A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter looks incredibly short.
But I really had to progress this little thing somehow...
So here it goes.
CHAPTER 3: MURDER AND RETURNING SINS
"No way..." Chara mentally gasped, as they took in the surroundings. They didn't want to believe the sight before their eyes — but they knew they had to accept their sins — as the town seemed completely empty, piles of dust were scattered in the distance, along with a foul scent of murder. Gaster was silent as well, taking in the sight through Chara's eyes, and almost wishing he didn't save the child — though he had to admit, the fate of dimensions laid in their hands and Determination — , a thing Chara acknowledged as they broke the silence.
"Wing, I know you have all the reasons why you'd want to kill me right now," the child sighed in the cold air as they were holding themselves to get warmer, "but—"
"Chara." the skeleton scientist materialized before them once more, as he stood tall, dressed in his black lab coat, "My wish is quite petty, seeing as you're the last hope of the dimensions' needed survival. You may have been a Genocidal Entity once, but now? I can see you are moved by the memories that link you to the Dreemurr family."
"Who do you think the anomaly really is?" Chara asked, as they walked along Gaster through the ghost-town of Snowdin, looking to the left and right as if feeling watched.
"I do not know for certain," Gaster rubbed his chin, "I was close to understanding the other dimensions, until—"
"Until you fell in the CORE, and everyone said you were gone," the human child completed. "Uh, do you feel like we're being watched?"
"The silence and the rememberance of your sins must've disoriented you, child," the skeleton scientist said, "I remember Sans was in this area, along with Papyrus..."
Their dialogue was interrupted by an orange Gaster Blaster ray shot out of nowhere, and Chara barely had any time to duck — their hair immediately caught fire, and eventually managed to extinguish it with the cold snow, — leaving them with an empty top of head. Clenching their fist, they called out to Sans, as they knew he must've been around, for the Gaster Blaster was used only by him.
Or so they thought.
*Searching through your inventory, you found a red bandana!
*You can use it to cover your bald spot...
"Y-yeah, thanks Wing," Chara mentally deadpanned as they tied the bandana to their head, and then noticed a tall shadow behind a tree.
"Come on out, you coward! I don't have all time for—"
"WAS'SUP, CHARA." the tall shadow drew nearer, "HAVE YOU COME BACK TO CONFESS YOUR SINS?"
"That voice...!" / "That voice...!" both Gaster and Chara exclaimed as in front of them stood none other than...
"Papyrus...Where's Sans?" the child narrowed their eyes in expectation.
"YOU DON'T REMEMBER, DO YOU? YOU KILLED MY BROTHER...AND IN ORDER TO PREVENT MORE DEATHS CAUSED BY YOU—"
"You decided to kill everyone in Snowdin yourself, didn't you?" Chara lightly chuckled. "You want to gain LOVE just to defeat me in the end...?"
"I MUST ADMIT...AT FIRST IT MADE ME FILLED WITH DREAD. BUT THEN...I STARTED TO LIKE IT." Papyrus's eyes started to glow orange, "BECAUSE THIS WILL MAKE ME STRONG ENOUGH TO END YOU!"
Without any further warning, Papyrus summoned two Gaster Blasters and immediately discharged them, forcing Chara to dodge out of their way, while Gaster looked through the child's eyes with concern. It seemed, to the scientist, that the timeline wished to put Chara through meeting scores of Sans-alikes, as if...
*You have to get past him, but do not fight!
*We cannot risk turning this into a Genocide Route!
*The sight before you fills you with CONFUSION.
"Wing, I know I can't fight against him, but — just look at his STATS. Unless this is deceiving too."
"No, it's not deceiving at all," the scientist replied. "Very well, let's check his STATS..."
*UnderSwap Papyrus
*LV 6, HP 1360, ATK 40, DEF 40, ?: ?
*The LOVE has affected him differently!
"There's another STAT?!" Chara noticed in panic. "Well, this is far too strange..."
"Let's just focus on your survival, child," Gaster deadpanned, as the human ducked under another orange ray from Papyrus, who seemed to be somewhat tired and confused by what Chara did before. Though that didn't stop him from still aiming to kill the child before him, as he took another puff from his cigarette, the tobacco scent filling the battlefield as it was carried by the chilly air of Snowdin.
"Check my STATS, you—" the child was about to insult Papyrus, until they realised that would just anger him more. "Do you think I've come here with the thought of doing Genocide? You are the murderer in here!"
"SAYS THE ONE WHO KILLED MORE TIMELINES THAN—" Papyrus huffed, as he shot another Blaster ray, accompanied by a wave of sharp bones that had a spear-like shape.
"Listen up, you fool—" Chara hissed as they dodged the ray, but got grazed by six spear-like bones, their sweatshirt somewhat torn, as well as the red bandana on their head. "—if you think killing me will do anything right, well, you killing everyone of your so-called /mercy/ isn't better than everything I did!"
"YOU HAVE NO MORAL GROUNDS, KIDDO." Papyrus deadpanned as he engulfed the child's SOUL in his signature blue attack. "AT LEAST I'VE DONE IT TO SAVE THEM FROM YOU!"
"Shut—" the striped-shirt child could only say, before being violently thrown into the nearby trees of Snowdin, snow falling from a few fir trees as it covered the unconscious human. Gaster was worried about the child's welfare, as he didn't hesitate to Check their STATS.
*ACT
*CHECK
*CHARA DREEMURR.
*Adopted child of the Dreemurr family.
*HP: 1/20, LV 1, ATK:0, DEF: 0
*They will die if I won't do something...
"Chara...! CHARA...You have to stay determined! The dimensions fate is in your hands, you cannot—"
*The SOUL gently stirs, hearing your call for help.
*Used item: Cinammon Bunny.
*Restored Max HP.
"N-ngh..." Chara groaned, "W-why am I covered in snow?"
"He tossed you in the trees, he's still out there..." Gaster sighed, "He is adamant on making you admit your sins, but you already did that. It means the timeline is unaware of your repentance—" the scientist paused, "or it doesn't want to recognize it."
"Do you have any idea what that unknown STAT is?" the child tried to bandage all of their existing wounds so far, while still covered in snow.
"No," the skeleton scientist replied, "But I believe I can access the dimension's hidden code— with some exceptions. We'd probably see the hidden stats, but I'm not sure about the unknown ones. Just, wait a few minutes, and try to not get yourself killed."
"Gee, that feels very, very reassuring." Chara huffed in their thoughts, to which Gaster replied with a comical "I've heard that!" and then the child noticed Papyrus seemed to just...
...slack off, like he usually does. He does take up to Sans in that regard. It's like he didn't even bother to check if I can still attack him or not.
"Uh, hello? Weren't you supposed to annihilate—"
"GOTCHA."
That was the last thing Chara heard as their SOUL broke in two, while Gaster rolled his eyes in exasperation, and then he noticed how Determination started to pulse within the child's SOUL. The human refused to give up so easily like that, and the scientist watched with glee as Chara's red and purple heart reformed under his eyes.
*But it refused, huh?
*Seeing that Papyrus won't be giving up...
*Fills you with DETERMINATION.
*File Saved.
*SAVE 02: UnderSwap Snowdin - Genocide Route.
"The fu—" was Chara's only reaction as they read the last words, but Gaster reassured them it wasn't THEIR Genocide Route, but Papyrus's. "It was the only way I could name this SAVE, no other modifications were allowed. In what concerns HIDDEN STATS...look at this."
*ACT
*CHECK
*HIDDEN STATS
*CHARA DREEMURR
*DREEMURR LOYALTY: 100/100
*INNER MAGIC POOL: 0 (2500)
*POWERS: LOAD, SAVE, CONTINUE, RESET.
*Attention: There's a LOAD OVERRIDE present.
"What's that supposed to mean...?" Chara thought in their mind, before asking Gaster to give Papyrus a Check for Hidden Stats.
*ACT
*CHECK
*HIDDEN STATS
*UNDERSWAP PAPYRUS
*Unknown variable: 125/125.
*MURDER LEVEL: 6
*POWERS: LOAD.
"Oh, snap, so that was—" the child added, and noticed that Papyrus was now puffing harder from his cigarette.
"SO, YOU GOT BACK, EH? WHAT'S GOT YOU SO SURPRISED?"
Chara chuckled a little as they dusted off their clothes, "You think you're the only one with tricks up their sleeve, don't you? Well—"
"Chara, no!" Gaster yelled as he felt the hatred returning within the child's SOUL.
"You have no idea who you're messing with, Papyrus..."