Undertale owns Toby Fox and all associated characters.
Grey clouds covered the sky, lightly drizzling rain down onto the earth below, where a blue-scaled fish woman walked quickly down the streets. She wore a light leather jacket and black pants, and in one hand clutched a cd case, covered slightly under her open jacket to protect it from the rain.
She turned off the sidewalk, heading towards Asgore and Toriel's home. Upon reaching the door, she knocked loudly, then crossed her arms in front of her chest, her foot tapping the ground impatiently, and the grim look adorning her face deepened almost impossibly.
Fortunately, Undyne did not have long to wait. It was only a few moments before the door opened to reveal Toriel. The Boss Monster gave her a worried look and stepped to the side, allowing the other woman passage into the house.
"I brought it," Undyne said quietly, stepping inside and removing her shoes swiftly.
Toriel simply nodded in reply, and Undyne swiftly made her way into the living room, the other woman following close behind, their footfalls silent on the wooden floor.
Sans looked up from where he was fiddling with the dvd player just under the tv, the lights in his sockets resting briefly on both women before he stood up, shoving his hands back in his pockets. Undyne glared at him for a moment before looking about the room.
"Where's Frisk and Asgore?"
"I sent them out to the garden," Toriel replied. "They're both worried about Chara, and they find it relaxing out there. Besides, it's for the best this remain between the three of us."
Undyne snorted, running her fingers through her wet hair.
"Right… this whole Judge, Jury and Executioner thing. You guys sure gave me a lot to think about the other day, that's for damn sure."
"I am sorry, that's my fault," Toriel lowered her head. "I knew what you were, and I should have realized what Sans was. I should have explained this all sooner, instead of throwing it all at you at the last minute."
"You took it pretty well though," Sans spoke up. "I gotta say, I was pretty impressed."
"Have you seen the stuff I watch? This is hardly the biggest plot-twist I've heard." Undyne grinned briefly, but it quickly faded. "Though to be honest, I didn't really believe everything. Certainly not that Chara's killed just about all of us before."
"You... didn't?" Sans noted. "Does that mean you changed your mind?"
Undyne's gaze flicked down to the cd case in her hand.
"Well… it's not as unbelievable as I thought it was," she said, with uncharacteristic carefulness. "It's… probably best if you see for yourself."
Toriel bit her lip as the fish woman handed the case to Sans, fearing what they were about to see.
Please, Chara, she silently begged. Do not make me lose you again.
Sans began to kneel down to insert the disc into the dvd player before stopping and turning his attention back to Undyne.
"Hang on… you've watched it already?"
"Alphys had to take the footage off the camera and put it on the dvd." Undyne explained. "After I got Alexander to sleep, I went to keep her company while she did it."
"Guess she's in on all this too, huh?" Sans muttered, turning back to the player and slipping the cd into it.
"I didn't tell her about the Resets or Chara's history or anything… she doesn't need to know that, it'd freak her out too much. She just knows that we're a group… and that Chara's taking this really badly," Undyne's hands balled into fists and clenched tight. "Not that I can really blame her, but…"
"Well, let's not put this off any longer," Sans muttered, and the three went to the couch and settled down, Sans grabbing the remote and turning on the tv, then pressing play.
The screen flickered to life, revealing Alphys's basement lab. Most of the usual machines and equipment had been moved off to the side, to make room for the hospital-style bed that sat near the wall. Two large machines sat on the left side of the bed, humming quietly to themselves and looming over the Monster boy lying in the bed. Kid lay unmoving, his head resting on a white pillow and pale blue sheets covering him up to his neck.
Seated in a chair beside right next to him was Chara. The girl's hands rested on the guardrails and her gaze was fixed on Kid. She was perfectly still, making no movements or sounds, just watching.
Sans glanced to the bottom left corner of the screen, where small numbers indicated the time of recording. Eight fifty-nine in the morning.
A few minutes ticked by, then another figure appeared on-screen, slowly making his way towards the bed. It was Napstablook. The ghost made no noise as he hovered up to where Kid lay, but Chara looked up as he approached, her gaze focusing on him for a moment before she turned back to her boyfriend.
The two were silent for some time, both of them watching over the unconscious teen before Napstablook spoke up. His voice was quiet , and the watchers leaned forward in an attempt to hear him better.
"I'm sorry… did you want to be alone? I can leave if you want…"
Chara shook her head, though she didn't look at away.
"No, it's fine. Out of everyone… you deserve to be here the most."
"Oh…" Napstablook faded slightly for a moment, before reforming himself.
"Do you think… he's going to be okay?"
Chara's grip on the guardrail tightened.
"I don't know," she said finally. Toriel flinched slightly at the quiver of pain in her daughter's synthetic tones. "I just… I don't know, Napstablook."
"Oh no…" The ghost murmured. "Is there… anything I can do to help?"
"Alphys said she's already done everything she can. He's either going to wake up… or he isn't," she glanced over at the ghost. "Though if you know anything that might be able to help him…"
"Oh no… I'm sorry... I don't really have much healing magic… if I tried, I'd probably just mess it up… oh no…"
Napstablook fell silent, and Chara did not reply to him for a few moments, instead, she reached out a hand towards Kid. She stopped just short of actually touching him though, slowly drawing her hand back, as if she feared he would crumble to dust if she so much as brushed against him.
"I don't think I ever thanked you," she said suddenly, turning Napstablook's attention back to her.
"Oh… for what?"
"For being there for him," Chara's voice was trembling slightly. "You've taken care of him, and helped him more than anyone else. You've been there for him when no one else was so… thank you."
"Oh no…" Napstablook faded with embarrassment for a moment before saying quietly;
"Um… thank you too… he's been a lot happier since he started dating you, so… um…"
Chara shook her head slowly, interrupting the ghost before he could continue.
"No, don't thank me. I'm the reason he's like this. If it wasn't for me, he'd have stayed home and been fine." Her voice was bitter, and traces of self-loathing could be made out in her synthetic tones.
"Oh no… I don't think it was you… I mean, you didn't attack him right? Um… I don't think it's your fault… oh… I'm sorry, I made it awkward, didn't I? I shouldn't have said anything…."
"It's okay," Chara was quiet for a moment, then said slowly; "You're right… it's not my fault." Her tone had changed, and there was a dangerous edge to it, causing Toriel to frown in concern.
The ghost stayed a few more minutes, before turning and leaving slowly, moving out of the camera's field of vision.
"Well, this is off to a good start," Sans muttered. Before he could say anything else though, he noticed the numbers in the corner of the screen jump from nine-fifteen to twelve-thirty.
"Wha- why did the time skip?" he demanded, whipping his head around to stare at Undyne who merely shrugged in response.
"There was a lot of blank spaces in the video. Basically, whenever there isn't someone else there, Chara just… sits there. If she says anything, it's too quiet for us to hear." Undyne grimaced. "Believe me… we went through the whole thing. So Alphys cut out everything but the important bits. Otherwise, we'd be here all day."
"Wait, this is… when I came in!" Toriel realized. Before she had even finished speaking, she appeared on screen, standing at the edge of their vision with a piece of pie on a plate.
"Chara?" she called. When there was no response, she hesitantly made her way towards her daughter, setting the slice down on the chair beside her.
"Chara… Alphys tells me you've been here since you got back." Toriel's voice was soft, and full of concern. "I understand you are concerned for him, but you don't need to stay here the entire time. We're worried about you."
Chara shook her head, not looking away from Kid.
"I can't leave, Mom. I have to be here when he wakes up," her hands clenched. "If he wakes up."
"Alphys will let you know the moment he wakes up-" Toriel tried.
"I can't."
Toriel sighed, padding over to Chara and sinking to her knees, wrapping her arms around the girl in a tight embrace.
"I'm so sorry you have to go through this," she whispered, her voice barely audible to the listeners. "But we love you, and we want to help you. You do not have to suffer alone."
Chara was silent, and did not respond to Toriel's embrace. Even so, Toriel stayed as she was for a time, before reluctantly standing.
"I brought you something to eat. I will leave you alone if that's what you want, but if you need someone, even just to sit with you…"
Still no response. Toriel sighed sadly, then turned and walked off screen.
"I'm sorry, Tori," Sans said, looking over to where the Boss Monster trembled in her seat.
"It's so hard to see her like this…" Toriel managed. "I just want to help ease her pain, but if she will not allow me in…"
"We'll make it right, Tori." Despite Sans's assurance, he didn't sound convinced. He looked to Undyne who was still staring at the screen, her hands clenched tight.
The time jumped again, taking them to just after two o' clock. This time, it was Asgore who appeared on screen, taking Toriel by surprise.
"He did not tell me he went to see her…"
"I'm not surprised," Undyne replied quietly. When the other two shot questioning looks at her, she just shrugged. "You'll see why in a minute."
"Chara?" Asgore called, halting not far in front of the bed, and glancing at the untouched piece of pie sitting at the chair before returning his attention to his daughter.
"Hey, Dad," Chara's voice was tired, and slightly strained… but she had actually answered.
The former king walked up to the chair and moved the untouched slice onto Kid's bed, then settled himself into the seat.
"How is he?"
"No change," Chara replied dully. "I've been watching him for over week now, and there's been nothing. He's barely breathing, and his magic is so weak I can barely feel it." She began to tremble.
Asgore reached out and put an arm around Chara's shoulders, pulling her close to him. She did not respond… but she did not resist either.
"I am so sorry." His back was to the camera, but the onlookers could hear the tears in his voice. "I'm… I'm sure he will recover though.'
"You can't promise that."
"No… but I wish I could."
Father and daughter were quiet for a few moments, then Chara spoke up again.
"Dad? Do you ever wonder...if you were right?"
Asgore pulled away slightly, looking to the mechanical girl in confusion.
"Right about what?"
"About the war," Chara said, looking to him, pulling back as well. "You were going to get the souls, become a god and wipe out humanity… so that Monsters could live in peace. What if you were right?"
"Chara…"
"Monsters would never have done something like this," Chara continued. "He was attacked for no reason. If he dies… it's their fault."
"Chara, the men responsible for this are already gone." Asgore attempted to place his hand over Chara's, but she pulled it away at the last second. "I understand your anger and your grief… but I was wrong."
"Were you?" Chara asked. "This will happen again. How many innocent Monsters have to die to Human hands? Maybe we should make sure that never happens."
"You cannot blame all of Humanity for this. Frisk is Human, and his actions allowed us to escape our prison."
"Which Monsters would never have been sealed in if it wasn't for Humanity."
Asgore hesitated, seemingly unsure of what to say. Chara's gaze remained on him for a moment, before she turned back to Kid.
"Maybe I did it wrong last time." Her voice had gone flat and emotionless. "I'm strong enough now to do it alone. Maybe I have to be the one to protect our people."
"Chara… you are not suggesting-"
Chara looked back to him, and while the onlookers could not quite see the emotion in her red eyes, whatever Asgore saw had him flinching back in fear. He opened his mouth, but no words came.
When Chara looked away again, he rose shakily to his feet. He appeared unable to look back at his daughter, and left the room as quickly as his trembling legs would allow him.
"She… she wouldn't would she?" Toriel asked, her voice choked and tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "She's not really planning to…"
"You know she's never liked Humanity, Tori," Sans said quietly. "I'm not surprised she's blaming them for this."
"But this…"
"Wouldn't be the first time."
Toriel began to sob quietly into her hands and Sans paused the video for a moment to let give her a chance to compose herself. While he waited, he glanced over to Undyne.
"How much more is there?"
"Just one. And it's… bad," Undyne looked sympathetically at Toriel, putting a hand on the Boss Monster's shoulder in an attempt at comfort. "Take your time… you're going to want to brace yourself for this."
"You don't have to stay-" Sans began.
"I do," Toriel sniffed then raised her head, wiping tears from her eyes. "Lets finish this… then we'll figure out how to help keep her from this."
Sans resumed the video, and a few moments later, the time jumped again on screen, signifying it was four o' clock. Toriel 's eyes widened.
"F-Frisk went to check on her… he said he was going to try and bring her back for dinner…"
Sure enough, the teenage boy appeared on screen, shuffling quietly over to Chara. He hesitated upon reaching her, then gently put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the contact then snapped her head around to glare at him.
"Easy, sis," Frisk raised his hands in surrender. "It's just me."
"Not now, Frisk," Chara growled, turning away from him.
"Hey, look, we're all worried about Kid," Frisk soothed, moving a little closer to her. "But Mom and Dad are really worried about you too. Look, you should come back for some food, we'll bring you right back afterwards, but-"
"I said," Chara shoved Frisk roughly away and rose, her eyes shining brightly. "Not. Now! Frisk!"
Frisk's surprised gasp was mirrored by Toriel's own as Chara gestured, and the boy looked down to see his soul emerge from his body to float just outside his chest. He looked back up, his eyes wide as Chara's right eye glowed with power and three orbs of red energy formed behind her head. He let out a yelp and jumped away, narrowly managing to dodge them as they fired at him. He paused for a moment after avoiding the attack, only to sprint to the door as Chara conjured five more and fired them at him.
Once he was gone, Chara stood stock-still for a few moment, her magic fading, before slowly walking back to her seat and settling back into it, resuming her vigil.
Toriel's hands were covering her mouth, her gaze filled with horror.
"He… never told me about that!" She managed.
"Of course he didn't," Sans muttered, his sockets dark as he turned off the television. "He's Frisk."
"Sans, if any of those had hit him…"
"I know."
"I'm really sorry, Tori," Undyne's said quietly.
"It is not… your fault." Toriel managed after a moment.
"So then… what do we do?" Sans asked.
"We must… prepare for the worst." Toriel replied, composing herself behind her Queen mask. "If Kid does not wake up… we may not be able to stop her from losing herself completely."
"If the power she already has is fuelled by an actual desire to kill, I don't know if I can stop her this time," Sans admitted. "She's uh… a lot more powerful than she was when I fought her. If not as durable."
"If we cannot dissuade her from this path, is there a way we can stop her without killing her?" Toriel's voice was surprisingly steady. "Once she has had time to calm down, she may reconsider, as Asgore did."
"Well…" Undyne spoke up, drawing the attention of the other two to her. "I actually talked to Alphys about that little after we watched through last night."
"And?" Sans prompted.
"She might be able to make a shut-down command for her body. She's actually working on it right now. We could shut her body down, but leave her intact. Give her some time to calm herself."
"Good idea… thank you." Toriel's gaze switched to Sans. "You have… more experience with this side of Chara than I do. If Kid survives, do you think she will still want to…?"
Sans was silent for a few moments, thinking it over.
"I can't say for sure. We'd have to watch her but… I don't think she really wants to do this. If he pulls through, she won't have a reason to commit genocide anymore."
"I see," Toriel looked back to Undyne. "Kid has been in this state for eleven days now. That is already longer than I have ever known a Monster to survive while Fallen Down. Do you know how much longer he has?"
"Can't be more than two or three days," Undyne admitted reluctantly. "Even with everything Alphys did… as long as he stays like this his body's not generating any magic. If he doesn't wake up soon, there won't be enough left to sustain his form."
"Then we do what we can in the meantime. Make sure we are ready if she should fall. Sans, you should speak with Papyrus and some of the others. Keep an eye on her, but if anyone, your brother may be able to help her now. If we can, we must avoid the worst coming to pass."