He needed to do something.

Flowey had long since exhausted his options. He had exploited everything there was to do in the Underground, or at least everything that he found was worth exploiting, and after both killing and befriending everyone in countless different ways, there just wasn't anything left to do. So he had resigned himself to stand in the ruins and wait. If he stayed patient for long enough, something new was bound to happen.

But wandering aimlessly or tailing someone was far different than just standing in place. His every fibre itched with the need to do something, ANYTHING. Wandering in circles around the room had helped, but not for long.

As he resettled in his favored spot, the small patch of grass where sunlight reached him, a thought crossed his mind. Why not go loosen up by killing a few monsters? When he thought about it, he hadn't done what he had dubbed a 'Genocide Run' for a long time. It would help him unwind enough that he could keep waiting, and it wasn't like he would lose any of his progress. He saved and sunk into the ground with a quiet snicker of anticipation. This was going to be fun, or at least he hoped so.

First, all the monsters in the Ruins. Froggits and Whimsums, Vegetoids, Loox and Migosps. They all ran into his friendliness pellets, like the idiots they were. He barely even had to do anything, just smile endearingly and act cute. A waste of time.

More interesting was the old hag, the so-called guardian of the Ruins. Flowey decided to be extra cruel and do something he hadn't for a long time. He told her an old truth from countless timelines ago - that he was her son, having awoken in the shape of a flower, who had come to her in search of aid and comfort. As always she crouched down to wrap her arms around him and cry into his petals, sobbing phrases he had heard over and over. And as she pulled back to get a good, proper look at her long-lost child, she was impaled by a spiked vine. She was dust before she hit the ground. Flowey brushed some of the dust from his face - once upon a time, her split-second expression had been priceless. A rarity to behold, even for just a moment.

It wasn't the same anymore. Oh, well. Maybe the next area would be more fulfilling - after all, that was where his favourite toy lived.

Ice Caps, Chilldrakes, etcetera. A lot of annoying teens and dogs that weren't worth paying any mind, but he nevertheless searched out and killed every single one. The civilians in Snowdin Town had evacuated by the time he got there, as usual, leaving only one person behind. Unlike the Ruins, Flowey took his time with the 'End boss' of this area. He almost laughed at the absurdity of that description - Papyrus could be considered many things, but definitely not an 'End boss'.

As usual the idiot kept going on about how Flowey could be a better person, if he just tried hard enough. He was Papyrus's friend, after all. Flowey didn't bother explaining why he was literally incapable of just that - he had done so in some of his earlier genocides, and well, the end result was always the same. Flowey chipped away at Papyrus slowly with deliberately weak attacks, fracturing or breaking single bones, hoping that maybe THIS time would be the one where Sans got off his lazy ass and tried to protect his brother. Or where Papyrus would have enough of the slow torture and snap, attack him, renounce him, hate him. Where the script would change.

Unfortunately, it didn't. The naive idiot died alone again, that irritating smile still on his face, saying one last time how he knew the flower could do better than this. It frustrated him how even his favourite toy had stopped being fun. He had thought that just maybe, killing him as slowly as possible would bring forth some kind of amusement, something different from the other times he'd gone through this scenario, but no.

Oh well, at least there was one thing he was looking forward to.

The fight with Undyne was normally the best part of any genocide run. It was hard and challenging, and he was sure he would have to work for his win, but it wasn't impossible like some other fight he could think of. Maybe he could beat her on the first try, but if not, he didn't mind. The tingling, prickling sensation running through his body had stopped, so now he just wanted to see how far he could go. Humming a cute little tune he burrowed, off to the next part of this route.

It hadn't worked. It hadn't worked! Angrily seething, Flowey stabbed what was left of Undyne with his vines. He remembered it clearly, the last time he had fought Undyne the Undying, it had been fun. Not nearly as much as it had been the first time, but still!

And now? Nothing. The battle had been tedious, Flowey hadn't even realised just how perfectly he had memorized her attack patterns. He had not gotten hit once, what a bore! On top of that, he had to listen to her obnoxious heroic monologue again. And now he had to move on to Hotland, the area he hated the most. He was not in any way looking forward to this.

Alphys was long gone already, as usual, but Flowey had learned to take that as a given. No matter how much he searched he had never been able to find where she and all the civilians hid, but again, he was used to it. It just wasn't frustrating anymore, at least as long as he wasn't thinking about it.

Mettaton's fight was short, like always. Flowey really had no idea what this guys deal was, bragging about his 'human eradication' functions even though Flowey wasn't even human. Who did Mettaton want to impress with that anyway, when he must have known how weak he actually was? One bullet was enough to make him blow up and Flowey couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic it all was. So what if the laugh sounded forced? What if he had wanted, just once, to have a real fight with NEO?

The trek through New Home was hollow, a long corridor that held nothing to interact with and nobody to talk to but himself. But finally he reached the Judgement Hall, and the last part of this genocide run. The Sans part.

image

As soon as Flowey had surfaced and approached, the chubby skeleton started with his usual monologue. But Flowey didn't want to hear that, he didn't NEED to hear it. He had heard it so often he could, and once did, recite it completely from memory. He felt fairly sure that Sans was doing it on purpose just to annoy him. So after a few sentences, he cut the monologue off.

"Do I think I can be a better person if I just try, hm?" he laughed. "Boy, you know, that sounds an awful lot like your brother, you know, the brother you let die?" He changed his face to that of a pained looking Papyrus, complete with the skeleton's strained voice. "FLOWEY, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE DOING THIS, BUT I KNOW YOU CAN BE A BETTER PERSON! AND I CAN HELP YOU IF YOU WOULD JUST LET ME!" He snickered as he switched back to his usual innocent appearance. "You know, he didn't even cry for help once, must've known how unreliable you are."

Sans was silent, only staring at the flower with his usual big grin.

"Aww, aren't you going to say anything? Defend yourself, tell me why you didn't do anything to stop me?" Flowey tilted his head to the side, winking. "I mean, you're supposed to be the hero right? The one who stops the evil little flower from killing the king and stealing the six human souls you all worked so hard on gaining." His body swayed from side to side. "Too bad there isn't anyone left to celebrate once you did it, except the king. And you know that, that's why you're silent now. You let them all die even though you could have stopped me when I was weaker. But you didn't.~"

Sans still didn't answer. Flowey's voice became mocking. "Everyone is dead. Even if you kill me now, you and the King are going to be the only ones left." He wasn't going to mention the survivors that had gotten away because of Alphys, it'd dampen his message.

The short skeleton remained silent, his dark, empty eye sockets staring at the flower. Even though Flowey knew what he would have said, he felt a pang of irritation. If Sans would just say SOMETHING, he'd feel less like he was monologueing, even if he was. But if the skeleton wouldn't talk to him, well, he supposed that was fine. He knew one way to guarantee a reply.

"You know what the best part about all this is? It was boring. All your friends died and it didn't even manage to entertain me, what a pity." Flowey winked, sticking his tongue out. "But don't you worry, your friend Flowey will make everything right again. See, I can reset time, so I'm just going to go back to before I killed everyone."

That made Sans speak, just as he had expected. "…so, you're the anomaly."

"Bingo! Sure took you long to figure that one out." The flower snickered. "And that's why I'm not even going to try and fight you. I already know I can't win! But, at least we both know now what a piece of garbage you are. Really, leaving all of your friends to die like that. Well, who knows! Maybe you'll remember our little talk, and save them all next time?"

Flowey snickered again. "Kidding! I know you won't." And with that he loaded.

[LOAD failed]

"What."

[LOAD failed]

"Uh …" He stared ahead blankly for a moment.

[RESET failed]

"That's not …?" As reality sank in, Flowey lost his cool. "I can't reset!?"