The dust mingled with her tears as she sat there, realizing that it was over. It had been hours since Sans had killed the Human, and there was no sign of a reset. She had no way of knowing how many times he had won, how many times the Human fell before they finally gave up. She wondered how many more times Undyne would have had to have done it. She wondered how many times she had done it.

Alphys cringed. She remembered it then. The self-sacrifice. The glory. The majesty. Undyne had become a god, for just a moment. She was so strong. So selfless. So determined. She had transformed into something the likes of which had never been seen, and would likely never be seen again. And in that moment, for the first and last time, she had had hope. When Undyne unlocked the true power within her, becoming the Undying, when she had showed the Human what monsters could really do, when she had set out to complete a task on the behalf of the whole world, it was then that Alphys truly believed that Undyne could succeed, that she could achieve victory for her people. That she could SAVE the WORLD.

But she couldn't. Eventually, Undyne fell just like every other monster. The only LOAD that Alphys remembered was the last one. The one where Undyne fell. The Human had dodged so effortlessly, struck with such force and precision. They weren't surprised by Undyne's transformation, and they were perfectly ready for it. And it was on this horrifying note that Alphys watched as Undyne the Undying gave lie to her name, falling to the ground and scattering to dust.

Alphys wished that she could remember. She wished so much that she could remember all the times Undyne's spear had hit home, all the times the Human had fell. She wished she could recall the feeling of joy that must have swirled through her as she saw Undyne succeed, she wished she could remember the look of elation that would have undoubtedly covered Undyne's face as the Human took their last breath.

But none of that had ever happened. The only one who could remember it was the Human, and now they were gone too. It was a strange feeling. Alphys felt like there was a hole, deep inside her. Like there was something missing. She knew what it was, of course. Undyne, Papyrus, everyone. She had lost so much, and yet there was something else.

Even when the Human had been destroying her world, piece by piece, there was a sense of normalcy. As if she had always known it would happen. As if, even with everything that was happening, she could still count on one thing.

But now even that was gone. The world was broken. The Human was gone. Everyone was gone. And now, sitting on the couch in her lab, stained with tears, dust, and ramen noodles, she wondered what was left. Sure, about 75 monsters were still alive. Sure, Sans had won, and the King was still there, and she was still alive. But for what? The Human's SOUL had shattered in a final act of defiance. They couldn't escape. They were still stuck here, and no one had gotten by without loss. Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends, spouses, everyone had lost someone. The poor comedian who's son had died, the two of them still on bad terms. He had never had a chance to apologize to his son.

The girl who had been trapped in Hotland, waiting patiently for Alphys' laser to deactivate so she could go visit her father- now dead.

The dozens of monsters who adored Mettaton above anyone else, and who watched in abject horror as they saw their superstar die.

All of them, now, were crushed. Destroyed from the inside out. Even if their bodies hadn't turned to dust, their hearts had. And Alphys couldn't see one reason to go on. Not one reason not to end everything now. It just seemed like it would solve a lot of problems.

It seemed like what she deserved. She looked around. There were so many ways it could be done, and yet none of them seemed appropriate to the circumstance. She looked around and looked to her flowerpot, filled with buttercups. Perfect.

She walked over to the pot and sniffed the flowers, closing her eyes, before she moved a hand to begin picking them.

"hey, doc."

Alphys turned suddenly, looking behind her to the one who had interrupted her. She wasn't suprised. It was Sans, of course, having entered with perfect timing, just like always. She actually resented him a bit, for being so perfect, and the fact that despite his pathetic STATS, that he succeeded where she had failed.

Despite that, she appreciated everything he'd done. They all owed everything to that little, lazy, unassuming skeleton.

But how much was "everything?"

"S-s-sans... I didn't e-expect..."

"you might wanna hold off on that for a bit. asgore's holdin' a party to celebrate the underground's survival. nobody wants you to miss it, and if a sudden tragedy were to happen, it'd probably be better for it to happen after the party."

"Sans, I..."

"alphys. everyone owes their lives to you. if it weren't for you... if it weren't for your genius and guts, asgore and i would be the only ones left. everyone would be dead but us two. i didn't save the underground, doc. you did. if you want to give up now, fine, i won't try to stop you. but just take this one opportunity to be happy again. i know these circumstances are hard, but it's gotta happen. just have one more good time, ok, doc?"

"You seem to be holding up pretty well."

"i'm not. i'm a wreck, alphys. but you and i... we've both got to get our acts together. just this once, doc."

"Ok. I'll go with you. New H-home, right?"

"yup. everybody's gonna be there."

"Literally everybody."

"... yeah."

"Alright. When's it going on?"

"right now. they sent me to find you."

"Ok. I'll just get dressed and jog down there real quick-"

"nope. you get dressed, and i'll take you there myself. i don't want you to get any ideas passin' by long drops."

"Damn it Sans, I..."

"one more day, alphys. just one more, ok?"

"I will, Sans."

"gotcha. you just get in your sunday duds, and i'll be waiting outside."

With that, Sans disappeared into thin air. Alphys looked down at the flowerpot she held in her hands, and silently and calmly placed it back in place, a few stray tears still rolling down her cheeks. She walked over to her closet and opened it up, reaching for her only nice piece of clothing, her favorite spotted dress. The second she touched it, though, she became lightheaded.

She saw a bright light, and somehow felt like she was having some sort of flashback. She saw herself wearing the dress, with Papyrus and Undyne and... the human? And Undyne was smiling, and Papyrus and the Human were just watching, and everyone was so... happy.

Huh?

Alphys shook her head. What the hell was that? Damned if she knew. The Human and her and Undyne and Papyrus? It didn't make the slightest iota of sense.

But, now that she thought about it, the dress really did make her think of Undyne. She'd always fantasized about... let's say dating Undyne, and of course she always imagined she'd be wearing that dress. She really did like it. But she didn't feel like this was the right situation. She put it back on the hook and chose a stylish and clean lab coat instead, changing into it in seconds.

The moment she finished buttoning it up, Sans stepped into the room.

"you done?"

"S-sans!? Were you w-watching?"

"no. why would i be watching?"

"You just seemed like y-you... knew right w-when I was d-done."

"call it a lucky guess. either way, we've gotta get goin'."

Sans walked over to Alphys and took her by the hand.

"you're goin' to have to follow along pretty close. i know a shortcut, but it'd be a pity if you got lost on the way."

Sans walked straight into Alphys' closet, and stepped out of ASGORE's.

"H-how do you do t-that!?"

"eh. it just takes some practice."