#It drops me back into the person I was when I first read Handplates - for better or for worse. It's a very strange feeling

[sysig]

Two skeletons in a trench lab coat (Patreon)

Bonus:

He’s very careful! Everything was fine before you interrupted!

[the-undertale-mouse]

Handplates: Tempus CH 1

    Handplates is a really cool if dark take on the Papyrus/Sans/Gaster origin story by @zarla-s and if you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend it. This is a spin off of that in which a human enters their lives. This takes place some time before Justice falls. Tempus(Patience) would be the fifth soul. Some things may be inaccurate, but please be patient with me. I just need to get it out of my head and I need some feedback. I am reposting some chapters because I have revised a few things for greater accuracy. ~Miamouse

Chapter 1 Contact

* * *

    “Say hi to King Fluffy Buns for me. Us war survivors got to stick together.  Maybe we should have a cards night or-,” Gerson said as Gaster paid for his groceries.

    “I’m sorry, I have a very tight schedule,” Gaster said, cutting the conversation short. Not that he didn’t appreciate everything the ‘hammer of justice’ did in his time, but the old war vet had a tendency to ramble, and Gaster really did have a schedule to keep. Any time away from the lab not working was time wasted to Gaster, except he still needed to go out every now and then to buy food.

    “Don’t be such a stranger,” Gerson called.

    Gaster took his leave and started back along the road to hotland, taking special care to avoid the nonsensical beings dubbed ‘tems.’ he just didn’t have the time to deal with the silly creatures. He made it safely past them without an encounter and sighed with relief as he stepped into the darkening lantern room. He could use his one functioning eye socket to glow and show him the path, but he didn’t bother. He knew the path so well, he didn’t strictly need to see. Not many monsters came this way, it was too dark and depressing. He liked this room, it was peaceful and solitary. He did not expect someone to bump into him. He did not expect to drop half the groceries he just bought. Most of all, he did not expect them to be human. But it happened anyway.

    Panic flooded his chest cavity, despite its words of apology and concern directed towards him. A human? Here, now? Right in front of him? What to do? He had confidence he could easily capture it and bring it to the king, as was protocol, but he couldn’t stand the thought of the look in the king’s eyes after he killed yet another human. He could kill the human himself and bring the soul to the king. It would be no trouble. By the look of it, this one was a chil- not yet full grown. Weak. Inexperienced.  He would just say he found the soul like that. Tragic for the human, good for the monsters. How long could it last in the underground anyway? He was surprised it made it this far. He was doing it a favor, cutting its misery short.

    He shifted into ‘fight mode’ turning its soul dark blue from the get-go. This would be over with soon, if he worked straight through lunch, he could be back on schedule. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to.

* * *

    Tempus accepted that her apologies didn’t work the moment her soul became heavy and the skeleton across from her started sending bone-shaped bullets her way. The increased gravity made it difficult, but she was very good at detecting patterns and timing her movements just right. She managed to avoid all of his intricate waves of bones with the least amount of energy possible. She was able to catch a breather and “check his stats.” She did this with everyone who chose to fight her in order to understand them a little better and find a way to appease them.

    “Wing Dings Gaster. LV 4. Hurt some people on purpose. That’s probably bad. Though maybe some of it was in self-defense or something. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. HP 2000/2000 AT 36 DF 36. Royal Scientist obsessed with breaking the barrier.” Tempus gulped. Even if she didn’t lose her cute ribbon, he could kill her in easily (she was weak for a human, she only had 10 HP.) If she could negotiate a solution, she would always try that first. She had to think fast as she dodged the next, trickier volley of bones.

* * *

    The human was exceptionally skilled at dodging. Gaster would have been impressed if it weren’t so annoying. It was just making the battle drag out longer. Between the volleys of bones, the human attempted to reason with him. Its efforts were fruitless. He just tuned it out. Nothing it said mattered. They needed its soul for the barrier. There was no discussing it. Gaster did not indulge it with replies, it probably wouldn’t understand his language anyway, and he doubted it knew how to read his hands. Talking to it would be pointless, and he did not like to do anything pointless.

   He was, however, intrigued that it wielded no physical weapon. This was odd for humans since most of them could not wield magic. On the off chance it could use magic, why didn’t it? It was in very real danger and did not defend itself besides dodging and expelling useless chatter. Perhaps it was luring him into a false sense of security. Its soul signature was patience after all. It could be waiting for the right moment to strike, for all he knew. As he was thinking that, the human changed tact, but not in the way he expected.

* * *

    Tempus had four different logical actions she could use on Gaster: reason, plead,  threaten and joke. In addition to actions, she could manifest magical versions of her toy knife to attack him. She dropped the real one back in the ruins when she promised herself she wouldn’t use it to hurt anyone. With magic, you could manipulate it so that the person on the receiving end could be left with 1 hp, no matter how many times you hit, but that was her most desperate move. More desperate than attempting to actually spare him or run away, both of which would be very desperate indeed, considering his strength. She was getting to that point of desperation though.

    She tried pleading and reasoning several times, hoping to wear him down, but to no effect, since he didn’t seem to be listening. Maybe he was deaf. An idea occurred to her: perhaps he wasn’t ignoring her, perhaps he actually couldn’t hear her pleas. He didn’t have ears after all. There was no guarantee he understood ASL, but it had a better chance of success than sparing him. She gave it a shot, thanking her stars she knew sign language since she was little.

  “Please stop. I’m not going to try to leave the underground. I don’t want to hurt you or your king. I know you need my soul for the barrier, but you don’t have enough anyway. Can’t I stay in peace, at least until the last two humans fall?” She had studied the plaques on the walls carefully, in an attempt to understand the history here. She knew they needed the equivalent of 7 human souls to be free. A member of the Royal Guard informed her that her soul would be the fifth in their collection, right before they threw a spear at her. Tempus made a split second decision to run for it and she ran all the way back to the darkening lantern room and right into this guy. 

* * *

    Once again, this human surprised Gaster, this time by speaking in hands; a highly unusual trait, even among monsters. He was so stunned, he forgot to ignore what it was saying. ‘It made a good argument,’ he begrudgingly acknowledged. That didn’t mean it wasn’t lying about being a pacifist. True, it didn’t have any LV or EXP but, who’s to say it would never gain some? No matter what it said, he couldn’t let it roam free. Humans were far too dangerous and unpredictable. But perhaps it didn’t have to be killed yet. If it’s power could be harnessed, then maybe freedom was closer than it seemed. Plans formed in his head for how to get and use that power. The possibilities it presented were endless. It would almost be a waste to kill it so soon.

* * *

    Gaster considered for a moment then said both out loud and with his hands, “If I let you live, will you come quietly?”

    Tempus did not like the idea of a scientist with an LV of 4 taking her captive, but what choice did she have? “Yes. I’ll come quietly.” she signed and spoke. The battle ended. 0 EXP and 0 G gained.

    “Oh, I can hear you just fine. I was just ignoring you earlier.” Gaster said bluntly.

   She had a feeling this was the case, though she had hoped better of him. “You don’t have to sign for me either. My hearing is just fine.”

   He paused and looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. “Really now, you can understand me?” he spoke out loud only, not using his hands to sign. His tone was colored in disbelief as if he highly doubted a human like her could know what he was saying.

   Tempus had no clue what he was implying. He did have a bit of an accent, but it was nothing crazy. “Yes, I can understand you. We’re speaking the same language, aren’t we?”

    “Indeed. But for now, I would rather you didn’t speak unless spoken to until we get back to the lab. You did agree to come quietly.” Tempus decided to obey him, for now. She was patient. She would follow along, do as he said...at least until she figured something out.

* * *

     As they walked on in silence, Gaster’s mind was buzzing.  ‘The human, hereby referred to as ‘subject 3’ or ‘3-T’ diverges from the norm in several notable ways. First, it understands me, signs or no signs, furthermore, it is capable of using the signs itself. Second, it speaks in a font differing from the norm: ‘Tempus’ hence the ‘T’ in ‘3-T.’ Third, it chooses to wield no physical weapon though it may be in possession of magical ability, a rarity among humans. That is yet to be seen, but upon further inspection, it is noted subject 3 possess a certain aura and frailty unusual to its kind. This aura and frailty are reminiscent of the wizards who sealed us away nearly 1000 years ago. I’d be nostalgic if I didn’t still have the emotional scars. Last, Subject 3 is adept at timing its dodges perfectly. I suspect it has something to do with their soul signature ‘patience.’ All these things ought to be looked into and studied. Subject 3 is lucky to have piqued my interest so thoroughly...or maybe unlucky. It’s too late either way.’

Next

[nochiquinn]

episode 104: just punch a god in the fucking face

things I have watched today: sagas of sundry, wednesday club, and now this

this is Matt and Taliesin Content Day

fifteen minutes late and someone's edm mixtape is skipping???

ah, mic issues

oh, TWO skype calls, no wonder all the tech derped. I can't manage ONE discord call usually

"if you've been naughty they unsubscribe"

mala: they'll get matt's mic right someday me: the true final boss: audio

next send the camera into the writer's room

I'm using "eaten by xenomorphs" for every excuse for dropping out of calls ever

discord: "missing his equipment" no no, his equipment was there, but his armor wasn't covering it

"Microdermabrasion: Necromantic Cantrip. Removes dead skin." goddammit alpha

it's an eyeball! nah, it's just a peeled grape. no, real shit, it's an eyeball

"I put my cold feet in bc I have no shoes" 

keyleth collecting good memories before everything goes to shit

marisha/taliesin cuddles are my entire life

pikeypants

I can't find my fidget cube so I'm playing pokemon instead. pokecube. fidgetmon.

"SPLITTING THE PARTY: Don't do it. Not even in the deific planes. Guys no. Shhh. Don't do it."

marshmallowy goodness of sarenrae

vex is now abu during the cave of wonders scene

TOUCH NOTHING BUT THE LAMP

also I'm just picturing Rose Quartz's room

"such a beacon in a very dark world"

I wanna be like yo-o-ou

vecna is solas

"I'm sorry for all the cursing at first" same

raven queen and sarenrae get together and gossip about vox machina, it's basically canon

weekly appreciation for marisha's top

so did sarenrae, like, get kicked out of the country club and now none of the other members will talk to her anymore

"and just chucks her" matt no

vex has a handful of dead people in her pocket

that seems to be going around

discord: I can't believe Pike is Angela Ziegler now

look down, look back up, your goddess is in your face now

when your entire approach to religion is summarized in a D&D game

"what even are titties"

grog that's a PERSON

you're not in kansas anymore

keyleth's occasional mania is #relateablecontent

suddenly the toddler: "no SOULS, it FRUIT". (or more likely "no SOULS, it APPLE", she doesn't generalize yet)

pikemom to the rescue

"entities"

I am not good at this whole "focus" thing tonight

"I jump in" has not ended well for keyleth

amicable tree

"not that one, that one's an asshole"

I'M NOT YOUR BRO, DUDE

"it casts so much shade" SHOUTS

"new npc: dicktree"

it's the tree from broken age

keyleth is me for like the last two weeks

(~*~bipolar~*~)

it's the noons from keys to the kingdom!

(please read keys to the kingdom)

lol tech difficulties as the giveaway word

I don't know what's going on but I just saw matt mouth "what the fuck" very emphatically

dumb break thought: I enjoy that he emphasizes that sarenrae has dark skin. too easy to fall into the "goddess of light = fair-skinned" trope

"there's no shade" "I BEG TO DIFFER"

"rocks fall, everybody dies"

"benny hill music commences"

"this has to be heaven, the doors just keep opening"

keep your hand at the level of your eye

it's gaster from the handplates comics

(don't look at me like that, zarla is my favorite forever)

pelor-senpai noticed them

not sure how I feel about percy squirming out of being regarded by any of these deities

like it makes sense, given his past and how he generally feels about the gods? but also percy stop shoving people in front of you every time the teacher calls your name

still picturing the thing in the flask. or envy.

SLAYER'S TAKE. the sphinx lady whose name I don't remember!

well fuck you too buddy

PERCY YOUR ENTIRE BLOODLINE IS WHITESTONE SPEAK THE FUCK UP

or vex that works but percyyyyy my disaster child

TIMED CHALLENGE

"fuck 'im and dash" "never calling him back"

oh shit it's a resurrection ritual

IF I BELIEVE IN ONE THING I BELIEVE IN HER

just threaten the fucking gods, nbd

"the future I have chosen" no that's okay I wasn't using my heart

SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND

grog stole the pope

salt and pepper twins

"thanks for FUCKING UP MY BOOK TALIESIN"

NIGHT TRAP liam why

matt if you really cared about east coasters you'd stop starting encounters at 1 am our time

"other country-ers"

[gasters-story]

Chapter 6

Word Count: 2,278

Vedran was checking on the small crack from Gaster being knocked over. He leans in to get a closer look at it. “Is it getting any bigger? Any noticeable chipping?” Gaster shakes his head no. “Lets just hope it doesn’t get any bigger. It may affect your vision in the eye it’s above.” Vedran leans back from checking, relaxing a bit. He normally did this for Gaster’s health, not wanting it to be any worse.

It has been a while. The human leader before died and had lost most of his determination he had due to depression that had caused him to give up on a lot, and his son became his replacement. They have a different political system than monsters. It’s based mostly on soul type. For reasons, the person with the most determination is leader. If it lowers during your reign, you will be replaced until it goes back up enough.

With the new leader came… Issues at the lab, mainly for Gaster. Things got rougher for him. Everything seemed to get worse, making the perseverance in his soul grow though. He held on as best as he could, even through the pain.

Vedran had offered pain pills before to Gaster, but he would always rejected them, saying he’ll be fine. Now, though, he will ask for them a lot. It helped after experiments, so Vedran always made sure to bring some now. Gaster was extremely grateful, not realizing until the first time how useful they were. He always thanked him each time he gave him them. After taking them, he’ll lay down to rest a bit. Vedran would watch and make sure to wake him up before he got in trouble if he did fall asleep.

The new leader’s first experiment for Gaster that he decided was a handplate, forced to be drilled into Gaster’s left hand. Vedran is still mad about it, saying it was not supposed to happen and was never discussed at a meeting, but Gaster would just stare at and read it, not to bothered to be mad besides when it was drilled. ’S-0, AWD’ was carved into the iron. He didn’t know what it meant, besides the top words being Subject-0. The bottom initials, he guessed, didn’t make too much sense.

The “memory issues” also noticeably kicked up with the new leader too. Gaster hated it. He would remember something happening, but Vedran wouldn’t. The day wouldn’t have changed either. Sometimes it’s midday when it happens. He dealt with it for almost a year now, and it had no pattern or warning.

With wanting to figure out what is happening, he started to sneak around, looking for answers somewhere in the lab. He knew he could get in serious trouble, but it’s not like anything could get any worse, right? It was his only hope to solve the mystery of what happened. He wanted to know, no, he needed to know. At least, it felt like it for him.

Vedran had left just a bit ago after checking up on him, so Gaster was now sneaking around using teleportation and taking careful steps, making sure to be careful around each corner. If even Vedran found him he would scold him and tell him to go back, so this was a secret to keep to himself for once, and why he waited for him to leave. It wasn’t long before he came across a few scientists, two specifically talking to each other. He listened from around a corner, back to the wall.

“A lot of lives are going to be saved with the new leader, more than the last!” One says. Both of them are smiling, without a care it seems as their conversation continues.

“You mean with the resets being for almost everyone? Unlike in March when the leader’s close friend died?” The other asks, making Gaster’s eye lights widen in shock. Resets…?

“Yeah! Sure, we will have to repeat days a lot more, but humans can just remember and repeat. Not too big of a deal. Monsters won’t remember, but they’ll just continue normally anyways.” The one agrees, and it starts to click for Gaster. The humans were behind this. The leader has caused the day to restart. He somehow remembers… It clicked again. I’m half monster and half human.

“W-what-” Gaster breathes out in shock by accident, making them turn their heads his way. He freezes in fear when he realizes, only to be grabbed by the arm and dragged out suddenly.

“How much did you hear?!” One barks at him, staring him dead in the face. His face was an angry scowl versus Gaster’s scared one.

“I-I o-only just got here!” He lies in a panic, trying to get the scientist to let go. The scientist just gripped harder and the other walked up to them from the side.

“How are you out of your room?! You shouldn’t be able to get out without help!” He grabbed him by his shirt and a bit of his scarf, forcing Gaster to be lifted up a bit where he has to be on the tip of his toes to touch the ground, not even letting go of his arm.

“I-i- don’t know-!” They slammed him against the wall, growling. He grunted, sure he heard something crack.

“We are taking you back to your room, and you will not leave again unless told to, got it?!” The one yells at him, making him tear up as he nods. He got his information… but was it really worth it?

Their grip loosened, but they threw him forward, causing him to fall on the floor, unable to get a good grip and stand before it happened. He picked himself up a bit, noticing the red crowding the top of his vision. He put a hand to his eye, feeling the crack above it. The crack had climbed up his skull higher. No- He felt a bit of panic surge through him, as he put his hand down to see red on it. He whimpered and fully stood up, beginning to walk back to the cell.

The scientist followed behind, confused on how they had to unlock the cell and put him in, even though he got out. They shrugged it off, walking away, only to come back a bit later with a first aid kit. “Clean yourself up.” One of them says, tossing it over to Gaster, who catches it.

He’s shocked at first, but appreciates it. “U-um t-thank you…” he says, looking down and opening it. Vedran had taught him how to use one just in case, luckily.

“Tsk.” The one makes an annoyed grin before walking off with the other directly behind, who also looked a bit annoyed. Gaster ignores it and sits down. He begins to use the stuff on himself, being careful with the now bigger crack.

It wasn’t long before Vedran came along, seeing into the cell and noticing. He opens the cell, face showing anger, worry, and a bit of panic. “What happened?!” He walks over, kneels down in front of Gaster, begins to use the first aid kit on him as well.

“I got knocked over again…” Vedran sighs at his answer, a bit confused by it too.

“Did they come to you looking angry? I only left for a little while…” They couldn’t have done an experiment. Vedran knew that well since they took a while to do in the first place.

“N-no…” Gaster was hesitant to say the rest. He didn’t want Vedran mad at him.

“Then why? There is some reason this happened.” Vedran wiped the blood away as best he could, disinfecting as well before beginning to wrap the crack up. Gaster winced as the disinfectant stung.

“I-” Should he say? Vedran won’t be too mad… would he…? “I got out of the cell on purpose to search the lab for answers…” He mumbled, starting to tear up with regret. Vedran paused what he was doing for a moment, causing Gaster to have a slight panic.

“Wingdin, did you teleport around the lab when I told you it wasn’t wise…?” Vedran asks slowly. Gaster took a minute to answer.

“Y-yes…” He finally stated. His voice sounded choked up as he tried not to cry. It wasn’t worth it anymore. He shouldn’t have done it. “I’m s-sorry…” He grabbed his scarf with both his hands and used it to bury his face out of shame and regret. “I-I’m so sorry…” Vedran continued what he was doing again. “I just wanted to see what was going on with the time stuff!” Vedran sighed.

“Wingdin, I told you not to worry about that.” Vedran finally replied. Gaster was shaking by now, out of fear mostly.

Gaster quickly lowers his scarf a bit from his face, still held up by his hands. “But Vedr-!” He cut Gaster off, to his surprise.

“Wingdin Gaster!” Vedran called his full name, making him shrink back and shut up. He dropped his scarf to hang loosely around his neck, looking down at it. Vedran took a deep breath before saying anything more. “Look, I’ve been trying to figure it out as well. Whether it be something to do with your species or a flaw in your revival, I have no clue what is making you have things like this happen to you.”

“I know why…” Gaster mumbled out, staring down at his scarf. He played with the scarf, using it as a fidget tool for his hands. Vedran stared at him wide eyed, a bit too shocked to speak. “That’s why they threw me to the ground. I found out their power as humans.” He finally looks up, staring directly at Vedran. “They are resetting the days.” Vedran had to take a minute to recollect himself, stopping what he was doing.

“What do yo- how??” He was confused, but Gaster seemed to understand it better than the person who teaches him things, having experienced it himself.

“Monsters can’t remember the resetted days apparently. I don’t know why… but it may be because they have weaker souls like you told me.” He put a hand to his chest, directly in the location of where his abnormal soul rest in his ribcage, and closed his eyes. “I may have been titled as a ‘monster’ to many, but that’s not fully me. I’m half and half.”

Vedran didn’t need to think on this. He knew he was right, as much as it doesn’t seem as obvious as it probably should. He still had some human qualities, not many, but some. Slightly slow healing for when he had lower levels of magic… The purple colored glow around his soul… His soul is theorized to last a while after death… Also being able to remember resets, apparently.

“That may be so… And sheds new light on what humans are capable of…” Vedran says and Gaster opens his eyes back up, putting his hand down.

“Do you not know they can do that? I expected you did… they just didn’t want me to know. Then again your reactions make sense…” He looks down at his hands, now in his lap. “So they don’t tell the monsters…?”

Vedran sighs. “Apparently not, and I would probably end up in a situation worse than you if they know that I know…” He glances to the side. “Way worse…”

Gaster looks back up at Vedran, who looks back at Gaster. “So we tell no one and let know one know! I don’t want you hurt over my stupid choices.” Gaster explains. “They know I know, but they shouldn’t know I told you. Let them punish me for it, not you.”

Vedran gives a sympathetic look, not really wanting what is going to probably happen to Gaster just for this. “Fine. I’ll try my best to help you out. I'm… not sure what I can do, though, until it happens…”

Gaster gives a smile. “It’s fine! I can deal even if it gets worse! I’ve dealt for a four years and almost 5 now! And as you said, I’m a soul of perseverance, no?” Vedran couldn’t help but smile back.

“Right.” He agrees, letting out a sigh. Inside, he was still a bit panicky, but he hid it from Gaster, not wanting him to worry either, so he just continued helping Gaster’s crack, using healing magic a bit on it.

This power of humans scared Vedran of them more now. He always had a fear of them, and it didn’t help some brat kid decided to throw rocks at him and end up leaving a small scar above his left eye. Some kid with black hair got the other to stop, but they ended up arguing. That was… Six years ago? The kids seemed like middle schoolers too.

Vedran finally finished, looking at it a bit to make sure it was done properly, and then starts to put the kit away. Gaster takes some wipes quickly from it first, wiping the blood off his hand from earlier. Made him notice his hands were a bit scratched, but it would heal. Vedran puts the kit away, taking the wipes to throw away later when he got the chance. For now, he set them on top of the kit.

“How about we get you learning more things? We still have a few things you haven’t learned yet.” Vedran offers, hoping to lighten the mood, and it worked. Gaster perked up.

“Sure!” He exclaimed and Vedran got a 11th grade science book. Back to this normal schedule of Vedran teaching him. It was nice…

But what happened later, was something Gaster never expected…

First | Previous | Next

[Index]

[the-undertale-mouse]

Handplates : Tempus Pt 1

    Handplates is a really cool if dark take on the Papyrus/Sans origin story by @zarla-s and if you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend it. This is a spinoff of that in which a human enters their lives. Some things may be inaccurate, but please be patient with me. I just need to get it out of my head and I need some feedback. ~miamouse

  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5

“Say hi to King Fluffy Buns for me. Us war vets got to stick together.  Maybe we should have a cards night or-,” Gerson said as Gaster paid for his groceries.

    “I’m sorry I have a very tight schedule,” Gaster said, cutting the conversation short. Not that he didn’t appreciate everything the ‘hammer of justice’ did in his time, but the old war vet had a tendency to ramble, and Gaster really did have a schedule to keep. Any time away from the lab not working was time wasted to Gaster, except he still needed to go out every now and then to buy food.

    “Don’t be such a stranger,” Gerson said well-meaningly.

    Gaster took his leave and started back along the road to Hotland, taking special care to avoid the nonsensical beings dubbed ‘tems.’ he just didn’t have the time to deal with the silly creatures. He made it safely past them without an encounter and sighed with relief as he stepped into the darkening lantern room. He could use his one functioning eye socket to glow and show him the path, but he didn’t bother. He knew the path so well, he didn’t strictly need to see. Not many monsters came this way, it was too dark and depressing. He liked this room, it was peaceful and solitary. He did not expect someone to bump into him. He did not expect to drop half the groceries he just bought. He did not expect them to scream, “Ah! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” Most of all, he did not expect them to be human. But it happened anyway.

    Panic flooded his chest cavity, despite their words of apology and concern directed towards him. A human? Here, now? Right in front of him? What to do? He had confidence he could easily capture it and bring it to the king, as was protocol, but he couldn’t stand the thought of the look in the king’s eyes after he killed yet another human. He could kill the human himself and bring the soul to the king. It would be no trouble, he’d killed his fair share in the war, and those were adults. By the look of it, this one was a child not yet full grown. He would just say he found it that way. Tragic for the human, good for the monsters. How long could it last in the underground anyway? He was surprised it made it this far. He was doing it a favor, cutting off its misery short.

    He shifted into ‘fight mode’ turning its soul blue from the get-go (well, darker blue, since it was already a pale blue.) This would be over with soon, if he worked straight through lunch, he could be back on schedule. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to.

* * *

    Tempus accepted that her apologies didn’t work the moment her soul became heavy and the skeleton across from her started sending bone-shaped bullets her way. The increased gravity made it difficult, but she was very good at detecting patterns and timing her movements just right. She managed to avoid all of his intricate waves of bones with the least amount of energy possible. She was able to catch a breather and use a little trick she called “check stats.” She did this with everyone who chose to fight her in order to understand them a little better and find a way to appease them.

    ‘Wing Dings Gaster. LV 6. Hurt some people on purpose. That’s probably bad. Though maybe some of it was in self-defense or something. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. HP 200/200 MP 55/60 AT 6 DF 7. Royal Scientist obsessed with breaking the barrier.’ Tempus gulped. Even if she didn’t lose her cute ribbon, he could kill her in 2 hits (she was weak for a human, she only had 10 HP.) She could use one of her tricks like “redo” or “teleport” but those always left her feeling tired and hungry. If she could negotiate a solution, she would always try that first. She had to think fast as she dodged the next, trickier volley of bones.

* * *

    The human was exceptionally skilled at dodging. Gaster would have been impressed if it weren’t so annoying. It was just making the battle drag out longer. Between the volleys of bones, the human attempted to reason with him. Its efforts were fruitless. He just tuned it out. Nothing it said mattered. They needed its soul for the barrier. There was no discussing it. Gaster did not indulge it with replies, it probably wouldn’t understand his accent anyway, and he doubted it knew how to read his hands. Talking to it would be pointless, and he did not like to do anything pointless. He was, however, intrigued that it wielded no physical weapon. This was odd for humans since most of them could not wield magic. On the off chance it could use magic, why didn’t it? It was in very real danger and did not defend itself besides dodging and expelling useless chatter. Perhaps it was luring him into a false sense of security. Its soul signature was patience after all. It could be waiting for the right moment to strike, for all he knew. As he was thinking that, the human changed tact, but not in the way he expected.

* * *

    Tempus had four different logical actions she could use on Gaster: reason, plead,  threaten and joke. In addition to actions, she could use a ‘trick’ to manifest magical versions of her toy knife to attack him. She dropped the real one back in the ruins when she promised herself she wouldn’t use it to hurt anyone. With magic, you could manipulate it so that the person on the receiving end could be left with 1 hp, no matter how many times you hit, but that was her most desperate move. More desperate than attempting to actually spare him or run away, both of which would be very desperate indeed, considering his strength. She was getting to that point of desperation though.

    She tried pleading and reasoning several times, hoping to wear him down, but to no effect, since he didn’t seem to be listening. Maybe he was deaf. An idea occurred to her: perhaps he wasn’t ignoring her, perhaps he actually couldn’t hear her pleas. He didn’t have ears after all. There was no guarantee he understood ASL, but it had a better chance of success than sparing him. She gave it a shot, thanking her stars she knew sign language since she was little.

  “Please stop. I’m not going to try to leave the underground. I don’t want to hurt you or your king. I know you need my soul for the barrier, but you don’t have enough anyway. Can’t I stay in peace, at least until the last human falls?”

* * *

    Once again, this human surprised Gaster, this time by speaking in hands; a highly unusual trait, even among monsters; many understood, but few actually knew how to use it themselves. He was so stunned, he forgot to ignore what it was saying. ‘It made a good argument,’ he begrudgingly acknowledged. That didn’t mean it wasn’t lying about being a pacifist. True, it didn’t have any LV or EXP but, who’s to say it would never gain some? No matter what it said, he couldn’t let it roam free. Humans were far too dangerous and unpredictable. But perhaps it didn’t have to be killed yet. If its power could be restrained, harnessed, then maybe freedom was closer than it seemed. Plans formed in his head for how to get and use that power. The possibilities it presented were endless. It would almost be a waste to kill it so soon.

* * *

    Gaster considered for a moment then said both out loud and with his hands, “If I let you live, will you come quietly?”

    Tempus did not like the idea of an LV 6 scientist taking her captive, but what choice did she have? “Yes. I’ll come quietly.” she signed and spoke. The battle ended. 0 EXP and 0 G gained.

    “Oh, I can hear you just fine. I was just ignoring you earlier.” Gaster said bluntly.

   She had a feeling this was the case, though she had hoped better of him. “You don’t have to sign for me either. My hearing is just fine.”

   He paused and looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. “Really now, you can understand me?” he spoke out loud only, neither using his hands or magic to sign. His tone was colored in disbelief as if he highly doubted a human like her could know what he was saying.

   Tempus had no clue what he was implying. He did have a bit of an accent, but it was nothing crazy. “Yes, I can understand you. We’re speaking the same language, aren’t we?”

    “Indeed. But for now, I would rather you didn’t speak unless spoken to until we get back to the lab. You did agree to come quietly.” That’s not what that meant and he knew it, he was just being smug. But Tempus obeyed him. She was patient. She would follow along, do as he said...at least until she figured something out.

* * *

     As they walked on in silence, Gaster’s mind was buzzing.  ‘The human, hereby referred to as ‘subject 3’ or ‘3-T’ diverges from the norm in several notable ways. First, it understands me, signs or no signs, furthermore, it is capable of using the signs itself. Second, it speaks in a distinct font, as a skeleton would. Said font could be seen as a mix between the fonts used by Subjects 1 and 2. Given a name, the font would be ‘Tempus’ hence the ‘T’ in ‘3-T’ but I’m not telling it that, lest it feels special or something. Third, it chooses to wield no physical weapon though it may be in possession of magical ability, a rarity among humans. That is yet to be seen, but upon further inspection, it is noted subject 3 possess a certain aura and frailty unusual to its kind. This aura and frailty are reminiscent of the wizards who betrayed their monster kin(as far as I am aware, all wizards have some monster blood in them) and sealed us away nearly 1000 years ago. I’d be nostalgic if I didn’t still have the battle scars. Last, Subject 3 is adept at timing its dodges perfectly. I suspect it has something to do with its soul signature ‘patience.’ All these things ought to be looked into and studied. Subject 3 is lucky to have piqued my interest so thoroughly...or maybe unlucky. It’s too late either way.’