Charatale

Chapter 2: Karma

Sans sputtered, coming back into awareness. Clutching his throat, and ribcage.

Another Reset.

"Hahaha! Mom got you!" A flower cheerfully exclaimed.

Did he replace the fallen human or something? ...Nah, monsters don't have Determination. Besides, he died. Who knew how long the timeline continued before it Reset? Sans wasn't in a place to tell.

"Are you alright?" His would-be murder asked. With worry that didn't reach her eyes, and a voice more cold than concerned.

Chara wasn't even trying to conceal her emotions. Just her motives. Just anything that would scare him off. There weren't any monsters here... How many monsters had been fooled?

"fine. just a little 'under' the weather."

"You look terrible... I offer my home human, until you recover."

Which was be never.

It wasn't a good idea. It was a terrible idea. That would end with being dusted. Again.

He yawned.

Eh. Might as well.

OOO

[Sans followed Chara of the Ruins all the way to her house.

They talked and joked all the way.]

"your sunshine to me, old lady." Sans repeated, same as the first time.

Heh. That was one thing he was good at. Parroting the same lines at people throughout the Resets.

"Now your patronizing me." Chara joked.

Wait. That was new.

"me?" Sans asked, with mock seriousness. "nah. you just remind me of an old friend."

"Someone good, i hope." Chara teased.

"of course, lady."

"I never say i was a lady." Chara teased,

"Now, I imagine you're hungry after your long day. Why don't you come to the kitchen, and we can get a bite to eat? Or, i'll show you to a room, and you can spend the night here."

[Eat with Mom?

Or go to bed?]

[Sans decides to explore. Chara watches him leave.]

OOO

It was a huge photo, the same size as the various mirrors around.

[Sans looks at the picture. It's a family of four... You see RChara in an expensive dress, as the top left figure. Beside her, was a Chara in king's regalia. You find the children familar.]

"don't ya know how ta greet a new pal?"

OOO

Sans opened the chest infront of the purple bed.

[This chest is out of link. Anyone may take items out of this chest, and you will only be able to acess items left in this chest.]

[Chest Items;

Blue coat

Red Boots

A red and black sweater

A yellow and green sweater

Do you take any items?]

Sans immediantly selected the red boots. "paps."

[A pair of boots worn by a previous visitor. DEF +10, Grants ability: Last Chance.

It protects your last 1 HP. No matter how strong an attack, you will survive one hit. After that depends on you.

Do you take it?]

"...does this mean Papyrus was here?" Sans asked the human, suddenly desperate.

Papyrus was alive?

[Sans feels a surge of HOPE... It doesn't last long.]

But that would mean Papyrus was here, in this death trap.

"why'd paps take off his boots?"

[Sans took the boots.]

Next, Sans selected the coat.

[A coat worn by a previous guest. Grants ability: Cold Resistance.]

"welp. don't need that. next."

[A red and black sweater that's never been worn. The stitching looks handmade. Grants ability: Hard Mode.]

"nope."

[A green and yellow sweater that's never been worn. No EXP can be gained whilte it's worn. Grants ability: Easy Mode.]

"welp. i'm not a kid."

OOO

The other bedroom was... well.

[The room is dark. Sans can barely see the floor.]

Sans slowly began to look around. Aka, snoop.

So he started with the only light in the room. A small lamp, by the door. That was failing to actually light up the room, being slightly dull.

[Sans finds a book on the floor. It's RChara's diary. RChara's written about having tribble chocolate cake with Flowey. There's nothing incriminating here.]

"ha. oh chara..."

[You tell Sans RChara made her choice long ago. That every SOUL made her that much more determined. He doesn't believe you.]

Then Sans went over to the other side of the room. Which was full of pictures and candles.

[A memorial. Sans recognizes the children as the two in the hall.]

"... a constant."

The back wall was were Sans realized how weird it was. No drawers, just a chest- the bed, wasn't even made, all the sheets were on the floor. Of course, why bother when there wasn't enough light to see it. Then, when he tried to go to the other courner...

-9

[Sans steps on some glass.]

"how?" Sans asked. It shouldn't have taken off more than 1 HP, and thats with intent behind it.

[You tell Sans the mirror was punched.]

"huh. didn't know ya could leave intent like that."

Would another thing hold HATE as well? Did everything hold HATE? Would it slowly release in time, like the DT experiements? The scientist in Sans was just itching to experiement.

Sure, it still reminded him of Judgment Hall. But it wasn't so bad. Surprising how much a change the lack of DETERMINATION was.

Before he left, Sans checked the diary again.

[RChara spent three pages ranting about spiders. Don't let RChara catch you reading.]

OOO

RChara was standing in the hall, as he left.

Huh. Stalker? Well Sans couldn't judge; he'd done the same to the human, after all.

"heya."

"Hello, Sans. I see your a snoop."

"guilty."

"Well, anything you wanted to ask me?"

Did Sans introduce himself this RESET? Eh, he didn't remember. Huh. Not good. Sans kinda obsessively tracked dialogue to keep up with a certain anomaly.

"knock-knock."

"Whose there?"

"blood."

"Blood who?"

"not you."

OOO

Leaving so soon?" RCHara asked as he approuched the stairs.

"nah. can we have that pie now?"

"Of course. Follow me." RChara said, walking over to the kitchen.

"don't wait on me." Sans called, turning to the stairs as she left. "sorry."

OOO

[Sans shivers.]

The basement was...

Well, there were huge gashes in the walls, and floor. Glowing a dark red with DETERMINATION and HATE. As if someone tried just slicing through, only to be just barely stopped by magic infused rock and cement.

The tight hallway feeding Sans newly developed claustrophobia.

He had to hurry up.

OOO

Almost there.

[You've entered an Encounter.]

What? How? He didn't even...

Slash.

"chara?"

They didn't even wait before attacking.

"DIIEEE HUMAN!" Chara yelled, black leaking from her eyes and mouth.

"wait. we don't have to-"

"Die human! I'll avenge my children!"

Frisk was smiling.

"that expression... well... i won't grace it with an answer."

/

Miss

"i'm not gonna sit here and take it." Sans said with a shrug.

/

"you don't know how this feelings. knowing that at any moment, it can all be erased."

OOO

"No!" Chara exclaimed, almost desperate. As she swung her knife. Another gash in the wall behind him. "I can't die! I won't die before I make all humanity pay!"

Sans lashed before Chara could launch another attack.

"No! No! No!" Chara yelled, even as black leaked from her wounds. Her entire face was covered an inky black, with only the red of her smile, and blood leaking from her eyes. "I REFUSE!"

She attack again. Black and red leakiing out of her, until she became a puddle.

Like an amalgamate. Or dusting

[... You gained 2 LV.]

No. No. No.

"chara? this isn't funny lady."

[RChara is gone.]

"please, chara. i didn't dust you. i couldn't dust you."

Sans wasn't that type of person. He just wasn't.

He was the guy that told jokes. That laughed. Weak, funny Sans, with only 1 HP.

He didn't dust anyone. That just wasn't who Sans the skeleton was. Ever. He diidn't even hurt the kid when they deserved it. Let alone a monster.

And Chara was a monster. Humans didn't dust. Even if it wasn't typical monster dust.

[Sans is having a morality crisis.]

No. No. No.

"Aw! Look at that! Your just shaking in your boots!" Flowey called out.

[Sans is too panicked to listen.]

Truth was, Sans couldn't stop shaking. His soul pounded. He hadn't felt this bad since that incident with Gaster.

He hadn't wanted to. Had tried to find a way around it. Chara may have wanted his dust, but they had their reasons. He liked her, too. She was just so much like Toriel. And that sense of humor...

"Well… since your such a good listener, I suppose i can fill you in." The flower decided, with a smirk. "I'm Rose."

"Sans the skeleton." Sans stated, trying to get back his cool. His voice was still shakey. "So mind telling me whats going on?"

"Well, you died!" Rosey chuckled at that one. "But someone decided you needed to suffer!"

"Heh. thats it?"

"Of course not. You still think the Soul trait allowing time travel is DETERMINATION. Nope!"

"So the notes were wrong?"

While sans had thought they were authentic, the very nature of the anomaly meant he could never be sure. Not now that they were gone…

"Who knows. But here, the RESETs work differently. Every time you die, you die, you see the SAVE SCREEN. It'll show your KARMA." Rose's head bobsled up and down. "Everytime you die, your KARMA is subtracted. When it reaches zero… you better hope someones watching!"

[Rose mimics cutting her neck.]

"Doesn't sound like the KARMA i know."

"Oh, and if your getting a little low? Just raise some LV, that'll bring your KARMA up in a jiff."

Yep. definitely not the same. How would that affect his KARMA attack?

"Anymore questions?"

"Who? You implied someone is controlling KARMA."

"Moving on." Rose said, after a glare.

[Rose glares at you. You know that's a rhetorical question, Sans.]

No, sans didn't know that. Heh.

"I guess you really want to leave, huh? Find someplace where no one will dust you?" Rose asked, with a bright smile.

"Yep."

"Well, there's one problem with that." rose noted.

"Well?"

"My mom."

[Sans has entered a battle with Rose.]

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"Die sans! Hahahaha!"

Game Over

[You plead with Sans not to kill Ruins!Chara again. You explain to Sans that it's wrong, and Rose always seeks revenge.]

OOO

Notes: There's been no description of Sans attacks. This is intentional, the battle with RChara is the first battle Sans wasn't ambushed. The first time he actually had a turn.

Gameplay: Unseen to the Player, Chara has a metaphorical Friendliness Meter. It reacts to different dialogue, and of course, character death. Different levels unlock and lock certain dialogue. It also lasts through Resets to some extent.

Ruins Chara, at highest friendliness, will give 9 damage. That won't help with poisoning, but it's a definite advantage in an Encounter.

You can't Spare RChara. It's absolutely necessary to flee outside. You can change what difficulty the FIGHT's on based on how friendly you've been with RChara the past few RESETs, but that's it. Placifist or True Placifist is the only type of run that allows you to leave the Ruins. If only because of Flowey and a horde of spiders.

There's always a chance of Sans having a panic attack after dying. It shouldn't always happen, but the risk should decrease the more RESETs he has in that area. And increase with characters like RChara, that he actually likes. Of course, the times could be scripted after certain deaths, but since the staple of this Charatale is random chance...