I open my eyes.

I'm at the Ruins again. Among the golden flowers where I last saw Frisk.

Chara is here, sitting across from me. The flowers around them are wilted and gray.

They have a bright, sunny smile on their face. As if everything is okay.

"You never wanted to be fixed." I say. "You just wanted me to open up so you could take over my body."

They nod. Their eyes are closed.

"I'm not asleep anymore." I say. "I gave you one last chance. It's over now."

"I knew you would try and get in the way." They say. "But this is the only way to make things work."

"You're a freak."

They open their eyes.

"I'm sorry, Asriel." They say. "But I didn't have a choice. There's only one way I can keep us together."

"I don't want to be together anymore." I say.

"I'm just doing what I have to do to make things good again." They say. "The others would interfere."

"Shut up." I say.

I see their smile flicker. Just for a moment.

"I don't want to hear it." I say. "There is nothing you can say to make this okay."

"Asriel, you know you can't be happy when I'm not around. I feel the same way. Neither of us has ever been happy without the other."

"I was happier before you came along." I say. "You were miserable before you fell into the Underground. I wasn't."

They crawl forward, still smiling.

"I've missed you."

They get close and try to kiss me.

I smack them as hard as I possibly can. They fall onto their side.

I get to my feet. They rub their jaw and look up at me, confused.

"Asriel?"

I hit them again, just to drive the point home.

"You think you can sweet talk me again?" I ask. "You think you can make a cute face and I'll turn to pudding? I'm done."

They try to get up. I push them over.

"I did love being with you." I say. "I spent some of the best times of my life with you. But I've changed my mind. You're not worth it."

"I still love you." They say. "I always have… I know you feel the same way."

"I don't." I say.

I get in their face.

"I don't love you anymore, Chara."

"Asriel…."

"I hate you."

I push them back. I push them out. Out of my body. Out of my mind. Out of my soul.

I wake up in my own body. Finally, I'm back. For some reason, I'm holding a bouquet of flowers.

I see Frisk in front of me. Dad, Undyne, and Papyrus are just behind them. They each have a flower. What's with the flowers?

I fight Chara for control of my voice. I win.

"Chara took over." I say. "What did they do?"

No one answers for a moment. They look disturbed.

"Is this Asriel?" Asks Undyne.

"Yeah. Chara isn't in control right now." I say. "What did they do?"

"They killed Sans." Says Asgore. "And Undyne. And… and your mother."

I nod.

"Frisk."

They perk up.

"Why am I holding a bouquet?" I ask.

"I thought the flowers might wake you up." They say.

"They did."

Chara tries to take over again. I'm not going to give them the chance. I place my hands over my chest and gather all the power I can.

I fire a laser into my own heart. It hurts so much.

My legs give way. Frisk catches me.

This isn't over, Asriel.

I die in Frisk's hands, and drag Chara back in time.

I try to reset as far back as I can, but Chara blocks my other saves. They're using my own determination against me.

I can force a reset, but Chara chooses the time. We reset on the surface, after Chara has already invaded my body.

Sans is already there. I don't waste time.

I take control of my body again. I only have a moment before Chara takes over again, so I have to make it count.

"Sans!" I yell. "Chara is trying to control me! Help me fight them!"

"sure thing, buddo."

Sans tears me from the sky. I plummet to the ground.

I let Chara take over. I want them to be in front when it happens.

A couple dozen skulls appear around us in a ring. Just as Chara takes control of my body, Sans blasts it with everything he has.

I hear Chara screaming. They surrender control of my body, trying to escape Sans' attack.

I don't let them. I hold them in place.

I've fought Sans enough to know when his first attack ends. Right before it does, I allow Chara to escape. I take control easily.

"how ya holdin' up?" Asks Sans.

"Perfect." I say.

Now I remember what happened when Chara took over. They played mind games with my friends, and it worked. I need to warn them.

Mom is going to be here soon. I need to tell her what's going on, or else Chara will be able to turn her against Sans again. But Chara might take over before I can talk to her.

I motion for Sans to attack me. He obliges.

It hurts, but it's worth it. Chara stops trying to take over. They don't want to take control if it means they get blasted by Sans. Hopefully they'll let me stay in charge as long as I need to.

Finally Mom arrives. Chara starts fighting for control again. They want to talk to Mom before I can.

"Mom!" I yell. "Listen carefully! Chara is trying to take over my body! You and the others need to help me fight him!"

"Chara?" She asks.

"Tell the others they're going to have to fight me." I say. "And tell them to stick together. Chara is going to try to turn you against each other."

"Chara is dead." She says. "How did they come back?"

"I don't know." I say. "But they did."

Chara is taking over again. I can't stop them, but I can slow them down.

Undyne arrives first. Then Dad and Papyrus. Mom and Sans let them know what's going on.

Chara finally shoves me aside. But now everyone is here, except for Alphys and Frisk, who are lagging behind. Chara will have to fight them all at once.

You shouldn't have done that.

I finally take back control of Asriel's body. He's been fighting pretty hard. Now I have to deal with the others.

"Hold on." I tell them. "Chara's almost here. Just wait."

I'll need a moment to gather the energy for the first attack. I have to take down Sans early, just like last time. I can't attack him directly; he'll just dodge it again. But if I hit everyone at once, he'll take the hit to save the others.

"How do we know when Chara takes over?" Asks Alphys. "We'd need a sign, but you can't give us a sign if you're not in control."

"Tell us something Chara wouldn't know." Says Asgore. "Then we'll know it's you."

I know more of Asriel's past than they think. I can fake it.

"Undyne." I say. "You burned down your house when you tried to teach Frisk how to cook. Chara doesn't know that, right?"

"Don't remind me." She grumbles. "All right, it's him."

They relax.

"How often does he need to give us a sign?" Asks Asgore.

"Give me a moment before you ask me again." I say. "I have to think."

"Okay."

I'm almost ready. Just a few seconds more.

They don't interrupt. Neither does Asriel. I just need to get them off their guard for a moment.

"Okay." I say. "I think I pushed him away for a little while. We're safe."

They relax a little more. That's all I need.

I fire lasers at everyone. The world goes white.

The smoke clears.

Everyone is okay. Even Sans.

Last time, Sans jumped in front of all the lasers to shield the other monsters. That attack should have almost killed him. Why didn't it work this time?

This isn't your body, Chara. You don't control it. Not even now.

I can't fight with Asriel holding me back. I need to get him out of my way. First, I have to stall the others.

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Asks Papyrus. "IS IT OVER?"

"I'm sorry." I say. "He took over."

"did he?" Asks Sans.

"Yeah, he-"

Sans pins me to the ground and blasts me again.

Chara lets go again. I'm in control now.

I climb to my feet.

"Thanks, Sans." I say.

"no problem, kid."

"How did you know it was Chara?" Asks Toriel. "How do you know that wasn't Asriel?"

"just a feeling."

"I think I know how this works." I say. "When you attack my body, the attack hits whoever controls my body. Chara was in control when Sans attacked, and Sans hurt them a lot. I wasn't in control, so I barely felt a thing."

"So what do we do now?" Asks Alphys. "How do we know when to attack?"

"I… can't tell you." I say. "Chara would hear if I did. Just do what Sans says; he'll know what to do."

I sit down.

"I'm going to stay still." I say. "If I move again, I'll give you another sign. If I don't give you a sign, then attack me… But that last sign, about Undyne's house burning down, was Chara talking. Chara has some of my memories, I think. So the next sign will be really specific. Okay?"

They glance at each other. They don't look very certain about this.

I close my eyes. I don't know what's coming next, but hopefully I'll be ready.