Across the Timelines [an Undertale Fanfiction]

Proving you wrong

  "Frisk, I can't do this alone, and trying to change me isn't going to do any good." Chara knew that it would be nearly impossible for him to give up on his friends so easily, so he had to make him see the truth. "I can even prove it to you that making me nice won't work. The second I'm alone with any of them, someone tries to kill me."

Frisk shook his head no, still unsure if he would agree with him. After all, he does love his friends very much, but he couldn't let Chara down. Chara thinks that killing them would make him happy, but Frisk doesn't think so. He still believes that somewhere deep down inside Chara, he still loves these monsters, and after what they've seen back inside the true lab, Chara may not be in control after all.

"I do want to help you, Chara, but not like that. I've told you before that I don't want to kill my friends, and I know that they won't kill you if you change," Frisk said, sounding more as if he were trying to convince himself as well as the other boy. "Let me show you how to be nice again, please. I know that if you can make one of them your friend, everyone would want to be around you."

"No, they won't. Sans and Alphys will never let that happen. I can't be happy as long as their around, but the second you leave me alone with Sans, he'll try to kill me, even if I say I want to change." Looking away from the other boy, Chara sighed as he said, "this is stupid. You'll never believe me unless I prove it to you that we can never change who we are. We really are meant to be the goody two shoes and the monster. Come on, let's go to the castle."

As the boys made their way towards the castle, this time they didn't stop along the way. Monster kid and a few other monsters had dropped by them, but had never spent more than two minutes there after meeting Chara. Everyone they encountered was terrified after taking one look at the boy in green. After all, he did wipe out everyone he met along the way to snowdin.

"Just kill the boy already, Chara. I'm loosing patience with you," the voice said, gaining his attention. He's heard it all before. Kill everyone. Don't leave any survivors. Kill or be killed. He could never figure out where it was coming from, or why only him. Hearing the voice in his head every now and then just annoyed Chara more than anything. "What are you trying to prove to him? Frisk is a merciful soul, unlike you in every way. You will never be able to change him, but you could end his suffering before it begins."

"I'm not killing Frisk, who ever you are. If he dies, I die too, and besides, he may be useful." Chara thought back, slightly annoyed once again by the sudden voice in his head. Frisk has high hopes that Sans or any one of his other friends would accept him if he shows mercy, but Chara knew the truth. If he has to die to prove a point to Frisk, so be it. They will meet in the judgement hall sooner than he thought.

Once they entered the castle, Chara followed close behind as they looked around his old home. The thrones that had once belonged to Toriel and Asgore, now abandoned among the golden flowers beside the giant family portrait. It was a similar picture to the one inside Chara's locket, making Chara's hand hold it on instinct.

"You look really happy here, Chara. You had everything, a mom, a dad, and even a brother around to play with you. What made you give all this up?" Frisk asked with a frown on his face. If he had only been born sooner, then maybe he could have been apart of their family before everything happened. Maybe he could have stopped anything bad from happening to them that ruined their happiness. "I want to know what happened, but your side of the story. I heard in one of the videos in the lab that you and Asriel had a plan, but what was it? Could you please tell me?"

Chara held onto his locket for a bit, staring up at his family, until forcing himself to look away. Walking away from the painting, he could have sworn he heard something down the halls, but had only figured it was the comedian. Ignoring Sans for now, Chara said, "It's simple. I want revenge against all of them, humans and monsters. I told you, didn't I? My reasons are my own. I don't have to explain myself to you. Besides, it's a long, sad story, and I don't want your sympathy."

"I don't mind listening to it. Will you tell me? I swear I won't treat you any different then how I do now. I promise." Frisk gave Chara a little smile, making Chara roll his eyes as he saw his own friend beg. "Please, tell me. I want to know you better."

"Fine! I'll tell you later, alright? Stop asking and follow me," Chara took Frisk's hand and led him down the hall, turning as soon as he found the room.

Frisk looked around, recognizing the room around them. It was none other than the judgement hall that he had found Sans in, many months before. Because he refused to kill and only wanted to help, Sans had nothing against him when he had encountered him, but what about Chara? Chara killed monsters in his timeline, even Sans. What was he planning to do here?

"Why don't you come out of hiding, you stupid comedian?" Chara called out, knowing the skeleton was nearby. "Where's my judgement, huh? You were talking all high and mighty last time, but it's my turn to talk to you!"

"Chara, what are you doing?" Frisk asked before the other boy gestured for him to hide. "What are you planning to do?"

Shushing him, Chara said, "I want you to watch, and whatever you do, don't try to stop this. Promise me you won't get involved, but be prepared. This might hurt a lot." After Frisk nodded, Chara went back to calling out to the smaller skeleton, eventually getting him to appear. "Wow, for a skeleton, you've got guts to come face me by yourself."

"What do you want, dirty brother killer! Do you seriously want to get dunked on that badly?" Sans asked, his magic eye turning blue. With one hand out, Chara's body was suddenly covered in blue light, his soul being trapped by the skeleton's magic. "Well, those sins have got to be heavy by now if you called me here. You are completely made out of LOVE, and should no longer exist in this world. Did you make me come here to stop you?"

With a smile on his face, Chara crossed his arms over his chest as he said, "what do you mean by that, Sans? Would you like to carry my sins for me? I came to talk with my dear friend, Sans, like in the good ol' days."

"It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. On days like this, kids like you should be burning in hell." With that, Sans attacked, not liking what was going on. Chara was lifted up into the air, only to be slammed down hard on the floor. Gaster blasters shot at him several times before Chara was able to attack. "Get dunked on, monster. You are not my friend, nor will you ever be. The others may not know what you've done, but I do. I remember every minute of it."

Frisk watched this battle in shock, watching as they fought one on one. Neither of them were planning on giving up, but to his surprise, Chara dropped his weapon. He watched as Chara spread his arms out, a small smile on his face as if he really was giving up the fight. Frisk couldn't believe what he was seeing, but Chara was really sparing Sans.

"You serious, pal? You think you can spare me like I'm some pawn?" Sans attacked the boy once again, dropping the boy's heart points to ten. "Well you didn't spare my brother, so get dunked on!" With that, Sans attacked once again, killing both Chara and Frisk.

Once the two were back in the darkness, the words continue and give up shined in front of them. Without thinking about it, Chara took Frisk's hand and pressed continue. Once again, the words "stay determined" and "determination" shined above them before they awoke once again in the judgement hall.

"Sans, I'm serious. I don't want to kill anyone anymore, but I need help! I need you to help me learn-"

Sans shook his head no, not believing in anything that came out of Chara's mouth. Unlike Frisk, Chara wouldn't think twice about lying if it got him out of a situation. He's always been that way, even when they were kids. It was no surprise to him that Chara would try something like this to give himself the opportunity to kill him.

"Why don't you ask Frisk for help if you were serious about this. We both know that you wouldn't come to me." Once again, the battle started, Sans avoiding each attack until out of nowhere, Chara stopped. "What is your plan here?! Why did you come back to the judgement hall?"

As Chara looked away, a creepy smile came across his lips. "Just to prove my point. I told Frisk that it was hopeless trying to change me. He was so determined to help me make a friend, so I just gave him what he needed to see." A slight pain in his heart let Chara know that Frisk's determination was shaking a bit. He still had hope in Chara and his friends. "You helped me prove that it doesn't matter if I am good or bad. In the end, we'll always end up here, killing each other until I come out on top."

As Frisk stepped out of hiding, he noticed the look his skelebro was giving him. It was that look of shock, as if he suddenly remembered about their bond. Even so, Sans knew that Chara was Frisk's friend, someone Frisk wants to save, but still killed him. He let his anger for an event that happened in a different timeline get in the way of this one.

"Would you really have really killed Chara again, Sans? You always agreed with Toriel that fighting was bad, and that what I was doing was good." Frisk walked over to the others as Chara crossed his arms over his chest, careful not to mess with any of his injuries as he watched this play out. "I thought you guys were going to help me save him."

Sans closed his eyes, thinking of an excuse for his actions before saying the truth. "I'm sorry, kid. Fighting is a bad thing, which means you're the better person compared to me. I just don't see a way for us to help Chara anymore. Alphys and I had tried several formulas on him in an attempt to separate you two, but nothing worked." Opening his eyes now, Sans made a point to meet Frisk as he said, "Chara and I will never be friends, and that's okay. As long as you're with him, he won't do something stupid like this anymore. And I'm sorry for killing you. I never wanted to hurt you, Frisk. Still brothers?"

"Yeah, we're still brothers, and who knows? Maybe Papyrus and Undyne would want to be friends with Chara," Frisk thought out loud, making both Chara and Sans stare at him in disbelief. After what he just saw, Frisk wants to try again? "Do you think the-"

"No, Frisk. I don't want him near my brother." Sans wasn't giving Frisk his usual smile, nor was he joking around anymore. "You have to understand why it's best to leave this monster at the lab. Chara isn't in there, and I'm not letting my little brother get killed because you wouldn't do the right thing here."

Frisk frowned as Sans looked away, wondering if what he was doing was right. Toriel was glad to find out that Chara was still around, and so was Flowey. Everyone else wasn't as happy, and to be honest with himself, Chara had frightened him at first. Even so, Sans was so sure that the right thing to do was to lock up Chara before he could hurt anyone. Frisk wanted to prove that everyone could change for the better, but that may be too hard to ask from everyone. Maybe he really should give up? But Chara being locked up won't make anyone happy.

"Sans, this could be the only way to save him. I can't just lock him away for Alphys to experiment on him. That would be like giving up on him, and I can't do that." Frisk met his skeleton friend's eyes as Chara took his hand. "You know that it's wrong."

"Maybe so, but at least no one else will have to die. Chara killed everyone along the way to Snowdin, Frisk. You know that we monsters aren't like you humans. Determination won't bring us back once we die." Using his magic eye, he used his power to pull Chara away from Frisk, watching as the boys tried to stay together. "I'm sorry, buddy, but I have to do this. Go back to Toriel."

Chara stared back at Frisk on the ground as he tried his best to get Sans to let him down. Even bloody and bruised, he had never given up on a fight against Sans. It never mattered how many times he lost, since he could always reset to heal himself back up. What he wondered was if Frisk and he were separated at the time of their death, would they still be able to find each other in the darkness? This would be the first time he would have to try it.

As he was taken away from Frisk, Chara looked down at Sans. "I never thought I'd see the day where you would hurt him that way."

"Shut up, whatever you are. That thing inside you is too dangerous to let loose around the underground." Sans continued to walk, before teleporting closer to the lab. "I don't know how you managed to fool him, but Frisk will understand this one day."

"You idiot. You don't even know what you did, do you?" Crossing his arms over his chest, Chara smiled, looking even creepier with his blood dripping down from his injuries. "And you call yourself his friend? What kind of friend hurts his determination?"

"What are you talking about?" Sans asked, stopping in place to stare up at the demon child. "I wouldn't dare mess with the kid's determination. Frisk is like my brother, and if anything hurts him, I'll be around to make sure that person pays for it."

Chara shook his head no, realizing that Sans was loosing concentration on his magic. Maybe if he were lucky, he can distract him enough to escape.

"Frisk and I are connected, so I understand how he feels. When you yelled at him like that, it hurt him more than you think it did. He's confused now, and it's all your fault. He doesn't know what the good choice is anymore, especially since you made it so hard for him." Chara began to chuckle a bit before staring back at the skeleton. "Poor, poor Frisk. What should he do? Save the monsters and lose me, or save me and risk the monsters? Well, at least he knows I won't hurt him. I wouldn't treat him like you treat me."

With that, Sans seemed to have lost all concentration, dropping Chara like a stone. Thoughts of what he had done affecting Frisk in a negative way ran across his mind. He couldn't help but wonder what the consequences would be if he did hurt Frisk. He had to go back and apologize. He couldn't just leave him there.

"You're wrong about him, Chara. Frisk will never let this hurt him. He knows that I'm doing this to protect everyone." As Sans looked back at Chara, he could see that monster coming out of him once again. Chara's eyes were black as blood dripped down from the sockets. With his knife in hand, he watched as Chara charged at him, slashing at him. "Ch-hara? You won't get away with this..."

"I already have. It's nice to have you out of the way." The black clouded monster coming from Chara laughed, frightening Sans. "Goodbye old friend. Maybe next time we can play a bit more."

As Chara walked away, Sans knew he had to warn the others. There was no way he could survive this attack, not when his one hp was gone. Using the last of his strength, he teleported himself inside Alphys's lab. "Al-Alphys! Please!"

Alphys came running at the sound of her friend's voice, but was shocked to see how big his wound was. "Sans! Oh my, what happened to you? No, nevermind that! I have to help you."

​​​​​​"St-stop Chara... Pap-Papyrus... Trouble..." His vision became blurry as darkness began to cloud his vision. Forcing his eyes to focus, he could have sworn Alphys was crying for him. "I'm sorry."

Alphys watched him, tears falling down her cheeks as she watched Sans breathing grow shallower and shallower. She called out for help, begging for anyone to come help him. Eventually, Sans breathing just stopped altogether.

"Sans? Sans? Sans!" Alphys cried out, wishing his friend wouldn't leave her. "Please, Sans! Don't go! We need you! Papyrus needs you! Stay with us!"

Little did they know that someone was watching. W.D. Gaster couldn't watch his adopted son die like this, and had to do something. Anything. For everyone's sake, the underground's, the humans, and especially for Sans, he couldn't let it end this way.