"HEY! Come back here, punks!"
Undyne's voice boomed across the field as Frisk and Asriel ran from her with some of her ammo, which was balls of mud since it was the middle of summer.
"Never!" Asriel said in a taunting and heroic tone. It had been three years since the monsters left Mt. Ebott for good after breaking the barrier. Asriel reunited with his family, who were overjoyed at his appearance. When Asgore asked Frisk to represent the monsters as their ambassador, she gladly accepted and would help with all sorts of arrangements with humans. Toriel is still salty about Asgore's "deeds" in the past, but Asgore, persistent as always, still tries to make ends meet. Toriel also adopted Frisk after the humans in the city nearby trusted them enough to sign the papers. Monsters are thriving. Undyne opened a gym and exceeded her record and can now benchpress 12 kids, Alphys is still working in the science field with humans, Asgore rented a spot to use as a flower shop and his profits are sky-high, Papyrus opened a place to have cooking lessons which Toriel helps him with, Grillby opened a new diner on the surface and Sans is still a regular customer. Everything was perfect. Or so it seemed. Frisk had a secret and was tormented by it daily, but that wasn't even the worst part. Chara. That was the worst part. After hundreds of genocide routes, Frisk decided to take matters into their own hands. She broke free from Chara's control, even if just for a while, and decided to do this run their way. And that's what they did. However, Chara wasn't gone. He would traumatize Frisk with visions and vivid dreams and send them into fits of panic by reminding them what they did. Frisk didn't tell anyone about Chara or the genocide routes, and she thought that's how it should be.
Frisk and Asriel ran back to their makeshift base where Papyrus was waiting and handed the mudballs to him.
"Thank you Dreemurr siblings!" he said in his booming voice.
"Now, let us charge!"
Just then, Undyne came out from behind the tree and Asriel and Frisk started running off towards the mountain. Undyne and Papyrus realized where they were going and yelled after them in a slight panic. The two siblings couldn't make out the words so they kept running but soon their cries became more frantic and by the time they noticed they were at the edge of the hole. The place where each human had fallen down. They carefully backed away from the hole but then Undyne and Papyrus came into view and startled them, making them jump back, and before they knew it, the fish woman's and skeleton's faces were getting smaller as they plummeted.
...
"Frisk?!"
The first thing Frisk heard when she came to was Asriel's frantic and panicked voice. "Mm, yeah?" she replied weakly.
"Oh, thank god you're awake!" Asriel cried with tears pricking his eyes.
"Hey! Punks, up here!" Undyne shouted.
"No need to fret, we shall get you out of there! Somehow..." Papyrus called.
They set off, leaving Asriel and Frisk alone in the large, empty cavern. Asriel held out his hand for Frisk to grab which she took and stood up shakily before yelping in pain and falling back to the ground.
"Frisk! Are you okay?" Asriel said, panic clear in his voice.
"My leg. I must've done something to it when we fell," she said through gritted teeth.
Asriel supported her as they got up and turned towards the Ruins entrance. A figure appeared in front of them with their back towards the duo.
"So..." they began.
"We meet again...dear brother."
Chara turned to face them with a smile etched on their features.
"Chara?" Asriel said, almost a whisper.
"Glad to see you're doing well," Chara said, still smiling. It was after a moment he seemed to notice the human next to his brother.
"Well, would you look at that? My old partner in crime."
Frisk grew tense and anger, hatred, and about a dozen other emotions she couldn't explain filled her. Asriel could feel how her shoulders squared, looked at her, and saw her wide eyes staring at the person before them.
"How are you here? Why are you here?" Asriel began. "I know you died but you can't just be here alive and perfectly fine!"
"Except I'm not," Chara said and revealed a red heart-shaped soul, only it looked...empty. "And that's why I need yours."
His grin turned wicked as he lunged for Asriel. Surprised, he dropped Frisk from his arms, and she fell to the ground and hollered in agony. Asriel shouted her name and tried to reach her but was cut off by his brother. Asriel summoned his attacks as Chara jumped into a fighting stance, wielding his red knife. The battle raged on as the brothers fought, each going as far as their bodies would allow them.
"You know, since you're my brother, I wanted to make this short and quick," Chara said as they fought. "But I guess you just like doing things the hard way, oh well."
"When you became 'Flowey' I could follow you around. Be with you. But when you left with her, I lost that privilege. I lost you," Chara said as a deep longing could be seen in his eyes, but just for a moment.
"Speaking of..." Chara said, venom in his tone as he continued. "What do you say we finish this, partner?"
"Leave. Her. Out. Of this. This is our fight, not her's," Asriel said in a steely voice.
Chara giggled at his seriousness and the fight continued.
"Don't dodge, Asriel, it only makes it easier for me," he said in a darkly playful manner.
Chara attacked and managed to swipe Asriel with a knife making him wince in pain. They continued to land hits on each other using whatever methods they could. Asriel summoned his Chaos Sabers as he swiped at Chara who was starting to dodge less effectively as several blows were landed on him. He growled and slammed the goat's head into the ground.
"I've had enough!" he said loudly.
"Why must you make everything more difficult than it has to be, dear brother? This could all end right now if you just let me win," he said sounding slightly exasperated but the smile still present on his face.
"That won't happen," Asriel said with a stern expression.
"Come now, as if you could-" Chara was interrupted by the sudden punch to his jaw as blood spilled from his mouth.
Asriel used his sabers to pin Chara against the wall while he was still in shock and Asriel ran to Frisk's side.
"Frisk! I'm so sorry! I-"
"Azzy! Look out!" Frisk interrupted and pointed behind him.
Asriel turned his head a second too late as he was impaled by one of Chara's knives he groaned in pain and lunged for him to no effect and was left on the ground as he writhed in pain.
"ASRIEL!" Frisk screamed at the top of her lungs as she stared at his form.
"Tch. Pathetic. And to think I was actually worried for a moment there. I guess you're still the same crybaby you were all those years ago. Now, onto you," he said and turned to where Frisk should've been, but an empty patch of flowers was all he saw. Chara looked around, confused, when a knife the same shade of red as his own, stuck into his shoulder and a pair of glowing red eyes stared back at him.
"Shit," Asriel and Chara said in unison as they watched Frisk.
Frisk emerged from the shadows, a glowing red knife in hand, and attacked Chara with breakneck speed. Taken aback, Chara couldn't dodge in time and got a few stabs in the arms and punches to the face. Chara was on the ground, Frisk towering over him with eyes that saw red. Asriel then groaned, and Frisk stopped, discarded the knife, and ran to him with tears in her eyes, the pain in her leg numb from the adrenaline.
"Ugh! Just give up! Let me erase-"
"Chara, stop! Why are you doing all this?! This isn't you!" Asriel interrupted. Chara looked stunned for a moment then spoke.
"You should have followed the plan Asriel..." he said in a monotone. Asriel looked surprised. "None of this would have happened if you had just followed the plan!"
Asriel stood there for a moment. "The plan?"
"The plan?! I should have never followed your plan! You got us killed! What good did that do us?!"
"If you hadn't betrayed me, we could have been free!
"I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT BEING FREE!" Asriel shouted. Chara looked at Asriel as if he said he was human. Why wouldn't he want to be free?
"I just wanted to save you all!" Chara continued.
"And I just wanted a friend!"
Chara paused and gaped at his brother.
"All I was down there was the 'Prince of Monsters,' I didn't have any friends. And then I found you..." Asriel said sadly. Chara listened with an equally sad expression to match his tone. He had never heard him express this before. Chara thought he was sure to have some friends.
"So, was it all a lie?! Did you just pretend to be my friend, to love us, to be my brother?!" Asriel yelled.
Chara was taken aback. "Wha- No! I was just-" he began but caught himself. "Ugh! Just shut up! No one knows what it feels like!"
"You know that's not true," Asriel said softly as he looked away. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes as he stared at the ground.
Chara lunged for him but was suddenly overwhelmed with memories as he saw the golden heart locket around his brother's neck. The time when Asriel found him. The times they played together. The lockets they wore every day. The details for the plan. Asriel at his bedside begging him to wake up. When they died together. He stopped, eyes wide. Chara desperately grabbed at Asriel and sobbed.
"I'm so sorry! I was so selfish! I-I just wanted what you had and let my hatred of humanity hurt you, Frisk, e-everyone! I just wanted to see them again, I just wanted to be noticed, I just wanted to exist... I'm so sorry..."
"Hey, it's okay. I know that wasn't you," Asriel stated understandingly.
"No, it's not! I hurt so many people! I-!"
"Chara! It's okay. It's okay. I forgive you."
Chara stared at his goat brother with admiration and hope in his eyes and embraced him tightly. "I missed you, brother," Chara uttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I-God, I missed you so much!" Asriel said happily as they hugged each other, Frisk joining in too. Tears streamed down everyone's faces.
"Frisk...I'm so, so sorry for everything. I-I don't expect you to forgive me, but-" Chara was interrupted by a hug from Frisk which signified all was forgiven. Suddenly, something began glowing bright red. They looked down at Chara's chest and saw that it was coming from his soul. He bathed in its light as he looked at the heart suspended in midair.
"Your soul...It's whole again," Asriel said as he stared at it. Chara let his words seep into him and smiled as he looked at the object and held it in his hands.
"I'm alive," he said quietly. Then repeated it, louder this time. He laughed as those two words played in his mind. Asriel and Frisk smiled as the trio hugged each other once again. Frisk's adrenaline started to wear off and was met with a stabbing pain in her leg as she slumped down onto the floor.
"Oh right! Here, l-let me heal you," Asriel volunteered as he placed his hands on Frisk's legs, the magic flowing from his hands a bright green. "Better?" he asked kindly.
"Better," Frisk replied.
...
"Hey, punks!" Undyne called through the large hole atop the mountain.
"Never fear! Undyne and the Great Papyrus have brought a rope! Nyeh Heh Heh! Hop on!" Papyrus said in his booming voice as he threw the rope down. One by one, each of them grabbed onto the rope as Undyne pulled them up.
"Hey, who's this kid?" Undyne asked as Chara emerged from the cavern entrance.
"Just a friend," Frisk replied nonchalantly. Chara gave a small smile and waved.
"Well, nice to meet you, punk!" Undyne replied and noogied him playfully.
"Hello there, other human! I am the Great Papyrus! Pleased to meet you! Nyeh Heh Heh!" Papyrus says cheerily.
They all descend the mountain, cross the field, and come back to Ebott City. The sun has started to set, and the streetlights now light the darkening streets as shops close for the night. They weave around other pedestrians, visitors, and residents as they make the journey home. Undyne heads off to her house on the outskirts of the city first and bids farewell to the remaining of the group. Papyrus is greeted by Sans as they pass Grillby's bar and Papyrus leaves the group to join Sans and bicker about his disgusting food choices as they walk to their house. The trio heads off toward Toriel's house but as they get closer, Chara's pace slows to a halt.
"Chara? What's up?" Asriel asks gently.
"What will mom think when...when I show up? How will she react? What if she rejects me?" Chara asks sadly. Asriel puts on a determined face to match Frisk's and looks him in the eyes.
"Chara. Mom loves you. You're her son! I was worried about the same thing when I was gifted a soul. I was scared of how they'd react; I didn't deserve a second chance anyway. But when Mom and Dad saw me, they were more than happy! I know it'll be the same for you. So, stop worrying so much," Asriel told him with a serious yet warm tone. Chara looked thoughtful for a moment then looked at him.
"Okay. I'm ready."
So, they went up to the door and knocked.
A/N:
Hope you guys like the first chapter (i worked on this for 4 hours lol so i hope you do :3)! Thanks to Gigagoku30's Beyondtale comic for some of the ideas for the dialogue, go check that comic out btw. Do that now. Anyway, stay tuned for more updates cuz I post these when I can!