Damn that boy sometimes. Did he not see the consequences of letting an assassin live? As if there were not enough people trying to kill Asgore and his family. Now there are even more.

Asgore was going to meet his third challenge of the day. He had long since stopped taking off his armor after a challenge; it is a waste of time. The gash in his side didn't make things any easier. He was just a bit too slow in one battle and a perfectly placed sword strike pierced through the chainmail connecting two plates of armor. It wasn't fatal, or even that bad of a cut, but it sent a deadly message. The message that the king could be killed.

He was once again at the great wooden doors. He had a group of guards standing ready, in case something went wrong. It was a small group, the forces spread thin trying to quell what was turning into a full-on rebellion. Maybe if Asgore dealt harsher punishment with earlier challenges, things wouldn't have gotten this out of hand. However, now it is too late and regret would aid in nothing.

All that mattered was the here and the now. The doors were slowly opening and Asgore took a deep breath when it looked like the entire bridge was filled with monsters. Asgore steeled himself, drew his weapon from a burst of flame and stepped through the doors.

Amongst the deafening yells, and sea of monsters of every shape and size, Asgore immediately knew the challenger. What exactly he saw made him grip the trident with such force. Everything had finally pushed him too far.

Being forced to fight for his life day after day. To be called unfit to be king. To have the entirety of those under his rule to turn against him. The constant weight of anger and frustration. But the last straw was seeing a member of the Royal Guard drawing its' sword against the king of the Underground as a challenge to the death.

Unspoken rules be damned. Asgore, not waiting for another word to be spoken by anyone, threw his spear directly at the traitorous guard. It didn't even have time to react. The spear exploded, vaporizing it and every monster around it in a burst of flame. When the fire died down, the view in front of him was so full of dust, the monsters behind it could barely be made out. It was much more quiet now. Then it was Asgore who didn't have time to react.

Three small sticks flew out of the smoke, aimed for Asgore. One bounced harmlessly off his chestpiece. Another missed entirely, but a third barely managed to slip between two plates of armor on Asgore's upper arm. Grunting, he immediately pulled it out and felt like his entire arm was submerged in boiling water. He looked up as the sound of the monsters grew infinitely louder.

It seemed like every one of them had begun to charge. Asgore raised both hands and conjured a spell of fire as fast as he could. Flames rushed to meet the onslaught. But the waves of fire were quickly petering out. The poison was crude, cowardly, but painfully effective in draining the king of his strength. Asgore was backpedaling, still trying to keep a wall of flame between him and the army of attackers, now stalled, yet still managing to advance.

Asgore was through the door, and already at the limits of his energy. He could hear the clank of metal boots on the stone floor as guards lined up behind him. Now Asgore couldn't help but consider the possibility that one of them may stab him in the back at any moment.

"Close the door!" Asgore's strained voice commanded. The doors were in motion, but not fast enough. Asgore's vision was beginning to blur. He knew that there couldn't be enough poison to kill him outright, but he was left with absolutely no choice but to let the spell fade. The fire vanished, leaving Asgore sweating, breathing heavily, facing toward an army with nothing in between; an army that renewed their charge.

The many monsters were spilling through the gap in the door as the few guards rushed to establish lines and meet the enemy. Asgore kept retreating, he felt as if it was hard to keep his feet on the ground. The sound of metal striking metal crashed through the corridor. The guards, more experienced and better equipped, managed to hold the line. The doors had stopped closing. The attackers were wedged in between, keeping it open.

Asgore had to do something. He focused on casting another fire spell and a very weak ball of flame jittered to life in his palm. It wasn't nearly enough to really help. Just then, a monster, brandishing many swords, managed to jump over the assembled guards and rushed at Asgore. The monster help its' swords high and Asgore sluggishly was able to raise his hand in time and blast it square in the chest.

Even though the king was weak, he still expected it to be a killing blow. Instead, the two headed, four armed opponent merely staggered back, its' chest was giving off smoke. It was almost an embarrassing display; was this really all Asgore could muster? The king snarled and strained to raise his fists, ready to try and fight hand-to-sword. The monster regained its' footing and drew closer again, when sharp metal exploded from its' stomach.

Confused, Asgore watch the monster half slide, half melt off the sword as a guard, the familiar glowing suit of armor, stood behind it, its sword held in its' disembodied gauntlet. Asgore might have wanted to tear it to pieces for upstanding him in the middle of his fight, but he was too tired to really care. Besides, he had better things to worry about; the line of guards were being pushed back.

"Where is the captain?" Asgore demanded in the strongest done he could.

"My liege, you sent her to assassinate the one in Snowdin," responded the guard. Damn, how had Asgore forgotten? A monster had declared itself be the new king and that all monsters should follow it instead of the Royal Family. Asgore had to have that one killed. Now it was apparent he should have delayed that order.

Asgore pointed a figure behind the guard as another monster approached. The suit of armor turned to fight, leaving Asgore trying to figure out how to stop this hostile takeover. More reinforcements would be arriving after an event such as this, but how many more? That wouldn't matter if the door remained open. So what-

"Having trouble darling?" a calm voice said through the cacophony of battle. Asgore managed to turn and, through his impaired vision, saw something that made him freeze in place: his wife. Asgore tried to answer but couldn't think: what was she doing here? Yet Toriel didn't exactly look concerned; she was completely straight-faced.

As if losing interest, Toriel looked away from him, toward the door. She brought her hands together, the space in between glowing brightly. Then she thrust her hands out and a ball of fire arced through the hall toward the unsuspecting group of monsters blocking to door.

Asgore had to turn away as the burst of intense heat from the explosion made his eyes water. When we looked back, he saw that the whole room was stunned. Monsters and guards that were not hit were either paralyzed in place, on their backs, or partially burned. The air was dense with gray.

"The Doors!" Asgore shouted as loud as he could. Then everyone or everything was on in motion again. The doors, now unobstructed started to finish closing the gap. The fighting was renewed inside, but monsters outside were hesitant to enter. Another ball of heat arced past Asgore toward the remaining attackers and more red, orange and gray filled the air. Asgore pulled his cape up to his mouth to breathe easier.

A boom of the charred doors closing fully echoed through the large hallway. It was only a few more minutes before the rest of the traitors were no more. They didn't even get a chance to surrender before the guards were done. Asgore probably wouldn't have spared them anyway. He would make sure to learn from his mistakes.

Asgore moved a short distance and put his hand against the wall to guide himself to the floor. Standing was getting unbearable, and not doing so provided some relief. He generally heard the scuffle of boots moving around trying to reinforce the door, but he was unconcerned. He didn't really know what to feel. A shadow covered his view, and he looked up to see his wife.

"You should really have told me how bad this was getting," She said sternly.

"This was my responsibility to deal with. I didn't want you involved," responded Asgore, having trouble sounding in-control. It was probably the poison. There was a pause before Toriel responded.

"Why are you so weak?" Her words were harsh. It wasn't the poison she was talking about. "I thought you could have easily handled this." It would have infuriated Asgore to be called weak, but Toriel had more power over him than he would admit.

"The cowards poisoned me." Asgore said, having trouble keeping his bloodshot eyes on Toriel.

"Poison..." Toriel looked away, in thought. "Hm…"

"Well?" Asgore prompted a bit impatiently. She looked back, her expression was much softer; jarringly so.

"I know you like to handle things on your own but… just be careful, darling." Asgore didn't respond. "If you need help, please ask me. We rule together, remember?" She said earnestly. She was right, but…

"Yet you just accused me of being weak. Now you tell me to ask you for help?" Asgore was clenching his fists. Toriel's expression went a bit colder again.

"It is because you always choose to act alone that you are weak." The words hit Asgore like a punch in the stomach. He felt himself flatten against the wall. Toriel looked even colder. "Especially now, you choose to do this without even telling me that our own people are turning against us." Asgore's mind was swimming, but no response was in there. "So tell me, what are we up against?" Seeing no other choice, Asgore eventually spoke.

"The entire underground is rising up against the family. I even saw a guard in the crowd outside." Asgore felt a bit uncomfortable telling Toriel this.

"Why?" Toriel's said curtly. Asgore really would rather not burden her with this information. If she likes the human even a fraction of the amount that she loves her own child, then this may be too much for her.

"I think it would be best that you-"

"Darling, I wasn't asking. Tell me." Asgore froze, then found the words.

"Very well… they think we are betraying them by allowing the human to live. They want us to kill it." Now it was Toriel who froze. This is exactly why Asgore had to keep her out of this. "Tori, I think you should go back to our home. I can handle this." Her eyes refocused on him.

"You think I don't already know about Chara?"

"Tori I-"

"Do not call me that, Dreemurr. Now, I will only ask one more time, how do we end this?" Toriel's eyes were drilling holes in Asgore's. Asgore already knew what had to be done to put a stop to the rebellion. She would protest; maybe even try to stop him. Asgore would tell her later, but for now, she needed to stay out of this if it was going to work.

"Go home Toriel," Asgore growled. He couldn't back down. Toriel silently glared at him. Then she walked away and said nothing more, leaving Asgore, still in great pain, sitting against the wall.

The rebellion. There isn't anything Asgore could do to stop this. All the monsters want Chara to die and would not stop until it happened. But it isn't that simple; if Asgore were to kill the human now, it would only look like a sign of submission.

Even though he would, in theory, become more powerful with the possession of the soul, that likely wouldn't stop the monsters from continue to challenge him. Asgore's strength never stopped them before. There would be more challenges from the monsters; they are never satisfied. Or they would all simply leave once freed and Asgore and his family would rule over a non-existent kingdom.

It was almost obvious: Asgore could never truly be the leader of the monsters now. However, while kings rise and fall, a father always provides for his family. If he could not be king, then so be it. However, Asriel still could. To show he was ready to accept the mantle of king, he would have to prove himself better than the current unfit king.

Asgore couldn't care if Asriel hated him if it meant protecting his family line. Even if Asriel had to sacrifice his own happiness, it was for his own good. Asriel would have to be the one to free the monsters. To do this, he must… he must… no, it cannot be avoided. Asgore must make his son do this for the sake of the family. Asriel must kill Chara himself.

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