PROLOGUE:
"Sans! STOOP!" Sans heard his father yell out but by then, it was already too late.
All at once, he was suddenly surrounded by the Gaster Blasters he himself had summoned. Now, they were turned towards him as the eye lights in each of them glowed pink and Sans knew he was screwed as he stared wide-eyed and paralyzed with fear back at every last Gaster Blaster. All glaring down at him, the magic within not at all in Sans' control anymore.
Betty smirked with silent victory, her Rhabdophobia having successfully taken control of his attacks as each of them opened their jaws ready to fire the blast at Sans.
Sans was good at dodging, sure, but 100 or so Gaster Blasters? Not even he with his own determination could dodge that many lasers, and he still didn't have the stamina or defenses to defend himself and with only 1HP he wouldn't survive long, even with the determination that he had been injected with.
Gaster had only a split second to react as he summoned two large magical hands, wrapping them around his son to shield him. Gaster grunted with the effort when the blasts struck, clutching his own hands together as he held on. Glowing green magic powerful in the holes of Gasters hands, but apparently not enough as the magic surrounding Sans protectively began to crack and break under the pressure of Betty's attacks.
It was merely by sheer luck the attacks had finally stopped, before the magic around Sans broke as well. Gaster let out a wince as he fell unconscious and Sans began to fall.
"GASTER!" Paps shouted as he ran towards him, picking him up in his arms holding their father protectively.
CHAPTER 1: ANIMOSITY
"what have i done?" Sans thought to himself as he landed on the ground and looked fearfully over at Betty. She'd somehow stolen his special attack, and it seemed like nothing that anyone could do would work. Sans could see Betty grinning evilly, secure in the knowledge that they had no hope of beating her, before her gaze suddenly shifted over to Gaster and Papyrus, her smile growing wider and unnaturally more sinister as all of the blasters pointed at them.
"no, i won't let you hurt them!" Sans thought, before teleporting in front of them right as Papyrus prepared to try and defend himself and their father, his hand already glowing bright with red magic before stopping, Papyrus's eyes widening in shock when Sans appeared before him.
Filled with a burning, determined, desire to kill this demon once and for all, Sans summoned every last bit of magic contained in his SOUL, and summoned his special attack again. He and Betty both fired at each other using the Gaster Blasters she'd stolen against the new ones Sans had summoned. The massive combined blue and pink beams tearing across the space between the two city blocks until the beams collided, and Sans continued pouring all of the energy that he had left in his soul, right into this attack, not willing to let this creature hurt his family for even a second more.
Chara and Asriel raced through the city as fast as they could once Asriel had been assured at least 5 times that Chara had perfect control of the Hatred he'd sapped from him. Up ahead, about 5 blocks away the two kids could see and feel immense amounts of magical energy clashing. The light from both beams towering over several of the grey tall buildings in front of them.
"Chara, look!" Asriel shouted pointing up at the sky as the blue and pink beams battled to overpower the other..
"Yeah I know Azzy." Chara nodded back at his brother, forcing pure determination through his legs to run faster. 'Hang on guys! Please just hang on, just a little bit longer!' Chara thought, sweat pouring down his brow as he could just faintly feel the rest of what remained of Sans' magical energy starting to vanish incredibly fast now and subconsciously, he knew Sans didn't have much time left.
Next to him, Asriel focused his own magic as the two black stripes had reappeared on Asriel's cheeks, giving Chara the clear sign that his adoptive brother was now tapping into his Hypergod of Death powers. Azzy was also growing more and more worried as the Skeletons fight with Betty progressed, and at the incredible speed he could sense Sans' magical energy and soul draining. They were now only a block away and could see the entire Skeleton family directly in front.
However, Sans' determination quickly turned into horror as he began to melt and realized that he must have gone way over his limit, though he knew he could still do just a bit more, seeing as Betty was not letting up yet.
Preparing to put every last drop of magic that he had into his one final attack and end this once and for all, Sans looked back at his family just as Gaster had started to reawaken. Gaster let out an audible gasp as the two had looked into each other's eye sockets and eyelights, and Gaster saw how full of regret and fear Sans was when he realized he couldn't spend anymore time with them.
This was going to be Sans' final stand.
There would be no more coming back this time and Sans knew it. All he could do now was end this demon before he left this world.
To that end, Sans forced out more determination, along with every last single little scrap of magic that he still had into his final attack, and fortunately, it was just enough.
The glowing blue beam of Sans's blasters smashed through the pink beam of Betty's stolen ones and slammed her into a nearby building.
Chara and Azzy arrived at the scene JUST as Sans had sent Betty flying full force slamming into a building 2 and a half blocks towards the left. Chara continued running, even after they'd finally caught up, nearly running directly into Sans as he skidded to a halt, kicking up dust as he dug in his heels, stopping himself just a couple inches away from Sans, panting. Chara's bangs lightly brushed up against Sans' startled face as Chara thought, 'Oh God...Sans…!'
Chara struggled for breath and he took in Sans' appearance, hands quickly moving to his knees to catch himself from collapsing, as Sans continued to melt right in front of him.
Right at that very moment, a plan formed in Chara's head as he held out his hand to the melting skeleton.
Asriel however, had no idea what his brother was formulating, but he knew he needed to keep Betty busy while Chara did whatever he had to, in front of Sans, as he summoned his twin swords. Asriel stood watching with bated breath for any sign of movement through the dust cloud that was still hiding Betty effectively from the Princes' sights.
"S-Sans! Listen, I think...I know a way to keep your family safe and for...for us to end all this! All I ask, is that you trust me okay?!" Chara shouted desperately, still panting in between words as Sans stared after him confused and afraid.
"who knew that melting away would be so painful?" Sans thought as his blue eyelights faded to white, basically all of his magic now gone and his soul empty. From the corner of Sans's sockets, he saw Chara sprint over to him and skid to a stop. Chara's bangs brushed against melting cheek bones as he then started talking while sounding slightly out of breath.
Sans barely heard Chara's words when he spoke, considering that Sans was nearly already gone and half-dusted by this point. Sans knew that he was fading rather quickly, and that he only had a few short seconds left. But, if Chara had a plan, Sans knew that helping him would be his best chance to protect his family and maybe even to help them all survive this battle.
"y-yes." Sans said in a quiet voice, before his eyelights faded out and he turned to dust, leaving his small, trembling, white SOUL behind.
The vulnerable little thing shivered, only a breath away from shattering…
Chara smiled with relief, wasting absolutely no time as he shot an arm forward, grabbing hold of the vulnerable little monster SOUL.
Chara's own SOUL seemed to react, as Chara focused all of his determination into saving what was left of Sans' life. Chara's SOUL shone a bright red, as Sans's one also began to shine brightly, the two resonating with one another and with what Chara wanted as a powerful light seemed to explode from the two souls resonating with one another, completely blinding everyone who was nearby to see it.
Papyrus winced, moving the arm that wasn't busy in helping Gaster to stand to shield his sockets from the light, Gaster copying the motion.
"What the-?!" Asriel shouted when he saw his shadow grow 50x its own size in front of him. Asriel turned to glance over his shoulder as he risked stealing a look at what was happening behind him, when he suddenly felt a surge of powerful magic swell within the light source that felt strongly familiar.
"Cha…?" Asriel whispered, as he felt his senses overwhelmed by the sheer amount of determination swelling from what felt like Chara's soul energy, intermingling, and melding together with the remainder of Sans' determination and magic. The red and white beams of light starting to fade away...
Slowly, Betty began to crawl out of the rubble, her own eyes also widening in shock when the light finally faded. And a new being now stood where Chara once was, holding Sans' soul.
The being looked human enough. Wearing a blue hoodie over a green and yellow striped sweater and silver hair glistening in the sunlight. They also wore a black and white striped track shorts over brown pants and pink slippers. In the center of their chest, their soul floated in front of them. It looked like a red determination soul, with the upside down inverted monster soul heart stacked directly on top but fused.
Slowly, the being's lids opened, rewarding yet startling everyone when they were met with what looked like the being had eye sockets, with little red eye lights flickering on instead. The being looked confused as to whether the plan worked or not as the soul vanished, slowly going back into it's home in the being's chest.
Despite Chara's warning and the fact that Sans had agreed to this, he was still shocked when Chara had absorbed his SOUL. Sans shivered, remembering what it had felt like to be trapped inside of that creature.
Alone. Helpless. Vulnerable.
And even though Sans knew that Chara was nothing at all like that thing, that Chara only wanted to help and protect Sans and his family, he still couldn't quite stop all of those horrific memories from festering inside of his soul. Especially when Sans realized with a jolt that he could feel such a strong feeling of malice and...hate coming from Chara's half of their new combined SOUL.
"nonononono." Sans thought, starting to panic as images and feelings of pain and terror filled his mind. What Sans didn't realize was, when panic consumed him, so too did it affect Chara and their new body, as the beings hands immediately shot up to their head, digging fingers into their now silver hair, "please not this again why couldn't you just let me go why couldn't you let me die that would have been better than going through this again please someone, anyone, help me!"
Papyrus fell to his knees in shock, unsure how to feel. There was simply too much happening too fast for the young skeleton monster to finish comprehending all at once.
There was a despair first, at the memory of watching his brother dust before him filling Papyrus's mind and soul. 'W-WHAT JUST HAPPENED…? CHARA...HE ABSORBED MY BROTHERS SOUL...RIGHT? BUT- I CAN'T FEEL HIS MAGIC ANYWHERE. WHAT'S GOING ON?' Papyrus thought as he focused on that feeling of despair, terror and grief slowly consuming him. It was the only one that made the most sense at this moment in time, seeing as how Paps could no longer see his brother anywhere except for this strange human looking, weird skeleton hybrid that now stood in Sans's place.
Papyrus held his gloved hands together on his lap, the thought of not having Sans anymore in his life just felt so foreign and strange. Paps knew he heard his brother's reply and Chara's mention of a plan, but that memory and the more traumatizing one of actually seeing his dear brother melting and then dusting directly in front of him were all so conflicting and confusing that it messed with his skull.
What's happening, where's my brother?
Which memory was the real one? Papyrus wondered. Could Sans actually be gone now? No, he simply couldn't. Papyrus needed his big brother. Just as much as Sans needed Papyrus.
Papyrus always had Sans with him, even when he was a babybones. Sans was always such a fervent part of Papyrus's memories and, as far as Paps knew, they'd always been together no matter what happened. Or even, no matter how annoying Sans could be at times with his puns, and refusal to pick up his socks, and how much of a lazy bones he was, it could literally drive Papyrus up the wall.
But still, Sans was Sans. And Paps didn't want to trade his brother for anything else in the world and would have had him no other way.
After all, Sans raised Papyrus. Sans was the reason he grew up into the Monster that he was today.
Now he was gone. And Papyrus felt more alone than ever, and it terrified him.
Gaster had a much different reaction. He was also just as unsure as Papyrus had been to what had happened.
Gaster knew and heard Sans agree as Chara had absorbed his son's soul. However, there was still a mix of immense guilt and pure sadness in Gaster's soul like he'd never felt before. The kind of sadness only a father could possibly feel with the loss of his first born child filled his soul.
Guilt he felt too, as he thought back to the determination mixed with Undyne's blood he'd injected into his son as his mind burned with the thoughts of Sans melting in front of him. The look of pain and utter fear Sans had given them all as he fought valiantly to defend Gaster and Papyrus was burned into Gaster's mind.
Gaster's soul had now become like a glass of water. His emotions the water brimming at the very edge, as it continued to fill. Droplets continued to drop into the metaphorical glass, but never breaking the surface tension as Gaster felt himself being consumed by the terror and thoughts that plagued his mind.
I did this. Sans is gone, because of me.
Because.
I.
FAILED.
But he did not show the silent storm he was feeling through any of his expressions. Not like Papyrus next to him who wore his emotions on his sleeve for the world to see. No, Gaster simply stared off into space, not even his own eyelights giving away even a single hint as to what was happening inside.
How close Gaster was to mentally snapping. Like a string pulled too taut, or like the glass of water mentioned prior, ready to burst in all its glory.
As for Chara, or what remained of them, body and soul now fully mixed and fused perfectly with Sans's… was just simply confused.
Outwardly, it looked like the plan had worked and Chara's body now looked a bit like Sans's and his own as it had tried to find the perfect blend between skeleton monster and human, Chara noticed as he looked down, distracted by his new body.
But, then, why couldn't he feel Sans' presence?
Suddenly, as Chara was starting to wonder if the fusion even worked at all, he was suddenly overwhelmed by pure terror and raw emotions, as the being's hands moved of their own volition and up to their shared head. And it was only then that he realized something:
Sans was having a full-on, whatever monster equivalent it was to a panic attack.
Before Chara could even guess what was happening however, or try and have his soul resonate with Sans' or do something to comfort him, Betty had gotten back up again. Chara briefly noticed her, as she focused her attention on two people in particular.
Asriel was distracted, staring at this new being, a mix of rage and utter confusion on his face, as he stared at his brother and the new body which he was now sharing with that of Sans's. And at the fact that THIS had been Chara's plan all along.
Asriel was furious that Chara hadn't even had the gall to warn him first, or at least tell him this was what he planned, feeling slightly betrayed, but also...scared as he remembered the day when he and Chara first tried this as well, leading to both their deaths.
Papyrus was still on the ground on his knees, also distracted and filled to the brim with a mixed feeling of fear and grief as tears left his sockets. He let out a wail of sorrow and started to cry harder as he remembered all of the good times that he'd shared with his brother, still focusing on that part of his memory and not at all on the fact his brother WAS in fact, still alive, and just now sharing a body basically.
Chara felt terror starting to fester, which luckily seemed to momentarily overpower that of Sans' panic, as he screamed out to Papyrus and Asriel to "MOVE!"
Chara forced his determination out, to gain control of the shared body, as he raised an arm out, outstretching his hand towards Asriel, who was the closest one to him. Praying Gaster was still in this and would be able to protect Papyrus as he began to run towards his adoptive brother.
Betty smirked. "Two targets." She thought, taking aim as she lifted both her arms, firing arrow shaped bullets at the two youngest.
Time seemed to slow down for but a split second, as Chara continued to race towards Asriel. Chara glanced back at Gaster, as red eyelights locked onto him as he'd still not moved an inch. Even as that dark pink, arrow shaped bullet was racing towards Papyrus and it looked like the bullet will hit and Papyrus would dust and all would be for naught and-
The metaphorical water glass cracked and exploded with finality.
Gaster's eyelights shot upwards, red magic coloring one of them as he suddenly became aware of his surroundings.
Chara, currently in control of this new beings body, and Gaster were both quick on their feet, panic filling Chara's soul as he leapt in front of Azzy, determined to protect him. A red determination shield formed on one of his arms to deflect Betty's attack, rebounding it towards some more empty grey buildings off in the distance, as Gaster's mind snapped to attention. Gaster continued to stare, unmoving, as a magical hand, glowing with green Kindness soul magic, was automatically summoned in front of Papyrus, blocking the attack.
Papyrus let out an audible gasp, as he felt a sharp pain in his ribcage..
Through the overwhelming panic that was coursing through Sans' consciousness, he very vaguely felt that whoever had taken his SOUL used some of their shared magic to block an attack that he thought was aimed right at Prince Asriel.
In the middle of his overwhelming panic, this kind of confused him. After all, didn't that thing steal his SOUL so that it could drain more of his magic? However, Sans still couldn't really see or feel anything that was going on, as he wasn't in control anymore of their shared body, and he was currently too busy with struggling to calm down.
And then Sans felt it.
The one feeling that he hoped against everything else he would never have to feel ever again.
The horrible, unmistakable feeling of magic being drained against your will.
"oh god." Sans thought as a jolt of fresh, raw uncontrollable terror shot through his SOUL making it pulse with frantic bursts of magic. If one could see it, it looked very much like a heart beating very fast.
"that thing must have grabbed my soul a-and it's going to use any power that i have left to hurt even more people and to hurt and possibly kill my family nononono, why didn't i kill it how did i fail to do that as well i'm so sorry that i failed you all."
Chara breathed in relief, grateful to have just been there in time to save his brother from certain death. His red eyelights shifted to the side as he tilted the beings head, motioning for Asriel to get to safety. When Chara did so however, he noticed something was odd back where the remainder of the skeleton family was.
Papyrus seemed to be clutching his chest in pain, his body bent inward. And Gaster…
Something was wrong.
Chara thought, as terror consumed him once again, and he controlled the shared body to grip at his chest, as he could feel their own shared SOULs frantic bursts of Magic, making Chara feel anxious and nearly overwhelmed.
Chara struggled, trying to right his mind and focus once more on the Skelefamily, a few feet away, using determination to not pay any attention to whatever the heck Sans was even doing. When doing so could either mean life or death, and Betty would certainly not hesitate the moment she saw either one of them distracted. C'MON CHARA, FOCUS! Chara scolded to himself quite firmly.
Gaster continued to stare, absolutely emotionless as Betty's attack vanished. He didn't even seem to notice that Papyrus seemed to be in terrible pain.
'Did Paps get hit?' Chara wondered, panic flaring in his combined soul even more now, this time coming from both as Chara was now even more confused as to what was going on. 'No, I saw Gaster deflect that attack- so. Why? Why does Papyrus look to be in so much pain?'
The two feelings of inward panic seemed to mix and blend with Sans's own, and gradually growing even stronger.
Chara then wondered, if anything that he was feeling was even his own or if it was also just a result from the brewing amount of negativity he could sense coming from Sans. It made him feel quite sick and nauseous, so much so that Chara almost wanted to scream at Sans to stop and snap out of it, but he resisted as his attention was caught once again at the sight of Gaster walking closer and closer to stand right by his side. Gaster's face was still just as emotionless as beforehand and, now standing directly next to Gaster, Chara could not stop the fear that crept into his combined soul or the hairs on the back of his neck standing up when he felt how icy cold Gaster's magic felt, as Gaster spoke.
"C O M E."
Chara blanched. "Gaster…?"
Being this close, he could definitely feel that something was off with Gaster, now that, thanks to being in contact with Sans's soul, he became hyper aware of the emotion in the magic of others, and briefly he wondered if Sans could feel it as well. There was no way he couldn't. And this sent even more chills down their shared spine.
Betty on the other hand, was perplexed. "Was he mocking me?! Tsk, so one of them has a godsoul now. Big whoop. I can handle this. You're gonna pay for underestimating me." Betty spoke harshly, but then, rather briefly, she wondered if it'd be in her best interest to focus all her attention on the one with the godsoul now, before the monster inside of them woke up and they got access to Sans' powers. Then she could drain the magic of a perfectly synced determination/monster hybrid soul and ensure Monsters would never threaten humanity again! NO ONE could stand up to her with that kind of power in her grasp!
Plus, Betty admitted, Sans was the strongest one of them all still, and it would be quite troublesome if he were to realize what's happening and lent these cretins a hand.
Betty could sense the amount of trauma and fear exuding from the combined body as their godsoul was practically pumping the air full with the feeling. The magic was heavy, and she was almost tempted to take advantage of it. She was the soul of Fear after all. She didn't need to worry about Gaster since she'd beat him before anyways.
He was a nobody. And he always WOULD be.
"how am i still alive?" Sans thought. "i had basically no magic, it should all be gone now. how'm i still here?" He then felt another consciousness touch his own. This surprised Sans even more, as Betty had never paid any attention to him or any of the other SOULs that she had captured, seeing their beings as little more than tools to be used for her own ends, and then discarded them when their usefulness had ended. But now, not only was this person even bothering to pay attention to him, and this consciousness felt like Chara's, it also seemed like they were trying to make sure that he was okay. Even if they were a little rough about it, seeming to scold rather than gently comfort. But, Sans was honestly okay with that.
"okay, but if chara has my soul, and if chara doesn't want to hurt me; why can i feel magic being drained from someone?" Despite these questions Sans still had, his panic was finally starting to lessen a little as he gently touched Chara's mind, calling out to him, to seek reassurance from Chara, as he began to wonder what was happening in the world outside.
Asriel stared in shock at the scene unfolding in front of him, unsure why he was unable to heal Papyrus at all...
Chara felt the slight touch to his soul, and could tell that Sans was feeling much calmer now than earlier, but Chara could not reply back. His attention was hyper focused, as Betty suddenly sped towards their shared body, summoning her scythe in hand.
He gritted his teeth, forcing all his senses into overdrive as he felt Sans's touch again to his soul. Chara barely managed to side step out of the way, as Gaster hadn't even moved a centimeter. Betty's body zoomed past him as Chara moved slightly away. A single silver strand was cut from Chara's head as he grimaced, a cut and then a crack appearing on their cheek from the tip of the scythe barely grazing him as Chara shut closed one eye socket in instinct, half expecting blood to ooze out of the wound but it didn't.
'Too slow.' Chara scolded himself, as Betty's blade seemed to grow bigger as she swung it down towards them again. Chara moved his shield to block but it seemed Gaster was way ahead of them, using his magic hands to block the blade instead. Although Gaster still stayed in place, and just his eyelights following Betty's movements.
Chara could see Betty's eyes widen as she let out a gasp. Gaster had now summoned 5 more magical hands without moving a boney limb, all of them glowing with red determination soul power as they each blasted at Betty, sending her sprawling to the ground.
Papyrus on the other hand, still had his gloved hands tightly clenching his shirt over his chest, gasping weakly as Asriel attempted to heal him. He was still slumped over and on his knees as he watched the battle unfold through hazy vision. 'M..MY MAGIC…' Papyrus huffed, feeling quite tired and terrified, his hand gently squeezing and bunching up the front of his shirt more, lifting it up slightly to expose his spine connecting the ribcage to the Ilium. He still had not even the slightest clue as to what was going on either.
Asriel could feel Papyrus' soul quiver in anticipation as he began to pump more healing magic into Paps body in desperation, sweat soaking through Asriel's white fur, teeth gritted tightly. Why isn't this working?! It's supposed to be working, so WORK DAMNIT! Asriel thought in frustration.
Betty shook off the damage, digging her fingers deep into the ground, still intently focusing her attention on the monster/human hybrid as one of the hands burst out around him, the other one around Gaster to keep him occupied and hopefully, distracted from coming to the hybrid's aid.
Chara summoned his sword in time, slicing at the fingers before they could even grab him. Gaster had also, FINALLY lifted his own arms, this time using Integrity's soul darker blue power to slash at the fingers. Blue razor sharp rings had formed attached to string-like magic connected to the holes in Gasters own hands as they sliced the claw like tendrils into mincemeat, causing Betty to hiss in pain and retract them.
Papyrus let out yet another gasp in pain, as he felt his magic draining more so when Gaster's anger only grew heavier the longer that the fight went on.
Papyrus nearly fell, catching himself as he shot both his arms out, landing on his elbows as he gasped sharply. Sweat and tears forming in Papyrus's eyes, he looked through the corner of his sockets as Gaster had lifted a palm, now the hole in his hand glowing with cyan Patience soul power, clenching it into a fist.
A whip like tentacle wrapped around Betty, easily lifting her off the ground before she could recover as Gaster slammed her body into the ground next to him. When Betty looked up, she could see Gaster staring at her, contempt in his eye sockets, even though his face was still as emotionless. Almost like that of a statue.
It was unnerving, to say the least.
Chara struggled in keeping his focus on the battle in front of him while also feeling Sans attempting to try and get his attention. Part of him wanted to tell Sans he's going to be alright and about what was happening, as he felt Sans grow worried, this emotion now taking over the fear and trauma from earlier, filling Chara's soul and body and making him tense up.
Sans felt Chara starting to use even more magic as the battle truly started again, and then a sharp pain. For a moment Sans felt their shared HP diminish and he felt panicked, thinking about his 1HP and horrid stats and truly thought that this was it but, when he felt Charas determination and the fact they didn't die, he calmed.
When Chara didn't respond to Sans poking his soul one final time, he realized that he most likely wouldn't be able to get the human's attention until it was over. Sans was still very grateful, though, as at least it wasn't Betty who'd taken his soul and that Chara held it instead.
Sans considered trying to lend Chara his magic, and abilities, as he knew that it wouldn't be so bad if he was the one giving it to them voluntarily, but despite their fusion, Sans was still unsure if his SOUL would be able to hold itself together for long.
Though, at the same time, he was actually almost positive that it could, considering that he only had the equivalent of a tiny drop of magic left, which wouldn't really be all that useful for Chara anyway. Sans instead decided that it would be better to basically settle down and rest until the fight was over, as a lack of magic had left him exhausted and barely conscious.
However, just as Sans was about to take a nap, he felt yet another surge of magical drainage, and this time, he realized where it must have been coming from. Because he, Gaster and Paps were all connected to one another via their SOULs, they could all feel to a certain extent what the others were feeling so long as they were somewhat nearby. And since Sans knew that it wasn't his own magic that was being drained, since he had had this tiny sliver of magic that was barely hanging in there ever since Chara had absorbed his SOUL, and that Gaster seemed fine, then that only meant that someone else had to be draining Papyrus' magic.
Sans cried out in alarm, filled with worry and concern again, and he started trying to get Chara's attention again. Sans hoped that they would both be able to stop whoever was draining his brother before it was too late.
"papyrus!" Chara shouted, his eyelights switching to blue for a split second, as magic travelled up to the hybrids throat and out through their closed teeth, without Chara's consent, startling him since they couldn't actually open their mouth at all.
'Oh, right..shared control. I forgot how it felt like whenever that happened, it's been so long technically…' Chara thought to himself, as the fear and worry emanating from Sans' half of their combined soul threatened to drown and consume Chara. And he hated this feeling. He needed to keep his head on the battle, not...whatever the hell was happening inside.
Papyrus looked up weakly, his body trembling and bones rattling gently at the call of his own name when he thought he recognized the voice. "S-SANS…?" Papyrus thought, this seeming to bring just a little more strength into him as hope filled his soul at the familiar voice, almost soothing it, though not by much.
Gaster still was unblinking, his emotions, specifically anger and hate, continuing to build as he summoned two more magical hands, each one glowing with yellow Justice soul magic and firing even more blasts at Betty.
Betty quickly got to her feet, running to dodge the bullets, before turning around, changing her arm into a shield to defend herself.
Still, Gaster's rage continued to brew as he spoke again, "Is that all?...then…" Gaster flexed his fingers, purple Perseverance soul magic temporarily escaping as he clenched his fists.
Chara chilled at the strength of that magic, as how even colder Gaster felt struck their shared soul, as if the hybrid had been thrown into a bucket of ice cold water. Chara was still getting used to the fact that now his shared soul was so sensitive to that of those around him, able to sense the intensity of the emotions from the magic of others and even how strongly someones 'intent to kill' was.
Though maybe it was also just because Chara's human red soul was currently fused to that of Sans, the literal JUDGE of the Underground, able to cast away sinners in the blink of an eye and kill you a hundred times over with sharp bones, or the mere flick of a wrist which would send your body slamming hard into a wall or blasting you with one of his Gaster blasters, if one had far too much LOVE; or could also even be your best friend and partner, if you were a Pacifist.
Chara's face darkened and his red eyelights shrank to that of tiny little pin pricks as he finally felt the full extent of Gaster's rage. Near rivalling that of what Chara felt when he got to LV19. "G-Gaster wai-!" He tried to call out to him, but it seemed Gaster could not hear him. And even if he did, it seemed that Gaster did not care either way.
"It's my turn."
Gaster's voice was cold like death warmed over. If Chara and Sans were the Judge in this fight, then most certainly, Gaster was the executioner.
And Chara, still feeling the worry coming from Sans inside of him, and now the freezing cold hatred absolutely spilling out from Gaster's body like a dam had been blown wide open with a literal bomb, could not find it in him to move as Gaster let out a rage-induced m.
Papyrus felt his bones crack from the pressure as he felt yet another, far stronger surge of his magic being drained. If his soul magic had been at about 80%, it dropped to about half in no time flat. Papyrus had once again fallen forward, unable to catch himself this time, as he felt the strength leave his body, his chest was now touching the lap of his legs and he could not move himself as he continued to sweat and tear up in fear. His body now felt as if it were made of lead, his vision hazy.
"PAPYRUS!" Asriel cried, tears escaping his eyes, as he tried to help Papyrus sit up, finding that even if he could, he would not stay that way for very long as he continued to lose more and more magic. Asriel began to panic as well now. 'If this keeps up, Papyrus will die…! Why is my magic not healing him?! I'm my parents' SON for pete's sake! They healed thousands in the War, and I can't even heal one person...'
Chara saw Gasters' eyelights flashing quickly from red, to purple, back and forth repeatedly before finally deciding on sticking to purple. Behind Gaster, 7 smaller Magical hands formed, followed by 2 extremely large hands AND one massive, giant Gaster Blaster, each one completely filling the air with the same exact amount of hate, grief, rage, guilt, sadness and sorrow Gaster had been harboring ever since Chara had fused with Sans and Chara couldn't help but feel that this was his own fault.
Chara was terrified. And it showed as at this point, the hybrid was now collectively frozen into place by fear at what Gaster was about to do.
Gaster gritted his teeth as the two giant hands shot forward, one of them grabbing Betty, effectively trapping her hands and arms to her sides as she was lifted up again. The second one moved down to Betty's legs as Gaster began to twist and tear.
"YOU WON'T ESCAPE THIS TIME."
Gaster spoke, his voice still leaking that icy cold tone to it tearing off Betty's legs effortlessly, as Paps' magic continued being drained from him. Betty let out a painful screech as she was released, bloody stumps now where her legs had once been.
Pappy began to fall more limply against Asriel who still struggled to hold him upright in a sitting position, so he could have better access in healing Paps' soul directly. Papyrus' magic was now at a mere and shaking 30% from 50%.
Asriel was at a loss of what to do. He was now torn between wanting to watch the fight but also to continue trying to help Papyrus. There was also a shaky fear of Papyrus dusting in his care that Asriel simply couldn't ignore, which only increased Asriel's frustration.
'What the heck is happening? I'M A FREAKING BOSS MONSTER! Why isn't my magic working?!' Asriel thought in frustration, still struggling to heal Papyrus's magic output and feeling quite desperate.
Chara's worry seemed to only intensify, as he couldn't even focus on the fight anymore. Sans' worries for his brother were now forcing Chara to want to only focus on Paps and think about why Paps now had less than half of his magic left?! And who was doing this to him? Who kept trying to kill his brother?!
It made Chara feel sick to his stomach, feeling the need to vomit as he struggled against Sans' wants and urges, and especially the horrible need to want to jump in should Gaster be in danger, to which all of Chara's own nerves and systems were sending all kinds of red flags to stay the hell away from, sensing Gaster as possibly a danger to both himself and those around him, just from the sheer amount of animosity exploding out of the skeleton father. There was no telling that if Chara got involved now, whether Gaster would even be able to tell that the hybrid was friend, not foe. And Chara certainly did not want to risk their lives in finding that out. Although, a part of him also felt guilty still, understanding Sans' worry, as he was almost sure that he'd be just as distracted if the same thing was happening to Asriel.
Shakily, Chara allowed himself to take a glance over to his brother and Papyrus, noticing how close to unconsciousness Papyrus was at this point. And Chara feared if they didn't do something fast, they'd end up losing someone on this day after all...
Sans watched as his father continued to brutalize Betty through Chara's eyes with ever growing anxiety. He could still feel that Papyrus' magic was being drained and he desperately wanted to help out his brother, to the point where he basically started shouting at Chara, desperately trying to convince him to help Asriel.
At first, Chara was too distracted by making sure that Betty didn't manage to slip away from Gaster and kill them both, but as time went on, Sans was able to tell that they were quite worried as well. Even when they attempted to reassure Sans, by telling him that Papyrus would be okay, they didn't really seem like they believed it to be true themselves.
This became especially true, as when Chara turned their attention over to the Prince and Papyrus, and took in the sight of how close Papyrus seemed to be from dusting, Sans felt the pang of worry coming from them, and how their determination seemed to disappear a little.
'Come on...focus…! Sans, he'll be okay… just, let me focus...okay? I promise he'll be fine!' Chara mentally argued with himself, half hoping Sans could hear him as he continued to watch Gaster tear Betty apart, the more magic Gaster was using the more Chara worried for Gaster's soul and wellbeing, as Chara could sense Gaster's soul beginning to crack, and the fact it was starting to seem that Paps was losing magic equal to whenever Gaster used magic…
'Sans..I...I think Gaster might be using Paps magic to make his own stronger…'
Chara told Sans their theory. At first Sans didn't really believe them, telling them that Gaster would never hurt any of them, that he wanted to keep them all safe too, but as time went on, that got harder and harder to believe. After all, Papyrus' magic levels did seem to drop every time that Gaster used an attack. And now they were dropping to truly dangerous levels and Gaster's SOUL was starting to crack.
Chara could already feel Sans wanting to argue with this theory, saying Gaster would never put Papyrus in danger like that, but it was looking more and more like this wasn't just a theory anymore when the sky began to turn black, as Gaster forced more magic and Paps' magic supply suddenly dropped to a very dangerous 5% of his magic reserves. And Papyrus now indeed looked just like hardened dust, as he laid there besides Asriel, shivering bone and seeping magic. Chara knew there was no way Sans could deny this possibility anymore. Not if he wanted a chance in saving Papyrus.
Chara knew he couldn't let Gaster continue on like this either, and knew he needed to step in.
Especially since Gaster seemed so incessantly keen on making sure there was nothing of Betty's body left, not even a single strand of hair or blood splatter.
Fine.
He could step in and finish it, but first he needed Sans' help in snapping Gaster out of his grief and get him to calm down before Gaster did something he'd regret for the rest of his life. Sans needed to be the one to let him know he was still alive and well. It was obvious at this point Gaster may not have even heard Sans reply and possibly truly believed that Sans was dead. Gaster needed to speak to his son personally. Or Gaster could potentially kill himself and Papyrus, or even just Papyrus only.
It was the only way to save Papyrus and save Gaster from himself.
Chara could sense Gaster's soul starting to crack even worse and now Papyrus' magic supply had hit the 2% marker. Around the same level as when Papyrus had saved Sans from Betty and the Hatred and when he came back to them in the Fallen Down state.
Sans realized at the same time that Chara did that it was now or never, so he quickly took control of their shared body for the second time.
It was now or never.
Do or die.
No holds barred.
No pressure, right?
"gaster, stop!" Sans shouted, desperate to save them both and make himself loud and clear for Gaster to hear through the angry storm Gaster was currently inside of, lost and afraid and grieving for the son he never actually lost.
"i'm still here dad. even if it's not exactly the same as it used to be. so please, stop before you kill yourself and papyrus." Sans begged, a few tears began to leak from the eye sockets of the hybrid's body, sorrow shining in their now blue eyelights.
Fortunately, as soon as Gaster heard Sans voice, he stopped attacking Betty all at once. Like, someone had relit a candle, and the hatred seeping out of the skeleton ceased altogether like it wasn't even there to begin with.
Had Sans waited a couple more seconds, then Gaster and Papyrus would have surely died, but luckily, it was enough. Gaster de-summoned his blaster and all of the hands, his purple eyelights disappearing and being replaced by a red eyelight and a very faint blue eyelight. As this happened, Papyrus' left eyelight also flashed red and some of the cracks on his body healed as all of the magic that Gaster had taken from him but hadn't used was returned to him. Papyrus gasped, now fully awake, and returning back to consciousness with a jolt.
"PAPS!" Asriel cried, joyous, as he practically threw himself over the tall skeleton brother and cried his little heart out that Paps didn't dust right then and there.
Paps stared at the young Prince in confusion, before gently placing a boney hand over the back of Azzy's head, the other resting on the small of his back to try and comfort him.
Chara, now that they knew for sure Paps and Gaster were no longer in immediate danger, took this opportunity to retake control, along with Sans. The hybrid's eyes glowing both red and blue at the same time now, as Sans summoned whatever little magic he had, and Chara began focusing their determination. Sans, with the aid of Chara's determination, which he began allowing Sans to borrow, summoned one final Gaster blaster, whose own eye sockets also now glowed a red and blue eyelight as he then blasted a firey red and blue colored beam at whatever was left of Betty's corpse.
This caused a huge explosion, strong enough to wipe out an entire City block and leave a massive crater in its wake, and dealing a devastating 9999999 damage as Betty's body disintegrated into nothingness. Not even her own blood remained as it was completely obliterated, Hate and all.
The feeling tingled all along the Hybrids whole body and their souls leaving them both quite exhausted, Sans having lost consciousness almost immediately as soon as the beam had died down and so the Blaster disintegrated as well.
"Whew…" Chara breathed, flopping down to the ground a bit groggily.
Asriel let out a sigh of relief now that the danger had passed. Feeling quite exhausted having also used a good amount of his own magic in attempt to heal Papyrus. "Finally…"
Gaster collapsed to his knees, taking in the sight of Betty finally being gone,now appearing like all the energy had been spent out of him as he sat there, disgusted in himself and the idea of what he'd almost done. Of the idea of losing Papyrus. And he hated himself. Gaster sucked in a breath and closed his eyes.
Papyrus however, still unsure of what was happening, did not hold any hate for Gaster. His father had been through a lot, and he didn't blame Gaster one bit.
Still, it seemed Gaster was purposely trying to avoid Papyrus' gaze as he mumbled out, "I'm so tired…" Before losing consciousness.
Papyrus caught him, laying him down gently, as Chara turned his head towards Paps and Asriel, he felt his body start to relax as he took in what remained of his friends and family happy they'd all managed to make it out alive.
He could see the looks of Azzy and Paps' faces, tons of questions they wanted to ask him, and probably Sans too but Chara told them he'll explain later and they should go find mom and the king, their dad. He could feel Sans' SOUL resting inside of their body, completely exhausted but no longer afraid and no longer dying. Safe.
Chara offered to help Paps carry Gaster since he could tell on the skeleton's face he looked about ready to pass out himself, but Paps insisted in wanting to carry their father back. Chara nodded in understanding, as he began to make their way back to the stadium where surely Toriel and Asgore waited. One of his hands moved subconsciously over his own chest right over his soul, protectively and in a comforting manner as he whispered to himself and to Sans, although knowing Sans probably couldn't hear him.
"We did it. Told you I'd protect them all...thanks for trusting in me Uncle Sans."