To get the most out of this timeline, it's sometimes worth directly interacting with the events. Not to turn it towards one way or another; that would be after witnessing what occurs naturally. However, in order for certain wheels to turn, a slight push is what's needed for things to be interesting. Now that Flowey had a new plaything, he wondered what dialogue and events he can wring out of him before he tires of him too.
How long would it take for him to grow bored of the boy? Papyrus took a long time. Several scenarios, dates, tortures, and heartbreaks came from that skeleton. Perhaps Gohan would reveal his secrets to his supposed strength? As long as he had the power of SAVE neatly in his figurative pocket, he could toy with the boy as long as he wanted. So what if he could push the cow through a stone wall? Sans could incinerate him all he wanted, but in the end, it would be Flowey that reigns supreme.
Speaking of Sans, it's quite auspicious that the resets are seemingly infinite. The amount of times that the sub-monster reprobate caused Flowey to reset is staggering. Surely it's hit the five digit mark by this point. Not that it mattered enough to keep count in the first place. At one point, however, back before he had stopped viewing monster-kind as "people" and started viewing them as "things", they had been friends, once. If anything, Sans had taken just as long as Papyrus in terms of entertainment value. No, it wasn't the jokes that brought the two together. If anything it turned Flowey off, he had never understood how the infernal skeleton was so popular with his stupid gags.
It was his intelligence and his analytical gaze that caught Flowey's attention. Sans had so much knowledge that Flowey could never truly grasp. Not for lack of trying, but Sans was just another kind of mind.
He had helped all the denizens of the Underground with all of their problems. Every single denizen except for one. In another time line, when Sans still regarded Flowey as a friend, he had shown him the machine.
"I'm sorry, Sans. I just can't make heads or tails of this thing."
Flowey was being carried by Sans in a flowerpot. They were in the basement of the skeleton's house, and the flower was wrapping his vines over the machine. Upon seeing it the first time, it was apparent that it was completely broken. However, Flowey had been able to fix many broken appliances. Working with Doctor Alphys had given him a lot of mechanical experience. Reverse engineering some of the human crap took time and smarts, and after a few years Flowey could fix even the most complex human contraption that fell down here.
This wasn't a human contraption at all, however.
He had heard the skeleton heave a small sigh. It ate at Flowey, knowing that he had failed. A reset wouldn't f ix this, and there aren't many things a reset can't fix. Flowey couldn't even tell what the hell this thing was supposed to do.
"eh, i suppose it was too much to hope for, yeah?"
Flowey retracted his vines and sighed as well. "I mean, it's not like this is it. I could find something out later, we could fix this… thing. Whatever it is."
The skeleton had grinned wider and gave a quick shrug. "eh, forgeddaboudit. hey, let's get a bite to eat. grillbys okay?"
"Sure."
He had never found out anything about that machine. A long while after that, Flowey had begun entertaining himself with torturing the denizens of the underground instead of fixing their problems. At first it was curiosity, then it was for his own pleasure. Oddly enough, the first time seeing a monster fall over backwards in shock and then disintegrate into dust brought him the same amount of pleasure as giving that very same monster their favorite gift. The only difference was that this feeling was fresh. Later still, when Flowey mused to himself about that machine he couldn't fix, he wondered how it would feel if he broke it into a million pieces? Alas, he could never go back into that basement. The damnable skeleton shielded it, and he had never noticed.
The first time Flowey had ever seen the machine was also the last. Even if Flowey reset the timeline and went back to being his old Mary Sue persona, helping Papyrus get his hand out of the cookie jar and covered for one of Sans' shifts, Sans would never again invite Flowey into his basement. Somehow, even after the resets, Sans knew. No, that wasn't quite right. Sans didn't know a damn thing, nobody except Flowey remembered the resets. The real answer was creepier. Sans found out just by looking at Flowey's face. After his first sadistic escapades, Sans could tell just from Flowey's expression just what magnitude of cruelty the flower had caused, and to whom. In fact, after a certain point, the skeleton had begun killing him on sight. Of course, this was when Flowey was younger and inexperienced.
It didn't take Flowey long to be able to mask himself from Sans' gaze. Well, as long as he hadn't done anything incriminating upon first meeting the bastard.
Enough about the hated skeleton. Even with him interfering with Flowey's plans, Sans had brought Flowey years of entertainment. Years of challenge. Still, that ended. Now he was just a headache.
The boy, Gohan. While the child is predictable as any child would be, under pressure it would appear that he is spontaneous. The boy singlehandedly defeats the canine unit and then goes in for the kill. The shock he felt when he saw that look Gohan's eyes had screamed bloodlust. Those are rare down here, what with everyone being exceptionally kind. Two instances he had watched that happen; one where he failed in killing the female mutt, and the second where he had Papyrus in a death lock. Constricting Papyrus to death was amusing, and it would have been a blast to have seen that in a third person view, but then Smiley Trashbag got in the way.
This child in front of Flowey had so much potential to bring him much entertainment. Flowey would hold off stealing his soul until he tired of the boy. How would the boy react to being betrayed? How would Gohan react to being forced to kill his best friend? To watching all of them die? Oh, oh. How would this four year old react to having all his friends leave him? The infinite number of possibilities that ran through Flowey's head made him giddy.
The first step to all this is to build the boy up, and then bring him crashing down.
Gohan crawled backwards desperately from the flower, recognizing him immediately as Flowey. Even though a day or two had passed, the unfriendliness was still fresh in his mind.
The flower huffed. "Come on now, kid. It's not like I'm here to kill you, I've got a message from Toriel."
The boy blinked in response and hesitated. Chara floated above him, listening intently. They only said to the frightened boy, "Tag me in when you want."
Gohan shook his head and spoke to the flower, "Don't you hate me?"
"A little." The flower said, bobbing from side to side playfully. "If I were completely honest, I like you more than I hate you though." The boy tilted his head in confusion at his response. Flowey suppressed his laughter, what an idiot. He continued, "I just can't understand you, boy. So that's why. Anyway, I'm helping Miss Toriel keep tabs on you so that you get out of the underground safe." He finished his sentence with a huge smile.
Curiously, the boy crawled forward. The gears in Gohan's head turned. This is the same person that called Miss Toriel an 'old hag', and that his suffering would bring him 'great amusement'. The boy gave the flower a dubious look. The flower held out a leaf hand to stop the boy from speaking.
"I know, I know. Why would I help after I was so mean? Well, I had a change of heart. I'm a good guy now." Flowey edged toward the boy with a meek expression. "I talked to Madam Toriel, and she made some convincing arguments. We're pals now." If the flower hadn't lied so blatantly in the past, it would have been hard to keep a straight face. He looked away. "So now I'm doing her a favor by making sure you're okay. Oh, and to give you this."
The flower burrowed into the ground, then a few moments later reemerged with a knapsack around its stem. "The damn thing is filled with delicious food. I'm kinda of jealous, smells good!" The boy approached him hesitantly. The flower retreated from the boy, knowing that it would be easier to recover the pack if Flower wasn't on top of it. It was funny, to watch Gohan fearfully picked up the sack. The boy was strong enough to survive on his own. If only his determination wasn't so weak, he'd be worth something.
Flowey coughed loudly to gain the attention of the insolent child rummaging inside the pack. "Toriel says to give her a call sometime. She misses you. I'll be seeing you later, okay?"
Gohan gave a shaky nod to the flower. When Flowey tunneled underground without so much as a goodbye, the boy ran to where the flower had stood and shouted into the little tunnel he withdrew into. "Wait! Darn it! Flowey! I'm sorry! I hope we can still be friends! Thank yoou!"
Flowey rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, you too," he called back. He, of course, wasn't going to Toriel's just yet. The flower tunneled, circling around the boy to spy on them a little more before returning with his 'report'.
Chara hummed to themselves. They couldn't help but find something odd about the talking weed. It was almost as if they were toying with their boy. They had mentioned 'Miss Toriel' as well. That was the name of their adoptive mother. They cleared their throat.
"Partner."
Gohan carried the knapsack full of food to Chara and eagerly displayed the contents. The light in the boy's eye was dim compared to the shining treasure trove of food. These were all familiar foods that they had eaten in the past; the same foods that his adoptive mother had made. So the boy had made a relationship with her. They decided not to confirm it, as it would sparsely matter either way.
"Isn't it great? It smells so good, do you want to try some?" Gohan thought inwardly to his mind-mate. He then beckoned the ghost to take over his body.
Why? The boy hadn't even taken a bite himself yet. Still, he thinks of others before himself. Taking the boy's offer, Chara took possession of the body and bit into one of the chocolate muffins.
It was divine.
Papyrus wasn't the type to let their friend run off into the wilderness alone! Why, what would happen if one of the Canine Unit were to find him without a proper disguise?! Papyrus had not wasted a moment, and despite his brother's half-hearted protest, the tall skeleton took off into a sprint to find the boy. Little did Papyrus know, he went into the wrong direction! Well, once the future best member of the Royal Guard found out his folly, he chased the boy's tracks. He ran and ran, he ran so hard that he flew in the air like a majestic eagle. A jogging majestic eagle. If only he had brought his sweat bands!
From his birds eye view, he easily spotted the human. The boy was sitting down eating… eating a muffin? WHAT?
"WHAT?!"
Papyrus charged the human from high above the trees. He ran through a tree, dodging it so hard that both his body and the tree were unscathed despite Papyrus having gone through it. Some would call that a miracle, Sans would call it an extremely unlikely example of quantum tunneling, but in truth, it's just PAPYRUS!
"HUMAN! ARE YOU OKAY? AND CAN I HAVE ONE?"
Chara munched on their chocolate muffin. Taking a lingering look into the bag, they decided that they would make peace with the larger bone pile with a suitable offering. They tossed the skeleton a vanilla muffin, something they wouldn't even miss.
"WOWIE! THANK YOU! WHERE DID YOU GET THESE?!" The armored skeleton began eating the muffin as if he were a chipmunk.
Chara's annoyance grew. Couldn't he tell that they were eating? Swallowing their mouthful, they answered. "A talking golden flower gave it to me."
"OH! I HAVE A FLOWER FRIEND TOO! WHAT WAS HIS NAME…? FLOWERY?"
The possessed child ignored the skeleton and continued eating their muffin. They didn't have time for games. "Papyrus, can you carry me back to Sans house?" They said flatly, finishing their chocolatey treat.
"NYEH?" The skeleton then registered the question and his eye sockets shone. "WOWIE! YOU WANT ME TO CARRY YOU? THAT'S A BIT WEIRD… BUT OKAY!"
Chara nodded curtly as they lifted their arms into the air. Papyrus hesitantly picked the child up carefully and adjusted them into a piggyback position. After confirming that the human had a tight grip, Papyrus sprinted off back into his home, keeping to the ground this time.
Gohan floated alongside them. The boy opted to leave Chara alone in his body, hoping that it would improve their mood before they met back with their friends. He understood that even flying without a tangible body was neat, it lost its vanity pretty fast. How long had Chara been stuck like this?
Once they reached the skeleton dwelling, the boy heard Chara summoning him through their thoughts, requesting for the boy to take over. Obeying his partner, Gohan reentered his body as Papyrus was setting him down.
"Thank you, Mister Papyrus!"
"THINK NOTHING OF IT, HUMAN!"
Papyrus lead the way inside, Chara floating infront of them. Gohan closed the door behind him quietly, and walked in on the friends playing cards. The chairs had been put away, and now they sat in a triangle playing together on the floor.
"hey kid, hey pap," said Sans upon hearing the door silently click close, holding three cards in his hand. Gohan peaked at the other two. Snowy had only five cards, and Loox had… well. Loox had more than ten, Gohan was sure of that. There was a pile of cards in the middle of the three, all neatly arranged.
"SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"playing 'i doubt it'. c'mon pap, you love card games. it's best with more people."
"REDICULOUS! OUR HUMAN WAS IN A DIRE PREDICAMENT AND YOU PLAY CARDS INSTEAD OF LOOK FOR HIM?!" Papyrus said sternly, arms folded.
Loox placed one of his cards in the middle, and Sans swiftly placed his own card in the middle before replying. "the kid's strong enough to take on our special attack pap, he was fine, and he'd have come back."
The taller skeleton narrowed his eye sockets at the shorter skeleton. "YES... YOU HAVE A POINT... ANYWAY! CAN I GET IN ON THE NEXT GAME?"
"sure, kid you in?"
Gohan stammered for a bit, but agreed to the game.
Watching the remainder of the game, it seemed very simple. The aim is to get rid of all your cards by playing them to a discard pile. Since cards are played face down, giving players the option to lie about the cards they are playing, but if the lie is exposed they must pick up the pile. When Sans lost the rest of his cards, the other two continued playing to see who won second place. Sans explained to Gohan that on the table is a discard pile, which starts empty. A turn consists of discarding one or more cards face down on the pile, and calling out their names. The first player must discard Aces, the second player discards Twos, the next player Threes, and so on. After Tens come Jacks, then Queens, then Kings, then back to Aces of the next suit. At the end of the explanation was conveniently when Snowy had discarded his last card.
Sans grinned at Snowy's victory dance. "we stop till the first one wins, but sometimes it's fun to keep goin'. anyway, didja get all that kid?"
Gohan nodded, and sat down. They were back into a little circle again. He noticed the atmosphere was a lot lighter than when it was when he left. It seemed as though the group had given up interrogating him about Chara. Even if Gohan had permission to tell them of their existence, it wasn't something he wanted to do. It felt wrong.
Sans shuffled the cards expertly. The cards were in the air, left and right, behind him, and then finally neatly shuffled infront of him. He glanced at the players.
"so. how many people we got now?"
Papyrus cleared his throat. "TWO MORE THAN BEFORE, SO FIVE. THAT'S BASIC MATH, SANS," he scolded lightly.
Snowy and Loox glanced at each other nervously and knowingly. Gohan's eyes lingered to Sans', their eyes locked. He shrugged and grinned even harder.
"was just wonderin' is all. kid, did your friend want to play?"
Author's Note: Well Chara DO you want to play? Come on, don't be a sourpuss, BS is better with 6 people!
Next Chapter, Chara/Chara put on a disguise and sneaks into Grillbys to have a manly conversation with Sans. They might continue to neglect Toriel, who knows?