Fragments

We all know the popular theories on who WD Gaster is in relation to the skeleton brothers: their father, a co-worker with Sans, uses the brothers as science experiments, or even their brother. Well Fragments is a work in progress AU created by Mali, where Gaster is neither of those but is instead best childhood friends with Sans and Papyrus.
Despite them being unrelated and in separate families, Gaster, Sans, and Papyrus grew up together and were inseparable. They would cause lots of mayhem, pranks, and overall trouble across the whole Underground well into their late teens.
By the time they were young adults, Gaster became the Royal Scientist, creating the CORE with the help and support of his two best friends who both ended up working with him. The three continued to work alongside each other in the Labs, still pulling pranks whenever they could, until Gaster's unfortunate fall into the CORE, erasing him from existence.
Important note: The story for this AU spans through multiple arcs that take place before, during, and after game events. To avoid certain major spoilers, a lot of information is left out until the story progresses.
== Characters ==
=== WD Gaster ===
WingDings Gaster isn't a full skeleton but is the 2nd oldest of his two skeleton best friends, Sans and Papyrus, who are equally the two most important people in his life. Gaster's the smarter one of the three but that doesn't necessarily mean he used his smarts wisely. He encourages all of Sans' puns and pranks and would even add onto them which would get the trio into even more trouble. He had to tone it down after he became the Royal Scientist, but he would still have his silly fun in small doses.
After Gaster was erased and ended up in the void, he had to do all he could to not lose his mind entirely until he could find a way out back to his friends.
=== Sans ===
The oldest one of the group yet he remains the smallest, Sans took on the role as leader of the three. He would come up with various ways to cause trouble, getting banned from places, sneak back in, and then getting double banned. He has a reputation to keep after all. Despite Sans' joy of pranks and troublemaking, he's actually very smart. When Gaster became the Royal Scientist, Sans partnered with him working in the Labs as a physicist. Using that smart head of his to help Gaster and his brother make a whole bunch of sciency stuff.
After Gaster's incident, Sans nearly forgets about his best friend but because Sans was there in the same room when it happened, a part of his soul wouldn't allow him to completely forget about Gaster. That emptiness was enough to drive both him and Papyrus on a determined search for their lost friend.
=== Papyrus ===
Papyrus is the younger brother of Sans which also means he's younger than Gaster. With Gaster's smarts and his brother's ability to cause trouble, Papyrus provided the extra support of his high energy and puzzle making skills. He's always been a bundle of energy and confidence so whenever his brother or best friend is in need of help no matter what it is, Papyrus will bounce in to help. When Gaster became the Royal Scientist, Papyrus joined him and worked as a Puzzle Engineer alongside a newcomer to the Labs, Alphys, who he quickly became good friends with. 
After Gaster's fall, all memory of Gaster was nearly forgotten. He doesn't have that strong of a sensation as Sans does, but because he also witnessed what happened through a cracked glass of a separate room, that feeling of forgetting something really important was just enough to get him worked up and search with Sans.
=== Alphys ===
Alphys was one of the first to apply for a science team position to work under Gaster once the CORE and Labs started construction. Despite holding lots of anxiety, she's incredibly smart with the robotics and coding side of things. Gaster instantly hired her and assigned her to work alongside Papyrus to help make the more complicated puzzle designs. Even though Papyrus had way more social energy than she does, she still enjoyed his company enough to call him a friend. Little did she know that being friends with Papyrus also means being friends with the Royal Scientist himself and his assistant, Sans, so she happily joined them in small outings and took the liberty to expose the three skeletons to anime.
After Gaster fell, Alphys was left with a sinking feeling in her soul like she was forgetting something. She was in the same room as Papyrus that eventful and forgetful day, so she also got to witness it happen. Although because she only knew those three during her job in the Labs, she couldn't quite remember any of them and it was eating away at her. It wasn't until the two brothers showed up at her house asking all these questions that the missing feeling finally made sense to her and she would help them with anything she could think of to fix their memory problems.
=== Undyne ===
Undyne was First Lieutenant of the Royal Guard by the time she met Papyrus who was wandering around Waterfall like a lost puppy. It took barely any time at all for their chaotic friendship to kick up but she was observant enough to know that something was really troubling her new found friend. Despite her being really confused that he lost a friend he doesn't remember having, Undyne stuck with him every step of the way. Her means of support may have been mostly sparring or cooking with him, but she's easily committed to help find someone who's clearly so important to her friend. 
She has no idea who Gaster is because she has never met him, so that large emptiness isn't there for her to feel when he fell. 
=== Grillby ===
Grillby, the quiet flame elemental met the young skeleton trio when he was in his late teens and quickly became great friends with them. Because he was the oldest of the group by quite a few years, Grillby had to keep an eye on them and make sure none of their stunts ever got too far. He eventually started up his own bar in Snowdin but would have to keep kicking all three of them out until they were old enough.
After Gaster's incident, Grillby forgot all about him. He still clearly remembered Sans and Papyrus, but had this faint tugging at his soul that something else was missing. He never paid it any mind until the brothers came to him one day asking a bunch of questions he didn't know the answer to. He promised he would help as much as he could even though he's not entirely sure what he's searching for.
=== Flowey ===
He doesn't officially enter the story until a future arc so information is limited. Flowey is a small living golden flower created by Alphys after she took up the missing Royal Scientist position. He's considered as the first anomaly due to his ability to reset. He gets bored easily so he does typical Flowey stuff, hurting all the monsters and reseting to try something different. Although things don't quite go to his plans when he meets a couple of skeleton brothers who secretly know of his power.
=== Frisk ===
They don't offically enter the story until a future arc so information is limited. Frisk is the seventh human to fall into the Underground as well as classified as the second anomaly. The seventh soul needed for monsters to break free from the Barrier. Scared and confused on why every monster is out to kill them, Frisk did the only thing their body wanted to do and kills them first. It didn't take long before they discovered their ability to reset although they don't know how to control it, only accessing it when they die. It wasn't until they got visited by an apparition of another human their age that they eased up on the killing and soon enough would meet a couple of curious skeletons who would spike their determination to help.
=== (Chara) Red/Ghost ===
They don't offically enter the story until a future arc so information is limited. The first fallen human. Their true name is never told. They show up in the void for an unknown reason only to meet a tall goopy monster already there. With both of them refusing to say their names, they agreed to name each other and so the human was gifted with the name "Red". Their goopy friend taught them many neat tricks in the void and Red eventually came into contact with Frisk, helping them keep their cool and not murder any more monsters. Frisk soon gifted them with another name "Ghost". 
== Story ==
The story officially starts immediately after Gaster's fall into the CORE. Gaster finds himself in the void, unsure of where he is or what exactly happened to land him there. While Sans and Papyrus wake up with a huge gap in their memory. The only thing they really remember is having an important job together and that there was someone else they were with. So the brothers go on a search around the Underground trying to piece together their broken memories. 
Meanwhile Gaster slowly loses himself as he tries everything he could think of to get out of this dreaded void. He eventually learns some pretty neat void tricks to keep himself entertained, but it can only do so much. He somehow manages contact with Sans, Papyrus, and eventually Alphys. Even though they all forgot who he is, Gaster still tries to give them as much advice as he's capable of to find ways to get him free.
=== One shots ===
* The Battle of Snowdin (takes place during their teenage years)
== Gallery ==
File:(Fragments) Battle of Snowdin Cover.png|The Battle of Snowdin cover art
File:(Fragments) 4am Lab Shenanigans.png|4am Lab Shenanigans
File:(Fragments) Waterfall Hangout WIP.png|Waterfall Hangout
File:(Fragments) Baby Bones Colored.png|Baby Bones GPS Trio
File:(Fragments) Rough Kid Designs.png|Child/Teen Concepts
File:(Fragments) Rough Lab Designs.png|Lab Concepts
File:(Fragments) Rough Main Designs.png|Post Fall Concepts
File:(Fragments) Gaster Surface Design.png|Gaster Concepts After Freedom
File:(Fragments) Red-Ghost Design.png|'Chara' Concepts
== Trivia ==
* Gaster, Papyrus, and Sans were well known in the Underground as the "GPS Trio".
* The hole in Gaster's hands are a natural oddity and can act as a conductor for his magic.
* Papyrus has absolutely no interest in being part of the Royal Guard.
* Sans' shortcuts is a type of rare magic that he was able to control at a young age.
* There are no secrets between Sans and Papyrus. They tell each other nearly everything.
* Gaster has a habit of setting things on fire by accident.
* Sans and Papyrus are the only two people who can understand Gaster when he speaks normally.
** Gaster otherwise speaks in hands (sign language) or struggle to speak in a clearer font.
Category:Undertale AU
Category:Work in Progress
Category:Ongoing
Category:AUs
Category:Continuity Change
Category:Special Event