Flowey grinned his most twisted grin, the tiny spark of a soul in his stem throbbing with excitement. He was absolutely thrilled. This was dangerous. This was daring. This was fun.
He stared at his canvas and licked his lips. There was Sans, bound to a chair, gagged, and showing real fear. His small, upside-down soul was summoned and hovering in front of him. Connected to it by a long line was an IV of healing magic that Flowey was especially proud of. It would replenish Sans' health as he lost it, which meant that Flowey could hurt him for as long as he wanted to. He giggled. Yes, this was definitely going to be fun.
As he considered what he wanted to do to Sans first, Flowey let his anger wash over him. Papyrus hadn't been paying attention to him. He was his brother, Papyrus was supposed to play with him! Not with some fish bitch, and not with the baby. He'd killed the fish and scattered her dust in the river so she would never have a proper funeral, and also so Papyrus wouldn't suspect that she was dead. Then he captured Sans and got him set up properly for a long, long play time. If he couldn't get Papyrus to play with him, then maybe he should try playing with the baby himself.
When the idea occurred to him, Flowey's grin spread impossibly wider. He reached behind him and grabbed the sharpest knife on his table of torture. Seeing Sans' face when he brought it out…
He was surprised to experience a moment of hesitation. Sans looked so scared. His baby brother looked so scared. Did he really want to… no, he couldn't think like that. A soulless being wouldn't worry about hurting someone. He had to do it. He brought the knife forward and prepared to cut.
Not far away, Papyrus was searching. Flowey had said that there was a suspicious monster hanging around their basement door before it blew up. Papyrus might not like the memory of the monster who owned their basement before them, but he knew that machine meant a lot to Sans. If he could find the monster who had blown up their basement then he could figure out why, and if he could figure out why then he could stop them from doing it in the next timeline, and if he could stop it then Sans would be happy. He wanted Sans to be happy.
When he found the abandoned shed in the outskirts of Waterfall, of course he decided to check it out. An abandoned looking shed would be the perfect place to hide after committing a crime! That's what all his favorite TV shows said, anyway. So obviously he went in!
He wished he hadn't. Seeing the state that Sans was in, the blood dripping off of Flowey's knife, the expressions on their faces… it was heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time. They were brothers! Granted, Sans didn't know that, but Flowey did! Why was he doing this? Sans was bleeding from every bone in his body. Flowey had filetted and carved into his bones to create an almost random design; almost because Papyrus recognized it as Asriel's signature attack pattern, the one with stars raining down out of the sky.
"FLOWEY," Papyrus said deeply. Flowey jerked and spun around, a weird expression on his face. It was like worry, confusion, slyness, and fear were all thrown into a blender, frozen with liquid nitrogen, and scattered on a plate of anger and pain. "WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING TO MY BROTHER?"
Flowey's face contorted as he tried to come up with an explanation that would get Papyrus off his back, but Papyrus wasn't having it and let it show. He wanted the truth and he wanted it now.
"Um… shit. I-" Papyrus glared at him, "You haven't been paying attention to me! I'm your big brother! I'm the one you're supposed to be playing with, not the baby! So, since you're so obsessed with the smiley trashbag, I had to do something to him to get you to pay attention to me! So I did!"
Papyrus could see it in Sans' eyes. He hadn't known that it was Asriel doing this to him. Papyrus tried to mirror that expression, and it must have worked, because Flowey bought it. "YOU- YOU- AZZY?"
Flowey looked shocked for a moment, like he hadn't meant to say that. Then he jumped on it and owned it. "Yes, it's me! I'm stuck with my memories in a stupid, soulless flower and I can't even play with my own brother, so you can imagine the kind of stress I am under. I want your attention and I want all of it! I don't want to share you with some stupid fish! I don't want to share you with Sans, either! I don't want to share you with anyone!"
Papyrus gulped. Oh. So Flowey was jealous. That… sort of made sense. Azzy could get really moody if he wasn't getting the attention he thought he deserved. This was just kind of that taken to an extreme. A really, really scary extreme. But if Flowey really was soulless like he said, that made sense.
Papyrus raised both hands and slowly stepped forward. "I SEE. UM… HOW ABOUT THIS, FLOWEY. AZZY? FLOWEY. HOW ABOUT THIS: IF YOU LET ME TAKE SANS TO THE HOSPITAL I'LL PLAY WITH YOU FOR AS LONG AS YOU WANT. I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT ME TO. WE CAN EVEN," Papyrus gulped. This was a really big concession for him, but he needed Flowey to agree to this, "WE CAN EVEN PLAY MONSTERS AND HUMANS. I KNOW YOU LIKE TO BE THE MONSTER, SO I'LL BE THE HUMAN FOR AS LONG AS YOU WANT, OKAY? JUST, PLEASE, LET ME TAKE SANS TO THE HOSPITAL. HE NEEDS HELP, AND I DON'T WANT HIM… I DON'T WANT HIM TO DUST."
Flowey eyed him in a way that Papyrus couldn't quite place. It lasted uncomfortably long. Then Flowey shrugged, dropped that wicked knife onto the cold, hard ground, and backed up. "Be my guest. I'm not going to let you out of my sight, though, and you'd better not tell anyone that this was me."
"OF COURSE NOT, FLOWEY!" Papyrus said as he stepped forward, ready to start untying Sans from the chair he was bound to. "IF I DID YOU WOULDN'T GET TO PLAY WITH ME! NOW, PLEASE STAY BACK. I DON'T WANT YOU TO-"
That was when it happened. Papyrus had been trying to be careful. He'd untied the arm restraints with the utmost care and was moving to the left leg when he bumped it. It was such a little bump! It shouldn't have done that much damage! But nobody bothered to tell that to Sans' soul. The little bump jostled the needle connecting that weird IV thing to Sans' soul. It lost its stability and fell out. Papyrus only had time to look up and see the panicked expression on Sans' face before his whole body turned to dust.
Papyrus froze. He- no. That can't have just happened. It was a joke, right? It had to be. He turned to Flowey, and his expression broke that little fantasy. Flowey looked like he was lost and in agony. This… this was real. He really had killed his little brother.
"FLOWEY," Papyrus asked, his voice sounding as if it was coming from a long way away, "PLEASE DO YOUR WEIRD LITTLE TIMELINE THING. I CAN'T HANDLE THIS AGAIN. I'M NOT… STRONG ENOUGH. I PROMISE I'LL PLAY WITH YOU ALL YOU WANT. JUST, PLEASE, MAKE IT SO SANS IS SAFE."
Flowey slowly nodded through the shock. It was clear that he didn't know that Papyrus remembered. Papyrus just hoped that, if he could keep Flowey entertained long enough, Sans would be safe.
"I can do that, cheery doormat. I promise."
Staring at your own dead body was definitely surreal. So was hearing your brother's thoughts, especially when they were so steeped in grief. Chara focused on them, trying to pick out the thread that would let them help him.
... It's my fault, it's my fault, it's my fault-
Chara interrupted that thought right there. Azzy, stop that. It's no more your fault than it is mine. I told you that I was dying anyway. It was going to be old age before long. We just hurried it along a bit. Azriel sniffed. Chara felt that, felt the tears in his fur (and wasn't that a weird feeling), and sighed. You're such a needy crybaby! Come on, we have to get out of the Barrier before Mom and Dad come back. Don't make me move these limbs myself!
Azriel sniffed again, but Chara could tell that this one was different. This one was just Azzy trying to clean up his face. Chara smiled and felt that smile translate onto Azriel's face. Okay, Chara. You wanted to see the flowers in your village one last time, right?
Chara nodded and picked up their own body. Azriel recoiled, but Chara explained, I don't want Mom and Dad to have to figure out what to do with it. We can put it in the flowers on the Surface, okay? I know you'll like them. They're golden, even more so than the buttercups. I don't know what they're called, though.
Azriel headed out of their bedroom and towards the Barrier as they talked. I know. You drew a picture with Sans, oh, twenty some years ago? He still keeps it safe from juice stains.
Chara nodded, noting absently that walking through the Barrier felt like static and cotton balls. Yeah, I know. I never thought he would take it so seriously. I figured he would forget about it in a few years, maybe.
Monsters live for a long time, Chara, so we have to remember stuff for a long time, too. Azriel admonished, It's still so weird to me that humans can only live a bit over a hundred years. No wonder you changed so much physically! I just thought you were like the Whimsums. They go through so many life stages, and they look so hugely different in all of them. I never thought that you were actually aging that fast. Wowie!
Chara shivered as they stepped out into the sun for the first time in decades. It felt so weird against Azriel's fur. He was standing in shock, taking everything in for the first time. Chara was too busy reliving their mad escape to feel that awe, however. The only thing they could do was shield Azriel as best they could from the horrors in their mind. They didn't want to worry or upset him. If they'd known that this whole soul absorbing thing would involve sharing thoughts, well… they might have reconsidered who they asked to absorb them. Maybe Gaster would have been a better idea after all.
Is that your village, Chara? Azriel's voice interrupted their thoughts.
Chara blinked, trying to focus on what Azriel could currently see. He had to have been walking for a while, because he was approaching the clearing that their village used to be in. It looked bigger now. There were a lot more houses and buildings. It could hardly be called a village anymore. It was now a small town.
Yes, this is it. The clearing with the flowers is over by that big tree there. At least, it used to be… Chara said. There was now a fence and a gate around the flowers. That hadn't been there before.
Azriel walked over and carefully opened the gate, setting Chara's body down on the flowers and sitting next to it. Chara ran their hand through the flowers, getting Azriel's fur covered in seeds and pollen. Maybe when they got back home Dad could have some fun trying to grow them. Of course, he wouldn't need to if they did what they had planned to do. Chara forced his body to stand up and look around. There were some humans not too far away.
Chara… what are you doing? Azriel asked uneasily.
I'm doing what Dad always said to do and being the Saviour of Monsterkind. Chara said stubbornly. Then they stepped forward and brought Azriel and themselves into their destiny.