Author's Note

CUE EPIC BOSS MUSIC! Chara vs Asriel!

Chapter 9

The sound of clashing blades and magic echoed about the halls of the Royal Palace, carrying on into the empty, dust-filled landscape of New Home. With every clang and shriek of blade against blade, there was a pulse in the dream realm as memories surfaced. Ghostly images of two children, one a monster, the other a human, engaging in mock fights with each other as they capered through its winding streets and through the palace itself.

If only this moment was like one of those long-gone times. Then he’d know that if he lost, it wouldn’t matter because it was just a game. Make believe and pretend… Rather than a duel to determine the very fate of his existence.

Asriel skidded back, grunting and panting as he locked gazes with Chara. Steeling himself, he rushed forward yet again. He swung both swords, only for Chara to block with his knife. Asriel found it rather unfair that two swords were being so easily held at bay by a simple kitchen knife… But well, he supposed in Chara’s determined hands, it wasn’t just a simple knife.

Never has been, even back then. The laughter of children hauntingly bubbled forth from somewhere around them, and again Asriel saw a flash of memory. Then he was ducking as he pulled his blades back, only for Chara to press the attack with a flurry of cuts and slashes. It took everything he had to parry each strike, his arms shaking from the impact of each clash as he did his best to alternate which blade caught his foe’s strikes.

“You’ve learned quite a bit since those bygone days~ Mhm, Just imagine how much of a challenge it’d be to use those skills in a fight with the Princesses~!”

Asriel growled, no longer satisfied with simply blocking. He batted the next strike aside and countered with a flurry of blows. Chara’s response was to lazily parry a few, letting others break past his defense and do… Practically nothing. He could sense that his blows were dealing damage, but Chara’s stats were so high that it might as well have been chip damage.

“You’re not holding back~ Impressive, dear brother of mine~! Guess my lessons got through to you after all~” Black ichor leaked from Chara's eyes and mouth as the spooky child bellowed with uproarious laughter. His mirth became much darker, and Asriel’s eyes widened as he sensed his opponent's power rising.

“Too bad it isn’t enough to save you~!”

In the next instance, Chara caught one of Asriel’s blades with his knife, and the other with his hand. A manic gleam shone forth as he then twisted hard, yanking both blades out of Asriel’s hands and sending them flying. They embedded themselves into the wall with sharp-sounding thumps, and Asriel yelped as he was forced to duck and weave to avoid Chara’s counterattack. The shade of his brother cackled whenever he managed to slip a strike through.

“Isn’t this so much fun, brother of mine~? It's just like the old days!”

Asriel was doing his best to focus on the here and now. The occasional flashes of memory and the laughter of naive children echoing about every so often were rather distracting. Chara in the meantime, was being relentless as he always had been. And without his weapons, Asriel didn’t have many openings to try and strike back on his own.

Of course, thinking about those memories did suddenly remind him of a rule they’d always had in their mock fights. Something to make things ‘fair’ between the two of them. ‘No magic, 'cause I can’t cast any spells yet’ Asriel had always honored that, even though at times he had wondered if such was fair. Given that Chara always wound up winning.

Gritting his teeth and drawing on his magic, he called forth a dozen stars and sent them hurtling at the Shade. This seemed to take the Shade by surprise, the first half dozen striking him and sending him stumbling back two steps. He parried and dodged the remaining six, and for a moment he simply stood there and gazed at Asriel in shock.

Then he barked out a laugh, seeming to only get more excited. “I always wondered when you’d abandon that little rule of ours! Figure’s it’d be here and now!” Chara brought the knife up to its mouth, and again licked at it, making Asriel shudder in revulsion as it added in that darker tone,

“But it won’t be enough to save you~ After all, I always win in the end~”

Asriel had to throw himself to the ground, then hurriedly slide along the floor to avoid Chara’s charge there. Asriel could hear the air split with the speed of Chara's knife swings, each whistle a near-hit. He gulped and quickly launched himself towards the wall, grabbing onto his swords and giving them a mighty tug.

They were nearly out, just a bit more… Crud crud crud he could hear Chara closing in on him! Bracing his feet against the wall he pulled harder and then tumbled back with a yelp, swords in hand. Fortune was with him, for this ensured he avoided the stab that Chara was aiming for.

The sharp *crack* sound that followed and the splinters in the wall as the Shade’s knife dug deep into it made Asriel quiver in place.

Don’t let him get to you, stay DETERMINED.

The whisper was reassuring, and sent a pulse of renewed energy through him. But as the Shade twisted its head fully around and chortled as it easily freed its weapon, Asriel found himself wondering how he was going to overcome this enemy. He had no desire to give in or let this thing take possession of him. The Shade had just as much, if not possibly more Determination than he did. A testament to just how powerful a Human SOUL could be, that even with this being just a mere shell of his brother, it still had such power…

“Distractions will cost you!” The shout pulled him back to the now, and Asriel’s eyes widened as he realized he had no time to dodge. Pain lanced through him as he felt the knife sink into him, Chara’s cackles vibrating through his being as Chara yanked him up off the ground and then tossed him across the room.

Asriel let out a sharp cry of pain as he slammed into the red bars that blocked the way out of the throne room, sliding to the floor as Chara’s knife wriggled in his side, then was yanked free and flew back to the Shade’s waiting hand. Asriel brought a hand up to the spot, and felt the motes of dust and magical energy slowly bleeding out from the wound.

“C’mon, little brother o’mine. Why drag this out? We both know how this battle is going to go. It’ll be the same as all the fights we had before. You’ll put up a valiant show, but in the end, I win.” Chara crooned, twirling his knife while glancing between it and Asriel.

He found it a tad odd that the entity wasn’t rushing forward to deal more damage. Not that Asriel wanted to look a gift horse in the mouth. As he’d much prefer the Shade to be idling about and talking then trying to stab and slash him to pieces… But It wanted to win, didn’t it? Then why wasn’t it attacking?

‘A shade that is haunting someone must either overcome the will of the host spirit, or get their spirit to submit and let them in. If the host spirit is destroyed, the shade is weakened and is forced to find another victim.’

Recalling what had been told to him, Asriel grunted as he focused on his wound and let his DETERMINATION mend the damage. Such could explain why it hadn’t gone for the kill, but Asriel wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was some vain hope that deep down, there was a bit of the brother he loved still beneath all that darkness. That Chara wanted Asriel to bend so that they could both continue their ‘game’ together.

If Chara truly cared about just having a body to use to hurt people and ‘get stronger’, I don’t think he’d let a little speedbump like being weakened get in the way.

“I don’t think so, ‘brother’. This isn’t like our games from so long ago. This isn’t for fun-”

“Mhm, I don’t know, I’m having quite a bit of fun~” The Shade interjected, but Asriel ignored it.

“This is a fight to make sure you can’t hurt anyone else. Not me, not my guardian, not anyone in this world or any other!” As he said this, he felt a rush of DETERMINATION and renewed vigor coursing through him.

“And unlike you, I don’t stand alone!”

Almost as if in answer to that, the world trembled a bit. Chara blinked and stumbled a bit, but caught himself on the throne. Then his eyes went skyward, as did Asriel’s. There was a sound that was coming closer and closer, and a moment later, a twin helix of rainbow light blasted a hole through the roof, racing straight for Chara.

Asriel had the satisfaction of watching the Shade’s eyes shoot wide before it screamed in agony as the beams of light proceeded to engulf it, blazing forth in brilliant fashion and for a moment, obscuring him from all sight. And as the magic continued to pour forth, it grew in greater and greater intensity until-

-*-

Luna and Celestia watched with bated breath as all six of the Element Bearers floated in the air. Lines of rainbow hued magic linked to each of them and focused on Twilight, before it surged forth towards Asriel. He was soon bathed in a chromatic glow of harmonious magic. Luna could sense the Shade as it writhed in pain and agony, the magic searing at its very being in an effort to expunge it.

But as time passed, Luna’s expression began to fall. Soon enough, the chains of light faded and all six of the Bearers dropped back to the ground. Panting from the exertion as they all looked to each other and then to the Princesses. They knew it just as readily as she did, and Twilight was the first to vocalize it.

“It… It didn’t work. It’s still inside him.”

Pinkie Pie whined, her hair now straight as can be. “I think all we did was make it angry…”

Huffing and puffing, Rainbow Dash growled. “We’ll just have to try again then!”

“I don’t know if we can…” Rarity remarked, swaying a bit on her hooves. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I really feel like I could use a nap right about now.”

Celestia shared a worried glance with Luna. “It's too tightly bound to Asriel. We can’t be the ones to destroy it. As we feared.”

Luna nodded. She let her gaze return to her ward, and a thought came to her. She smiled and said,

“Come Sister. Let us help rejuvenate our saviors here. If we cannot directly eliminate the shade… Then we must empower the one who can.”

Celestia gave a sage nod, and soon her horn glowed with brilliant light as she let her magic join Luna’s in seeping into the six mares. Revitalizing them and preparing them for the second attempt.

Just hang on, Asriel. Help is coming!

-*-

“... Ah hell.”

Asriel had been hopeful when he saw the prismatic pillars of light engulfing the Shade. He’d wished for that to be enough, for this trouble to be easily handled with the arrival of help from the outside.

But, well, when had things in his life ever been easy?

As the light faded and he was able to see again, he found that the Shade certainly looked hurt. Some of its appearance had been burned or transformed into writhing darkness. Motes of smoke were floating away from it from head to toe. The knife was now melted slag on the floor, and the Shade was heaving as pained grunts echoed about the room. A quick CHECK showed that the Shade had taken quite a beating, its stats lowered. Though still considerably higher than it had any reason to be.

After a moment, he heard it chuckle. A tinny sound dripping with malice and venom. It took a broken, haltering step forward, head still lowered and directed to the ground.

“Well, hehehe, that certainly hurts. I’ll have to remember this, so I can inflict it tenfold on those heroines once I take control.”

Asriel stepped back, and blinked when didn't feel the bars of magic behind him. A glance behind him revealed they were gone. Meaning he could escape the throne room. His head jerked back though at an unnatural cracking sound and he let out a squeak of fright.

The Shade of Chara’s head was half singed and little more than dark, corrupted ichor dripping and bleeding forth. More importantly, it was gazing at him… Upside down.

“I need you to stay alive, dear brother. And because of our history, I was trying to play nice. But it seems I’m gonna need to play rough with you if I want to break you~”

The Shade raised its hand, and five knives of pure magic, colored a vivid red, came into being above him. In the next moment they were racing straight for Asriel. The young Monster yelped and threw himself to the ground, then rolled to his feet and started dashing down the hallway as Chara’s dark and twisted cackles followed after him.

“Princesses! Element Bearers! I could use a bit more help here!”

Asriel wasn’t sure if they could hear him or not, but that wasn’t really the point. Right now, it seemed it was time to just book it. DETERMINATION or not, right now the Shade was pissed. And pulling out all the stops as it conjured knives of varying kinds and flung them in his direction. And that was just the beginning!

Gaster Blasters, bones, spears, balls of fire… Chara was calling upon the abilities of those they had fought in the past and utilizing them to maximum effect! Even as he ran down corridors, ducked into alleyways, and threw himself down the streets of New Home, Chara was landing hits. By the time he reached Hotland, Asriel’s health was already down by half.

Keep going. Help is on the way. Don’t give up.

This time, when Asriel heard the whisper, he glanced up and saw a ghostly image of Frisk. The image smiled at him and gave his head a little ruffle, before fading away. Asriel wasn’t quite sure why he was seeing and hearing Frisk like this. Was it his imagination? Was it a bond that had been forged between them, crossing the divide between worlds?

It feels like they are really here… Briefly, Asriel’s mind went back to the moment when he felt familiarity with the shards of the SOULs that had been presented to him by that strange figure. Then a heart shaped object exploded to his right and sent him tumbling. He yelped as shards from it raked him and knocked his health back down again.

“I-I really need to stop getting distracted…” Asriel growled, frustration bubbling up as he gathered up his magic into his hand and whirled around. He fired a beam of white light at Chara who simply took the hit, hissing and growling as it held a conjured knife loosely in hand.

Stumbling up, Asriel dodged the next wave of attacks, leaping over some and twirling out of the way of another bright red beam of malevolent energy. He chucked his swords at the Shade as he turned and continued running. Knowing that all he needed to do was hold him off. Just as Frisk wasn’t able to beat Omega Flowey on his own, Asriel was going to need help.

He just hoped it got here before Chara managed to pin him down and spend a while torturing him. Determination or not, he wasn’t in the mood to be on the receiving end of such.

At least he had, for a brief time, an advantage. Chara had never really been a fan of Hotland, and it seemed this was true for the Shade as well. Its attacks weren’t as accurate, and it wasn’t moving as fast as it had been in New Home. Of course, being covered in fur, Asriel wasn’t much of a big fan of it either, but he had a bit more incentive to stick around and linger.

Of course, this just meant Chara started aiming for other things. A searing pain in his leg sent Asriel tumbling down. He cried out as he saw one of Chara’s conjured blades embedded in his leg.

Yanking it out hurt his hand and irritated the wound. And though his DETERMINATION began to pool up and heal the wound, it slowed him down as he limped out of Hotland and into Waterfall. A place both of them had fond memories of, and had spent quite a bit of time playing in when they weren’t playing in the Ruins or New Home.

Which meant Chara had more room to catch up. With the oppressive heat of Hotland fading and being replaced by the cool mistiness of Waterfall, Asriel only made it to the platform before the bridge, where Frisk had saved Monster Kid. A Gaster Blaster quickly removed the option of crossing it.

Forced to a stop to avoid plummeting down into the abyss, Asriel gulped. He turned to face the Shade as it shambled closer. That creepy ass grin was back, and wider and more inhuman than ever.

Maybe that should have been a sign to Asriel all those years ago that something was very much not right with his adopted sibling.

“It is useless, brother.” The Shade hissed and spit out. It cackled, pushing itself back up to stand up straight. “You cannot beat me. You never could. You never had what it takes to win the game. That’s why I always won. It’s why I’ll win now. The only question is how much crying you’ll do before you break and just let me in.”

Its voice changed, just a bit, and for a moment, it sounded more like the voice of his brother.

“I always loved you, Azzy. Best Friends Forever, Remember? The game wouldn’t be as much fun without you. Just give up, and we can play together, forever.”

“Chara…” Asriel said, closing his eyes as some tears came to him. That, that was the real Chara, beneath all the darkness. The LOVE. All that toxic determination. But that piece of Chara also still saw this, all of it, as nothing more than a game. He didn’t see the people of this world as anything more than obstacles to overcome.

Help is coming. Be ready.

The whisper helped to steel Asriel for what needed to be done. He balled his hands into fists. Readied himself as he opened his eyes and let his gaze bore into the Shade of his brother.

“No, Chara. I won’t give up. I can’t. Not when you threaten to hurt those who have helped me. Not when you want to destroy an entire world. If you want to keep thinking this is a game… then you’re the villain. The big bad. And I’m…”

He could sense it. The magic was coming back. He didn’t even glance up as a bright pillar of prismatic light came crashing down upon him, flooding him with warmth, with energy. He felt himself slowly being lifted into the air…

Go get’em goat prince!

Show that spirit whose boss!

Teach that Meanie McMeanie Pants a lesson!

We’re a-all here with you, you can do it.

You got this, sugarcube!

You have our support, Asriel.

Six voices filled his soul as he felt his body drinking deeply upon the magic of harmony. His body began to shift, as two more voices joined in.

By the Blessing of the Sun,

And the Brilliance of the Moon,

Use our power to strike the foe down!

The transformation as he absorbed so much energy was nearly done. The light continued to spiral and bathe him in its chromatic aura. He could sense the Shade taking several uncertain steps back, but that wasn’t what Asriel was truly paying attention to.

No, it was seven ghostly images. Seven humans, all looking at him and smiling. And one amidst them all gave him a thumbs up.

You got this Azzy. Do us all proud.

Asriel nodded to Frisk as a new tune began to fill the air, the rainbow of colors fading as Asriel touched back down to the ground. He let his gaze meet that of the Shade, who was scowling and working to gather every bit of energy it had at his disposal. Asriel raised one of his swords, and pointed it at the Shade defiantly.

“I am the Hero. And it’s time to end this game.”

Asriel wasted no time, launching forward and slashing with both blades. The Shade let out a hideous cry of pain as both blades cut into it, but it lashed out furiously. Conjuring a second knife so as to match Asriel’s two blades. The clash of arcane weapons echoed about as they rushed each other again and again.

At first, neither seemed to be gaining ground. Asriel was landing hits and doing damage, but Chara seemed unphased by this. In contrast, even when Chara did land a hit, it did… Absolutely nothing. The power of the Six elements and the twin sisters nullifying the lethal intent of the strikes. They were so harmless that they almost tickled, causing Asriel to laugh at least once.

This only angered the Shade more, but soon the Shade was starting to take steps back. Before all that long, they were fighting in the entrance of the Hotlands, where Chara traded melee for range as he flung explosive hearts, knives, and other attacks Asriel’s way.

Asriel simply ducked, weaved, and danced his way past the majority of them. A few of the explosive hearts he gripped with his own magic and sent them hurtling back. Earning him screams of rising and incoherent fury from the Shade. Which bit by bit, was losing the human form of Chara and increasingly resembling a twisting mass of darkness.

It then turned and ran, forcing Asriel to give chase. The tables had fully turned, and as the DETERMINATION flowed and practically sung through his entire being, he didn’t let up. Drawing upon all the attacks from his fight with Frisk, he unleashed lightning, stars, and blasts of rainbow colored light at the fleeing demon.

It’s flight didn’t end even when they returned to the Throne Room. The Shade instead scrabbled for the door that led to the chamber where the Barrier awaited. Asriel came to a stop for a moment, chest heaving just a bit from all the exertion. His eyes cast down to the floor, where drops and puddles of dark ichor oozed.

He sighed. It was just like Chara to drag this out. Slowly, dispelling one of his swords, Asriel strode on after. He could hear the Shade scuttling about, cornered now as they neared the barrier. It was hissing and growling in pain, barely managing to form any coherent words. At least, not until he entered the room and saw it clawing at the barrier ineffectively.

It whirled on him, eyes full of fear, anger, fury, and so much violence. It called out, voice full of distortion, “WHY YOU!? Why do you get to continue the game? Why do YOU get to keep going?!”

Asriel’s gaze was locked with that of the Shade’s. He felt sorry, even now, for this thing. It was, after all, or had once been, a part of Chara. And he could understand the desire to keep living. But this fragment of Chara didn’t deserve to live if all it was going to do was bring death and suffering.

“Maybe it’s because I learned my lesson. Maybe it’s because I realized that everything I did as a Flower was wrong, and wanted to make amends. To earn forgiveness for my actions. To be better.” Asriel shook his head sadly.

“But even now, to you, you think this to be just a game.” Heaving out a sigh, Asriel shifted his posture, gripping his sword tightly as he gathered his energy. He wanted to make sure this was it, for he was done. It was time to end this. He closed his eyes and murmured,

“Playtime is over, brother.”

Drawing upon all his power, he lunged forward in a burst of speed. The Shade let out a horrific cry as it surged forward to meet him and-

A sickening sound of a blade piercing… something filled the air, and Asriel felt the Shade stiffen and spasm. It let out a croak, a gurgle, and a few hisses as it squirmed, impaled upon his Chaos Sabre. It did this for a few more seconds, trying in vain to claw at his face, but it was losing strength…

Then Asriel felt something different from a claw. It was normal skin. Fingers. A hand. And a voice.

“A-Az… A-Azzy…? Is… Is that you?”

Asriel’s eyes shot open, and he felt tears coming to his eyes. He pulled his face back and saw that the darkness, the Levels of Violence, all of it was peeling and melting away… leaving just a pale, almost ghostly form in his hands, his blade still speared upon it.

“C-Chara…?”

The image of Chara slowly nodded. “I… I remember now. I remember… everything. You getting hurt by them… Mom and Dad’s face…” A weak, tired, and broken chuckle escaped his brother’s lips. “I really messed up, didn’t I?”

Asriel dispelled his blade, but the mark from where it pierced Chara remained, glowing dimly. He hugged Chara to him, tears flowing freely as he placed their foreheads together.

“W-We both did Chara. We failed each other.”

Chara was crying as well now, and was holding onto him tightly. They held each other for as long as they could… Which was nowhere near long enough. Soon, Asriel could feel the ghostly form of Chara begin to slip away, fading more and more.

“Hey… Azzy. C-Can you promise me something?”

Asriel pulled his head back, and nodded his head, hiccuping a little as he tried to keep the sobs from escaping him. “S~Sure, Chara. W-What is it?”

Chara gave a tired smile as his form began to twinkle and waft away as motes of dust. His final words floating on the wind.

“Live.”