As the five in the True Lab dealt with Gaster, Sans kept trying to get the warp door to work for the four stuck at the upper level. It wasn't until Flowey used his attacks on Gaster that the warp door cooperated for Sans as they walked through one last time. After Gaster got struck by Flowey's attacks, the warp door started to work again for Sans, making it evident that Gaster was behind the failing warp attempts.
The door appeared before us as Sans, Papyrus, Asgore, and Toriel stepped out, only to be startled by all of us shouting, "Look out!"
Sans teleported his brother and the two Dreemurrs to safety as Gaster unleashed his power on the group. Thankfully, the Gaster Blaster missed everyone while we all got up, eluding the beams.
"W.D. Gaster?!" Sans shouted in surprise.
"What is going on?!" Toriel cried out shortly after. Asgore and Papyrus were speechless from the sudden greeting after stepping out of the warp. Toriel's motherly instinct rushed over to Frisk to keep them safe, lowering down to Frisk's level. "Are you alright, my child?" She scanned the child's body to ensure there were no injuries.
"I am, thanks to Undyne." They replied with a smile. Toriel patted Frisk's head before standing up to protect them.
Papyrus laughed in delight, "NYEH HEH! I TOLD YOU UNDYNE COULD PROTECT EVERYONE!"
Alphys's panicked voice snaps at everyone without stuttering her words, "Now is not the time for chatter; someone needs to distract Gaster while I get to the machine and figure out how to operate it....to get the Player home!"
"Player?" Asgore, Toriel, and Papyrus speak simultaneously.
Sans sighs out, knowing someone would have spilled the beans sooner or later. He made it subtle, not making it too obvious and upset anyone. "Yes, the new human is what we call a Player."
Gaster interrupted Sans as he was willing to explain to the group of monsters ready to break their minds. "In other words, you all are just characters in a game titled Undertale, forced to never break from the code, stuck with the same dialogue our Creator has given us. This person is just one of the many Players who control Frisk and Chara—deciding everyone's fate as they govern your world like a puppet on strings—resetting your game many times over to see the different outcomes. They are the true villain, don't you agree?" Gaster snapped his fingers and finished his speech leaving a sinking feeling in everyone's chest, including mine.
All but Sans, Frisk, and Alphys looked over at me with disgust and started to feel dread overcome them. I couldn't speak at all. I was shocked that Gaster could even say that, being able to override Undertale by breaking the fourth wall more than the game allowed. But given that everyone had the freedom of speech, knowing now Gaster had manipulated the files made it more fathomable.
Gaster had given them visions to recall everything that had happened in the game's true ending and the genocide ending with one finger snap. The only three that the memories hadn't daunted were Frisk, Sans, and Alphys. But the fact that the flower Alphys experimented on was the prince filled her with guilt. Meanwhile, the rest of the monsters had difficulty adjusting to their newfound memories.
"Don't listen to him, guys!" Flowey defended me. "He's only trying to make you go mad!"
Toriel's face changed from disgust at first to utter shock, realizing her son was in the room with her. "A-Asriel?!" She bellowed out, staring down Flowey. Her eyes glazed over from tears suddenly clouding her vision.
Asgore was the next to break down, knowing the truth of all that had happened. "Asriel.....you've come back!"
Both parents rushed over to Flowey. He jumped off my shoulders and pushed me away, not with disgust but in fear of what his parents would do to me after knowing the truth. Luckily, their minds were elsewhere, thanking God that Asriel wasn't dead.
Toriel sobbed, "My sweet Asriel! We are so happy you are here and safe!"
Hearing Toriel say "we" was a miracle. She never brought Asgore into the picture after what he'd done to the other children who had fallen down into the Underground, even though Undyne had put an end to the other six children, only to give Asgore the souls in the end. I'm sure that didn't sit well with Toriel having to walk beside a killer this whole time to the Laboratory after regaining these new memories, thanks to Gaster.
While the three Dreemurrs were distracted, Papyrus couldn't move or speak. His logic was that everyone was good deep down inside. But he didn't know if that was true anymore, knowing what he knew now.
As for Undyne, she sneered over at me. Shocked from the memories flooding back, she remembered what the Players had done to her and her friends in the genocide run. Her appearance changed into Undyne The Undying. Gaster must have given her the ability to transform by hacking into the files.
I slowly back up from the Dreemurrs, keeping my eyes locked onto Undyne. "Please, Undyne, I can explain!" I cry out. I wasn't sure what would happen if Undyne pierced me with one of her spears, and I wasn't going to find out. I started to run passed the king, queen, and prince.
Gaster was pleased by how the tides had turned against me. While he grew distracted watching the outcome of my possible demise, Alphys took this moment to rush over to the machine to tinker with it, trying to get me home as fast as possible. Still, the hefty device was more advanced, and it would take a moment to figure out the controls.
Having Flowey notice my frantic motions and seeing Undyne start to charge, he stepped in to help, "Undyne, STOP!" Flowey pushed his parents aside with his extended vines and changed into his adult form to stop Undyne's rampage. Asriel held Undyne back while I was pressed against the wall, hoping Asriel would keep her away from me until she came back to her senses.
Her determination to get at me was far greater, noticing her push through Asriel's grasp. Her speed was phenomenal, while her fuming, raging eyes stared deeply into mine. I shy away from her gaze, covering my eyes with my hands, thinking this was my end.....
I noticed she wasn't attacking me, forcing myself to peek through my fingers, detecting a jail bar of bones sprung up from the ground to protect me. I glanced up at my protector and was shocked at who it was. Papyrus held Undyne back as his feet slid closer to me. His hands pressed onto Undyne's shoulders as he pleaded to his enraged friend.
"UNDYNE, PLEASE. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DEMAND YOU TO STOP THIS AT ONCE!"
Undyne grunts, trying to push him away, "Papyrus! The Player deserves to be destroyed for what they've done to us!" She screeched out as her left eye shined from her pent-up frustration towards me.
"I UNDERSTAND YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THIS UNDYNE....I TRULY DO. THE VISIONS....THE THINGS THE PLAYERS HAVE DONE TO US....BUT I BELIEVE THIS PLAYER WOULD NEVER HURT US!" He looked back at me with compassion, knowing I was good deep down inside.
I stood up from my crouch and shouted, apologizing for us Players that had played the genocide route, "I'm so very sorry that we, the Players, had hurt you....all of you....I truly am!" I scanned the room, almost tearing up but held it together. "The only way I can make it up to you all is to promise never to reset my game when I get home...." I then mumble, "If I ever get home...." I dared not to peer over to Gaster, listening in on the conversation, only seeing everyone else's expressions. They felt a little more at ease hearing me say that out loud.
Undyne loosened her gripping hold on Papyrus, and he too relaxed his tension on her, knowing that he and I settled her down enough, watching Undyne return to her usual self. "You're right, Papyrus. Having to know the truth really got me riled up....I'm sorry, Player." Undyne sighs out and smiles over at me in a compassionate way. I smiled back, relieved to have that settled, but we still had to deal with Gaster.
Gaster was disappointed that Undyne failed to do his job for him and figured it was time to step in. To separate me from them, Gaster fired upon Papyrus and Undyne having them leap out of the way of the attack. He took no time in teleporting as I was still against the wall. He took me by surprise as my body suddenly lifted into the air. Everyone gasps, watching the event unfold, frozen in fear at first.
I gasped for air from an invisible force grasping my neck. Gaster extended his arms and created a motion as if pulling something out of me with his hand. My soul floated out of my chest and into his hands.
"So this is what a Player's soul looks like....Interesting. Very, very, Interesting." Gaster retorted as he watched the wisp of my light-blue soul flicker in and out while he grasped it in his hands.
Before he could finish this process by absorbing my soul, Sans teleported to aid me in cutting the unseen string between Gaster and me, preventing him from drawing in my soul. "Oh no, ya don't, old man!" Sans pushed Gaster back into the shadows in the room where he belongs.
My soul retracted back into my body. Having gravity not on my side, I fell to the ground as I inhaled in shock and pain from the strange attack from Gaster, "What in the world just happened!?"
"That was Gaster trying to steal your soul," Sans explained as he held out his hand for me to grab. He helped me up off the cold ground and started to use his body to shield me.
"Why would he want my soul!?" I glanced up at Gaster until I laid my eyes back over at Sans's back while he guarded me.
"I'm...not sure...." Sans, for once, didn't have an answer.
I quickly ask at random, "Aren't you mad?"
"About what?" He enquired, only keeping his eye sockets glued to Gaster's actions that seemed odd.
"Mad at us, Players, for giving you such a hard time?"
"Nah, more disappointed than anything else," Sans remarked. Hearing Sans's words, saying he was disappointed rather than mad, tugged at my heartstrings more. But my thoughts about that were soon interrupted by Sans's following comment, "Something is wrong with Gaster; this isn't like him to act this way."
"What do you mean?"
"I know, Gaster. He'd never manipulate the game's files without reason, knowing the consequences once the Creator found out."
Unexpectedly, the rest of the group, Asgore, Toriel, Asriel, Frisk, Undyne, and Papyrus, all gathered around me, becoming my guardians, protecting me from the threat. Alphys was the only one who stayed back to work on the machine. That was her way of helping, and I was thankful for it.
Asriel was the first to call out at Gaster, "We will never let you harm the Player!"
Asgore showed off his trident and aimed it at his opponent, "We will not allow any more human souls to become sacrificed!"
Papyrus shouted, ready to throw his bones at Gaster, "THAT'S RIGHT! THEY STILL NEED TO TRY MY AMAZING SPAGHETTI!"
Undyne laughed out loud, spawning spears all around her, "Fufufufu! And I need to teach them how to protect themselves in fights like these!"
Toriel's words were motherly as she formed a fireball in the palm of her hand, "No child will ever fall down while I am around!"
Frisk cries out, keeping close to me, "We will all stay determined, no matter what!"
Sans stepped in front of the group. Everyone made their voices heard, but he just threatened Gaster by showing off his blue eye, ready to protect me at all cost. Everyone's courage made me feel like we could win this battle.
Gaster bellowed out, realizing how stubborn they all were, "I see....It'll be more of a challenge to get to the Player. I'll just have to turn all of you into dust first...."
Three Gaster Blasters appeared to his right, left, and above him, preparing to snap his fingers to have the beam strike us until, oddly enough, Gaster started glitching out. The darkness surrounding him stretched and distorted as he held onto his head while screeching out disturbing sounds.
Toriel snatched Frisk and me while the rest leaped away from Gaster. His sudden outburst allowed us to move to the other side of the room, closer to Alphys, who franticly worked on the machine.
Once everyone got their bearings, Sans ordered around the group of monsters as he explained, "Asgore and Undyne, protect Alphys while she works on the machine. Toriel, Frisk, my bro, and I will try to distract Gaster the best we can while the Player waits for Alphys to have the device in working order."
Asriel had changed back into his child appearance and added, "I'll protect the Player if things get dicey."