As I opened my eyes, all I could see was darkness. I tried blinking rapidly to no avail, I couldn't see a thing. I turned to what I believed was face down and heard something wet hit the floor, like a small droplet. I closed my eyes and concentrated, trying to push past the mild pounding in my head, igniting my aura. I opened my eyes again to see my hands, the gloves from Snowdin still on and multiple droplets of blood on the floor. I gingerly reached a hand up to touch my forehead, running my hand along the entirety of my face, wincing when I grazed my right eyebrow; I pulled my hand down to see blood on my fingertips.
"Just what did that flower do?" I asked myself, my voice echoing in the darkness. I felt around my body to find the miniature bag of food, taking one of the monster candies and eating it, feeling the wound on my eye close up and the headache going away. I stood and took a deep breath, powering up as much as I could, flaring my aura outwards to see something, anything; I almost wish I didn't. For a while, nothing happened, until something was illuminated in the distance, very faintly, but it was there; a large mass of... stuff, I couldn't see too well, but my instincts told me to snuff out the light immediately.
"Awwww, you went and spoiled the surprise already? How rude." It was Flowey's voice, echoing around me; I placed my hand on the side of my face to try and read the scouter, but it was gone. "Ah ah ah, no more spoilers!" As he said this, my scouter was brought down by a vine in front of my face and crushed before I could even react. "I really should thank you by the way." A light gave some illumination from above, I looked and saw what appeared to be Flowey on some sort of television screen. "Your distraction of the king allowed me to gain access to the human souls! Without you, I would have been stuck trying forever! Unfortunately he lived, but that's a mistake I can rectify once I kill you!"
"You can sure as hell try you damn weed." I said, getting into a fighting stance and powering up. "I've beaten everyone in the underground without breaking a sweat, the king included. What makes you any different?" Flowey chuckled before pushing the screen up to my face.
"Because unlike you, I'm not afraid to kill. To get my hands dirty. To actually hurt someone. Down here, strength is only as good as the intent of the person wielding it. And trust me, I intend to hurt you! Over! And over! AND OVER! Saving and reloading your death until the end of time. Doesn't that sound fun?" The screen faded to black as the room glowed red, the silhouette of the massive shape I saw earlier drawing closer to me until, where once was a flower, now stood this towering, horrific behemoth of flesh, plant and metal with the most maniacal laugh I have ever heard. Immediately the assault began with no warning, shurikens of magic being thrown everywhere, barely being able to dodge anything; several of them grazed me, slicing into my skin wherever they made contact, I tried my best to blast some away, but my ki attacks just fizzled out on contact. As I jumped upwards to attack Flowey directly, a blue soul icon flashed on screen and he vanished; next thing I know, I'm dodging giant blades in a vast void of nothingness.
"This way! Please!" I heard the voice of a little girl in the void; turning my head I saw a light blue glow and flew towards it, trying my best not to touch the blades. As I got closer, I saw a light blue soul, like on the screen, I reached out and grabbed it, causing the blades to vanish and, for some reason, my wounds to heal.
"Not dead yet? Let's kick it up a notch!" He sent several vines full of thorns my way, slicing up my arms and ripping my gi even more; I couldn't stop even to catch my breath, I had to keep moving, I had to keep surviving. More vines came my way, then blasts of... finger guns? And then flamethrowers; by the time the orange soul appeared, I was worse for wear, but still alive. This time, I was transported to a field of hands that were rotating fast enough to give anyone a concussion. I bobbed and weaved through a few before I heard the voice of a young teen boy.
"Over here! You're close!" I looked dead ahead at the orange glow, took a deep breath and rocketed forward with everything I had, clasping the soul in my hands and feeling the rejuvenating energy once again. Coming back to Flowey, it was clear he started realizing what was happening.
"You belong to me! You obey my commands and mine alone!" Several more vines shot out, I dodged them easier this time, only to be rewound back and instead stabbed through the arms and torso with several of them. As the vines pulled back, slicing up my insides even more, I cried out in pain, coughing up blood and staring at him, barely holding my ground with a grimace, but managing a slight smirk.
"Good thing that power came with terrible aim..." I coughed more blood. "You missed my vital organs!"
"All of them?!" He shouted back before surrounding me with magic bullets.
'gotta keep moving, even if it hurts' I told myself as I forced my body to dive for cover, hitting the wounds in the process but surviving. Luckily, the scenery faded away, only to be met with a sea of fire.
"Keep moving! He can't keep this up forever!" I heard the voice as I dodged the flames, holding my right arm and seeing a green glow amongst a sea of fire. I took several deep breaths before charging up my ki and blasting through the flames, while most of the heat was blocked out, it was still immensely uncomfortable, luckily it was only for a few seconds before I grabbed the green soul, rolling on the ground and feeling the pain slip away, gaining my strength once again.
"I'm getting tired of this! How do you keep surviving?!" He began dropping mini bombs from out of nowhere, paired with his shurikens and vines, it was nearly impossible to find even a single inch of space to hide; but I've been getting faster, more agile, more cunning, even using a large amount of my power to redirect one of the shurikens back at him, it didn't do much but I was proud of it. Next up was the dark blue soul and suddenly, I felt what it was like to be a roach, dodging and weaving through giant slippers slamming down on the ground in their own twisted dance amongst a ceiling of stars. As I dodged and looked around, I heard the voice of another young male.
"Over here, among the stars!" I looked up and saw one star was out of place, it was the dark blue soul. Dodging another slipper, I used the lace to swing up and grab it, immediately moving out of the way since I knew Flowey was coming. Good thing I did as all I felt was the massive heat of a giant laser almost scorch my back.
"Watch where you point that thing! You almost hit me!"
"What a shame!" He raised a giant cactus hand and slammed it down towards me, I jumped out of the way, only to be shot by one of the finger guns; I held my nose as it dripped blood uncontrollably, but I couldn't be distracted by that now, more and more was coming my way and it was getting harder to focus. How much time has passed, is this all I can do? Dodge until I'm exhausted to the point of death? Once again the scenery faded and I was met with...
"Words?" I said out loud as I dodged a few flying in my direction. They all shared a similar trait, negativity, they were words used to put down people and they were flying at a breakneck speed, even clipping my ankle, feeling something crack. "Grgh! Welp, that nursery rhyme was a load of..." I trailed off as I saw the purple soul amongst the words, kicking off with my good foot, I grabbed it, feeling my ankle snap back into place and the pain dull. As I did I heard the voice of a seemingly intelligent yet soft spoken girl.
"Just hold on a little longer." With that, I was face to face with Flowey once again, he spoke, but it didn't seem like it was to me.
"Are you done? Because I'm about to kill this insect and leave your progress in the dust! You did well keeping him alive, but it ends. Now." Once more, a waterfall of projectiles came my way, his arms swung wildly as I dodged, narrowly avoiding getting sliced by the shurikens, only getting singed by his flamethrowers and somehow redirecting a bomb back to his face. By this point, I knew what was about to happen, so I threw in one last shot.
"Come at me you demonic daisy! I've got your number now!" As I said this, I fired off a charged blast directly at his face with a middle finger up like a gun; the scenery faded to black as I fell to my knees, gasping for air as I finally had a chance to rest. No more projectiles, no more souls, just me and the black void. I then heard, what sounded like a gun being cocked behind me; I turned to face the barrel of a massive revolver pointed directly at me. By this point, I was exhausted, my wounds were catching up and I could barely move. "Keep it moving Stryker, keep... going..." I tried to crawl out of the way, but it followed me; as soon as the hammer dropped, I closed my eyes, bracing for impact, but it never came.
"There's no need to be afraid anymore bucko. You're among friends now." I opened my eyes to see a hazy yellow humanoid figure standing in front of me, looking like a young cowboy.
"Wait, are..." I tried to stand, but shakily fell back to my knees, only to be caught by two more figures, a green little girl in an apron and a dark blue teen boy in a ballet outfit.
"It's alright, we've got you." The dark blue said.
"We have held back Flowey's power temporarily, but it won't last, so we must hurry." The purple girl appeared and spoke to us. "If you have any chance of succeeding, we will bestow whatever remaining power we have left into you and reduce whatever he has stolen from us."
"So, long story short. We make you stronger, we make him weaker and you deck him in the schnozz." The orange soul, a boy about my age in a martial arts uniform said this while hitting his fist to his palm.
I looked at the others and then nodded for them to proceed as we all felt the world around us shake. "Seems like we don't have much time. Let's do it!" One by one, they all faded into gaseous shapes and absorbed their energies into me, as they did, I could feel my wounds heal, my stamina return and my power increase with each soul, plus a little extra. Somehow, I saw white cracks form in the void, only to reveal Flowey, prying them open and staring at me with crazed malice.
"I found youuuuuu. No more running. This ends now!" I clenched my fist as I felt my power surge and could feel his fall slightly.
"I couldn't agree more." Rushing forward with newfound vigor, I proceeded to blast apart his projectiles with far less effort than before; our attacks seemed equal now, with mine possibly being ever so slightly stronger.
"What?! How?! How did you get this strong?" I gave him a smirk as I jumped upwards, kicking away several vines and landing on a star.
"Cause I stayed determined." I said as I charged an energy gauntlet around my right fist.
"Oh you think you're being cute?!" He thrust his cactus arm towards me, which I then ran along.
"Bitch." I jumped towards his face and pulled my arm back. "I'm adorable." I then punched him in the face, detonating the blast and sending him flying backwards.
"That wasn't enough to kill him, just make him very mad and stunned. He'll be on full attack mode now, use our strength to beat him." I heard the voice of the dark blue soul in my head.
"What do you mean use your-" My soul instantly became dark blue, but I barely had time to register this as several mini nukes came my way, I held my hands up to try and blast them, but instead, they were surrounded by a blue glow and held in place. I looked down at my hands and immediately understood what I had to do.
"NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES! I WILL MAKE YOUR DEATH PAINFUL AND ETERNAL!" Flowey shouted in rage, before sending more and more energy bullets and stars my way. I threw the nukes at him, they exploded, removing several of the projectiles and making a smokescreen; I used the telekinesis to freeze some stars in place, using them as shields and platforms to get closer, weaving between them and splitting apart vines to get a clear shot. I jumped forward again, energy blast in hand, but Flowey smiled and opened the horrifically fleshy mouth beneath him, aiming it at me and shooting a massive beam of magical energy; I couldn't move in time, so all I did was stand on a star and block, but the burning never came. I opened my eyes and looked down to see my soul a lighter shade of blue; remembering the lasers in hotland, I realized that as long as I stayed still, I couldn't be touched, he was too enraged to understand though and tried to grab me, but was immediately blasted back by a pulse of magical energy, burning his cactus hand.
"As a certain skeleton once said, blue stop signs." My soul then changed to green as I produced two shields and ran around, blocking and dodging all his projectiles, even using a shield as a sled to ride up his arm, kicking it upwards back to my hand and flinging them both at him, using the edges of the shields to slice the supports above his head and send him sprawling across the ground. Losing no momentum, my soul became orange and I felt physically stronger than before; blasting forward far faster than I ever have before, I laid the smackdown on Flowey, ending the onslaught by kicking him into the air; I didn't even feel this soul change, but I knew it happened as purple string shot from my fingertips, weaving around the falling mutated flower and suspending him midair, his arms tied behind his back.
"Time to end this pardner. Hit him with everything you got, we'll handle the rest." I nodded, hearing this voice and grew giant, charging a ball of energy in my hand, only to see it surrounded by the souls as well. I decided, that if Cherik had a move of his own, I would too.
"Determination Burst!" I shouted as the beam fired, starting as a blue orb, but becoming multiple colors as it passed through the souls. Flowey tried in vain to fire his own beam back at me, but it was quickly overpowered and soon he was as well. I let out a sigh as I shrank back down, hearing the orange soul in my head.
"You can finish the job now, look." I saw ahead of me, a broken and tired looking flower, I walked up to him, kneeling down.
"Go ahead. Take me out and get your happy ending. It's what you want after all isn't it?" His voice was low and emotionless. I stayed silent for a minute, before holding out my hand towards him. He looked at me in confusion. "What are you doing? I don't deserve any mercy from you. Not from anyone. Just kill me and be done with it." I shook my head and gave a smile as a soft glow began to form in my hand.
"Someone showed me kindness before, when I was at my lowest. He showed me there's always another path rather than spite and vengeance. I learned that, no matter how much you hurt, taking it out on the world is never the right decision to make." As I finished talking, a white, upside down soul appeared in my hand. "So let me show this kindness to you, Asriel." Flowey looked at me with shock, reaching out with a plant tendril, then pulling back.
"But you never did the things I have. You've never killed everyone because you were just bored. If I stay soulless, I won't have to think about those things, I won't have to feel the regret that comes with them."
"I know, but after so long being soulless, don't you want to feel something again? Even if it's regret. I know it may seem impossible, but everyone I've met during my time in the underground has shown that they have the capability of forgiving, loving and caring for others, despite what they've done. What Flowey did, isn't what Asriel should worry about; you did what you had to in order to fulfill your friend's dream. So why not start this new journey with another friend?" I said with a soft smile. Flowey looked at the soul in my hand, then gingerly wrapped a vine around it, bringing close; in a flash of light and fluttering petals, no longer stood Flowey, but a young goat monster in a green and yellow striped sweater. He flexed his fingers and moved his limbs around first, before opening his eyes and looking at me, tears welling up as he gave me a teary hug with a smile.
"Thank you Stryker. Thank you for this." I smiled and hugged him back, the kid needed it.
"You're welcome. Hey, our work isn't quite finished yet, there's still one last thing the souls want me to do before they go." Asriel looked guilty, then stared at the ground, holding his finger.
"C-can you tell them I'm sorry for what I did. I- I didn't mean to use them like that." I smirked as the multiple voices talked.
"They say no hard feelings." I then saw the shimmering light of the barrier, dim at first, but slowly getting brighter.
"It's starting to become daylight, that's when the barrier starts to shimmer again."
"Good, that means everyone can get a good show when they reach the surface. You ready guys?" I talked to the souls as I rested my hand on the cold magical wall that kept the monsters trapped for so long. I heard several quotes of approval from the souls, before I reached back and punched the barrier with everything I had. At first, it seemed like nothing happened, but a crack began, then another, then another, they began to spread fast and wide until a massive shatter of glass could be heard; the barrier had broken, its magical fragments dissolving in the wind. "Alright guys, it's time to go. Enjoy your afterlives, you deserve it after so long." The souls one by one surrounded me, each one glowing brightly before splitting into two halves, a hollow outline and a blob of determination. The outlines vanished into the sunset while the determination embedded itself into me. I fell to the ground, feeling a massive burning in my chest as they merged with my soul.
"Stryker, are you ok?!" Asriel worriedly came over to me, but I simply held a hand out.
"I'm fine, just unexpected. I- I think they left me with their power, and... something else." I closed my eyes and felt a tugging within my soul itself, like something was begging to break free, I let it go and an explosion of power surrounded me; I opened my eyes to see myself surrounded in a golden, sparkling glow, my soul was hovering just over my chest and it felt as if it was charging this form, not my ki.
"Woah, what is that?" Asriel looked at me with his eyes wide and his mouth agape.
"I think this is the gift the souls left, but it also feels like this was always there, it just needed a kick start. I feel so strong, way stronger than even going giant, I could probably beat Cherik's great ape form with this... Soul Charge. Yeah, I like it, Soul Charge." I powered down and turned to Asriel, kneeling down and motioning for him to hop on my back. "Wanna go see everyone and tell them the good news?" He looked at me hesitantly, then back towards the castle, then back at me and nodded, hopping onto my back as I started to fly. To make a long journey short, we visited our friends and told them the barrier is finally broken; the dreemurrs both couldn't believe their son was alive again, but hugged him and made sure he was real, they were both in tears, especially Toriel. I managed to get Alphys and Undyne together and Sans decided he would rather be a lone wolf for now; Alphys managed to fix my scouter and made it out of more durable material too as well as combining the technology with my now destroyed phone so that it doubled as a cell phone too. All of us met up at the exit to the barrier at the end of the day and walked out together. We overlooked the sunset, something I thought I would never see again, but was glad I did.
"Stryker, my child, do you want me to repair your clothing?" I looked at Toriel, snapping out of my thoughts and looking down at the gi which was still destroyed; half of the chest was torn away, one of my pant legs was gone, I had holes and burn marks everywhere and I didn't have wristbands anymore; but surprisingly, I declined the offer.
"No thanks Toriel, I can make another, but I want to keep this one to remember the adventures I had here." I felt so great after freeing the monsters, I went into my new soul charge mode and did a victory lap around the planet. I landed and looked at the calendar on my scouter, realizing I had been in the underground for nearly 2 weeks. Asgore then spoke up.
"Well, now that we're back, we'll need to find a way to integrate back into society, Stryker, would you like to be our ambassador?" I thought about it and then thought up a better idea.
"Actually, I think I know what will work better. Look, these people know me, after being the runner up at the tournament three months ago and becoming earth's protector, I've become a popular sensation, I have power here and I can use that power for benefit." It took about two more weeks to convince the world that the monsters are actually good and after that, everyone accepted them with open arms, all traces of the war erased. The monsters were given their own land, the size of a small city to begin building a new overworld civilization. The next day, I decided to call Cherik who actually managed to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Cherik, you would not BELIEVE the month I've had." I told him everything about my adventure and he seemed to be eager to come back to earth for a little, but decided against it.
"Well Stryker, seems like I did the right thing in leaving the earth in your hands. Hey, maybe at some point, we can work out a way for you to help in the upcoming war over here, I'd love to fight side by side with you again."
"Geez, it's been a month and you already started a war without me? You've been busy, but I'd be game if it meant fighting side by side again." As we said goodbye, I looked at the stars, smiling, knowing my friend was finding his family and making a difference out there.
For the next month, the monsters began building their new city and they can build fast, by the end of the month, they had completed about half of it and it was nothing small. Toriel had opened her own school of magical arts as humans, now exposed to magic once again, began awakening soul traits and they needed a place to hone their new powers. Asgore still was king, but was also the representative of monsters since, well, he's the king. The monsters began to slowly adapt to the human world, and despite having the occasional and inevitable protestors and anti-monster activists, most of the world was adapting to monsterkind as well. Overall, ever since I showed up, monsterkind has had quite the bright future, and for as long as I live, they and the rest of earth will be protected by me.
A/N: So, as I'm updating journey of a saiyan, I also decided to update Strykertale a tad bit. I'm not gonna go chapter by chapter like with JoaS but I at least wanted to rewrite the ending, mainly the omega flowey battle. I'll try to write more things sooner, I haven't forgotten, i'm just lazy, which sucks because I have so many ideas I want to put on paper... or screen I guess. Anyway, for those of you that have followed me since the beginning, thanks for sticking around.