PredatorShift- Chapter 12

Chapter 12- Surprising Deals

Gaster’s immediate action was to teleport into a small room within his lab. It held a number of screens and monitors than occasionally changed to new locations. There was a chair in the center of the artificially lit room, where Gaster’s loyal assistant, Asgore, sat examining the monitors. Or, that is what he should be doing. Gaster saw a book in his hands, one that was slightly warped by water and time. It appeared to be a gardening book, one of Asgore’s favorite subjects.

Gaster cleared his throat, alerting his assistant. Asgore gasped slightly and hurriedly stuffed the book in his lab coat. He spoke nervously, “S-s-sir! You’re back!”
Gaster narrowed his eyes in disappointment. He silently made a mental note to punish his assistant at a later time. That was until he saw that the fur under his assistant’s eyes were stained with the remnants of tears. He quickly noticed that Asgore’s eyes were swollen slightly as well. He had been crying. One of Gaster’s eye sockets twitched slightly, but he managed to push aside the thoughts in his head and spoke bluntly, “Where are Chara and the new human?”
Asgore immediately avoided Gaster’s half-glare. He blinked and stuttered while he fidgetted with his hands, “I-I um… well…”
Annoyance seeped into Gaster’s voice, “I told you to keep an eye on them.”
Gaster quickly smirked and spoke smugly, “Perhaps you secretly wish to be rid of them after all?”
Asgore quickly reacted. He scowled and roared with confidence, throwing the book from his coat in the process, “I would never want that!”
Gaster flashed a surprised expression before his tone and face returned to a calm, neutral manner, “Then what is their status?”
Asgore took a second to allow his anger to melt away. He gave a heavy sigh, “Well...”
Asgore began to mess with the cameras. Sorrow slowly bled into his voice, “When I… last saw them… Chara… they had to… they had to kill Toriel.”
Gaster held his hand tightly, shaking slightly. He attempted to keep an even tone as he spoke, “As... unfortunate as that is, where are they now?”
Asgore sniffled and whipped away the tears that threatened to fall, “I saw them go deep into Waterfall, in the area with the damaged cameras. And… I saw them enter Hotland.”
He raised and brow and held his beard as he turned back towards the monitors, “Strange… they should be here by now.”
Asgore pressed a few buttons, switching the view to various cameras in Hotland. Asgore exclaimed as he saw Chara on one of the monitors, “Ah! There is Chara! But… they are alone…”
Asgore’s eyes widened, they saw Chara clutch their arm on the screen, “Are-are they injured?!”

Gaster’s expression turned dark as he saw Chara on screen. He quickly and aggressively grasped the collar of Asgore’s lab coat, much to Asgore’s surprise. The two teleported to Chara’s location before Asgore could fully react. Chara was at the Hotland elevator, they had raised their arm to push the call button before they froze. They heard the sound of Gaster’s teleport behind them. A chill ran down their back. They let out a small gasp before they felt something grab hold of their soul. Gaster used blue magic and lifted Chara towards them. Chara was stiff, fear was quick to light up their expression. All they could do was clutch their new first–nearly second-degree–burn on their left arm. Gaster scowled at them and spoke darkly, “Where is the other human?”
Chara hesitated to speak for a moment, they could only shake while their soul was encased in the blue magic, “We- we had a run in with a few pyropes-“
Gaster’s scowl deepened for a moment. He slowly closed one of his palms, and Chara began to squirm and quiver. They nearly let out a cry of pain. After a brief moment, Gaster uncurled the same palm. His expression leveled, but his tone did not, before he continued, “I did not ask what happened. I asked where the human is. Now… Where. Is. It?”
Chara‘s breath became heavy for a few moments. They gave a pleading gaze towards Asgore. Asgore shuffled his hands nervously and turned their gaze away. Chara quickly turned their gaze back to Gaster and spoke, “Somewhere in... Hotland…”
Gaster spoke bluntly, “So, it escaped again. You disappoint me, Chara.”
Chara’s voice cracked as they pled, “All they do is run! It convinced Asriel to go with them-“
Gaster quickly threw Chara against the elevator, pressing the call button with their back in the process. Chara yelped and landed on the ground, winded from the attack. Gaster looked down at them and spoke, “Do not despair, Chara. I have decided not to kill you.”
Chara raised a brow, unable to respond before Gaster continued, “Return to the lab. It should be safe for you there.”
Gaster flashed an impish grin, “I will finish the job.”
Chara struggled to stand, “N-no!”
Gaster frowned, “This is not up for discussion. Your ineptitude to finish the job shall not stand any longer.“
Asgore raised a brow, “Sir? Forgive me, but this is most unlike you. Are you a-”
Gaster sharply turned his gaze to his assistant. A chill ran down Asgore’s spine and he quickly quieted. Gaster spoke bluntly to his assistant, “You should be overjoyed at this decision. At the very least, your children will live to see the surface.”

Chara interjected once more, “I will not let you kill them!”
Gaster turned his gaze back to Chara, whose eyes were aglow with their rage. Chara continued with a determined declaration, “I will kill them. I will not allow them to go unpunished for taking Rei from me!’
Gaster frowned, “You have failed. Twice. This human is clearly too much for your skills. Now-“
Chara interjected once more, “All they do is run! They are wea-“

A wall of sharp bones burst forth from the ground and halted just in front of Chara’s neck. The glow in Chara’s eyes vanished in an instant as terror overcame them. They backed every small bit of their body back against the elevator, terrified to move a muscle and risk being impaled on the sharp bones. Yet, they could not help but shake, and even a few tears began to well in their eyes, slightly obscuring the lava light-lit bones that threatened their life. Asgore gasped but did nothing, unsure whether this was a bluff. Gaster growled, his expression tired and angered, “The human is stronger than they appear, child.”
Chara turned their gaze onto the caster of the spell and spoke, their voice wavered, “H-how would you know that?”
“Papyrus is dead.”
Asgore’s eyes widened, “Th-the Prince?! But, how?!”
Chara had no reaction but slowly recovered from their fear as Gaster spoke, “I found the Prince as a pile of dust, with a message that referred to a human. However… I found many more letters with many different scenarios. I can only assume the human tricked Papyrus into pointing out that specific letter before the human killed him.”
Chara muttered, now calmed, “That is a large assumption.”
One of the bones grew just enough to pierce the skin on Chara’s neck. Chara once more stiffened against the elevator door and said nothing. Gaster nearly huffed, “I do not need your smarmy remarks. Return to the lab. I will take care of the human and return Asriel to you.”
The bones retracted and disappeared. Chara dropped to their knees. They sighed and conceded as the rubbed the new wound on their neck, “Fine.”
They stood and scowled, “But I want at least one stab while they are alive.”
Gaster smirked, “I believe that can be arra-“

Gaster felt a sudden, semi-continuous vibration from his coat pocket. He pulled out a small flip phone from said pocket to discover a call for him. He answered the call calmly, “Yes, what is it?”
A familiar voice echoed through the phone, “Is that any way to address your king?”
Gaster stood stiff and turned away from Chara, “My king! My apologies, I did not know it was you!”
Asgore and Chara’s eyes widened at Gaster’s words but kept quiet. Chara also felt the elevator doors open behind them. Before Chara could slip into the elevator, Gaster once again grabbed Chara’s soul with blue magic with only a quick glance at them. Gaster scowled at Chara as Sans spoke, “Eh, I’ve been switching phones a lot lately, so I’ll forgive that. For now. Anyway, I’m dropping by the lab soon. I need those cameras you got around the underground for something.”
Gaster returned most of his focus to the call and spoke nervously, “How gracious of you to alert us of your arrival.”
Sans chuckled, amused, “Yeah. You got five minutes. I got some lunch to finish.”

The phone call ended abruptly. Gaster sighed and put the phone in his pocket. He looked towards Chara with a grumble, “The king is on his way. If I am not there to… entertain him, then there will be trouble.”
Chara smirked, “Then, it would not be wise for me to return to the lab.”
Gaster glared at Chara for a moment before he threw Chara up in the air for a brief second before he dropped them to the ground once more. Gaster glared at Chara deeply as they spoke, “I am only giving you this last chance because I have no choice. Find the human, and call me when you have them in your grasp. It will be killed in a safe location. Understood?”
Chara stood and avoided Gaster’s gaze, “Yes… sir.”

Gaster bent down and grabbed Chara by their chin before he forcibly turned their gaze towards him. Chara’s eyes widened slightly and they tried to tear themselves from Gaster’s grasp to no avail. Gaster ignored Chara’s apparent panic and spoke, “I should not need to remind you of the consequences of failure, but I will since you seem so prone to it….”
Chara glared at Gaster and retorted, “There is a human saying. ‘Third time is the charm’. It means that the third attempt is the one that will bring success.”
Gaster let go of Chara’s face and stood tall, “For your sake, you should make it a success. Or you will die.”

Gaster turned back towards Asgore, “Come. We have a king to entertain.”
Asgore nodded, “Yes, sir.”
Gaster grasped the collar of Gaster’s lab coat once more, but this time was much gentler. The two disappeared with naught but a small sound. Chara stood there, holding their new wound once more. They sighed and turned towards the now open elevator and entered without a word. Chara looked at the many buttons, not sure which one Asriel or Frisk had pressed. Chara muttered, “This will be difficult.”
Chara pressed the button for one side of Hotland’s top floor. The elevator door closed before the elevator moved slowly. Chara slowly removed their coat to reveal the white tank-top beneath. They ripped the bottom of the shirt and began to wind the cloth around the burn. They hissed slightly through their teeth and grunted as they wound and bound the wound tightly with no ointment to soothe it. Chara gave a relaxed sigh, knowing the worst of it was now done. They quickly dug out the bag of dust from their jacket and began to reapply the dust onto their clothes. They were careful in applying the dust over their wound, they even bit their lip in anticipation of any sudden pain. Some came, but it was more so from jerking the arm around than the dust application. Chara stuffed the now empty bag into their coat, satisfied at their new coat of dust. They pulled their hood up, some bits of monster dust stuck in the hood became entangled within their hair.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. It revealed a long, straight path to their right and a crumbling path to their left. No sign of Asriel and the human. Chara sighed before they muttered quietly to themselves, “This will be harder than I thought.”


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Gaster and Asgore waited for Sans in the main entrance room of the lab. It was only two minutes before another being teleported into the lab. King Sans threw off the hood of his cloak, revealing his face with fresh dust around his jaw. Gaster paid no mind, but Asgore avoided Sans’s gaze as the two gave a light bow to their king. Gaster spoke, “And you said your visit is about the camera system?”
Sans wiped the new dust way from his teeth, “Yeah. I decided to use it for a special hunt.”
Gaster raised a brow, “Special? Is there… a particular monster you wish to devour?”
Sans grinned, “Nah, something better. Just thinking about the two of ‘em is making me even more hungry.”
Sans licked the dust on his hand, almost lightly chewing it. He let go before he spoke, “A little weed told me there are two humans down here.”

Asgore’s eyes lit up in shock and fear, but Gaster remained calm, only raising a brow. Gaster’s eyes narrowed, “A… weed told you this?”
Sans chuckled, concentrating on wiping the last specks of dust off his hand, “Yeah. Some useless, soulless husk. Barely tasted like anything.”
Sans turned his focus back to Gaster, “So, where is the camera system set up? Walk me to it. I want to know exactly where it is.”
Gaster began to walk towards the main elevator, “This way, my king.”

Sans silently followed behind. Asgore shook slightly and stood still. Sans noticed this and quickly turned his skull back towards the meek assistant, “You coming?”
Asgore nearly jumped, his fur stood on end, and he could not help but stutter all the while, “Y-yes, sir! Sorry, sir!”
Asgore scurried up behind Sans and Gaster, and all three made their way through the lower confines of the lab. Sans was quick to loudly smell the hanging stench of Chara’s blood. Sans chuckled lightly to himself, “The substitute ain’t bad, but I’ll have the real thing soon enough.”
Gaster spoke calmly, “You said this… weed… told you there were two humans?”
Sans replied simply, but his eyes locked onto the Royal Scientist, “Yeah.”
Gaster felt a chill up his spine, he could not help but hesitate in his words, “I-if this weed’s claim… were true-“
“It is. You’d be surprised how many will naturally spill their guts right before they die.”
“Then… would you consider… giving one of them… to us?”

Sans stopped dead in his tracks, causing Asgore to dance around him quickly. Sans’s eyes became a dark abyss. His teeth clenched for a moment before he responded darkly, “What?”
Gaster quickly turned around at the sound of the king’s tone. He recognized this expression. He knew this all too well. He instinctually stepped back a few paces before he responded, pleads bled into his tone, “It could be useful in accelerating the substitute’s production. A-and the chance to research a soul could lead to the breakthrough we need to shatter the barrier!”
Asgore gave an angered look to Gaster and was about to protest, but he stopped himself. He knew the king couldn’t know.

Sans was quiet for a few short moments, his head lowered slightly. The gears turned in his skull. Gaster and Asgore kept their distance from the king, careful not to set him off.
Sans raised his head after a while, and his eyes returned to his thick white dots. He smirked, “How noble of you…”
Gaster lowered his stance, ready for an inevitable attack. He heard something he did not expect. Words from his king, “Alright. If you can manage to pry one out of my mouth… I might be willing to give one to you.”
The king flashed his blue eye, “But I get to pick first. Touch that human, and I’ll save room for you as dessert.”
Asgore attempted to nervously speak to Gaster, “S-sir-“
Gaster simply put up a hand to Asgore’s face while he kept his eye on Sans. Gaster then quickly lowered his hand and spoke, “Agreed. One human for you, and one other for my research.”
Sans’s eyes returned to normal once more, his posture seemed relaxed, “Good. Now, that camera system…”
Asgore perked up, “Sir… I feel you should know… the recording capabilities have been offline for some time… d-due to… damage…”
Sans frowned, “I don’t need to know where the two humans were. I want to know where they are.”
Asgore shrunk back slightly, submissively, “I just… thought you should know.”
Sans rolled his eye sockets dismissively, “Fine. Just take me to it.”
Asgore gulped and motioned to the halls ahead, “Right away… sir.”