EndTale - Galactic (revising w.i.p. - check desc for update notes)

Chapter 10: Irredeemable

I blinked my sockets wearily, awakening to loud-spoken voices from across the room, just out of my sight. One voice being Gaster's, and the other's voice... the other's... wh.. why is he here?

"Ahh... Thank you for finally arriving. I've been waiting quite a while, now." I could hear a pencil clatter onto a desktop. Gaster's footsteps approached the door to my left, where I had first entered the room. I could now sneak a peek at him, but not at who was across from him, through the doorframe.

"Yes, pardon my tardiness. But I've delivered on my deed, Dr. Gaster." It was him. It was Minus's voice. The hell is he doing here? Did he really help Gaster lure me here for whatever the fuck I'm 'needed' for? I could feel my magic shift within my bones, frustration welling.

There was a muffled cry from a third voice. "MMMPH-"

Papyrus pulled faintly at his restraints next to me, the belts jingling. He was mumbling my name repeatedly, and I honestly wasn't sure how long he'd been silently calling me before I actually heard him. "Sans... Sans... Sans..."

I kept my voice low, matching his volume. "H-Hey Paps. What's wrong?" Besides- everything that's already happening, I guess. I turned my head towards him, barely being able to meet his gaze. We locked eyelights.

"Th-The human, Sans... they have been caught." He announced, defeatedly. He titled his chin to gesture towards the door.

I looked back over to Gaster, dejected. He'd now moved so Minus could step into the room, and drag in a certain human behind him. They... are the bargaining chip? Why?

Frisk had a black rag tied around the back of their head, acting as a gag to silence them. They looked understandably distressed, tears prickling at the corners of their eyes, hands tied behind their back. They kicked frantically in every manageable direction as Minus held them up by the collar of their sweater, expression amused.

"They weren't too hard to catch~" He ogled Frisk, entertained by their struggle. "I was expecting someone with an extensive history in committing full genocides to put up more of a fight, but it seems this pitiful human didn't expect me to even be a threat."

The kid pulled their best muffled snarl, making both the former skeleton scientists sound a mocking laugh.

"No matter how many years their reloads and resets here amount to, they've still the mind of a 13 year old child who thinks all aspects of our world will forever be set in stone." Gaster mused, allowing Minus to hand Frisk over to a pair of his summoned hands. "It is their greatest downfall. Being stuck in a time loop both ages someone and wisens them greatly, but experiencing enough of the same patterns makes it feel implausible that any sort of change will occur." He summoned a green bubble around Frisk, sealing them in it, his summoned hands hovering over it. "They never could've predicted that their one change in the Ruins would've made such a difference."

Frisk struggled at the bottom of the sealed orb for a moment, temporarily stuck on their side, hands fidgeting frantically with the ropes around their wrists. They quickly broke free, yanked the gag off their face, and started to sign with a teeth-bared scowl. "Don't you talk about me like I'm not here! You kidnapped each one of us for your-" There was a 'bing!' as Frisk was turned blue. They were pushed to the bottom of the bubble, where they could no longer sign. Frisk gasped in pain.

"Silence, insolent child. Not everyone deserves to know what will happen next." Gaster leered at Frisk, watching them as if they were a caged animal. His gaze momentarily caught mine before he looked back to Frisk. He knew I was watching.

Minus pulled the hood down on his cloak, revealing his sneer. "Only you got the briefing, human. Don't ruin the fun of learning firsthand for everyone else in the room~"