It was something new. And for the first time in forever, Flowey didn't like it.
In fact, he hated it. For no apparent reason he had just lost his abilities, the only redeeming factors to his existence. How had this happened? What could possibly take away his powers? He was seething, trying again and again to load or reset or even save with no success.
"hey, uh, not to interrupt your little outburst there, but what do you mean you can't reset?"
Flowey raised his head sharply to glare at Sans, having forgotten the skeleton was still there and being not even close to in the mood for explaining. "What do you think, you idiot?! I can't go back!"
Sans stood still for a few moments, evidently letting that sink in as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "ah, heh, good one. ya really got me," he said with a nervous chuckle. Then he dropped his goofy voice in favor of a threatening one, staring right through the flower. "Reset. Now."
Flowey scowled deeply, face twisting into a grimace. Sans had to know his distress was genuine, with how good he was at reading faces, and yet he chose now to go into denial about it? "I can't! You stupid, idiotic trashbag! Do you really think I'd still be here if I could?!"
He had faked losing his powers before, in an earlier run, but genuine fear and worry and distress was very difficult to fake and Sans had seen through it. But now, the skeleton was attempting to catch him in a lie that he hadn't made, and as the flower's honesty became more and more apparent Sans's expression changed from threatening to concerned.
"so … that means …" The skeleton took a deep breath, not even finishing the sentence.
"We're stuck," Flowey confirmed.
He forced himself to calm down and think. Sans wasn't going to be any help - he never was - so cooperating on a solution wasn't possible. But maybe if he could find whatever had caused him to lose his powers, he could undo it and everything would be alright. He just had to figure out what it was.
"I'll go and see what I can do about this problem. You stay here and wallow in your own uselessness, okay buddy?" Flowey winked, putting up a calm and friendly and utterly fake demeanor, before burrowing. Maybe taunting Sans further was a bad idea - unwarranted, if nothing else - but it was his own little way to let off some steam. He didn't stay to keep track of whether the skeleton would actually wait or run off somewhere else to be useless, but he didn't care. He had to find out what had removed his powers, and soon.
Throughout New Home, nothing had changed.
Hotland, still nothing.
Waterfall, nothing.
Snowdin, nothing.
With each location Flowey became more and more upset. He had hoped to find this problem so he could get rid of it as soon as possible, but the possibility that nothing was different and his powers had just disappeared for no reason was becoming more and more difficult to ignore.
As Flowey popped out of the ground inside of Home, he tried to be as thorough as possible just in case. This was his last chance, and he had actually expected - nearly pleaded - that something would be different, but no. Throughout the ruins, everything was just the same as he'd left it, dust and red leaves.
Had he really just lost his ability for no reason? Had his determination somehow lost its potency? It was a terrifying thought, and he was trying his hardest to push it away when finally, near the end of his search, he ran into something new.
A human.
He couldn't help but stare. When he had surfaced he had just suddenly found himself facing a human, and a child at that. Several things clicked into place at the same time; this human had to be the reason why he couldn't use his powers anymore. Somehow, they had enough determination to override his. They must have fallen down the hole at the very end of the ruins, the dead end with the golden flowers. Despite all the time he had wasted searching every other area they had barely made any progress, so their fall was very recent.
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Realizing that he was staring, Flowey perked up and put on his friendliest smile, already forming a plan. "Golly, that was a surprise! I didn't think there was anyone left around these parts!"
The child just watched him, confusion written across their face. They didn't look surprised so much as curious, crouching down to take a closer look (although, as their eyes were closed into thin slits, he wasn't sure if they were squinting or just naturally droopy-eyed).
"Oh, wait, how rude of me," the flower giggled, swaying on his stem. "Howdy! I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower." He really should have thought of a better name one of these resets, but whatever. 'Flowey' was almost endearing in its bland stupidity. "You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha? Golly, you must be so confused."
The child nodded. He again found himself wondering about this human, if they were mute or just a quiet type. Not that it mattered either way, their silence made things easier.
"Someone ought to teach you how things work around here," he chirped before looking around the dusty room, long since emptied out of its inhabitants. He avoided thinking about how this pitiful state of being might be permanent. "I guess little old me will have to do."
A light tap of a vine, and he could see the faint red glow of something in the child's chest. A cute, simple shape. "See that heart?" he asked, earning him another nod. "That is your soul, the very culmination of your being!"
Oh how he wished he could just take it right now and tear it out of the child's chest. He had already killed most of monsterkind and if he just had that soul he could take the other six. He could become a God.
Flowey gave the glow another tap. "Your soul starts off weak, but …" Explaining how to become stronger would be pointless. Only a handful of people were left alive, and he'd rather not have this kid killing them. The situation was bad enough as it was. "Well, there's not much you can do about that. But you should be careful! You see, down here, you fight with little white bullets like these."
He conjured up a handful of bullets and let them float in an arc over his head so the child could easily see them. The human looked awed, but thankfully had at least a smidge of self-restraint and didn't do anything stupid like trying to grab one. After a few moments of silence to make sure the child had gotten a good look, Flowey resumed his utterly pointless lesson. "But don't worry, attacks like this aren't hard to deal with at all. Just move around!" He paused. "You can move, right?"
The child nodded, standing up straight and taking a few steps to show. Flowey smiled brightly, as though the display of basic motor functions was anything to celebrate. "Great! Okay, so then let's practice dodging! I'll fire these bullets at your soul, and you'll dodge them, okay?"
Once again the human nodded, though this time Flowey caught a hint of hesitation. He snickered, bobbing a little on his stem. "You can trust me, no need to be afraid!" he assured. "Ready? Here we go!"
He didn't actually wait for the child to indicate their readiness before tossing the bullets toward them, but the attack was deliberately as slow and harmless as he could make it, so just by sidestepping once the human was able to dodge it. Flowey gave them a big, proud smile. "Great job!"
…
Yeah, he was tired of this ridiculous farce. He had shown he was nice and trustworthy and would make a great friend, yadda yadda, good enough. Lesson over.
"I'm glad we met! I've been really lonely," he said, putting on a frown. "This world used to be filled with monsters, but now almost none are left. They've all… er… gone away."
Good job, he mockingly told himself. Should have thought of a reason before starting that sentence.
Thankfully the child didn't ask further, instead frowning sympathetically and reaching out to pat Flowey's head. He allowed it despite the initial urge to swat their hand away, pretending to let the invasion of personal space comfort him. "Don't worry! I'm not lonely anymore, not when you're here. I can already tell we're gonna be best friends!"
At least until I can get the souls.