"I knew I didn't like him," the dummy says in distaste.
They've exited the Hotel and are now wandering through an entirely new section of the Underground. Walking through this area is like walking through the hallways of an extremely high-tech apartment building, or some kind of scientific complex; everything is walled in, painted a cool blue, and sprinkled with glass, elevators, flashing lights, inactive lasers, and metal bridges spawning large glowing gaps in the floor. Yes, literal glowing gaps in the floor; the complex seems to be built above some strange yellow power trapped beneath.
They've found several dust piles lying around. The place is mostly one giant maze of identical corridors; Finn guesses the monsters got lost while trying to evacuate and were hunted down and murdered by the human. After the whole thing with Sans, Finn's stopped wearing their mask around. Their human face causes the monsters to either flee or attempt to fight them, which the dummy quickly puts an end to every time.
"I like him," Finn says thoughtfully. "Probably even more, now. It's sad that he thought he had to keep all that inside and pretend to like me." They feel a twinge of hurt, but they quickly push it away. They don't like themself, so why should anybody else? Especially a monster, victim to hundreds of years of abuse at the hands of humans. "At least now I know."
"But he shouldn't hate you, Finn," the dummy says angrily. "It's completely unfounded. Look at all you're doing! And aside from that, look at who you are! Most monsters aren't anywhere near as kind and sweet as you are."
Finn disagrees, but they decide not to answer that. Instead, they focus on RESTOREing monsters; they've reached a long purple bridge leading to what must be the end of this area, and the bridge is completely covered with dust. Lots of monsters must've been trying to evacuate this way.
They don't pay any heed to the monsters they reform, just keep going. Keep going. All of them, one after another. The dummy floats behind them, talking to the monsters and - occasionally - glaring at them until they back away. Finn only half-listens; they're too busy in their own thoughts. Too tired to deal with all of that. Too ready to just... be done.
They reach the end of the bridge and pause, studying their two options. The hallway ends here, but there's an elevator and, to the left of it, an arced, open doorway. It sounds like somebody's crying inside. Finn can just barely hear it.
After a moment of indecision, Finn walks through the doorway, which is decorated with rows of flashing lights. It's dark inside, and it takes a while for their eyes to adjust from the bright light of the corridor. There is, however, a large spotlight placed helpfully above, illuminating a bright circle in the center of the room. In that circle of light are two sad figures: a jumbled collection of broken Mettaton-esque parts, and a sobbing yellow monster in a dirty white lab coat.
Finn walks slowly up to them, sensing the dummy following close behind. They hesitate for a moment, then reach out and put a hand on the sobbing monster's shoulder. She jerks upright, then turns to stare at them, tears clinging to her large circular spectacles. Her eyes widen, adopting a look of utter fear and hatred.
"Y-you..."
"No," Finn says patiently. "A different one." They reach out and press the RESTORE button, which, as always, flickers helpfully into existence whenever they're near a murdered monster.
There's a subtle noise like a machine revving up, and the spare pieces begin to vibrate softly. They move quickly up into the air, circling around each other and joining together. Within a few moments, Mettaton is standing in front of them, just like Finn remembers him and twice as good as new.
The yellow monster jerks again and takes a couple of hurried steps back, looking wildly between Mettaton and Finn.
"W-what?! B-but..."
"ALPHYS, MY DEAR," Mettaton says idly, seeming completely relaxed. "AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE EVACUATING CITIZENS RIGHT NOW?"
"I... I...." Alphys appears to be having a nervous breakdown.
"THE PLAN, DARLING," Mettaton reprimands her gently. "WE HAD A PLAN. AND I MUST SAY, THIS HUMAN PLAYED THEIR PART A LOT BETTER THAN YOU DID. IN FACT, THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A PART. BUT THEY PLAYED IT ANYWAYS. SUCH CHARACTER!"
"Wait. You're Alphys?" Finn asks, looking at the yellow monster in a new light. "Undyne says hi. She seems to care about you a lot."
Alphys doesn't seem to be able to decide whether to blush, burst into tears, or collapse on the floor shaking. She makes up for this by performing a complicated mixture of the three.
Finn stares at her, suddenly feeling very anxious.
"SHE'S OK," Mettaton assures Finn. "SHE'S ALWAYS HAD A TALENT FOR THE MELODRAMATIC. ONE OF HER MOST ENDEARING TRAITS, ACTUALLY." Mettaton folds his hands together. "I SUPPOSE YOU'RE OFF TO NEW HOME? THE OTHER HUMAN IS ALREADY THERE, I'M AFRAID. MY ATTEMPTS TO HOLD THEM OFF WERE.... SLIGHTLY UNSUCCESSFUL. ACTUALLY, YOU MIGHT SAY THAT THEY KIND OF BLEW UP."
"Yeah," Finn says, still staring at the shivering Alphys. "You'll... you'll take care of her?"
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ALPHYS, DARLING. SHE'S IN FABULOUS HANDS." Mettaton spins in a circle, then zooms over and circles around the sobbing monster on the floor, flashing an alarm clock on his screen.
Finn nods, then looks up at the dummy. The dummy nods back. They turn and start making their way toward the exit.
"BREAK A LEG!" Mettaton calls.
The exit leads to yet another long blue corridor. Apparently they haven't seen quite the last of the science complex yet.
"So......."
"Yeah?" Finn asks, looking up at the dummy.
It looks extremely nervous. "Well, what are we going to do?"
"About what?"
"Finn, you do realize that New Home is the last area of the Underground, don't you?"
No, Finn hadn't really thought about that.
"It's where King Asgore's castle is. It's where the Barrier is." The dummy sounds very tense. "Finn... what about the other human? What... what will we do if they're still... y'know.... there?"
"We'll have to fight them." The answer is short, decisive.
"How on earth do we do that?!" The dummy sounds panicked now. "You heard Sans!! They can just reset time whenever they want!! How do you beat something like that?"
They've reached the end of the corridor now. There's an elevator in front of them. The doors slide welcomingly open as they approach.
"Guess we'll just have to figure it out," Finn remarks.
They enter the elevator.
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...
