"You're better off without me, Frisk. I can never be saved by anyone, just like it's impossible for me to go back to that time. I'm meant to kill. That's my only purpose in life, so stop trying. I don't understand why you have so much faith in me when I have done nothing to earn the benefit of the doubt." Chara started backing away, avoiding his friend's eyes. The voice in his head was painfully clear that he would never be able to change, even if he wanted to, he wouldn't know where to start. He's been doing this for far too long. "Why are you still with me after everything I did? What do I have to do to get you to finally give up on me?"
Frisk shook his head no, not wanting his friend to think like that. "I'm not leaving you, Chara. You're my friend, and no matter what happens with us, I'm not going to give up on you." Stepping closer to him, Frisk took Chara's hand in his, giving his friend a friendly smile. "No matter what happens, we'll go through it together, so let's go."
"No. You need to leave me alone, Frisk. You don't understand why I can't be seen with you right now," Chara pulled his hand away from Frisk, knowing for a fact that Alphys must have called Undyne by now to tell her what had happened. News about Sans had to be spreading already, and if he wasn't careful, Frisk would get caught up in it. "Undyne will be coming after me. Papyrus too, if he's heard. If you don't want any trouble, you have to go now while you still can."
Frisk shook his head no, standing firmly in his place. "I'm not leaving you." Despite the fact that Chara was beginning to grow annoyed with him, he wasn't about to stand down. Undyne wouldn't attack him, not until they were separated, but it would really be another story if Papyrus found out about his brother. Not only that, but whatever's inside Chara is growing stronger every time he kills someone. He has to keep him from fighting, before Chara's monster kills everyone. "I'm the only one who can keep you from fighting. Chara, I don't want you to lose control over that thing inside you. I'm not going anywhere, not when you need me."
"I don't need you! I don't need someone to hold me back!" Pushing him away, Chara hoped that Frisk would get the hint and run off, but grew frustrated when he found it didn't work. "Damn it, Frisk! Go home now! I don't need a babysitter! I don't need you to keep watching me in an attempt to turn me good again!"
After a while of going back and forth arguing, both boys were growing angry at each other before Chara grew silent. He listened to their surroundings carefully before pushing Frisk down to the floor. Without realizing what was going on, Frisk looked up at his friend as a familiar blue spear flew over them. Undyne was here, and she was angry.
"You. You killed him." As Undyne stepped forward, the two realised she was in her full battle armor. To Chara, the challenge was gladly accepted, but to Frisk, watching Undyne walk towards them with tears running down her face was one of the worst things he could ever see. He hated seeing her so upset, figuring that she probably heard about the news. Many monsters have died by Chara's hands, and Undyne couldn't do anything to stop it. "You've killed so many kind monsters and took Sans away from his brother. You don't deserve to live!"
"Undyne, wait! Don't hurt him!" Frisk shouted as he stood in front of Chara, arms out as if to protect him. Chara seemed surprised by his action for a bit, unable to believe what he was seeing. "Please, Undyne. We don't have to fight!"
She shook her head no, unable to believe that sweet, little Frisk was defending the cruel, evil Chara. It was almost like he didn't understand why she had to do this. After she got the call from Alphys about Chara's attack, it wasn't long until Asgore called her, asking her to finish the job Sans couldn't. She knew what it meant for that job to be past down to her. Asgore wanted to do whatever it takes to keep Chara from killing everyone and moving to the human world. She has to kill both Frisk and Chara for the safety of both worlds.
"I'm sorry, Frisk, but that beast can't be allowed to live anymore. Do you know how many monsters were slain by him? Too many. We agreed that he has to go," Undyne stepped closer to them, gesturing to Frisk to move out of the way for her. "I don't want to hurt you, weak human, but I have no choice. Asgore will destroy him otherwise, and that man should not have to see another child die."
Hearing those words come from her mouth caught their attention as the idea of Asgore fighting them frightened Frisk. He had told Asgore when he first met him that he didn't want to fight, but he had no idea how that would affect Chara. Asgore was Chara's dad, so surely there has to be some mixed feelings about this for them.
"I figured he was behind something. He sent you to kill me, but since we're connected, he probably wanted some way to make sure only I would die." Chara whispered, thinking out loud as if to make sense of it himself. "Explains a lot actually. He didn't seem to be so happy to see me again in the first place."
"Chara, but Asgore's your dad. Don't you feel anything about this," Frisk asked, trying his best to defend him from Undyne. "It has to be some sort of miscommunication or something. He couldn't have asked them to hurt you."
Undyne threw another spear at them, aiming right in front of Frisk to try to scare him off. It landed with a loud thud, the vibration from the impact made him step back. "Enough games, Frisk. I need that brat to pay for what he's done. All those monsters didn't deserve to die! Sans didn't deserve to die!"
"He he, is that what you think, fish lady?" something was different with Chara as he started to laugh about the situation. It was almost creepy, creepy to the point where Frisk was literally frozen in place. Chara held up the knife in his hands as he pushed Frisk away from him. "That comedian's had it coming ever since I first got here. Not to mention your girlfriend's little experiment on me. Tell me, was that part of his plan too?"
"You have some nerve talking about my friends like that!" Undyne shouted angrily. She attacked him now, using her full strength to take down Chara.
Chara smiled, glad to have finally found another soul worthy of fighting him. Together they fought, neither of them backing down no matter how many times they were hit. It wasn't until Chara's hp dropped to two that Frisk noticed something strange. Although the Chara he knew would fight in a similar way, he would always acknowledge the amount of damage he's taken and would take Frisk into consideration. This Chara continued to fight despite his cries of pain. It was really like a different person in there.
"Die. Die and never return, you filthy monster." Undyne said as she lifted her spear for the final blow. She noticed it as well. Something was off about the boy on the ground, very off. The last time she had seen him, he had a little more... Something to him. His eyes weren't clouded like the first time, but now it was empty. All traces of the original brat were gone, leaving behind this monster of a boy. "Before I kill you, tell me who you are."
Chara smiled his signature creepy smile as he stared up at her. "I don't know what you mean, Undyne. I'm just the same old Chara."
"No, you're not. The real Chara promised me that he wouldn't hurt anyone," Frisk said as he limped over to them. "Where is he?"
Chara's red eyes met Frisk's as he said, "I am Chara. I am the angel of death everyone spoke of so long ago."
Undyne looked over at Frisk, looking for some sort of confirmation that the boy had said this before. Frisk shook his head no, unable to believe he was going to say this. "This isn't Chara. Maybe you should move him somewhere where he can't hurt anyone. I'll try my best to find Chara, okay?"
Nodding, Undyne gave one more look at the boy beneath her before ending their lives.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Frisk. For now, I'll make sure you two are as far away from the others as possible."
Meanwhile....
The second Frisk opened his eyes, he was back in the familiar dark room with the button to reset right in front of him. Ignoring the button for now, Frisk began to look around, calling out for his friend.
"Chara! Chara, where are you!" When there was no reply, he began to grow a little worried that he wouldn't find him. That is until he noticed something in the distance. "Chara? Is that you?"
The closer he got to it, the faster he ran. There, laying in a patch of yellow flowers, was Chara, seeming to be sleeping peacefully.
"Chara?" Frisk called out again, but the other boy didn't move. Chara didn't show any sign that he was okay. "Chara!"
By his side now, Frisk shook his friend gently, trying to wake him up, but now that he looked at him carefully, he could see how Chara had tucked himself into a ball. To him, it almost seemed like he was crying, but it couldn't be, right? Chara was tough and strong, so he wouldn't cry.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Chara whispered, so quiet Frisk had to strain just to hear. "Please... Don't hurt me. I'm not... I'm not evil. They... They made me do it."
Frisk shook him a little harder, trying to wake him up. "Chara, it's okay. No one's going to hurt you. Please, open your eyes."
"Leave him alone. Can't you see the boy doesn't want to be disturbed? Honestly, the reason he keeps a pest like you around, I'll never know."
The voice rang loud and clear, startling him. He didn't know anyone could be there with them. Every time he's died, he was there alone, or with Chara. There was never any other voice that had made it's presence known before.
"Who are you? What have you done to Chara?!" Frisk called out, wanting answers as he stood by his friend. He didn't want to leave Chara's side now that he's seen what happens whenever Chara steps back to let the creature take over. "Let him go! He doesn't need you anymore!"
"Now why on earth would I do something stupid like that? Chara is and always will be my perfect puppet. As long as he believed he's pulling the strings, we never had a problem before. That is until you came along."
Frisk got angry at those words. Chara was not a puppet for someone else to control! He was a human being, with wants and needs like everyone else. He didn't deserve this. "Let him go! He's not your puppet! Chara needs his family more than he needs you!"
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA," The voice laughed loudly everywhere, making it impossible for him to find where he was. "You fool. Without my power, Chara is nothing but a sad, pathetic child. The only reason he is alive and well is because he and I have shared a similar hatred for certain creatures. He, humans, and I, monsters. Because of this, I gave that boy a purpose in life. I brought the boy back from the grave to carry out our revenge."
"What did you do to him?" Frisk asked, not liking where this was going. Chara didn't look so happy either, giving him the impression that he must have been having a nightmare. "Why are you doing this to him?!"
"Chara is under a spell, if you will. From your journey around Home, I imagine you came across monsters with magic. This is one of my attacks, specifically meant to keep Chara under check. The world hasn't all changed as you believe, dear boy. The Kill or Be Killed philosophy still lives on today."
Under check? That still doesn't explain why Chara won't wake up. How long is the attack? Looking up at the never ending black sky, Frisk asked, "why would you do this to him when he's been following your orders for so long now?"
"It's simple. He was growing soft. You see, Chara may be strong when you compare Love, but he does have this one weakness. You see, he likes you. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be a problem for me because I would've had him slaughter you, just like I did with that stupid goat lady he had called mom, but he was starting to believe in your words. He was thinking that with a little bit of good, he could erase the past and co-exist peacefully alongside you all like the gold ol' days."
It all started to click together now. Chara had said before that if it were possible, he would gladly return to the past to live with Toriel and Asgore, but that there was also no guarantee that he wouldn't be the one to slaughter them again. The entire time, he was just afraid he would hurt them again. Chara must have known that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing it again. Maybe deep down inside him, Chara had always known that he wasn't completely in control either.
"You monster! You made him kill everyone he loved over and over again! You made him think that he was nothing more than a mindless killer who doesn't deserve happiness!" Frisk shouted out loud. "All he wanted was to have a family, so he wouldn't be alone! He was going to change for the better! Chara's not the monster here. You are!"
"Yes, I am a monster, but I am a monster who was born due to Chara's hatred. Had Chara known love before falling down here to this wretched place, I may have never even existed. But humans never change. You humans are cruel to even your most well deserving creatures and yet, I am the one you fear... I am a part of this thing you call your friend, you know. Now stop shouting. Don't you know it's rude to wake someone from their nap?"
Frisk shook his head no defiantly. "Wake him up!" he cried out, shaking Chara gently once again. He was worried for his friend more than he was angry at the voice. Chara seemed to be in a state of distress but couldn't open his eyes no matter how much he clearly wanted to. "Chara!"
"Why should I?" As if coming up with an idea, the monster let out another laugh before saying, "I like your determination. I have been with Chara since the day he was awoken from death, but you look like you could be of some entertainment to me as well. Let's see how well you can manage this young, ruthless killer I created..."
Without another word, the voice disappeared as Chara's eyes slowly opened. With a little yawn, he sat up in the bed of flowers, clearing away some tears from his face before being hugged from behind. Startled a bit, Chara looked back to see Frisk holding him there.
"Frisk, what's wrong? Why are you hugging me?" Chara asked, unsure of what to make of this. His cheeks were slightly red from embarrassment as he tried not to look at his friend. He didn't want Frisk to see that he had been crying. "Did something happen? Did I get us killed again?"
Frisk shook his head no, glad to see Chara was okay. "What happened to you? It was like you were there with me, but you weren't there." Frisk held him a little tighter, letting Chara know how worried he was for him. "Chara, I don't want you to do that again. I was so scared that you weren't going to come back this time."
Chara understood what he meant, but didn't want to answer his question. To think that he, Chara, the face of true evil, could be taken down by himself was ridiculous. Right? Besides, Frisk has other things to worry about than his safety. Who would even care if Chara would simply disappear again?
"Nothing happened. It was all just... your imagination." When Frisk gave him a certain look, Chara knew he wasn't going to buy it. "Alright fine, I'll tell you. I don't know what happened to me. One minute I was watching you try to protect me, then the next, it was like it never happened."
"What do you mean never happened? What did that monster do to you?" Frisk asked, letting his friend go to look him in the eye. "Chara, tell me everything that happened to you. Please."
"Frisk, it was like none of this ever happened. I was back home in the village. I had never fallen down here." Chara looked away from his friend again, knowing it was about time to tell Frisk everything. "Frisk, a lot of bad stuff happened to me at home. The reason I came here was to get away from all that."
He frowned at that. He had been told before by Asriel that Chara had fallen down due to unhappy reasons, and to see Chara not fully in control of his body made him sad.
"Chara, can I ask you something? Do you want to live together with everyone again?"
Chara thought about it carefully, before nodding slowly. "I don't know if it's because I hung around you for too long, or if it's just this monster inside me playing me like I'm nothing more than a toy, but I want it gone." He then sighed before saying, "there's nothing I hate more than having no control over myself."
"Okay, but before we go back, please tell me everything."
Chara nodded and mentally prepared himself to speak about it. "Well, I grew up in a village first..."
By the time they reset, Chara and Frisk found themselves back in the lab. Both boys were placed in the beds, but only Chara was restrained. His hands were held down strongly by the strap around him. He couldn't even sit up properly without testing it's strengths.
"Not again. Frisk, get me out of here!" Chara called out as he tried to pull at the restraints. Before Frisk could do anything, Undyne and Alphys walked over, a new ray in hand. Both boys could see from their expression that both women were serious about this situation. They did not want any funny business to interfere.
"Will this one work?" Undyne asked, looking over her cute and nerdy girlfriend as she took her hand. Alphys didn't bother to look up at her girlfriend as she continued to study the gun in her hand. "I told Asgore about this. He wanted to be here for it."
Alphys nodded, feeling a little bit of pride but also a feeling of emptiness inside her. She couldn't help but feel as if Sans should be right beside her, testing this experiment out with her to help in case if something went wrong. "I-I think so. This ray was the one that brought him here in the first place. With the adjustments that had been made to it, it should, in theory, separate the two."
"In theory? Alphys, we don't want to hurt them any more than we had to." Actually, Undyne believed that Chara deserved more pain. She wanted to make him suffer, for him to experience the same pain and fear the monsters had before they were killed. "Who helped you with this anyways? I thought you had given up on this one."
Alphys nodded before stopping right by Chara's bed. "I did, but something told me to try it again." Chara took one look at it in her hands before shaking his head no and desperately trying to free himself. Frisk tried his best to get close to Chara but was held back by Undyne. "Chara, calm down. We need to see if this works. If it makes you feel better, Gaster worked on it too."
"Let me go! Don't you dare!" Chara panicked now, hating the fact that he couldn't do anything here. If he could, he would grab his knife, but he didn't know where it is. "Frisk, stop them!"
Frisk didn't like the idea either after seeing his friend panic about it, but before he could even get to the straps holding Chara down, Undyne grabbed him.
"Sorry about this, buddy, but we don't have a choice. Asgore demanded it." Undyne held Frisk in her arms, not wanting to lose her grip on him as he struggled to join Chara. "You two are finally going to be separated today, so let her do her job."
"I'm here!" The friendly voice that everyone knew so well called out as he smiled. He took hold of Frisk, wanting to hold his sweet, little boy. "Sorry I took so long. I couldn't tell Toriel what was going on."
They nodded while both boys struggled to get out of their grasps. Just then, Alphys gave them all protective goggles, just in case, before aiming the weapon at Chara's heart. Despite the fear in the boy's eyes, Alphys stared back at him emotionless. She didn't feel bad for what she was doing anymore. This experiment would be for Sans. If it works and the boys are separated, then Chara is free to pay for his crimes.
"Asgore, stop this! Dad!" Chara called out, squeezing his eyes shut. Tears came to his eyes as he realized that once again, no one will come to his aid. Frisk is stuck in Asgore's arms, and Toriel wasn't aware of what was going on. The only person who could stop this from happening was his father. "Da- Asgore!"
Something in the way Chara called out to him reminded Asgore of the real Chara, but no matter what happens, this Chara wasn't his. There was no way that this monster will ever be his son.
"I'm sorry it had to be this way. It will be over soon." With those words said, Asgore nodded at Alphys, asking her to fire. With sad eyes, Asgore watched the boy he used to love and considered his own son as the boy stared back at Frisk. He could tell that Chara was silently begging for help from the boy because, although Chara wasn't one to ask for help, Frisk would do the same face he was making now.
The pain was excruciating as both boys could feel their souls rip apart violently. It was worse than just dying over and over because the feeling was never ending. The pain spread throughout their entire bodies as the boys screamed together bloodcurdling screams. The two didn't grow quiet until the moment they suddenly just felt empty inside. Chara wasn't moving on the table as he continued to breathe heavily. Frisk was silent and looked slightly pale in Asgore's arms.
"Did it work?" Asgore asked, looking over at the girls. Neither boy was moving or even giving them any sort of sign that they were okay. Both boys looked as if they were too exhausted or even just defeated to do anything.
Undyne shrugged before stabbing the end of a pencil into Chara's hand. Chara cried out at the sudden action, frustrated that he couldn't stop it, but noticed how Frisk didn't feel a thing. The two were definitely separated from each other, that they knew for sure now.
"Chara!" Frisk pushed away from Asgore, wanting to be put down so he could go to his friend. He struggled against Asgore's grip as he kicked at his father, making him loosen his grip a bit. It didn't take Asgore long to fix his grip on him though. "Stop it, guys! You're hurting him!"
"So what, pipsqueak. Chara deserved it for what he did." Undyne couldn't help but glare at the kinder boy, not wanting him to interfere with her revenge for the other monsters who met their end. "Now that he's not connected with you anymore, he's free to receive his punishment."
"You shouldn't have done that, fish lady!" Chara glared at them, looking scary as his eyes started turning black. As everyone stared back at him, it was clear to see that Chara was growing very angry. What made Frisk worried was the fact that what if Chara was loosing control again. "Just wait til I'm out of here. I would love to hang your head on my wall."
"Be careful with him girls, I'll be back. Frisk needs to go home." As much as Frisk shook his head no, Asgore wouldn't put him down. If anything, Asgore had only tightened his grip on him even more. "Don't worry, Frisk. We're not planning on hurting him."
"Chara!" Frisk called out again, holding out his hand for his friend. Of course he didn't believe Asgore's words. He couldn't. Not when Chara was trapped like he is now, and without their special bond to connect them, Chara will truly be on his own again. "Chara!"
Chara met his eyes with his now fully black ones before calling out to him. "Frisk! I'll be okay! Trust me, I'll get out of here."
Frisk continued to call out his name until he could no longer see the boy before looking up at his adoptive father. "Asgore, how could you do this to him. How could you order him to die like that!"
Caught off guard for a bit, Asgore stopped to answer his question. As he thought about his answer carefully, he couldn't help but feel a little hurt at the disappointment in his son's voice. After all, Frisk is naturally a good kid and hearing that tone coming from him truly means he's messed up somewhere. "I know it sounds bad to you, Frisk, but that beast has killed so many good monsters in the name of hatred. I couldn't let that monster kill anymore souls, especially looking like Chara."
"He's not the one doing the killing, dad! That monster was controlling Chara! I've seen it! He needs help. He can't be alone!" Frisk told him as tears started to slide down his face. "Chara told me everything about him, like why he came down and how happy he felt when you took him in. He told me how much he and Asriel looked up to you, and how they hoped they would make you proud. Dad, Chara was alone for so long. He doesn't want to be alone anymore."
Asgore took in his words, his heart feeling heavy with guilt. In his heart, he knew the words he wanted to say to his boy. He knew that Frisk wanted to hear him say that it was possible to save that child, but he couldn't. He couldn't bear to lie to the boy when he knew the truth. As much as he hated it, he couldn't stop it from happening. "I'm sorry, Frisk, but we can't save him. Not anymore."
Meanwhile...
Once Frisk was out of sight, Chara looked over at the frightened Alphys. "Let. Me. Go." The idea was to use fear to get her to do what he needs her to, but the only result was Undyne stepping in front of her. "Damn it! LET ME GO, OR I SWEAR WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I'LL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU PATHETIC, WEAK, SORRY EXCUSE OF MONSTERS!"
Undyne rolled her eyes as she put her hand on Alphys's shoulder. "Not if you can't get past me. No matter who you fight, we'll destroy you. You are no match for me and my spear. If I fail, there are plenty other warriors to come defeat you."
"Your fight was the one of the most fun I've had. Sans, of course, was amazing. His power that he was so proud of had no effect against me and my determination. So sure, you may kill me, but I'll always be back."
Ignoring his words, the girls walked off, deciding to wait for Asgore upstairs since it wasn't like Chara could go anywhere now. No one with any decency would release the rabid child out into the world again. Not when he was so ready to kill again.
Chara pulled at the restraints hard, screaming in frustration, before settling down in the bed. He stared up at the ceiling, bored out of his mind, until he heard footsteps walking over to him.
"What now? Here to brag that you finally caught the monster?" Chara asked, meeting his father's eyes for only a second before looking away. "Hooray, you caught me. Now leave me alone."
"Frisk told me something interesting about you today. Chara, or whoever I'm speaking to right now, is it really you in there? Is it really my boy?" Asgore hesitated a bit, trying his best to decide whether or not it was a good idea to go closer to him. As the boy avoided his gaze, he decided there was no harm in the simple action.
Chara refused to look at him, wondering what Frisk had said to him to have made him ask. "Once upon a time, I would have happily said yes. I would have smiled and laughed, being proud of the name Dreemur."
"And what about now?" he asked, hoping to meet the boy's familiar red eyes. "Are you still a Dreemur?" When Chara shook his head no, he couldn't help but notice a hint of sadness in his motion. "Who are you then?"
"No one. I'm just Chara," Chara watched as his father reached down to the locket, watching him as he took a look inside. "I don't belong to anyone. Not anymore."