Chapter 13: Pretension
"Hehe, oh which one of you should I kill first? The comedian? The toaster?" Wondered Chara loud, referring to Sans and Mettaton.
"M-my child?" Stammered Toriel.
"Alright punk, you're not going anywhere until you tell us what you did to Frisk!" Yelled Undyne as she pointed a spear at Chara.
Chara then jumped off the couch and dove at Undyne, then slashed at her with a knife, but Sans quickly grabbed Undyne and used a short cut to move her out of harm's way. Chara then launched an attack at Alphys, but Mettaton scooped the doctor up in his arms and rushed her up the stairs. Suddenly a circle of blue bones came out of the floor and began rotating around Chara. "OTHER HUMAN, YOU MUST STOP THIS AT ONCE! WE CAN HELP YOU, JUST GIVE US A CHANCE!" Called Papyrus.
Chara only chuckled and then used her knife to break the bones that were keeping her in place. Then, without warning, Chara was blasted by a fire ball.
"Papyrus, get Toriel out of here." Ordered Asgore as he threw another fire ball, only to have Chara knock it away with her knife.
Papyrus took Toriel by the hand and pulled her out the front door. "TORIEL, I HOPE YOU HAVE YOUR CAR KEYS; WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE FAST!" Said Papyrus.
However, both Papyrus and Toriel were then pulled upward by Sans's telekinesis and placed on the roof, where they saw Sans, Undyne, Mettaton, and Alphys. "What are you all doing up here?" Asked Toriel.
"We all figured Chara wouldn't look for us up here." Said Sans.
"Chara?" Asked Toriel.
Oops. Thought Sans.
"Sans, having weird dreams about Chara is one thing, but saying she is responsible for what's happening to Frisk is-" Toriel had been yelling, but Sans interrupted her.
"Tori, keep your voice down. Listen, there's something that me and Frisk have been hiding from you all, and according to Frisk, that thing downstairs is Chara." Explained Sans.
"Hiding something? Sans, what are you talking about?" Asked Toriel.
"Alright, where to start… who here believes in time travel?" Asked Sans. Alphys, Papyrus, and Mettaton then raised their hands. "Well, a long time ago, my and Papyrus's father worked with the substance now called liquid determination, the substance that gives people the power to change fate. During the experiment that led to our father's death, I was exposed to high amounts of the substance and ever since I've been able to retain memories from timelines that get altered when everyone else forgets." Explained Sans. "Frisk, however, has so much determination in her soul that she can actually turn back time and change things she doesn't like, even after being killed. Have you ever wondered why Frisk gets perfect scores on every test? Or why she's always prepared for anything we have planned to surprise her? It's because she uses her power to do things perfectly every time. A long time ago, Frisk did something terrible, she killed every monster in the underground, and when she reset the timeline again, I remembered and confronted her."
"Wait, is that why you cried and hugged me the morning Frisk came out of the ruins?" Asked Papyrus in a whisper.
"Yeah, I was really happy for you to be alive. Anyway, when I confronted Frisk, she cried and told me about a demon called Chara that made her kill us all. I wouldn't have believed her, if it weren't for the fact that after Frisk cut out my heart, I saw her change into… well that thing downstairs. To be honest I'm still having trouble buying the whole, Chara is pure evil, Frisk is pure good thing, but the point is after that Frisk finally let us stay on the surface without resetting. So, I promised myself I would forgive Frisk, but it seems Chara is back anyway." Finished Sans.
"Sans, that seems pretty far-fetched." Said Toriel.
"And Sans, if you knew so much about our father, why didn't you tell me?" Asked Papyrus.
"I'm sorry Pap, but even if I did tell you about our father, you would forget the next time Frisk reset. But since I'm already talking about it, our father's name was-" Sans was cut off when Asgore was thrown through the roof and landed in the back yard.
"You won't get away that easily." Said Chara as she jumped through the hole onto the roof, but before she could even acknowledge the others, she groaned and put a hand over her face. "Too bad, I was never very good at holding my creepy face for too long, but in Frisk's body it's almost impossible." Said Chara as she moved her hand, revealing that her mouth was back to normal, and her right eye was now back to being white with a red iris and a black pupil. Chara's left eye however, remained unchanged.
"C-Chara, is that you?" Asked Toriel.
"You're not worth talking to." Replied Chara as she prepared to attack Toriel, but Sans quickly put up a wall of bones to stop Chara's attack.
"Alright kid, I think we both know where this is headed. So, let's just get to the point." Said Sans as he used a short cut to move down to the street in front of the house.
"In that big a hurry to die comedian?" Asked Chara sarcastically as she jumped off the roof and landed in front of Sans. "You know comedian, this didn't end very well for you last time." Said Chara.
"True, but it didn't end well for you any of the times before that." Replied Sans. "It's a beautiful night tonight, birds are sleeping, flowers are growing; on nights like these, kids like you, should be burning in hell." Said Sans as his left eye burned blue with magic. Sans lifted his left arm and five Gaster blasters appeared around him.
"WOWIE! SANS CAN SUMMON FIVE GASTER BLASTERS? I CAN ONLY MAKE ONE!" Cried Papyrus.
"I didn't even know Sans could fight." Admitted Toriel. "He always seemed too lazy."
Sans's Gaster blasters then began firing at Chara, but she dodged between the blast and swung at Sans with her knife. Sans easily side-stepped Chara's attack, but then Chara swung at Sans with her other hand, revealing that she had a second knife. This time Sans barely dodged the attack, having the sleeve of his jacket cut by it. Sans then used his telekinesis to send Chara flying down the street. When Chara landed, Sans pointed his left arm at her and sent several bones flying at her. Chara used her two knives to destroy most of the bones, but for just an instant Frisk fought back against Chara, slowing her movement and letting a bone hit her left wrist and making her drop that knife. Papyrus's right eye then burned red with magic as he used his own telekinesis to pull the knife Chara had dropped away from her.
Chara growled and Sans joked "Being disarmed by the one person you weren't afraid of? That's pretty humerus." Chara then lifted her left arm, revealing that she once again had an extra knife. "Seriously? Where are you keeping those things?" Asked Sans as Chara charged at him and began a long series of slashes that Sans dodged between.
"Wow, I didn't know Sans had it in him." Admitted Undyne as she watched Sans use his telekinesis to throw Chara down the street again.
"I d-don't think it's safe for us to just sit on the roof and watch the fight." Said Alphys. "We should use Toriel's car to get out of here."
"Well, that's enough warming up. Guess I should get serious now." Said Sans just before he lifted his left arm, sending a wave of bones down the street. Chara moved around the bones, only to have three Gaster blasters fire at her. Chara jumped over the blast but was immediately caught by Sans's telekinesis and thrown toward a row of jagged bones. Thinking quickly, Chara threw the knife from her right hand and destroyed the bones, but as soon as the bones were destroyed, Papyrus used his telekinesis to take the knife away. When Chara landed, she turned to face the group and chuckled. Reaching behind her head, Chara pulled out another red knife, just like the rest. "Wow, that's one messed up part trick." Joked Sans as he pointed his left arm at Chara and sent a swarm of bones flying at her. Chara used her two knives to destroy most of the bones but then had three Gaster blasters fire at her. This time Chara moved between the blast as she charged at Sans. When Chara reached him, she began another series of slashes, which Sans dodged with a bit more difficulty. Sans then used his telekinesis to toss Chara into the air and then slam her into the street, he began repeating this process several times.
"WE NEED TO HELP SANS." Cried Papyrus suddenly.
"Do we really? He seems to be doing ok." Said Undyne.
"THIS FIGHT IS REALLY WEARING SANS OUT. THAT FACE HE'S MAKING… IT'S THE SAME ONE HE MAKES RIGHT BEFORE HE FALLS ASLEEP WHILE I'M TALKING TO HIM." Explained Papyrus.
"Well, come on it's not like Sans would fall asleep in the middle of a fight. Even he's not that lazy." Replied Undyne. When Sans slammed Chara into the street one last time she quickly rolled out of the way before three bones, much smaller than the others, shot out of the ground. Sans finally ran out of energy and fell asleep once again.
Chara stood up and despite being covered in bruises and blood from Sans's last attack, she laughed and leapt into the air. Chara dove at Sans with her two knives extended, intending to land a killing blow, but she soon found her blades lodged in something else. At the last moment, Papyrus had moved in front of Sans and summoned a large Gaster blaster to use as a shield. As Chara struggled in vain to free her knives, Undyne ruffly threw Sans over her shoulder, waking him up, and said "Sans, we're having a serious talk about your narcolepsy later." As she carried him off.
"I'M TRULY SORRY ABOUT THIS. IT WON'T KILL YOU, BUT IT WON'T TICKLE EITHER." Apologized Papyrus as he snapped his fingers and the Gaster blaster began to charge. Chara realized her legs were dangling in front of the blaster's mouth and that they would be burned if she didn't move. Just before the Gaster blaster fired its large red energy beam down the street, Chara kicked it in the nose and flipped over it.
"PAPYRUS!" Screamed Undyne and Sans when they saw Chara diving at Papyrus. Papyrus braced himself for Chara's attack, but instead Chara landed on his neck and used him as a springboard to launch herself at her real target.
"You're dead comedian." Yelled Chara as she dove at Sans with her hand outstretched and her fingers bent like claws.
"SANS." Called Papyrus, then without thinking Papyrus took a step forward and found himself standing between Chara and Sans. When Chara saw that Papyrus was about to swing at her with a blue bone, she quickly put one foot on the ground and froze in place. Papyrus swung his blue bone upward and cut Chara's palm, despite the fact she held it still.
"Ow! That actually hurt." Cried Chara, before she thought about what had happened. I was cut? By that idiot? Thought Chara as she growled in anger. "That… actually… HURT!" Screamed Chara as her face turned demonic. "I'll kill you! You-" Chara was cut off when she was suddenly hit in the neck by Asgore's trident, which then drove her into a tree. Despite not being pierced by the trident, Chara's neck was caught between two of the prongs and pinned to a tree.
"Asgore?" Questioned Sans as he saw the monster king standing nearby, badly injured. Mettaton blew the horn of Toriel's car, revealing that he, Toriel, and Alphys were already in it and ready to drive off.
"Go. I'll hold her off." Ordered Asgore while Chara struggled to, and succeeded in, freeing herself from the trident.
"Not a chance Asgore." Said Sans as he used his telekinesis to throw Asgore into the back seat of the car. When Sans, Papyrus, and Undyne all made it in, Mettaton prepared to drive but saw Chara standing in front of the car with yet another knife.
"You're not going any-" Chara was cut off when Mettaton floored it and she had to jump to the side to avoid being ran over. "NOT COOL TOASTER! I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT." Cried Chara as she chased after the car.
"We can't leave Frisk like this!" Cried Toriel.
"Mettaton speed up!" Cried Alphys.
"That kid is seriously fast when she's hopped up on demon juice." Said Undyne as she saw Chara catching up to them.
"METTATON, WE HAVE TO GO BACK AND HELP!" Cried Papyrus.
"Mettaton, don't you dare stop the car!" Yelled Asgore.
"Would anyone else like to drive?" Asked Mettaton sarcastically. Then, without warning, Chara dropped onto the hood of the car and prepared to stab Mettaton through the windshield.
However, before Chara could act, the amber of Frisk's eyes returned, and she cried "Everyone. I won't be able to help you again. Mettaton, hit the brakes."
Mettaton did as he was told and the inertia sent Frisk/Chara flying into a tree, seemingly knocking her out. Mettaton then turned the car around and drove off.
Chara slowly made her way to her feet and began limping back to Toriel's house before she fell to her knees in the lawn next to it. "Chara, why are you torturing them? You said we were going to save Asriel. Not kill my friends." Cried Frisk.
"Stop whining, Frisk. I'll explain, the six human souls that Asriel used to break the barrier all left Asriel one sixth of their souls to give him a soul of his own. I just need to absorb that soul and Asriel will be with me forever. After that, I can reset to before any of this happened, and you can go right back where you were." Explained Chara.
"Why are you trying to kill my friends then?" Asked Frisk.
"Asriel's new soul is very powerful, I need to gain execution points, LOVE, and maybe use some of my soul eater skills, so that I can become strong enough to kill him and take his soul." Explained Chara.
"But-" Frisk was cut off as Chara spoke again.
"You don't have to worry about a thing. I can handle this." Said Chara.
"…Ok, just… please stop trashing my body. There was no reason for you to walk barefoot through Snowdin town and my feet are already bleeding again from that car chase you sent us on." Said Frisk submissively.
Chara looked own and saw the extent of her injuries and said "Alright, fine." Chara then created a small star like object, which she called a save point, on Toriel's mailbox. Then she placed her hand on it and said "Determination." As all her injuries healed.
"Helen, the neighbor girl is turning into a demon on our lawn again." Said Toriel's neighbor as he watched Frisk transform into Chara.
"Just ignore it Dan." Replied Helen.
The engine sounds died down as Mettaton parked Toriel's car in an empty parking lot. "Mettaton." Said Undyne.
"Yes Undyne?" Asked Mettaton.
"Why are we at Grillby's?" Asked Undyne as she gestured to the new, on the surface, Grillby's restaurant in front of them.
"Because no one told me where we were going, and we're low on gas so we needed to park." Replied Mettaton.
"I knew this twenty-four-hour service thing was a bad idea. Who would want a hamburger and fries at 10:00 at night?" Asked Grillby aloud to himself.
"Hey Grilb, I know it's 10:00 at night, but can I get a burger and fries?" Asked Sans as Undyne carried him in.
"Huh? Sans, what happened to you?" Asked Grillby as he saw the state of the small skeleton.