AN: 4000 views! Nicely done everyone! You have no idea how much work I've put into this AU, and I've tried my best! If you've enjoyed Understrife, then damn, you're probably going to enjoy the No Mercy Route of Understrife. Yes, I will be writing it.
I've been asking around on DeviantART and other websites to ask if experienced AU creators thought Understrife was a good idea, and lo and behold, the creator of Monofell enjoyed the idea! I will be putting even more work into this AU now. But I've been rambling long enough, and you've been waiting for this entire chapter for quite a while.
This is the final battle!
A vine slammed into the ground by Frisk, and they quickly darted aside. "Yes, resist! Resist harder! Be entertaining! We have our contestants here! An armless thief, a complete nerd, a queen reduced to a nursemaid, a fish outta water, smiley trashbag one, smiley trashbag two, a wounded king..." Flowey turned to Frisk as his vines twisted around his face as he grew larger, until everyone faced a disgusting, pulsating, wilted looking overgrown creature, laced with blood red thorns. "And you... Human... You're the only thing that I need. You have so much Determination. More Determination than any human that has ever existed..." He whispered to Frisk, his vines digging into the floor and creating spiked hills in the stones and dirt. The whip of vines sounded behind Frisk, and they turned to see everyone that they had met, everyone who had decided to rally against Flowey... They had all been restrained in the vines, and Frisk heard their cries of pain. Frisk gasped, running up to them. They could see Toriel and Asgore attempting to reach out for each other, and Sans' eye flickering between purple and blue as he attempted to shoot Flowey with a blaster. Frisk was about to raise their puny weapon, a mere stick out to try to pry the vines off, until, with another lash of vines, their friends, the people they had met along their journey, were completely and totally covered with the vines.
A huge smile was on Flowey's face, the light of the Exit glowing from behind him for a split second before vines lashed across its opening, and he cackled with laughter. "These monsters... Some of them have the most powerful SOUL's across this timeline. They just... Don't realize it. How idiotic can they be?" He said, waving his incapacitated packages in front of Frisk's face, before all of the vines squeezed down. Frisk's eyes opened, hearing the horrible crunch, the yells, the blood dripping down onto the stones from the vines. Flowey... He just killed... Flowey burst out into mirthless laughter, swinging the bodies up into the air as different colored SOUL's glowed in front of the bundles of vines where the monsters' bodies were trapped, blood splattering down like rain in front of Flowey. White, dark blue, cyan, green, purple, yellow, and orange SOUL's danced around Flowey's face, which was framed perfectly in the vines. "So... Frisk." Flowey said, addressing them by their real name. Frisk was merely staring at the blood of their friends on the ground, their back turned to Flowey. "I'll let you know what I'm going to do. I'm going to get your SOUL. And with that, I'll be completely unstoppable. Control of the timelines? Resets? Saves? All. Mine." He laughed. After a few moments without a response from Frisk, he scowled, vines raising to constrict them to death. "Or, perhaps, this will be easier than I thought." He whispered.
Time seemed to stop, as vines lashed out from Flowey's center, and Frisk turned, confused. What? Everything... Was still. Except for them. Frisk stepped back, from Flowey, beginning to panic. The hot red blood on the ground splashed onto their shoes and their legs, and they immediately attempted to yank their leg out of it. It was stuck, as if the blood was cement. "W-What's going on?" Frisk whispered. Their tiny voice, even in this massive room, began to echo and reverberate on the hard stone walls. "Please? Anyone? ... Sans...?" They stammered, holding their stick tightly to their chest as they looked around them, raising a hand to sweep the dark brown hair from their face. Frisk turned to stare at Flowey. The horrible, dripping tangles of vines that encased the body of their friends, drops of blood suspended in the air. "Help me..." Frisk asked to nobody once more. "... I'll do anything..." They whispered, tears beginning to run down their face.
"I was hoping that you would say that." A sweet sounding voice suddenly said, and Frisk could feel another's hands on their shoulders. They whipped around as best as they could with their feet stuck in the concrete blood. Nobody was there though. Frisk turned again, and let out a yelp, nearly falling backwards when they saw another child standing in front of them. They were exactly the same height as them, with crimson eyes, light brown hair, rosy cheeks, and a green and yellow striped shirt. "Hello there, Frisk. It's nice to finally meet you." They said, and Frisk bit their lip.
"You know my name?!" They exclaimed, and the child reached up, patting their head.
"I know much more than your name, Frisk. I know who that really is." They said, pointing at Flowey. "He didn't even have the time to cleanly kill them... At least he did it... Hm. Gruesomely. I heard those crunches. Satisfying sound, is it not? It's like snapping a wishbone at Thanksgiving."
"A-Are you commending him on killing my friends?!" Frisk yelped. "L-Listen, I don't know who you are, but..."
"Frisk, you're so cold. I'm you. But, if calling another person Frisk is confusing... I'm Chara. Chara Dreemurr. And you've been my vessel for a long time. You've forgotten me, and it's hurt. Back in what Sans called the Old Lab, I was hoping you'd slap that Amalgamate across the face with your little stick. All it took would have been a little bit of LOVE." Frisk raised an eyebrow, staring at Chara. "But, Frisk. Let me explain something to you. Do you really think you can reason with Flowey? No is the answer. Anyways, partner, you need to kill him. There are no exceptions. Do you have Sans anymore to babysit you? Again, no is the answer. Because he's dead. So, take matters into your own hands... Or..."
"What?" Frisk said, beginning to get Chara's logic.
"If you don't want to kill him yourself, I can take care of him. While saving your friends. So, Frisk. Let me handle this for you. And you can sit back and watch." Chara whispered, and Frisk bit their lips. All they wanted... Was the best for their friends. And... If Chara could bring them back, that was a chance they had to take. They nodded firmly, and Chara raised a hand, whipping the blood up around Frisk, slamming it into them. Their vision immediately became completely red, until finally, it brightened into white. Bright, brighter, yet brighter...
[ SAVE 1 LOADED ]
The yells of their friends suddenly rang in their ears, and they immediately tried to move. But suddenly, they moved. Without their help. Chara was in control now, and they were helpless to do anything. As Flowey's vines lashed out, prepared to grab their friends, Chara leaped forwards, slamming their stick, no... Their knife into the vines. Their colors changed, as the vines were completely split apart. Everyone behind Chara stopped. Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Muffet, Mettaton, and even Asgore, who had made the attempt to get up and try to fight with them. Chara swept their light brown hair away from their face, their eyes glowing as they stared at Flowey, a huge smile on their face. "Hello there Flowey. Do you remember me?" They taunted him, and Flowey stared down at them, trying not to shake.
"... Chara." Flowey said, and they giggled in response to their name. Sans had a look of horror on his face as he stared at Chara's back.
"no no no no- Frisk, what did you do?!" He exclaimed, his eye glowing purple as he ran towards Chara. Chara didn't even turn, as they slashed the air, slicing a red mark, which flew towards Sans, hitting him head on. He was blasted backwards, and Toriel quickly ran forwards to catch him, staring at Chara in disbelief. "Why... Would you do this, Frisk?" He whispered. Frisk gritted their teeth, unable to see Sans, only able to face Flowey and stare at his surprised face. Flowey gritted his teeth.
"... No! This doesn't change anything!" Flowey yelled. "All of your pitiful lives will be mine! It doesn't matter what you try, Frisk, you're not going to win!" He said, vines slamming forward to hit Chara, who darted forwards, the vines missing them completely. They ran through lines of what Frisk had nearly been killed by when they first had fallen down into the Underground, knife raised to strike Flowey. A barrier of vines twisted to block their hit, but the vines were merely sliced through as if they were butter. It was clear that Flowey was panicking at this point, as vines twisted and turned towards Chara, who merely leaped on the tops of them. Flowey realized that he was just giving Chara a platform to get them up closer to them, and dropped them out completely, but not before Chara pushed off of the dark green surface, their red eyes gleaming. A toothy smile was on their face as they stabbed into Flowey, who screeched. That hit alone had taken out nearly half of his health. His health began to whittle down, as Chara backed away from Flowey, laughing cheerfully to themselves, as if they hadn't just nearly killed a giant flower monster. Flowey gritted his teeth, taking his vines off of his face. The knife's slash had hit straight down the side of his face, and Frisk was horrified.
What had they done?
"Chara..." Flowey whispered, attempting to attack them as he spoke. "Chara! Don't you remember?! Who I am?!" He exclaimed. Chara slashed the air, red slices cutting through the air to destroy his attacks. "I don't know how you did this... I don't know how you took over Frisk, but I know that-" His words were promptly interrupted by a white blast that nearly hit Chara, who darted away at the last moment. Their eyes shone in the searing white light, staring at the crowd of monsters behind them. Sans was standing on top of a blaster, gritting his teeth as he stared at Chara.
"I know that you should be burning in hell." Sans finished for Flowey. Another shot fired off, and Chara moved aside casually. Frisk was attempting to take back their body, fighting with Chara's overpowering mind, but it was impossible. It was as if they were concrete.
"GET OVER HERE!" Flowey yelled, his vines whipping forward to catch all of Frisk's friends, trapping all of them immediately. "I'm stronger than you Chara! I'm going to win! I'm going to beat you!" Frisk was determined to get Chara out, determined to save their friends! Suddenly, the sensation of slipping came over Frisk, and they began to panic, their heart racing. What happened? What did they-
With a grunt, Frisk met the stone floor, their head hurting as they realized that they had gotten out of Chara's trap. They let out a sigh of relief, standing up, but they stopped halfway. Chara was still standing right in front of them. Slowly, they turned to face Frisk, their eyes fixing onto Frisk. "Where do you think you're going, partner?" They whispered. Flowey had even stopped. Apart from Chara, everything was dead silent. "Why did you leave?" Chara asked. Frisk, whimpering, backed up. Flowey could become a potential ally in this. It appeared he didn't like Chara, so Frisk decided to take a chance. "Hm... Where are you going? I trusted you." Chara said, feigning sounding hurt. Chara began to walk after Frisk, who pressed up against Flowey, who decided to attack Chara. They simply sliced his attacks aside, and Chara sighed. "I don't understand." Black light bled out of Chara, enveloping the entire room until only Chara, Frisk, and Flowey were left.
"I don't understand why you're doing this!" Flowey said, beginning to shrink back into his original form, gritting his teeth. "Chara, what is wrong with you? Don't you remember... Anything?" He said, and Chara sped up, until they were in front of Frisk, who had gotten in front of Flowey, arms outstretched to block Chara. Chara merely shoved Frisk aside, knocking them to what must have been the floor in this black void, and Flowey leaned away from Chara as they bent down to stare Flowey in the eye. "Don't you remember who I am? Remember what I did for you? P... Please?!" The colored SOULS flew down, circling around Flowey, as he absorbed them, taking them into his body. Still, Chara was unmoved. What had Flowey just done? Frisk stared at Flowey in shock as his body began to glow white. But Chara didn't move. His body formed, glowing and twisting into an actual body. The light broke off of Flowey as he shook off the glowing.
Standing before the two human children was a monster child, similar to Toriel and Asgore. Achingly similar. Was this... The child launched himself at Chara, gritting his teeth. Instead of attacking them, however, he hugged them tightly, sobbing. "I-I was Asriel! Your... Y-Your best friend! Why don't you remember!" Asriel said. Chara was dead silent, lifting their arm, the one with the knife. They turned it, about to plunge it into the back of Asriel. "I... I was your brother..." Frisk ran forward, tackling the two and managing to split Chara away from Asriel. Frisk held Asriel's shoulders, staring at Chara, mistrust in their dark brown eyes.
"... Oh. Asriel. I remember. I remember everything. Like... When we made that pie for dad. We used buttercups, instead of cups of butter. That made him sick. Do you remember that?" Chara began to speak. Asriel nodded slowly, staring at Chara in confusion. "... But I was thoroughly disappointed. He didn't die. Asriel, it would have been easy to pin his death on you. After all, I was the king and queen's innocent, confused, adopted human child. It was clear that I would not be able to rule the monsters... But I was trusted. You remember how much mom broke down when dad was so sick? She wouldn't be able to rule like that. So... Of course... If Asgore died, you would be made king. And you've always wanted to be king. You thought it would be fun. So, I decided, if I got Asgore out of the equation by poisoning him, I could easily pin it on the child that most wanted to be the ruler of the Underground. You. Then, you would be taken away, and I would be made ruler. Do you see? Do you see how blind you've been?" Chara purred to Asriel, patting his head. "Of course, I would expect nothing less from a dull, dopey monster."
Asriel gritted his teeth, tears falling out of his eyes as he stared at Chara. "... Monsters... Are... Not... Stupid!" He said, getting up and sending a beam of fire at Chara, who dodged it easily. They stopped, putting a hand up to their head, and grabbing a hair. The very tip was smoldered.
"I see how this is going to go." Chara said, dropping it and running towards Asriel, slicing at him. He quickly darted away, and Frisk realized with a jolt... They had no weapon. As they ran beside Asriel, they began to dig through their backpack.
"Was your entire friendship with me just to sabotage me? Did you not... Enjoy our family? Even a little bit?" He asked Chara, who shrugged, slicing at Asriel, who quickly blasted them away with a quick burst of fire. Frisk's hands came across a strange container... They pulled it out, and realized what it was. It was... The butterscotch pie Toriel had made for them at the start of their journey. Maybe... Frisk popped open the lid, taking out the slice and raising it into the air. Chara stopped, staring at it, along with Asriel. Frisk bit their lip, looking at them, completely confused. "... That's... Mom's..." Asriel whispered. Chara dropped their knife, walking over to Frisk.
"... There were some good things about you family, Asriel. And... Sometimes... I even started to care about you guys. And this was my favorite thing at the time." Chara said, as Frisk slowly sat down, showing it to Chara and Asriel.
"Chara?" Asriel asked them, taking the slice from Frisk and turning to Chara. "... Are... Do you think... That maybe... Maybe we are siblings? Maybe... I'm your best friend?" He asked them, holding it out to Chara. Chara bit their lip. The smell of it wrenched their heart. Chara laughed slightly, taking it from Asriel.
"Yeah. Maybe." They said. With that, the darkness brightened. Bright. Brighter. Yet... Brighter.
[ SAVE 1 LOADED ]
This time, everyone stopped immediately. There had just been a flower. Who was attacking them. And now... There was Chara, Asriel, and Frisk. Toriel bit her lip, running up to Asriel and Chara, scooping them up into a hug, tears running down her cheeks. "M-My children!" She whispered. "... Did... Did any of you see what happened?" She said, glancing behind them at everyone. Everyone except Sans shook their heads or said 'no'. "Where did that flower go? And... How..." She said, turning back to Asriel and Chara, letting them go. "I don't understand? What happened?"
"... H-Hey..." Asriel said slowly, gritting his teeth and groaning, digging his hand into his head. The SOULS he had taken before the save loaded whipped out of his body, exploding into millions of glowing shreds, before disappearing. Asriel sighed, sitting down. "Without the SOULS, I won't be like this for long. G-Guess I didn't think that out, huh?" He laughed nervously, biting his lip. Of course, Chara didn't have to worry about that. Frisk's SOUL was shared with Chara. But Asriel didn't have that luxury.
"Asriel, what do you mean?" Toriel whispered, taking him by his shoulders. "Why won't you tell me what happened?"
"... Because you hated me." He laughed grimly, shaking her hands off of him. He took off the necklace hung around him, handing it to his mother. Orange and yellow petals surrounded the Delta Rune. The sign of royalty. "... It's... Best you forget about me." He said, turning.
"Wait! A-Asriel!" Toriel said, as he began to run. She was about to run after him when Chara caught her hand, holding her back. "Asriel, don't go! Please!" She pleaded with her son, as he sprinted into the light of the Exit. "Chara! Please, let me go!"
"... He wants to see the sun one more time." Chara explained to her. "... Let him go." Toriel was dead still, as was everyone else. Faintly, Toriel could hear the yell of a human, followed by the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. Toriel ripped herself out of Chara's grasp. "Asriel! No! No no no-" She began to panic, running. Toriel raised her fire sword as she ran into the light, and everyone shook off of their shock, running after her. But, by the time that they had reached the sunlight, they realized that Toriel stood over several human corpses, sobbing and shaking. "... His... Body... Isn't... It isn't even here..." She whispered. Frisk bit their lip, walking up to her. They knew what Asriel meant by her hating him.
"... He knew he wouldn't be Asriel for long without the power of the SOULS." Frisk said to Toriel as they walked to her side. "... He would turn back into Flowey. The flower that attacked us. So he decided to kill himself. So... You would never hate him again." Frisk explained to her. She wiped her eyes, shaking, and taking deep breaths. She reached out for Frisk to take her hand as she straightened up.
"... I don't think I will ever understand, my child. But... All I know is that..." She raised her sword into the air, her gaze hardening. "We're going to kill the humans. We're winning the war! We will never surrender to the people who felled our kingdom, pushed us to the ground, made us weak! Made us unable to fight back!" Toriel exclaimed. "For the fallen prince! For the king! The queen!" The rest of the monsters took up the cheer with her.
"FOR MONSTERKIND! WE SHALL WIN!"
The End