"so, uh… they've already killed her?"
"Chances are, yes."
"why'd ya wait?"
"I was being indecisive. Sorry."
"real weird hearing that from you."
"Real weird saying it. But it has to be done. This has to stop."
"i agree. this has to stop. how many times, did you say?"
"No idea. Hundreds, maybe thousands."
"i almost find that hard to believe."
"Damn it, trashbag, so do I. But it's true. I remember."
"seems like i'd be able to handle 'em."
"You get them dozens of times each timeline, but eventually they get the pattern down."
"so… i do the exact same thing every time?"
"Yep. Every single time, the exact same thing. I always watch."
"well, i guess i need to work on that."
"Yeah, I guess you do. Sans… we need to stop them."
"i know."
Flowey took that his cue to leave, and he popped into the ground, disappearing. Sans stood by a few seconds, his hands in his pockets as he contemplated the events of the near future. If Flowey was to be believed, right now, there was a maniac human about to exit the RUINS, the blood of dozens of their hands. It sounded insane, but Flowey would know, he supposed. He remembered the LOADS even better than Sans, so it wasn't a stretch to assume that after a certain number of nearly identical RESETS, Flowey would begin picking it up.
He remembered the humans that had come before. He'd actually been against killing them, but he had a job to do, at least the last couple of times, and the first few he had had nothing to do with it. They could LOAD. And they killed them. So why would this kid be any different? He went to see Papyrus.
"So… Toriel is dead?"
"Yeah."
"I never thought I'd outlive her."
"Huh. To think of it… neither did I, at first."
"Well. I suppose there is no use in continuing this conversation any longer. I have no idea how you have this information, and, frankly, I don't care, not one bit. The human has killed Toriel. I would kill them anyway, to tell the truth, but now I have more motivation. Away. I have much to think about."
"Right. I'm out. Be there."
"Do not give me orders."
"…"
"Fine."
And Flowey popped into the ground again.
ASGORE sat on his throne and crossed his hands in front of him, thinking about life, much like Sans had done just a few minutes earlier. Tori was dead, there was little doubt. That a human was coming, there was no doubt.
He had killed humans before. Dozens of them, in fact, and one of them that could LOAD. If you killed them enough times, eventually they'd give up, and once they gave up, even if the decision was subconscious, they wouldn't have the DETERMINATION necessary to LOAD and they would die permanently, leaving their SOUL to eternally float in a jar, waiting for him, King ASGORE, to absorb them and free the monsters from their eternal prison.
ASGORE punched the arm of his chair in sudden consternation, and got to his feet. He could not allow even one more of his subjects to die at the hands of this human. He actually began to run, making his way to Snowdin.
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND. A HUMAN IS COMING… BUT WE CANNOT CAPTURE THEM?"
"yeah, pap, that's right."
"YOU WANT US TO… KILL THEM?"
"yeah."
"WHY!?"
"cause, pap, if we don't, then they'll kill us."
"… ARE YOU SURE?"
"i'm positive, bro."
"PERHAPS… THEY ONLY NEED SOME COUNSELING! PERHAPS WE COULD-"
"that's not how it works, papyrus. they've killed us all a lot of times before."
"SANS… YOU KNOW I DON'T UNDERSTAND THINGS LIKE THAT. BUT… DON'T YOU BELIEVE… THAT EVEN THE WORST PERSON CAN CHANGE? THAT ANYONE CAN BE A GOOD PERSON, IF THEY JUST TRY?"
"yeah, pap. i believe that. but some people aren't gonna try."
Papyrus closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
"ALLRIGHT, SANS. I UNDERSTAND. WE ALL HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER."
"that's right, bro. we either fight together, or die alone."
The two hugged.
"THEN LET US FIGHT TOGETHER."
A tear fell slowly down Sans' cheek as he squeezed Papyrus. He considered that he might be making a mistake bringing him, and he swore to any god that was listening that he wouldn't let him get hurt. No matter what.
"So yeah… that's what's happening, and… they need your help. We need your help."
"And why should I help you. You've never done anything but cause us trouble. You've never done one thing to help this world. You've stolen, you've annoyed, you've probably done much worse, considering the relatively high missing monsters count."
"You… aren't just helping me. You should know that the human has already killed Queen TORIEL, and Sans, Papyrus, and the Canine Unit will be next. C'mon, Undyne. You're not just gonna wait all hard-nosed for them to come to you."
"I have a job to do, and I'm not going to leave Water- WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING!?"
"That's the spirit."
"If I can kill them sooner, why should I wait!? And why would I let Sans and Papyrus and the dogs die, especially against the murderer that's killed the Queen!? Screw tradition, screw my job, and screw everything else! I'm gonna kill the hell out of that damn human before they can even see it coming!"
"O-ok! But you have to remember, fight together or you'll- damn it, she's already gone."
Flowey popped into the ground as Undyne rushed toward Snowdin. He legs pumped with furious energy, a glowing magical spear flashing in her hand. She was filled with rage, sadness, and DETERMINATION. In a perfect world, she would have time to mourn the Queen's death, but this was not a perfect world. In fact, this was the opposite. This mountain was a combination of a prison, a concentration camp, and Hell, and it was all the fault of mankind. She was going to kill the human, get their SOUL, give it to ASGORE, and free the monsters.
She was a heroine. That was what heroines did. That was her job, not endlessly patrolling Waterfall. Her strides matched the puffing of her breath, each step letting off endless rings of water rippling across the swampland.
"W-what?! TORIEL… is d-dead!?"
"Yep! And we're all going to be next, if no one stops the human."
"W-what do you want m-me to do?"
"Activate EX and stay out of our way, that's what. You can't fight, so don't try. Do what you're good at and press buttons."
"H-how do I know I can b-believe you."
"Because. I've seen it! You've dreamed about it! You know what's going to happen! You've woken up in cold sweats, thinking about it every night! How six humans have fallen so far, each almost completely benign! How, one of these days, without a doubt, we're going to run out of luck and a bad one is gonna fall down here. You know what humans can do, you know how determined they can be, and you know how many of us they could KILL. So why do you keep acting so c-c-confused?"
"Shut up."
"Fine. But just you wait, lady. That waifu of yours isn't coming home."
Alphys cringed as Flowey disappeared. She knew what he meant. And that alone was enough to motivate her to believe him, even if what he said was untrue. She pressed a button on her desk, opening a computer interface.
"Activate project MTTEX."
She sat down, seemingly exhausted by the effort of saying those simple words. A tear fell down her cheek. If what the flower had said was true… if a human really was coming down, committing Genocide… then she couldn't fail Undyne. She couldn't let her die. She knew what humans were capable of, and Undyne didn't. Mettaton did. She could save them all, if only she found the courage within herself to ACT.
She clenched her clawed fist, and got to her feet. If she needed to ACT, then she would ACT. If the human wouldn't show MERCY, then she would FIGHT. She strode quickly out of her door.
Muffet came because she heard the human liked to hurt spiders.
RG01 and 2 came because each was individually told the other was in danger.
Final Froggit came because he was told that only with combat could the meaning of life be found.
Whimsalot came because he was told that the human would be a worthy adversary. Both he and Flowey knew that wasn't why he was coming.
Aaron came because he was looking for a fight.
A Temmie came because she was hyped. Just, hyped in general.
Grillby and the Nice Cream Guy came because they figured the monsters would need refreshments.
Napstablook came because he was bored.
By some method or another, almost every significant monster in the entire Underground converged on the door to the RUINS. They all met up as the massive doors slowly swung open, and they all stood there as a gust of wind sent millions of tiny particles of dust into their eyes.
The human appeared.