"I can't get over this feeling. The desire to hurt others. It haunts me constantly. The need to hurt. To maim. To kill."

I glowered at the light streaming in from the windows above. I hated him! I wanted that skeleton dead! Sans would pay, no matter what! How dare he try to take away everything that I had left?! I had already been robbed of life and dignity, and now Sans wanted to take away the only glimmer of hope remaining: my determination. Well, he would get what was coming to him. He would see just how determined I could be. He had no way of knowing I was coming this time. Without his memories, I could sneak up on him and end his miserable existence before he had a chance to know there was a flower out to kill him.

With my mind intent on murder, I went straight for Snowdin. All of the monsters I passed up above were just useless garbage. Trash I had already eliminated once before, and now because of that smiling jerk, I would have to do all of that hard work again. It fueled my rage and my determination.

When I got to my destination, Sans was in the kitchen mixing together ingredients for his stupid pie he was baking. He stirred the contents of his mixing bowl, softly humming to himself. Both of his eyes were shut. Perfect. I surfaced and instantly summoned a ring of pellets and prepared them to fire.

Sans opened one eye, glancing between the energy pellets and down at me. He blinked and set down his spoon so he could recline against the counter to look at me. "'sup?" he asked nonchalantly. Geez, didn't anything unnerve this guy? I didn't give him an answer other than to collapse the pellets on him. I had rather hoped that he wouldn't notice my attack. Just like the timeline before, Sans dodged the bullets without seeming to move.

"Well, that's no way to greet a new pal," he commented. He gave a long sigh before turning back to his bowl of goop. "Can I get ya anything? Water? Dirt?"

A wellspring of hatred roiled within me. I hated him so much that my entire body was trembling. With a yell, I summoned as much power as I could muster and threw everything I had at him. He dodged it without missing a beat, carrying the mixing bowl along with him.

"Hey, you wanna help me with this? Sure takes a lot of effort stirring this stuff. Maybe you can direct some of that energy into doing something useful."

I was vaguely aware of angry tears rolling down my face. I launched another attack at him only to have him catch the bullets in his bowl where they bounced around a bit and dissipated. "Thanks." he said. I glared up at him, my face contorted into a vengeful snarl.

"Why?!" I demanded between sobs. "Why can't I beat you?! Why won't you let me win?! Why?!" He closed his eyes again, setting the bowl back on the counter.

"Look, buddy. I've never seen you before, but you obviously know me. And judging by that expression on your face, I've killed you before." He opened his eyes again, looking grim. "A lot."

He shrugged, pulling himself up to sit on the counter beside his bowl. I could do nothing but glare at him through my tears of rage, panting at the effort it had taken to try to blast him. When I didn't say anything, he continued.

"Now I've got no quarrel with you just yet. Best we keep it that way. Capiche?" I responded with a wordless yell and by attacking him again, firing wildly letting bullets scatter throughout the room in a last-ditch attempt to hit him. I grit my eyes shut, not caring to look at the results. I wasn't surprised when I heard him sigh loudly, obviously untouched by the attack.

"Wow. You, uh, must really hate me, huh? What'd I do to deserve that?"

"You existed," I hissed, glaring at the floor. "And you refuse to die!"

A brief moment passed in silence. "Hm. Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I don't really plan on dying just yet. I couldn't do that to Papyrus. Guess you're stuck with me."

"I killed him, you know," I muttered. Sans stopped his incessant prattling. "Papyrus. I killed him. I watched him as he turned to dust before me." Talking about it filled me with a strange sensation as the memory of how liberating it felt to kill returned. My focus was still pointed at the tiled floor below me, but my expression shifted into a dark smile.

"What a complete idiot. Even as he was shattering into a million pieces, you know what he said to me? He said he still believed in me." I gave a hollow laugh. "He believed there was something good in me. As if I weren't this soulless husk of a flower. As if I weren't already broken beyond repair." I swiveled my head up to give Sans a full view of my deranged grin.

"How does it feel, knowing that your brother was a stupid idiot right to the very end?! I mean, seriously! What'd you do, scramble his brains? The guy's a child trapped in the body of an adult! It's no wonder he doesn't have any friends! Just look at him!"

Sans's eyes were closed, his ever-present smile somehow appearing sad. I didn't want him sad, I wanted him angry. I wanted him to hurt. I wanted him to feel pain. He just sat there, motionless.

"You know, you say you don't want to hurt Papyrus, but you didn't even try to stop me while I killed him. You just stood there and watched! It's like you don't even care about him! What kind of a messed up person just watches while their only family member dies right in front of them?!"

Still no reaction from the stubby skeleton. He remained slumped on the counter with his hands stuffed in his pockets, eyes shut. It almost looked like he was asleep, but I knew he was listening to me.

"Boy, Sans. Not even going to defend yourself? For someone as powerful as you are, you sure seem to be pretty useless. You can't even help your own brother!"

Sans sat forward, his eyes easing halfway open. He leaned on one hand, looking completely relaxed. "Are you planning on insulting me this whole time? Cuz believe me, bucko, there are so many other things we would both rather be doing." He slid off the counter-top, raining flour onto the floor as he went. "As for Papyrus, he doesn't need my help. He's smart. I trust he knows what he's doing. Even if it means befriending scum like you." His expression was not a pleasant one.

A flashback of this man killing me time and time again sent a shiver down my stem. I scowled as he turned back to his mixing bowl and cracked a few eggs into it. "Hey, you wanna do me a favor?" he asked. "I could use a little more 'flour.'" I growled at him, feeling the anger return in a flood. I fired more energy pellets at him before dunking under the floor and leaving in a huff, not bothering to watch him dodge the attack again.

Time to burn down the village.

I started with the library. I had spent so much time there reading all of those stupid books and not a single one of them had been helpful in the least. I slaughtered the useless librarian and the other warbling old ladies who frequented the tiny place. Using my vines, I shoved over all the bookcases and heaped up the books into a huge pile.

Lighting the books on fire proved to be a pain. Without my fire magic working properly, I had to find some other means of setting the dumb things alight. I did finally manage it, though, and the results were highly satisfying. Embers licked up the dry pages and consumed the heap, spreading out across the wooden floor. Screams echoed around the village while the library went up in flames, a column of smoke rising into the air. I gave a smug look and turned to attack some of the other citizens I hadn't had the chance to kill just yet.

I almost didn't see Sans when he stepped out of his house, eyes dark. When I did, I gave him my biggest grin. A challenge. As he approached me, he seemed an image of total calm amidst the frantic chaos of the monsters around him.

"You were right, Sans. There are so many things I could have been doing instead of wasting my time on you."

In a flash, Sans was abruptly standing two feet away from me. He knelt in the snow to stare at me eye-level. Strangely, the lights of his eyes were back, and he looked more concerned rather than angry. "You must really want to have a bad time," he muttered. His hand shot out and gripped me around my stem. "Look, I gave you a chance. And this is what you decided to do with it?"

I stared defiantly back at him. He sighed heavily, giving a disappointed shake of his head. "I really hate being the judge, but buddy, you really know how to push my buttons." He ripped me from the ground. The moment my roots cleared the soil, I turned them into vines and wrapped them all the way up Sans's arm, weaving stems and leaves through the gaps between his bones. This didn't phase him a bit.

Blue fire flashed in his left eye and a burning sensation split through me. I didn't look down to see what had caused the pain or what the damage was. I didn't want to. In agony, I summoned a ring of pellets that converged on the both of us. I did not get the chance to see the outcome as my vision was abruptly swallowed in light, my body filled with pain.

"Chara, you shouldn't say such things. You're starting to scare me."

"Ugh. I told you that you wouldn't understand."

I snarled at the golden flowers around me in the throne room. I hated that stupid skeleton. Hated him with every fiber of my being. I probably didn't need to start all the way over this time, but it was better if Sans never remembered me ever coming back. It would be better if he never saw me. I had a new plan. Avoid the smiling trash bag at all cost.

I had already killed all of the people in Hotland and Waterfall and most of the monsters in Snowdin and the Capital. Going around and rooting out every little monster seemed more of a pain than it was worth. Maybe if they were directly in my way, I wouldn't hesitate to take them out, but without any specific target, the fun of killing people was wearing thin. I had to pick someone. Really, the only person that I hadn't killed yet that was on my list was Toriel. Well, I hadn't killed Sans yet, either, but he was proving to be borderline impossible. Maybe I'd go back to trying to kill him if I got any better ideas as to how to go about doing so.

There was something disturbing about going out of my way specifically to kill my mother. As much as I hated to admit it, that still bothered me. Not because I actually cared about the old lady, but because of the concept of killing a family member. I had to remind myself that I had already killed Asgore and it hadn't been that big of a deal. I was immediately plagued with the memory of sobbing and resetting immediately after that and shoved the thought down. Those had been tears of frustration at how much I hated him, not because I had any emotional attachment or anything stupid like that.

It was a slow journey going all the way back to the ruins. It gave me time to think. Time to coldly contemplate all the reasons why I was doing what I was doing. There was something to be said for boredom, but I was also doing this because I could. As long as I had the ability to reset time, there were no consequences for my actions which meant that I could get away with doing whatever I wanted. And although I was frustrated with my mother's stupidity, I found that I had become detached from the situation. It wasn't me she was hurting after all. It was my father she hurt the most, and I had already concluded that I didn't care about how he felt either. There was no personal vendetta for killing her. She was simply another monster with a giant target affixed to her.

The travel time did allow my anger to calm down. Pushing Sans out of my mind, I could focus more on what lay ahead. I didn't really want to just attack my mother and leave. There wasn't any fun in that. I had already done that to so many monsters, and piles of dust just weren't all that entertaining. After all, my whole purpose was to have fun. I wanted to see just how angry I could make her. Maybe I could even get her to attack me first.

When I finally got to the ruins, I had some irritation trying to find my mother. She was apparently on one of her walks around the place. I found her strolling through a room filled with small waterways and bridges passing over the tops of them. She seemed peaceful, taking her time while she walked. She had no way of knowing that I was coming to destroy that peace.

I surfaced directly in front of her, though she didn't immediately see me. "Hey, you old cow!" I shouted. That instantly got her attention and her face twisted into an offended gape.

"Excuse me?!" she demanded.

"Yeah, you! Toriel the royal queen of betrayal!" I gave her a leering smile. I had already tried to convince her to return once before and it hadn't worked, but I could still let her know the list of her crimes. I wanted her to feel the hurt and the guilt. It was much more interesting seeing people react rather than just watching them die.

Toriel's expression went hard and she planted her fists firmly on her hips. "I have no idea to what you are referring, but I can assure you that I am but a humble caretaker of these ruins. Now begone."

I laughed at her. She knew alright, she just didn't want to admit it. "Oh, mother, it isn't good to lie. I know what you did. You left us. You abandoned your people when they needed you the most." I narrowed my eyes at her, but I found that my emotions were in-check this time. It really didn't hurt any longer. Toriel's mouth hung open, and she looked like she wanted to say something to defend herself but couldn't find the words. I continued my tirade.

"Your only children died and Asgore swore to kill all of humanity, so you left in an outrage. Yada yada, blah blah. You know, for someone who's always been the brains behind the throne, your actions were surprisingly short-sighted. Did you honestly think Asgore wanted to follow through on his plan? If he wanted to, he could take the souls he has now, pass through the barrier, collect the remaining soul, and set all of monsters free, but he doesn't want to. Golly, it's frustrating when you think about it. You gave up on him way too quickly. Seriously."

"And not only that, did you ever stop to think about what your absence would do to the kingdom? You left Asgore to run the place by himself! You of all people should know what a stupid idiot that guy is, and you left him in charge! Come on! Did you really think everything would just get along fine without you?"

Toriel's eyes were thin slits in her face, but I could see the hurt behind her mask of anger. "I did that which I felt was best at the time, flower. I do not know how you have knowledge of these events, but telling me of things that are past will benefit no one." I gave her a huge grin.

"You're wrong! This conversation is exactly what you need to hear! I'm letting you know exactly what you have done, all the crimes that you have committed. You didn't leave Asgore because it was best for anyone. You left because you were ashamed that you had been incapable of helping to save your children and you didn't want to face up to that fact. You thought that by coming here, you could somehow save the human children that fell down in the ruins. I bet you even tried to raise them as your own like what you did with Chara. We see how well that worked. The ruins are empty and there are six dead human souls sitting in Asgore's castle."

Tears welled up in Toriel's eyes. She gripped her paws in anger, trembling. "You know nothing of what I have endured," she growled.

"Wrong again! I know everything about you. Did you ever stop to think about what your actions did to Asgore? Did you ever stop to think about what they did to me?"

"I do not even know who you are, you miserable whelp!" Oh yeah, she was angry. It made me smile in satisfaction.

"Oh, I think you do. After all, you raised me." She looked confused. "I'm your son. I'm Asriel."

Her expression went dark as the information sunk in. "Impossible," she whispered.

"You would think! And yet, here I am! Surprise! It seems the new royal scientist has been up to no good, messing with things she shouldn't have been. Her experiments on human souls and the flowers that grew from my dust resulted in me: a soulless flower with all the memories of Asriel Dreemurr. Boy! Imagine that!"

"You're lying. My son would never act as horrible as you. How dare you insult his memory by trying to take his place!" I laughed, a high-pitched squeal.

"Believe what you want! It doesn't make it any less true!"

Toriel's face was twisted in rage. "Get out of my sight, wretch!"

"Ooh! Or what?! You'll mother me to death? I'm so scared."

She unleashed a wave of fire, intentionally missing me. It was a warning shot. "Go away!"

The thrill of the fight raced through me. I had gotten her to make the first attack. It was clear that Toriel was on the brink of breaking as a torrent of emotions flooded her at once: anger, shame, guilt, disbelief, sorrow. I had no idea it could be so fun to push someone this far. I wanted to see just how far she would go.

I held my ground and grinned defiantly at her. "Do you remember how you used to bake snail pies for us every Sunday? I never told you before, but Chara always fed her portions to me when you weren't looking. I was alright with it, but Chara hated the stuff."

Toriel advanced on me, summoning a fireball in front of her and holding it aloft over one hand, threatening to unleash it. "Cease your speaking this very instant." I ignored her.

"Oh yeah, and remember that time when we were looking for bugs together and we found this weird fossil? You told me it was from an era before humans and monsters roamed the earth. Dad just said it was a funny looking rock."

It looked almost like I was physically striking Toriel in the face with every memory I unearthed. The thing that hurt her the most was the knowledge that I really was her son that she had loved so much, and it pained her to know just how far I had fallen. Pathetic. Why should anyone have to feel another person's pain? It didn't make sense. Wasn't it bad enough simply enduring your own pain?

"And remember the time we-"

"Enough!" She didn't let me finish, throwing her fireball at the wall where it exploded, taking a chunk of brick out with it. Tears streamed from her angry eyes. "You are not my son!"

I laughed again. I couldn't help it. It was so easy to manipulate her into a burning rage. She pointed an accusing finger at me.

"Is there any reason you have come here other than to torment me?" she demanded. My laughter died down to a chuckle.

"No. Not really. Well, scratch that. I do have one thing I want to do." I looked directly into her eyes. "I came here to kill you."

Her eyes widened and she instinctively summoned another fireball and held it at the ready. The moment of shock dissipated and she narrowed here eyes at me suspiciously. "And why is that? Have I done anything to deserve such a fate? I think not."

I gave her another grin, showing all of my teeth. "You're right. You've done some pretty stupid stuff, but that doesn't mean you have to die. But I want to kill you anyway. Just for fun."

She glowered at me. "What a disgusting creature you are," she mumbled. That was my only warning before she attacked me outright, launching her fire attack straight at me. I dove to safety, narrowly missing the spreading flames that danced around the room. I cackled, imbued with the thrill of the fight.

When I surfaced behind her, I launched my own attack. She turned, but was unable to dodge the attack, clearly not expecting me to come from behind. The pellets hit with a resounding thud and she grunted at the impact, stumbling forward a few steps. She whirled to face me again, backing up slowly as she threw another wave of flames at me. Her movement placed her up against one of the walls, which made sense, but the wall was covered by a curtain of vines. The moment I was safe from her attack, I took control of the vines and entwined them around her, trapping her.

Toriel struggled against her bonds, but quickly grasped one and set it aflame. Her magic devoured the vines, leaving nothing but charcoal and smoke. Once free, she spotted me again and coldly attacked. Her face was set in a stony glare, a look she only donned when dealing out punishments to disobedient children. I knew that look well. It was strange remembering how I used to be afraid of this woman.

The battle continued. I found that I had gotten better at dodging attacks. Monsters usually had a fairly predictable pattern, needing to summon their weapons before throwing them. It was easy to use that time to move underground and pop up somewhere else and attack while they were still recovering from the previous move. Toriel was especially easy to predict since not only did I know her really well, her attacks were also similar to Asgore's, though she wasn't quite as adept at fighting as he was.

It still took several blows to take the old goat down, though. The damage dealt was a battle of wills, the attacker's will to destroy against the defender's will to live. She managed to singe me a few times before I hit her enough to shatter her determination. I was panting from the effort by the time she dropped to her knees. It took my brain a moment to register the fact that I had won.

"Do you really hate me that much?" she asked, her eyes coming up to meet mine. "If you are him, if you really are Asriel... Did my leaving really cause you so much pain?" I met her gaze, feeling the impact of what I had just done. I thought back to when I had first yelled at her. The hurt that I felt.

"Mother, you have no idea the hell I've been through since I first woke up as a flower." My words were resolute, no longer taunting or meaningless. I thought I would feel joy and triumph at finally beating her, but instead I felt nothing. I didn't feel guilty, either. There was simply an empty void where any emotion should have been.

My mother closed her eyes, her form shaking in the final stages of death. "I am sorry, my child," she whispered. "It seems that I could not save you. Even after all of these years." Slowly, her body dissolved. Dust drifted away, leaving her soul floating in the air. I watched stoically until that, too, shattered into a million pieces.

I breathed in and let it out in a sharp hiss. I felt completely and utterly empty. Nothing but a husk. Flowey the flower. That was all that was left. Asriel was dead. There was no way I could even pretend at being who I once was anymore. Everything was gone. I turned away from the dust of my mother and burrowed into the earth, moving to some unknown destination.

"Come on, Chara. There's no use sitting here talking about the past. Let's go home. Mom is waiting for us. Everything's going to be alright. You'll see."

"I wish that was true. Really, I do."

I wandered around, lost in thought. I didn't fully snap out of my reverie until I spotted Papyrus patrolling up above. I was in Snowdin, and Papyrus was bustling about working on something or another. Probably trying to make a new puzzle or something along those lines. Seeing the ridiculous skeleton again awoke something in my mind. An idea started to spark.

Sans had proven impossible to beat, but I already knew that I could take down Papyrus pretty quickly. Perhaps I could use the younger brother to my advantage. It still seemed odd to me that Sans hadn't bothered to stop me from killing Papyrus that one time, but I had seen a softer side to Sans when I had befriended his brother in a previous time-line. Sans cared about his younger brother, whether he was willing to admit it or not.

If I could manipulate Papyrus to my will, it was likely that I could get the older skeleton to follow after. I grinned to myself, thinking of what I could do if I could get Sans to do my bidding. I wasn't sure what his limits were, but so far, he had proven to be the strongest opponent I had faced, rivaled only by Undyne. With that level of power, I could create all kinds of chaos.

Without any sort of plan, I popped up beside Papyrus. "Howdy!" I called. Papyrus jumped a little, turning to see the source of the noise. Then his face lit up.

"Wowie!" he cried. "A talking flower! Come to admire me, the soon-to-be popular royal guard while he is hard at work? I do not blame you! Truly, my efforts are quite noteworthy! Nyeh heh heh!"

I glanced at the piles of snow he was building up. They seemed to make some sort of maze, though he was leaving plenty of room on either side to walk around the thing. "Admiring my work, I see," he commented, planting a fist on his hip. "This will be a most dastardly puzzle when I am finished! You see these buttons inside? Only when all the buttons are pushed will the way out be revealed! It shall surely confound any human who happens to pass through! Nyeh heh heh! No one will escape the Great Papyrus!"

I decided against pointing out to him the obvious flaws in his design, laughing at his stupidity instead. "Yeah, that will totally work. Truly, you are a master," I stated dully. The sarcasm was lost on Papyrus and he straightened at my comment.

"Of course I am! I am the Great Papyrus, the master of puzzles! When I capture a human, Undyne will be so proud of me! She'll wonder why she never let me join the royal guard in the first place!" He paused, rubbing his lower jaw. "Which, why she doesn't let me join now is beyond me... But I am sure that she simply has not seen how great I am! If she had, she would not have hesitated to let me in! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!"

If I could rub my head, I would. Instead, I settled for shaking it in wonder, smiling at this guy's lack of intelligence. He really was an idiot. Abruptly, Papyrus remembered that I was there, turning his full attention back to me.

"Anyhoo, what can I do for you, my little flowery friend?" he asked with a big smile. I returned the look, mocking innocence.

"Oh, I'm just such a big fan of yours! Boy! Getting the chance to meet you has really made my day!" My false compliments visibly boosted Papyrus's spirits and he somehow stood even taller than he had been a minute ago. "I've heard that you're really strong! What I wouldn't give to have the opportunity to see you fight!"

Papyrus folded his arms confidently, cocking his head to the sky. "Oh, you want to see my great powers, eh? Nyeh heh heh! Be warned, my vast skills can be quite overwhelming! You would be so awe-struck with my greatness that I would worry that you would faint! No, it would be irresponsible for me to put you in such danger. Though I most certainly do not blame you for wanting to see!"

I barely kept myself from glowering at him. As it was, I could feel my eyes narrow dangerously. "Come on, Papyrus. I bet you could face down Undyne herself! Surely you wouldn't be opposed to giving me, your number one fan, a demonstration?"

Papyrus gave a little huff. "Of course I can take on Undyne! Why, I take her on every day while training with her! But, um. I just came from over there. It would be silly to go back! Sorry. You will have to wait for a different day. Feel free to stop by Undyne's house some time when I am over there sparring with her."

This was going nowhere. My facade was growing ever weaker the more Papyrus resisted, getting on my nerves. For someone who was so easy to manipulate, he could really be stubborn sometimes.

"Hey. I came all this way just to see you, and you're going to blow me off? I want to see you fight! Take on one of the other royal guards or something!" It was really hard to keep my smile up. As it was, it had already shifted into more of a sneer. If Papyrus noticed anything off about my expression, though, he didn't pay it any mind.

"Oh, no, I couldn't do that! I would get in trouble for that!" My patience wore thin.

"How about your brother? You wouldn't get in trouble for fighting him. And you're way better than that guy."

Papyrus abruptly looked annoyed by something. "Ugh. My lazy brother wouldn't lift a finger if the entire world was ending around him." The response surprised me a little. "There's no way he'd fight me, even just for a sparring match. Not that I'd want him to. Nyeh heh! It would hardly be a fair fight!"

It occurred to me that although I had spent a lot of time with Papyrus, I hadn't really seen how he interacted with his brother much. It seemed that Papyrus's opinion of his older brother wasn't high. Not that I blamed him. There was a reason I wanted that smiling bag of trash dead.

I grinned at Papyrus, shoving down my frustration. "Hm. That's a shame. I'd pay money to see you kick his butt."

"You'd pay money to watch him kick whose butt?" I jumped at the sound of Sans's voice coming from behind me. I hadn't heard him walk up.

"Oh ho! Speak of the devil!" Papyrus cried. "This flower here was just asking to watch me fight someone! What do you think, brother? Would you dare challenge me, the Great Papyrus, to a friendly sparring match?!"

Sans cracked his neck lazily, looking unconcerned. "C'mon, bro. You'd probably mop the floor with me. I wouldn't stand a chance. Go fight Undyne or something if the kid wants something to watch." He looked down at me and gave me a wink. "Though, if you really wanted us to fight... How much money we talkin'? 50,000 G?"

I glowered at the shorter skeleton. I didn't have that kind of money on me. I seriously doubted anyone in the Underground had that kind of money. Greedy jerk. Thankfully, Papyrus butted in.

"Sans! We don't want to rob people! What would you do with that much gold, anyway?!"

"Hey, I gotta pay for Grillby's somehow."

"Oh, do not even get me started on how much time you spend there," Papyrus snapped. "Maybe it would help you to cook your own food once and a while! And to not take so many breaks!"

Sans raised both hands up in front of him in a sign of surrender. "Yeesh, take it easy, bro. I'm only joking. You wanna go, let's go." He returned his hands to his pockets. "Just don't expect me to put up much of a fight. I'm no good at this kinda stuff. I don't have the muscle for it."

I watched this with a big grin. Finally. This would prove to be entertaining. Papyrus started the fight, readying a summoned bone. "Here I come!" he shouted. With a flick of his wrist, the bone launched at Sans's face. Sans eyed the bone and casually stepped to the side of it as it flung past. He glanced back at his brother just in time to see the other skeleton forming another bone.

The tiny skeleton barely had to move to evade the projectiles Papyrus was sending at him. "Come on, Papyrus, you can do better than that!" I shouted. Surprisingly, Sans chuckled at the comment.

"Yeah, bro. This stuff is easy peasy. Show him your blue attack." Papyrus looked uneasy.

"Are you sure you can handle that, brother? If I hit you, even once..." He trailed off. Sans gave him a wink and a thumbs-up.

"No worries. Go for it."

Papyrus shrugged. "Alright, but no complaining when it gets to be too much for you!" His brother only grinned, awaiting the next attack. With a wave of his hand, a series of bones appeared colored blue. They shot through Sans, but they apparently didn't do any damage. To my surprise, though, a blue aura suddenly surrounded Sans. When Papyrus threw his next regular bone at his brother, Sans jumped over it rather than move to the side like he normally did.

I blinked in confusion. Did that attack somehow prevent Sans from moving properly? I wasn't sure what it did, but Sans's ability to dodge was suddenly greatly reduced. Was that the attack Sans had used against me that one time? He had said it didn't work because I had no soul. Maybe it was holding his soul down in a way I couldn't properly see.

After leaping over a dozen more attacks, Sans waved a hand in defeat, breathing heavily. "Alright, bro. You got me. I'm done." Papyrus grinned, walking over to his brother and resting a hand on his head. The blue glow around the shorter skeleton faded.

Papyrus laughed. "Had enough already, huh? I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did!" Sans grinned up at his younger brother, playfully shoving Papyrus's hand aside.

"Hey, I told you I wasn't that great." I scowled at the pair. Having witnessed Sans's true power first-hand, it annoyed me to no end that he hadn't even tried to fight back against Papyrus. Sans turned his attention to me. "Alright, bud. You owe me." He winked. "You picked a good guy to look up to, though. My bro's the coolest."

With that, he calmly walked away, hands in his pockets. I glared at his retreating figure, calling him a thousand bad names in my head. Papyrus planted his hands on his hips, looking proud of himself. "Well, little flower? I believe you have seen enough of my magnificent power! I hope you are quite satisfied! Nyeh heh heh!"

My expression was dark. Seeing Sans again had refueled my anger towards him. No. I wasn't done with Papyrus just yet. I wasn't entirely sure what I planned to do or even if it would work, but my work with Papyrus had only just begun. The naive skeleton didn't even notice as I carefully wrapped his legs in vines.

"Why do you seem to think that just because you're a human, you're going to turn out evil like the rest of them? Just because you're born as something doesn't mean you have to let that define who you are."

"Asriel, trust me on this. An apple sapling will always grow up to be an apple tree, even if you plant it in the midst of oranges. There are just some things you can't change."

"Well, duh. You're still going to be human, no matter what. But that doesn't mean you have to be an evil human!"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. There is no such thing as a good human. All of them are evil. Just like me."

I squirmed, trying to better situate myself on the back of Papyrus's spine. Vines spread out from my roots below me, twining around his limbs. "Quit moving!" I snapped as Papyrus shifted a little, pulling at one of the thicker vines wrapped around his tibia.

"Sorry," he said. "Wowie. This is the most efficient hug I have ever received! I can barely even move!" He shrugged, straining at my roots.

"That's kind of the point, you moron! This is a kidnapping!"

"A kid napping?! What's he doing asleep?! You can't be talking about my brother. We just saw him. He's actually awake for once!"

I sighed in irritation, tightening my grip on his bones to secure him a little better. This was proving to be more of an annoyance than it was probably worth, but it sure beat sulking in a corner.

"I'm abducting you!"

"Wowie! You never told me you were an alien!" I gave a groan of sheer agony at the stupidity of this man.

"Like I'm taking you hostage! Now stop squirming!"

"Oh, I get it now. You're so enamored by my magnificent skills that you want me to divulge my secrets! Nyeh heh heh! I'll let you know now, there's no secret to my great power other than hard work and perseverance! You can achieve anything if you try hard enough! Maybe one day you'll be almost as great as me!"

If I had thought my patience had been wearing thin before, it most certainly was now. "I don't give a crap about you! All I care about is your brother! I want him dead!"

"Well, that's a silly thing to want," Papyrus mused, turning his neck slightly to get a better look at me. "I would think he'd be much more useful to you alive than dead. Though I'm not sure what difference it would make. He's pretty lazy. I doubt you'll have any luck getting him to do much of anything."

I scowled at my victim, pulling on my vines in such a way that his head was forced back forward. "That's what I need you for, you idiot! He won't hurt me if it means hitting you in the process. Now move." I released his legs, giving him the ability to walk again, though I held my vines ready just in case he tried anything funny.

"Move where?" he asked. I groaned at him.

"To catch up with your idiot brother!"

Papyrus shrugged, then obediently stepped forward, falling blissfully silent. A couple of the monsters we passed gave us funny looks, but they didn't seem to think Papyrus was in any sort of danger. The fact that he greeted a few of them cheerily helped with that illusion. At last, we reached the house belonging to the pair of skeletons. I reached out with a vine to open the door so I wouldn't be forced to release my hold on Papyrus more than I had to.

The skeleton stopped just inside the doorway, taking in the view of the kitchen. The place was a disaster, coated with flour and dirty dishes. I had nearly forgotten about Sans's baking adventure.

"Sans!" Papyrus shouted up the stairs. "What have you done to my kitchen?! Have you no respect for my personal spaghetti-making station?! You better get down here and clean up this mess this very instant!"

Sans poked his head out of one of the doors upstairs. He looked like he was going to say something witty, but stopped when he spotted me wrapped around his brother. I took that opportunity to speak up.

"Don't move or I kill Papyrus!" I yelled. I felt Papyrus tug at his bonds as he attempted to give Sans a shrug.

"Sorry, brother. It appears that I, the Great Papyrus, have been captured. But that is nothing compared to what you have done to the kitchen!"

To my complete annoyance, Sans abruptly started laughing. "Wow, bro. Seems like you've gotten yourself in a bit of a vine."

"Sans, this is no time for your puns!"

The shrubby skeleton disregarded my warning, walking forward and leaning on the rails to get a better look at his brother's current predicament. He was still chuckling to himself. "Sorry, bro. I need to get it out of my sy-'stem'. I just can't 'leaf' it alone."

Papyrus seemed just as irritated with his brother's horrible taste in jokes as I was. "Sans! Do you not see how dire this situation is?!" Sans's eyes drifted to rest on where I sprouted from the back of Papyrus's neck.

"Congrats," he said as calmly as ever. "You managed to tie up my brother. Good job." I growled. Would he take this seriously already? Both of the brothers were getting on my nerves. Sans sighed, resting his chin on the banister. "So what'dya plan on doing with him? I assume you brought him here for a reason." Finally. Down to business. I smiled cheerily, trying to hide my frustration at this whole ordeal.

"I want an exchange. Your life for Papyrus's. I'll let Papyrus go, but only if you let me kill you." Sans blinked, looking a little sleepy. Papyrus was the one who piped up next.

"You can't kill me! I am the Great Papyrus!" I laughed at his stupidity, tightening my grip and summoning a ring of energy pellets to surround Papyrus's head.

"You're not in any position to talk," I jeered. I noticed Sans pulling out his phone out of the corner of my eye, but he didn't appear to be using it to call anybody, so I let him be.

"I can talk just fine, thank you very much!" Papyrus retorted. I squeezed some of my vines together, hard enough that I might have dislocated the shoulder of any other monster I tried this on. Papyrus didn't even seem to notice. Surely he felt pain, didn't he? Sans only poked at his phone, looking disinterested.

"Would you take this seriously?! Both of you!" I let one of the beads of energy I had summoned slam into the side of Papyrus's face. He flinched at the impact, but remained otherwise silent. "You heard my demand, Sans. If you really loved your brother, you'd be willing to give your life for his!"

Sans ceased tapping on his phone to look up at me. His eyes were narrowed. "I do love my brother," he said quietly. He glanced down at his phone again, poking it a few more times before stuffing it back in his pocket. "Look. I wouldn't expect garbage like you to understand anything about love, but just as I couldn't stand to be without Paps, I know I could never leave him in a world without me. Sorry, bud. No deal on this one."

I could feel my mouth hanging open in utter disbelief. "Ok, so you'd rather see him die, then? I'll make sure to do it nice and slowly so you can regret your decision every second he spends screaming." Sans closed his eyes with a sigh.

"Ooh! You want me to scream, huh?!" Papyrus asked, ignoring the burn mark that streaked across his jaw. "Ok! AAAAAAAH!" I winced at the loud noise right next to my ear.

"Shut up!" I shouted. I smacked him with another bullet to emphasize my point.

"Owwww," he whined. "You're not being very nice."

"I'm not trying to be, you idiot!"

Before Papyrus could respond to my insult, Sans suddenly spoke up again. "Why are you here?" he inquired. I scowled at him.

"I already told you! I want to see you dead!" Sans rested his head on one hand, drumming on the railing with the other.

"Yeah, but why? Papyrus and I have done nothing to you. Why go out of your way to torment us? There's no sense to it."

I gave Sans my best grin. "Golly, you're one to talk. You've killed me more times than I care to count! I've lived so many lifetimes, and thus far you've been the only monster I can't seem to get past."

He scoffed. "What, me? Geez, buddy. You must be really weak if I'm the one who stops ya."

Papyrus seemed confused, glancing backwards at me. I didn't blame him. It wasn't like he knew anything about the resets. I was still surprised by the fact that Sans did. I glared up at Sans. He met my gaze, waiting for me to respond.

"I wouldn't expect you to know anything about what I've been through," I said at last, not justifying his insult with a comment. I knew what he was capable of, even if he wouldn't admit it in front of Papyrus. I sincerely doubted that the younger skeleton realized how deadly his older brother was. It seemed that Sans had a lot of secrets hiding behind his grin. Sans shrugged, pushing away from the railing.

"Welp, if that's all, I'm going back to my room." He turned and casually sauntered back the way he had come.

It was Papyrus who yelled at him as he left, saving me the effort. "Sans! Get back here! You haven't cleaned up this mess you made! My poor kitchen is in shambles!" Seriously? He was being held captive with a death threat and he was worried about the kitchen?

"I'll do it later," Sans replied, shutting the door behind him. I grit my teeth.

"Fine then! I'll rip your brother into so many pieces, you won't be able to find them all! You had your chance to save him!" I wrapped more vines around Papyrus's body, clasping his legs together and forcing the skeleton to the floor. He landed with a resounding crash, grunting at the impact. I pulled at one of his arms, trying to separate it from the rest of his body. He tried rolling onto his back to squish me, but I stopped his efforts by shooting vines down into the floor to hold him down.

Just then, the front door burst open and Undyne rushed in. "Sans, if this is another one of your pranks, I'm gonna-" She stopped short when she saw me entangled on Papyrus's back. "What the hell?"

"I'm OK!" Papyrus said, his voice muffled since he was speaking into the carpet. I groaned. Great. When had Sans called her? He had taken out his phone, but he hadn't done anything with it. I couldn't take on Undyne while still trying to hold down Papyrus.

I unwrapped the skeleton, pulling my vines in to become roots once more. Somehow the pair of skeletons had outsmarted me, and that really pissed me off. Undyne grit her teeth dangerously and summoned a spear, readying it to throw. "You won't get away!" she shouted as I finally broke free of Papyrus. I sneered at her. She swept a green-colored spell through me, hitting Papyrus as well. It had no effect on me, but Papyrus abruptly started glowing a deep forest green, halting his efforts to stand back up. That was apparently another soul binding attack.

Before she could react to her failed binding, I gave her a final grin and dove into the ground to safety. There was no way in heck I was going to stick around to get slaughtered by the crazy fish lady. Undyne ran forward, spearing the ground where I had just been. She swore under her breath, then reached over to assist Papyrus, letting her green power drop away from him.

I stopped to watch from beneath the floor for a few minutes, breathing heavily. "What was that thing?" Undyne asked Papyrus. He shrugged, rolling his shoulder I had just tried to yank off.

"That flower was in serious need of a good friend! It's a shame you chased him off! We were just about to have some quality friendship time!"

"It was attacking you!" Undyne protested. "When I came in, it looked like it was trying to pull your arm off!" Papyrus looked down at his arm and massaged the joint connecting it to the rest of his body for a minute. Despite his bravado, he appeared to be pretty shaken.

"W-well, maybe so. But... I'm sure I could have talked him out of it! Yeah! I am the Great Papyrus! I can talk my way out of any situation!"

Undyne stomped her foot in frustration. "Ngaaah! I just can't believe that little twerp got away! If that flower shows his face again, I'll rip him to shreds! No one gets away with attacking my friends!"

I didn't feel like hanging around to listen to the rest of their conversation. I gave an irritated grunt and left. I didn't go too far, just to the back side of the library. I surfaced and leaned against the hard wood, letting out a long sigh. I wasn't there for long before Sans rounded the corner, taking a seat beside me in the snow.

"What do you want?" I snapped. "Come to gloat?" He didn't look at me, just stared straight ahead into the trees. After a long pause, he glanced down at me.

"Just wanted to chat with you for a bit. Seems you've got some kind of personal vendetta against me. Which, to be honest, I don't really care how you feel about me. You can hate me all you want. Doesn't bother me none. I probably deserve it anyway." He rubbed his head with a sigh. "But you put my bro in danger today. I can't let that kinda behavior slide."

I scowled at him. "Alright, so go ahead and kill me already. Whatever. I was probably going to just reset anyway."

"You don't get it, do you? I can't control what you decide to do in other time-lines. The way you underestimated Paps just now means you've probably killed him before. Who's to say you won't do it again? That knowledge... well..." He looked directly at me, but the lights of his eyes were gone, leaving empty sockets. "I'll do anything in my power to stop you."

Sans closed his eyes and leaned back before continuing. "You get it yet? If I let you go back now, you're probably just going to try the same trick again. Now say what you want about Papyrus, but he's the greatest man I know. A guy like that doesn't deserve to be treated poorly."

I didn't quite understand what this guy was talking about, and I was really done listening to him. "What's your point?" I asked in irritation.

He turned to look at me. "My point is that I would rather watch my brother die than force him to live in a world where he has to suffer. So not only am I asking you to never harm my brother again, I'm telling you that there is absolutely no reason that you ever should. If I can make that clear."

The weight of his words lay heavy. After giving that spiel, he pushed himself to his feet and started to walk away. "Welp. That's all." he said. Then he paused, looking over his shoulder. "Oh. And if you do hurt Papyrus again, those 'countless deaths' I've made you suffer will seem a fond memory compared to the living hell I will put you through." He turned back and continued walking. "See you 'round, kid."

I released the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Man, I hated that guy. I leaned back to stare into outer space, thinking about everything and nothing. When I grew sick of that, I reset, letting the world fade to white.