Chapter 6:
I soon went halfway across the bridge to see that Papyrus was waiting there and he had some kind of remote control device in hand. "HUMAN! I WAS GOING TO USE A SPECIAL GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR AGAINST YOU RIGHT NOW... BUT IT APPEARS THAT I WAS MISTAKEN. YOU AREN'T A COLD-BLOODED KILLER, SO I SHALL ONLY LET YOU PASS IF YOU CAN DEFEAT ME IN A FIGHT!" Papyrus said, me being perplexed at that... but then, all of a sudden, I saw something shocking happen. Out of nowhere, time stopped all over for everyone except for Papyrus and myself. And guess who appeared next to Papyrus's feet shortly after?
"What the heck are you doing, Papyrus?" Flowey asked Papyrus, the skeleton getting huffy at that.
"I DON'T WANT TO BE FED ANYMORE LIES, TINY FLOWER! IF THAT HUMAN WANTED ME DEAD BEFORE, THEN THEY WOULD'VE SURELY KILLED ME AND MANY MORE, RIGHT OR WRONG?!" Papyrus exclaimed... I wanted to say something, but color me surprised when I found that my body was incapable of movement...
"Uh oh... does Flowey have some control of his Determination right now?" Chara asked in my head, me gulping at that.
"I think he just might... but it appears it's only time manipulation. He can't RESET or LOAD, so he just looks to be stalling," I thought to Chara, her sighing in relief as Flowey smiled at Papyrus.
"Do you happen to know why the human refuses to fight anyone?" Flowey asked, Papyrus frowning at that. "It's because just a single attack from them at any monster, be they friend or foe, will demolish the entire universe. That girl's soul is millions times greater than any other human soul in the world. It's best to get rid of her before she gets too strong, or else you couldn't even shake her hand without being blasted into a million pieces," Flowey said, Papyrus thinking at that as Flowey shortly retreated under the dirt and, five seconds later, time was resumed. I then looked at Papyrus and he looked at me with worry.
"Papyrus," I said, getting his attention focused solely on me. "I heard everything that flower just said, as I was able to see everything while time was frozen. He was only telling half of the truth, however. Sure, if I did hurt someone, it could destroy all reality, but ONLY if I was doing it with the intent to kill them. I threw a snowball at Sans's face earlier for telling bad jokes and he was unfazed by it and I also pet Dogamy and Dogaressa and I also took stuff off of Gyfftrot's antlers that he didn't want. Do those seem like the actions of someone who would willingly want to destroy the world?" I asked, Papyrus frowning at that as Sans sighed in and out.
"VERY WELL, YOU MAKE VERY VALID ARGUMENTS HUMAN. MEET ME OUTSIDE OF THE TOWN FOR OUR BATTLE, IF YOU DO SAY THAT YOU WON'T KILL ME. WE SHALL FIGHT IN A FAIR MATCH! AND IF YOU FAIL TO ENDURE MY ATTACKS, I SHALL CAPTURE YOU!" Papyrus exclaimed as he then threw the switch on the ground and shattered it with a conjured bone emerging from the ground. He then rushed off ahead and Sans looked at me with a frown, oddly enough.
"what all happened just now?" he asked.
"Flowey was able to stop time for a brief moment to try and convince Papyrus that I was still dangerous. However, he didn't take into account that I could still hear everything he said... I'm actually surprised it affected you, considering that you-know-who says your strength is unrivaled," I said, Sans smirking at that.
"not anymore. if things go according to plan, then i plan to never fight again unless something were to threaten this world's very existence. but about that flower guy? he isn't the only one to be wary of down here," Sans said, me tilting my head at that.
"What's that supposed to mean? Is there someone even more evil than he is?" I asked.
"no, not evil... desperate. i'll tell you more if you can manage to impress papyrus with your pacifist skills. try to make friends with him and get him to let you to our place. when that happens, you can go ahead and cook your pizza in the kitchen and i'll explain the gist of this other person to you while you do so," Sans said, me nodding at that as Chara sounded a bit worried in my head.
"Who in the hell down here could be even more dangerous than Flowey? I don't recall any other monster who was a ruthless, cold-blooded killer without a soul," Chara frowned in thought as I then saw a large sign that said "Welcome to Snowdin" written on it as well as the town being filled with mostly furry creatures such as bunny people, some talking bears, and then a strange reptilian monster who was yellow all over, had spikes on his head, and wore a brown and yellow striped shirt with brown pants. But other than that? They looked about my age and had no arms.
"Yo! You're a kid too, right? I can tell cause you're wearing a striped shirt!" the kid said, me smirking at him happily.
"Well, I am a kid, I won't deny that. What's your name?" I asked, them smirking at that.
"I'm Monster Kid!" they said, me being confused at that.
"Um... but what will you be called when you become an adult?" I asked.
"Monster Kid... trust me, I know a few things about the king, since he came to our school awhile ago. He names every single monster when they're born in the Underground and, quite frankly, everyone agrees that he's terrible at names," the kid said, me smirking at that.
"How about I just call you another name? How about... Spike?" I asked, the kid smirking widely at that.
"Spike? Sounds like a super cool name! WAY better than Monster Kid! You're the best, man! What's your name?" Spike smiled at me while his tiny tail wagged a bit.
"I'm Frisk... do you happen to know where a tall and skinny skeleton happened to go off to? We're going to have a small sparring session for fun," I said, Spike smirking at that.
"Yeah, he went towards the path leading to Waterfall. Just continue in that direction and you'll find him eventually," Spike said, me smiling at that as I then bid him farewell and proceeded down the path, seeing that I had accidentally triggered a fog trap and the area filled with fog that was very thick. So thick, in fact, I couldn't see anything until I managed to get a few feet near the silhouette of a skeleton. One that looked like Papyrus's frame.
"Human... allow me to share some feelings with you," Papyrus said... though something seemed... off. His voice sounded deeper and a bit remorseful for some odd reason. "The pain of seeing nothing but darkness... the fear of being forgotten forever... the misery of watching death upon death happen over and over again... these things... I want it all to end," the voice said, me now knowing something was VERY off. This did not sound like Papyrus.
"Who are you?" I asked, wondering who the hell this could possibly be.
"I am everyone and no one... I see all things, yet am unseen by all. I am the forgotten one, trapped behind a door that I can never escape from... I am Doctor W.D. Gaster..." the skeleton said as the silhouette then came closer and... the skeleton that appeared? It not only spooked me, but it also forced Chara to take control because of something we could both sense from him. Not only did he have a creepy head that had cracks on both of his eye sockets and a creepy grin with no teeth, but he also was dripping with black ooze and there were 8 hands that circled around him that made symbols as if he were speaking in sign language... that, and the black ooze part looked like an upside-down face that looked like it was pure darkness... but other than that, I could feel one thing inside of him, as did Chara. Hostility towards myself and Chara.
"Y-You... I-It can't be... You aren't supposed to exist!" Chara gawked in fear as the skeleton creature was about to attack me... but then, suddenly, the fog disappeared... and with it, so did the manifestation of Doctor Gaster. I looked behind me and saw that Papyrus was actually dismantling the fog trap so the place got cleared up again. But I couldn't hide my fear at all at what the hell I'd just seen... and Chara then retreated into my mind when Papyrus approached us.
"HUMAN FEMALE? WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'VE BEEN SPOOKED? DID SOMETHING HAPPEN JUST NOW?" Papyrus asked, me shivering a bit as I nodded. "WELL, WHO WAS IT? IT WASN'T FLOWERY WAS IT?" Papyrus asked, me shaking my head no at that.
"No... it was some strange skeleton... one that had cracks on his eye sockets and a creepy smile..." I said, Papyrus gawking at that.
"W-WAIT... I... I THINK I REMEMBER... N-NO... I-IT CAN'T BE... HE'S BEEN GONE FOR OVER A HUNDRED YEARS..." Papyrus said, me frowning at that.
"It was someone named W.D. Gaster... and he was about to attack me within the fog... but for some reason, he disappeared the moment the fog did... almost as if he was only able to be here when the area was darker," I said, Papyrus sighing at that.
"Y-YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THIS, HUMAN... GASTER IS ACTUALLY MY LAST NAME... PAPYRUS GASTER..." Papyrus said, me gawking at that as he then spoke some more. "AND SO IS SANS'S LAST NAME... W.D. WAS OUR FATHER... BUT, 100 YEARS AGO, AFTER FINISHING PRODUCTION OF THE CORE, HE FELL INTO IT AND WAS KILLED ON CONTACT... HOW HE APPEARED NOW IS A MYSTERY TO ME... AND WHY WOULD HE ACTIVELY ATTACK YOU?" Papyrus asked, me gulping and sighing shortly after.
"I have no idea why he'd do that... but I have a feeling I may know who would," I said, Papyrus frowning at that.
"WHO?" he asked.
"Your brother may know more... he said there was someone even more dangerous than that talking flower... and I think W.D. is who he was referring to... do you think that, for now, we could go to your house and have a small meeting with Sans? In the meantime, I was hoping to cook up a pizza and deliver it to someone named Alphys in Hotland," I said, Papyrus sighing at that.
"VERY WELL, HUMAN... I KNOW THAT THINGS AREN'T GOING TO BE GOOD IF W.D. HAPPENS TO BE AROUND AGAIN... IF HE ACTIVELY TRIED TO ATTACK YOU, I FEEL I SHOULD PROTECT YOU AS AN APOLOGY FOR EVER THINKING OF YOU AS A HORRIBLE PERSON," Papyrus said, me smirking at him as I then went to him and hugged his tiny, bony waist, Papyrus smiling at that as I then said something I knew he'd like.
"So long as we become friends and so long as you don't capture me, that's all the apology that I ever need," I said, Papyrus smirking widely at that.
"WOWIE! WE HAVEN'T EVEN HUNG OUT YET AND I'VE ALREADY MANAGED TO HIT THE FRIEND ZONE! COME! WE MUST BE OFF TO MY PLACE! MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS WILL HELP YOU MAKE THAT PIZZA AS WELL AS LEARN MORE FROM MY BROTHER ABOUT THE STRANGE SIGHTING OF MY FATHER YOU SAW!" Papyrus said, me nodding at that as we then went to his place and I saw that his house was the one nearest to us after leaving the area I'd met Gaster at. And for some odd reason, the right room on the upper part of the house had some strange lights coming from underneath it.
"SANS! WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH SOMETHING IMPORTANT, BROTHER!" Papyrus exclaimed loudly, Sans opening his door and walking down the stairs with his hands in his coat pockets.
"what do ya need help with, bro?" Sans asked.
"W.D. Gaster," I said, Sans's smile fading to a frown as I saw sweat pour from his noggin and I actually saw his eyes go blank, Papyrus being a bit spooked at that.
"him, huh?... and how'd you learn of that name?" Sans asked.
"Because, after I tripped a fog trap, he appeared in the fog and was about ready to attack and kill me... but Papyrus saved my life by destroying the fog trap so that W.D. vanished from sight... please, we want to learn more about what to expect from this guy," I said, Sans sighing at that.
"alright, fine... come to the kitchen and i'll tell ya while ya make that pizza," Sans said, me and Papyrus going to the kitchen and Sans then starting to talk as I got the ingredients I needed. The dough, the sauce, the cheddar cheese (I had to use a cheese grater to make it shredded), olives, pepperoni, and bacon. And I also made sure to make it a medium-sized pizza, which meant it was as big around as Sans's entire head. And the whole time I prepped it, Sans spoke.
"papa gaster is... a very strange and curious case in this world... shortly after he fell into the core, everyone assumed he had been killed, though his ashes were never recovered, as the core vaporized his entire body from the sheer heat it produced... but in reality, he wasn't killed... he became trapped in an alternate reality," Sans said, me gulping at that as did Papyrus.
"AN... ALTERNATE REALITY?" Papyrus asked.
"yup. this reality is referred to as 'the void'. a place whose sole existence is to force those in it to be forgotten by everyone on the outside... the only reason i know he's there is because of a small drawing i made when he first fell in there... see, i foresaw he'd fall in there and be trapped in a dark abyss of nothingness... since i often had visions of the future when i was just a little tyke. so, i made that drawing with the words 'never forget' on it. and since then, i have been studying more and more about what exactly the void is and how many others may have been lost to it," Sans said.
"And... what did you find out?" I asked him, as my interest was piqued.
"the void is actually very close to this world, with its closest point being near a path in the waterfall close to captain undyne's house. this hotspot is manifested as a door that will only appear to those with a very high FUN value," Sans said.
"Um... what the heck is FUN and what does it stand for? It's obviously an acronym for something, right?" I asked, Sans nodding at that.
"it stands for 'force of universal negligence'. basically, the more unnatural your presence in the world, the more likely the door will actually appear. and as for you, kid? you have a fun value of 690, which is a number that can trigger the door to appear," Sans said, me gulping at that.
"AND HOW WOULD THIS HUMAN HAVE SUCH A HIGH FUN VALUE AGAIN?" Papyrus asked.
"Because of something that you should keep secret from everyone, Flowey included," I said, Sans looking at me with a darting glare before Papyrus put his hand on Sans and he let up. "I happen to have a second soul on me, one that is from a universe that was able to see and manipulate this one any way they wanted... and only by getting this soul inside of me can those manipulations stop happening," I said, Papyrus frowning at that.
"it's true what she speaks, pap... basically, imagine this world as a type of maze with multiple endings. but the moment you happen to reach one of 'em, you start over right from the beginning. and it happens every single time, regardless of how well or how bad you did... basically, the other world forced this one to be stuck in a time loop, one that forced us to relive the same experiences day after day... some were nice, some had a few monsters slain, and others were much more gruesome, where everyone was slain... both of us included," Sans said, Papyrus gulping at that.
"H-HOW COULD SOMEONE BE SO CRUEL?" Papyrus asked as Chara then took control and spoke.
"It's not cruelty that caused this system to be in place... it is due to the fact that our world was created by a man called Toby Fox... and placed inside of a video game as a bunch of coding... and the souls in the world he comes from are a billion times stronger than a human soul in our world... as well as being filled with more vile and disgusting trash heaps that call themselves humans," Chara said, Papyrus looking at me in confusion.
"UM... WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, HUMAN?... AND WHY THE SUDDEN CHANGE OF VOICE?... YOU SOUND A BIT DEEPER IN PITCH NOW," Papyrus said.
"I'm the owner of the other soul inside of this human, who is named Frisk... I wish to remain unnamed for right now to everyone but Frisk... I gathered a total of 1,000,249 souls from horrid genocidal versions of Frisk from the alternating timelines and realities... and only after gaining all that strength was I able to manifest myself in the world that was in control of this one. And after seeing the despicable humans from that world, who are way worse than the humans from this one... I took the soul of a common street thug as my own and then returned to this one, but not after I demolished all of the other souls I'd gathered from the timelines, as they were no longer necessary," Chara spoke, me sweating a bit as she was trying to complete the pizza on the counter with the toppings, and I found she wasn't really doing it the way I knew pizza places to work... so, I asked a question to her.
"Is it possible for you to control the voice while I control the arms and eyes?" I asked, Chara sighing and doing just that, her then continuing to talk as I placed the toppings carefully and precisely, just like I had with pizza at the orphanage.
"The owner of the soul is named Thorn and she's actually inside of the soul, but for some odd reason, she refuses to let her presence known... probably because she is scared of me after I took her soul... I can look pretty terrifying when I attack anyone with the intent to kill... as in, myself, not Frisk," Chara said as I nodded at that.
"how scary could it be?" Sans asked as I simply spoke the image to him by getting in control of my mouth.
"Bleeding eyes and mouth, but the blood is black... imagine that coming at you at a very fast and erratic pace," I said, Chara taking control of the mouth again with a frown.
"More or less, yes... I only showed that appearance to horrid people on the outside who were so horrible that they admit they did the whole genocide route just for sick pleasure and would rather try to complete killing everyone that had evacuated than be content with all the deaths they forced... those players were the ones I detested the most, but as for the short two days I spent in the real world?... I quickly learned that humans in this world are MUCH nicer than anyone in the other world. While the worst that could happen in this world is attacking others for violence, imagine the worst that could happen in the real world being a religious leader forcing a child into an adult situation," Chara frowned.
"UM... WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ADULT SITUATION?" Papyrus asked as Sans then cooked the pizza with fire magic, something I didn't expect him to have...
"Yeah... what do you mean?" I asked.
"The pope, the most revered religious man in that world, puts his dingleberry into a kid's butt for pleasure... while the kid cries in pain," Chara said, me gasping at that and Papyrus holding his hands to the sides of his head at that.
"OH MY GOD! THAT IS SO DEPLORABLE! HOW COULD ANYONE BE THAT CRUEL?!" Papyrus exclaimed in anger.
"Agreed, HOW?!" I asked angrily... but the next to speak? It wasn't Chara... or me... or the skeleton boys. It was another person, speaking from my mouth.
"Believe me when I say this, you are right to say that my world is awful... it's so awful to the point where most fictional worlds are more perfect than my own... this is one of them... and I hate you with every fiber of my being, you bitch," said a voice that sounded like it had a very angry accent as she then disappeared as quickly as she appeared, Chara speaking shortly after.
"So she finally decides to talk, huh? She probably won't do so for a little while," Chara frowned as I then saw that the pizza was finally completely cooked. And Sans then smirked as he then flicked a single finger and I saw that a bubble of shadow enveloped the pizza, which Papyrus was shocked at.
"OH NO! DID THE PIE GET BURNT?!" Papyrus exclaimed.
"nope. i'm just goin' to keep it warm with some of the skills i learned from w.d. when i was a kid. this move is one that can freeze time for certain people, objects, or places," Sans said, me looking at him and Papyrus looking at Sans in surprise. "sorry for not tellin' ya anythin' about my strengths, paps. you know me, i hate doin' anything, mostly because of me remembering every single time loop and reliving all of those days... and now that they're finally over? i feel like i can finally let some secrets be shown... but i'm still definitely not gonna be doing anything when it comes to attacks and stuff. i only attack people when they're super dangerous," Sans said, me smiling at him as I then put my hand on his shoulder and spoke.
"Thanks, Sans... but before I go to deliver this pizza, I have to ask you... what was the other human like?" I asked, Sans looking at me in confusion.
"other human? what do you mean?" Sans asked.
"The one who came before me. You're the one who watched out for them... and protected them, are you not?" I asked, Sans sighing at that and smiling again.
"yup, you got me... the one who came before you was named 'hope' and she had a green soul filled to the brim with kindness... using that kindness, she ended up making it all the way to the king... but his will to free our kind beat her kindness and he took her soul... from what i observed from afar, she went out with a smile on her face... she's a very nice girl, you see," Sans said, me smirking at that.
"I can imagine," I smiled as I then took the pizza and put it inside of, what else, a pizza box that was on the counter. I then put the whole box into the backpack I had on me and saw it only barely fit inside of it. "Okay, I guess I'm going to get going now... and I will make a note to be very careful when going through the Waterfall, Sans. Especially since your dad sounds very tough," I said, him nodding at that.
"the toughest guy i know. just don't do anything nasty to him, alright? all he wants is to be freed from the void. he doesn't care about how that happens, he just wants to be freed," Sans said, me smiling at that as I then left the house with some more information. I now knew I had to be very careful from here on out and avoid going into any extremely dark or hard-to-see areas, lest I get killed by Gaster and it ruins everything.