Kindness.
It was by far his greatest virtue. Armed with his kind heart, a frying pan to cook excellent meals, and an apron to keep his front clean, Klaus Becker had progressed through the underground in a way quite unlike any human before him. Opposed to needing to be escorted through, or protected by certain monsters until brought to King Asgore, he had simply shown his immense kindness in the only way he knew how to; through cooking.
Through the Ruins he had traversed, and while he was unaware of how desolate it may have seemed to the previous children, to him he had met many monsters. The obvious Froggit, Whimsun, and Vegetoid (though he only learned of their existence when he'd nearly picked one for a stew. It had taken many profuse apologies to get it to calm down), but he had also met the lonely widow within as well.
He could sense a great sorrow inside of her that prompted him to try and cheer her up by simply cooking her a nice meal. To his surprise, she was skilled with a stove as well, and they wound up having a fun cook-off together. She'd commented on his extraordinary kindness, but had been apprehensive when he'd expressed a desire to move on. Eventually, she relented, packing him a bag with all the goods they'd baked and asked him to spread his kindness through the underground.
So he had done just that. Through the snowy forests he'd trekked, encountering a whole slew of dog monsters, all of which he'd befriended through food and a few simple games of catch. Past them, he'd moved on through Snowdin and shared his cuisine. Whereas the lonely widow had recognized him as a human immediately, most of the monsters elsewhere didn't seem to realize he was human. Perhaps they'd never seen one.
Beyond Snowdin, his path led through the great glowing caverns, where he encountered his first conflict; Flouis Dhelaron, Captain of the Royal Guard. He was an elderly monster with a spring in his step, and seemed to really hate humans, recognizing Klaus immediately.
When he'd refused to be escorted directly to the king, his goal the lonely widow having given him still in his mind, Flouis had attacked. Their battle raged on, but his kindness eventually broke through, and Flouis relented, allowing him to progress beyond and into the Hotlands.
There, he'd met the Doctor who seemed even more intimidating than Flouis. Just like the Captain, the Doctor offered to bring him to the king, but hadn't attacked when Klaus had declined this. Instead, he offered directions, before retreating into his lab, not accepting the goods offered.
So he had moved forward, steadfast and confident that the lonely widow's request would be fulfilled. He was nearing the capital, and had shown such kindness to the monsters underground. She had warned him of their hatred toward humanity, so perhaps he could change their mind. She seemed to think he could.
His journey took him through the remainder of Hotlands, alongside a town on the edge of the capital known as 'Warmville'. It was somewhat silly how simple all the names were down here, but he found it incredibly charming. He had fed and befriended the monsters here as well, until moving upon the capital to find that it was far more populated than even Purple Home, where the lonely widow had lived. This would require far more food than he had left, so he did the only logical thing there was to do. He found the nearest shop, and offered to cook new and exquisite meals. The store owner, a large and wide golden reptile, had been skeptical before allowing it.
It took no time at all for the store's popularity to explode as the underground was introduced to human cuisine.
He'd been offered to work full time at the restaurant, and it was an extremely tempting offer, though his mind traveled back through his journey. He'd been warned of King Asgore by the lonely widow. The Captain had desired to take him there and even battled him for it, the Doctor too wishing to deliver him. He knew he was fated to meet this King soon, and he even glimpsed his majestic castle on his walk through town.
He was forced to decline the monster's offer, instead telling him that there was one last person he had to show his kindness to. Taking what remained of the goods he and the widow had made together, he made his way into the King's castle. The halls were of a polished stone, carpets of regal purples, stitched with golden threads.
Unlike the rest of the underground, this place seemed strangely deserted, though somehow (perhaps by fate) he found his way through, directly to the throne room to find it was empty.
Beautiful flowers lined the entire floor as sunlight seeped in through holes in the ceiling. This was clearly close to the exit to the surface, and he knew deep down that his journey was almost finished. Just one last monster to show kindness to. One last monster to befriend.
He was filled with a strange anticipation as he gazed about the throne room, searching for the king yet finding nobody. His great throne sat in the center of the room, though a second was seated in the corner, draped in a white linen cloth. Something had happened to his queen.
However, in little time, he met the King. The largest monster he'd ever seen, with shoulders broader than the kid was tall. Much broader. Great horns rose from his forehead, blonde hair situated beneath a regal crown, a purple robe draped over his body as his eyes locked against the human's.
His face registered recognition, though not surprise. Perhaps he had been told of the human's arrival by the Captain, or the Doctor.
His face held a great sorrow, just like the lonely widow, and it connected who the queen was in an instant. King Asgore was silent as he stood at the entrance, appearing to be unsure of what to say, so Klaus took the initiative, taking a brave step forward, and opening his bag.
"I have gifts for you, your highness," he offered, procuring a great chocolate cake from the bag. The King stared at it for a moment, and somehow, his eyes seemed to grow even sadder, and he finally spoke.
"She loved chocolate," he stated, staring up through one of the holes in the ceiling to gaze upon the blue sky, what little of it he could see. "I often wonder if she would be content with my actions, or if she…" his voice trailed off. "Regardless of it, my children are gone, taken from me in the cruellest way."
His eyes once again returned to the human before him. "You're kind, but… unfortunately I cannot back out on my declaration." His shoulders sagged as his voice grew heavy, burdened with choice and consequence.
Slowly, Klaus returned the cake to his bag, brow creasing in worry. What was going to happen? He'd been warned of the King, but he had no clue as to why. It seemed he was about to find out as the King strode past him, violet robes brushing against the flowers as he walked.
"Please, come with me." He offered.
Klaus complied, following the King past a door at the back of the throne room into a small dark cave with no light to see outside of the light streaming in from the throne room. Asgore stood at the other end of the cave, at another mouth that led somewhere else, his eyes staring at Klaus in… was it fear? Anger? Grief?
Asgore seemed unable to say anything as the boy approached, before he cleared his throat. "Just through this doorway," he stated, and proceeded through, followed by the child.
The other side brought wonders and tricks of the eye as the room seemed to breathe, dull colors of greys, whites, and blacks echoing along in what looked to be a mysterious abyss. So close he could touch it, yet so far he'd never reach it.
The abyss seemed to let out a long sigh, before drawing in a quiet breath, and repeating the process, almost as though it were alive.
"This is the barrier," Asgore stated. "This is what keeps us trapped underground. To break it, we need seven human SOULs," his gaze fell as the air grew tense around them. The ground seemed to open, making way for seven glass containers that rose from it. Inside three sat other colored SOULs. Cyan, Orange, and Blue.
So they had three, and it wasn't hard for Klaus to deduce that the King was planning to take his as a fourth, as well.
He felt his mouth go dry as his throat tightened painfully. He had shown kindness to every monster he'd met, but could his kindness prevail? Could he show the King a different perspective, even if his goals were for the good of his people?
The battle engaged, and he barely had time to register it as he instinctively stumbled away from the tip of a glowing trident that otherwise would have pierced him through. Scrambling to his feet, he tried to think of something to say as Asgore pulled his trident back, but nothing came to mind.
Klaus was forced to try another dodge as several balls of fire were hurled his way. All in all, dodging these attacks was relatively easy, but a look at the King showed his hands slightly trembling, his face shrouded in darkness, but not for the effect of intimidation… but in shame. He didn't want to do this, but he did it because he believed he had to. That he had no other choice.
So was he holding back? Was he seeing just a fraction of what the King was capable of? It seemed that way, as the next attack was far more complex, either side of the barrier erupting in intense flames that waved violently away, trapping the boy onto a linear path as a torrent of fireballs began to be flung his way, appearing in the air around Asgore before launching.
This quickly became overwhelming for the boy, even more so than his battle with Flouis. He wasn't being given the time to try and appeal to the good side of Asgore, forced to continuously dodge increasingly violent and complex attacks, his stamina draining quickly.
He really wished he'd spent a little more time running instead of cooking, now.
Fire singed his elbows as he moved around more of the fireballs, desperately trying to keep up with Asgore's attacks as they grew faster and faster.
When the torrent subsided, it was replaced by a spinning circle of fireballs that enclosed around the boy from all angles. All hope seemed lost, but- there was a pattern to these spherical rings that surrounded him. Small gaps within each layer that closed in on his way. Gaps that he could leap through if he was fast enough.
Was this intentional? Was Asgore giving him chances to… survive? Assuming as much, Klaus leaped through the initial gap, brushing against the wall of flames as it seared his arm. He let out a cry of pain as he hit the ground, struggling to his feet to jump through the next hole, having to search for it first- and he found it. With another jump, he was through, this time managing to prevent any further injuries to find a third layer.
His breathing was heavy as he struggled back to his feet to get through this next hurdle, tears stinging the corners of his eyes in pain and fear as he struggled through the next hole, barely making it through, his other arm slipping through the wall, making his skin blister and burn away.
He struggled up, swaying on his feet to find that the layers were gone. He'd made it through this attack, and his hazy eyes focused on the massive form of Asgore at the other end of the path that was surrounded by raging fire.
"I don't… want to…" he breathed out, but his words fell on deaf ears as Asgore raised his trident high into the air, pulling his face from the shadows to show it, tears running down his cheeks as his eyes seemed wide with terror. Terror at his own actions.
The tip of the trident began to glow brightly, before a flurry of fire began to burst from it, spinning wildly toward the human, filling his entire vision with hundreds of the fireballs as they screamed toward him.
He didn't have the strength to try and dodge those, or take the damage. It was at this moment that Klaus realized he had lost. He had failed to do good by the Queen's wish. To spread that kindness underground. The fearful King would reassert his influence over the underground. They would never know that a human had been the one to do what he had done. To befriend the people there, share his talents, let them know that humanity wasn't what they thought it was.
He didn't know their story. He didn't know why they hated humans, why they'd been trapped underground… he just hoped he'd been able to make a difference, even now as he fell to his knees, overwhelmed by Asgore's ceaseless attacks.
Slugged by a ball of fire directly into his chest, Klaus tumbled to the ground, feebly trying to rise up, his arms shaking horribly, before he failed, falling back to the ground.
Faintly, his eyes searched out Asgore as the flames died around them, and soon, any evidence of their fight had vanished.
Asgore's eyes were conflicted as he stared at the child before him- and his trident vanished, his gaze falling. "I cannot," he let out, his voice strained. "I cannot… kill you."
Klaus was surprised as he stared at Asgore, who fell to his knees in an unearned defeat, his hands limp at his side as more tears dampened his furry cheeks.
Again, the boy tried to push himself up, arms still shaking terribly, but he managed, fueled by his own willpower as he pushed his body up, beginning to climb to his feet ever-so-slowly as the King wept.
The bag the Queen had given him was singed, but still held its contents as Klaus stumbled toward the King, and pulled out the chocolate cake from earlier, weakly offering it to the King with a smile.
And the world vanished.
Asgore watched in shocked horror as the head of the boy before him violently snapped to the left, resounding with a loud crack before his body fell limp to the ground, a short flash of blue having accompanied this.
He was breathless and speechless as he stared at the boy, before pulling him into his arms, gently trying to wake him in vain. He was dead, but how? How had he…
Asgore looked up to see Dr. Gaster standing at the entrance, hands tucked behind his back as per usual, his gaze stern, devoid of emotion.
"Did you do this?" Asgore demanded, climbing to his feet, still cradling the boy.
"I did," Gaster replied simply, gaze lowering slightly to look upon the body. "You made a promise, Asgore."
"I never promised to do this!" the King spat in reply, glaring at his best friend. "I never thought I'd have to kill children."
Gaster didn't immediately reply as he calmly strode into the room, gaze now piercing into Asgore. "'Take the SOULs of any who fall here'. This was what you said," he reminded, waving his hand regally in the air, the boy's emerald-green SOUL tearing out of his body and began to hover beside the doctor. "If you're not strong enough to follow through, then I will have to pick up your slack."
Asgore clenched his teeth, at a loss for words for the moment, staring at the doctor with a mixture of confusion and anger. When he said nothing, Gaster turned on his heel. "Dispose of the body however you see fit. I will handle the SOUL."
Before he could exit the room, however, a wall of fire erupted at the exit, making the doctor pause, before his gaze slowly returned to the king. "You don't want to do this Asgore."
"You're right," the king of monsters gave a slight nod, staring down at the body he cradled. "I don't want to do any of this. Each of these children… they remind me so much of her," his eyes drifted to the chocolate cake the boy had dropped when Gaster had killed him. "She used to love chocolate," he repeated quietly, closing his eyes, but his moment of grief was broken by the doctor, whose voice was raised beyond its usual level.
"You're not the only one to have lost people, Dreemurr," he stated, tone almost as dark as his eyes, which had lost their usual light. "You allowed your family to fall apart. I was forced to watch mine be torn apart."
Asgore seemed about to retort, eyes flaring in rage at the mention of his family, before he halted, and the fire died. Not just in his eyes, but at the entrance behind Gaster. "Are we done here?" Gaster asked, and Asgore gave a slight nod.
"Y-yes… Yes, I think… we are…" he sighed, before rising to his feet. "Take the body, please," he added, not looking Gaster in the eye. "I'm sorry, old friend, I… forgot our goals."
"All is well, your majesty," Gaster gave a nod, flicking his wrist again, the body moving to hover beside its SOUL as Gaster finally left the room.
Asgore stared at the ground for several long moments, before his gaze turned toward the breathing barrier behind him, gaze unable to penetrate its eternity.
What had he become?
Would anybody be able to stop him?
Would he ever be able to see his Toriel again?
These thoughts tore away at his mind, just as they had for the last three hundred years. Four children is what he'd killed now, and… well… he'd never killed before them. Even in the war, he'd made a point as to only incapacitate those he fought. Never kill. Even King Derek had received that same treatment.
Had he really fallen so far?
Was he a monster?