The soft whirl of the elevator was all that accompanied the lone monster, a yellow scaled reptile donned with a normal white lab coat. Adjusting her glasses with shaky hands, Alphys stepped into a dim, dreary green room.

Instantly, she was bombarded from all sides. Her harassers were the Amalgamates, shells of monsters who were on the verge of death, only to be brought back with determination. The Royal Scientist scolded herself for being late for their lunch time - she had been too engrossed in spending time with Undyne - causing them to become rather agatited.

Somehow managing to get herself to the other side of the room, Alphys gave them their food, calming them down. Watching the monsters eat, she felt a pang of guilt. Her mistake had probably brought them an eternity of pain beyond her own comprehension.

I'm sorry.

Tears began flowing out of her eyes before she noticed them.

"I'm... sorry..." This time, the words came out between quiet, choking sobs. Sensing her distress, the Amalgamates made slurred, incoherent noises, their attempts at comfort. Endogeny, in particular, tried to curl up on her lap, but she gently ushered it away before she was crushed.

"Don't worry, I'm okay," Alphys said, wiping her tears with her sleeve.

Once her vision was cleared, she found herself gazing in the direction of an Amalgamate who had yet to eat anything. As she started to usher it over, it made some strange sounds and slid down a corridor.

"Wait, come back!"

She gave chase. The Amalgamate did not go far, so it was not hard for her to catch up. It seemed agatited, making an array of sharp, statical noises as it started slamming itself onto a wall.

"Stop, you are going to hurt yourself!" Alphys spoke, alarmed.

Unbothered, the Amalgamate did not stop, persisting in its senseless attacks. As she tried to pull it away, the wall cracked and crumbled to pieces, revealing a gaping hole. It was only then it stopped, its melty body reduced to a puddle of some kind.

Alphys bent down, unsure of its condition. As she reached out hesitantly, it returned to its usual form - a blob with white, beady eyes surrounded by black, and a crooked smile. Startled, she fell backwards with a soft thud.

It gave one last look at her and made a low and distorted sound similar to humming, proceeding to crawl towards the smell of food. She blinked, trying to take in what happened in front of her eyes. There was no logical explanation for that Amalgamate's action; even if it was hungry, it could have just went towards the food, not go to some random corridor.

Shrouded in mystery, that particular Amalgamate did not look like any monster the Royal Scientist knew. Back then, she saw it appearing out of nowhere, before she started experimenting with determination.

It's odd...

Alphys turned her attention to the hole it created. Peering into the foreboding darkness, she could barely make out a wooden desk with scattered pieces of paper.

Is there an entire room down there? she pondered, feeling slightly uneasy about the fact that there might be more hidden places in the real laboratory. They say that the previous Royal Scientist was a genius, but he was a secretive monster. That's probably why he built this part of the lab.

Careful not to step on any loose tiles, she lowered herself as much as possible before letting go. She landed ungracefully on a smooth stone floor, feeling a stinging pain in her feet, but luckily, it was not as tall as she had predicted.

Alphys fumbled in her lab coat for her phone and switched on the flashlight option, pointing it in front of her. Instantly, her eyes fell on a single, dark purple flower.

Encased in a jar, it was eeriely floating, sending shivers down her spine. The atmosphere grew dark and onimous as she approached tentatively. She found that her body unconsciously stopped moving on its own and began to force her into getting away from it as far as possible.

The yellow reptilian monster smacked herself, quickly regaining control of her own body. I... cannot turn away from this like I did with... that incident. There must be a reason why I found this place...

Alphys bent down and picked up the scattered pieces of paper. She sneezed while trying to swipe away the dust gathered from years of neglect. In the process of scanning through them, her expression went from intrigue to shock, then to fear. To think such a phenomenon exist, unknown by everyone but the previous Royal Scientist and now, her...

She gulped mentally.

What if it happens? What will happen to the Underground? How can it be stopped? Those questions ran through her mimd like an extreme rollercoaster track, so much that she felt like her head was going to explode.

Yet, something was clear. Alphys had to do something. She, of all monsters, knew about it.

Now, it became her responsibility to do as much as she can to prevent its occurrence and its effects if it came down to it.

"Remember that time you tried to help? It ended in pain and suffering for everyone, so what makes you think you can help them now?"

It was that voice of self doubt that sounded in her head. That part of her that could not believe in her own abilities anymore after that accident.

It's not a matter of if I can do it anymore... Alphys clenched her fist as she struggled with the memory of her failure as the Royal Scientist.

I have to do it. I'm the only one who can.

She was still quivering. She was still afraid. Even so, she took her phone and dialed in the numbers while battling with her endless and ineluctable abyss of uncertainty.

"Hello?"

"Howdy... Doctor Alphys? Is anything the matter?"

"Y-yes, Asgor- your Majesty. I need your help."

~~~~

Alphys did everything she could. Even as exhaustion creeped up on her day after day, she forced herself through it, along with the constant reminders of her failures.

Still, she felt unprepared when the alarms went off some days later, as if it was signalling the beginning of the end.

Her heart rate quickened. It's happening. The Scourge is here.

Hasty looks at the display on her phone confirmed the sounding of the alarms, sending a deep cut of dread into her soul.

It was then her phone rang among the chaos, its vibration catching the Royal Scientist's attention. She picked up the call.

"Doctor Alphys? The phenomenon you spoke of some days back just happened... all the golden flowers have turned purple," Asgore said gravely. "I did as you asked, but-"

The phone was cut off.

"Asgore? Asgore!" Alphys called, panicked. She looked at the live camera footage sent to her phone from the Throne Room and her heart sank.

Asgore was still in there, lying on the ground unconscious.

I have to get him out of there!

"But what if you are only running towards your death?"

Alphys froze in her tracks. That voice - her own voice - that antagonised her day after day, was detering her once again. She found herself trembling harder than a Temmie as she struggled to reach a decision.

"You are, and will always be a coward. A leopard cannot change its stripes."

Among the blaring alarms and her conflicting thoughts, she finally came to a realisation.

I am not a leopard.

I can change.

I am the only one who can do something about it.

Turning to the Amalgamates, she smiled reassuringly. "I'll be right back."

Alphys ran. The Royal Scientist ran faster than she ever had in her life. For the first time, she was not running away. No, she was running to help people.

By the time she arrived at the Throne Room, she was panting heavily, using the outside wall to balance herself while she caught her breath.

Alphys stepped in bravely and went for the spot where Asgore was at. To her horror, he was gone.

Without warning, a hauntingly familiar face appeared in front of her, chuckling softly. Before she could even cry for help, a thorned vine protruded out of her back.

The face of that talking flower loomed over Alphys as he broke into maniacal laughter, saying the two words that sent chills up her spine for the last time.

"You idiot."

------------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately, her death was planned from the beginning. It is a change to the "'someone is missing' equals 'they are actually alive'" cliché.

I contemplated putting the whole chapter in italics to show that it was a flashback, but decided against it because I might get complaints.

On another note, I realised that simple sentences like "I'll see you soon" can be rather dark... or be used as a character's last words.

Oh yeah, this is a very important chapter, so I recommend reading this again carefully.

As always, votes and comments are always appreciated. :)