UpturnTale: Chara's POV

The last thing I remember was Turn's Dad telling me that the machine will be loud. The next thing I know, the machine sparks and boom. Sitting up, I look around to see no one there. Smoke and blurs fill my vision. Hues of different soul's filter through my vision until they settle with my eyes clearing up. My eyes didn't lie. The machine behind me is still smoking from whatever issue caused the explosion.

Looking down at my hands, I jump a bit to see the bones only moving up to my wrist and panic a moment. A red hue covers my vision, making it hard to see much, "Why are they like this?- Wait, what's going on? I can't see… Anyone? Gaster?!"

Someone speaks up near me, causing me to look at the menacing tone where I see a tall ofigure in the shadows, "Oh, look here. It was more determination I sensed. This time I think I'll enjoy taking this one. More for me."

A blaze of faded red moves towards me in a flash. I throw my arms out and focus my magic. I have to summon something. Anything! Just as the stranger gets near me, I see a burst of reddish-black lightning weaving erratically as it slams into the invader. The resulting hit summons a wall in front of me that's transluscent. I can see him try to recover while I watch the butterflies of the same color form around my hand to make a black scythe with a blade on each end of the shaft. The wings fade from bright red to a dark red. This weapon I remember how to use.

"Oh, so you can use your power? Cute trick. Wanna see mine?" he grins, holding his stomach with his right hand. The skeleton in a black trench coat with orange highlight on the edge looks to me.

Papyrus, I thought, before a large skeletal wolf summons in front of him with a growl and an orange hue to its empty eye sockets.

I can only hope this works is all I think without doubting myself further. Focusing on my scythe, I watch as it begins to glow small hues of various colors until it settles on a mix of red, orange and yellow. When it starts charging, I summon the same erratic attack as it dodges into my reach. With a quick slash at its chest and head, I watch it jump back with deep slices into its chest and a part of its skull separated and hanging there. Part of me feels ready to go as I focus one more time on the remaining magic I have. The cuts glow suddenly with me diving behind some rubble out of an unnatural sense of fear.

Papyrus laughs, "Running so soon? We're not done y-ye- What did you do? Why-"

The voice cuts off as an explosion sounds with bone cracking and shattering; spreading across the room. The whole building shook this time, me just holding my hands over my ears until the sound settles.

Removing my hands from my ears, I peek my head out to see no one there. Part of me still feels uneasy. Standing up, I brush off the dust from my clothes with a glare at my bone hands. I spin on my heels to try to find both Gasters.

All of the sudden, a hand grabs onto mine and lifts me into the air. The grip tightens, making me cringe a moment until my eyes meet the invader's. He just chuckles, "I get it now. You're like me. A monster with determination. Let me start over a little bit. I'm Papyrus and I'm offering you the chance to use that determination to-"

A blaster hits him square in the side, dropping me onto my back with a small verbal wince from me. I recognize Turn's voice immediately, despite the dark intonations, "I'm sorry. She's taken, buddy. Hate to break it to you."

The dust lifts me to Turn's side as he puts one arm around my shoulder with a slight shake to his arm as he holds on. I must of worried him. Leaning into him a bit for support, I shiver at the thought of a Papyrus being this violent, "He just appeared after I woke up. He must have gotten here the same way as the other one."

Turns gaze freezes a moment on where this invader landed with a slightly defeated look. Before I can follow his gaze, he snaps out it in a panic to cover me in a hug quickly with the dust shield building around us. The blink in my vision last seconds, but I still see blood filter across my vision in a splash effect once I reopen my eyes. Immediately, I close my eyes to keep it from blinding me. His voice is faint, but still there, "Run…"

Something throws me back to the ground, still afraid to open my eyes from the blood splash before. Wiping the blood off with my sleeve, I'm left staring at Turn in the maw of that beast I slashed earlier. Blood falls from where the teeth sink in, making me horrified and frozen in place.

Papyrus just grins at Turn, "Oh, you thought that he could protect you? Too bad." He glares at Turn, "Now this is for the shot you gave me before." He snaps his fingers with a dark glint to his orange glowing eyes.

The wolf grips its teeth into his sides a small ounce deeper with Turn's pained cry echo in the empty room. Drops of blood fall from its maw, creating a small puddle below its jaw.

"Turn!" I reach a hand out, but my legs seem frozen in place. Every inch of me is crying out to stop this, but I can't get my legs to work.

Papyrus swipes a hand and a wave of bones throws me back a few more feet, "Quiet, worm. I'll take you out as soon as I'm done with this one. Now don't move." His eyes glow again, this time creating blue bones around me to keep me from moving. Snapping his fingers again, "You're not paying enough for that shot."

The wolf throws his jaw upwards, making Turn go into the air some. It bites down on his arm as he falls and crunches down. The sickening crack of the bone along with the agonizing cry from Turn makes every part of me cry out to help him. It is taking all I have to get my body to move even in inch. I'm stuck in place, but why won't my body let me move? At this rate, he'll…

Unable to stand, I watch the large undead wolf drop him in a lump on the ground with a shred of dust falling off his hands. It sets a clawed paw on his back and digs in with dust moving from the wound in small wisps for now. Papyrus grinning, "There we go. I think I can move on to the other one. You keep your claws dug in. Now I think the final straw will be to kill you in front of him… Nyehe…"

Tears fall slowly at just the sight of his dust raising into the air, watching him hold on as much as he can. I see his hand slowly deteriorate and his ring fall on the ground with a metallic, empty echo as the metal chimes like a church bell. A glow builds around me with even my tears forming something darker. My weapon turning a pure dark red and the same erratic lightning filtering around me until it shatters the blue bones holding me. My voice is hollow but fills with determination, "Get away from him… I'm warning you…"

"Or you'll do wha- Wowza!" he starts until a strike of magic slams into him and pierces through his stomach.

Standing up weakly, I feel out of control… or rather… empowered. Tears become drops that filter into my scythe to make it glow brighter, "I said get back!"

Papyrus just laughs, "Oh… You're changing just like I did. But you… You're eyes are empty like mine. What determination do you have?"

Without words, I just lift my scythe in my hands and spin it in front of me. The built-up magic starts to charge up in the spin. As if undeterred by his words, I just focus on the kill, the rage… I'm not letting him get away after this. The beam fires from the center of the spin, moving quickly towards him and through his pet, shattering it.

He darts into a black portal he summons to which the beam follows. Once it closes, the beam stops, and the scythe drops from my hands. My wrists were bone now, too. With a quick look down, I saw my eyes were black with red glowing orbs. Shaking off the shock, I remember why I was angry.

Moving to Turn, I just pick him up and hold a hand over his half-dusted arm, "Turn! Come on. I'll heal you. Please. Wake up!"

He doesn't move in my arms as the red flow of magic sews around his missing arm like thread as it seems to try to mend the damage.

My blurry vision makes it harder to focus my magic, words just spilling out, "Turn! I'm right here. Stay with me!"

Finally, he moves slightly with his only remaining hand setting to stop the healing process. A shake of his head is all he can give me while I watch the light in his soul dim. His voice is barely loud enough to hear, "Chara, stop… You can't… heal this."

"Don't say that. I have the souls. I've healed you from worse," I try plea, my tears staining his sweatshirt; only mixing in with the blood.

He holds my hand, leaving his ring in it with the vial of dust, "I told you. I'm your white knight. I protected you…" he stops and coughs, his only remaining hand turning to dust, "Now go protect… the others…"

The dust is building up too quickly as he starts to fade away faster in my arms. Just as his skull starts to fade, I just hug him, "No! Turn!... I love you… Don't go." All I hold is his dust in my arms in seconds, and the items he left in my hands. Sobbing, I curl in on myself without knowing what else I can do. He's more than a protector. Slamming a fist into the ground, the ground splinters around me with dark red magic filtering out of the cracks. Part of me remembers crying out in loss, but I don't remember Sans coming into the lab.

Sans is standing there, holding a handout, "Kiddo…"

"Sans!" I hug him tightly in a rush, tears flooding down my cheek, "He's gone… There was another one and he… He protected me. It's… It's-"

He just hugs me back without question, "He chose to protect you…"

Sans helps me onto my feet and back towards the house. The only thing I can do is put on Turn's sweatshirt and lay in bed. My eyes find a photo of us together by the hole into the mountain that we decided to sneak out of with these yellow flowers in the background. Curling into his sweatshirt, I start to feel myself shaking.

Sans comes back in without hesitation to take my hand, "Kiddo, it's okay. I'm right here. You gotta calm down. Look."

Pulling myself out of the sweatshirt, I see the red laces of magic around the room freeze instantly. I just sit on the edge of the bed and stare at his sweatshirt. Opening my hand, I look at the vial and the ring, "You didn't approve… But he really wanted to impress you. He was just scared to ask you."

"He was brave enough to go behind my back and ask you. I think that's well beyond impressive. In a way, he stood up to me. I'm kinda proud and," Sans pats my shoulder with a less lively chuckle, sitting on the edge of the bed, "I'm glad you two were together. For now, I think I know how I can help. How about we track down that dust and help the underground."

Shaking my head, I just put the items in my pant pocket, "Not we. Me. I can feel it inside breaking down and getting ready to fight. I can't have you near me too. Get me there, I'll take it from that point. I'll call when it's over. I think I might have a way to track down the problem now. Just trust me."

I look at the frozen red wires of magic lacing around the room that slowly disappear.

Sans follows my gaze and nods, "Alright… Just promise me you'll keep this. You never know if maybe these other timelines can help him." He sets the scarf around my neck with a now sealed bell, "The dust is in the bell. I made sure it can't fall out. Maybe you can find the souls of that timeline or someone who can help him."

"Thank you, Sans," I hug him with a slightly hopeful smile, "I promise I'll come back. I just need to finish this. Maybe I can help him get back too." I let him hug back and then look around the room, "So how do we get there?"

Archimimetale: Gaster's POV

"Frisk!" my feet carry me hastily to her side. I lift her up in my arms with a bubble surrounding us, "Arch, take her out of here. I'll deal with my son. Give these to her when she's awake."

Arch moves over to me to take her from my arms, allowing me to set the pills in her pocket, "Wait. No. You can't just get into the void. You have to-"

I turn to him with a hard look, "I said get her out of here. I have my own way into the void. Trust me. Just get her out of here."

A weak hand grabs my arm, seeing Frisk slightly awake, "No. Not leaving you… Arch…" She stops to cough and holds my arm tighter, "Tell him…"

"She's right. You stood up for me. Let me do this. I'm sending you to my timeline. That portal will take you into the living room of a friend's house," Arch opens up a portal, setting her in my arms, "Now go! I'll be right behind you."

Levitation magic pushes me through the void portal, leading into the void. The force of the push sends us into another unseen portal that is brighter than the first portal. I can only hope this place is safe. Holding her to my chest, I roll into the fall so I can take the fall for her. Despite slamming into the ground with a crunch of my shoulder cracking, every part of me only had her to worry about.

A small hitched voice startles me from my own personal reactions, "Wh-who are you?! Where's my Dad?"

Standing roughly, I see the younger teenage in a blue jersey jacket, black shirt and jeans. A dog stands as tall as her, growling with its hair on edge. Part of me seems astonished at the brown-haired teen with a dog of seven souls, "Where's- Wait, you mean Arch? He's right through that portal."

There's a pause, watching her stare at the portal in fear, "Is he okay? Is he… still Dad?"

"Yes. He's-" I start until I hear the explosion from the other side only to see the whole lab collapse.

Arch walks through with a sigh of relief, "Sorry. He's sleeping upstairs in that lab along with the other one. I had to stop him first… You might need a new lab though." He starts till he sees Hope, "Told you I'd make it home, Hope."

She bursts into a run and jumps up to hug him, "Dad! You're home!"

The dog follows her out while Arch hugs her. It sniffs at Frisk and sets its head on her fallen hand. A small glow draws my attention towards it while I watch it filter magic into her. She moves slightly in my arms and rests easier. I summon a free hand to pet him, "Thank you."

Hope pipes up from the attached hug to Arch, "He can do that now. Wait, Dad, who is this?"

"Manners, Hope," he scolds her a bit.

She huffs and then it fades to a smile again, "Sorry… I'm Hope. That's Greater Dog. I just call him Dog now… It's nice to meet you."

Letting out a chuckle, I shake my head, "Don't feel at fault. We just dropped in. I'm Gaster and this is Frisk. It's nice to meet you Hope. We're from another timeline."

Greater Dog moves to the area in front of the broken window and lays down. Hope moves besides him and smiles, "She can rest with him. He's like a fluffy blanket." She grins like an upbeat without a single worry.

I set her against his side and watch her carefully, "Arch, is there a place we can talk? Frisk needs rest, and there is something I need to ask about."

Arch waves me outside lean against the cave wall and looks into the window.

Following his gaze, I see Hope sitting against the dog's other side and dozing off with Frisk, "She's the thing you've been trying to get back to."

"Yeah. I found her and Toriel and everything just made sense. No more stupid schemes with Pap and for once I heard my Dad. Well another version of you. Guess that means he was right," he starts and looks aside, "Anyways… What do you wanna talk about?"

I sigh and pull out a cigarette I hid away a long time ago in my pocket. Lighting up the end, the inhalation feels somewhat stress relieving, "Your reason that this is happening. I figured as much out. But the part I don't get is how your soul stays intact despite the massive overuse of the red souls you had in you."

"Hope's green soul… It reverses damage. Including my own. My brother is on a road that will kill him, but I won't let myself go down that road again for her. Hope needs me now. And I still have to patch up things with her Mom," he says with a shrug of his shoulders, "Pap won't last much longer…"

Letting out a small smoke ring, I inhale with a sigh, "You can't believe the amount of information Frisk isn't privileged to because of my previous condition. We can only make ourselves better for those around us. You're doing the right thing."

Arch sighs and sets his hands into his pockets, "Yeah. Doubt it'll be that simple. You know how addicting that stuff is. I'm only able to stop it because I can remind myself of the two that keep me grounded. But how does your condition help my situation?"

"Easily…" I drop the cigarette and crush it. Shaking my head, I pull out a small broken device, "She belongs somewhere else. But she gave it all up for my family and I. Her and her sister. Now her sister is gone and all she wants to do is help you to honor her memory. I'm here to ask you honestly, what are we walking into?"

He looks to the device and then stands up with a frustrated sigh, "She said she could help Hope. That's all I want. She's a lot older than Hope and maybe she can help her. But to do that, I need Frisk's help. But maybe you could help me convince my brother that he should stop his overuse of that material after she helps her… You may not be him, but your still another version of our Dad… Look I'm fighting on three fronts, including Tori." He mumbles to himself, "But I think I can handle that one."

Standing up and thinking it over, "How about we compromise; she can help Hope. But you need to explain to met what's going on with Papyrus before I can help. Deal?"

"Sure… Well I need to get to Undyne to explain all this. You should watch over her here. And keep an eye on Hope if you don't mind," he says, finishing with a cautious favor to ask.

I simply chuckle, "I'll keep an eye on them. I think for now they're pretty well watched over. Go take care of explaining all this. I'll stay here with them."

He nods, "Thanks. I'll be back before they wake up."

Waving him off, I head inside to sit against the wall to watch the girls sleep. Part of me drifts to how alike the two could be. Shaking a fragile thought away with the weight of the small black box in my pocket, I just find myself drifting off with them. Maybe some rest would do me some good as well. Haven't slept in days since this started.