Hello, everybody! Jack of Knaves and Diamond Ninja here, welcoming you guys back to another chapter of Interlopers! I'd like to thank everyone for the support everyone has given me and Diamond on this experiment so far and it is our hope that we can continue entertaining all of you as we have been.
Well, apart from that, I don't think we have anything to go over, so let's get this show on the road!
Chapter Three
The Real Monsters
The fact that Doctor Gaster was able to create weapons for Kris, Susie, Ralsei, and Noelle in such a short time would have been impressive… except, from what the Fun Gang could tell, what Gaster had created was decidedly not any form of weaponry the four interdimensional travellers had seen before. They were black boxes, seemingly made of fabric, and they looked about as combat capable as Alphys.
"What the Hell is this?" asked Susie as she picked up one of the objects. Almost instantly, the object transformed into a very impressive looking axe, while her attire transformed into a black and magenta vest with a black tank top underneath, magenta pants with a black belt that had a golden heart shaped buckle, spiked bracelets and armlets on both arms, and black boots.
"Hey, Susie! You're in your Dark World clothes! But, how'd that happen?" asked Noelle in surprise. Kris, meanwhile, reached over and picked up his own version of the object Susie had picked up, only for the object to morph into an impressive sword and shield, and his skin suddenly turned a pale blue color while his clothes morphed into a form fitting black bodysuit with steel boots, steel gauntlets, a steel breastplate, and a cape with the exact same blue and indigo pattern that Frisk's sweater had draped over his shoulder.
Gaster chuckled. "So vulgar, Miss Susie… in any case, I call those devices 'Every Weapons,' able to transform into the perfect weapon or weapons for whomever touches it, and it only works for whomever touches it first. As for your costume changes… perhaps the way your abilities function have been altered due to your abrupt interdimensional displacement," theorized Gaster. "Regardless, everything about you four requires further research and study."
"Ok," Ralsei said as went and picked up his Every Weapon, and it instantly morphed into a minigun. Ralsei dropped it and backpedalled. "Umm, there's something wrong with that one!" the young goat cried out.
Susie made a choking noise, causing Ralsei to look over and see Susie had a hand over her mouth, attempting and failing to stifle her laughter.
"What are you talking about? It's the perfect weapon for you!" Kris commented, obviously holding back his own laughter, his comment causing Susie to collapse into helpless laughter.
Gaster smiled and chuckled. "Apparently a minigun is the perfect weapon for Ralsei," he said.
Ralsei glared at the doctor as he picked up the minigun, which immediately morphed into a very stylish-looking scarf. "Real funny, doctor," he grumbled. Gaster chuckled again, and Susie, pulling herself up off the ground, subsided to sniggers.
Frisk walked in with a grin on his face. "What's going on here?" he asked. "I heard-" he stopped, staring at Kris. or more accurately, the cape on his shoulder. Kris looked at Frisk, then the cape, then Frisk's turtleneck sweater, the pieces coming together in his mind, not that they made much sense to him in the long run.
Frisk shook his head, his confusion increasing the longer he spent around the four interdimensional travellers. "First he shows up in his outfit, now he's wearing a cape that looks like my sweater…" he muttered. Frisk looked Kris dead in the eye, a serious look on his face. "Kris, we need to talk."
"Okay…" Kris said as Frisk led him to the hall outside the room and turned to him.
"Kris… I need to tell you something. The outfit you were wearing when you fell out of the machine looks just like Chara's, and that cape… well…" Frisk gestured to his shirt.
Kris nodded. "Yeah, I know… I'm admittedly trying to figure that one out. To be honest, when I first saw you, it felt like I knew you, like really well, even though this is the first time we've ever met…" he said before a thought crossed his mind. "You know… my adoptive older brother and I used to read comic books that involved dimension-hopping sometimes, and the hero sometimes met and even fought against alternate versions of themselves… Maybe this is a similar situation?" suggested Kris.
Frisk frowned, thinking Kris' theory over. "I don't know… it could be… my area of expertise with quantum physics is more in line with continuing, saving, loading, and resetting the current timeline rather than interdimensional travel… that kinda thing seems more like Doctor Gaster's area of expertise…" he said.
"Yeah, you're right…" Kris said, rubbing the back of his neck.
A small plop noise sounded from nearby, causing Frisk and Kris to turn to see that Flowey had popped up nearby.
"Hey, are you kids done gearing up and… apparently playing dress-up," Flowey said, sounding confused as he looked at Kris and his altered clothes. "Smiley trashbag says there's somewhere we need to go and something we need to pick up first before we head out to fight Chara."
"His name is Sans," Frisk grumbled, "but, okay."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," grumbled Flowey before he plopped back into the ground.
Frisk heaved a sigh before turning to Kris. "Sorry about Flowey… he's kinda a jerk, but it's not really his fault… he was just a normal flower before he was injected with Determination. But, without a soul, he's incapable of feeling… well, anything," he explained.
You would know what that feels like… the presence in Kris's mind chuckled.
Kris forced it down and nodded. "Okay, let's go," he said.
The Barrier-A Short Time Later
The group arrived at the chamber where the six souls were stored. Sitting in the middle of the room, they glowed in their containers, still alive after all these years. Sans counted Justice, Bravery, Kindness, Integrity, Patience and Perseverance. They were all here. The middle container was empty. Frisk touched his own chest, knowing whose soul was intended for that jar.
"Ok, here goes." Sans crooked his fingers. At his command, the souls burst free of their containers. They floated up to him, and Sans looked at them for a second before flicking his hand sideways, sending them towards Flowey.
Flowey's eyes went wide in surprise. "Wh-what?" he stammered. "Why me?"
"You'll be more useful this way," explained Sans.
Flowey scowled."I still hate you," he grumbled.
"Sure, why not?" Sans said nonchalantly as he smirked at Flowey.
"Six souls? Jeez," Susie whispered to Kris. "That's a lot of power for a flower."
"Flower power!" Noelle, now clad in a white dress with brown sandals that gave her the appearance of an angel, with a very beautiful diamond ring on the now-healed finger that once held the Thorn Ring, giggled, a smile on her face as she did so.
Frisk, Gaster, Sans, Kris, Susie, and Ralsei chuckled at Noelle's joke while Flowey rolled his eyes before taking the souls. A moment later, a flash of white light blinded the entire group.
The True Lab-Later That Day...
Chara Dreemurr, a demonic looking teenager with a knife for one of his arms and brown hair wearing a green and yellow sweater, brown pants, and black boots, was walking toward the barrier when he heard a thump, followed by another, and then another.
A slow smile spread across Chara's face. "So… predictable," he muttered as he glitched out, and glitched back in at the barrier. A 4th thump reverberated across the True Lab, making Chara's teeth rattle. He gazed out, and saw the sight he was expecting to see.
A giant monster, armed with huge claws, no legs and a giant tv for a head towered over Chara, staring defiantly down at him. On it's right, Gaster stood next to Sans and Frisk. And on the left side…
Chara's eyes narrowed as he gazed upon the four who stood on Omega Flowey's left side. Who were they?
A purple dino girl in a tank top with a heart locket buckle and an axe. Behind her was a bipedal deer, or was it reindeer…? In all honesty, Chara never could tell the difference between the two, but whatever she was, she was wearing a white dress that made her look like an angel from heaven and a very pretty ring on her finger. Standing nearby was, much to Chara's dismay, another human that looked alarmingly similar to himself in his usual form as a human, with blue skin and armor with a cape that looked like Frisk's sweater over his shoulder.
In all honesty, Chara felt odd looking at this human, as though he should recognize them, even though this was clearly the first time they'd ever met… then all thoughts of the new human disappeared as he saw the fourth new arrival.
Chara stepped back, eyes wide. "Asriel…?" he muttered.
Ralsei stared back in confusion. "Uh… hi? What did you call me?" he asked kindly.
This goat, why does he look so much like Asriel? Chara thought before he shook his head. No, he can't be… Asriel's right there, Chara thought, looking over at Omega Flowey. It must be a coincidence.
"Jeez Kris," Susie said, shooting a fang-filled smirk at her human companion. "Maybe it was a good thing I didn't bite your face off when we went to go get Ms. Alphys the chalk... if you had that under your face, that'd haunt me in my nightmares."
"That is if my spirit didn't haunt you. After all, there's Officer Napstablook, who's to say I couldn't become a ghost if I kicked the bucket," Kris joked back.
And that's if I didn't try to get revenge first! The presence spoke up. I'm pretty sure I could've convinced the doctor to let me construct another Goner Vessel...
Kris pushed the presence away again. He was unnerved enough by how much Chara looked like him, he didn't need the presence spouting nonsense as well.
"When did you try to bite Kris's face off?" Noelle asked, looking at Susie nervously.
"Uh… not important," Susie said, quickly changing the subject. "Why is Chara staring at Ralsei like that?"
"Chara would prefer not to be spoken about like he's not in the room," Chara interrupted, "And to answer your question, it's nothing that concerns you," he said as his face stretched into a demonic smile, eyes glowing red. "But, in all honesty, isn't this hilarious?" he let out a short, evil laugh.
Gaster opened his hand, and 7 more appeared above him. Sans stood on a Gaster Blaster, and 5 more blazed into existence. Omega Flowey raised its arms, preparing an attack. Noelle raised an arm, frost tingling at her fingertips. Susie hefted her axe, Ralsei spun his scarf and Kris pointed his sword at Chara.
"This is your army? A traitorous television-faced abomination, a forgotten scientist, a comedian, a pathetic human who can't even fight, a goat with a scarf, a deer with ice magic, a purple dinosaur with an axe, and another human with a sword…" Chara taunted before focusing his gaze upon Kris. "You know, now that I think about it, I sense something about you… the same thing coming from Frisk. Your sins are crawling up your backs, the both of you. Frisk, you attempted genocide out of thirty years worth of sheer boredom of getting a happy ending... and you… other human…"
"My name is Kris," Kris said defiantly, tightening his grip on his sword.
"Kris, then… you did something just as bad… or perhaps worse... something to do with the deer, if I'm not mistaken…" Chara said, pointing at Noelle, who looked down, unable to meet Chara's demonic red gaze. "Ah, yes… I see now... a pure and innocent soul, corrupted and driven to the brink of insanity by your authority… or perhaps, you were merely the puppet of the one truly responsible… even so, that does not excuse you of your sins…"
As Chara spoke, Kris felt his grip on his sword tightening as what felt like both his own anger and the anger of someone else began to inch ever closer to the danger zone, while Ralsei and Susie looked at Kris in confusion, unaware of what Chara was talking about.
Chara laughed, an unholy and demonic sound as it rang out across the True Lab. "And then, there's me, a genocidal megalomaniac thanks to Frisk going on their little genocide run… truly, the real monsters out of everyone in this room… is the three of us humans!" Chara said before laughing again.
"SHUT UP!" Kris yelled, his anger finally reaching the breaking point. Much to Kris' surprise, he heard the presence's voice shouting along with him. He brought up his sword, and slammed it into the ground. Red energy spread across the floor, lighting it up like Christmas.
Chara's eyes widened as he recognized his own attack, Special Hell. Meanwhile, Omega Flowey grabbed everyone else and moved them away, just as the floor erupted in a massive burst of power.
When it subsided, Kris was standing opposite Chara, sword planted in the ground, sweating profusely.
"Well… that's new…" Kris said, giving a small chuckle as he spoke.
Chara, meanwhile, stumbled, having been disoriented by having his own attack used against him. Kris pulled his sword back out of the ground and stumbled back, exhaustion clear on his face as Ralsei came to his aid and restored his power.
Chara quickly regained his composure and spoke again. "Well now, that was interesting. Very much so..." he said, his grin growing even wider. "I… have a small surprise too…" he held up six balls of power, glowing brightly in each of the colors of the human soul, aside from Determination. "You never got to use the Determination extracted in the past…" he brought the orbs to his chest. "I'm excited to see how long you'll survive."
The orbs disappeared, and coated Chara in white light. When it disappeared, he was holding his knife, flashing different colors in the air. He leveled it at Kris, and spoke again. "Come," he said.
Kris charged with Susie at his back while Ralsei and Noelle hung back to provide support and long-range attacks via IceShock. Chara brought his knife back, and it extended in a flash of blue light. Kris just had time to raise his shield before the enlarged knife slammed down. Chara whistled, causing Kris and the Fun Gang to look up to find the demonic teenager with a green force field in front of him. Omega Flowey hurled what looked like atomic bombs at Chara. The bombs slammed into Chara's shield but failed to put a dent in it.
"Keep that button blocked, Gaster, and keep the kid safe!" Sans said, indicating Frisk and Chara's very conveniently placed Save File.
Gaster nodded, and a green force field appeared around him and Frisk. Sans flew forward on a Gaster Blaster, his eyes narrowed with laser precision. Chara swung his knife out, sending a purple slash of energy flying at Sans. Sans fired his Gaster Blaster, intercepting the attack. They collided in an explosion, however Chara's attack cut clean through the Gaster Blaster's beam and kept going.
Sans's eyes widened and he teleported out of the way just as the slash pulverized his Gaster Blaster, rematerializing behind Chara and before launching bones at him. Chara teleported up, and swung his knife down only to be intercepted by a green forcefield. Gaster summoned another hand, this one red, and fired a black energy blast at Chara, only for Chara to teleport out of the way again, unwittingly allowing Noelle to catch him by surprise with her IceShock attack, freezing Chara's legs in place, if only for a moment.
"Now then, let's see how you deal with my X-Slash!" Kris said as he swung his sword in a x, and two red energy slashes in the shape of an x flew at Chara. Chara blocked with another forcefield, but the shield cracked. Chara then pried himself free from Noelle's ice trap and teleported again, his knife pointed at Kris, and fired a yellow shot at him. Susie sliced it out of the air, and, acting on instinct, flung her arm out.
A giant beam of red energy flew at Chara at high speed. Chara tried to block with his forcefield, but Susie's attack broke through the barrier and sent him flying backwards before he was smacked to the ground by Omega Flowey, who opened his hand and shot vines at Chara, only for him to slice them away, only to find his path blocked by Gaster. Susie, meanwhile, looked at her hand with a surprised expression on her face.
"Whoa… didn't know I could do that…" the purple dino girl muttered to herself.
"Focus on the fight, Susie!" hollered Ralsei.
Meanwhile, Frisk's force field disappeared as Gaster summoned six red hands, and fired a combined blast at Chara, who felt himself get pulled into the blast by Sans's telekinesis before being yanked down toward several bones with a Gaster Blaster pointed at him. Acting quickly, Chara Justice Shot the Gaster Blaster, and sliced the bones away. As he landed safely on the ground, Chara heard the crackling of freshly-materialized ice as his arm suddenly felt extremely cold. He looked down, and noticed his knife arm was coated in ice. Looking up, Chara saw Noelle, ice curling around her fingers. Chara set off a Bravery Bomb in the ice, shattering it at the cost of damaging his arm before sending a blast at Gaster. Gaster quickly dodged the attack, only for the blast to change direction, shooting toward Frisk instead.
Sans teleported into the oncoming blast's path in an attempt to block it, only for Gaster to intercept the full brunt of the blast. The doctor stumbled, seriously hurt from the force of the hit.
Sans's eyes darkened with anger. He had just gotten his father back after decades of being imprisoned in the Void after saving his life, and there was no way in hell that he was going to lose him again.
As Ralsei and Noelle ran to Gaster's aid to heal him, Sans teleported into the air, and laughed. "I don't like to use my real special attack… I get bone tired after that, but…" he said as he closed his eyes. When he reopened them, a blaze of blue and yellow energy shot out of the left one. Hundreds of Gaster Blasters appeared on each side of him. "You deserve it," Sans snarled as he pointed his hand and, as one, all the blasters fired.
Chara tried to summon a shield, but it shattered almost instantly, resulting in Chara being enveloped in a massive explosion. Kris felt his jaw drop in shock at the display of raw power he had just witnessed. There was no way in Hell Chara could have remained in one piece after that attack, let alone survived.
Not dead, look out! the presence called in his head. Kris saw a red slash fly out of the smoke, straight at Omega Flowey. He went to stop the attack, but Susie was faster. She pointed her axe at it, and a giant burst of red energy annihilated the attack. The dust cleared, and they all saw Chara's soul, now blacker than obsidian, cracked in half. As they watched, the soul snapped back together and Chara reappeared, half his body now covered in a black substance that reminded Susie and Kris of that one movie with the alien symbiote.
"I have a question for you, Asriel, Kris…" Chara said, looking at Omega Flowey and Kris as he spoke. "Do you know what trait black is?"
Kris stepped back in shock at what he'd just heard Chara call Flowey. He remembered the comment the presence had made when Flowey had introduced himself.
You'll be really surprised when you find out who he is…
Could it be…? Was Flowey actually... Asriel? No, no way. That wasn't possible!
Chara spoke again, pulling Kris out of his thoughts. "It's HATE," he said, an evil grin on his face. "And I have a LOT of it to share!" he cried as he held up his knife, conjuring a giant ball of black energy before hurling it at the group. Omega Flowey stepped forward to meet the oncoming attack, and Kris saw the six souls spinning in front of him before they fired a giant white beam, pushing the black ball away.
When the beam faded, Flowey was lying on the ground, just a little flower again, completely and utterly powerless. The small flower tried to lift his head, but failed. The human souls were completely out of power, looking as though they were nothing more than heart-shaped rocks. Looking around, Kris saw that Susie, Noelle, Ralsei, Gaster, and Sans were all looking exhausted and out of energy, and Kris himself wasn't feeling that much better.
"HELP!" a nearby voice screamed. Kris looked over, and saw Frisk, eyes wide, mouth open, a look of sheer terror on his face.
Chara laughed, slow and dark. "But nobody came," he laughed. He pointed his knife at Flowey, and fired. Kris watched in horror as Frisk ran forward, placing himself in between Chara and Flowey.
But, before he could do anything to save Frisk from certain death, Kris saw the red shell that was Frisk's soul fill up, gleaming the brightest red Kris had ever seen. A red shield appeared in front of Frisk, blocking the shot.
Frisk grinned. "Guess what, Chara? I got my Determination back. Now, to give it to the one person here who needs it most!" he said as the souls suddenly regained their colors. Frisk threw his soul at Flowey, and the other six followed. Flowey's eyes widened, the seven souls surrounding him before entering his body, before he glowed a bright white, blinding everyone.
...
Kris opened his eyes. He was floating in a grey area. He looked around. On his right, he saw Chara, staring at something else. Kris followed Chara's gaze, and saw something that made his heart stop.
It was Asriel Dreemurr. Clad in a blue and white robe with the Deltarune crest on it and black marks on his face, emanating an aura of sheer, absolute power. While this Asriel was certainly in the same age range, that was the only resemblance that Kris saw with this doppelganger and the Asriel Kris knew, who was currently enrolled in college, and was expected to return to Hometown next week.
"Finally," said Asriel, his hands clenched into fists and his eyes shut tightly. "I was so, so sick of being a flower…" Asriel said before opening his eyes and giving Chara a warm smile. "Hey Chara," he said, meeting Chara's gaze. "It's me… your best friend."
"Hey Asriel," Kris said, a warm smile on his face. Asriel turned, and met Kris's gaze. "It's me… your brother?"
And thus concludes the chapter! I hope Diamond Ninja and I have done a decent job on this chapter. Also, before I forget, in case anyone is wondering how Kris is able to use Chara's Special Hell attack, remember, Kris is technically both Chara AND Frisk, so naturally, he has all of their attacks and abilities, plus some unique ones of his own like X-Slash. So, if you liked what you saw here, then be sure to fave, follow, and review, and join us next time for the big brawl: the Dreemurr Brothers VS Chara! See you then!