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Chapter Ten
Frisk was glad she didn't have a vision each time she was blown up. Somewhere around the tenth time she gave a frustrated growl and sat down at a table. Of course, the skeleton brothers asked what was wrong. For the tenth time she explained to them what happened. No, they couldn't have the skeletons go first and move the dog. If the dog moved at all it blew up. If it saw Frisk it blew up. If it thought it was being tricked it blew up. It even blew up when fed chocolate. As one can imagine, Frisk wanted to strangle the annoying dog.
"That's one determined dog." Sans sat down beside Frisk. "Should we call Alphys?"
"Might as well." Frisk pulled out her phone and called the scientist. "Hello."
"Frisk! Are you alright?" A series of beeps came from the other side of the phone. "According to Sans's device you had been going back in time in rapid succession."
"An exploding dog is keeping me from advancing."
"A what?" Undyne snatched the phone from the protesting scientist. "Can I see?"
"No. If I tried to get near it the annoying dog it blows up the bridge. Is there any other way around it?"
"Give me that." The scientist coughed into the phone. "Afraid not. I got the dog on view. Yeah… you're not getting pass it."
"Please tell me something of use. I'm not in the mood for there to be no other way."
"There isn't. I looked through the map of the area and there is only two ways forward. One of them is broken and the other is guarded by that dog."
Frisk groaned. "Please tell me there's a way around the dog."
"My best guess is that you have to put it to sleep."
"I don't want to kill it!"
"I meant knocking it out. If you can put it asleep you can walk around it or defuse the bomb. Either way, you should be able to get by it."
Frisk pulled food out of her pocket. "Sans, Papyrus, see what the dog will eat."
"Yes ma'am." Grabbing the food, Papyrus went to feed the dog. The skeleton brothers returned fifteen minutes with food in hand. "Sorry, but we failed."
"Why?"
"The dog stated that it is a picky eater and will only eat a red, round orb." Sans shrugged at the stare. "Hey, I never said that it was a good demand."
"Alphys, where can I find a red, round orb?"
"I'll have to look around a bit."
"Finally!" shouted Undyne. "Let's get out of here."
"You guys should stay put," said Alphys. "I'll call back as soon as possible."
"Well…" Tucking his hands into his pockets, Sans sighed. "Looks like we're stuck here for a while. Who wants to get something to eat?
Everyone raised their hands. They waved down a waiter and he gave them menus. Frisk looked through her. The voice started to hum.
Do you want to pick something? asked Frisk.
You would let me order? The voice sounded as if Frisk handed over a car plus keys.
Sure. We're sharing bodies. Pick whatever you want.
Thanks! I would like the salmon with mashed potatoes!
Ordering that item, Frisk sat back to listen to the brothers chatting. Papyrus was telling his recent adventures with the child to his brother. He exaggerated a bit when he talked about Mettaton shooting laser beams and Flowery being a twenty feet tall monster. Yet Frisk and Sans allowed him to talk. They only stopped him to clear up a point.
Munching on her meal, Frisk hummed in pleasure. This is good.
Of course it is! The voice sounded proud. I have great taste.
Hey voice, do you happen to be Chara? Silence answered the child. All the dreams and visions are about you and I don't know who else it could be.
It took you long enough to call me out. Chara sighed.
Do you want to help the monster get out of the underground?
You can say that… The problem is our masters.
The person who used children as toys.
That's the one.
Frisk glanced about.
You can't see them. They are invisible, but I know they are there. To beat them we've to work together.
Sure.
Really?
We're friends aren't we?
For a long moment Chara remained silent. You want to be my friend?
I would have to disagree on your methods at times, but you helped me more than once. If we can just work more like partners and stop stealing my body we can do great things.
Sounds like a plan. Care to shake hands, partner?
Grabbing her hands, Frisk shook it. Sure thing.
"Hey Frisk." Sans poked the child's arm. "Are you still there?"
"Sorry." Blinking, the child stretched her arms. "I was just in my own world."
"Understandable. Is there anything you want to do while we're here? There's not much, but…"
"How about joining a game show!"
The table erupted upward. Yelping, Frisk tumbled out of her chair. Sans teleported away as a rope tried to grab him. His brother proved too slow and the rope snared him.
"Hey!" Papyrus struggled as he was lifted in the air.
Damn robot! Chara growled. Doesn't he know when to quit?!
As Papyrus reached the roof the floor pulled apart. A stage popped out. Standing on it, Mettaton whirled around. His screen flashed a heart.
"Greeting, loyal fans! Mettaton is here." Snapping his fingers, the robot summoned a couple of robots who held out the name of the game. "Welcome to the new game show called Wheel of Misfortune." He reached into his body and pulled out a round sign standing on top of three legs. Divided into many triangles, the board contained many horrible deaths. One triangle said strangulation, another acid, and being torn alive was another option.
"Mettaton!" Sans shouted from the stage. "What are you doing?!"
"Doing your job, lazy bones!" Mettaton pointed to the floor. "Take one more step and I'll drop your brother into the pot of acid."
"What do you want?" asked Frisk.
"For you to play a game." Mettaton jabbed a finger at the wall. "All you have to do is spin the board. You will then be taken to an area with the main threat to your life. If you manage to get out, you will get an award."
"Will you free Papyrus?"
"If you want."
Frisk glanced to Sans who shrugged. Taking a deep breath, Frisk hopped onto stage.
Don't worry, said Chara, I got your back.
"So I just spin the wheel?" asked Frisk. Metatton's screen turned into a thumbs up. Grabbing the wheel, Frisk spun it as fast as she could. She watched the letters and tried to decide which one would be best out of the worst. Then she spotted an odd phase. What did it say? The wheel came to a stop on that odd phase.
"Get dunked on!" Meatton and his robots clapped their hands. "What a wonderful choice?"
"Oh no." San's eyes disappeared.
"What?" asked Frisk. "Is that bad?"
Run! shouted Chara. Run until you can't run anymore!
"Why?!"
A gray door appeared in the air. Sans in a red scarf opened it and hopped on out. Blinking in confusion, Frisk glanced between the Sans on the floor and the scarfed Sans. She offered the doppelganger a smile.
"Hey there!" Frisk tried to advance toward the new Sans, but her feet stayed in place.
Seriously Frisk! Chara started to sound panicked. Interact with that Sans and you're going to be hurt. Badly!
"So the door actually worked." Looking around, Scarfed Sans hummed. "I see myself standing in confusion, Mettaton looking fabulous as ever, my favorite comedian…" His keen eyes stayed on the suspended Papyrus before landing on Frisk. "And a child who appears to be frozen in fear. What's wrong? Have you seen a ghost?"
"Look at this folks!" Darting over to the new Sans, Mettaton held his hand to him. "We got a new contender ready to play!"
"No, I see another Sans." Frisk studied the scarf for a bit. It looked familiar somehow.
"No surprise there." Hopping down onto the floor, Scarfed Sans hummed. "It's rather nice around here, isn't it?"
On her own will Frisk marched backward as Scarfed Sans advanced. She felt a tense air coming off of the skeleton. His eyeballs disappearing in his sockets offered little comfort. Normal Sans darted in front of Frisk. Stretching his arms out, he stared his doppelganger down.
"Is there a reason you're here." Sans pointed to himself. "Or did you just want to meet a handsome follow."
"Oh great," said Papyrus. "One Sans is hard enough."
"That's sounds nice." Raising his fingers, Scarfed Sans hummed. "Yet I have a crisis to divert." He snapped his fingers and normal Sans disappeared. "Tell me, kid. Have you enjoyed your little vacation?"
"Um… I guess."
"That's too bad."
Both Chara and her body shouted for Frisk to move. Leaping back, she narrowly avoid being pieced by a dozen bones jagging out of the ground. Just before she landed Sans thrust his hand forward. Frisk's heart glowed a dark blue.
Sans' eyes started to flash. "Maybe you're in the wrong place. I heard that hell is perfect this time of year." Frisk screamed as she flew across the room and slammed into a wall. A loud cracked filled the room.
"Oh my!" The celebrity held his hands to his screen. "Looks like Sans is not joking around today!"
"Sans!" Papyrus struggled against his ropes. "What are you doing?! You're hurting the human."
"Quiet, Papyrus." Sans lowered his head. "I'm doing what is best for this world."
Peeling herself off the ground, Frisk yelped as a bone slammed into her right arm and embedded. Tears dammed in her eyelids. She looked at scarfed Sans. She asked why he was hurting her, yet his cold stare spoke of a person who stared down a monster.
"You already wrecked my world." Sans summoned dozens of bones around him. "I won't let you hurt anyone else. I'll keep you here for the rest of eternity."
Damn it, Frisk! shouted Chara. He's going to kill you!
Just as the bones launched, Frisk fled the room. Monsters shouted in surprise as bones plowed into the wall. Frisk yelped when scarfed Sans appeared in front of her. Weaving around him, she avoided a bunch of bones thrusting out of his chest.
Why does he hate me?!
Because someone stole your body and forced you to kill all the monsters. Chara huffed. He thinks that you did it.
You're lying. Frisk yelped as blue bones assaulted her. Only barely did she stop in time to avoid being hit.
Believe what you want, but Sans isn't in the mood to talk.
Getting outside of the hotel, Frisk grabbed hold of the embedded bone and yanked it out. A whimper escaped her as blood flowed form her arm.
Give me a moment to heal it.
Frisk's soul turned green and she felt the wound heal.
"Too slow."
Frisk yelped as many large bones shot out of the ground. Launched into the air, she whirled around until she felt something grabbed her heart. Scarf Sans stared at Frisk for a moment. The child tried to hold in the tears, but terror squeezed them out of her.
"You honestly think you can trick me with that." Sans threw his hand down and Frisk dropped toward bones shooting out of the ground. Time slowed down. As she drew near the bones imagines of her being pierced by them over and over again flooded her mind.
I don't want to die a hundred times! thought Frisk.
Care if I take control for a bit? Chara hummed. It has been a little while, but I remember our fight with Sans. If you take control of soul modes, I could focus on keeping us alive.
You won't hurt Sans.
I won't make promises, but… Let's survive this first, partner.
Alright, partner. Here goes nothing.
Sans blinked when Frisk's heart turned a dark green. A shield sprung in front of her. Landing on it, the child soon switched back to a normal heart and flipped onto the top of a bone. Sans blinked and a bovine like skull with a pair of eyes appeared.
"Cute," said Sans. The cow skull fired a laser beam. The skeleton blinked upon seeing the child summon a purple cord to her feet and pulled her away from the beam. "What!?"
"Looks like things are heating up!" Leaning out a window, Mettaton clapped his hands. "Frisk has finally recover from shock."
"Sorry, bonehead!" Detaching the line from her feet, the fallen child stuck her arms out. "Guns, now!"
On it! Frisk summoned the yellow heart.
Just in time for an angered Sans to summon hundreds of bones at her. They fired forward. Their pattern seemed irregular, yet Chara laughed as she weaved through the attacks. Her guns blazed and shot down the incoming bones.
The skeleton growled. "How!? The timelines should have-"
Appearing in front of the skeleton, Chara offered a sweet smile. Her red eyes gleamed with mischievous. "Sorry, but reality have changed." She grabbed for the skeleton, but he disappeared. A Gaster blaster hid behind Sans. "I hate that skeleton."
Green mode! shouted Frisk.
Just in time the shield appeared, but it cracked when the beams hit. Sliding back, Chara growled as she glanced upward. Sans floated overhead. A rain of bones fell to the earth.
"How the hell did you fight him last time?!" Once the laser stopped Chara summoned a purple lines. They swung away from her in large loops. Their ends connected to her fingers.
I don't know! I don't remember anything.
Huffing, Chara lashed her arms out. The purple lines reached up, caught the bones, and forced them to orbit around the child. For a brief moment the fallen child thought of throwing them back. Yet Frisk pressed on the back of her mind. She might as well be looking over Chara's shoulder.
"You do know that sparing this Sans will be next to impossible?" Flicking her fingers, Chara embedded the bones into the earth. "And I won't let him kill us. He may think that his mission is critical, but we need to get to the end." She drew out the plastic knife, stepped the side and sliced through a bone going for her back. "I didn't fight Sans, but the monster forced you to fight him so much that I remember every move."
Glaring the skeleton down, Chara gave an innocent grin. "So tell me Sans, how is it to see your brother again. It must be nice." Beams fired down on the fallen child. Using strings, Chara traveled to the air. She tried to get close to Sans and Frisk kept telling her not to harm him. Yet Chara's heart changed to yellow and shot down the blasters.
Frisk heard a soft popping sound from behind. Behind you!
Spinning around, Chara sliced her knife and knocked away several striking bones. Her heart turned purple as more blasters surrounded her. They fired, but Chara attached a string to a blaster. She then used her weight to swing it around. The blaster spun around and knocked out it kin.
"Hey!" Placing a hand to his screen, Mettaton bowed backward to avoid behind hit by the beam. "Those two are going to wreak the hotel at this rate. It needs to be remodeled, but still! Think of the people staying here."
"Shut up!" Hopping on the blaster, Chara enshrouded it with strings. "Sans. I'll give you one chance, right now. Surrender or face our fury."
"Our?" Sans hummed. "But I see only one of you."
I guess I'm invisible now. Frisk sighed. It kind of hurts to be unnoticed.
Welcome to my world for the past decades.
"Kid, I'll be the first to admit that you changed." Sans bowed his head. "Before you gave up, you were little more than a walking shell. A being who seemed to kill just for the hell of it." Spreading his arms out, Sans shrugged. "By the look, you hadn't even harmed anyone in this world. Hell, you are refuse to hurt me. Call me impress, but I want only one answer." His eyes disappeared as he stared Chara's right in the face. "Do you plan on going through all this just to kill everyone again?"
"No…" Chara giggled. "Well, that isn't one hundred percent true. Like you, there is only one person that I think deserve to suffer. I bet you understand that feeling."
"So you're not a monster?"
Chara…
"You're so high and mighty in calling me a monster, a child to burn in hell. What about you?" Chara chuckled darkly. "While poor Frisk was forced to kill every last monster in the underground, you stood by. Even after she killed your brother, you just watched her wreck the world." Sans's smile became more tensed. "You let her kill your friends, your families, and your people. Only when she threatened the timeline, when she was at her strongest, did you intervene. Who is the true brother killer here?"
"Kid…" Sans snapped his finger and the area behind him filled with dozens upon dozens of blasters. "You are going to pay for that."
Mettaton had to pull away from the window from the brightness of the attack. "Oh my god! Sans has released hell fire on the human. Can she even make it out of that?" It took a full minute for the light to clear. The celebrity leaned out of the window and stared at the deep hole blasted into the cavern. "Um… Did he drill right through the mountain? Wow. I never knew just a powerful monster existed."
"Where is she?" asked Sans.
"Pardon."
Panting, the skeleton dispelled his blasters. "We are still here. That blast should had killed her. Where is she?" He held out his as he stepped forward. He checked the windows and spotted scarfless Sans leaning on the window. "You didn't dare."
"Buddy, I get it that gal is a bit bi-polar, but we did make a promise." Waving a hand, scarfless Sans hummed. "Now, are you ready to be dunk on?"
"Where did you send them?"
"Over here." Yanking a window open, Chara lunged out. Her arms lashed out and stuck purple lines onto Scarf Sans. He teleported away, but the fallen child laughed when she travele with him if several feet away.
"Hey!" Sans summoned a blaster. "Nobody likes a clingy relationship." Yet Chara danced out of the range of the blast. If it had moved, it would have blasted San. The skeleton teleported about. Frisk felt each time when they would teleport, as if they could vanish from existence. For briefs moment they flew through an empty realm conquered by darkness.
Yet Chara refused to let go of Sans. Bones, blasters, and gravity tried to throw her off, but she kept going around the skeleton with purple strings. Hopping over an attack, she grabbed San hood and yanked it over his face. Purple lines kept him from getting it up. With a shout Chara yanked on the strings. Dropping to the ground, the cocooned San remained silent as Chara readied her blade. Her breathing became heavy.
"How many times did you kill Frisk?" Chara kneeled down. "I know it was between eighty and a hundred. I will tell you now that every time hurt. It hurt like hell."
Chara. Frisk imagined herself hugging her friend. Can I take control now? He's not the one you're angry with.
The knife hovered over Sans's head. For a brief moment the fallen child's eyes turned black. "You're right." Taking a deep breath, Chara put the knife away. "See if you can get him to stop attacking us." She closed her eyes.
When Frisk opened her eyes they returned to a calming brown. "Hey Sans." Kneeling, Frisk pulled him up and hugged him. "I'm sorry." The scarfed San held his thoughts. "I know my words are meaningless, but I don't know what else to say. So I'm sorry. I'm sorry for pain that I brought and I don't remember. I'm sorry that we're forced to go through this over and over again." Frisk grabbed the scarf and tears threatened to spill from her. "I can't change the past, but I might be able to change the future. I going to break us free from this cycle. Even if it means I'm going to get hurt. Please… just gave me a chance."
"Good grief." Sans sighed. "So this what it has come down to? I'm desperate enough to trust in a person who could at any moment turn into a murderer. Yet, it would be nice if this would all stop." Glancing to this timeline Sans, Scarf Sans shook his head. "Besides, it not my place to decide how things will turn out here. My only request is that you keep that promise. Make this world a better place. I hate to admit it, but your friend is right." Bowing his head, Sans chuckled. "I let the people I cared for die when I should have known better. Could you please release me?"
Without a second thought Frisk did as told.
Standing, Sans moved his hands. "I could kill you where you stand."
"I know." Frisk smiled. "But I like to think you're a better person than that."
"I'm going home." Waving a hand, Scarf Sans summoned a gray door. "And to the numbskull staring at me you better get off your lazy tail bone. We need to keep our family safe." Entering the door, he closed it behind him and it disappeared from this world.
Marching back into the hotel, Frisk glared at Mettaton. He had reclaimed his place on the stage. He and the other robots clapped their hands.
"Well done, Frisk." The celebrity swung his hand at Papyrus. "You did well to get here."
"Can you stop with the drama and just give me my friend back?"
"Not yet." Mettaton gestured to his right. "I'm giving you a choice."
"What would I want more than my friend?" Frisk fell silent as a small, round table rose out of the ground. A golden, heart-shaped locket laid upon a pillow.
That's my locket! stated Chara. Where did he get it?!
Taking the locket away, Mettaton carried it over to the pot. "It's simply, really. Either you get the locket or you get the skeleton. Whatever you don't get is dropped in the acid. It is destroyed and is gone forever."
"Give her a break." Papyrus shook his head. "Do you honestly think that Frisk would be so shallow as to pick a piece of jewelry over a good friend?" Yet Frisk stared the locket for a while. "Frisk?"
Mettaton is going to destroy it. Chara started to sniff. But… that was the only thing I have left of Asriel. It has a picture of us in it. He gave it to me for a birthday present. We were supposed to be best friends forever. Papyrus is annoying, but he doesn't deserve to get hurt. But... I don't want to lose my brother again.
Everyone in the room grew rigid when Frisk started to cry. "You… you would destroy a gift of a brother. You would kill not just a person, but the memories of one." Placing her face into her hands, Frisk wept. "Mettaton! You're a jerk!" The celebrity stood frozen. He came back to life when one of the monsters threw a can at his head.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" shouted a monster. "She's just a kid!"
"Yeah! Why are you torturing her?!"
"Is this is what you want our children to act like?!"
"Hold on now." Mettaton started to back off. "People. We need to remember that this human-"
"Give her the necklace and my brother back." Sans appeared behind Mettaton. "If you don't hurry something bad might happen to you."
Mettaton chuckled. "Okay! I might have overstepped my boundaries." Going over to Frisk, the celebrity handed the necklace over. "Here you go! And look." He snapped his fingers and the pot disappeared into the ground. "No more problems."
Taking the necklace, Frisk opened it up and stared at the picture of Chara and Arsiel hanging together. Two kids held flowers in hand. They seemed to be happy, but a fresh wave of sorrow came from Chara.
Why? said Chara. Why does my life have to be so terrible?
The fallen child had all the tears to shed, but no eyes to do so. Taking the sorrow from Chara, Frisk wept for her. She wept for the pain she suffered and for the pain other had taken onto them. This cycle had to end. She needed to break it.
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