In search for Toriel, the Warners couldn't find her in the hallway or any of the other rooms. So they finally went downstairs.
"Let's see what she's hiding from us," said Yakko.
They walked down a purple, dusty hallway. There, they found Toriel, who refused to look at them.
"You wish to know how to return 'home,' do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it."
They gasped. Toriel wasn't gonna let them go so easily. But why didn't she trust them enough to be on their own?
"Goat Mom, ya can't!" said Dot.
"Oh, yes I can. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be good children and go upstairs."
She walked forward. This was much more serious than their years of confinement in the tower. After so many different attempts to break out, they finally escaped, but with Toriel getting rid of literally their only way out, they would be trapped with her forever. Their lives would most likely be devoid of zaniness and replaced with eternal boredom. Didn't she understand that?
"Why are ya doin' this?" said Yakko.
"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave."
She paused, her voice breaking with grief.
"They die."
The Warners exchanged worried glances.
"You naive children...If you leave the Ruins...They...ASGORE...Will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand?"
The name rung a bell; the Warners found enough information in Toriel's books to figure out he was the king of the Underground.
"But we're toons, remember?" said Yakko. "We can't die that easily."
"I remember what you told me. But you also told me your greatest weakness: a toon cannot die unless inflicted by a serious injury. Asgore is serious enough to end your lives...go to your room."
Yakko opened his mouth to retaliate even more, but Toriel cut him off.
"Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning."
"We gotta stop her," Dot whispered.
"I have a really bad feeling about this..." said Wakko, remembering his nightmare.
They followed Toriel to the door.
"You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself..."
Wakko's eyes widened. It was the exact same thing she said in his nightmare.
"Prove to me you are strong enough to survive!"
Wakko gasped and clinged onto his brother's arm.
"...wait."
Toriel took notice of Wakko. According to Yakko, he had the same face from when he woke up from the nightmare she didn't know about.
"...why are you looking at me like that? Like you have seen a ghost. Do you know something that I do not? No...That is impossible."
The lights dimmed as the encounter was initiated. Wakko hoped he'd be able to talk his way through the fight, but he couldn't think of any conversation topics. He thought about telling Toriel he saw her die, but that would be creepy. Toriel saw through him as she shot out a group of fireballs from her hand. The Warners found a safe spot and stood there until they finished swerving and cleared.
"I don't wanna fight her," Wakko told his siblings, yet looking at Toriel.
"Me neither," said Yakko.
Dot merely shook her head. Despite being attacked by the goat woman, they couldn't use it as an excuse to hurt her. After all, it was just a misguided attempt at protecting them. Toriel looked away and started acting aloof.
"What are you doing? Attack or run away!"
She made a row of fireballs appear, aiming them at the Warners. Yakko tried to use his mallet to whack away the fireballs, but they passed through it and hit his shoulder, proving Toriel right about what she said when they first met.
"Ow!"
He found the next attacks much harder to dodge.
"We don't wanna fight!" said Wakko.
"What are you proving this way? Fight me or leave!"
She repeated the same move, cornering Dot. She yelped in pain, the fur on the back of her head being slightly singed.
"Stop it."
"You stop it!" said Yakko. "We can't hurt you, ok? We just can't!"
"Stop looking at me that way."
Having enough of it, Toriel let out one more powerful fireball attack. It was so powerful that the Warners' health dropped low. Their furs were noticeably ruffled and singed, and their breathing became heavy. Dot had a burn mark across her cheek, Wakko leaned onto the wall, and Yakko collapsed, having holes in his pants. For once, they finally realized what kind of danger they were putting themselves into if they left the Ruins. Nonetheless, they couldn't stay any longer. Toriel, shocked by the damage she caused, refused to hurt them again.
"I know you want to go home, but...But please...Go upstairs now. I promise I will take good care of you here. I know we do not have much, but...We can have a good life here. Why are you making this so difficult? Please, go upstairs."
Yakko struggled, but he managed to get on his feet.
"Listen, Toriel. It's nothin' against ya, but we can't stay here. If we do, we'll be bored! We'll go nuts! We gotta live in a place where we feel free! Don't you get that?"
Toriel smiled sadly.
"Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child."
Yakko felt sorry for her.
"Tori..."
She sighed as her smile faded.
"No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations...My loneliness...My fear...For you, my children...I will put them aside."
A small smile reappeared across her face as she let them go and the boundary box disappeared.
"Oof!" said Dot as she hit the ground.
Wakko let out a sigh of relief, happy that he avoided killing Toriel.
"If you truly wish to leave the Ruins...I will not stop you. However, when you leave...Please do not come back."
"Ya mean...you're not comin' with us?" said Wakko.
"I belong in the Ruins, Wakko; this is my home. I hope you understand. But do not worry about me. Someone has to take care of the flowers."
She hugged the Warners, healing them with her magic. When she let go, the Warners' health returned to normal and their clothes were restored.
"Goodbye, my children."
She turned around and left, but stopped to watch the Warners go through the door. They walked down a hallway, which changed from dark to lighter and lighter shades of purple.
"That was close," said Yakko. "See, Wakko? We didn't have to kill her."
Yet something deep inside of him made him worry as they walked down what felt like the longest hallway. Down there, they couldn't bend the rules of logic that easily. What if he ended up losing his siblings in a battle like that? What if he actually had to kill somebody to survive and get out of the Underground? He looked at the toy knife in his belt and had a particularly terrifying thought: would he have killed Toriel if she killed his siblings? He snapped out of his thoughts as Flowey appeared in front of him.
"Clever. Verrrryyy clever."
Yakko tensed up, feeling very uncomfortable. If it wasn't for Toriel, all three of them would've been dead at the hands...or stem...of Flowey. He thought he'd never see him again after first falling down.
"What?" said Wakko.
"You think you're really smart, don't you? In this world, it's kill or be killed. So you were able to play by your own rules."
"We make the rules," said Dot. "It's always been that way, hon."
"Not anymo-"
"Ah, shaddap!"
Unable to stand Flowey's talking any longer, Yakko threw his mallet at Flowey, making him retreat back into the dirt. It bounced off his face and returned to Yakko's hand like a boomerang.
"Come on, sibs. Let's go."
They continued onwards, finding a gate that led to the rest of the Underground. Leaving the Ruins, the real adventure began. And they were determined to survive.