Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Flowey pops up outside Alphys' lab, peeking under the crack for light to signal that she's there before curling up a vine into a 'fist' and is about to knock, but stops. He thinks for a second. There are cameras, but to make sure she doesn't check them and see its him he had to do something to reassure her it's no one threatening or out of the ordinary. Who was she in contact with...?

Mimicking a perfect Undyne voice and pounding on the door like she would, he makes a hasty choice. "Hey, Alph, got a moment?" 

Hah. He hoped the distraction of "the love of her life" coming to visit her would be enough. 
Sure enough, almost right away he could hear footsteps scurrying to the entry, then pausing for a minute right on the other side- he could bet Alphys was trying to look good before making an appearance. This had to make him snicker. Finally, the door slides open revealing alphys leaning on the doorway trying to look cool. But the funny part is she isn't. At all.

"H-hey Undyne, howzit, um, ha-hang...."
She stands up normally as her eyes sweep the area, confused and somehow more nervous than before. She didn't see anyone. Strange. Maybe it was another prank....Which, maybe they were deserved anyway. And she hasn't stepped outside the lab for a good while so it makes sense someone would want to drag her out. Then again, Alphys wasn't sure why someone would ever want to see her...

Her low self-esteem thoughts were soon interrupted by a high-pitched, small cheery voice coming by her feet. No voice like could recognize. Or at least, not right away.

"Howdy!"

Alphys stumbled back upon sight of the familiar golden, instantly frightened. So many questions ran around her head, but she couldn't muster the strength to say anything, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. Why was it here? Where has it been? Why hasn't she seen it anywhere since it first left? Does it remember her? Where was Undyne?

"Are you okay? You look uncomfortable. Don't worry, I don't bite! *giggle* my name's Flowey! Flowey the flower. I heard a lot about you, doctor Alphys. Well, not that much, but enough where I thought it'd be nice to meet you in person."

"Ah, oh, um, y-yeah! You too." That answers her fourth question. 
"H-here, do you want to come in? I could get a pot! *she tries at a welcoming smile but it comes off wobbly and forced* What were you, um, told about me? Not that I'm nervous about it- I-i just want to know!"

"No thank you, I'll be fine on my own."

The flower swiftly but gently uproots himself as to not rip a root or too and crawls onto the tile floor. Ugh. He hated the types he couldn't just bust through, but it's better than being in a restricting pot.

"I'm glad you asked, doctor! A little birdie told me you had quite the few interesting projects and I felt the need to ask you about them. They didn't go too well, hmm?"

Alphys' eyes dilate. How did...? If it doesn't remember her, how does it know about everything else? She tenses up, on guard. Who could have possibly told it all that, or how could it have figured it out? This didn't make sense.

Catching her look, Flowey smiles in a comforting manner. "Dont stress yourself, I didn't mean to scare you! I don't hold anything against you. Everyone makes mistakes, I understand. You don't need to beat yourself up for what happened. So you messed up. That doesn't mean you can't fix it!"

"I don't know what you're t-talking about. How do you kn-know about this? A-and I can't...I tried to fix it b-but everything just ends up worse...." (This moved along quickly, and I still don't understand how it could know about the a-amalgamates but it c-can't mean any harm if it's talking like this... B-besides, you made it! It can't mean any harm. I'm sure it genuinely wants to help. Y-yeah...)

"Nono, I don't mean you can fix it like that! That's impossible. I mean ill help you fix the indirect problem! You know the dilemma with their families and how nervous you are to step outside recently! People ARE worried about you, yanno. I could help you with that. It'll be easy! Besides, people are very forgiving here and I'm sure they'd be happy to have their loved ones back at all. Buuut under the wrong circumstances or if you don't have a plan, things might backfire. That's where I come in!"

Alphys pauses, thinking for a moment before caving into the curious plan. "O-okay. Do you have an idea you want to share? I r-really don't want to mess things up anymore... N-not to put pressure on you or anything!!! In fact, I should be dealing with this on my own. I really feel bad for letting you do all thus for me." She looks away, guilty. All this pressure shouldn't be put on someone who's nothing to do with her problems.

At first, Flowey climbs up on to her shoulder, wrapping a vine around her arm and squeezing lightly as a comfortingly gesture. "Doctor, please. Don't feel so guilty for everything! It's natural for someone to need help once in awhile."

The roots around her arm spreads to her other. Then around her torso. And her legs. And neck. Head. Wait. That doesn't feel right.

"Its the least a project can do to thank his creator."

Chapter Text

Alphys spoke on the other end of the receiver. She sounded urgent, so you decided to listen closely. For some reason, her voice sounded more strained than usual but you assumed it was only on account of the emergency.

"F-Frisk, I know you're busy with your own problem with uh, g-getting home and all, but before you go on I could really use your help with something. U-unless you're caught up in something important!"

Funnily enough, you were in the middle of a battle with Muffet, strung up between sticky webs with the phone pressed against her ear. Muffet had been kind enough to let you take the call (much like Undyne's battle) but she could see her muffin-spider pet looking at you intently, making you uncertain at how long it would wait to pounce. You gulp, suppressing your fear. Maybe it can smell emotions.

"Uhhh, sure! I'm just a little... tied up at the moment, but I'll be there soon as possible." Saying this, you attempt a reassuring smile as if it would even help, considering you can't see what happens on the other side of the line.

"Great! Meet me at the lab. Its about time I've shown you..."

Frisk blinks as the phone hangs up. This never happened before and you don't think you did anything special to provoke it. So what happened? The only other person who could have possibly altered the timeline was-

"Breaktime over, dearie!" Muffet interrupts your thoughts, reminding you of your unpleasant situation. "Ahuhuhu~ You know what that means~ Dinnertime, pet!"

With her word, the man-eating cupcake shot towards Frisk, making you climb for your life. Right. You'll see what Flowey wants later. Might as well play along.

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Chapter Text

Frisk was slammed against the back wall in front of the towering machine, strapped down by vines that only tightened when she squirmed. Alphys' expression turned to fear and surprise, causing Flowey to make a cooing sound, looking back at her with fake sympathy.

"Aww, you didn't think I was going to help you for free, did you~? I even pretended to be you quite convincingly because you were too scared to help yourself! Surely I deserve some type of reward."

He guides Alphys' hand to grip a lever to the side of the machine and tries to pull down, but she won't budge, refusing to put Frisk in danger.

The slight resistance annoys Flowey, continuing to fight for control. "You think you can win. Shucks, I outta admire that brave move of yours, but unfortunately you figured out the real scenario far too late. Heehee, those are some smarts you have and yet they call you a doctor!" One of the vines wrapped around Alphys' body clocks her in the head with just enough force to knock her out. Wouldn't want to go too far as too destroy his poor host. "We've already gone one step too far to give up now."

After checking Alphys is completely out, he claps her hands together in success. "There! Much easier to pilot without all that pointless fighting. You know how much I hate conflict. Now where were we?"

One of her hands rewrap around the bar. “Oh and, you might want to bite onto something, Friskie. This may hurt a bit~"

Flowey's smile turns dark as he pulls the lever down and the DT extractor's interior starts to build a strong glow as mechanical whirring fills the air. If you were struggling with Muffet, this was way worse, as even your best attempts make no difference, restraints too strong to allow you to move an inch. Fear grips at your soul as you await for whatever is to come next.

But Flowey finds your attempts amusing, eating up your panic as he makes a fake attempt to reassure you. "Please, I promise you there's no point in trying to get out. You'd think after all your deaths you'd be used to pain by now. Oh well! Exposure therapy might work. Now sit tight."

At his last word, a strong beam bursts from the mouth of the extractor, hitting you squarely in the chest and pulling agonizing screams. You feel as if your very essence was being torn apart, but there was nothing you could do to make the pain stop. The only thing you were capable of was clenching your muscles and trying to distance yourself from the pain as if it could help anything. But it was impossible. For these few endless seconds, the clash of your own blood-curdling screams and the humming of the machine was all that can be heard until it all drops into silence.

Even after it was over, you suddenly feel unbearably weak and exhausted. Your ears ring from the sudden quiet and dizziness takes ahold of your head as you lose feeling when the floor falls up to meet your face.

Flowey had let go of you after the procedure was finished and watches as you fall limply to the floor, not dead, but unconscious and rather damaged. He releases his hold on alphys as well, letting her body collapse next to yours. A clink can be heard from a slot below the control panel where the lever was, summoning Flowey to retrieve it. Taking the object out of the cubby, he smiles down at a few small vials in his vine filled with red liquid, swirling it around in its container. Determination. Frisk sure was a good supply! Sadly, he had to let you keep some of it so you don't die. He couldn't afford losing one of his most valued friends.

Once finished with business he goes back upstairs, taking the vials with him as he searches through Alphys' tools and pulls out a needle. He hated shots, let alone having to take several at once, but he'd have to make the sacrifice. He pours the pure determination into the barrel and injects shot #1 into his stem. Although it hurts, he could feel the powerful essence spreading into each petal and root quite satisfyingly. He pours another. Four more to go.*

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After a few doses of DT, Flowey pulls up the game control screen and smiles to himself.

"Too bad for you Frisk, too bad for you... The timeline never belonged to you anyway."

SAVEing the game, he then flees to his usual spot in the ruins by the flowerbed. Chara would love to hear about this.