Togore Dreemurr awoke to an empty void. Startled, he jumped to his feet, readying his spear. Togore had been training in combat in his free time for most of his life. He had believed that, one day, it would help him take down the king.
That is, until he learned that king Asgore was actually his father.
Togore looked around, seeing his parents on the ground. "Mom!" He raced over, shaking her shoulder to get her to wake up. She was breathing, but still didn't move. He turned to his father.
"Dad-Asgore-Uh... what should I call you..." Togore cringed at himself, he really needed to develop social skills if he was going to continue pursuing Ama.
Ama... he thought for a second, his mind flashing back to eating with her at the Sandbar. Her laugh... her hair... her eyes... he hadn't seen anything like it, and that one small meal had been the most fun he'd ever had.
He shook his head, refocusing. Togore shook the king, and Asgore opened an eye.
"Oh, hello, my son." He looked around. "Hm. Seems our little scuffle destroyed more of the castle than I thought..." "No, da- Asgore..." Togore sighed. "...it's that flower... I'm not exactly sure what he did, but-"
Togore stopped speaking when he saw some other monsters stagger to their feet. The loud lifeguard was there, along with his brother. Undyne, the royal guardswoman whom had scarred Togore years ago was also there, along with the two royal scientists.
Togore slowly walked over to them, asking, "What's going on?" They were all looking behind Togore in confusion, except Sans. He looked more... 'distressed'... or... 'guilt-ridden'.
Togore slowly turned his head. "What's... behind..."
A small monster stood, wearing a striped shirt and a small crown upon his head. He was hanging his head, Togore was unable to make out the monster's face. The monster's shoulders trembled a little, and he wiped his eyes, sniffling.
Is he CRYING? Togore thought.
"Finally..." The little monster whispered in a child-like voice. "...I was so tired of being a flower." The monster raised his head, and Togore heard a gasp behind him. Toriel had woken up, and now she was covering her mouth, collapsing in shock. Asgore and Sans caught her as her eyes watered.
"Howdy!" The monster said in a friendly tone. He looked at all the monsters in front of him, his eyes settling on Togore. "Chara, is that you?"
FLASH! The monster had changed, growing to about seven feet tall, and hovering in the air. He was clothed with a robe only a monster of royal lineage would wear, bearing the delta rune. Togore looked down at the banner over his own armor, which had the faded outline of the same symbol.
"It's me, your brother..." lights began flashing around them, and spelled out a name.
ASRIEL DREEMURR
"Asriel?" Asgore asked, earning a dark chuckle from his resurrected son.
Asriel unleashed a barrage of fire, scattering the group of monsters. Togore looked back at Asriel, the pieces beginning to fit together in his mind...
Yes, Togore had an adopted human sibling. But they had died before Togore was born... The small monster in the family photograph wasn't Togore, it was Asriel. Both Asriel and the adopted human must've died, which caused Asgore to upset Toriel. The legends about the queen leaving while carrying a child... they were true, but not of Asriel. She must have still been pregnant with Togore when she left, and Asgore never found out.
"It's the end..." Asriel proclaimed, raising his arms. The air began humming with power, until everything around Asriel was a vortex of color.
"Hey, punk!" Undyne shouted, catching Asriel's attention. "End THIS!" She hurled a spear at Asriel's head, but he stuck out his hand. The spear dissolved before it even touched him.
"Yeah... I don't think fighting is gonna help with him." Sans said, still looking at Asriel with hesitation. Asriel shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
"You know... I don't really care about taking your soul anymore..." Asriel seemed to be speaking directly to Togore. Asriel raised his arms again, vanishing. Togore heard something above him, and looked up to see stars falling towards him. Togore quickly leaped out of the way, and heard the stars explode. Asriel's chuckle was heard, and he reappeared.
"After I defeat you and gain the total power of determination? I'm going to rewrite EVERYTHING." Togore stepped back, looking back at Asgore and Toriel. The two were still in shock and grief over seeing their son again. Togore then looked to the right. Papyrus was currently trying to make himself look intimidating, applying gel to spike up hair that didn't exist. Alphys and Gaster couldn't really do anything, they had no science equipment, and Sans... something really, really awful must have happened between Sans and Asriel, because the normally cool and confident skeleton was on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
Asriel laughed, looking at the chaos below. "All these chapters... all these memories... I'll set it all back to nothing!" a sword appeared in each of his hands. "Then... we can flip through this story all over again!"
Asriel slashed away at Togore, forcing his brother to back up. Asriel relented after a while, and returned to hovering in the air like a demonic hummingbird.
Togore turned around while Asriel wasn't attacking. "Everyone, LISTEN!" The group of monsters stopped what they were doing and looked at Togore. "Guys... our friend is in him... Asriel has the human's soul! And unless we do something..." he stopped and looked down. "...we may never see them again. Everything they've done for us... and all we've done for them... it won't matter anymore..."
Toriel and Asgore looked up at their son, finally wiping the last of their tears away. Papyrus quit applying gel to his skull and tried to comfort Sans. Undyne set her spear down, trying to think of a form of communication besides combat. And Alphys and Gaster... well... they began to give a scientific lecture to a puzzled Asriel, distracting him.
"Papyrus... you've got..." Togore struggled to think of something. "...lifeguard experience? Use that for... something!" That had come out less structured and detailed than Togore had intended...
Papyrus went up to Asriel, pulling out a tube of sunblock. He squeezed it in the goat prince's face, watching as Asriel glared at him in confusion and rage.
"THERE YOU GO, PRINCE ASRIEL!" Papyrus patted Asriel's head like a puppy. "NOW YOU WON'T GET BURNED BY ALL THE FIREBALLS AND STARS THAT YOU KEEP LOBBING AT US!" Asriel gritted his teeth, eventually cracking a smile and laughing.
The lights dimmed, and Asriel flickered a little. He shook his head wildly, wiping the sunblock off his face, and pointed at the monsters.
"You truly believe that you can stop me? Ura-ha-ha! This battle's already over..." he vanished again, and Togore's hair stood on end.
What, does that mean that there's- Lightning struck Togore, sending him flying backwards. Lightning. Of course he has lightning powers.
Asriel reappeared, floating around the air. Undyne raced up to him. "Hey, punk! You probably know me, sooooo..." she pulled out a pen and paper. "...I know that you'd love my autograph!" A childish light lit up Asriel's black eyes, and he grinned happily. He stretched his arm out to get an autograph, then cringed and went back to 'kill kill kill' mode.
That's it! Togore thought to himself. We're reminding him of what it was like when he was alive... if we keep it up, maybe we can beat him...
"Mom! Asgore!" Togore called, racing over to his parents. "We might not have a lot of time-"
"Oh, we have time..." Asriel smirked. "We have all the time left in this pathetic world." He hurled stars down again, making everyone run in different directions.
"Listen!" Togore called out over the sound of the stars exploding. "You need to talk to him! If he remembers his life, he might realize that what he's doing is wrong!" He pointed at Asriel. "You're his parents, too, so you two are our best bet..." Toriel and Asgore nodded, running up to their son.
"My child..." Toriel said, smiling gently at her son. "...it's been almost thirty years, hasn't it?" She stretched out her arms in a welcoming way. "We've all missed you so much..." Asriel took a step forward, wanting to hug his mother, but he grunted and backed away, summoning his swords again.
"You're wanting to welcome me back to a broken family?" Asriel sneered. "I know that you and dad aren't together anymore..."
"That was because I made an error in my anger..." Asgore said, stepping in front of Toriel. "...I hurt her by acting so terribly. But, truthfully..." Asgore looked into his son's eyes. "...all I wanted was to see my children again." Asriel reached out again, then pulled his hand back. "No..." he swiped his swords at the king. "I'm not what I used to be! I can't live in this world anymore!" Asriel took a deep breath and stepped back. "It's time for me to end this world... and make it the way that I want it!" Asriel vanished again, being replaced with a huge vision of his head.
Sans whistled in slight amusement. "Wish I could summon something like that..."
"Sans!" Togore looked at him. "Asriel knew you once... you can make him remember you now." Sans shook his head. "That poor kid... he wouldn't have died if I'd-"
"Sans!" Togore snapped, looking at the broken skeleton in the eye. "You have to put whatever you did behind you, behind both of you..."
The vision of Asriel's head began to laugh, preparing for an attack. "Sans..." Togore said, looking to see that Sans had disappeared. He looked around frantically, spotting him in front of the giant head.
"Heya, kiddo." Sans said. "Well... I think we remember what happened last time you were about to hit me." He stretched out his arms, making himself an easy target. "Go ahead, kill me."
The head closed its mouth, looking down at Sans.
"See, A-Team?" Sans asked, using what sounded like a nickname for Asriel. "All that stuff you said about not being yourself? We both know that's a load of crap." Sans chuckled. "You're still the same kid. The same Asriel-"
The head flashed, turning back into Asriel. "Grrrrrr... NO!" Asriel held a star in his hand. "I'm not a kid! I'm the Prince of Hyperdeath!" Togore cracked up at the dorky title Asriel had concocted for himself, but he shut up when stars began falling again.
"Welp." Sans popped up next to Togore. "What's our plan now?"
Togore had no idea what to do. Everyone had talked to Asriel- Alphys and Gaster with the science lecture, Papyrus with the sunblock, Undyne with the autograph, Asgore, Toriel, and Sans had all spoken with him about who he was. It seemed everyone had tried their own way of reasoning with him.
Well, everyone except for one...
Togore stepped forward, putting himself between Asriel and his newfound friends. "Asriel... fighting us isn't going to solve anything. All it's going to do is cause new problems for you to fix."
Asriel clapped his hands over his ears. "Leave me ALONE!" Asriel raised his arms to attack again, but all the confidence and determination in him had been short-circuited by Togore's truthful statement.
"You don't have to fight us, brother. We're your family..." "What do you know about family, Chara?!" Asriel responded.
That's the second incorrect name I've been called today... Togore complained in his mind.
"Family... " Togore began. "...are the people who never lose memories of you. They always remember who you are and what you were like. Family is always there to help you, no matter what." Togore smiled softly at his brother. "Family... never gives up on you. They... they always keep you in their hopes and dreams."
Asriel roared in frustration, trying to attack again. He failed.
"You don't know what I am! You don't know what I've done! You don't know how it is to feel nothing... not a thing for people you cared about or would've cared about..." Asriel said, raising up into the air. "Please, Chara... it's best if we just forget... it's best if we just leave this... it's best if we never have to go through anything like this nightmare ever again..." Asriel snapped his fingers, and all the other monsters besides Togore vanished.
"No! Asriel!" Togore raced towards his overpowered and mad-with-power brother, determined to stop him from causing any more harm to himself, or anyone.
"Chara, please!" Asriel's voice choked. "JUST LET ME WIN!"
Asriel raised his arms, giving one final attempt at an attack, but not before Togore hugged his brother for the first time.
"I'm not Chara..." Togore said. "...Asriel, you have to stop."
Suddenly, all the lights were gone. The battle was over. Asriel was a child again, holding onto his brother's shoulders for dear life.
"I'm sorry, Togore..." Asriel cried, shaken by the sins crawling on his back. "I'm so, so sorry..."