Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

...how much time has passed?

Images flash by their eyes, through their head, relentlessly bashing into their psyche.

How many times has this happened now?

Images of the same events happening over and over again.

How many resets have occured now?

Images of a fellow human coming down...

How many genocides have occured now?

...and slaughtering everyone without a hint of remorse.

...

I am sick of it.

I am sick of all of it.

I am sick of constantly failing to change anything.

I am sick of trying to save them, again and again...

...only for it all to be meaningless.

Sometimes, they wished they didn't have the gift of determination. If they didn't, they wouldn't be haunted by memories of past timelines, each one slightly different... but ultimately ending the same. But they do have it, and so they do remember everything. And more than anything else... they know they're the only ones that can make a change here, because they remember everything. And yet, the world seems insistent that nothing can be changed.

Well... to hell with the world then.

They always called me a "demon".

But of course. Magic is so much more common in humans than monsters.

And you know what? Fine then.

If it means actually changing something...

Red light gathers in their outstretched hand, taking the shape of a sharp knife that they then grasp onto. A scarlet shimmer lights up their eyes, broken, almost empty, yet filling with a grim determination.

I will gladly become a demon.

Chapter Text

As per usual, Frisk woke up in the Underground, amidst a bed of flowers. They instinctively reached beside them, and... there it was. A chainsaw. For whatever reason, they had begun starting with things they would only acquire at the end.

Whatever. It'll only make things easier.

With that, they went through the Ruins, killing every monster they could find. Boogie, the flower, was completely skipped over, and Papyrus, the caretaker of the Ruins, had led them through a safe path until leaving them by themselves... and it was then that the slaughter began. It began, and it didn't stop.

Not even Alphys was safe at this point. Originally, Frisk may have hesitated to kill them, but at this point, they've grown numb to the slaughter. In all honesty, they only went along because they felt as if they had to. They began a loop of genocide, and it's up to them to maintain it. Thus, everyone had to die, over and over again.

Of course, eventually, monsters stopped showing up. It was reasonable enough, after all. They were being quite literally slaughtered. But then, the voice in their head that rings out whenever they interact with save points and such... it said something odd when trying to check if any more were left.

* Have you... noticed anything odd, darling?

* Is it just me, or have the Ruins gone empty faster than usual?

It was true. The area had gone too quiet, too quickly. Something felt extremely wrong.

Whatever it is...

* Whatever it may be, the anticipation of finding out fills you with determination.

Progress saved.

There it was... Home. And yet, for some reason, Papyrus wasn't there to meet them. Weird.

They would come over to the door and knock, getting no response. Then, they would enter, and wander all around the place, only to find it completely empty. It was almost haunting, feeling more like New Home than the cozy area of the Ruins that this was supposed to be.

Whatever the case, there was only one place left to go... the basement. The exit leading into Snowdin. With that in mind, they walked down the stairs, and were met with peculiar, echoing sounds.

The sounds of repeated impacts. The sounds of clanging steel, or perhaps bones that are as tough as steel. The sounds of combat, where there shouldn't be any just yet. Frisk ran over there, and was stunned to see what exact was happening.

There was Papyrus, fighting back... or, well, mostly defending against someone that was relentlessly attacking him. And the attacker? None other than Chara Dreemurr. The same one that would act friendly, almost even flirty towards them once they entered Snowdin. The same one that... to be fair, did seem to remember Frisk's resets, which made perfect sense. They both possess souls of pure determination, after all.

But this? Chara swinging those knives of red light towards anyone but Frisk, especially with the intent to kill? This was all sorts of wrong.

"CHARA, PLEASE! YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THIS!" Papyrus begged and pleaded as he knocked Chara off of himself. "YOU CAN FIND ANOTHER WAY!"

"Another way..." Chara said, before rebuking him. "Do you know how many "other ways" I've tried up to this point? This is the only plan I can think of at this point. Everything will be fine once I'm done, anyway."

"HOW CAN ANYTHING BE FINE WHEN EVERYONE'S DEAD!?"

"Everything's gonna be reset by the end, that's how. All you need to worry about is, I'm doing this for the greater good."

"WHAT PART OF THIS IS THE GREATER GOOD!? THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN MAKE ANYTHING BETTER BY HURTING PEOPLE LIKE THIS!"

"Maybe not. Maybe this is doomed to fail, just like my every other plan. However..."

They gripped the scarlet knife in their hand more tightly, as one more appeared beside them, hovering over their shoulder.

"...I'll be damned if I don't at least try."

With that, they dashed in, cutting Papyrus' head off with one more slash of their handheld knife. Then, before his skull could fall off of his shoulders, the floating knife shot out, piercing his skull and pinning it to the exit door before it, and the rest of the skeleton's body, turned to dust.

"Alright, may as well go back and round up any-" Chara said to themselves before turning around, noticing Frisk watching them. "Oh, hey there, pretty mirror. You, uh... You weren't supposed to see that."

Frisk would immediately rev up their chainsaw, getting ready for a fight, only for Chara to raise their finger, as if telling them to stop.

"I'll assume you being here means you, ya know... took care of the scraps?" Chara looked intently at them for a moment. "Yep. Your LOVE's definitely above 1. That settles it."

The other human didn't bother waiting for Chara to finish, dashing up to them and bringing down their chainsaw. However, Chara would block it with dual-wielded red knives.

"Sorry, mirror. I don't think it's time for that yet. I'm just not feeling all that CONFIDENT for now!" Chara says as they kick Frisk off of themselves, sending them all the way to the wall behind them.

But of course. Chara seems to be gathering LV as well. Trying to grow stronger. And since they're a fellow human, as well as one that can use magic...

* Smells like trouble~

...didn't need to butt in and explain something Frisk already knew.

"Don't get it twisted, though. As pretty as you are..." Chara threatens, albeit still with that same smirk. "I will try for your head next time we meet."

With that, Chara kicks open the exit door and rushes out into Snowdin, with Frisk in hot pursuit. They cannot be allowed to mess this up.

Chapter Text

Dashing through the snowy woods, Frisk was relieved to find at least some monsters. They had been hiding, trying to make sure Chara wouldn't find and kill them. However, this still left about half of the monsters that could be found in Snowdin unaccounted for... and free for Frisk to dust with their own two hands.

However, as they went through, hunting down all the scraps that Chara left behind, they couldn't help but wonder... how did Chara come to this conclusion? This is so far removed from any other plan they had come up with...

* Don't bother your pretty little head over it, darling.

Despite being told that, Frisk couldn't just ignore it. This almost felt out-of-character.

Well... almost. They had gone through pretty much every variable prior to their first genocide run. That included some... rather grim neutral runs, in which they could see full-well just how Chara can be when pushed to the brink. It wasn't pretty is all that Frisk thought of it, but now...

...now they almost regretted going through so many genocides.

* Too-little-too-late for any regrets now. We've gotta keep on going, sweet pea.

...yes. There was no taking it back. They used to think it was an option, but it had ceased to be the moment they realized that Chara can remember across resets.

Did Chara seriously slaughter the entirety of the Royal Guard set here? That was what Frisk thought to themselves as they entered the ghost town that was Snowdin Town. As they went towards it, they couldn't find a single member of the dog unit. And Snowdin itself...

* Well, THIS sure isn't a pretty sight.

No shit. Every single building had its doors busted open, every wall - both inside and outside - sliced into with what Frisk could only presume were Chara's magic knives. And there was dust everywhere... even in the shop. And Frisk thought they showed no mercy.

They kept looking through every nook and cranny, seeing if they could find any survivors of Chara's rampage. Yet wherever they looked, they were only met with dust and silence.

Well... dust, silence, and the echoing sounds of combat from outside.

* Maybe you should finally check that out?

Good idea.

Chara's glowing red knives clashed against Asriel's white saber, over and over again, relentlessly. Well, at least it was relentless from Chara's side. Asriel was mostly just trying to parry Chara's attacks away.

"Chara, you... You don't have to-"

"Of course I do!" Chara cut him off as their blades clashed again. "If I don't kill you, the other human will! Tell me, Asriel: would you seriously rather die to a chainsaw than a knife!?"

"I'd rather not die at all!" Asriel proclaimed, bolts of rainbow lightning raining down around him and pushing Chara away. "I- I can talk them down! I can-"

"You can try, and end up as a pile of dust!" Chara could feel tears welling up as they kept pushing themselves through this fight. They didn't want to kill their adoptive brother... but they felt as if they had to. "I can only promise you one thing... Death at my hands will be far less painful than death at theirs. So please... JUST LET ME DO THIS ALREADY!"

Chara charged at Asriel, trying to cut his head off. Asriel parried the incoming slash with his sword, only for Chara to try and stab him with the knife in their other hand. The young goat monster moved his blade to the side, trying to parry the thrust... only for a blade in a reverse grip to pierce right into his chest.

"Gh-!" Asriel stumbled onto his knees and hacked up a bit of dust, as Chara realizes just what happened. "This... hurts... quite a bit, actually..."

Chara quickly embraced Asriel, trying to give him at least a little bit of comfort in his last moments. The last moments they brought upon. "I swear... it would've hurt so much more at their hands..."

"If they really did-" Asriel would be cut off by another dusty cough, it being clear that he was fading away from the inside out. "If they really did have a chainsaw, I... can kinda see what you mean..."

Asriel would pull off his rainbow-colored scarf, short enough to be more like a bandana, and placed it in Chara's now-empty hand.

"Please... Don't ever forget me... After all... that's when I will really die..." Asriel said with a strained smile on his face before finally turning to dust, his only remains being his scarf, his sword, and a boss monster's soul struggling to remain intact.

"...I won't." Chara swore as their other hand clutched the soul. "You may perish, but I swear... you will NOT break."

With those last words, they slammed the quivering soul into their own chest, being overcome by intense pain. They had never absorbed a monster's soul before, so they had no idea what was happening. Was this the pain Asriel felt in his last moments? Was it their own body struggling to contain a second soul, no matter how weak?

Regardless, once the pain settled down, Chara could feel themselves surging with power. It wasn't just the gain of some extra LOVE. They also claimed a soul. And because of that, the boost they gained from killing Asriel was far greater than what they got from Papyrus. Rainbow electricity surged about all over their body... Asriel's magic.

They could almost understand people's fears about the absorption of souls now.

But even with this power... it didn't change the fact that they just killed Asriel. They killed their own brother. And in their hands was the last remnant of him... a rainbow scarf. Almost cute, honestly, but in context, it was horrifying to them. All they could do was look down at it, as Asriel's rainbow lightning surged through them.

"Bravery, justice, kindness, patience, integrity, perseverance... They all feel like such a joke now."

They gripped the scarf tightly...

"The only thing pushing me forward..." ...as both it and Asriel's power were dyed pure red by Chara's own. "...must be pure determination."

They put the scarf on and clutched his Chaos Saber, what is now red electricity surging from their hand and across the blade.

"...Enjoying the show, mirror!?" Chara spoke up, realizing that Frisk was watching as a wicked grin spread across the hooded killer's face, barely containing their frustration. "Well then... I hope you remember my promise~"

They turned towards Frisk with a tilt of their head, before charging at them with a downward swing of what was formerly Asriel's sword. Red lightning fell from the "sky" in a straight line towards the chainsaw-wielding human, who was just barely able to leap aside. They then conjured several electrified knives, which flew at Frisk with the speed and force of a railgun shot. They quickly revved up and swung their chainsaw to deflect the knives, but the recoil left them open for a flying kick by Chara.

Chara then manifested a different attack in their free hand: a red five-pointed star, which they brought in front of themselves as it became something akin to a star-shaped barrier. They then swung what was now their Chaos Saber at the red barrier, shattering it and sending the shards flying towards Frisk. They were just barely able to dodge the flurry of projectiles while rushing back towards the fellow human, only for them to launch a red star directly into their gut, blasting them away.

Four red knives would appear above Frisk, sticking themselves into the ground in a square formation as they formed into a red electric fence around Frisk. Then, a massive bolt of red lightning struck them from above; one that encompassed the entire area that the fence enclosed. Then it struck again, and again, and again, growing more and more rapid until it became akin to a single continuous surge of power. And all throughout, Chara was laughing, ecstatic about the power that was now at their fingertips.

That was, at least, until a rough crescent wave of pink electricity shot out of the storm of red, Chara just barely dodging as it was enough to break their concentration on the relentless attack. Frisk then launched themselves towards Chara, thrusting their chainsaw forward like a sword as it was wrapped in that same pink electricity. In response, Chara shrouded their Chaos Saber in red lightning and thrust it forth, the tips of their weapons clashing as red and pink lightning surged forth from the point of impact.

Of course, this wouldn't last forever, and they were both blown back from one another. But the brief moment did allow Chara to perceive a change... Frisk's eyes. Normally, they would be a reddish-brown color. But in this moment, they had black sclera and glowing pink irises.

"Well, isn't that something!? Seems like you've got some magic too!" Chara called out. "Though I'll say, this doesn't exactly feel like what I had at first. How did you get it, pretty mirror?"

Frisk, of course, didn't answer, but they did know. This magic power wasn't theirs. It belonged to something, or someone, else entirely. Specifically...

* I'd say you owe me, darling, but you don't exactly have much left to give, now do you?

...it belonged to that stupid voice in their head.

* Hey! I am PLENTY smart!

"Oh, whatever. I know you'll just keep on giving me the silent treatment." Chara skipped any possible reply while getting back up, barely seeing how Frisk's eyes stopped shining pink, going back to normal. "And I also know that if you can do stuff like that, then what I've got still isn't enough."

They then turned around...

"See ya later, alligator!"

...and dashed away, like a bolt of red lightning.

Chapter Text

God dammit, Chara, why must you be such a pain...

Frisk dashed through the Waterfall area, killing any stragglers that Chara missed. The slashes, scorch marks, and dust all over the area made it very clear that Chara was using their new abilities quite extensively in their continued slaughter of monsterkind to try and prevent Frisk's slaughter of them.

But dear god, how did Frisk not consider that!? Chara stealing their LV is bad enough, but how did Frisk forget that the absorption of monster souls was also on the table!? Asriel, Toriel, and Asgore were all boss monsters, which means that their souls lingered after death... and were thus up for grabs for either Frisk or Chara, the only two humans around. If anyone else had retained their memories and gotten the idea to kill everyone themselves, this wouldn't work due to everyone else being a monster. Collecting souls while also gaining LOVE to counter Frisk was something only Chara could do.

They couldn't let Chara get to Toriel. But then, if they kill Toriel, Asgore would know, and that would be extremely annoying.

* Oh dear, what a kerfuffle.

No need to be snide, voice.

* Hey, I have a name! It's-

BOOM!

...the bridge wasn't far from where Frisk was by then. They had to hurry.

The repeated clashing of a sword and a staff. The tears of a mother in disbelief, and the detached stare of a murderous hooded figure wielding her son's sword. Flames, knives, and crimson lightning flying all over, the wooden bridge already burnt down by them.

This was a moment neither of them wanted to happen. And yet, one of them was certain it was the only way.

"M- My child, why would you-!?" Toriel stammered out as she parried a sword swing from Chara, responding with a blast of flame.

"It needs to be done. It's that simple." Chara backed off from the fire burst and launched several electrified red knives, which Toriel sent off-course with a swirling pillar of fire.

"What do you mean, it needs to be done!?" The armored goat launched a scorching wave towards her human child, who simply side-stepped it. "There needs to be some other way!"

"...three times." Chara stopped attacking for a moment. "Three times now, I've heard the exact same statement. "There has to be some other way". And I have to keep explaining the same damn thing to them."

Chara raised their sword into the air, letting red lightning strike it...

"I've TRIED those other ways, and THEY DIDN'T FREAKING WORK!"

...and swung it downwards, launching a wave of scarlet lightning towards their mother. She responded with a wave of fire, the two forces clashing and cancelling each other out. Before the dust settled, Chara dashed through, attempting to slice through her-

"Kh-!"

...and they succeeded.

Toriel stumbled back, grasping at the gash in her armor. The injury wasn't immediately fatal, so she could heal herself, but would Chara let her?

Of course not. They were already preparing another slash. But Toriel wasn't going to simply let this happen. She couldn't bear watching from the heavens as her child reduced themselves to a bloodthirsty killer. She refused to let that happen.

A vortex of fire was kicked up around the goat monster, blocking the human's attempted slash and blasting the Chaos Saber out of their hands. They quickly called it back into their hand, only to see a different, green flame at the center of the scorching maelstrom that surrounded their adoptive mother.

"I cannot allow you to go down this path, my child." Her voice rung out. "I could never forgive myself if I did. Thus, while I may not be used to it..."

The whirlpool of flames died down, revealing a changed Toriel. Her armor, originally a simple black, was decorated with hot red accents, with a cape of pure fire adorning her back. Green embers surrounded her, likely a hint of her use of healing magic. Above her head floated a crown of pure fire, a sign of her regal bloodline as a boss monster despite the current king being a skeleton. The cape momentarily flared out, giving off the image of a phoenix's wings.

There she was. Toriel, the Empress of Eternal Flame. That was the title given to her in the Royal Guard, and now, she was showing how she earned it.

"...I shall give it my all against you."

No way in hell... Chara already pushed her to that point?

Frisk watched from beyond the abyss, no bridge left to cross it, as Chara faced the Empress of Eternal Flame. The genocider had fought her many times in this state, at her pinnacle, and every time, they were pushed to the brink. And sure, Chara didn't have as much LOVE as Frisk would by this point, but would Asriel's soul make up enough for the difference?

* Darling, I really recommend we find some way to get across.

* We can't let Chara take HER soul too.

Chara had seen this form before. They knew what their adoptive mother was capable of when she's like this. As such, they supercharged their saber with a surge of red electricity and cleaved through her armor once again... only for green flames to spill out of the gash, quickly closing it.

"Dear child... it will take much more than that to fell me." She said through evaporating tears before unleashing a wave of fire from her staff. The flames were tinged with shades of blue, not because they had to be dodged by standing still, but because even at their weakest at this point, they were just that hot.

The blast sent Chara flying off of the edge, before a ring of flames closed around them, binding them in place. The fire was partly green to not deal damage, but shaping it into a solid construct still showed the degree of Toriel's skill with fire magic. They tried and failed to flex their way out of the flame bind, before putting their all into a burst of red lightning from their body that dispersed the flames. They then caught themselves with a red star platform under their feet, before launching themselves back at her.

Chara's sword clashed with Toriel's staff, with the goat monster blowing the human away with a burst of fire. They caught themselves with a star foothold before launching themselves at her again, and again, and again, each attempted slash being parried before they were blasted away. Every time Chara reached her, they saw her tears spill out of her eyes for just a moment before quickly evaporating.

"Why do you continue with this? Can you not see the difference between us?" Toriel spoke out as Chara continued to try and pry open her defense. "It would be in your best interest to give up, my child."

"Give up? After all this!?" Chara responded, continuing to fruitlessly assault her. "Sorry, mom, but you've gotta be out of your mind to think I'd give up just like that!"

Toriel lowered her staff, Chara seeing this as an opening and launching themselves towards her, ready to slice into her... but it appears she no longer needed her staff to defend her. Sheer heat had become a wall between Chara and Toriel, stopping their sword in its tracks before blowing them away.

Chara let themselves bounce into a star wall, before a star platform caught them from below. "Oh, right... you can do that..."

The intense heat coming off of Toriel's body had formed a sort of barrier around her. A massive amount of force was needed to counteract the pushback, and even then, she couldn't be allowed to heal whatever injury was inflicted upon her. Most monsters are incapable of the output required to bypass this multi-layered defense, leading to Toriel quickly rising through the ranks of the Royal Guard despite being mostly a pacifist. And if she really is gonna go all out, it's only going to get worse over time.

Chara flung two red stars towards her like shuriken, the dual attack assaulting her in a pincer formation. The twin stars would slow down from the invisible force pushing back against them, and a tap of Toriel's staff against the ground shattered them in a burst of flame. The human then fired a bolt of scarlet lightning towards the goat, the electric surge struggling against the wall of heat separating the two. Then, they leapt into the air, crashing down with a downward sword swing that would quickly be blown back once more.

Toriel would then find a large number of red knives struggling to break through from behind her, a wave of her staff enough for the attack to seemingly melt away in a wave of fire. Then another, railgun-like knife shot towards her from Chara's direction, getting shockingly close to her face before being blown back and dissipating. And all throughout, she continued to cry, the tears evaporating as soon as they left her eyes.

"I don't wish to do this, my child." Toriel spoke up once more. "Please... put down your weapon, and let's go back home peacefully."

Chara was shocked. She was still trying to reason with them? And yet...

"...I don't want to do this either... But if this damned loop is to be stopped once and for all...!"

Toriel didn't quite understand what Chara meant. Of course she didn't; she wasn't cursed with determination so great, it defined the very nature of her soul. The kind of soul only Chara and their "mirror" Frisk had, one capable of reversing fate through sheer force of will.

But as Chara prepared to strike once more, as crimson lightning surged throughout their body and blade, she did understand one thing... Whatever it was driving Chara to do what they were doing, it was a force greater than even familial love.

"...I understand." Toriel said, dejected upon that realization.

On Toriel's side, her cape turned into a pair of scorching wings, laced with shades of blue as they detached from her and merged with a mass of flame she created in front of her to become a massive firebird, all the water in the area evaporating and the stone turning red-hot from simply being in the attack's vicinity. On Chara's side, the lightning wrapping around them would take a shape vaguely reminiscent of a pair of red wings upon their back, almost resembling an angel as the tip of their blade was pointed towards their adoptive mother.

And then, the two winged creatures clashed... and for the briefest moment, there was naught but silence.

Only afterwards did a screeching noise erupt from the point of impact, the two who call each other family now struggling against what was presumed to be each other's strongest. The entire cavern rumbled and shook, letting loose vibrations that were felt even in Hotland. A set of three stars appeared behind Chara, layering against each other as the human kicked against the mass of magic... just barely forcing themselves through the phoenix as it dissipated into embers.

There was only one thing left to do: breach Toriel's defense. The sword thrust of the crimson-winged angel of death struggled against the wall of heat that the Empress of Eternal Flame bore around herself, neither truly wanting to do this. They once again kicked back and began to layer red stars beneath their feet, star after star after star pushing Chara harder and harder, forcing their blade against the wall more and more...!

SHING!

...and there it was...

"Y- You... got through..." Toriel spoke through the pain of having been pierced through with a sword.

"Sorry, mom... but I can't let this go to waste...!"

Then, surges of red lightning erupted from Toriel's body, accompanied by green flames as she desperately tried to heal herself. Chara, through tears, kept on sending shock after shock through her, before sending a wave of magic through the Chaos Saber and conjuring several red knives inside her body. The various blades erupted from her frame, shredding and scorching her from the inside out, until naught was left but dust and ash.

Well... that, and a floating soul.

* Ugh, SCREW IT! Just jump over!

Frisk's eyes turned black-and-pink once more as pink electricity surged through their body, them launching themselves across the gap like a human railgun. They would try to swing at Chara with their chainsaw, only for a red star to act as a barrier that stopped their strike.

"I know what you think, mirror." Chara spoke calmly. "I really must be a demon to do something like this once more."

The hooded human turned towards Frisk, tears running down her face, and eyes bloodshot from how many of those tears had been shed.

"But that's the thing... I've long since accepted my demonhood."

They then quickly snatched Toriel's soul and slammed it into their chest, once again overcome with pain. But whether the pain was lesser, or they simply overcame it easier, they stopped convulsing almost as quickly as they began.

Then, they pulled back their Chaos Saber, and this time, the sword lit ablaze. A surge of red lightning then ran through the flaming blade, the fire and lightning melding together into a mass of shimmering red. They raised the sword, wrapped in that red haze, above their head, before bringing it down, Frisk just barely avoiding the massive wave of raw magical plasma that was let loose. The wave destroyed a large chunk of the cliff behind them, making one thing clear... there was no going back. Not that Frisk would, anyway.

"Hehehehe... I can see why we humans were so scared of the monsters." Chara said less to Frisk and more to themselves. "If a human can grow this powerful through slaughter and soul consumption... then just how strong is that so-called god that a monster could become?"

Chara then bolted towards Hotland, with Frisk taking a moment to relax after how tense that was. Chara was growing stronger at a truly alarming rate; the combo of LOVE and monster souls was far superior to LOVE by itself. Why did Frisk not think of this themselves? And, more importantly, just what was Chara becoming?

* I'll be perfectly honest, darling... I have no idea what's becoming of that other human.

* I've never seen a human claim more than one monster soul, let alone in tandem with LOVE.

* I can tell, though... that morbid curiosity is filling you with determination.

With that, Frisk got back up, walking towards Hotland. The voice was right... they were morbidly curious.