..." Sans chuckled sadly, tears threatening to escape his eyesockets.

Toriel couldn't bring herself to chuckle like him, even in a sad manner. All she did was bite her lip to keep her own tears in check. This was a conflict of interests for the ones they loved...and she won out. It didn't make her happier, however. She did what she thought was right, and he was doing what he thought was right. That type of conflict was one of the types that left both sides feeling betrayed.

Though even if she was victorious, they both feel like they've lost something significant. As much as she wanted to look back and at least comfort him, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Asriel and Chara were her main concern now. This was not an easy choice for her to make, and she hated it. But there was no taking it back, not now.

As a result, their friendship was now in tatters.

(End Storyshift Flashback)

Classic Chara could only sit in surprise as Shift!Chara recalled the details of the clash between Toriel and King Sans. He never would have thought he would hear of a scenario where Toriel and Sans disagreed highly enough to actually come to blows. And it was very close to ending their friendship. Tatters was the only way it could stay somewhat stable and existent. And it's only made worse by why the two of them were fighting over Chara's life: Toriel refused to go along with the ordeal not only because she was against killing, but she also recognized that Chara was Asriel's first and only friend at the time. And Sans recognized the final soul to break the Barrier and help reunite with his brother, whom he's highly estranged from.

He could see the high cost of either side, as well as their positives and negatives.

"...I can't imagine the two of them fighting like that. They're no doubt the best of friends in the Classic Universe. Though, if something were to tear them apart...then of course it would be appealing to the happiness of Asriel and Papyrus." Classic Chara sighed, scratching his head. "This is nuts...you think there's anything we could do to mend things?"

"I'm definitely up for suggestions." Shift!Chara shook her head. "But as long as that Barrier is up and me and Frisk are alive...they're never going to fully recover their friendship."

"Well, obviously I can't just leave things as they are. Neither of us can just let their friendship stay damaged like this." Classic Chara munched on his chocolate bar, still looking totally serious. "We'll find some way to fix things. I can guarantee it."

(Waterfall)

Classic Frisk and Shift!Frisk made there way to Waterfall. More like Classic Frisk teleported the two of them to Waterfall, which drained him quite a bit but not enough to exhaust him. As soon as they entered the area, they began moving towards their destination.

"So...you're here because fragments of Gaster is here in this universe?" Shift!Frisk asked while walking alongside him.

"Yes. This is our first universal stop. One of at least three at best and four at most." Classic Frisk responded. "Gaster's presence is currently strongest here, so we plan on collecting some of his essence and storing it away for later use. We'll be using these essences to put Gaster back together. He's already constantly trying to pull himself back together, we'll just be making it easier for him to do so."

"And you really think that will work?"

"It's definitely worth a try. It's not like we have other ideas that are safer or less damaging." They soon approached a certain wall, and Frisk soon sent a text to Classic Asriel and Chara to let them know where they were.

Soon, Classic Asriel and Chara teleported right next to the duo. Both of them were a bit shaken. Not by being summoned so suddenly, but but by what their Shift! Counterparts told them about Toriel and King Sans' relationship. Though they managed to put aside their shock long enough to understand what Classic Frisk called them about. Asriel nodded as he walked up to the wall and placed his paw on it. Concentrating his magic, the spot glows brightly as he stepped back and watched as the door appeared from his touch. Nodding quietly, he opened the door into darkness.

"Shift!Frisk, I think we'll take it from here. But just to be safe, you'd better stay out here until we're done." Classic Frisk said gently.

Classic Chara opened the door to the room first, and Classic Asriel closed the door behind him when he and Classic Frisk entered. The trio looked forward and saw the one they were looking for in front of them.

"Hello boys.. It's been quite a long time." W.D. Gaster stands in the room, previously in complete solitude. Though his crooked smile got slightly brighter at the thought of some company. "I'm going to be completely honest with you, I didn't really expect to see you land in this universe, first."

"Didn't expect us...wait, do you already know what we're trying to do?" Chara blinked in astonishment. Then he rolled his eyes and lightly palmed his forehead. "Tch, of course you did. As you are right now, you're an observer on a cosmic scale. The problem is that most of the time, that's ALL you can do."

"Yes indeed. Waiting and watching and listening, yet unable to interact with anyone outside of this small room...it's not something I really enjoy. But I stopped crying about it a long time ago." Gaster waved off. "But yes, I know what your plan entails. My presence is currently steongest in this universe, so you plan on gathering as much as my essence as possible while I'm stable here. And you plan to repeat the process at least two more times. Three at most. Then when you have enough of me, you'll take me back to the Classic Universe where I'll be able to fully put myself back together and stay stabilized."

"That's the plan in a nutshell. Figured it be worth a shot."

"I must say, this is a pretty monumental risk you are taking here, traversing the multiverse just to put me back together. Though, it does bring me joy that someone is actually attempting to reach out to me directly. It makes the loneliness...a tad more bearable."

Asriel slowly walked up to Gaster, adjusting his scarf. "We've managed to save everyone, as well as each other. Based on this, we now know for sure that you're the only one left that we haven't saved. We plan on changing this very soon."

"Ah. So says the will of Prince Asriel. Willing to traverse time and space to save me. You really do have more heart and kindness than either of your parents put together. And that's really saying something." Asriel rubbed his neck bashfully. "But aside from that, I believe you have something on your mind. What is it?"

"Oh, right." Asriel shook his head to regain focus. "Gaster, why does it feel like all of the monsters in this universe became stronger. I might have had a theory, but you're the one around here who can confirm it."

"Ah yes. The empowerment of all of the monsters across the multiverse." Asriel's eyes widened. "The actions the three of you taken in the Classic Universe drastically affected all of the other alternate universes. You not only chose to irreparably shatter the True Reset Button, but you chose to enhance the souls of the monsters to make them stronger. The walls between dimensions have weakened due to your actions regarding the former, so your changes are affecting them as well. Monsters are now able to do incredible things that they shouldn't have been able to do before. And that's just one major change. I wouldn't be able to account for every single change. Though I might have the time..."

"No. I prefer we focus on what we're here to do." Chara shook his head.

"Right." Frisk nodded as he reached into his pack and pulled out the vials that Geno Alphys packed for the trio. "Since you're mostly liquid matter when you're not fully stabilizing yourself, we can store some of you in these, for safe keeping. She gave us plenty to use, so we won't have to worry about running out." Asriel waved his paws in a circular motion. Gaster willing held his palm outward, a thin black stream slowly flowing into the vial and gently filling it to the appropriate amount. He then plugged it up and put it away. "There, all done."

"Yeah. But we can't really leave yet. Well...we can, but we don't really want to right now." Chara folded his arms and tilted his head. "We still have to break the Barrier in this dimension, first. Then we can leave for the next one."

"Ah. You wish to assure a path to happiness for the inhabitants of this dimension. Even you seem to have risen several degrees in kindness, Chara." Gaster noted quietly. "...however, you must exercise caution. Someone here is going to make that goal incredibly difficult for you."

"...Oh yeah. Everyone's positions is all mixed up." Chara sighed. "So...we know that Papyrus took Mom's place, Sans took Dad's place, Asriel took Papyrus's place, I took Sans' place, Mom took Undyne's place, Dad took Alphy's place, and somehow Undyne took Mettaton's place. Is there anyone we haven't accounted for? And which one of them is going to be a problem for us?"

Asriel placed a paw on his chin, as a troubling thought occurred to him. "...If I took Papyrus's place and the Barrier isn't broken yet...then I'm not Flowey. And since Chara took Sans place...then he's not...you know. So the problem lies within this question: Who's filled Flowey's role in this dimension, and who's taken Chara's?"

"Figures that those two are the most difficult to track down before it's too late. I know. Sans tried that with Chara." Frisk folded his arms. "Gaster. You're watching this dimension as much you do the others. Do you know who they are?"

"I do. And it's the two individuals you'd least expect." He responded solemnly. "Though I believe you can figure it out if I gave you a hint, Chara. It's the one friend that you and Sans tend to strongly dislike."

"The one friend I tend to strongly dislike...?" Chara wondered. As he rethought this, his eyes widened and shook his head in disbeleif. "No...if he's me...that means Flowey is...you're kidding me!"

"I'm afraid not, young one. You must exercise caution. No version of who you used to be should be underestimated..." Gaster gently warned them. He then began to glitch, as he held a hand over his face, sighing. "My time in this universe as ended. Soon I'll be gathered somewhere else...hopefully you three can settle things here and follow me."

"We can't make any promises on it being quick, but we'll do our best." Chara nodded.

Gaster nodded. "Good...very good. I can depart with full confidence in the three of you. But no matter how confident I am in you, I will still be worried for your safety. Do be careful." With this, Gaster glitched out of the room, most likely ending up somewhere else across space-time.

Asriel sighed as he turned towards his brothers. "Well...the good news is, that's one vial down. The bad news is, we're not exactly done here, are we?"

"Not until we shatter that Barrier and try to fix Toriel and Sans' friendship, yeah." Chara nodded. "The two of them fighting against like that, for Asriel and Papyrus. It's crazy...yet not completely impossible to imagine."

"It was a conflict of loyalties. Mom must have been seriously torn at the time." Frisk looked down. "She must still feeling torn about having to choose, even now."

"Well, we can't do anything about it in here. Let's get back outside."

"Right."

Asriel opened the door as the three of them exited the Gaster room. Being the last one to leave, Asriel closed the door and shook his head. "Alright, now we just have to-"

He stopped. They've been in the room for too long, apparently.

Shift!Asriel, Shift!Chara, and Shift!Frisk were all gathered in a line, looking incredibly sheepish and highly apologetic towards their Classic Counterparts. Then they looked up and saw why they were so nervous.

The first person standing over them was obviously Shift!Toriel, who currently had her arms folded and her foot constantly tapping the ground below her. The one next to her worried them almost as much as she did. It was the familiar mermaid, who was wearing a black shirt with a green arrow pointing towards her bosom, and black pants with orange boots on her feet. Her right arm was completely cybernetic, as well as her left eye. Plus, they couldn't mistake her crimson hair and fierce scowl.

Shift!Toriel turned to Shift!Undyne with a raised eyebrow. "Undyne. What's the verdict?"

Shift!Undyne placed her hands on her hips. "You wanna hear my verdict? All six of these punks have some serious explaining to do."

Classic Asriel facepalmed. Oh gosh golly...this is going to get really awkward really quickly, isn't it...?

"Ura ha ha! The Absolute Deity...is totally busted." Shift!Asriel started energetically, them his tone lowered awkwardly.

(The Ruins)

"That was a real piece of work, you know that right?" Flowey muttered. "We don't even know of this is going to work."

"There's lots of risks to take when it comes to showbiz, darling. It's all about taking risks, and i'm about to pull off quite a big one right here. I'm ever so glad you chose to help me."

"Still...this is a bit crazy, don't you think?" Flowey wondered. "I mean, I'm not against crazy ideas...but this one seems a bit too much like the last one. Remember the last time we tried to pin King Sans against his friends? He ended up losing, and that Chara brat is still alive. Not only that, those lookalikes!"

"Ah yes. We do seem to have a trio of inter dimensional guest stars in this little show of ours. And they're strong. Too strong for the both of us, even together. But if we throw the human souls into the mix..."

"Are you serious?! King Sans will never let us go for it, especially when I've lost his trust already!"

"Oh, I think he will, darling. Because we have many factors on our sides that will make sure he leaves them behind. We'll be giving him a convincing distraction." There was a soft, mischievous giggle at the end of that statement. "There isn't anything Sans won't do for his brother. That's the only thing that can truly knock him off focus."

Flowey sighed. "Though you remember what Toriel told him. She won't be holding back if he attacks Chara again."

"That's what I'm counting on, darling. While they're busy fighting, that'll be your cue to grab the souls, and that'll be MY cue to make my amazing entrance! You can't run a show without a few risks, darling. Showbiz can be dangerous as well. You don't...doubt me, do you?"

"N-No. Of course not, Happsta. I'm just worried that this entire plan will be for nothing. A lot can go wrong and end with us on the chopping block. And remember that I can't RESET. That Asriel doppelganger has the highest Determination."

"Not a serious problem. Trust me, darling. It will fall into place soon enough. Sans will drop everything, even his own morality, and quite possibly his friendships, if it's for his brother. I tend to use that against EVERYONE. We will turn Sans against his friends, while the two of us swoop in and destroy whoever is left. King Sans will be the architect for the Underground, and quite possibly the entire timeline's, destruction."

Flowey put on his creepy grin, and began waving back and forth. "You know what...let's do it! Destruction by manipulation, that's one of the most entertaining methods!"

"Indeed, my friend. The Underground will fall into Glamorous Chaos, and we will be thanking King Sans for making it possible. And besides...after this...he won't have a choice." Flowey and Happstablook turned towards the ground, appearing unrepentant.

Shift!Papyrus was dust.


Me:...What have I just started?

Classic Frisk: Probably something REALLY bad.

Shift!Chara: Ooohhh...this isn't going to end well, is it?

Classic Asriel: My Determination is still highest even here...I really hope I won't have to Reset...

Shift!Frisk: I feel like I'm being set up as a target...I feel like all of us are.

Shift!Asriel: What's going to happen...?

Classic Chara: ...The Underground might be having a bad time. And the Mom of this universe won't just let him do what he wants. She's already chosen her loyalty to her family over her loyalty to her best friend. This won't be getting much better, will it?

Classic Asriel: ...No...no it won't...