Faye and Frisk were staring at each other. They were a distance apart.

Faye had a sad look on her face. She was hugging herself, her lip trembling.

"You are different than everyone else," a raspy, unusual voice told Faye. Faye was very young. She was wearing a dress and her hair was down. Her ribbon was brand-new. She stared at a child ahead of her who was completely grey. Their eyes were hidden by hair.

"W... who are you?" she asked. They almost looked... familiar.

"I am a giver of powers," the child responded. "It is because of me that a friend of yours may spontaneously develop some kind of superhuman ability on your journey."

"W-what...?" Faye asked. "'Journey'...?"

"It surprises me that you are confused," the child commented, tilting their head. "Should you not already know about the journey?"

"Um..." Faye looked away. "Well... I had this weird dream where I was... climbing up a mountain with B-Brayden, this nice kid and some other kids...?"

"Well..." the child had a strange look on their face. "That is part of the journey. You will understand more later on."

"... okay..." Faye replied. She was very confused. She didn't even know where she was right now!

"Fear not, young one," the grey child said. "Or perhaps, fear very much. I have not told you everything yet. You are different from the others. You do not need my help to acquire powers. You are one of the lucky SOULs that already has them."

"W-what...?" Faye's eyes widened.

"I know you can predict the future, but I also believe you can do something related to time... and another power that I really know nothing about." the child replied.

"Something related to time..." Faye mumbled.

Suddenly, present Faye remembered the Sans fight. She'd had a plan. She watched Frisk, who was about to fall off the wall. As they did, she held out her hand. Time slowed down, eventually stopping. Frisk was hovering in mid-air. Sans was frozen. Everyone was frozen. Faye turned towards the wall of bones. She had to be quick. This power only lasted a few seconds. She held out her other hand. The bones turned cyan. The colour of her soul. Now that they were cyan, she could make them disappear.

"I... I can't tell anyone about this..." Faye looked down at her feet, trembling. The grey child tilted their head.

"Why?" they asked, somewhat incredulous.

"They'll all think I'm... a monster..." she said. She could see it in her head. "I'm some... crazy... witch, a terrible person..." She wiped her eyes, feeling almost ashamed. "Nothing good will happen to me."

"Hmm," the child sounded thoughtful. "Understandable, but I should hope you change your mind. If they find out by themselves... then well..." They had a dark look on their face. "It will not end well for you."

Faye shoved Cody out, below Frisk. She took a breath, and then time resumed. Everything was going to be okay.

"I'll... keep that in mind..." Faye said. "Thank you." She looked at the child. She bit her lip. "Your name... is... Chara, right?"

"Yes," Chara replied. "I am 'Chara', the fallen human." They paused. "Do not forget my words. Don't forget what you are fighting for, human."

Faye stared at Frisk, hugging herself. She didn't want it to come to this. She didn't want to hurt that child. Despite everything... she couldn't get their smiling face and kind words out of mind. They had meant so much to her. She didn't want to believe they were a horrible person.

No wonder she had hid while they were fighting everyone else. She couldn't bare to hit them.

But now... they had gone too far. They'd killed him. Everyone. As much as she didn't want to...

"If... you're still my friend..." Faye looked at Frisk, her eyes sad. "You'll... stop all of this. You'll put your weapons down and you'll reset." She wiped her eyes. "It'll be like none of this ever happened."

Frisk took a step towards her. The grip on their sword was shaking. They weren't totally confident about hurting her either. But they had no choice. She was in their way.

And anyone in their way would die.

Frisk bent their knees. They held out their sword, staring at the girl. Then without another blink, they ran towards her, picking up speed. Faye stood there silently, her eyes closed. She watched them approach her. She took a deep breath.

Frisk held their sword at her chest. They moved their arm back...

As they brought their sword-wielding arm down, time stopped. Frisk was frozen. They couldn't move. But Faye could.

"I'm so sorry..." she said. She held out her toy-knife, a small smirk on her face. "... so sorry for not killing you earlier."

Suddenly, she stabbed Frisk in the heart. She resumed time, allowing the child to fall to their knees. They clenched their chest, which was bleeding red and black liquids. They breathed heavily, their eyes watery. Faye was looking down at them with a creepy smile.

"Don't tell me you don't deserve it," she said. "You deserve every last hit you get, you idiot. Sure you can heal yourself, but I'll find a way to break you. I'll tire you out. I'll make you so sick of this world you'll leave and never come back. I will not let you win. I don't care if we have to wait here for a hundred years, I will stop you."

Frisk clenched their chest. HATE rushed through them. It healed the wound in their chest. Barely. Any stronger and they would be dead. They stood up, their signature red spear flashing out of their right eye. Faye grinned.

"I guess this is going to get pretty interesting then, huh?" she asked. Frisk ran towards her, holding their sword out.

"You idiot," Faye smirked. "You haven't seen ANYTHING yet."

Faye glowed cyan. Frisk stepped back, giving her an odd look. She was... transforming? Frisk recognized what she was transforming into.

HyperFaye.

Faye was now wearing a long, light cyan cloak that was split into two around her midsection. She was wearing turquoise leggings underneath it and blue boots. The cloak covered her arms like a t-shirt. A picture of her soul was on her chest. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail, yet she still had her ribbon. Translucent, light blue fairy-like wings were attached to her back.

Frisk observed her, their head tilted.

"My secret," Faye said. Her voice sounded... more powerful. "You're very lucky, Frisk. You're the first one who gets to see this form in action! Oh, and everyone reading, of course."

Frisk glanced at their sword.

Wake up...

The nightmare never ends...

The eighth human jumped towards Faye, swinging their sword at her. She flew out of the way, her hair flowing behind her. She held up her toy knife, which had turned cyan. It had extended in length, and did not look like a toy anymore.

"What does that mean...?" Faye asked Chara.

"You will know one day," Chara told her.

Now Faye knew. She was fighting for the whole world.

She slashed her knife against Frisk's sword.

"You may've got past the others, but you won't get past me," she told them. She thought about Brayden. She didn't even try to protect him, despite all the times he'd tried to protect her. She felt like a horrid friend.

Her eyes glowed. "I'll stop you. That is a promise."

She sliced Frisk across the chest, smashing them into the ground. They quickly stood up and summoned red spears. Faye flew out of the way, her palms glowing. She raised her arms, causing a blue patch to appear underneath Frisk. They jumped off the patch, narrowly avoiding getting skewered.

"Everything we've done so far comes down to this," Faye sighed. "The 'finale'. This is the ending of this story. But... what is there after a story ends? What happens? There is nothing there for us anymore. In the end, no character in a story chooses their own fate. Our story will end eventually and we'll be stuck that way forever." She shrugged. "So... why bother trying to destroy something that's just going to end anyway? This isn't a video game. You can't just be reset by any random old player. You're stuck in words, in time, and you can't go anywhere or do anything."

"The world is not real," Chara admitted. "I know it. It is just a story, a hyperbole. That is what this timeline is. It isn't like other timelines. It is just a story. A 'fanfiction'. There is no more reality here than in any other timeline."

"... a fanfiction?" Faye asked.

"Yes," Chara replied, their head down. "We are just words that are read. We are nothing more. Not that it is better in other timelines. There we are just pixels on a screen, programmed to do certain things. We will never have any control over own destiny. We can only pretend."

They made a face. "It's almost as if... somewhere, we are just... fictional characters."

Frisk held their head down. They stared at the girl for a few moments. Then suddenly, they jumped up, aiming their sword at her chest. She moved out of the way.

"You really are determined..." she admired, smirking. "Nothing will change your mind."

She swung her knife at them again. The child moved out of the way. Faye clenched her fist, stopping time. She approached Frisk with her sword. She had to be quick. She could only freeze time for a few seconds...

"That sounds... sad..." Faye looked down.

"Don't be sad," Chara told her. "You are alive. Live and enjoy yourself. If you're lucky, you'll get a happy ending."

Faye couldn't get her mind off old memories. She was too distracted. Time resumed and Frisk sliced her arm. She held the injured arm with her other arm and flew into the air. She glanced nervously down at the child.

"Can't get distracted..." she mumbled. "I... I have to focus..."

Frisk summoned a Gaster Blaster. Faye sliced it down with her knife. Frisk propelled themself into the air; Faye flew higher, just dodging their swinging sword. The two stared at each other.

"Why did you have to kill them...?" Faye asked them. "You didn't have to kill anyone, but you did. You killed them all." She wiped her eyes. Frisk glanced away. "... why? Why would you..." She clenched her fists. "You killed my best friend and... and I didn't even get to say goodbye! Now they're all gone and there's no one left but me!" Her palms glowed blue. "Even if this is all a story, it matters to me! He mattered to me!" She sobbed. "YOU MONSTER."

The ground turned cyan beneath Frisk's feet. They tried to jump off, but they couldn't move. They stared up at Faye, who was giving them a sadistic smile. They held out their red shield just in time as a giant knife appeared beneath them. They were nearly skewered alive. They threw a few spears at the girl; she swiftly dodged. She flew high into the air and watched Frisk for a few moments. They jumped up towards her, holding out their sword. Faye grinned and grabbed their arm as they approached her. She slammed them into the ground.

"Aww, you're so sweet," Faye accepted a golden flower Frisk had got for her.

"Not as sweet as you." Frisk said, smirking. Faye blushed and looked away. Then she looked down. Frisk noticed her somber expression.

"Are you okay?" they asked her gently.

"... nothing..." Faye said. She couldn't get the feeling out of her heart that they were...

"Everything you've done," Faye said, her voice choked up with tears. "Everyone you've hurt..."

She sliced her knife at the child again. Black goop trickled out of their eye. "I... I'll make you regret it!"

Faye clenched her fists, her hair flowing around her. Her eyes glowed blue. She threw a wave of knives at Frisk. They jumped out of the way, but she wasn't finished yet. She froze time, and this time, didn't let herself get distracted. She stabbed the child in the back with her knife. They fell to their knees. Hate was healing the hole in their chest, but while they were focused on that, they didn't realise the ground was trapping them in one place.

"You'll regret ever coming here!" Faye thundered.

She raised her hand, and an assortment of translucent, cyan swords came up through the blue patch, stabbing the eighth human. Blood and black goop was everywhere. Faye then trapped them in a cage made of the same stuff. Frisk was frozen solid, their body skewered. They couldn't move. They couldn't think. They were completely stuck.

"You'll never get out of that, Frisk," Faye told them. "You'll be stuck there forever... until you get so sick of it and finally leave. I'll wait as long as I have to. You'll never get out."

She sat on the ground, cross-legged and watched the eighth human with a creepy grin.

Frisk's mouth foamed. Blood was dripping down their cheeks. The pain was so severe it was numbing them. They could barely see. They felt only darkness and pain.

Faye was staring at them. Frisk noticed she was trembling. Frisk closed their eyes.

But they refused to let this be the end. Nothing would stand in their way.

Frisk smiled.

Suddenly Frisk broke out of the cyan prison, their sword in grip. Faye was so startled she didn't have enough time to react to them slicing her across the chest. She quickly flew into the air, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"How...?" she asked. "How did you..."

Frisk continued glitching black and red. They jumped towards the girl; she narrowly dodged. Her chest was aching. Red was covering her clothing. She was losing health.

"How..." she mumbled. "It... it was... all planned, you couldn't have..."

Frisk had become insanely quick. They zipped behind Faye, cutting off her wings. She fell to the ground, feeling weaker than ever.

"H... help me..." she croaked. She weakly held up her sword at the approaching Frisk, but she knew she was hopeless. They were too strong. What was she thinking, trying to fight them?

She tried to stop time, but it drained her. She could barely move. It's like she was caught in one of her own traps.

She felt Frisk stab her through the abdomen, which caused her to return to her normal form. She sniffled, pain overwhelming her mind. Tears were covering her face. Blood was everywhere. Frisk turned and started walking away.

"F... Frisk..." Faye croaked, looking at the determined human. Frisk stopped, but didn't turn around. "Don't forget what you're leaving behind... d-d-don't forget everyone who cared about you... think about everyone who loves being here, alive... you're taking so much away from people who don't deserve it... just because you're... afraid..." She coughed, her eyes going grey. "It... it's such a... beautiful day today... nature is... so pretty... so..."

She stopped moving.

Frisk paused for a few moments. They bit their lip, then continued walking. The Erase Button was so close...

It was the only thing their mind could focus on anymore.

Then a familiar voice rang out from behind them.

"Child."

Frisk turned around. They were face to face with the one they'd feared most.

Chara.