(!SPOILERS!) How The SOULs Escaped

Frisk wasn't entire sure how to feel about their current situation. The creature above them was once Flowey, the innocent yellow flower that they had seen when they initially fell into Mt. Ebott. But this looked nothing like Flowey; rather it was just a mismatch of plant parts, pushed together and glued among each other in a conglomeration of horror. They didn't like this one bit, but something in their chest told them there was no escape... not unless they defeated Flowey once-and-for-all.

Bombs fell and they tripped away. Columns of flame and long vines stabbed into their SOUL. They were scared. They were concerned. They were losing hope... losing everything they worked toward. Flowey could save, Flowey could reload... Flowey could delete. Flowey could save over their death and kill them over and over and over again, and Frisk would have memory of every single one. They would relive it endlessly for as long as Flowey desired it, and when he was done Flowey would just reload from an earlier point and kill Frisk again differently.

Frisk was a fairly good dodger, but they could just barely escape the attacks Flowey set upon them...Every other turn they got hit, and they couldn't help but scream in absolute terror, and pain, and confusion. How could they defeat Flowey? All they had done throughout the entire adventure was run away, SPARE, and MERCY everyone. They hadn't fought anyone until Asgore ripped apart their ability to MERCY him, and even then that was a close call.

A small piece of determination welled in their throat like sickly bile. He murdered Asgore, in cold blood... just when Asgore was accepting Frisk as his own, promising he would raise them alongside Toriel, just like...

Their sudden anger blurred their vision just long enough for a small piece of fire to hit them hard. Frisk squealed in pain and stumbled back, away from Flowey, and their determination died down again. It was almost gone, almost dead... With this kind of determination level, Frisk probably wouldn't be able to use a SAVE POINT...

Something suddenly welled up inside them and she looked up at Flowey. She ignored the horrid eyes that decorated his skull, ignored the awful rows of teeth, ignored the petal-like loops around his head, ignored the red-spined hands that hung at his sides. Ignored everything but his red-rimmed eyes, green on the inside with red pupils. Hate welled in those eyes, but something burbled just underneath. Something roiling constantly, hidden beneath so many layers of hatred and emotionless anger. They could see it gurgling there, deep in the black place where Flowey's SOUL would be.

Insecurity.

Determination filled Frisk from head to toe, and they stood up, planting their heels in the ground - the black ground that had no distinction from the sky and the walls... nothing but Flowey... but there was so much more going on, so much more... every attack told them what Flowey had that they didn't... The memory of six glass containers with a different color filling it with bright, determined light...

Suddenly they threw their head back and screamed, "HELP ME!"

Suddenly the whole world went black. There was just nothing. They couldn't see anything... the world was pitch black, and then a gentle white. It felt weird, describing white as 'gentle.' Usually 'white' was blinding and aggressive, but now? It was... comforting.

Suddenly something wrapped around Frisk's neck. At first they thought this was a form of death, that Flowey was pummeling them to death and they just didn't realize it because they were already dead. But they couldn't feel their SOUL break free from them, so something was definitely different... and it didn't hurt... what was this?

Suddenly something a light shade of orange appeared around their neck. They watched the orange wisps turn into something: strong arms, a deep chest, and long legs with short, scruffy hair and a bandanna wrapped around their neck.

Frisk looked up in confusion as another Human appeared before them, hugging them tightly to their own shape, so tight that they wondered if this person would never let go...

"Who are you?" They whispered nervously, unsure of what was going on. This was such a tonal shift, from battling a horrific plant-demon, to getting hugged by a strange orange person..?

"I don't know my name anymore." He said quietly as he stepped back and smiled at them. "I just go by 'Orange' these days. Or months. Or years..." He squinted as he seemed to try and remember. "Anyway, you're kind of in a predicament I never even got to see."

Frisk cocked their head, curiosity burning inside them. "What does that mean? How do you even know who I am? Why are you orange?"

"Well... That means I never got as far as you." Orange said with a small, fake smile.

"... Oh."

"You met Toriel, right? She adopted us. All at different times, but... she did. I was the one that made her rethink her choice of letting the Fallen Humans leave the ruins. She... found me." He said quietly. "Or what was left of me."

"What happened to you?" Frisk asked worriedly.

"Oh... Nothing much," He said with a nervous shake of his head. "But she never picked up my stuff. I'd be willing to bet they're still sitting deep in the snow, somewhere before Snowdin... I wish I had the physical things, man. If I had been buried with them... That would have been nice."

Frisk suddenly felt a sick feeling draw up inside them. They blinked a few times and took out a Box, rummaging through it nervously before pulling out their Tough Gloves and Manly Bandanna. "... These?"

Orange seemed to choke immediately upon seeing the crumpled, snow-damaged items sitting on their hands, their eyes suddenly sitting there. "Wh... Wow... You found them..."

Frisk smiled nervously. "Is that bad?"

"Did... you find my stuff?"

Frisk whirled around to catch a soft green whisp turning into another person. This one was different from Orange in that he was heavier-built, notably less active - and he was much more timid than Orange seemed to be.

"I assume you're Green, then?" Frisk asked curiously, tilting their head a little. "What did you have?"

"I had a pan and an apron," He said fearfully.

Frisk immediately knew what he was talking about, and gave the Gloves and Bandanna to Orange, then rummaged through their Box once more. After a bit of shuffling they finally pulled out a cooking-charred pan and a food-stained apron. "Here it is. Sorry I kind of used them; Undyne used the pan, and I wore the apron..."

"You used them?" Green gasped, eyes bright and wide with surprise.

"Uhm... yeah..." Frisk admitted fearfully.

"... Thank you!" He cried in excitement. "I thought they'd never be put to good use! I didn't get to cook anything before my time ended, thank goodness someone found them and didn't leave them to rot..."

Frisk sighed quietly, then blinked as they heard the soft tiptap of approaching shoes. Frisk was surprised to find a young girl walking along on her tiptoes, as if to make herself taller by default. Judging by how tall her feet were, Frisk assumed this girl was usually at about shoulder-height.

"Hey, shortstack," Orange laughed, "You're trying too hard."

"Excuse me!" She huffed. "Rude. I'm just here to see Frisk. I don't need your crap, Orange."

"Uh. Are you looking for your stuff, too?" Frisk asked, entirely overwhelmed. "I probably have them..."

"Yeah. Ballet shoes and a tutu. I'm Blue, by the way."

"I guessed," Frisk muttered quietly, shifting through their Box once again. They pulled out the ballet shoes and the tattered up tutu, giving them to Blue as fast as possible.

Blue let out an excited squeal and quickly put the shoes and tutu on, standing steadily on her toes and pirouetting gracefully in the white... wherever they were.

"Hey, Aqua! Maybe Frisk has your stuff, too!" Blue called out excitedly.

"I can wait until everyone else gets their stuff," A little voice mewled. Frisk blinked a few times, then realized there was a tiny shape behind Orange, hiding behind one of his legs. Leaning to the side a little, Frisk realized a tiny little girl was sitting back there, clinging to his shorts nervously.

"Oh, what were they?" Frisk asked, leaning down so they were at Aqua's level. "I don't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup."

"Okay..." She scuttled out and tugged at the edges of her shirt. "I had a toy knife and a ribbon."

Frisk smiled and pulled out the tiny plastic knife, the handle baby-girl-pink and the ribbon a light blue just like her name. Frisk gently gave them the items and grinned as Aqua scuttled back behind Orange's leg and tied her hair in a bun with the ribbon, then stuck the plastic knife in her pocket.

As Frisk stood up, another shape came into being. It was another person, with squinted eyes and hands in their pockets.

"I'm really glad you stayed so determined, Frisk," They said quietly. "I, uh... Do you have my stuff?"

Frisk nodded. "I'm sure. What is it?"

"A notebook... and glasses. I... I can't really see right now." They laughed.

"Oh!" Frisk immediately pulled out a notebook and glasses, kindly handing them to the other person. "Better?"

"Yep," They said. "My name's Purple, by the way. Or Violet. Whichever you like."

"One more left." Orange said, "Hey, Yellow! Come get your stuff!"

A lanky yellow-colored boy came sliding out of the bright whiteness, his eyes calm and almost slow-looking, as if he was taking everything in before he went on to say a word. "Do you have a cowboy hat and a popgun?"

Frisk blinked and nodded immediately, pulling out the requested items. They watched in excitement as he put on the boots, took aim, and then let out an airy shot into the bright whiteness.

Suddenly something occured to Frisk. "Um... where are we?" They asked. "Like... I was fighting a demonic flower with venus flytraps for hands about twenty minutes ago. Then that all stopped and I was being hugged by Orange over here."

"Oh, yeah... that." Orange muttered huffily. "I didn't actually think you would come HERE, but you know... That happened."

"Why did you hug me in the first place?"

"Because I wanted to help! I don't want to be enslaved by Flowey anymore. I want Toriel to carry me out to the flowerbed and burying me, keeping me and my SOUL safe. I don't want to be owned by Asgore, and I don't want to be used by Flowey to attack someone that's just like me!"

"So... am I dead?" Frisk asked nervously.

"Nope." Blue said. "You're just... I don't know. Your perception is really, really off. For you, time is kinda frozen. Flowey thinks everything is going fullspeed, but in the Fight Arena you can sort of 'pause' and nothing will happen. You get time to prepare."

"I don't think anyone has learned how to do that though." Aqua said. "But I guess we did it for you by accident!"

Frisk grinned widely, and then they grew a little sad. "Oh, I don't... I don't think I can ever get back out. If I do Flowey is just going to kill me, and then he'll resave and do it over and over and over again. I can't do it-"

"Wait!" Aqua cried out suddenly, her tiny voice ringing through the emptiness. "Someone's missing! Someone really, really important!"

All of the SOULs looked down at the little girl, blinking a few times. "Wh... OH! You're right - Red's missing!"

"Red?" Frisk cocked their head, suddenly feeling lightheaded. "Wh... Who's 'Red'?"

They all shuffled nervously, and Orange sighed. "Well... They came just before me. They... were the adopted child of the King and Queen. Their SOUL wasn't stolen by Asgore when they died, since they poisoned themselves with buttercups and the Prince absorbed their SOUL instead."

Frisk cocked their head. "The first Human? Prince? This doesn't make any sense..."

"Don't worry," Green said gently. "It'll all come together later on."

"We just prefer not to say their name," Yellow said gruffly. "Since they're the one that started this all... they're the reason we all got murdered by Asgore!"

"They... did?" Frisk was getting more and more scared by the moment.

"Your face is getting pale!" Green cried, hustling over and gently putting a hand on Frisk's forehead. "Quit scaring them! You're practically killing them!"

"Red's gone, now, Frisk." Orange said quietly, looking at them worriedly. "They're no threat to us. I promise. Their SOUL was destroyed when Prince A-"

"No, they're not gone!" Frisk screeched. "I'M Red!"

They all jumped back a little as Frisk pulled their SOUL out, letting it sit on their hands, floating a deep heavy crimson like a pool of blood. Frisk was shaking violently. Back when they first started, their SOUL color seemed fine and normal. But now they knew.

"Red..." Orange stuttered. "But... That can't be. If Red was still here, they would've already been here... The whole time..."

"They were," Yellow said with a sneer. "The whole time. We cheered them on while they had a history of murder and set in motion a chain reaction of murder and hatred and death!"

"I didn't do any of that..." Frisk whispered.

"Wait! Frisk isn't Red at all." Green said abruptly. "Look; Red's SOUL was so different from theirs. Red's SOUL had darker edges, and it was always wet-looking and shiny. This one is just flat red, like the rest of us have flat colors."

All of the SOULs looked closely and then sighed in relief. "So Red is gone," Blue said in relief.

"But their trait is still here," Purple mused. "Determination."

Frisk looked down at their SOUL, bobbing fast and excitedly as they sat there, surrounded by kids like them, all of them excited to see them and giving them fresh new looks of relief.

"I can set you free," Frisk promised. "But you have to trust me. I can get you out of Flowey's grasp... we can fight together!"

All of their face slit up excitedly. "How? I trust you!" Aqua squeaked, which seemed to put the rest in the same line of thought as her.

Frisk nervously put their SOUL on the floor, stepping as far away from it as possible until it started to hurt as the tether between Frisk and their soul was stretched thin. "When I say so, all of you have to throw your SOULs at mine. If it works, my SOUL will absorb yours for a few seconds. Since Human SOULs can't absorb each other, it'll spit them all back out when I return to the real world."

They all blinked, and then nodded with bright grin. They all pulled their SOULs out and stepped back, ready for the aggressive blast that would be inevitable.

"Ready?" Frisk shut their eyes and tried to focus on the faint image of the monstrous Flowey in their head. It grew more vivid, more aggressive, more terrifying. But again, Frisk could see the uncertainty in his eyes, the fear, the insecurity... Yes.

They could win.

"NOW!"

Suddenly all six SOULs slammed into Frisk's, and the shrill cry of Flowey's fear echoed throughout eternity as they all arrived before him.