Chapter 12
Preparations
"...Ugh... my head..." Undyne said as she slowly began to sit up from the bed. She had just woken up from a nap she had taken, and aside from a bit of a headache, she could say that she was feeling a lot better than she was after the fight had gone down.
"Ah... so you're finally awake." Sans said calmly as he looked over at her. "So, how was your little nap on the job, hm?"
"Oh, you're one to talk about napping on the job..." Undyne grumbled as she got up from the bed and stretched her body. "Ugh... where are the others? Are they still here?"
"Yeah, they're outside, waiting for you to wake up." Sans said with a hum and leaned on the wall. "You know, I can't help but envy you a little bit. Usually when I decide to just snooze for an hour or so, I usually get woken up by someone because we have something busy to do... but heck, here you are taking an hour's nap, and everybody just waits for you to wake up."
"Oh, is that so?" Undyne questioned with a little chuckle. "Then perhaps I should beat the crap out of you sometimes, Sans. That way, they wouldn't disturb you from your nap either."
Sans gave a chuckle. "Nah, I think I'm gonna pass on that offer." Sans said. "I don't feel like getting into a fight right now... too tired from... things."
"Of course." Undyne said with a sigh as she began to walk out. She didn't want to keep them waiting. She was followed by Sans, who quietly and lazily strolled behind her, as if he didn't have a problem in the world.
When she opened the door, she was immediately greeted by everybody standing out there, waiting for her. "Undyne!" Papyrus said as he bolted to her faster than anything Undyne had ever seen before and hugged her, almost tackling her to the ground.
"Woah. Hey there, Papyrus." Undyne said as she hugged him back a bit awkwardly, patting his back. "Well... you're really a sight for sore eyes."
"I could say the same about you." Alphys said as she walked over to her. "We... were really scared about you, Undyne... we thought we might have actually been losing you at one point..."
Undyne gave a sigh and looked down a bit before nodded. "...Yes... I felt like I was close to that point." she said as she looked at everyone. "...I caused all of you to worry so much... and... I... I'm sorry, about that..."
"Come now, Undyne." Asgore said as he went to her and put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "It's not your fault. These things happen to all of us from time to-"
"No... it is my fault... it... it's because... I let him get into my head." Undyne said. "...Ever since we had left the Underground... ever since we started our new lives up here... I had been so eager to get myself back into some kind of action... I... I really do enjoy all my moments I spend here with Alphys... but... I also began to miss for the days where I was a hero... back in the days where everybody looked up to me... the days where I would fight to protect every innocent soul in the Underground, and punish all those that would dare hurt my friends..."
"...Hothead preyed on your weak spot when it was most vulnerable." Toriel said as she looked down. "...He made the feeling burn inside you to the point where you couldn't control it..."
"But that's just it... I SHOULD have been able to control it just fine, no matter what." Undyne said as she sat down. "I mean... for the sake of whatever God may be up there... I am the former Captain of the Royal Guard... I was looked up to by everybody to be a strong and just leader... to be able to know when and when not do certain things... and all because of the desire to get into a fight... for the sake of feeling that excitement again... I became weak... I let Hothead take full control of me... and I couldn't see that until it was too late..."
"...It's not your fault, Undyne." Frisk said. "...Trust me, I know it just as well as everybody else... Chara and all of his creatures are manipulative and, at least in the case of Chara, cunning... he's been trying to manipulate me as well... he knows what we want and how bad we want it... and he's able to use it against us."
"...But I let him do it." Undyne said. "...No matter what Chara is capable of... it still doesn't change the fact that I'm the one that couldn't rise past it... I fought my best out there today, but for all the wrong reasons, and I let all of you down because of that... and for that... I'm truly, truly sorry..." She looked down silently, almost as if she were too ashamed to look at her friends.
"...You know, if it makes you feel any better, I once had an opportunity to kill Chara, but I let it slide." Sans reminded Undyne in an attempt to make her feel better. "He just laid there on the floor, missing three of his limbs and half of his face, and-"
"Sans!" Papyrus whispered to him as he elbowed Sans's arm firmly. "That's not helping right now!"
"I was only saying." Sans whispered as he rubbed the arm that Papyrus had elbowed. "I'm just trying to help cheer her up."
"I think what Sans is trying to say is that we all make mistakes, Undyne." Asgore said as he walked in front of her and put his hand gently on her chin and had her look up at him. "...We all make poor decisions that we shouldn't have... it's just a part of being who we are... we all wish we could have done better when we made them... and that's what mistakes are here for... to learn from them, and do better the next time."
"...I know, Asgore..." she said as she looked at him. "...It's just... I didn't just lose that battle... I also costed us our one chance of finding out where Chara is hiding... Alphys gave it up to save me... I... I just feel like I've costed us so much..."
"I would be willing to give up a lot more than just the device if it meant being able to help you out, Undyne." Alphys said as she went up to her and gently took her hand to comfort her. "...You AND all of our friends are much more important to me than any device..." She pointed at all the devices in the lab and went on. "All these things that I've worked very hard to build, and all these collections of comics and animes... all those things can be replaced, or I could move on from them if they were to one day wind up gone... but you, and all of our other friends... you all are irreplaceable... you all mean much more to me than anything else."
"Oh... Alphys." Undyne said as she gently took Alphys into a hug.
"...Oh... and also, for the record, Undyne..." Alphys started as she reached into her coat pocket. She fished around there for a second before holding up the device that Undyne had seen her working on just before Hothead showed up. "...You didn't cost us anything."
"The... the device?" Undyne took the device in her hand and looked on it. The screen seemed to have coordinates set in for a destination. "But... I thought that you-"
"That I had given this to Hothead to make him stop attacking? On the contrary, that one was just a decoy, Undyne." Alphys said. "...I had a bad feeling that something was going to go wrong had the battle gone on, so I decided to take a precaution and make a fake one, just in case... uh... n-not that I w-wasn't confident that you couldn't beat him, or didn't have any faith in you... but... you know... as the Royal Scientist, you can never be too careful."
Undyne just continued to stare at Alphys. "I, uh... also got a scale from Neptune's Hound at one point when he wasn't looking... so we have the device all set up so that when we're ready to go, we can get back on our search any time we wish." Alphys said with a chuckle and a rub of the back of her head. "I, uh... I hope that you didn't get worried too much about that whole issue."
"Ohh... I should have known you'd find a way to outsmart them all." Undyne said with a grin as she looked down with a little bit of a blush.
"U-Undyne?... Uh... wh-why are you blushing?" Alphys questioned, blushing a little bit herself from the sight of Undyne's cheeks turning a bit red. "Uh... did I say something, or..."
"No, no... it's just..." Undyne gave a sigh. "...It's nothing, Alphys." she said with a hum and patted her back as they separated from the hug.
Frisk looked at Alphys confused and went over to her. She then whispered in her ear about how they had rehearsed a moment like this in their roleplay where Frisk helped Alphys brave up to tell Undyne the truth. Alphys only gave a little shudder and a blush at that. "Come on... just like we rehearsed it... that was your moment to kiss her."
"You didn't take that roleplay seriously at all, and we both know that." Alphys whispered to her. "You had her kiss me right away in that roleplay, and that's not what she would do at a moment like this."
Undyne overheard what the two were whispering about and gave a little shudder. She remembered that awkward moment she went to the dumpster when hearing Alphys shouting something about her and saw her on a 'date' with Frisk. She was glad that Frisk was able to help Alphys brave up and tell the truth... but that was the weirdest moment that she could recall being a part of.
"Uh... Alphys." Sans said as he leaned against the wall and took a bone out of his pocket, placing it at the tip of his index finger and balancing it standing up, moving his index finger whenever the weight of the bone shifted, to see how long he could balance it. "I don't mean to interrupt you and Frisk's conversation, but... I believe we're all ready to figure out where to go from now."
"Uh... yes, of course." Alphys said as she took out the device and went over and got a laptop, bringing it over. "Ok... well, I have the device set up to track the DNA of Neptune's Hound... the only thing is, the device is only able to show us any tracks from a mile radius... give or take a few hundred feet... and, a-as we may have all figured... Neptune's H-Hound seems to have gone q-quite a ways farther than that... so..."
"...So until we actually get real close to where we're going, we don't have a clue on where exactly we're going." Asgore said with a sigh and scratched his beard.
"Well... this was the best I could d-do with the short amount of time that I had, Asgore. I know that i-it may not be as effective as we would hope, but..."
"N-no, I'm not saying that at all." Asgore said. "I know you did all you could to build at... nobody else would be able to make a device that could help us like that."
"Yeah... well, as I was calibrating the device... I... thought of an... i-issue that may happen with this device..."
"What do you mean issue?" Papyrus questioned. "Is there something wrong with the device, or..."
"Well... n-not really, but..." Alphys gave a sigh and looked at them. "Th-this device is designed so that it would track any path from the... DNA of Neptune's Hound... but... there's n-no guarantee that Neptune's Hound w-went only one path the whole time... i-if Neptune's Hound went any other w-way at any time, aside from to Chara's place... this device will p-pick that up as well... and i-if that were to happen... w-we'd have two paths shown on here... wh-which would mean..."
"Which would mean that unless we choose a path and see where it leads, we won't know which one leads to Chara, and which moves us somewhere else." Toriel said with a sigh.
"Y-yes... that's right... i-if I were given about a couple days or so, I would b-be able to greatly improve the range to have a b-better idea of what place w-we may be looking for... but I know we probably don't have much more time." Alphys said as she looked down at the device.
"...Well... I don't think we can wait too much longer." Undyne said as she looked at all the rest. "...I think the best thing we should do is resume the hunt for that brat."
"...I agree with Undyne." Asgore said as he stood up. "Every other second we delay our search is another second we're giving for Chara to harm something... we have to find my son... not just to save ourselves or everyone else... but to save him as well."
"Meh. Personally I don't think saving him is gonna be an option at this point." Sans said in a little sarcastic tone, to which Asgore and Toriel both gave a look that showed they were both unappreciative of the sarcastic remark he just made.
"...Oh, alright." Sans said with a sigh. "I honestly don't think there's much hope left for that kid... but I suppose there's no harm in giving it the old college try, huh?" He gave a sigh and a shrug. "Oh well. I suppose I have a bone to pick with that kid anyway."
"And no matter what happens in the end of our adventure, we cannot allow for the boy to keep going and hurt anybody." Papyrus said as he stood up tall and proud. "I, the Great Papyrus, will not stop this search and adventure until we stop this demon child."
"Alright then... so then, I guess we can just start when everybody is ready." Alphys said as she got the device in her lab coat pocket. "...In the meantime, I suggest that you all do whatever you may have to do before we go. Because once we leave, th-there's a good chance we won't be coming back for quite some time."
Frisk hummed and looked at her hand. She was really wondering whether or not Sans was right. Was Chara actually able to be saved, or was there truly no hope for him? Would he be the first ever that she would actually have to destroy if absolutely necessary, or would he give her and her friends to spare her... she didn't know at the moment.
"...I was able to save Asriel... despite what he thought, I was able to save him from himself... but... what if I can't do the same with Chara?" she thought to herself and looked at her hands. "He... he seems like absolutely nothing I've faced before... even darker and more sinister than Asriel as a flower... and Asriel actually had some feelings when he had all the Human Souls and the souls of all the Monsters in him... but... does Chara have the same..."
She shook her head as she was stopping herself from thinking that there was no hope. "No... I won't believe it... anybody, even the worst of people, can be good people if they just try... Chara is no different... I know he can change... I just don't know how to help him..." She supposed that the only way that she would only be able to find out once they get going.
"Hey, Alphys... do you think you could point me to the direction of the restroom?" Frisk questioned. "I want to use the bathroom before we get going, you know?"
Alphys gave a nod. "Yes. It's... down that hall, second door to the... uh... left." Alphys said.
"Thank you." Frisk began to walk the direction that Alphys pointed out. She was mentally preparing herself, because she knew that once they exit Alphys's house, thing were going to get tough again.
Asriel remained in his room, quietly laying on the bed and listening from in there as he could hear Chara pacing around, quietly muttering to himself. He's seemed so... paranoid for the past half an hour or so. He just suddenly started acting like he had seen a ghost.
It didn't seem to have any spark or reason of coming out. Sure, he was frustrated about Hothead's recent failure, and he knew that Frisk and her friends would be coming over, but Asriel didn't see any reasons in any of those why Chara would suddenly be so paranoid. All of a sudden, when he was looking at a couple old photos, he suddenly began to act really weird. He began muttering something, pacing down a bit, and even at times he held his head and cried a little bit.
Chara kept pacing there, muttering something to himself and whispering to it, while Asriel just listened in, trying to pick up some tangible words from what Chara was mumbling, seeing if he could determine what was going on with Chara. Chara didn't know how much of his human mind he still had after his death, but what he did know that whatever mind he had, he was starting to lose it.
Now, all of a sudden, when he got a message from Darkeol that they were bringing the other Human Souls his way, he swore he kept seeing that damned ghost being all around again. He kept hearing those strange words that sounded like no sort of language, only this time, he couldn't understand a single word of them. He did know one thing, though. It was literally drilling him into madness, and he hated it.
Now he couldn't even look at anything without seeing some sort of similarity between that ghastly being he had seen in his dream. When he looked at a picture of him and Asriel with Asgore and Toriel, with Chara having his face covered by a bunch of flowers he was holding up, he could have sworn he saw himself in the picture lowering those flowers and revealing that being's face.
When he tried to look out into the wilderness and see the sun beautifully shining on the earth, every time he blinked, he saw that being out there, staring at him with that same creepy smile, and then just disappear after a split second.
Hell, even when doing something as simple getting out a Hershey's chocolate bar that he had cooling in the fridge, Chara could have sworn he saw that creepy smile on the wrapper of the bar.
He didn't know who that being was, nor did he know whether he was just seeing things or not, but he knew at this point that what he had seen before he had woken up was more than just a simple dream, and whoever this being was, he was trying to mess with his mind and mentally torture him.
He wanted so bad to just attack the being the next time he saw him and teach him a lesson for messing with him; after all, he was Chara, the demon that had plans to rise up to be much more than just a demon, and with the power of one of the Human Souls, which would soon to be at least three at a time, he would be able to crush anybody, even that stupid ghost... right?...
He thought back to his dream at the time where he had met the being for the first time, after he had been forced to watch his family crumble away and be unable to do anything about it. He hated being powerless, but now he found himself in that position again. He was being tormented nonstop by this being, and somehow he got the feeling that there wasn't much to do about it.
Chara was going crazy from the visions of that being and the constant hearing of that voice in his head. He took a knife from the knife rack and stared at it, as he was thinking of the dream again, thinking about being powerless and unable to stop what happens to his loved ones.
What if he made a mistake when Frisk got there, and ends up hurting somebody that he doesn't want to hurt?... What if he gets in a situation when or if he fights her where he can't do anything to change the situation?... What if one of Frisk's friends attempt to hurt Asriel?... What if...
"...What if that being comes here?" Chara whispered as the question sent chills down his spine.
What if that being that haunted his nightmare was real, and he came before Frisk and her friends do?... What if HE tried to kill Chara?... Would Chara be able to defend himself against him?... What if he tried to hurt Asriel?... Asriel was too kindhearted and innocent to be willing to hurt anyone... he couldn't allow his brother to be hurt by this being.
"...If he does come here... Asriel will need a way to be able to get away from here." Chara thought as he kept the knife in hand, slowly going to Asriel's room. "...He'll need to be able to get out of here... away from that being... away from me..."
He entered Asriel's room, and Asriel remained quiet, not looking at Chara and pretending that he was taking a nap or something. Chara saw him laying on the bed and began to slowly walk towards the bed.
As he did however, he gave a little groan and grabbed his forehead with his left hand as his head began to hurt as he heard a familiar bit of dialogue. See? I never betrayed you! It was all a trick, see? I was waiting to kill him for you!
He heard that dialogue and remembered from a past adventure the hatred that he had for the golden flower form of Asriel, who had called himself Flowey the Flower. He remembered despising that flower so much for daring to call itself Asriel... that stupid flower wasn't Asriel... Asriel was... way too pure to be able to hurt anybody... he wouldn't be as cruel and uncaring as that stupid flower...
After all, it's me, your best friend! I'm helpful, I can be useful to you. I promise I won't get in your way.
As Chara continued to slowly approach Chara's bed, his right hand began to slowly shake and raise the knife slowly up. It was as if he was back there, slowly walking towards Flowey again, ready to destroy the flower, not out of a desire for strength or power, but just form his pure hatred.
I can help... I can... I can...
Chara was now at the bed, looking at Asriel as it appeared he was napping in the bed. With a little groan, he could feel himself slowly raising his knife in his right hand, shaking out of control. He was losing his mind, alright, and he almost thought he was there in that moment of the past again.
Please don't kill me.
Just before Chara was able to do the deed, he was able to snap himself back to reality, and had his hand with the knife lower back to his side, away from hurting his brother. Now, even he himself was becoming too much of a threat for his brother's safety. He had to make sure Asriel knew a way out in case things got too rough.
"Asriel." Chara said as he put his left hand on his shoulder and shook him a bit. "Asriel! Wake up!"
Asriel quickly turned around and looked at Chara. "Jeepers, Chara! You scared me." he said. "What is it?"
"Asriel, I showed you some emergency exits around here, right?" Chara questioned.
"Uh... no... you didn't." Asriel said as he got up. "Chara, what's up with you?"
"Alright, I gotta show you some emergency exits." Chara said as he took Asriel's hand and pulled him to stand up. "Come on, let's go." Chara said as he began to walk, virtually dragging Asriel with him.
"Woah! Hey! Alright, Chara. Hold on, will you?" Asriel questioned as he began to walk along with Chara.
With Asriel still with him, Chara showed him several exits he could take to get out of there, in case something got real bad, but he never told Asriel why exactly he was showing him these.
"Chara... what's going on? You're... acting really weird." Asriel said.
"I..." Chara gave a sigh and shook his head. "I just want to make sure that you'd be able to stay safe, Asriel... if something were to happen in here, I'd want you to have a way out of here... away from me and whatever danger is in here..."
Asriel knew that something was really bothering Chara, and it was driving him crazy, but he wouldn't tell him why. "...Chara." Asriel said as he noticed the knife that was in his hand. "...Wh... why do you have a knife in your hand?"
Chara looked at the knife silently as he thought of an answer to give Asriel. After a few minutes of thought, he gave a sigh and looked to Asriel. "...I'm giving it to you... for your own protection." he said as he held the knife out to him. "...Just in case something goes really bad."
Asriel took the knife in his hand and stared at it. "...Ch... Chara, no." Asriel said and looked up at him. "I... I can't take this thing... I couldn't use this on anybody..."
"...And I pray that the moment you'd need to use it against someone never comes." Chara said with a sigh and patted Asriel's shoulder. "...No matter what happens to me... promise me you'll stay safe, my brother... if it's at all possible... don't get killed at all... can you promise me that?"
"...Chara..." Asriel said as he looked at him. "You're... you're really starting to freak me out... wh... what's going on here? What are you talking about?"
"I... just..." Chara shook his head and looked down. "Just promise me you'll stay safe, alright?! Promise me you'll stay alive no matter what happens to me!"
Asriel flinched a bit at Chara's sudden yelling. "Woah... alright, Chara." Asriel said. "...I promise."
Chara gave a nod and a sigh. It did him quite a bit good knowing that Asriel now knew several ways to get out of there if it were absolutely necessary. "Alright." he said. "...I'm going to be talking with Frisk in her dream again tonight, seeing as how she'll probably be here some time tomorrow... when I do... I want you to come with me."
Asriel looked at Chara strangely. He sounded really uncomfortable with saying that, almost as if he was regretting telling that to Asriel.
"Oh... ok, Chara... but... why?" Asriel questioned. "...Why do you want me to go with you into her dreams?"
"...I've been hiding quite a lot of things from you in the past, my brother." Chara said as he put his hand gently on his shoulder. "...Come tonight... I think... it's time... you learn the truth about me..."