“O-okay. Turning on the main power, now.” Alphys then turned on the power.

“you doing okay kid?”

“Yeah.” I said, as the tube came out. “How’s it going out there?”

“Everything is going according to plan so far.”

Suddenly I started shaking uncontrollably. “Guys!” I yelled. “Something’s wrong!”

“alphys, shut it down!” I could hear Sans yell.

“I-I'm trying, the button is jammed.” She said, trying furiously to fix it. Suddenly everything shut down. “What just happened?” Alphys said. “D-did I stop it?”

I was still in the machine. Chara was trying to surface, and I was trying to fight her as well as I could. I could still see what was going on, but Chara was controlling me.

“No. I stopped it.” Chara said. “I told you already, you can't stop me that easily. I've just fried that machine. There's a good chance it won't work again.”

“leave frisk alone!” I heard Sans shout.

“No, I don't think I will.” Chara said. “And right now, you can't kill me either, ‘cause that would mean killing Frisk as well.”

Sans stared at me, then looked at Alphys, who I could tell was frightened. She really shouldn't have been brought into this. If only I had reset at the beginning…

“frisk, if you can hear me, you have to fight her!” Sans shouted to me.

I'm trying. I thought. But no matter how hard I fight, Chara just pushed me back even more. She was now climbing out of the machine. I pushed against her. I made it past her, if only for a brief moment. “I'm sorry!” I yelled to Alphys and Sans, and Sarah who stood in the corner, looking more frightened than ever. I could see everything in full detail, tears glistening on her cheeks. Then Chara gained back control.

“Nice try, Frisk.” She said to me. “But you can't fight back. I’ve rendered you powerless, and unlike most of the monsters in the underground, you have never defeated me. And you never will.”

“kid!” I heard Sans shout. “what do you want us to do!?”

But I couldn't fight back. Chara stepped closer to my friends, and Sans grabbed Alphys and left.

“Well,” Chara said, turning to Sarah. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”

“Leave Frisk alone!” Sarah shouted. “Go away!”

“But I can't go away.”

“Can you die?”

“Only if you can kill me.”

“Then you can go away.”

“If you were to kill me, you’d have to kill whoever I was inhabiting. Right now it’s Frisk. Do you want to kill Frisk?”

“No.”

“Good. Then it’ll make fighting you a lot easier.”

No. Chara, stop. I said to her internally.

“Fine. I'll stop for now. But remember, I can come back at any time.” She left, and I collapsed in a heap.

Sarah looked at me in fear. “F-Frisk? I-is it you?”

“Y-yes. I-it's me. I'm sorry. I almost...I almost killed you.”

“It wasn't you.” She said, hugging me.

At that moment Sans appeared. “sarah! get back!” He yelled, not realizing I was back to normal. Then he grabbed me and pulled me back. “when we get you out-”

“Sans!” I exclaimed, hugging him. “I'm so, so, so, so, so, sorry! I tried to fight back, but she's just too strong, and I almost hurt you, or Alphys, or Sarah, and-and…” I broke down crying.

Sans just looked at me, then bent down. “kid, it's okay. you didn't hurt anyone.”

“B-but I almost did.” I said, tears streaming down my face. “I almost hurt Sarah.”

“it wasn't you, it was chara, and trust me, when we get her out of you, she is going to pay.”

“I'm just so sorry.” I said again. “You should just leave me here. In case Chara comes back.”

“heh. as if. there’s no way i'm leaving you alone down here. now come on, alphys is waiting for us. i’ll grab sarah first, then you, okay?”

“Okay.” I said. “Be careful.”

“you don't need to worry about me.” Sans walked over to Sarah.

“Okay, see you in a minute.” I said. He grabbed Sarah and they left. Sans reappeared a few moments later.

“ready kid?”

“Yeah.” I replied. Teleporting would be the easiest thing I did all day. We then appeared in Sans’s room.

“you sure you're okay?” Sans asked me.

“Honestly, no. It was scary.”

“O-oh my god! Was that Chara?” Alphys asked.

“Yeah.” I said, nervous as to how Alphys would react.

“I-I don't know what to do now… I thought this plan would work. I’m so sorry. Uuggghhh! I can't do anything right!”

“No, it's okay.” I said, hugging her. “It's not your fault.”

“I wish that was true…”

“But it is true.” I said. “At least you tried to help me, and it’s not your fault Chara fought against me.”

“I still could have rechecked the machine to see if everything was working fine. Maybe then we could have gotten you out of there faster.”

“But everything was working fine. Chara just decided to break it. So stop blaming yourself.”

“yeah, the kid’s right.”

“O-okay….” Alphys said, giving up.

“So, what’s our plan of action now?” Sarah asked.

“i honestly don't really know. i thought for sure that was going to work. do you have any ideas kid?”

“Well, we still need to stop Chara.”

“true. if chara takes full control, then they could trigger another reset.”

“Seriously? I thought I was the only one that could reset.”

“well, yes, but if chara takes control of you, then she’d be able to reset.”

“S-sans how long do you think we have until that happens?” Alphys asked.

“not very long. especially since chara can already possess, and it seems that she is getting stronger by the second.”

“Well, then what are we supposed to do?” I asked. “If she tries to come back I'll hold her off as long as possible, but...”

“W-well, if Chara does come back, c-couldn't we somehow fight her?”

“not without hurting frisk.”

“There’s got to be some way we can stop her.”

“uh, hey frisk. do you possibly know why chara would want to reset?”

“T-to kill you guys again most likely.” I said, looking down.

“how sure are you about that? i mean have you really had a real conversation with her? could it be something different?”

“Why would I want to have a conversation with a demon? Plus, I doubt it would be something different. She says she wants to destroy this world.”

“how do you know that she is a demon? you would have had to talk with her to find that out.”

“It’s not difficult to tell she’s a demon, or at least acts like one.” I replied.

“I-I’m just thinking aloud here, but why would she want to kill us monsters over and over again?”

“I...really don't know.” I replied. “But she did it once, so I don't doubt she’ll do it again. She would be able to reset the game if she took control of me, then do it how she wanted, without being controlled by the player. She could continue on where the player reset.”

“uh, hey frisk. can i talk to you… alone?”

“Um...okay?” I said, confused as to what he wanted to talk to me about, but followed him into his room.

Sans then closed the door and his eyes turned dark. “is this your fault?”

“Is what my fault?” I asked, confused what he was asking me.

Sans stared at me. “all of this.”

Again, I was confused. “All of what? Can you be more specific?”

“this timeline being the way it is.”

“With Gaster appearing? I don't know.”

“no…. with chara.”

“I… don't think it’s my fault that Chara’s possessing me. That'’s the player’s fault, isn't it?”

Sans then eyed me suspiciously. “W-what? I didn't do anything! I just want everything to be back to normal!”

“are you sure? because that's the face of someone who's seen what i can really do…”

“I've retained some of Chara’s memories after you blocked the player from resetting. So yes, I know what you can do. Not that I want to. And it’s not my fault either.”

“hm. why are you lying to me?”

“I'm not lying, I'm telling the truth! What do you want from me?”

“U-uh guys are you okay? I heard yelling.” Alphys asked through the door. Sans then glared at me one last time and opened the door.

“oh, hi alphys. yeah, everything's fine.”

“O-okay.”

Sans turned back to me. “I told you, I'm telling the truth!” I exclaimed.

“if you really are telling the truth then tell me something that you wouldn't have known from chara’s memories.”

“I wouldn't of known you had attacks called Gaster Blasters, for starters.” I said.

“well, i already know about that. tell me something else.”

“Y-you only have 1 HP.” I said, gulping.

“something about chara’s past.”

“Oh? W-well, she poisoned herself. That’s how she died.”

“why would she poison herself?”

“So Asriel could cross the barrier, take six more souls, and break the barrier. But he failed. Do you believe me now that it’s not my fault?”

“nope, not at all. anyway, i’m done.” Sans's turned back to normal.

“W-with what?” I said. “Please don't hurt me. Why won't you believe me?”

“it doesn't matter. and why would i hurt you now?”

“Because you seem upset with me that Chara’s here. And you don't seem to trust me anymore.”

“no, kid, i still trust you…. but…”

“But what?” I asked.

“i just wanted to see if chara was influencing you.”

“Influencing me how?”

“you know, hallucinations, nightmares.”

“Well, yeah, I have been having nightmares, actually.”

“yeah? ‘bout what?”

“Chara keeps telling me to reset, or to destroy this world, weird stuff like that.”

“hm… interesting.”

“What’s so interesting about it?”

“where are you in your nightmares?”

“I'm just in a dark room. Can't really tell any details about it though, since it's dark.”

Sans shrugged. “mine are mostly in the judgment hall, in snowdin or the true lab.”

“Oh. What are yours about?”

“they're mostly about papyrus being killed, me being killed, gaster being killed, actually there is a lot of killing in my nightmares.”

“Oh. Sorry I asked. And it’s me, isn't it? As Chara?”

“yeah….”

“I'm so sorry. But you have to understand it’s not my fault.”

“okay, i trust you.”

“Good.” I said. We started walking toward the door, when I started shaking violently. “Sans! Get out!”

“frisk! don't let her take control!”

“I-I'm trying! Get out! I don't want to hurt you!”

“don't worry about me! just stay in control!”

“I'm trying, but you need to get out! Your health is too low!”

“i’m good at dodging, just focus!”

“How well did dodging work for you when you last fought Chara?” I asked, hoping he would see my point and get out of the room.

“okay, i’ll go get everyone out of the house.”

“Okay, now leave!” Sans then teleported out of the room and got Alphys and Sarah to safety outside.

“Go away Chara.” I said, pushing against her.

“No! I'm so close! Just let me take over!” Chara said pushing even harder.

“It… it hurts…”

“Just give up! There's no hope for you now!”

“No. I'll fight for my friends, and I'll stop you.” I replied, trying to push against her.

“Your friends can't save you now, they just ran away leaving you to deal with me.”

“I know they can't save me, but I can still save them.” I pushed harder, but it hurt. Chara just pushed against me harder, making me collapse to the ground.

“You’re growing weak, I can feel it. Just stop your suffering and let me take over!”

“Why should I give in to you?”

“Because it's the only way to end this.”

“It can't be the only way.” I said, gritting my teeth.

“Oh, but it is.”

“There’s more than one way to end something.”

“Not in every situation. Why don't you get it?! I need to reset!”

“No. You don't.” I pushed as hard as I could, and she stopped. She was still fighting against me, but I had control. I went outside, and saw Sarah, Alphys, and Sans waiting for me.

“hey, kid! are you okay?”

“I-I resisted her.” I said. “It was difficult, but… I did it.”

“good. i was rooting for you, kid.”

“S-so what do we d-do now?” Alphys asked Sans.

“i dunno. the dt extractor is fried now. hey alphys, do you still have the blueprints for it?

“Yeah, I think we still have them, except…well...they're in the royal archives.”

“how long would it take to get them?”

“An hour or two, at least.” Alphys replied.

“just as long as we can get them before nightfall it's fine.”

“What’s wrong with getting them after nightfall?” Sarah asked curiously.

“chara seems to be getting stronger, and if frisk falls asleep, then chara could take control. the one thing i’m still about is how we can distract chara long enough so she doesn't fry the dt extractor.”

“Is there someone else that could help us with Chara, and fixing the dt extractor?” I asked.

“no, the only other person who would know how to fix it is long gone.”

“Are you sure?” I asked again.

“ninety-nine percent sure, unless you know someone.”

“How about the creator of it?” I pressed.

“he’s the one who's long gone.”

“But we saw him. Remember? I told you earlier.”

“and he's gone now, right?”

“If we saw him, he can't just be gone, can he? People don't just disappear like that.”

“you know how he died right?”

“Well, yeah. But if we saw him, he can't be dead, right?” Alphys and Sarah glanced at us, obviously confused.

“he fell into the core and everyone forgot about him. he was also spread across time and space, so i guess seeing a figure that looked like him was just a small part of him.”

“Um, s-sorry, but what exactly are you talking about?” Alphys asked.

“the old royal scientist’s death.” Sans replied.

“Why can't I remember that?” Alphys asked. “Since Sarah brought it up, I've been trying to remember, but I just can't. Why were everyone’s memories erased?”

“probably because of all the resets that flowey did.”

“Um, okay then. Should we get going? The archives are underneath the castle.”

“yeah, the quicker the better.”

We headed back down into the underground and Alphys led us to a large door. “H-here we are.” She said, getting out her keys.

“Why does it have to be so big?” Sarah asked, looking up.

“It's mainly for Asgore, the king, to fit through. He is kind of a big guy.” Alphys said, unlocking the door.

We walked in and I took a look around. There were stacks upon stacks of old letters, maps, and blueprints in continuous rows. “This place is huge!” I exclaimed. “How exactly are we going to find the blueprints?”

“Just find them, I guess? It's been forever since anyone has gone through this stuff.” Sans’s eye started glowing as he scanned the room. Suddenly a file came rushing towards him.

“found it.” Sans said grabbing the file.

“A-are you sure?” Alphys took the file from Sans. “Wow! I-it is! That saved us a lot of time.”

“So, are we going to the lab then?” I asked. “Or are we going home for the night?”

“no, we can't let you fall asleep, or else chara might take over.”

My legs started to feel weak, and I collapsed to the ground. “Why now?” I asked myself. “Sans,” I said, looking up. “Run.”

“there's no time. everyone get behind me.”

“Frisky! I'm back!”

“Go. Away. Now.” I said, gritting my teeth.

“Is that really what you want?”

“More than anything.” Sarah watched me in fear, peering over Sans’s shoulder.

“Aw, that's no way to treat your guest. Just give me control and you can rest for a bit.”