I rise up from the Underground and break out into the surface. A whole new world awaits me. All I have to do is kill enough people to take over Asriel's body permanently before he can destroy me. Then I'll be free.

I fly out into the sunlight over grassy hills. Then I see him.

Sans is waiting for me.

This could be a problem. Asriel tried to erase my memory, but I remember that Sans is stronger than he looks. Strong enough to beat Flowey many times. Maybe strong enough to beat me.

I need to convince him to leave me alone. Even if I can beat him, I can't afford to spend much time killing just one person. I sink to the ground and walk up to him.

"hey, kid."

"Sans! I came back!" I say. "I found a way to get a new soul… I finally made it work. I can feel love again!"

I hug him. He doesn't hug me back.

"good to see you, too, asriel."

"How did you know I was going to be here?" I ask.

"ah, you know… just a feeling." He says.

"Where are the others?" I ask. "I should go find them."

"they're catching up." He says. "they won't be much longer."

"Where?" I ask.

"don't worry. they're on the way."

This doesn't help me. I need an excuse to fly away. I need him to tell me a direction.

"Just tell me where I need to go." I say. "I'll fly over to them."

"nah, just wait. they'll be here soon."

I don't have time to wait. I have to hurry.

He must be stalling. He already knows what I'm up to. That's why he came here in the first place. To slow me down.

I turn away and lift off the ground.

"I'll go look for-"

"don't move." He says.

I stop.

"I won't be long." I say.

"i can't let you go, kid."

I ignore him and fly off.

"I'll be right back." I say. "Just-"

My vision goes white, and my soul catches fire. I've never felt pain like this before. I scream and soar away, trying to escape.

I hurl my magic in all directions, but when my vision clears, Sans is still there on the ground, without a scratch.

"sit down."

I drop to the ground—against my will. He pinned me down! I can't fly anymore.

A voice calls from over the hills.

"Asriel! Asriel!"

I look behind me. It's Toriel.

She could be useful.

"Help!" I wail. "It hurts!"

I sink to my knees. She runs up and covers me from Sans.

"I will not let you touch him!" She shouts.

Sans doesn't move. Just keeps smiling, as always.

He's still stalling. I need to get out of here.

I tug on Toriel's robe.

"I can't move." I say. "He's holding me down."

"What?"

"i was afraid of this." Says Sans.

A new voice appears.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Undyne is charging over. Spear already in hand, scowling.

"Wait, what's happening?"

It's Alphys. I can't see her yet; she must be lagging behind.

"Asriel! Asriel!"

It's Asgore. Running over to me.

"WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING?"

Papyrus. He catches up to Asgore.

Six people to deal with. Asgore, Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, and Undyne, all together. Sans must have brought them here. This could get complicated.

Toriel casts healing spells on me. Sans doesn't stop her—he just watches.

Asgore runs up to me and Toriel. He has tears in his eyes. He wraps his arms around me.

"Asriel… you're back!"

I feel dizzy. My vision blurs. For a moment, I'm not sure why. And then I realize.

Asriel heard his family calling out. He's coming back to his body… he'll probably try to take it over again.

I was hoping he wouldn't notice what I was up to. I'm going to have to fight him off.

Somebody is holding me. I open my eyes.

"Mom! Dad!"

I hug them back. Dad's crying. I start crying, too.

"UM… IS HE ALL RIGHT?" Asks Papyrus.

Actually, I'm a little sore. What happened to me?

I see the sky overhead.

"I'm on the surface?" I ask.

"Yes." Says Dad. "Welcome home."

I climb to my feet. They let me up.

Everyone's here. Mom and Dad, Undyne, Alphys, Sans, and Papyrus.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Sans attacked you." Says Mom.

"What?"

I look at him.

"Why?" I ask. "Sans, I got my soul back! I'm not a flower anymore."

"i know." He says. "but-"

Before he can answer, I fire a laser his way.

He vanishes. I blink.

I just attacked Sans. I could have hurt him if he hadn't dodged.

Why would I do that?

Asriel, let go.

Chara? What's happening?

You're dreaming… let go; you're hurting yourself.

What?

You were trying to fix me. Then you started panicking. You set yourself on fire… Come on, let go. Let me help.

I… what?

Just let go a moment. I can explain later.

Oh… okay.

I resume control. The hills around me are smoldering, but the monsters are okay. I get back up.

"somebody else is trying to control his body." Says Sans. "asriel is in there, but he's not alone."

I was hoping I could take him down before he said that. That was my best chance to escape. I'm going to have to fight my way out now.

"Let go of my son!" Toriel shrieks.

"Mom?" I ask.

She hesitates. She doesn't know if it's really her son talking.

"What do we do?" Yells Alphys.

Everyone turns to Sans.

"i'm... i'm not sure." He says.

Perfect.

I gather as much energy as I can muster and fire it in all directions.

That was a lot more tiring than I thought. Hopefully it worked.

The smoke clears.

Sans is on his knees. His jacket is burnt. Half of his skull is black.

He sinks lower, wounded.

"SANS?"

Papyrus runs over.

I fire another laser. Somebody screams.

When the smoke clears again, I see Papyrus holding his brother. One of Sans' arms lies on the ground, quickly turning to dust.

"… SANS?"

A long silence reigns.

"That was a big mistake." Says Undyne.

She charges at me, howling something I don't understand, and hurls a spear my way. I deflect it, but more spears come right after. Alphys joins in, firing off a little ray gun from a safe distance.

"Who are you?" Screams Undyne.

"Watch out for your friend." I say.

"What?"

I aim past Undyne and hit Alphys with a laser. She cries out and turns to smoke.

While Undyne is stunned, I blast her as well. She tries to stand up to the force, but I push her to the ground until her smoking body goes limp.

Toriel and Asgore stand aghast. Undyne and Alphys lie dead on the ground. Sans is clinging to life. Papyrus is weeping.

I blast Sans again, knocking him out of Papyrus' arms. Sans starts to dissolve into dust.

I take aim at Papyrus. I knock him over.

But he gets back up. He survived a direct hit.

I see little fires in his eyes.

"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE." He says. "AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU CAME FROM."

He staggers forward. He's pretty badly burnt.

"BUT YOU… YOU-"

"Don't bother, Papyrus." I say. "Everyone knows you wouldn't hurt a fly."

I blast him again. He falls to his knees.

"Stop!"

Toriel.

"Please." She says, inching closer. "Just… stop."

I notice Asgore has his trident out.

"We do not have to fight." Says Toriel. "We can talk."

I need to press my advantage. I blast Papyrus again. He crumples.

And then a roar echoes across the hills. My laser fizzles out.

Asgore is soaring towards me. Before I can react, he impales me on his trident.

"Asriel!"

He pins me to the ground. His trident is glowing… it burns.

Toriel runs up to us.

"Our son is still in there!" She shouts.

"I know." Says Asgore.

His arms are shaking. Tears fall on me.

"I know he is."

He pulls out the trident. I struggle to breathe.

Toriel gets on her knees and looks over me.

"Asriel? Can you hear me?"

"Your son is dead." I snarl. "I killed…"

I cut the words short, and then soften my voice.

"Mom?" I ask. "Mom, what…"

I try to sit up, then fall back, clutching my wounds. Asgore looks pained.

"What happened to me?" I ask.

"Just relax." Says Toriel. "I will fix it."

She starts healing me again.

"Who was controlling you?" Asks Asgore.

"Sans." I breathe. "Sans. This has all been him. I don't know why he's doing this... He's still alive, Dad."

Asgore hurries over to Sans. I'm alone with Toriel.

"You are going to be okay." She says. "Just-"

I blast her with another laser. Right in her face.

She sits still a moment, and then falls over. Her charred skull rolls across the ground.

I get to my feet. Asgore is standing over Papyrus, who is begging him to leave Sans alone. Sans is already dead; his dust is blowing away in the wind. I'm surprised Papyrus managed to last this long.

I hit Papyrus one more time, knocking Asgore down in the process. Just two left. I'm almost done.

Then I see Undyne, still alive but blackened with ash, climbing to her feet.

"Hey."

She doesn't meet my gaze. She's smiling. How did she survive?

"How'd you enjoy your time in the Underground?" She asks. "Did it get lonely?"

A new spear appears in her hands. I fire another laser.

She blocks the laser with her spear, turning the laser away. It hits a nearby hill and tears a huge gash in the ground.

She looks up at me. Grinning.

"You stole Asriel's body." She says. "You killed Papyrus. You killed Alphys. And you killed Toriel."

"And Sans." I say, smiling back.

"But now you have to deal with me." She says.

Another laser. She blocks it again… with her hand.

"I'M GOING TO PUT YOU BACK WHERE YOU BELONG!"

I go flying. She hurls dozens of spears at me, from all angles, in seconds. I can't block them all.

"Go ahead and fight back!" She snarls. "Try and stop me!"

I set loose a volley of lasers. She bats them all away.

This isn't working. I rise up into the air to escape her reach. Without Sans around, I can fly again.

She leaps up into the sky and smashes me across the jaw. I hit the ground.

By the time I roll onto my back, she's on top of me, raining down more blows. I need something to block her spear with, and the lasers aren't enough. I draw a pair of swords and get to my feet.

She keeps pushing me back. I can't keep this up. I hardly ever get a chance to strike back, and every time she blocks my swords.

This isn't working. I need to try something else.

I stop for a moment and let her hit me. She tears a gash in my chest.

"Undyne?"

She strikes again. I drop the swords and cover my face. I sink to the ground and cower.

"Undyne! Please! Stop!"

She hesitates. I look up at her. She's practically foaming at the mouth, but she's not hitting me anymore.

"What are you doing?" I ask, sniffling.

She's breathing hard.

"Is Asriel still in there?" She asks.

"What do you… Yes." I say. "Yes."

Her smile vanishes.

"Undyne… Undyne, please… Don't hit me anymore. It hurts."

"Heh."

The grin starts to come back.

"Undyne?"

Wider than ever.

"Sorry, kid." She says.

What should I use next? She's blocked my other attacks.

Shocker Breaker?

"But I don't CARE if Asriel dies!" She screams.

She stabs me again, and the fight goes on.

"It's worth it," she shouts,"if lets me kill you!"

She doesn't give up. I beg and I plead, but I can't get her to slow down, even for a moment. It was easy to trick the others. They didn't want to fight me. She does.

I'm too weak to fly away, but I try to stay in the air, where it's harder for her to hit me. I fill the air with magic and start to wear her down. But it's slow, and it's painful. She hurts me a lot.

Both of us sink to the ground. Dust and sweat pour down Undyne's body. My robe is stained with my own blood.

"Having a good time?" She asks. "Because I am."

Asgore and Papyrus catch up to us. Asgore is furious. Papyrus looks uncertain.

"Get out of my son's body." Murmurs Asgore.

I can't think of a good response. I stay quiet.

"ASRIEL?" Asks Papyrus. "IF YOU CAN HEAR US… PLEASE TELL THE OTHER PERSON TO GET OUT OF YOUR BODY."

"I can hear you just fine." I say, smiling.

"THEN… COULD YOU PLEASE-"

"Hey, Dad." I say.

His expression changes. He looks hopeful.

"Yes?"

"Did you really think that somebody else was controlling my body?" I ask.

"You…"

"No." I say. "This was all me."

All the hope goes away. Oh, that really hurt him.

I conjure a sword and rush him. Asgore doesn't even move.

But Papyrus and Undyne knock me aside before I can hit him. I blast them both, but Papyrus weathers the laser, and Undyne blocks it.

Undyne and Asgore attack, but Asgore's heart isn't in it. And other than shielding Asgore from my lasers, Papyrus barely tries to hurt me at all. He doesn't have it in him to kill. Papyrus begins to wear thin, and when he slows down, Asgore gets hit more and more.

Finally we come to a stop. Undyne is exhausted. She's been sweating her own dust for a long time now. Papyrus' bones are nearly splintered. Asgore is almost in pieces. The ground is coated with dust.

I'm ragged, too, but I'm the only one who can still stand up straight.

I smirk at Papyrus.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a fighter." I say. "Even with Asgore and Undyne to help out, you can barely lift a finger."

"Shut up." Says Undyne.

"You would have been pretty impressive." I tell her. "Too bad you didn't fight like that before. You might have saved Alphys or Sans."

"Shut up!"

I turn to Asgore.

"You're the biggest failure of them all." I say. "You…"

Frisk.

I see Frisk on a faraway hill, hurrying towards us. They wave.

Undyne glances back.

"Frisk?"

Frisk is carrying a bouquet of flowers. We watch them run over.

They catch up to us.

"You brought flowers?" Asks Undyne. "We're in the middle of a fight! A fight for the future of-"

"A FLOWER WOULD BE NICE." Says Papyrus.

Frisk hands a flower to Papyrus, then to Asgore and Undyne. Undyne glares, but takes it anyway.

They give the rest of the bouquet to me. Golden flowers.

Frisk waits expectantly.

"Why flowers?" I ask.

Frisk? Frisk, is that you?

"Stay determined, Flowey. We're all rooting for you."