Reset (Sans x Older!Frisk)

10- Mutiny

"That human..."

The whisper almost made Frisk jump out of her skin, but of course her real body didn't so much as twitch. It was impossible to scare Chara- in fact, Frisk felt the surge of joy and gratitude that Chara sent her way. The girl wasn't even making an effort to guard her thoughts, so sure of her victory.

She had been growing impatient as they encountered no monsters in Hotland- almost as if Frisk's fear somehow drove them away. Chara was hungry for ashes and dust, for the familiar feeling of a blade in her hand and the emptiness in her victim's eyes. She craved that emptiness, the lovely ending of death- it was a drug to her, taken in small doses just to keep her hooked. She lived to drive this world to its end, over and over again.

Frisk had brought the beginning- she was the beginning- the creation of fire in a world that had always been cold. A light, a warmth, a harbinger of destruction. And Chara, well...

Chara brought the end.

So when she turned to face the direction of the voice, letter opener almost immediately in her hand and a grotesque smile on her face, it wasn't out of any particular inclination towards good or evil, no moral compass pointing towards a grayscale solution. It was just what she did- it was the reason she existed.

"I heard they hate spiders." The whisper came again, and this time Chara followed it upwards, towards the roof of the cave. Muffet was hanging there, shadows nearly hiding her completely, a small smile on her face. She dropped down as she caught Chara's eye, landing lightly in front of her.

Don't do it, Frisk said, and it almost surprised Chara. Frisk had been silent since they had left the lab, and Chara had almost forgotten about her. But of course, this was Frisk's body she was inhabiting.

Please don't do this, Chara.

"Why so blue, deary?" Muffet giggled, and Chara launched herself at the spider monster, cutting her sentence off. She knew what she would say already- she only cared about the dust that would come after. Her blade was only inches away from Muffet's throat when something stopped her arm- it moved as if underwater, as if a weight had been strapped to it.

I said don't! Frisk cried out in her head, and boiling fury rose up in Chara's stomach. This was Frisk's fault.

Frisk's interference had given Muffet just enough time to step back, and webs wrapped themselves around Chara's wrists and ankles. She screamed in frustration.

"Ahuhuhu~ so eager," Muffet purred, not even a trace of her smug arrogance lost. The rage filling Chara threatened to drown her, and she tried to channel it- she would make the monster beg for mercy, and when she was done she would turn on Frisk.

As Chara struggled to get free of the webs binding her, Frisk screamed, I thought we were partners! I thought we were friends!

"We were never friends!" Chara yelled back, out loud, then twisted and bit off the web attached to her hand holding the blade in a vicious display of force. Using the letter opener, she sliced at the web, freeing herself and advancing on Muffet once again.

Then I won't let you hurt the ones who really are! Frisk froze her own legs, stopping Chara from getting any nearer to the monster before her. She had never felt anger like this before, and she let it pour out- all the times she'd been forced to hurt her friends, the times she'd cried alone, the times she'd numbly gone along for the ride- she used that knowledge to wrestle back control.

"Stop... interfering!" Chara howled, "You can't make me disappear!"

No, I can't, Frisk agreed, then forced herself to step backwards. She fought Chara with every movement, her legs shaking. She took another step, stumbling a little. But if I go, you do too.

Chara's eyes went wide as she realized what Frisk was doing, and she dropped her blade, bringing her hands to her face as if she could claw Frisk out through her eyes. "Stop!"

Taking another step backwards, Frisk's foot met with open air, and she toppled backwards, gut twisting with nausea and terror. She'd known what she was doing- the cliffs of Hotland were impressive, and it was very unlikely she would survive the fall.

But it meant Chara wouldn't either. Or at least, that she wouldn't have a vessel. That was enough.

It would have to be enough.

A memory came to her- one of the murkier ones, from her first time falling into the Underground, so long ago. When she had fallen asleep for the first time in Toriel's home, she had dreams of a little girl with red eyes and an empty smile.

"I'm Chara," the child had said as a greeting, and Frisk just smiled like she always had back then- closed eyes, open heart. Vulnerable.

"Say, do you talk?" The kid asked bluntly after a moment of silence, and Frisk nodded, still smiling naively.

"Well, what's your name?"

"Frisk," Frisk had informed her, and the child grinned at her.

"That's a cool name," Chara said approvingly, and there was something in her voice, even then, like she already owned her. "I'm sure we'll be the best of friends, Frisk."

"Yep!" Frisk chirped, and the memory faded away, replaced by another. The first night Frisk spent in the Aboveground after freeing the monsters for the first time, living with Toriel, she had once again encountered Chara in a dream.

"You've probably figured out that you have the power to save and reset, right?" Chara said without preamble. Her eyes had seemed more red, like a lamplight in her skin, which looked a shade closer to grey.

"Yes, but I... I don't want to use it," Frisk answered cautiously, "I don't want to take away their happiness."

"Frisk, I can't live in this world," Chara pleaded, reaching forward and grabbing Frisk's hands. Closer up, Frisk could see the dark circles under her eyes. "In a few days, I'll disappear completely."

"W-what?" Frisk asked, aghast.

"If you were truly my friend, you'd reset so I can live," Chara insisted, a hint of desperation in her eyes, which stared into Frisk's intently. "Please. Do it for me."

"But..." Frisk protested weakly, and Chara let go of one of her hands, using her free hand to summon the reset button.

"Let's do it together," Chara coaxed, smiling slightly, and after a long moment, Frisk nodded.

"Okay," she agreed, "Next time, I'll find a way to save you too. I promise. Just one reset."

As she placed her hand on the reset button, next to Chara's, she could have sworn that out of the corner of her eye, Chara's grin turned feral, before she was plunged into blackness.

The agonizing pain of hitting the bottom of the cliff jolted Frisk out of her memories, along with the sickening sensation of bones breaking. She screamed, then realized the voice that came out of her mouth was her own. The realization was quickly swept aside by another all-consuming wave of pain, and she was swallowed into her own mind.

This time, there was no grinning face to greet her.

A/N: Dabbled a little with Chara's perspective in this chapter, and I sort of switched perspectives to illustrate who was in control. Just a little writing experiment, so I'm sorry if it was a bit confusing. 

Side note, the song I added to this chapter is one of my favorites and I've been dying to use it for a while now XD. Seriously, check out HDSounDI on Youtube, their playlists are practically all I listen to while writing.

Anyway, I stayed up way too late to write this chapter, so I hope you enjoy :3