"I may not understand why you did that..." Chara considered. "But... maybe it was the right thing to do."

Peter sat. Every bone in his body hurt like it had been crushed and reformed. Maybe it had. He didn't remember much. "Thanks. I appreciate that. And it is so good to see you again."

"Likewise." Chara said. "Now, shall we?"

As he got up and walked through the blackness, it felt like eternity passed. After a time, he was surprised to find his phone had a message. Picking it up, he looked to see what it was.

"heya." Sans' voice came through. "is anyone there...?"

Peter turned on speaker.

"well, i'll just leave a message..." Sans cleared his throat. "so... it's been a while. the queen returned, and is now ruling over the underground. she's instated a new policy... all the humans who fall here will be treated not as enemies... but as friends."

He could almost hear Sans shrug. "it's probably for the best, anyway. the human souls the king gathered... seem to have disappeared. so, uh, that plan ain't happening any time soon. But even though people are heartbroken over the king... and things are looking grim for our freedom... the queen's trying her best not to let us give up hope. so, uh, hey..." Sans cleared his throat again. "if we're not giving up down here... don't give up wherever you are, ok? who knows how long it will take... but we will get out of here."

"SANS! WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?" Papyrus yelled.

"oh, nobody."

"WHAT!? NOBODY!?" Papyrus yelled. "CAN I TALK TO THEM TOO?"

"here, knock yourself out." Sans replied.

"WAIT A SECOND..." Papyrus gasped. "I RECOGNIZE THIS NUMBER! ATTENTION, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... AM NOW CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD! IT'S EVERYTHING I'VE EVER DREAMED OF... EXCEPT, INSTEAD OF FIGHTING, WE JUST WATER FLOWERS. SO THAT'S EVER SO SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. AND, WE'RE HELPING DR. ALPHYS WITH HER RESEARCH! SHE'S GONNA FIND A WAY TO GET US OUT OF HERE. UNDYNE IS HELPING HER TOO! THOUGH, TO BE HONEST, HER METHOD OF HELPING... SEEMS KIND OF... EXPLOSION-INDUCING. BUT ALPHYS DOESN'T SEEM TO MIND THAT MUCH. UH OH!"

"Hey! Wat are you up to, punk!?" Undyne yelled. "Ngahhhh!"

"[PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE PHONE." Papyrus pleaded.

"Hey! Who's in charge here!?"

"ME."

"Oh... yeah, that's right! I quit my job as leader of the Royal Guard. Actually, since we won't be fighting anymore... The Royal Guard totally disbanded. There's, uh, only one member now."

"BUT HE'S EXTREMELY GOOD." Papyrus protested.

"Yeah! He is! C'mere!"

"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON." Papyrus pleaded.

"Anyways, now I'm working as Alphy's lab assistant... We're gonna find a way out of this dump once and for all! Oh, yeah, and I'm a gym teacher at the queen's new school. Did you know I can bench-press seven children!? Awesome, right?"

There was a bit of a pause.

"Hey..." Undyne said. "I'm sorry about what happened with Asgore. You were just doing what you had to. It's not your fault he..."

Undyne cleared her throat. "Ah, darn it. I miss the big guy. Come on, Undyne, snap out of it! Hey, where-ever you are... I hope it's better than here. It took a lot of sacrifice for you to get there... so, where-ever you are... You have to try to be happy, okay!? For our sakes."

Harder than it would seem, Peter thought.

"We'll feel better knowing our trouble was worth it." She continued. "We're all with you! Everyone is! Even the queen!" A thought seemed to occur to her. "HEYYY! WAIT a second! TORIEL! TORIEL! Do you wanna...?" Undyne chuckled. "Heh, she says she's busy."

"BUT IF SHE KNEW WHO WERE WERE TALKING TO..." Papyrus chuckled wickedly.

"we wouldn't get the phone back for at least a few hours."

"WE HAVE THE MERCY TO SPARE YOU FROM HER!"

"But call back any time, ok?! She'd love to talk!"

"oh, whoops. this thing's almost outta batteries. so, hate to cut this short, but... be seeing you, ok, buddy?"

"BYE BYE FOR NOW!"

"See ya, punk!"

The message cut off. Peter looked at it sadly. "I miss them already. I don't even know how long ago this was..."

Chara looked around. "Yeah... we may be stuck in the barrier. I have no clue what's been happening."

Flowey popped up from the ground. "I do!"

Peter and Chara yelped.

"Aw, come one, don't assume I wanna hurt you!" Flowey looked around the area. "You beat me, remember? Don't wanna repeat that thing again!"

"I thought you ran away for good." Peter replied.

Flowey shrugged. "What can I say, I'm like a bad penny. Now then, I have to ask... Was it worth it?"

Peter blinked. "Was what worth it?"

"Everything! You were so careful to live like your choices meant something, to be good... and it just ended up with everyone still disappointed." Flowey thought for a moment. "You know... I could tell you... How to get a better ending."

Peter looked at him. "And why would you do that?"

Flowey grinned. "Think of it like a "You're welcome" present for handing my butt to me. It's a bout Alphys. I got the feeling there was something she was hiding... Maybe, if you're an actual friend to her, she'll be the key." He winked, and dove back into the ground.

Peter and Chara exchanged looked.

"He's a lying backstabber who cares for nothing but himself." Peter told her.

"Maybe... but maybe he's on to something." Chara replied. "I know that your DETERMINATION tethered you back to before you fought Asgore… maybe if you can go back, you can change things. Don't fight Asgore, see if something else pops up."

Peter shrugged. "It's better than the void." Concentrating, he thought back to before Flowey, before he was nothing, before he fought Asgore…