There was a flash of light that briefly blinded the humans after Mettaton signed out to his audience. When they could see again, they saw him merely sitting there, deactivated. This caused all three to panic, thinking they accidentally killed him.

"I… I managed to open the lock! Are you four…" The humans slowly turned to see Alphys slowly approaching them and gave her a guilty look. She quickly realized why they had that look. "Oh my god. Mettaton! Mettaton, are you…" She gives him a once over before breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank god… it's just the batteries."

Selendis spoke up nervously, "S-so… will he be...?"

Alphys gave her a smile. "He'll be okay. It's happened before and he always turned out fine after a charge." Turning back to the robot, she shuddered. "Mettaton, if you were gone, I would have…"

Tenebris gave her a curious look. "You know him directly, Alphys? Before our "battle" he had… distain for what you were doing. Speaking of, is what he said…"

"Y-yeah. I'm sorry, all of you. I've been feeling so down on myself for so long, I didn't know what to do with my life. In fact, it was Mettaton himself who suggested I insert myself into your "story". Thing is, I was the one who made up all the scenarios and… well he must have grown tired of how badly written and cliché they were, hence his distain."

Frisk gave Alphys as sweet smile. "Yet, despite all of that, you still care deeply for him. The fact that he suggested the situation showed he actually cares about you."

Alphys smiled genuinely for the first time. "I suppose you're right. Could you three… wait for me ahead while I arrange for him to be brought back to my lab?"

The humans nod at her and go on ahead. Once they rounded the corner, Tenebris chuckled. "Glad we didn't resort to anything more drastic. The way Alphys portrayed Mettaton, I doubt he could simply be replicated."

Selendis gave Tenebris an odd look as she gave him back his gun. "What gave you the idea to try and out-shine him anyways?"

"Oh… well I had a fairly restless night, so I went to the MTT Burger Emporium to cool off. There, I met a monster who gave me the low-down of how I could beat Mettaton without actually hurting or killing him. That's also why I gave you guys the Starfaits; drinking one increases ratings on top of healing us."

Frisk beamed. "I'm glad you found that out. We probably would have figured it out eventually, but it might have been too late on our own."

"S… sorry about that!" The trio turned to look at Alphys approach them meekly. "L-let's k-keep going!" After walking a little bit, she suddenly says, "S-so, you're all going to finally meet Asgore, huh? You must be… you must be p-pretty excited about all that, huh?" The humans look at each other, guilt hidden behind their eyes, though Alphys didn't see it. "You'll f-f-finally… you'll finally get to go home."

Tenebris forced down a sigh as he cursed himself and his demons. While venturing outside of the Ruins may have helped Alphys in the long run, all of the pain and suffering everyone, including the sisters, had to go through wouldn't have happened and he felt horrible for it.

When the group reached the elevator and opened it, Alphys suddenly said, "W… wait! I... I mean… um…" She looked very hesitant. "I was just going to… um… say goodbye and…" Her nervous smile slowly melted into a guilty look before crying, "I can't take this anymore!" Looking away, she continued, "I… need to tell you the truth. A human soul isn't strong enough to cross the barrier alone. It takes at least a human soul… and a monster soul."

The words crashed down on the humans like an anchor. Selendis mentally knew that something would throw everything off, but she never thought it was that bad. Frisk was beginning to freak out over it, but Tenebris was slowly feeling himself grow cold. No… not… not… again…

Alphys turned back to them with a depressed look. "If you want to go home… you'll have to take his soul… You'll have to kill Asgore." With that, she walks away with an air of renewed, severe depression. "I'm… so… sorry…"

After she was gone, Frisk shook her head violently. "No… NO! I refuse to accept that!"

Selendis sighed. "Frisk, you know as well as I do that it might be the only way. I don't want it to happen either, but…" She looks over at Tenebris and sees the most horrified look to ever be on his face. "Tenebris?"

"I… I don't want…" In desperation, his mind started scrounging for something, anything, to try and avoid not killing Asgore. He went with one idea. "W-w-well… m-monster souls are m-made of magic, r-right? M-maybe I can s-still pass through b-because of my m-magic saturated soul! Yeah, that has to work! Then when I come back, I'll convince Toriel to come out to live with us in the rest of the underground!"

Frisk gave Tenebris a somewhat frightened look at how he was suddenly talking. "I… I hope that works…" Selendis merely sighed; she knew it was never going to be that easy, but she didn't want to say anything.

With that justification in mind, the humans went into the elevator. When they came back out, they found themselves in a grey area, overlooking what looked like a city. Selendis made the connection. "This must be the capital."

Frisk sighed. "I suppose the place Asgore resides in would be the most populated area."

When they continued, they found what looked like a greyer version of Toriel's home. As they went through it and got the keys to continue on, the monsters inside told them a story. A story about Asriel and a human child; presumably the very first one to fall. They learned of the tragedy that befell them and why Asgore started gathering human souls. This lead the trio to once again question if it's truly their right to keep living when the monsters have suffered so much. During this, Frisk found a worn dagger and a heart-shaped locket.

Eventually, they reached a corridor that was full of orange light that was filtering through stained glass. Selendis admired it; she was always loved evening colors, though she always felt the loneliness that always pervades the hour of twilight. The same went with Tenebris, though the feeling of loneliness was starting to crush him given the current situation.

Half-way through, a shadowed figured appeared in front of them. From the shape, the three knew it was Sans, especially when he started speaking. "So you finally made it. The end of your journey is at hand. In a few moments, you will meet the king. Together… you will decide the fate of this world." He sighed. "That's then. Now, you will be judged. Judged for your every action, for every EXP you've earned."

This got an odd look from Tenebris, which Sans picked up on. "What do I mean by EXP, you may ask? It's an acronym. It stands for… "execution points." A way of quantifying the pain you have inflicted on others. As you may know, killing someone makes your EXP increase. With enough EXP, your LOVE increases. LOVE, too, is an acronym. It stands for "Level Of ViolencE," a way of measuring someone's capacity to hurt."

Selendis and Frisk thought back to when Flowey taught them about LOVE. He lied verbally about how to get LOVE, but had indirectly shown them how to gain it.

Sans continued. "The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself, and by that, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others." Here, he hesitated. Both Selendis and Frisk were at LV 1, which is default for all living beings.

Tenebris had a LV of 5. Sans assumed it was from before he fell into the Underground, otherwise Undyne would have lamented training a murderer; she always had a nose for those who killed monsters.

Based on that, he let out a sigh. "but none of you gained any LOVE. 'course, that doesn't mean you're completely innocent or naïve. just that all of you kept a certain tenderness in your hearts, even in the face of being antagonized. no matter what happened to you or your companions, you all strived to do the right thing, refusing to hurt anyone. None of you gained LOVE, but you gained "love"."

Selendis couldn't help letting out a snort of laughter. "That's so cheesy… maybe that's what makes it genuine."

Sans chuckled. "always happens. but now, the three of you are about to face the greatest challenge of your entire journey. like i said, your actions here will determine the fate of the entire world. refusal to fight could result in asgore taking one of your souls and destroying humanity. but if one of you kills asgore and goes home, monsters will remain trapped underground."

Frisk shuddered a bit. "W-would you get mad at us if we t-told you that we wanted to live underground from the very beginning?"

Sans gave the humans a curious look. "then why are you- wait i know. tenebris wanted to get a memento from the surface?" He chuckled at Frisk's surprised look. "i already knew, and i already said i can't really fault you for that. at the end of the day, so long as you all do what's in your hearts, i believe you can do the right thing. good luck!" With that, Sans disappears with the question of where and how Tenebris gained his LOVE in his mind.

Tenebris had noticed Sans' hesitation right before stating that they never gain any LOVE and the feeling of dread deepened in his soul, wondering if Sans somehow… knew. He snapped out of it when the sisters suddenly continued and quickly followed. Selendis took note of how jumpy he's suddenly become and worried if he was relapsing back into something.

Right before they entered the throne room, all of them had different thoughts on what the supposed king of monsters would have for throne room aesthetics. None of them expected what was essentially a large garden of yellow flowers.

And watering it was a large, caped figure with white horns, who was humming before noticing their rather nervous approach. "Oh? Is someone there? Just a moment, I need to finish watering these flowers!" The humans remained silent, all of them dreading what could be an inevitable confrontation.

"Here we are!" Turning to face his visitors, Asgore said, "Howdy, how can I…" He trailed off and took a step back when he saw who was there, a look of horror on his face. "Oh… well, I so badly want to offer all of you a cup of tea… but… I guess you know how it is…" He sounded rather despondent.

Tenebris stepped forward and bowed nervously, heart pounding out of his chest. "H-hello, your m-majesty. C-could you… um… s-show me the way to the b-barrier?"

Asgore was taken aback by the sudden show of courtesy, especially from someone with a shadowy eye, before letting out a sigh. "You… intend on passing through the barrier. You do know what that entitles, correct?"

"I-I think I have a-an alternative, y-your majes- "

"Just call me Asgore, young ones. And… I think I know your alternative." He hesitated before saying, "I'll wait for you in the next room."

The humans were surprised by the king's reluctance to even attack them as he left the throne room. Still, when they followed him, he noticed how tense all of them were. "How tense… just think of this like… a visit to the dentist or something of that caliber."

Selendis shook her head. "I… don't think that's the correct analogy, but I get what you're trying to say."

Asgore chuckles lightly, which sounded so familiar to Tenebris for some reason. "As long as you know what I'm getting at." He didn't walk far before stopping before an entrance. "Are any of you ready? If you aren't, I understand; I'm not ready either." He enters the next room.

Frisk let out a whimper. "The way he's dragging this out… I've got a sinking feeling about this."

Selendis sighed. "Expect the worst and hope for the best. That's all we can do now."

"I… don't like it…" Tenebris almost whispered, which gained him worried looks. He simply shook his head. "We're too close… to g-give up now. If you two want to head back to Snowdin, I won't stop you."

Frisk shook her head. "W-we've come this far together. W-we will see it through to the end." Selendis merely nodded.

Tenebris sighed. Deep in his heart, he knew that he would be forced to engage Asgore. In a way, he wanted to keep the sisters out of it, but at the same time he didn't know how long he would last without their support. Finally, he nods at them before entering after Asgore.

What they were met with was a wall that simultaneously looked like a long, black corridor that occasionally pulsed grey. Asgore was standing in front of it with a grim air around him. "This is the barrier. This is what keeps us trapped underground. If… by any chance you still have unfinished business, please do what you must before I hear your… alternative."

Tenebris steeled himself before saying. "I… don't think we have any. But… I have a soul infused with high concentrations of magic. C-could that- "

"Somehow… I knew that was your alternative. The answer is… no. It will not suffice." Tenebris took a step backwards in horror; had Asgore seen it once before? Asgore let out another sigh. "I know you have a reason for crossing the barrier. With that… there's only one alternative…" He slowly turned to the humans. "Ready?"

Suddenly, seven capsule-like objects emerged from the ground, all but one containing a different colored soul. With that, the area grows dark and everyone's souls emerged, with a now monotone Asgore looking like he was making his peace.

Though all three didn't want this, there was a strange light filling the room. Twilight was shining through the barrier. Even with the inevitable battle, the humans felt their journey was finally over. All of this somehow filled them with… DETERMINATION.

Asgore suddenly spoke up. "Humans… it was nice meeting all of you… Goodbye…" A row of what looked like buttons suddenly appeared between the humans and Asgore, starling them. Frisk had been seeing them all this time, but what horrified her was what Asgore did.

He brought out his trident… and shattered the button labeled… MERCY.

Frisk let out an agonized cry as all three humans jumped back. Tenebris summoned his shadow scythe and got ready to defend against what Asgore had in store for them. The king saw Tenebris' soul and actually hesitated. "Can it be… you're… part elemental? I'm surprised you aren't…"

Tenebris gave him a confused look. "W-what are you talking about?"

"No… it's nothing. Nothing relevant to this…" He looks back down at the ground, almost like he couldn't look any of the humans in the eye.

Many times all three tried to convince him none of them didn't want to fight. It was when Frisk practically begged him to stop when he noticeably put less force behind his attacks. Despite that, he never truly relented and the humans knew… they had to fight. There was no other way to get him to stop.

Selendis used the frying pan she got in the Hotlands and Frisk brought out the worn dagger she just found. True to his appearance and title, he could take punishment in spades and deal out just as much. Tenebris had to use everything in his arsenal just to help keep the sisters alive.

Whenever Asgore sent individual fireballs at them, he brought out Nos and Furatu to shoot them down or used his shadow bolts. Asgore and Tenebris occasionally "locked blades" with each other whenever one tried to go in with a melee attack. Asgore kept getting caught off guard by the umbra blasters and the occasional iced floor, but he was able to weather both Tenebris' attacks and the sister's, who swung at him whenever his guard was down.

What threw Tenebris off was his realization of why Asgore shattered the "MERCY button." It wasn't because he didn't intent to show the humans any mercy. It was because Asgore felt that he didn't deserve any mercy.

Despite it being three against one, the battle took a while until Tenebris managed to get one more scythe hit on Asgore, bringing the king to his knees. Rather than a look of anger, he had pained acceptance on his face. "Ah… so that is how it is…" All three humans froze when Asgore started kneeling, Frisk almost on the verge of tears.

Asgore let out a pained sigh. "I remember the day when my son died. The entire underground was devoid of hope; our future once again being taken from us by the humans. In a fit of anger, I declared war, stating that I would destroy any humans how would come here. I would use their souls to become god-like… and free us from this terrible prison. After that, I would destroy humanity and let monsters rule the surface in peace."

Selendis merely bowed her head with her eyes closed. While it was true that the monsters have suffered because of humans, her new thought was… was it really right for the monsters to take revenge on the decedents of those who stole their hope away?

Asgore continued, "Soon, hope began to return to the underground, but my wife became disgusted with my actions and left this place, never to be seen again…" Tenebris gasped a bit. That was the reason why Toriel labeled him as a cruel leader. "Truthfully… I don't want power… I don't want to hurt anyone… I just wanted everyone to have hope. But… I cannot take this any longer. I just… want to see my wife… my child…"

Looking at Tenebris with a desperate look, he added, "Please, young human-elemental. This war has gone on long enough. You have the power… take my soul and leave this cursed place. Find a way to save your companions…"

Realizing that Asgore was essentially asking him to kill him, Tenebris' hands began to shudder as he gripped his scythe. He didn't want this. Nobody but the most soulless creatures ever deserved to die. The sisters gave him worried looks until he said, "When… since when was it my right… to decide who lives… and who dies? I… I don't want this… I… never wanted this…" He dropped the scythe with a resounding clang before it dissipated. "You can't… expect me to…" He slowly started crying.

Asgore slowly adopted a surprised look as Selendis and Frisk comforted Tenebris. "After everything I've done… to hurt you… to hurt all of you… you'd rather stay down here and suffer, than live happily on the surface?"

Frisk gave him a tearful look. "I-I'd r-rather that! Nobody… ever deserves to die!"

Selendis nodded with a soft smile. "No matter what you did, you always did it for your people. That's all anyone can ask of a leader. While what you did is inexcusable, you can make up for it in time."

Asgore couldn't believe his ears. These humans must have suffered so much throughout their journey and even during their battle, yet they show that they wanted to help him. Overcome with happiness, he gives them a smile. "To think… you three would show that much belief that I can still… no. Humans, for as long as you remain here, my wife and I will take care of you as best as we can. While she may still hate me, I believe… we could be like… a family."

Tenebris looked up at Asgore before letting out small, sad laugh. "You… remind me so much of my late father. It's almost scary…" Asgore gave a surprised look as the trio of humans approached him. "Truth be told, Asgore, all of us intended to stay in the underground. I made this journey to try and obtain a memento of my parents to assure my demons that I didn't simply forget them. But if that means taking a life, I refuse to go through with it."

Frisk beamed happily. "And I know we can convince Toriel to forgive you. She just has to!"

Selendis giggled. "A little ahead of ourselves there, Frisk, but I agree with you. Besides, all three of us have lost our parents. The fact that both you and your wife offered to take care of us… we are happy." She stretches a hand out to Asgore, with Tenebris and Frisk doing the same thing.

Asgore gave a very bright smile as he reached out to them… only to be shocked as a ring of pellets surrounded him. "W-what's happ- "

Tenebris looked horrified as he recognized the pellets as they hit Asgore, killing him. "NO!"

Frisk let out an agonized cry. "What's going on?! Why is this happening?!"

Selendis growled. "Flowey…"

The flower appeared before them with his trademark shit-eating grin. "You IDIOTS! Haven't any of you learned ANYTHING? In this world…" The human souls started circling around the flower as his face started contorting demonically. "It's kill or be killed!" He started laughing as he absorbed the souls, until the humans were blinded by a flash of light.

They suddenly started coming to, like they had just been knocked out. When they regained their bearings, they noticed that they were in an endless void. Tenebris let out a sigh. "What did that stupid flower do now?"

Selendis stood up, looking less than amused. "So first he kills Asgore right when he did, steals the six human souls, and finally dumps us in an endless abyss. Remind me to pack a weed shear next time I venture underground." Looking down, she adds, "It's so disorienting to be able to see, yet not be able to see the floor we're standing on."

Frisk looked around. She was getting a major sense of déjà vu and she was not liking it. "S-should we try walking somewhere?"

Tenebris got up as well. "Sitting around won't accomplish anything. Let's see if we can't find that weed and make him restore things to normal." There was a slight amount of aggression behind his voice. Frisk shuddered at it, but didn't say anything.

After walking for a bit, Selendis stopped with a confused look. "What's with the glowing yellow star?"

Frisk was now panicking. Whatever Flowey did, it allowed the older humans to see the SAVE stars she's been using throughout the Underground. She was still afraid of what they would think of her abilities, so she decided to play dumb. "Maybe… touching it will make something happen?"

Tenebris scanned the immediate vicinity to see if there was anything else. "Guess it's our only clue."

The moment Frisk touched it, a box appeared in front of them. This not only confused the older humans, but also Frisk; she has never seen anything like it before. The box read:

Chara LV1 % ( : !(

The End

Of course their confusion was cut short when something started destroying the box and making it say "File erased" before shattering, revealing Flowey's face behind it. Tenebris growled as his eye flared up. "You…"

"Howdy!" The sisters flinched and even Tenebris balked a little upon hearing how demonic and… axe-crazy Flowey suddenly sounded, which made the flower smile even wider. "It's me, Flowey. Flowey the flower! I owe you three huge thanks. You really did a number on that old fool. Without you, I NEVER could have gotten past him. But now, thanks to you, he's dead. And I've got the human souls!" He punctuated the last sentence with a demonic laugh. The entire time, his face had been flickering like a malfunctioning TV set.

Frisk started clutching Selendis. "Wh-what has h-he…"

Flowey's face appeared again. "Boy! I've been empty for so long that it feels good to have a soul inside me again." He sticks his tongue out. "Mmm, I can feel them wriggling…." Noticing the looks on the human's faces, he chuckles slightly. "Aww, you're all feeling left out, aren't you? Well, that's just perfect. After all, I only have six souls. I only need one more… before I become god, though two more can't hurt. Then, with my newfound powers... monsters, humans… everyone. I'll show them all the REAL meaning of this world!"

He vanishes again with another laugh as Tenebris began to tremble. "Th… this is… beginning to look like… a nightmare…"

Selendis had begun sweating coldly as she breathed. "This feels… far too real to… be a simple nightmare."

Flowey suddenly reappeared again. "Oh, and to the one whom this applies to, forget about escaping to your old SAVE FILE. It's gone FOREVER. But don't worry. Your old friend Flowey has worked out a replacement for you! In fact, I'll SAVE over your own deaths so you can watch me tear you all into bloody pieces. Over, and over, and over…"

At this point, Tenebris had enough and reignited his eye. "Big words, petals. But mark my words, I'll make you pay for what you've done to Asgore!"

Selendis stood forward as well with a determined look. "If you think we're just going to sit there and let you do whatever, you're horribly mistaken."

Frisk regained her determination. "We won't let you have your way!"

This legitimately surprised Flowey. Before they merely took a step towards him. "What? Do you three really think you can stop me?" He chuckles again, which brought the humans down a peg in determination. "You really ARE a bunch of IDIOTS…"

He disappears and everyone's souls emerged. Suddenly the six other souls appeared one by one in a circle before spreading and vanishing again. The entire abyss suddenly started flashing red as a dark figure slowly approached them. When it stopped in front of them, a face suddenly lit up on it with Flowey's smirk. It evolved into a grin before showing lunatic eyes as well.

The final nail in everyone's fright was when the blackened figure revealed itself: an eldritch mix of plant, animal, and machine that looks like it jumped right out of a horror game. It was the scariest thing anyone has ever seen and Flowey's laugh made things even worse.

Selendis stood rooted to the spot in fear, her earlier words dying in her throat. Tenebris shot a look at her and saw a great number of red lasers pointed at her. He instantly realized what it meant, teleported, and shoved her out of the way with a loud "Look out!"

The sisters barely managed to register what he did… before he was impaled by an untold amount of thorny vines and violently ripped apart with only his darkness-pulsing soul remaining. Selendis let out an anguished scream and Frisk blanked out, refusing to believe what had just happened.

Flowey was somewhat amused. "That fool sacrificed himself so that you may live… what a pointless gesture."

Selendis collapsed onto the floor before his now exposed soul, his physical remains somehow gone. "T… Tenebris… why…? We… we were… so close… please… please come back… come back… to me… to us…"

Flowey let out another diabolical laugh. "Sorry, "sweetheart", but that's not going to happen. Don't feel too bad; after I absorb his soul, you'll be joining him shortly." He started reaching for his soul, prompting Frisk to try and grab it first with an anguished cry.

Only for it to suddenly zip out of Flowey's reach and into Frisk's, surprising everyone. "Sorry, petals, but you aren't absorbing me, not even over my dead body! Besides, I still have to put my "heart and soul" into stopping you!"

Selendis stared at the now active shadowy soul with surprise before she started laughing softly. "You're… you're still… here with us!"

"Sorry about that, Selendis. But know this: I may be down without a body, but I'm not out until we can give him what for!"

Frisk let out a cheer, determination renewed once again. "As long as you're still with us, Tenny, we can do this!"

Flowey initially didn't know what to make of it before he chuckled. "So that's why that old fool called you part elemental. Of course it isn't that easy for me. Regardless, I'm going to enjoy this! Prepare to die again and again!"

The words "File 3 saved" flashed in the corner of everyone's vision before Flowey started launching attacks. Tenebris managed to call out to them right before his soul teleported, "I'll support you as best as I can! I'll telegraph his attacks for you and if that MERCY button appears, hit it and I will be able to heal or defend you girls. His power won't let me otherwise! Also, I can tell we can't damage him, so don't bother fighting. Just try and survive!"

True to his word, he was able to telegraph some of Flowey's attacks, though it was limited to the circle of pellets, the vines, and the finger launching attacks. Flowey also had energy bolts coming from his eyes, either in a fan-shape targeting someone or completely wide-spread; flamethrowers; moss-like balls with mouths on them; bombs; a laser that fires out of the "mouth"; and an attack that draws flies to an arm that morphs into a venous fly trap.

Despite Tenebris healing them up every time the MERCY button appeared and was pressed, it was still a nightmare for them to dodge everything Flowey threw at them. Frisk quickly tripped up so badly, she was killed by the energy bolts fired from Flowey's eyes. Selendis' mind had shut down completely at that, opening her to death by vines. A distraught Tenebris reappeared in front of Flowey and promptly got his soul shattered.

All three had no sense of feeling or awareness, but as they suddenly began to regain it, they heard Flowey's laugh. "Did you really think I was going to be satisfied… killing you three only ONE time?"

They all suddenly found themselves in front of Flowey again, Tenebris still as a soul, but the memory of their recent death was still fresh in their minds. They couldn't mull over it as Flowey launched his offensive again, though this time both the sisters were able to withstand all of his attacks for much longer.

Eventually, an alarm blared and the screen flashed "WARNING" with a picture of the cyan soul. Suddenly, Flowey disappeared and Selendis found herself facing a field of rotating knives. Tenebris and Frisk could only watch helplessly she occasionally got nicked trying to survive.

Eventually she saw a button labeled ACT and pressed it while simultaneously calling for help. There was a delay before all of the white knives turned into green bandages that healed her. After that, both her and Frisk found themselves back in front of Flowey and avoiding attacks while hitting the MERCY button occasionally.

Eventually, they saw the orange soul on the screen, but this time Frisk had to deal with circles of gloves rotating around as the older humans were forced to watch. Frisk eventually hit the ACT button like Selendis and called for help, leading to green gloves giving a thumbs up.

Next time it happened, Tenebris had to deal with the Blue soul's ballet shoes and being stuck close to the ground by stars. Hitting the ACT button turned the stars into green music notes. After that, Flowey suddenly began using save file 2 to throw the sisters off by saving at one point in time, then loading it to make them run into the previous attack. They persevered regardless of any damage quandaries.

With the purple soul, Frisk had to dodge negative words before the Act button turned them into green positive words. All three began to realize what was going on: by calling for help, the other human souls were beginning to rebel against Flowey and supporting them instead of hurting them.

Next was Selendis dealing with the green soul's rain of fire before having a rain of green eggs heal her. She was tempted to reference "Green Eggs and Ham", but refrained from doing so.

Finally, Tenebris dealt with the yellow soul's gun shooting him before it started shooting green four-leaf clovers.

Suddenly all three of the humans found themselves surrounded by the six other souls and getting healed by them. Tenebris wasn't getting healed, but he was getting an energy boost for what he must do, especially when he realized something after Flowey reappeared. "Flowey's defense has been removed! I'll make the FIGHT button appear with the MERCY button. Use it and I'll attack him!"

Selendis grinned as Frisk let out a triumphant cry. "It's time to start pushing back!"

Flowey was confused as to why the humans, more specifically Tenebris, suddenly started attacking him and why it was actually hurting. Tenebris used everything offensive in his arsenal, though he seemed to prefer the umbra blasters and the scythe attacks. Selendis noticed that his soul was beginning to falter after Flowey began uttering deep shouts of pain and her heart began to sink.

After one last hit, Flowey entered his death throes while screaming, "No… NO! This can't be happening! You… YOU…!" Suddenly file 3 was loaded and everything was as if nothing had happened. This made all three distraught and Flowey's troll face wasn't helping. "You IDIOTS."

He suddenly killed all three at the same time with his laser, then loaded file 3 again to kill them with vines. He alternated at an increasingly rapid pace before leaving them barely alive and surrounding them with pellets. Despite not having a body, Tenebris let out a harsh cough. "I… thought we were… going somewhere…"

Flowey laughed at that. "Did you really think that you could defeat ME?! I am the god of this world and you? YOU'RE ALL HOPELESS! Hopeless and alone… golly, that's right! Your worthless friends can't save you now." He chuckles before saying, "Call for help, I dare you. Cry into the darkness that Tenebris can't control! Mommy! Daddy! Somebo- "

"Our parents are dead…" Selendis stated with a wounded voice.

"Oh? That just accentuates my point. Call for them anyways; see what good it does you!"

The ACT button appeared again and Frisk hit it while crying out for somebody to help.

But nobody came.

Flowey smirked. "Boy, that's a shame! Nobody else… IS GONNA GET TO SEE YOU ALL DIE!" He lets out another diabolical laugh as the pellets slowly close in on the trio… only to be cut off when said pellets actually healed the sisters and did nothing to Tenebris. "What? How'd you…? Well, guess I'll just…"

Load failed

Now Flowey was panicking. "Wh… where are my power?!" The six other souls appeared in front of him, making him freak out even more. "The other souls…? What are they doing?" He was suddenly enveloped in psychedelic rainbows and started screaming in agony as the souls started circling him. The trio felt a pang of sympathy for him; at least he gave Asgore the dignity a quick death. With this, there wasn't even a guarantee he was going to die.

Sure enough, after the light faded, they saw Flowey back in his original flower form, looking far worse for wear than ever before. Tenebris was tempted to put him out of his misery, but did nothing as Frisk hit the MERCY button that appeared.

This prompted a slow response from Flowey. "What are you three doing? Do any of you really think I've learned anything from this? No… sparing me won't change anything. Killing me is the only way to end this."

Selendis shook her head. "Despite what you have done, Flowey, killing you wouldn't solve anything either."

Flowey noted that her statement sounded more like an afterthought, telling him they actually wanted to show him mercy. He decided to be more threatening. "If you let me live… I'll come back…"

MERCY

"I'll kill you… I'll kill everyone… I'll kill everyone you three love." Despite the demonic face, the trio could tell he was grasping at straws. They gave him looks sympathy when they realized something he said before the battle: he never had a soul to feel compassion with.

Flowey's face slowly went from demonic to confused as they kept hitting MERCY. "Why? Why are all three of you being… so nice to me?" He started to legitimately sound broken. "I can't understand… I can't understand!"

The final pressing of the MERCY button led him very close to breaking down into tears. "I… just… can't… under… stand…" With that, he ran away underground.

Frisk looked at the spot he was in with an extreme look of sadness. "I feel… so sorry for him despite what he's done…"

Selendis nodded slowly. "He can't feel love or compassion. All he can understand is pain and sadness. He lives a half-life… a cursed life."

Tenebris chuckled weakly. "I suppose… that's it for him… then? Silver lining is… that put us on… the other side of the barrier."

Frisk noticed Tenebris' soul beginning to shudder and gave him a desperate look. "No, please! You survived the destruction of your body and that battle. Don't leave us like this!" Selendis caught on and gave him a distraught look.

"Sorry… both of you. It seems… that battle… took everything I had out of me. I… suppose I was lucky enough to… be able to exist… without a body."

Selendis shook her head violently. "No! I don't want you to leave us! We've been through so much together; it can't end now!" Slowly breaking down she adds, "Come… back with us… back to Toriel… Sans… Papyrus… Everyone is waiting for us!"

"You know just as well as I do… that won't happen." Tenebris' soul started fluctuating and shuddering even more violently. "I'm… sorry it has to… be this way… you'll have to… go on without me…"

"No… NO!"

"So long as… you two live on… I'm happy. My only regret… I never… got… to… say…" He was never able to finish the sentence before his soul split in half and scattered.

Selendis let out a scream of anguish as Tenebris' soul faded from existence. Frisk broke down crying and calling out for Tenebris to come back to them. Her calls went unanswered.

The sisters stayed in that spot for a good while, weeping over their now lost friend… someone who they considered family. By the time they left for the surface, both were emotionally dead.

The surface or returning to the underground no longer held any meaning or joy. Even when Sans called them and told them how the underground was faring better ever since the queen returned, their sorrow was still dominant. It was worse than when their parents died; they weren't stellar people. Frisk didn't take long to bounce back from their deaths. She was never able to recover from Tenebris' death and continued to be emotionally dead, while Selendis was an emotional wreck.

The last thing Selendis remembered seeing of Frisk was a red glint in her eyes.