Undertale

Chapter 24: An Ending

I stood in the darkness, not knowing what to think or where to go. Was I stuck here? Where were the SOULs? Where was the barrier? In front of me was only a little patch of light with a little patch of grass in the center, just like the one where I originally saw Flowey, and just behind that was a purple archway with the Delta Rune over it. Was I back there? Had I started over? Wh... what...

I walked through the archway, into more darkness. Suddenly, something very unexpected happened. My phone rang. It was Sans. "heya. is anyone there...?" How was there any cell service here? I was speechless. "well, i'll just leave a message... so... it's been a while. the queen returned, and is now ruling over the underground." Toriel. I was sure it was Toriel. She was ruling the Underground? Wh— when had all this happened? How much time had passed while I was fighting Photoshop Flowey in this weird place outside time? "she's enstated a new policy... all the humans who fall here will be treated not as enemies... but as friends. it's probably for the best, anyway. the human souls the king gathered... seem to have disappeared. so, uh, that plan ain't happening any time soon. but even though people are heartbroken over the king... and things are looking grim for our freedom... the queen's trying her best not to let us give up hope. so, uh, hey... if we're not giving up down here... don't give up wherever you are, okay? who knows how long it will take... but we will get out of here."

I didn't realize I was crying. I was stuck who-knows-where, and all the monsters were still stuck underground. Why had I ever thought going home was a good idea...? I would reset. I would reset and give Asgore my SOUL. The monsters deserved to go free... but I didn't want to die! If only we could all be free... I sniffed. Suddenly, I heard Papyrus's voice. "SANS!!! WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO???"

"oh, nobody."

"WHAT!? NOBODY!? CAN I TALK TO THEM TOO???" I laughed. Oh, Papyrus...

"here, knock yourself out."

"WAIT A SECOND... I RECOGNIZE THIS NUMBER!!! ATTENTION, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... AM NOW CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"

"Are you really? Oh, that's great, Papyrus!" But then what had happened to Undyne?

"IT'S EVERYTHING I'VE EVER DREAMED OF... EXCEPT, INSTEAD OF FIGHTING, WE JUST WATER FLOWERS. SO THAT'S EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. AND, WE'RE HELPING DR. ALPHYS WITH HER RESEARCH! SHE'S GONNA FIND A WAY TO GET US OUT OF HERE. UNDYNE IS HELPING HER TOO! THOUGH, TO BE HONEST, HER METHOD OF HELPING... SEEMS KIND OF... EXPLOSION-INDUCING." I laughed again. "BUT I THINK ALPHYS LIKES HAVING HER AROUND. UH OH!!!"

"Hey! What are you up to, punk!?" Undyne's voice boomed through the phone. Ngahhhh!"

"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE PHONE."

"Hey! Who's in charge here!?"

"ME."

"Oh... yeah, that's right! I quit my job as leader of the Royal Guard. Actually, since we won't be fighting anymore... the Royal Guard totally disbanded. There's uh, only one member now."

"BUT HE'S EXTREMELY GOOD."

"Yeah!! He is!!! C'mere!!"

"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON."

"Anyways, now I'm working as Alphy's lab assistant... We're gonna find a way out of this dump once and for all!! Oh, yeah, and I'm a gym teacher at the queen's new school. Did you know I can bench-press seven children!? Awesome, right?"

"Yeah, pretty awesome."

"Hey. I'm sorry about what happened with Asgore. You were just doing what you had to." She thought that I had killed him... "It's not your fault he..."

"I know."

"Ah, darn it. I miss the big guy."

"Me too, to be honest."

"Come on, Undyne! Snap out of it!" she told herself. "Uh, I guess I'll tell you how Alphys is doing. Well, she's the same as ever. Maybe a little more reclusive than normal. Seems like something's really bothering her. But she can get through it! I'm there supporting her!! That's what friends are for, right?"

"Right."

"Hey, where-ever you are... I hope it's better than here." Hardly, I thought, glancing around at the darkness. "It took a lot of sacrifice for you to get there." On everybody's part... I wanted to go back so badly. "So, where-ever you are... You have to try to be happy, okay!? For our sakes! We'll feel better knowing our trouble was worth it!" I was crying again. "We're all with you! Everyone is! Even the queen!"

"Thanks," I sobbed.

"HEYYY! WAIT a second! TORIEL! TORIEL! Do you wanna...?"

"Toriel's going to talk to me? Oh, I would give anything to talk to—"

"Heh, she says she's busy."

"BUT IF SHE KNEW WHO WE WERE TALKING TO..."

"we wouldn't get the phone back for at least a few hours."

"WE HAVE THE MERCY TO SPARE YOU FROM HER!!"

I smiled weakly.

"But call back any time, okay?!" Undyne interjected. "She'd love to talk!"

"oh, whoops. this thing's almost outta batteries. so, hate to cut this short, but...be seeing you, okay, buddy?"

"Bye, Sans. Bye, Papyrus. Bye, Undyne."

"BYE BYE FOR NOW!"

"See ya, punk!"

They hung up. I stared at the empty darkness. I was so grateful for their call, but it somehow made me feel even lonelier... Suddenly, Flowey popped up in front of me. "Now what do you want!?" I demanded.

"Why...? Why did you let me go?"

I sighed. "I don't want to talk about this anymore, Flowey. Where am I, and how do I get back?"

"Don't you realize that being nice... just makes you get hurt?"

"That hasn't been true so far, Flowey. And it's not as though killing you would have gotten me out of this place."

"Look at yourself. You made all these great friends... but now, you'll probably never see them again."

"I know, but I can still talk to them."

"Not to mention how much they've been set back by you."

"Stop making me feel guilty."

"Hurts, doesn't it? If you had just gone through without caring about anyone... you wouldn't have to feel bad now."

"I'd rather know pain than not know love, Flowey," I snarled. "You don't know what love feels like. You must be miserable."

"So I don't get it. If you really did everything the right way... Why did things still end up like this?"

"I don't know, Flowey. Why am I surrounded by nothingness? Or are you saying I should have died?"

"Why...? Is life really that unfair?"

"Flowey..." I hissed.

"Say. What if I told you... I knew some way to get you a better ending?"

"What?"

"You'll have to load your SAVE file, and..."

"You're tricking me."

"Well, in the meantime, why don't you go see Dr. Alphys? It seems as though you could have been better friends." Well, that was true... "Who knows... maybe she's got the key to your happiness...?" I definitely didn't trust Flowey, but I would take any excuse to go back. "See you soon," said Flowey. He popped back into the ground. I sighed. Time to reset.