I don't think there's anything more immediately jarring than waking up to the sound of screaming.

*Oh no.

My eyes shot open, tearing sheets off me and stumbling off the cot I'd been placed in. My feet briefly gave out from under me, and I slammed against a shelf of VHS tapes I was apparently sleeping next to.

Too preoccupied to ask myself why I'd been passed out in the TV room of all places, I shambled over to the other side of the room. Just before I reached it, however, a familiar yellow lizard slammed into me, knocking me on my ass.

"Y-Yo! Dude!" Monster Kid looked up at me with a wide-eyed, panicked look on his face, "I-It's the other human! T-They, they got in, and-!"

My eyes shot open and I grabbed MK by his 'shoulders,' "WHAT?! Where are they right now?!"

"T-They're in the bed room, but-!"

I pushed past him, ignoring the wobbly feeling in my legs as I stumbled towards the sounds of screaming, blasts of light and crackling electricity. I heard the pitter-patter of lizard feet behind me, and I whirled around.

"Stay here!" I yelled in his face, before turning back to my warpath. I regretted screaming at him, but I didn't have time to say sorry, "I'll take care of the little shit."

I left the room with the Magic Insertion Machine, leaving MK standing there, completely alone.

He sighed, water beginning to fill his eyes. A lone child, at the end of the world, watching helplessly as an unprepared hero went to fight the big bad early.

… What was he supposed to do…?

Chapter 4: From Bad to Worse

The bed room was in complete chaos when I stumbled into it. Dust - monster, mostly - was whirling around the room as lights flashed from near the center. White beams of light aimed for a small, red light that was effortlessly dodging said magic.

My teeth grit together, and I charged into the fray, trying to ignore how the thick cloud of dust was clinging to my skin. Remains of monsters filled the air as I blindly fought my way towards the flashing lights. The shape of a skeleton in a blue hoodie slowly came into view, stumbling away from the kick of a blue and purple-sweatered human.

Frisk was right about end Sans with a kick, ensuring his death, when their kick was halted mid-swing, stopped by a piece of stalagmite that had shot from the ground. Sans stopped existing, and from the corner of my eye I saw him re-exist to my left.

"Took ya long enough, kid." Sans grinned over to me, although it didn't look all too convincing, "Things aren't going too well."

I glared at the other human, my Pocket Knife appearing in my hand. My eyes flicked over to Sans, "There anyone left?"

"Probably a few stragglers in the other rooms," He confirmed, his eyelights darting over to me, "But I can't evacuate 'em and hold off stabby at the same time."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Get the monsters outta here. I'll handle Frisk."

*This is a bad plan.

"... You sure you're up to this, pal?"

I turned towards Frisk, who was busy inspecting their nails. First the front, then the back, and then they turned their ruby red peepers to me. I met their gaze with my own crimson glare, the grip on my knife tightening.

"... I'm gonna have to be."

Sans glanced between the both of us, before nodding. He popped out of existence, leaving Frisk and I alone together in the corpses of their victims. A pregnant silence followed after the skeleton's disappearance.

*You're not prepared.

"... So?" Frisk smiled sweetly at me, "Do you want the first move?"

*Fight for your life.

A snarl tore up my face, lifting one foot and stomping into the ground. Rocky stalagmites ripped from the tiled earth, stabbing through a couple of beds. Frisk was forced to dive to the side, and I threw a hand into the sky, a pillar of magma firing from the floor where Frisk was about to land. They were barely able to twist in mid-air, slamming into another bed hip-first and tumbling to the tiled floor.

*They're not used to fighting here.

But I'm not used to fighting anywhere.

*I am. May I?

I hesitated for only a second, before letting Texty take over my body. A feeling of what I can only describe as numbness settled over my form, Texty shifting my legs into a fighting stance. They stomped my foot, a thin stalagmite shooting from the earth, and they caught it with their left hand.

Frisk hopped from their place on the floor, spinning and tearing one leg through the air towards us. Texty deflected the kick with their staff, before bringing up one fist, rocks quickly spiraling up from beneath the tiles and making a makeshift boxing glove to slam into Frisk's stomach. Red exploded from Frisk's mouth and they were sent flying across the room.

Damn! Where'd you learn that?!

*Dad taught me how to kick ass.

Sheesh, maybe you could introduce us?

Texty grinned at that, despite letting the rocks collapse off my fist. Despite the good idea, my weak arms weren't strong enough to keep up with a solid rock boxing glove. They dived towards Frisk, kicking off a nearby bed and sending their rockstaff plunging into Frisk's shoulder. Their eyes went wide, a silent scream tearing from their lips.

Texty placed my foot on Frisk's shoulder, a grin creeping up my face. "Damn, where'd you learn to fight? A mall?"

Frisk grit their teeth, wrapping one hand around the pointed Rockstaff in a futile attempt at stopping it from poking out the other end.

"Come on, Frisk," Texty taunted, pulling back a fist, "You've killed everyone else Underground all by yourself, so do it! Kill me!"

Then they let that fist fly forward.

And one Tough Glove-covered hand caught it.

"You seriously think Frisk can do all of that alone?"

Suddenly, a bladed ballet shoe entered my stomach, and Texty widened their eyes in agony. Chara's other foot slammed bottom-first into Texty's chest and threw them halfway across the room. Their back slammed against a bedpost, their spine cracking and sending them and my now paralyzed body tumbling to the tiled floor.

Quick, a pie slice! I yelled at my headmate, Before they get over here!

*How do I open my inventory?!

Are you-?! Ugh, no time, gimme the controls!

Like many things, I instantly regretted this demand, immediately feeling the soreness in my solar plexus and the burning, tearing sensation that came from being stabbed. It took another second or two for the pain in my back to kick in and for me to realize I couldn't feel my legs. A scream ripped out of my mouth as I shakily lifted one hand, a slice of pie spawning into existence.

I tore into it as fast as my shaking hands and trembling jaw let me, shoving an entire pie slice in my mouth and forcing the butterscotch-cinnamon mush down my throat. Over the course of a second or two, the crack in my back sealed, feeling returned to my legs. The soreness disappeared and the hole in my stomach sealed shut. I leapt to my feet, locking eyes with Chara.

A growl escaped my throat, stomping a foot on the ground. At my command, a solid, square chunk of rock ripped from the earth. With a strike of my palm, the rock flew towards Chara. Hopefully this worked…

Chara dived foot-first under the geode I had ripped from the ground, using their hands to leap from the ground and dive towards me.

My hands flew low, before I ripped molten magma from the ground just in front of where Chara was leaping into the air. Their eyes widened, unable to stop their momentum before they were stuck in the boiling magma.

Their charred body landed a couple feet from me. I summoned some stalactites from the ceiling, throwing a hand down and surrounding them in a cage of stone. They were getting to their feet, now… I didn't have a lot of time.

I kneeled to the ground, thrusting my fists into the tile, and forcing a spire of rock to rip from the ground beneath them. This created a platform for their cage, and after a moment, the stalactites returned to their rightful place in the ceiling. They were locked in a cage just below the ceiling, now. Time to shine.

With a roar and a bright red face, I summoned a dozen lava plumes, smoke and flames exploding out from every corner of the room. The whirlwind of dust was replaced with a whirlwind of black smog, and only then did I realize that I wasn't immune to the effects of my own magic.

*Your body's burning up.

My entire body felt hot from the intense heat pouring into the room. I was feeling lightheaded because of the CO2 created from my own attacks…. My legs felt weak - Right, I had just woken up from a magic-induced nap, huh…? Lava was pouring into the room, spreading on the floor and inching closer to my spot on the floor…. When did I fall over…? It took just about all I had to weakly throw a hand onto the ground, creating a bed of rock that was hopefully safe.

*You can't feel your body…

This sucks… I thought. Weak, shallow breaths were barely escaping my mouth. Soot began to join the dust coating my body. Normally that would've bothered me, I think, but honestly I was barely feeling it with the room easily being in the upper hundreds of degrees.

"Dude!"

I glanced to the entrance to the room, my eyes widening at the one monster left in the True Lab. The small yellow lizard was at the very edge of the lava, standing on hot, bright-red tiles.

"Monster… Kid…!" My eyes widened, and I tried to make my body respond. Summon some rocks, do something, anything!

My body refused to respond. I was too tired, even with the monster food I had consumed a few minutes earlier.

With a DETERMINED expression, Monster Kid backed up from the tiles… Before running at the lava at full speed! My eyes shot open at this clear act of stupidity! What the hell was he doing?!

But, Monster Kid proved to be a lot more agile than I anticipated. He leapt from one burning bed, to another, perfectly avoiding falling in the world's most intense game of the floor is lava. With another leap, he landed on the small safe haven I had created before us… But he lost his footing. He was going to fall into the lava!

Then my arm grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him onto the rock bed.

*Sorry, I just-

Don't apologize. You did the right thing.

MK drove his head under my torso, picking me up and glancing about the room. Most of the beds were left nothing but smoldering piles of rocks. The geysers had stopped spewing lava, but the magma already on the ground was still hot to the touch. Nowhere to go.

Texty weakly lifted my hand into the air, before letting it drop to the ground. At their command, a thin bridge of rock had fallen from the ceiling, landing with one end on the edge of the rock bed and one end on the other side of the room, leading to the lobby. Monster Kid took a deep breath, before braving the venture, one step at a time.

My body dragged along the rock, too tired to do much else than take shallow breaths of toxic smoke. Monster Kid was sweating - Not from the heat, but from the weight of my body. Step. Step.

Very, very slowly, Monster Kid was able to cross the bridge. He stepped off, sucking in a deep breath, before turning to the exit to the True Lab. Half a lobby away, but with my condition, maybe 20 feet turned into something more like 200.

Still, Monster Kid was determined. One step, two step.

CRACK!

Monster Kid turned his head to the sound of the tap tap tap that was slowly approaching behind him, before his eyes - and mine - widened.

Chara was there, wielding a broken stalactite in their hand. They were sprinting across the bridge, staving off the heat exhaustion by downing a jug of Sea Tea. They threw the jug to the side, leaping into the air and bringing up one bladed ballet shoe. My body felt like lead, I couldn't even lift my arms…! No time, no time!

SLASH!

And, suddenly, we were surrounded by gray bricks. The smog was gone, and clean oxygen filled my lungs. The sudden change in atmosphere had me hacking up a lung, coughing and forcing carboninous poison out of my throat. I slipped off MK's head, falling to the ground and sputtering the disgusting flem out of my mouth. After a moment of that, I turned to the blue-hoodie'd skeleton next to me, rubbing my mouth with my sleeve.

"Thanks for the save, Sans." I said, before I took note of the lack of pupils in his eyes. I followed his stare…

"D… Dude…?

My eyes shot open, the friendly lizard before me having a crater-sized gash in his chest. Blood and dust alike was pouring out of him, a drizzle of red dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"No…" Tears filled my eyes as I weakly reached my hands out to Monster Kid, "No, no…"

He stumbled, right about to fall to the ground. Sudden strength returned to my body as I caught him in my arms. I sat on my knees, watching the light slowly leave Monster Kid's eyes.

"... My fault…" Hot, wet tears spilled out of the corners of my eyes. "It's my fault. If I didn't, i-if I was more aware, I…"

I could've saved him. It would've been easy. I could've just left Chara in the cage and went back for him. I could've, I'unno, buried them underground, I could've just killed them when I had the chance, I could have… I could have…

Dust was starting to flake off his body, before he weakly turned his head to look up at me. A grin was slowly pulling its way up his lips.

"... Y-You've… Got this…" He whispered quietly, just to me. "I… Believe… In…"

And suddenly, the rest of his body was consumed by dust. My wide eyes watched as a single upside-down heart floated up from his body. I cupped it in my hands, watching it tremble and shake.

I grit my teeth, placing my hands firmly around the SOUL.

And a shockwave of power flew out from me.

Chara's frown tugged at their face as they kept their steady stride through the gray walls of New Home. Their recent failures kept their face stagnant… Fortunately, they were able to get their LOVE pretty high from the monsters they'd killed, and somehow Monster Kid was worth a lot of EXP. Because of that, their LOVE was about where it was meant to be here, luckily. One more Level and they were going to be able to wipe this timeline, and hopefully Frisk did something a little more interesting this time around. Maybe a pacifist - was a lot more fun killing their friends after befriending them. Kept things fresh.

Bah, whatever. So long as the stupid, curly haired new guy kept outta their way. No fun at all.

They entered the golden light of the Judgment Hall, bored red eyes glancing up from the floor. Of course, Sans was there, and he-

… He. Wasn't there…?

Instead, a football field away, in the golden flowers of the throne room, sat the newbie.

I gripped Texty's rockstaff in my right hand, twirling a set of rocks in my left as I stared down the hall to the blue-sweatered human on the other side. My teeth grinded together, newly-sprouted fangs irritating my bottom teeth in an unfamiliar way. Whatever.

They crossed the threshold between the Judgment Hall and the throne room I occupied, saving. Their ruby eyes met my own set of crimson peepers, taking note of the way my pupils almost seemed to slit when I stared at them. They didn't notice any other major changes, but I could feel it. The power. Brimming from just under the surface, power was beginning to blossom in my body. I let out a slow breath, emptying my lungs of the steam that had collected in them, before I spoke.

"... So you finally made it, Chara." They seemed a little caught off-guard that I knew their name, but I blew past it, "The end'a your life is at hand.

They barked out a laugh at that, forcing some red into my cheeks. I did not like being laughed at. "Seriously?! You seriously think you can stand up to me?!"

"I mean, come on!" They lazily waved their Real Knife at me, "Consider what happened not even an hour ago! You had the power to literally drag me to Hell, and you didn't!"

"..." More steam huffed out of my nostrils. I dropped the rocks in my left hand, standing and easily lifting said trident from its resting place with one hand. "... I'm giving you an out. RESET, and none of this has to happen."

"None of what, no-name?!" They glared, spawning the Empty Gun with their other hand and pointing it right at me, "I've called your stupid bluff before, and I beat you without even landing a hit!"

"... No-name, huh?"

They seemed confused at the lack of response from their threat. I glanced out the window, smiling to myself. Or, who I saw in the reflection, anyway. "... You know, I don't remember my name. I kind of wonder why."

"Maybe it's getting sucked into a whole 'nother reality. Maybe it's whatever blunt force trauma I suffered from falling down that hole." I smiled at the reflection, and he smiled back up at me. I could feel it - His DETERMINATION. His potential. It all resided within me, now. I had to make it up to him. Whatever it took, "... Maybe it's the lack of utilizing the SAVE thingy I assume is in my SOUL."

I shrugged, turning my head back to them while closing my eyes, "But… I don't think 'no-name' is particularly… Appropriate."

"So… A title, then. Something snappy, something reflective of what I'm going to become and what I've lost." My gaze met the floor, looking upon the beautiful golden flowers that I was about to ruin. "I'm thinkin'..."

With a snap of my hand into the air, a huge jaw made of rock rose out from the ground from beneath Chara's feet. Their eyes widened at the maw of some sort of reptile that tore from the floor beneath their feet, caught in between the jaws of the beast. Quickly extending their feet to catch themself from falling into the bottomless pit that was the monster's throat. Now stuck, all they could do was stare, agape, at the huge pillar of lava that was racing up at them from the pit. Their eyes once again met mine, pupils fully slit and a red light emanating from my left eye.

"The Dragon."

The dragon's fearsome spire of superheated rock collided with their body, instantly searing off skin, then muscle. In a few short moments, their entire body had melted into the hot rock that was now slamming into the ceiling, and their ruby SOUL exited the spire. I saw it chip, then crack, then finally…

Shatter.

Flash.