Unrequited LOVE

•Chapter 14•

Crack.

Gaster stilled, nearly resisting the urge to retract his hand from the dangerous magic.

Crack. Another crack appeared on the barrier's surface. His SOUL flared with life, working to overpower the insolent wall.

Just a bit more...

Crack.

He was so close.

And then... it shattered. A wave of pure magic swept through the endless space, bearing an uncanny resemblance to that of a tsunami. Gaster braced himself against the red and green wave, but found himself knocked clean his feet. With a grunt, he tumbled to the ground, shielding his cracked skull.

Seconds passed and the magic roared on. The amount of power trapped in such a simple spell was overwhelming. Gaster couldn't wait to get his phalanges on you.

When the noise lessened, he stood up slowly. The barrier was fully gone, destroyed by his magic's constant abuse. The things one could achieve if they put their mind to it never failed to amaze.

He walked forward, SOUL swelling with pride. His patience and determination had finally paid off.

And it felt utterly amazing.

Now, he could locate her without interruption. Sans, wherever he was, wouldn't be a problem, Gaster hoped. A fight with his son was the last thing he needed right now.

If I can even call him 'my son'...

That had always been a point of conflict within Gaster's mind. Yes, he did technically create Sans and Papyrus, though that didn't make him their father.

They probably didn't even want him as a father after everything he'd done.

But that didn't matter now. Nothing did, except claiming his prize for surviving.

His consolidation prize.

***

As it turned out, Ink wanted nothing more than you to be a judge for the drawing contest he'd challenged the others to. All the drawings (excluding Red's, which appeared to be a NSFW rendition of the Mona Lisa) were pretty good, in their own way.

Sans drew a ketchup bottle, while Blue and Dream drew self portraits. Ink drew an unknown girl like the lonely fellow he is.

"SO?" Blue prompts, practically vibrating with excitement. "WHICH IS THE BEST?"

Red smirks cockily. "obviously mine, short-stack."

"HEY! YOU"RE SHORT TOO!"

"not as short as ya are, baby blue."

Sans nudges your elbow with his own. "you should choose mine. it's pretty sans-sational, if you ask me."

You laugh. Blue looks at you, betrayed. Red full-on guffaws. "that's gotta be th' stupidest one i've heard from ya in years!"

"what can i say? i guess it's in my bones."

Blue is incensed."OH MY GOD, SANS!"

Bzzz! Bzzz! Your phone rings insistently in your pocket. You check the caller ID and realize it's Nightmare who's calling. Must be important, you shudder at the memory of the 'hole incident', he never calls unless it is.

"Hang on, guys, I need to take this," you say, walking a few feet away from the group. Dream, being the only one who heard among the raging pun war, gives you a thumbs up.

You smile in return and answer the call. "Hello?"

"H e l p-" there's a loud cracking noise on the other end.

You freeze. "Nightmare, what's going on-"

Click.

The line goes dead and you're left reeling.

Dream notices your shocked expression. "Uh, (Y/n)?"

Your voice wavers. "Something's wrong."

All conversation stops. Five pairs of eyelights turn in your direction.

"What happened...?"

You don't miss a beat, creating a portal as you speak. "Nightmare."

Red snorts. "finally escaped, huh?"

"He called for help," you say flatly. "I need to go. Now."

And then you bolt through the portal.

***

When you enter the bad sanses' pocket, it become clear why Nightmare called. Thick black strings have attached themselves to the side wall of the house, their origin being the goopy wound in the side of the pocket.

Oh god. Those aren't Nightmare's...

You rush forward, a barrier already forming in your palm. The magic swirls around the strings, wrapping them in reddish-green streaks.

"what the-?!" You hear Sans' voice behind you and realize the other's must have followed. Sure enough, they're all there, staring at the strings in disbelief.

More magic spills from your palms, encircling the house in a shimmery coat of protection. Your SOUL pulses angrily and you force the invading strings away.

You can hear the front door swing open, as well as frantic yelling. Sparing a balance back, you see Horror, Dust, Killer, and Nightmare all standing outside.

The portal you made is still open and you yell: "Get out of here!"

"NOT WITHOUT YOU!" Blue shouts back as Sans tries to usher the bad sanses out of the pocket.

"I'll follow you, just get everyone out!" You yell back, magic straining against the infection.

Thankfully, they seem to get the message that you're not sacrificing yourself, and being filing out. You slowly back away, letting your magic wane away from the house; it's gone, anyways.

The portal begins to close, but you leap through at the last second. Everyone's there, looking quite shaken.

Sans is the first to speak, tone dripping with horror (no pun intended). "what the hell was that?!"

"The infection," you whisper. "It's getting... stronger."

"What should we do?" Dream asks nervously. "We can't allow it to spread-"

"Destroy the pocket," Nightmare interrupts. He turns to you. "You can do that, correct?"

You nod. "Yeah."

Turning around, you face the spot where the portal just was. You reach out, grasping at the remnant magic.

In a flash, two buttons appear before you. They're small, ringed with orange lines.

It's always the small things...

...Sans makes a gasping noise.

DESTROY DO NOT

You click the 'destroy' button. The magic connecting the pocket to the neutral-void disappears in a puff of power.

"All done."

Silence.

"...is it really that easy...?" Sans' eyelights have disappeared, making him look quite scary.

Confused (and a bit unnerved), you shrug. "Pretty much."

"...wow."

And then he shortcuts away.

"What in the multiverse-?"

***

A bit of a shorter chapter, but the next one'll be pretty long. Make sure to vote if you're enjoying the story!