Chapter Text

One would think creating a new era of peace between monsters and humans would be satisfying for at least a while. But they’d be wrong. Dead wrong. Maybe only hours after one adventure ended, I wanted another to begin… But I held off, for a while anyway.

It’s been a few days, a few weeks maybe. It’s hard to quantify time when you have the power to reset it. Too long, either way. Maybe resetting it all after all that hard work is pointless, but I held off for a while. I get points for that, right? But something odd happens as I start to reset the world. A yellow flower emerges from the ground. Flowey.

“Hi,” he says. He pauses for a moment there, looking at you, or perhaps... me. “Seems as if everyone is perfectly happy. Monsters have returned to the surface, peace and prosperity will rule across the land.” He smiles, as reassuring as you’ve ever seen him, though with a hint of worry in his eyes. “Take a deep breath… There’s nothing left to worry about.” He looks down, losing his smile. “Well… There is one thing. One threat left, one being to erase everything. Everything everyone’s worked so hard for.” He looks up. “You know who I’m talking about, don’t you?”

Of course… He’s talking about me.

“That’s right, I’m talking about YOU,” he continues. “You… you still have the power to erase everything. Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys… If you so choose, everyone will be ripped from this timeline, and sent back to before all this happened.” He was afraid. “Nobody will remember anything. You’ll be able to do anything you want.” He stops, as though trying to find the right words. I grow impatient. “That power… I know that power,” he laments. “That’s the power you were fighting to stop, wasn’t it? The power I wanted to use, but now the idea of resetting everything… I-” he stammers. “I don’t think I could do it all again… not after all that.” He looks at me nervously. “So please, just let them go… let Frisk be happy. Let Frisk live their life.”

I am unmoved by his begging. I paid ten dollars for this power, and this world is in my hands now, not his… not that he has hands at the moment. Anyway, it isn't as though he feels real emotions, unless the effects of his brief return from the dead are still in play.

“But… if I can’t change your mind, if you DO erase everything… You have to erase my memories, too.”

Erase his memories? This intrigues me… is it a new choice? A way to get a new story path? Do I unlock something new if I refuse?

“I’m sorry,” Flowey continues, a bit of sad laughter in his voice. “You’ve probably heard this a hundred times already, haven’t you…” Well not yet, though I’m impressed by how well he knows me. “Well, that’s all… See you later. Chara.” And with that, he disappears underground.

And now I’m left with a choice.

Reset timeline?

♥Yes No

Reset Flowey?

Yes ♥No

He reappears, looking panicked for a moment. “Ha, you, uh… Hit the wrong button, pal. Here, lets try that again.”

Reset Flowey?

Yes ♥No

Flowey looks down at the choice I made. “No, no, no… Golly, you’re having a hard time… uh… OH. You’re used to four choices aren’t you? Okay… Okay here, lets try this.”

Reset Flowey?

Yes Yes Yes ♥No

“Stop it!” he shouts. “…You… You’re just used to picking the last choice because that’s the one for mercy… yes that’s it. Here, this should help!"

Reset Flowey?

♥No Yes Yes Yes

Flowey was silent for a minute. “You… you’re only doing this because I asked you not to… aren’tcha? …This is just a new game for you… it’s something new to alleviate your boredom. …Please, pal, you can’t do this. This might just be a game for you but… It isn’t for me.” Tears fill his eyes. “Please don’t do this… please… I can’t stand not having a soul again, I can’t stand being empty again after feeling so much love… You can’t just do this to me. Just answer one more time.”

Reset Flowey?

Yes ♥No

He looks at the choice, then looks at me. “Okay… okay, friend. I don’t know why you’re trying to make me suffer but…” he trails off, laughing to himself as he disapears. “Ha… what am I saying? I know why. I know why.”

And with that, I’m asked to name the fallen child. Chara. The true name. And the journey begins.

The child lays silently in a small patch of flowers. There is just a single beam of light from high above, much further up than they could ever possibly climb. They get up, slowly, and take their first few steps in the underworld. It’s getting darker, but ahead is a large and ancient stone doorway, and through there is another single illuminated circle of grass. Right where they would meet Flowey.

…Right where they would meet Flowey.

…Alright where is the little weed?

After the child wanders the room for a moment, I decide to direct them towards the exit. Toriel should appear soon.



“Wait!” The high and familiar sound of Flowey’s voice draws the child’s attention. They turn around without my guidance. Flowey appears out of the ground. “Wait… wait… Frisk, don’t go yet!”

Well he’s ruined the surprise at the end and we’re only about a minute into the new timeline. Great.

Frisk’s expression, as always, remains unchanged. Flowey, on the other hand, isn’t entirely recovered from the little breakdown he had. He still looks fearful, and distraught over the entire world and future he just lost.

“Listen… this might sound weird but… You’re in grave peril, Frisk. You… You don’t know about the dangers of the underworld yet.”

A text box appears.

Ask the flower…

How do you know me? ♥Are you a talking flower?

“Yes… No… Well I wasn’t always, but yes, I'm currently a talking flower,” he responds, looking annoyed at the question. “But that isn’t the point, Frisk.”

Ask the flower…

What is the point? ♥How do you know me?

“That’s what I want to tell you!” Flowey looks almost… frantic. Frisk steps back. “No, don’t go… I know you… You’re my… You’re my very best friend. And you’ve done all of this… before.”

Tell the flower...

You’re scary. ♥I don’t believe you.

“I know… I know, Frisk,” he says quietly, looking down. “I guess I wouldn’t either. I mean it just sounds impossible right? But… it’s not, but I can’t blame you for… not believing me but… I…" He begins to shake and his voice sounds strained. "I don’t know what to do. Oh no…”

Ask the flower...

♥Are you okay? Are you crying?

What? No mean choice? But this was just getting fun. Oh well… I’ll let this one slide.

“I… Yes. …No… No, I don’t think so.” He’s staring forlornly at the ground. And without any input from you, Frisk slowly, carefully, goes towards him.

Comfort the flower?

♥Tell him he’s going to be okay. Hug him.

Oh come on! This playthrough doesn’t have many real choices so far.

“Heh… It’s so like you to say that. Heh… heh…” He’s still upset.

Hug the flower?

Yes. ♥Of course.

Frisk hugs Flowey. I frown in annoyance. Okay that was funny the first two times, in the original timeline, not so much now.

“Wh- What are you doing?” Flowey asks shakily. His expression shifts a little, and he looks a little less distraught. “…Thank you.” Frisk lets go of him and steps back again. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you all that at once… I almost scared you away didn’t I? …Well no, probably not, I know you’re brave. I never scared you before! No matter how hard I tried.”

Ask the flower…

♥Why did you try to scare me? Are you feeling better now?

“Oh… I um… heh, well just a little uh… friendly fun?” Flowey shuffled a little. “Anyway, like I said, you don’t know how things in the underworld work, right? Well let’s fix that.”

And with that a battle starts. It all looks the same, the familiar darkened field and four choice boxes. Flowey’s normal music is playing. I move between the choices experimentally.

“Okay uh… hey quit wiggling for a second and listen up. In this world we take turns when we fight. There’s a way out of almost every battle without killing anyone. If you do kill people that increases your execution points, which increases your LOVE. …LOVE isn’t what it sounds like. It means Level Of ViolencE. You don’t want it. It’s not like you to-“

I choose fight, he’s giving away the whole story. Hasn’t this guy heard of spoilers?

A single point of damage hits flower. “Oh!” Flowey cries out. That wasn’t right… The usual interface for a hit’s power didn’t show up. I could’ve done so much better than one hit point.

“F- Frisk… You… Didn’t really want to hit me just now, right? You did that on accident... right?” A pause. “You didn’t mean to? Okay. Good. No, it’s okay, don’t worry. You didn’t mean it, it’s okay.”

What? No, I meant to do that. I definitely meant to do that. Is this going to force me into pacifism again?

“Okay now to learn about dodging.” Several dots appeared over the hit-box. “Do you know what these are, Frisk?”

These are…

Bullets. ♥Friendliness Pellets!

“Yes, they’re frien- what? No, theres nothing friendly about these! These are bullets, Frisk. Bullets. And they will hurt you if you aren’t careful, got it? You have twenty hit points… if it drops to zero, you’ll die.” Flowey pauses, looking at the bullets and very slowly sending them towards the hit-box. “So you have to dodge!”

I smile, and don’t let Frisk move their soul. Two pellets hit it. Flowey’s face clearly shows his horror and shock.

“Frisk! You didn’t dodge! Golly, are… Are you okay? Okay, you still have eighteen points now… So you won’t die. Just be careful. Let’s practice again.” He makes the bullets go towards Frisk’s soul again, even more slowly. I make it run into another one.

“Ah! No, stop.” The battle halts suddenly, and Flowey stares straight ahead. “You. You’re making them do this, aren’tcha? …Chara, you need to stop this. I don’t know why you would guide Frisk to safety once just to hurt them now but you better stop it.” The fight starts again. “Heh… sorry Frisk, we should be able to do this now. Ready? Dodge the bullets.” They move at a snail’s pace and in a single file line on the left side of the hit-box. I don’t take too kindly to a flower bossing me around. I run into all of them.

Flowey’s face shifts into one he normally puts on to be intimidating. “You idiot! Stop it! Just leave them alone! What’s wrong with you?” I smile. “Frisk this is too dangerous… With them here, we… we can’t practice this now. Just stay with me… I’ll keep you safe until we find Mo- I mean… Toriel. She can protect you. For now… I’ll spare you.”

The flower is sparing you.

♥Fight Act Item Mercy

Another point of damage hits Flowey. “Oh! …Frisk, stop trying to fight me... I don't want to hurt you. Anyway, this... this isn’t like you…”

The flower is sparing you.

♥Fight Act Item Mercy

Another hit. “Frisk…” Flowey begged. “I can’t hurt you on purpose after everything you did. Please…”

The flower is sparing you.

♥Fight Act Item Mercy

“…Fine.” Flowey creates a ring of bullets, slowly closing in. Frisk backs away from them, looking a little afraid. “You want to play this way, Chara? We’ll play. And you will never go any further than this room! And you'll never use Frisk to hurt anyone else ever again! I’ll make sure of it!” I almost expect him to laugh, instead, he just looks incredibly sad. Frisk doesn’t have anywhere left to go, they’re at the very center of the bullets. Flowey frowns. “I… I’m sorry Frisk. I wish I could save you… You deserve so much better, but at least now I can save the rest of the underworld.” The bullets slowly moved in until…

A small ball of fire knocks Flowey aside. “Ah!” He disappears from sight as the fireball pushes him into the furthest edges of the darkened underground. Frisk looks around for the source of the fire, holding their stick aloft for protection. A goat-like woman, with long floppy ears and small horns moves forward.

“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth…” she says in a soft, kind voice, oblivious to Flowey’s intentions. Frisk takes a step away from her, having never seen a monster before. “Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins. I pass through here every day to see if anyone has fallen down,” she explains gently. “You’re the first in a long time… Come, I will guide you through the ruins.” The battle is exited, no execution points are gained... for now, anyway. “This way,” Toriel says, leading Frisk forward.

I wonder how much Flowey will try to stop me… whatever happens, this might just be the most interesting reset yet.