After Frisk saved at the save point, she began walking towards Sans with Chara following closely behind. Sans continued to stand in the same spot, his grin never wavering. As they got closer, Chara's mind raced to try and think of a way to save Frisk from the LOVE she had accumulated. But, couldn't think of anything as Frisk stopped ten feet away from where Sans stood.
"heya." He said. "you've been busy, huh?"
Frisk said nothing as she tightened her hold on Chara's old knife.
"so, i've got a question for ya." Sans continued. "do you think even the worse person can change...? that everybody can be a good person, if they just try?"
Frisk took a step forward.
"heh heh heh heh..." Sans laughed, his eye sockets going dark. "alright. well, here's a better question. do you want to have a bad time? 'cause if you take another step forward... you are REALLY not going to like what happens next."
Frisk smiled in defiance as she stepped closer.
"welp. sorry, old lady." Sans said as he closed his eyes. "this why i never make promises."
Sans and Frisk were pulled into a FIGHT. Chara floated over to the side, worry furrowing her brow.
"it's a beautiful day outside." Sans said, his eyes still closed. "birds are singing, flowers are blooming... on days like these, kids like you..." Sans opened his pitch black eyes. "Should be burning in hell."
In a second Sans' left eye flashed cyan and yellow as Frisk's SOUL turned dark blue and slammed into the floor before being impaled by bones that had erupted out of the tiles. Before Frisk could react her SOUL turned red again before a wall of bones slammed into it from the left. Staggering, Frisk tried to move as four beast-like skulls appeared around her, opened their jaws and fired white beams of light at her SOUL, after which four more appeared at different angles and fired more beams of light, before another set gathered and fired off their own beams. Frisk just barely had enough time to move out of the way as two much larger skulls appeared on both sides of her and fired their beams.
After it was over Sans said, "huh. always wondered why people never used their strongest attack first."
Frisk didn't hear him as she was on her hands and knees, covered in cuts and bruises while gasping for air. For each hit she had taken, she could feel the pain of every single monster she had cut down. All of the pain she had inflicted on them had come crashing down on her SOUL, and when it was finally over she could feel her sins crawling on her back. She looked over at Chara who had her hands covering her mouth, crimson eyes wide. Looking at her HP bar it had been reduced to a sliver.
Frisk gritted her teeth and stood up, selecting the ITEM button she ate one of the snowman pieces getting half of her 92 HP back. Sans turned Frisk's SOUL blue again, sending it to the floor. Bone walls appeared on both sides, heading towards her. Frisk, seeing a gap in each wall, jumped causing her SOUL to hop slightly just barely clearing the gap. Unfortunately, her SOUL grazed one of the bones, bringing her HP spiraling down to fifteen.
Determined, Frisk pressed the FIGHT button and swung Chara's knife at Sans. But, surprisingly to both Frisk and Chara, Sans dodged the attack completely.
"what?" he said, smiling still. "you think i'm just gonna stand there and take it?"
Sans turned Frisk's SOUL blue again and sent several more bone walls hurtling towards her. Frisk jumped as quickly as she could, squeezing her SOUL through the gaps. She was too slow on the final wave however and her HP was brought down to one once again. As soon as it was her turn again, she immediately pressed the ITEMS button again and ate another snowman piece. Sans summoned more of his beast-like blasters and fired them at Frisk randomly. Frisk was unable to keep up, as the final blaster fired and brought her HP to zero.
Chara watched in horror as Frisk's SOUL split in two before shattering into tiny pieces.
The next thing Chara knew, she was in total darkness. But ahead of her she could see a small light. Floating over to it she found Frisk on her knees, head bowed, with her SOUL intact and floating a few inches from her chest. But what really caught Chara's eye, were the the two glowing buttons in front of Frisk.
'CONTINUE' and 'RESET'.
Ignoring the buttons, Chara turned towards Frisk and gently asked, "Frisk are you alright?"
Frisk didn't say anything, but simply got to her feet before blankly looking at Chara.
Chara quietly breathed a sigh of relief while Frisk's SOUL floated between them, gently pulsing with a bright red glow. Looking around Chara realized they were in the same void that she had been floating in before waking up in the RUINS. Many questions were buzzing around in Chara's mind.
So if we're here, does that mean Frisk died? she thought to herself. But, then why is her SOUL here? Could it be her Determination? And if she did die, then why am I here with her? And what's with those buttons, I've never seen them before.
Chara was so lost in thought she hadn't noticed that Frisk had walked over to the two buttons. Turning around to look at her, Chara could only watch as Frisk held her hand over the CONTINUE button before pressing it. The dark suddenly turned to light as they were pulled out of the void. When Chara next opened her eyes she saw that they were back at the save point at the end of the hall. Sans was still standing halfway down the hall, and Frisk was back to full HP.
It's as if we went back in time. Chara thought as Frisk started walking towards Sans.
When Frisk was standing in front of Sans he shocked Chara when he said, "heya. you look frustrated about something. guess i'm pretty good at my job, huh?"
What? Does he know he killed Frisk? Chara thought, bewildered as Frisk and Sans got into another FIGHT.
But after eight rounds, Sans impaled Frisk SOUL with bones, ending the FIGHT and sending Frisk and Chara back to the void. Frisk didn't take as much time to recover this time and brought them both back to the Underground.
As they got in front of Sans he said, "hmm. that expression... that's the expression of someone who's died twice in a row. suffice to say... you look really... unsatisfied. all right. how 'bout we make it a third?"
Frisk lasted another round this time, but was caught off guard by another blaster that shattered her SOUL once again.
While in the void Chara said, "Frisk I don't think you'll be able to beat him."
Frisk's brow furrowed as she looked at Chara and said, "Shut up. I WILL defeat him." Before whispering to herself, "I have to."
Frisk fought Sans dozens of times, and each time the results were the same. She managed to stay alive for a few rounds before ultimately being killed by Sans' overwhelming attacks. Each time Frisk and Chara came back, Sans would make a quip about the number of times Frisk had been defeated, before starting a new FIGHT. Eventually Chara lost count of how many times Frisk had been killed as Sans had stopped caring and simply said, "let's just get to the point." before each FIGHT.
After so many continues, something finally changed. Frisk had just finished with her thirteenth round and it was Sans' turn. But, he didn't attack, instead he sighed.
"look kiddo, i know what you're trying to do, but is it really worth everything you've done?" he said.
To Chara's surprise, Frisk's expression, which had been a determined grimace, softened.
Sans continued, "i mean, just look at what you've done to get this far. look back at all of the piles of monster dust you've left in your wake. i know you want to save her but, is the price really worth it? do you think she would want this, all of this violence and death?"
Chara didn't know who he was talking about, but watched as a look of horror slowly dawned on Frisk's face.
"come on buddy, i can feel it. somewhere deep down, there's a glimmer of a good person inside of you. the memory of someone who once wanted to do the right thing. please, if you're listening... let's forget all of this, ok? just lay down your weapon, and... well, my job will be a lot easier."
Chara watched as the dialogue box in front of Frisk said, Sans is sparing you.
Tears began to form in the corners of Frisk's closed eyes as she fell to her knees and dropped Chara's knife before pushing the MERCY button and selecting 'spare.' Chara couldn't help but feel sorry for Frisk.
Sans sighed as he said, "... you're sparing me? finally. buddy. pal. i know how hard it must be... to make that choice. to go back on everything you've worked up to. i want you to know... i won't let it go to waste."
Frisk stood up as tears began to run down her cheeks, and walked over to Sans, giving him a hug as she began to sob into his shoulder. After a moment's hesitation, Sans sighed and hugged her back, before impaling Frisk's SOUL with dozen's of bones, shattering it.
Once more in the void, Chara found Frisk on her knees, crying while her SOUL and the two buttons floated in front of her.
As Chara approached her, Frisk sobbed, "I'm s-so sorry C-chara, I knew y-you were watching me kill everybody. B-but I didn't take your f-feelings into consideration."
Chara could feel her heart throb with sorrow, not just for all of the friends and people who she considered family she had lost, but for Frisk as well. Tears began to well up in her own eyes as she floated over to Frisk and, forgetting that she was a ghost, hugged her. But to her surprise she didn't phase through her. She couldn't exactly feel Frisk but she knew she was holding her. Frisk briefly stopped crying in surprise, before hugging Chara back and resumed crying into Chara's chest.
"Chara, I-I made such a huge mistake. I killed e-everybody dear to y-you, and I've got a-all of this LOVE inside me and, and..." Frisk could not finish as she descended into more tears.
Chara looked up at Frisk's SOUL, while still holding her, as it floated a few inches above where they were kneeling. She suddenly got an idea, she didn't know if it would work, but she knew that if she wanted to save Frisk, she had to try.
Ever since her and Asriel had died, Chara's SOUL had faded away. She was just a shadow of what she used to be, completely empty. But something empty could be filled with something else.
Separating from Frisk, she placed her hands on her shoulders, and said, "It's okay Frisk, I'll make this right." Before standing up.
"What do you mean?" Frisk asked as she looked up at her.
"I'll free you from all of the LOVE in your SOUL." Chara said as she reached her hands towards Frisk's SOUL.
"Chara, wait NO!" Frisk shouted as she tried to grab her SOUL from Chara's reach.
But it was too late, Chara already held Frisk's SOUL cupped in her hands.
They both gasped, Frisk feeling a cold shudder spread throughout her body and realizing she couldn't move. Chara stepped backwards in shock as she felt a powerful raw energy emanating from the SOUL in her hands. Before she knew what was happening, the energy began to claw and burn its way into her hands and up her arms, spreading throughout her body. Her eyes went wide as she began to feel it smother and crush all of her sadness and despair, all of her anger and happiness, and every last ounce of love she had, until only one familiar thing remained:
*DETERMINATION.*
Chara released Frisk's SOUL, which immediately floated back over to hover in front of Frisk's chest. Frisk found she was able to move again, as the cold feeling faded away she looked up at Chara who's face was obscured by her hair.
"Chara, are you alright?" Frisk asked gently, and as she got to her feet she realized that all of her emotions had returned completely.
Chara said nothing as she stood there with her back to the CONTINUE and RESET buttons. Frisk, worried that something was wrong, reached her hand out to get Chara's attention, but as soon as she got close Chara looked up and Frisk instinctively recoiled in fear. Chara's eyes were glowing red, the white's of her eyes had gone black, and the same dark red substance poured from her eyes and the corners of her smiling mouth.
Before Frisk could say or do anything Chara raised her right hand and pressed the CONTINUE button.
*3 Left.*
*Determination.*