Across the timelines [an Undertale Fanfic] (revised)

It takes two to reset

  "I don't know where I went wrong, Sans. I thought I was raising my boys to be kindhearted creatures, ones who show their enemies mercy. I never wanted for Chara to be like this," Toriel apologized, making Sans uncomfortable. She looked back at the boy with the green striped shirt, taking one of his cold hands in hers. She thought about their time spent together and how long it took for him to finally say the words I love you to her. Those words meant everything to her, and deep down, she knew that she could never give up on her boy. "Did I do something to drive him to commit these acts?"

Sans shook his head no, unable to believe that sweet and lovable Toriel would ever do anything to make someone want to kill everyone. If anything, she was the one who would stop trouble before it happens. Chara is nothing more than a messed up kid, and she shouldn't take the blame for that. If anything, it was the humans who had surrounded him from before that are to blame. There was only so much hate in the world that a person could take but to force a little kid to bear it all himself was too much. It didn't surprise him one bit that Chara turned out this way.

"Toriel, don't do that to yourself. You didn't make Chara do anything. If anything, you were the one who treated him as a real person. If he was as scratched up as you said he was when he came down, you and your family were probably the only ones who ever actually cared about him." Sans rubbed the back of his head, unsure if she would actually find comfort in his words, but trying anyways. "Besides, everyone knows you make a great mom. Just look how well Frisk is turning out."

She nodded just as she heard the front door open. "Tori! I heard the news. Is it really him?"a voice shouted out before the sounds of heavy footsteps reached the door to Frisk's room. Both Sans and Toriel looked over at the door just as Asgore walked inside, his eyes searching hers before landing on the boys. He noticed the blood covering the boys bodies before looking over at his wife's face. "What happened to them? Who did this and how long have they been out like this?"

Toriel cleared away some tears before saying, "It was Undyne. She couldn't stop it, and now we're just waiting. They haven't came back yet and we don't know why. Frisk always comes back, so why haven't they by now?"

"How long has it been?" Asgore asked, holding his wife's hand as he refused to look at the bodies. He had already had to bury his sons once before, and to do it again with both Frisk and Chara would break his heart. "And where is Undyne?"

"Undyne might be with Alphys doing some research on the kid. Do you think it's possible that something is stopping them from resetting? Their determination has never failed them before, but this is the longest either one of them has ever taken to come back." Sans looked back at his friend before thinking about their souls. Maybe it was possible they were bonded together in more ways than they thought. "Maybe it's Chara that's keeping them. You two saw it yourselves a long time ago that Chara had died and never came back, right? That would mean his soul disappeared along with Asriel's, so maybe it's possible that Frisk isn't strong enough to bring them both back or Chara is preventing them from coming back."

Toriel squeezed Asgore's hand before taking Sans's hand in her free one. She didn't want to think of all the possibilities that could be keeping her sons away from her, but instead decided to have faith in her boys. She knew in her heart that nothing would ever stop Frisk from returning to her. "Let's have faith in them. Frisk will come back, hopefully with Chara beside him. We can't give up on them yet."

Meanwhile...
"What was the point of this, Chara? Why can't I go back?" Frisk asked as he pressed the reset button one more time. It continued to glow in front of him as if mocking him for even trying as a simple beep told him no. "Why would you get us killed? What if we can't go back?"

Chara smiled as he watched Frisk's continued attempts before saying, "maybe it's because I'm here that you can't go back on your own. We're connected, remember? That means we share everything. Every cut. Every scrape. Every death." He looked around for a minute before returning his attention back to Frisk. "To make this even simpler for you, we both have to press it."

"Then come press it. We need to get back to the others before they get worried about us. I don't want mom to cry because you don't want to go back." Frisk looked over to Chara, noticing his creepy smile as he walked around. "Please, Chara. We need to go back. I don't want to stay here."

Taking a seat now, Chara looked up and closed his red eyes, his smile slowly sinking as he took a breath. "Why? So you can go back to your happy little life, living every single day with no pain or worries? Or so that I can go back to nothing? I was at peace before you brought me here. I was happy, killing everyone in my own timeline because I knew that was were I belonged. I wouldn't have given that up for anything. Why would you bring me here if you didn't need me?"

Frisk took a seat beside him, coping Chara as he closed his eyes. "I didn't mean to bring you here, Chara. I didn't even know you were still around. When I first heard about you in Alphys's lab, I knew that I couldn't compare to you. I mean, you were Mom's first human son, and I knew how much she must have cried when you died. I'm sorry, Chara, but I think mom and dad need you more than I do."

"No. They don't." Chara opened his eyes before saying, "I told you before, Frisk. No one needs me. Everyone who had ever wanted me has tried to kill me, so I'm not going to let myself get stuck there like you. " With that said, Chara couldn't help but hug his knees as he looked down. "After all, why would I want to stay somewhere where I know I will never be wanted again? I will never let myself get stuck again."

With a sigh, Frisk said, "Chara, we're not trying to hurt you. I can prove it to you if you just stop testing everyone." Opening his own eyes, he couldn't help but try to meet Chara's. "Undyne never would have killed us if you didn't encourage her like this. I can help you be better if you let me."

"No way. I don't have any problems that you can help me with. I like killing everyone. It's a lot of fun to watch as all their hope drains from their eyes." A smile came to to his face as he looked over at Frisk, not seeing anything wrong with what he was saying. "It's something you have to experience for yourself, Frisk. That feeling of power when the knife goes into the body is amazing. There really is nothing else like it."

Frisk shook his head, not wanting to think about something so horrible. All he wanted to do was go home to reassure mom that he was fine, but without Chara's help, they can't go back to their lives. He had to come up with a way to convince the other boy to reset with him. Otherwise, who knows how long Chara would keep them there.

"I don't want to stay here, Chara. Can we please go back now?" Frisk asked, hugging his knees to his chest. He never was one to stay here for so long. He didn't see why Chara would want to stay longer than they needed to. What was it about this place that made Chara feel so right at home? "I don't like it here."

"Don't be scared. I've been here hundreds of times before, so I can say it's not as bad as it looks." Laying down now, it didn't seem to surprise the boy that flowers appeared under him. Frisk seemed to be caught off guard by that little feature, but eventually laid down as well. "Why do you want to fix me so badly, Frisk? Do you feel sorry for me or something? Why do you even care about what happens to me? Once this stupid bond of ours is broken, you're free to do whatever you want again, and I'll simply either be killed or sent back to my time."

Once again, Frisk shook his head no. "I just want you to be happy too. I want everyone to live and laugh together. I want to see everyone be friends, but most of all, I really want you to have your old life back. You may not think so, but I know somewhere deep inside your heart you still care fo-"

"I know what you're about to say and I keep telling you that I really don't. I couldn't care less actually. I had my time with them, and I enjoyed it for as long as I was able to. Frisk, I'm not lying to you when I said that I like hurting people. It's way more fun than I could have imagined, but you can see that after awhile of killing everyone, the life gets kind of repetitive. There's no new surprises or anyone that can truly understand you." Chara looked over at the other boy, meeting his eyes to let him know that he was serious about this. After all, Chara was a lot of things, but he definitely wasn't a liar. "Even I don't want to be alone forever, Frisk. Stay with me, and I promise I won't make you do anything you don't want to do. All I ask in return is to stop trying to fix me."

Thinking about his choice, Frisk thought of how things would end up. If he stayed with Chara, Chara would be happy, but he won't stop hurting the monsters. If he didn't, Chara might just keep them here forever... The only way for them to get back to the others is to stay with him.

"Chara, I want to be your friend, really, but it's scary. You're hurting the creatures that first accepted me, the ones who gave me a home, who gave me a family. Before this, I was alone too. I didn't have any parents, and my "friends" weren't really my friends." Frisk took the other's hand, wanting him to understand his point in all this. "I don't want to see them die. I'll stay with you, but please don't kill them. Don't kill any more of my friends."

Chara looked away for a second before nodding to him, letting him assume that he would stop the killing. "I promise that you won't see them die. Let's go back now. I think I kept you here long enough. I don't want to wake up in a coffin either." As the boys looked up, they both reached out their hands and pressed reset, the words "stay determined" and "determination" appearing above them.

Back with the others...
"It's not Undyne's fault, and I don't blame her for this. I just want to understand why she did it." Asgore looked over at the skeleton before saying, "Why would she attack the boys when she was made aware of their situation? Why would Alphys ask Frisk to help her after what happened last time?"

Sans shrugged before saying, "that's why." He pointed over to Chara's body before meeting Asgore's eyes again. With a lowered voice, Sans said, "She is just as convinced about him as I am. Can't you see it, Asgore? What he is? That kid isn't human."

Asgore nodded, fully aware of what Sans was talking about. "I'm sorry, but when I look at him, I can't tell what kind of monster he is. He looks like Chara, but he also doesn't."

"It's him, alright. I know my pal anywhere," a voice said as they turned to see flowey being carried in by a silent Papyrus. "They'll be okay. I'm sure Chara is just working on something before he comes back. Papyrus, put me down by him."

Papyrus did as he was told before joining his brother's side, curious to know what exactly had happened while he was at home. He waited for over an hour for Sans and the humans to come over, but got frustrated with simply waiting. Sans didn't even send him a text to let him know they were going to be late or anything. "What happened to the humans? Why are they sleeping?"

Before anyone could answer his question, both boys shot straight up, taking in breaths of air as if they couldn't get enough. As Toriel took in the sight of her two boys, she dropped Chara's hand and pulled him into a big hug before doing the same to Frisk.

"Please, don't do this to me again. I can't loose you boys again." Chara, of course, pushed away from her embrace, not liking the situation. He took one look around at everyone, wondering how many he could take out before remembering his promise. With Frisk watching him, he couldn't do a damn thing and it felt a little annoying to have these restrictions placed on him after following his own set of rules over and over again. "Frisk, Chara, what happened? Why did it take you both so long to come back?"

The boys looked over at each other before Frisk answered her question. "Everything about us is connected. Even the reset. It took us awhile to realize what was going on. We're sorry that it took so long, but it was just different from what we're used to."

Toriel nodded before releasing Frisk from her embrace, watching as Chara looked over to Flowey. He started to whisper something to him, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. By glancing over at Sans, she noticed how even he was a bit suspicious about it. With one look at Papyrus, she knew that he was oblivious to their situation, even as Asgore started to explain to  him everything he was told.

"Tori, it's best not to smother them. The boys are fine, but we should let them clean themselves up a bit, don't you agree? Papyrus, Sans, would you mind coming with me for a bit? I want to ask you two about something." Asgore said with that all too familiar smile of his that Chara recognized. It was the one he always wore when he would hide his true feelings to them.

Papyrus nodded, glad to be of help as he followed Asgore out of the room. Sans, on the other hand, just shrugged before following his brother's lead. Of course, he had an idea of what Asgore would ask of them, and he knew that he didn't need to be asked.

As they walked out, Asgore's friendly smile didn't falter as he said, "I'm truly sorry to have to ask this of you two, but I don't think anyone else would do. Frisk trusts you two more than any other of his friends, and I can see with one look at the boys that Chara trusts Frisk." He knew what he was about to ask was going to be difficult, not only for them, but for Toriel as well. He had no right to ask them to do this, but for everyone else's sake, he wasn't taking any chances.

"Of course he trusts us, Asgore. We're best friends forever!" Papyrus said happily as his skeleton grin came to his face. He seemed very proud to be friends with Frisk for so long already. "We're more like brothers now!"

Asgore nodded as his smile slowly started to sink, guilt settling in after hearing those words. He looked over at Sans, taking note of his one HP before looking back over at Papyrus. Although Sans is the older brother, he was aware that Papyrus doesn't know how strong his brother truly is. If all else failed, Sans was their last hope at saving the Underground. W.D. Gaster had made sure of it that Sans would have the power to save everyone.

"I'm glad that you two have made my boy very happy, and I truly feel terrible for asking you this. Papyrus, Sans, I need you to watch over those boys. Something is not right with Chara, and I don't want Frisk to pay the price for his mistake." Asgore met Sans eyes now, knowing that this was too much pressure to put on one skeleton. "Please, if worst comes to worst, kill Chara. Find some way to kill his determination to save this world, and the humans."

Frowning now, Sans looked over at Papyrus to see his exact reaction on his brother's face. Papyrus was afraid of hurting the humans. He was the skeleton who would do whatever it takes to become friends with someone before ever considering to kill them. He was a good soul, so he couldn't imagine doing something like that on purpose. Not to mention, if the skeletons fight Chara, Frisk will get hurt too. Papyrus couldn't, no, doesn't have it in him to gain any EXP. and that's how Sans wanted it to stay. Papy was too nice, too happy, but to be asked to become a murderer is something Sans couldn't let him do.

"No. Papyrus, you shouldn't do this. If worst comes to worst, I'll be the one to end Chara." Sans said, meeting his brother's eyes to let him know it wasn't debatable. He would never let his little brother fall in harms way. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"But Sans, you shouldn't do this either. You're not a member of the royal guard, so it has to be me. I don't want anyone else getting hurt, and besides, I'm sure a little talk with Chara might work things ou-"

"NO! You can't handle that kid like I can. I don't want you near him by yourself." Sans looked over to Asgore as he said, "we'll do the job. Paps will watch Frisk, and I'll watch Chara. My only question is what are you going to do about separating them? If I have to do this, I want to know that I'm not sentencing my brother to die as well."

Asgore looked down, guilt taking over as he said, "I know. I asked Alphys to work on something that can separate the boys. I'm sorry that I had to ask this of you two, but I need to protect everyone else. Even if it means that I have to give up my boys, I can't risk everyone else's lives for theirs."

Inside the room, Toriel was going through the dresser as she fetched out two fresh shirts. A blue shirt with two purple stripes for Frisk, and a green one with a yellow stripe for Chara. The boys were busy taking off their blood-stained shirts, replacing them with the new ones while handing over the dirty ones to Toriel.

As Chara was busy putting on his shirt,  the golden locket he put aside caught Toriel's eye. There was always something about this locket of his that made it so special to him that Chara would never take it off. The only times he would was when he had  no other choice to. Curiosity took a hold of her as she picked up that necklace, examining it carefully in her hands. She couldn't help but think it was a perfect accessory for Chara, before opening it up to see what was inside. She couldn't believe what she saw, even as she ran a finger over the picture.

"You done, lady?" Chara asked, holding out his hand for the locket back. He couldn't help but glare back at her as he tried his best not to lose his cool. After all, a promise was a promise, and Chara isn't a liar. "Here I thought taking things without permission was considered a bad thing. Especially opening something that doesn't belong to you."

Toriel looked over at the boy, seeing how unhappy he was with her before closing the locket and placing it in his hand. "I'm sorry, child, but I couldn't help my curiosity. Please, forgive me?"

Without another word, Chara placed the locket around his neck, holding the heart in his hand. Meeting her eyes, he couldn't help but say, "you had no right to do that. For now, I'll leave it alone, but if I ever see you do it again, we're going to have some problems. What hides inside this locket is not for your eyes."

Toriel couldn't help but nod as she took in how defensive Chara was about it, and couldn't help the small smile on her face. There was hope for him after all, just like she'd always believed. As she looked over at Frisk, he only shrugged as a response, letting her know that Chara hadn't even shown him yet. Frisk didn't know what was inside that locket, but it had to mean a lot to Chara if he didn't want to be without it. Although, despite the fact that he was indeed curious to see, he will gladly wait until Chara wants to show him what he had inside.

"Mom, can Chara stay with us? He has no where else to go..." Frisk asked, knowing the answer before she even said it. Of course she would let him stay. This was her first human child back from the dead. They still have all of his old stuff packed away in a box, and not to mention, Chara's clothes were already here. "Everyone else would be scared of him."

"Of course he could stay. This is his home too." Toriel couldn't help but feel overjoyed by Frisk's question. The others may be frightened by Chara, but to know that Chara had already found a friend in Frisk was perfect. Those two would get along splendidly.

As the others began to make plans for him, all Chara could think of was his time alone here. He couldn't escape the fact that no matter what he did or what promises he made, he would always return to that moment. Thoughts swirled his mind on how he repeatedly made Toriel cry, making her believe that he hated her. Heck, even Asgore was killed by both children he had raised. If Flowey never finished the fight, he would have gotten the satisfaction of killing his own father. If he wants to make any progress here, he will need to get away from them whenever he can. Even if it's at night when Frisk is fast asleep.