It was easy to make friends when one was a happy, cheerful little flower. That and monsters were notoriously known for being so trusting. Just one reason as to how they were all trapped in the Underground in the first place. All he had to do was be the best friend there was, and the rest just fell into the place.

And some monsters were just easier to make friends with then others.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH, FLOWEY! THIS COMPLIMENTS MY BATTLE BODY PERFECTLY!" Papyrus was actually bouncing on his feet, holding up the new, dark blue cloak that his plant friend had given him. It was stitched with the lettering, 'The Great Papyrus' in red thread, and its hem was frilled with golden tassels. Overdone, of course, but as if the skeleton understood such a thing.

"I saw you had your eye on that ensemble!" spoke the flower, voice as cheerful as always. "It was a little expensive, but no price is too high for the Great Papyrus! This should show Undyne how cool you totally are. Obviously, if you wanna be in the Royal Guard, you gotta look the part!"

"NYEH HEH HEH. YOU ARE AS GREAT A FRIEND AS I AM! COME! LET US RECALIBRATE SOME MORE PUZZLES! NEVER KNOW WHEN HUMANS WILL BE ABOUT!"

"Ah, yes… more puzzles." The skeleton sentry didn't notice the shift in Flowey's tone. He never did. How many times had he done this, going over this same conversation, the same motions? Flowey didn't know. He had long stopped counting after the twentieth reset.

It was always the same, still; give something new to the hyperactive idiot, watch him flail his bony arms, follow him into the deep banks of Snowdin, watch him create such ridiculous puzzles that a child of five could easily figure out.

It is not at all endearing, or charming, or any of the sort. Sometimes, Flowey just wanted to smash that bonehead, just once. He could change the course of events; a small dialogue tick, exchanging a laugh for a sigh instead, but it didn't really mean anything when it all ended up the same way.

"But… wouldn't you like to do something else for once?" Flowey tried, knowing he had asked this question a thousand times, in a thousand different ways. "Maybe expand your cooking set? I've heard that making chicken pot pie can be really simple if you-"

At that, Papyrus turned around, gasping so hard that he looked ready to choke on his own breath. "FLOWEY! YOU KNOW THE CULINARY ARTS CALLS FOR ONLY PERFECTION! WHAT MORE PERFECT FOOD THERE WAS THAN MY SIGNATURE SPAGHETTI?"

Ugh. Flowey did his best not to grimace. "Well, okay then. How about we then make some pasta-"

"AND NOT DO PUZZLES!? YOU KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS! ALTHOUGH THAT IS ALSO AN EXCELLENT IDEA WE MUST DO LATER." He pointed down the path, which was covered by the constant snow. "BUT FIRST I MUST FULFILL MY PURPOSE."

If Flowey just ate all the snow around him, maybe he could give himself some brain freeze and fall into a coma. That'd be something different, at least.

"hey, bro. like the new duds ya got."

And on cue, there was the other brother, appearing out of the side like nobody's business. Flowey put on his best smile. "Hi, Sans! I didn't see you around all day!"

"that's cuz I was sleeping. I mean… working. obviously." He winked.

"SANS. YOU BETTER NOT HAVE BEEN SLACKING OFF."

"no way, bro."

"OKAY, GOOD."

Sans was a whole other story. It was hard enough to get this guy to do anything too different. Flowey did his best to be as close of a friend as he was to Papyrus, but the smaller skeleton always seemed to vanish somewhere, or make an excuse to go off to Grillby's. For a guy that supposedly slept a majority of the day, he was certainly always in a hurry to just go somewhere.

"hey. got a new one for ya?"

"SANS. NO."

"knock, knock."

"SANS."

"Who's there?" Flowey asked, knowing the routine.

"boo."

"SANS."

"Boo who?"

Sans was already snickering. "don't cry. it was just a joke."

Papyrus, predictably, screamed out his non-existent lungs, stamping his feet into the snow. "OH MY GOD. THAT WAS EVEN WORSE THAN THE LAST."

"harsh, bro."

Though Flowey giggled, he couldn't help but agree with the yelling skeleton for once. Sans' jokes were tired, old things. Just as his best friend once told him. How had he never noticed it himself before?

"need me to hold onto that thing?" Sans asked his brother, gesturing to the cloak. "seems a bit long for ya. might snag onto a snowdrake."

"OH! GOOD IDEA." Papyrus took off the cloak, tossing it to Sans who caught it with his face, barely moving an inch. "BE SURE TO HAVE THAT DRY CLEANED FOR ME."

"no prob," came the muffled answer.

"ONWARD TO PUZZLES!" Limbs flailing in his walk, the taller skeleton was off, moving past the mist of snow onto the slope ahead. Usually, this was where Flowey would trail after him after Sans would ask to watch over something. Last time had been a hat that said "90's Kid," another time had been some sunglasses that didn't really make much sense, since they were underneath a mountain and all, but which Papyrus loved anyway, and the other time before had been a bowl of frozen spaghetti that Flowey had just taken from the skeleton brothers' home. Suffice to say, Papyrus was easily impressed.

Watching him leave, Flowey instead stuck around with Sans, who was still standing in the exact same spot, cloak over his head, hands in his pockets. He had also done this before too, though with less than impressive results.

"not going with him?" Sans asked through the cover.

"He doesn't really need my help. Papyrus is such an expert with puzzles!" Flowey put on extra exuberance in his voice, his smile close to straining his face.

As if finally getting enough energy, Sans pulled the cloak off his skull, draping it on his right shoulder. "guess you're right. he really is the coolest like that." Flowey could never tell if he was being sarcastic about that. Everything he said was so relaxed to that point it almost made the flower fall asleep himself.

Sans then sauntered off, the cloak dragging across the snow. "well, see ya."

This was probably the best chance he would get, which is what he always told himself, but heck, he was desperate. The flower moved forward, roots snaking through the ground to aid in his traverse. "Hey, Sans. What about you? I can get you something cool, if you'd like. You probably have a birthday coming up soon, right?" Though he wondered if skeletons actually had birthdays. Papyrus had certainly never mentioned it.

"don't worry about it. grillby's has all the things i need."

Oh right, his gross ketchup obsession. Well, Flowey could probably find some old, discarded ketchup bottles in the dump later. "Going there again, huh?" He said instead. "I wanna come along!"

"if you wanna. not sure where you can plant yourself though. heh heh."

Sans wasn't even looking at him. And the way he talked, so dismissively and uncaring, struck a nerve (or a stem?) in Flowey.

"What did you do before you lived here?" he asked bluntly. "You… didn't always live in Snowdin, right?"

He had asked this before.

Sans didn't let up his pace. Though it took him a while for him to answer, enough to make Flowey think that he fell asleep, which wouldn't have been the first time. "went to clown college once. but the place was a joke." He chuckled.

Flowey didn't play along this time. He had heard that same punchline six times now. "I'm serious. Where did you and Papyrus live? In Hotland? I bet it was the Capital, right? I mean, not many places to choose from!"

Sans stopped walking.

Flowey nearly smashed his petaled faced into Sans' tibia. Backing up, Flowey tried to stand up as tall as he could in his flowery form. This was different! Maybe he would get a change of dialogue for once.

Sans turned. His grin was still as easygoing, slippered feet digging deep into the snow banks. "what about you, buddy? you just showed up one day, too."

"I was…" Flowey hesitated. He hadn't prepared for this answer, though he guessed he should have. "I came from the Ruins. Home." He waited for a change in Sans' expression. The prince with the sprained ankle, the echoes of knock knock jokes.

"cool." Sans walked away again.

Flowey blinked. He felt his roots swivel underneath the ground, like snakes seeking a way out. "Hey! You didn't answer my question!"

"i did. clown college. gotta keep up." He gave the laziest wave that any person in history ever gave, keeping his gaze straight ahead. "also gotta get this cloak fixed up. see ya." He then turned a corner, heading straight for Grillby's.

Flowey's face shifted, gritting large teeth. He was really starting to hate comedians.

Continue. Reset.

RESET.

Reset, try again, explore other avenues of possibilities. After all, possibilities should be endless. Trying to discover a certain pathway, or a new branch of dialogue, should have been very exciting. But the thing was, all the monsters were painfully predictable at times. He'd start from his SAVE point in the garden, and already he'd be bored out of his mind.

In this world of armless monster kids, blushing airplanes, and weird eye-face freaks with a penchant for humiliation play, Flowey wouldn't show himself to just anyone really. Undyne, for example, was so hell-bent on capturing a human that she would aim to prove herself on beating anything up. A talking flower may not have been the most bizarre thing in the Underground, but that probably wouldn't stop her from suplexing a plant. He revealed himself to her only a few times, and there were moments when he could talk enough to not have her want to arm wrestle him right away.

And Alphys, Flowey would see even less. He remembered that laboratory, steel walls and shambling piles of goop screeching in a multitude of nonsense. It had scared him at first, but now sometimes he would hide among the vents, watching fascinated as the Royal Scientist would feed them all dog treats with tears in her eyes. He couldn't remember her being on this level of pathetic before, but then she liked those weird cartoons, so it wasn't unexpected at all. Sometimes, he'd tried to have fun and come up to her, telling her that she was to be next chosen magical girl monster, and to sign a contract with him. She'd squeal so loud, shouting and jumping around about all her dreams coming true, until she would look at him closely with some recognition there. He never really liked that stare of her's. She was always such a mouth-breather anyways, and the stench of ramen packets were too easy to discern.

On some resets, he would stay with Asgore, which wasn't always easy, with all the monsters clogging up New Home, and even his old house. Staying there was always so draining. Especially when he knew his father would refuse him his wish of seeing where all the humans were buried, and where all the souls were kept.

He had even tried not interacting with anyone at all, just watching from the sidelines, remapping their routines for their daily lives, sometimes unaware of just how trapped they really were, away from the sky he had once seen, stuck underneath this great mountain. It only made him feel more empty, which in turn created more disdain, which in turn created anger.

His best friend had been right. Everyone here really was worthless.

But he was determined. Isn't that why he couldn't die? He kept making friends with Papyrus, for he was really the only other monster that would give him full attention, next to possibly that armless kid. But that voice could get very, very grating at times. It would be better if he could just…cut it out. Just silence Papyrus completely.

The thought of killing Papyrus came to him very naturally.

He didn't act on it right away. "I don't actually like this. I just have to know." That was the excuse he gave himself, though it didn't stop him from going over the possible scenarios in his head. Besides, there must have been other events he could trigger before he went and did something so extreme, even if he could just reset that issue.

After all, if he killed Papyrus, he would have to kill Sans next. They were such a pair, he wouldn't want to leave anyone out. Sans would appreciate it.

The decision to murder soon became his only option.

So when Papyrus went off to the east to re-do one of his 'dastardly' puzzles, inviting Flowey along as he always had, nyeh heh hehing as he always did, the plant thought that, well, it might as well be now. Sans would be coming along soon. Just kill them both, and move on.

"HAVE I SHOWED YOU MY SNOW SCULPTURE YET?" Papyrus was yelling. He gestured to a snow replica of himself, arm flexed to show a meaty bicep that was not at all close to reality. "IT CAPTURES MY AMAZINGNESS QUITE WELL. AND SANS DID ONE TOO." He pointed to a lump of snow with the name 'Sans' scrawled in what looked like a ketchup trail. "IT'S QUITE AN IMPROVEMENT FROM THE LAST. WHY DON'T YOU MAKE ONE AS WELL?"

For the last hundred times, Flowey had, ripping icicles from the tree branches to give his flowery head a more edgy look. But that got old. Everything got old.

"I have a new game we could play together, Papyrus," he was saying. "It's like hide-and-seek, only better! Just close your eyes and count to ten."

Predictably, Papyrus clapped his hands excitedly. "OH! I LOVE HIDE-AND-SEEK. SANS IS ACTUALLY VERY GOOD AT IT. DID I TELL YOU ABOUT-"

"Just close your eyes, please?" Flowey widened his eyes with innocent hope, leaves extended as if waiting for a hug.

The skeleton listened. "OKAY. CLOSING EYES NOW. THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL COUNT FROM 10. THEN FROM 9. THEN FROM 8-"

Flowey struck forth a vine from one of the trees. It lashed out like a whip across Papyrus' chest. The skeleton was still trying to count, unaware of it at first, until his eyes comically bulged out, as it usually only did when Sans would tell another horrible joke.

He was immediately reduced to nothing but dust. The red scarf he wore fluttered to the ground.

Flowey just stared at first. He tried to discern the dust particles from the snow, could barely tell the difference. The wind blew strong, carrying fine powder into the breeze.

"Wow…" he whispered to himself, feeling the grin creep up on his face like an old, comforting friend. "It's so nice when it's quiet!" The silence truly did have a niceness to it, the kind that you heard after enduring so many years of noise and frustration. "How relaxing!"

He craned his head up, peering past the clouds of snow and frozen precipitation, to where twinkles of bright rocks were lodged in the rocky ceiling of the Underground. They glittered like stars, all in a myriad of colors. He lowered his gaze, finding those same lights reflected in other orbs of jewels in the trees, in the rocky walls, glinting white, orange, and here and there, a strange and hazy blue that would shift from place to place. What a great sight he was being treated to! How wonderful things looked after a death has taken place! Had the garden been like that for him when his old body disintegrated among the flower seeds?

He should ask his mother about that.

"I should do that right now! Oh, but killing Papyrus was much more fun than I thought! What an idiot he was!" He placed a leafy arm against his face in thought, just underneath his thin mouth, where his chin should have been. "I'll just reset, and I can do it again! I did do it way too fast after all!"

What better time than now anyway? It was like the array of lights were cheering him on to do just that! Some of them were even growing brighter, that blue glow shining as harsh as the sun.

He shut his eyes and chose his desired option. Only afterwards did he forget about killing Sans also. Luckily, he had an innumerable amount of chances for that.

Continue. Reset.

RESET.

"My child," Toriel would always say at this point, whenever Flowey would reveal who he really was. Here it was. The tears, the blubbering, the strength of her paws mussing up his petals to crinkle and nearly tear. "My child! I thought… I thought you were lost to me forever…"

Flowey was determined to see his new goal through. "But wasn't it beautiful?" he asked happily.

Toriel faltered, her sobs lessening at his glee. "Whatever do you mean?"

Perhaps he should have felt some sadness at her death. After all, she was his mother. He could recall the countless times she had held him when he scraped a knee, read him his favorite story at bedtime, and feed him one of her strange desserts. She had even readily accepted the human he had brought home, ecstatic to have another child in their home.

Roots tore open her chest like paper. Her eyes had widened in surprise. Spells of fire never made it past her throat before she was reduced to nothing but dust and tears, her soul shattering almost instantly. The space between that moment of extinguishment and realization was enough to convince Flowey that at least these kind of new runs might prove to be a little more interesting.

When he met up with Papyrus again, this time he gave him a chance to fight! Not like it was much of a fight anyway. After a few days of acting the happy, bright flower, it was all too easy to still catch the loud skeleton by surprise. After another round of screaming about puzzles and ridiculous snow sculptures, Flowey let show the roots that engulfed the entirety of the area, pulsating from the ground like veins.

Papyrus had backed off, hands at first in surrender, then arms stretched out in a waiting hug. "FLOWEY! YOU CAN BE A GOOD PERSON IF YOU TRY!"

Flowey had giggled mercilessly. "You really are an idiot! I'm not even a person, you know!" Roots twirled around the skeleton, this time ripping off the monster's skull from his body. Another comical face of shock and pain, another wave of dust mixing with the snow.

He had killed his father, too, though he would at least try to get the king to show him the souls first. At least that way, he could make some progress there. But whenever Asgore would refuse, Flowey would eliminate him just as easily, pellets circling around him and cutting off his breath. He'd give extra injury to the soul that floated off, watching it crumple away like rot. That soul had been useless anyway. It was best to just get rid of it completely.

He now looked forward to each reset, killing his parents, then killing the monster who had been the first to be his friend. Didn't they know anything about souls? Didn't they know that something like him didn't care at all for them? The murders were so addictive that he would keep missing Sans each time. Sometimes he'd catch him around before he did the deed, but never for very long, and could never seem to find him afterwards. But like that mattered anyway. Sans would probably be even more boring than his brother. He might even just fall asleep before the finishing blow ever happened! Sans wasn't worth his time.

So Flowey would reset, awakening back in the garden, encouraged by all those beautiful lights just after Papyrus' death, white stars glinting along with blue.

He couldn't just settle with those three deaths, of course, even if they had been fun. Undyne had proven to be a neat little challenge, despite the annoying nature of her endless wealth of spears. She had been hissing and sputtering when he finally got her down to her last legs.

"I won't die! Not to you!" She had screamed at him so loud, her body wavering like fog. Like the disgusting fish she was, slime had dripped down her head, nearly soaking his roots. He thought he could hear Alphys screaming, all tucked away in her safe, little laboratory, watching as the one she loved slowly died. Flowey made sure to make sure that the little nerd wasn't so lonely for much longer. He gave the same generosity to the shambling amalgamates, to the other monster citizens of New Home, and Waterfall, and Hotland, to that monster kid who kept hanging around him like the stupid little creature he was.

He took every pathway, explored every play. Sometimes, he'd let one live, sometimes several. Sometimes he'd kill only a few, sometimes he'd kill all those standing in his way. There were new possibilities always waiting for him. Trying to be everyone's friend no longer gave him anything new. Once you knew how someone would react, gave them every gift, said all the nice things to warm their heart, that was all they were. But present them with something completely different, and you might just be surprised.

Every game for him was a win.

It was only after the twelfth or so murder run did he realize he had missed one vital piece into completing his little puzzle of death, the only way he could while away his time in the Underground, knowing that the Surface to him was out of his reach. His execution points, his LOVE, all these numbers that his best friend once explained to him long before – they were the highest they had ever been. But couldn't they go even higher?

"heya."

Hadn't he made a promise to himself?

Flowey turned, shaking off his father's dust from his petals, standing in that garden with all the non-talking flowers. Sans was there in the entryway, hands in his pockets, eye sockets showing two pinpricks of white, as always. The hood of his sweatshirt was over his white skull, for once.

With a grin, the plant edged forward. "I knew I'd forgotten someone."

The skeleton didn't move, face forever upturned in a grin. "you've been busy, huh?"

Flowey laughed. "Obviously! Were you just watching this whole time? You must really be some kind of sick freak, huh?"

His stem traveled through the dirt, hidden roots upending the other flowers to get out of his way. "Or were you just sleeping it all away again? Probably crying in the dark or something? What an idiot! You're such a worthless thing! You always were! Oh, but that's right! You don't know me in this timeline. But I know you. I've always known you! So, might as well introduce myself! I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!" His grin morphed into a giddy snarl. "Howdy."

Sans showed no change in expression, like always. "then you should probably know it's always been a little hard for me to put some spring into my step."

Flowey twitched. Jokes? Really? After all this? "You idiot. I'll just kill you right now and then start over again. Maybe next time, I can start with you first!"

He waited for confusion, for any kind of anger, especially at all the information Flowey was divulging. Not like Sans would remember it anyway. But the skeleton proved to be disappointing. He was still smiling.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"yeah, and i'm all ears."

Flowey knew that was another joke, especially with Sans' very lack of ears. "Stop that!"

Sans held up his hands in mock surrender. "what's stomata, kid? aint't relaxed?"

"I am relaxed. More than I've ever been!" Flowey twisted his face, eyes sinking into blackness, mouth transforming into fangs. "You shouldn't be relaxed at all!"

"don't worry. i'm not."

He straightened up slightly. His eye sockets suddenly held nothing, and when he spoke, his voice was slow in its enunciation.

"You dirty brother killer."

For a moment, Flowey felt hesitant, until he realized that he didn't care. He only cackled.

"So what? It's not like you did anything to stop me."

Sans kept making his creepy face. It seemed to suck out all the air from the room, the flowers wilting from the silence. But Flowey still didn't care. "Are you actually going to do something for once in your pathetic life? That's new! Maybe you'll be more fun than the rest after all!"

Sans' voice was still very quiet.

"it's all going to be reset anyway." The light came back to his eyes. "but our reports showed timelines going haywire. stopping, starting, until suddenly, everything ends."

He hadn't moved an inch, but Flowey felt a shift in the skeleton's limbs. "and I just can't afford to not care anymore. not when you keep calling out to them like that."

And suddenly, he didn't understand.

Flowey growled. "What the hell are you talking about? Just shut up and let me kill you already. Guess I was wrong. You're still just as boring as ever!"

"sorry, buddy. i'm bone-dry of good material these days." Sans seemed to ignore Flowey's snarl, and straight up disdained those throbbing vines and floating 'friendliness' pellets that circled around him. One hand slipped out of his pocket.

"birds are singing, flowers are blooming… especially you. we should probably change that."

He extended his arm.

Before Flowey could laugh, he lost his breath as he was shoved to the ground, the force near breaking his stems, pushing him into the dirt.

"Gah-!"

Then he was pulled upward, his roots dragging along with him, tugging up from the ground. Miles and miles of it extended from his small flower body. But they were unable to keep him at ground level, and he was instead smacked into the ceiling, a pair of petals finally wilting from the assault.

Sans was beneath him, one arm raised and holding nothing, an azure eye blazing from his pale face.

"keep up."

Then he was slammed down again, then to the right, then to the left. He had only less than a second to dodge the field of bones that would suddenly spring up from the ground, arrayed for him like daggers. He didn't do it well enough, and was grazed by them, their ends sharper then they appeared, pain flaring through his insides. He gasped, twisting his face with a macabre image of all those he had killed, including that of the idiot spaghetti-loving skeleton who had been too stupid to even realize that he had been nothing more than a pastime that had grown too boring with use.

"Stop it, Sans!" he screeched in a cacophony of all the dead. "Stop-!"

Click.

Darkness for just a moment. Flowey blinked and he was back again, but this time there was now a winding pathway of those bones, entering his field of vision, urging him to follow it unless he wanted to get hit repeatedly by those snaking walls. He had barely enough time to try, and his hesitance cost him, making him rattle down those bones until the end.

Click.

He was on a platform, and already a bone was hanging from the ceiling heading straight for him. He tried to edge off to the platform beneath him, but missed his shot when another bone barreled him off, making him fall into that wide expanse of alternating white.

Click.

Two vertical rows of those same annoying bones now slid towards him, ready to close in. He couldn't jump high enough to escape to the small gap between them, and was crushed underneath their weight. He gasped.

Click.

Darkness again. Then light, then four giant heads –skeletal things, fangs sharp as a canine's, eyes wide and feral- looking at him from all directions. He twitched, and they opened their mouths, blasting him with rays of white heat, burning him, charring the leaves, but not yet enough to kill him. He screamed.

Click.

And it stopped.

His head was near falling off, his roots completely mutilated, and his leaves all but charred to nothingness. He had only one petal left on his head, and just a small movement was enough to let it flutter uselessly to the ground.

"it's your turn, buddy."

Flowey just wanted to turn his head. He wanted to see the skeleton when he got him back with a pellet, but he already felt so weak, to the point that only one of his pellets appeared in the air, flying uselessly to the ground. Sans sidestepped the attack as easy as that.

"now it's mine."

Sans pushed him to the wall on his right like a rag doll, arm outstretched, never once going near him. He still tried so hard to struggle, bound by invisible iron bars that Sans apparently had. The skeleton's teeth were blindingly white, so wide and static and intolerable.

At that, Flowey growled, eyes narrowing, and choked out, "Why…Why are you still smiling?!"

Sans did the worst thing by far. He shrugged.

"birth defect."

He raised both arms.

Bones encased Flowey completely, connecting from the ground to the ceiling. So trapped was he that he couldn't even twitch a miniscule of his stem while he died.

Continue. Reset.

CONTINUE.

Flowey woke up in the garden, the dust of Asgore still fresh on his petals. He waited for footsteps, but never heard any. Just a voice, soft and chill.

"heya."

He turned to find Sans in that doorway again, as easy going as always, hood over his head. The flower said nothing, only glared as he worked the roots beneath him.

"you seem frustrated about something," Sans was saying, pupils winking out again. "that's the expression of someone who's died once before, right?"

The words were not expected. Once again, Flowey was caught off guard. "Wait, you… you can't remember what happened…" He shook his head. "You're not supposed to remember."

Sans was again denying him a response. Flowey snarled, extending his vines from the ground. "You're not supposed to remember anything!"

A shift within the space of his breath. His vines missed Sans by an inch. A graveyard of discarded bones was his reward, replacing the flower bed he had been on just a moment, letting him fall into that trap.

"i've always been more of a 'read the audience' kind of guy," he heard before he died again. "helps me do my job."

Continue. Reset.

CONTINUE.

Flowey woke up in the garden, the dust of Asgore still fresh on his petals. He waited for footsteps, but never heard any. Just a voice, soft and chill.

"heya."

Flowey didn't waste a second. He summoned his pellets, circled them around Sans' head to cut off the bony expanse of his neck. He laughed then, high-pitched, nearly a squeal. The skeleton showed no reaction, not even aware of what would happen to him a second later.

Sans winked as the pellets missed him completely. Slippers scuffed across the floor in a lazy tread. "what? you think I'm just gonna stand there and take it?"

In frustration, Flowey actually answered. "YES!"

But Sans took his turn at the first moment. Bones extended from all sides, entombing Flowey in its cagey depths.

"ruthless little thing, aren't ya?"

Continue. Reset.

CONTINUE.

Flowey woke up in the garden, the dust of Asgore still fresh on his petals. He waited for footsteps, but never heard any. Just a voice, soft and chill.

"heya."

Flowey turned slowly, realizing just how much he was shaking. "Who the hell are you? How are you doing this?"

Sans' grin was tight. "gonna have to be a little more clearer on that."

"Don't… don't play dumb! You know what I mean!" He twisted his face again, eyes bugged out, fangs dripping acid. "I'm the one with the powers of a god! I'm the one with determination! Not you!"

The single blue eye was ablaze, coating the throne room/garden in its tone. Flowey edged back slightly. "How do you know about me?!"

Sans gripped the flower again, invisible magic holding him tight, crushing him back to the ground.

"this is the first time i've ever met ya, buddy."

Bones aimed for him, like a wicked knife to the chest.

Continue. Reset.

CONTINUE.

Flowey woke up in the garden, the dust of Asgore-

"Get away from me!"

The silence was thick around his head.

"not even a hello? kinda rude."

He turned around, screaming at the skeleton incoherently. He wanted to see the stupid thing flinch, or something besides constantly smiling. Disappointing. Predictable. But unsettling nonetheless.

"You're not winning this time," Flowey promised, taking the advantage of his turn. He brought forth all he had, vines embedded with thorns, walls cracking apart from his power. He laughed, watching doom encircle the skeleton, ready for the inevitable scattering of dust.

Another miss, another summoning of bones. A mix of white and blue, confusing the senses. "what? you think I'm just gonna stand there and take it?"

Just because he expected the attack didn't make him dodge it any better.

Continue. Reset.

CONTINUE.

CONTINUE.

CONTINUE.

How many times had he tried? Flowey could barely understand what was happening anymore. Sans apparently did though. Somehow, he always did.

"that expression…that's the face of…" For a moment, Sans actually laughed, just barely though. "well…i won't grace it with a description."

Flowey shivered in both rage and fear. "You shouldn't be able to do this. You shouldn't know me."

The blue eye winked into existence. "i don't."

"Liar." He huddled among the other flowers. "You know something that I don't. And it shouldn't be like that! Not at all!"

Sans winked, keeping the eye-socket with the blue eye wide open. "i like to take notes."

Flowey didn't know what to say to that. Uneasiness choked his throat, and it somehow made Sans keep talking.

"our reports showed a massive anomaly in the timespace continuum. timelines going haywire; jumping left to right, stopping, starting, until suddenly, everything ends." His voice turned an octave lower. "heh… it's because of you, isn't it?" Eye sockets darkened. "and your friend."

He couldn't understand.

"i first thought the anomaly must be doing this because they were unhappy, and that they would stop this eventually when they got what they wanted…or got bored." He shrugged again. "i mean, maybe all they wanted was just a few bad jokes, some good food, maybe some friends? but…" A pause. "going by what i see here, you're the type of monster that won't ever be happy, will ya?"

"Shut up." Flowey trembled more. "You don't know anything about me."

"not saying you're wrong." Sans' grin was hard to look at. "but i've had a lot of time on my hands, and it's getting kinda hard to ignore what's going to come next. consuming timelines over and over, until… well, maybe it's about time to call it quits, kid."

Sans raised his head slightly. Shadows draped over him like an old friend.

"before you really mess things up."

The millions of taunts that used to crowd in Flowey's mind, suddenly flitted away at that look. How could Sans know what he was doing, what he was going to do? He barely knew himself what he wanted to do next with his power! After the murder runs, what else would there be for him?

Find them.

Flowey covered the doubt with another laugh, shaky and subdued. "How can you know anything when it all resets anyway!? Not unless… not unless you have…"

Sans' face was mocking. "here, take it from me."

The skeletal animal heads appeared above Sans, a dozen or so of them, their jaws unhinging, revealing blackness. "every action stays. even when one timeline ends, and another starts, the effects it has aren't forgotten so easily." The blue eye's brightness increased in intensity. "and with every action, you will be judged."

"You can't judge a GOD!"

White light blazed from the myriad of heads arrayed with Sans, mimicking his same eye trick. "that's some complex ya got there, kid."

Continue. Reset.

…

RESET.

They never answered him, still.