Me: StoryShift Arc finale time!
Shift!Chara: Alright, let's do this. I'm ready.
Classic Chara: As am I.
Shift!Asriel: What's going to happen...?
Shift!Frisk: We'll have to see for ourselves.
Classic Frisk: After this, we'll continue our journey!
Classic Asriel: And hopefully the citizens of this universe can sort out the rest themselves...
Chapter Start!
Happstablook and Nappstablook/Flowey were standing across the Dreemurr Trio, both Classic and Shift. Shift!Chara has made it very clear that she didn't have any patience for his sinister shenanigans. Having sliced through Flowey's empowered vines with those floating glowing knives, she's already demonstrated having the ability and reflexes to deal with anything they could try to dish out. Her brother, however, looked pretty dumbstruck by the events and why they were happening. Her sister was just wishing that the conflict would end soon, since stopping it was no longer going to happen.
As for the Classic Trio, they were slightly more cautious due to all three of them being more aware if what was transpiring. Classic Chara looked like he was all too eager to best the hell out of him, but was restraining himself to make sure his brothers would be okay. Classic Frisk was the one furthest back, with the view of both Asriel and Chara standing in front of him. This clearly indicated that he was the most powerful of the group, and was also not willing to fight if he could help it. Classic Asriel...Happstablook could easily tell that he was the biggest threat of all, with the Rainbow Soul most likely giving him a very diverse array of powers, and very large magic reserves. And yet he too, looked very hesitant to fight. It baffled him greatly that he would be holding himself back despite the immense amount of power he holds within him. If he wasn't willing to freely use said power, why would he have it?
Guess it didn't really matter much, he'd be taking that soul soon enough. Flowey was firmly wrapped around his shoulders, just as empowered as he was. They carefully watched the duo trios in front of them. It was six against two, probably not counting the duo Frisks. They would need a bit of reinforcement. Realizing that they did have something to count on, Happstablook lifted his head and grinned.
"Hmmm...six against two. That hardly seems fair. Maybe we should make things just slightly more...even. Call it a twist that's surely to make all of you angry." Happstablook smiled as his right arm began brightly glowing pink, as well as the vines glowing lime green. He raised up his hand as the two magic energies began to mix. A few moments afterwards, dust began swirling around a spot next to him, and began rising up and taking shape. All of their eyes widened when they see the dust form into a certain someone. Shift!Papyrus. "Ah yes...of course I liked him so much that I just couldn't bear to keep him out of the script for long. Call it last minute editing. He sure was defiant at first...but defiance can be fixed, as you can see."
"H...H...HUMAN...?" Shift!Papyrus said with much struggling. Classic Asriel could see his soul barely being held together, which was done by one of Flowey's friendliness pellets growing within his ribcage, forming glowing vines that wrapped around it to keep the tiny pieces from falling apart again. Should Flowey's grip on the soul release, Papyrus would be dust again.
"Papyrus!" Classic Frisk gasped. They brought him back from dust just to use him as a pawn. Classic Chara visibly flinched at this, it brought upon slightly less pleasant memories of what he tried to do.
"Hey. First you talk crap about King Papyrus after killing him. Now you just barely bring him back to life so you can use him as a pawn? Haven't you caused the skeleton brothers, as well as my own family, enough grief and hardship?" Shift!Chara demanded to know. Though she frowned and shook her head. "Ya know what? I don't care. This only gives me an extra reason order to beat the crap outta you both. You deserve it at this point. For messing with me. For messing with Rei. For messing with Mom and King Sans' friendship. And for attempting to mess with Mirror. All of these things you're trying to do...they greatly irritate me."
Shift!Asriel looked toward Shift!Papyrus, and could see that he was struggling. Not physically, but he could clearly see it on his face. He was completely at Happstablook's mercy, but he could sense that he was doing his very best to try and break free from it. Though it was obvious that he was unable to do anything except struggle on a mental level, because his soul could shatter apart at any time Flowey chooses. Or should he lose enough concentration. Whatever the case, Papyrus's lofe was at Flowey's vines.
"Frisk." Classic Chara said simply. The implications were clear.
"Right." Classic Frisk gently pulled Shift!Frisk away a couple paces back. Then he gently raises his hand, and his soul simultaneously turns green as a green shield surrounded both of them. Shift!Frisk was surprised at the sudden action.
"You can change Soul Modes at will? That looks like a useful ability to have." Shift!Chara tilted her hesd curiously.
"It was due to special circumstances that I'm even able to do this." Classic Frisk emphasized. "But most importantly, this defense should be able to hold. I've been working on it for a while now. Though I'm not expecting for it to be that easy."
"Which is why it is very important that these three don't get anywhere near you. Right, that's highly understandable." Shift!Chara said. "Alright, we'll let the PaciFrisks stay safe in that little green shield of theirs."
"Ugh, Chara...Really? At a time like this?" Shift!Asriel mumbled.
Classic Asriel narrowed his eyes. The black markings appearing on his face, the sclera of his eyes slowly turning black, and his horns grew just slightly sharper. He reluctant, but battle-ready. Endure it for a bit, Papyrus. We'll free you!
Shift!Chara nodded. "It's a rather nice day out, isn't it? Birds are singing..." She gently stroked her chin, then instantly flashed her hand forward and launching all of the knives currently airborne towards Happstablook. His and Flowey's eyes widened as they didn't brsce fast enough, some of the knives managing a few nasty cuts on their bodies. One of them succeeded in slicing off one of Flowey's petals, making him hiss in aggravation as he quickly grew it back. Shift!Chara giggled at their faces, they clearly didn't expect her to take a cheap shot like that when they weren't fully ready. The irony was lost on them. "Pffft hahahaha! Geez, you look really pissed off!"
"A cheap shot is nowhere near enough to turn this conflict in your favor! Cheap tactics of a cheap child!" Flowey shouted defiantly.
"You're surprised that I'm taking cheap shots? I play to win. Never said I'd play fair." She smiled while shrugging confidently. "That's why I'm also known as Chara the Cheater...but only to rotten scumbags like you, and I have fun with it." Happstablook buffed at her explanation, managing to somewhat keep his cool. "Anyway...it looks like a rather glamorous day outside. Why not relax and take a load off?"
Half of that cool is gone now. It's replaced by infuriation and an intense desire to see that Shift!Chara dies first. It looked like she couldn't possibly care less.
[Music: Megaloglamour: Umbra Extensions]
Flowey decided that the manipulated Papyrus should strike first. The vines covering his body forced him to slowly move and raise his hands. A plethora of bones manifested over his head against his will. The forced effort looked seriously painful for him. With a pained, grunt, he launched all of the sharp bones towards them. Not counting the two Frisks, both pairs of Asriel and Charas jumped in different directions to avoid them.
"HUMAN...I'M SORRY. I'M...NOT IN CONTROL OF MY ACTIONS..." Papyrus grunted as more bones manifested around him, sharpening until they were pointed, then they rapidly shot at Shift!Chara. She swiftly dodges them, ducking under three them manifesting three knives to slice them in half, watching them fall harmlessly on the ground.
"Don't blame yourself, old man! It's this guy that I'm pissed with!" Shift!Chara declared. She began rushing for the offender, but Flowey stopped her progress with accurately timed vines shooting uo from the ground. An opening seen, Happstablook smirked as he shot a hand forward. Shift!Chara's soul turned blue, and she was thrown to the back of the wall with heavy force. She didn't show pain on her face. Only mild irritation. "So...that's how it's gonna be."
"Apparently." Classic Chara sighed. Happstablook having access to Soul Modes was definitely going to be problematic. He was cut away from his thoughts as more vines shot out from the ground. He was going to attempt dodging them, but he was cut off by Happstablook arriving and kicking him across the room. His recovery was a bit more balance than his Shift counterpart, able to land on his feet. "Huh. He kicks pretty hard. Blasted Mettaton...oh wait, I guess he isn't totally Mettaton here, is he?"
"Mettaton...that sounds great. I dunno why...but I like it!" Happstablook declared.
"And...here's how much I care." Classic Chara ran forward as he jumped over Papyrus, landed balanced in front of Shift!Mettaton and punched him across the room. He crashed into the wall, cracking slightly. "Yep. That's just about how much I care."
"Stupid brat! Hey Bonehead, go deal with those two!" Flowey demanded, the vines tightening in Papyrus's very fragile soul. He whined in pain as he was forced to look towards Classic Asriel and Shift!Asriel. They both braced for his assault as he reluctantly moved towards them. Flowey turned his attention towards the two Frisks. "I didn't forget about you two punks! You're not avoiding us that easily!" A much larger vine shoots from the ground, slowly wrapping itself around the green shield that Classic Frisk was keeping up.
"H-Hey! Keep your vines to yourself!" Shift!Frisk said in a slight panic. The vines tightened around the shield, glowing lime green themselves. Classic Frisk was feeling slightly strained, seeing that the shield was beginning to form slight cracks.
"Come out of there, cowards! You shou-AAH!" Flowey hissed wildly as he pulled the vine away, seeing that it was burning from a white flame with a black center. He turned towards the one responsible, Shift!Asriel. "You?! Why don't you mind your own business, punk?!"
"Only Master Undyne can call me that! She does it affectionately! You...you're just mean about it!" Shift!Asriel pouted.
"Well said!" Classic Asriel shouted as he too threw multiple balls of fire towards the vines trying to attack Frisk, slowly burning them away. Flowey glared as he tried latching onto them again, though he continued burning away the vines every time they tried to approach. "Stay away from the Frisks, Flowey! And let go of Papyrus! He shouldn't have anything to do with this!"
"Hmm...allow me to take the time to consider-NO!" Flowey glared as another vine lashed out at both Asriel's. It was swiftly sliced in half by another one of Shift!Chara's knives, on instinct. The irritated scowl on Flowey's face was not missed by her, it really pleased her to know she was getting on his nerves so much already. Speaking of irritation, the annoyed look on Mettaton's face was nothing short of priceless for her. "Ugh, this getting really annoying really quick, Happsta!"
"I couldn't agree more, Nappsta. Time for the opening act to end, and the main show to start." Mettaton narrowed his eyes as one of the souls began shining brightly. Soon, an orange glove began forming over his fist, and he tightened it. It was glowing brightly, representing it's enhanced power from having absorbed the souls.
Classic Frisk gasped in realization. "It's the Tough Glove!"
"Oh geez..." Classic Chara mumbled, realizing that this was leading into something bad.
Mettaton struck the ground with the Tough Glove on his fist, which was strong enough to cause an orange shockwave that threw Classic Chara and Shift!Chara backwards, while Classic Frisk lost concentration the shaking and his green shield dropped, resulting in his soul returning to red. Flowey grinned evilly as more vines shot out to both Charas, entangling them both and slamming them both into the ground.
"Haha! Not so tough now, are ya?!" Flowey cackled wildly.
"CHARA!" Classic and Shift Chara gasped in panic. Mettaton would't have them interfering. The yellow soul glowed brightly in his chest. Soon enough the glowing yellow Toy Gun manifested in his hand. He began firing at them without a beat, and Flowey raised many friendliness pellets and began firing them at the duo. They were narrowly dodging them all, but Shift!Asriel was knocked into the ground by one of the combined bullets. He groaned while rubbing his head. "Those friendliness pellets aren't friendly at all..."
"Hey, quit hurting my brother/cinnamon roll!" Shift!Chara shouted angrily. Multiple Real Knives manifested over her, and they quickly cut the vines holding her and Classic Chara down. She got up quickly and lashes more Real Knives towards Mettaton. The Green Soul shined brightly, and a sheild manifested quickly. It deflected most of the knives, harmlessly bouncing them away. But she easily catches one of them and jumps at the shield, piercing it with enough force for a sizable hole. Classic Chara took advantage of the slight breach, raising his hand as a dark red fireball shoots towards the hole and watched it explode with immense destructive force.
Flowey grunted as he gently merged a bit of friendliness pellets towards Mettaton, slightly healing some of the damage sustained from the blast. "What kind of fire is that?! It exploded so violently!"
"Mom calls it Umbra-Pyrokinesis. Something like that." Classic Chara shrugged. "Anyway, you don't seem nearly as tough as you make yourself out to-" He was cut off by his soul turning blue and being pressed against the ground. He grunted in annoyance at being cut off, though he now knew what it felt like.
"HUMAN...I AM...SORRY..." Shift!Papyrus apologized as Flowey's grip on his soul tightened a bit more. "MY BLUE MAGIC...TENDS TO BE QUITE A FOECE TO BE RECKONED WITH..."
Compared to Sans, yours is pretty tame... Classic Chara mumbled to himself.
"Aha! Very good on holding him down, Papyrus!" Mettaton smirked confidently. With Chara's reflexes temporarily on hold, he was able to swiftly move up towards him, the blue soup glowing brightly as Ballet Shoes formed on his feet, and he kicked Chara across the face. He was sent flying through against a pillar. Flowey swiftly wrapped vines around him, briefly tying him to the pillar. Mettaton rushed forth again, taking a long keep and kicking at Chara through the pillar, sending him flying into the wall, making a decent sized crater.
Classic Chara's eyes were overshadowed by his hair. ...Huh. Never would I have thought that Mettaton could be regarded as a legitimate threat to my being. That actually hurt. He mentally said. Though he slowly grinned as he lifted his head up to meet Mettaton's eyes. He looked astonished. "Unfortunately for you, you'll have to do much better than that."
"Hm. It seems that this one is a glutton for punishment." He observed. Then he turned towards Classic and Shift!Frisk. "Though...I don't think the same can be said for those two!" The yellow soul glowed again, along with the manifestation of the Toy Gun, and fired multiple bullets, alongside Flowey's friendliness bullets. Shift!Asriel gasped and threw both of his paws forward, multiple stars canceling out most of the bullets. But a few of them grazed Classic Frisk's face, causing a bit of blood to run down his cheek.
The amusement on Classic Chara's face instantly turned into anger. Though he couldn't act on it quickly enough, as Flowey's vines wrapped around him again and smashed him into the floor, while also being restrained by Papyrus's blue magic. Shift!Chara swiftly cuts through the vines with multiple Real Knives, then once again shooting them towards Mettaton. She was a bit thrown off by the ensuing smirk, until she saw Shift!Papyrus stand right in front of him. She gasped and stopped the knives movement, narrowly avoiding impaling his midsection.
"Hehehe...you wouldn't want Papyrus dying too soon a second time in the same timeline, would you?" Flowey snickered. Tightening his vined on Shift!Papyrus's soul, he forced the lanky skeleton to move forward and launch multiple spiked bones towards Shift!Chara. She jumped forth, deflecting a majority of them with accurately timed knives cutting them into more pieces. Then he turned her soul blue and threw her against the wall, making yet another crater. It made her growl that they were using him as a shield. As long as Papyrus continued defending Mettaton and Flowey, she couldn't get near him without endangering him. His soul was highly fragile, Flowey could easily render him dust, just like he and Happsta did the first time in this timeline. The tiny vine threads were the only things keeping it together.
Shift!Chara glared angrily at them. Classic and Shift!Asriel were both reluctant to attack Papyrus or Mettaton, since Flowey had a strong grip on Papyrus's soul and was constantly providing Mettaton magic to heal and empower him. Not to mention the six souls empowering them both. This was proving to be quite an ordeal.
Classic Frisk gently lowered his head, as his soul slowly turned purple. Don't panic, we can do this. The Purple Soul Mode. This soul mode isn't just used when there's traps involved. Frisk managed to tap further into it's potential over the years, which includes, but not limited to, analysis, intellect, problem-solving skills, and Perseverance. Think carefully. Mettaton and Flowey are using Papyrus as a cover, so none of us can safely get close to them and do major damage. Flowey is in control of Papyrus, and he's simultaneously empowering Mettaton, and vice versa. If we can just separate Flowey from Mettaton, we can weaken the both of them and make this battle much easier. Papyrus still has a risk of turning back to dust, his soul is barely stable. Asriel can probably help with that...or we can convince Mettaton to let him go. His soul returns to it's normal color, and he looked up.
"Separate Flowey from Mettaton! The power is split between them, so their power should he halved afterwards."
"That's a swell idea." Shift!Chara noted as multiple glowing crimson Real Knives manifested all around her and instantly cuts away all of the vines attached to her. She landed on her feet with great balance. "Let's split you two up!"
"Retched little-" Flowey began, though was cut off by narrowly avoiding a white fireball aimed for his head. His eyes widened when it was revealed that it was merely a feint; Shift!Asriel jumped right over the duo and pulled Flowey by some of his vines, forcing him to detach from Mettaton. He then threw him against the pillar, though he held himself up by wrapping vines around two of them. "-RUNTS!" He finished, with even more anger then he was originally intending.
"Sorry!"
"Don't apologize, Rei! Now the little pest can't defend himself as well as he did before!" Shift!Chara grinned as more Real Knives manifested around her in a small arc. Each of them pointed towards Mettaton and shot themselves towards him. He was about to access the green soul to summon a shield, Shift!Asriel blasts him in the back with fire before he could react quickly. The distraction was large enough for the knives to pierce into him. He wasn't given much chance to recover, Classic Chara rushed forward and kicked at Mettaton again. He grunted, reeling back from the harsh blow.
"Feelin' glamorous yet?" After this, Chara would always deny that he enjoyed beating the stuffing out of Mettaton, even if it wasn't his Mettaton. Unfortunately his Mettaton wasn't as much of a jerk as this one, so he can't just go out and beat him up, no matter how much he wanted to. Torieo thought it was impolite.
"I find your humor to be immensely...annoying."
"That's pretty much why we're doin' it!" Shift!Chara tossed a Real Kinfe at his head. He was able to react faster, barely managing to summon a green shield to protect himself before it could hit. Classic Chara threw another dark fireball at the shield. Classic Asriel also threw a wave of fire towards the shield. The duo blasts completely shattered the shield on contact, blowing him backwards and filling most of the area with smoke. Unfortunately for him, his silhouette was still visible, which was enough for both Chara's to take advantage of.
Classic Chara looked towards Shift!Chara. They both nodded to each other in understanding, then focused on Mettaton. Flowey snarled at them and attempted to cut them off with sharp pointed vines and friendliness bullets. He also manipulated Papyrus into summoning multiple bones to attempt to stab at the both of them.
"Star Blazing!"
A plethora of multicolored bright stars clashed with the bullets and bones, overpowering them and hitting Flowey head on, nearly knocking him unconscious. His endurance wasn't that great now that he's separated from Mettaton.
Classic and Shift!Asriel had their paws outstretched, relieved that they stopped the assault in time and allowed their siblings another opening of attack. Shift!Papyrus was struggling to regain control of himself. Flowey was having a difficult time keeping him restrained.
"This is going well. Now...just make sure that Mettaton can't fight anymore. Just don't go too far." Classic Frisk suggested.
"So avoid killing him. Manageable." Classic Chara shrugged. "Shall we...Chara?"
"Let's do it, Chara." Shift!Chara smiled. She emphasized this as a plethora of Real Knives manifested around her. This time ranging around at least thirty. "Rei! Other Rei!"
"Combination!" Shift!Asriel declared as both he and Classic Asriel conjured fire magic in unison and pushed it towards Mettaton. He glared, forcing the green soul to summon a shield...only for it to falter at the last moment as he takes the intense burns of the fireballs.
My control over the souls are fading...?! They're gravitating...towards HIM?! He says this while looking towards Classic Asriel through the flames, eyes filled with disbelief. What IS he?!
Classic Chara moved forward alongside the trail of flames. Shift!Chara grinned semi-sadistically as she pushed all of the knives in the air towards Mettaton. Unable to shield himself with magic, he crossed his arms to protect himself in vain. He was cut all over his body from the barrage of knives, most of them falling to the ground after making impact. While one of the Real Knives still hovered in the air, Chara grabbed it by the handle. He pushed away the bad memories that tried to take over his focus.
"Chara!"
"Mm-hm."
Classic Chara tightened his grip on the Real Knife as he turned around towards Mettaton. Shift!Chara ran towards Mettaton with her own Real Knife in her hand. Both of their eyes glowed a sinister, threatening crimson, and struck at the same time with somewhat frightening unison.
SLASH!
Mettaton felt unrelenting pain fill his body as deep gashes appeared on his chest and on his back. Not enough to be fatal, but just enough to be heavily damaging. It was then he knew that he simply wouldn't be able to take anymore damage without getting killed, which was what Classic Frisk was counting on. He knew he'd stop, exhaust himself, and the souls would eventually rebel and begin to leave him, and that his control over the semi-revived Papyrus.
He was the patient one. And it's gotten him a rather decisive victory. Yet he didn't want the Charas to kill him. Why?
[Music Stop]
Asriel sighed. His paw reached outward, calling out to the souls. And he did so in a gentle, non-commanding manner. They didn't hesitate to go to him, eventually hovering over his head. Then he walked up to Shift!Papyrus and placed his paw over his chest, bringing out his soul. It was dsngerously close to shattering again and rendering Papyrus as dust. He allowed the soul to land in his paws, and applied his magic to it, slowly mending the pieces together until there were no cracks at all. When it was safe enough, he allowed the soul to phase back into his ribcage. Relied filled his face.
"There. All better."
"...You...you can bring back the dead?" Flowey gaped.
"No. My soul is pretty special, but it can't really go that far. But I can keep souls from shattering. Soul Healing, not really Soul Revival. You did the latter part for me, while I did the former pretty easily. Mom helped me learn that, somewhat. Some parts I had to figure out on my own, with little time to get used to it." Asriel said, thinking back to when he keot Sans from turning to dust even though he took a mortal blow from Chara. As long as the soul hasn't completely disappeared into nothingness, he can possibly heal them. The six souls still hovering over his head.
"...Why haven't you killed us yet?" Flowey muttered in complete disdain.
"HEY. WAIT A MOMENT. YOU'RE THE ONE WHO ATTACKED ME WHEN MY BACK WAD TURNED. I FELT SOMETHING PIERCE MY SOUL...IT WAS A VINE. ONE OF YOUR VINES, FLOWEY. YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED ME." Papyrus said slowly. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS, FLOWEY? HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING?"
"...how can you NOT be angry about me killing you?! Are you some form of advanced idiot?!"
Classic and Shift Chars instantly turned towards Flowey, with a very intense glare, and blackness emitting from their eyes and mouths. "Can it, weed. =)"Needless to say, Flowey was too terrified to even come up with a comeback. Or blink. Or do anything at all.
"Guys, wait." Classic Asriel stopped them from going any further. They were confused, but they stood back from Flowey and Mettaton. The latter lost the form that the souls were stabilizing, and was slowly reduced back to his original pink ghostly state. He stood before the ghost, who was looking miserable due to his failure, while not wanting him to see it on his face. Though the hostility is still definitely there. Asriel wasn't as affected by it as he probably hoped. "Happstablook...Nappstablook..."
"You insist on calling us by our real names. Very well." Happstablook said dully, still not wanting to make eye contact. "What are you planning to accomplish here? You've already claimed victory over us, what more do you possibly want?"
"I just figured, now that you've mellowed out, you'd be able to talk without lashing at us." Asriel said gently. "I can understand where you're coming from, how you came up to hating humans and monsters alike. The humans did a lot of devastation to monsters during the war, yet they took in Chara without so much as a second thought, and haven't done anything shout it ever since. Having to see someone of a species responsible for your imprisonment, I can see how that can cause some serious rage and discontent to those that are still bitter about the circumstances."
"What did you expect? I'm supposed to just accept that a human child is walking among us and no one has done anything about it ever since they tried the first time? Humans have earned my scorn for imprisoning us down here without so much as a fair warning, and monsters greatly disappointed me by just taking in one of them without much of a fight! I thought Sans would be against this travesty, but even he hasn't done anything! Normally this wouldn't be too infuriating, but he's just as distrustful of humans as I am, yet he let's it go just because she was taken in by his friend! I thought breaking that friendship would allow them would come to a better, more efficient conclusion to this. I succeeded, but that only served to do just that. Devastate their friendship and the human is STILL alive!"
Asriel sighed. "Happstablook...I can see why you and Nappstablook would be angry about this. But you can't use that as an excuse to try and destroy both races. It took a lot of work for humans and monsters to eventually start getting along again where I'm from, and we don't want anything to ruin it. We decided to put our differences aside and work together to atone for the weongdkings of both sides in the past. Staying at each others throats and holding a grudge...that's not going to help anyone."
"The monsters willingly accepted their punishment with little complaint. It wasn't too severe, but it was fair enough to still be considered one. Six children have died. So even with the Barrier broken, we had to wait six years in order to return, to match the set." Classic Frisk said. "Happstablook. Where we're from, we're friends."
"Reluctantly." Classic Chara deadpanned.
"Shush." Classic Frisk gently slapped his shoulder. All he did was shrug. "As I was saying, we're friends. And so is Nappstablook. We got you two to be with one another again after so long, ever since you left Nappstablook behind to become a star of the Underground."
"EXCUSE me?! I left my dear Blooky behind for my own selfish desires?! I have half a mind to slap myself silly for such a stupid notion! You don't just leave family behind like that!" Happstablook glared, frustrated by the past actions of his Classic Counterpart. Classic Frisk smiled. That was the opening he needed. Nappstablook seemed to realize this, and looked away from Frisk.
"I know you care about Nappstablook, and he really cares about you. In fact, I can call it a safe bet that the only reason he's doing anything bad at all, is because you are. This Nappstablook seemed a lot more desperate, to the point that he'd be willing to compromise right and wrong if it means staying with you and preventing you from leaving him behind." Frisk said a bit sadly. "Even in a different universe, Nappstablook will do whatever it takes to keep you happy, even if he isn't entirely happy himself. It's why when Happstablook left...he didn't bother to stop him."
"You may be annoying as hell in our universe. But like it or not, we still consider you our friend." Classic Chara said. "Which is why we're asking you to give up this stupid grudge on both races. I gave up on mine. And while I am oretty sure I still have a long way to go both mentally and emotionally, I've overall turned into a better person. Don't get me wrong, I say humans are still a sore spot for me. But if I'm gonna be happy with my friends and family, I have to learn to out my misanthropic tendencies asid. I'll tolerate them, because I still prefer living with the monsters." Chara shrugged. "Maybe one day I'll actually be able to fully accept them again. Unlikely, but I at least stopped saying it was impossible."
Happstablook blinked in astonishment, while Shift!Chara stared at her male, Classic self in astonishment. The former narrowed his eyes at him. "What changed your mind...?"
Classic Chara, without turning around, pointed towards Classic Frisk and Classic Asriel. "You see these two? These are my little brothers. I can't tell you the full story. Just chalk it up to this: They have been put through so much pain and agony because of terrible choices I made a long time ago. I didn't want to admit it was my fault, but I eventually took responsibility once they got me to mellow out. They stuck by me despite how easy it could have been to erase me, and how certain people wouldn't have blamed them for doing so. But no, they chose to spare me. To save me. My debt to them is virtually limitless." Chara closed his eyes. "I still have plenty of days to go...but I'm much better than I used to be. And I have them to thank for it. So that's why..." Chara reopened his eyes, as they began glowing an eerie blood crimson. "Anyone who messes with them and endangers their lives in my presence, messes with me. I don't care who they are, where they're from, or why they're doing what they're doing. There will be HELL to pay."
Asriel and Frisk were sheepishly rubbing their necks in response to Chara's rather chilling tone in the end. That really wasn't necessary, though they suppose he was just trying to emphasize his point.
Shift!Chara certainly agreed.
"Couldn't have said it better myself." Shift!Chara smiled as she wrapped her arms around Shift!Asriel and Shift!Frisk. "My bro and sis and I...we're a package deal. You don't mess with one and ignore the others. It's not a possible scenario to reach."
Shift!Frisk turned to Papyrus. "This goes especially for you, Papyrus. You need to reconcile with your brother."
"WHAT?"
"You've been given another chance at life, thanks to Happstsblook. Even if he didn't mean it at first. He may have brought you back as a pawn, but Asriel made the revival. Please don't waste this important second chance by holding your disappointment and grudge against him."
"That's right. Sans was just trying to do what was best for the monsters, even if they were morally wrong. He's clearly upset by the choices he made with this mindset, and he misses you dearly. If it weren't for hoping for reconciliation with Toriel, he would have turned to dust by now." Classic Asriel said. "Even if Sans prefers pragmatism over fairness, he still tries to do the right thing. Sometimes he just doesn't have a way to make it seem like it in the eyes of others."
"Don't spend the rest of your life hating what your brother did. Grudges between family never end well for said family, or for anyone." Classic Frisk said calmly. Classic Toriel was making this mistake by outright refusing to forgive Classic Asgore until Frisk decided enough was enough. By making her see her own flaws, she found that she was no better than the man she tried to hate, if not worse for refusing to face her mistakes, and had humbled herself enough to forgive him. "Understand the burden Sans had to endure. Please don't do this to yourself, or to him. Give him a chance."
Shift!Papyrus gazed at Classic Frisk, and then Shift!Frisk. The latter seemed to share her counterparts thoughts without hesitation. Shift!Papyrus thinks over these thoughts for a moment, before he sighed.
"NORMALLY I WOULD AT LEAST ATTEMPT TO AGREE...BUT BEING BACK FROM THE DEAD CAN REALLY SERVE TO CHANGE SOMEOME'S MIND." He reasoned, still looking towards Shift!Frisk. "...MAYBE, I CAN CHANGE MY MINDSET A LITTLE. MAYBE...I CAN BRING MYSELF TO FORGIVE MY BROTHER. I DON'T WANT WANT OUR RELATIONSHIP TO STAY AS IT IS...FULL OF DESPAIR AND REGRET."
"And that's precisely why you should go back to him. He's a mess without you, much more eprone to mistakes and grief. He needs you as much as you need him. As an older brother, I'm perfectly sure that I can turn to mine when i'm feeling down." Classic Chara said.
Shift!Papyrus smiled. Happstablook and Nappstablook were both baffled a bit. The Shift!Dreemurr Trio was surprised by how lenient the Classic Dreemurr Trio were being, but were ultimately accepting of it. Sparing the enemy was risky, but it looked like they would surely think about what they said. This seemed to be all that currently needed to be sai-
KISSY KISSY MEW MEW-!
Everyone jumped out of their skins at the sudden loud blaring music, which was quickly cut off. Classic Asriel turned towards the source, standing at the very entrance of the Judgement Hall.
"...Alphys?"
Shift!Alphys blushed brightly, thinking it to be quite a ludicrous time for her phone to go off. She shyly waved at them under her white sheet, managing a very quiet and small "Hi..." in the process.
"Huh. She really does wear that white sheet everywhere." Classic Asriel said curiously. He turned to the other side of the hall, the souls still hovering over his head. His Rainbow Soul glowed in his chest. He almost forgot...
(Hotlands)
"thanks for the ketchup, asgore. i know i caused quite a ruckus." Sans said, a bottle of ketchup in his hand. Toriel was sitting across from him, Undyne was sitting on the side, and Asgore lets down some Golden Flower tea. For some reason, the cameras have seriously glitched out and stopped working, which greatly worried him and Toriel alike, especially with that huge surge of power. They couldn't check on them.
"Oooh...I hope that the children are alright. I really do want to trust that they know what they're doing." Toriel said softly.
"i really didn't think the whole attacking your kids thing through. i feel like an idiot." Sans sighed.
"Because you really are an idiot." Undyne deadpanned. Sans didn't take offense, he did kind of deserve it.
Knock Knock
Toriel blinked. She turned to the lab doors and walked up to them. "Hello? Who's there?"
"Out-Of-Character."
"...Out-Of-Character who...?"
"It's Out-Of-Character for me to keep you waiting so long, sorry about that." Toriel immediately opens the lab door, revealing The Shift!Dreemurr Trio to be behind it, as well as Shift!Alphys. Shift!Chara waved. "Hey Mom."
"Oh my goodness, my babies!" Toriel immediately hugs all three of them tightly, kissing their heads repeatedly. Asgore and Undyne let out the deep breaths they were withholding. Sans just looked repentant upon seeing them. The trio were definitely happy and glad to see their parents again...however...
"...Mom...you have to remember your sizable motherly attributes. We'd rather not pass out from suffocation." Shift!Chara mumbled casually. Undyne rolled her eyes, trying not to look jealous.
"Apologies." Toriel gently released them and cupped her paws. She looked around and saw no sign of the Classic Dreemurr Trio. "Where are the others?"
"They chose not to come back with us. They have places to go, goals to reach." Shift!Asriel said. "The other me was very, very cool. And such a nice person like me. And REALLY strong. I wanna be that strong one day. Then I can definitely be considered an Absolute Deity, Protector of Monsters! Urahahahaha!"
"Indeed you shall. You're amazing like that." Shift!Chara smiled as she hugged Asriel's side and kissed her brother's fluffy cheek.
"Chara stop that! I'm trying to look amazing, I can't do that if you're constantly cuddling me!"
"That's too bad. Chara is feelin' Cuddly right now. :3" She retorted with a catlike grin as she held one of his ears and nuzzles it happily. "My wittle bwother is so fwuffy~a fwuffy cinnamon roll~"
"Charaaaaaaaaa!" Shift!Frisk giggled as Shift!Asriel tried in vain to push his older sister away, his embarrassment very clearly made known to them.
Undyne noticed Shift!Alphys, and her mood took a turn for the positive. "Yo! Alphys, I didn't think you'd be visiting today!"
"Neither did I. Also, you all aren't going to believe this. I saw this epic battle take place in the Judgement Hall. Obviously the children won...but look!" She pointed behind her and Shift!Papyrus walked in through the entrance and managed a wave.
"HELLO!"
Sans promptly dropped his bottle of ketchup. "...pap...?"
"YES, BROTHER. A STRANGE TURN OF EVENTS, I'M DEFINITELY SURE ABOUT THAT. BUT I'VE BEEN REVIVED DUE TO THE ACTIONS OF AN ENEMY, AND THE ACTIONS OF THOSE OTHER THREE CHILDREN MADE IT PERMANENT. IT WAS A RATHER HARROWING EXPERIENCE. REGARDLESS, COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD CAN REALLY MAKE YOU RETHINK A LOT OF THINGS. IT MADE ME REALIZE SOMETHING."
"...what...what's that...?"
Papyrus walked up to Sans and placed his hands on his shoulders. "YOU WERE WILLING TO DO WHATEVER YOU COULD FOR THE BETTERMENT OF MONSTERKIND, EVEN IF IT MEANT DIRYING YOUR OWN HANDS. YOU SURELY SHOW REGRET FOR HAVING TO DO SO, WHICH IS WHY YOU DIDNT TELL ME. WHAT'S DONE IS DONE, WE CANNOT CHANGE THAT...SO I CANNOT SIMPLY LEAVE THINGS THE WAY THEY WERE. I SHOULDN'T HAVE LEFT YOU TO SUFFER ALONE, SANS. FAMILY SHOULDN'T DO THAT TO ONE ANOTHER."
Toriel didn't bring herself to come between them. She didn't know how this was possible, but she refused to ruin the moment, regardless of how it's happening.
Sans sighed. "...it's been...really hard without you, bro. being a solo king...sucks. i just don't have it in me to lead an entire kingdom, appeal to their hope for freedom, and their happiness in the meantime. there are so many things i wished i could have handled better, i almost ended up completely and helplessly alone..."
"...WELL...YOU ARE NOT ALONE ANYMORE. I'M BACK. AND I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE."
"...that's...that's really good to know...pap..." Sans brought himself to wear a genuine grin again. Papyrus didn't think it was enough. He pulled the shorter skeleton in for a hug. He did nothing to resist, he just hugged him back in slight fear of him disappearing again.
Asgore sighed. He then reached over to Shift!Chara and picked her up effortlessly, and placed her on his shoulder. "Well then, my child...it seems that you're finally out of danger from King Sans. Now that he has his brother back, he'll begin healing even further."
"That's definitely a plus. We didn't need any more conflict sffecting our relationships." Shift!Frisk said. Asgore smiled as he picked her up and set her on his other shoulder.
"Hey, Alph. You were watching that battle, right? Where did the other three go? You said they weren't staying, did they give any idea of exactly where they were heading?"
"No, I'm afraid not. They just said they have more places to go."
"They came to our universe in search of something important. I have good reason to believe that they'll be doing this for other universes as well. Best we ourselves can do is wish them luck on their mission." Asgore said.
Shift!Asriel smiled as he nodded in agreement. "Yep! They received the blessing of the Absolute Deity, God of Hyperdeath! Of COURSE they're going to be fine!"
"You're such an amazing hero, my child." Toriel snickered as she hugged him from behind and kissed the top of his head.
"Thanks Mommy...though I still feel a bit jealous that other me grew horns and I didn't grow mine yet."
"You've got nothing to worry about, Rei. Soon enough you'll grow your horns and become even more amazing than you already are. The Absolute Deity can only improve into better heights of awesomeness." Shift!Chara reassured him.
"Golly Chara, do you truly think so?" He turned to her in curiosity. She just smiled back with the utmost confidence.
"I know so. The proof was right in front of you, after all~"
(New Home)
"Barrier has been successfully broken in this universe." Classic Asriel said, as the human souls disappeared into the afterlife, willingly. He also made sure to destroy the True Reset Button so that no one would lose their memories, and that the progress couldn't be utterly undone. He thought he'd quickly take care of that one issue before they left for the next universe. They have their first piece of Gaster and managed to deal with the persistent problems of this universe to the best of their ability. Their Shift! Counterparts would have to do the rest themselves.
Classic Chara sighed a bit. "Guys...this universe is pretty unique when it comes to our history. Our family. Could that have been how we could have ended up, had the circumstances lined up nearly parallel with theirs?"
"...Well, it could have been. But there isn't a lot of use in wondering about that right now. We're happy the way we are now, even if it took a lot of work to actually get there." Frisk said. Chara looked like he was still in a deep sense of curious wonder, but nonetheless sets it aside for now.
"So what now? You're just going to leave us without making sure we don't get into trouble?" Flowey grumbled towards them. "How do you know we won't just try something again?"
"Because even if you tried, the Dreemurrs wouldn't let you do it. Don't underestimate them anymore." Asriel told them a bit sternly. Happstablook was taking this advice to heart, seeing how these three handled the situation. Though he was most curious about Asriel himself.
The power you've put out today was nothing less of extraordinary. And yet you still hold yourself back. You don't like having to use force, but you will if the situation calls for it. The use of lethal force is something you despise even more. Someone with your type of kindness, and that kind of immense , glamorous power...I never stood a chance. Even if you yourself didn't know it...
"Time to go, boys. We have more pieces of Gaster to gather." Chara stated quickly.
"Right." Asriel and Frisk nodded as the latter took out the multiverse remote, and opened another rift. With haste, the three of them jumped through it, and it disappeared behind them with a blink of light.
Flowey huffed. "Bah! Who does he think he is, trying to tell us what to-"
"That's enough, Blooky."
"Happstsblook..?"
"The young one is right. Hanging onto my hatred so tightly...really isn't good for us. I got unnecessarily wild. That doesn't suit my glamor at all. The world moves on with or without us, Nappsta, and I'd rather we not get left behind. I want to keep up with the trends, not try to destroy them because they don't agree with me." The pink ghost said strongly.
The flower that Nappstablook possed looked shocked at Happstsblook's radically changed outlook. "What...what are you saying...?"
Happstablook smiled. "To put it simply, perhaps we are the ones that need to change..."
(?)
The Dreemurr Trio landed on their feet this time. They looked around, planning to take in their surroundings this time.
...they found nothing but endless white.
"What...? What's going on?" Asriel wondered.
"This can't be right...the remote isn't broken. At least...I don't think it is..." Frisk said as he checked it himself. "No, it's not broken."
"Good. It would be really disastrous if Geno Alphys carefully crafted that remote and it doesn't even last too long." Chara huffed. He didn't know what was up with this place. It looked so barren, and it felt so...draining. Not to mention it was uncomfortably quiet. "This isn't a universe, is it? Because this is a pretty boring one if it is."
"I don't think this is a universe. Something feels...wrong." Frisk said. "I don't know what it is..."
"Me neither." Asriel sighed. "I hope we didn't already get lost. That would be a golly gosh darn shame...and very problematic."
Chara looked around the endless white. For some reason it felt...familiar. Very familiar. He thought back to when he spent his time in the Void. This place feels exactly like that, but at the same time drastically different. It felt even more empty. Even more silent. And the most concerning part, he felt weaker. He couldn't come up with an explanation for any of these sensations, nor could he even figure out what this place was. It felt like the Void, but it wasn't at the same time.
...and why did he feel like they were in unbelievably mortal danger all of a sudden? Chara was actually feeling the need to retreat from this place as soon as possible, without delay.
"Frisk...take us somewhere. ANYWHERE. This place isn't safe, it's dangerous. We have to get out of here now!" His instincts were screaming at him to take flight over fight, and he wasn't going to question them this time.
Asriel and Frisk were taken aback. This was the first time in a while that Chara was showing true utter panic and fear. Something seriously struck at his nerves. It didn't take long before Asriel and Frisk had the same sense of foreboding, and they looked at one another, before turning to Chara with immense concern. "We feel it too, Chara. It's not safe to stay here. We'll go right now and-"
A hand was raised...
[Music: Errorvania: DJ X Noize]
"W-Wha?!" Asriel gasped, filled with even more panic than before. All of a sudden, the trio was suspended in midair, entangled in what seems to be a mess of blue threads.
"The hell is this?!" Chara shouted in outrage. Frisk was able to catch wind of the one responsible.
"...S...Sans?!"
The one before them looked like a Sans. But they also saw that his skull, jacket, and slippers were pitch black. His shirt and legs were crimson red. His fingers were yellow, which was also where the blue threads were coming from. His eyesockets were red as well, with yellow on the right and blur in the center of the left. And most eerily, his body was constantly emitting the word ERROR. His yellow teeth spread into a smug, psychotic grin.
"Heh. Aren't you kiddos a little young to be runnin' around in the Multiverse?~"
Me: Good news. Storyshift Arc is over. Bad news...this guy. Take this as a sign for things to get really dark really fast. *eyes widen as mouth is suddenly covered by blue threads* Mmph?!
Error: Oh lookie here, a cliff. Would be a real damn shame if we left your readers...hanging off of it. hehehehe...
