From War to Science {UNDERTALE}

Expedition

"This is suicide!"

Those, surprisingly enough, were the first words from Gerson that Gaster understood. The tortoise had pulled himself to his full height—though he was still dwarfed by the other three monsters in the cavern—and narrowed his eyes at Asgore.

"I'm gonna talk niiice and slooow because obviously royalty doesn't account for brains," he said. "Now, you may be a Boss Monster, King Fluffybuns, but I'm a good deal older than you. I've seen what happens when monsters start letting their guards down."

"But the Barrier, Gerson..."

"I don't give a single damn about that Barrier! Humans do two things: fight and die! If you think a dinky little magic wall—even one they built—is gonna keep them from killing us, then you're a damn fool, Asgore Dreemurr."

"We're not settling out there," Asgore argued. "It's reconnaissance."

Gaster, best he could, tried to melt into the cave wall he was leaning against, just in case Gerson was about to blame him for the king's idea. It was a little...impulsive. But, well, the situation was dire.

Really, though, he didn't even know why he was here. He could barely speak, he had no recollection of getting to the cavern, and he wasn't even a monster. But Asgore had insisted, and...it turned out the king was really a hard person to say no to.

So here he was, standing by the wall beside Toriel, watching Asgore and Gerson battle out whether Asgore would go out or not. Gerson had begun using his quick voice again, so Gaster was lost. Toriel shook her head.

"We may be here for a while," she said quietly. Gaster sighed.

"My fault," he said. "I...er, my...the paper..."

Toriel shook her head. "Definitely not, my friend. He's wanted to go for weeks; you just gave him reason to."

Gaster looked at her curiously, then back at Asgore. So he hadn't been the only one itching to explore, though he doubted Asgore's reasons lined up with his. Huh.

"Well, you sure as hell aren't going alone," Gerson said, once again speaking slowly to mock Asgore. "But I'm not going with you. Your wife here's too smart for that, too. So who would be crazy enough to go with you?"

"I will."

All eyes turned to Gaster as he spoke the clearest words he had in weeks. Reactions varied; Toriel was shocked, Gerson distrustful, and Asgore was positively beaming. His hands fluttered awkwardly at all the attention.

"I...I will go with the king," he repeated, though the added words made him falter.

Gerson scoffed and muttered something, but given the way that both Asgore and Toriel said "Gerson!" made him think it wasn't anything flattering. Perhaps it was better he couldn't understand that.

Toriel turned back to Gaster, taking his arm.

"My friend, you do not need to go. We could find other volunteers, I'm sure. There's still the guards and..."

Gaster shook his head as he pulled his arm away. "I will go." He gave her a small smile. "Not as frail as I look, remember?"

Toriel didn't look even the slightest bit relieved, and Gerson threw up his hands.