The giant tremors ripped through the Underground, sending its residents scurrying for cover. Debris and dirt rained down, and the walls shivered. Flashes of green and red tore through the eternal twilight, and deep monstrous roars resounded from the castle. The cries were so loud, their echoes could be heard all the way to the Ruins.

As the monsters cowered, many thought that the ancient prophecy had come to fruition at last: that the Angel of Death had finally descended to destroy them all.

Then, without warning, everything went silent.

The angry, jarring lights stopped. The castle fell eerily quiet. It felt as though all time had come to a standstill. Slowly and cautiously, the monsters emerged from their hiding places, afraid that the cataclysm would start again.

As they turned their gazes to the castle, it was with horror that the monsters realized that half of the castle had caved in, and smoke was rising from the ruin.

"ASGORE!" A shrill scream broke the residents from their slack jawed shock. Undyne, leader of the Royal Guard, was sprinting towards the castle with a flaming blue spear in hand. Her motion roused the monsters, and they followed behind in a panicked crowd.

Undyne burst through the doors, sending a shower of splinters onto the now cracked and chipped marble floor. Vaulting the banister, she ran up the stairs that opened to the Last Corridor. As her armoured feet pounded the floor, her heart could not stop hammering in her chest.

Please be alive…

The golden corridor was a mess of fallen pillars and broken glass that blocked the way. It would take forever to clear. Grunting with impatience, Undyne materialized a stronger, thicker blue spear. Using it as leverage, she leapt across the wreckage and bounded into the Throne Room. The other monsters cried out as she left them behind, but Undyne did not care.

Guilt was crawling on her back.

Asgore was not in the throne room. Undyne winced as she noticed that all his beloved flowers had been crushed by fallen debris. His throne was collapsed on its side, legs broken. "ASGORE!" Undyne shrieked. "ASGORE!"

There was only one other exit.

Undyne ran into the dark room that led to the cursed barrier. She had always hated that place, as it pulsed full of human malevolence and malice. The shimmering barrier and hints of a world beyond were stark reminders of what the humans had taken from monsters.

"ASGORE—"

Her cry died in her throat.

Under the pulsating light, a pile of dust was all that remained amidst her King's golden and purple regalia.

She reeled in shock, sinking to her knees. It was then that she noticed that the six soul containers were broken, and that their former occupants were nowhere to be seen. The human souls that they had painstakingly harvested, and were the keys and hopes to their salvation, were all gone.

Undyne let out a helpless yell of grief. Pounding the ground with her fists, memories of Asgore flooded her mind- his gentleness and kindness, his large generosity of spirit. Gone forever.

Asgore was the hope of all monsterkind… and again, a human had taken this away. And Undyne had let them.

In her grief, something new moved into her anguished, determined soul.

Hate.

When Toriel first emerged from the Ruins to claim Queenship, no one protested. Despite being divorced from Asgore, she was still a Boss Monster, and of royal blood. There was no other who had a stronger claim to the throne.

The Underground, which was in a state of despair after the King's death, felt revitalized. Many of the older monsters remembered her as a kind yet firm Queen, and had high hopes for her reign. All the monsters expected her to continue Asgore's war on humans.

For the first time in days, the seats at Grillby's were packed as patrons gossiped about the news.

"Did you hear?" slurred Drunk Bun, sloshing wine across the table. "The Queen will be having her first public announcement tomorrow! What do you think she will say?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Big Mouth. "Humans have killed both her son and husband-"

"Ex-husband," interrupted Ugly Fish.

Irritated, Big Mouth bared his fangs at the other monster. "Fine, ex-husband," he emphasized, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, who cares about semantics nowadays? As I was SAYING, it's a no brainer that she is going to declare war on humans! We will make those filthy creatures pay for what they have done to us!"

A murmur of assent ran through the packed bar.

"Humans are evil and vicious and selfish," said Punk Hamster vigorously, banging his tankard on the counter. "I heard from my friends at the Capital that the human devoured Asgore's heart just to save themselves. They don't care about us at all."

"Yeah," squawked Angry Bird, "And so many of our friends were killed by the human! We will never hear them laugh again…"

"I wonder what happened to the little puppy that patted us," said Dogamy, as he mournfully engaged in his nose nuzzling with Dogaressa. "I bet that human killed it."

"H-Hey Sansyyy, you are so awfully quiet," hiccupped Drunk Bun suddenly.

The bar fell silent.

"C-c-c'mon Sansy," she continued, blissfully unaware of the shift in mood. She gestured her empty bottle at the counter where Sans was sitting. "The mood is getting bad and you are always the life of the party…"

Grillby made a gesture with his hands.

"Er... Drunk Bun," said Angry Bird nervously, "How about another round of drinks?"

"What? I'm not talking to you! I'm talking to Sans," said Drunk Bun indignantly. "Sansyyy don't ignore me-"

"It's okay AB," said Sans, looking up at the flustered monster. The perpetual grin was plastered on his face. "I'll handle it. People are happy- It's been a while since the Snowdin folks have come to the bar to talk."

"Heya Drunk Bun," said Sans, swivelling around on his bar stool and smiling outrageously at her. He pointed his ketchup bottle suggestively. "You should change your name to MTT Cola, because you are… so-da-licious."

Drunk Bun screamed with laughter. "Oh you are a riot Sans! Tell us a joke."

"Whelp," shrugged Sans, leaning against the counter. "I was gonna tell you all a time travelling joke, but you guys didn't like it."

A collective groan went through the crowd, but the atmosphere relaxed considerably. At a nod from Grillby, Angry Bird brought another bottle of wine to Drunk Bun where she proceeded to get thoroughly wasted as the crowd egged her on.

As the conversation picked up again, Grillby gave Sans a look.

"I'm fine," said the skeleton, downing the rest of his ketchup. The lights seemed to go out from his sockets as he slumped forward. As the party went on behind, no one noticed.

"I'm always fine. Give me another round, will you?"