Event Log: Dead Ringers

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone participating in the event!
What: The event log for the Dead Ringers event!
Where: All around the city
When: January 16th-January 25th
Warnings: Evil doubles, so we can assume manipulation, violence, murder, and maybe some nasty words

Everything seems normal on the morning of the 16th - actually, everything seems normal about the city for the entirety of this event. Nothing is strange, nothing is obviously wrong. Well, except that the population has mysteriously doubled, and the new residents each look exactly like one of the old residents. So weird! Definitely not ominous at all.

At least until your new double gets down to business. After all, their only goal is to ruin your life, and that can take any form. Smashing your favorite coffee cup? Telling your worst enemy they're right? Kissing someone else in front of your girlfriend? Brutally murdering you and then hiding your body in a closet so they can more effectively destroy your life? The possibilities are truly endless, and the only way to protect yourself is to kill your double first. They're not really open to negotiation, after all - but they sure might pretend to be in order to trick you.

So watch your back, and try to make sure that really is your best friend and not an evil clone masquerading as them. Boy, that would be awkward. If you can stick it out until January 25th, good for you! But if you didn't manage to and your double survives until the end - well, just as a final 'fuck you', there's a chance you'll come back to life and remember every awful thing your double did. Hey, at least that'll make it easier to fix, right?

► This log covers January 16th-January 25th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If your evil clone happens to take you out, please let us know here, and remember that you will not revive until the event is over.

Comments

[somuchlove]

[Everyone got a double and by the sounds of it, Asriel's came knocking. Chara wonders for a moment if it's in the shape of that useless flower. What a show that would be if the real Chara met it! That's not their show to run but it'd still be interesting to watch.

But they can easily slip into the role of a concerned best friend. They smile slightly. It's a little bigger than Chara's normal smile though.]

I promise I'll be okay Asriel. And you're my best friend after all. No fake could mimic that.

[Which is not a lie, they think. Once upon a time Chara and Asriel were joined at the hip and if someone tried to replace the one, there would be no doubt in the other's mind that something was wrong.

That was then, however. And Asriel, dear Asriel who learned Chara's tells for things they never said out loud, never really looked too deep, did he?]

[alltozero]

[No, you can't fake love, can you?

...What does that make what Asriel feels, then? He's still empty inside. Incapable of truly caring. So separated from Chara that he confused a completely different person with them. So separated that he... he doesn't understand their smile quite like he used to, because they seem to be just a little bit too happy?

They smile when they're scared, he knows. Try to defuse situations with jokes and laughter, instead of escalating them with crybaby tears like Asriel does. Maybe they're afraid, and just trying to act strong.]

I know. You're tough. Tougher than anybody I know. I just... I'm scared, Chara. I'm scared I might lose you again. When I met Frisk, I... I couldn't even tell that they weren't you. What if I meet the other you, and I don't even recognize that it's not really you all over again?

[somuchlove]

[Make people laugh and they'll forget they're angry at you. Wear a cute ribbon and monsters won't hit you as hard.

It all evens out. You can't fake love but you can always bottle up LOVE.

If Chara had it in them anymore, they'd probably laugh here too. Not at their Best Friend, oh no. Just...the irony of the thing. Hearing "Please don't kill me." and going through it all again to reach the surface once more. But you can't escape those consequences, no sir. That's why they were there to begin with.

"Chara". System_information_963.

But let's move on.]

Well how about this? They have our memories up until today, so how about we come up with a code word? We say it to each other and we'll know that it's the real one.

[It's just like a game!]

[alltozero]

That's... Chara, that's perfect.

[He can always count on Chara. They're always so smart, always calm in situations where he just fizzles into tears, always sure of what to do. Just like that, they know a way to keep them both safe. A way to keep everyone safe!]

I knew I could count on you! We should tell Frisk about this, too, so they'll know which versions to run away from. Um, but we'd better pick something that's not easy to guess, right? Like, it can't just be our middle names or "New Home" or something, or maybe the bad ones will figure it out.

[He's breathing easier already. He holds out one of his paws - the way he's used to doing. An invitation, not a demand. Never touching or grabbing without permission, because he knows that touch can bring up ugly things, the sort of things that he sometimes suspects might have fed into an unhappy reason for climbing a mountain or a hatred of humanity. Just... offering a paw, if they'd feel safer holding hands.]

[somuchlove]

[They pause and then take Asriel's paw. Smile a little. Thank you for inviting. Thank you for caring to learn that they didn't like touch, for having those suspicions because Chara was never going to say them.

"Please don't kill me."

Always good for a laugh.]

I have an idea...but let's hear yours first. We'll pick which one sounds like something we'd all know.

[Get it? Because they've seen everything, they know every line =) ]

[alltozero]

Something we'd all know...?

[Gosh, that's a little tricky. It'd have to be something from Hadriel, maybe, because obviously their time underground didn't overlap with Frisk's time underground. Or maybe something that stayed consistent from their time all the way to Frisk's time? That shouldn't be too hard. Monsters have lots of traditions they love. Puzzles, dungeons, the prophecy the Delta Run symbolized, fighting with a sword in one hand and ice cream in another...]

Um... oh! How about "snail pie!" Frisk was never lucky enough to try it, but Mom did mention it to them.

[somuchlove]

["Chara" makes a bit of a face at the memory of snail pie because it was an acquired taste that they really didn't have. Maybe.

It's been so many loops now. Their memories might be muddled.]

She decided to hold off on snail pie, when they first arrived. Did Frisk tell you about that?

[Because if they recall correctly, by the time Frisk landed in the Underground you were dead and gone. Right Asriel?]

[alltozero]

Well... um, no...

[He realizes, a little belatedly, that it might be giving away something awkward if he tells the truth. If he only knows about pie because he spied on them all along, ready to spring out of the ground just outside Home and taunt them about whether they spared Toriel or cut her down.]

I just... guessed? I mean, you took a really long time to get used to snail pie, so I doubt she'd give it to a human on their very first day of being her new kid. She wouldn't want to scare them away, right?

[somuchlove]

[Now now Asriel, you don't have to lie about that! They've seen everything, best friend. You don't have to hide from them.]

That does make sense. It really is an acquired taste. But she's not a scary person, right? She wouldn't hurt anybody.

[Although she did, in the end. Don't think they never saw the look on her face when she accidentally killed Frisk.]

I've got one for you and me. Want to hear it? It's a favorite word of mine.

[alltozero]

...Right. She'd never hurt anyone.

[He says, swallowing down the memory of what it feels like to be blown away by a fireball. Pretending he doesn't know that there's fire magic in her hands when she blocks the human's way. Acting like he doesn't know that game-over reloads feel different from the sorts of intentional reloads he pulls when he has six souls within him.

He's... he's glad when the conversation moves on to a newer, nicer topic.]

Of course, Chara! I'm listening. Go right ahead!

[somuchlove]

[Asriel has at least one warning something is wrong. Chara's grip on his hand abruptly doubles. They're not letting go, and isn't that want you wanted in the end Asriel?

To be with them forever, right? Right?

Well, it doesn't matter. Chara's going to let go in the best way they could. So they smile and smile...one that takes joy in what they're about to do. They always had a sick sort of humor, didn't they?

* You equip the Real Knife.]

I LOVE you, so much.

[And then Chara pulls Asriel close. If he does not move, the Real Knife will find home in his stomach.

Do you know how to dodge, best friend?]

[alltozero]

[If you don't have a soul, what happens when you...?

He'd found out, once Frisk fell. When they chose FIGHT over MERCY at the end of a long fight, and the smiling face had faded away from the flower.

He finds out again, because he never looked at Chara with anything but utter trust. Never thought he might be in danger. Never braced himself for anything like this. The Real Knife is already biting into him before he even begins to comprehend what's happened.

Asriel staggers back, tugging his body off the blade. It's like a horrible mix of monster and hollow vessel, the way his body reacts. There's a wound, only it's not a wound, not in the sense that it should be. There's a hole, a blank spot hacked into him, and though a thin trail of dust trickles around the seams, it just stays there. Like a rip in a costume. Like a torn seam in a plush toy, only without any stuffing inside of it.]

Chara... wh... why?

[Chara would never -


It hits him like a bolt of lightning, sends him staggering back further, clutching his middle uselessly. This isn't Chara. This was never Chara. It was the wrong one the entire time.]

You... you tricked me! You LIED!

[somuchlove]

[The Real Knife seems to glow with its own terrible, red magic as Chara draws it back. They don't laugh. They don't really do much else but walk forward. Smiling.

It's empty. Just like you.]

Now, now Asriel. You gave me - or Frisk - the run-around when we first met again. Remember? A nice flower showing a person who just fell into the Underground, only to betray them. Remember?

[Chara reaches for him, smiling. They have a good feeling that he's finished, one way or another. They couldn't feel a thing but that didn't mean there wasn't any malice in their strikes.]

You IDIOT. A fun line, wasn't it? But how many times did you say it until you got bored? Just like me.

[They raise the Knife. * It's the end.]

My favorite line is this, Asriel. "Please don't kill me."

[The Knife swings down. Better move, or you're dead.]

[alltozero]

[It feels like the surface had felt. So hard to think, so hard to focus past the burning ache racing through him, like trying to keep all the minute particles of dust in place with nothing but his clumsy uselessly hands. Yet, simultaneously, overflowing with thought, with so many disjointed panicky pleas that it almost feels like their are two souls inside of him, both feeling the same pain and screaming out in two drastically different ways.

"Please don't kill me?" What is that about? Is that one of the things he'd shouted to that village full of hostile faces? He doesn't understand. He doesn't understand! This shouldn't even be happening at all. Even a bad version of Chara, even one who wanted to blurt dark secrets and try to make people hate them... no version of Chara would want to hurt him. This can't be happening.

This...

This is all just a bad dream.

The Knife bites through his flesh. Etches an empty black stripe down his face, into his shoulder, through his phony, fragile little body. The disguise crumples. Goes to nothing like a balloon that's been handled too roughly. Scatters into snowy-white dust, in a pathetic little heap on the ground. Can't hold that form together when it's falling apart. Can't hide the ugly core inside of it when that's dying too.

A single golden flower, face blank and petals crumpled, drops sadly onto the pile.]

[somuchlove]

[This is what rock bottom looks like, when the miles run out. When one reaches beyond and takes a hold of things they shouldn't and twist it into what they want.

Please don't kill me.

How cute to think that would stop them. They can't feel anything, after all.

The Knife disappears and Chara bends over, sweeping the dust away and plucks out the flower. So that's what was inside of that hollow body. The true form of Chara's best friend. Too bad they can't remember what those precious memories felt like.

Chara waits there until their own miles run out. Asriel called them and naturally the real Chara would arrive. In the Underground it would take time for that to happen. A lot of time before he would see his "friend" again - and it was rich that he denounced them on top of their own grave.

Best friends don't do that, right? Ahahha.

But what they think don't matter. The double doesn't last anymore than a minute against their real. They don't want to. Because it just comes down to this, in the end:

* You win!]