Hybridtale: The Glitch

Chapter 6: FEAR

"It's her SOUL trait," Gaster started. "Like everyone else, she has a trait that defines her, but it is different than any other."

"What is it?" Asriel asked.

"Well, you might actually get it confused with Bravery Negative, which is called "Fear" for simplicity sake, but this Fear way different. It's more special than any other. Take the ordinary Fear trait, and add HATE to it, then you have a different kind of fear all together," Gaster asked.

"Will the supposed person with this trait behave the same way as a person with natural fear should?" Develyn asked.

"Not really. They seek the fear from others. Like they're a masochist. They enjoy reaping people's fear for their own gratitude. Paired with HATE, it gets very dangerous. Bête Noire herself has this exact trait," Gaster explained.

"How did this come to be?" Develyn asked.

"Thousands of years ago, when the Monsters were first put under the mountain. There was confrontation between two humans, Agate and Copper Lightvale. These two people were siblings, and they were arguing whether the barrier should be destroyed or not. This argument turned into a fight that took place at the Svalbard Arena, which still stands. Copper won the fight, and Agate lost, causing her SOUL lose her color, and she disappeared from Ebott. She then inverted her SOUL Trait, which is a dangerous form of dark magic, and she used a forbidden dark spell to change it into the most powerful being that's wandering the world as we speak.

"Agate rematched the fight against her brother, where she emerged victorious. However, this victory was short lived. Due to the effects of what she did to herself, she suffered a very slow and painful death. She sacrificed her tattered SOUL to create Bête Noire herself. This was to ensure the peace between humans and Monsters would never be same as it was before the war. But as you can see, we are three years removed from the barrier shattering. She is back for a reason. She wants to revert the progress that Frisk made and put Monsters back in the Underground," Gaster explained.

"There is no way that's gonna happen! NO WAY!" Asriel exclaimed.

"And there is a problem. If war ever broke out between humans and Monsters again, I have to pick a side!" Develyn exclaimed.

"That would be an easy decision for you, Dev," Gaster noted.

"That's true. I hold such a strong allegiance Monsters, I wouldn't betray them like that. I would side with them and possibly win because of how powerful I am," Develyn explained.

"I mean... If war ever breaks out again, Monsters might be along for the ride," Andy noted.

"As allies or..." Asriel asked.

"Don't worry about that. I doubt it would come to that anyway. Unless a leader is stupid enough to declare war on the Allied States," Develyn answered, interrupting Asriel.

"I think you guys need more information. I think it would be best if I used Alphys' pensieve to where you can get a front row seat to the action that I explained," Gaster explained.

"It would be best," Frisk noted.

"There are other notes. Like only Determination can destroy Fear, vice versa. It's like the matter-antimatter statement I made a few minutes ago. But I think there is a bit of a catch. I think it would be best if it was shown to you," Gaster noted.

"That's strange," Develyn stated.

"Well, we gotta get going. I don't want my mother to worry," Asriel noted.

"Alright you guys have fun," Gaster noted.

The four children began to walk out of Alphys' lab when Gaster remembered something.

"Wait! Develyn!" Gaster shouted.

"What is it?" Develyn answered.

"I want to give you a gift. As a say of thanks for bringing me back to form a week ago," Gaster answered. Gaster gave Develyn an eye-patch, which would be used around his missing eye, which has been absent since he was four.

"Thanks. I'm not sure how this will be useful, but I hope it works," Develyn added.

"Give it a flick with your wrist," Gaster added.

Develyn flicked the eye patch with his wrist. The weapon transformed into a sword that perfectly fits Develyn's hand, and can support his entire weight.

"By the Nine Divines. Where'd you get this?!" Develyn asked.

"Get? Hehehe. I didn't get this, Develyn. I made it. I realized how powerful you were when we fought in the Underground. You're something different. I thought this would be something better for you," Gaster explained.

"How does this retract?" Develyn asked.

"The sword is only there if your hand is on it. Tossing it up in the air should retract it back into eye patch form," Gaster answered. "But be careful. You can really hurt someone."

Develyn tossed the sword into the air. It soon retracted back into the eye patch. Develyn soon plucked the eye patch out of the air. He soon fixiated it around his eye.

"Thanks," Develyn stated as he walked away.

"You're welcome. Hope it's useful," Gaster added.

Develyn soon joined the other three kids at the bench outside.

"Wow. You actually have an eye patch now!" Asriel exclaimed.

"Not just that. It's a sword also," Develyn explained.

"No way!" Asriel exclaimed.

Andy was looking down at the horizon as a rock was floating in the air. Something ended up breaking his concentration.

"How long until they notice?" Andy thought to himself.

"What is it, bro?" Frisk asked.

"Nothing much. It's with what Gaster said, any one with Determination can destroy her," Andy noticed.

"I mean... Andy makes a point. Every human has determination to a certain extent. It's only at a certain amount to where it can be declared a human possess that as their SOUL Trait," Develyn explained.

"Exactly. Anyone can defeat her, if they have the courage to do it. But how Gaster said it leaves it up in the open," Andy added.

"Like it terms of the concentration?" Develyn asked.

"Exactly. Does it require any form of Determination, or will it require the trait?!" Andy asked.

"That's a great question. I mean the fight took place thousands of years ago. So, information is bound to be different at this point," Develyn answered.

"It's history, Dev. Once it's inscribed in there, it's history at this point," Asriel noted.

"Yeah, but this was a few thousand years ago. All four of us weren't even born yet. There were only Eight Divines back then, and Talos was just a child. During that time frame, documents were either missing or burned. It also could've been manipulated by historians to where what actually happened is drastically different than what we're told today," Develyn explained.

"Dev makes a point there," Frisk noted.

"Well, if it does come down to something. What will we do?" Andy asked.

"We'll figure something out. Even if it requires you getting the magic that we possess," Develyn answered.

"Seems fair," Andy stated.

Toriel soon picked the kids up from the lab and drove them home. It was normal day for the Dreemurrs for the rest of it. Andy started to get his supersititions that defeating Bête Noire might require something different. Something more drastic.