AN: For those familiar with either Latin or medical terms can figure out the etymology of consilicytosis; it should mean something like, "abnormal cellular design", referring to how the individual bits of monsters melt together under the strain of excess DT. I'm not familiar with either Latin or medicine so I had to get some help with the details. I originally wrote the disease as "acute consilicytosis", but I have since been informed that as a lifelong condition it really ought to be "chronic". I've gone back and edited the chapter where the term first appeared.

WARNING: This chapter contains a panic attack, dissociation, suicide ideation, poor experiences with religion, and graphic depictions of child abuse and alienation.

Chapter 17: Confessions

"It wasn't nice to lie to Undyne like that," Chara remarked as Frisk put their socks back on. "You know anime isn't real."

Frisk held up a finger in protest and said one word: "Undyne." When Chara raised an eyebrow they explained, "Undyne is anime in real life."

Chara considered this. "That's… a pretty clever way of looking at it. I'm not disagreeing with you, but I think she'll be mad when she finds out that's what you-"

They were interrupted as Frisk's cell phone rang. Frisk answered the call and shoved it between their shoulder and cheek while they emptied sand from their shoes. "Hello?"

"Greetings, human!" came Papyrus's voice from the other end. "This is your friend Papyrus, who you trust implicitly and would never steer you wrong." In a quiet whisper he said something like, "I know, I'm trying my best to get to it!" Then he said louder, "Our mutual friend Alphys had a headache from an overzealous suplex and went… home. Very home. Soooo… I just wanted to tell you, for no particular reason, I feel very strongly you should also go there. Not to your home, but to her house. Lab. Place. I am absolutely sure only good things await you there!" With that he hung up. That was strange even by Papyrus standards.

Chara said, "Okay, no, this is absolutely definitely 100% a trick of some kind." They saw the excited look on Frisk's face and sighed. "We're gonna fall for it, aren't we?"

"Yup. Don't know what else to do."

"Alright. You want to take the long way, or get another ride from the Riverperson?"

"Ride," Frisk said. "My legs are tired."

One short trip down the river later and they were back in front of the lab. This time the door slid open at their approach. Mettaton was no longer occupying the workbench, which meant Alphys had probably finished his upgrades and he was getting ready for a comeback special. Alphys, however, was nowhere to be found. However…

"The door to the bathroom is open," Chara said mischievously. "You can't wait to see what's inside." Frisk made a show of checking over both their shoulders to make sure Alphys was not sneaking up on them, then dashed into the "bathroom". Neither of them were prepared for what they found: a small room with a column of buttons trailing down the center. "It's an elevator," Chara said. "Let's go to the bottom floor. That's usually where they keep all the coolest stuff in a lab." Frisk agreed and pushed the lowest button. The doors closed and the elevator started bringing them down.

This all seemed like a perfectly good plan right until the power went out, turning out the lights and causing the elevator to hurtle downward at a terrifying pace. Chara was slammed into and through the ceiling, being unable to fly faster than Frisk could fall and quickly running up against the edge of how far they could get from Frisk. The brakes tried to slow and stop the elevator's descent, and Chara covered their ears from the squealing. After a few heart-pounding moments the elevator came to a crawl and landed with a heavy thump. Chara floated through the ceiling to get back to Frisk, who was still a little dizzy from their ordeal. "You alright?" they asked. Frisk nodded but said nothing. They punched at a couple of the buttons; the doors opened to a dark hallway but the elevator itself was stuck. "Looks like we've arrived. If you're up to it we can start exploring; nothing better to do until the power comes back."

Frisk exited the broken-down elevator, one hand on the wall to steady themself while they limped down the hall. The walls were dingy with dirt and age, and were even damaged in some places. Flourescent lights, dark from a lack of power, hung from the ceiling. The only illumination was a set of dim red emergency lights along the floors and the computer screens set into the wall. From what Chara could tell the main power cable from the CORE must have gotten damaged and instructions to boot up the original lab generator scrolled across the screens. Mixed in were a few entries from what appeared to be Alphys' journal, detailing her experiments with what she called 'Determination', or 'DT'.

"Oh hey," Chara said as a couple key phrases on the computer screen caught their eye. "Alphys wrote here she's piggybacking off the research of her predecessor. She must mean Dr. Gaster. She discovered the reason you can go through time: humans have this stuff called 'DT' which allows them to defy death and turn back time. It's the reason human souls persist after death. She figured out how to isolate and extract it, then… Hey, can you hit the next page key on the keyboard here?"

Frisk complied. "I didn't know you liked science."

"I like learning all sorts of things," Chara said. "Especially if it's stuff most people don't know about, like obscure constellations and rare flowers. In this case Alphys' research might give me some idea why I'm still alive and how I ended up attached to you. Hm… nope. It looks like she went in a different direction. She figured if monsters had more DT their souls might persist after death. If that was the case she might have been able to slowly collect enough soul energy from dead monsters to equal the power of one human soul." In which case Asgore would have been able to open the barrier without waiting for another human to fall down. Asgore must have known about Saving and Loading if Gaster and Sans had both known. He must have realized the only way to defeat a human with that power was to be an unbeatable brick wall, to be so brutal and overpowering and unforgiving that the human would think, There's no way I can win, and accept their death. But Asgore could not be like that. If he fought a human with the power to Save, he would lose. That explained Asgore's look of terror when he first saw Frisk; he realized his time had run out. However, this begged the question of how those other souls ended up in his possession. They should have asked Sans about that when they had the chance. He had said he had 'suspicions', and that he personally saw two of them die but denied killing them himself. Did that mean suicide? Or did someone else kill them? Questions for another time. "Interesting stuff, but not what we need at the moment." Chara turned away from the computer.

"Sans talked about DT too," Frisk reminded Chara as they continued down the hall. "It had to do with his C3."

Chronic consilicytosis, 'meltdown'. Chara thought aloud, "DT must be naturally occurring in living beings but poisonous to monsters in excess. If that's what causes meltdown… I don't have high hopes for Alphys' experiments."

A vending machine in the hallway caught Frisk's eye. They peered through the glass at the items inside. "It's full of nothing but…" Frisk frowned deeply, letting the sentence trail away.

"Popato chisps." Chara gave Frisk a small wink, and the human child smiled back. Frisk put in some gold and took a bag of chips for the road; their snack supply was in dire straights.

A bit further in they came across an examination room. Dirty hospital beds lined the north wall, the grime forming a sticky layer over the tops of the beds. A set of washbasins along the side of the room were clearly intended for doctors to scrub up before and after examinations. The setup offered no privacy, very much unlike the private examination room Chara got during their checkups. Frisk turned on one of the faucets, using both hands to turn hot and cold water on at the same time. "You must really like washing your hands!" Chara teased. Water oozed out of the faucet like a syrup and glowed with a pale light.

Actually, that could not be water. Water did not smile at you.

Frisk leapt back from the sink as the water coalesced into a trio of bloating blob shapes. Though they looked similar to each other they were not at all alike. Protrusions stuck out of their spherical bodies at odd angles: an arm topped one, while a spiked tail curved around another like a planetary ring. Their surfaces writhed and changed shape between scales, skin, fur, and other coverings. All three fixed Frisk with distended eyes, expanding their magic fields. Frisk paled and gave Chara the look that meant they wanted to know more. Chara only shook their head. "No data available," they said in a shaky monotone.

Frisk looked back in shock. "What?!"

Their resolve faltered and they stammered, "I-I-I don't know what they are! I've never seen anything like them!"

The "monsters" unleashed their attack. Bullets in the shape of misshapen faces appeared all around, eyes bulging and tongues lolling out of the sides of their mouths. The faces cackled a high, shrill laugh which tore at the edges of their sanity. Frisk retreated without looking away from the creatures until their back hit the wall. They swallowed, looking from one to another. The creatures made a horrible screeching noise as they approached. Oddly, the sound seemed to be coming from…

"Frisk! Your phone is making noise!" Frisk reached into their pocket with shaking fingers and put the receiver up to their ear.

"We are the Memoryheads," hissed a voice distorted by static. There was an odd reverb to the voice, like multiple people were saying the same thing with a fraction of a second's delay. "Won't you join the fun?"

"No." Frisk whimpered, shaking their head. "I don't want to."

The voice on the phone said, "That's too bad. Be seeing you. Lorem ipsum docet." Frisk's soul disappeared and the three creatures turned away from Frisk to float down the hallway. Chara moved aside to let them past, but they did not seem to take any notice of them.

Chara said what was on both of their minds: "Alphys, what the hell did you do?!"

That was not the only strange denizen of the laboratory. One was a shambling dog-like monstrosity who only wanted to play; Chara was unsure how many dogs that counted as, so they were forced to give up their running tally. Another was a diaphanous bird who attacked themself with their own bullets. Bullets were originally intended to communicate and not fight, but Chara did not want to think about what it was trying to say by doing that. One tried to disguise itself as a Save Point, only being foiled because Chara pointed out they could not see Save Points.

But it was the last one that hit hardest. It looked a bit like a Cooldrake and mumbled "Sno… wy…" to itself over and over again. Bullets shaped like sickles or talons popped into being and drifted to the ground, bouncing twice before dissolving. Over and over, over and over.

Even Frisk was taken aback. "What is it doing?"

Chara swallowed, laughing once. "Seems like it's losing itself. Its mind is so far gone it doesn't remember how to use bullets anymore." The thought reached deep inside and broke something in their mind. Chara starting laughing, softly at first and ramping up in volume and intensity. "Ha ha, you say something like, 'You look terrible. Why are you even alive?'" Frisk turned to look at them but Chara could not read their expression. The world had a glaze like frosted glass over it, and they could not seem to focus on Frisk's face. "What? You… didn't say that?" Chara's teeth began chattering and they tried to huddle into themselves. "It's so cold."

Frisk looked from Chara to the creature and back again, biting their lip. "Give me a pun. Something about snow or ice."

Chara blinked. Puns? Why did they want puns now, didn't Frisk hate puns? Never mind, it was too hard to think, it was too cold. "Um… how about, 'Allow me to break the ice'?" Frisk repeated the joke, wincing as they did so. The creature chuckled, and Chara felt the temperature rise. Encouraged, Chara continued, "It's always so ice to meet cold friends." Again Frisk repeated it, to the creature's delight. Chara took a deep breath. Frisk really would repeat anything they were saying right now. They were never going to get another chance at this, so they had better make it count. "Icy there's no rime nor reason for us to sleigh one another, snow let's stop fighting and Alp each other instead."

By the time they reached the end of it Frisk was gritting their teeth in frustration, but it had the desired effect. The creature rumbled, "I… remem…ber…" and drifted off, leaving Frisk in peace.

The danger over, Frisk apparently decided they could now glare at Chara. Chara held up their hands defensively. "Frost off, you asked me for clever turns of freeze."

"I'll get you for this," Frisk promised darkly.

One dead-end they ran into was a sort of viewing room. A large-screen television sat in the center of the room, powered on but showing nothing. On either side rested bookshelves lined with VHS tapes instead of books, some of which had covers Chara recognized. "So this is where my anime collection ended up. Looks like Alphys has expanded it a lot in the last thirty years."

They heard a sharp inhale behind them. When they turned Frisk was wringing their hands nervously. "Um," they started. "I've… been worried about this for a while, but I hafta be sure. Chara… are you a nerd?"

Chara clutched at their heart. "Ugh… my one weakness…"

Frisk chuckled. "It's okay," they promised. "You're really smart, it would be weird if you weren't a little of a nerd." They frowned as they picked up an unlabeled tape. "What's this?"

"It's a tape," Chara explained. "It's what they had before DVDs. Um, do they still have DVDs on the surface…? Anyway, there's a movie on here recorded on the magnetic tape inside. Just put it into that machine there and it will play."

Frisk put the tape into the recorder, the ancient machine making bumps and clicks and whirs as it spun to life. The darkness on the screen changed a little; only vague shapes could be seen, like outlines of dark gray on a black background. But the audio was crystal clear; Asgore and Toriel in happier times, talking about their upcoming child. They were like that once, before Chara came. "This must have been taken with an old camcorder," Chara explained. "It's a home movie. I'm not sure what it was doing out, th-"

A brief flash of static and the shapes disappeared, leaving the screen in darkness again. But within only a moment someone shouted, "Okay, Chara, ready? Do your creepy face!"

(it hurts)

Chara clutched at their chest. It was him. The voice of the one most precious to them in life, locked away in an ordinary cassette tape. Chara could also be heard vaguely on the tape, but their voice was muffled and indistinct. They were probably speaking too quietly for the recorder to catch.

"That's him, isn't it?" Frisk asked. "Asriel." Chara only nodded.

There was another flash of static. This time Asriel was recalling the buttercup incident. Frisk watched passively; they must have received a first-hand view of the account from Chara's memories. Nothing here was strange to them. But then the lines of static reappeared. That should be end the of the tape, right?

"I… I don't like this idea, Chara."

They could not breathe. They had recorded this. Their hand must have slipped, they must have recorded part of that conversation, and that meant oh god oh god oh god

"Huh? Turn off the camera? Okay…" Asriel turned the camcorder off and looked at Chara strangely. "Is something the matter?"

Nothing was the matter, they just did not want there to be any record of this conversation. "Asriel, do you know of the prophecy the monsters are always talking about? Have you ever thought about what it means?"

Asriel smiled. Evidently he had wanted to talk about this but had been unsure how to broach the subject. "Yeah. I've heard Dad and the monsters. They call you 'the future of humans and monsters'. I think they believe you're the angel in that prophecy. And… and I think they're right."

Chara shook their head. "No, they're wrong. In all the stories I've ever read prophecies never mean what they seem to: you have to pay attention to the wording. It says the one who has seen the surface will 'return' to free the monsters. That must mean they begin their journey here underground, see the surface, and then come back to free everyone. I have seen the surface, but I was always there. I am not 'returning' underground, so it can't be referring to me."

Asriel smiled nervously. "But… you're the first human to ever fall down here. There has to be a reason for that. Just because of one word you can't just-"

"There is more. I can't go through the barrier without the soul of a Boss Monster. The only way to get one would be for one of you to die, and I would never, ever let that happen. Besides, the only thing a human can do with a monster soul is to go through the barrier. I would not be able to convince other humans to help, and even if I could I would not be able to use their souls. I would escape, but I wouldn't be able to do anything else. I can't free anyone. I can't be the angel." They inhaled through their nose and let their smile widen. "But it will be alright. I know who the real angel is." They grabbed Asriel by the shoulders and put their face close to his, letting their enthusiasm light up their face. "It's you, Ree. You are the angel. You will cross the barrier. You will go to the surface and return. You will show humans and monsters can co-exist, you will get the humans to give you soul power, and you will break the barrier forever. I can't save your people, but you can. And you will, Asriel. I know it."

"But Chara," Asriel said nervously. "I can't cross the barrier. I would need a human soul, and-"

"That's right," Chara interrupted. "You need a human soul, my soul. I'm not like you, Ree. I won't live forever. I'll age, grow old, and die. I think that's Asgore's plan; you'll absorb my soul when I die after a long happy life underground. But his plan will take too long. How long will I live underground? Seventy years? Eighty? More? But we have the power to get things started now. We can get started on freeing everyone now, so why wait?"

"Chara, what are you saying?"

"Buttercups." Chara looked into Asriel's eyes. "If I cut my wrists or get killed in an accident humans will say Toriel and Asgore murdered me for my soul. But if I get sick it's no one's fault, right? So I'll eat buttercups. I'll get an 'illness', I'll die, and then you can take my soul right away. You'll be able to cross the barrier and free everyone!"

Asriel's paw clenched over the video camera. Neither of them realized he had squeezed the 'record' button. "I… I don't like this idea, Chara."

"Ree," Chara leaned closer. "Are… are you crying?"

"Wh-what?" Asriel hastily wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "No. Big kids don't cry."

They knew what they would have to do. It would make them sick in their heart but they had to do it. He would thank them for it later, all the monsters would. But they absolutely needed Asriel to do his part or none of the plan would work. "Ree, I've never asked for anything these past two years. You and your family have made me so happy, more happy and loved than I've ever felt in my life. You saved my life when I fell, and every day you save my heart. I have to do something to repay you. My soul is the only thing I have of any value; you need it, and I want to give it to you. You and only you. I trust you more than anyone. Please do this, Ree. For me."

He closed his eyes in thought and was silent for a moment before nodding. "You're right."

"You aren't just saying that for my sake?"

"No! I'd never doubt you, Chara! Never!"

Chara sighed happily. "We can't let anyone else know or they'll try to stop us. It'll be our secret. No relying on your parents, okay? We'll have to be big kids. We'll have to be tough."

Asriel nodded, starting to get into it. "Y… yeah! We'll be strong! We'll free everyone! I'll go get the flowers." Asriel broke off in a run, a determined smile on his face.

Chara closed their eyes and inhaled through their nose, taking in the smell of the Ruins. The smell of their home one last time. By this time tomorrow it would be all over.

The bitterness of the first mouthful was like eating solid fire. Blisters formed in their mouth and throat and made them gag. The half-chewed lumps disappeared down their throat like monster food, but instead of a spreading effervescence it felt like their insides were breaking out in hives. This must have been what Asgore felt. He must have known from the first bite something was wrong, but he kept eating that pie with a smile on his face because he did not want to disappoint them. Realizing this filled them with-

(it hurts)

Asriel lower lip trembled. "If… we bake it into a pie, maybe it won't-"

No, they could not allow that. Toriel had said Asgore might have died if the pie had not been burnt. Heat destroyed the poison. It would weaken its power, and they would not get another chance at this. They were the ones who put Asgore through this pain. They hurt him. The punishment had to fit the crime.

Without a word Chara reached into the pile and grabbed another handful of flowers. They had to psyche themself up to do it, but they forced the yellow buds and green stems past their lips and brought their teeth together to chew.

DETERMINATION.

Chara squeezed their eyes shut. No more. They could not take anymore. But the tape stopped and started again, and a new scene unfolded.

"Pssst… Chara… Please… wake up."

Chara's eyes fluttered open. Every inch of their body was in pain. They felt weak, like even the air was too heavy for their body to fight. They looked over to the side, where the old photograph of family plus Chara rested on the bedside dresser. It would not be long now. Soon Chara would give this family and these people the one gift it was in their power to give: freedom. Even a demon could become an angel through love and self-sacrifice. It made them sad to think they would never see how happy it would make them, but that was okay.

Asriel was standing by the bed. He picked up Chara's hand in his paw and tenderly caressed it. Even if they could not see his face clearly they could tell by the strain in his voice he had been crying. Silly Asriel, this was what they were put in this world for. There was no need to cry for someone who died fulfilling their purpose. "I don't like this plan anymore. I… I…"

Chara could not help but smile. "To be honest, this hurts more than I thought it would. It would not be strange to have doubts now."

"No," Asriel shook his head. "I said I'd never doubt you." Asriel squeezed Chara's hand. "Six, right? We just have to get six."

Chara nodded weakly. "That's right. Mine, and six more. That will be the seven you need."

"Then we can free everyone." Despite his brave words his lower jaw was set tight and his hands squeezed Chara's until they hurt.

Chara relented. "It's okay to cry this time. Cry as much as you want. But you're going to absorb my soul, remember? You have to be the one to do it. That way you'll keep a part of me with you forever. We'll never be apart again." The weight on their chest doubled. Every breath was a struggle. "I'm sorry… I wasn't a better… friend to you. I wish… I could have told you… how much you all… meant to me."

Asriel shook his head. "What are you saying? You're giving up your life to help monsters! That says all you need to."

Their eyelids felt heavy. "That's nice of you to say. I think… this is it. I won't be waking up again." With the last of their strength they smiled. "I'll be with you… the whole time. You're going to do great. I know it." Their eyelids fluttered closed. "Be good, won't you?… My friend."

That was it. The weight on their chest redoubled, and their lungs were no longer strong enough to push against it. Darkness beckoned behind their eyeballs, dragging their consciousness away. Chara closed their eyes and let themselves be pulled into oblivion.

Light and heat and color shot back into the world. The weight was gone, the darkness was gone. Chara started, looking all around. A room, they were in a room. It seemed familiar somehow. "What? What?"

'Chara, calm down!'

Ree's voice! But where was he? They looked around again but could not find him. There were two beds in the room. The far one was empty. The nearer one… someone was on it. A child. Auburn hair, pale face, wearing a green sweater with a yellow stripe. A thin line of blood dripped from the corner of the child's mouth, and their mouth was lined with tiny sores. The child was not moving. They were dead. That was their body, Chara realized. But if they were looking at their own corpse, then-

They looked down at themself. Their arms were completely white and fuzzy. And their hands, oh god their hands! They were covered in a soft white fur, each long digit ending in a claw. "My hands, what's wrong with my hands?!"

'Chara, you're here! You're with me, it's okay!' Asriel again, but where was he? His voice sounded like it was coming from… inside…

"Asriel, what did you do?!"

Asriel's voice resounded in their head with trepidation bordering on sobbing, 'I-I-I did just what you told me to. I absorbed your soul after you died, and then you were with me in my head!'

Chara cried hysterically, "I thought you would just get my power! Why didn't you tell me I'd still be me after being absorbed?!"

'I didn't know!' Asriel howled. 'Nobody knew! We always knew monsters could absorb human souls, but it had only ever happened once or twice and they never said anything about this!'

Chara grabbed at their body's head, taking deep breaths. Calm down, think! Deep breaths, in for eight, out for six, in for eight, out for six. They eased up on their control and Asriel filled in the spaces they left behind. So they were sharing a body. They could still work with this. There was no need to use the mouth itself, not when there was no longer any distance between their souls. 'It's okay. It's okay, I'm not angry. I'm sorry for losing my temper, I was… very surprised is all.' They could feel their tension releasing. So that was four times now they had failed to die. They tried not to let their disappointment show.

They could feel Asriel calming down. 'I'm so glad. It wasn't until you were gone that I realized we never figured out how we were going to get the humans to give us souls. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to think of a way by myself, so it's a good thing you're still here. I… I would have missed having you so much.'

'This isn't so bad,' Chara admitted. 'If I'm sharing your body it means we'll never be apart again. I can't think of a better afterlife, really.' They looked down at their corpse, thinking. 'Hey, Ree. Help me with this. You're better at controlling your body than I am.'

'Chara, why do we need your old body?'

'Part of your cover story. I think I babbled something about wanting to see the flowers while I was dying.' They got the impression Asriel was nodding. 'I hadn't meant to say anything but it just sorta came out. This way, you could say you wanted to bring me back to see the flowers one last time. Heck, we could even bury it there. It will be an excuse to give to the monsters to explain why you crossed the barrier, and this story will show humans you have compassion.'

'R-Right.' Asriel did not sound entirely convinced, but the important thing was to get through the barrier before they were discovered. Their body picked up the corpse, cradling it in their arms as it walked from the room. The next time they saw this room, monsters would be free.

After a minute Frisk rewound the tape to the beginning, saying nothing, betraying nothing. They removed the tape and returned it to an empty place on the shelf. "You didn't get sick." Not a question. They were not looking at Chara, and their tone simmered below the surface.

Chara did not want to answer. The word came out unbidden. "No."

"You killed yourself."

Chara's eyes burned. "Yeah."

Frisk shook their head, making a sound that was almost but not quite a laugh. They took large breaths through their nose, trying and failing to calm themself down. "You warned me not to feel sorry for you."

Chara hugged themself. "I know you've been thinking I'm a victim of circumstance, and I get you're angry that's not the case. Look, Frisk? I get it. It was stupid and I shouldn't have done it. I wish I hadn't. And I'm not trying to make excuses, only-"

Frisk interrupted them with a hard, "Do you even know why I'm mad?"

Chara's teeth chattered. "B-Because this was supposed to be your Wonderland. A safe place, friendly people, a loving family. And I took that away from you. I stole it. And then I ruined it. You were supposed to-"

"No!" Frisk shouted. "I'm not even mad at you, I'm mad at them! At 'Those People'! They told you your love was bad! You have so much love, and they turned it into something gross! It's their fault you think you can't be loved, it's their fault you think bad things happen around you!" They wiped tears from their eyes and shook their head. "Oh Chara, what did they do to you?"

They could not believe they were actually considering this. They had never told anyone in the Underground why they hated humans, not even Asriel. An internal voice said, That's because Ree was an innocent little cinnamon roll who could never truly understand the horrors humanity was capable of. You kept silent not because you did not trust him but because you did not want to break him. Maybe things would have turned out different if they had. But probably not. It was much too late to be thinking of those kinds of things anyway. "You really want to know? Then sit down," Chara said, floating down so they were sitting cross-legged on the floor. "But just so you know, what I said before still holds true. It doesn't excuse what I did, and you shouldn't feel sorry for me." Frisk obeyed, sitting with their back against the wall and their feet splayed out. Chara took a last shaky breath, and began.

My earliest memories are not unpleasant. I lived with my father and older sister for a time. I don't remember my mother, she died not long after I was born. I was told she was too weak to have a second child so soon. But things were good then. Father was not around very much, always working to give his children a warm house and hot food, but even so my days were filled with happiness. Suddenly he was not around at all anymore. "Stress-related heart attack", they said. Even as young as I was I knew he would never be around again. What can I say, I was always a bit precocious. There was a lot of talk about foster homes and aunts and uncles, but the ones who took us in were my father's parents. Well, I call them Those People now. They do not deserve any other name. Things changed, slowly and in subtle ways at first, and then all at once. One would think memories of the happy times would have been a balm for me, that it would have given me a small measure of hope even as my world collapsed around me. In fact it might have made things worse. If I had only ever grown up under Those People I may have seen their treatment of me as normal. The pain would have been the same but if I had never known anything else I would have been able to adapt. Ants never think of soaring through the air like a bird. But those years I spent with my father had given me an idea of how things ought to be. I was taught of kindness, of support, of happiness, and of love. So when the rules changed under Those People I had the memory of what should have been, a memory of what could never be again. It kept my will from breaking. Even now I'm not sure whether that was for the best. If I stayed there I never would have come here and perhaps the monsters would be happier. …I'm sorry, you're right. I am not trying to start that argument again.

It was not until it was much too late to matter that I understood how precarious my position was from the moment I stepped into that house. Those People sneered at my red eyes, making hurried protective gestures when I stared at them too long. Neither I nor my sister had the words to explain it was a rare genetic expression which had nothing to do with my soul or morality, and even if I did Those People would not have believed it. Some things you just Know, they're simply Common Sense, and Common Sense said red eyes were Evil no matter what some fool in a labcoat says. But it was not just that. They loved their son and his wife, and blamed me for their deaths. I was unruly and spoiled. I said what was on my mind. I did not like dresses and ribbons, and I had no patience for smiling prettily at relatives. I devoured every book in the house and then some, even though Those People said education would be wasted on me. A woman's place is in the home, they said. I did not agree with that. I never felt like a girl or a boy; it seemed silly and strange to me that my opportunities, my likes and dislikes, my personality, and so much about my identity should be wrapped up in a single binary option. Boy or girl? Both were too restrictive. So I said, 'Neither.' But Common Sense said the good lord made me a girl so I should think and act like one. Humans only come in two genders, and if you aren't either then you must be something else. It was not the biggest straw, but it was the last one.

They were holy so they were allowed to dictate what was profane, and they knew they were holy because they never committed a profane act. Everything Those People were was exalted, everyone not like them was Damned. The very worst sins were circumstances; being born different in the body or different in the mind than what Those People were. To want something different than what they did or succumb to temptations they would never need to resist, were the greatest sins. That was the final proof of how righteous they were; they were never tempted at all, so how could they be evil? But a disobedient, willful child who would not respect the authority of their guardians, who had strange ideas and would not listen to reason, who had sinful urges and a distorted view of themself to the point where they would not even call themself a girl? Of course that was evil.

I still vividly remember the day Those People called my sister into the main room. They did not call me but I came anyway. They sat her down and told her I was dead, and had been dead for a long time. They warned her I had been replaced by a demon, and if they acknowledged me as their real sibling I would gain power over her. They said I would steal her soul if she called me, or talked to me, or acknowledged I existed in any way. More importantly, she would be punished if she did any of these things. Those People had a row of… they called them some euphemism like 'disciplinary instruments', arranged in order of the seriousness of the offense provoking the correction. For minor infractions there was a thin white stick, a switch made of birch. All the way on the right was a paddle with a blade longer than I was tall; even an adult would need two hands to wield it. They left the question of which one would be used on her an open question. I… would come to learn which implement was used depended almost entirely on how they felt at the time. They sent her away, and called me in. They… they pretended they had not seen or heard me, even though I was screaming out in tears as they tried to turn my sister against me. And they… that first night… they told me what was going to happen. That I was never to call for them, or try to get their attention. I would not be cared for or provided, and I was on my own in this house. There was no more talk of sending me to school. They told the district I would be home-schooled but they never taught me anything. I would be punished if I stepped out of line or displeased them in any way. They were hoping to curb my rebellious spirit, and if I resolved to be a good little girl and do what they said it would all be over and I could go back to being a kid again. A false promise: there were hundreds if not thousands of ways to displease them, and if I somehow managed to evade them they would provoke a confrontation in bad faith. I didn't understand what was happening, I didn't know what I did wrong or what I was being punished for. The unfairness of these new rules and the brutality of the punishments caused me to fall into… I believe the term is 'learned helplessness'. Those People mistook this for obedience, and dangled forgiveness and reintegration into the family in front of me like a carrot on a stick for two years.

They ignored me most of the time, and it was better when they did. I was not allowed to sit at the table with everyone else at mealtimes; if I had food I had to hide and eat it away from everyone else. And if they forgot to leave out food I could prepare and eat myself, or if they 'forgot', all I could do was nurse my empty stomach. I could not speak with them. They would pretend they had not heard if I asked politely, and if I asked impolitely… they had this… cleansing ritual. They said it could p-pacify demons by… I don't know how it was supposed to work. I just know they would- yes, that's why I can't put my head underwater anymore and why I can't hear a bathtub running without losing control. Thank you. I… don't know if I can speak of it right now. I'm glad you understand.

Everyone in town knew something was wrong. They all knew the children were not alright. But they drew their blinds and turned the volume on their televisions up. 'Not our business, not our problem.' They probably said something like that. Even Child Protective Services called ahead to let Those People know they were coming, plenty of time to cover their tracks. Those People were not so lacking in class they left welts or bruises where they could be seen. Their kind of violence leaves its marks much deeper.

I don't think I would have lasted more than a week, but I found some coping strategies. One, of course, was to be out of the way. If I went to bed very late and slept until the afternoon I would minimize how much contact I had with them. And of course if we were careful my sister and I could talk in her room late at night after Those People went to bed. She did not believe them at all, but fear of punishment kept her from speaking with me during the daylight hours. But at night she would tell me about school, and her friends, and her sports clubs, and so many other things. I live vicariously through her, taking the little scraps of a normal life she offered and treasuring each one. But it was not enough; I could not spend my entire life in that house. I learned where every creaky floorboard and every hollow spot was in the house; after a few months I could go anywhere in the house without a sound. Once they were used to me being able to move silently and would not think it odd to go without hearing me at night, that was when I began leaving the house. I would skulk around the neighborhood, learning where all the barking dogs were and where the busy streets I would need to avoid were. On one of my excursions I found the field. An entire grassy field of golden flowers, carefully kept and cultivated. They are not a type of flower that closes at night, and even by moonlight they were gorgeous. And I had them all to myself! I would lay there for hours sometimes, the cool air on my skin and surrounded by the scent of golden flowers. I dearly wished I could fall asleep there, but I would surely be found and brought home. And if I caused trouble for Those People… well. I don't believe I need to elaborate.

I would also go out to the library. Those People were not teaching me anything, so I was left to my own devices when it came to my education. I would use the library computers to look up subjects that interested me or use the computers to browse the internet to keep up with new advances in science and technology. I was caught once by a librarian that had stayed late; I begged her not to tell on me, and she took pity. She said she would leave a window open for me and that I could come in as late as I wanted so long as I didn't take anything home. I readily agreed, and from then on the library was my greatest refuge. It kept me out even later, and sometimes I would not wake until early evening the next day, but everyone was fine with that arrangement. Those People did not know where I was going, and I pretended I was not going anywhere.

But it could not last. One day, I don't know why, but someone had erected a chain link fence around the field of flowers and lined the tops of it with razor wire. I would be badly cut if I tried to scale through it. Did someone spot me? Did I damage the flowers somehow without noticing? The reason why did not matter. All I knew is that I would never again bask in that field.

Not long after I crawled in through the window at the library and facing the boot of an angry policeman. It seems a few books had gone missing recently and a policeman had stayed late to see if anyone came in. The librarian stared at me with wet eyes, hoping to apologize with just a look as she denied knowing who I was or that she had ever allowed me to be there. The officer dragged me away and back to the house. Those People were all tired smiles and reassurances. Oh yes officer, she is such a troublemaker but she doesn't mean any real harm, we'll keep a better eye on her from now on and put her back to bed, we apologize for bothering you. I knew the truth. I could hear the water in the bathtub running. The police did not hear it, or they did not understand its significance. I tried to make them stay, but the policeman was sure my legal guardians could discipline me fine without their help.

They waited until the officer drove away to reveal their true forms. Those People… they called my name. I stood rooted to the spot, unable to run or hide. Trying to do either would only make it worse. 'You have been leaving the house at night. You know this is forbidden. The body must be punished, so the spirit will learn.' Those People did not scream, not this late at night, but they did chant. I-I did not hear any of the words. That time was… especially bad. I was still conscious when I swallowed water but not much longer after that. I came to lying on the bathroom floor, stomach cramped, my wrists burning where they tied them together, lungs on fire, and I couldn't stop coughing. Those People were gone, left sometime when my whole world was darkness. I threw up and mostly water came out. My skin felt hot. I barely breathed at all for a week. My sister came to check up on me and bring me soup or broth when she could get away with it, which was not often. Those People never bothered. I thought to myself, The next time I make a mistake like that they'll kill me.

The next time I was able to get out there every door and window in the library was locked up tight. It would never open for me again. The last refuge was gone. A couple weeks later… that's when I got the scar on my wrist. I was tired of fighting, I didn't see any way things would ever get better. So I took a steak knife from the drawer and… well. It didn't work. I got scared. I cried and woke them up. They patched me up and the moment I stopped bleeding… I'm sorry. I-I-I can't… Yes, yes, it was the one on the right, all the way to the right! I didn't understand, I still don't understand! They didn't want me there but punished me when I tried to put myself out of their misery?! It makes no sense! What should I have done, what else could I have done?!

Okay, okay. Give me a moment. … No, no we're not stopping! You asked for this! You don't get to tell me to stop because you're uncomfortable! I-!

…

I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm alright now. No, really. You wanted to hear it, you deserve to hear all of it. I'm almost done.

The end came unexpectedly. One day I was hiding in the study, trying to stay out of everyone's way. My sister came home from school and swung their schoolbag too hard, breaking a vase. It was a cheap and tacky thing, picked up from a thrift store a decade or more ago, but it still belonged to them. It was not a thing for children to break. Those People surveyed the damage and shook their heads. She admitted she broke it, she was careless, she didn't mean to, she would be good. But Those People just smiled and bent down close to them. 'We do not want to punish a good child,' Those People sang into her ears. 'We know you would never do such a thing. If you did, it would be because there was a demon inside you, just like the one who killed your sister. We would have to get it out of you. We would have to punish the demon. But it's okay. You did not do it, did you? It was the demon. The demon whose name you must not say. The demon who stole your sister from you. Say it. It was the demon. Admit it. You have to tell us they did it so they can be cleansed.' And you know what? She did. She told them I broke it. I did not see any shame, or guilt, or regret. I saw relief. Thank god this is happening to you and not to me. The water was running. I didn't have the energy to fight any more. They took it as a good sign; the demon was getting ready to leave, and they would have the obedient little granddaughter they always should have had.

That very night I stole some clothing from my former sister's dresser. A striped shirt and slacks. Thick socks to protect my feet because I had no shoes to call my own. A small reusable grocery bag with some snacks and drinks. I left the house for the last time. My destination was clear. Even someone as sheltered as I knew the legend. 'Those who climb Mt. Ebott never return.' Good. There was no place left in the world for me to go. There was no other place in this world I belonged. Perhaps I could belong there.

"And the rest of the story, you know already."

Frisk was biting their lower lip hard enough to draw blood. "I… guess that isn't… the worst thing I've ever heard," they seethed. "But it's close. I wanna kill 'em. You were younger than me and they… how could they do that? Families are s'posed to protect each other, not…"

"Humans," Chara said simply, as though this explained everything.

"That's not human," Frisk said. "Nobody who could do that is human. They're the real demons."

Chara shook their head. "It doesn't matter, anymore. After thirty years they're probably dead by now. Frisk, I can feel your heart go out to me. I know I said this before but I need you to listen. Whatever they did to me doesn't excuse what I did to Asriel. Those People didn't put the buttercups in my hand, they didn't tell me it was okay to ignore his feelings out of some misplaced idea I knew what was best for him, they certainly didn't reach inside my brain from two years in the past and force me to try and kill people. I did that! I did all of it!"

Frisk shook their head. "I know that, but I can't feel it. It's wrong for you to take all the blame. I can't say why, but I know it." They stood up, wiping their eyes. "Thank you for being so brave, Chara. For living through that, and for sharing it with me."

"My bravery is only average," they said with forced levity. "But thank you for saying it." On some level they had hoped sharing that with someone would have lessened the pain. Instead it just made them feel empty inside, like the pain had vacated but left their heart condemned so nothing else could move in.

The main lights turned on as they were leaving. While that would make it easier to explore, it did mean they were at much greater risk of getting caught. The thought had no sooner occurred to Chara when they noticed several of the strangely-shaped monsters crowding around them. They had been waiting outside the door for them while Chara had been spilling their guts out! Frisk looked from one to the other while slowly reaching back, trying to gauge whether they could make it through the door before the creatures jumped them. At that moment an open bag of potato chips flew through the air over their heads. The object caught the monsters' attention and they bounded after it, crashing into each other and separating with sucking "schlorp" noises in their haste to be first.

Alphys ran up from the direction the chips came from, panting. "Sorry about them," Alphys wheezed. "They're not usually so aggressive… I guess they can smell the bag of potato chips you have on you. They get kind of sassy when they're hungry." In one smooth motion Frisk pulled out their bag of chips, opened them, and hurled them into the mass of creatures to join its cousin. Good call, a bag of chips was not worth getting harrassed by the whatever-those-things-were.

"I… guess I owe you an explanation," Alphys clicked her index claws together. "When I first discovered DT I went… a little crazy with it. I asked for people to send me the bodies of monsters who had Fallen Down, thinking if I gave them some DT we could harvest their soul energy once they died. Instead the monsters got back up like nothing was wrong! At first I thought, a pity it didn't work but if I found a way to cheat death that was pretty great too. So I told everyone I'd send them back home the next day and everything would be fine. Only… with so much DT in their systems the monsters couldn't hold their shapes. They stuck to each other to fuse into amalgamated beings and… well, I've been keeping them down here ever since." She sighed. "I was so scared of telling everyone what I'd done. And knowing I had already messed up so badly once made me too scared to try anything else. Everyone kept asking me what I was up to and where the dust was for the funerals and… it all became a big mess. But after today, I decided! I'm going to tell everyone what I've done, all of it. I'll work hard to believe in myself. It's going to be… really hard, I can tell. But I've got my friends behind me! And knowing that, it'll be a lot easier to keep fighting. And it's all thanks to you!"

Chara whispered a question into Frisk's ear and they repeated it: "Um… what were you going to do with all those monster souls? You couldn't combine it with the human souls you already had, monsters can't apsorb monster souls."

"True!" Alphys said with a nod. "But what about something that's not a human nor a monster? I thought to use a flower from Asgore's garden; something with no soul but a will to live would, in theory be able to absorb any type of soul!" Chara choked on hearing that by stayed quiet for the moment. "Only… it didn't work. No matter how much DT I injected into the flower nothing happened. Then this all happened and it became pointless to continue. I returned the souls to Asgore and the flower to his garden. Except now it seems someone's stolen the flower… it's missing from the garden now. Was that all you wanted to know?" Frisk nodded, though their face had grown pale. "Alright. Come on, guys! It's time for everyone to go home!" She walked through the Amalgamates without fear and they followed her lead.

"She really is like me," Chara marveled as they watched her go. "It all makes sense… she meant well, but screwed up and the guilt ate her alive. I kind of wish I could talk to her now. Though… you did hear what she just said, right? About the flower?"

Frisk nodded. "Flowey. She made Flowey."

"I don't think even she realizes what she did, though. And what about the story Flowey told you, about how he used to be a monster?"

Frisk shrugged as they entered the elevator. "Maybe he was lying about that."

As soon as they said that their phone began to ring. They put the phone to their ear but before they had the chance to say hello the voice on the other end was speaking: "Chara? Are you there?"

Chara swallowed. This was impossible. That voice, in this place, speaking their name, was absolutely impossible. In a slow murmur they told Frisk, "It's a voice you have never heard before."

Frisk said into the phone, "Who is this?"

The voice ignored them. "It's been a long time, hasn't it? But you've done well. Everything has fallen into place. See you soon… Chara." The call ended. At the same time the elevator roared to life, surging upward so fast it knocked Frisk to the floor. Chara was again pushed outside the elevator, and this time they could see what was below. The elevator was being pushed upward by massive green, thorny vines. Was this Flowey's doing? What were they trying to do now?

When the elevator reached the top and the doors opened, Frisk half-rolled and half-dribbled out of the elevator. The moment they left the doors slammed shut and vines grew over it. No getting out that way. Oddly, they were not back in Alphys' lab. Instead they were at the balcony below New Home, just before the Final Corridor. Chara waited for Frisk to recover from their trip before speaking. "It looks like whatever Flowey wanted to do for your 'better ending' is done. He sealed up the way behind us; we have no choice but to go to Asgore."

"I can't fight him again," Frisk said resolutely. "I don't want to, and I won't. But I don't know what to do yet."

"I'll be there for you, Frisk," Chara promised. "No matter how many times it takes or what we have to do. We came this far together, I won't abandon you at the end. You hear me?" Frisk nodded. "Good. Hopefully there's still a Save Point right before the barrier. That way if something goes wrong we won't have to go back to that creepy lab."

Right in front of Asgore's garden was a small bowl on a pillar, with a sign marking it as "Lost & Found". Inside the bowl was a set of gloves and a knife in a leather sheath. Right, Frisk had thrown those at Chara and had not bothered to pick them up afterward. Frisk took the gloves but hesitated at the knife. "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it," Chara remarked. Frisk reluctantly agreed and shoved it into their pocket with a little more force than was necessary. Just before entering the barrier room Frisk stopped and downed their Sea Tea. If it came down to a fight anyway Frisk was more than prepared for it.

Asgore was still there in front of the barrier. "Have you been waiting this whole time?" Frisk asked.

He craned his neck to look at them over his shoulder. "No," he said, weariness and sorrow dripping from his mouth. "I was told you would be returning soon, so I came back to wait for you. Is it true, then? Have you done all you wanted to do?"

Frisk took a deep breath and drew their knife. "I'm ready. But I won't kill, and I won't be killed."

Asgore pushed his cloak aside and formed his trident into his outstretched hand. Chara sucked in their breath at the sight of it. How could something so beautiful be so deadly? "Then… it was nice to meet you, human. Goodbye."

Before he could settle into his stance, however, a white heart appeared in the middle of his chest. He looked down in utter shock, so he did not see the fireball soar over Frisk's head and slam into his face, knocking him over. Frisk and Chara both whirled around to see where that came from… and Toriel was there, leaning against the doorway out of breath with traces of flame dancing around her fingertips. "I made it in time," she gasped with a smile.

"Toriel?!" Frisk threw the knife aside and ran to her, a bright smile on their face. She knelt down so they could throw their arms around her neck and they gave her a big hug cheek-to-cheek. "Toriel! You see? I knew we'd see each other again! I knew it!"

Toriel patted them on the back. "Yes, my child. I did not believe you then, but I realized something after you left. At the end of your journey, you would be faced with a horrible choice. Either allow Asgore to kill you and take your soul, or kill Asgore to return to the surface. And… I cannot allow either of those choices. I would never wish harm on you child, and despite the terrible things he has done even Asgore deserves mercy. And so I came here to stop you." Frisk only laughed and buried their face into the nape of her neck, laughing in relief.

"Tori," Asgore said, his mailed steps clinking on the stonework. His face could not have shown more awe and happiness than if he had seen the surface again. "Tori! You came back! After all this time, you-"

"Do not 'Tori' me, Dreemurr!" Toriel gently put Frisk on the ground, not taking her eyes off the King of the Monsters. She rose to her full height and pointed at him. "If you were serious about freeing our kind you could have gone through the barrier after getting one soul and gotten the rest from the surface! I would still have disagreed with your actions but at least I would know you stood behind your convictions, giving up your personal morality for the sake of your people! Or you could have admitted you made a mistake declaring war and resigned us all to our fate. But instead you huddled in the castle, hoping a human would die on the way here and you would not have to get your hands dirty! You made everyone wait thirty years in darkness because you wanted seven human souls but did not want their deaths to be your fault!"

Asgore suffered the torrent of abuse without complaint, his shoulders sagging lower with each denunciation. In the end he could only sadly nod. "I know," he said. "I could not bear to willingly choose to be either an unkind person or a poor ruler, and instead ended up being both. I am a miserable, pathetic creature. I know nothing can repair what has happened, but… do you suppose we could at least be friends again?"

Toriel gave him a withering look and an exasperated sigh. "NO, Asgore. Even if you did not kill them your declaration of war led to their deaths. Why do you think I would be willing to overlook the death of six humans, especially when I loved and cared for each of them before you took them away?"

The stone wall exploded in a cloud of dust and a shout of "NGAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" steadily increasing in volume. A blue shape erupted from the cloud and interposed itself between Asgore and Toriel. "I'm gonna bust some heads if everyone doesn't stop fighting right now! By which I mean, please continue fighting! I need the-" Undyne stopped herself and looked around as though only just now realizing no one was moving. "Uhhhhh… kid, what's going on?"

Toriel let her anger melt off her face. "Greetings. I am Toriel. Are you friends with the human?"

Undyne blinked, her energy dissipating without an outlet. "Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you! I'm Undyne, Captain of the Royal Guard, and the human is my almost-bestie!" They turned to bow to Asgore. "If, you know, that's not a problem, sir." Asgore could only nod his head and try to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Undyne!" Alphys shouted from the other room, trying to squeeze through an Undyne-shaped hole in the wall. "You got ahead of me! I thought you agreed we were going to do this toge-" She slipped through the hole with an audible pop, tumbling to land next to the fish monster. She straightened up and dusted off her labcoat, her glasses somehow managing to stay on her head throughout.

"Oh!" Toriel said, clapping her hands. "Are you another friend?"

Alphys got a blush on her cheeks and looked from Toriel to Asgore and back again. "Um-um-um-um, yes! You must be the missing Queen Toriel. It's good to finally meet you, your majesty! And, I'm Alphys, the Royal Scientist! Actually, sir, ma'am, can we talk about that after we get all this squared away? There's some things about my work you should-"

"Nobody fight anyone!" Papyrus skidded into the room, nearly bowling over Alphys in the process. "Otherwise I will be forced to use drastic measures! I will lock all parties into the rec center until everyone resolves their differences with a game of basketball!"

Toriel could not suppress a giggle. "Oh, that sounds lovely in any case. Are you sure you cannot use drastic measures even if the times are not so drastic?"

Papyrus continued grinning as he leaned down to Frisk's level. "Pssst, human, auxiliary human. How exactly did it come to pass that Asgore cloned himself, shaved, and took voice lessons?"

Chara sighed. "That's not a clone, that's Asgore's Queen, Toriel. Or… maybe ex-Queen." They stewed uncomfortably. Thankfully with the way things were going they would not have to feel awkward for very long before-

"sup," Sans waved, stepping out from behind a pillar as though he had always been there. "heard there was a party and i was invited, but i decided to decline the invitation and crash it instead."

This time Toriel gasped. "That voice!" She hurried over to Sans, looking down at him. "I believe we… may know each other?"

"oh hey, small world," Sans replied, his grin getting wider. "i'm sans, sans the skeleton. i, uh, think i knew your kids once." He held out his hand for a shake.

Frisk hurriedly stepped between them and grabbed Sans' hand to turn the palm up. True to their suspicions, he had a whoopie cushion hidden in his hand. "Please don't prank Toriel," they said seriously.

"really kid?" sans sighed. "you're gonna pick now to heckle me?"

"Please don't be angry with them," Toriel said, ruffling Frisk's hair. "They are a good child trying to look out for an old woman." Frisk beamed happily.

Undyne leaned over to whisper to Asgore, "Sir, is that your ex?" She looked back at Toriel, who looked away from Sans for just a moment to wave politely. Asgore sunk even deeper. Any further and his knees would hit the floor. "Geez, man, that's rough. But don't let it get you down. There's plenty of fish in the sea!"

Alphys joined in, "That's right, your majesty! Perhaps you just need to find a nice fish lady to… uh…" She blushed when she noticed everyone staring at her. "I-It's just a metaphor!"

"Oh my god!" Mettaton slid in, donning their EX form. "Why don't you two just smooch already! You can't flirt like this in front of everyone without giving them the big payoff!"

Undyne shook their fist at the robot. "Hey, knock it off! We don't have to do nothing in front of no one if-"

"No Undyne," Alphys said. "He's right. Let's do it!"

Undyne blushed. "S-Such passion…! Alright, if you want to, then… don't hold back!"

"Wait!" Toriel leapt between them and pushed them apart. "Not in front of the human!"

Frisk fumed, "Yes in front of the human! I worked hard for this!" Everyone shared a laugh, but Undyne and Alphys did not move to retry their kiss.

Toriel chuckled. "Well, it certainly seems you've had quite an adventure! You've traveled a long way and made a lot of great friends. I am sorry to say you might need to stay here for a while." She looked at the gathered crowd. "But… I think you will be very happy here."

Chara leaned down to say, "And I meant what I said. As long as you're down here and as long as you want me to, I'll stay with you. We have all the time we need to work on a solution to the barrier. We'll find it, I'm sure of it." Frisk nodded, clapping excitedly. It all worked out. Somehow, despite everything, everything was going to be better.

Alphys, however, was tapping her chin in thought. "Something sure is strange, though. Papyrus, you called me here." The skeleton "Nyeh?"d in response to their name. "But I got here before you. How did you know the human was in trouble?"

Papyrus shrugged, trying to play this off as a mystery. "Well, a skeleton never reveals all his secrets," he bragged. "So let's just say, I got a little help from a tiny flower."

Frisk and Chara's happiness transmogrified into lead balls of dread in their stomach. "A tiny… flower?" Frisk repeated.

That was all the time they had before massive vines erupted from the ground, entangling all the monsters and lifting them high into the air. Their shouts and screams echoed as they were lifted fifteen or twenty feet into the air, arms pinned tightly to their sides. "NOOOO!" Frisk screamed, reaching out for them.

"That goddamn flower!" Chara yelled. "After all we went through he's gonna pull this crap?!"

Aforementioned flower poked up from the floor with a silly grin on his face. "Wow, that worked out even better than I'd hoped. Hee hee hee, what have I told you about listening to the things coming out of my mouth? How many times are you going to let me fool you?"

"Flowey!" Frisk raged. "What are you doing?!"

"Uh, stealing all the human souls again?" He looked at Frisk like they were the dumbest person alive. "Did you think I was going to give up becoming a god just because Plan A failed? No way! Welcome to Plan B! Here's how it works: you're gonna let me take your soul. And if you don't I'm gonna kill all your friends right in front of you! Simple, right?"

"Why," Frisk asked. "Why are you still doing this?"

"Because this game between us is the most fun I've had in years! If you experience peace and happiness, you'll stop playing, and where will that leave me? I won't let the game end!" He caught Frisk's head turning to look at their discarded knife. Flowey casually knocked it away with a vine. "None of that," he taunted. "It's still too early to do the gardening. How about instead… you dance with me for a while?" As he said this friendliness pellets formed in the air all around Frisk, firing in short bursts.

The pellets arced, curved, and dove in from every direction, each hit feeling like a fist. Chara bit their knuckle; just like when Asriel absorbed them, his bullets could strike with physical force now. Any one of those could have torn Frisk limb from limb. But Flowey was playing with Frisk. He did not want to simply defeat Frisk; he wanted to torture them. He wanted to take his time, wearing them down and humiliating them to let the hopelessness of their situation sink in. That dirty…!

Frisk took short and shallow gasps, their entire body convulsing. They did not seem to even see the bullets as they closed in on them, tearing into their body from all directions. They moved clumsily, stepping to the side to avoid one bullet only for a second bullet to swoop in from a dead angle and hit their shoulder, or leg, or hip, and send them stumbling into another bullet, and another, and another! Frisk tried to shield themself but it was no use; any time they tried to move or not move they would be hit anywhere but where they were expecting, floundering in a mad dance across the floor. Finally a bullet hit their foot just as they were putting weight on it and they collapsed to the floor. Frisk huddled up to protect their soul as bullets rained down on them from every direction.

"STOP!" Chara screamed, desperately trying to reach out to Flowey. "You won already! Don't you see they can't fight anymore?! You're killing them!" But Flowey did not stop. Another volley of bullets sprang up and peppered Frisk's unmoving form. Chara did not feel the pain anymore. Frisk's brain must have decided that with this much stimulus either their pain receptors were misfiring or Frisk would be dead in moments, and in either case it did not have to pay attention to how much it hurt. A ring of bullets appeared and closed in on Frisk's soul with agonizing slowness. It seemed Flowey was tired of watching Frisk simply endure the punishment and wanted to savor their lethal blow.

There was nothing else they could do. Chara covered Frisk's body with their own. Their own soul appeared on their chest as they floated into Flowey's magic field, but the lone fragment was so tiny Flowey probably did not even notice it. They could probably absorb only one bullet before dying; if it meant Frisk got to live for even another fraction of a second it was worth it. They would not let them die alone. "I'm sorry it turned out like this," they told them. "But I'll stay with you until the very end." Frisk did not reply. There was nothing to say.

Pillars of flame erupted all around Frisk, knocking the friendliness pellets away. Frisk groaned and tilted their head to look, and Chara floated off them. Flowey raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Toriel called down to them from above, "Do not be afraid, my child. No matter what happens, we'll always be there to protect you."

"You can't protect anything!" Flowey taunted, preparing another round of pellets. "No matter what you do, I'm stronger than any of you!"

A stream of pellets was blocked by a wall of spears and bones. "But there's no way you're stronger than all of us!" Undyne shouted. "We all stand together, but you're all alone! Someone like you could never outmatch everyone's hopes and dreams!"

"That's right!" Papyrus agreed. "Even if we're weak, we believe in each other, and believe in the each others that believe in us!"

"yep," sans said. "that's about the long and short of it. so come on and beat this guy already, kid. he's got nothin' on you."

On the floor Frisk's hand twitched, then curled into a fist. A new energy filled them, all the power their friends had to spare. Flowey hurriedly sent another wave to finish them off before they fully recovered, but pillars of fire and lightning slammed down to form a shield.

Alphys swallowed. "Technically, it's not possible for a single human soul to stop six. But somehow, I know you can do it!"

"The villain's job is to make themselves seem dangerous so the hero looks more impressive for winning," Mettaton said. "But he's destined to lose! Go on out there and show the world what you're made of!"

"And no matter what!" Asgore said. "You have to stay determined!"

At just that moment everyone became aware of a huge commotion outside. Flowey angrily smashed the wall between this place and the rest of the capital, snarling when he saw what was there. The streets of the capital were flooded with people, roaring and shouting. Monsters of every shape and size, many of them never having seen the human before, had shown up in support of the human.

Chara hovered down just next to Frisk's ear. "Feeling the support of all your friends… fills you with determination." Frisk nodded with a confident smile. They turned toward Flowey, fist extended.

"No!" Flowey cried out. "Unbelievable! This… this is impossible!" His petals curled inward to cover his face. "I… I…!"

His petals unfurled to reveal a demonic grin. "I fooled you again!" Flowey laughed as vines snaked throughout the entire capital, enveloping all the monsters at once. "This is my real Plan B! If you're friends with all the monsters, they'll come help you when you're in trouble! The gate to the Ruins will be open! The denizens of the lab will be set free! Every monster will be in one spot! And by absorbing the soul of every monster in the Underground… gee, how much power is that equal to? Roughly?"

Chara felt sick to their stomach as they realized, too late, Flowey's plan. "No…"

"It equals one! Human! Soul! Added with the other six… that makes seven! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I win, suckers!" His laughter echoed as the whole world turned white. All the souls, human and monster, were sucked into Flowey's form.

The glow slowly faded and shaped itself into a small Boss Monster boy with white fur and floppy ears, their back to Frisk. The boy was wearing dark pants and a green-and-yellow striped shirt. He flexed his fingers and held their hands up to their face. "Finally," he said in a voice completely unlike Flowey. "I was so tired of being a flower."

And suddenly everything made sense. How Alphys could inject a flower with DT and end up with a flower that retained memories of another lifetime. Why Chara had pleaded with Frisk so strongly to spare Flowey. And how, beyond any shadow of a doubt, Chara was a demon who brought misfortune to those they loved.

The boy turned and smiled at Frisk. "Howdy!" said the monster.

"Greetings," replied Chara in a hoarse whisper.

"Chara, are you there?"

"So this is where you've been."

"It's me! Your best friend."

Chara only laughed. They had asked for him to be saved and it turned him into Flowey. It was funny because they could not even pray without screwing something up.

Frisk cautiously stepped forward. "Who… are you?"

Asriel flashed brightly, and when their eyes recovered he had grown taller and wider. Now resembling a teenaged version of himself with dark facial markings and black snake-like eyes, he leered down at Frisk threateningly. "Didn't you hear him?" Chara said, unable to turn away. "It's my best friend. Asriel Dreemurr."

AN: DING DING DING! We have a winner! Clocking in at over 13,000 words, this is by far the longest chapter of the fic! Having already written most of the next chapter I can say with certainty this will be the longest chapter there is. I probably could have split this in half and done two chapters, but I didn't expect this to go on this long when I started and I didn't have a good place to stop in the middle anyway.
Next time is the final battle. Only 2 chapters left. Stay determined…