Grouptale [Undertale AU]

Mini chapter: Gaster

Faye, holding an umbrella, walked all the way back to the bridge where the kids had their first Undyne encounter. Something about this area seemed special to her. She didn't really know what, but she could just tell. She didn't want to bring anyone else with her while she did this. This was something she just wanted to see for herself.

At the end of the purple bridge, shrouded in darkness, was a young monster that looked strikingly similar to Monster Kid, except they were grey and their eyes were completely white. Faye's grip tightened on her umbrella. She held it behind her back.

"Have you thought about a world where everything is the same... except you don't exist?" the monster asked.

"... maybe." Faye replied. 

"Everything functions perfectly without you..." the monster continued. "Ha, ha... the thought terrifies me."

"Not everything would function perfectly." Faye mumbled. She held up the umbrella.

"An umbrella...?" the monster asked. They looked surprised. "But it's not raining."

"Sometimes you need shelter, even when it's not raining." Faye said. 

That was one of her aunt's quotes. 

"Ha, ha..." the monster laughed. "You know, that does make me feel a little better about this. Thank you. Please forget about me. Please don't think about this anymore."

"Okay," Faye said. 

She knew she would be thinking about this quite a lot. She already did. She walked away, briefly glancing back. 

My friends will be talking about Chara now, she thought. She'd had the dream as well. But she didn't feel the need to talk about it. She knew enough.

"That's also why I got a job at the snail farm," Faye added. "Not because I don't care about my friends, but because I already know what they're talking about. I had dreams of those things back home." She tilted her head. "What? You want to know more?" She shook her head. "You'll have to be patient..." She put up the umbrella. "Here we go. I know, it's not raining. But sometimes you just need shelter."

...

The kids were standing around a door in a hallway. A hallway that wasn't there before.

"What's this all about?" Clover asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"This was not here before," Percy agreed.

"Obviously," Melody sighed. She looked at the eighth human. "Do you know anything about what's behind there?" 

They shrugged.

"You don't?" Brayden asked. "But you told us about Chara!"

"I think this is about a dream they had, right?" Cody asked the eighth human. They nodded.

"I love dreams," Faye sighed. She rambled, "They're so weird, but-"

"NOPE!" Brayden interrupted, holding up a hand. "LET'S GO IN!" 

He strolled up to the door. The eighth human grabbed Brayden's arm. They wagged a finger.

"They're right, Brayden," Melody said. "They've got something to... 'say' after all."

The eighth human pointed at the door. They held up their stick and drew more images on the ground.

"Gaster was the Royal Scientist, then he died?" Clover asked, raising her brow. 

What even was a royal scientist?

"Gaster fell into his own creation," Percy translated. "He supposedly speaks in hands..." He kept writing notes. "He spread across time and space... and... well, who knows what happened next."

"How did he fall into his own creation?" Cody asked. 

He felt sorry for this Gaster character. The eighth human shrugged. Even they didn't know.

"Can he be saved?" Clover asked, raising her brow. 

Brayden perked up. The eighth human bowed their head. They looked like they were about to verbally speak. They held back at the last moment. 

"Let's go in already!" Brayden yelled, staring at the door. "I wanna see this Gaster guy!" 

The eighth human opened the door. They looked back one more time.

The kids entered a tiny room. There was a man standing there. If you could call it a man. He had a large, white head attached to a cylindrical black body. His eyes and mouth were gaping holes. A crack came up from his left eye, matching the blaring white pupils in his eye sockets. He appeared to be made out of some kind of black goop.

He seemed to be staring at the eighth human. The eighth human's hair was covering their face. They looked anxious about something.

"HEY!" Brayden yelled at the man. "What's your deal?"

"Brayden!" Melody exclaimed, pulling her friend back. The man twitched, as if at any moment he would fade out of existence.

"Excuse me," Cody walked up to him. "Are you... Gaster?" 

Suddenly, Cody's vision turned white. He put his hands over his head, dropping his frypan. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't like it. He couldn't see any of his friends... only a completely white room.

"Hello?" Cody asked, looking around. Fear crawled up his spine. He heard a creepy voice. Hands symbols appeared above his head.

"ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN," someone said. "DARKER, DARKER YET DARKER. THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING." 

Cody shivered. He didn't have his frypan either. He couldn't defend himself too well. He looked around, holding up his arms. 

"THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER. PHOTON READINGS NEGATIVE. THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT SEEMS VERY, VERY INTERESTING." 

There was a pause. 

"WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?"

"Is that you, Gaster?" Cody asked. He shook his head. "I... I don't understand!" 

"DARKER, DARKER YET DARKER..."

The message just kept repeating. Disturbing sounds played in the background. Cody didn't know what to do. Then he realized with a gasp. It was so plainly obvious.

"Are you stuck, Gaster?" Cody asked. "Are you... lonely? You... you must've been stuck here for a really long time!" He paused. "If that's the case, then... I wanna help you out! No one deserves to be stuck in this place!" 

He held out a hand, filled with DETERMINATION. 

"What if some people just can't be saved?" someone asked behind him. "Some people are meant to stay dead. That is all."

"But... that's not fair!" Cody protested. 

He turned around and faced the voice. It looked like the eighth human, but they were black and white. They weren't looking at him in the eye, either. 

"He's not gone forever, is he?" Cody asked. "We can still do something!"

"Ha, ha..." the child laughed. "You are adorable. That's just what Frisk said. But even they - the notoriously determined one - failed to save Gaster. I would like to see you try."

"Frisk...?" Cody asked. Why was that name so familiar? It didn't matter right now. 

"Well, um, whoever you are, I'm going to do something anyway! I..." He made a face. 

He felt even more determined. And kind too. He held up a fist. 

"I don't care what you say!" he shouted. "Everyone deserves a second chance!"

The child laughed again. "Very well. Try as you might, Cody Luckgreen. Try as you might."

"I will!" Cody promised, placing a hand over his heart. He stared at them. "Wait! Who are you?" 

But before the child could answer, Cody disappeared from the void, returning to the real world. 

The child reverted to their normal self.

"Everyone deserves a second chance, indeed," Chara mumbled. "We will see about that."