Peter sat in the elevator. It seemed to go on forever. He still couldn't believe this.

"Do... Do you wanna talk about it?" Chara asked.

"Talk about what!?" Peter replied. "This is a loose-loose scenario! I can either kill Asgore to use his SOUL to escape, or I let him kill me, and use my SOUL to wage war on humanity."

"Who said those are the only two options?"

"Huh?"

Chara put her hand on his shoulder. "Peter, through this whole time, you've show me there's another way. That you don't have to kill to win. Maybe there's another path you just can't see."

Peter stepped out of the elevator. "If that's so... I truly can't see it."

He walked through the gray castle, not a sound in his ears but the sound of his breathing and footsteps. All was quiet until he came to a replica of Toriel's house.

"What...?" He walked inside. Sure enough, it was the same place, aside from a lock on the stairwell.

"He keeps the keys in the kitchen and by the bedrooms." Chara stated.

"How do you know that?" Peter asked, walking to the stairwell, where a pair of Froggits met him. "Oh, hi guys."

One looked at him. "A long time ago, a human fell into the ruins."

Peter took a step back. "You can talk!?"

"Injured by its fall," The other continued, "The human called out for help."

The Froggits vanished. Peter found it odd, but he grabbed the key on the hallway dresser and walked to the kitchen. Some Whimsums approached him.

"Asriel, the king's son, heard the human's call." One said.

"He brought the human back to the castle." The other continued.

"Asriel... was the prince of the Underground?" Peter asked.

Chara didn't respond, but she looked melancholy.

Some Moldsmols appeared.

"Over time, Asriel and the human became like siblings."

"The King and Queen treated the human child as their own."

"The Underground was full of hope."

As they too faded, Peter turned to Chara. "Chara... were you that child?"

Her eyes shone bright. "For a time..." But her face fell. "But nothing lasts forever."

Peter grabbed the other key and unlocked the chain, travelling down the stairs to the basement. "What do you mean?"

Some more monsters answered that question.

"Then... One day..."

"The human became very ill."

The Veggitoids continued the story.

"The sick human had only one request."

"To see the flowers from their village."

"But there was nothing we could do."

As they disappeared, some Loox replaced them.

"The next day." They spoke in unison. The first couldn't continue, so the second did. "The human died."

"Asriel, wracked with grief, absorbed the human's SOUL." A Snowdrake said as the Loox vanished.

"He transformed into a being with incredible power."

A trio of Icecaps continued the tale. "With the human SOUL, Asriel crossed through the barrier."

"He carried the human's body into the sunset."

"Back to the village of the humans."

Some Woshuas took up the telling. "Asriel reached the center of the village."

"There, he found a bed of golden flowers."

"He carried the human onto it."

Shyren came next. "Suddenly, screams rang out. The villagers saw Asriel holding the human's body. They thought that he had killed the child."

A trio of dummies came to replace her. "The humans attacked him with everything they had."

"He was struck with blow after blow."

"Asriel had the power to destroy them all."

"But he didn't..." Chara finished, whispering tearfully.

"Asriel did not fight back." A Madjick and a Knight Knight stated. "Clutching the human..."

"Asriel smiled and walked away."

Some final Froggits appeared. "Wounded, Asriel stumbled home."

"He entered the castle and collapsed."

"His dust spread across the garden."

Whimsalot appeared. "The kingdom fell into despair. The king and queen had lost two children in one night. The humans had once again taken everything from us."

"Oh no..." Chara whispered.

Astigmatism drew near. "The king decided it was time to end our suffering. Every human who falls down here must die. With enough souls, we can shatter the barrier forever."

"It was my fault." Chara whispered. "If I hadn't pushed him... If we hadn't died... Asgore... Dad... wouldn't have declared war on the humans."

"You can't pin that on you." Peter replied, sadly. "It was his decision."

"So much pain... some much anger... Because of me."

Peter wished he could help her. For all the things they had endured, they were still just kids. She was a kid. And she was dead. Peter felt that he had to press on.

"It's not long now." The monster whispered. "King Asgore will let us go."

"Give us hope."

"Save us all."

Peter's eyes widened. It wasn't just him. It was the whole Underground that rested on the decision he made.

"You should be smiling too."

"Aren't you excited? Happy?"

A lone Froggit stared at him with large eyes that seemed to know.

"You're going to be free."

Peter walked into the last corridor, all oranges and stained glass windows. "But at what cost?"

"good question... kid."

Peter looked, and at the end of the hall stood Sans. A bell rang out as he looked down at the ground, the peered at Peter, hands in his pockets.

"So you finally made it." He stated. The poise in his voice seeming... off. Somehow. "The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you will meet the king. Together... You will determine the future of this world." He shrugged.

"But that's then. Now?" He grinned. "You will be judged. Every word of your being, every letter used to describe you, every dash of a pixel on a screen. I can see them all. And therefore, I can see you. All the EXP you've earned. Know what it stands for? Execution points. A way of quantifying the pain you have inflicted on others. You kill a person, it increases. The more you do it, the easier it becomes."

Peter thought back to some of the things Mr. Barnes and a few of the other Avengers had told him, and he nodded.

"LV increases as EXP increases." Sans continued. "LV, or LOVE is also an acronym. Stands for "Level of violence". A way to measure the capacity of one to hurt. "

He searched Peter's face, as though he looked straight through him. "...But you... You never gained LOVE." He grinned wider, and it was genuine. "'course, that doesn't mean you're completely innocent of naive. just means that you saw the difference between two paths, and picked the high ground. takes a lot of guts to do that when you're that powerful, but you chose the hard path instead of the easy one. the mark of a true hero."

Peter sighed. "I'm not sure if I can keep doing it."

"asgore." Sans nodded. "he's gonna be the greatest challenge of your entire journey. your actions here... will determine the fate of the entire world."

Peter nodded. "I know the stakes. Tell me, is there another way?"

Sans considered. "ya know, no one else has ever asked that before. Then again, doubt they could even if they wanted to." He winked. "tell you the truth, if i were you, i would have thrown in the towel by now. but you didn't get this far by giving up, did you?"

Peter shook his head. "I don't intend to give up. There's too much at stake. For me..." He looked at Chara, then back at Sans. "And for everyone. I have the power to effect change here, and the responsibility to do so."

Sans nodded. "you're filled with determination. as long as you hold on... as long as you do what's in your heart... i believe you can do the right thing." He sighed. "alright. we're all counting on you, kid. so no pressure. and," He winked. "good luck."

Peter couldn't exactly tell, but when Sans walked behind a pillar, he kinda just.. vanished. To a few chapters later. Peter didn't know that, of course, so he just walked on.

Right up to the throne room.

"Are you ready?" Chara asked.

"No."

Chara sighed. "Me neither. Shall we?"

Peter walked in to find a large garden, taking up the whole room. And, in the center of a large bed of flowers, sat a large monster. His back was turned to Peter, and he was humming while watering the flowers with an equally large watering can.

"Sir? Are you King Asgore?" Peter asked.

"Oh? Is someone there?" Asgore replied. "Just a moment! I have almost finished watering these flowers."

He set down the can. "...Here we are!" He turned around. "Howdy! How can I!" He gasped and took several steps back.

"Oh." He spoke.

"Hi." Peter replied.

Asgore turned to the side, speechless. When he turned back around, his face was melancholic. "I so badly want to say, "would you like a cup of tea?" but..." He sighed. "Well, you know how it is."

"We can have a cup of tea." Peter interjected. "Talk things out? I heard you like Golden Flower tea..."

Asgore slumped his shoulders, but didn't answer. Instead, he looked out the window. "... Nice day today, huh? Birds are singing, flowers are blooming..." He sighed. "Perfect weather for a game of catch." He turned back to look at Peter. "You know what we must do."

"I'd rather we not." Peter replied.

Asgore laughed. "That's what the green one said. It broke my heart... But I am afraid we have no choice. Come."

Peter followed him into the next room.

"No need to be so tense." Asgore soothed. "Consider it like a trip to the dentist."

"Yeah, for a SOUL extraction followed by death." Peter replied.

Asgore laughed. "I suppose so. Are you ready?"

Peter shook his head. "No."

Asgore nodded. "Neither am I."

They arrived at a long hall.

"The Barrier." Chara spoke.

"Please, Mr. King Asgore Sir, can't we talk this out?" Peter pleaded.

Asgore shook his head. "No. I have a duty to my people. My responsibility is to them. To do what's right for them..." His clenched hands shook. "Even... if it kills me. Tell me, do you have anything left to do? Anything you must finish?"

Peter shook his head. "My duty lies out there."

Asgore gave a small chuckle. "As does mine. So be it. I must warn you, I will not show mercy. And I shall accept none. You cannot convince me to let you spare me, so hold nothing back." His shoulders slumped. "Because I won't."

He turned around, and containers rose from the ground, holding SOULs of various colors. One extra container sat there... empty.

That was for Peter's.

"A strange light fills the room." Chara stated as Peter was sucked into a FIGHT. "The sound of the barrier fills your ears... and with it, comes the feeling of DETERMINATION."