“You told me he was dead WingDings!”

Papyrus’s body with Chara at the metaphorical wheel angrily burst into the temporary lab setup provided by AfO. Said scientist pulled his focus from his notes to look at the possessed body with irritation. 

“What nonsense are you going on about now? I have work to do.”

“You said Asriel was dusted after he went through your portal! You said his body was too weak to survive!”

“Yes Prince Asriel’s body was nothing more than a mere flower and would have been ripped to shreds upon entering the portal. Why is this an issue now?”

“Asriel is alive with his old body! Our deal is null and void WingDings!”

“No, our deal still holds and I expect you will not go back on our agreement.”

“Our deal still holds?! How are you gonna bring Asriel back to life if he isn’t dusted to begin with?! Are you going senile?!”

“Watch your tongue, you insufferable spirit. I am not above destroying Experiment 003 to be rid of you. Yes, our deal still holds. The terms have only been minorly altered. In lieu of bringing Prince Asriel back to life, I will create an artificial soul for him. The young prince’s Determination must have been powerful enough to create a physical body capable of housing his Determination. However the fact remains that he does not possess a soul. So as per our agreement, you will continue to keep Experiment 003’s physical body from harm and I will engineer a soul for Prince Asriel.”

Chara’s red eyes glared at WingDings.

“You’re on thin ice, WingDings. I can’t stand the senseless murder, when will it end?”

“I no longer have any experiments needing…fresh parts. Just continue assisting the L.o.V with menial tasks until I say otherwise.”

“...thin ice Dings. Watch your step and watch the cracks. Should you fall again, I won’t be there to save you a second time.”

“Don’t you ever bring that incident to my attention again. I will have you destroyed without hesitation.”

Chara huffed and left the lab feeling some accomplishment at causing the skeleton to lose his cool. They soon found themselves wandering through the halls aimlessly. The L.o.V bar was a massive step down from the Royal Palace in the Underground, but it’s not like they could ever return there. Not with a clear conscience anyway. 

Chara had to share Papyrus’s body to remain in one piece in the new world. As a result, they shared each other’s thoughts and their emotions were intertwined. There were random moments in time when Chara would be upset or happy for no reason other than Papyrus’s emotion meshing with their own. 

There were times when Chara would feel sickening love for the damn comedian or undying admiration for Undyne or even respect for the goat bitch Toriel. Oh, how Chara hated that woman; hated her for dusting Asriel so many times. Their hatred for Toriel clashed with Papyrus’s respect for her on the daily basis. 

Even though Chara was in complete control of Papyrus’s body, his subconscious was still very much there and was aware of everything his body was forced to do. His incessant voice echoed through their shared brain pleading with them to stop and go to Sans. That Sans and his hero friends and teachers could help them. Even after showing Papyrus what was at stake, his argument that Sans would fix everything never died. 

Chara had the power to extinguish Papyrus’s subconscious. Make it to where his body was nothing more than an empty shell with no backseat drivers. It would become their body and then, later, become WingDings new body. 

But they couldn’t. 

That’s not to say they can’t. They were able to with little to no effort, but they just couldn’t. Papyrus was an innocent monster. He was created by a (quite literally) heartless scientist. The only family Papyrus ever had who truly loved him was the comedian. On top of that, Papyrus was almost exactly like the Asriel from Chara’s memories. Playful, naive, a crybaby…If Chara got rid of the last remaining parts of Papyrus, it’d be like dusting Asriel themselves. 

If Chara had access to the RESET power they obtained by sharing Frisk’s body, they could go through multiple possibilities and choose one where everyone but Wingdings won, but they didn’t. As soon as they separated from the bloodthirsty child, the power was lost to them. 

Back to their shared mental state, it wasn’t just their emotions that were meshed together. It was their memories too. 

Chara’s memories were a fickle thing to begin with. After they died, there were days their memories were as clear as dewdrops on an Echo Flower and there were days when they had little memory of what they used to be. On those days, Chara was easily influenced by Frisk’s bloodlust and, regrettably, aided in the Genocide Routes.

Sharing Papyrus’s body, Papyrus was free to view their memories at his leisure and he did; annoying often. Not like he had much else to do. It was uncomfortable for Chara’s past to be watched like some cheap soap opera, but it was the least they could do since Chara basically stole his body. They felt like they weren’t allowed to complain about a little discomfort. 

However, the same went for Papyrus’s memories. When the body Chara possessed needed the required eight hours of sleep, Papyrus’s memories appeared as dreams. Fleeting images and nightmares and night terrors.

His first broken bone, his first baby tooth, his first words, his first illness, puzzles, cooking, training, his racecar bed, Fluffy Bunny, Sans, etc. Chara viewed everything they could, although it wasn’t by choice. They didn’t like invading Papyrus’s personal business and it was grossly invasive to watch his memories. 

Predictably, Chara was unable to view memories from previous RESETS. They did not want to see Papyrus’s death from his perspective. They already felt horribly about it. The only monsters who remembered the RESETS and other timelines were themselves, Asriel, the comedian, and Frisk. Undyne seemed to have an inkling about the timelines, but never vocalized it. Chara hoped and prayed to any and all gods that WingDings never found out about the RESETS. They fear the scientist would perform more cruel and unusual experiments on them, Sans, and Asriel. That was something they could never let happen. 

Papyrus’s memories were mainly filled with happiness. It was nice to know he had a good life. But there were other memories they were forced to bear witness to. Repressed memories they had no business in seeing. 

The repressed memories were nothing special but they all contained one constant. A Skeleton Monster wearing a heavy cloak, hiding and watching him. The skeleton had dark gold, magically created hair and a set of matching eyelights. It was painfully clear Papyrus had no clue as to who they were, but they knew who he was. Chara brought up the unknown skeleton in passing conversation to WingDings, but his response… 

He grew quiet. He set down what he was working on to rub at his temples, eyes, and the bridge of his nose before speaking. 

<~“Put it out of your mind. Experiment 001 is of no interest or consequence.”~>

From WingDings's contempt filled statement, Chara was quick to pick up on four points. 

The most obvious being that “001” was the first of WingDings’s “Artificial Life” project. Two, “001” frustrated if not completely irritated the mad scientist. Three, WingDings’s personal opinion of “001 was less than amiable; it was to the point where he didn’t consider “001” to be a living breathing being. The last point Chara picked up on was that “001” was presumed to be dusted. 

Chara tried to pursue the repressed memories with varying degrees in success. They were unable to actually seek out the memories, but if they paid enough attention during random memories involving nothing out of the ordinary, Chara could see “001” in the background wearing a different colored cloak each time depending on their surroundings. White and brown for Snowdin, red and gray for Hotland, and light blue and black for Waterfall. 

Hiding behind trees, rocks, waterfalls, and even in the total darkness in Waterfall, “001” was spotted with their almost comforting golden gaze. It was clear that “001” was watching over them like a…guardian angel. How’s that for twisted irony?

“001” also seems to be the monster who gave Papyrus his signature (really Sans’s now) red scarf. It was a late night in Snowdin. Papyrus wandered out of Grillby’s when Sans was distracted by a Snowdrake. He was scared, alone, and cold. A blizzard was raging with zero mercy and poor, baby-bones Papyrus was caught in the middle of it, in the forest, with nothing but a pair of shorts, a short sleeved shirt, and his snow boots. 

“001” was spotted a little ways away from the shivering and sobbing skeleton. Their dark golden eyes and matching braid was the only thing Papyrus saw, aside from a fluttering red cloth in their grasp. “001” stalked closer to Papyrus and wrapped the red scarf around his neck and bringing him into their cloak. Papyrus was nestled against a ribcage and was dropped off in front of Grillby’s. “001” disappeared with not a trace except for Papyrus’s word that a “super cool snow monster” saved him and gave him the scarf. Sans was an emotional wreck, tears flowed down his cheekbones and quiet hiccups coursed through his bones. 

It was quite the sight for Chara; to see the oh so mighty Judge reduced to tears because his little brother was missing. It reminded Chara of Asriel actually. When they played hide and seek with Asriel when they were still alive, when Asriel wasn’t found fast enough or he couldn’t find Chara he was reduced to tears until they were hugging him. 

Still though, “001” remains a mystery to Chara. Who were they? What were they? What was their relationship with WingDings? To Sans and Papyrus? So many questions, very little answers. 

Vote, comment, and have a fantabulous day 😊😊💖💖
1721 words
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This chapter is dedicated to TheDOOM2022

They recently helped me break through the crippling writers block I was suffering through to write this chapter.