"Oh, oh goodness, are you alright? Please tell me you're alright."

You pushed off the ground - well, rather, the white space that functioned as the ground - with your hands, sitting up and trying to focus on that sound. Voice. Impolite to think of it as just sound, even though it didn't have the trappings of any kind of speech you'd ever heard before. Piecing it together was a trial unto itself, particularly due to the fierce, popping static that overlaid his speech, although, really, he seemed so concerned about your well being that you don't mind the effort.

Oh, right. You looked up.

A nebulous figure loomed over you, body swathed in curling dark - at least, until you got to his face, pure bone white and framed by a cream turtleneck. Altogether a highly disorienting effect, and you had to wince before your eyes could focus properly. Large cracks split down his skull and across his cheek, and one eye looked like it'd been a bit... squashed. You decided not to comment, as that would be super rude, and you were only mildly rude, thank-you-very-much.

The pinpricks of light dancing in his dark eye sockets met your gaze, and his mouth pulled back in an expression you processed as 'worry'. "Are you hurt? Can you stand?"

He extended his hands to you - skeletal fingers spread out, with palms you could see clear through. Ow. You moved to settle your hands into his, accepting the aid, however, the merest brush of your fingertips against his sparked immediate regret.

For a moment, you were not here, not there, but everywhere. For a moment, you felt like you'd been torn to pieces in one singular breath. For a moment, you could see - something bizarre regarding your surroundings and the monster before you, but the entire encounter was too brief for you to tell what, exactly, it was, as immediately the figure - presumably, Doctor Gaster - pulled back away from you with a startled squeak.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I - "

You reached out, firmly securing your hands around his boney fingers. The sensation returned, and it was excruciating. Interestingly enough, you couldn't hear the static like this.

"Please let go, please," he struggled, trying desperately to wrench his hands from your grasp. "Why are you doing this? You'll end up like me!" It was a warm series of notes, gentle, and a bit like rubbing a soft, smooth rock with your thumb.

Of course, it currently felt like your head was being caved in by some sort of sickening pressure, so you weren't exactly in the mood to appreciate it. "I won't," you lied smoothly, because really, you had no idea. You felt squeezed between two things, two concepts of existence, and around you could see... flecks and fragments of other places and other times, none of which you recognized. Lurking between these scraps of memory was the deep, pure shadow of metaphysical concept, out of which long, thin spikes emerged, pinning Gaster in place. If you focused on them intently, you could see... - and hear! and smell and taste and touch - other things and other places, all reverberating in your head. Hot damn.

You let go, having seen enough for now, and immediately your body crumpled to the floor. You could hear soft, distressed noises from Dr. Gaster, who bent over your form as much as he was able, considering his... condition. You flopped onto your back and opened your eyes a bit, peeking up at him. "Don't worry, 'm okay. It's just floor time."

You felt like Athena had just crawled out of your head, leaving a gaping hole in her wake. Hurk. With a careful touch, you massaged your temple, processing everything that you'd seen.

"Floor time?" He sounded baffled, which, y'know, how dare he, you were pretty sure he was the most baffling person in the room. Void. Space. Thing.

"What, you've never wanted to just commune with the ground and receive its grand wisdom?" A pause, and Dr. Gaster's confusion only seemed to grow. "That was a joke, by the way. I'm not speaking to the ground. Uh, yet. You certainly do have yourself in a pickle though, don't you?"

"I - hah," he smiled a little, as if amused by the understatement. "Yes, you could say that."

"You're a monster, right? Body made of magic?" You linked your arms behind your head, making a pillow out of them as your stare up at him.

Another nod. Then, he narrowed his non-droopy eye a little, pursing his mouth in a way that appeared quizzical. "Are you... human?"

"Correctamundo." You beamed. "Did you end up like this before the barrier was broken?"

Gaster nodded, and - from his lack of surprise about your question - you could draw some conclusions.

"But you knew it happened. Are you aware of what's happening in the outside world?"

"Sort of. It's, ah, complicated."

You flicked your gaze up and down his form. "Yeah, I'll bet. So, I'm here to help you, but I'm not quite sure what I'm dealing with, yet. Mind... filling me in, I guess? As best as you're able."

"I..." He looked helplessly at his hands, and then at you. "Help me? I... well. Normally, I would assure you that wasn't possible, but, well, you being here shouldn't be possible at all, so..."

You laughed. "It's best to just play along. Believe I can save you, and I'll be able to save you, alright? I just need some help to get it all straight."

Gaster fidgeted. "Goodness, where do I start? This is all very sudden, I hope you realize. I never... thought I'd speak to someone again. I'm a little overwhelmed."

Man. He was overwhelmed. You'd wanted something exciting, but you hadn't quite bargained for this. "Well. You said you were nonexistent over the phone. Let's start there."

He mulled over this for a moment, and then seemed seemed to find his voice. "Very well. Are you familiar with the Core, by chance?"

"No. Sounds a little ominous, though."

"Ha... well, it was my grand design; a way of turning converting geothermal energy into magic, enough magic to power the entire Underground. Huge, and complex... and my crowning achievement, of sorts. And, ah, I fell in."

"...fell in?" You sat up at this, having somewhat recovered your energy. The vicious headache had subsided, at least, although you still felt sick to your stomach.

"I, ah, yes. I fell." Liar, liar! Well. You didn't have time for a complicated tale of intrigue, anyway, you just needed the basics. "And, when I fell, I was... scattered across time and space, and it was like I had never existed at all."

"Scattered," you repeat, thinking of how he was pinned in place. Hmn. "How?"

"My best guess is that the Core turned everything - including the concept of my existence - to pure magical energy, which created an exception that couldn't be handled by any of the main processes of reality. So, my label was delegated to… this, and, in the process, all references to my existence were eliminated."

"Wait, no one can remember you exist?"

"Ah, no." He smiled slightly, in a way that suggested good-humor in the face of abject misery. "It is like the world has gone on without me… and nothing is different for my absence."

You grinned, which, in hindsight, was probably an off putting expression given the situation. Still, this was exactly what you needed, and confirmed some of your suspicions. "Great! I mean, no, that's horrible, I'm sorry, but I think I've figured out how to help you."

"You… what? How?" Disbelief soaked his words. You'd need to change that.

"Okay… explaining this might be hard, since you're one of those science types . So. Let me start with a question. Do you know how to get out of here?"

"No." Of this, he seemed absolutely certain. "I have no idea. How can I place myself back into existence, when the spot designated for me has been… overwritten?"

"A tricky problem," you say as you stand. "Now, let me ask another question. How did you call me?"

He paused, having to take a moment to mull this over - or, perhaps, he's just gathering his words, you weren't certain. "I am… stuck, in this place, by something that I have no name for - like tubes, of a sort. On one end, my consciousness lingers, and on the other, are… memories, places that I am familiar with and can still view. Right before I spoke with you, I felt a new "tube" form, and this was exciting enough that I tried to interact with it… perhaps manifest myself, even. Apparently, that interference was processed as a phone call. And so, I spoke with you." He gave you a sort of jerky half-shrug. "All rather vague, I apologize. I haven't been able to study the phenomenon with much detail."

"No, no, that makes perfect sense. Your personal impressions are the most important thing here. Tubes, eh?"

As you stop to ponder the ramifications of this, he spoke. "Is it alright if I ask you a question, now?"

"Oh? Oh, yeah, shoot, bet you have a million."

"What did you use to get here?"

"Mmn? Oh." You reached into your pocket, pulling out your lighter and waving vaguely with it. "This. When you called me, you formed a connection between us. Imagine it… like you're inviting a friend over for lunch. That "tube" of yours functioned as both the invitation and the destination. So, all I had to do was find a door - since doors are objects of transition - and make the destination "where Gaster is". Except, there weren't any doors, so I used a tunnel and this lighter. See - it's either lit or not, so all I had to do was make the flame represent where I was now, and it being extinguished mean that I'd gone somewhere else. Then, all I had to do was follow the tunnel!"

"In fact!" You continued, gesturing at him with the lighter. "This is step one of getting us home. All I need to do from here is find a symbol of transition, and also figure out how to cure your immobility."

For a moment, Gaster just gaped. Your explanation, apparently, did not please him. "What - what. What? That - how does that work, what about your mass? Did you turn your body into pure magic? Did you somehow access the temporal code and - fire doesn't - you can't just - what about the energy conversion?"

"Woah! Woah woah, hold up there, friendo, if you think too hard, you'll catch on fire. 'Sides, I'm dumb as a post, throwing around that fancy science junk won't do much good with me." You tried to placate his frustration with an easy smile. "I don't think in those terms. I used magic. You probably shouldn't question it beyond that."

He moved his hands kind of uselessly. "Wh… bu.. but magic has rules - oh, this is useless. It must work somehow, you just don't understand the principles behind it."

You laughed. Goodness. Just your luck to get one of these types. "Well, you're probably right about that. If you study it long enough, and think hard enough, you might be able to come up with an explanation that fits nicely in with your Scientific Worldview. But you shouldn't."

Somewhat taken off guard, Gaster asked, "Why not?"

"Because you might explain it wonderfully, and in your heart and in your mind, overwrite my Magic Worldview with your Scientific Worldview. So, say that you figure out a way to explain my existence here in a way that's satisfactory to all of your scientific principles. Great. You're satisfied. Butwhat if you figure out that my existence, right here, right now, standing in front of you and speaking to you… is impossible?"

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again, "You're here. It has to be possible."

"Ah-ah! It's only possible because of my Magic Worldview. It's possible because, in my way of doing things, in my way of thinking and understand the world, I've figured out a way to reach you, with hope and magic and determination. But… if you supplant my worldview by finding the "correct answer"? Well. You'll create a paradox. And - as your current state is a testament to - the system doesn't like paradoxes." You smiled. "In essence, I'll disappear, having never been able to do this in the first place, because you proved it impossible. Now, let me pose something else to you.

You paused, waiting for his reaction. He stared dumbly at you. Oh well, at least he wasn't protesting. "What if, in your scientific theory, it's impossible to save you? Are you really okay with that? Wouldn't you rather believe in my theory, the Theory of Magic, and be saved?"

"That - that… that… that can't be right!" He desperately proclaimed, a final stand against your version of the truth. "That's… that's insane. That sounds insane. Different worldviews? There's - there's just science! There has to be sound, scientific principles behind what you're doing, and it doesn't matter what happens, I'll find it - "

You giggled behind a hand. "Wowie! It's super clear how you ended up here, now. Didn't you say you had brothers?

Immediately, Gaster deflated, the finger pointing at you lowering. "I - "

Linking your hands behind your back, you twirled lightly. Each word you speak seemed to drive an arrow deeper into his heart. "They've forgotten you, haven't they? No - no… not even reality can completely eliminate love. I'm sure they remember that unconquerable feeling, deep inside their souls. I'm sure it feels unbearably hollow, bearing those scattered remnants with nothing to associate them with. Like… the feeling there should be another place at the dinner table, but not understanding why. Like not being sure why there's an extra, empty room in your house. Like knowing that someone you loved so, so dearly loved a song that just came on the radio, but when you try to think of their name, all you get is… nothing. That sort of thing happened to them, didn't it?"

He was silent, staring at the ground. You twist your body, bending and leaning over so you can see his eyes. Still wearing that ferociously pleasant smile, you asked, "Is that really okay with you?"

"No," he mumbled, body shuddering.

"So," you gently pressed. "Wouldn't you rather accept me for what I am - a wizard, who will bring about a miracle - than continue to exist like this?"

"I - " the misery in his voice stirred some pity in you. It isn't an easy thing to completely abandon your principles, not for anything… even though you assume those principles are what brought him here in the first place. "I… they've… moved on… without me… I've messed up too much."

You stood up straight. "Hey. Look at me."

He does not, so you press once more, "Hey. I mean it."

Reluctantly, Gaster did so, bringing those pricks of light up to your face. You smiled - more sincerely, this time. You're not trying to make him feel like garbage now. Extending a hand out to him, you speak. "There is hope. There'll be sad things in your future, yes, but also wonderfully happy things. There'll be reunions, heartbreaks, laughs and tears, sorrow and - most importantly - love. That's what makes the future so amazing and so terrifying at the same time. But… you can achieve nothing without risk. Magic cannot be brought forth without risk, and life is magic itself. There is a future for you, Doctor Gaster. The world has a place for everyone, and - if it doesn't, for you?I'll make it. So, please believe in me, and let me give you back your future."

Black globules spilled out from his eye sockets, and you think they are tears. "I'm… so afraid," he murmured, beginning to reach out for you.

"I'm here," you replied, and you took his boney fingers with one hand. The pain began immediately, crushing you and choking you, but you're expecting it this time. "I'm here."

"I don't understand at all," he said through the tears. "But I want to see Papyrus and Sans, again. I want to be with my little brothers, so, so much."

You linked your fingers through his, and with your other hand, you reached into your bag, fiddling around and pulling out a vial full of a philtre you'd brewed some days prior. "Remember that feeling. It'll take you home." After uncorking it with your teeth, you down it, tasting chamomile and the sun, and then you reach out for one of the pins holding Gaster in place.

As you secure your hand around the spike, you can't restrain a shudder at the intense nausea filling you. Apparently, reaching through time and space was hard on the stomach. You pulled on it sharply, like you're trying to reel in a fish, and lights danced before your eyes like sunspots. God, was this even going to work?

You had to believe.

"What - what are you doing?" he gasped out as you force the spike into him.

"I'm trying to return what was taken," you managed, each word a struggle against the weight of cosmic regulation. "You answered one of my questions wrong."

"Which - " he paused, and you found the end of the line, yanking it towards you with a heavy jerk. "Which one?"

"What are you?" With a trembling arm, you grasped for the endpoint of the line - a gray fragment, an ashen piece of a broken heart. You take it, feeling its warmth in your palm, and push it - along with the last bit of the spike- into Gaster. The pressure lessened, a little. The world quieted. "Because, before me, you exist right now. So, what are you?"

"I don't… goodness, that, that hurts, are you… are you certain this is right?"

You reached for another spike. Another "tube" - hah, what a scientific word.

"Yes. Once, before this, you were a vase." You leaned in. Everything hurt, like it had always hurt and would never stop hurting. "When you shatter a vase, for a time, the vase still exists as a concept - the memory of it being whole. Eventually, that memory fades, and all that remains are shattered pieces, You are that memory, but… what keeps you from fading?" Another fragment returned. Your voice grew weak, but the feeling of wrongness faded as you worked. You just had to keep going.

"I don't… know," he murmured near your ear. He can lean forward more, now that his shoulder had been freed.

"It's the very fragments of your existence, ironically enough, that are keeping you here now. You can't fade while they still exist, but you can't move while they're apart from you. You'll suffer here forever until they're returned. I will return them to you, and make you more than a memory."

He laughed softly, and that warm sound made everything worth it. "That's an awfully complicated way of saying you're putting a vase back together again."

Another. "This is a complicated situation. I'm fixing you, freeing you, and returning something lost to you, all at once"

"I suppose. You're very strange, aren't you?"

"Hey," you protested, the sound drowned by another gasp from Gaster. Some pain was necessary, yes, but the sound still tore at your heart. "You're… the weird one."

He didn't reply, and, at this point, you didn't have the energy to focus on anything but your work. Steady, steady, bit by bit, you reclaimed his fragmented existence, occupying the same space as him in a fragile, tenuous balance. You could feel your knees weakening, your legs trembling, and you're not sure whether or not Gaster realized this or if he simply needed something to hold on to, but he reached out with the hand not occupied by your own, firmly clamping his arm around your back. "Thank you," he breathed out softly, and it took you a moment to remember that this was the first time he'd been able to move in… quite awhile.

The pressure had subsided, and although you could feel the heavy reverberations of pain shaking through your head and trembling down your spine, you could breath now. Glad for this, you reached out for the final pin. This one was different, and you'd saved it for last, simply because you weren't… quite sure what was going to happen when you interacted with it.

It was the one connecting Gaster to Melbourne Park, and - you theorized - was why it'd been disappearing in the first place. Somehow, the park had been tied to Gaster; by what means, you weren't sure. Perhaps the doctor had done it by mistake, but…

...something made you uneasy.

"Hey, Gaster?" you mustered up your voice. "You said this one just… formed. Does it feel like the others?"

"No."

"How do you feel?"

He breathes in deeply. "Exhausted. That experience hurt, quite… a lot. But. I feel more… here."

"Not like something is missing?"

"I… no?" He looks at where your hand is resting, finally starting to piece things together. "Is something strange?"

You licked your lips, thinking. "Walk with me," you say, beginning to shuffle to the side, keeping a hand on the strange, foreign presence, pulling … whatever it is, out of Gaster. He followed you obediently, still keeping an arm around you. You could hear his breathing quicken once more with pain.

"Is… this - I… I feel like something is being pulled out of me," he looked at you at this, mouth tight. "Is - is that fine?"

You swallow. "Yeah, well, that's basically what's happening. It's fine," you lied smoothly. You weren't really sure what this was going to do - other than it felt like it had to be done. Whatever it was, you didn't want to put it back into him.

You'd only walked a few paces when you managed to fully extract the line from Gaster's side. It came out with a somewhat ugly sounding squish,and, despite knowing that monsters didn't bleed, you half-expected to see crimson anyway. You didn't, luckily. You weren't sure you'd be able to keep it together if you did.

(Blood was very deceptive, after all.)

"Okay," you murmured, dropping the tendril letting the experience finally take its toll. You felt empty, and you probably could fall asleep right here, right now. Even so, realizing that so much of your weight was against him, you pull away a little. You shouldn't appear so weak. To cover it up, you smiled up at him. "Done."

"That… amazing. I have no idea what you just did, but I - I feel… Well, actually, I sort of want to sleep for a week, but after that I think I'll feel amazing. Comparatively."

"Hah. I understand." You massage your temple, focusing on the warmth of the sun curling in your stomach. Strength, perseverance, glory.

His hand still lightly lingered on your waist. Noticing your glance down at it, he flinched, pulling it back quickly and brushing himself off. "Ahem. I. Apologize, I wasn't, ah, I wasn't, I mean, ahh…"

The way his face turned so delightfully grey in what you assumed must be a blush amused you, but you couldn't focus on it for long. You could feel something dripping in between your fingers, dark and murky, and then - and then, it reached, sliding up your wrist. You brought up your hand, staring at the sludge, and then looked around quickly.

Nearby, the stray thorn, that out of place tube had morphed into some sort of dark material, and - before you released it - it'd left some imprint on the warmth of your skin. Now, it spread, a dark mire swirling up around your feet. Something had changed, a chill prickling across your skin. The world had gotten a bit greyer, all around.

"Um," you breathed out, staring.

"What? What's - " he looked down, noticing the growing dark. "Oh. This is new."

Fzzzzt.

"Ah. We. We need to leave," you said with absolute certainty, turning quickly. As you step, there's a frightful squelching sound.

The air smelled of blood.

"How do we…?"

"I need a door. Or, or a passageway, or - a connection to the real world. Some sort of - symbol of transportation. Or, um, oh, popcorn."

"You... need popcorn?"

You rustled around in your bag, looking desperately for something to combat the malice rising up to your ankles. "No! I'm swearing! Oh, poppies, what is this? Do you smell that?"

"Smell… what?"

"It's suffocating," your murmured, finding a silver dime among your things. You pressed it between your hands, breathing on it, and then dropped it into the pit.

It was swallowed without hesitation.

How far you go to satisfy your beastly curiosity…

(And with that voice, the taste of blood lingered in your mouth.)

You coughed into your elbow, looking up at Gaster. "I - "

" - Would it be easier for you to leave without me? It would, wouldn't it? Please, go! You've done… so much for me, already. You should leave me." He placed his hands on your shoulder, shoving you away. "Please, please go. Please!"

The black rose, and the world got darker. Darker, darker, yet darker, and it sang to you. It sang to you both, given how forcefully he was trying to force you to leave him in despair. This -

- was this what had tried to drag Melbourne Park into obscurity?

You scrambled into your pocket, grabbing the lighter with a shaky hand. You needed light. You needed hope. You needed -

For someone to call your name, and you could feel it, in your heart. Someone wanted you home. "Many-Names," you whispered, eyes going wide. Gaster was still begging you to leave him behind. To be honest, you'd sort of tuned him out. Turning sharply, you reached out, throwing your arms around his neck.

"You deserve to liii-ehh?" he choked a bit, gasping.

"Hold on!" He didn't obey, at first, until you shouted at him, "Tight!"

Throwing your weight down, you dragged Gaster into a fall. It was one of the most basic forms of transition - a fall. Like Alice going down the rabbit hole, slipping into another world. Not realizing what was happening, Gaster made a high-pitched sound of alarm, holding on tightly to you. You close your eyes, and behind his head, you click the lighter open.

The flame burned bright in the darkest dark. It burned behind your eyes, and in your heart, and you followed the sound of someone screaming your name.

"TWO-BIT YOU FUCKING IDIOT, I SWEAR TO WHATEVER GODS ARE FUCKING LISTENING, I AM GOING TO END YOU."

You felt the warm sun. You felt the humid air. You heard the sound of cars, of birds, and of your fellow magician screaming obscenities at you.

And you felt pain.

And you felt incomprehensible pain.

Someone was cradling your body, and you cracked your eyes open, slightly, looking blearily up at the terrified face of Gaster, now framed by a heartrendingly blue sky. He'd kept holding onto you, even as you'd struck the pavement, and from how he was cupping your head, he seemed to have kept your skull from striking the concrete. That wasn't where it hurt.

It hurt in your stomach, in your chest, in your throat. Like - you'd skidded across the unsmoothed street, pebbles stripping at your skin, but it was your insides burning and bubbling. You'd been used as a line back to reality, you figured dimly, and it'd cost you. You were being spoken to, but the sound was dimmed.

And you could still smell it, that blood, curling around you. Something darker than the pitchest black night. And you could taste it to your mouth, and you turned your face to the side, coughing violently again. Flecks of crimson dotted the sidewalk, more coming as you hack. The taste was sweet, and you desperately mumbled through it, "I deny it - in the light of the sacred."

Many-Names dropped to their knees by you, patting at your face. "What happened?" they hissed at Gaster, wiping at the blood surrounding your mouth as they did so.

"I - there was, something… something dark, then they dragged me down, and - "

"I deny the blood," you pleaded, closing your eyes once more. "And with it, violence."

"W-what?"

"Crap," Many-Names smacked your cheek lightly. "Stay awake, you - fucking dolt. Piss - look, you. Stay with them. I'm going to get a cab; they need treatment."

"Wh- are, are they going to be alright? Please, tell me they're going to be alright!"

"They'll be fine," Many-Names replied, and if you were fully conscious, you probably would have called them out on the lie.

As it stood, all you said was, "..To stave off the world's execution..."