Determination (Charisk) [OUTDATED]

46 - TRAITOR

(FRISK POV)

     I knocked heavily on the Lab door.
     "Coming!... Hello?— F-Frisk?! What are you doing here? And where is Chara?"
     "Alphys? C-can I stay with you for a while?"
     "Wh—oh. I mean, um, Y-yeah! Absolutely! I'll set up a space!" I sat myself down on the couch. Alphys took the pie and set it on a nearby coffee table. She then turned off the TV and sat beside me. "Do... you want t-to talk about it?"
"He... I..." Any emotional barriers I had broke down.
"F-Frisk?! Please don't c-cry! H-here, have a tissue."
" *sniff* Thanks..."
"Tell me what happened... If you w-want to, that is!"
"When he got his body back he, he, he didn't care about anything! There was no emotion. He said rude things, he didnt care that Undyne was there and he... he... AND HE DIDNT EVEN EAT THE PIEEE"
"There, there. It's okay. You're h-here now..."
I cried myself to sleep that night. I may have felt weird asking to stay with Alphys, but the dream I had was even weirder.
I was back in Sans and Papyrus's spare room, but everything was... Different. Everything but myself was greyscale, and there was someone working at the desk. A skeleton. He had two holes in his hands. I tried calling out to the skeleton but, he didn't seem to hear me. I gradually walked my way over to him and tapped on his shoulder. Instantly, his skull rotated 180 degrees. A grotesque smile appeared on his face and his eyes shone like the sun. I awoke with a cold sweat the next morning.
. . .

I still haven't touched the pie. It's been a few weeks and Chara only comes in for physical therapy. He doesn't need it, but sans says it's an excuse to study his SOUL in action.
"hey kiddo." I jumped a little.
"sans! Oh, you scared me. What's up?"
"i think there's something you should know... about chara."
"Oookay? Not like I care, anyways."
"he has a particular SOUL condition. similar to yours." I perked up slightly. A SOUL condition?
"Explain."
"well, as you know, most monsters are pretty awesome and friendly. but chara... has been neither of those things. even for us."
"Okay, yeah, but where are you going with this?"
"well, you know how monster SOULs aren't strong enough to have a presenting TRAIT? and because of that, don't show color?"
"Yeah?"
"well, similar to the TRAIT imbalance you have, chara also has a TRAIT imbalance. his DT overrides his compassion, leading to apathy. we think his DT comes from his human SOUL, but due to the rest of it being made from an artificial SOUL, DT is the only TRAIT he has."
     "sans. What are you telling me?"
     "look, kid. the prince isn't in the right state of mind. or, being, really. he's a ghost of his former self. he hasn't been what we know as 'chara'. not since he woke up... he's even a jerk to pap. i mean, its been years since we had another skeleton to talk to, but he... he's just not a friendly fellow."
     "Is there anything we... you can do?"
     "this aint good news, kid, but we can't really do anything. and it's only getting worse." I put my hand over my mouth. "we looked at his SOUL, and his LV is only increasing."
"What!? Why? How? He's not... killing people... is he?"
"what? no. it's something else. the more he uses his DT, the more LOVE he gains... we have a theory. it has to do with something that happened in the last timeline." The... last timeline? Chara's words still echo is my head. Since when were you the one in control? That's not the only thing, though. When I was in the VOID, Dr. Gaster said something about Chara's DT being corrupted. "kid. you okay?"
"This is... a lot to process... I mean, I have a TRAIT disorder, too. I shouldn't have broken up with him... and now he's only getting worse and... and here I am pushing him away when I should be with him in his time of need... I'm such a bad person... I... I—"
"kid, please. don't... don't let this get to you. you've—" Suddenly, Alphys started shouting from the lower floor.
"SANS! FRISK! HELP!" Then, we hear a crash. I rushed downstairs, sans took a shortcut. It was Chara. He was violently thrashing and trying to attack Alphys.
"I'LL KILL YOU!! STAY STILL! DIE DIE DIE!!" Alphys was barely avoiding him. sans tried to use blue magic to grab Chara's SOUL, but he fell to the ground instead. Chara stopped abruptly. He turned to me slowly.
"Ch-Chara?" The whites of his eyes turned black.
"Traitor." Chara lunged at me. Out of nowhere, a memory that isn't mine flashed in my mind. Without thinking, I called out the command.
"Lab! Initiate containment protocol 17!" Metal plates shut in front of the metal doors, and laser sights pointed at Chara. Then, without pause, several darts were shot from multiple directions at him. At he fell to the ground, large glass walls rose from the floor, and a glass panel came down from the ceiling, forming a box around Chara.

Snail Fact #38
Snails redeem themselves from their terrible tennis skills by excelling in economic research.