UnderHappened

13 - Hatred

"They're... they're going to kill him," Finn whispers, clutching the dummy.

Yes, but then you'll go and bring him back.

"I can't let them do that!"

FINN!! You don't stand a CHANCE against that thing!! And if you die, he dies with you! For real!!!

Finn knows what the dummy says is true. But they can't just stand here while Papyrus gets brutally murdered. A hero wouldn't do that. A friend wouldn't do that.

Look. Finish checking the buildings for dust, then you can run to Papyrus. I'm sure it'll all be over by then.

All be over...

And who knows! Maybe Papyrus's friendship offer will work.

Finn shakes their head. They know that demon. They saw that demon. There's no way they're getting back on the right path.

They were going to murder Papyrus.

But... they do what the dummy says, even though their heart is aching with pain and they hate themselves for not running out there and throwing out their arms and shielding poor, innocent Papyrus from everything that human is about to do to him. They duck into the next building, which is a library - named "LIBRARBY", because English is hard - and find, as usual, nobody, then pass a grand two-story wooden cabin and what appears to be a shed, both of which are locked.

Finn lets go of the shed's door and turns to stare dismally down the path, down to where Papyrus and the human are... are...

There's a blizzard happening down there. Finn can't see anything.

Just wait, the dummy warns.

So Finn waits. And waits, and waits, and waits, and every second that passes by feels like a sting of acid in their soul.

And then, finally, somehow, the blizzard vanishes.

And... and Papyrus is coming out of it, speedwalking toward Finn.

No way.

Finn can't believe their eyes.

"FINN!!!" Papyrus exclaims, stopping directly in front of them. Finn has never seen him so happy. "IT WORKED, FINN!! THEY ACCEPTED MY OFFER OF FRIENDSHIP!!! I WAS HONESTLY A LITTLE WORRIED!!!"

Finn is so surprised, they can't do anything but stare at Papyrus, speechless.

The human... didn't kill Papyrus? How? Why? They killed everyone else. Had... had what Papyrus said really gotten to them? Despite Papyrus's charm and innocence, Finn has a hard time believing that, and yet... here he is.

"BUT NEVER MIND THAT!! THEY ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH AGAIN!! BECOMING A GREAT PERSON!!! I AM GOING TO CRY!!!!" Indeed, tears are already somehow falling from Papyrus's skeletal eye sockets.

Finn feels like crying, too. Suddenly, a great weight lifts itself from their chest.

The human didn't kill Papyrus.

They aren't just a mindless killing machine.

There's hope for them after all.

Maybe Finn doesn't have to be the hero anymore.

"I'M PRETTY SURE I WAS SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE THEM, BUT I JUST LET THEM GO," Papyrus continues, a little nervously. "THAT IS OK, RIGHT?"

"Papyrus..." Finn looks up at him, shaking their head in wonder. "You're amazing."

"WHY, ER, THANK YOU," Papyrus says, pleased. "I AM NOT CALLED THE GREAT PAPYRUS FOR NOTHING!! AND I HAVE BEEN THINKING... PERHAPS I SHOULD APPLY MY TALENTS TO A POSITION OTHER THAN THAT OF A ROYAL GUARDSMAN. I HAVE NOT... HAD THE GREATEST TIME, WITH THE PUZZLES AND TRAPS. IN FACT I FELT COMPLETELY USELESS DURING MOST OF THE CAPTURING PROCESS."

Papyrus frowns a little as he mentions his puzzles. Finn kinda wants to give him a hug. They  thought the puzzles were great.

It was... it was really too bad, that the murderer had fallen first, instead of Finn. It could've been Finn solving those puzzles. Finn could've been the one receiving Papyrus's offer of friendship. Finn could've made Papyrus happy, rather than tearing his dream apart.

"You could be a superhero," Finn suggests. "You're really good at it."

Papyrus beams, though Finn isn't sure if he actually knows what a superhero is. It doesn't matter. Papyrus is a superhero. He averted the crisis, and now all Finn has to do is....

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the world snaps, and Finn is back at the cliff.

The cliff where they talked to Papyrus last. The cliff over the slowly moving blue river.

Wait, what...

Finn looks at the snow on the ground, and their heart drops.

"No," they whisper, then whirl around, staring back along the path toward Snowdin's main street, just in time to see the human, the demon child, disappear from view behind the Librarby.

"NO!!"

Finn's legs kick into motion and they tear down the path, back toward Snowdin. They knew it. They knew it was too good to be true. The dummy is speechless in their head, unable to get a word out. But Finn knows. They know everything going on inside its head, just like they know everything going on inside their own.

It takes far, far too long for Finn to finally reach the start of the path, and by the time they do, their breath is coming in bursts and the dummy feels ridiculously heavy in their arms. They don't stop, however. They race down the main street of Snowdin, almost tripping over their own feet in their haste to get to the end. Their heart is beating loudly in their ears and they're having trouble sorting out their emotions. They feel... they feel like there's something smoldering inside their soul, consuming everything else, leaving only smoke and emptiness.

The demon had way too much of a head start. There's no blizzard blowing ahead of Finn. And there's no Papyrus, either.

They burst out into the clearing beyond, and freeze, staring at what they knew was going to be here but wished beyond belief would not be, how did it happen so fast, they couldn't have stopped it if they'd tried - a large pile of white dust, and the sad remains of a red cape.

FINN!!  the dummy screams, and Finn looks up, away from the dust, to find the human themself standing several yards away, so far Finn can barely make out the shape of their closed eyes, shadowed in the mouth of a gigantic underground cavern.

Facing them.

Finn stares.

The human, eyes closed, stares back.

There's a long, long pause.

It smirks.

Then, slowly, mechanically, it turns around. It shambles away. It disappears into the dark of the cavern.

Finn keeps staring. They can't peel their eyes away. The burning in their chest blazes up, threatening to consume them.

Finn?

Finn.

Finn...

Come on, Finn. It's okay. Just... just bring him back.

You can do that, Finn.

Don't worry about them.

It's... it's okay....

...Finn?

"I... I hate them," Finn realizes, almost choking on the words.

The dummy doesn't reply.