Disclaimer: I don't own Doki Doki Literature Club or Undertale, but I do own our Player.
Monika stepped into the room. Just as it had been in the Judgement Hall with Sans, golden light swept down, and everything it touched glimmered as if touched by the hands of King Midas. Though now, things were different. More shadows lined the room than in the Judgement Hall, but they were not harsh shadows. They were a soft, relaxed shade that reminded the girl of a Spring afternoon beneath a canopy of trees. A light breeze flowed through the room from the holes in the Earth above her head and blew at the Club President's skirt, ruffling it slightly like the opening winds of a cool day to come. Birdsong hit her ears distantly as Monika came to a halt beneath one of the shadows, the grassy carpet that made up most of the room's floor squishing underneath her weight. It was a scene that for most might have been serene, but as Monika took a shuddering breath and fought her palpitating heart to steady her nerves, the girl could only feel the cold tendril of anxiety crawling through her ribs.
Before her stood a monster. He was easily seven feet tall or more, the back of his head almost reminding Monika of the first Monster she had ever seen, the soft-spoken caretaker of the Ruins. Toriel's head was much the same, white and fluffy with fur like a goat's, but unlike her head, this one had three things that stood out to the girl as different. His head was broader, unmistakably masculine, and it was shaped slightly differently, it lacked the same large fluffy ears that the older woman had. Then there were the horns, great ivory things that twirled behind his head like the finishing spires of a crown, though oddly, they didn't seem nearly as intimidating as Monika would have expected horns to be. Then at last her eyes settled on the almost comically tiny crown on the man's head. It was small and gold, much like his hair, and it glimmered brightly, cheerfully in the springtime sunlight. Beneath the man stood a bed of flowers that seemed familiar to Monika, reminding her of times she had fallen, of the beginning of this story. He heard her breathe, his smaller goat-ears perking up with a jovial twitch that made Monika's thudding heart spike, and then rush with a wave of calm as the man spoke.
"Oh? Is someone there?" His voice was deep, and powerful, strong enough that it nearly boomed over the cave walls and yet... His tone was that of a kindly man, his words sounding like that of an old family friend or an uncle that you'd only met once when you very small. "Just a moment!" He called over his shoulder, not fully turning to look at the girl behind him just yet. "I'm almost finished watering these flowers!" Asgore, for that was who Monika knew he had to be, tilted forward only a little, and Monika saw his shoulder moving as he swept a watering can through the field. The girl wanted to smile as she saw a flicker of the can in his palm. It looked tiny, like someone had given a giant the smallest can they could find and told him to water with it. But as the finished watering with an amiable- "There we go!" Monika felt her mood start to dip again.
Then he turned, his purple cape fluttering like her skirt, and similarly managing to avoid revealing anything he was wearing beneath. He smiled at first, not properly seeing her. "Howdy! How..." His smile died on his lips and the watering can dropped from beneath his cloak, the now-empty receptacle hitting the ground with almost no sound save for the clattering of the handle against the plastic. The eyes that had once dripped with cheer that could rival Santa Claus now looked like they'd been presented with the worst news of his life, and the lips that once offered greeting hung agape like a man who'd been stabbed. Like a man stabbed, Asgore took a small, barely noticeable step back as a new word came to mind. "Oh..." He breathed sadly, turning his head away from her and staring at the wall. Monika watched what must have been a thousand emotions rush through the man in a single moment, grief, fear, sadness, bargaining and then, at last, resolve.
Like a cracked dam, that resolve nearly burst when he turned back to look at her. The Monster swallowed, and the pair locked eyes for a minute that stretched into eternity. Green and red orbs met and Monika felt a pang of shock spike through her whole body as she realized she recognized the look in Asgore's eyes as her own. He wanted to do this as much as she did, and as soon as Monika realized it, she took a step forward, finding her voice before Asgore found his. She could change the game, she has changed the game before, and she knew she had to try again here. A flame erupted in her heart and set her veins alight, a rush of Passion flowing through every limb and organ as Monika spoke. "We don't have to fight!" The words spilled out of her in a way that her younger self would have cringed at. The Monika of the debate club would have composed herself ten times better than the Monika standing before Asgore, but the young woman couldn't help it. Her voice wavered with hundreds of emotions of her own, fear, hope, longing, and even bargaining. But most of all was her resolve, she had to be the one to speak first, had to be the one to extend the olive branch. She had to try. "Please." Asgore looked down at her like she'd told him his son were dead. Tears pooled at the edges of the Monster's eyes and she saw the dam holding back every other emotion starting to break, the concrete walls he'd erected to keep himself on the path to violence starting to crumble as she extended her hand to him. "I don't want to fight as much as you don't."
He looked at her for a moment. His mind struggled to rebuild the walls that she'd knocked over, his eyes unable to leave hers even as the tears began to fall. This man was not the cold killer that Toriel had warned her about. He was a man, one who had lost much in the uncountable years he'd spent since losing his children, and though Monika did not know the full scope of why her words were effecting him as much as they were, she knew she had to press on. She took another step towards him, her hand outstretched. "I can stay down here." She had her Player down here, she had people down here that she had come to appreciate as more than just lines of code, and though the girl wasn't sure if staying down in the darkness was really how she wanted to spend the rest of her life, she could find a way to make it meaningful. She had to find a way to make it meaningful because if she couldn't, if it truly was impossible to find a real life in the Underground then... Monika knew she would have no choice but to kill Asgore.
But as she closed that gap, something else broke in the man. His resolve had shattered, but the emotions that had flooded him like a river refilling a basin were more than the ones made by his grief. He sucked in a sharp breath and closed his eyes, turning them away from her as he pulled his entire body back like her touch would have been toxic. Even as tears dripped down his face like rain, he managed to find his voice again. "I cannot." No longer did his voice seem strong. Now, like the rest of him, it seemed to have been drowned under a tidal wave of emotions and was struggling to even tread water. "I cannot. Not after all that has transpired." His eyes open, and slowly he seemed to find the strength to square his shoulders and look down at her. His face looked broken, but his body slowly began to hold itself like a King again. "I would like very much to offer you a cup of tea." He admitted. "I would like very much to sit down and... talk and... agree..." His voice wavered, but not like it was on the verge of breaking again. Now it wavered like it had found a boat amongst the ocean of emotions and was worried about tipping it as it clambered inside. His face, fluffy and soft, had already begun to dry the tears. "But I cannot..." He trailed off, then turned away from her.
Monika wanted to call out, to stop him, but Asgore had already moved. He walked to the edge of the room and stared up at the sky. The golden fur that made up his hair and beard glinted a brighter color, like true gold. He looked out of the cavern, towards the blue skies above and Monika knew why. To save his people, to give them the kind of freedom that Monika would gain by taking his SOUL, he needed her SOUL. "We..." She fumbled for something, anything. "We could work together..." Even as she said it, Monika knew the chances were fleeting that it would succeed. "You already have six, with my help- I can try to help you- maybe we can break it as a team! We don't need to do this!"
Asgore did not answer her, and from her position it was hard to see much other than the soft bowing of his head as he looked towards the ground. There was another shaky sigh and he spoke again. "I would like that, if it were possible." He admitted. "I would like many things, but it is too late now. For me, at least." Something was different about those words, there was a kind of weight to them that Monika felt wasn't related merely to breaking the Barrier and setting his people free. They didn't hang in the air, they dropped out of it like boulders rolling off a mountain. There was something else here, something that Monika could only tell because she was good at reading people, but what it was exactly, the girl could only let the dread in her chest tell her. Eventually, Asgore turned back to look at her. "Make your preparations. Take as long as you need, please." He was asking for more time, and Monika knew it. "When you are ready, join me in the next room." Asgore turned and left, his footfalls oddly heavy over the soft grass as he made his way out. Monika didn't call after him, she knew it was pointless to try convincing him anymore here.
Monika stood there for a moment, thinking about what she should do. She could always turn around, if Asgore truly didn't want to fight her, then he probably wouldn't follow her and she would probably be safe to live in the Ruins or Snowden. But if she did that, if she failed to complete the game, Monika knew it would always hang over her. She knew she'd never really be able to feel comfortable here. After all, what if this world really was a simulation? What if there wasn't anything beyond the Underground? Knowing the answer would hurt much more than Monika wanted to admit, but not knowing the answer was much worse. She could see it already, the endless numbers of sleepless nights curled up in a bed in Toriel or Papyrus's house, her mind filling with panic about whether or not this world mattered, if she mattered. No, she had to know. Even if Asgore accepted, even if he agreed and let her stay, she knew she'd come back here one day to break the Barrier and end the game's narrative, just to see if the credits began to roll.
But even then, Monika still wanted to believe that this world was real, and she had a lot of evidence pointing her in that direction, so killing Asgore was completely off the table for her. Player floated over then, looking towards her. "I'm sorry, I know you really wanted that to work but..." He sighed, looking towards the door Asgore had gone through. Unlike the rest of the room, it was covered in black shadows. It seemed much more ominous and much more cold than the shadows here were. "He's got a lot keeping him from accepting that kind of deal." Player explained, turning his attention back onto Monika. She didn't meet his gaze, or didn't want to, rather. Monika wasn't sure what her plan was now, that had been her best offer and it hadn't worked even slightly. "But..." Player began once she didn't look up at him. "That doesn't mean you should give up. I shouldn't tell you this but... he's a really nice guy actually. I mean you saw him, he was watering flowers for goodness sake. Just because you can't get through to him right now doesn't mean its impossible. Its just gonna be a little harder..."
Monika sighed through her nose and smiled a little bit at her Player, wishing she could pull him into a hug as she looked up at him. "You always seem to know just what to say." She admitted, turning so she was facing the door as well. "Its a good skill to have, especially for a situation like this..." She looked up at him one more time and wished so badly she could kiss his cheek even as she smiled. "Thank you, my love."
"Any time, my love." Player responded with a nod. Then turned towards the doorway as well. Both knew that the journey was coming to an end, and as Monika took her first step towards the door, Player glanced around them. He'd been doing that rather frequently since they'd left Sans, sparing small looks around the rooms and hallways they entered as though looking for something. Monika wanted to question him about it, but then she thought a bit. Whatever he was looking for was either a secret that the game in his world has that won't really effect her OR... is a spoiler that he won't tell her about even if she does ask. Either way, Monika figured that it wasn't worth asking about for now and besides, she needed to think about how she was going to talk down Asgore when the time came. So, she squared her shoulders and let her face become a mask of steel as she strode forward and entered the next room.
Inside, Asgore stood at the edge, standing near the beginning of a long corridor. He looked upset when she entered, but spoke nonetheless. "Just think of it as going to the dentist..." He muttered, but his voice was loud enough that Monika almost assumed he was talking to her until she noticed that his eyes weren't on her. That wasn't something to reassure her, it was something to reassure himself. Another reminder of the foothold Monika did have, he didn't want to kill her, just like how she didn't want to kill him. There was room there for her to pry into, she just had to be willing to do it. Still, Asgore did turn his eyes on her after a moment. "This way." He turned and walked down the stone hallway. Monika took a moment to observe the room and felt struck by an odd sense of Deja Vu. Above her was another hole, but this one was either much smaller or much higher up than the previous room's holes had been, the light it let in was frail, almost ephemeral in a way, like she was looking at the ghost of light instead of the real thing. But what gave her the feeling she'd been here before was none of that. No, this room seemed oddly familiar to her, and as she thought about it, memory flashed in her mind. Her fall, this room was almost exactly the same as the room she'd fallen into.
Monika followed Asgore deeper, finding him stopped outside of a room with a doorway that Monika knew led to something strange. It glimmered with a kind of light that reminded her of the light from above, only wrong somehow. It looked unnatural, and it pulsed like some kind of ethereal tesla coil, flashing white and black and black and white in odd intervals with no apparent rhyme or reason. It wasn't hypnotic, it was... mystical. Asgore spoke as she grew closer. "I do not blame you if you are not ready." He admitted, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "I am not." The somber tone in his voice was stronger than it had been in the other room. Asgore took a single remorseful step forward and disappeared into the doorway. As soon as the Monster did, Monika's eyes went as wide as dinner plates- his shadow had vanished.
Whatever ethereal power was in the room beyond, it must have done something to the reality of the world similar to how the Battle Physics did. A theory that Monika could only posit for now, at least until she stepped into the room herself. So, with a deep breath in, Monika did just that. And once she crossed the threshold into the next room, the young woman gasped like the wind had been knocked out of her. The words she had used to describe the light that emanated from this room- ephemeral, ethereal, mystical- all paled in comparison with the actual reality of the place she now stood in. In front of her was... a corridor. That was the only way that Monika knew how to describe what she was looking at. It stretched out in front of her endlessly, like a strip of space had been prolonged well beyond what it was meant to. The corridor droned on and on until, eventually, the light of the room could no longer reach its depths, then it turned black.
Then, as Monika watched, the world pulsed. The corridor suddenly shifted its colors, transforming its walls into a pitch black color that rolled all the way down to the very edge of the room before "bouncing" back up and turning the room white again. As it did, something else dawned on her. Not only did the corridor stretch out in front of her infinitely, but as the walls darkened and then lightened again, Monika was struck by the realization that it stretched on indefinitely behind her as well. This entire space made no sense by any possible metric. It had no beginning and no end. The impossibility of this place's existence held Monika in a trance for a much longer time than she wanted to admit. It couldn't exist, and yet by some unnatural miracle it did, and worse... It looked real. Monika had stared into something similar to this only one other time before, when she finally realized her epiphany and looked into the bleak strings of code that made up her world. In those lines, she had seen infinity itself, but that was more like a glimpse at something, like someone was drawing a conceptual image in her mind of what infinity looked like. Looking at this thing this... Barrier. It didn't look conceptual, it looked like the closest thing to infinity that anyone would ever be able to create.
"This is the Barrier." Asgore stated, causing Monika to begrudgingly pull her gaze away from the ever-expanding corridor and put her focus squarely on the Monster in front of her. "The thing keeping us all trapped down here..." He didn't face her, his eyes completely and utterly locked on the dark "end" of the Barrier as he spoke, but Monika could tell that the reason he wouldn't look at her wasn't out of some resolve. No, as his voice scratched against the lining of his throat, turning it hoarse and rough from the emotions of earlier, Asgore wasn't facing her because he knew that if he did, he'd break down again. "..." His mouth opened to speak, but no words came out. He closed his mouth again and took in a shaky sigh. "I was going to ask if you had anything else you wished to do... Please... if there is anything..." He trailed off, his voice shuddering with his breath as he spoke. "Do it now while you still can..."
Monika forced herself to put together a sentence, this time tapping into the part of her mind dedicated to writing, as well as the part dedicated to formulating debate tactics. "I know you don't want to do this, Asgore." Saying his name felt odd to the girl, but she pushed through it nonetheless, taking a small step towards him as she did. "We can find a different way. The people I met down here... they don't deserve to be trapped underground for the rest of their lives any more than I deserve to be killed." She continued, trying to find a good foothold. "If we work together, maybe we can find a way to harness my SOUL without needing to kill me. I know you have the other Six, if you use them together with me helping, that should be enough, shouldn't it?"
Asgore didn't look at her. Instead, he tapped the ground with something heavy that was beneath his cape and around them rose seven containers, six of which held a different colored heart while the seventh was empty. "It isn't in my hands anymore." Asgore said heavily. Each word seemed to weigh him down more than the last, but the Goat Monster continued speaking despite it. "To attain even these, I..." His voice was on the verge of breaking again, but as he turned around to face Monika completely, the dim flame of hope she had that he might falter in the same way he had earlier was quickly doused. His face was a mask made of stone. The only thing that even denoted his true feelings were his eyes. Pools of tears had formed at the edges of them, giving the Monster a glassy sheen to the organs. "So much blood has already been spilled..." He admitted. "So much pain has been wrought already." He looked into Monika's eyes and opened his mouth again but faltered at the last moment. Whatever he intended to say died on his lips. Then slowly, the world around her darkened.
"No..." Monika breathed and extended her hand out as if physically trying to stop the Monster. "Please, think about this!"
Asgore looked at her for a moment longer as he bowed his head. Twilight shined through the barrier. "Human, it was nice to meet you..." His voice had completely shattered once more, but with his head bowed the way it was, Monika could no longer read his expression. Despite the defiance still rattling around through her chest, Monika couldn't help but to feel a sense of finality to his words. Her journey's end had come. "Goodbye." Asgore whispered, then drew a trident the length of her body and thrusted it towards her, yet no attack came. Instead, something slightly worse occurred, something Monika could only barely process, something she wasn't sure she would ever really be able to understand. The File Menu sparked.
Set alight by some unseen force, the Menu itself seemed to crackle before two pieces of something square, black and yellow clattered out of it. But Monika was only passively aware of that fact. For the first time since she'd met him, her thoughts were completely turned away from the man she loved and focused instead on the two File pieces that had fallen out of the box, pieces that Monika quickly realized were halves of something. 'Halves of a button.' Supplied her mind as she read the disjointed words set within the destroyed button. It read "Mercy", which, if Monika's memory served her, was always one of her options. "Player..." Her breath hitched. "What is that?"
Player looked at her for a moment, then spoke up in a terrified, yet enlightening tone. "If-if you're wondering if that's been controlling your actions." He breathed, already reading what she was most afraid of, or his approximation of it. "Don't, that's just my way of being able to tell if someone's spareable. Same with the other buttons, like ACT a-and Check." He continued, and while Monika's fears were soothed, they did not leave her. Her heart still pounded in her chest, though now for other reasons. Monika had been trying to avoid things from escalating this far in the first place, trying to break the narrative like she had before but, Asgore wasn't going to allow it, was he?
'No!' Monika's thoughts raced as she turned to look as Asgore, seeing now why he had broken the button for Player. He was already glowing yellow, a telltale sign of a Monster that wants to be spared. He had broken the button either as a symbolic gesture that translated that way for Player or as a way to tell Monika without speaking that he wasn't going to accept her Mercy. Monika narrowed her eyes and stepped forward as the musical score began, her SOUL emerging from her chest as she tapped into as much of her Passion as she could. 'I'm not going to let you get out of this!' Her thoughts raced, new arguments forming in her mind, new plans being designed in seconds as the girl marched close enough to the Monster, and all of her plans began with one word. "Spare."
Nothing happened. Asgore bristled at the word, but the world around them didn't brighten up, nor did his aura vanish. Monika had expected as much, she knew that he wasn't going to give up that easy, especially if he'd been willing to use some kind of power to break the very button that offered Mercy, especially if his first action was to point a weapon at her. What she wasn't expecting was her darling's reaction. "Don't bother." He said, his voice stern yet somber. Monika looked over at him, her eyes wide with surprise. Was he telling her to give up on trying? Her eyes narrowed as a flash of anger surged through her, he knew how much this meant to her, he knew that she wasn't going to give up just because it hadn't worked immediately, but before she could speak up, he continued. "Asgore... isn't accepting Mercy." Player explained with a tone that Monika placed immediately, it was defeat. "When he pointed the trident at you... it damaged something in the Files, he's outright refusing to take Spare as an option now, I don't know how he did it but... I don't think I can fix it." Then he looked down at Monika, and though his expression seemed invisible, Monika felt the worry in it. "On the bright side... it didn't register that as your turn. You can go again."
The Club President relaxed. Player hadn't meant anything by it, he was just trying to explain what he thought she didn't know. In a way it was kind of comforting, knowing he was always there to back her up when she needed it, but right now she needed to focus. "Thank you." She told him, not taking her eyes off of Asgore. The Monster King stood, his head still bowed, his hands clenched tightly around the trident's handle. Monika couldn't tell if his knuckles were white behind all the fur, but by the way his hands were tensed, Monika could see that he was off his game. In fairness, she wasn't exactly well-versed in combat sports, but she had gone out for the Tennis Club a few times in Middle School, she knew that holding something that tightly was only going to make it all the easier for the sweat on your palms to make it slick, especially for a smooth handle like that. Asgore, intentionally or not, was setting himself up for failure if the fight went on for too long. A glimmering pink aura enveloped the girl as her emerald green eyes looked up at the Monster. "I refuse to fight you."
Monika spoke in a deliberate manner, her words slow and well-pronounced to inform the King that she was passing up her turn by saying this. Asgore tightened again at the statement, then nodded solemnly and extended his hand out. Above at level with her shins, a pair of magical hands appeared in a pattern Monika felt was vaguely familiar- her battle with Toriel. The woman leapt into the air and over one of the hands while ducking beneath the other of the two, then grit her teeth and crossed her arms over her face as the flames rushed towards her, but this wasn't the same as it had been with Toriel. Monika wasn't unarmored and she understood how her SOUL worked now, and most importantly, she knew how to dodge. The fireballs raged around her, spreading apart and leaving a narrow gap for the girl to dive through. Quickly kicking off the wall of the Barrier, Monika shot through the gap, seething only a little as the edges of the flames touched her Jacket, now reminded of another fact. As much as she was stronger, the attacks since Undyne had only grown deadlier, more realistic than the ones used against her when she was in the RUINS and Snowden, and Asgore's flames reflected that fact well as they singed the edges of her armor.
Even so, the girl herself took no damage from the fire and hit the wall on the other end of the Barrier before sliding down it, new words already on her lips as Asgore's attack came to an end. "We both know you don't want to do this!" Monika shouted firmly, her voice oddly calm for the situation. "Please, just stop! Let me Spare you and we can find another way! I want to help!" Monika saw Asgore's hands begin to shake, but the Monster firmly ordered them to stop by tightening them further against the crimson trident. "Please!" Monika finished as Asgore pulled back.
Before more could be said, Monika felt heat suddenly surge from all around her, and for the first time became aware of just how much fire the Monster King was radiating off of himself. Huge blazes burned in places where there wasn't anything to burn. Behind her, above her, all around her, and the only reason Monika had noticed wasn't the heat- it was the sudden oncoming inferno that Asgore shot towards her, something heralded by a flashing exclamation point right in front of her. Monika wasted no time in dodging, but as the wall of fireballs consumed the area she had been standing, a trickle of them that she'd missed moved in a zig-zag pattern on both sides of her, forcing the girl to grit her teeth and then cry out in pain as the flames slammed into her aura, which it quickly burned through, and then into her Jacket. The fabric managed to withstand the flames, but only barely, and even then Monika felt her skin burn at the touch. Thankfully, whatever magic that Asgore used to create the fire didn't leave burn scars or sear her flesh, things that Monika would have considered unacceptable for a myriad of reasons, nor did they leave any long-lasting pain, but the blood trickling down her arms definitely informed her that he'd done damage.
Even so, the attack didn't end as another huge blaze of fire came rushing in, but Monika was ready for it this time. She kicked off the ground again, sending herself flying to the left and making sure to avoid the trickle, this time dipping and weaving in and out of the fire before it could reach her. As soon as the last fireball was over, Monika was already formulating another sentence, but before she did, she summoned her Spear. "Why won't you listen to reason!?" She demanded, and this time Asgore averted his gaze, turning to look... at the pods around them. Then, slowly, his head turned back towards Monika and though his eyes remained a mystery, the Club President felt a wave of renewed vigor coming from the Monster. 'No, not vigor...' Monika realized as she drew her Spear in front of her defensively. "Its because you killed these Humans, didn't you?" She asked, then pressed forward. "Not Undyne or any other member of the Royal Guard, it was all you, wasn't it?"
Asgore nodded sadly. Then, his body faded back into the shadows of the Barrier and Monika caught a glimpse of two colors in his eyes, one orange and one blue. Blue she recognized, but orange's meaning eluded her. By the time she realized that if blue meant stop then orange must have meant go, it was too late. The Goat Monster pulled his hands back and swept his Trident around twice in rapid succession, once while the magical construct was orange- one that Monika tried, and failed, to block with her Spear- and once while it was blue- one that came down on her while the girl was still reeling from the shock of the first hit. Thankfully, the attack ended just as Monika was certain she was down to her last bits of health. It was with bruised arms and a cut on her cheek that the Club President looked over to Player and extended her hand out. "A unicycle." She asked with a slightly begrudging tone, wishing she could spend this time talking with Asgore but knowing she couldn't afford to do so. Player obliged her and Monika bit down on the ice-cold treat, then quickly ate the entire thing, feeling the effects of Monster Food wash over her body and sighing as she did. Burns, bruises and cuts were swept away like they had never even been there in the first place.
Before she knew it, another attack was sent her way. Monika gritted her teeth, this time gripping her Spear with both hands and using it like a bat, channeling her Passion through the weapon and swatting fireballs away from her when they got too close. Unfortunately, this attack was different than she had been expecting, and though Monika was able to get some of the flames away from her, the flames suddenly split into two distinct "rows" of fire that formed a pattern like an 8 in the air around her, opening in front of her and closing behind her. Monika's defense was able to cover her front, but as fire raced across her back, the girl was forced to move in closer to the incoming flames to avoid getting burned further. Soon enough, that attack ended. Monika paused for the first time since the battle had begun, her mind fumbling for the right words to say.
She knew what she wanted to say, but putting the words together in something coherent and most importantly convincing was another matter. Slowly, with some hesitation, the girl spoke. "The humans you killed..." Monika thought back to some of the items she had found, the boxing glove, the toy knife, the toy gun that those two Monster girls were selling behind the Resort. It was an uncomfortable realization, but one she had to vocalize for this to work. "They were all children, weren't they?" Monika continued, a tenative tone in her voice that she rarely used. It wasn't often that she had to handle matters delicately like this, and it wasn't her strong suit as a result, but Monika took a deep breath as she noticed Asgore's breathing suddenly turn ragged, like he's choking back sobs. That's as much confirmation as she needs, the girl takes a step forward. "I understand." She whispered, her voice betraying her own emotions. "It might not seem like it, but I do." Killing people for what you thought were the right reasons was something Monika knew too well, and the emotion that etched itself into her words reflected that fact enough for Asgore to look up at her, for the young woman to really see the pain in his eyes for the first time since the battle began.
"I've done horrible things too." She finally admitted, her own voice finally cracking at the words. "I killed people because I thought that was the right thing to do. And maybe they weren't kids, but they weren't strangers to me. I killed..." Her voice cracked completely and Monika felt a stinging in her eyes that she blinked away automatically, then felt tears start to slip down her cheeks. "I killed my friends." Monika swallowed back her own sob as she approached the King, lifting her hand towards him. "I killed them because I thought that was the right thing to do at the time." Asgore didn't move, his eyes locked on her outstretched palm. "I know it looks like nothing can ever forgive that. And maybe it can't be forgiven..." Her own head bowed now, and Monika became vaguely aware of her hair spilling out around her back as she examined the palm of her hand. The palm that had typed the words that would kill three girls, a guilty hand that didn't deserve the love it received from the man next to her. "But..." But it did receive that love, as much as it probably didn't deserve it, as much as it probably deserved much worse, it was loved unconditionally. He believed in her from the moment they'd arrived. From before then as well, from the moment she had moved them to the Void he had been pleading with her to bring her friends back, he never gave up on her. He believed...
"A friend once asked me if I thought anyone could change, even the worst person." He believed. "I didn't have an answer then." He believed. "But now I do." She looked up towards Asgore one final time, holding her palm out towards him, offering him her own bloodsoaked hand as she looked into his eyes. "I believe we can." In her. He believed in her, and she would never stop loving him for it. Not as long as she lived, no matter what happened, no matter if this was real or fiction, or if she truly deserved it or not, he loved her. He saw the better person in her, and he did everything he could to bring the person she really was out, now it was her turn to offer someone else that kind of unconditional love.
"But its a process." Asgore looked small in front of her. He was no longer the imposing, gigantic man that ruled with fire. Now, he seemed small, old and frail, a King that had been through so much, a King that had done so many horrible things and was only now, only finally being given a real chance to turn away from what he'd done. He dropped to his knees as if wounded, using his trident to hold himself up as he did. Meekly, Asgore offered up a defense against her words, an effort to deny her, Monika had gone over her turn, and now flames roared around her, but she was getting through to him and she knew it. Despite the Monster's desperate want not to fight, the defense Asgore put up must have been amongst his greater attacks.
In the same way that Monika had gone over the limit of her turn, Asgore went over his. Fire rained from the sky above her in droves, waves upon waves of flames came down onto the young woman, the attack seeming to spin as it moved across the ceiling, causing the fireballs to take on a spiral pattern that the girl found harder and harder to dodge. They came down over her like falling raindrops, leaving Monika little room in between them, but Asgore had prepped this move for a normal Human, with a normal Human SOUL. The Passion that now burned in the woman's chest was more than enough, the flames that touched her either turned pink and flew around her, disrupting the chains or barely burned her at all. But the Monster King wouldn't let up, and as one attack pattern ended, another began in desperation. Another magical hand swept its way through, this time creating a sea of flames on her right that launched at her, leaving Monika barely any room to jump through them, but as she cleared one set, another hand appeared at her left, which was now behind her, and let loose another blaze. Monika turned at the last second, skidding on her heels and narrowing her eyes as she set her Spear and new Fireballs in front of her, both them and their wielder now burning with a pinkish flame.
The fire washed over her, but the flames of desperation were nothing compared to the burning sensation of Monika's raw Passion. The woman stood her ground even as the fireballs grew in intensity, Asgore letting out a pained cry as he increased the magic's power, trying to get through Monika's armor. It was working. Flames erupted around her clothing in patches, they burned and scorched and singed her skin, this time with searing heat unlike anything before it. But as it happened, the woman spoke. "And it starts...!" She winced as her arm caught fire beneath the blaze, but the woman knew it would ultimately be fine if she just held on, and even if she moved there was nothing for her to do, the flames had become nearly undodgeable. "With...!" Passion roared in her ears as Monika ground out the word, her own body exploding in pinkish fire as she did. "STOPPING!"
Asgore's head bowed at the same time as the attack ended. Monika dropped her arms, dropped her own weapons and repressed a scream of agony. "It starts... with stopping..." She repeated, then stumbled towards the Monster again, knowing that their fight was over. "I believe we can change, I do now, but for people like us to do better, we have to stop." Asgore's weapon clattered to the ground, the magic in it vanishing and transforming it from red to yellow as he looked up at Monika now. She raised a burned hand. Her fingers extended, her palm face up, the whole limb blackened with soot and red with burns. It hurt more than anything, but that's how he must have felt offering his hand to her. Monika smiled. She smiled that same smile she gave to Sans, and the same one she gave Papyrus and the same one she gave Alphys, the same one she offered her Player every time she looked at him. A genuine smile. "You can change."
Asgore didn't meet her eyes. "I..." He began... "I just wanted to give everyone hope. After my son... After Asriel died... The Underground felt so hopeless. Once again, the humans took everything from us... Once again, our dreams were destroyed..." He whispered. His voice matched his face. No more was the King kind and gentle, though he didn't meet her eyes, Monika could see the weariness in them. He was tired, more than tired he was exhausted, and he was so very sorry. "I started the war because I was so angry... our future was gone, my people had no hope left. I promised to destroy every Human who came down here... To become Godlike..." He lowered his hands. "To destroy humanity and let Monsters rule the surface in peace..." He looked towards Monika, but still didn't meet her eyes. "But you have already learned the truth. I do not want power. I do not wish to hurt anyone. I just wanted them to have hope..." He looked up at her, now meeting her eyes at last. "But I cannot take this anymore. I miss my wife, I miss my son. Human, please... end this war. Take my soul and leave this cursed place. You have the power now..."
Monika looked down at him, pity in her eyes. "I won't kill you. Your people need their king and I..." She glanced towards Player, a smile coming over her lips as easily as the tears pooled in her eyes. "I have everything I need right here." At the mention of his wife, Monika had a thought. "Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie." Monika asked Player, who nodded and produced the treat, somehow still hot after all this time. She knelt down, holding the pie out to the Monster King, smiling gently as she did. "And... I think I know who your wife is. I can't say if she'll forgive you, but she was a really good person and... I think she'd really like to see you be better."
Asgore's eyes widened, his face alight with a mixture of nostalgia and sorrow as he gently accepted the offering from the young woman, holding the confectionary like it was the most valuable thing in the world to him. "Do you really think its possible for us to be better?"
"I do." Monika smiled softly. "We can be better."
And then the pie slipped from Asgore's fingers. A single white seed emerged from a hole in his chest, covered in dust. As the King knelt down, his hand clutching his chest, Monika sucked in a breath and screamed as dozens of the small, white pellets surrounded the King's body...
Author's Note: My head hurts today, but I'm rather pleased with how this whole thing turned out. I'm absolutely my own worst critic, but this is one chapter that I am dead certain that I'm pleased with. A very solid chapter all around, 10/10, join us next time as we conclude the story...
Or do we?
For now, its time for reviews. Ah, and before I forget...
Happy Valentines day, especially to you, Monika.
Ahem...
Guest: Look, I know what I'm going to say is kind of stupid, but I just discovered the story of Undertale Yellow and I got excited. Would you make the Pacifist Route from that fan-game canon in your history? If so, would you include cameos from some of the characters there? Sorry if I irritated you or bothered you, it's just that I got excited about that thing.
Me: Its too late for me to incorporate too much of anything from Undertale Yellow I'm afraid, we've already gone well beyond the point where it would be able to be mentioned... well, there is one way it could be done. I'm not going to make any promises but... stay tuned.
Incidental 49A: What kind of fool do you take me for? He's Biden, he's Biden, you're Biden... I'm Biden! Are there any other Bidens I should know about?!
Me: Okay the biden joke is starting to get overdone here, though I appreciate the reference.
Pomni: NO ONE CAN STOP MONIKA!
Me: YES, JUST MONIKA, JUST MONIKA, JUST MONIKA, JUST-
Guest: I just want to see Monika's reaction in True Pacifist seeing the impact that her positive actions will have, especially on Alphys.
I can only imagine her crying with emotion with everyone rooting for her before the battle against Asriel. And giving the baby goat a nice hug!
By the way, silly questions: What's your favorite OST from the game and which moment do you find the most moving?
Me: Oh don't worry, Monika is having herself one heck of an emotional journey throughout this story, and its only going to get worse when or if she does reach the point where she encounters Asriel. Poor girl is not prepared to cry, and is definitely unprepared to cry over having so many people who care about her now.
As for your questions, I've always been in love with Battle Against a True Hero, and I've similarly always found Undyne's death the most moving part... but Asriel's entire thing has made me pretty sad at times, so that's definitely second place at least!
Guest: Nice! New chapter! And belated Merry Christmas!
Sorry about the unwanted advertising, I didn't want to bother you.
Anyway, I have to say I loved the chapter! The writing of Monika's thoughts, the monsters telling the story of Chara and Asriel, Sans' judgment... Everything is perfect! Your story is an inspiration to me!
At least we now know why Monika couldn't befriend Undyne, because she already had EXP. I was even surprised Undyne didn't say that in her pre-battle monologue.
Poor Asgore... He's one of the most tragic characters in Undertale. Either way, I look forward to his fight, the Photoshop Flowey's fight, and the Neutral ending call. I want to see what good or bad new Sans and Papyrus will bring. Nyeheheheh!
Me: Belated Merry Christmas to you as well! And its okay, I'm not mad at you, your idea seems like a good one and I want you to pursue it! You deserve to make something great, and I completely believe in you. You've got this
There's more to it than just that, Monika also didn't try to befriend Undyne, she only attempted to get her to stop trying to kill her in their battle. If she tried, who knows how that could have turned out for her...
As for the chapter, thank you very much! I really enjoyed creating it and I'm really enjoying writing the payoffs to all of my build up. I know the Asgore fight is probably shorter than you were hoping, but I wanted to have Monika really try to turn Asgore with her words and since she's not Frisk and can make reasonable arguments, I thought it would be a neat thing to have her actually succeed in that. Asgore is also one of my favorite characters, so I wanted to try giving him a moral battle instead of a physical one.
As for the Neutral Ending and Omega Flowey... oh just you wait my friend, I have much left up my sleeve.
setokayba2n: Merry Christmas... If you accept suggestion about the 'Genocide' thing, I also don't think it fits Monika anymore, but the Player could comment about it, telling about how Sans is the worst thing she could find and theorize with Monika what could happened if she decided to Genocide, unless Player could somehow show her a simulation or a video of Sans playing or the Genocide route or something just the same way he put Monika inside Undertale.
At the same time, re-reading the sad story, made me remember something I read a couple of times, about how Asgore really don't know what to do, he convince himself that with seven souls he could free everyone, but he could had done that time ago, just take one soul kill humans and free everyone, but he did not and stayed in the castle waiting.
Leaving that aside, Great work with the chapter and the story, I can only wait for the next chapters and give you a Happy New Year and congratulate again for the good story
Me: I won't reveal my original idea for how Genocide would work just in case I change my mind about having it happen in some capacity, but I might have Player own up to doing the Genocide Route at some point and he and Monika could discuss it, which might make for an interesting character conversation, we'll see.
Thank you for the congratulations! Happy New Year to you too, buddy! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I'm looking forward for what's to come in the next few months...
OriChar: well, there goes another plan to delay going to sleep, was a good read, but i dont have an excuse to stay awake anymore, hmmm
welp, all that's left is to do a lot of theorising and try to guess what will happen in either the pgn tuber flowey section, or asriel god of angst, currently guessing that either the 6 human souls will give him a body, or god asriel will, not confident in those but i need to theorise to pass the time until the story is finished, and its 3:25am so i am losing ny sanity fot every second i think, bye
Me: I'll make sure to upload the next one earlier so you can get to bed on time, Monika would not like it if she learned you were staying up late to read these after all.
Good theories though, especially for 3am ones. We'll see if any of them were right but for now... bye~!
And, as always
Until Next Time True Readers!