"Have you ever thought about a world where everything is exactly the same… except you don't exist?"

Frisk reached Snowdin.

It was so cold. As much as he hated Hotland's heat, he wasn't prepared at all for Snowdin. He shivered as the frigid air blew against his bare skin through the holes in his torn-up shirt. He really could have used the coat Chara packed for him. Too bad he couldn't access his dimensional box. He just had to power through it. A little cold air was far from the worst thing he'd endured.

He just wanted to go home. That was all that mattered. Screw Gaster. He had just watched one of his friends die, by Mettaton's hand. Frisk prayed that no more drama would happen on his way home. He just wanted a simple, easy teleport, with no 'excitement' in his way.

With clenched teeth, Frisk wrapped his arms around himself. His whole body kept shivering, but Sans's house wasn't far. Just a little more…

Next thing he knew, Frisk was facing the snowy ground, caught in Flowey's vines. "Whoa, there. Stay awake, Frisk."

How was Flowey handling the cold? Didn't flowers die in winter? "How are you standing this?"

"Don't worry about it." Flowey helped him back up. "Come on, we're almost there. Really, it's right there."

Frisk looked ahead. He was right, Snowdin was in sight. Warmth was just a few more steps away. They kept moving, and finally, Frisk stood in front of Sans's door.

He knocked. "S-Sans, it's me. I'm here."

There was no response. Frisk knocked again. "Sans, please hurry! I'm freezing out here!"

As soon as Papyrus opened the door, Frisk leaped inside. He hugged the carpet. Oh, it was so warm! Finally! Frisk felt like was going to die out there.

Papyrus gasped when he saw Frisk. "Human! You're back! You came all this way to see me?"

Frisk let out an embarrassed laugh and got off the carpet. "Oh, hey Papyrus. I'm sorry, but I can't stay here long. Do you know where Sans is?"

"Oh, I think he's doing something in the basement."

Oh, yeah. Sans mentioned a basement, didn't he? Frisk never realized this house had a basement. "Where is the basement?"

"Right behind the house!" Papyrus answered.

Frisk groaned. He had to go back out in the freezing cold again? Well, he supposed he could grin and bear it for a few more seconds.

"So, I think I'm technically supposed to capture you," Papyrus said. "I am the most important Royal Guard after all. However, I think I'll let it slide just this once."

"Oh, thanks."

"In fact, Undyne told me to take this day off. She told me to stay home, and not leave until she said so. Isn't that nice of her?"

Oh, no… please don't ask…

"By the way, did you see Undyne on the way here? How's she doing? Did she try to kill you? I hate it when she does that!"

… why? Just, why?

Frisk almost wished Undyne had killed him. What was he going to tell him?

"She's on vacation," Flowey said.

"She went on vacation too?!" Papyrus exclaimed. "And right when the human shows up; what a strange coincidence!"

That wasn't sarcasm.

"… yeah," Frisk said. "Crazy coincidence."

"Hey," Flowey said, "as much we'd love to stay and chat, we really have to see Sans now."

"Oh, alright. I'll let you go see my brother, but be sure to come back soon!"

Frisk couldn't bring himself to say another word to Papyrus. He turned around and went back outside. The cold suddenly didn't feel so bad anymore. He walked to the back of the house and found the basement door hidden behind it. He opened it and let himself in.

Inside the basement was a counter with four drawers. Some kind of blueprint was sitting on top of it. In the back was the machine Sans was talking about. The machine consisted of a circular platform surrounded by flux capacitors or something. Uh, yeah, Frisk was certainly no expert here. There was also a large computer console attached to the machine. The Gaster fragment was placed on top of it. Sans was there too, working on the machine. He heard them enter and turned to face them.

Sans noticed the new bloodstain on Frisk's leg. "Hmm, ran into more trouble on the way here?"

Frisk frowned. "To put it mildly…"

Sans read Frisk's expression. "Oh… I see…"

"… Undyne is dead," Frisk said quietly. "Mettaton killed her."

Sans didn't look terribly shocked to hear that. "Heh, I always figured that robot would take over if anything happened to Undyne… Oh, jeez. This is gonna get kind of disturbing, isn't it?"

Frisk didn't envy them. He'd always liked Mettaton within limits, but at this rate, they were doomed to a world where just about everything was plastered with Mettaton's face.

"You know," Sans said, "I bet things wouldn't be so bad if my brother were in charge."

Was he suggesting…? Oh, God. Frisk was so ready to leave.

"Nah," Sans said. "I'll probably just become his agent. If you can't beat'em, join'em. Right?"

"That's not much better!"

"Well, if some kind of hero manages to overthrow him, I won't complain."

Frisk sighed. "Just let me go home already. I'm sorry, but I really don't want to get involved."

"I can relate." Sans continued working on the machine, typing commands written in strange symbols. "Just wait a little longer. It'll be ready soon."

Frisk looked closer at the symbols. There was a thumbs-down, a cross, a skull and crossbones, a neutral face, a hand pointing left, another thumbs… Wait… was this…?

He pointed at the screen. "Is that wingdings?"

"You tell me."

"That's wingdings."

"Yeah, so?"

Frisk couldn't believe this. "Wingdings?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Nope."

"I cannot take you seriously right now."

"Why not?"

"Because it's freaking wingdings!"

"Yeah, and what's wrong with that? It's just another font."

"I'm pretty sure any good font needs to be legible."

"It's perfectly legible; you just have to know how to read it."

"It's not even English!"

Sans made an apathetic shrug and went back to work. Frisk had to admit, it was kind of impressive that Sans could actually read wingdings. Still, why wingdings? Was it a design choice Gaster made? Frisk glanced at the creepy. smiling head that was apparently a piece of Gaster. The more Frisk learned about him, the more eccentric he started to sound.

Come to think of it, Frisk still knew hardly anything about Gaster. Maybe this was a good opportunity to learn more about him. "Hey, what can you tell me about Gaster?"

"What do you wanna know?"

"Anything, really. I know he was a brilliant scientist, but what was he like?"

"Hmm… I guess you could say he was a lot like me," Sans said. "Except he was just a bit more hardworking."

"Uh, that's not saying much."

"You didn't know me back then."

Frisk supposed that was true. Losing Gaster must have hit him hard. What exactly was their relationship, anyway? "I can tell you cared about him. What was he to you?"

"He was my boss and my best friend. I guess you could say we were like family."

His boss? "Wait, you were a scientist too?"

"Yeah, is that surprising? Why do you think I have all those books on quantum physics?"

Frisk had a hard time imagining Sans as a scientist, but it made sense. He did have some kind of spacetime travel machine in his basement, after all. "Heh, alright."

Sans finished typing on the console. He picked up the Gaster fragment and handed it to Frisk. "Okay, hold this."

Damn it. Frisk picked up the gross, tiny head. It never stopped dripping. It was perpetually melting, defying the laws of physics with disgusting style.

Ugh, Frisk needed to stop complaining. Anything to get home, right? Also, would Gaster be offended if he called his fragment gross? Hmm, maybe it was kind of mean...

All right, time to focus. Frisk looked at the machine. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just wait one second…"

Exactly one second later, a glowing spiral of blue light formed on the machine's platform, the portal.

"That's it," Sans said. "Just carry Gaster through there, and you'll be home."

Frisk let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank you, Sans."

"Good luck."

It was time to leave. Frisk stepped towards the portal…

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

It was Flowey. "Aren't you forgetting something? I've held my end of the bargain; now it's your turn!"

Oh, right… Sweat formed on Frisk's forehead. Flowey might not have liked what he was about to hear…

"Chara is with Frisk," he nervously said. "The other Frisk, that is. When I landed on her grave, her essence was absorbed into my body. I have no doubt the Frisk of this world experienced the same thing."

Flowey was silent for a while, processing what Frisk had told him.

"… so, she's on the surface," Flowey said.

"Uh, yeah…"

Flowey stared at Frisk, with a predatory look in his eyes. "And if I want to go to the surface, I'll need a human soul."

Not good…

A familiar, evil smile cracked across Flowey's face. "You idiot…"

"Flowey, don't –"

Before Frisk could finish his sentence, two things happened at once. Frisk was surrounded by a circle of Flowey's pellets, and at the same time, Flowey was surrounded by Sans's blasters.

Flowey scowled with frustration. "Out of my way, Sans. What do you care what happens to this kid?"

"Hey, I did make a promise, didn't I? Besides, he's carrying a fragment of Gaster, and that's pretty important to me."

Frisk felt so powerless. There was no way he could avoid Flowey's circle attack. All he could do was try and talk his way out, but how could he reason with someone who didn't – couldn't – care about anyone?

Did he even care about himself?

"Flowey," Frisk said, "think about the other you. He'd be very angry if he found out you killed me. Chara, too."

"Why should I care about your world?" he snapped. "Do you seriously think I'm gonna risk waiting for some other human to show up? What if nobody comes? Chara will helplessly rot in that pathetic human, and there'll be nothing I can do about it!" Flowey's magic glowed brighter. "So, be a good little human and hand over that soul!"

Flowey's death circle began to close in on him. What could Frisk do? He hated being so helpless, but Sans was his only hope…

Or, maybe there was someone else. The Gaster fragment in Frisk's hands began to pulse with mysterious energy. It fired a dark, purple beam at Flowey. Flowey's magic disappeared, and he grimaced in pain. "Wh-what is this?"

Frisk didn't understand what was happening, but Flowey's eyes widened in fear. His head darted around the room, as if searching for an unseen threat. He held his head, and he let out a bloodcurdling screech. "AAAAHHH! Make it stop. Make it stop!"

Frisk shivered. What was Gaster doing to him? Tears were running down Flowey's face. Whatever it was, it was hurting him terribly.

"Ch-Chara," Flowey whimpered, "please…"

Flowey screamed again, and he ran out of the basement as fast as he could. What was that? Frisk looked down at the Gaster fragment in his hands. It was still smiling, but it looked different. It looked… satisfied.

Frisk started to wonder if bringing Gaster back was a good idea…

He looked at Sans. "Uh, what was that?"

Sans shrugged. "Beats me."

"Umm… Gaster was a good person, right?"

"Hey, it helped you, didn't it?"

"Answer the question!"

"In life, yes, but I can't speak for his fragments."

That wasn't reassuring at all. "So, basically, I could be bringing another total psycho into my world?"

"Maybe, but you don't really have a choice. If you don't take that fragment with you, there's no telling where the portal will take you."

Awesome. Frisk decided to ask something he probably should have asked sooner. "Sans, what was Gaster working on when it happened? What made him like this?"

The look in Sans's eyes made it clear that it wasn't the safest experiment. "When this is over, you can ask Gaster himself. Right now, you've gotta go through that portal."

Good point. Frisk looked back at the portal. It still looked stable, which meant someone was waiting for him. Chara, Asriel, and Sans must have been on the other side. He had to go.

Frisk stepped towards the portal, and he took one last look at this world's Sans. "Goodbye."

"Go."

With the Gaster fragment in hand, Frisk went through the portal. There was an intense flash of light, and Frisk felt his stomach clench as if he were falling. And then, he was back in Sans's basement. Sans and Flowey were there, staring at him.

Flowey… was it his Flowey? Was it Asriel?

"Welcome back," Sans said.

"Yeah, you idiot," Asriel chided. "Next time you see a creepy ghost thing, don't touch it, okay?"

It… it worked. Frisk was home. A grin spread across his face. He set the Gaster fragment down, picked up Asriel, and squeezed him in a warm hug. "Asriel!'

"H-hey, that hurts," Asriel wheezed.

Frisk let go. His happiness quickly died down when he realized who was missing. "What happened? Where's Chara?"

"Well," Asriel said, "when you touched Gaster, you became colorless just like him. Chara jumped in to save you, only to suffer the same fate. As for me, I did the smart thing and got the hell out of there. No use jumping into a fire if you're just gonna get burnt with the others."

So, Chara was also sent to another timeline. She could handle it, right? If Frisk did it, then Chara could do it, too. They just had to wait patiently. Still, that didn't stop him from worrying.

Asriel examined Frisk's torn-up, bloodstained shirt. "What happened to you? Looks like someone got you good."

Frisk frowned. "You could say that."

"What kind of world did you end up in, anyway?"

Frisk told them everything. He told them about Toriel's death, Undyne's renewed determination to kill him, Mettaton's betrayal, and the mysterious power the Gaster fragment used on Flowey.

"Eh, could've been worse," Sans said.

Maybe so, but Frisk didn't want to imagine anything even worse that watching one of his friends die.

Asriel cast an angry glare at Sans. "This is all your fault. If you hadn't decided to mess with that machine, none of this would have happened."

Sans shrugged. "Guess not."

"What exactly were you doing?" Frisk asked.

He sighed. "I don't even know. For some reason, I decided to take another crack at this machine, not that I had any reason to expect different results, but what do you know? It seems like you had some kind of effect on it, so thanks, I guess."

"If Chara doesn't come back, I'll kill you," Asriel growled. "And you know I mean that literally."

"Uh, oh. Watch out. Death Blossom's charging up."

Frisk had already seen enough fighting for one day. "Asriel, don't get mad at him. He was just trying to help Gaster. He didn't mean to put us in danger."

Asriel folded his vines. "Don't you get it? Chara could be dead, Frisk. If she doesn't make it to the portal, you'll never see her again, and it'll be all Sans's fault. Would you ever forgive him for that?"

Chara… dead? No, that was impossible.

"She'll make it back," Frisk said. "I know she will." He looked at Sans. "Is there anything we can do?"

Sans shook his head. "Our part is already done. The portal is open; it's all up to her now."

That was it, then. All Frisk could do was wait, and try not to think about whatever terrible things may have been happening to Chara.

"So, did I miss anything?" Frisk asked.

"Oh, boy, have I got a story for you," Asriel said. "You see, as soon as you and Chara vanished, I… Uh… Yeah, I've got nothing for this. I just kept walking back to Snowdin, met another colorless monster, got one of those gross Gaster heads, gave it to Sans, and watched him do his thing."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Wow, that was painfully uneventful compared to my story."

"Hey, what did you expect? This place is pretty much empty."

"Eh, I guess that's true..."

Wait, if Frisk was gone, then who controlled the timeline? "Hey, with me and Chara gone, did that make you the World Master?"

"Oh, I guess it did," Asriel said. "Yeah, control of the timeline must have fallen to me again, but don't worry, I didn't do anything."

"Ah, good. If you had been sent away too, Malcom would have gotten control."

"See? Aren't you glad I'm smart?"

"Heh, sure." He smiled. "Although, I find it very romantic how Chara rushed to save me."

"It won't be very romantic if she dies."

"… no, it wouldn't be."

Frisk looked at the portal. It was still active, waiting for Chara. He wished there was more he could do than wait and pray for her return.

All he could do was wait.

Chara walked through the Waterfall docks with Flowey. Rain was pouring down hard on her head, bringing back memoires of the time she came her with Frisk. She wished she had one of those umbrellas.

Flowey probably loved this place. Chara looked at him. "Hey, I bet you like all this rain, don't you?"

"Eh, a flower only needs so much water."

"I know you used to like that path overlooking the castle, where you can see all the stars."

"Asriel did. I just see them as the worthless imitations they are."

So much for trying to be cheerful. She sighed. "No, they're not real."

"You promised me that I'd see real stars one day. If only we had left a little later, that would have come true."

"In my world, you've seen them." Chara felt like slapping herself. Why did she say that? Flowey didn't want to hear how much better off an alternate version of himself was.

"Well, that's great for him," Flowey said.

They continued walking in silence. The only sound was the rain falling into the water surrounding the docks. Chara watched the ripples expanded as each raindrop fell into the water, and she saw a stray patch of golden flowers in the distance. Even the Underground could be a beautiful place.

While she was distracted, she bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry. I…"

It was a colorless monster, and it looked like… Monster Kid? Something was wrong with her eyes. She had no pupils, nothing but a blank white.

"Yo!" the monster cried. "You're a UmVkYWN0ZWQ= too, right?"

Huh? Chara couldn't quite make out what she said. "Sorry, I'm a what?"

The monster squinted, inspecting Chara closely. "Wait… no, you're not, but if you don't hurry, you will be. Yo, follow me!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Without further explanation, the monster turned around and ran down the docks, beckoning for Chara to follow. "Hurry up, dude!"

This monster kid seemed crazy, but if she was colorless, that meant she was connected to Gaster. Chara chased after her.

As she ran, a loud rumble roared from above. The rain was turning into a thunderstorm.

What the hell? There weren't any thunderstorms in Waterfall. It only rained due to a magic spell, why was it thundering? Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder roared simultaneously. No delay? Didn't that mean it was close?

Very close. Chara saw a bolt of hot, white lightning strike the water next to her on the left, and then another one on the right. Several more followed, striking the water all around her. One large bolt landed on the docks in front of her with a deafening clap and a brilliant flash, blinding her. Chara covered her eyes as her vision clouded with afterimages. When she recovered and reopened her eyes, a monster roughly the size of Asgore was standing in front of her, brandishing an axe.

Boaris blocked the way.

Chara knew this was trouble. Considering the events of this world, there was no doubt that this Boaris still hated humanity. In Chara's world, it wasn't until Frisk freed the monsters when his opinion on humanity changed, and after seeing what the genocidal Frisk of this world did, he must have hated humanity even more, perhaps more than Chara had.

It was clear what Boaris wanted. He wanted Chara's soul, and this time, he wanted to destroy humanity for good.

A ball of electricity charged in Boaris's right hand. "Human, I won't waste our time with pointless talk. Your soul will be mine. Goodbye."

With that, Boaris shot another column of lighting straight at Chara. The attack was fast, but not unavoidable. With a quick sidestep, Chara evaded the bolt. Lightning must have been Boaris's true specialty. He only used fire in his rampage because it was one of the most painful ways to die, but this time, his only objective was to kill.

That said, Chara was pretty sure being electrocuted to death would hurt too.

"Hey, what the hell?!" Flowey shouted. "Leave her alone! She hasn't done anything to you!"

Boaris charged up his axe for another attack. Did they really have to fight? Chara raised her hands. "Boaris, wait! It's me, Chara!"

Boaris froze. He lowered his axe and looked at Chara closely.

"… that is impossible," Boaris breathed. "Chara died long ago."

"It's me! It's kind of hard to explain how, but I swear it's me! Chara Dreemurr, daughter of Asgore and Toriel."

Boaris was taken aback for a while, but he steadied his axe. "If you were truly Chara, then you would understand what I must do. With your soul, monsters will finally be free. As for the humans, I take no regret in doing what must be done."

"Boaris, listen! We don't have to fight! Humans aren't that bad. Just give them another –"

Boaris swung his axe, aiming for Chara's neck. She leaned back and dodged the blade just in time. Boaris stomped his foot on the ground and roared a fierce battle cry. "Die, impostor!"

"What are you doing?!" Flowey yelled. "Let's get him!"

I agree, Felicia said. Just kick his ass, already.

Chara gave up on trying to talk her way out of this. She drew her knife.

Take him down, Chara.

Chara sensed Boaris's stats. He had eighty attack and eighty defense, same as Asgore and Toriel, and unlike those two, Boaris was going to fight with all his strength. But even with all that power, he was still just a monster, and Chara had Flowey on her side. They could do this.

Boaris ran at Chara, scrapping his axe across the wooden planks before thrusting it upwards. The attack was predictable. Chara dodged it easily and punished him by stabbing her knife into his side, and Flowey quickly followed up with a burst of magic bullets. Boaris's HP dropped below ninety percent, a solid hit.

Boaris grunted and pulled himself back. He glared at Flowey. "Why are you defending this human?"

"Well, I am her brother."

"Tch, now you're just mocking me."

Chara felt the hairs on her neck rise. She jumped back and avoided another crash of lightning aimed right for her, but the clap and flash still disoriented her. Before she could recover, a ball of electricity slammed into her. Chara's entire body convulsed as an eighty-milliamp current coursed through it.

F-F-F-FUCK!

While Chara was writhing, Boaris followed up with a swing of his axe, hitting Chara in the side and knocking her to the ground. Pain blossomed in the spot she had been hit as she got back to her feet. She had lost eight HP.

Boaris was strong. Just two more hits like that would kill her. She had to heal. Chara cast a healing spell. "Flowey! Hold him off for a second!"

Flowey got Boaris's attention by whipping a vine on his head, and they traded blows while Chara healed herself.

Something went wrong…

Chara only regained four HP… and her maximum HP dropped to sixteen.

What?! Why the hell was she losing maximum HP? She felt a strange sensation in her hands. She looked at them… they were turning gray again.

… but if you don't hurry, you will be.

… was she becoming like Gaster?

The grayness covered her whole hands down to her wrists. It seemed like her body was slowly decaying, and using magic accelerated it somehow. Chara froze in terror. If she died like this, would she be forgotten like Gaster? History rewritten so everything was the same, except she never existed? She… she didn't want that. She didn't want to be forgotten.

Would Mother forget? Would Father forget? Would Frisk forget?

In the corner of her eye, Chara saw Flowey take a lightning bolt to the face. "H-hey! A little help, please?"

For a moment, Chara wondered if being erased would save Asriel, but she quickly dismissed the thought. No, it wouldn't save him. The world would somehow find a way to make him Flowey again, even without meeting Chara, just like how the Core was created without Gaster. Even erasing herself from existence couldn't save Asriel; she really was worthless.

Flowey narrowly avoided being cleaved in half by Boaris's axe. The plank Flowey was standing on just a moment before shattered. "DAMN IT, CHARA! DO SOMETHING!"

Chara snapped back to reality. Her brother needed her! Chara swallowed her fears and charged at Boaris, knife held high. Boaris saw her approach. He dug in his heels and bent his arms down to the ground, going on all fours. He charged back at her with incredible speed. He was going to ram her with his tusks!

Dodge! Dodge!

Obviously!

Chara broke off as fast as she could, just barely dodging Boaris's charge. The wooden planks splintered as he ran past her. Boaris turned around and charged at her again, this time accompanied by a burst of lightning. Chara dashed away from Boaris, but she couldn't quite avoid the electric cloud surrounding him. She took another shock, stunning her and draining three HP.

Boaris turned and charged yet again.

"Oh, quit that!"

Flowey used a well-place vine to trip Boaris as he charged. He ran right over it and fell to the floor. The splinters from the wooden docks added some extra damage to his fall.

Boaris tried to blink Chara with another flash of lightning, but she was ready for it this time. She shut her eyes tight and covered her ears as the bolt crashed down in front of her. As soon as it cleared, Chara lunged at Boaris and rapidly swung her knife, landing several good cuts all over him.

Boaris growled and knocked her back with an electric punch to the stomach. Chara lost six HP, leaving her with seven points out of sixteen.

"That's it!" Flowey surrounded Boaris with his signature circle attack. "Die!"

The circle of bullets closed in on Boaris. He didn't look too worried. He raised his hand and used a branch of lightning to cut a hole through the circle. He ran through the opening and struck Flowey with a horizontal swung of his axe, knocking him off the docks into the water, the most dangerous place he could be.

"Brother!" Chara leaped at Boaris from behind and stabbed her knife into his shoulder. He grunted, grabbed Chara off his back, and slammed her on the ground, reducing her to just three HP. Boaris raised his axe to finish her off. Chara rolled away just in time and got back up. She pulled back, getting some distance between them.

Chara darted her head around. Where was Flowey?

She heard a splash next to her. Flowey pulled himself back onto the docks. He shook the water off of himself like a dog. "Gah! Since when did this guy know how to fight?"

Good, Flowey was okay, but Chara wasn't doing so great. She felt pain all over, and her breaths were heavy. She had no choice but to heal. Chara cast her magic. She was restored to twelve HP, out of twelve HP. The colorless effect on her hands spread across her arms, up to her shoulders. Damn it, Chara didn't like this at all.

Boaris kept up the pressure with more electric magic. Balls of electricity flew at Chara from all around her. She couldn't afford many more hits. She made sure to avoid every single one. She sensed one bolt incoming directly behind her. She dashed to the side, and she almost tripped over a missing plank. The docks were getting very damaged.

"I've got an idea," Flowey said. "Your turn to keep him busy."

But… her HP… fine…

Chara cautiously approached Boaris, dodging more lightning on the way. Chara heard the wooden floor crack and splinter with every bolt. Chara closed the distance and swung her knife, which Boaris parried. He charged his axe with electricity for a counterattack. Chara hoped Flowey had a good plan.

Apparently, the plan was bombs. Chara heard two explosions, but they weren't aimed directly at Boaris. They detonated to the left and right of him, destroying the dock's supports. The wooden floor Boaris was standing on collapsed. Chara jumped back just in time while Boaris fell into the water with a large splash.

Boaris's axe was still charged, and when it fell into the water, he was shocked by his own lightning.

Flowey laughed. "Yeah! Get dunked!"

Chara couldn't help but grin. "Flowey, you're a genius!"

"We're not done yet." While Boaris was stuck in the water, Flowey dropped more bombs right on his head, dealing even more damage. Boaris's HP fell harshly as he swam back to the intact part of the docks. By the time he pulled himself out of the water, he was all the way down below ten percent of his HP.

For good measure, Chara stabbed him in the chest, dropping him below five percent. Boaris collapsed to his knees. They had won this fight.

"We win!" Flowey exclaimed. "Now, let's finish him!"

Chara looked at Boaris. Why shouldn't she kill him? She hated him. He literally made her entire world suffer, and he wanted monsters to go back to Mount Ebott.

… but in this world, he was basically the same way Chara used to be. She was confused. Did she have the right to kill him? Was it fair to kill him for what he became in another world? Especially considering what Chara herself did in this world. Could anyone be a murderer in an alternate reality?

"Yo! Don't do it!"

The colorless monster kid ran back to them. "You've already won! He can't hurt you anymore. Let's go!"

But, if she killed him, she could take his soul, and give it to Asriel…

"You don't understand," Chara said. "I need his soul. Someone deserves it more than he does."

"You can't take it," the monster kid said. "I mean, you really can't take it. His soul belongs in this world. If you try to take it with you, it won't survive."

As if on cue, Chara's maximum HP dropped to eleven. She didn't belong in this timeline, and it was slowly destroying her.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Chara couldn't take Boaris soul, but there was still little reason to spare him. At the very least, Chara could use the EXP.

… what would Frisk think if she killed him? He certainly wouldn't do it. This Boaris had done nothing worse than the likes of Undyne or Asgore.

Chara sighed, and she put her knife away. Boaris and Flowey were both shocked.

"Are you serious?!" Flowey yelled.

"Why?" Boaris asked. "Finish what you started."

Chara shook her head. "There's still hope, Boaris. Humanity has changed. You just met a bad example… a really bad example. Most of them would look back at the war with disgust, so give them another chance, okay?"

"It doesn't matter how I feel about them," Boaris said. "Don't the humans have a saying about trying the same thing and expecting a different result?"

"Yes, but they also don't give up after a single failure."

Boaris sighed. "Kill me or leave me, but do not waste my time trying to convince me the impossible."

Chara didn't see how she was going to get through to him, especially since she still kind of agreed with him. With the way human and monster souls were designed, it only seemed practical to keep them separate. Still, she didn't want to give up.

Chara turned around. "You may not believe it, but I will find a solution. One that doesn't sacrifice humans or monsters. Goodbye, Boaris." She started to walk away.

"… wait," Boaris said. "Who are you, really?"

"I told you. I am Chara."

Chara left him and continued walking down the docks. Flowey ran to her side. "You're seriously letting him live?"

"That's the idea, yes."

"But, he tried to kill you."

"He's not the first."

"… fine, whatever," Flowey said. "It's not like I really care what you do with him. I'm just surprised, that's all."

"What? Mercy is badass."

The colorless monster kid ran ahead of them. "Come on, hurry!"

Yes, she had to hurry. The grayness had spread to Chara's neck. She had to get out of this timeline before it consumed her. She hoped this kid knew what she was doing. Chara's life was in her hands… Uh, metaphorically speaking, anyway.

Chara wondered where Frisk was. Was he also in danger of being erased? She once thought Frisk would be better off if he just forgot about her, but now that it was actually possible, the thought terrified Chara. She couldn't let either of them forget each other. She had to see him again. Wherever Frisk was, Chara knew he was praying for the same thing, and she wasn't going to let him down.

Chara followed the monster.