Chapter Twenty: Confrontation
"I must admit." Arach said to Chara, who was nearly unconscious, arms spread out and suspended to a large beam, Chara herself hanging about ten feet in the air. "You sure put up one hell of a fight. But, it's time you learned just who was more powerful."
The demon child floated up to Chara, putting her hand on Chara's chin. Hatred was flashing in Chara's eyes, burning like the fires that Chara's very aura was producing in her eyes.
"You know" Arach said, chuckling. "We haven't played together in quite a long time. What's it been? Seven years?"
"Too short of a time." Chara said.
"Oh, don't be that way." Arach said, looking into Chara's eyes. "You and I had fun. Taking SOULs and becoming stronger."
"I'm not like that anymore." Char said.
"Yes." Arach said. "Because of that little brunette. She must be quite a gem for you to up and change your ways like that. I think I'll definitely have to see her in a closer light. But I don't think you'll be able to stop me."
"Trust me." Chara panted, defiance in her voice. "If we were in the physical world, you'd be dust."
"I'm no monster." Arach said. "I won't turn to dust if I die."
"Depends on who kills you." Chara said.
"Oh, I see.' Arach said, giggling. "That's a sort of threat. Well, I'm not threatened by it."
"You will be." Chara said. "Trust me, I'm not done fighting yet."
"We'll see." Arach said, chuckling. "We'll see."
With Frisk and Khara
"So Frisk." Khara said as the two of them walked through Chara's mind. "You said something earlier about Gaster nearly killing you. What was that about?"
"Oh" Frisk said. "Well, Gaster tried to kill Chara because of her genocide runs, but I stepped in between them. He shot me and Chara turned him to dust."
"Not gonna lie" Khara said, sighing. "He deserved it. But, I don't think he was too far off on the genocide run thing. Chara was wrong, but she learned her lesson. Though, I'm guessing if she fought him, she must have done the creepy speech I've heard her use."
"Yep." Frisk said, giggling. "She managed to make Toriel nervous."
"I don't see how." Khara said. "Tori used to be almost as powerful as me."
"Really?" Frisk asked, not knowing that little fact about her mom.
"Yep." Khara said. "But, her weenie of an ex-husband made her a big softie. She's kinda like Mirajane in Fairy Tail."
"Oh." Frisk said. "That's amazing."
"Yep." Khara said. "So, what happened when Chara went into your mind?"
"Well" Frisk began. "This being with a cloak and sort of a skeleton look to him tried to take my SOUL, but Chara beat him."
"Like a skeleton?" Khara said, her voice almost becoming a growl. "Did he say his name?"
"No." Frisk said. "But, he did mistake Chara for you."
"So" Khara said, clenching her fist. "He's still alive."
"Not really." Frisk said. "Chara pretty much obliterated him."
"Ahh." Khara said. "So, how'd you and Chara become such good friends?"
"Well" Frisk said. "It's kind of a long story."
"I think we got time." Khara said, shrugging.
"Okay." Frisk said. "Well…"
Flashback
The nine year old Frisk left the Ruins, walking through the cold Snowdin. She remembered that she was wearing the equivalent of a tank top under a small shirt Toriel had given her. She had on shorts as well. She began to shiver, but continued walking forward.
Suddenly, a girl older than her appeared beside her. Frisk recognized her as Chara, the girl she'd met earlier.
"Hiya!" Chara said, waving with a grin on her face. "So, ya made it out of the Ruins, huh? She musta smothered you, didn't she?"
"Y-yeah." Frisk said, shivering.
"You cold?" Chara asked. Frisk nodded, curling into a ball of sorts as Chara simply looked at her.
"I'll be right back." Chara said, teleporting away. Frisk's eyes widened in surprise.
After about five minutes, Chara returned, holding a sweater that was light blue with pink stripes and a pair of brown pants. She handed them to Frisk, who put them on. She found them to be really warm.
"they're from Hotland." Chara said, grinning. "It's really warm there."
"Woah.' Frisk said, standing up.
"Toasty, right?" Chara asked.
"Y-yeah." Frisk said. "Th-thank you, Chara."
"No problem." Chara said.
"But" Frisk asked. "Why aren't you wearing warm clothes?"
Chara was wearing a thin shirt and grey pants.
"The cold doesn't really bother me." Chara shrugged. "Now heat, that's something that bothers me. I get really hot really fast. I think it's genetic or something."
"I don't think I've ever met anyone like that." Frisk said. "I didn't think there were other humans Underground."
"Oh, there aren't." Chara said. "I took care of that little problem."
"What do you mean?" Frisk asked.
"They all died." Chara said. Frisk looked at Chara with fear.
"Oh, don't worry." Chara said, realizing Frisk's emotion. "I'm not gonna kill you. I like you. The other humans were disgusting. They would kill monsters after gaining their affection. You're nice. You make friends with the monsters. I have a feeling you're gonna do great things for this Underground."
"Th-thank you." Frisk said. Chara put her arm around her, pulling her close.
"Welcome." She said. "Now, let's get you to someplace warmer."
"O-okay." Frisk said. She walked with Chara, the two girls talking to each other and laughing.
Unbeknownst to them, however, a pair of eyes watched them from the bushes.
"So" Sans, who the eyes belonged to, said. "She's back again. But, this time, she's got a little friend. Well, let's see how this one goes."
Present time
"Well" Khara said. "It would seem that Chara found the person that restored her good side."
"Yeah." Frisk said. "By the way, how did you know Chara wasn't herself?"
"Her scent was off." Khara said. "There was something different about her. Also, her eyes. When Nekomon use dark magic our eyes turn black with red. Never orange and green. Those are the colors of possessive demons."
"I just thought her eyes had changed because she made them change." Frisk said. "Because they change when she uses a lot of LV."
"Well" Khara said. "There was also the reason of you not wanting her to get away from you. Chara is neither that forceful nor are you the one to want her to leave her alone. You always enjoy her company. When you wanted her to let go of you and she was trying to force herself on you, I knew something was up."
"Yeah." Frisk said. "I figured she wasn't Chara when she called me 'dearie'."
"Ugh!" Khara said, disgusted. "That's a stupid name for lovesick ditzy girls."
"That's what Chara always said." Frisk said.
"Well, we're really similar." Khara said. "Which reminds me, I still need to evaluate Chara's skill."
"Well" Frisk said. "I think we're getting closer to her. I can feel her."
"You can feel her?" Khara asked.
"Sort of." Frisk said. "It's something I've been able to do. I always know when she's nearby and she knows where I am and stuff."
"Interesting." Khara said. "I didn't know that."
"Yeah." Frisk said. "I think we're right nearby."
"Good." Khara said. "I can sense her too. We're right close."
The two of them walked into a hallway that opened up to reveal Chara suspended with her arms stretched wide, a blonde girl with orange eyes and green sclera (the white part of the eye).
"Arach." Frisk said, taking a cautious step back.
"You're Arach?" Khara asked. "I thought your name was—"
"Don't you dare use that name!" Arach shouted, firing a dark blast at Khara, who blocked it.
"Well, then.' Khara said, summoning her own dark magic. "I guess you are the same demon I knew."
"And you're the same girl who lit the seven candles." Arach said, grinning. "Oh, man, when you first gained your demon powers, all of us thought you were gonna split heaven wide open. The other warrior too."
"Funny how it didn't go your way." Khara said.
"Yeah." Arach said. "When you refused to follow us, we actually got nervous. Funny how I've been influencing your daughter for a while."
"Well, it stops here." Khara said, clenching her fists. "Release my daughter."
"Uh, how about no?" Arach said, stepping closer to Khara.
"Frisk." Khara said, her voice low. "I'll take care of this one. You get Chara. Once you do, I'll bring us out of here."
"Got it." Frisk said, moving over to where Chara was.
"You won't take her!" Arach said, firing a dark blast at Khara. Khara blocked it and rushed forward, trading blows with Arach.
With Frisk
Frisk tried to pull off the restraints holding Chara's arms, eventually succeeding. Chara fell forward, Frisk catching her and holding her in a hug, Chara's limbs limp.
"Well, kid." Chara said, laughing softly. "It looks like you saved me this time."
"Yeah." Frisk said, holding Chara tightly. "I guess I did."
"Now we gotta get outta here." Chara said.
"That's easy." Frisk said. "Khara's gonna get us out."
"Mom's here?" Chara said, looking over to Khara, who was fighting with Arach.
"Yep." Frisk said. "But, we're gonna have to hurry."
"Right." Chara said, nodding.
Frisk half dragged Chara over near Khara, who was still fighting with Arach. Khara quickly kicked Arach backwards, grabbing Frisk and Chara, teleporting them out.
Outside Chara's mind—With Alphys, Toriel, Undyne, and Asriel
"Why is Chara on the couch?" Toriel asked. "Isn't she supposed to be at the movies?"
"That's at six." Alphys said. "Besides, something's off with Chara."
"What?" Toriel asked, worry creeping into her voice.
"She was acting weird." Asriel said. "And her eyes were different too."
"How different?" Toriel asked.
"They were orange." Asriel said, Toriel's hands clenching into fists. "With green around that."
"No." Toriel said. "It can't be."
"What?" Undyne asked. "You seem to know something about this."
"There were things I did and saw" Toriel said. "Before I met Asgore. Things involving Khara."
"What do you mean?" Undyne asked.
"Khara and I were powerful warriors once." Toriel said. "We were known as 'The Demon's Maiden' and the 'Servant of Death'."
"Wait." Undyne said, standing up. "You were the Servant of Death?"
"Yes.' Toriel said. "But, that was a very long time ago. I'm not at quite the level I once was. Khara, on the other hand, is still as powerful as she was, maybe even more powerful."
"Yeah." Asriel said. "She's tough allright."
"But" Toriel said. "Back to Chara. If those were the colors, I don't think we should take this lightly."
"It's fine." Alphys said. "Frisk and Khara went in to help Chara."
"What?!" Toriel exclaimed. "They're in there? With HER?"
"Her, who?" Alphys asked.
Before Toriel could answer, Khara and Frisk' essences burst from Chara's body, the two of them landing on the floor.
"Hey" Alphys said. "They made it out."
"Did it work?" Undyne asked.
"Yep." Khara said. Chara began to stir slightly.
"Maybe even better than you think." Came a sinister voice from behind them. They turned to see the physical form of Arach, an evil grin on her face. "I mean, you managed to get rid of me. But, now I'm in the real world. And there's no way any of you have the power to stop me here."
"I'm gonna enjoy this." Arach said, summoning her magic to her hands. However, before she could do anything else, a powerful blast of dark magic shot her through the wall of the house. Everyone turned to look where the blast came from. It was from Chara, who had woken up.
"Round two, mother f #$er!" she shouted, her eyes burning red.
well, it seems like Chara wants some payback. How will this turn out? Will Chara beat Arach or will the demon girl reclaim Chara's body? Find out next chapter.
