#rocksan

Word Count: 1,474

Gaster felt like he was still there, yet he really wasn't. He knew that. No matter what he saw blackness as far as he can see. He couldn't really tell if his eyes were even opened or closed, if he was anywhere. He didn't even know if his soul had shattered or not.

He'd rather be walking in Snowdin's forest or the Ruins but it couldn't really be helped. Though after a bit of waiting that seemed to change. It seemed Gaster materialized somewhere in the ruins, probably not too far from Toriel's place.

He looked at his hands, which were glitching every few moments and looked slightly like they were melting and fading. The rest of his body looked the same. He moved slowly at first, testing what he can do before he began to pick up the pace.

No one ever looked at him, like he wasn't even there. He seemed like he turned into a ghost monster but definitely on the dead side. Even Toriel ignored his presence as he watched her go about her day for a bit before moving on. Most he could note is she seemed slow moving, as if upset.

He just walked to Snowdin without any feeling of cold. Normally he could from all his magic but now it felt nice this way. He was thankful for that. It was always a problem during his walks.

When he got to Snowdin, he noticed how it's actually been quite a while since he fell. Sans and Papyrus were talking to some people in town with full snow outfits on and suitcases behind them. Sans was talking about a house for the two of them. Papyrus seemed to wave Gaster's way, making the skeleton look behind himself before slightly waving back. The kid looked pleased with that.

Eventually Sans just moved into Anton's. Grillby was working tonight and the two talked like friends. Papyrus sat on a barstool happily and waved at the flame monster. It seems like Grillby was going to help out the two skeletons, being the only monster that at least acted like he knew them. Everyone else seemed to forget, at least knowing them somewhat since the monster population wasn't that high and they visited frequently, but Grillby and Anton were the only ones that the two personally had that knew them.

That made Gaster wonder where Anton could be, moving to the kitchen at the same time as Grillby. The flame showed Gaster where Anton was, even if not on purpose, sitting curled up in a corner. He was even more dull than before. His flames barely lit up the walls around him and he was beginning to turn orange and yellow like Grillby.

"Sans says he wishes to work for us so he can support his brother." Grillby says as he sits down in front of his father. "I was thinking we could pay for their house as long as Sans works enough to pay it off."

Anton lifted a shaky hand. 'Sounds like a plan.' He didn't write anything else. Grillby sat in silence for a moment before getting up to report to Sans. Gaster just watched the flame and skeleton talk and work things out. If there was anything strange Gaster saw recently, it was how much Sans used his magic. Ye barely used it before but now he seemed to use it for every little thing, as if he wanted to drain himself.

Gaster began to move on once it got boring to watch them work on paperwork, making his way to Waterfall. He didn't expect to find much there but was surprised when he passed an echo flower field. He found Rocksan silently crying all alone. He didn't know why she was like that but when he moved closer she quickly looked in his direction. She didn't seem to see him, for when he looked behind himself she said nothing and shook it off. She dried her tears and walked away.

Gaster found nothing in Hotland besides Cuddles and his other blasters sleeping in his old room. Papyrus could summon Cuddles anytime so Gaster guessed the blaster prefered this room as a nap spot. By the cyan eyelights in one of the ones that were awake, Sans had taken over Gaster's. At least this room was a part of the lab only a very select few monsters knew about.

The capital would provide Gaster of the answers he needed to understand what was going on. More specifically the castle would do so. He found Undyne begging Asgore for something.

"You gotta train me so I can be in the guard like momma! So I can get the last human soul myself like how you got the last six!" That wasn't right. Did Undyne misunderstand who's been doing such a thing? Asgore couldn't even put the souls in a jar since he'd just absorb them.

"Ah… yes. That's right. I did." The way Asgore responded was awkward. He wasn't really a good liar, so it was clear to Gaster he knew he didn't do it, yet his face seemed like he struggled to remember exactly who did. It made it clear to Gaster what happened to him when he fell in the CORE.

Those who barely knew him forgot him, and those who were close struggled to even remember him. It was like he never lived at all.

He watched Asgore take his burden from Undyne's words before they made a deal. If Undyne could beat Asgore in a duel, she can take her mother's position.

Gaster decided to leave and head back to Snowdon, back to Anton's. He made those close to him depressed about him being gone, so he decided to stay near the dying flame that was Anton. Maybe he can sense Gaster's presence like Rocksan seemed to, so he can at least be there.

He sat next to the flame monster most of the time, sometimes listening to Anton and Grillby talk. Anton seemed to lean Gaster's way so he was content with that. He didn't know how to feel when Anton admitted that he loved him. It was awkward to realize he missed that detail. He just kept close either way. He had nothing better to do anyways besides sit there and watch as Sans or Grillby go in and out of the kitchen. If Anton moved, he just moved with.

It wouldn't be long until Anton stayed where he was no matter what. Both Grillby and Gaster stayed behind with him. They watched his flames weaken before dying out completely. No dust, unlike a normal monster. Just embers.

Gaster stayed there for a while, even if Anton was gone or Grillby had already left. He stayed until he saw Sans walk in for work, deciding to get up to at least do something. He made his way to the bar to sit on one of the stools. He watched the casual life of the place and the only two employees occasionally work. They mostly got to talk to each other because it wasn't that busy. It never was. Anton and Grillby lived a calm and happy life here, the complete opposite of Gaster's. When Anton meddled in his life, he ruined his own.

Gaster shook his head a bit, as if throwing the thought out of his head, before sliding off the stool to head out. He decided to just leave for better thoughts, or at least somewhat better. He made his way to Waterfall again, finding Rocksan's river so that when she passed by to drop someone off, he hopped on.

There was a lot more to look at on the river way. New monsters too. It was more relaxing now thanks to Rocksan not fully realizing he was there. He can now stay as long as he wants.

The only problem was that it got boring after a long while. When things got boring, ge thinks way too much. The only other place he could go that he somewhat had something to do is the capital, yet he wasn't so sure he wanted to be there right now.

He ended up back in Snowdon, though this time sitting on the stairs of Sans and Papyrus' new house. He watched Papyrus run up the stairs, too busy to pat attention to Gaster, to head to his room after they were back from Anton's. Well, Grillby's now.

Gaster would honestly wish to leave this world, going with Anton to wherever he went, yet it wasn't possible so far. Instead, he was still stuck in this reality to watch over all he had caused. He eventually decided to just accept it, to watch and wait.

To wait and see if another human would fall. To wait and see if monsters could be free someday.

Connecting Bonds Arc End

First | Previous

Rocksan! My skele OC! How lovely. She isnt usually injured, but in an Discord RP with her she did, so I drew her like this, I can always fix her up in a different drawing to show her without the injuries. Also, her eyesocket isn’t the only thing hurt, so is her left arm! Whoops. The radius got snapped but she’ll be fiiiiiiine

*kicks down the door* HERE IS A SHIP CHILD!

So, me and @nighthowl3 together, made a ship child for Rocksan and Gaster.

So here is Iskra :D

Personality:

- Caring and protective to loved ones - Taught science by Gaster - Curious for science and people interactions and personally - Ambivert - May just observe people but may talk to others based on reasons for doing so - Carries notebook and pencil with him - Nervous when forced to talk to people or he doesn't like - Almost gets flustered easily depending on the situation                                                                                                                   - Becomes a better artist overtime by drawing what he observes - Wears a round, gold locket from his family. Likes to grip it while its on his neck, like hes protecting it. He does this especially when away from his family - Shorter than most kids when a kid, but when he's a teen he's taller than most teens ( is around 3'6 I think)

-afraid of blood and yelling

Word Count: 1,729

"How did you know Aster Wingding?" Gaster asks as he stares intently at the other. Rocksan took a moment to answer as her dog boat thing looked at her.

"He was someone in my school that died a long time ago." She answers quietly. "He was suspected to be a murder victim but the killer was never found."

"Only suspected?" Gaster comments, hoping to get more information out before asking a different question.

"They couldn't even get much information about the case since he was a closed off kid and was an orphan. He just was found dead one day. He only talked to one person ever and not even they knew what happened the night before he died." Gaster believed there was more to that story but didn't push it any further.

"Do you know what he was like?" Gaster spoke like his human self was a completely different person. It wasn't like he was wrong, since he could be compared to a permanent amnesiac. He wouldn't know what he felt back then or anything.

"Well…" Rocksan had to think of an answer. "Not too different. He had a sharp tongue to everyone compared to your sharp actions of avoiding people." Gaster rolled his eyes and looked away grumpily, just letting her continue. "Less friends and at best occasionally happy." She's really annoying sometimes. "I think you two were similar only because the world wronged both of you in some way, making you two grumpy misfits."

"Oh great." Gaster growled out. "I'm glad we're both similarly terrible." Rocksan let out a genuine, bubbly laugh to Gaster's surprise. He didn't think she'd laugh at his sarcastic comments. He just decided to think of another one of his questions. "Did you know Aster personally?"

This question provoked an interesting response. Rocksan didn't answer and avoided eye constant. Gaster would ask again to push for a definite said question but the two were interrupted.

"We got books!" It was Papyrus, bounding on over to them. Sans followed behind casually waved at Gaster.

"Books checked out and ready to go, G." He says and pats the young skeleton's head.

"Alright." Gaster says, internally groaning. Ge looks at Rocksan before stepping on the boat. Both Papyrus and Sans followed, though Papyrus was on the other' shoulders for the sake of space.

When the two got off Gaster looked at Rocksan again before stepping off himself. "Now you get more time on your answer." Rocksan didn't respond but it didn't matter. Gaster would be back again without Papyrus and Sans hopefully so they don't get interrupted again.

Did it go that way? Not exactly.

When Gaster went over to meet Rocksan once again, Asgore had noticed the two and was heading on over. Rather than looking like the king of all monsters that he was, he looked like just a casual monster that went shopping recently.

"It is a surprise to see you here, Gaster." He says with a heart warming smile. Gaster just rolled his eyes.

"I think it's more surprising to see you around here." He responds as he crosses his arms. Asgore lets out a laugh and pats Gaster on the head, as if trying to keep the skeleton calm.

"Well I've just been shopping. Thought it would be a good idea to also see how people are doing around here as the king." Asgore said. "What about you, Gaster?"

Gaster didn't know what to say at first. "Just came back from dropping off Papyrus' old library books." Asgore would've believed him if Rocksan didn't speak up.

"Didn't you already do that a while ago with Papyrus and Sans?" Asgore blinked before his smile weakened, realizing something.

"I see." He says and looks at Gaster again. "I hope things are going alright then." The scientist just avoided looking at the other directly. "But speaking of Sans and Papyrus, how are they doing? I haven't ran into them in a while."

"They're doing fine." Was Gaster's simple answer.

"Well tell then that if they want they can stop by and have some tea." Asgore says and smiles a bit more before looking at Rocksan. "You are invited to stop by as well. We can maybe chat over some tea then."

Rocksan seemed surprised yo be talked to. "Oh, I'll see if I can. Thank you."

"It's no problem. Visitors are always welcome anyways." The amount of softness that radiated from this goat was obvious and at large. He looks at Gaster. "That includes you too. I'm hoping one of these times you come to visit me just to casually hang out at least once."

"Too busy." Gaster responded. Asgore gave him a curious look.

"With what?" He asks, making Gaster look away. He looks at Rocksan and remembers.

"With finding and making transportation around Hotland." Rocksan seemed surprised at Gaster's answer. Meanwhile Ashore wraps him in a big hug.

"What a wonderful idea!" He lets go of the annoyed skeleton. "Anyways you can make it a cooler one too? With all this but I'm hesitant to even go back to the castle!"

"I'll see, but obviously you'll survive either way." Gaster says but Asgore just laughs at that.

"Well I must get going to Snowdin." He looks at Rocksan. "Do you mind giving me a ride?"

"Not at all. Hop on." Asgore does just that and soon the two were gone. Gaster just left deciding to give up on chasing his past self. Maybe he should work on those plans now anyways since he's free.

So he did just that. Project CORE was soon underway to busy his time and help out a bit. His ideas would grow out of hand as he makes the blueprints but he believed it could be done, upgrading Hotland in a sense, though he still expected snags and hiccups.

There was already one when he went to tell Asgore about his ideas. Rocksan was happily chatting with the king when he arrived. Gaster groaned but approached the two anyways.

"Oh! Gaster! It's good to see you!" Ashore smiled at his friend and drags Rocksan's attention to the royal scientist.

"Are you too busy or can I talk to you about something?" Gaster asks, quickly.

"Well you can have some tea with us and when Rocksan leaves we can talk, alright?" Asgore knew it was business matters due to the rolled up blueprints in Gaster's hands.

"Fine." Gaster says, but it didn't mean he would probably hang out. Instead he sat on the stairs to wait. He could hear Asgore sigh and soon the two talking. Gaster tried not to hear them when it was about them.

Rocksan eventually left, Gaster of course could tell. Ashore sat next to him and offered a cup of tea.

"Are you alright?" Gaster just nodded a bit at the king's question. "She talks to both me and you it seems. She was curious to know about you too. Do you think things are getting better?" Asgore knew from the beginning who she was since it was hooded cape disguise after all and after a bit of talking last time Gaster visited, Asgore could guess why he lied by the river and why Rocksan was curious.

"I don't really care if it does anymore. It doesn't really matter at this point." Gaster just changed the conversation to the blueprints so he didn't have to talk about that anymore.

Soon Gaster had a construction team to work with him on the project. He supervised and proved certain materials the team would need in construction that only Gaster could make. Whenever he wasn't doing that he was relaxing in the snow forest outside of Snowdin, waiting to see if a human would come by. That was another job he had to focus on, so Asgore didn't have to. It wasn't something the king should have to do. It was his testing and experiments on getting rid of the barrier anyways, so he should catch his own "specimen" so to say. It's his problem.

A human would eventually fall somewhat early into the CORE's construction. That would be the third. Their soul was unfortunately a reminding orange and their body was left to be buried in the snow. It was only their fate. Soon their gloves and bandana would be found in nearby snow.

The fourth human ran into trouble with the guards around in Hotland before Gaster even knew about them, due to supervising as they were halfway through the CORE project. Since Asgore declared a war on humans a few years back, the knights have been trying to catch any they see. They didn't really manage though, only close attempts of cornering them like this one but Gaster always got to them first. In fact, this human ran into the ruins they originally tried to avoid because of this.

Sans was the one who spotted them sneaking through the labs after putting Papyrus to bed. He paged Gaster as soon as he saw them. It took a while for said skeleton to get there, but at least the human was still wandering about.

Almost without hesitation, Gaster swiftly killed the human essentially in a surprise attack once he spotted them. He didn't even warn Sans at all.

"Apologies." He says as he pulls out the soul, which was a green one. "But do you mind cleaning this up for me? I have to notify Asgore of something." Sans just slowly nodded since he wasn't sure what to say other than that. This was just the grim truth after all.

The fifth human would appear even later around the end of the CORE's long production. They were in Waterfall when Gaster was on his way to Snowdin. They weren't far from the main riverway, which is probably why Rocksan later visited the lab later out of concern.

She asked Sans for Gaster and got directions to where he was. He was in the deepest part of the lab where the souls were stored.

Rocksan found him sitting on the floor next to the five collected souls, staring at them all. She knew the newest one was the purple one, similar to Gaster's soul before he could even remember. He probably knew that fact too.

"Are you okay?" Rocksan asks, hoping not to surprise him, yet he didn't seem to care.

"I don't know."

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Word Count: 2,064

Rocksan didn't leave when she found Gaster in such a mental state. She moved the soul containers to the wall away from Gaster before coming back to sit in front of him since he was still staring at the same spot.

"I heard the CORE will be open soon." Rocksan says, trying to make conversation with the other.

"In a week if testing goes well."

"I bet people will really like it."

"Mhm." Rocksan wasn't getting very far with this. Gaster only gave minimal responses. He did eventually mutter something while the two were both silent. "Two more to go."

"Is that so…?" Rocksan mutters. She knows very well that they could be out only halfway through the CORE's development or even now with the soul recently collected. Maybe they would have never been down here in the first place.

Gaster mover to bury his face in his hands and leaned over. "How many people have I ended the lives of? How many lives have I ruined?" Rocksan didn't know what to say in response to that. She's of course never seen Gaster in a state like this and no one else might have. Never so admittedly broken in this way at least.

The second one to see would be in soon. Anton softly knocked on the door before entering and slightly illuminating the very poorly lit room. He seemed to already figured what was up as he shut the door. He sat on the ground beside Gaster to wrap his arms around the other.

"Do you think Vedran is disappointed in me?" While Rocksan didn't understand, Anton clearly did as he shook his head. He had Gaster look up in his direction after that.

'I'm sure he's not. He just wishes the best for you.' Anton writes. Gaster just stares, seeming unsure instead. 'I've visited Asgore since you didn't seem like yourself lately. You couldn't burden it anymore, huh?' Anton gave him a weak smile. 'I'm sorry but I just wanted to know what was wrong.'

Gaster shook his head before lowering it again. Anton just gave a comforting kiss on the forehead. Rocksan didn't know much more than Anton was doing better at this than she was. She was going to leave to let Anton take care of it instead but he grabbed her by her sleeve. He offered an arm for her to join the hug as well.

Rocksan was very hesitant at first, wondering if she even belonged, before she gave in and hugged Gaster with Anton. The scientist seemed to calm down after a while until there was a beeping noise. He pulled away and took out a small device. After a moment of looking at it he speaks up.

"I gotta go." He says and teleports off without waiting for any kind of response. Anton silently sighs after just a moment.

'He better not be pushing himself again…' He writes. Rocksan nodded in response and let out a not silent sigh. She could only guess he was doing just that.

Gaster went all the way to another part of Hotland. That's where Sans paged him to go at least. Of course, he was not too far off from there and seemed to be watching something. Gaster heads on over and gets Sans' attention.

"Where?" He almost glares at the other a bit, clearly making Sans more worried than he was before.

"Over there." Sans pointed in a direction with a human like figure in the distance. "They shot Aella back in Snowdon and when their weapon stopped working they started running from everyone they see. I got the monster looking after Aella's kid to look after Papyrus and paged you while running after them to find where they were so-"

"So I can do the dirty work myself." Gaster says, cutting the other off before the details so he can just start his way over to the human already. Sans seemed troubled by that but didn't bother to speak up about it.

When the human noticed him and tried to run away, Gaster just appeared in front of them. Even when they tried to run away in a different direction the same thing would happen then. There was clearly no way Gaster would let them escape. Even they knew that.

Tears began to form in the human's eyes. "How could you take them from me?! What did they do to you monsters?!" Gaster could already have a good guess on what they meant and why they were throwing such a fit down here. He pulled on their soul and lifted them into the air.

"Doesn't mean you can just prance around here causing more problems than we need since we have other problems to deal with in the first place." Gaster glares before piercing them for a somewhat merciless and painless death.

Gaster stared at the yellow soul for a moment after he pulled it out. A soul of justice killed Aella, a mother who just wished to help and protect her kingdom. Everyone's justice can be just that different.

The scientist made his way back to where Sans is. He forcibly gives the soul to the other and starts to walk off, almost leaving Sans completely confused. "I've got some things to do, bring that to the lab."

He went all the way to Snowdin first, where Aella was shot and killed. Monsters were already collecting the dust and mourning about the event together. Besides passing by to see what was going on with that, he also came here because Undyne's babysitter was here. He's pretty sure the babysitter was also the one Alphys was given to after Aksinya's death until she had a proper new parent.

The monster answered the door even if seeming both surprised and confused about his arrival. When he asked for Undyne it lowered both feelings a bit with a tinge of sadness, knowing why he would ask for the poor child. He was one of the pick-up guardians in case something happened and this was one of those very cases. He told them to look after Papyrus a bit longer until Sans can pick him up though.

Nothing was said between Undyne and Gaster until they reached Hotland. "Why are going all the way over here? Mama's house is back thata way." She pointed behind them with one hand while holding Gaster's hand with the other.

"No one can watch you there." Gaster simply answers her. He knows he had to be the one to break the facts to her but he didn't exactly want to.

"Mama can! She always takes care of me!" Undyne exclaims innocently. Gaster tried not to empathize with her since he knows what it's like losing the person taking care of you but it's hard not to anyways.

"She's gone. She doesn't belong to the same world as us anymore." He didn't know how to say it exactly but she seemed to understand it being put that way anyways. Her head fins lowered and tears started to form as the reality started to hit her hard. her voice cracked when she tried to speak in response.

"G-gone?" The tears rolled down her cheeks. "She can't be gone! She has to play music for me and tuck me in at bedtime and show me how to fight and-"

"She's gone and there's nothing you can do about it!" Gaster snaps. They both stop in their tracks and fall silent until Gaster tugs her arm to in a sense say keep going. Undyne speaks up after a small sniffle.

"What do I do then?" She asks. "What do I do without my mama?"

"I'm going to take you to someone who can take care of you. It won't be the same but at least you'll have someone." Undyne just seemed to accept that and kept walking with the other.

She kept her gaze down, probably trying to comprehend it fully, until Gaster knocked on the castle doors. Asgore answered after just a moment, surprised to even see the two.

"What brings you here with Undyne?" He asks the unusual visitor. Gaster gently pushed the kid forward on her back with his hand.

"I just thought that since you have a problem with being lonely, you could look after her." Gaster answers. Asgore didn't quite understand it all yet but told Undyne to head inside to the living room. "Aella got killed by a human that fell down. I took care of them though." The scientist mutters to continue and explain. He hoped Undyne didn't hear but it was hard to tell. With his luck she probably did.

"I see… how unfortunate then…" Asgore mutters in response. When Gaster went to turn and leave, the king spoke again. "Look, Gaster. I know this has been taking a toll on you. How about you come in for a cup of tea? Please?"

Gaster hesitated before he just let out a sigh. "Fine." Asgore got the tea brewing once Gaster came inside. He then got Undyne situated in his home before the tea was ready so he fan pour some for all three there.

"Are you sure you're fine by yourself?" Asgore asks when he hands Gaster his cup. "It's only one more. Should I take this last one?"

"It's because it's only one more that I should take this last one." Gaster responds. Asgore seemed to really want to press on but knew it wouldn't get anywhere, knowing Gaster at least.

"Then how about this. If they make it to my castle, I'll deal with them. If the guards get them, I'll tell them to bring them to you. How's that?" Asgore offers.

"Works for me." Since there was little hesitation, Asgore figures the other would just lie about it anyways. He at least tried to make a deal, but now he was out of options. He just let Gaster go when his tea was gone and continued helping Undyne settle in.

Gaster kept himself in the labs most of the time after to wait. He didn't talk to anyone, even if Anton or Rocksan came by. They would try to get him to open up but it didn't really work. Sometimes Anton would just hug him for long periods of time or Rocksan would sit next to him for awhile.

The only thing that made a difference was dragon fossils that was delivered to him from areas dug out for some of the CORE's area additions, small extra projects. Gaster inspected and even dated them for their age, pretty impressed by the ancient monsters. Legends did say they were strong enough that at least their bones don't dust yet Gaster didn't think it was true until now. He decided to do some experiments with them.

Sadly Gaster couldn't manage it with the whole body, due to missing pieces especially, but using a small skull of a dragon he managed to link his soul up to it to essentially revive it with the soul energy. It had purple eyelights, like Gaster's somewhat of a soul color, and flew around at first to explore the labs. After a long and absolutely annoying chase, Gaster managed to see what it could do and how the link works. He found he could summon it, which would have been useful earlier, while the skull itself could shoot beams like a dragon's breath somewhat and teleport around.

Gaster didn't like how affectionate the skull ended up being, even if probably being only a young dragon anyways. It was constantly nuzzling up against him and flying in circles around him. He'd rather one of the older skulls. He might give this one to Papyrus for a trade out so he doesn't have to deal with it. He'd much prefer that than keep the annoying thing around.

He did end up introducing the dragon skull to Papyrus and they got along well to the point the young skeleton named it "Cuddles" since it was so affectionate. Cuddles eyelights soon changed to orange after that and Papyrus had an easy pet to look after with Sans.

Gaster could just make more from there anyways. It didn't really take a toll on his soul either like a connected weak soul. He just hoped the next ones aren't that affectionate this time so he can have easier ones to handle.

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Word Count: 1,925

Compared to the other humans, it's been a long time since one has fallen down. Gaster spent his time waiting after he was done with his experiments. There wasn't much more for hum to do besides giving some blueprints and parts for adding onto the CORE every once and awhile. It wasn't enough to cure his boredom fully.

He still ignored Rocksan and Anton when they came by. He didn't care if it upset or worried them. He just wasn't in the mood for talking anymore. How could he be?

Gaster found himself pacing different rooms of the lab, muttering to himself. Usually no one was there when he did this, though if anyone did come by he'd stop and normally be silent.

One time it was Papyrus who came by, racing up with a paper in his hand. Gaster's red scarf was neatly tied around his neck, as it always seems to be since the first day Papyrus managed to get to wear it.

"Look at what I made!" Papyrus exclaims, shoving the paper in the other's blank face. The paper had a crayon drawing with Gaster, who was drawn fairly tall with the purple scarf on, in the middle. Sans and Papyrus were at his sides, Sans wearing his blue jacket while Papyrus had the red scarf and a yellow jacket. All three of them were smiling on the snowy scenery with Snowdin's decorated tree Papyrus loves a lot.

Something probably should have clicked inside Gaster, yet nothing did. "That's nice. Did you show Sans yet?" He simply responded, knowing Papyrus won't stop bothering without any answer. He was used to that fact by now.

"Yeah!" Papyrus answered. That was a fair one since he was probably next to Sans when he made it.

"Then go ask him where you should put it." Gaster responds, making Papyrus nod and run off. The scientist rubbed his face once the kid was gone, now having forgotten what he was pacing and muttering about. Papyrus had thrown him off track.

Gaster just decided to leave the labs for now and take a walk to Snowdin. Maybe he just needed fresh air, as fresh as it gets at least.

He didn't know exactly what he was going to do once he got to the snowy forest area but he just knew that's how far he was going to go. It wasn't until he walked past Anton's that he decided he would go in.

The place was it's usual warm feel and customers. The only difference was a more dim looking Anton, Rocksan sitting next to him, and the fact they were talking about Gaster. The scientist could read it on Anton's half even if he couldn't hear Rocksan's half. Gaster walked up anyways, sitting one stool away from Rocksan while Anton essentially was in the middle on the other side of the bar.

"Don't you have anything better to talk about?" Gaster asks when he gets there, making the two surprised. Rocksan sat up straighter, looking at the royal scientist, before looking away from the slightest bit of shame.

'Ah, hello Gaster. Surprise to see you here, but good as well.' Anton wrote, seeming tired compared to his normal mood.

"You seem dull." Gaster says, not really properly responding to the other. Anton silently sighed.

'It's been a long set of days, however many it's been. You know how it is.' Anton writes in response.

Gaster didn't say anything for a moment. "Can I get a water?" He asks, not following the previous topic again.

'I dunno, can you?' Anton cracks a grin of his own smart reply. 'Just kidding. I'll get you it.' He continued after seeing it didn't really have an effect on Gaster.

It was silent as Anton got Gaster his glass of water, Rocksan being not really sure what to say. Gaster didn't mind it as he sipped his water, though it clearly bothered the other two. The scientist just got up when he was done with the water to leave.

'I hope you visit again sometime.' Anton writes. Gaster just did a slight nod before checking the now beeping device in his pocket. Something wrong with the CORE, an urgent problem. With everyone already switched to using the CORE as their main power source rather than trying to manage just some temporary solutions, it would be terrible if the CORE shut down now. They already had to make ways to keep it cool, more problems wouldn't be good.

Gaster now walked with urgency compared to the sad, disappointing sack of bones he was earlier. Now he had a purpose to follow to the end. Honestly it made him feel a bit better to have something to do.

He made his way into the CORE, where the most recent addition was being made. Some workers were watching some exposed wires spark occasionally, clearly unsure what they should do. They became relieved when they heard and saw Gaster coming over.

"What's the problem here?" Gaster asks as he walks up. The head of the workers move forward to explain.

"Looks like something destroyed the panel and damaged some of the wires along with a special part we don't have access to. Whatever had bumped into it is going to cost us a bit for this section of the CORE." At least it was just for this section.

"I'll take a look then." Gaster says as he pushes past them to look. They were obviously right. Gaster paged Sans to deliver what he needed and waited for the skeleton to appear.

When Gaster saw Sans heading over he put on his electricity resistant gloves and took the parts and materials from the other's hands. Sans stayed next to the workers after. They all watched as Gaster cut off damaged wiring to make his way to the damaged parts behind. He'll weld the wires together with new ones once he's about done with this ordeal.

The main problem was getting the broken part unstuck. It was wedged in when it got snapped in half so Gaster had to use a screwdriver to try wiggling it out. The first half popped out just fine but the other was having trouble. It was most likely due to gravity not helping with the piece.

This then caused a big mistake on Gaster's part. He jammed the screwdriver in too hard trying to pry the part out that it broke it more and made a huge spark. It must've reached past the gloves, for the next thing he knew, he felt a large jolt through his soul. The spark managed to catch the edge of his magic system and shocked his soul like it would any other.

The shock of course hurt a lot, making Gaster hiss out a curse. His vision went blurry, worse than before at least. He was near-sighted, so usually it wasn't much of a problem, but now it felt like there was barely a point to any vision at all.

Sans and the workers started asking Gaster if he was okay but the royal scientist never responded to them. He just tried to power through what little vision he had so they just went quiet and watched as he ripped out the part with his gloved hand. He now could replace the broken part, since nothing else was hurt, and repair the wires. Once that was done he could replace the broken panel to cover it all.

"Th-there." Gaster almost wheezed out. He seemed so weak after the shock. Sans helped him up, worried that something was wrong with the other.  Gaster pushed away from him and stumbled. He leaned against a wall only inches from vanishing into a large, white void, one that can surely swallow him whole if he fell in.

Gasps of fear and shock sounded off because of his location. They were barely audible due to the loud ringing only Gaster could hear. Sans and the workers crowded around him, trying to help, but he pushed himself forward and made it halfway across the bridge over the white void.

He was refusing help. Sans had to approach from behind to not provoke the other. "Look, Gaster. I know you don't normally accept help from others but, please, let us just this once help you get back to the lab. After that you can take care of yourself. Please." Gaster still refused.

"I-I can get there m-myself." He muttered, causing Sans to worry more when he moved to keep going. Sans figured he could catch him in time since fighting wouldn't be worth it in the end.

Gaster made it past the first area fine, even if there were close calls. His bones started to shake as he got to the second area, causing more worry than before.

He won't make it past the second area at this rate. Sans realized this quick and tries to convince him again. "I really think you should let us help-"

"No!" Gaster yelled, turning his head slightly to look at Sans. He kept refusing help yet moving forward. He looked ahead and began to stumble again. The strong skeleton that could carry massive burdens was gone, as if being crushed by it. It was clear he was going to collapse soon from exerting himself.

The scientist teetered near the edge as he tried to keep walking. Sans tried to get closer but ended up making Gaster whip his head around and lose his balance. Next thing Sans knew, he had to reach over the edge to catch Gaster by the wrist.

He wasn't fighting this time. Instead, he stared up at Sans with his blurry eyelights. He didn't grab onto the other, though, to keep from falling. He just watched as he slipped from the other's grip slowly. Sans grabbed him by the soul with his magic as he heard gasps and the work crew running to get help.

Sans never really used his magic often like Gaster did. Maybe occasionally he would teleport past a door or downstairs to be slightly lazy, but it wouldn't have much effect on a moment like now. He struggled to hold Gaster up without straining himself.

"J-just… let go…" Gaster mumbled and closed his eyesockets. "D-don't hurt yourself over me."

Sans tried to argue, wanting to insist it was the lack of energy getting to his head. "If I let you go now, you won't be back. I'd bever be able to forgive myself then."

"And Papyrus n-needs a brother more than he needs me. You f-falling with me won't help the situation at all, w-will it?" Gaster sadly had a point and Sans knew that. He wished the other didn't, even if it would be strange that way. Tears began to form in his eyesockets.

"What about the people that don't want you to go?" Sans asks, trying to pull the other up although his lack of magic nade the other heavier. "They're getting help anyways, so I just have to hold out a bit longer."

Gaster let out one of his trademark sighs. "This wouldn't be the first time I've hurt people around me. It's just finally time for the final one. For it all to stop." He opened his eyesockets and stared at the other. Sans stared back as he made the hard decision to take the other's request seriously.

He let go and watched Gaster continue to fall into the white void, almost looking peaceful. He could almost hear the doors open behind him.

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