Walking through Hotland is unlike any area Finn has been in before. It's made up of a series of long rock pathways hundreds of feet above glowing pools of magma, and those rock pathways are often replaced with strange escalator-like contraptions and collections of metal pipes. Occasionally there is a gap in the path, and Finn is forced to rely on an odd pressure plate that releases sudden bursts of steam when stepped on to send them hurtling over the gap onto the rock pathway beyond. (The first time it happened, Finn nearly died of shock.) There are real lasers set up in places along the path (all deactivated, fortunately) and, weirdly enough, some kind of arcade cabinets, which contain one game that has very obviously already been solved. Then, at one point, the path randomly leads into what resembles a modern kitchen complete with a curtained window displaying a lovely view of a bright blue sky, and then continues on the other side.
The monsters here are odd as well; there's one that is pretty much a tiny model of an airplane, and another that's a fireball on legs. Finn finds two dust piles very close to each other, which transform into two members of Undyne's Royal Guard, fully armored even in the dense heat.
Perhaps the most daunting aspect of walking through Hotland, however, is that unlike Waterfall, which was for the most part completely silent, Hotland has a melody, just like Snowdin has. And Hotland's melody is also obviously much slower than it should be. It's hard for Finn to block it out, and it just makes them feel depressed.
And then they reach an elevator.
"Oh..." Finn remarks, staring at the five million different buttons on the panel inside. "Oh dear."
The elevator is at the end of the path. There's no way around it except to use it, and Finn has no idea where the other human might've gone.
The dummy frowns at the buttons. "Well, let's see. We must be on Right Floor 1. Maybe try Left Floor 1?"
Finn nods and presses the button.
The elevator doors slide shut, and the room vibrates for a few moments. Then it slows, and the doors slide open again. Finn walks out.
There's a giant electronic forcefield blocking the path.
"Okay then." Finn walks back inside. "That did not work."
"Well, try R2 next."
There's another forcefield blocking that path.
"Now we know what they're using all the electricity for," Finn notes. "That's a good thing! The human won't be able to walk through them and get to the people inside."
"But they must've taken some path, otherwise they'd still be in the elevator," the dummy points out. "Howabout L2?"
That one is also blocked.
"Well, then it must be R3. That's the only one we haven't gone to yet."
Finn nods and presses the button.
This one, thankfully, is not blocked. And the floor, unlike the floor on the rest of the levels, is polished red metal rather than red rock or brick. The metal is cool and soothing on Finn's overheated shoes, the magma too far down below at this point to do much to heat it up.
They set off down the path and soon arrive at a small baked goods stand set up randomly to the side, completely abandoned and decorated with spiderwebs. There's a cute pink-and-white checkered tablecloth over it, and it's hosting a variety of doughnuts and croissants that all look perfectly fresh. There's a sign set up next to it: 'Spider Bake Sale - All proceeds go to real spiders'.
"Ah yes, the cannibals," Finn observes, looking at the food in a new light. "If only I had money. I'd give them all the money they need so they can stop eating each other."
The dummy just gives them an odd look, so Finn shrugs and continues down the path.
The path ends very shortly, followed by what can only be some kind of puzzle. There are at least twenty platforms set up at intervals from each other, each containing a couple of steam pressure plates that are all set up in some kind of pattern. The path continues in three different places on the other side, but because this place has no walls, Finn can see perfectly clearly that the ones to the right and the left simply lead to more empty arcade cabinets. The one ahead is the place to be.
It takes Finn a couple of terrifying minutes to crack the puzzle, but with the dummy's help they finally do, and emerge victorious on the other side. The path goes on for a few yards, turning around a couple corners, then suddenly changes from red metal to some kind of purplish black and leads up to a large purple wall containing one small doorway at its base. Finn hesitantly walks up to it and enters.
The inside is extremely dark. And it's completely covered in spiderwebs.
"Well! This is certainly... interesting." Finn carefully avoids several large splotches of sticky web on the floor, only to find that the entire floor is covered with large splotches of sticky web. They wince, upset at disturbing the spiders' homes, but also somewhat upset at the fact that the stuff is sticking to their shoes and making it hard to walk. They push on, the webs growing stickier and stickier, making it harder and harder to move.
"I'm gonna end up being eaten by a giant spider, aren't I."
"No, I think the giant spider is dead." The dummy floats ahead, over to where a large patch of dust is resting on the webs. There's a flower next to it.
Finn grits their teeth and pushes on, struggling with all their might to get to the dust. They finally reach it, and the RESTORE button pops into existence. They press it, carefully sliding their mask back over their face.
This monster is, indeed, a giant spider, but not the kind of giant spider Finn had been expecting. She's thin, pretty, and bipedal, using two of her arms as legs and the other six as arms. She's wearing a cute outfit with a bow on the front, and her black hair is done up in symmetrical pigtails. She has five eyes, with two normal-sized eyes where eyes normally are and three smaller, extra ones set into her forehead. Her mouth is small and turned up in a smile, displaying two thin, sharp fangs.
None of her eyes open at the same time, and there's a confusing few seconds where they're all blinking rapidly at different intervals, but eventually she gains control over them and turns them on Finn and the dummy, looking dizzy and confused.
"Are you here to... buy something?" Her voice is soft, spidery.
Finn shakes their head, reaching for their satchel, which they open and deprive of its half-eaten spider doughnut, displaying it to the spider. "No, but we did buy something. You're in charge of the spider bake sale, right?"
"Yes...." The spider's two main eyes blink, and her expression seems to focus somewhat. "The human. The human with the striped shirt. Where are they? They killed us. Who are you?" The spider's eyes narrow, scanning Finn's striped sweater.
"I'm Finn," Finn offers.
The spider pauses, regarding them. Around them, Finn suddenly becomes conscious of a great motion, hundreds of tiny legs closing in, red eyes blinking in the dark. They force themself not to look at it and instead keep their eyes on the spider, until one of the tiny spiders runs up to her and she herself looks away, crouching down as if to listen to it.
The spider nods, listening to whatever inaudible speech the little spider is using, then straightens and turns back to Finn, her expression perplexed.
"So you brought us back from the dead, did you, dearie? And you were kind to our family in the Ruins! But you're not a monster - oh no, dearie, you are very obviously a human. A human in a striped shirt. What odd fashion choices you have up on the Surface." The spider's eyes all blink in unison. "How strange! Two humans at one time. I almost think I should stop you as well."
Finn takes a step back.
The spider laughs. "Ahuhuhuhu! No, dearie, we'll let you go. They were obviously talking about the first human in a striped shirt, weren't they?"
Around them, hundreds of spiders answer the question, responding in almost inaudible little clicks.
The spider nods. "Indeed. Carry on, dearie. And come back whenever you like. We'll be here."
"Alright, thanks," Finn replies awkwardly, and hastily makes their way over to the exit. The spiderwebs seem less sticky now, somehow.
They walk out onto the stage of a play.
YOU ARE READING
UnderHappened
FanfictionThe Undertale Genocide Route is happening, but a new card has joined the deck: Finn, a quiet kid with a love for stuffed animals who falls into the Underground soon after Frisk. At first, it doesn't seem like there's much Finn can do, until they dis...
