"It's the end."

Chara whispered those words into her ear time and time again, but she refused to believe it. Asriel Dreemur continued to rain fire on then from all sides, shattering their soul again and again, only for Frisk to pull it back together, Determination flowing through her veins like water. And every time, Chara would repeat those words. Her helpfullness had varied during their journey. At times, she was obstinate. At others, she was recklessly aggressive, and frustrated at Frisk's way of doing things. But once in a while, when the winds were fair and their path clear, she happened to be kind. Because of that, and knowing what she knew about her past, Frisk considered her a friend.

That being said, it was getting hard to like her at this specific moment. Perhaps she was just feeling smug that Frisk's methods had fallen so hard.

"It's the end," she repeated incessantly, and Frisk was beginning to believe her.

And yet, her Determination never waned. In fact, each time she fell, each time her soul split and cracked, mending it became easier more...fluid. Am I even still human? she wondered as the universe tore itself apart once more.

"Don't worry. Being human isn't a good trait anyways."

Oh hey. You're saying something else.

"It's the end."

You know what? she thought angrily. Never mind.

No, Frisk, you don't get it. It's the end."

Very enlightening. Can you stop?

"What have we done before, when things were over. When we couldn't proceed?"

We've LOADED. Or RESET.

"Right. It's the end. So..."

That's not exactly an option at the moment. In her minds eye, Chara just shrugged.

"Then make it one."

Asriel's last attack struck her square in the chest. Her soul trembled, and began to crack. Her world began to fade out, the colors draining away from her vision, and the light following suite. Soon, there would be nothing, and she would claw herself back to the land of the living once more. This time, however...she didn't stop. Determination filled her being, holding it together by sheer force of will as it had so many times already, and then...it kept going. A faint tingle turned into numbness, turned into a faint burn, turned into a raging crimson inferno. Every cell in her body screamed at her to stop, but her soul and Chara both chanted for more. Asriel blinked, tilting his head to the side in confusion as red flames engulfed his opponent.

"What's this?" he asked in shock. Frisk ignored him, pushing her soul even further. She wasn't human. Chara was right about that, she had risen so far beyond human that the word was an insult. Her body, her frail, human body, was wracked with agony, but it felt distant, somehow. Detached.

Wrong.

The button, the almighty RESET button appeared in front of her, as did each and every SAVE she had lost. Frisk raised a hand, the first physical motion she had tried since following Chara's advice. Suddenly, the pain became all too real, and she fell to her knees, screaming. The buttons flickered, and Chara's chanting grew louder, more desperate.

"Come on Frisk! You can do it, I know you can! Don't let him win!"

I...can't...it...hurts...

"I don't care!"

"What?! But the souls are mine! How did you-"

Chara's hand, an illusory outline of a child's hand sticking out of a green wool sweater, wrapped itself around her wrist. Where she touched the burning stopped, replaced by a cool, soothing presence. Chara shrieked and groaned, but kept her grip.

"Together, you and me..." she said between her teeth. "Or not at all." Frisk nodded, and as Asriel roared with anger and fear, they both reached out. The orange text shifted to yellow, then flashed green before disappearing entirely. Asriel, the shattered dimensions, and the entire universe vanished along with it. Frisk blinked once, twice, thrice...and found herself back in the flower bed, looking up at the sky. Her eyes hurt in the sunlight. Her bones felt like shattered glass. Her mouth tasted like pennies, and the flowers smelled like blood. Her soul floated about her, dim and cracked all over. Even as she watched, the cracks grew. The heart shuddered. She weakly tried another surge of Determination, but the cracks only seemed to come faster.

"Heya kiddo. Falling a little down?"

Frisk smiled, and tried to look up. Her head twitched weakly, but remained still. She sighed, and Sans chuckled a bit.

"Yeah..." she breathed. "Mock the cripple."

"Ah, you're just bone-tired is all. You and Tori haven't met in this timeline, but, y'know...I think she'll remember to care about you."

"Not really...gonna...happen," Chara replied, comandeering Frisk's voice for a moment. "Not...this time."

"What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously. Frisk imagined the lights in his eyes going dark as he spoke.

"I overrode the Determination of six human souls, and no one's meant to do that," Chara gasped. "Not to mention...the most Determined monster in the Underground. I'm dying."

"Nothing you haven't done before," Sans said darkly.

"It's...different. You know that."

"I'm so sorry, Frisk. There was no other way," Chara said to her privately. "If Azzie had his way, time would just become the same, neverending battle between him and us."

It's the end.

"Yeah. If it makes you feel better, you fried me, too. Together."

Or not at all.

"You can have your body back. I just...he knows. He wouldn't have told you."

Thank you, Chara.

"I was hoping I could convince you otherwise. Didn't want you to be scared," Sans said quietly. "Was that wrong?"

"If you wanted me...to think...things were normal...you shouldn't..have come."

"Yeah...silly me." Sans said, taking a seat next to her. "But in case you knew this was the last time...I figured you shouldn't be alone."

"Hard call."

"Glad I made the right one."

"Me too. I don't...I don't know if my Soul...will be useable for...the Barrier. I'm so sorry."

"Kid...you're impossible, you know that? Because of you, time gets to move. Everthing that happens from this point on only does because you gave it the chance to." Her vision faded out for a moment, and both the memory of Asgore and Chara spoke.

"We were the future of all humans and monsters"

"Kid? Come on, kiddo, stay with me!" Frisk's eyes cracked open, to see Sans the Skeleton without a grin on his face for the first time since she fell. She smiled weakly, and squeezed his hand.

"Still here," she croaked. "I'm sorry."

"Why do you keep apologizing?

"Cuz' I'm gonna die. And you're gonna...have to live with that...all by yourself."

"Geez, kid," Sans sighed. "It's okay. You don't owe us anything. You did more than any of us ever thought you would. I'm just mad that nobody else will remember it." Frisk's eyes began to droop. The color began to bleed out of her vision, and the sunlight began to dim. "You don't look so good."

"Could say I'm...dead tired." Sans choked at her response, biting back sobs and laughter in equal measure.

"I'll stay with you..." Sans offered. "Until the end." Frisk weakly shook her head.

"No, it's...it's okay. Everyone does this alone."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure...goodbye, Sans."

"See ya', kiddo."

She blinked, and Sans was gone. The sunlight that filtered through crevasse was dimmer now, and felt pleasant as the air grew colder. Chara's presence seeped back into her mind, weaker than it was before. She hadn't been lying, it seemed. This was the end for her, too.

"You know that's not true."

I know. But if Sans stayed with me, who was gonna stay with you?

"I already died, you idiot. I had Asriel."

And I have you. Chara projected an eyeroll.

"You're impossible."

Careful! Frisk teased. Your trashbag is showing!

"Hate to admit it, but he's starting to grow on me," Chara replied with amusement.

Oh, so now you come around.

"Don't judge!"

Judging.

"Ugh!" she groaned. Frisk sighed, and took one last look at the sun as her eyelids slid shut of their own accord. A smile spread itself across her face, and if it was hers or Chara's, she couldn't tell.

Chara?

"Yes, Ms. Judge Lady?" she replied mockingly.

I'm glad we were friends.

"...me too, Frisk."

She could feel it, across her body. Slowly, at first, then all at once, she fell apart, skin, blood, and bone turning into dust. She heard her soul, like glass, spiderweb, and in an angry crackle, split in two. She sighed, releasing her hold on it as it splintered further, shattering into billions of microscopic pieces. A bright, crimson beam shot through the hole to the Underground, and in a blinding flash of red light, Frisk and Chara Dreemur were gone.