"How did it come to this?" A voice echoed out from the other end of the corridor. From inside of her own mind and SOUL, Frisk could tell who the voice belonged to in an instant, and a rush of hope filled her thoughts. Unfortunately for her, Chara recognized the voice, too, and turned back to face where the voice came from.
"Ah, yes." She called out to the figure. "I was wondering when you would finally face me, and accept your fate." Corsiva stepped out from the darkness, wearing only his casual black dress shirt with the delta rune on the back, his black dress shoes, and his black dress pants, staring down at the floor, his face showing no emotion, his eye sockets completely empty.
"My fate is entirely up to me," He responded, expression unmoving, "It does not depend on the whims of a single human. No matter how powerful. Not even if they ARE at LV 20."
"Oh, I don't know about that." Chara mocked, her head tilted to the side. She looked almost curious, and she brandished her knife threateningly. Corsiva barely noticed, or at least if he did notice, he couldn't bring himself to care.
"What? You think that just because you're holding a knife menacingly I'm going to give up?" Chara grinned.
"You'd be surprised how many monsters I just did that and they ran away." She informed him.
"Well, sorry to disappoint you. But I have to say, you're being awfully predictable with your choice of weapon. You always were were fascinated with knives, weren't you Chara?" Chara took a step back, her eyes widened slightly in shock. "Yeah, I know who you really are. You really think I wouldn't recognize that you weren't Frisk? You might have her body, but you don't have her tone, her body language, her morality."
"You're a lot smarter than you look, Corsiva." She noted, regaining her posture. "But you're still an idiot." Her smile returned, but Corsiva didn't care.
"Did you know, I've never actually taken a life." He suddenly started. His head slowly came up to look at Chara as he spoke thus. "I've come close, a few times actually. But I've never actually killed somebody. I couldn't bring myself to do it. It was in part because of my strong sense of morality, but it was also because I had certain… mental blocks in place. As long as at least one of the mental blocks remained, I wouldn't bring myself to kill a person, and my morals would remain intact. These mental blocks were my friends, my family. So I've got a question for you." His band clenched into a fist. "Why?" He was practically whispering now, and was almost shaking with fury. "Why did you kill them all?"
"I have my reasons." Chara responded.
"What reasons could you possibly have for killing every single monster in the underground!?" Corsiva shouted back at her.
"You wouldn't understand." She replied calmly, smirking. Corsiva stared at her for a few seconds.
"You think that anything good will come out of this? Do you really think that you'll achieve something by doing this? NO. You have reached the end. There is NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, left for you now. There is no reward for this, there is no achievement. This isn't a video game, you aren't going to get some cool achievement and some unique ending for doing this. Your Level of Violence mean NOTHING in this world if there's nothing left for you to show it to, nothing left for you to face, nothing that can actually do anything to you." They stood in silence for a little bit longer. "Heh." He eventually started chuckling. The chuckling slowly got louder, until it eventually became laughter. "Heheh. Heheheh! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Chara stepped back a few steps, slightly frightened of this sudden outbreak of laughter.
"Oh man! I'm sorry, I just… I can't believe that I actually thought that a freak like you would need a reason to do what you did! Besides, it's not like it would even matter if you did tell me." His laughter suddenly stopped. "Even if you did tell me, it wouldn't change what you did. I don't have the words to describe how I'm feeling right now. You have taken EVERYTHING from me. You actually did it. You removed all of my original mental blocks. Undyne, Toriel… Sans… Papyrus… you killed them all." His voice was starting to crack. Tears were starting to form in his eye sockets. "Now, normally, I would slip into a state of depression from something like this happening. But you just couldn't stop yourself, could you? You had to get rid of Frisk, too. I don't care if you killed her, or just took over her body. You as good as killed her, and you got rid of my very last mental block. And, well, like an old friend of mine once said, I can't afford not to care anymore.
"I have given you so many chances to be better. I have lost so many people in my life because of you. But you know what? I'm going to give you one last chance. Reset. Go back, and we'll forget all of this ever happened. Give Frisk back her body. We can just pretend that this never happened. But if you take another step forward, stop me if you've heard this one before, you are REALLY not going to like what happens next." Chara did exactly the opposite of what Corsiva asked her, and stepped forward. Corsiva sighed.
"You never really did listen to me. But I've got one last question for ya. How many times did she ask you to stop? How many times did Frisk plead, beg with you to stop the killing and just Reset?" Chara didn't answer, and they stood in silence for a second. "...And, Frisk, if you're still in there? If you can hear me? If you can feel this?" His eyes flashed a bright red, and in a split second, before Chara even could react, he was in front of her, his arm outstretched, and Cachear going through her skull.
"I'm sorry." He finished in a whisper, and he pulled his Ninjato back out.
Chara immediately fell to the floor, unable to think, unable to breath. She tried to reach out to her food items, only to realize that she had used them all in her fight with Sans. Despite this, there was a tiny bit of good news; she had last SAVEd before defeating him, meaning that she would have another chance at fighting him, and would be a bit more conservative with her food items. And despite what Corsiva asked of her, she was most certainly not going to Reset. She would just have to be more careful. She felt Frisk's SOUL shatter, and the world faded to black around her.
"So that's how it's going to be, huh?" She mumbled before she finally lost consciousness.
One quick LOAD later, Chara was back. She was a bit confused, though. She wasn't back before her fight with Sans, rather, she was back right before her battle with Corsiva again. Did I accidentally save? She thought to herself. Suddenly, she heard the shuffling of feet. And speaking of Corsiva…
"Back so soon, huh?" Corsiva asked her, smirking, as his eyes began to glow yellow. She growled at him slightly, taking a step forward. "You're very eager." He noted sarcastically, a shit-eating grin on his face. "So am I!" Chara prepared herself for the Ninjato to slice through the air, readying herself to dodge it, but it didn't come. Instead, her SOUL was turned green somehow, taking her by surprise, and a barrage of broken bones with sharp and jagged edges swarmed her from all directions. With some difficulty, she managed to block most of them with her knife.
"Hah!" She laughed in triumph at Corsiva, before an unseen Gaster Blaster came from above and completely disintegrated her, body and all.
Another LOAD, and Chara wasn't exactly feeling pleased.
"Wow, you're REALLY bad at this." Corsiva taunted her, his eyes glowing orange, interlaced with red. She tried jumping at him, only for her SOUL to be turned blue whilst in mid air, and her body was flung at the wall. The impact was enough to bring her HP down a good 43 points, and the pile of bones that suddenly appeared was good enough to finish the job. It was like this for a while. Chara would appear, take a step forward, and Corsiva would make the first move, which always killed her. She would LOAD back to her last SAVE point, and they would repeat the process.
"You really like dying, huh?" Corsiva asked 3647 kills in, a grin on his face. "You know, what I said before, about Resetting I mean, it still holds true. All you have to do is just Reset, and this will all be over." Chara snarled, and leaped at him, swinging her blade as she did. Corsiva dodged all of the attacks with ease, barely even pushing himself.
"I guess you don't really care, huh?" He asked her. "Welp, like an old friend of mine, I'm not just going to stand there and take it." Chara prepared herself for his attack, and was surprised when she felt that her entire body was burning. She looked around, and found that her entire body was covered in orange bones. She immediately jumped back, and the pain stopped.
A faint memory popped into Frisk's head about a phone call she got from Alphys: Move through Orange, stay still for Blue. Chara apparently wasn't listening at the time, and was curious about the bones for a few seconds. Eventually, her common sense returned, and she saw that her HP was low. Not good. And it was still going down despite not touching the bones anymore. Even worse. It looked like Corsiva could attack her the same way that Sans could. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, though mainly Frisk's mind seeing as it was HER SOUL and body after all, she was shown images flashing to and fro, back and forth, of all of the monsters she had killed. Haunting her, killing her, consuming her.
"KARMA's a bitch, isn't it?" Corsiva asked jokingly. "Wait. No. That's you. My bad."
"What are you talking about?" Chara asked him, continuing to attack, but surprised that she actually managed to make it this far. "Why does that still hurt?" Corsiva continued to dodge the attacks, almost lazily even, and answered her questions.
"I have the ability to inflict extra damage with my attacks that occur after the initial attack, and keep my attacks from disappearing after they come into contact with you. It works in the way that my attacks remove an extra so called 'Invincibility Frame,' which is essentially that if you get hit by an attack, the attack disappears and you can't take any damage for a few seconds, and the attacks drain your HP down more in a certain amount of time the longer the attack touches your SOUL. Call it 'KARMIC RETRIBUTION.'"
Chara had mostly tuned Corsiva out while he gave his explanation, too focused on dodging and blocking, though she was having a difficult time. Corsiva hadn't even made it to his third attack, and she was already down to 3 HP of 99. One more hit would kill her, and it was only by luck that she had made it this far. She slashed quickly through the air, more of a desperate attempt than anything else at this point. Corsiva dodged the attack, then suddenly stopped.
"You know what? Here's what I'm going to do. I'll give you ONE free hit. After that, you're not hitting me again. So come on. Give it all you got, 'cause you're not going to get another chance!" Chara seized her opportunity, and jumped at him, slashing with all of her might.
The swing wasn't in the least bit surprising. The actual blow itself, however, surprised Corsiva slightly. He staggered back slightly, his eyes not glowing red, or yellow, or any normal color. They were glowing white, as they had so many times beforehand this timeline, and as usual, it wasn't like his white pupils that he could manifest inside of his eye sockets. They were glowing, for one thing. He viewed his stats. The demon had brought his HP all the way down to 1. He looked down at his chest. His nice shirt was torn, revealing his ribcage behind it, and he was bleeding.
"Well…" He started, coughing up blood, "I guess that's the end of that, huh?" He chuckled for a few seconds, before falling to his knees. "You actually did it. You killed me. Good on you, I suppose. You sure as hell took your sweet time." He chuckled again, feeling his HP slowly draw towards zero. "I guess… that's it then. You'll just go right on past this, and kill Asgore. Maybe you'll even cross the barrier, and kill the rest of humankind, too. I don't know." He started laughing harder, despite the severity of the situation. "Well, I hope you're satisfied." Chara was grinning once again. She felt lucky, though.
"It was stupid for me to think that I would ever be able to stop you, I suppose. If Undyne couldn't, and Sans couldn't either, then what could I do?" Corsiva finished, as his laughter reached an all time high, before suddenly stopping, as his SOUL shattered, and his body turned to dust. Chara started moving past the pile of dust on the ground… And then she was back at the end of the corridor again. She looked down at her hands, confused. She wasn't covered in her own blood anymore, and her hands weren't bruised.
"Well, I guess I could do THAT." Came a voice, and Chara looked forward in horror to see Corsiva standing there again, looking just as whole as ever. "Like I said, I hope you're satisfied. Because this is how it's going to be from now on. Killing each other. Over. And over. And over again, forever. Because I'm not going to let you get past. And it'll never change, not until one of us Resets this all, and I know that you're never going to do that. Welp, better get comfortable. You won't get tired of seeing this Judgement Hall, will you?"
Chara was flabbergasted that anybody else had the same determination as her. When she finally came to her senses, she was surrounded by bones and Gaster Blasters, leaving no room to escape.
"Aww shit." She exclaimed aloud. Corsiva winked.
"Language." All at once, Chara was blasted, impaled, and smacked, giving her a quick, but excruciatingly painful death.
When she woke up in the void, a distant sounding voice called out to her, as it always did. This time, however, it was not Asgore who spoke.
"Do you see now?" Corsiva asked her, his voice imposing and intimidating. "Do you now see how pointless it is that you continue to struggle? That you continue to come back? Nothing lasts in this world. If you want to win… you'll just have to go back. Spend some more time in the void this time, and think about what you've done."
Chara rolled her eyes, and attempted to reach out for her SAVE file. Nothing happened. She reached out again, and still, nothing happened. She couldn't access the SAVE Screen. She tried to walk forward, see what was going on, only to find that she hit an invisible wall. She pushed her hands out in opposite directions. She was trapped inside of an invisible box. Corsiva appeared before her, wearing his usual clothes, his hands in his pockets. It was a very Sans-like pose.
"You have become blinded by your own power, Chara." He stated, his eyes manifesting their usual pupils. "Your thirst for it is unhealthy. Your ego has grown so much, you can't see your own hands, covered in blood in dust. Too much power has been the undoing of many before you, some of them much wiser than you. I ask you here and now, give it up. Fighting won't get you any further." Chara glared at him, and turned her back to him.
"I don't know why I'm even talking to you. You won't answer any of my questions, you won't pay respect to my requests. You may be a demon, but you're still just a naive child. I grew up after my fall; I changed. You remained the same. I suppose that's the difference between us, isn't it?" Corsiva turned around, and started to walk away from her.
"You asked me what my reasonings are in doing this, earlier." Chara suddenly started, making Corsiva stop in his tracks. "Of all of the people I've encountered in the underground, you were the only one who remained unpredictable. I would've expected Sans to be the type of person to ask my reasoning, yet that wasn't true. You were the only person who actually asked, genuinely asked, why I did what I did. Why?" Corsiva turned back around slightly.
"I want to understand you." He responded. "I want to better understand you, as well as your thought process. Understanding the problem is the first step to fixing it."
"You think I'm a problem."
"I think what you're doing, what you've done, is the problem."
"You think I was the one who started the killing?"
"That's not the point."
"I only gave Frisk the idea. She was too weak, too foolish to continue it after we killed Toriel. She wanted to go back, Reset. Fix things. But she was the one who started killing them all. Did you ever think about that, you idiot?" Corsiva shrugged.
"I don't know. At this point, it doesn't even matter who started it in the first place. You were the one who started taking control as it continued."
"Now it's you who's missing the point."
"Am I?" Chara scoffed at the argument.
"This bickering is getting us nowhere. The point is, I didn't start the killing. Frisk did. I didn't think they'd actually follow through with it, if I'm being honest. But after the ruins, I took charge. She was going to go back. I couldn't let that happen. We needed to see it through. We still do."
"You say that you only gave them the idea for the killing. Where did you get it?"
"You wouldn't understand. But I have a question for you. Do you honestly think that you can help me? Help Frisk?" Corsiva stared at her. His expression unwavering, his eyes constantly changing colors, switching between all of the colors of human SOUL traits, before settling on a pure red color.
"I used to believe that anybody could change, if they really wanted to. They might have needed some help changing, but they could eventually do it. I seem to have lost some of my faith recently." A silence spread between the two of them. "But I'm sure that I could manage to find it in myself again."
"If I tell you why I'm doing this, will you forgive me?" Chara asked, her voice soft, expression somber. "Will you forgive Frisk?" Corsiva just looked at her, before his mouth curled into a small smile, and his eyes started glowing green; the color for happiness and contentment.
"I already have." Was his response. Chara stared at him thoughtfully. "You just need to learn to accept it." A few more seconds in silence.
"I didn't want to get Frisk to start killing monsters." She suddenly whispered frantically, looking around at her surroundings worriedly. "But I didn't have a choice." Corsiva squinted at her, confused, as his eyes returned to a red color.
"What do you mean?" He asked, sounding slightly suspicious, and he tilted his head.
"You need to get out of here. There is something much more dangerous than me, more dangerous than you, more dangerous than any of us." His eyes widened slightly. "This thing is an unstoppable demon, and a danger to us all with the power they have. I don't know if we can even stop it."
"O̸F̵ ̶C̸O̴U̴R̴S̵E̵ ̵Y̷O̴U̶ ̶C̸A̵N̷'̶T̸.̸" A terrifying, booming, demonic voice echoed out through the void. "Y̶O̵U̵ ̵I̶N̴S̶I̷G̸N̸I̷F̷I̵C̴A̸N̷T̶ ̷M̵O̶R̵S̸E̴L̶S̷ ̵A̸R̷E̷ ̷L̷I̶K̶E̷ ̴A̸N̶T̶S̴ ̸T̴O̷ ̷M̷E̴.̶ ̸P̵O̵W̸E̶R̸L̴E̴S̷S̷ ̷A̷N̶D̵ ̴A̷N̴N̵O̶Y̷I̶N̸G̴.̶ ̴I̵ ̸H̸O̴P̸E̴D̸ ̸T̵H̵A̸T̵ ̸Y̵O̶U̴ ̷W̷O̸U̵L̷D̷ ̸K̸E̵E̸P̴ ̵T̷O̷ ̴Y̶O̷U̵R̵ ̵P̶R̴O̸M̶I̴S̶E̴,̵ ̸C̵H̴A̵R̴A̴.̷"
A demonic figure appeared through the mist. Their body wasn't fully physical, seemed to be more of a liquid than anything else, and it appeared to be constantly flowing, almost like the monsters Corsiva had encountered down in the True Lab. The most terrifying thing, though, was the head, which appeared to be the broken skull of some kind of animal, somewhat resembling a Gaster Blaster, as well as the other broken bones, skulls, and blasters scattered throughout the black ooze.
"I̸ ̷H̸A̷D̷ ̴H̷O̶P̵E̸D̴ ̶T̸H̷A̵T̴ ̴I̸ ̷W̶O̶U̶L̵D̶ ̷N̵O̸T̴ ̸H̵A̷V̶E̸ ̷T̴O̶ ̵S̵H̶O̴W̸ ̶M̷Y̵S̷E̷L̸F̵ ̸A̶G̸A̴I̴N̵.̸ ̴P̶E̸R̵H̸A̵P̷S̵ ̶Y̸O̷U̵ ̸W̴O̶U̶L̷D̶ ̶B̶E̶ ̵W̶I̴S̷E̴ ̴F̵O̸R̷ ̵O̴N̸C̶E̵ ̶I̵N̸ ̷Y̴O̵U̷R̸ ̵L̸I̷F̶E̴.̸ ̶B̴U̷T̵ ̵A̶L̷A̶S̸,̴ ̴Y̴O̷U̸ ̸R̵E̶M̵A̴I̵N̵ ̶A̵S̷ ̸I̶D̶I̵O̶T̶I̴C̵ ̵A̷S̵ ̷E̷V̵E̵R̶.̷ ̵A̷S̸K̶I̵N̷G̶ ̸F̷O̷R̵ ̷F̸O̷R̶G̸I̷V̴E̷N̶E̷S̶S̶?̷ ̸C̶A̶L̷L̶I̵N̴G̷ ̵F̴O̸R̷ ̵H̸E̷L̴P̵?̵ ̸Y̴O̸U̴ ̷S̸H̷O̵U̴L̸D̴ ̵K̵N̴O̶W̸ ̶T̸H̸A̸T̷ ̴Y̶O̷U̶ ̷H̴A̴V̶E̶ ̵N̵O̴ ̴C̸H̸O̷I̸C̸E̴ ̸I̶N̷ ̷T̶H̵I̸S̶ ̴W̷H̷A̸T̵S̴O̸E̵V̷E̴R̶.̵ ̵I̴ ̴C̷O̶N̸T̶R̷O̴L̸ ̷T̴H̷I̵S̸ ̸W̸O̶R̴L̵D̵,̶ ̴A̶N̵D̸ ̷I̸ ̸C̴O̵N̵T̵R̸O̸L̴ ̷Y̵O̶U̸.̸ ̷T̷H̷E̷R̸E̴'̸S̸ ̵N̴O̸ ̷P̸O̷I̷N̷T̵ ̷I̷N̸ ̴T̶R̶Y̷I̷N̴G̷ ̶T̶O̷ ̴F̴I̵G̸H̷T̷ ̵M̸E̷.̷ ̷T̶H̶E̶R̴E̷ ̴I̴S̸ ̴N̶O̸ ̴H̶O̵P̶E̶ ̷T̸H̸A̶T̶ ̷Y̴O̴U̶ ̶C̷A̴N̵ ̸W̴I̸N̶.̵ ̸S̵O̴ ̸W̶H̷Y̶ ̶B̶O̸T̸H̷E̸R̴?̸"
"Fuck, that's irritating." Corsiva swore, sighing. "And here I always thought that it would be so cliche that it would be funny to hear a Super Villain do their stupid elongated monologue. Guess now I know that I was wrong for once. Maybe cliches should be kept out of fan fictions. What do you think, reader?" Okay, so we're breaking the fourth wall now? "Yes, we're breaking the fourth wall now." Even though this is only the first story in the saga, and there has been practically zero evidence to show that you would know how to do this? "Does it really matter? Look at Deadpool, he breaks the fourth wall all the time, and there is absolutely no reason for him being able to do it either." Just- just forget it. Please don't do this again. "No promises." … Whatever. Moving on.
Corsiva took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, preparing himself for what was to come. As he opened his eyes, he felt them start burning red, interlaced with purple and yellow.
"There's always hope." Corsiva said to the thing, his tone defiant, his body language brave. "The future isn't set in stone, especially in a world where time travel exists." The thing turned to face him.
"A̵H̶,̵ ̴C̵O̶R̵S̶I̷V̵A̴ ̵T̷H̵E̴ ̴S̷K̵E̷L̷E̴T̷O̷N̴.̶ ̷A̸ ̸H̴U̴M̶A̵N̸ ̴I̷N̶ ̸A̴ ̴M̶O̸N̵S̸T̸E̶R̵'̵S̵ ̶B̵O̸D̵Y̴.̷ ̵I̴ ̵W̷A̸S̸ ̸H̸O̶P̷I̴N̷G̸ ̶W̸E̶ ̸W̴O̶U̷L̶D̶ ̵M̵E̷E̷T̴ ̵S̶O̶M̷E̸T̵I̸M̸E̶ ̴S̷O̴O̶N̵.̴ ̸D̵O̸C̸T̶O̸R̴ ̶G̴A̷S̸T̸E̶R̸ ̵H̸O̸L̶D̶S̶ ̶Y̶O̸U̵ ̴I̶N̷ ̶H̸I̵G̷H̸ ̵R̵E̴G̵A̵R̴D̶,̷ ̴Y̷O̶U̴ ̷K̵N̶O̸W̷.̴"
"Cut the small-talk shit, dumbass. Who are you?"
"O̷H̶?̴ ̵I̵ ̴W̸A̶S̸ ̶U̸N̵D̴E̷R̶ ̴T̶H̵E̴ ̷I̵M̷P̴R̷E̶S̶S̵I̷O̶N̶ ̴T̸H̶A̵T̷ ̶Y̴O̴U̷ ̴P̶R̸I̸O̴R̸I̵T̸I̵Z̸E̸D̸ ̴T̸A̶L̵K̵I̷N̶G̴ ̷T̵H̶R̵O̸U̷G̴H̸ ̶Y̶O̵U̷R̴ ̷I̵S̴S̵U̷E̶S̵ ̴O̶V̵E̶R̸ ̷F̷I̸G̵H̸T̴I̵N̷G̵ ̵T̶H̴E̸M̷.̸"
"That died when everybody else did, you deranged, insensitive, demonic son of a bitch. Now who are you?"
"A̴N̷D̷ ̷S̴U̶C̵H̶ ̷V̴U̴L̶G̶A̵R̴ ̶L̵A̵N̵G̶U̸A̷G̵E̵,̷ ̵T̸O̵O̶.̵ ̶I̶ ̶T̸H̵O̶U̵G̷H̷T̷ ̶Y̷O̶U̷ ̵N̷E̷V̴E̷R̷ ̴S̶P̴E̵A̶K̸ ̴T̵H̵E̴S̷E̸ ̷F̷O̴U̷L̷ ̵S̶W̵E̶A̵R̸ ̴W̵O̷R̷D̴S̵?̴"
"Only when I'm around Papyrus or Frisk, but seeing as neither of them are here right now, my vocabulary is whatever I damn please, completely uncensored. Now, I think that you still haven't answered my question, so I'll ask it again; WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"
If the thing could have smiled, Corsiva was certain it would be wearing an evil, demonic grin at that moment.
"M̴Y̸ ̶I̵D̵E̴N̵T̵I̷T̷Y̶ ̴D̷O̸E̷S̴ ̴N̸O̷T̷ ̵M̴A̷T̶T̵E̶R̴;̴ ̴I̶ ̷A̵M̷ ̶N̷O̵T̶ ̴L̴I̴N̴E̶A̵R̷,̴ ̶N̸O̴R̷ ̵H̴A̴V̵E̵ ̸I̴ ̶E̶V̵E̷R̶ ̶B̷E̶E̷N̶ ̴L̴I̶N̷E̶A̶R̶.̵ ̶T̶O̵ ̷G̶I̵V̸E̶ ̷M̸E̷ ̴A̶ ̵N̸A̶M̸E̶ ̷W̸O̷U̶L̵D̸ ̵B̷E̴ ̵T̵O̷ ̵S̶A̸Y̴ ̸T̶H̶A̶T̶ ̷I̸ ̶O̴N̵C̷E̴ ̶E̴X̸I̸S̴T̸E̴D̵ ̵A̴T̵ ̴A̶L̷L̴.̸ ̵B̶U̸T̷ ̶I̵ ̸H̸A̸V̷E̷ ̴T̴O̷ ̷A̶S̷K̶;̵ ̵W̴H̸A̴T̴ ̸M̴A̶K̶E̸S̵ ̶Y̶O̸U̴ ̵T̸H̶I̸N̷K̸ ̷Y̶O̶U̶ ̷A̵R̵E̸ ̶S̵O̸ ̷S̴P̶E̸C̷I̴A̸L̴?̶"
"My SOUL. It's unlike any other SOUL to ever have existed; a cross between human and monster, rather than a combination through absorption of the SOUL."
"Y̶E̷S̶,̴ ̴E̸X̴A̶C̸T̵L̸Y̸;̶ ̵Y̷O̶U̴R̷ ̸S̶O̷U̷L̷ ̷I̵S̴ ̴Q̷U̶I̸T̶E̴ ̷U̶N̶I̸Q̴U̴E̸.̷ ̷B̷U̷T̷ ̴W̵H̸Y̵ ̴D̶O̶ ̶Y̵O̸U̸ ̴T̸H̷I̶N̶K̵ ̸T̸H̷A̸T̷ ̸Y̶O̵U̸R̵ ̷S̷O̵U̸L̸ ̷B̶E̵C̸A̸M̵E̷ ̴T̶H̵E̷ ̷W̷A̶Y̸ ̴I̴T̴ ̴I̵S̴ ̷N̴O̶W̸?̵ ̸W̷H̴A̴T̸ ̵D̴O̷ ̷Y̴O̶U̸ ̵T̷H̵I̸N̷K̵ ̷C̷A̷U̴S̵E̵D̷ ̶T̷H̶A̸T̸?̷"
"The machine… malfunctioned… no, it couldn't have malfunctioned, our measurements were too precise, our calculations too accurate…" Corsiva thought for a few seconds, before it finally hit him. "...It was you, wasn't it?" He asked, his eyes burning bright red, no longer showing any traces of any other colors.
"S̸O̵ ̸Y̸O̵U̷ ̵F̴I̷N̴A̷L̷L̸Y̶ ̷F̷I̵G̷U̴R̵E̶D̴ ̶I̵T̴ ̸O̵U̸T̶.̵ ̵N̸O̶T̵H̴I̷N̵G̴ ̴H̸A̴P̸P̶E̸N̶S̶ ̴B̸Y̴ ̷R̸A̷N̴D̷O̶M̴ ̷C̷H̵A̷N̵C̵E̶ ̸I̶N̷ ̸T̸H̶I̸S̷ ̸W̴O̶R̷L̴D̴,̶ ̶I̴N̷ ̸T̶H̴I̴S̴ ̴U̸N̴I̸V̷E̴R̶S̵E̴.̷ ̸A̶ ̸P̷E̵R̶S̶O̷N̶ ̴L̵I̴K̷E̵ ̸Y̸O̴U̴R̴S̸E̸L̵F̶ ̵S̸H̴O̶U̶L̸D̶ ̵H̶A̷V̸E̶ ̵R̵E̶A̷L̸I̵Z̴E̴D̶ ̸T̷H̶A̸T̸ ̷L̴O̸N̵G̸ ̵A̵G̸O̵.̸ ̶I̶ ̸C̸A̶U̸S̵E̴D̷ ̸T̸H̵E̵ ̷A̴N̶O̷M̸A̷L̶Y̸ ̸I̵N̵ ̴T̸H̴E̵ ̴M̷A̸C̵H̸I̶N̶E̴,̵ ̵M̷A̴K̶I̸N̸G̵ ̶I̵T̸ ̷E̶X̸P̸L̶O̷D̵E̴ ̶E̵N̸E̸R̶G̷Y̶,̵ ̷A̶N̵D̶ ̶T̶R̴A̸N̴S̵F̵E̸R̴R̸I̴N̸G̵ ̶S̶O̷M̵E̷ ̵O̸F̵ ̷T̸H̵A̵T̵ ̸E̴N̸E̸R̴G̵Y̵ ̶I̴N̸T̵O̵ ̸Y̶O̵U̶R̷ ̶S̴O̵U̴L̷ ̵A̴S̵ ̷Y̷O̴U̸R̴ ̴B̶O̴D̴Y̴ ̷T̶R̸I̶E̴D̵ ̵T̷O̴ ̷C̴O̶U̷N̶T̶E̴R̶A̴C̵T̴ ̵T̴H̸E̸ ̸N̷E̸W̵L̶Y̵ ̵A̸C̴Q̸U̵I̷R̸E̴D̷ ̸H̶I̴G̸H̴ ̴A̷M̸O̴U̶N̷T̴S̸ ̶O̴F̶ ̴P̴O̷W̵E̸R̵ ̷I̶N̸ ̵Y̵O̵U̵R̷ ̴S̵O̵U̷L̵ ̷B̸Y̷ ̴E̸I̸T̷H̸E̶R̶ ̴A̷;̶ ̸R̶E̷M̸O̶V̷I̴N̸G̶ ̵S̷O̴M̴E̴ ̶O̵F̴ ̸Y̷O̸U̸R̷ ̵P̸H̴Y̸S̵I̴C̶A̸L̶ ̴M̴A̴T̵T̴E̷R̷,̶ ̷O̸R̷ ̷B̶;̵ ̵C̸H̶A̸N̵G̷I̵N̸G̷ ̸Y̶O̷U̵R̵ ̵E̸S̶S̴E̸N̵C̸E̸ ̵T̵O̴ ̸M̴A̸T̶C̸H̸ ̴S̸O̸M̶E̶T̸H̸I̷N̸G̸ ̷T̴H̶A̸T̸ ̵C̷O̶U̴L̴D̵ ̵B̸E̸T̸T̶E̷R̶ ̴W̵I̴T̷H̶S̴T̶A̸N̶D̵ ̸E̶X̴T̶R̸A̷ ̸A̸M̸O̶U̸N̴T̵S̴ ̸O̵F̸ ̷P̷O̷W̵E̷R̷.̸
"̴T̶H̵O̶S̴E̷ ̶W̶I̵T̶H̸ ̴M̷O̶N̸S̴T̸E̶R̷ ̷E̵S̵S̶E̷N̷C̴E̵ ̶A̶R̷E̵ ̴M̷O̴R̸E̸ ̸C̵A̶P̸A̶B̵L̴E̶ ̴O̴F̷ ̴W̶I̵T̶H̶S̵T̸A̷N̴D̴I̴N̵G̵ ̶H̷I̶G̴H̴ ̵A̸M̵O̵U̴N̶T̷S̸ ̴O̸F̸ ̷P̶O̷W̵E̶R̸,̵ ̷H̵I̷G̸H̸ ̸A̷M̴O̷U̸N̸T̶S̷ ̸O̶F̶ ̴E̸N̷E̷R̶G̴Y̸,̶ ̴A̵N̷D̵ ̵S̸K̶E̴L̸E̴T̸O̸N̸S̶ ̸D̷O̷N̴'̸T̴ ̸H̶A̶V̷E̴ ̸M̸U̴C̶H̶ ̸P̷H̴Y̴S̸I̵C̷A̶L̶ ̷M̶A̴T̷T̴E̴R̸ ̶O̵N̴ ̷T̸H̷E̸M̴,̴ ̶S̷O̴ ̴Y̸O̵U̴R̴ ̷B̸O̴D̷Y̶ ̴B̷E̷C̷A̶M̷E̷ ̷C̸O̸N̵F̵U̴S̷E̸D̵,̵ ̵A̸N̵D̵ ̸D̶I̸D̵ ̸B̵O̸T̶H̸.̷ ̷A̶S̴ ̶Y̴O̷U̶ ̵R̶E̵M̶O̵V̴E̴D̸ ̵M̶O̸R̴E̷ ̷P̵H̷Y̷S̶I̸C̶A̵L̷ ̷M̴A̷T̷T̵E̴R̵,̵ ̷Y̷O̵U̷R̴ ̴E̸S̵S̷E̸N̸C̶E̸ ̶W̵A̶S̵ ̵F̵U̷R̷T̷H̴E̴R̵ ̸C̷H̶A̸N̴G̷E̷D̸ ̴T̷O̸ ̷M̸A̵T̴C̴H̸ ̸T̸H̸A̴T̶ ̷O̷F̷ ̴A̸ ̷M̷A̷G̷I̶C̴ ̷S̷K̸E̷L̸E̶T̷O̴N̵ ̵T̶Y̵P̸E̶ ̴M̴O̷N̷S̶T̷E̸R̶,̸ ̴U̷N̷T̷I̴L̷ ̵E̶V̴E̷N̴T̶U̸A̷L̴L̸Y̷,̶ ̷Y̴O̸U̵ ̶W̷E̸R̸E̵ ̵F̷U̴L̴L̷Y̶ ̷C̸A̷P̴A̶B̸L̴E̶ ̶O̵F̷ ̷A̴B̵S̵O̸R̴B̴I̴N̸G̴,̶ ̵H̴O̸L̵D̸I̶N̶G̸,̵ ̵A̴N̴D̷ ̷W̷I̶T̵H̵S̷T̴A̸N̵D̶I̵N̸G̴ ̷A̸N̷Y̵ ̷A̸M̴O̸U̷N̴T̶ ̴O̴F̶ ̶E̶N̷E̴R̵G̶Y̵ ̸O̶R̶ ̵P̸O̵W̴E̴R̷.̷ ̴I̵N̶ ̷T̴H̶E̸O̵R̸Y̸,̷ ̶Y̵O̵U̴R̴ ̵P̸O̸W̴E̸R̵,̷ ̷Y̶O̶U̷R̶ ̶P̶O̷T̷E̵N̴T̵I̶A̶L̸,̸ ̸I̴T̸ ̷A̶L̸L̸ ̴B̷E̵C̷A̷M̴E̶ ̶L̸I̵M̵I̵T̸L̵E̶S̷S̸ ̸B̴E̸C̵A̶U̵S̸E̸ ̵O̴F̵ ̶M̶E̷,̵ ̴B̵E̷C̶A̵U̵S̷E̸ ̶O̸F̸ ̵W̴H̵A̴T̶ ̴I̵ ̴D̸I̷D̶."
Corsiva sank down to his knees, taking in all of the information.
"For what?" He eventually asked. "Why would you do that?"
"B̴E̵C̶A̷U̵S̴E̴ ̵I̶ ̶N̴E̵E̸D̶ ̵A̶ ̷V̴E̷S̶S̴E̶L̵.̶ ̶S̷O̵M̸E̸O̸N̸E̶ ̵O̸R̵ ̵S̴O̶M̶E̷T̴H̵I̸N̵G̷ ̸C̵A̵P̸A̴B̷L̷E̷ ̷O̴F̴ ̶H̴O̶L̷D̶I̴N̶G̶ ̶M̶Y̴ ̴S̸P̷I̷R̵I̴T̸,̸ ̷M̶Y̸ ̷P̷O̴W̶E̴R̵.̴ ̵S̶O̵M̷E̶T̶H̸I̴N̴G̴ ̸T̸H̴A̶T̶ ̸I̶ ̴W̸O̴U̵L̶D̷ ̶T̶H̵E̷N̴ ̸P̸O̶S̸S̶E̸S̸S̴,̴ ̸A̸N̶D̴ ̷T̵A̷K̴E̷ ̷T̸O̶ ̶T̵H̸E̸ ̷P̷H̸Y̷S̵I̷C̵A̶L̷ ̶W̷O̴R̶L̷D̸,̷ ̸S̸O̵ ̶T̵H̶A̵T̸ ̷I̸ ̷C̴O̶U̴L̴D̶ ̵C̵A̶R̵R̴Y̸ ̶O̵U̸T̸ ̴A̵N̷Y̵ ̵O̴N̷E̸ ̴O̵F̸ ̴M̵Y̵ ̸P̵L̸A̴N̷S̷ ̶W̵I̷T̸H̶ ̷N̵O̸ ̴C̸O̸N̸S̷E̶Q̷U̴E̷N̴C̶E̴.̵ ̶N̷O̷T̸H̷I̴N̶G̴ ̸C̶O̴U̶L̶D̷ ̶S̷T̶A̶N̵D̸ ̶I̸N̷ ̶M̸Y̸ ̵W̶A̸Y̶;̷ ̵N̶O̷T̸H̴I̷N̵G̵ ̶C̸O̵U̸L̵D̷ ̵S̸T̸A̶N̶D̸ ̴I̵N̷ ̷O̶U̴R̵ ̷W̵A̶Y̷.̴ ̴W̴E̴ ̴W̷O̷U̸L̵D̸ ̶G̸O̵ ̵O̴N̸ ̴T̶O̴ ̶B̵E̸C̶O̷M̷E̸ ̶G̵O̶D̵S̴,̸ ̵A̸N̶D̴ ̴S̴H̷O̷W̴ ̸E̷V̴E̵R̸Y̴O̵N̴E̷ ̴T̵H̶E̵I̵R̶ ̶P̴L̸A̵C̷E̶.̴ ̶T̴H̷I̴S̵ ̷I̶S̸ ̵A̵L̶L̶ ̵A̴ ̸G̸A̶M̶E̴ ̶T̸O̴ ̵M̶E̴,̸ ̶A̷N̷D̵ ̶E̷V̴E̸R̵Y̸O̴N̵E̵ ̶H̷E̴R̸E̴ ̵I̷S̶ ̵J̵U̸S̷T̶ ̷A̷ ̸P̸A̸W̵N̴ ̷T̴O̵ ̸M̶E̵.̸ ̵I̶T̷ ̶I̷S̴ ̶W̸E̶L̷L̶ ̷P̴A̴S̸T̸ ̸T̶I̸M̵E̵ ̶T̷H̷A̶T̴ ̸I̶ ̴S̵H̶O̴W̵ ̶T̴H̶E̸M̴ ̷A̴L̷L̴ ̶T̶H̶E̴ ̶T̵R̸U̶E̶ ̵M̶E̷A̴N̵I̴N̸G̸ ̸O̷F̴ ̴T̴H̷I̴S̴ ̷W̷O̷R̴L̸D̴.̸" Corsiva's eyes were filled with tears, which were glowing red. He was completely on his knees now.
"So…" He started, clenching his fists. "You made my life a living HELL, just so that you could take control of it, and kill everyone? Why?"
"I̸T̷ ̵I̴S̴ ̷A̵S̸ ̴S̸O̶M̷E̵O̴N̸E̶ ̸E̸L̸S̷E̵ ̴O̷N̴C̵E̶ ̴S̷A̷I̴D̷:̵ ̵I̴N̸ ̵T̷H̶I̴S̶ ̷W̴O̸R̶L̵D̶,̸ ̵I̴T̴'̵S̵ ̴K̵I̷L̸L̵ ̷O̸R̶ ̴B̴E̴ ̶K̸I̷L̸L̴E̴D̷."
"And you honestly thought that I wouldn't try to stop you?!" The forlorn adolescent skeleton shouted his question at the emotionless, insane, ancient demon in front of him, before getting to his feet and jumping in automatically to punch the thing. As soon as his fist got close, the thing, which Corsiva was now referring to as The Chess Master, reached out with one of it's tendrils, grabbing the fist in mid air, and slamming the skeleton into the ground.
"D̴I̶D̵ ̴Y̸O̶U̶ ̸T̸H̴I̶N̶K̸ ̶T̷H̸A̷T̵ ̷W̴O̸U̸L̵D̷ ̴W̵O̶R̶K̴?̴" The Chess Master mock asked.
"Probably not." Corsiva responded nonchalantly.
You know sign language, right?* He signed over at Chara as he stood up, and summoned an intricately patterned barrage of bones and Gaster Blasters, throwing them at Chess Master.
Yes, I do.* Chara responded. *Why do you know how to speak it?*
I'm a magic skeleton, we can see and then read any and all words that people say. There's a very specific font called Wingdings, that all skeletons understand and can speak, and some skeletons are cursed to only speak, so all skeletons since then learned how to speak using Sign Language for those who don't understand the font. Also, there used to be some mute kids back at the orphanage, but I didn't speak to them much.*
Oh yeah, I remember them. They were how I learned, too.*
Doesn't matter. I need you to do something. I released you from your transparent cage.*
What do you need?*
Give control back to Frisk.*
NOW!?*
No, not now. I mean- we need to get out of this situation. Can you Reset?*
No, he's keeping me from doing it. Being an all-powerful deity comes with it's perks, I suspect.* Corsiva sighed.
Then I need you to teach me how to do it.*
You want ME, of all people, to teach you how to Reset!?*
Yes. I already know how to Save and Load, I managed to get that far, but I can't figure out how to Reset. It's our best chance at getting away from this guy, if only for a little while.*
How did you learn how to Save and Load?*
Turns out a certain 'best friend' will help you out a lot if you both have similar goals in mind. I found Flowey terrified out of his mind, crying, and told him that I wanted to stop the Genocide. He just didn't want to die, so he agreed. He taught me how to Save and Load, not through experience, but through just words. I took mental notes, and here we are now. So how do I Reset?*
Okay, I'll tell you. But you have to pay VERY close attention.*
Got it. Fire Away.*
You need to think back to when we started this whole adventure. When Frisk Reset, she was taken back all the way to right when she landed in the Underground after falling down. She didn't Reset to before she fell, or during her fall, or after she landed, it was exactly when she landed in that patch of Golden Flowers. And you have to be specific. You can't think to that general time period, you have to think back to the exact moment.*
Okay, then what?*
You remember every single detail?*
Yes.*
Where you were, what you were doing, who you were with? All of that?*
Yes!*
Okay. Now, you need to want with all of your heart, all of your SOUL, all of your very being, to go back.* Corsiva took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Frisk, I… I'll see you on the other side. And, as he did exactly as Chara told him, right before the Chess Master managed to land a fatal blow on him...
SAVE FILE RESET.