THE LAST HOPE

Volos once more entered the halls of the Delta Keep looking for Asgore. He saw his son and that lizard go with him, probably to save the kid he stabbed. He knew their efforts were in vain. No healing magic could regenerate a heart. While they were grieving their friend's death, he would slay Asgore. And with his death, the war would be won.

But still, that shorter skeleton's words would not leave his head. What did he mean? What plan did they have? Something was nagging him in the back of his mind, but for some reason, he couldn't put it together.

He was going through another hall when he felt a tremble. Puzzled, he looked around, wondering what caused it. He felt it again and looked towards one of the walls. It felt like it came from the other side of it.

A second later, the wall exploded and a fireball, bigger than any other, struck him and sent him flying through the opposite wall and into a spare room. He got up, using the staffs for support to look at this new foe and his jaw dropped at the sight.

It was Asgore, but he didn't look as he had earlier. He had grown a couple of feet and his armor had extended to fit him. A second pair of horns grew from his forehead and he had new spiked gauntlets. His battle skirt was longer as well, but so were his legs. His beard and hair were all braided and a cape made of fire billowed behind him, faintly looking like wings. A red heart was on his chest piece and his armor was the most brilliant shade of gold ever seen. A gold helmet also covered his head while his eyes were uncovered. His trident had also grown appropriately with a second set of tines on the bottom. He held a smaller gold trident in his other hand.

Suddenly, Volos remembered what those other Monsters had said after he struck them.

Frisk has… one last plan they can try. …They'll reunite with Asgore… and give him the power he needs to defeat you…

our plan is pretty simple, but we all agreed to not do it because of one of the steps involved. but, thanks to you, that step is done.

That had been their plan. Asgore absorbed Frisk's Soul and gained a great deal of power from it. The Monsters had hinted at the nature of such a plan but he had dismissed it. Now he was sorely wishing he hadn't. Fear gripped his heart as Asgore marched toward him.

"You're going to pay for all your crimes," Asgore said, weapons brandished.

Volos took a defensive stance. "Not if I kill you first." He fired a bolt of lightning but Asgore blocked it with his big trident and the red electricity was absorbed by the weapon. Asgore then conjured a barrage of red-white fireballs. Volos tried to deflect them, but they pushed him back. Asgore didn't give him a chance to recover. The lightning Asgore had absorbed leapt from his trident to the wizard boosted by Asgore's own power. Volos had to use both staffs to deflect the lightning, and even then, he just barely succeeded. He collapsed to his knees from the effort.

This was not going to be easy, he realized. Asgore had become much more powerful and Volos unwittingly aided in that. He needed room to fight and hope his lava could finish Asgore off. He blasted the wall behind him and ran out to the courtyard.

Asgore turned to see Haward and MK arriving. MK was carrying Frisk's body. "He might be going to the humans for help," Asgore guessed.

"It's time we ended this battle," Haward said. "I'll talk to my people. You take care of my father."

Asgore nodded before running off in pursuit.

"Let's go, MK," Haward said, gesturing for the lizard to follow.

"Right," MK said. Haward caught onto his mood.

"We'll avenge Frisk. I promise," he assured.

"I know," MK said sadly. "That doesn't make it any better." He started walking towards the courtyard, Haward running ahead.

Gerson was doing his best to lead the battle. After that fight against the serpent, some had stopped fighting altogether. Their hearts were no longer in the conflict. He was commanding the humans on his side, doing their best to repel their kind. It was a blessing that Gerson's side wasn't trying to kill anyone and the archers up above were still aiming to disable, not kill.

Two other wizards, one purple and one orange, were still commanding the invading forces, but it was clear their army wasn't giving it their all anymore.

An explosion caught their attention and Volos ran out into the courtyard. He looked terrified of something. A few moments later, Asgore showed up, more imposing than ever. He engaged Volos in battle but the human struggling to match the Monster.

A little while later, MK and Haward came up to the turtle. Frisk was in the lizard's arms.

"What happened?" Gerson asked.

"Volos killed Frisk and Asgore absorbed their Soul," Haward explained.

Gerson looked at the body in MK's arms. He felt sympathy for the young Monster as he cradled his friend's corpse. "I'm sorry, lad," he said sincerely.

MK used his tail to rub his eyes. "We need to get the army to stand down," he said. "Get them to stop fighting. Once that's done, we can focus on Volos."

"Those two wizards are very determined to kill us," Gerson said, pointing to the purple and orange wizards. "I think they're the only reason the battle is still going on."

"Then we defeat them, whatever it takes," Haward decided.

"Okay," Gerson agreed before facing MK. "You might want to lay them down. You're gonna need both arms."

"I can't just leave them," MK protested.

"We need you," Haward said. "They'd want you to leave them."

MK sniffled before nodding. "Okay." He laid them against one of the halls outside the courtyard. "Nobody touches them." He conjured a spear in hand, ready for battle. "For Frisk!"

Volos struggled to parry Asgore's blows. The tridents were very strong and required magic to block. Brute force proved useless. Most of the spells Volos tried were useless as well because Asgore was able to deflect them. The king of Monsters also moved with a speed and grace that was normally not seen on someone as big as him.

Volos was outside the buildings and had access to the ground. He focused his magic into the dirt, heating it up. But it took him a while as Asgore continued to assault him.

Eventually, Volos was able to create a pool of lava. Asgore stepped back and the molten rock separated them.

"Even with all that power, you're still flammable!" Volos shouted. With one of the staffs, he shaped the lava into a wave and sent it at Asgore.

The Boss Monster wasn't sure what to do. He knew fire spells but lava was completely different. Suddenly he felt his arms move without his will. With a thrust of the double-ended trident, they stabbed the wave and forced it to split, going to either side of Asgore. Then, before either could react, Asgore's whole body moved seemingly on its own and sent a stream of lava at Volos. The wizard dodged the molten rock and narrowly avoided getting burned.

Asgore was astonished. He didn't know how to do that and he didn't will any of that either. So who did?

Don't worry, Asgore, I got your back.

Asgore almost started when the voice appeared in his head. "Frisk?" he questioned.

Who else would it be?

"You're alive. But… how?"

I wouldn't exactly call this 'alive', Frisk said. And we're not sure how it works, but the Soul contains everything I am. When you absorbed it, everything I am went into you.

"Well, however it happened, I am glad."

Me too. But don't get distracted. Volos is still a threat.

"Right." Asgore raised his tridents as Volos recovered.

"I don't know how you did that but it matters little," Volos said. "You will die by my hand!"

"You can try," Asgore retorted.

Volos conjured a stream of fire, which Asgore blocked. Then Volos psychically grabbed various chunks of debris and sent it at Asgore. Frisk took over for the moment and used their own telekinesis to stop it. Volos took advantage of the opening to fire a blast of lightning, but Asgore blocked it with his trident.

Asgore charged with both his weapons, his eyes rapidly flashing between orange and blue. He swiped at the human with both weapons. Volos unable to keep up with the changing colors and was flung backwards from the blows.

The wizard recovered and created more lava, sending the streams at the Boss Monster. Frisk took control to counter them and retaliated by creating a pool of lava and sending it at Volos, which the wizard was forced to dodge.

They traded blows and spells for a long time with Asgore coming out on top every time. As the fight wore on, Volos began panting and his attacks were weakening. Frisk realized Volos was tiring out at last. The effort of so much magic was too much for him to handle.

Asgore pressed the advantage and engaged in more close-quarters combat. Volos tried striking the king with his weapons, but even his hatred wasn't enough to strike an empowered Asgore down in a couple hits.

Volos began to retreat, heading for the battle in the courtyard.

"I need assistance!" he shouted.

No humans ran to help him. A few parted and Volos stopped at the sight. The purple and orange wizards were on the ground with MK, Gerson and Haward above them. The humans' Souls were in the hands of the Monsters.

"No one's coming to your aid, traitor," Gerson said. "As for these…"

For a moment, Volos feared that the Monsters would absorb those Souls and turn the battle in their favor. Instead, Gerson swung his hammer down on the purple Soul in his hand, shattering it to pieces. MK tossed the orange Soul in the air and swung his spear as it came down, slicing it in two.

"No Monster would absorb Souls so foul," Gerson said.

Volos turned to see Asgore standing before him. He looked around and saw Dobromil still there.

"Dobromil, help me," he pleaded.

"Help yourself," the green wizard spat.

Volos growled. "Fine. I'll do it myself." He fired the most powerful blast of lightning at Asgore he could and the Boss Monster once more deflected it. Volos charged, one staff tipped with fire, swinging it at Asgore. The king whacked the staff aside then struck Volos with his own weapon and sent the wizard onto his back. Volos brought up his other staff preparing to send a blast of lightning, but Asgore knocked that out of his hand as well.

Asgore raised his trident, prepared to impale the wizard, but hesitated.

"What are you waiting for? Finish me," Volos spat.

Asgore wanted to. He really wanted to. Even Frisk was trying to encourage him. Volos had caused so much pain to everyone. Friends were gone and families were torn apart all because of his desire to kill. Frisk was dead because they stood in Volos' way.

Asgore looked up at the humans present. All eyes were on him and it was rather clear that he had absorbed a human Soul. Asgore considered this moment carefully. He realized that this was a turning point in history. The humans had struck due to a fear of Monsters that Volos had enflamed. They were scared of him now as he was poised to kill their leader. A few had broken off, overcoming their fear to side with the Monsters, but now even those few were scared as well.

Asgore realized that what he did next would define history for a thousand years. Frisk and their friends had traveled through time to change the past to create a better future for everyone. But maintaining that future would require effort. They had to learn from their mistakes; not just this past, but from Frisk's own and do better to create a better world. One where such a fear did not exist.

He had to make a choice, a smart one. He could recall the lessons his father had beaten into him. While not the best man, there were many things he was right about. And Asgore considered those lessons now.

The humans viewed the Monsters as creatures of destruction and death. Demons that would plague their lives and threaten their existence. But they were not. Monsters were love, hope, and compassion, and always responded to situations with those traits.

Volos was a dangerous man, but Asgore knew if he killed him, he'd just prove him right. That Monsters truly were dangerous and that peace was never possible. He would not fall for that. Not now, not ever.

Instead of impaling the defenseless man, Asgore lowered his weapon, sparing Volos.

"W-what are you doing? Finish me!" Volos shouted.

"No," Asgore said decisively. "That's not who we are." He looked up at Haward. The human was nodding in approval. Asgore turned and walked away from Volos.

But Volos was a spiteful, petty and vindictive man. He grabbed a discarded sword and turned on Asgore when he turned his back.

A weapon impaled flesh and everything seemed to stop.

Asgore turned in surprise to face Volos who had the sword raised above his head…

…and a spear in his chest.

The red-black wizard looked at the weapon in shock before collapsing.

All eyes turned to Haward, hand stretched to his father, having tossed his spear at the man.

"Haward…" Gerson said, astonished.

"Attacking when someone has spared your life and when their back is turned is the most cowardly thing you can do," Haward said.

Dobromil came up. "Volos was guilty of inciting war, treason, and murder. But when word gets out that he's been killed there will be chaos."

"Perhaps, but we need to learn from our mistakes if we are to live together," Haward said. He walked over to his father's body, retrieving his spear. "This chaos might be what brings our two species together."

"What makes you think it's possible for our kinds to live together," someone asked.

"Because it's true. Frisk proved that," Haward said. "Frisk has lived with them for years and grew to love them like they were their own kind. A feeling that was returned. I saw several Monsters die for that kid."

"And where is this kid now?" someone asked.

"Murdered by my father," Haward answered. "They gave their life to protect Asgore. I saw it. That shows me that there's more to the Monsters than we think. My people have been with them for a week. Never once have we been mistreated."

"But the Monsters want to absorb our Souls," someone said.

"No. You saw it. Gerson and MK had two Souls right there and they destroyed them. The Monsters aren't going to kill us for our Souls. That's the last thing on their minds."

"What about the king? I think it's clear he took a Soul."

"Only because Frisk begged him to," Haward explained. "I was there. Asgore resisted it. They had to beg him to do it because it was the only way to beat my father. And they were right. Now think about that. If even the king of Monsters, who at his most desperate moment didn't want to absorb a Soul, even when that Soul was being freely offered, then what are the chances of a random Monster doing the same?"

Nobody responded to that. The answer to that was clear.

"We can live together. Frisk proved that," Haward continued. "They sacrificed themself for the Monsters."

"But it makes no sense," someone cried out. "Why would they do that?"

"I don't know the whole story but having lived with them for a week, one theory springs to mind," Haward answered. "Frisk is loyal to Monsterkind. They love them with all their heart and gladly gave their life to defend them. Don't any of you find that strange? Just think on it. Someone was willing to die for a species not their own. That says something about the people they were protecting. They had no loyalty to us because we never showed any to them. We need to learn about how to be better. Because if we don't, the next Frisk might not be so merciful to us. They may resort to more deadly measures."

The two armies, human and Monster, looked to each other at that. The humans didn't want to fight their brothers and the Monsters weren't interested in fighting at all. Trust would be hard but they were willing to try. Someone had to take that first step, though.

Dobromil was the first. He flung his staff to the ground making it clear where he stood. Others followed by also tossing their weapons down. And with that, everyone let their weapons fall. The battle was over and they were going to try. Human and Monster alike.

MK picked up Frisk's body, cradling it in his arms. Around him, humans were reconciling with each other and Monsters aiding in healing. It had been surprising to the former invaders that the Monsters didn't harbor any grudge over what just happened. But that was a Monster for you. They preferred peace over violence and love over hate.

A flaming arrow had been shot up into the sky, the signal for the ships to return. MK wasn't sure what to tell Alphys when she returned. He had scoured the battlefield and Undyne was nowhere to be found. He had also been unable to find Sans, and Papyrus had dusted right before his eyes. They had changed history, but at a steep price.

MK placed Frisk's head on his metal shoulder, nuzzling their hair. Sure, they were still conscious in Asgore now but it wasn't the same. And on top of that, a small part of MK doubted they had succeeded in their goal. On the surface it seemed like the war was over but that depended entirely on the human king. Would he be willing and agreeable to peace with Monsters? He didn't know and that, on top of him still being here, cast doubt on if they had changed anything.

Alphys' research into time travel did indicate that nothing would happen to them if they changed the past but that wasn't a guarantee. No one knew if changes to the past cause the time travelers to disappear when they altered the past.

MK walked through the halls of the castle, taking a look around. If he was going to disappear with this change to history, he wanted to be with Frisk when it happened. Though so far, it didn't seem like anything was happening. He walked by one of the windows and spotted the ships docking at the ports below. He turned towards the entrance, deciding to be there when Alphys and the others returned.

Alphys strolled up the path to the castle with Toriel beside her. When that arrow appeared in the sky she knew that meant the battle was over. Judging by how humans and Monsters were helping each other recover, she guessed it went in their favor. She was going to go find one of her friends to get an account of what happened as well as who was gone.

She didn't want to think it but there was a possibility that one or more of her friends had died in the battle. Even though she had lost so many people over the last two years, it didn't make it easier when she learned that one of her friends had met their end.

Alphys and Toriel stepped into the courtyard with the castle's servants and workers behind them. Alphys looked around, glad to see the humans accepting aid from Monsters and vice versa. Though there were a few, placed off to the side, that weren't being seen to at all. She guessed that those were the fallen.

And Volos was among them.

"He's dead," she muttered, pointing to Volos' corpse so Toriel would know. "They did it." A smile lit her features as that sunk in. If Volos was dead and the humans weren't baying for Monster dust, then it meant something had gone right. "We won."

Toriel looked somewhat horrified at the sight. "I am still not comfortable that it had to end this way," she said.

"It was either that or we all died," Alphys said angrily. "Personally, I'm not bothered by it at all. I'm just glad it's over and that we won."

"But at a price."

Toriel and Alphys turned to see MK walk up, Frisk in his arms.

"Frisk!" Alphys screamed, running over. Toriel was right behind her. She saw the red patch on their chest but refused to believe the evidence with her own eyes. "What happened?"

"Volos," MK answered. "He got them in their heart. They destroyed his sword but he still killed them."

Alphys fell to her knees, cupping Frisk's cheek. "No… no…"

"They died protecting Asgore," MK said in a scarily toneless voice. "Protecting all of us. We won, but the cost was too much."

Toriel knelt down, laying a hand on Alphys' shoulder, crying. "Did we lose anyone else?"

MK nodded. "The skeleton brothers, Papyrus and Sans, and…" MK hesitated before saying it. "And Undyne."

Alphys looked up at MK in horror. He was being perfectly candid. There was no energy in him to lie or joke. She buried her face in her hands, crying into them.

"They all gave as good as they got," MK informed. "They gave their lives to give us a chance."

Toriel was a little frightened at how neutral MK's voice was. "Are you… alright?" she asked.

"No," MK answered. "I feel like I just had my heart ripped out. We won but at a steep price."

Toriel felt sympathy for MK. He was too young to go through this and it was clear he was trying to suppress his emotions.

"Where is the king?" Toriel asked, still comforting Alphys.

"Trying to draft a letter to the humans with Dobromil," MK answered. "The human king needs to know what happened here."

Alphys wiped her eyes, putting her goggles back on as she stood up. "W-what is it going to say?" she asked.

"The truth," MK answered. "The humans are going to know what happened here and what became of their best wizard."

Gerson came up at that moment. "Glad you two made it back," he greeted.

"Gerson. You survive," Toriel said, glad.

"Of course I did. Gonna take a lot more than a few humans to put me down," Gerson chuckled.

"I should probably go speak with Asgore," Alphys suggested. "Make sure that he's saying the right things."

"You sure you don't want to take a moment, lass?" Gerson asked. "You looked pretty broken just a moment ago."

"If I sit and think I'll go crazy," Alphys said. "I need things to do or else I'll just get trapped in my own head." She walked past the turtle and Toriel followed her.

"Um, I'm not sure that's a good idea," Gerson said nervously.

"Let her go," MK said. "She'll find out eventually." He followed, his feet lightly dragging.

Alphys arrived at Asgore's chamber with Toriel, MK, and Gerson behind her. She opened the door without knocking.

She took a couple steps in and saw Asgore at a desk, Dobromil beside him. At first, she didn't notice anything wrong, but when he stood up, she realized he had become a lot taller.

"Alphys, you're back," he greeted.

"Good heavens!" Toriel exclaimed. "What happened to you?!"

Alphys glanced back at Frisk's corpse in MK's arms and made the connection instantly. "The nuclear option," she whispered. "You absorbed their Soul. Frisk's Soul."

Toriel looked at Alphys in shock, the king nodding. "I didn't want to," he said. "But we were out of options and they begged me too."

Alphys sighed, a hand to her head. "I should have known," she said. "Undyne told me they were considering it. I didn't think they'd push for it, though."

"And the humans are okay with that?" Toriel asked.

"Frisk died protecting Asgore," Dobromil answered. "And besides, those two there had other human Souls at their disposal and destroyed them instead of absorbing them."

Alphys and Toriel looked back at Gerson and MK who both nodded.

"So the war is over," Alphys questioned. "The fighting is done."

"That depends on what our king decides," Dobromil said. "But after what happened here, I think he'll be open to negotiations. Volos did kill a child. And that won't sit well with the people. The king will want a full report."

"Hence this letter," Asgore said. "I've detailed it as best I could with Dobromil's help."

"Let me help, too," Alphys suggested. "We need to make sure that it's presented in the best light."

"Are you sure?" Asgore asked. "You don't want to take a moment to-"

"I can't afford to. Not now," Alphys said. "Trust me, I'll have a major breakdown later. Right now, I need to do my part to ensure peace."

"Very well," Asgore agreed.

As Alphys walked over, Gerson went up to Toriel. "Um, perhaps you and MK should organize his room?" he suggested. "The lad needs something to do with his hands and… I think he needs living company."

Toriel got the message. "Very well." She turned to the lizard. "Come, MK."

She walked off, MK following. Today was a victory, but he wasn't sure it was worth the cost.

End of Chapter 17