Distortion [formerly Visage]

[Distortion]

'After much contemplation and convincing, Frisk and their friends return to the depths of Alphys' lab. There, they tap into the font of power that is human determination, desperate to make a miracle happen once more. Perhaps they may be able to [SAVE] one more person.

But are they ready to deal with the results?'

Now on Ao3, too!
http://archiveofourown.org/works/6208036/chapters/14222332

-    -     -

There were close to a million ways this could have gone wrong.

The possibilities were just endless. The Amalgamates had been clear proof that toying with human Determination, in all of its forms, was a horrifyingly dangerous gamble, to the point where loss of life would have been considered an enviable and quick end. There were simply too many variables, too many opportunities for just about anything to go wrong. It also didn't help that the tech being used was wildly experimental at very best.

And yet here they were about to start everything all over again.

"W-what are the numbers, Sans?" Alphys asked, her tone trembling with nerve.

"everything's stable." Sans confirmed. "how're you holding up, kiddo?"

Frisk had every inclination to say they were perfectly fine, but that would have been the most gigantic lie they have ever uttered. The cold air of the old lab made them shiver, especially since they lacked their trusty sweater. The human scratched the back of their head, trying to instill some sort of calmness into them. They tried their best not to take note of the several rows of wires with little suction cups plastered all over their arms, legs and some under the shirt they kept for some semblance of warmth and modesty. Needle-ends were at one point suggested, but summarily declined.

Sure, the entire procedure had been their idea, but it did come with several rounds of second-guessing. Even after the hundredth 'yes', Frisk still hoped they'd never ask again, lest they give a completely different answer.

"don't worry frisk, anything goes zap and i'll cut the cords that instant." the skeleton assured, though his poor choice of words betrayed his own nervousness in the matter.

The whole situation was only marginally improved by all their friends beings present. Toriel was wringing her hands in trepidation and worry, constantly taking a step towards Frisk to try and relax them, or make the procedure more comfortable. Asgore continued to bravely hold her back each and every time, risking several fireballs to the face by doing so. Undyne and Papyrus were both there to assist with whatever they could, both of them behaving unusually calmly. The former Royal Guard was obviously a gigantic support in keeping Alphys even halfway functional in this den of bad memories, but to Frisk's surprise, even the boisterous skeleton was unexpectedly reserved, though in no ways calm.

The most surprising addition had to have been Asri-FLOWEY, standing by in a patch of soil and flowers. His inner state of being was significantly harder to read than the rest of them, but for the moment being, they certainly did seem interested, curious even. Frisk wasn't ready to bet that he would be concerned about their well-being, but did hope that at least some part of the flower remembered the brief time he got to feel love again.

And of course, there was the guest of honor.

Frisk's head has been pounding from the moment they woke up. Excitement, worry, anger, hope and many other emotions raced through their mind, rendering the human inoperable for most of the day up till now. The unexpected weight in their mind was always there, looming over their thoughts like some kind of specter of days long past. The human had some hope that Asriel's brief bout as God of Hyperdeath would have some influence on them, but other than the titanic headache for days on end, nothing changed. The presence, the face, the eyes, the name; they all continued to burn within them, never fading into complete obscurity.

Chara.

"Scared?" Frisk mouthed. They never really figured out the proper way to communicate with their 'passenger', but they found more comfort in voicing what they wanted, rather than leaving it to jumbled thoughts.

"No." the thought, voice, or psychic push arrived strong as a bullet, making Frisk wince. "What would I be afraid of? Dying?" Chara allowed herself a bit of dry humor, lowering her 'voice' as well. She paused for a short while. "It's weird... to see myself over there."

Frisk turned slightly, gazing at the rather alarming form of the Determination Extractor Mk. 2 Prototype. Images of thorns, vines and claws briefly filled their mind, forcefully shoved aside by Chara mere seconds later. This was not the time to get anxious about the past, although the sensation of rearranging thoughts like that was something the child has never really gotten used to. In the maw of the almost-skeletal machine lay a half-open coffin, its contents carefully hidden from onlookers. Even Sans and Alphys refrained from looking into it much, when they connected the wiring on Frisk to the machine.

"Just a little longer. You'll be fine." Frisk assured, clenching their hand. They could feel a twinge of Chara's suspicion in their hope, but the discussion remained unspoken.

Alphys continued to work the controls, being extra careful to make sure every bit of auxiliary needs were satisfied. While power especially had never been an issue, seeing how the lab was directly connected to the central hub of the CORE, she didn't want to leave anything to chance. If anything was to come out of this, the last thing she wanted to bet on were the environmental variables.

"you sure about this?" Sans asked, once she got within close earshot.

"N-no. I m-mean, yes. In theory, yes." she sighed, readjusting her glasses once again. "The... remains in the coffin, when s-struck by enough of Frisk's Determination could possibly r-reconstruct dead tissue and bring her back to life."

"nice save, but you know that's not what i meant." the skeleton was grinning as usual, but Alphys had keen knowledge in spotting which of his grins were sincere. This was not, at the very least they were not born from amusement.

"I've read the reports." she said, after a brief pause. Surprisingly, her voice remained steady for once. "If even half of it is accurate, we're playing with forces far beyond my old DT experiments. I know you're worried and so am I, but we can't deny this from Frisk."

"i know." he nodded. The familiar blue flame in his eye kept flaring up every now and again, reacting to either the machinery, the upcoming experiment, or just general intense nervousness. "we owe them so much this doesn't even cover interest."

"We have to t-trust them, Sans. It has worked so far."

The skeleton exhaled, a bit of honesty returning to his well-known grin. "what can i say, i just get this feeling in my bones."

"Hold onto that, just in case." Alphys returned the gesture with the hint of a smile.

She walked over to Frisk next, flashing a brief smile to Undyne along the way. They had hardly exchanged more a couple words since everyone arrived, but her mere presence was soothing.

"How are you f-feeling?" she asked, while examining all the wires again.

"Cold." Frisk admitted.

"And how's... Chara?"

The human pondered for a moment. "Eager."

"I guess that's good." she said. Finished with checking everything, she paused and gazed straight into the human's eyes. "This is w-where I'm supposed to tell you this won't hurt a bit." she chuckled just a bit, and saw a weak smile in return.

"But we've never tried something like this before. It might be just a prick, or very painful, I can't tell you for sure. All I ask is that y-you hold on, okay?" she clasped Frisk's hands in a surprisingly tight grip. "I'll do everything I can to make it quick and as painless as possible."

"I know you will." they nodded, smiling a little brighter. "I trust you."

Alphys flashed a toothy, slightly off-kilter grin and returned to the machinery. With just a few more settings to go, they were ready to begin the procedure. She and Sans were running the final calculations, and readying all the necessary monitoring equipment.

"Chin up, Frisk!" Papyrus' voice came as a breath of fresh air. Despite his silence, the skeleton was cheerful as ever. "Sans may be a slob in the house, but he knows the science things well. You are your other head-human are in good hands!"

"Yeah, Alphys told me a lot about how she and Sans used to work together." Undyne grabbed Papyrus by the neck and leaned on him. Out of everyone around, she definitely seemed the most confident. "It'll be like a routine checkup!"

"I am here, my child." Toriel spoke up, her voice significantly more worried. She did not like this place and all, and the unfamiliar machine was not inspiring much confidence either. "Just be brave."

"Stay determined, Frisk." Asgore nodded and offered a kind smile, still keeping a hand ready to pull Toriel back, if needed. He had not yet made up his mind on how to feel about the likely resurrection of their dead child, but it did seem like his ex-wife hadn't fully comprehended it either. "After all you've done, this is just a little inconvenience."

Their encouraging words were followed by an uncomfortable silence, while Sans and Alphys initiated startup procedures. The machine behind them slowly and loudly whirred and rattled, reactivated from its seemingly unending sleep. Even Flowey seemed rather interested now, though they kept looking at Frisk, more than anything else.

"Don't get blown up, okay?" he said finally.

Frisk nodded. Chara didn't even acknowledge the comment.

"Commencing in 3... 2... 1!" Alphys shouted, the warning making everyone take a step back. "Start!"

A pair of lights flashed deep within the 'eyes' of the machine and almost immediately sparks and cracks of electricity filled the area. The coffin rattled in the epicenter, though its lid still held in place for now. Frisk tensed up in anticipation of the pinprick Alphys mentioned earlier.

They did not expect the agony that followed afterwards.

The human's cries echoed across the entire lab, their entire body twitching in the seat. The feeling was indescribable; as if something was tearing chunks off their very being, transferring it through the wires and into the coffin. They could hear Chara's voice at first, but it was soon replaced by a loud ringing from the overwhelming pain.

"Let me go Dreemurr, right this instant!" Toriel screamed, scrambling from her ex-husband's tight grip.

She was just about clawing her way out of Asgore's grasp, as she was ready to tear Frisk from the machine the very second the first cry erupted from their mouth. Undyne, Papyrus and even Flowey winced, but continued to watch, the former two standing ready in case they were needed. Sans and Alphys were bounding back and forth in the meantime, hastily exchanging data and readings. It was very odd to see the skeleton so active and animated.

Frisk clawed into the seat, their feet repeatedly slamming into the ground. The machine continued to use and transform her determination into the needed form and pump in straight into what would become Chara. While the pain positively dulled everything else by comparison, they could swear Chara's presence in their mind was barely detectable, if there at all. Her SOUL flashed and pulsed in brilliant red, but even that beautiful light seemed to shrink and weaken due to the effects. It was a strange feeling to be alone again, slipping in and out of consciousness. They could barely, but hear a voice nearby.

"-down! Cut them off!"

Alphys barely even had to finish her sentence, before Papyrus and Undyne were on the case. The DT machine was slowly winding down, but kept on needlessly draining Frisk, making a manual and forceful shutdown necessary. She and Papyrus shredded the wires to pieces within just a few seconds, freeing the human from a pain that was nothing short of overpowering. Before Frisk could even ask a single question or so much as acknowledge their surroundings, Sans and Toriel were standing by gently grabbing them when they tried stumbling out of a sit.

"Frisk, Frisk! Please, open your eyes, my child." Toriel was outright whimpering, cradling the human's head like a newborn's. Sans meanwhile quickly checked their vitals, making sure there were no significant anomalies. Other than incredibly drained and in a slightly shock from the sudden onset of pain, they seemed to be doing just fine.

All eyes were quickly diverted as the coffin's top was violently thrown aside. A new, also childlike, but very throaty groan filled the air, just in time with loud rustling and rummaging echoing from the wooden resting place. A hand and arm reached out from the bowels of the coffin, followed by another. Wooden creaks filled the air as the new figure slowly climbed out from the coffin, clad in familiar fashion to that of Frisk. The steam generated by the machine soon cleared up thanks to the high-grade exhaust systems installed, fully revealing the figure they had just helped bring back to life. Frisk, barely conscious but still hanging on, glanced by and found grow to the size of saucers.

Pretty much everyone gazing at the newly emerged human was deathly silent. Toriel held a hand before her mouth, shocked just as much as her husband, who seemed to have chocked up on a breath of air, staring intently. Papyrus' lower jaw starting hanging surprisingly freely, a gesture Undyne couldn't follow, but was still just as surprised, a fleeting noise coming from her throat. Alphys seemed like she had forgotten how to breathe altogether, while for the first time in forever, even Sans's ever-lasting grin seemed to lose every depth behind it and resembled a frown more than anything.

Flowey was laughing.

It started with a snort, but quickly devolved into an unstoppable, guttural laugh that echoed all across the lab. Flowey's entire body was shaking violently from the overpowering laughter and by the sounds of it, even though he was a plant, he was about to joke on just how much the entire situation was making him laugh.

"...what?" Chara asked, thoroughly confused. Her voice was low and raspy, just as one would expect from someone who has not talked with an actual mouth for many-many years. "Why are you..."

She saw Frisk climb out of Toriel's grasp and approach her, but the immediate sensations were overpowering. Legs, arms, a full body, head, fingers, hair, all of these suddenly assaulted her mind of tons and tons of information about just basic movement and such. She took a step forward and caught Frisk in her grasp as they fell forward from exhaustion. The human sighed and embraced Chara as tight as possible, flashing her the kindest smile they could muster.

There was no change in looks from anyone else. Chara felt confused, perhaps even more so than what would have been appropriate for someone who had just returned from the dead. She gazed at Frisk without a word, only to feel, FEEL, color drain from her own face. There were two black splotches on Frisk's shirt as she held onto them. Ignoring the roaring laughter from Flowey, she looked up and saw her reflection on the monitor nearby.

Two endless black voids were gaping in place of eyes, oozing a viscous dark liquid and dripping over a decidedly inhuman mouth. Moments later, Chara's deathly screams filled the halls of Alphys' True Lab.

There were a million ways this could have ended badly.

The odds were not in their favor.