PLDN Chapter 24

"Chapter 24: Vengeance Finally Arrives in Miranda City"

Sub-Entry 231: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Lupe":
Time. It makes fools of us all. Even time-travellers. I had let a lot of time go by since the mass-memory wipe of the Underground. My team and I had finally restored each and every one. But that is not the focus of this data log.

Besides making fools of us all, time is also like a boomerang. It was about time something...or rather someone came right back at us.

For seven years, now, Asriel and I had lived life to the fullest together. My team and I reforged the bonds that Chaopolis tried to sever. We lay dormant in our paradise.

As you may have guessed...so did Chaopolis.

"Hmm..." Lupe sighed as she toiled in her Nature Preserve.

It was December now, so she could only maintain the warm climate in this geosystem for maybe a couple more days berfore she had to let nature take its course and close a lot of her complex to the public until the following spring.

Even she knew that using her Hybrid Power to prolong the inevitable went against the cycle of life. But she couldn't help but ensure her finances were in order to give us all proper holiday gifts and faire. She didn't have fame to fall back on like Sally or a stupid-rich family fortune like Violet. She did what she had to to pay the bills and none of us could fault her for that.

"Even the colors of the flowers are struggling to stay vibrant.  You ask to much of the flora and fauna in your oasis." She thought aloud. "Just keep telling yourself it's for a good cause.  It's for friends and for the less fortunate."

Lupe let her work draw her in, unaware of what was happening behind her.

The evil dark red cyber portal had opened completely by chance. Unknown to her, after many, many, MANY failed attempts...its traveller finally succeeded, with one goal on his mind.

The desire to tighten his grip around the True Knife was so strong...but he would not give himself away with cracking knuckles. Nor would he give in the temptation to monologue about his evil intent. What he wanted was clear. There would be blood. There would be death. There would be revenge.

The approach was silent, ensuring that not a single twig would snap. Not a rustle would be heard. Steps were taken that would even shroud his scent from Lupe's nose and from the noses of her fauna.

A spike of anger crossed his mind, briefly. Adonis had been no help preparing him for the enemy. Just stacks upon stacks of useless pop culture and anime. It was like he wanted to match Violet and myself, quote-for-quote, trope-for-trope, and name-drop-for-name-drop. What a useless partner! The First Fallen Child could be better trained by the works of Sun-Tsu's "The Art of War". Or by history's despots and where they had succeeded as well as learning from where they failed. Napoleon's loss was because of winter weather conditions? Pathetic.

This murderous child could strategize circles around them all now that Allouicious Adonis had returned what he had taken.

Lupe remained oblivious.

I suppose it's at this point where there's a certain poetic life's lesson here. The situation was obvious. It's completely understandable that all this time I'd let this slide. It made only sense what the logical state of my team and I was after seven years of peace time.

The knife raised.

By now I understand full well that we had invited this upon ourselves. By now I can see what conclusion you would come to given what had happened all those years ago when the previous First Child found her way to our world. History is like a boomerang.

Believe me, whoever may read this log entry has every right to bet where this is going. Tragedy is a catalyst that every hero experiences in their lifetime sooner or later. It often leads to a domino effect of downfall. We never give a villain the gravity they deserve until they do EXACTLY what they say they're going to do.

It flips a switch in us. It changes us. We lose...a part of ourselves. Something goes cold and dark inside...and dies. As if to parallel the death that flipped that switch in us.

So knowing, this, if you firmly believe that after all this time of not even giving any heed to the vendetta that left off in Asgore's throne room that we were indeed caught off guard...

"You intend to kill me, do you not...Chara Dreemurr?"

...you would be wrong.

Chara could not muffle his gasp of exhasperation.

"I do not understand what value my death would hold to you.  I have done you no wrong.  We have not even met until now."

"Spoken like a delicate flower.   I don't even have to look you in the eyes.  You would rather avoid a conflict."

"Yes, of course."

"Worthless pacifist.  You know damn well that nature is the least pacifist thing of all.  Animals live by kill or be killed.  Even fly traps feed on insects.  There is more death in nature than you can ever hope to turn a blind eye to, druid."

"I cannot deny that fact.  Nature is cruel and violent.  All living things have a survival instinct.  They do what they must to go on.  It is the ugly truth of the circle of life.  But what you intend to do now is not for survival.  You would not use my lifeless body for nourishment or to fashion crude tools, or to return to the earth to enrich the soil.   I feel the malice radiate from your aura.  This is a premeditated attack.  It serves no purpose.  It is only for your self-satisfaction."

"You have me all figured out.  How presumptuous.  But you are right.  This is an execution."

"You have not answered my question.  My death serves no purpose."

"You see...this is why we can't comprehend each other.  Your lack of vision is...insulting at best.  Don't you comprehend domino effects?"

"Explain."

"I really want this to be personal, but as you said...we just met.  You're basically a bug to me.  But you mean something to Arcade and the rest of your team.  What would that do to his mind...being unable to protect one of his own...on his own soil?"

"I see...like Vlad Tepes of CastleVania.  This is an attack on our morale."

"Assassins divide their victims into two catagories; business...and personal.  For me...I want this to be both.  There's just no having my chocolate bar and eating it two when you don't amount to a pile of waste to me.   So...it is business for a personal goal."

"So it would seem.  You are not how the Commander described from the confrontation with the Boss Monsters."

"Disappointed?"

"I have no reservations about you.  To do so would be...presumptuous, would it not?"

Chara tightened his grip. "Now you're TRYING to piss me off."

"There it is.  The words of a child.  I dislike being cruel but the truth is rarely kind.  You are a child, pretending to be an adult."

"If you think you can try to provoke me, you give me too little credit." Chara twirled the knife before tightening his grip again. "We've dragged this out long enough.  It's time to die.  And quite frankly...I never got your name...nor do I care what it is."

"Are you truly doing so by choice?"

"What do you mean?  Are you saying I'm Adonis' lapdog?  He and I just have goals that align, that's all.  I don't give a crap about his world of Chaos.  He's just a means to an end."

"We all have a choice."

"There it is again.  That disgusting naevity.  It's the same innocence Asriel always had...ever version of him is always the same.  Every pacifist alike.  Look at you...trying to be in control of a situation by being as calm and reserved as possible.  Like water.   There's not other way around this.  I'll make you understand...you were never the one in control.  You see, druid...choice is dead and now SO ARE YOU!"

Chara thrust the knife...!

"!!!!!!"

There's a moment when time stops at the instant an unspeakable act is commited. With that...the moment had come and gone.

"...IMPOSSIBLE!!!" Chara pressed harder and harder. "What are you doing?!  How are you doing this?!"

Lupe closed her eyes, remaining kneeling down among the bed of flowers. I think it was safe to say that Chara had noticed the fields of buttercups. It only intensified what came next.

"I am doing...nothing."

"Liar!" Chara tried to force the knife to connect. Sure enough. The True Knife would go no further than the hairline width needed to pierce the nape of Lupe's neck.

"We stand on sacred ground.  And on that sacred ground, no one born of the Earth may trespass upon it with such intent.  Once upon a time...this land was a proving ground for a tribe...not unlike my own Wolf Tribe in Ecotropia."

"What the Hell is this garbage you're speaking, druid?" It seemed like Chara's rage was compromising his intelligence.

"My people have stories of rites of passage for true warriors.  Three tests of virtue...the path of the brave it was called on the breath of my ancestors.  If the young brave had faith in the Great One, the knife would not cut him.  If the brave had courage...true courage...the rock would not break him.   If the brave was pure of heart...the arrow could not catch him.  And then...he would become a warrior."

"I don't believe you!" Chara slashed, the blade making a resounding metal crash against...something not visible to the eye. Maybe it was his imagination...but there was a brief image of a spirit...a  person from long ago?

"Not even your own eyes, Chara Dreemurr?  Honestly...I never would have believed the old tales were true...until this very moment.  It seems...they acknowledge me as a druid...one who respects the earth.  One to be protected and one who will protect in return."

"Don't screw around with me!!!" Chara jumped back and threw the True Knife...where it stuck in midair, reverberating with an etherial sound. It hung in the air...before being repelled, it's path threatening to impale its sender.

"Gaaah!" Chara cried as he sidestepped. A moment of realization set in before he realized the thin, hairline wound...and the drop of blood that rolled down his cheek.

"I'LL BUTCHER YOU!!!" His rage exploded as multiple True Knives willed into existence with the same unholy aura from when it reassembled itself after nearly destroyed Mettaton NEO back in the CORE. Several took flight and missed.

"I will not be denied!!!" Chara bellowed, summon a wave of them to the point of forming a cloud of blades around himself. What was this power he had? If I didn't know better, I'd swear this was something right out of a fangame AU...

All levity asside...

"I warn you, pressing this attack will not go the way you think will."

"Fight me, druid!  Whatever cowardly tricks your using--"

"You are tampering with forces of nature in a serene setting that you refuse to understand.  Please stop.  I don't want you getting hurt."

"Did you just say..!  That...that...THAT REALLY PISSES ME OFF!!!" And the knives fired off like a swarm of missiles. Whatever forces Lupe had protecting her...even they couldn't guard against all of these. It was not looking good...

* SNAP*
 * CHOMP*
 * BITE*

"What the--!  Where did they come from?"

The pack of wolves snarled visciously, as each one gripped a True Knife in their fangs.

"You'd let a bunch of mangy animals fight your battles for you?"

"They do as they may.  I asked them for nothing."

"Quit acting like you're okay with dying!  Fight back!  Beg for your life!  Trash talk!  DO SOMETHING!"

"It is true that I do not wish to die.  But any action I take or anything I say would not be good reflection on me.  I cannot further provoke an unworthy soul.  It is with deep regret that I must go on for the sake of this sacred place."

"That's a bunch of flowery crap!"

The wolves all looked up at Lupe, who finally stood up and turned around. Indeed she was very meloncholy.

"So that's what you look like...you're even more sorry-looking than I thought you'd be." Chara narrowed his eyes.

Lupe closed her eyes. At that the pack looked Chara dead in the eyes...before snapping their jaws shut...and actually SHATTERING each of the True Knives. The shards and pieces dissolved into black dust and particles before vanishing.

Chara was just speechless.

"I...was not expecting your attacks to be this weak.  I feel I should apologize to you.  Further pressing this would only feel like bullying."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!  Don't take that self-righteous attitude with me!  I'm here to kill you and you're spouting off about how you feel sorry for me?!?  What's wrong with you!?"

"Please...just stop this.  I don't want to fight you."

"Why...won't...you...take..me...SERIOUSLY?!?" Chara's evil aura flared up as he summoned a True Knife in each hand and charged at Lupe.

"Don't do it..." Lupe begged, eyes full of tears.

"JUST.  STAND THERE.  AND D--"

That was when Chara's entire motion stopped. He felt the grip...around his arms...around his legs...around his torso.

"What is...!"

Vines. Thorny vines.

"I wish you hadn't done that." By now a lot of different animals from the preserve had gathered around Chara, growling and looking threatening but otherwise staying their attacks.

"You have angered the natural order of this sacred place.  It is doing what it must to defend itself...and me with it."

Chara struggled as he was strung up, stretched out like he was being drawn and quartered. But otherwise...the plants were merely keeping him immobilized. Nothing more.

"They're holding back because that is my intent.  I don't want blood spilled.  Not in place like this.  Not even yours, Chara.  Just leave.  It's for your own good."

"NEVER!  I WON'T STOP UNTIL I HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A PIKE AND ARCADE SWEARING REVENGE AGAINST ME!  THEN WE CAN FINALLY SETTLE THINGS!"

"You really hate me that much?" Lupe hung her head...for a moment, Chara could see Toriel's image superimposed over her.

"I LOATHE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU!  I CAME HERE TO END YOU EVEN THOUGH I HAD NOTHING AGAINST YOU!  BUT NOW YOU REMIND ME OF ASRIEL SO MUCH, IT'S SICKENING"

"What did your brother do to deserve such contempt?"

"He's not my brother...he's just a goat kid who stands on two legs and followed me around like a lost little puppy!  He just accepted me!  He doesn't know the first thing ABOUT me!"

"Why then...if you hate him, why the obsession?"

"It's not because I want him back...I NEED him.  I need him for the PLAN!  I don't care if he's not my Asriel...I'm dragging him back to the Underground and merging our souls!  We WILL finish what we started!"

"Is that so?  How sad...how truly horrible..."

Lupe looked up at the clouds.

"It's ironic...that for all your hatred for Asriel...for Flowey...that you should be felled by plants.  Flowey once tried to attack me with vines...and now this ground is subduing you with the same.  This is...truly a horrible thing that I would not wish on someone.  If I were not so cowardly I would find the strength to call them off so we could try to solve this more peacefully.  Yet...I am not naive.  You would try to strike me down if I granted a reprieve.  It's heartcrushing...for you to fight at this weak level without compassion or kindness......how wretched a life you must've lived to become like this."

"DON'T.  YOU.  PITY.  MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!  Chara's bellow echoed through the whole preserve as his anger spiked and more True Knives manefested and slashed though the vines, dropping Chara to the ground.

Lupe winced, horrified. Her empathy was so strong it was like she was connected to the plants that Chara had attacked.

The mob of animals crowded in, growing angrier.

"You are a horrible person, Chara.  You should go.  Before your horrible actions cause horrible things to happen to you."

"So NOW you finally threaten me.  Little druid...it's just too little too late to indulge me.  There's nothing that can sate my bloodlust."

Lupe shook her head. "Choice is not dead, Chara.  And I choose...to spare you." Lupe spread her arms out.

Chara's eye twitched.

"GAAAAAAH!!!" Chara charged through the mob of animals and ran past Lupe, swinging wildly with the blade...and missing.

"I feel we have...grossly overestimated him..." Lupe's ears drooped. She watched as Chara left the preserve at a dead run.

"I refuse to accept this!  I will have my revenge...on Arcade and now YOOOOOU!!!"

Lupe turned away. "I hope...that you will not forgive me.  I am...truly sorry." She looked over her shoulder.

"Please...be merciful to him, everyone.  His bloodlust is real...but...I don't understand......is this really all he's capable of?"

Sub-Entry 232: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Sally and Team Acorn":
"...it's just a fluke!  She...she just got lucky!  No!  She cheated somehow!  Somehow that nature witch was screwing with me!  I'm the demon that comes when you call its name!  I will take all their hopes and dreams!  I am the Angel of Death!  I AM CHARA!"

Lupe's...victory...was fortunate. But to her...unexpected. Was she really prepared to die?

No. That's not the right question.

Granted, Lupe was far from my most powerful member. But she wasn't a weakling. She wasn't a slouch. No...she could command the beasts, the plants, and even the elements if she so intended.

I'd seen her elemental summons; they split the earth, they brought forth magma, the very breath of the land howled to gale force, and even the water would bend to her will if she only asked nature to provide. It would be a TREMENDOUS strain on her hybrid ability, mind you...but she could do it. And yet, she held back more than she probably had ever done before. Really...her preserves defenses shouldn't have been able to repel much of anything or anyone at that level. So why? Why was it so easy for her?

The thought hadn't occurred to Chara, even though it had to me once. Could it be so simple? Or was it somthing...else?

I wonder...perhaps another price had been paid... Chara was still continuing at a dead run down the road leading to the outskirts of the city.

"I'll...I'll just find someone else.  It's simple.  I just didn't pick the weakest link...that's all.  Once I do, the plan goes as intended.  I chip away at Arcade's confidence and wittle his ranks down until he's filled with rage and distraction.  It has to work.  It's going to work! Yet...how did the druid turn it around on me?  Why am I the one raging?!?"

Chara looked at the True Knife.

"You ended Smiley Trashbag in so many runs.  You've turned everyone into dust, before.  Why...why are you FAILING ME?!"

He kept going, pushing his hair out of his eyes for a brief moment.

"Dammit, Adonis..." He took the knife and sliced off a chunk of his bangs other lengths until he had a makeshift if not messed-up attempt at a bob haircut. There was no mistaking his gender, now.

"Where are the rest of your pawns hiding, Arcade?  I just need one to cut down--"

Suddenly Chara's words came to a stop as the clothesline came out of nowhere, actually causing him to flip in the air before wiping out.

Shaking off the stupid, Chara tried to make sense of the fading light contrails....before something was stuck in his nose...something held be someone standing over him.

Chara read the card. "Hi...I'm Sally..." She uttered before the card flipped over. "...and you just got black-flagged by...Team Acorn?!"

Chara looked up at the holder. "You!" he snarled. "It would have to be Arcade's speed demon.

"Long time no see, short-stack."

"I know you're not treating me like a kid, Acorn."

"Please.  Call me Sally."

"You're...going to be cheerful at a time like this...when you just made me eat dirt?!"

That was when Chara realized it wasn't one-one-one.

"This is what the Commander was all up tight about?"

"Looks like a normal human to me, Willie."

"Now, let's not get condescending, girls.  I mean he did just have a nasty fall."

Chara snarled.

"Why you...!" He thrust the blade. "...whaa--!" He was able to get out before freezing up and noticing Sally standing behind...balancing the tip of the True Knife on her finger.

"Nice weapon.  Seems like it should REALLY be sharper than this.  I mean this thing was obviously sharpened to a laser's edge but...man, does it seem like it couldn't cut a stick a butter."

"Wow, a real case of Call of the Cut Man, here, huh?" Honey mused.

"Was that another Violet reference?"

"Well, she does download a lot of music from Overclocked, y'know.  I'm amazed you picked that up, Sal."

"You know, what's a real good mix of that song?  There's this one by Megalomania that really kicks--"

"WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP TREATING ME LIKE I'M NOT EVEN HERE!!!" Chara lunged...and found himself unable to let gravity take over after the apex of his jump.

"Feisty guy, isn't he?" Sally walked around him as he hung there, or so it seemed from Chara's perspective.

"I know, right?" It looked like Honey and Willie were spared from the effect. Sally had chained her own temporal vision with the rest of Team Acorn.

"What the Hell...?!?" Chara was beside himself. "What's going on?!"

"Well, obviously not your attempt to rush into battle.  Even a good racer knows when to put the brakes on.  Otherwise you'll slam face first into the force barrier on the first turn."

"What are you babbling about?" Chara couldn't quite comprehend how he was talking despite the fact that every muscle in his face, the air in his lungs, and the vibrations of his larynx seemed to be completely stopped.

"Yeah, you don't seem like the patient type.  Ironic coming from me, am I right?" Sally finished her 360 degree walk around Chara. "Well, you do need to learn so let's start from the top.  First?  The basics.  As a rookie I learned that the first lesson is always...the fall comes before the pride."

"That's now how that saying goes--"

Sally snapped her fingers as the glow in her eyes subsided...and Chara ended up eating dirt right as Sally casually sidestepped as if rehearsed.

"You got half the lesson." Sally mused.

"Dang.  He really face-planted."

"Considering he came from Lupe's, you think it reminds him of Flowey?

Yeah, by this point, even to the other members of Team Acorn...Flowey was no secret among my team. No secret to everyone but Asriel.

Chara pounded both fists into the ground as he attempted to push himself up. "Don't you speak that abomination's name! You have no right--"

"Let's not beat around the bush, Big C.  You obviously came here to seek revenge.  And judging from your blow-up, I'd say I'm on that list, too, right?"

"You were there when Arcade ruined my plan to turn each of the Boss Monsters into dust.  Of course I'm going to kill you!"

"You know, you seem smarter and quicker...buuuut something's missing.  I pegged you for having a lot more pepper on the ball.  Even before Sans laid into you."

"You DARE bring up Smiley Trashbag's--"

"...epic trouncing of you?  Yeah, Violet wouldn't shut up about it behind closed doors of Headquarters."

"Boy did it cost us to get her to promise to keep it off the internet, eh, dubyah?"

"That it did, Honey."

Chara got up and picked up the knife.

"You laugh it up now...but you won't be laughing when I eviscerate you all!"

"And how do you intend to do that?"

"Easy on the taunting, Honey.  I mean, it IS three on one." Sally crossed her arms, with a smirk.

"Hey, I know!  Let's tie one arm or one leg behind our backs to give him a sporting chance.  Take the handicap out of the handicap match, am I right?"

Chara seethed. "You just don't know when to shut that mouth of yours--!" He lashed out quick but...

"You really should mind your toys.  Someone could get a nasty paper cut." Honey said with the most arrogant grin she could muster as her neon red light contrail completely encircled Chara

...but quick doesn't mean a thing to an OGPX Racer when their OverTech and Overdrive Sandals are online. In the time it took for Chara's eyes to completely widen, Honey had slugged him in the shoulder in several bursts; each burst she accompanied with "Hey!  Hey!  Are you upset? Once she landed...  "Violet owes me money."

Chara blinked only once...before crying out in pain before clutching where he had been hit.

"Oh man up, you big baby.  I barely gave you love taps."

Oddly enough...Honey was being sincere. Sally had warned ahead of time to hold back.

Yet, the way Chara was going on...it almost seemed a given that those lovetaps were going to leave a nasty bruise. This was...not normal. I'd seen Chara take far more than this in the Underground. Sans really had to work to mess him up when making him "Burn in Hell".

"Jeeze.  We got a real puffball."

"Maybe we should radio ahead and warn the others to go "full Nerf" on this one."

"Ah, like Venture, huh?"

"Honey.  You're going to have to pay into the jar for referencing a purple level world."

"Oh man...and I thought it was bad paying into Azzy's old swear jar on movie nights when he was ten!"

"Why......why do all of you insist on jerking me around?!  STOP TREATING ME LIKE A KID!  I DEMAND RESPECT AND I'LL GET IT IF I HAVE TO BEAT IT OUT OF YOU!"

This time it was Willie's turn. A smack to the back of the neck. "Just chill for a minute--"

Chara faceplanted again.

"Whoah.  I don't know my own strength."

"Girls, Volt gave us specific instructions to hold back if we have him at a disadvantage.  Not that he deserves it, mind you, but we're still better than that."

"I know, I know!  I didn't think I hit him that hard."

"Really, Willie?  When did we get to the point where a woman has to apologize for slapping a dude?"

"Don't bring gender stereotypes into this, Honey."

"STOP LAUGHING AT ME!" By this time Chara was in a blind rage and had dropped the knife to swing at the girls, not even caring that they were women.

Sally shrugged and sighed holding Chara back by the forehead. Sally was easily way outside of Chara's swinging range.

"I'll show you!  I'LL SHOW YOU!"

"Dude.  Just stop.  You're embarassing yourself, and making me feel bad.  Like...really bad.  I mean...really if anyone sees this, I'm gonna have a lot of trouble explaining why I'm beating up on a brat."

"Yeah, and three of us, too.  People will think we're a gang of delinquants."

Chara went flying as Sally let go. "You can stop this at any time."

"I won't stop until you're all dead!"

"Chara, seriously.  Woman to teenager.  Do you know what would happen if we actually armed our weapon systems and used them on you at this point?  It would be an ugly slaughter.  One which would haunt all three of us, plus our Commander would fly off than handle over it.  I mean...you don't seem like a dumb brat.  You had to know that we've been sizing you up all this time."

"You've just...been testing me?!  You had no intention of fighting me for real?"

"I know you're gonna take it the wrong way but...we were kinda worried we'd underestimate you.  Really, the previous you put us through the spin cycle, to be honest.  But now...we're all kinda relieved.  And...a little disappointed."

"Yeah, I was hoping we'd have a real challenge on our hands.  It's hard to top a polymorphous nanomechanical bio-abomination that can take one of Violet's Hades Bombs."

"No no no nononononono NOOOOOOOO!" Chara scratched at his hair, like he had the worst case of dandruff. This was a new nervous habit. Honestly, it reminded me of something a villain did on the world of My Hero Academia. That guy with the disembondied hands all over...including his face, like some kind of mask.

"Sorry, kiddo.  That's the horrible truth."

"Yeah...hate to break it to you, but...this conversation really isn't much fun for us."

"Totally.  It's kinda...depressing by this point."

"We're just gonna leave you here and go check on Lupe.  Make sure she's cool.  Later." Sally waved as she and team Acorn walked off, each with a nonchallant wave.

Chara just trembled while on hands and knees. Eyes twitching and streaming tears. And with that, he threw back his head and just bellowed to the sky until his throat hurt.

At that time, Lupe was checking in on me.

"...I understand." She hung up her T.A.O. link and then leaned up against the tree, kind of collapsing.

"Hey, Loop-Loop."

"Sally." Lupe looked a little taken by surprise.

"So.  Chara was here, huh?"

"He was..."

"Yeah.  We get it."

"Do you think we...over-trained for this day?"

"Better to be over-prepared...than repeat what happened seven years ago." Sally looked actually solemn. "I just didn't expect the shoe to be on the other foot like this.  What do you think it means?"

"If you're asking if I think it's a fluke or if this is part of a trap, well...even I can't say."

"No sense in worrying about it if we're expecting a trap or something worse than we actually get."

"Honey's right.  All we can do is let it play out and hope the enemy's plan reveals itself sooner or later."

"Come on.  Let's head to the cafeteria and drown sorrows.  Celebrate some hollow victories.  You know what I'm saying?" Sally shrugged with an amused grin.

"Yes.  I think that would be for the best."

Zero and two for Chara. Or Two and zero for us, depending on your point of view. One easy victory was just luck. But two...a pattern was becoming evident.

We had spent years, preparing for the moment Adonis would send us a calling card. Granted he let his subordinates make his plans, but ultimately he had the last say if they were approved. And to be honest? I don't think he gave a crap one way or another. The result of those plans--successful or bitter failure--were never the goal. He'd never let his minions know...it was all about whether he found their execution and follow-through entertaining.

As I'd said before...it wasn't necessarily his enemies that he got his entertainment and source of chaos from. Sometimes...it was just as much fun for him to sabotage his own people...just to see them fail spectacularly. What a hard lesson Chara was more than likely learning this very moment.

But the real soul-crushing disappointment for him was...the lesson had only just begun. So had we. Honestly...if the Chara's first opponent was a wake-up call, and his second opponent...opponents put a dent in his ego, his third encounter would really sting.

Sub-Entry 233: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Rotor":
"A plumber.  A freakin' plumber.  Of all things...a toilet-scrubbing, pipe-fixing plumber."

"I know you're the enemy and all, but is being insulting really that necessary?  I mean...can't we have a bit of civility in a battle."

"I've thrown all my civility at the last bunch of your cronies.  This is war, walrus."

"Well...I am at least glad you're not stooping to name-calling.  Sally said you had a bit of a--"

"Of a WHAT?  A blow up?  A temper tantrum?  Are you going to look down on me from your high horse, too?"

"You're kidding.  You're going to assume a plumber of all people has a high horse to be on top of in the first place?  I practically wrote the definition to the word, humility."

"Ugh...even more annoying than the wolf shaman."

"Uh...druid, actually."

"WHATEVER!" Chara growed.

"Can we do this another time when you're...you know...more composed?"

"SHUT UP!"

Chara took a moment to think about that. He couldn't argue that Rotor was right. He was in no frame of mind to seek revenge. The rage had just gotten to blinding.

Hell. He was Chara FREAKIN' Dreemurr! The demon that comes when you call its name. The shadow hiding in the dark side of Determination. He was a tactical genius! These worms couldn't hold a torch to his strategy! He played every one of the Dreemurrs for saps! It was just too easy to make all those Genocide runs a reality before UTPR-3235 came into existence!

"Okay, but I really don't feel like doing this.  I mean...I have work to do and bills to pay.  I got family to think of."

"They'll get to join you when I've stripped your hide and gutted your tusks for ivory."

"Okay.  Disturbing.  Good to have ambitions, but I suggest you should probably see a therapist about your issues.  They could really give you a complex.  Seriously, tone it down, your most taxidermy-ness."

Rotor actually borrowed that one from "Fat Cat" of Team Acorn's rivals. It always cracked Sally up. Rotor's humor was subtle, unlike Violet's who always hit like a brick until the joke went from no longer funny to "please give this joke a mercy killing, already".

"Okay...you Ultra Crew bozos just...can't help yourselves from really ticking me off, can you?  It's like...an incurable sickness with you?  You just don't know when to shut your mouths!"

"I'm not...trying to be insulting.  It just keeps...happening.  Sorry!"

"Sorry?!  You're apologizing?!?  Now you're REALLY making my blood boil!"

"Okay, time out.  Anything done in anger is going to be something you can't take back.  So.  Let's just postpone this until we're on equal ground." Rotor turned to head to his truck before a True Knife landed in the ground just stopping at the very front of his boot.

"I didn't give you permission to leave."

"Aww man...I'm gonna be late getting.  Skeeter's gonna yell at me again." Rotor wrinkled his nose in a grimace.

"You.  Me.  You get a knife and I get a trophy to hold under Arcade's nose."

"Yikes.  That could be considered a bit intimidating."

"It's supposed to be, genius!"

"No, no.  I was never a genius.  Just a guy who was assistant to the Minister of Science."

"...what's with you?  I didn't ask for your life story!"

"Yeah, I probalby shouldn't be sharing details with the enemy.  But really.  Do we really have to go this route?  I mean...why don't you pick on Antoine?  I'm sure he'd be a more satisfying prey."

Okay, Rotor was kidding but who could say if Chara could tell?

"No dice.  You die."

"Well.  I guess we should do it like the old west when they had a shootout.  One of those showdowns at high noon."

"Screw that!  You think I'm going to let stupid rules get in the way of--"  Chara drew back to throw the knife.

* SPLUT*

"What the f--"  Chara's look of rage spiked when he saw the blob of Megamuck swallow up his arm from his wrist down, including the blade.

"Well if you insist on no rules.  I did want to give you a sporting chance.  Not that I really know anything about sports, mind you.  I just didn't want you calling me an a-hole because I caught you off guard."

"Well you ARE an a--"

* SPLUT*

Another blob of the mixture of petroleum, quicksand, and clay mud had glued Chara's mouth shut.

"That's two shots, now.  Aren't you going to fight back?  I mean...this IS supposed to be a battle, right?" Rotor shrugged.

A muffled scream of anger followed by a charge and--

* SPLUUUUT*

THe biggest blob of all sealed Chara to the wall where he strugged.

"Well....that was anticlimactic.  You sure you don't want a rematch?  Best two of three?"

Death glare. Just...death glare.

"Well, if that's a no--"

Chara's rage boiled over as the swarm of True Knives cut his way out of the blob...and then he turned and went about face. Like I said. Losing to someone heavier-set, signtificantly slower, and hated confrontation? That REALLY had to sting. There's just really something wrong with the world when you had to feel this sorry for a bully who was rotten to the core and had no intention of showing any mercy...someone who fully intended to mass murder...but lacked the ability to back up their words and follow through with their intentions. I think...that was the dark irony Adonis intended...if he intended anything at all.

It was hard to feel virtuous, despite being clearly in the right when the enemy just kept lowering the bar. Chara should not be this harmless. Right? We're not the bullies, here. We're defending our home from a foreign invader.

Maybe...too well?

No. We were going about this with the least amount of force necessary to drive him off. Don't let your heart sway what needs to be done, Arcade. Don't let him get to you. He is the enemy.

"So...I'm going to call that a win for me.  Not to be a dingle about it or anything but...I consider it a good day when I still have a heartbeat and can draw breath while being relieved that my kid brother is in a better, safer environment than Vorostov."

Rotor took off his hat and scratched his head.

"Man, that was unsatisfying as heck.  And I'm the guy who AVOIDS getting into battles." Rotor turned toward the center of town.

"I wonder what he's in for when he goes up against one of us who doesn't even have a problem with battling?"

Sub-Entry 234: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Chameleon (and Kid)":
As it turned out...Rotor hit the nail on the head. And boy did he get all the luck. And every drop of it was bad. Not bad like so bad it was good. No. BAAAAAAAAAAD.

I would not wish the Prince of the Septus on my worst enemy. But that's exactly what Chara would get. Chameleon unbound.

"No no no no no no no!" Chara fumed. "Three losses to...weaklings!  How?!  HOW?!"

He could not comprehend it.

"I lost...to a fat, tusked, plumber!  That wasnt' even a fight!  He just stuck me in glue and tried to leave me for the authorities!  I'll show him!  I'll show them all!"

It was getting harder to contain his rage and remember how to be a cold and intelligent strategiest. If I needed any further proof that he was still a child despite being in his teenage years...I'm sure I would get it in spades in the next confrontations.

Chara stormed his way through Miranda City. Another thing Adonis hadn't provided him with? A map of our home turf. Though whether or not Adonis had that kind of information was up for debate. Honestly, we tried to keep anything about us as far away from his eyes as possible.

But had Chara had that information...he would have known better than to go anywhere near Chameleon's shack.

"What a dump." Chara said offhandedly, taking in his surroundings. He started to continue on his way before he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Eff off, pal." He muttered, not looking back.

Another tap. This one harder.

"I said eff off!" Chara snarled.

A third tap.

"What is your damage--"  He started before he saw the tip of Chameleon's sword slide over top of his shoulder...and attached to it was a bounty poster of Chara Dreemurr as Violet had snapped a picture of him in the Underground.

"I've been waiting a long time for this." Chameleon's voice made him shudder.

"...another of Arcade's cronies?  You seem a bit hardcore for his band of puffballs."

"You really think I'd work for him?  Kid, I'm a bounty hunter.  If the price is right..."

"Yeah I get it.  Someone turned my name into to people who don't actually care about due process or handling things by the book.  You're one of those guys who doesn't care about how the job gets done.  You'll dirty your claws with anything."

"Don't try to psycho-analyze me, brat.  You're a troublemaker with a price on his head doing a piss-poor impression of the last little terrorist brat that came through our town.  Based on the intel I've gotten...you're not even a shade of a pale imitation.  Arcade's people have been running rings around you.  And if that's the case, I think maybe I'm charging too much for this one."

Wow. A subtle slight against us? Even when he's civil, I never stop feeling like there's always a stinger at the end of every compliment.

"You're not like Arcade are you?  You won't sugarcoat things.  You won't show mercy."

"First smart thing you've said, kid.  You seem smart enough to know how it works.  You must have some idea how the business goes."

"You've got a sword to my neck.  I'm at a disadvantage.  If you're going to end it...end it, already."

Chameleon chuckled.

"You find something amusing?"

"Bit of a loaded question there.  Commenting on how I find it amusing that I hold all the cards and you think you can ask...no demand me to make it quick?  Things like this definitly give the job a little more...levity.  I'd almost think you were desparate, subtly assassinating my character without directly doing so as a ploy to buy time.  Time which I'm freely giving you no less."

"Oh I see.  This is a game of wits.  You're trying to learn more about me, aren't you?"

"Arcade's methods do have uses...he just doesn't have the stomach to use the most...effective implementation, shall we say?"

"Now who's sugarcoating?"

"In just two breaths of what you call a voice, I've certained picked a good amount of you apart...up here." Chameleon pointed to his head. "You can intimidate me all you want.  It's not going to work."

"Are you saying my methods are too...draconian?"

Chara ground his teeth. "You did not just make a pun.  I've dealt with a skeleton that has that annoying habit."

"You would want me to apologize for...rattling your bones?"

"Stop it."

"You just can't help but indulge me; yet another weakness of yours you let slip.  This really is your first rodeo.  You're a much more enjoyable bounty than your predecessor when it comes to the mental aspect...but even when hey were hopelessly outmatched, they put up  at least semblance of a fight.  I had the drop on you before you even knew I was here and you've wisely refrained from attacking."

"Wisely?  Maybe I'm just--"

"Waiting for me to lower my guard." Chameleon chuckled. "This is almost like stealing candy from a baby."

"Maybe you're just talk--"

Chara felt the sword slice a cut into his neck. Not a deep one. Just enough to prove a point.

"One of us is."

"How stupid do you think I am to be goaded into a fight?"

"Don't take it personally.  Collecting a bounty on something that doesn't fight back is easy money.  But no...personal satisfaction.  You see the previous "you" made it personal.  Right now you haven't tried to provoke me.  A bit of a role-reversal by your perspective, wouldn't you agree?  That I should be trying to stir you up.  I'm not deying that I'm poking the bear...but I'm not admitting it either."

Chameleon would never admit that was a page out of Violet's book.

"I get it." Chara looked over his shoulder. "You lizardmen are all about bolstering your ego."

"Septus have their pride.  I of all people can appreciate that much." Chameleon was shrewd not to let on that he was in fact the Septus prince.

"So now what?  You gonna collect your bounty?"

"Did you read the text on it?"

"...dead or alive."

"By order of her majesty, no less.  Our queen is a nightmare to have dealings with...but she pays well when you get the job done.  Here is a rare instance where I can get two kinds of payment.  The first I'm already receiving.  The second has a number of zeros on a piece of paper."

"What's the other payment?"

"Technically...two fold.  Information...and satisfaction.  Consider it a bit of pent-up aggression I never got to follow through on when the last Chara Dreemurr made an enemy of me."

"What would happen to me if you brought me in alive?"

"You're a smart guy.  You know what happens next or should."

"Your queen turns me over to Arcade after she's done with me.  Arcade pumps me for information about the terrorist traitor of S.T.C.  After that...who knows.  Deports me back to the Underground where either Undyne or Sans deals with me.  Maybe taken into custody by S.T.C.  How do I know what fate awaits me?"

"That was a test to find out the scope of your speculation...and maybe learn a few other things."

Chara growled. He was giving up way too much information. How was Chameleon doing this?

"Well then.  Let's get down to business." Chameleon withdrew the sword but kept it drawn.

"Kid.  We all make choices.  I'm about to test you with another one." He said as he sheathed his sword, drew a handgun and cocked its chamber before tossing the weapon at the ground before Chara.

"Arcade mentioned that the other "you" mentioned something about a kid...a cowboy with a six-shooter that came from the place you came from.  Know how to use this?"

"You have to be incredible stupid for arming me."

"Want to test that theory? You take me out.  You go free and you just have to deal with Arcade.  But...if you don't...well, you have two options beyond that.  Run on the off chance you might actually get away from me and retreat to your master and live with the humiliation.  Or...surrender and give me an easy paycheck.  In which I'll be disappointed but still get paid."

"What about a third option and not take the bait?"

Chameleon chuckled. "You want to find out if that's the smart choice?  How quick do you think I can draw my sword before you pull the trigger?"

A moment of hesitation...before Chara dove, grabbed, and dashed in and pointed point blank.

"Checkmate--"  He said.

* click*

Chameleon looked visibly disappointed. "The test was over before you even made your choice.  You didn't even check to see if it was loaded.  You really are a dumb kid...thinking an experienced bounty hunter would give you a loaded weapon and take a chance you'd actually put a bullet in my brain?"

Chameleon had slowly been drawing his blade in the time he said that...but then quickly shoved it back in. "You're unworthy of my sword."

"So now what?  You think I'm just going to surrender?  We both are unarmed."

"Unarmed...but the difference between us...is bigger than you think."

That was when the dark shadow coiled around Chara. "I was beginning to suspect you would not give me the command."

"Patience is its own reward, Asmirus.  Reap that reward."

"With pleasure..."

For what seemed like an eterinity Chara's heart, soul, and mind were in limbo as Asmirus feasted upon his emotional state like some kind of empathy vampire. The delicious negative vibes put Chara in a place that he would soon vow to never go back to.

When Asmirus finally released him.

"Wh...what are you...?!"

"Asmirus is...complicated." Chameleon mused.

"You're a--"

"I've been called worse than monster.  But there's an irony to that, isn't there?  You came from a world with monsters...now you take their species in vain?  I suppose when push comes to shove you really don't have much integrity to your name."

"Are you satisfied?"

"Oh we're not done yet..." Chameleon mused as his form shifted.

"Oh come on......" Chara staggered to his feet and looked up at the towering dragon form that he had taken on.

Afterward...

Chara staggered into an alley. How history repeats.

While at the same time...

Chameleon's form shifted again back to his normal state.

"...Well.  I guess I don't get paid. One payment...is better than none.  Besides.  What he got here was far better than he deserved.  When he meets up with the rabbit?  Heh.  That's a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone."

"You're not going soft are you, master?"

"Hold your tongue or I get out the strobe light."

".....as you wish."

"If anything...by letting Violet at him?  I'd say I'm being pretyt darn cruel."

But it would be a bit before Chara ran into Violet. Ohhhh, that was a can of worms for a log entry further down. Until then...he would get a taste of what insanity was.

"...I gotta find one one of those Ultra Crew losers.  One who's actually a pushover."

Chara managed to sneak out of the alley before noticing...

"What's this?  He stuck a business card on me?  That arrogant...!" Chara snarled.

He read it. "Blank on this side?  What's--"

The other side did have a word on it.

"Grimmn'elvuul?"

History sure is repeating a lot this day.

One might expect falling ice cream trucks at this moment but...

"What the heck...?" Chara noticed he was standing on a manhole cover...and it was rattling something fierce.

"...what's going--!"

Chara didn't have any time to react as the metal plate shot up into the air with him atop.

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

The cover became unstable frrom the gusher underneath, knocking Chara off and sending him to the street in a heap. The metal plate just missed flattening his head, to boot.

"What just...?"

* splatter*

THe geyser had managed to soak him to his socks...but to his dumbfoundment it wasn't water or sewage...

"Root Beer?!  Why the Hell is it spewing ROOT BEER FROM THE SEWERS?!"

"Why nooooot?" Kid's smile appeared out of nowhere...and he faded into existence.

"First a lizard...now a cat?!"

Honestly, I feel like a Bratty and Catty reference would be right at home here. Oh boy, was Chara in for it...

"After an encounter with a lizard...a cat shouldn't be a problem."

Is he EVER going to get tired of being wrong.

Half an hour later..

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Come back again, friend!"

"I'm not your frieeeeeeeeeend!"

A moment of silence for Chara's dignity.

Sub-Entry 235: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Mitzi and Gadget":
It's a matter of perspective whether or not Chara was lucky to escape Chameleon...and Kid. Obviously he survived and got out of there by the skin of his teeth.

By this time Chara was looking a little worse for wear. Residual "mega muck" riot paste, messed up clothes and hair from the encounter in Lupe's nature preserve, and yes...bruises from insisting on a fight with Team Acorn that wasn't even a fight. And that drew attention to him. Unwanted attention.

"What the Hell are you looking out?" He growled.

No one bothered to answer. And most everyone either stayed away, stared like Chara had two heads, or whispered amongst themselves, remarking how scandalous a sight this was.

Anyone else looked upon Chara with looks of sorrow or sympathy...but that was the extent. I guess the sentiment was akin to a sick cat that had survived something unspeakable; you felt morbid at the sight but no way were you brave enough to try to engage let alone try to get them medical attention.

"Stop staring at me..." He growled between clenched teeth. When that failed to drive anyone away, the True Knife came out.

But surprisingly...it got less shock and horror than he was aiming for. A teen with a pretty real knife...that should at least convince someone to call the authorities...right?

And things like this...were making me wonder...what was wrong with this picture? This needed to be taken seriously but...Chara was barely being perceived as a threat let alone a demon that destroyed worlds.

"If you think I'm going to roll over and accept this, Doctor..." Chara fumed, thinking of of the smugness obscured by the shadows, hiding my hated nemesis from everyone's prying eyes.

Yet...I had to agree. This wasn't right. Miranda was being too non-challant about this. In seven years, the memory of the previous Chara's attack should at least have some kind of echo in our memories. I sure didnt' forget. So what?

What was diminishing it?

Was this...a price that Chara had to pay just to get at us? If it was...he didn't know about it. This was totally something Allouicious would do.

Still shambling around town without direction...it seemed that the Devil's luck or the Gods' curse was upon him. Somehow he just kept running smack dab into members of UCIAT or our allies by chance.

It was about that time when he tried to switch stretcgies. Rather than go to one of us, he'd bring one of us to him; on his own terms.

It was a sound plan. Attempting to get an advantage wher ehe clearly had none.

"If I cause enough of a ruckus, I'll draw one of you out and lure you into a trap."

That was where his next mistake lay...of all places he could have started to riot and cause a panic...he chose Rock-Afire Pizzaria. And yes. Mitzi was on duty. And she wasn't alone.

I'd already warned her ahead of time and given her Chara's description should she or any of my fellow run into him by chance. So Mitzi of course played it calm and cool. As it turned out, something else ended up working against Evil Chara: he had no idea who in town was even on my team.

Yet another instance of Adonis screwing him over with what I called "gaming in the 80's". As Violet described it:  video games now days were oversaturated with tutorials and handholding. Sometimes to the point of being obnoxious and patronizing.

This was the opposite case. Chara didn't have a single shred of helpul information and was dropped into unknown territory with no knowledge of how anything from physics to social norms worked around here. Much like an 8-bit game bought used that had no instruction manual and the game sure didn't explain how to play. Violet called this the"Legend of Zelda on NES" effect. You could explore for hours without any direction or clues.

"I've got to break this damn losing streak." He muttered to himself, finally admitting that this wasn't going as planned. Mitzi tended to the other customers. Across from her was none other than my little sister, Gadget. Yup. Twice-As-Nice-Mice besties enjoying their time together.

"With a moment to breathe, I can think of how I'm going to trap one of those UCIAT bozos and then gut them like a fish." Chara twisted the True Knife, keeping it mostly out of view by his side or behind him. The element of surprise could work out perfectly here.

Taking his pick between the two mice, Chara arbitrarily picked Gadget as the first victim.

By any other instance, had Gadget been all alone and uninformed of the situation...it would not look good for her and I'd find myself in a bad place from the aftermath.

Things were far from that ideal to the teenage intruder.

Quietly Chara attempted a stealth kill, ignorning the scent of all the food around. I'd later ponder if he'd eaten or rested at any point before coming to our world.

"Try ignoring this, you UCIAT losers--"  Chara thrust the knife... ...but found himself completely dumbfounded when it stopped at the energy shell made of purple hexagonal panels...like a force barrier.

"He's here, Mitzi." Gadget said rather dryly, moving her gaze toward Chara, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"The Commander gives his regards." MItzi finished wiping out the empty glass with a small towel before settting it asside.

"You both work for Arcade?!"

As instructed, I warned Gadget not to drop any clues about our relationship. Just call it a precuationary measure, but I didn't want Chara focusing all his energy on family any more than I wanted him focusing on friends. An emotional or psychological advantage was too much of a risk, even if Chara wasn't posing much of a threat.

"Die!" Chara flung the True Knife toward Mitzi's forehead...only for the weapon to be caught with one of her green constructs...of all things a giant pair of pliers or...pullers used by a dentist.

"You're a freakin' Green Lantern?"

"I get that a lot." MItzi remained steadfast.

By this time, her customers decided to get out of dodge with an odd lack of panic. By all means, each of Chara's attacks should have at least stirred something up.

It was obvious, by this point, that it wasn't just us in UCIAT who were ready and expecting Chara's attack...just how much of the town had been waiting for someone to try something this stupid?

"Try to catch all of these!" A swarm of True Knives homed in on Mitzi...before stopping in midair...reversing course and clinking, one-by-one to their new target: Gadget's makeshifted Electromagnet--a giant tuning fork, coiled heavily with magnet wire--protruding out of her backpack.

"You annoying bug!  I'll squash you!" Chara forged a True Knife that extended into a sword.

"We're doing this." Mitzi shook her head before doing a handstand vault over the counter and planting both sandals into Chara's face, effectively double curb-stomping him to the floor.

"Get...off!" Chara managed to say before managing to cause Mitzi to lose her balance, only to be caught by mechanical arms from Gadget's backpack.

"Miss Mitzi, are you okay?"

"Fine, thanks to you!" She beamed with a thumbs up.

"Ugh...enough with the sickening acts of friendship.  Do yourselves a favor and line up to be exterminated!"

Gadget's mechanical arms let go of Mitzi as she forged the Green Tonfas and went to town while Gadget drew her makeshifted heat beam and ice ray weapons.

"I apologize in advance for anything that gets broken, Miss Mitzi.  I'll still try to be careful."

"Don't worry about it.  I'm prepared to file whatever insurreance claims I need to.  You just be ready to call the Border Patrol if this gets out of hand."

"Out of hand?!  Are you underestimating me?!  ARE YOU DISRESPECTING ME?!?"

"Mabye." Mitzi said with a brief and very coy smirk.

"Raaaargh!" Chara came at her with a pair of True Knives swinging.

Tonfa to blade, it looked pretty even at first. Until Mitzi made it clear that she was only toying with him. The first moment Chara siezed to catch her off guard, he sent one of MItzi's weapons spiralling into the kitchen.

"I guess this means sensei's going to have to train me some more.  That was a rookie mistake."

"One that's going to COST YOU YOUR LIFE!!!" Chara dove with both blades extended, attempting to impale like a human spear.

Mitzi jumped and did a sommersault right as Gadget send her makeshifted hoverboard her way, providing a landing platform. Chara ended up spearing into the other wall, her knives gettign stuck for a moment.

"I won't be denied my revenge!"

"Revenge?  We haven't even met you until today.  What revenge do you have to seek on us?" MItzi put her hands to her hips like a scolding mother.

"You Ultra Crew goons...with all your comradery and your unwillingness to do what it takes to evolve..."

"You don't know a thing about friendship, do you?" Mitzi continued to meet Chara with a condescending tone. She wasn't having it when faced with a bully.

"Just one of your corpses will hit Arcade where it hurts.  Now be good little rodents and die so you can be proper bait!"

"If this is a trap, it's not very well thought out." Mitzi shook her head.

"You might stop being so mean and try to be nice for a change." Gadget managed to knock Chara for a tumbling loop with the use of a sonic cannon she had just put together from parts in her backpack while Mitzi was busy scolding.

"I'll swat you like a--"  Chara's slap met only air as Gadget had fired up the Reduction Belt and deployed a set of powered wings and jets she had thrown together in her spare time.

"This is like some sort of sick joke!  Do every last one of you have freaky superpowers?"

"Hey!  They're not freaky!" Gadget pouted as she buzzed around Chara's head before landing on his check and gave him a good sting with a makeshifted "stinger" she had made out of an old police taser.

"YEEEEOW!" The jolt actually left  a good welt underneath the cartoonishly rosey circle on his cheek, actually turning it more into a lopsided blotch.

Gadget quickly resized and joined Mitzi by her size.

"If I have to rip this whole building apart to squash the two of you--"

"You know what, Gadget?  Change of plans..." MItzi reshapped her weapon into the pointy, railed guard on the front of a locomotive engine and charged into Chara, knocking her down.

Gadget followed up with a pair of C-shaped magnets--each built into a quad-copter drone. The two of them quickly snapped around Chara's torso and dragged him through the doorway.

"Hey!  Let go of me!" He struggled to break out of the magnets. The O-ring they had formed had a death grip on him until Gadget killed the power. Once that happened, Chara was dropped outside in the middle of the street.

"No more games.  The two of you are going to be terminated with extreme prejudice!  If that doesn't convince Arcade that I mean business, I don't know what will!"

"I know there's a rule about not escalating a battle until we're forced to but--"

"Yeah.  Seems the only way to get it through his head that he's lost is to make it pretty obvious."

"Ready, Miss Mitzi?"

"Ready." MItzi took hold of Gadget's hand as both of their Hybrid Abilities flowed forth and began combining...forming a construct around them. Scrap parts from Gadget's pack quickly interlaced with mazes of neon structures from Mitzi's powers, wrapping, combining to form something akin to a two-pilot hard light construct mech suit.

".........this has gone beyond a sick joke...this is just.......just....why....I don't...it's...!" Chara stammered as she looked up at the Twice As Nice Mice united in every sense of the word.

"Remember when we combined our powers like this back at the last Raxis Tournament!"

"Do I ever!  It's thanks to this we came in fourth place, Miss Mitzi!"

Chara gripped his fists...and his composure just collapsed on him as his temper shot into the stratosphere.

"You think I'll surrender to......that?!?  You think that just because you pulled out some kind of trick like that, I'll surrender like a coward!"

"Cowards do survive." Gadget replied, rather solemn...almost shamefully admitting her own timidness.

Mitzi patted Gadget's shoulder. "Easy, partner.  You're being too hard on yourself." She then looked at Chara.

"Pushing us to keep fighting isn't bravery."

"Don't give me that crap!  It's two on one!  I'm the one being victimized here!"

"You really believe that?" Mitzi wrinkled her nose. "You're an invader in our town. You came into my establishment and engaged in attempted murder.  We have every right to defend our home.  Our territory.  For the record we haven't dealt you any serious injuries and we certainly haven't attempted to kill you."

"Self-righteous garbage!  You heroes are just hippocrates!"

With Mitzi encouraing her, Gadget was able to respond to that.

"You bad guys are always trying to make yourselves sound noble while picking apart our actions.  But you're not doing anything good!  The truth is you're only doing this to us because you like it, don't you!"

In that moment, Gadget had channeled her inner All Might, with a little of Asriel mixed in for good measure and hit the nail on the head.

Chara was left speechless. Yeah. They had figured him out. Even back in the underground...how much he abused his own Asriel...how he attacked the Boss Monsters. Every rotten thing he did...he enjoyed every moment of it.

"You...you...!!!"

"Now!  While he's distracted!"

Mitzi fused the power of her Green Beams with Gadget's make-shifted laser rifle, turning the combined green laser and combined purple laser into a DNA-like double helix beam!

"Miss Violet taught me this one from a game called Super R-Type!" Gadget announced as the blast hurled Chara backwards. Its shear force plastered him across the street, darn near digging a trench.

By the time it fizzled out, Chara was multiple blocks away from Rock-Afire Pizzaria. This wasn't just another strike...this was a pentuple losing streak.

He lost. He lost to mice.

Sub-Entry 236: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Doubt/Everyone Else":
Losing to the mice was a turning point and kind of a weird parallel. When Chara...or rather the Wraith battled me during UTPR-3224's timeline, I counted five significant instances where we fought and it ultimately lost the showdown. Mitzi and Gadget made this Evil-Chara's fifth straight loss. It was worse because if Gadget had been alone, her timidness might have given Chara a shard of hope to break his losing streak. But with Mitzi right there with her to encourage my little sister and give her the boost in confidence and courage she needed...Chara's battle was forfeit before she even approached them.

THe cherry on top of the "humiliating loss sundae" was Gadget really trying to press to make up and be friends. From his perspective...that pierced and gouged far worse than any insult or injury that anyone she fought could have caused.

At least with Chameleon, he didn't pull any punches. It was by the Devil's Luck that Chara even survived his encounter...or maybe Chameleon was just that good at pounding him to the border of life and death. I'm sure someone would get a lot of crap over him losing his bounty. ".........."

Back to the matter at hand, Chara was at a crossroad. The cracks had piled up and now he was strarting to question if this crusade of revenge had ANY chance of succeeding.

"Damn it...damm it...damn it..."

It was breaking him. No doubt Adonis was very amused by what he was monitoring.

"All I need...is one...corpse.  One of you freaks...just a pile of blood and entrails...to prove I mean business...just one..." He clawed at his hair trying to regain composure. "If I could kill just one of you, I'd have enought EXP...I could gain LV and--"

He blinked. Could it be so simple? Maybe...but why didn't that feel like the answer? Trust your instincts...or trust the rules of the "game"?

"...would it work?  Wouldn't it?"

His descent into madness had begun. He'd brushed past a number of facts coming into our world. First...he was on our turf. That didn't work against his predecessor; but here...it was like getting an anvil dropped on his head.

Second, and follow-up to the previous fact, he wasn't in Undertale anymore. He was outside of the game. This was clearly another thing that was not an obstacle for Chara-Wraith. Evil-Chara was paddling upstream from this simple fact.

Third...let's face it. Dr. Allouicious Adonis set him up to FAIL. Not for any life's lesson; the humiliation was just a fringe benefit--the icing on top of the cake. No...for this, Adonis wasn't concerned about wins or losses, nor furthering Chaopolis' agenda. This was all for his own amusement. Amusement that Madam Fate approved of. Chaos, misery, struggle and just general negativity...this nasty mix was her jam.

"You seem a bit lost."

"Shut up!  I didn't ask for help--"

"Wasn't going to give it in the first place...Chara Dreemurr."

His grunt of exasperation came too late as Marcel Gilneas didn't even let him prepare for the coming attack. Getting double-teamed by Marcel and Josquin would have been enough. But when you're Miranda's greatest necromancer and thief, you tend to bring backup in the form of the undead. Also...having a dullahan in your corner helps. And it went further downhill from there. The only differentiation was that the slope of the hill kept getting steeper. And the losses kept piling up.

A loss to Marcel with the narrowest of escapes led to a nightmare encounter with Red Stokes and his whole family. Suffice to say things were said by Chara that he really should have taken back and only proceeded to worsen his predicament.

About by this point Chara was doing less strategic fighting and more hack-n-slashing. What few times he did manage to get in some actual hits...the horror set in when he saw first hand the regenerative capabilities of R-Series. Even at his deadliest of strikes...whatever Adonis had done to him...Chara's True Knife had zero chance of being fatal.

Escaping them led him to starring down the barrel of Vanessa Canciaris' favorite weapon--a rail cannon rifle fit to compare to one of my own magnetic coil guns.

An encounter with the Sergals made Chara almost pray for death. Had he encountered Cima at her prime, his tale would have ended there. Guaranteed. I guess maybe our town did have a profound effect on the "shark wolf" but that's another story.

There's a point when a bully comes looking for a fight and he learns that lesson about being careful what you wish for...you just might get it. Chara was now several continental borderlines past that point. If at any point he would have stopped his bluster and had the common sense to ask for mercy...beg for his life...just cease his attack, then HE would be the victim.

But intent is everything. He intended to hurt and kill. His desire for revenge was all that was fueling his determination at this point. There would be no rage-quit.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Only rage.

It was a miracle, even with most of us holding back that he wasn't injured to the point of incapacitation. Then again...he was carrying healing items from the Underground...and somehow they still worked.

The very forces of the universe conspired against him in what I can describe as one continuuous gauntlet.

Escaping Vanessa Canciaris only dropped him by chance into one of the auxilliary workshops of Prince James...who just happened to have a new mech to test out.

Patting out the flames, Chara was soon face to face with Ivy, Lagunov and several others. Had they been taking him as a serious bounty, I guarantee there was no way Chara would have been allowed to escape.

A brush with Vidian had him jumping at shadows. Literally.

A clash with the Mage Academy proved to be a very big folly.

At some point, Chara got the idea to try to break into Tina's alchemy shop and attempt to raid it for weapons and potions to try to fight the Mirandians on their own terms. Suffice to say, it backfired drastically and Cid Padesh made it very clear that even he was not to be trifled with.

"...this is BULLSH--(Flowey cackle)!  Even that ugly anteator...creature...thing made a fool of me?!" Not even I could have predicted that Ripper would get in on the action. What that meant was Chara was in for a cascade of explosion after explosion after explosion coupled with Ripper's reckless stunt driving.

"I'm being chased by a dog with rabies in a freakin' muscle car?!"

His insults however went pretty much ignored do to being drowned out by the noise and Ripper's adrenaline-fueled howls.

Where Ripper went, Valerie was sure to follow. It was a miracle that Chara wasn't completely eviscerated by even one of her dire werewolf form's slashes. It made me wonder...what Chara must have said or done to get her THAT worked up?

Glenda, a local spell-caster had him fending off magic attacks in barrages. Sir Alistair gave chase aboard his mount, Brick. Red's wife, a harpy named Monique, took her shot at attempting to run Chara out of town or at least send her my way.

And so on...and so on...and so on. It wasn't that we were ganging up on her on purpose...Chara just insisted on picking a fight with anyone and everyone just to find one person weak enough to gut like a fish and throw us off our game; break our morale just that much to give him an edge to make a comeback. He was almost as persistant as Dr. Wily with his 11 plus attempts at world domination.

It was pretty hopeless by this point. Too many people had soundly defeated Chara. You'd think with those odds, someone would have subdued him and captured him. If there was one thing going for Evil Chara...it was escape. And each escape reminded him he was at rock bottom.

Oh but that wasn't the worst of it. Not by far. No the cherry on top of this disaster sundae came two-fold.

The first came from none other than Rainbow WIng--the five dragon wyrmlings that were always getting into mischief.

I think it was the one time the Black Wyrmling--the only one of them who could speak common, mind you--had proven himself to be a capable leader to a capable team. Or maybe the challenge was just that easy. Who am I to say? The final, final, FINAL straw came in Antoine's one and only victory in the time he first came to Miranda. And he literally booted Chara in the butt to seal the deal.

"Be gone, overweaning rogue!  Zis' kingdom is protected by Antoine D'Cooliette!  Master bladesman and handsome soldier of Ecotropia!"

What a way to go out.

"Why...why don't they die...why don't they die...why don't they die?!?" Chara climbed out of the storm drain. The smell certainly threw Rainbow Wing off the trail.

Sub-Entry 237: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Violet":
To this point, Chara was broken physically and spiritually. All he had left was his emotional and mental health to keep him going.

The latter was about to go out the window.

For us, putting up with Violet's antics pushed us to the bring of our own sanity.

"Show yourself!" Chara had smashed through the door of Computer Valhalla, setting off its alarm system.

No answer except for the operation system, I.R.I.S. running intruder alert warnings in a loop.

He stormed through the checkpoint metal detector frame and walked past the sign in station.

"What the Heck...?" Chara looked over his shoulder, swearing he felt a static zap from the metal detector rig.

"Arcade's lacky must have built this place out of junk.  Get some better wiring in here you freak."

Nothing seemed to be amiss to the demon. If only he had paid more attention to the works of Lewis Carol, he'd know this story.

"Alright, bunny b--(FLOWEY CACKLE)...time to meet whatever deity you pray to--"  Chara grabbed the swivel chair and spun it around and thrust the knife, not even letting its occupant get a clever quip out.

If only he had paid more attention to a certain animation featuring a bumbling robotic police inspector, he'd have seen this coming.

"What the--"  He gasped as the tip of the knife struck something round, black, and had the construction of a cannon ball.

But that was of little consequence as a slot in the chair sudden opened up and a chain with handcuff snapped around his wrist. "Oh you--!!!" He couldn't think of an insult as he was chained to what he confirmed was indeed a-

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Th-th-th-that's all, folks.........okay, no not really. C'mon. After so many years of Violet's antics, would we expect anything short of a cartoon sight gag made real?

Chara's eye twitched as he became aware of the soot and ash that covered his form and the remains of the bomb.

And while his attire was even further ruined by the blast...the surrounding area was somehow still intact, only blackened by the soot.

In the next few moments the sound of I.R.I.S. voice was overpowered by the most rage-filled scrream that tore apart Chara's vocal cords.

"THE RABBIT DIIIIIIIIIIIIES!!!"

"Someone mention meeeeeee?" Violet's image appeared larger the life on the bank of monitors behind the elaborate reception desk.

"You!  I remember you!"

"It's great that my reputation preceeds me."

"Cut the crap!  What the hell is this?!  Is this your idea of a joke?"

"Ya' gotta be careful, big C.  You never know what kind of trouble makers will break into my place and leave unsuspecting explosives at my workstation." She said with the widest of toothy grins.

"You're the third-highest ranking of Arcade's clowns.  Taking you out would definitely get everyone's attention.  I don't care what tricks you got up your sleeve.  You're NOT leaving this place alive."

"You know it's funny.  My coworkers usually say stuff like...it'd do them a favor if I was just...y'know not around to drive them up the wall.  Pretty dark, huh?  With friends like that who needs enemies.  Am I right?"

"Don't play games with me!"

Violet laughed. "You know...I think you just ignored the first rule when entering my place."

"What would that be, rabbit?"

"You should choose your words carefully...you just never know when you set yourself up for an obvious trope."

"What are you blabbering about--"

That was when the monitor bank futzed up and filled with static...then raining computer code right out of the Matrix Trilogy...and then every monitor rippled like water...impossibly so.

"...!!!!"  Chara's reaction was too little too late as a mechanical arm reached out of the center monitor, grabbed him by the shirt and YANKED him INTO it!

Oh yeah. This was happening.

When Chara regained consciousness, having landed flat on his butt...

"Where...where the Hell am I?!  RABBIT!  SHOW YOURSELF, RABBIT!"

Violet's 3-D holographic image appeared over head, big as life itself.

"I know you didn't ask...but the name's Violet.  I'm pretty sure after your experience here, you won't be forgetting it.  I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it!  Yaaay!"

"Quit being the laughing girl, long-ears.  What have you done?!"

"Technically...you did it." Violet shrugged with that grin. "Ever heard of...the Cheetah Men game?"

"What would I know about something like that?!" All that pop culture that Chara was witness to, and he didn't think to look up an obscure 8-bit video game? I'm...shocked. Hah.

"You know when they say a game is NES-hard, gamers these days don't know what I'm talking about.  Millenials, right?  Everything's gotta have a tutorial or no penalty for getting killed outside of losing a few coins. You see, Chara.  This game will grow some hair on your chest and have you doing a Tarzan yell before screaming at the top of your lungs.."I AM A MAAAAAN!"...before punching out a random passer-by FOR NO REASON!"

"I'm not jumping through these hoops!"

"You're not?  Okay, then I guess you DON'T want to meet face-to-face in person.  I'll just let you stay there for a while while I get the authorities to take you away once I let you out."

"That's dirty--"

"Nope.  That's life.  Take your choice.  Jail or try not to fail!"

Chara noted the low-res computer graphics arranged into...semblance of a 3-D world...but beyond artificial.

"You know I got a good deal from the effects used to generate Pixels the movie.  If you would have come here a few months later, I'd have the entire engine from the making of Ready Player One for a proper challenge.  Gods know I'd sure like to fight Freddy Krueger with Doom's B.F.G. or go mountain climbing with Batman over shooting up Centipedes and running away from Pac-Man in compact cars."

"Your death is going to be extra gruesome, "Violet"." Chara swore as he started to roll over and pick himself up, squeezing his eyes shot to make the flashing spots and blurryness go away. As soon as he opened his eyes...he found himself staring at a foot...a furry, three-toed, clawed foot. Like that of a big cat Hybrid.

"What the...!" He looked up past the toes and the ankles and the white pant leg...up and up past the muscular form.

"............oh.......right...cheetah...men." Chara smoldered at the towering form of the three spotted cat mutants in white martial arts-esque clothes. One with nunchukus. Another with a crossbow.

"What are you all staring at?"

Somehow their dialogue was lost on me when Violet transcribed the events of this so I could make this log...but it went something to the effect of... "We'll fight for you!"

Right. Sounds like pretty much most of the plot exposition of low grade 8-bit games of that era.

Now it it was as simple as that, all Chara was in for was a waiting game. But I knew Violet would never make it that simple.

It harkens back to those tropes of the tag-along kid superfan following around his or her favorite superhero on the ultimate team-up adventure of a lifetime. Heck, I knew of one such case with Dr. Venkman and the Ghostbusters. I'd never look at that 1903 World's Fair pin the same way again. But in this case? It was the reverse situation. Chara was about to be dragged along with each of the Cheetah Men heroes through the stages of a badly broken, if not barely functional game. Violet had somehow warped Chara into a world based on said broken, barely functional game.

"GAAAAH!" Chara ended up taking most of the normally unavoidable hits that should have sent the Cheetah Men back to the beginning. Somehow he had become more of a human shield than "Boy Boy", the sidekick of "Man Man" from the Ripping Friends.

Chara's frustration kept building. "Oh and don't worry, Chara.  I fixed that little glitch that makes the end of the fourth world impassable.  You get the last two levels, free of charge!  You're welcome!"

"Keep...talking...I dare you..."

"Dare accepted.  So, did you know that..." And Violet wasted no time in explaining everything a person wouldn't want to know about the game world and its inhabitants.

By the time Chara reached the end...

"SHUT UP!  SHUT UP!  SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!"

"Whoah.  Temper, temper.  You know stress can REALLY shorten your life span.  I mean right now your blood pressure and breathing--"

"WHY WON'T YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!?"

And with the final boss cleared...

The final boss cleared...

"Well?!  Get me out of here!"

He called for help...

"I'M NOT PLAYING AROUND HERE...

But no one came.

I guess it was poetic that a liar should be lied to or at least not given the whole story. But in all fairness? Chara DID ask Violet to shut up. And by ask, I mean demand.

In a way I found it kind of insulting. We dogged her for decades to zip her lips. And just like that...Vi went dark on someone she just met over one blow-up before a final boss. What was she playing at?

"You...you.....YOOOOOOOU!!!!"

I think this was the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm not entirely sure what happened next, but Chara's rampage on the world of Cheetah Men was surprisingly...destructive and effective.

One lucky strike was enough to expose the facade.

"What is this?!  WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS UNHOLY IS THIS?!?!?" Chara glared at the broken code and wire-frame.

"Get...me...out...of...this GAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!!!" Her rage flared up as the True Knife flared up with the darkest of blood red auras.

It was only seconds but he caused enough damage to crash the game...and cause it to collapse upon itself...revealing the holosimulation room.

"...you just made a fatal mistake, Violet.  You brought me to the center of your OWN HEADQUARTERS.  Now I'm going to take everything you took from me, only in weapons, gear, and blood and guts of your staff--"  Chara stormed toward the doors and slashed the controls until the electromagnetics and hyrdaulics failed and the doors could be pulled open.

"Now prepare to--"

Chara stopped dead in mid sentence when he realized.

"WHAT THE?!?"

A dusty shack, in a dustbowl section of the land far outside of town. That's right. Even I couldn't tell when exactly Chara stepped out of the real Miranda and into what might have been Violet's most elaborate simulation yet. Logically...one would say, when he stepped through the metal detector. But if Violet's force feedback research had advanced like I think it had in the last few years? Yeah...even that tingle was simulated.

What we had here was a reverse situation. When Chara-Wraith attacked us, he certainly kept ramping up the challenge and it got harder and harder for a team...my team...and even our allies...all of us together to keep up with her/it. Here? It was getting easier for all of us while the challenge kept getting harder and harder for Evil-Chara. Since this part of the log is mostly speculation...I'll leave it to the imagination what Chara's reaction was at this point.

Sub-Entry 238: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Bunnie/Confronted by Queen Brooke":
Bringing his evil to Rabbotou Dojo's doorstep? I was impressed. His determination was impressive. Part of me wanted to remark how much of a deathwish he had. The other part felt a sort of admiration for how far he was willing to take this to seek his revenge and confront Asriel. Chara had managed to walk back to town and find the real Computer Valhalla...and then walk the heck away from it.

But now he was treading on sacred ground, daring to causually walk through the Torii Gate.

"You.  Who are you."

Megami didn't answer.

"You're a nobody.  I should just cut you down and send a message.  But I've already stepped into one too many traps. Get out of my sight.  Before I change my mind."

Megami bowed.

"This ISN'T mercy!  You hear me!  I'm not sparing you!  You're not worth my time!  I just don't have time for you!  When I get back from slaying Arcade's second in command, I'm coming back for you!"

Don't make promises you can't keep, Chara.

Chara stormed past. Megami didn't even budge an inch or bat an eyebrow. Into the dojo, Chara went. Classes weren't in session and it was empty. Not even bothering to leave his shoes at the door was trivial by this point. He didn't care what rules he was breaking.

Pretty sure it wouldn't matter to Bunnie anyway.

But for now...Chara would find a new challenge barring the way.

It was such a simple fact to overlook...

Once out of the dojo...Chara got lost in a hurry once he reached the five elemental gates. "......." After having such a lengthy lapse in judgement, Chara tried to to the smart thing and strategize as well as use a few tricks so he wouldn't lose his way.

By now his clothes were showing signs of wear and tear. Emphasis on tear. Given that fact, Chara decided to sacrifice the shirt sleevs and unravel the threads from them to leave a trail to follow his way back.

"Hmmph." Mentally, he was patting himself on the back for finally using his head. It paid off when he didn't let his emotions get the best of him; regressing him back to the mere child that threw a temper tantrum back in Asgore's Throne Room. Attemtping first the gate of wind...

"...what the Hell?!" Chara soon found himself facing, of all things, gale force winds and miniature cyclones. Attempting to climb up to higher ground soon reduced his visability when everything mysteriously turned foggy. When he miss-stepped, he found himself in for a painful fall from above.

Failing to find his target, Chara backtracked, following the strings. An attempt through the metal gate proved no easier as he walked smack dab into a ninja obstacle course with very metal, very battering training posts and dummies...all in motion and all swinging iron balls and chains as well as steel bludgeoning implements and such.

Climbs up chain-link fences that stretched unexpectedly high proved no easier. Perhaps the worst thing for Chara was the unexpected trips and falls on a balancing test involving a shallow square depression in the ground filled end to end with ball bearings.

But the slips and trips only set Chara up to cover his head in futility with a rain of steel spheres dropping in from an overhead trap for a very lengthy path. And the further Chara went, the more and more the ball bearings would increase in diameter and weight--from ball-point pen rollers to marbles to pinballs to baseballs. Wisely deciding to double back on the chance they'd increase to the size of cannon balls, Chara tried the water gate.

Unfortunately...that meant running the gambit of the three main forms of water in a plethura of ways. From more slips and falls on stretches of ice...to an unexpected downpour of rain followed by am even more unexpected swim...first in icy cold water and then through a boiling hot spring. And of course a dance of death through a gauntlet of steam geysers from the ground. And everything in between--from pressurized water pumped at enough P.S.I. to double as blades to a sudden snow blizzard...it was madness. Just madness.

"How the Hell is Arcade's second in command doing this?!"

Chara's strings had served well...up until this point when going through the wood gate.

Luck was...just not on his side.

"What the heck...?!"

Curiously, Bunnie's rabite trio--Bancha, Houjicha, and Kukuicha--stumbled upon Chara's strings and decided to collect as a treasure; just like raccoons tended to steal anything shiny or interesting.

Which left Chara at the mercy of endless trees, vines, and patches of grass that he turned out to have an allergic reaction to. Perhaps...losing his shirt sleeves was not as good an idea as he had thought.

And then there were the leaves...so...many leaves blowing in the air. And each one had a razor's edge. It was like enduring a hail of shuriken.

"First thing I do when I kill the master...is burn it down...burn it all down.  Level every inch of this place!" Which left the fire gate, when he finally found his way out.

And there was no shortage of tests of fire, flame, excruciating heat, and some seriously dry air in some spots. Not to mention the sudden appearance of magma flows and such.

However Bunnie was doing it...the five areas of Rabbotou Dojo's garden somehow contained eco-systems that were almost unworldly. Yet I wonder...did they really? Or was it something else, like say...Mojikara techniques? Or summons like her Kuroko spirits? Maybe it was just...illusions like a vision quest? Couldn't be. Chara's injuries were pretty real.

By the time he collapsed at that place. Yes...that one place; where I had brought Asriel to on his first night in Miranda.

"It would appear you've been spiritually purified.  You have survived the elemental tests.  I am impressed.  But also...sadded that your heart remains dark and filled with malice."

"Save...your crap......I don't want to hear it."

And that was when the healing item rolled Chara's way.

"You have had an ordeal.  Regain your strength.  Your...HP as  it were.  There is no honor in facing an opponent who is not at their best."

"What are you babbling on about?"

"You intend to battle me, do you not?  This battle should be on even ground."

"Are you braindead or something...you don't help your enemy!"

"I can see you do not grasp the concepts of Bushido."

"I don't care about your code of honor and you can take your charity and stuff it."

"I will not agree to your terms while you have a handicap."

A scoff.

"Fine."

Once back up to full HP.

"Your mercy will be the instrument of your destruction, rabbit."

"We shall see." Bunnie took a deep breath and stepped out of her sandals, leaving each one just to their respective side. A hand wrapped around her fist followed by a bow.

Chara mocked the gesture. This would prove to be a big mistake.

"Hakkiyoui."

Bunnie slipped into a stance...and slowly moved her arms in opposite motions. Very slowly...yet they were leaving tens of after images from their starting position.

And then a deliberate jab to the air.

"What?  You think you're going to touch me from that far a range.  You are an idiot--"

That was all that Chara got out before his eyes went wide and he recoiled toward the left from an unknown impact. He clutched his side and wailed in pain.

"Wh...what did you do to me?!"

"Hmm.  If I'm not mistaken that blow cracked two of your ribs.  Do you wish to continue the battle?  I will stop if it is too intense."

"Don't look down on me!!!" Chara gripped the knife like a commando and came at Bunnie.

A deliberate roundhouse seemed to miss...until Chara's knee gave out and he stumbled.

"Oh sh--!" He couldn't finish his statement. All that was going through his mind was pain.

"I am attempting to aim toward non-vital spots."

"I knew it!  You're holding back."

"For your own good.  To fight at my full potential would be escalating a battle without being forced to.  Unacceptable.  I will not turn this into a slaughter."

"Don't you get it?!  That's exactly what I want--"

"If you do not yield, that may be exactly what you get."

As Bunnie continued her techniques, Chara found himself battered. He took only a moment to catch his breath...before he noticed Bunnie's attacks weren't just causing physical beatings...several of the points of impact were either wet, burned, pierced with wooden splinters, razed with metal shrapnel, and stained with green chlorophyll residue.

Her karate moves were channeling the elements?! Finally when Chara couldn't rise to his feet again.

"Tomare.  This battle is over.  I am sorry.  You are defeated.  Accept my apology for being rough."

"Apology?  You can take your apology and shove it!"

"Is that so?  That is unfortunate.  Equally unfortunate is that you were unable to land a single blow on me, let alone stab me with your weapon."

"I'm not going to admit I'm weaker than you."

"You do not have to."

"What?  Is this some sort of lesson about how I picked a fight with someone better than me?"

"I did not say that."

"Don't do me any favors."

Bunnie sighed. "Let me tell you something interesting.  By this point Asriel has become my equal in terms of practical martial arts.  Granted he has so much more to learn and I have not revealed any of my secrets and techniques.  But he will be a finer warrior than myself some day."

Chara was taken aback by that.

"You seem surprised.  But that is your intention...to face Asriel.  Given our battle just now...how do you believe a fight with him will turn out?"

"..."

"Your expression tells all.   I am...very disappointed and very unimpressed.  So much potential and it goes to waste for an empty promise by our enemy.  One who cannot be trusted and one who continues to torture you from afar."

"You don't know anything about me, rabbit!" It was that moment that an unexpected appearance would take both by surprise.

"Brooke-domou." Bunnie dropped into a kowtow.

"So...who are you?"

Bunnie wince at such blatent disrespect.

"I would be the Queen of this kingdom." Brooke said plainly, approaching.

"Aren't you a little out of place?  SHouldn't you be back at your palace being waited on, hand and foot?"

Brooke chuckled darkly. "People do not serve their rulers.  Rulers serve their people.  But that is a lesson you have never learned...have you, Chara Dreemurr?"

That took him by surprise.

"How do you know me?"

"THe how is not important.  I am here to make good on a vow I made when your...predecessor dared to invade my kingdom."

"And what's that?"

"Any further intrusion by the so-called...Demon That Comes When You Call Their Name...would have me feeling very...vexed.  As such...I would do a service to my people if I would take matters into my own hands."

"You?  You're going to fight me now?  Lady...anyone who thinks they can take me on while dressed in a freakin' gown with heavy paldrons on must be crazier than me."

Another dark chuckle.

"You make it all the more obvious that you do not grasp the gravity of this situation.  You are indeed too naive to realize that provoking me is not the wisest of choices.  Goading me into action is the actions of an immature child.  If you insist on this, little boy, then you must be willing to accept the consequences."

"You can stick your consequences in Hell!"

Brooke's cold smile turned all the more darker as did her aura.

"An ironic choice of place.  You might say...I'm very familiar with Hell." Brooke continued advancing. At that point...the cloak makeshifted from her wings spread out in all their demonic glory.

"...!"

Brooke simply reached down and grabbed Chara by the neck and lifted him, effortlessly until he was eye-level and she brought him uncomfortably close. It was about this time that Bunnie had broken into a full sweat and was struggling to maintain her stoic composure.

"I did not come here to bargain with you, boy.  I came to threaten." That was the point the scary voice came out.

"You are not welcome in my kingdom.  Learn this and learn it well...I have committed far more deplorable acts in in the name of my own pursuits; be they honourable or detestable...be it for bloodthirsty revenge...or for the sake of my kingdom and its people.

I've walked on both sides of the line and would cross either side of that line of morality that divides acts of good from acts of evil in a heartbeat. Your soul is barely the flicker of a candle flame ember and would easily extinguish in the presence of fiends lesser than myself. You draw breath at this moment because I will it to be so. Would you like to know about my own origins? I would tell you the tale but it would serve no benefit. I will only leave you with this thought to haunt you each time you remember this confrontation; I have very deep issues with my father. But even I wouldn't drop your worthless being before his feet. No one, not even you deserves that."

Chara was visibly scared. And getting more and more terrified by the second.

"I will not kill you.  It's far crueler to let you live with what I am about to carve into your soul, lest you never forget who you are dealing with."

At that moment, Bunnie just barely muffled the brief whimper as Brooke's dark power flowed forth, becoming almost an ebon vortex focused around her mouth. Chara could feel the intense gravity as something poured out of his soul through his own mouth.

As Chara locked eyes with Brooke..visions of Gehenna itself flooded his mind. Terrifying images that were too horrifying to describe.

The area had suddenly become dark..bloody red kind of dark while being very stormy. And just as quickly as it began...it all cleared up just as Brooke lowered Chara back down and released him.

Chara staggered a little...stumbled...and landing flat on his rump...from there he just scooted away in utter terror and horror. In short...he had seen things...things no one was ever meant to see. All he knew was......he never wanted to lay eyes on Queen Brooke again. Never. Ever. Never ever ever ever ever....etc..

"I'm glad we had this talk."

At some point, Chara managed to get up and run full tilt out of the dojo...not even able to scream. It almost seemed like his own voice had left him...but eventually he remembered why he was here...and he found his way to the Fountain. He tripped and stumbled into the fountain, its healing waters bring him back up to full health. This place. He had come to this place; where Asriel and I first arrived in Miranda City after escaping the destroyed timline.

And that was where I was waiting at that very moment.

Sub-Entry 239: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Volt":
"Arcade."

"Dreemurr."

"Don't call me that.  I reject that name.  It only served a purpose and even that purpose ended up failing me."

"A genocide Chara has no business being put into a pacifist timeline.  Madam Fate is shameless trying to shake things up with someone like you.  Asriel was already a tragic enough soul.  He definitely didn't need an abusive brat like you as a sibling.  Right up to the point died and his memory fragments made him Flowey, yet again he still believed in you.  You were his best friend.  But that was a lie.  You were the worst friend...something Flowey now understands in spades."

"What are you going on about, Arcade?"

I arched an eyebrow. It seemed like my crew's collective reports were right. He was spouting off a lot of contradictions. And that drew me to the conclusion that...it was very possible at this moment in time, he actually believed he was the one and only Chara. The first, the last, and the only.

"What did you do, Adonis..." I grumbled under my breath. It was hard to have sympathy for Chara, but being a jerk to a jerk didn't make things right. If anything...Adonis was only enabling worse behavior from Evil Chara. And that was something he WOULD do.

And so it was that Chara's unquenchable thirst for revenge would bring us full circle...back to this place; the epicenter of Miranda Square. Back...to the fountain.

It was at this very place, almost six or so years ago, that the Chara-Wraith tore into me, physically and mentally. I still felt shame that my biggest fears were heights and stinging insects...and that Chara gave me the latter in spades. My worst nightmares crippled me in battle, leaving me to be mercilessly beaten down where I lay. History repeating...that was the name of the game. But this time, the outcomes were different...radically different. Up to this point we had drowned Evil Chara in a shutout of perfect losses.

"So that's how it is.  That's the situation he put you in.  You sad soul.  You and Flowey really are too much alike."

"I'm NOTHING like him!  He's an abomination of an abomination!"

"Is that how you see monsters?"

"Monsters...humans...no one is above this behavior.   Do you know how horrible they've been to each other since our deaths?"

I couldn't deny how Toriel had been treating Asgore. I couldn't look past the grudge Undyne had against Toriel. Even in her best intentions, Alphys had twisted life in order to prolong it. Then kept everyone out of the loop. And Mettaton had abandoned Alphys after he got his new body. And Sans? Well...I won't go into what he must've done across many timelines and AU's.

But so what? They made mistakes. There was hope they could all turn back from their paths. They could become better people. I know they could. I had to believe it, because somenoe else believed it.

"I see Adonis has planted the anti-virtues in you deep.  Cruelty.  Impatience.  Deceit.  Cowardice.  Lawlessness.  Apathy.  And the dark side of Determination."

"You can't spell determination without--"

"Termination.  Save it; your previous self already said it.  It means nothing to me."

Chara raised the knife.

"He had to tell you what I am.  How we're the same."

"I don't have to kill you to make you suffer."

"From my team's accounts of you?  Killing doesn't seem like it was ever on the table."

"Just another ignorant fool calling me weak...underestimating my power."

I shook my head. "Talk is cheap.  Furthermore...I can see talking isn't the answer in this case.  You want a fight so bad that you've become completely simple-minded.  You've cast asside the very cunning, intelligence, and bag of tricks that you demanded Adonis return to you.  They've become lost in your own tunnel vision."

"For someone preaching that actions speak louder than words, you're sure wasting your breath."

"I suppose a last ditch effort to dissade you is pointless as is my warning not to press this."

"I have my pride.  Now...don't take me lightly and don't you handle me with kid gloves.  Your people have been holding back on me out of some worthless honor or some sense of pity toward me."

"You really want me at my full power?  You've fought Sans...and he had only 1 HP.  Do I really need to tell you what will happen if you take the full force of an electric demigod with infinity HP?"

That was when a True Knife whizzed past my whiskers. "I guess that was your last chance.  For what it's worth...the chance to walk away doesn't expire until you do."

I lifted off the ground with superconduction.

"Yeah...that's it, Arcade.  Keep those eyes open.  I'll push past my limits."

Chara had past delusional a long time back. But that's just how Adonis had wound him up.

"Go on...DO IT--"  Chara screamed before feeling my hand clamp down on his shoulder from behind.

"Wha--?!"

Then he felt raw pain. The searing pain of being struck by lightning.

I let go and let him collapse in a faceplant.

I checked for a pulse. Thank goodness. He was still alive.

"I'm...not...d-done...yet."

"Chara...don't you have anything to live for?" I asked.

"That's so presumptuous, Arcade!"

He got up pretty quick for someone whose nervous system should be on fire.

The slashes came pretty quick as I effortlessly drifted just out of his reach. I was moving pretty similarly to the former Maverick Hunter, Sigma when he fought Zero for the first time.

"I'm not really what you're after.  I'm just the icing on the cake you hope to steal."

"Oh, I'll be coming for him after I've dealt with you."

"Yeah...that's what this is really about.  You want to drag him back to the Underground.  How do you think he's going to take being told he can go home to his world?"

"It doesn't matter!  He's going home if I have to stuff him in a box!" Chara took a moment to rethink what he really wanted to say.

"How do YOU think he's going to react when I tell him his home isn't so destroyed?"

Point for Evil Chara. One thing I didn't want was for Asriel to find out THIS way. It was the same danger Chara-Wraith presented last time. My only saving grace was that Asriel was too panicked to even process what his possessed sister was even saying back then. After seven years, he sure didn't remember the gist of their fight.

But now that he was older and less likely to brush off things? Yeah...he could figure it out and then there goes our promise to each other.

"What makes you think he'll believe you?" I countered, a little on the desparate side. "Why wouldn't sweet, innnocent, naive little Asriel believe his sibling?"

That on the other hand turned the tables again.

"You really don't have a grasp of the situation, do you?  Oh well...you'll learn." I mused smugly as I let Chara get in a free shot and belt me one in the jaw...just to throw him a bone.

Okay, maybe I was taking pity on him.

"Yeah...feel that?  There's more where that came from."

"Well.  You gave me this..." I rubbed my jaw. "I'll see you that...and raise you this!"

The next thing Chara felt was a Thunder Punch to the gut. I'm presuming Adonis hadn't fed him in a while...because this led to dry heaves but no vomiting.

"Still willing to stop this fight."

A slice to the side of the face. It sent some cut off bits of fur flying as well as the tiniest bit of blood...but it quickly healed. "You really like swinging that thing around."

"Oh cut the crap and stop talking like Smiley Trashbag!"

I kept jolting Chara with painful shocks.

Eventually when I could see how determined he was to aim for vital areas, I started taking the fight a little more seriously. Not that my life was in any danger, but because the battle was getting less and less enjoyable. Believe me, it wasn't enjoyable to begin with, but now it just made me feel...dirty. I had to ask myself...why was I still letting this drag out?

I had no pretense about resolving this peacefully. I guess my last resort was that he'd rage-quit. Maybe I just had this flickering hope that he'd finally get the aggression out of his system and start using his head again. At best realize when he was in over his head.

"Stay down."

The static field on my last attack lasted a pretty good few moments, resulting in mild paralysis.

But Chara fought through the pain...and the more he fought and struggled, the more I knew he wasn't going to stop. He knew me...or at least my type. I couldn't put him out of his misery even if his wounds got serious. He wouldn't accept me just knocking him out and locking him up. He was determined to the point of total obsession.

Chara rose to his feet and struggled to hold the Real Knife....True Knife...whatever this iteration of Chara prefered to call it. By this point he had to grip it with both hands.

"Enough, Chara.  There's no point to this.  Go back to Adonis.  He already knows you lost.  Escape with your dignity."

"Don't...you...dare spare me.  The only way this ends is when--"

"What's WRONG with you?  Madam Fate really made a doozy of a demon child when he made ou.  I know you're just hardwired with flaws and such, but they shouldn't be this embelished.  You should have more power than this.  You know it, don't you?  You paid another price that he didn't tell you about just so you could take a shot at us."

"You really think you know everything, don't you?"

"I know that you're battling on our turf.  You came at each of us without knowing what our abilities were.  You came unknowingly underpowered.  Furthermore I can tell Adonis tampered with your mind and your memories...again.  You're practically reverting to how you were back in the Throne Room."

"......"  Chara hesitated for a moment...like it just NOW occured to him that all this was true and he had overlooked it. But he hadn't overlooked it."

"These battles...they didn't go the way any of us thought they would.  I can't even feel good that my team and I successfully defended our home against an invading threat.  All I can feel is disgust at how Adonis used you and abused you."

"I don't want your sympathy, Arcade.  I just want Asriel.  I'll get him by any means necessary.  Any!  Do you hear me?!"

"I hear you.  I'm not one to tell a person to abandon their hopes...their dreams...their aspirations.  But I am one to tell a person when this is not the day they can make them come true when they've had every opportunity to do so...and squandered them all."

"My dreams are dead and buried anyway.  All I have is revenge."

"And that's all he promised you along with the warning to not trust him even if he gave you the only choice...the only path...the only means to get what you want."

"To Hell with him...I'll do this by myself if I have to!"

"You just might.  Well...if you're not going to leave, I'll have to contact STC Headquarters and have you arrested and incarcerated under the charge of conspiring with a known traitor and terrorist."

"You wouldn't attempt that.  The moment you do, the Council will know exactly where you've been hiding all this time and you and your entire world will never escape their gaze."

Another point for Chara. I had to hand it to him. What he failed to do in action, he was definitely holding his own at battling me in a game of wits.

"Try me."

Yeah. Try me. What a stupid thing to say, Arcade.

"Then I guess your kissing your freedom goodbye.  You and everyone here will answer to your pathetic organization.  And when they ask why this happened, they'll turn to you for an explanation.  You'll be the one that your Demon Queen stakes to a platter for making every living being on this world a person of interest for their loyal field agents to shadow every waking moment of their lives.  Congratulations, Arcade...your organization has become Brainiac."

Ouch. He compared me to Superman's nemesis, the alien supercomputer being who analyzed every facet of worlds, archived what he learned and then wiped said worlds out of existence. "The showdown is over.  You've lost."

"So that's it...you're going to kick me off your world before I can even lay eyes on Asriel...and you say I'm the cruel one.  Well then...do what you've got to do.  May the goddess have mercy on your soul--

"Volt."

It was a strange space opera unfolding. And right on cue.

"Hey.  I guess it was...futile keeping you out of this."

"I can't fault you for trying.   But we both knew that sooner or later...what happened seven years ago was going to be like a boomerang.  You and the others...aren't the only ones who've been planning and preparing for a day we hoped would never come.  The day is here.  I'm sorry...this is the plan of Madam Fate....and so...it's my fate."

"Azzy...be careful."

"At last...we meet face to face...as it was always intended.   It's time, brother.  Time to finish what I started."

"What you started..." Asriel pondered in reflection. "...so that's why you've come all this way.  But I have a question."

"Might as well grant you one last request.  Ask your question, Asriel."

Asriel paused for a moment and took a deep breath as he turned and looked Chara straight in the eyes.

"Just...who are you?"

Sub-Entry 240: "Evil-Chara's Revenge Arc - Chara vs. Asriel.   Who Stands the Victor?":
Chara was stunned.

".........."

"No.  Really.  Who are you?"

"You would DARE ask me that question?!"

"What are you getting so worked up about?"

"......after everything...everything we've been through..."

Chara was...getting confused. He...did know this was a different Asriel...right?"

"Commander?"

"I know.  Something's off about him."

"I am the demon that comes when you call its name.  It doesn't matter when...it doesn't matter where.  I will ALWAYS be there to take away your happy ending."

Asriel stared blankly.

It was then I realized something from seven years ago had come to pass. Despite the fact that Asriel had prepared for this day...when the enemy would return to try to terrorize him again, he made good on his punishment of the Wraith.

Despite he trained for this day...he no longer knew what he was training for...just to be ready for someone or something.

He had forgotten those words.

"Should...that mean something to me?  It sounds like pretty cliche villain speak."

"Don't you remember?!  The Absolute God of Hyperdeath?!"

"I remember something about that...something in my childhood." He shrugged.

When Asriel said that it was like...parts of his past were slipping away and it was harder to remember back then...I didn't think he meant it to this extent. I understood he was afraid of forgetting where he came from but...even this was surprising.

"This isn't funny!  You can't for a moment expect me to believe you don't know what this is about; who you are and where you came from."

That was when I realized there was a serverity to what he was threatening. There was a very good chance he could spill the beans about the timeline. It was something the Chara-Wraith even alluded to; flat out calling me out on it while bullying Asriel.

"Am...I...going to have to spell it out for you?"

"Well...at the risk of sounding kinda dumb...yeah.  You kinda do." Chara's eyes pierced out from under his hair.

"Look at me, Asriel.  Look at me and know my name.  The First Fallen Child.  The one you took pity on.  The one you made part of your family." He took a deep breath and said it clear as day.

"I AM CHARA DREEMURR!!!"

Asriel just stood there.

"Yeah.  Now it's setting in.  Now you understand.  It's about time.  Now show me the respect I deserve--"

"No, you're not."

"What?"

"Really.  You're Chara Dreemurr.  Chara...Dreemurr?" Asriel chuckled. "I'm sorry...I'm not trying to laugh at you...but wow.  That is...just beyond belief.  No, it's beyond belief and still going."

He was learning how to troll from Violet.

"You're mocking me--"

"You're not Chara Drreemurr.  I'm sorry.  You have a...passing resemblance at best and you have Chara's taste in clothing...more or less.  But that's one very big lie you're telling.  You must be confused...you look like you've had a bad day.  So why don't we just stop this senseless rampage (or attempt at one) and just go our separate ways.  Your folks must be worried about you--"

Chara slapped his hand away...then grabbed Asriel by the shirt.

"Hey!  You're getting a little rough.  Not cool." Asriel was handling it pretty calmly.

"Now you listen here, you filthy goat...I have been getting disrespected by this whole town.  Everyone I came across refuses to take me seriously.  I've taken it from all of them, I'm NOT going to take it from you of all people.  NOT FROM YOU!"

"I'm going to politely ask you to step away.  Please.  Whatever you want, it's just not worth it.  You're not Chara.  Why is that so hard for you to accept?"

"I AM Chara!  Why is that so hard for you to accept?"

"I'm sorry, but you don't exactly have proof."

"Is THIS proof enough?" Chara yanked out his heart-shaped locket. By all accounts...it should have STILL been back in New Home in Asgore's house in the gift box...but...

"That's not funny." Asriel's smile faded. "It's a nice reproduction but..."

Asriel pulled out his holding case with his and Chara's lockets inside. "I was going to take these to the jeweler to have them properly cleaned and polished.  I had a feeling I would need them for whatever was going to confront me.  This is Chara's locket and mine."

Chara did a double-take. It should have been the first thing he mentioned...the time-lines...but it as like...his own memory was failing. This should have been the lynchpin that brought my promise to Asriel crashing down. So...why wasn't he taking this opportunity? Why did he not take the shot?

"You want to know?  You really want to know why you can't be Chara Dreemurr?" Asriel's expression had gone from cheerful to dour.

"Chara Dreemurr is dead."

"You don't get it!  I came back from death just to--"

"But more important than that...there's the simple fact of the matter that...you're not a girl."

Chara's jaw dropped.

"Chara Dreemurr was my sister.  Stop disrespecting her memory."

In that moment...something snapped in Chara's head. Something that should have occured to him from the very beginning. It was like...Asriel wasn't the only one who'd forgotten things. This had Madam Fate's fingerprints all over it. She wanted it to play out this way. She didn't care about leaving plotholes in her script...this was far more interesting to watch.

"...liar...liar...liar......"

"It's true.  You're not my sister.  I think it's time for you to go."

Chara took a deep breath and just exploded.

"ADONIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!"

He clutched his head with both hand and pulled on his hair. "What did you DO TO ME?!?"

"And there it is...you're just one of the enemy's pawns.  You work for the...horrible creature that tried to destroy my friendship with Volt.

"It can't be...these memories have to be real...they have to...!"

It was sickening that Evil Chara seemed to believe he was the one and only Chara. Where had this change come from. It contradicted everything he said in the Underground. He had alluded to it during his time here in Miranda.

"..."

My eyes disappeared under the shadow of my bangs when it occured to me. I wasn't the only one who had tampered with memories. This was just a nasty practical joke of Alloucious Adonis; reminding me how alike we REALLY were. What methods I used to heal pain and try to solve problems, help people, and fix broken timelines for the better.....he used the same to cause mahem, chaos, pain, suffering, destruction, and the basis for his own entertainment.

It was like Quantum Leap vs. Reverse Quantum Leap if I had to make a comparison...and by golly was that a pretty awful and uncreative comparison.

"I...I..."

Asriel shook his head.

"I WILL NOT BE DENIED!!" Chara slashed out with the knife. The last time this happened, Asriel lost a shirt. But this time...

"HIYAAAAAAAH!!!" Asriel's battle cry resounded throughout the square as the judo throw came without warning.

"Stay down." He warned as Chara shook off the ring of stars.

"...you...you can't do that...since when does crybaby Asriel fight back?!"

"Your boss at least trained you to get that much right.  I was a crybaby.  The real Chara never let me forget it.  But that was a long time ago.  And I've grown up since then.  But you?  Even if you were actually who you claimed to be?  It's like you matured in reverse.

It's disheartening and disrespectful how you're reversing the roles like this. I'm not going to fight you to prove some kind of point. The past is gone...let it stay dead and buried. My friends and I have a future to think about. I can't believe I'm actually asking this...but just give up and walk away. This isn't determination. It's obsession fueled by rage. And it's going to destroy you."

"Don't lecture me!" Chara got back up and started slashing away.

"You really like swinging that thing around." Asriel's comment gave me a chill as his words echoed Sans' in the Genocide Run.

Asriel countered Chara's slashes, strikes and blows. Eventually he tried mixing punches with his free hand and kicks into it...but he was obviously not training to fight. Not the way Asriel had.

"Chill, whoever-you-are.  This isn't helping!" Asriel started to notice Chara's rage and blind obssession was starting to compensate for his lack of skill.

"What do you even want?  Just to fight me?"

"I came here with a goal!  I came here to finish what I started.  Don't you remember?!  I won't stop until we FINISH THE PLAN!"

"...how do you know about the Plan?  That was Chara and my dark secret."

"Weren't you LISTENING?  I AM CHARA!  THIS WAS OUR PLAN!  WE WERE GOING TO FREE EVERYONE!  WE WERE GOING TO BREAK THE BARRIER AND TAKE EVERYONE TO THE SURFACE!"

"...yeah...we were...but we didn't.   That Plan is what tore the Dreemurr family apart.  You have no business trying to attempt something like that now.  There's no point to."

Uh-oh. We were entering dangerous territory. Would he spill the beans? Wouldn't he?

"NO POINT?!  Don't you get it?!  I am the Angel!  The Prophecized!  The Underground was going to go empty!  And you know why?  We were going to the surface!  It was the birthright of EVERY monster in the kingdom!"

"That plan was part of a promise.  And the real Chara released me from that Promise.  You've more than crossed the line on bringing up something so personal.  Just stop.  It's too late to forget, but I will forgive if you just stop trying to push me into something I don't have any intention of doing.  It wouldn't work anyway.  I've changed since being here.  I don't even think i could--"

"Why do you deny me, brother?!"

"You're not my brother.  You're a stranger who this evil being has corrupted and brainwashed."

A sudden backhand actaully connected and Asriel spiraled to the ground. He recovered fast, holding his face. He wiped a drop of blood from his mouth.

"What...what is this?!" Chara did a double take.

"Like I said...I've changed.  That's one of the reasons your plan won't work."

"...!!!"  It began to set in. And Adonis' empty promises. Between the screwed up memories, the vastly weakened strength and the lack of EXP let alone LV...did Evil Chara stand even a fraction of a chance?

"The other reason...is that home...Chara's and my home...is gone.  The end of the world happened as Volt rescued me all those years ago." That moment would be the perfect opportunity for Evil Chara to bring it all crashing down. Whether Asriel believed him or not was hardly relevant. The truth was in danger of coming out right here and right now. And I couldn't do anything to stop it--

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

And instead Chara had a meltdown and went berserk? At that speed he might actually be able to land a deep knife strike into Asriel's skull!

"Oh no...!" I actually got scared at that moment.

"Please don't......" Asriel uttered.

"Don't kill..." He said as his eyes began to turn green...and then started to glow brighter than normal. I could see his soul underneath his shirt start to emerge...flashing bright neon green...this had never happened before.

I saw Asriel bring out the H.U.D. Was he really going to fall back on that.

He tried several options to no avail. The code was pretty locked tight. It looked like this was the end... That was when I saw it come into existence...in his hand.

"What the...!"

Asriel's other hand was finally able to access the ACT option and under it I saw something I'd never seen before..."SOUL"

He touched that and under it, the seven virtues were spelled out in a list. Six of them were greyed out...but the last...KINDNESS was in green and lit up. As he touched it, the shape in his hand solidified.

"Commander...what is that?"

"Is that..." Mitzi started as she joined us.

"It's a...!"

CLAAANG*  Chara's knife reverberated as it struck the projection.

"...and don't be killed." Asriel finished.

"A giant neon green...PIZZA CUTTER?!"

I looked at Mitzi...then back at how Asriel was guarding with the neon energy kitchen tool. And then I connected the dots. The child who had the kindness soul used a frying pan as a weapon. But this wasn't a frying pan...it was a pizza cutter.

Did his...virtue evolve some how? Was his kindness reaching its full potential?

I thought back to how Asriel had learned the virtue of kindness...it was during his first martial arts class when sparring with Bunnie. When thinking about this...it didn't add up. Why wasn't it a katana or other martial arts weapon...or training gloves like Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter 2? Why was it something connected more to MItzi than Bunnie?

Then I thought about this...wasn't Mitzi...the first one to show him kindness on our world? His first pizza...was the first time he experienced what I'd consider...happiness. And it was MItzi who made it possible. Mitzi was actually the one to show him kindness...and he returned that kindness to Bunnie when he couldn't fight back.

"What...what is this...?!  You got those freak powers, too?"

Asriel was just as surprised. "Well...yes...but...this isn't my usual power--"  He started, before he decided it was probably not wise to reveal too much about is abilities. "It doesn't matter what powers you've got, Asriel.  I'll break you and take your soul and break the barrier...we'll get to the surface and finally...finally I'll have my revenge...and I can finally exterminate the whole HUMAN RAAAAAACE!"

Asriel scowled, angrilly. "That's why I can't let you win.  The real Chara would NEVER do that.  You are an imposter.  This conversation is over.  We're done here."

Asriel started fighting a lot more serious, no longer worried about outmatching, overpowering, or outclassing his opponent. He had to stop her for everyone's sake...even if it meant hurting him. It wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed with a first aid kit and an apology, later. Though it was looking like this wanna-be......would refuse both.

The blade of the pizza cutter spun on its own like a buzzsaw, nicking away at the now claymore-sized True Knife--transformed by Chara's rage. And eventually as unbelievable as it was that Chara was hefting a two-handed sword made from the True Knife and Asriel was hefting a giant neon green energy pizza cutter...this was happening.

"Join me.  That wasn't a request."

"Never.  I can't follow wherever it is you think you're going...nor do I want to."

"Then die and forfeit your soul...back then...and even now...you're still useless."

"I'm sorry you feel that way.  But I can't die.  Not like this and not to you.  I hope that you can forgive me.  I have already forgiven you."

Both weapons collided...but Chara's was the one that shattered as he fell backwards. "The showdown is over." Asriel pointed the blade as it stopped spinning. Silence. "You fought well.  Here.  Let me help you up--"

Chara slapped his hand away again. "It...wasn't supposed to be like this...it wasn't...I was supposed to win...this was my chance...why...you promised...you promised..."

Did he mean Asriel? Or Adonis? "You poor soul.  Asriel's eyes faded back to normal as his weapon dissolved.  "I really hoped we could be friends. But I'm sorry. You're lost...but you're not a Dreemurr. You're not Chara. Does us both a favor...and grow up. I did. Chara did."

Chara, still on his rump, scurried away backwards. "I hate you, Asriel...I've always hated you.  I only came to you because I needed you.  And now...now I don't know why I ever did.  I don't want to see you now...but we will meet again."

"We will--"  Asriel started as the blood red cyber gate opened underneath him and he fell into it, his cries and sobs echoing.

"He's getting away!" MItzi cried.

"He got away." I growled. "But he won't forget the losses this day.  Nor will he forgive them.  He will be back."

Asriel just stood there, looking longingly at the ground.

"Azzy?  Are you okay?"

He turned toward us.

"I think I need to go back to LYOKO again."

Bonus Entry Sub-Entry Plus Ultra: "Christmas":
After what happened? I think we all needed to put this on the back burner for a bit.

Asriel's insight was sharp and he was right. He would have to have more tests run on him. But for now...that could wait. We all needed someting uplifting after Chara's encounter with us.

It could wait until the New Year.

RIght now...we needed some celebration.

In the aftermath...

"The damage to the town isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be." Meowsma O'Tool, of Violet's E.R.R.O.R. team was rather relieved by the lite work load.

"It would have sucked having to work through the holidays." Charlie "Bat Cat" Skyknight raised his aviator's goggles.

"More than that...just imagine how many could have been laid up during the holidays..." Elektra packed up her medical kit and put it into the ambulance. "Fortunately any injuries were cuts, scrapes, and bruises at most.  A bandage or two, some disinfectant, and a couple of aspirin and the injured are back on their feet."

"For a knife-wielding psychopath, he wasn't much of a threat." Red brushed it off.

"Do not be so quick to judge." Bunnie warned. "We most certainly did not catch our enemy at his best."

"Yeah, the Commander assures us, that Char-Char was sent here pretty much set up to fail." Violet shrugged non-challantly.

"But what would he do that?" Marcel crossed his arms. "That makes no sense.  I thought this enemy of Arcade's wanted all of our heads on pikes."

"He's an agent of chaos.  What's there to understand?  I bet he doesn't even understand his own motivations." Jon headed off toward the lab.

"Hmm..." Bunnie pondered.

"The day is won.  Let us have no more talk of our enemy and praise Eatos that our victory did not come with a high cost."

"Agreed, Alistair." Lupe nodded.

"Besides...we should probably clam up anyway.  Goat Son in bound."

"Right."

"Probably shouldn't be talking about the Chara-impersonator behind his back." Marcel headed off as well. Only a very few of us knew that Chara wasn't  the world's worst impersonator brainwashed by Adonis. For everyone else, I let them think this was the case. It was easier to keep the secret around Asriel. I felt like this was somehow an act of mercy rather than act of deceit. More than that...the Promise still stands.

"Hey, guys.  All ready for--"  Asriel started.

"You know it!" Violet cut in. "We doin' it big at the Edoropian Embassy?"

"Not another of your big bashes..." Cid rubbed his temples. We all kinda moaned at that.

"Just a warning, rabbit.  If Dente shows up, you had best be quicker on the draw.  Because I intend to take preemptive action."

"Ohhh, so a challenge is it?  May best person win...at making Al Dente lose."

"Aunt Viiii..." As much as Asriel was no fan of Al Dente, he  really wasn't comfortable sitting in on devious planning against the sultan of security.

"Hey uh...I hear you've finally gotten Antoine to loosen up and give Sally her space."

"I owe you big." Sally muttered to Asriel.

"I think he's coming around.  It's not easy letting go after you've spent your life believing certain things." Asriel took a moment to hang up a holiday wreath on my shop's door. "It's weird...I shouldn't be old enough to speaking from the voice of experience."

I patted Asriel on the shoulder.

"I know where you're coming from, Goat Son."

Asriel had spent 100 years with the same attachment on his mind; his best friend. When I replaced Chara, I worried that he'd fall into the same trap with me. Ironically...it took losing Chara a second time for him to understand the value of letting go of friends and loved once when they leave your life. That is...moving on with your life.

Even when he abandoned me for my own good, all part of the plan by the Followers of Chaos, he bravely forged on without me for months, finding his calling in "ninja soccer" and discovering that even without a best friend, things would be okay in the end.

He felt like he didn't deserve my friendship...but he was brave enough to ask for it again.

That was Asriel's single greatest feat of maturity. Changing that one roadblock in his life. To this day, I admired the heck out of him for it.

"You're not hiding those gears turning in your head.  I bet you're getting philosophical abot how our friendship evolved over the years.  We both came a long way, haven't we?"

"LIke book, Goat Son.  Like a book."

"Hey...we having a holiday party or what?" Violet butted in.

"Right, right.  Dismissed everyone.  And be ready for New Year's in a week from the big day."

"Mitzi's birthday cake is well in hand." Hestia assured.

"Ready, everyone?" I called for an overlap of hands to which anyone willing gladly obliged.

"Three, two, one, BREAK!" We all headed off in our own direction to do our own thing and ready for the big days in our own ways.

Jon of course made sure to roast everything from a turkey to a goose to a honey-glazed ham to of all things...an ostrich? Never let it be said he skimped on the holiday meats.

Violet got to work programming for the New Year's Ball ahead of time while Nikita was already at work on the hardware. Between those tasks, of course they got plenty of shopping done...online.

Bunnie has wrapped classes with her current generation of students and wished them well in the new year. Honestly...I could tell she was eagerly awaiting classes to resume and see who'd return to continue their path to martial arts black belts.

Sally and Team Acorn were officially home and back on the roster with another blow-out season in the OGPX.

Rotor and Skeeter took care of their business before engaging in personal life. With plumbing business slowing down, it looked like they'd actually have free time.

Lupe closd the nature preserve for the winter, finally collapsing her powers over the environments and letting nature take its course.

Lord Jaimas of Raxis of course invited some of us over to snow territory to have a bit of a celebration before the night of the Tokugawa Christmas Party.

Of course there were other reasons I was called there...

"...and the Raxis Arena systems and scoreboards are properly maintenance.  I swear every year, the ice on the cables and wiring gets thicker."

"Appreciated, Arcade.  You know your way around wire cutters and a quarter wrench."

"Just crank the heat up and we'll call it even."

Asriel was back to his annual routine of volunteer work and caroling. I was surprised Mitzi and Willamina were proving to be good singing instructors for him. Come to think of it...I didn't even know Goat Son sang until he surprised me with it.

It was easy on the ears. I got the feeling he's going to be attracting a lot of potential lovers. Oh boy...and we still haven't taught him how to talk to girls. Should we be concerned he hasn't even been on his first date yet? Whenever

Violet brought up the word in that context, Asriel would continue that old habit of wrapping his ears around his blushing face and muffle his embarassed whining.

Well...that was one weakness he'd have to overcome some day.

The holiday party went as expected. From new surprises and guests...tooooooo old favorites.

"Noooooo!  Not again!" Al Dente blubbered as M.E.G.A.S XLR had literally curb-stomped his mechanical security forces.

And then Al Dente saw stars before Chameleon sucker-punched him with rather ornate dragon-themed knuckledusters.

"Excuse me if my methods are a little too...draconic."

...but nothing was more lethal than his puns.

"Well?  Aren't you going to relieve him of his wallet, Marc?"

"Please.   What do you take me for, a rookie pick-pocket?"

".....he hasn't noticed it's been missing since the last time you stole it, has he?"

"I'm just that good.  Also..it speaks volumes of how cheap he is if he hasn't dug it out to spend actual money."

"Point."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I've got a date with the buffet table." Jon licked his lips. "Tally-hoooooo!"

"Did he just...?"

"Yes.  Yes, he did." I nodded. "I'm still waiting for him to channel his inner Commander McBragg."

Wow there's a vastly dated reference. That stuffy English braggard who told the tallest tales and every time his story would end with the other guy making a joke or pun compliment to which McBragg would reply with an understated "Mmn, quite."

Mitzi on the other hand reunited with the Rock-Afire Explosion to provide the music entertainment with Sally serving as the opening act. Between D.J. Aelita mashing up the record tracks and the R.A.E. jamming it old school, the party never got boring.

We all retired at pretty late hours, leaving the Tokugawas to party til the so-late-it's-early hours of the morning. Honestly, how did they manage to wake up so timely after these all nighters? And of course the next day marked a lot of opening presents and time with the family.

"It's...a new laptop?" Asriel blinked. "But didn't you just get me one, Aunt Vi--"

"Got to keep with the updates."

"Didn't I just upgrade the old one."

"Call it prolonging planned obsolescence, Goat Son.  Don't just keep up with the Joneses.  Outdistance them!  Be so far ahead of your time, that you're not even in style yet!"

"Er...thanks, Aunt Vi.

Oh brother.

"Most excellent!  A sword!  Domou arigato, Usagi-san." Bunnie bowwed to Shiba Temple's caretaker who had come all this way to Miranda. "I also have a gift for you."

"A sword!  How thoughtful!"

I almost did a double-take at how sincere the both of them were over exchanging...basically the exact same gift. Oh well. Don't question it.

All over town everyone had at least one gift to enjoy that felt special.

Brooke smirked over the cask of special brew sake Bunnie had sent over.

Marcel wasted no time to test out the new accordian.

Even Tithius was enjoying trying to drag his treats out of the stocking that Asriel had sent over. Not to mention enjoying the warmth being inside of it provided on a cold winter morning.

I hugged Goat Son as we got to share a moment away from it all while sipping on mugs of hot chocolate brimming with marshmallows.

"Happy holidays, Goat Son."

"Merry Christmas, Volt."

To all reading this data log, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to you.

'''CRYPTOSMASHER LOGOFF END TRANSMISSION...'''

End of Part 2

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Chapter 25

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