Sans POV

September 21, 2018

"What do you mean, punk!? You've gotta explain yourself first if you want to accuse Alph of something like that." Undyne growls.

"oh, i will. unless alphys wanted to admit it first." We all turn to her. Seems like she's speechless. "no? okay. i'll explain."

"the kid told me she was awake when alphys first came in. said that alphys had apologized for something, and then changed her iv to something different. that was when the heart monitor had gotten all weird."

"That doesn't-" Undyne starts.

"let me finish. later, liam claimed that a 'she' had told him dex was asleep. and that she was meant to die in the hospital. and that though the poison had meant to kill her, it didn't. do you see what this means? alphys poisoned the kid. she's been in cahoots with liam the whole time." Undyne wants to defend Alphys again, I know she does. But Alphys beats her to it.

"D... don't bother. S- Sans is... He's right. I p- poisoned her in the hospital." Everyone gasps. I don't even bother to try keeping my eyelights there. I'm sure my eyes are pitch black already.

"But- But then that must mean-" Undyne, for the first time in her life, seems unsure of herself.

"Y O U K I L L E D T H E H U M A N ." Papyrus's eyes are narrowed on the scientist, who looks... Regretful? Toriel looks close to tears.

"I am afraid I cannot allow you to be the royal scientist any longer. You are not trustworthy." She says, dignified but shaky. "I have lost yet another child due to your actions..."

"I- I- Please, let me e- explain myself!" Alphys begs.

"nah. we know all we need to. you weren't on our side in the first place. she was only fifteen, did you know that? humans are supposed to live at least five times longer than that. the kid has done nothing but repeatedly sacrifice herself to help us, and you... you make the kid die slowly? she could feel it creeping up her freaking limbs, i could tell. she was a scared child. never mind killing her, you outright tortured the kid to death. i hope you're happy with yourself." I rant. I'm aware that Alphys has started to cry. Good. She deserves to suffer for her sins.

"Alph, I..." Undyne starts. "I trusted you. I thought you knew what was best for us." She shakes her head. "I can't believe you did this... I loved you, Alph. But you've betrayed us all."

"I- I'm so sorry..."

"you had better be. think about what you've done."

"S- She might not be d- dead though..!"

"screw this. i'm going to grillby's." Then there's an awkward silence.

"ARE YOU GOING OR NOT?"

"alphys, looks to me you're dead wrong."

"Sans? What are you talking about?" Asks Toriel.

"my magic ain't workin. i can't teleport, and look. no bones, no eye thing, no blasters, nothing." I explain. "liam can save and load and stuff. when he killed me, the kid's soul would try to break, but instead fuse together completely. but when he killed the kid, i absorbed the magic back up again since i was right there. there's gotta be some kind of soul connection or something, i don't know. i just know my magic is gone, and that can only mean one thing."

"I- I thought I was doing the right thing!" Alphys wails.

"heh heh heh- the right thing? you tortured our friend to her death via poison, and you're talking about the 'right thing'? please tell me that was a joke. you. are. sick."

"H- He threatened you guys... I just wanted to protect you, U- Undyne... He said if I helped him find Dex he wouldn't hurt you f- four... and then he k- kidnapped Monster Kid and said he'd kill him if I told anyone or s- stopped helping him..." Her face drains. "Oh no. M- M- Monster Kid, he'll... oh no..."

"obviously he lied, because he killed me a dozen or so times. and almost killed pap, then almost killed me. would have killed us, if it weren't for, i don't know, the very kid you just murdered?" I say. The other three start to go their separate ways, leaving me and Alphys alone. I turn halfway around, then speak quietly. "you've done more than kill my friend. you've destroyed a part of all of us."

I leave her behind, trudging towards the bar that offered me solace in other times of need. And it'll support me now. I sit down in the equivalent of my old seat, the room's laughter and things dying down as I walk in, like a cloud of gloom overtakes them. "i need some ketchup." Grillby hands it to me and gives me a look. He can tell something's wrong. "grillbz, i failed." The whole room has its attention on me now. "i lost my powers." They gasp, but I'm too tired to care.

".........How?"

"i failed, the kid is... she... remember how the princess was in the hospital?" Grillby nods. "she was gonna get better. but alph, she... she poisoned the kid! and now..." I shake my head. "i had one job, grillbz."

".......I'm....sorry..."

"and it's all alph... she betrayed us." I fold my arms and set my head down. "this is why i don't trust people anymore. you either lose them or they stab you in the back." In this case, it's both. I know I couldn't have done anything, and somehow that just makes it worse. The kid wanted help. And I couldn't. A nearby regular turns around to the rest of the room.

"Y'all hear that? The princess is dead!" Sad and angry murmurs fill the bar and I put my face down into the darkness.

Why can't I just do something right for once?

I turn around and walk out, deaf to the monsters talking around me. By the time I make it to my destination, it's so late that I think it's early.

September 22, 2018

I stand in front of the green patch of ground, remembering some older timelines. A familiar face pops up in front of me.

"Howdy. What's got ya so down? You got what you wanted, didn't you? You're on the surface." I'm so tired... "Okay. What are you here for? Wasn't enough to leave me here alone?"

"i'm not here to fight ya, flowey."

"Oh, that's new. I thought you didn't know my name anymore, what with calling me 'weed' all the time. Feigning kindness? I'm not one to fall for tricks like that, you know. Or, maybe you don't?" I sigh. How do I explain this to an emotionless flower? "Well, if you won't fight, maybe I'll take my chance!" A vine wraps around me and lifts me into the air. I know I can't fight it. Physical strength is no use against Flowey.

"Huh? You're not even going to fight back? So you won't mind me doing THIS?" Bullets hit me, carefully made so that they won't kill me. Only hurt. Flowey has taken the span of many RESETS to learn how to do that. "You're not making this any fun, you know that?"

"i told you. i can't fight."

"Can't? What are you going on about?"

"you've seen the kid, right?"

"The one who freed us, yeah? What about her? She seemed kinda creepy." The flower almost seems to shudder.

"what all do you know?"

"Everything but what happened on the surface. "

"it's a long story. and i ain't willing to tell it. but basically, the kid was poisoned. then alphys poisoned her again and she died a slow death, taken captive. and now, my powers are gone."

"Your... All of them? No shortcuts? Nothing?"

"nothing."

"Well that's no fun at all!" He seems mad, but puts me down. "What do you need me for anyway!?" He hisses.

"i want your help. i wanna make those..." Flowey is technically still a child, I have to remind myself. "freaking humans pay for what they made alphys do. you get to do whatever you want to them, and you get to leave the underground."

"And if I refuse?" I shrug.

"i get pap or someone to do it, and you don't get to leave."

"Fine. I'll help you find and kill them."

"thanks. i knew you'd make the right choice." I crouch down and scoop up the pile of dirt Flowey resides on and drop it on my shoulder. "the view is better from up here." I joke blandly. I start to walk back out of the Underground.

"Comedian, I'm a flower. I literally CAN'T be tall. For someone who hates jokes about how short he is, you sure make a lot of them..."

"i made one."

"Ugh... You're no fun, you know that?"

"how'd you feel when chara died?" Flowey is shocked.

"I- Why does that matter!?"

"chara was your best friend, right? almost a sibling to ya?"

"Well yeah..."

"then you know exactly how i feel right now. except, of course, chara's death was their own fault. i can't help but feel like dex's is mine." Flowey sighs.

"It probably isn't. I thought Chara's death had been my fault, you know. I know it wasn't now."

"that's the other reason why i looked for you first. you know what it's like. you're the only other one who remembers the resets too. maybe we're more alike than we thought." I wonder aloud.

"Don't push it." I weakly laugh.

"you haven't changed."

"Maybe I have. You'll never know."

"guess not. anyway. i'm surprised you didn't try to blackmail someone into bringing you outside."

"I didn't know until too late."

"and you didn't ask my brother?"

"Why would I-"

"don't lie. i know you talked to him. whispering things like advice, encouragement into his skull... at first i wanted to think it was someone using an echo flower to play a trick on him. but who else would trust you enough to tell you that we were free, anyway? even after he changed to be more hard on himself, he still trusted you. that was your fault, wasn't it? and i know what you did to him in previous resets."

"I'm starting to think this was all a trick." Flowey leans away from me.

"heh. nah. i feel like i've gotten my revenge for that already. i still need your help. i just want to remind you that i know just as much as you do, more or less. like i said, no powers. you're the fighter out of the two of us. i'm just a grieving skeleton looking for revenge."

"At least you CAN get revenge."

"we'll see about that. oh, and the people who did this- they want to send the monsters back underground. supposedly, it used to be the kingdom that led humanity into war with us. and likely the people who killed you."

"It was a risk to trust that human, you know. Sure, she ended up freeing us, but there's something off... Didn't seem surprised that i existed at all. And when I followed her through the ruins, she knew everything. Didn't even stop to think about nearly a single puzzle."

"that's the thing. on the surface, apparently they have a game called undertale. which is like... a different version of our world. and the kid knew about it, and that's why. it's weird, i know."

"That's what she meant by she'd seen me... Not in real life, but in some weird video-game thingy."

"yeah." Flowey settles in on my shoulder, seeming okay with this setup. He takes root in the crevices of my bones, just because I am NOT keeping dirt on my shoulder. No way, no how. "if we see anyone we know, hide. i don't want to explain. in all honesty, i don't think any of them would even approve of this."

"Wait, so... We're not going back to the ocean kingdom?"

"nope. we're freelancers now. oh, and i never asked. do you need to sleep?" I can't help but wonder.

"Uh... No?"

"okay. that's cool. so what do ya say we go get some revenge, huh?" Flowey grins and leans forward, starting to like the idea.

"I can't wait."