The human said that the monsters weren't going to accomplish anything. All they were doing was making this just a little bit more interesting. They glanced at Undyne and winked, before saying that it would probably make it easier too.

Undyne noticed the glance and clenched her fists. She couldn't guess what the human's could possibly mean.

And she didn't care.

Not one damn bit. She was going to tear out their SOUL… but not before tearing out their organs. She was going to enjoy every moment of killing this worthless killer. Every single person in the RUINS. Not to mention Queen TORIEL. She was ready for a fight."

Papyrus held a bone lightly in his hand. He wasn't ready for this at all. He didn't even know why he was here.

No, wait. He knew.

He was here because the Underground needed him. Because monster-kind needed him. Because they couldn't win without the help of the Great Papyrus. He wasn't happy about it.

But Papyrus was ready to kill.

Sans' eye glowed with a dull orange light. He was holding his hand in the air and idly flipping a blue bone through the air. He was afraid. He was afraid for Papyrus, he was afraid for the monsters, and he was afraid… for himself. He'd always been cocky. Although no one knew it but himself, he was the strongest monster in the Underground by a wide margin. But like this… the Human had only a fraction of the LOVE he'd be comfortable with fighting them at. If KR didn't work, he couldn't possibly use his full power. And as casual as he was with everything, as much as he didn't care…

He didn't want to die.

But more than that, he didn't want Papyrus to die. Which meant he had to fight. And he'd gladly take a bullet for his brother.

Or a knife, he supposed.

Mettaton smiled, clenching and unclenching his fists. It had been hard convincing Alphys to let him use this form. Even after she'd activated it, she didn't want him to transfer bodies yet. It was incomplete, she said, and besides. His base form was invincible. His EX form wasn't. He could die out there. And yeah, he knew that. But he also knew that being a fabulously sexy rectangle wasn't gonna help anyone. It was weak, practically harmless, and unbearably slow. And so he needed EX, vulnerable or not.

Now, he stood in the field, ignored by everyone there, and he didn't care if he was noticed or not.

He'd have the spotlight once he killed the human. He could finish them, take their SOUL, pack his bags, and leave. It'd be as easy as 1 2 3. He couldn't wait. To be a star and a savior. It sounded fun.

Alphys was cowering. She hadn't unlocked the door of her lab since Mettaton had left. She was afraid. Of Mettaton dying. Of Sans dying. Of herself dying. But most of all, of Undyne dying. She didn't want that to happen. She never, never, never wanted that to happen. And she'd be willing to give up Sans, Mettaton, and herself all to keep it from happening.

Suddenly, though, she realized that sacrificing people wasn't going to stop anything. This wasn't a damn anime. This was real life. Which meant she had to do shit if she wanted results! For over 100 years people had been telling her that. Sans, Gaster, the Followers, Mettaton, all of them! And so she had to work! To do something real for once in her useless life! Which meant… she had no choice. She had to dredge it up. To bring it back. But… Mettaton wasn't here, so how would she…

No.

She couldn't do that.

But by god she knew she was going to.

ASGORE hefted his trident. Despite everything, he'd never killed even one human since the Barrier was raised, at least not personally. He felt like a traitor. A hypocrite. He'd ordered them all around like a coward. Gaster, Sans, Undyne, Times, Gerson, even Muffet. Each had killed a human of their own, but never once had he taken matters into his own hands. Each human, too, had been innocent. Only two of them had any LOVE, and each of those had killed in self-defense.

Not so with this human.

This human was a mass-murderer. A killer. One could even say… and Angel of Death. ASGORE shuddered. He remembered the legend, like everyone else. But he refused to admit that he feared it. He was the King of all Monsters, and he was going to save his people, live or die, win or lose, rise or fall.

Flowey didn't have any emotion. No fear. No anger. No anxiety. No happiness. No love. But, in the end, it turned out he was wrong about one of those. He had fear. At the very end, every time, he felt fear. And as it happened again and again, he began to realize sooner, until the fear sprouted up before Mettaton was destroyed. Then before Undyne was killed. Then even before she transformed. Eventually it got to the point that Flowey was horrified of the human before they'd slain a single soul. The fear, the terror… it had become ingrained into his life. He was always afraid, always.

And it stung his pride, to be afraid. But there was nothing he could do.

One day, though, he realized. There was something he could do. He couldn't defeat the human alone, even with the six SOULs. But maybe… with the help of the others… he didn't need them? Two little white pellets floated out of the ground behind him as he scowled angrily. He was ready for whatever came next.

Ha. What a joke.

He knew what came next.

And it wasn't going to be pretty.

ASGORE was the first of the monsters to speak.

"Hello! Human! Listen, before this begins, I must say something to you! On another day, human, perhaps we could be friends. I wish so much to be able to say 'Howdy! Would you like a cup of tea?' Instead, though… I must say this. Stand down and surrender your SOUL to us, or else suffer a fate somewhat worse than a quick death. The entire Underground stands before you, human. All our heroes. All our armies. Every last soul here has only one goal. Freedom. You are the only thing standing in our way. And as much as I despise having to say it… that means that you must die human. On another day, perhaps I would be torn about this. Perhaps I would think, 'What would Tori think?' But today, human, I know what TORIEL would be thinking. My wife would be thinking absolutely nothing. Because she is dead, human. AT YOUR HAND! I shall not let you continue! Stand down!

The human smiled, and tried to make a snarky comment, but suddenly found themselves at a loss for words. Usually they had no lack of witty banter…

But there was nothing to say.