A Maelstrom's Tale
Chapter 16: A Fine Day to Bleed
Emerging from the door of the Lab, Naruto surveyed the area of the Hotland with a frown on his face, his phone started ringing which he quickly answered.
[N-Naruto, I'll help guide you to the CORE] Alphys offered through the phone.
Naruto shook his head in response "There's no need since I know the way there plus, I'd rather need your help when I get to the CORE instead,"
[O-Okay, be careful]
"I will," said Naruto before ending the call and snapping back into focus "Better get a move on…,"
Naruto headed back to the crossroads with a heavy heart, knowing that the route would be open due to the absence of the guards watching over the area. He went to the elevator and operated it to take him to the right third floor. He continued on to reach the MTT Resort and sure enough, the place was completely deserted thanks to Alphys having evacuated the remaining monsters to the True Lab to keep them safe. He moved on to cross the bridge and arrive at the entrance of the CORE before calling Alphys on the phone.
"Alphys, I made it to the CORE and I don't need to guess that the hotel has been disabled, right?" Naruto inquired.
[Y-Yes, I altered the CORE with hopes that I could slow her down] Alphys responded.
"Yeah, but Frisk would already know how to bypass them since she has gone through this before," the blonde thought with a frown "Alright then, guide me through the shortest route so I can catch up to her,"
[Are you sure that we shouldn't let Sans know of this?]
"No we shouldn't, the moment he finds out, Sans will try to resolve everything by himself even if it kills him in the process," Naruto was quick to affirm strongly, recalling his own Sans may seem lazy but deep inside can be very serious about things.
[Oh, I didn't realize that…]
"We need to focus, I'm setting my phone to loudspeaker so you can guide me while I go," the blonde activated the loudspeaker before placing it carefully into his pocket so he would be able to hear it.
[Okay, l-let's hurry!]
Naruto proceed to run through the hallways of the CORE with Alphys keeping track of him via the GPS on his phone and giving him directions along the way and making sure that he didn't run into any traps that might slow him. A part of Naruto wanted to seek out Red but immediately dropped the idea out of fear that he would find something that would affirm her being killed by Frisk as well. Ever since he found himself in this alternate dimension and learning what has been going on, Naruto's mental state has been taking on a serious toll and he's barely keeping himself together through all this to the point that he's not even sure how much more he could take at this rate.
[J-Just ahead is a hallway and afterwards you'll find an elevator leading away from the CORE and towards the King's premises] said Alphys.
"Roger that," Naruto arrived at the doorway and was about to open it when he noticed something "Isn't this where…Alphys, where's Mettaton?"
[Come to think of it, I haven't been in contact with him for some time now…]
Hearing this, Naruto immediately barged through the door into the room and came upon the sight of Mettaton having been broken into many pieces much to his horror as he slowly approached to kneel next to the shattered upper torso of the robot. Alphys was calling out worriedly through the phone
[What happen, did you find Mettaton?]
"…she got him Alphys, she took out Mettaton too…," said Naruto sadly.
[Oh no, not Mettaton…]
"I need to hurry, seeing Mettaton here must mean that Frisk has reached New Home. I need to go now!"
[Naruto wait!]
"Sorry, I'll be doing this on my own from now on,"
[Na-]
Naruto ended the call, taking in a deep breath before exhaling as he looked at the doorway ahead and going through to reach the elevator then using it to get him to the next area. Upon reaching the chosen floor, Naruto exited from the elevator and dashed through the pathway and arrived at the entrance to New Home. The blonde was about to take another step when he stopped with a frown on his face and suddenly spoke out loud.
"You can come out now, I've had enough of you following me around now, ever since Snowdin. Now quit with the hiding and show yourself…Flowey," there was a pop before Naruto turned around to see none other than Flowey who was looking at him with a frown on his face.
"How did you know that I've been following you, and my name too?" asked Flowey confusedly.
"I wasn't aware at first but I started getting the feeling that someone had been following me from a distance and figured that it was you. As for knowing your name, that's for me to know,"
Flowey frowned in annoyance "If you knew that I was following you why didn't you do anything about it?"
"I have more important things to focus on besides addressing your presence," Naruto saw that Flowey was about to speak and cut him "Look, I don't have the time or patience to play twenty questions with you when I need to get to Frisk and put a stop to this,"
Hearing this, Flowey laughed in response "Put a stop to this? You have no idea about what's going on,"
"I know well enough that if she continues with this genocide of hers, she'll keep repeating this bloody cycle. I can't allow that to go on," Naruto countered.
"You must be an idiot if you think you can stop her, no one can stop her as she's done this twice now. The moment she learns of the presence of another human, she'll kill you without a second thought then take your SOUL and gain LV which will only make her stronger. After all, it's kill or be killed,"
Now it was Naruto's turn to be annoyed "And what about you? Have you tried to stop her? If you can recall the past RESETs, surely you want to stop her from repeating the cycle or is it that you just let it happen for your own benefit?"
"How would you know what a RESET is? Just what kind of human are you?"
"*Sigh* I don't have to explain anything to you, if you're going to waste my time then leave me alone," Naruto turned to enter New Home when Flowey popped out of the ground in front of him with an angry look on his face.
"Well make time. I want to know how does a human like you who's only fallen down here knows what a RESET is, you knowing my name, and even knows how to use MAGIC!? It's not possible for a human to know magic as that knowledge was lost through centuries since the war. So start talking, who are you!?"
Naruto glared back in response "I don't have to tell you anything, now move aside! Do you not understand the grave situation here?"
"Oh I understand what's happening just perfectly, it's you who doesn't understand the situation you find yourself in. If you tell me who you are, I might let you go,"
The blonde gritted his teeth in annoyance "Flowey! I'm serious here, I can't afford to waste my time for explanations. Now get out of my way. It would be better if you don't know what you don't wanna hear,"
"What do you mean "'It's better that I don't know what I don't wanna hear?' What could you possibly know that you can't tell me? Answer me!"
"No," Naruto replied sternly.
Flowey growled for a moment then he started to smile evilly "Fine, if you won't tell me, then I suppose I'll just kill you here and now. After all, it's not every day something new finally occurred to present itself to me. Once I kill you, not only would I have a soul to myself, I might be able to counter her power as well," As he said that, he sprouted two tentacle thorn vines from the ground as if he's ready to fight Naruto.
Naruto growled as he doesn't have the time to deal with him as he hard-pressed for time but he doesn't wanna waste his energy on fighting Flowey which leaves him with no other choice. Naruto just sighed as he said "Look Flowey, if you're really that desperate in wanting answers you then fine. I'll just have to convince you to let me pass if that'll get you to stop interfering,"
Flowey just laughed as he said "Convince me? How do you plan on doing that? I doubt whatever you say could possibly surprise me."
Naruto smirked "I don't know about that, but what I can say is I know a lot about you then you let on,"
"Like I would believe you know anything about me,"
"Alright but don't say I didn't warn you, I didn't wanna say it but you left me no choice if you continue to stand in my way,"
Flowey who rolled his eyes as he said with a sneer "Please, what would an idiot human like you could possibly know anything about me?"
Naruto shrugged his shoulders then said "I know well enough that you were never a flower to begin with. You used to be someone, or more specifically, Asriel Dreemurr, son of the royal Dreemurr family of Toriel & Asgore Dreemurr,"
This made Flowey shut up as he looked at Naruto in shock and disdain; Shock at how this human knows who he formerly was and what family he's from, Disdain at him mentioning his former dead name. "I-I, Y-You-"
However, before he could say anything, Naruto cuts him off as he said "I'm not finished yet. Before you became Flowey, you were once Asriel who lived a normal life with your family who was an only child up until the first human have fallen who you found and taken care of. Afterwards your family adopted the human as your sibling which you two became best friends. That is until 'The Plan' started as the first fallen human started eating buttercup flowers which poisoned them to the point of death which you didn't like the plan anymore. Then I assume you took their SOUL to absorb which made you pass through the barrier and took the body with you. After that, something must've gone wrong as I can only suspect the humans attacked you and died from them which resulted you both ending up dead. Correct?" Flowey didn't say a word as he couldn't formally what Naruto just said.
Flowey didn't say a word as he couldn't formally what Naruto just said, but Naruto continued on as he said "If that wasn't enough to convince you, then I know how you became Flowey. It had something to do with Alphys doesn't it? After your death some time, Alphys must've done some experiment to attempt to bring you back to like by using your dust on a flower. I don't know how she did it, but what I can say is after initially brought you back to life, it only brought you more pain and anguish after learning you're a soulless husk of a flower and you left without Alphys's knowing. That's how you became Flowey. I also know you used to have the power of RESET at the time before Frisk came along which overrides your power. So Flowey, am I right or am I right?"
"…" Flowey was at a loss for words, he was flabbergasted. He couldn't believe at how Naruto was ENTIRELY right? It makes no sense at how someone like him who's only been down here not that long already knows this much about him. "Just who the hell are you?! How can possibly know so much about me?! It's not possible for some random human to know THIS much information about me!"
Naruto simply stated "Well this human does, I hope that was enough to convince you, now can you move?"
However, Flowey refused to budge about this matter "Now hold on there, you still haven't answered me how you know about what a RESET is and how you know magic,"
Naruto was getting frustrated at this weed probing information "Unbelievable…fine. How I know what a RESET is because I have the same power as Frisk does. I too possess the soul of Determination." he showed his SOUL to Flowey as he said that shocking the flower "But I had never done a RESET as I only used my SAVE file once, but I hope I don't ever have to use it if I have to," He then withdrew his SOUL back to him.
Flowey then asked "How is it that you have a soul of Determination as well? And you said you've used your SAVE file and never once RESET before? How can that be? If that was true, I would've seen you from the past RESETS, I never seen you around here,"
"That's because I'm not from around here,"
"Obviously Sherlock, you're in the Underground, of course you're not from around here!"
Naruto was getting annoyed at Flowey as he clarified himself "No you dumb weed! What I meant is I'm not from this timeline,"
"What do you mean by that?"
"What I mean is I was brought here against my will. A portal appeared in my timeline where Frisk and I spared everyone. While I was dealing with…personal stuff, that portal sucked me in and I suddenly found myself here in your timeline. Whatever reason it brought me here must be for a purpose, which is me stopping Frisk from causing more harm." Flowey looking a bit skeptical at this but given he knows a lot about him, what a RESET is and not to mention him having a soul of Determination, that was more than enough to convince him.
"Well, that would explain how you know this much about me and where you originated from, but what about your magic?" asked Flowey out of curiosity.
Naruto just sigh at this while saying "My magic came from my grimoire which is chained on my arm. I'm able to learn its language to use spell casting. If you were spying me in Waterfall then you must've seen me using a spell as I was about to walk through the river." Which Flowey nodded as he recalled witnessing that and as he mentioned about a grimoire, he then noticed it on the human's arm makes him wonder how he never noticed that. "There, I've answered your questions, are you satisfied now?"
Flowey looked at him for a while until he spoke "Yeah, I'm satisfied. You've answered all my questions, so I suppose I can let you go,"
Naruto looked relieved as he said "Finally, now if you excuse me, I need to-,"
But Flowey cuts him off "But you know, now that I learned about you, I could just kill you now and take your soul for myself. In this world it's kill or be killed." he began having his plant-like tentacles slowly reach towards Naruto who started building up his magic to defend himself. However, Flowey retracted them as he said "But then again, I much rather don't want to be killed again like how that traitor did to me after all I did in helping them, so much for best friend, huh,"
Naruto then powered down his magic as he asked "You're best friends with Frisk?"
"What? No, I'm not friends with that pacifist, I meant…wait, you don't know?"
Naruto asked confusedly "Don't know what?"
Flowey started laughing as he said "So you're unaware of who's actually doing the genocide?"
Naruto looked annoyed "What do you mean by that? It's obviously Frisk right?"
Hearing this only made Flowey laugh harder in an evil tone as he said "Golly you really don't know! Well, I'm gonna let you figure it out yourself if you live long enough that is, but I'll at least tell you this: Frisk isn't the one that's in control here."
Naruto looked even more confused as he demanded "What do you mean 'Frisk isn't the one that's in control here', Who are you referring too?" Which Flowey laughs as he said "If you wanna know the I suggest heading through Judgment Hall. I advise you better hurry, smiley trashbag is currently fighting her."
Naruto who looked confused at him saying 'smiley trashbag' as he's wondering who is he calling who that, then a thought occurred as a certain lazy skeleton who always smiles came to mind, then he realized what he meant "Sans is fighting her!? Someone like him who has 1HP shouldn't confront her! I gotta reach him in time before it's too late." he immediately sprinted off as Flowey watched him before muttering to himself
"Let's see if that human has what it takes to stop Chara from this Genocide run. Would he succeed or would he fall like all the rest have. Guess we'll have to wait and see." After that, he borrowed down the ground as Naruto rushes towards the Judgment Hall.
Naruto dashed through Asgore's home and out through the passageway onto the pathways leading towards the Judgement as fast as he could whilst gripping his bokken tightly, a deep part of him wondered what Flowey meant when he said that Frisk wasn't in control of herself but shrugged it off and focused more on reaching Sans and Frisk to stop the fight before something irreversible happens.
Finally arriving at the Judgement Hall, Naruto quickly made his way to the main area and was horrified as he came upon the scene of Frisk as she was about to strike at Sans with a knife and the skeleton was…asleep during the fight!?
Snapping out of it, Naruto wasted no time rushing towards Frisk as he called out "Sans, watch out!"
His voice alerted everyone of his presence, they all turned towards the source and were surprised to see who it was more so Sans who dodged the incoming attack with ease given by the fact that his hands were still in the pockets of his jacket "Heh, didja really think you would be able-," but before he could finish his sentence, Frisk slashed at Sans again a second time at speed which took Sans completely off guard as he didn't have enough time to dodge that one. Time slowed down as he was about to get hit which he knew he was gonna die like he has been previously. As it got nearer, he closed eyes and awaited the pain…it never happened, he slowly opened his eyes to see Naruto standing right in front of him with his Bokken in hand blocking Frisk's attack then pushed her away from them.
"Phew, thank goodness that I was able to make it in time," Naruto let out a breath of relief then glanced towards Sans "Are you okay?"
Sans was surprised at seeing Naruto here as he said "Kid? What are you doing here!?"
"Saving your life if what had almost happened isn't proof enough," Naruto replied.
"You shouldn't be here. I told you to stay put at my house, this is not your problem," Sans scolded.
"Well it is now, I'm not just gonna stand by and let you get yourself killed. It would haunt me in my conscious if I didn't do anything to help preventing this madness," Naruto countered.
Sans looked away at this "B-But still kid, you shouldn't have gotten yourself involved in our problem. You're putting yourself in great danger now,"
"If that's the case then so be it plus I need to get to the bottom of why Frisk is committing these murderous acts throughout the Underground. Besides, if you die Sans then who's gonna help me get out of here? So, I need you alive until we resolve this issue at hand,"
"But kid-"
Naruto cut him off in annoyance "No more buts Sans! I'm staying here to help you and that's final."
As the two argued with each other, Frisk watched them in confusion with her main focus being the male spiky haired blonde with the whisker marks on his cheeks. She wasn't aware that another human had fallen here but she wondered why she had never run into him before from her previous RESETS but more importantly, how does he know her name? it might be some monsters that managed to escape must've told him or probably Sans. Even so, how come he suddenly appeared here while back then nothing changed? Suddenly she heard a female voice speak in her mind.
"Well isn't this interesting. Looks like something new has occurred after our second Genocide Run. I wasn't aware that another human has fallen down here but I wonder why we hadn't run into him before and he seems to know you Frisk. How curious, I suspect the comedian must've been responsible for finding him first and tried to keep him hidden from us but it seems he did a poor job at that, like how he failed to save his previous brother Papyrus and his friends." The voice giggled darkly at the end.
Frisk didn't say anything as deep down she felt guilty for killing her former friends that she had made, they were nothing but kind to her. Now that another human child has fallen down here, no doubt she would be forced to fight him too without mercy.
"Hmm? It looks he's about to say something to you Frisk." After hearing what the female voice had said, Frisk look up to see Naruto as he stepped forward and spoke to her with a conflicted expression on his face.
"Frisk, I never imagined I would ever see you do something so horrific as committing genocide." Frisk looked a bit surprised at him knowing her name which Naruto took note as he said "If you're wondering how I know your name. Well, let's just say that I know a lot more about you than you realize, but that's beside the point."
"…," Frisk doesn't know how to react to this as she would assume Sans may have told him but that response was a bit…cryptic. Anyways she sees Naruto looking a bit conflicted expression as he asked
"What I wanna know is…why? Just…why Frisk? Why are you murdering your friends? Why are you committing genocide? Just what is the reason for all of this senseless violence? I want to know, Frisk," Naruto inquired strongly.
"…," Frisk didn't say a word with her neutral expression was unreasonable to the point Naruto couldn't tell what she's thinking.
"Please Frisk, just tell me your reasons. Why are you going around killing monsters who you made friends with? Did something happen that made you go this path you're on? Are you being forced into something? Or…you just enjoy playing with other people's emotions and going on a murderous rampage just because you can? Which is it?"
"…,"
"Why are you not saying anything!? Aren't you regretting on what you're doing!? Do you just hate them or something!? Why can't you tell me!?"
Naruto was going frustrated at this point from the silent treatment he's getting from Frisk while she was mentally trembling, wanting to tell him that she regretted her actions but…she can't. Suddenly she heard the same female voice in her mind again.
"Aww, this guy is worried about you for someone who started this whole mess in the first place. How touching. It's too bad he'll never know the truth. I'm getting tired of hearing this random guy talk. Let's kill him while we get rid of the comedian." Frisk didn't say a word but she knew she was left with no choice but to do what she says.
Witnessing the exchange between the two children, Sans approached Naruto from behind and placed a hand on his shoulder "Forget it kid, she's not gonna talk. Trust me, I tried it myself. The only reason she has is enjoying tormenting us as if this is some game to her. So don't bother wasting your breath,"
"…," Naruto was hesitant to agree then he sees Frisk walking towards them slowly with her knife slightly raised with the intent to fight and kill them.
Sans laughed sadly at this "Heh, looks like the little freak still intends on continuing this fight."
Naruto wasn't sure what do at this point, can he bring himself to fight Frisk? He doesn't want to hurt her or got forbid kill her with no other choice despite the fact that she can RELOAD her SAVE file to come back to life. Naruto only looked at her only to be met with that neutral expression still on her face while seeing some dust on her clothes and even her knife which disturbed him. After some thought, he readied up his Bokken in his stance which Sans noticed.
"Kid?" Sans inquired softly.
"Sans, can you still fight? Because if we're gonna have any chance of winning, you're gonna need my help. I have some items on me if you need some,"
The skeleton simply grinned in response "Heh, I could use a break right about now but I should be fine, but are you sure you want to do this?"
Naruto nodded in response, gripping his bokken tightly "Yeah, at least I hope so. I'll do what I can,"
Music Start: Undertale OST - Megalovania
With slight hesitation, Naruto used a CHECK on Frisk to obtain info on her
[*Frisk
*LV 19
*ATK 99 DEF 99
*Does she feel her sins crawling on her back?]
The blonde was saddened to see this, the information telling him just how many monsters she had killed to get to that level of power. He couldn't help but wonder what could have steered her into this path, he snapped back into focus and prepared to subdue her.
On the other hand, Frisk was also using CHECK on Naruto to learn more about this human boy supporting Sans.
[*Naruto
*LV 1
*ATK ? DEF 50
*Trying to figure out why you're doing this]
"Hmmm, how curious. He's at LV 1 and yet is strong? Whatever, get rid of him then take care of that short bag of bones before we'll take care of things," said the voice in Frisk's head who nodded hesitantly in affirmation.
She quickly lunged at Naruto and swung her Real Knife at Naruto who quickly blocked it with his bokken, Frisk unleashed an assault of slashes with Naruto skillfully deflecting them away from him, knowing that he mustn't let himself get hit by the knife with her high ATK power backing it up.
Sans raised a hand and flicked a bony finger upwards, Frisk paused for a second and disengaged to jump backwards right as a cluster of bones shot out of the ground where she once stood. Sans continued to flick his finger to repeatedly make bones shoot out of the ground to try and impale Frisk but she proved to be rather agile, no doubt combat experience gained from her previous Genocide runs.
Frisk suddenly took off at blurring speeds, moving past Naruto with her knife aimed at Sans when a magic circle materialized in between then a large stone cube emerged to block the knife, leaving it embedded within. Frisk's SOUL suddenly changed from red to blue before being lifted into the air, revealing the cause to be Sans whose hand and left eye was glowing. Sans swiped his hand to the side towards a wall where several bones shot out and impaled her through the back and out of her chest.
"Sans, what the hell?!" Naruto yelled in horror of what the skeleton had just done.
Sans waved a hand to calm him down "I can understand your reaction, but don't forget that she's aiming to kill us. I'd rather you detest me than let you be killed by her. And besides…," he pointed past Naruto "She always comes back…,"
Naruto looked back to see Frisk revived and knife in hand once more "Right, she could simply reload her SAVE file,"
Frisk attacked them once more, swinging her knife to actually launch red energy slashes towards them much to Naruto's shock before snapping back to focus as he brought a forearm forward and channeling his Determination to create red energy shield in the form of a SWAT ballistic shield to block the incoming projectiles, but then Frisk appeared behind him to slash at his back but it was blocked due to Naruto having angled the bokken to defend his back in time before moving away from her.
Naruto took on the Gale Form stance, trying to calm down and focus but the current situation wasn't making it easy for him to do so. Frisk was upon him once more, hacking and slashing in a flurry with Naruto maintaining the defensive but would be forced to shift into the Storm Form just so he could keep up with her whilst reinforcing his bokken with Determination which she was trying to destroy in an attempt to render him weaponless.
"Darn it!" Naruto ended up trapping himself by backing up to a pillar and Frisk was just about to drive her knife into his chest, his mind raced for a solution and quickly came up with one "Paries!" his back glyph glowed for a moment before his body phased through the pillar to the other side in time to avoid the deadly attack. Frisk pulled her knife in annoyance when something caught her eye then she quickly jumped backwards right as a large blue beam of energy shot at where she once stood, the attack having come from a Gaster Blaster that Sans had conjured earlier.
Sans snapped his fingers to conjure more Gaster Blasters to launch an assault of energy beams with Frisk darting to and fro to evade the incoming energy beams, Naruto stretched out a hand with a glyph appearing around it "Grando!" a large ice dagger materialized onto his hand which he then used to stab the ground, forming a thin layer of ice over it. Frisk ended up landing on the ice and lost her balance, giving Sans the opportunity to take her out with a point-blank shot from a Gaster Blaster.
Naruto looked away, not wanting to see any more when he heard a click then a gunshot before Naruto let out a cry of pain as something had struck the back of his shoulder. Gripping it tightly and fighting the urge to scream in pain, he looked behind to see Frisk now holding the Empty Gun and realized that she must have empowered it with her Determination.
Sans quickly went to check the blonde human boy with no small amount of worry "Hey kid, you doing okay?"
"I'll be fine Sans, just need some time to recover from this," while ignoring the pain the best he could, Naruto concentrated on the back glyph "Refectio!" the glyph glowed green as a low hissing sound could be heard with steam emitting from the wound which was gradually becoming smaller.
"In that case…," Sans snapped his fingers to make a circular wall of bones to shoot out from the ground and enclose Naruto within it "…take five while I have a bone to pick with Frisk,"
"I won't be long," Naruto protested.
"No rush,"
Sans pointed a finger at Frisk as blue bones appeared above his head before launching themselves like arrows towards Frisk who began dodging the bones and returned fire with her Empty Gun but ensured that she doesn't get blindsided by the Gaster Blasters that Sans would sneak in during his assault to get her should she leave an opening.
Naruto watched the ongoing fight through the gaps of the bone wall with a heavy heart, seeing how Frisk was able to keep up with Sans shows just how attuned she has become at fighting and that's not the only thing he was worried about.
"Fighting Frisk and killing her doesn't do us any good as she would simply use the LOAD to revive every time and learns from the previous fights. More so that she starts fresh while we gradually become fatigued," Naruto felt the spell end with his wound being completely healed "But I'm not coming up with any actual ideas here either,"
After picking up his bokken, Naruto jumped over the bone wall then unleashed a sharp burst of speed the moment he touched the ground to intercept Frisk by grabbing the hand holding and pointed it away then used the bokken to block a knife stab.
"Please Frisk-chan, you still have a chance to make things right. You just need to stop fighting us," Naruto appealed to Frisk once more.
The girl struggled in response, lashing out with a kick to the stomach which made Naruto stumble backwards in pain and she was about to attack him. Then she was frozen in motion by Sans's intervention, sprouting a large bone to lift her towards the ceiling and smashing her into it before falling back to the ground.
"Surely, there's a part of you that regrets what you had done," Naruto pleaded.
Frisk weakly reached for the knife close by only for multiple bones to pierce through her back, killing her and fading away.
"I'd suggest that you back away from this fight if you're going to keep risking your life trying to appeal to her," said Sans sternly.
"I can't stop now, I need to stop her before something irreversible happens," said Naruto sternly.
Sans looked to see Frisk appear once more with knife in hand as if nothing had happened "We'll just have to see about that, won't we?"
Naruto let out a sigh and stood at the ready "…Yeah,"
Music Stop
Frisk was currently floating in a void of darkness before a giant screen which said GAME OVER. This is where she would appear whenever she was killed which is becoming rather frequent due to Sans killing her and the human boy providing support to do so. The past two Genocide Runs were admittedly difficult but this time, those two are downright making it impossible to achieve the third run due to how they were able to coordinate so efficiently to take her down and it was rather frustrating as every time she thought she had them figured out, they would suddenly do something unexpected.
She turned towards the CONTINUE and RESET buttons and was about to press the former when her hand suddenly stopped midway…the reason why?
"Why are you not saying anything!? Aren't you regretting on what you're doing!? Do you just hate them or something!? Why can't you tell me!?"
"Please Frisk-chan, you still have a chance to make things right. You just need to stop fighting us,"
"Surely, there's a part of you that regrets what you had done,"
Naruto's voice echoed loudly in her mind, trying to tell her that she still has that slim chance of redeeming herself in spite of what she had done. She started shedding tears upon reminiscing the happy memories she had with the monsters that she made friends with before SHE caused all this.
"Maybe he's right, I could do things the right way this time…a second chance…," Frisk gazed at the RESET with longing which grew stronger as Naruto's words continued to echo in her mind then her hand slowly approached it, a sorry smile on her face as she was about to end this nightmare.
Suddenly a black tendril wrapped around Frisk's wrist right as she was about to press the button to stop her from doing so, Frisk around to see an ominous figure of a girl who looks just like her except for her glowing red eyes and rosy cheeks while some sort of black substance dripping from her eyes and mouth.
"Just what do you think you're doing, Frisk? You're not trying to do a RESET after coming this far, are you?" asked the girl darkly.
Frisk looked frightened at the sight of her but then gathered her courage to respond "Yes I was going to reset. We…no I can't do this anymore, this isn't what I want. I want to be with everyone again and not kill any more,"
The unknown girl tilted her head in slight confusion "What is that supposed to mean? Last I checked, you were the one who started all this. all I did was pick up where you left off,"
"You were the one who manipulated me!" Frisk yelled at the girl "The one who tricked me into taking this path!"
The girl scoffed in response "Oh please, it was your own curiosity that led to you to doing this which makes you just as guilty. Even if it's true that I manipulated and tricked you, you didn't have to listen and yet you did. The moment you took that decision, you started regretting your actions which had me stepping in to make take of the rest in the two previous Genocide runs. Am I wrong?"
Frisk looked away; her head bowed in shame due to the inability to refute the girl's facts. It was true that she was curious about what would happen if she were to choose the alternative of killing the monsters. The deaths of Toriel and Papyrus shook her very core as well as the disdain the normally friendly Sans had towards her was also another thing that shocked her as well.
"So you have room to complain whatsoever, now I'd suggest you suck it up and continue the game since we're not done yet with the comedian and that annoying human partner of his," said the girl nonchalantly.
Frisk's head was still bowed then a word left her lips "…no,"
"What was that?"
"I said no! I'm not your partner and I'm going to continue this any longer and having you erase this world again. I shouldn't have gone through this in the first place. If Asriel were alive and saw you now, he would have been disappointed in you for how you turned out to be," Frisk glared at the girl with defiance before turning towards the RESET button "So forget it, I'm done. No more genocide,"
The girl couldn't believe what Frisk had just said, the feelings of confusion followed by anger then rage erupted from within her, that timid girl had the nerve to bring up that traitorous goat into this!?
"No…? Hmm…how curious. You must have misunderstood something here. SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THE ONE IN CONTROL?"
At her words, the girl let out a demonic roar before rushing towards Frisk and grabbing her by the neck. Frisk became terrified at the sight of the girl's face becoming deformed with more of that black substance seeping out of her. She tried to get away but more of the black tendrils wrapped around her body and crawling up to her face
"Somebody…help,"
…but nobody came.
Naruto and Sans stood waiting for Frisk to show up again whilst having a moment's rest when they felt a shift and looked towards the end of the Judgement Hall to see someone emerge from the shadows, but it's not Frisk, especially with the clothes she's wearing and way she's smiling which made them feel unnerved.
"Who is she?" asked Naruto nervously.
Sans frowned in response "I don't know but all I can say for sure is that this is not Frisk,"
Naruto wasn't exactly thrilled to hear that; he looked back at the girl and couldn't help find her strangely familiar so some strange reason.
The girl waved at them daintily with that demented smile of hers "Hello there, my name is Chara,"
Upon hearing her name, Naruto began remembering certain things relating to that name; she was the human girl who had fallen into the Underground and was adopted by Asriel and his family, there was also the collection of the VHS tapes that he and Frisk watched when they were exploring the True Lab in their dimension. It would appear that Sans was also familiar with the name.
"Wait Chara? As in the very first human that fell here?" asked Sans in disbelief.
Chara's smile grew even wider "Yes comedian, that's me. I must say, you've been proven to be quite difficult to get rid of with that annoying human of yours. Speaking of which…," she turned to Naruto "You're a constant annoyance who keeps getting in the way of killing Sans but I will admit that it's impressive for a human to know magic. but I am pretty curious as to how you didn't appear until now,"
However, Naruto wasn't listening to Chara as he was recalling something that Flowey had told him before he left.
"Golly you really don't know! Well, I'm gonna let you figure it out yourself if you live long enough that is, but I'll at least tell you this: Frisk isn't the one that's in control here."
With those words echoing in his mind, the pieces came together and he finally got a clear picture of what's going on.
"It all makes sense now," said Naruto seriously, Chara and Sans turned to him with the latter inquiring on his statement.
"What do you mean by that, kiddo?" asked Sans confusedly.
"I finally understand why this situation was so strange when Frisk started these genocide runs. It wasn't her to begin with but rather Chara which could explain why Flowey told me that Frisk was never in control because Chara was the one making all of this happen,"
With his explanation done, Sans was surprised to hear all this while Chara was indifferent about all this and made it known to them.
"Well look at you, you figured it out the truth and it would seem that little traitor told you about it huh? That weed is gonna regret he even existed. But you are right, I am the one who's in control."
Naruto glared at her "Then Where's Frisk!? What did you do to her!?"
Chara simply smiled "I didn't do anything to her but let's just say she won't be coming out for a while as she's unavailable for the time being,"
Sans frowned in thought "So Frisk wasn't the one who did this? She was innocent and you…" he started to connect the dots and realize what is happening.
"Well yes & no. Frisk was indeed started this out of curiosity, I just gave her a little push into this route she began, finishing what she couldn't do after fighting you Sans. She felt bad for killing her friends and even your brother that she wanted to reset. However, it doesn't change anything as she committed those acts on her self-interest. If she can't finish the job, I will. Besides, this world doesn't have any meaning anymore like in the previous runs I erased,"
Naruto gritted his teeth in anger as her uncaring statement "Who are you to judge this world, it's not your plaything to toy around in! You think you're above consequence or something!?"
Chara looked at him with an evil smile as she said "Me? Well yes. I have enough LV & determination to see this through. Obviously, Frisk doesn't but she's not the one calling the shots anymore, I'm taking charge and I'll continue doing genocide runs as I'm a god who owns this world however I please as I'll keep erasing Timelines."
Naruto was gripping his fists while Sans who was standing there with his eyes closed as he spoke "Heh…a god huh? That's a good one. You think you see yourself some god who has the power to change the world with just a press of a button? Sorry bucko, but I'm not just gonna stand by and let this go on. You're no god, you're just…a megalomaniac. And because of that…you're gonna have a bad time." As he said that, his left eye was glowing while Naruto's eye was the same due to both of them being angry at Chara.
"I'm gonna have a bad time you say? Hehehe, well let's just see about that. Don't forget that if you're hurting me, you're hurting Frisk as well. Don't you care that killing me is gonna affect Frisk?" said Chara with a sneer.
Sans just said "I may not forgive Frisk for what she did…but I'll give her a chance when she's free and reset this world if she truly regrets. So don't think you can discourage me into thinking that."
Chara frowned at this but nonetheless she said "Well that's a shame but oh well, it was worth a try,"
Naruto who decided to speak up "Chara, you're not gonna win this, it's two against one. Just save yourself the hassle and give Frisk back control,"
"No, Frisk has no right to be in control anymore. And it hardly matters to me if it's two against one. I'll still kill one of you two eventually, it's only a matter of when. But who will fall first: The Comedian or The Human? Let's find out shall we? After all, this will only end with me killing you two and soon erasing this world like I have been from my previous genocide runs." said Chara while she readies up her real knife and her hidden locket hangs on her neck.
Sans then said "The only ending here…is your JUDGMENT!" As he said that, he summoned a great deal of Gaster Blasters while his eye glowing intensely which is the same for Naruto as his magic was building up with his bokken glowing.
Music Start: Toby Fox - Megalo Strike Back
Sans pointed towards Chara and willing the Gaster Blasters to attack which they did with a volley of energy beams, Chara merely smiled at the incoming projectiles before suddenly disappearing in a blur and avoiding the attacks with afterimages depicting her movements as she rapidly approached till she was right in front of them but darted away to avoid a literal rainstorm of bones coming down from above her.
Naruto caught sight of movement and quickly reacted by stretching out an arm with a glyph materializing in front of it "Scutum!"
Hearing a metallic clang from behind, Sans looked back to see a heater shield having emerged from a glyph in time to block a slash from Chara's knife.
"Tch…," Chara made to retreat for another attack but soon noticed that she wasn't able to move, revealing that Sans had captured given that her normally Red SOUL is Blue.
Sans proceeded to fling her about all over the place; repeatedly slamming against the pillars like a pinball, dragging across the walls and floor. He finally held her up in midair with multiple bones conjured all around before commanding them to attack, right as they were about to land…something happened which alarmed Sans before there was an explosion.
Naruto took note of Sans's expression and called out to him "Sans, what's the matter?"
"Her SOUL…I can't move it…," said Sans with a frown, he quickly created a pair of bones into his hands and crossed them in time to block an attack from Chara who continued to smile, the impact knocking him away several feet.
Naruto's eyes widened before raising his bokken to block a slash from Chara and struggled to hold her back "She's strong, far more than when we were fighting Frisk," he heard a metallic click and immediately moved away to avoid a gunshot.
"Awww, I was just trying to give you another hole to breathe through besides your nose and mouth," said Chara with a fake pout whilst holding up a gun to blow the smoke from the muzzle. She suddenly aimed to the side without looking and shot several incoming bones launched her way by Sans who gritted his teeth with growing frustration.
"It's like she knew what he was going to do, no doubt she learnt from the previous Genocide runs," thought Naruto "I'll just have to mix things up a bit,"
"What's the matter, aren't you going to attack me? Or could it be that you don't hit girls?" Chara taunted.
"None of your business, are you gonna talk or are you gonna fight?" Naruto retorted.
"Oh I'm going to do more than that,"
Chara swiped her knife several times to launch red shockwaves with Naruto utilizing the Gale Form to deflect them away from himself then sensed her approaching him before slamming a palm on the floor "Vol Grando!" a glowing glyph appeared before large pillars of ice burst from the ground in front of him to obstruct his opponent but she simply sliced through them and continued to attack but he leapt into the air "Cubus!" he constantly conjured stone blocks and jumped off them like stepping blocks. Chara was quick to follow after him and prepared to attack once more "Pneuma!" he performed a 360 spin to unleash a blast of wind to blow her away before landing back on the ground to see Chara standing there with an expression of interest.
"I think I see what's going here about you," said Chara.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow in response "What are you talking about?"
"The reason why you never seem to make the first move, to always react. It's not that you're a silly pacifist like Frisk at first…but you can't seem to bring yourself to attack anyone no matter. You deny the true purpose of the very thing you hold. Why else your ATK power is unknown? There's none to begin with, not even a zero!"
"…!" Naruto flinched upon hearing her statement, gripping his bokken tightly "That's where you're wrong, my bokken's true purpose is to protect myself as well as those close to me. That's different compared to you who enjoys hurting others just for the fun of it,"
Chara laughed in amusement "Just who are you trying to convince here; me or really yourself?" she tossed her knife up and down a few times before taking aim with her gun "Guess I'll just have to force you to see the truth then,"
Naruto crouched slightly and dashed towards Chara, rapidly deflecting the energy bullets fired by her and took note that she was building up energy for a powerful shot which she fired. Naruto enhanced his bokken with Determination and swung it to collide with the blast, struggling to deflect it and managed to send it flying through one of the windows, but at that very moment, Chara appeared behind Naruto and slashed at him, but the blonde barely dodged it as he leapt away from her.
Naruto was retaking his stance when he felt something wet on his cheek, he took his free hand to touch what was on his cheek then suddenly froze as he began to realize it was blood…his blood. He started to breathe heavily and his body began shaking.
Chara took note of his strange behavior and soon realized what was going on while she just looks at Naruto with an unbelievable expression. "Are you serious? Are you seriously afraid of blood? That's just truly pitiful. Not only are you a cowardly pacifist, but you're a hypocrite for fearing a little bit of blood. What? you can't handle a simple cut? You really are a sorry excuse for a human being. Well…if a cut is all that it takes to make you feel uncomfortable, then you're not gonna like what I'm gonna do to you next, and it'll be a lot worse then just a cut," She suddenly disappeared in a blur before Naruto could so much as react but was too late.
"Gah!" Naruto fell to his knees with a cry of pain due to Chara having severed his leg tendons. Not even close to being done, Chara drove her knife into one of Naruto's hand, pinning it to the ground.
Chara relished the sound of him screaming in pain "This is your true role, to be on your knees before m-whoops," she quickly yanked the knife away and dashed backwards as several bones struck where she was then Sans swiftly went to check on Naruto.
"I ain't gonna ask if you're okay when it's obvious that you aren't," said Sans, looking at Naruto's wounds with a frown.
"Guess it will…take a little longer…to heal…this time…," Naruto muttered in pain, attempting to cast a glyph but having difficulty doing so.
"No kid, you've done enough. I'll take it from here and put an end to this once and for all," said Sans before turning to face Chara.
Said person merely giggled in response "I've heard that line lots of times and it changed nothing. Only thing different is that I'll let you live long enough to watch as I kill this human right in front of you like how you let me kill your stupid brother while you just stood there and watched without lifting a bony finger to do a thing,"
Sans glared at Chara for that "Don't you dare disrespect Papyrus, you dirty brother killer!"
"But it's the truth, isn't it? Had you done something other than just doing nothing but being lazy, you could've prevented me killing your brother and maybe others. Not like you could but you could've tried at least, you must hate your own brother don't you?"
"W-What? No! I would never hate my own brother," Sans was taken aback by such an accusation.
"If that's the case then why didn't you do anything to stop me? What would Papyrus sees you now if he were to learn that you let me kill him as you stood by and let this happen. You're such a terrible brother for letting him die,"
Sans gritted his teeth, he wanted to deny it so badly and yet…there was a grain of truth in her statement. Why didn't he tell Papyrus to stay away? Why didn't he step in when his brother was in danger? Did he truly care about Papyrus at all?
"Don't…listen…trying to…mess with…your head…," Naruto spoke up, fighting through the pain.
Sans looked back at Naruto who was still trying to get back to his despite his trauma preventing him from doing so with the tattered bokken laying nearby before turning to face Chara with a serious look on his face.
"You've done enough kiddo, I'll handle this…," Sans conjured a pair of long femur bones into his hands as escrima sticks and a trio of Gaster Blasters hovered above his head, stepping forward to fight her once more.
Naruto laid there and watched as Sans fought Chara with ferocity, refusing to let up with the clear objective of killing her no matter. But the blonde could clearly see that she always found a way to scurry away from his attacks with that darn smile of hers, feeling him with a sense of foreboding like she's still playing around with him. Naruto struggle to rise to his feet or at least cast the spell to heal himself but he just can't seem to muster the needed energy even evident that the aura in his left eye had faded away. He glanced at the chipped bokken nearby and tried to reach for it but his stabbed hand couldn't do anything more than twitch.
"I have to get back to my feet and help Sans, at this rate he'll b-," Naruto was disrupted from his thoughts upon heard a SLASH sound towards Sans….99999999…., Sans was hit as he was bleeding from his chest while Chara managed to catch him off guard as her arm was stretched out holding her real knife with some blood on it as she smiled at finally getting rid of that comedian. Naruto who watched in horror as he screamed out "Sans!"
Sans was coughing out bits of blood from his smiling teeth "So, that's that huh…after all that, I still lost,"
Chara sneered at the downed skeleton "Like anything you did would have changed the end result, at least you won't have to worry about being separated from your brother since I'm about to send you to him," she then glanced at Naruto who was still struggling to reach for his bokken "Try not to bleed out, you're next after this,"
Chara proceeded to take slow steps towards Sans deliberately with the bloodstained knife held to the side. Naruto tried something…anything to try and stop what was about to happen. He bowed his head, feeling despair gradually take a hold of him with memories beginning to flash before his eyes as Frisk, Asriel, Sans & Papyrus and many others with his mother Kushina appearing last whom he wouldn't have the chance to say goodbye and never see them again. "I'm sorry everyone…I guess I'm truly am a pathetic coward after all."
Music End
Suddenly, everything around him froze in time then there was a bright flash of light which forced him to close his eyes. He cautiously opens his eyes to see nothing but an endless white void and was about to wonder if he is he's dead when a familiar voice behind him
"Come on son, are you just going to let it end and go out like this?"
Naruto's head snapped up sharply with eyes wide open and mouth agape "That voice…it can't be…," one part was in disbelief but the other was clinging to desperate hope for the owner of the voice who continued to speak.
"So what if it looks hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up,"
There was no doubt about it, it truly is him!
"Embrace your hopes & dreams and whatever happens, protect your honor as a soldier. Well…okay, you're not exactly 'A' soldier, but it's what's inside that counts,"
Naruto opened his mouth to whisper out a word he thought he would never say again "…dad," shedding a tear in hearing his voice.
"Well? Do you need a hand with her?"
"…N-No," Naruto struggled once more to at least rise to his knees with his chipped bokken as support.
"You've been through worse haven't you son? If you managed to face various monsters whom you befriended, survived against an giant oversized killer weed and even stopped a boss monster kid who essentially became a god, then beating her should be a cinch, right?"
"Yeah…," Naruto replied albeit was still uncertain given how the situation was looking for him.
Minato glanced looked over his shoulder at Naruto then turned back "Naruto, I know you're still grieving over my death but you have to come to terms with it. I know it's hard for both you and your mother but you can't let that continue to hold you back like how you're doing right now from fighting. Sometimes you have to take the initiative as defending is not going to be your only solution in battles unfortunately. If words and mercy doesn't solve the issue, then the only way to win…is to fight,"
"…!" Naruto's eyes widened but didn't say anything, prompting Minato to continue talking.
"And another thing that's also holding you back is your phobia of blood. You can't let your fears take over you as you'll never move forward if you continue to freeze upon seeing blood. Fear can be your greatest enemy and you must conquer the fear that lives in your heart,"
"Conquer…my fear?"
"Yes, you must overcome it if you wish to be unbound by your limitations, the very chains you had let your fears bind you with. Once your fear is gone, you are truly free,"
Naruto understood what his father was talking about and yet was hesitant. Even though he wanted to, it was hard for him to overcome his fear due to…that 'incident'.
Minato looked at Naruto and got a clear idea of what's really bothering his son just by his expression and let out a sigh.
"Son, I know what you're thinking and if you're assuming that I'm upset with you…I'm not," That caught Naruto's attention as he listened "Naruto, I've been watching over you long enough to know you only did what you thought was right. That incident where you saved a woman from a thief who was planning on mugging her, you did the right thing in stopping him,"
Naruto shook his head in protest "B-But, I almost killed the guy! I didn't mean to go that far. You trained me to protect but I almost did the opposite of that!"
"But you didn't. Son, you have to look at the bigger picture here, he was carrying a switchblade to mug that woman. A live weapon. Had he been carrying a gun…I wouldn't even imagine what he could've done other than just robbing her. You were just defending her while stopping that thief. Had you just stood by and let this happen, then I would've been disappointed in you,"
"Even so, I lost control of my rage and let myself do something I normally would have never done. I could've taken a life from a human being! I wouldn't be no different than a murderer,"
Hearing his son's self-loathing, Minato spoke sternly "Son, stop thinking about that. You were just aiming to cripple him, not kill him. That thief on the other hand could've done a lot worse if he was given the opportunity so it's fine. I just told you that I'm not upset. If anything, I'm proud of you for standing up to him and save that woman from being robbed,"
Naruto mumbled lowly "Didn't look that way when that woman screamed at what I did to that thief,"
Minato rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Well…I'll admit you were going a little overboard to the point he was barely breathing from his injuries. Guess you did inherit Kushina's temper after all, she used to be that way when she was younger then it toned down a lot when we got together and later had you," he laughed a bit which Naruto looked away at this "But that's besides the point, the point is that I'm proud of you and there is no need for you to hold yourself back. It's time for you to move on and face your fear. Remember son: The strongest defence is at times a swift and decisive offense, and now is that time,"
Taking in his words, Naruto felt that coldness which had been plaguing him ever since that day melt away and something else took its place…a tiny flame that was gradually increasing in intensity. He felt his bodily pains disappear and fully rose to his feet "Ok dad, I'll do my best!"
Naruto turned around to face his father and saw that he looked just like he was on that last day, wearing the military uniform with a katana strapped to his waist.
Minato looked down at him with a loving smile "I know you will son, nothing like this could ever bring you down as your will of fire continues to burns brighter for every obstacle you face and you'll prevail. Show Chara the true meaning of power as your determination is stronger than hers,"
Naruto nodded with a foxy grin "I will. Also I'm happy that I'm able to hear and see you again, at least one last time,"
"Same here, son but I won't be completely gone, I'll always be with you and your mother…in your hearts," Minato then realized that he was beginning to fade away and uttered his last words before he disappears "Before I go…do you remember what I told you?"
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Yeah…I am your living legacy," Hearing that brought a smile to Minato as he fades away in sparkles of light.
Naruto's SOUL began to shine as the sound of chains are broken from acceptance and having overcome his fear echoed throughout the void.
With a hand on his wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding, Sans could only sit and watch Chara approach him with a deranged smile and a knife glinting from the light before bowing his head in resignation of his defeat. His brother is dead, more than half of the monsters in the Underground were killed with the king soon to join, and he couldn't even protect the human who was his ally in all this.
"Looks like I'll be seeing you soon bro," Sans chuckled sadly.
Chara smirked "Good to know that you've had your last laugh, see ya later bonehead," she raised the knife above her head.
Sans closed his head and waited as he heard a whoosh through the air for the knife to land the killing blow…
…
…but nothing happened?
"What the…you!?"
Sans looked up and was shocked by what he was seeing right now; the knife was practically inches away from his head with the only stopping it being a hand clamped around Chara's wrist which belonged to someone who was supposed to be down for the count.
"Kid?"
"…," Naruto gripped Chara's tightly before spinning her around and throwing away from him and Sans before turning to face the latter with an open palm pointed at him "Refectio," a glyph appeared Sans and proceeded to help him recover from his wound.
"Alright Chara, I've made up my mind. Since you've given me no other options, I'll give you exactly what you wanted. I'll fight you. Considering you've committed so many acts of violence, murder and genocide, I guess it's only fair I too use violence. You need to see that your actions have consequences and I'll be the one…to make you pay for them!"
Suddenly, Naruto began to glow brightly within the hall which blinded both Chara & the recovered Sans. When the light died down, Chara and Sans became wide-eyed at what they're looking at. Naruto is shown that his injuries he received from Chara are completely gone, fully healed but that's not what's making them shocked about.
Both of Naruto's eyes now radiate with white aura with his spiky blonde hair turning white as well, and white tribal markings appearing on his body whilst glowing through his bloodied clothes.
"W-What is this? What kind of power is this!?" Chara was in disbelief and can't seem to have an idea of what's happening.
Even Sans was amazed at what he's seeing as he's watched from his spot at the glass window "…Whoa kid,"
Naruto looked down at his hands, clenching and opening them repeatedly. This power, this overflowing power that's coursing through him as his magical aura is radiating off of him, this felt…good, no…amazing! It's like all of his fear, hesitation and self-doubt has been washed away. He's finally free of the chains which were binding him due to his limitations holding him back. Now he feels like he can do anything! And the only thing that's in thought right now…is making Chara pay.
The aforementioned person spoke up with a look of contemplation "This is interesting, I never knew you have this kind of power, big whoop. So you got yourself a little boost in power, tsk! So what? Your newfound powers aren't going make any difference. Your efforts will just fall back to zero as I'm too determined. You'll still be an idiot coward who'll die as one,"
Naruto retorted with a neutral expression "You sure can talk a big game, can't you? I suppose you don't know your mouth could get you a whole lot of trouble. Then again, your actions of committing genocide doesn't even begin to describe the kinds of trouble you're in right now,"
"Oh I'm in trouble? Please, what are you gonna do? I chopped up that stick in your hands into toothpicks, just because you've achieved some new power doesn't mean it's going to help you. I bet all you'll do is just form a shield to curl yourself in or perhaps you'll just defend like you always do,"
"You really don't understand the situation here, do you? Perhaps a demonstration is in order to get through to you,"
Chara laughed in amusement "You know what? Sure, go right ahead and show me. I am curious to see the new power you acquired, though I'm not gonna be impressed nor see how your soon to be death makes a difference but do try,"
Naruto held out his chipped bokken and channeled his Determination through it, wreathing the 'blade' in white flames then he swiped to the side and revealing to have been completely restored except there are glyphic symbols all over it and glowing intensely.
"Is that it? Was fixing your stick suppose to impress me? Because sadly for you, I'm not even at least bit impre-,"
Before she could finish her sentence, Chara was forced to dodge to the side to avoid getting hit a crescent wave of white energy from Naruto's 'casual' swing of his bokken and the next thing she knew was that he was right in front of her while in the middle of a swing much to her shock as she didn't see him move this fast. Unable to defend herself, Chara was forced to take the hit but as she did; she felt her HP take a serious hit and was shocked to discover that she practically lost half of her health. She was surprised by how that one single attack took that much damage from someone who's LV is 1.
Naruto spoke sternly with the white aura radiating from his body "Are you impressed now? Because I'm not here to entertain you, I'm here to make you understand that you have no idea what kind of trouble you are in right now,"
"How the heck did I lose half of my HP! Something different with him now," though Chara in confusion, so she decided to use CHECK on Naruto to see any changes in his status and couldn't believe what she's seeing.
[*Naruto
*LV 1
*ATK 80 DEF 60
*Determined Form
*LV 1
*ATK 105 DEF 96
*You feel like you've made a grave mistake]
Chara couldn't believe his stats are higher, especially his ATK. Back then it was just question marks which left her confused on his ATK stat before learning he refused to fight. But now he doesn't have a problem with fighting anymore, his ATK are revealed to be very high, even his DEF has increased from this power he achieved.
Naruto seemed to know what Chara is doing as he can guess she's using CHECK to look at his current stats and judging from her expression, they must be high due to this new power he has achieved. "I take it you're surprised? Well you should be. This is what you wanted right? You wanted to see me fight you that bad, you'll get your wish. I'm done holding back anymore and this time…you'll suffer the consequences!"
Trying to retain a sense of confidence, Chara retorted "The game is not as fun if your already finished."
Naruto then spoke in an angry tone "A 'Game'. You think all of this is some GAME to you!? Well, let me tell you this Chara…I haven't even begun to play,"
Music Start: Simple Plan; Last Man Standing
Chara blurred forward and swiped at Naruto with her knife in an attempt to catch him off guard with her speed, confident that she'll land a hit on him. However, Naruto saw through her strategy and blocked the attack onehandedly with his bokken. Naruto took a swift step forward to slam a powerful palm thrust into Chara's stomach, making her stumble backwards in pain "Lapiste!" he thrusts a fist forward to conjure a glyph that summoned a large stone fist which punch forward in front of him and slammed into Chara and sending flying before crashing into a pillar.
"Lucky hit," Chara rose to her feet and glared at Naruto "Let's see you handle this!" she swung her knife several times to launch crescent waves of red energy in Naruto 's direction.
Naruto frowned in response "As I am right now, that won't work the second time," he lunged at the incoming projectiles whilst utilizing the Storm Form to evade and deflect the incoming projectiles to clear out a straight path "Rapidus Fio!" a large glyph appeared for him to leapt through which created a green mystical shockwave around him, allowing Naruto to move rapidly and reach Chara in literal seconds "Grando!" he conjured a dagger of ice to attack. Chara blocked it with her knife but noticed that the ice was crawling along the knife and now onto her hand, forcing her to back away whilst cradling her frozen hand.
"Feeling cold? Here, let me warm you up. Ignis!" Naruto reared a fist back before thrusting forward to launch a trio of fireballs in a spreadshot. Chara barely leapt out of the out with the intense heat radiating from the fireballs melting the ice from her hand.
Chara glared at Naruto who stared back with clear focus, nary a trace of self-doubt could be found in him "Just where did he get this second wind of his, there's no way I'm going to lose to a sniveling coward like him!" she lunged at him and assaulted him with a flurry of slashes whilst enhancing her knife with the power of Determination. Naruto wasn't being idle either, repeatedly responding with a barrage of strikes to counter hers.
The level of combat skill between the two is quite noticeable; Chara gained hers from fighting strong monsters like Sans and Undyne and Naruto was trained from a younger age by his father who was a high-ranked militant. The duo clashed strongly, struggling for dominance which ended in a draw and they broke away from each other.
"Whoa, he's really tearing into her right now," said Sans in awe, seeing Naruto's current skillset being a far cry higher compared to the previous fights. He may not know why the human child held himself back but was glad to see that it was no longer the case "He won't kill her which leaves the question as to how we can take her down for good,"
Chara brought out her gun and began firing energy bullets, Naruto quickly formed the Shield of Determination in the form of a ballistic shield. The blonde reared a hand back and flung his bokken at Chara who darted out of the way and prepared to shoot once more but Naruto was already charging in, she swiped at him but he slid under the attack before countering with a low sweep kick to knock her off balance. Naruto quickly lashed out with a punch at Chara's hand to make her drop the gun and kicked it away from her but had to jump away when she tried to stab him.
Naruto took note of how Chara was glaring at him and quirked an eyebrow "What, you were expecting this to be a one-sided fight in your favor? It may have been easy taking on a kid who's afraid to fight back, but now you're facing a kid who's not afraid to hit back and make sure it hurts. Better brace yourself Chara, cause this is really gonna hurt,"
Chara clenched her knife tightly in rage "Talking like you've won this fight; I'm going to enjoy carving that stupid tongue out of that dirty mouth by the time I'm through with you!"
Naruto took a combative stance in spite of lacking a weapon "Then you're gonna have to work for it,"
With a roar of anger, Chara attacked Naruto relentlessly with the latter ducking and weaving out of range of her attacks while at times deflecting some with open palms before countering with swift jabs of his own, much to her aggravation "I've had it! I'm killing you now!" she began charging a lot of energy into the knife and prepared to attack. Naruto's grimoire suddenly floated before him to open up and flip through the pages before stopping at a page for him to see.
"Alright then, first time using this spell but this is a double or nothing kind of situation!" Naruto spread his arms apart as a glyph appeared at the palm of each then he brought them in front of him, fusing into one and pulsing strongly.
"This is the end, now die!" Chara swung her knife, launching a giant crescent wave of energy.
"Kid, get out of there!" Sans called out in worry, seeing that Chara really means business this time and isn't holding back at all with the clear intent to kill.
"Don't worry Sans, I got this!" at his words, the glyph shone brightly "Here we go…Union Nitesco!" the glyph fired a large powerful purple beam of energy which collided with Chara's attacks. The shockwave from the two struggling techniques can be felt all over the Underground. The struggle grew intense before eventually ending in an explosive draw, Naruto coughed whilst trying to see through the smoke when something shot out and there was the sound of something piercing through flesh. The smoke dissipated to reveal Chara having run her knife through Naruto.
"Kid!" Sans called out in horror.
"I finally got you," said Chara gleefully "Now to make good on my promise,"
Naruto's head which was lowered slowly rose to face Chara and…smile painfully?
"Heh…I think you need to work on your aim more…," the blonde gestured for Chara to look down which she did to see that he had caught the blade with his bare hand but he didn't emerge unscathed as droplets of blood dripped from his hand to the floor.
Chara's eyes widened in shock "Impossible…!"
"Pain is a cheap price to pay when one fights to protect their loved ones," Naruto gripped her hand tightly and reared a fist back which began radiating an intense white fiery aura "FEEL MY DETERMINATION!"
*WHAM*
A punch so powerful that it can't be described sent Chara flying away from Naruto in a spiral, tumbling along the ground like a thrown stone skipping across a pond before smashing into the wall at the end of the Hall of Judgement with debris falling on top of her before everything was silent.
Music End
Letting out a deep breath with the tribal markings disappearing, Naruto was about to towards Sans when something appeared; it was a black window bearing the buttons LOAD and SAVE. At first, he was confused since he never came across a SAVE Point ever since he found himself in this dimension before recalling something Asriel told him when he was Flowey.
"The power to reshape the world…purely by your own determination. The ability to play god! The ability to 'SAVE'. I thought I was the only with that power but apparently your desires override mine. Well, enjoy that power while you can cause I'll be watching,"
"That's right, only one with the highest Determination can use the Power of SAVE. Chara and Frisk were the ones at first until I overcame my fears. This way, Chara won't be able to LOAD since my Determination is greater than hers now," thought Naruto.
Sans was in utter shock at seeing Naruto having defeated Chara., he was soon overcome with happiness and relief that this nightmare of this never-ending torment is finally over. "Kid, I…I don't believe it. You did it, you actually did it!"
"Yeah I did, I don't think she'll get up from all that. I hope she's stays down," Naruto rushed over to check on Sans, noticing that the skeleton wasn't recovering fully for some reason in spite of having cast the regeneration spell on him "Anyways, I need to heal you,"
Sans shook his head said "No can-do kid, I'm at my limit here. I won't be able to persist long enough to sustain my body. It won't be long before I turn to dust,"
"Sans, don't say that. I can still save you. Perhaps I'll-,"
"No kid, it's too late for me. With that maniac unconscious and you taking away her ability to RESET, I can at least die with a clear conscience. Besides, you're more determined then she is now. You can RESET this timeline without her interference,"
Naruto felt unsure by his words, he never RESET before back in his dimension, but if it means going back to the beginning without Chara's interference, then so be it. Perhaps it's the only way to set things right. Naruto summoned the button of RESET before him while Sans watched him about to press the button, but before he did, he saw something rushing at Naruto from behind which made his eyes widen at who it is that's attempting to stop Naruto.
"Kid! Behind you!" Sans yelled in distress.
Naruto was alerted and looked behind him only to be surprised at seeing Chara conscious and running towards Naruto to kill him with a knife that is made out of her determination. He got tackled to the ground and reached to grab Chara's arms, struggling to stop her from driving the knife into his heart.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh Naruto… you really are something special. I never thought a human like you would possess such an amazing power as well as overpowering my Determination with yours. You're so much fun! Much more fun than that boring comedian! However I can't allow you to reset, not when things are getting so interesting!" Chara smiled at Naruto demonically which didn't help as half of her face is being covered by that black substance while her eyes are crimson red.
Naruto continued to struggle against her "Get off me you maniac!"
Chara started laughing, her voice distorting to sound just as demonic as her smile. He finally managed to push her off and quick kipped-up to his feet. Chara attempted to tackle him once more but the blonde was ready for her this time, he waited for her to get closer before darting to the side at the last second to get behind and restrain her in a full nelson while keeping her knife away from him.
"Sans! I can't hold her back for long, you have to end this. Kill her while I hold her down!" Naruto called out in urgency.
Sans was shocked to hear that "But I can't kill you with her, there has to be-,"
"Sans! It's fine. I have a plan for this which it requires of you killing me along with her. I need you to trust me on this!" Naruto suddenly cried out in pain, Chara managed to stab his side with her knife.
"If you want to die that badly, I'll gladly do that for you. I'm not gonna die here!" Chara cried out madly, trying to stab him again and his HP dropping every time she manages to hit him, his hold on her gradually weakening.
"Sans! Hurry up! Do it!" shouted Naruto, coughing up blood while Chara was laughing like a maniac as she continues to stab him.
Sans was conflicted but seeing Naruto was loosing his grip while getting stabbed to death by Chara, Sans had no other choice…but to kill both Naruto & Chara. With little strength of magic Sans had left of him, he managed to conjure a bone and launched it like a spear which pierced through both Chara and Naruto.
Naruto spewed blood out of his chest while Chara was the same as she yelled in an angry voice "D-Dammit!" Naruto smiled at this while both collapsed on the ground floor as they laid there still, both their SOULs shattered which signified that they're both dead.
Sans just laid there while saying "Get dunked on you megalomaniac." He felt his body beginning to turn to dust, showing that he's reached his limit "Well kid…whatever plan you came up with, I hope it keeps Chara from not coming back. It's now up to you kid…," the skeleton looked up to the ceiling with a soft sigh "Welp, guess I'm going to Grillby's…Papyrus, do you need anything?" with his last words, Sans finally let himself go and turned to dust as the Judgment Halls was filled with dead silence of dust and two corpses lay to rest…or so you think.
Naruto woke up after his death looked around to find himself at a dark void where he's standing in front of a screen that says 'GAME OVER'. It seemed his plan worked as he looked around which he finally found Frisk who's being imprisoned by black tendrils holding her in place. He rushed over to her "Frisk! Thank goodness you're here, seems like my plan worked. Hold on, I'm gonna get you out of here,"
At first, Frisk was surprised and then happy to see Naruto but then grew worried "Naruto, you shouldn't be here. You have to leave before it's too late,"
Naruto created a knife out of Determination and started cutting the tendrils "No way! I'm not just gonna leave you here like this, I sacrificed myself to get here to you. Besides, Chara is already been dealt with so you should be safe now,"
"No! You don't understand! It's not Chara that I'm worried about. It's something else that is corrupting her. Please! You must leave before it finds out your here!"
"Frisk, calm down. What do you mean something is corrupting her? What could possibly be corrupting her? It can't be any worse than what she already is,"
Before Frisk could say anything, they heard a familiar voice from the darkness.
"Oh Naruto… what a pleasant surprise to see you here of all places…"
Stepping out of the darkness, the figure finally revealed herself as Chara but something feels…different about her. Everything looks normal the way he remembered her but her ominous red eyes and that smile gives off a dangerous vibe.
Naruto looked disturbed at that creepy smile of hers "I don't understand. That's clearly Chara but…for some reason, why do I get this strange feeling that it's not her entirely other than that creepy smile of hers?" he thought back and recalled something, the smile was a lot like the one Chara had on her face when that weird black substance was spreading throughout her body.
Frisk then spoke up "I told you. That THING isn't Chara, it's someone else that looks like her."
Naruto was even more confused "Wait, so if you're saying that isn't Chara herself then…who's that I'm dealing with?"
Before Frisk could answer him, she was cut off by 'Chara' who spoke in a sarcastic tone "Well aren't you an observant one Frisk. You're right but you're also wrong. I'm not Chara but rather a part of her,"
Naruto narrows his eyes "Huh? So you're not Chara but you're a part of her? If you're not her then… who or 'what' are you?"
'Chara' with her creepy smile said "Well…I don't exactly have a name, but if I have to give one while explaining who and what I am, then you could say I am the embodiment of Chara's hatred for humanity. I am the manifestation of her darkness that's been given form from the sins of genocide. I am…" as she's about to finish her sentence, 'Chara's body started to turn dark with the black substance engulfing it until it was nothing more than a dark mass figure while her face sports a pair of ominously glowing red eyes and that demented smile of hers as she finished her sentence whilst pointing her red knife at Naruto "…Her HATE,"
Naruto was shocked at this as the now named HATE is what he's currently dealing with now "Is that what you're calling yourself now? HATE?"
'She' or 'It' said "Would you prefer otherwise? After all, it makes sense since I was born from Chara's hatred towards humanity as well as feeding from the hate of others. Due to Chara generating so much hatred as well as the genocide runs. It had only empowered me as well as given me sentient life which I stand before you now Naruto,"
Naruto doesn't know what to make of this new situation but he can already tell HATE looks extremely dangerous compared to Chara. Speaking of which "Wait, then…what happened to Chara? What did you do to her?"
"Oh her? She's not of any importance. All you need to know is that she won't be getting in my way now. She wouldn't let me come out to play but now you're here, our game can begin, for I am the better half. Besides, Chara's no fun anymore. Play with me Naruto! I've been wanting to get a piece of you since I seen you in action. I've been so boredddddd…" then it held its knife up its face while Naruto's face is seen from its reflection "Haha…no need to answer…you don't have a CHOICE…,"
Naruto growled at this, his eyes started to glow and his fists clenched "I always have a choice, and my choice is taking you down for good. I'm ending this cycle of genocide one way or another and getting rid of you will put an end to this nightmare,"
Music Start: Vetrom OST: Hate(Undertale Instrumental Mix)
Naruto quickly brought out his bokken and held them at both ends right on time to block an incoming slash from HATE, the dark being proceeded to hack and slash at him with reckless abandon before unleashing a final blow which actually knocked Naruto back a short distance before landing with a skid. Not wasting a moment, Naruto dashed right back at it and retaliated with strikes of his own but HATE revealed to be quite skilled, blocking his attacks with disturbing ease.
He quickly put away his bokken and clenched his fists with glyphs appearing on them "Lapiste!" he conjured large fists made of stone which imitated the motions of his own as he began throwing punches at the opponent. HATE merely smiled, summoning multiple tendrils from the darkness and morphing them into fists of her own to clash with Naruto's in the middle. "In that case, Ignis!" he dashed forward while thrusting a hand forward to rapidly shoot a barrage of fireballs, again HATE cut the incoming fireballs apart with its knife with Naruto drawing close enough to make his move "Macir!" he materialized a large into his hands and swung to strike HATE who blocked it with its arms crossed with the impact pushing her back a bit.
HATE looked back at Naruto with a crazed smile "Interesting, then let's see you try this on for size," it snapped its fingers, making black tendrils shoot out from the darkness towards Naruto. The blonde wreathed his bokken in the white fiery aura of his Determination whilst taking on the Storm Form to consecutively slash the incoming tendrils that were coming at him from different directions but was beginning to be overwhelmed "Tsk, Secare!" he conjured a sword onto his free hand to dual wield but it and his bokken, hacking and slashing all the while launching slash waves of energy to soon trim down the tendrils to nothing before turning to fling the sword at HATE with the dark being catching it with its bare hand and tossing it aside.
"Seriously, I can't tell what's what anymore; first is Frisk, then Chara and now this HATE thing with one being stronger than the other," thought Naruto with a frown.
"So far I'm impressed that you're putting up a good fight, but let's see what you do against this," HATE raised its knife which turned crimson red above its head then stabbed it on the ground with the floor turning red "Welcome to my special Hell," Right as it said those words, Naruto felt his senses start screaming at him of impending danger which instigated him to immediately create a large magical circle under him and form a magical dome shaped shield made out of his Determination right before a massive pillar erupted right underneath his feet, engulfing him into it for some time before dissipating only to reveal the Shield of Determination managed to hold strong against the onslaught and disappeared to show that Naruto was unscathed.
"You survived that? Well aren't you just full of surprises, but then again…so am I," HATE lunged itself at Naruto which they immediately battled it out against as they crossed blades & magic throughout the darkness while Frisk was in awe as she watches the fight unfold before her and hoping that Naruto wins.
After jumping away from yet another clash of blades and wills, HATE then spoke up "I must admit, I didn't think you would have lasted this long considering you were too much of a coward to fight back, but I guess after your 'fight' with Chara, if you can even call it that, almost cost you your life, made you see reason that caused you to change in more ways than one,"
"…," Naruto refused to respond, being well aware that the dark being was trying to get a rise out of him and made it known "If you're trying to get a rise out of me by taunting then you won't get any satisfaction, it's not gonna work,"
HATE frowned at this "Is that so? Shame, I was hoping to hear you screaming in denial, but I guess after your fight with Chara changed that. Fine, then I'll just make use in hearing you scream for mercy as I slowly kill you,"
"I'd like to see you try…," Naruto responded challengingly.
"You just don't know when to quit when the odds is stacked against you. It's pointless. Your end is near for this fight is over the moment it began… Give up," HATE thrust a hand into the air and suddenly summoned numerous knifes all around Naruto, giving no way of escaping. It snapped its fingers, commanding them to attack simultaneously. Naruto's mind raced for a way out of this situation, refusing to give in no matter what when he felt something strange and noticed that the knives were moving rather slow then felt information flow into his mind
*Despite being surrounded by darkness…
*You can feel WILLPOWER concentrating in your SOUL.
*You learnt ENDURANCE!
*You learnt ENDEAVOUR!
Naruto suddenly shifted into his Determined Form, he suddenly dashed at speeds to make it appear as if he was gliding along the ground and seemingly phasing through the knives and successfully escaping from the attack. He rushed right up to HATE and deal a hook punch to the stomach then pointed an open palm at it with a glowing glyph appearing "Pneuma!" he unleashed a blast of green wind that sent HATE flying and followed up by triggering ENDEAVOR once more to catch up to it in midair "Lapiste!" he slammed a stone fist on HATE to smash it to the ground and landing afterwards with the bokken back in his hand.
HATE got back to its feet, slightly surprised at this unexpected turn "How very interesting…let's step this up then," the dark being resumed the fight but was making this harder for Naruto to get around but somehow, he still managed to push through it. Apparently by learning Endurance, the damage he receives from HATE didn't let it get to him that much due to his pain tolerance having increased. It also helped that he can dash fast enough to evade & dodge most of HATE's dangerous attacks thanks to Endeavor. However, both skills aren't without cost; demanding more energy than usual.
HATE suddenly asked Naruto "I've got a question for you Naruto. Do you know what black means?" it's knife started to turn black then HATE was suddenly up in the air "It's HATE," the knife started to glow as it formed a big ball of concentrated hatred "And I have a LOT more to share," HATE then points it's knife at Naruto launching the large ball of hate at him.
Naruto stared at the ball of hate in shock as he wasn't expecting this kind of attack, but he wasn't gonna let it win. His SOUL glowed intensely before channeling energy into his bokken which he swung to launch a massive energy blast to collide with the ball of hate, cancelling it out with the explosion knocking HATE back from the force of the aftershock. Naruto was panting a bit from that attack as he's recovering from that while HATE stood up with that creepy smile of its face.
"Even after all that, you're still standing? I never imagined a human like you would be THIS determined in stopping me. You're something special aren't you. To be honest, I had a feeling you wouldn't succumb to that attack easily. Your tenacity is what kept you alive and gotten you this far. But this is as far as you'll get from here on out. The longer you persist, the less likely you are to survive. Progress all you like, you'll only make my power and my hatred grow. Do give me the pleasure as I erase you from existence," Naruto was getting pushed back as HATE continues throwing everything in its arsenal just to kill Naruto as he was forced to evade and defend while increasing the pressure on him "What's the matter Naruto? You going back to defending while running away? That's the sign of a coward would do,"
Naruto looked a bit triggered and tried to fight back which did some good a bit but it also made him predictable with HATE able to land hits more frequently. Eventually, HATE got Naruto pinned while Frisk was watching in horror at seeing Naruto losing his ground.
Music End
HATE then said "Before I soon end your pitiful life, let me ask you something: Why are you risking your life to rescue Frisk and getting involved in our affairs when this has nothing to do with you? Do you even know how this whole mess started in the first place?"
Naruto responded "Of course I do, it was you who orchestrated this!"
HATE laughed at this before speaking "Wrong. I have nothing to do with this, I was born from the hate that Chara held for humanity. I couldn't have orchestrated this, the real culprit who started this…is Frisk,"
The blonde was shocked at first but retorted "Do I look like an idiot to you?! There's no way I'll believe that, Frisk couldn't have committed genocide,"
HATE frowned in response "Shut up Naruto….You really don't understand anything don't you? You clearly don't know how all of this started. That puny human you're trying to 'save'….Do you think Chara forced her to commit genocide? HA! Don't make me laugh," The dark being began to explain the truth behind the genocidal acts "After doing the 'pacifist' route over and over again, she eventually got bored…she started the first genocide run on her own. That idiot just lacked the courage to finish at the very end, It was only THEN that Chara entered. Chara did try to manipulate her at first but Frisk didn't wanna do it…until she was bored enough from being a 'pacifist' to start wanting to commit murder. She's the one who killed everyone… by her own hand. Chara was just feeding from everyone's hate. If there's someone to blame here for everything…it's Frisk. Like you, everyone portrays her as a pacifist child that wouldn't hurt a fly. But she's the one who started the genocide. No one ever forced her to do it despite she could've gone with Chara's manipulation. Chara was just trying to finishing what Frisk started…. It makes me sick that she thinks she's above consequences…. That she can just toy around with everyone and get away with whatever she want….especially have the gall to blame Chara. That's why all of these genocide runs started to happen. And where do you think all that hate generated ended up? Right to me. That's what gave me life after being born from Chara's hate as well from others. I'm not doing anything wrong, I'm just making sure that little traitorous murderer you're trying to save pays for what she did for her sins,"
Naruto couldn't believe what it said, he refused to believe that what he's hearing "No…y-you're lying. You have to be lying! Frisk wouldn't do that, she couldn't,"
HATE rolled its red eyes in annoyance "Denial huh? Well…too bad for you, it's the truth. You don't believe me…just ask Frisk yourself,"
Naruto then turned to Frisk and asked "Frisk…is this true? Tell me you didn't start this mess. Tell me HATE is lying!"
"…," However, Frisk isn't saying anything other than turning away, not facing him whilst shedding tears.
"Frisk…why are you not saying anything? Why aren't you defending yourself from this slander. Surly you didn't…right?" No response but silent weeping is all he got "Frisk…you did started this… didn't you?"
"…yes,"
Naruto was in shock at what he just learned. He…doesn't know what to do as he was just still while HATE just smiling smugly
"See? What did I tell you… Chara didn't started this despite the manipulation, it was Frisk who made this all happen," Naruto looked down at this new predicament as if he's slowly losing his will to fight for someone who's the cause of this path of genocide. "So Naruto, what are you gonna do now? You know the ugly truth that is Frisk who started this whole mess. If she's left unpunished for the sins of her actions, that killer will use all of her friends as toys forever," Naruto was conflicted at this situation, what can he do after learning the truth behind all of this?
"But don't worry, she'll get what's coming to her soon enough. Now that you know, you can take this information to your grave," said HATE as it raises its knife while Naruto still looked down "Don't worry…I'll make this quick,"
HATE slowly brought down its knife onto Naruto, time suddenly slowed down for him as he finally understood how this whole thing started and felt conflicted…but something deep within his SOUL had been bubbling inside him and had decided to be unleashed. The next thing you know, his magical aura exploded from Naruto's body with such intensity that it blasted HATE blasted away. HATE rose to its feet and looked to see that Naruto had gotten up as well looking angry…no…pissed at HATE.
Music Start: Sonic Frontiers OST; Break Through It All
The next thing that HATE knew was that a glowing fist had buried itself deeply into its face before being sent off its feet, revealing that an angry Naruto had used Endeavor to rush in and deal that powerful punch but was far from done having used Endeavor yet again to catch up and strike consecutively with his enhanced bokken before slamming a palm onto its stomach "Nitesco!" he fires a purple energy beam to send HATE crashing to the ground and still wasn't letting up by pointing a hand upwards "Vol Fulgur!" a glyph appeared to form a lightning bolt that arcs upward and then strikes down on top of HATE.
HATE emerged from the smoke and was damaged while frowning at first from this unexpected turn but then slowly smiled and laughed at this "HAHAHA! Well would you look at that… seems like you still got some plenty of fight left in you. You are so… special. SHOW ME MORE! OF THIS POWER!"
"Tch," Naruto clicked his tongue at this and started to let loose energy slashes at HATE which seemed to make it laugh like a maniac as explosions erupted from the attacks Naruto unleashed onto it.
As he stood, HATE came out from the smoke but was battered but still standing "My you're really angry aren't you. Is the truth too much for you to handle that you have to get rough with me?"
Naruto simply said "No, but you have made a mistake though,"
HATE look confused by what he said "What mistake?"
"If Frisk did indeed start this in the first place, then how come she planned to reset until Chara intervened? I'll tell you why…it's because she regretted her actions. She felt bad for betraying her friends and wanted to make up for her sins. The only reason she didn't finish what she started is because she's not a heartless killer…unlike you & Chara. Sure she did the deed, but surely she didn't enjoy it if she truly is a murderer as you say she is. If she wanted to reset to make-up for it…then I believe she deserves a second chance to prove herself for her actions,"
After hearing that, Frisk looked shocked then smiled at this as she shed more tears while HATE smile turned into a frown as it said "You would give Frisk a second chance for her actions? Despite the fact that she killed them in cold blood out of curiosity?"
Naruto then said "Yes… people can change their ways if you give them a chance. Something which you wouldn't understand,"
HATE looked angry "Very well…if this is what you desire, so be it," Naruto powers up while HATE simply said "Looks like we're have to do things the fun way,"
"You mean the hard way?"
HATE replied to the question with a chuckle whilst pointing its knife at Naruto "Now why would this be 'hard' for me,"
Black tendrils suddenly shot out of the smoke towards Naruto who took on the Gale Form and rapidly sliced the tendrils into piece. at that moment, HATE moved swiftly through the darkness and struck at Naruto's blindspot with its knife. Naruto's SOUL pulsed, alerting him of an attack which he quickly reacted to by spinning to deflect at the right moment. HATE made several more attempts to strike from his blindspots whilst using its tendrils to capture or constrict him, but its frustrations grew with every failure and getting knocked back by the blonde. In a fit of rage, HATE lunged at Naruto to stab him with its knife when Naruto did something shocking…Naruto actually caught its knife and crushed it with his hand, shattering it into pieces much to HATE's shock and disbelief.
Snapping back into focus, the dark being tried to kick him to the side but he blocked it easily with a forearm then countered with a punch to its gut which let out a shout of pain but it retaliated with a punch to the face and smiled but Naruto didn't react to it. He slowly turned to face HATE and looking very angry which actually…scared HATE? Naruto punched HATE again and got punched back which led to an exchange of punches until they head butted each other and got blown back. HATE rosé its head and got frightened upon seeing Naruto slowly walk towards it
"I'm scared of this boy? Me, the very being born from hatred…scared? No…No! NO!" in a fit of rage, HATE got up while phasing up into the air then conjured another red knife in hand.
Naruto frowned at this "We both know that you're running out of tricks at this point,"
However HATE merely smiled "Oh I know, which is why I'm going to use my last resort," it raises its knife that turned black then created another ball of hatred but only this time, it's a lot bigger than the previous one "I commend you for having survived this long but this charade has gone on long enough. This game of ours is coming to an end, for I am putting my all into this attack. Once I kill you and Frisk, I'll own this timeline, I'll continue to do genocide and erase this timeline, then the next, then the next…no one would be able to stop me as this world will know HATE!"
"I won't let that happen; I won't let you torture this world!" Naruto declared fearlessly; his SOUL surged in resonance with his strong emotions as a large number of magical circles around him while gathering every ounce of magic he has then the magic circles moved to position themselves in front of him in an ascending diagonal position while HATE begins to drop its ball of hate towards Naruto
"Now. You. DIE!"
As the ball of hate getting closer and closer to Naruto which he was beginning to respond to with his attack when a name suddenly popped into his head and called out "OMEGA BEAM!" his SOUL glowed brightly as it fired a white energy beam which grew in size each time it went through a magic circle which collided with the ball of hatred, leading to a power struggle. Soon, Naruto's technique overcame the ball of hate as it was blasted through then engulfed HATE who screamed in pain as it was being purged away.
"THIS CAN'TBE HAPPENING! I AM HATE…I AM…I…AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" the dark being was unable to utter a word after being blasted into nothingness. The silence within the darkness was more than enough to tell both Naruto and Frisk that the fight is finally over.
Music End
Naruto dropped down to his knees and started panting heavily due to fatigue from all of the fights back-to-back and the cost of the spells both learnt and unlocked, even his Determined Form deactivated on its own.
Frisk looked at Naruto in pure amazement, this boy showed up from out of nowhere to help Sans stop her, he wasn't all that strong when he first fought Chara but then he changed in midbattle and proved to be far more powerful when no longer restraining himself. Then he actually broke his limits in order to gain the strength needed to face and eventually defeat HATE, such a human is unheard of and yet here he is. She was snapped out of her thoughts when a voice called out to her and turned to see Naruto speaking to her.
"Frisk-chan, are you doing okay?" asked Naruto.
"Yes I am, thank you for saving me,"
The blonde smiled tiredly with a thumbs up "No problem, just glad that this nightmare is finally over,"
Frisk smiled but a guilty look appeared on her face "Naruto, why would you go so far to save me when we had never met before? HATE spoke the truth about me starting this whole mess on my own, I don't deserve a second chance after what I did," she started to cry.
Naruto stared at her silently for a moment before speaking up "What you did was unforgivable, there's no denying that. Even so, the worst of people are liable to a second chance to change for the better. By having the people who genuinely care forgive you, you will be able to forgive yourself and strive to never repeat past sins,"
Frisk looked wide-eyed at him saying those words, finding them similar to the ones Sans told her in the Judgement Hall before they fought. Frisk tackled Naruto into a hug with a joyful smile all the muttering 'Thank you' and the latter patted her back with a smile of his own. At that moment, Naruto caught sight of something moving in the darkness which caused him to frown. At that moment, it lunged swiftly with Frisk as its target.
"Frisk, watch out!" Naruto reacted quickly enough to shove Frisk away and backhanded the unknown assailant away from them, a closer look reveals it to be a black slime "Wait, isn't that a piece of HATE?"
"But I thought you destroyed it?" asked Frisk confusedly, looking at the slime in fear.
"Must have separated a piece of itself while I was blasting it," Naruto saw that the piece of HATE was trying to escape "Oh no you don't, Torpor!" he thrust a hand out for a glyph to appear underneath the slime and red ropes of energy wrapped around to restrain it "I'm not going to let you escape to start this nightmare all over again. Time for you to go and stay gone! Vol Nitesco!" he fired a purple energy beam to completely eradicate for good and made sure that wasn't a trace of it left.
"Is it gone?" asked Frisk worriedly.
Naruto looked around for about a minute "…yeah, both Chara and HATE are gone for good. It's completely safe for you to use RESET without them getting in the way,"
"But what about you, shouldn't you be the one to do it? I mean you're most determined out of all of us. Besides, after what I've done and caused this mess…I don't deserve this kind of power as it's too evil for me to use," Frisk looked down in uncertainty.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Naruto staring at her seriously "Frisk…it's not the power that makes it evil but rather how you use. While it's true that I'm the most determined enough to press the RESET button, I don't belong in this timeline. You own this world but can't abuse the power of RESET for selfish reasons. If you want a second chance to correct your mistakes, the first is to NEVER commit genocide ever again and don't use RESET unless it's a last resort. Promise me you'll use it for good reasons,"
"I…," Frisk looked unsure, like she can't trust herself.
"Frisk, I'm also going to tell you of a way that you can save everyone including Asriel," said Naruto, Frisk looked up in shock at what he just said. She had tried many times to save Asriel many times but failed, one of the reasons why she ended up taking the genocide route. Naruto went on to tell her about seeking of the articles of the children before her in order to appeal to them to help forge a new SOUL for Asriel "…and that's it,"
"But, what about you? What will happen once we RESET?" asked Frisk worriedly.
Naruto hesitated, not knowing what to say "…I honestly don't know. like I said earlier, I don't belong in this timeline of yours. But whatever happens, I'm sure things will work out," he held a hand out to Frisk with a smile of assurance "Trust me,"
Frisk smiled softly and took his hand but decided to ask one more question "Will…will we see each other again?"
"Who knows…maybe one day we might. Only time will tell. Even if we don't see each other again, just know that I'll always be your friend somewhere out there,"
Frisk was saddened to hear that there was a 50% chance of not seeing each other again but even so, she'll still remain grateful that he went this far for her. Deciding to give him one last hug which he didn't hesitate to reciprocate, both Naruto and Frisk summoned the RESET button together.
"Ready Frisk?" asked Naruto.
Frisk nodded in affirmation "Ready,"
And with that, they pressed the RESET button together as a bright light engulfed them and the timeline was once again restarted and hopefully for the last time.
With a slight groan, Frisk opened her eyes and slowly sat up to see that she was sitting in a patch of buttercup flowers within the RUINS of the Underground. Suddenly realizing where she was, Frisk quickly looked around in hopes of finding Naruto there with her…but he was nowhere to be seen, much to her disappointment. she was really hoping that he'd be there but apparently it wasn't the chance.
But still, it was thanks to him that she has another chance to fix her mistakes. Frisk looked up to the hole she had fallen through where the light poured down on her with a grateful smile "Naruto, wherever you are…thank you for everything. I hope we see each other again…one day," with that said, Frisk stood up and made her way deeper into the RUINS where she'll eventually encounter Flowey and soon Toriel as she'll her True Pacifist run with advice given to her by Naruto.
Unknown to Frisk, she wasn't exactly alone there; someone emerged from behind a large stone pillar and it was none other than Naruto. Apparently, he had been there with Frisk but woke up first and decided to conceal himself from her until she was gone. So, he also heard what she said and smiled in approval.
"Well, I'm glad that this Genocide run thing is finally over. Hopefully she'll keep her promise to never RESET and do the Pacifist Run to make up for her actions. I'm sure that Sans and Flowey will remember, especially the former. I sure hope that things will turn out for the better for her," said Naruto, but then he frowned in thought "But…where does this leave me? Where do I go from here on? I may have stopped the Genocide run but I'm still stuck here in this timeline and I have no way to get back home. What am I supposed to do now?" he crossed his arms, trying to figure out his next move when he heard someone speak up from behind him.
"Perhaps I can help you out,"
Spinning around with a hand on his sheathed bokken, Naruto turned towards the unknown speaker and noted that it was behind one of the stone pillars "Who's there? Show yourself!"
The speaker stepped out from behind the pillar to reveal themselves. It turns out to be a girl but her skin is gray with crimson red hair while her eyes are black with red iris. She wears a black high-collar long-sleeved dress which covers the knees with red stripes on it, and a pair of dark-brown shoes.
Naruto was confused, he was unaware that another human fell here but for some reason this one felt…different. This girl looks strangely similar to Frisk or Chara and something tells him that this mysterious person isn't normal.
"Who are you?" asked Naruto cautiously.
The girl smiled "Someone who has been watching you for a while. I'm quite amazed that you were able to save this timeline by stopping the Genocide cycle. You really are special,"
A confused Naruto inquired further "How do you know all that? Just where did you come from?" the girl didn't answer the question but rather approached him which made Naruto tense "What are yo-stay back!" his warning was ignored, he was about to unsheathe when he felt a hand on his shoulder and before he could react, both were teleported out of the RUINS.
Moments later, there were footsteps and Frisk came running back to the clearing. She had met Toriel and was about to follow her to her Home when she heard voices, she came running back in hopes that Naruto was there afterall but came upon an empty clearing.
Toriel soon caught up and looked at Frisk with concern "What's the matter my child? You suddenly ran here,"
Frisk looked around a bit more before bowing her head in sadness "…nothing, thought I heard someone,"
Seeing Frisk feeling sad, Toriel placed a hand on her head and spoke softly "Please don't be sad my child. How about you come along to my home? I have something that is sure to lift your spirits,"
Frisk nodded with a smile, knowing what the motherly queen of monsters has in mind "Okay…mom,"
Toriel gasped in shock "Did you just call me…mom?"
"Yes I did," Frisk nodded with a smile "I won't let you down, not this time,"
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto ventured through the Hotlands and then the CORE as fast as he could with guidance from Alphys through the phone but wasn't fast enough to save Mettaton and feared attempting to search for Red should the imaginable happen.
Finally arriving at the Judgement Hall, Naruto intervened and tried to appeal to Frisk but to no avail, forcing him to fight her alongside Sans. Things were rather tense with Naruto still trying to make Frisk stop, but then things took a turn for the worst when Chara took over to prevent Frisk from resetting the timeline and wanting to change. She immediately proved to be adept in combat, landing a critical strike on Naruto and Sans. It was then Naruto had a spiritual encounter with his father and came to terms with himself and his fears, this helped awaken his true self and no longer hesitate in combat, a fact that Chara came to realize when Naruto stopped withholding himself and was even able to override her control of the power of SAVE and RESET, even pulling a dangerous move of letting himself and Chara be killed to get to the other side to rescue Frisk.
Once there, Naruto came across a being who identifies itself as the hatred of Chara towards humanity and having grown due to the previous Genocide runs and had gained sentience to the point of casting Chara herself away with intentions of taking over. Naruto was hard-pressed in this fight and forced to break through his limits in order to defeat this dark being and freeing Frisk in the process.
After a heartfelt conversation, they reset the timeline once more but Naruto hid himself for Frisk to go on her own. It was then that Naruto encountered a mysterious girl who looked eerily similar to Frisk and Chara albeit with several major differences. She made a few vague comments of having witnessed his actions before teleporting him to unknown places.
The question now is who is this girl and what does she want with Naruto? These questions will be answered in the next chapter. Be sure to read and review.
Whooo! Now this has to be my longest chapter ever written in any of my stories. Anyways, I know I said that this would be my last chapter for the Genocide arc but then I realized that I can't just end this too abruptly. So I'll do two to three more chapters in order to wrap things up the best I could and also bring certain things to the front and make them interesting. So, like always
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.