Gaster thought life was finally settling down, so was rather unprepared for the 'meteor' that nearly ruined it all.

((Co-author:Firehedgehog))

——

There was fire and plenty of people, yet people were not screaming just walking around as calm as can be.

"NoT hErE, bRoThEr..."

One of the people walked into a tree, a crazed positive grin on their face.

They got up and walked into the tree again.

Dream left.

------

Echo jolted up from his nap, rubbing his eyes sleepily and feeling his tummy rumble.

He noticed that doggy was also napping nearby, wiggling out of the covers and jumping on them to get their attention.

He giggled when they let out a funny sound, liking the warm feelings coming from the doggy when they looked at him.

It was nothing like DrEaM. Why did ThEy kEeP hUrTiNg him?

"You hungry?" Cloud asked, stifling a yawn as he sat up, making sure to keep a hold of Echo before they fell off his lap.

The babybones had been doing better over the past few months but sometimes needed someone nearby when they napped, guessing it had something to do with sensing emotions.

He still had much to learn about the omniverse but the book was helping, unsure why the insane doctor called it a 'pamphlet' of all things when it had over a hundred pages.

Echo made a chirp-like sound of happiness, his favourite way of saying yes to something.

"Cakes!" Echo finally said excitedly, what he called pancakes.

"If you use strawberry syrup only," Cloud said giving him a look, the babybones pouted and grumbled.

"You know why" Cloud huffed walking to the kitchen "You get super high when you have maple syrup"

"Yummy Maple" Echo protested.

"Too much you like it" he replied, Echo giggled nuzzling Cloud.

"Foods ready!" Gaster called out as he started to flip another pancake, two plates already on the table with all the syrups there as well.

He had gotten better at cooking he had to if he didn't want Cloud to dust him out of sheer annoyance at wasted food but he still wasn't the best.

Thankfully pancakes were easy to make and they only looked a little charred at the edges, smiling as Echo and Cloud his children even if he had lost the right to claim one was his when they sat at the table.

Still soup was fine, even if he could only make one type of soup.

"What's your plans today?" he asked idly as he sat down with his own plate.

"Vegs!" Echo cheered happily.

"Oh, you're helping with the food garden today?" Gaster asked with a grin. Echo was fascinated with why food grew.

"Helping"

"I grabbed a few more seeds while I was out that you could plant." Cloud said casually which made Echo cheer but Gaster wasn't fooled by the nonchalance, spotting the slight twitch to Clouds expression that showed pure fondness.

"What type, so that I can make sure I plant them correctly" Gaster responded.

"Tomatoes and carrots mostly. Thought a little variety would be nice." Cloud said, having to pull a syrup bottle out of reach of tiny fingers.

"Still early enough in the season for them to be planted, so thats fine" Gaster responded.

"We should probably make a greenhouse with all the plants we are growing." Cloud muttered, feeling weirdly domestic, talking about how to make their home it felt awkward to say that out loud more comfortable.

"Do we need one, this AU is always good weather and no winter?" Gaster asked, but pulled out a notepad and wrote greenhouse on it.

Maybe, he could even make it so they can easily move the whole greenhouse if they ever moved...

Hm... or maybe the whole property.

"Some plants are picker then others and it's always best to be prepared." Cloud said as he bit into his food, never one to rely on a single thing for survival.

His AU made him paranoid but it also kept him alive.

"I'll have to look it up, if we get a greenhouse we'd need to make sure its set up correctly" Gaster mumbled to himself as he gathered dirty dishes.

"Veg?" Echo asked as he chewed on the last of his pancakes, his hands sticky after he got frustrated with the cutlery and just dug straight in.

"I think you need a change of clothes first." Cloud said amused, not seeing a point in using a tissue to try and wipe off all that mess.

"Bath time" Gaster said scooping up the child, Echo giggled as he was undressed and washed in the tub filled with bubbles.

"Lotsa bubbas" Eccho giggled happily playing in the foam.

"Lots of bubbles indeed" Gaster said with a chuckle, he doubted Cloud or Papyrus remembered their happy babybones time before Asgore decided he wanted Gaster as his slave. And he was a slave, his back still had the scars from Asgores attention.

Soon enough he was drying Echo, and dressing him up in a cute outfit for the day. No hat, but Echo had quite a few to choose from.

"There you go flower, ready for the day" he said, helping them with their little shoes.

Echo giggled before running to grab his pretty white hat with flowers stitched all over it.

It had been a present from doggy and he loved it.

"Veg!" He squealed, holding up his arms for Gaster and bouncing in sheer excitement.

"Alright flower" he chuckled picking up the child. Echo purred in his arms.

He went to the front area and grabbed their jackets and gardening gloves, and soon enough the two of them were caring for their garden.

——-

"WhERE cOULd YoU hAvE GoNe, BrOtHEr?"

Dream looked at the latest destruction with a dismissive gaze, this AU another failure in his eyes, clutching the small bead that held his brothers magic tightly.

The people screamed and they laughed but he didn't care, only looking for one thing only.

"ClOse. I FeEl iT"

He smiled, feeling he would be close to his other half soon.

And then they would never be alone again.

——-

"I made lunch. You two coming inside anytime soon?" Cloud asked, not bothering to hide his judging look at the amount of dirt on Gasters face.

He preferred when he cooked, still horrified by their many failed pie making attempts and would have banned Gaster from the kitchen if they hadn't stopped burning all their precious food.

"Lunch is ready already" Gaster said looking up, having totally lost track of time.

Gardening was wonderful and relaxing, and little Echo had a way with plants. His mind went to the tree of feelings, he wasn't very impressed from what he had read about it. He wondered if this made the guardians tree spirits, or dryads...

A thought for another day.

"Alright flower, lets go get cleaned up so we're not mud monsters while we eat" Gaster said picking up Echo.

"Mud monsters. Raaarrrrr!" Echo said giggling and pretending to be a mud monster.

"Rarrr" Gaster responded to Echo's delight.

"Go on, mud monsters. The pie will be waiting for you once you are done." Cloud said, snapping a few photos when Echo tried to 'sneakily' wipe their muddy hands on Gasters face and utterly failed.

"Maybe a bath after lunch also, you have more mud than clothes Echo." Gaster said taking in the child who just giggled.

Echo liked bath time and the nice smelling soap Gaster bought, happy he could smell like the flowers in the garden.

He got changed into a nice soft outfit, giggling at the little echo flowers sewn on the sleeves.

Gaster smiled, he hoped things continued to go forward like this.

Maybe one day even Papyrus would meet Echo.

"Come on flower, we have pie"

"Pie!" Echo squealed, bouncing out the room to go to the kitchen.

Doggy made good pie, enjoying the funny faces they made when Gaster tried to help.

Cloud was waiting for them when they arrived staring out the window with a strange frown.

"What's wrong?" Gaster asked concerned, as this wasn't Clouds usual frowns or scowls.

"Is is me, or... is everything overly bright" he said rubbing his face, at first Gaster wondered if Cloud was on the edge of a migraine as he'd had a few of a child but then realised it was way too bright outside.

"How strange" he said peering outside and pulling the blinds down.

Echo made a strange sound and winced, leaning his face against their parent.

Cloud tried to shake the odd feeling and started to plate everything, feeling rather tense as the meal went on.

He looked at the window in confusion, scowling at how bright it was despite the blinds being down.

Maybe the AU was stranger than he thought...

"Bad...." Echo said unhappily after finishing the meal, once again climbing into Gasters arms and hiding his face in his chest.

"Do you need your medication?" Gaster asked in worry, rubbing Echos back in comfort as they began to shake.

"Something is off..." Cloud murmured, not one to ignore his instincts which were screaming that something was coming, something dangerous .

"Bad! Bad bad... Dream bad!" Echo whimpered, actually crying, his fragmented memories of brother telling him to flee.

The two adults paled, having read the full brochure by now and shared a brief look before they moved.

"I'll grab the essentials and we will meet up at the safe house." Cloud was often accused of being paranoid but considering the situations he got into , he would say he was just prepared.

A sickening level of positivity filled the air, Echo went still.

"I fOUnD yOu."

Echo shuddered at the voice coming from outside the house, trying to make himself as small as possible in Gasters hold.

"We need to leave." Cloud hissed between clenched teeth, trying to fight off the unnatural positivity that was trying to overwhelm him.

Gaster grabbed Clouds arm and pulled him into his office, in the background they could smell something start to burn.

A device stood there "A one time portal device, it destroys itself after view. No magic... meaning no one can trace it" he whispered to Cloud, quickly activating it and imputing an address in.

Cloud tried to ignore how violently his hands shook as he stuffed items into his Inventory, stumbling out the kitchen just before the back door was burned off its hinges.

He slammed the door behind him, knowing it wouldn't hold but only needing a few seconds to get back to Gaster.

"Ready?" Gaster asked, frightened babybones on arms and device ready in his hands.

"BrOtHeR?"

"'cared." Echo whimpered, having odd flashes of pain and burning , just wanting to get far away.

"NiGhTy" Dream cried, their form aged and changed by the apples appearing in the flames.

Gaster swore, opened the technical portal and fled through with his two children.

"NoOoO!" Dream screamed clawing at air as it closed before he could grab his brother.

His shriek of rage was heard by no one.

Everything burned.

——-

Echo refused to be put down the following days, neither adult begrudging them considering the news of the decimated AU easily reaching them.

"We need to be more careful." Cloud said quietly, Echo actually asleep for once in Gasters arms but only after crying for a few hours.

"I'm thinking of jumping to another Omniverse, I've only ever left for Echo's appointments" Gaster said, he was very serious about this.

He really didn't want to ask Slate for an Omniverse guide to find a safe spot though.

"..Are you sure?" Cloud said, shocked by the lengths they were willing to go to keep Echo safe.

"We are going to need to do much more research if you are serious about this." He said, not realising how he was already thinking of ways to make this trip possible.

"Clearly, this Omniverse is not safe anymore. Neither of us are powerful enough to stop that... apple ridden insanity" Gaster said rubbing his face, careful not to move Echo.

Cloud wanted to curse the depressing truth, getting out his phone and rapidly sending off a bunch of texts.

"We are bringing Papyrus along." He wouldn't be taking no for an answer, this the first time he had ever confirmed that his younger brother was still alive.

"As if I could stop him," Gaster snorted.

"We probably need to go back to Slate to get more details." Cloud said with a scowl, mentally making a list of everything they would need.

He might dislike the doctor but they were at least a realisable source of information, which they desperately needed right now.

"Unfortunately, we're going to need supplies too. There were many things we were not able to grab" he admitted.

"We have money and I have a few favours I can cash in, so there is no need to stress, old man." Cloud might not like the new situation but he could adapt, snorting when Papyrus texted him everything they had grabbed so far.

His brother was a determined monster and he wouldnt be surprised if they had long ago made contingency plans for this exact situation.

"Save the favours and money, I have enough. You might need them in the future" Gaster said pulling out his phone, making up lists of things they would need with four people in a home.

Was Papyrus a child too.. Please Asgore.. please tell me you didn't

"Suit yourself." Cloud shrugged but didn't stop texting, smirking when Papyrus insisted on seeing them tomorrow.

He had sent regular updates but looked forward to seeing them in person again, missing having his sibling close.

"I'm definitely making everything able to be movable, the whole property... maybe a phased area" that last part Gaster mumbled to himself.

"It would save us all the effort when the psycho inevitably finds us again." Cloud mumbled angrily, finally safe enough to feel annoyed by how much stuff he had been forced to leave behind.

"We'd definitely have to have greenhouses there. I wonder if I can find that Crazy 404, he said he knew someone that could create skies and weather and even seasons in places that shouldn't get them" Gaster hummed "After I have a safe place though..."

"You do that.." Cloud looked at them in disbelief, wondering what weird contacts they had and how they ever met a 404 that hadn't just tried to dust them on sight.

He sighed when he realised how late it was, getting up to make something quick for dinner and knowing he would have to force Gaster to actually sleep for once.

He didn't care if Gaster 'was used to go weeks without sleep without any issue', he wasn't convinced back then and he wasn't convinced now.

"Hmm... hopefully easy to find, I did hear he adopted a child" Gaster mused.

He started making more lists.

Cloud of course had to drag the idiot old man to eat something, pleased that Echo ate a decent meal before going back to sleep.

"We can sort things out tomorrow but first you need to do this magical thing called sleep." He said dryly, giving them a look warning them that he would enforce this and this wasn't a suggestion.

"So bossy" Gaster yawned, but actually went to bed.

Cloud made sure the two were on bed and asleep before checking the perimeter of the house and laying on the couch.

It would take a few weeks until he felt safe enough to sleep upstairs again, wanting to keep an eye on the door.

He knew he wouldn't stand a chance against Dream directly but he could still keep watch, mirthlessly thinking he truly was behaving like the 'guard dog' Asgore had tried to create.

------

"Come on Echo, you need to eat breakfast" Gaster said as the tiny child was extra clingy this morning, likely because they'd had to abandon their safe place there home due to Dream.

"Not Hungry..." came the stubborn reply from his arms.

"But Flower, your suppose to meet Clouds brother today, you want to be able to meet him right?" Gaster tried again, not above bribery.

This time Echo ate, not his usual full bowl of cereal but at least half. Which... was better than nothing at least.

"He should be over soon." Cloud said as he nursed his coffee, looking forward to the confrontation between Papyrus and Gaster.

If Gaster thought he was bitter about their past treatment then Papyrus took it to the next level, finding his younger siblings' actions utterly adorable.

"Yes I know" Gaster sighed, and took Echo to their shared bedroom to wash up and change.

This place only had two bedrooms and Echo and himself shared, if Papyrus stayed he'd have to stay with Cloud. But this was a cabin they were borrowing without telling anyone, as right now they didn't want any way for Dream to trace them.

Cloud just had enough time to finish his coffee before the door knocked, lazily using his magic to open it just to see the exasperated look on his younger brothers face.

"SANS! What have I said about being lazy?'"

"I dunno bro. Must have slipped my mind again." He said in feigned confusion, sniggering when Papyrus began grumbling about 'lazy good for nothing brothers.'

He smirked in amusement as they had to duck under the door, his sibling easily towering over most monsters nowadays.

It was another thing that kept them safe, relieved Asgore never had seemed that interested in 'the runt' of the skeleton household.

"Tall!!" a voice said in awe, turning they saw Echo and Gaster returning. No hat for Echo but he had a cat themed hood so the hood was up and the false kitty cats flapping about.

"Papyrus" Gaster said, feeling a sense of relief.

Not a child, thank stars.

"...Doctor." Papyrus greeted coldly before looking at the tiny child in Gasters arms with a much kinder expression.

"..Sans. You didn't say you got a kitten. Where is this 'babybones' you were talking about? I can't see them anywhere." He said mock seriously, pleased at the tiny giggle from the child.

"No kitty! Echo!" Echo giggled, curious about the new tall monster.

"Papyrus, This is Echo. Echo this is Clouds brother Papyrus" Gaster said, not claiming they were related.

After all, to them he was just the Doctor .

His own traumas due to Asgore was unlikely to be worse then what Asgore did to them.

"'Cloud'? So you finally picked a name. Took you long enough." Papyrus grumbled to his brother, ignoring their look of disbelief in return so what if he hadn't chosen a name yet? He was the youngest so he was in no rush.

"Tall?" Echo looked absolutely fascinated by the new monster, wanting to be just as tall as them someday.

"Just wait till the babybones chooses a name for you, it was this or Squirrel. Everything starts at squirrel" Cloud grumbled, at least it wasn't puppy.

"Tall Squirrel," Echo said nodding sagely.

Papyrus was speechless, having thought that his brother had been joking about that but could evidently see he was wrong.

He hoped the name chosen wasn't too terrible, unsure he would even be able to dispute it with how easily his brother had given in.

"I see.." He really didn't, puzzled when he saw Gaster just go along with this without a hint of protest.

His brother had a lot of explaining to do, feeling they had left alot out in their texts.

"I've yet to be graced with a name, Echo can't decide yet" Gaster hummed adjusting Echo in his arms, he pulled out sheets of paper from his item space. "I've made a list of what supplies I have, and what we need. Cloud, likely the phased area is safest so... that person can't get in"

He had also made a list of things to get, so they could build a proper place. There was no lab equipment anywhere on any list, once the level madness was gone he'd happily destroyed it.

The nearest, was a list of medicines monster households should have.

"This looks adequate so far." Papyrus said grudgingly, wordlessly taking out a pen and ticking off a few items he already had obtained.

"You have any blueprints of the house yet?" He wasn't wasting time with niceties, doubting they even had the luxury with the apparent lunatic out there.

It was almost humorous how he went from one boogy man to the next, never forgetting Gasters 'lessons' on being vigilant of a bigger predator trying to hunt you down.

"A start of one, just a brief outline. I need to find out how much land I can... borrow to make a stable area" Gaster said pulling out a rather nicely drawn blueprint, but for Gaster it wasn't the best. But then again, they'd only just lost their home and he'd had a babybones to look after. It was ranch style with two floors, he'd arranged it so they each have there own rooms including a guest room just in case. Each person had a second room or Office on the main floor, Echo's would likely be a playroom.

He'd done a quick sketch of an open floor design for the main floor, so people would have to open doors between kitchen, dining room and living room. Each floor had two bathrooms, so people couldn't complain that the bathroom was always in use. There was a storage room near the kitchen, to keep clutter down.

"It's long term, so plenty of room to bounce about" he said as they looked over it.

"I see you have been thinking about the wards already." Papyrus said when he spotted notes on the side of the blueprint, darkly approving when he saw the less 'tame' ones on the list.

He refused to stay somewhere if he didn't feel safe, not blind to his brothers currently exhausted features that was most likely caused by the sudden situation.

"Yes, plenty of wards. please feel free to suggest more" Gaster said nuzzling Echo softly, mind you some were for the chance of guests. Which, was veeery unlikely.

"I will." Papyrus had a lovely selection of wards they would be adding to their new home, dragging his brother to the couch to bounce off ideas to improve the security.

Echo wasn't sure why tall squirrel suddenly joined them but liked having more people in the house, feeling much safer with them all here.

Dream would never let him leave without them but he had to try.

"Do you like Papyrus?" Gaster asked gently, glad to see Echo get along with them.

"Funny" Echo giggled, the older monster smiled and gently rubbed their skull careful to stay away from the monster healed skull damage.

"He'll be coming with us"

"The Tallest coming" Echo said serious.

"Tallest probably not the best name for them flower" Gaster chuckled "That's more a title"

The babybones face became very serious in thought.

Echo jumped and looked wide eyed at the loud noise the tall monster made, it sounding vaguely familiar.....

This word finally came to him when he looked outside, the dark clouds giving him an added feeling of familiarity.

"Storm!" He suggested excitedly, giggling when the tall monster made the rumbling sound again.

"Storm huh, why don't you tell him his new name" Gaster said amused, giggling Echo escaped his arms and zoomed over to Papyrus.

"Storm Squirrel!" Echo cried happily.

"Excuse me?!" Papyrus looked down in confusion, staring at the bouncing babybones in bewilderment.

"Congrats on the new name." Cloud was used to Echos attic's, understanding what they meant straight away and smiling at his confused sibling.

"Storm!" Echo repeated, giggling when the picked him up and placed them on his lap.

Papyrus was still mouthing his apparent new name in confusion, giving a look to Sans when he heard them 'discreetly' mutter they were as loud as one.

Gaster totally wasn't taking pictures sneakily, he totally was.

"I suppose it's a fearsome enough name." The newly named Storm muttered, ignoring Sans mocking look as he went back to examining the blueprint.

Gaster slipped away his phone, done with photos and went to see what they had done with the blueprint,

"We need it bigger. The green house should at least be double and growing some medicinal herbs would be helpful in the long run." Storm showed off the sketches he had so far to Gaster, able to push aside his issues far easier then his brother when he had to deal with the doctor.

"Maybe a separate greenhouse for medicinal herbs, I was thinking a few of them with auto farm systems. That way if plants in one go bad due to plant illness not all of them will be affected" Gaster suggested, making some adjustment to the outside blueprints so it showed three well sized greenhouses.

"Can we link it to the house wards at all?" Cloud asked in curiosity, not wanting to have to leave it all behind if they were forced to move again.

"Look here is the wards list, there all going to be ties so we can move everything" Gaster said pointing a third down the list.

Cloud whistled at the long list of wards, feeling their new home would be heavily fortified and relieved Papyrus would be there to provide the much needed magic for it.

He wasn't weak but he would rather drain all his magic just to put defences on their home.

"I even have multiple wardstones, the type that grabs ambient magic to power it" Gaster said, he.. might have stolen it from that Traitor.

Storm grunted in approval, editing his drawing to include the wardstones. Those were not cheap items but would make their home so much more secure, curious just how many Gaster had exactly.

"Lets get serious now, can you two look after Echo as I look for a good land mass to borrow and a area to phase it?" Gaster asked "Would also give me time to find 404 to see about getting a sky before we move there"

"Of course! I can do anything I put my mind to." Storm said proudly, bouncing the babybones on his lap as he planned all the fun things they could do.

"Are you sure you will be fine meeting that monster?" Cloud said in slight worry, generally finding those types of monsters less then sane in the grand scheme of things.

"As long as I don't go near or mention his foster child I'm fine" Gaster admitted.

Cloud gave them an odd look, somedays worried if Gaster would ever be fully sane again.

"Right..you have fun with that." He said slowly, deciding not to get involved with whatever that was.

"I'll be back hopefully in a few hours, you all have fun also" Gaster said, then headed out via portal.

———

" What do you want?" 404 said in a dangerously soft tone, giving the Gaster who appeared a dismissive look.

He couldn't recall which one this was, knowing far too many people to keep track of every insignificant pest.

"You mentioned you know of a being that can create shields in phased areas" Gaster replied.

"..so? What is it to you?" 404s mood grew worse at the mere mention of them , looking at the Gaster with a more thoughtful look.

He was a tad disappointed they were more sane then when he last saw them, not even seeing them twitch when he let out his magic in warning.

At least his precious child was nowhere near this new monster, still annoyed that Slate had somehow gotten into Suns good books.

"I'm creating a new home, I left my adopted child with others to come here. An insane Dream is after them and we're creating a phased home to have a space spot" Gaster sighed.

He stiffened when 404 burst into maniacal laughter but knew it was better then anger, refusing to show any fear when the blue eyelights settled on him.

"How entertaining! You truly attract trouble, don't you?" 404 said with an unfriendly smile, truly amused at the terrible misfortune they had gotten into, even wiping away tears of mirth.

"What will you offer me in return for such information, pest ?" He said coldly, the abrupt switch of his emotions deeply unsettling for most to witness.

A plush feline brimming with security magic was dropped into his hand, a type some monsters would kill to be gifted.

"I got it into a trade" he replied, it was meant for children and no one knew who made these items. It matched what 404 had mentioned his childs cat form looked like.

404s mood shifted again as he literally cooed at the item, examining it carefully and knowing that his child would adore it.

"The person you need is called Traveller or Hearth. I don't think they care how you address them." He said once he was satisfied with looking over the plushy, feeling generous and even handing over a paper with the last known coordinates of Traveller.

"Their rainbow colouring is their most notable feature. You won't be able to miss them." Perhaps this pest wasn't too bad, deciding he would keep a watch on them for the foreseeable future.

"Oh stars.... him" Gaster groaned frustrated "Enjoy the toy 404"

404 grunted and dismissively looked away from them, his thoughts now on his child's reaction to the new gift.

Gaster rubbed his face, he'd seek out the Traveller later.

He still needed to grab a lot of land for their home, some sixth sense told him right now to see him was a bad idea.

"What are you still doing here, pest? I said leave!" 404 scowled, tapping his foot and casually forming a portal underneath Gaster.

He made sure the destination wouldn't instantly kill them but his generosity only went so far, going back to far more important things such as how to find more of the cat plushy's for his child.

Gaster yelped, as he landed in a lake.

Grumbled he shortcut away, using magic to force dry himself and get rid of the smell. a pat down on his clothes straightened them.

He looked at the location 404 had given him and frowned, Traveller was actually nice.. he was.. just too much for himself.

The area he was in was strangely quiet, not able to hear any sounds of life nearby.

"At least it's not completely void of life. 404 must be in a good mood today." He muttered in relief, examining the plant life and tempted to grab a few to bring back for Echo.

"No... plants and Traveller later, land first" he said mentally slapping himself, they could live with the grey skies for now.

He reluctantly moved away from a rather beautiful specimen of a plant, walking further into the clearing and looking thoughtfully at the area.

"Could I grab some of this for our home? No one seems to be using it." The land looked oddly fertile and had a good amount of magic in it, wondering why 404 was being so generous today.

They must have really liked the cat plushy, pleased he found a solid way to get favours from the frankly insane monster one the future.

He began to quite seriously study the land and make sure it was solid and no weak areas, as no one wanted underground waterways collapsing the ground later.

There was even a large lake, with Fish!

Humming he began to mark the area with his magic, each area large and safe and no underground surprises. No one wanted weird animals or pests, so he flared his magic making any animals or bad insects flee the area. He'd clean up anything else later.

"Oh my... quite a large area" he said when he was done.

If this was a meme, he swore someone would have added a yeet sound in a video as he stole quite a few miles of land.

He chuckled at that, and headed to the prepared phased area to do some work on the area before the three children could be brought in.

He quickly lost track of time as he made sure the new land was perfect, just levelling a certain patch of land that would become a greenhouse when he felt his phone buzz.

"Hello?" Gaster replied absently.

"Are you dead, old man? You said you would message back soon. It's been two days and the kid ain't happy." Clouds grumpy voice came through the phone, the sound of sniffling heard in the background.

"Wait two days... I thought it was only six hours?" Gaster said aghast.

"You sure there, old man? You sure you are not in one of those weird AUs where time seems to run strangely?" Cloud said dryly, the silence on the other end of the phone sounding particularly guilty to him.

"Well.. I hope i wasn't, I was adjusting the lands in the phased area" Gaster admitted, he checked his phone and let out a swear.

"Apparently the AU I grabbed the land from was time dilated ones" he apologised "I'll be there in a moment"

Upset with himself, he opened a portal and quickly got hugged by a crying Echo. He gently soothed him, apologising for his mistake.

"Is this normal for him?" Storm whispered to his brother, watching with bafflement at how gentle Gaster was acting towards the babybones.

"Yep. It's weird, ain't it?" Cloud said, still not used to how much Gaster had changed over the years.

After that Echo was not leaving Gaster's arms, a very dark look on his face if his parent tried to put him down.

"How about I give you all a tour of the lands, there are still adjustments to be done, but thankfully the place does not have the same time dilation as the place I took it from" Gaster offered, quite a bit annoyed that he'd lost almost two days to that place.

"Might as well. Lead the way." Cloud said casually, not really having much else to do as his brother had gone out to grab the majority of the items from the list while Gaster was gone.

"This way, I'll link you to all the wards as you go through the portal" Gaster said opening one, he knew they'd like the area he'd grabbed.

"Looks adequate." Storm said stiffly while scanning the portioned land, the highest praise he was willing to direct towards Gaster.

"Plants!" Echo said in excitement, still holding onto Gaster tightly as he was unwilling to lose sight of them anytime soon.

"I was thinking of the greenhouses there, and the house sitting over there," Gaster said pointing with his free hand "I even grabbed a lake with its full ecosystem. Used magic to scare off all pests, the non pest bugs I allowed to stay as the animals I allowed to stay are still able to eat them"

He'd been pleased to grab an area big enough to support some birds and a few deers. And that was before they got any animals for their home. Best about these places, landmasses grew over time, he had no idea how it worked just some quirk of the place.

"Looks good. We probably have space for some fruit trees." Cloud said in approval, pleased by the thought of having a self sustainable home.

"That place would be good for any farms we get, there are plenty of auto farms. So we wouldn't have to worry about animals. Definitely getting a bee autofarm" Gaster grinned, as all of them liked honey.

"We should make jams as well. We can sell some for extra cash." Storm was full of ideas, refusing to rely on Gaster for all of their needs, not wanting to owe them any favours.

"We'll have the room" Gaster said, and passed some catalogues to Storm "Its from the place with autofarms, they do have a tree section and an insane amount of trees to choose from. We're definitely going to have the storage place for everything"

Once you left your home multiverse, the amount of strange magic that existed was staggering. Small rooms out but large inside were easy with ward stones.

Storm was intrigued by all this new magic, looking through the catalogue with bright eyes and grabbing a pen to make a new list for items to order.

"Squirrels" Echo said excitedly, spotting the lake.

"That's right squirrels" Gaster said amused, knowing he meant fish. The lake had a good population. meaning they could fish for... well fish now and then unless Storm and Cloud went for a farm for them.

"Lots of useful 'squirrels' here." Cloud said thoughtfully, the variety of wildlife surprisingly decent, smirking when he spotted a large herd of deer.

"Squirrels" Echo squeaked excited, spotting a large family of ducks on the lake.

"Are there any actual squirrels here?" Storm asked his brother confusion, the number of animals classified as 'squirrel' somewhat alarming.

"I spot a few in the trees but Echo usually calls them-"

"Kitties!"

Cloud wasn't even able to finish his sentence, snorting at the look on his siblings face.

Gaster was pretty sure, Echo was sometimes trolling people with the Squirrels nowadays.

Storm decided the best thing to do was ignore whatever that was, going back to the catalogue and letting Cloud deal with all that.

~~~~~

Gaster: *Enjoying a peaceful moment with his children* Life is going surprisingly well

Dream: *Kicking down the door and appearing in their insane glory* 🌟Did someone call?🌟

-

404: *Yeets Gaster off* Whelp, time to surprise Sun, then find out the creator so i can get more

Traveller:* Looks around paranoid*

-

Storm: *Looks at new land* I need to add more security

Gaster: *Looking on in slight horror* No! You may not add a shark with lasers to the pond!

Cloud: *Suggesting even more unhinged security wards*

Gaster: *Feeling himself age trying to reign them in*

-

Echo: Squirrels! *Is actually not trolling... or is he?*