"Can you check the path to the right?" Finn asks the dummy.
They've been wandering through the very dark areas for a while now, investigating each and every gemstone-lit path for more monsters. So far, they've found two new ones. Finn isn't sure there are any more, but they want to make it 100% certain, especially now that it's grown even harder to see anything: the gemstones in this particular section fade after a few seconds of glowing and have to be relit by tapping strange blue lanterns placed in intervals along the black ground.
"Sure," the dummy says offhandedly, and Finn senses, rather than sees, him abandon his post over their shoulder and float away down the path. He has an advantage over them; he can see somewhat in the dark, without needing help from the rocks.
Confident that the dummy will be able to find them again, Finn sets off down the left path, treading carefully and sweeping the area for new piles of dust.
They're a bit... worried, to be honest. It's been a while since anything has really happened. It's only a matter of time before it does.
Case in point, their foot goes much farther down than they'd been expecting to in the next step they take, and they stumble into an invisible, dark pool of water, liquid splashing up around their shoes.
Finn winces slightly and is about to step back up onto the dry land behind them when they notice a faint blue light several paces ahead of them, much brighter than the gemstones their eyes have become accustomed to. It's in a vague, roundish shape and is illuminating the area around it, exposing stone and a couple of withered-looking reeds.
Another flower, Finn realizes.
Curious whether or not this one has something to say, Finn carefully splashes their way across the pool and soon emerges onto dry land once more before completing the last couple of steps and ending up within a couple paces of what is definitely one of the talking blue flowers. It's repeating something over and over to itself, quiet and eerie. Finn leans closer to try to make out the words.
"You aren't gonna tell my parents about this, are you?" the flower whispers.
Finn frowns, leaning back. That's odd. Who would...
Their eyes widen. Monster Kid. It had to be. It sounded exactly like something they would say.
They take a step back and look around, their eyes now accustomed to the dim light of the plant. There's a dark opening in the wall a couple paces down from them, with more glowing gemstones set into the floor. Another path. If Monster Kid had indeed come this way, they would've gone down there.
Finn hurriedly makes their way over to the tunnel and enters, straining their eyes to see through the darkness. There are a couple more blue flowers, which helps a bit, but they still don't notice that the tunnel floor has reverted to water until they actually step in it. Wincing, but determined to make sure that Monster Kid is alright, Finn sloshes bravely through it, carefully listening as they pass each flower. Nothing. They're all silent, like the ones before. Except....
They pause, cocking their head. No, they can definitely hear something. And it's not the heavy, ominous silence they're used to. It sounds like... talking? And was that... was that a whimper? But it doesn't seem to be coming from the flower... it's coming from....
Finn continues moving and soon stumbles upon a dark hunched shape, curled up in the water and crying ever so quietly.
"H....hey," Finn says anxiously, peering at it. It's definitely Monster Kid; the shape has no arms and is very obviously wearing a striped sweater.
Monster Kid gives a violent jerk and scrambles to their feet, whirling around to face Finn and stumbling back a few paces.
"It's okay, it's me!" Finn hisses, listening to the distant talking. It wasn't coming from Monster Kid, so who....?
Monster Kid blinks; even in the dark, Finn can see their eyes, wide and scared and tearstained. They're shaking violently, but it doesn't appear to be from the cold of the water.
They just kind of stand and stare at Finn, so Finn grabs them by where their shoulders would've been in what is hopefully a comforting gesture and holds them. "What happened?! Are you okay??" They keep their voice down, not wishing to disturb whoever's doing the talking.
Monster Kid stares at them for a few more seconds, then slowly shakes their head. "No," they reply hoarsely. "Undyne...." More tears appear in their eyes, and they sink back into the water. Finn lets them, letting go gently so that they don't fall, and their eyes shift to the tunnel ahead. Undyne...
"I'll be right back," they assure Monster Kid, then move quietly down the tunnel, taking great pains not to splash. The voice gets louder as they approach. They reach a corner and carefully peek around, ignoring Monster Kid's continued crying in an attempt to listen in on the conversation.
Their heart almost stops.
Stretching out in front of them is a long and narrow wooden bridge, rough and bridled with stalactites, and on this bridge, several yards away from Finn but still close enough to be seen clearly, are two figures. One of them is a figure well known to Finn at this point; a cold, robotic excuse for a human child, wearing a bright blue and pink striped sweater, their eyes locked shut. The other is... like nothing Finn has ever seen. A tall warrior in brilliant silver armor, wielding a glowing blue spear in a nimble gloved hand, her helmet removed to reveal a ponytail of flowing red. One of her eyes is yellow, the pupil glowing a menacing red; the other is completely dark. Her head is blue and scaly, fin-like ears fanning out on either side, and her mouth is spread wide, revealing a set of shiny, jagged teeth.
She looks like some kind of anime superhero.
But... but she's trembling slightly, not out of fear, more like she's exerting a great force in trying to hold something together. Sweat is dripping from her face, and Finn notices in horror that tiny pieces of her are flaking off and floating away. Dust particles.
She's dying.
Yet somehow, she manages to break into a giant smile, looking the demon straight in the face.
"Alphys told me that she would watch me fight you," she says slowly, her voice strained and shaking with the effort. "And if anything went wrong, she would... evacuate everyone. By now she's called Asgore and told him to absorb the six human SOULs. And... and with that power..."
She's melting now, more and more of her body flaking away, but she still manages to keep that grin on her face, even as she struggles to keep herself together.
"This world..."
She collapses to her knees, her feet evaporated into particles, her legs quickly following suit.
"....will live on!!"
She gasps slightly, then something breaks, and in a sudden rush, she's gone. All that remains of her is a pillar of white dust, slowly floating down onto the bridge into a pile.
The human stands there for a moment, completely still.
Then it turns and starts walking away, away from Finn, across the bridge. Slowly but surely, it reaches the tunnel beyond. It pauses for a moment. Then it disappears into the gloom.
It takes a moment for Finn to realize that Monster Kid has moved up next to them and is watching the scene.
"That's it," they say hoarsely. Finn turns to look at them, and they look back, their face a twisted mess of agony. "She... she's gone." They take a deep, shuddering breath. "We're all gone, too. All of us. We're... we're dead."
Finn shakes their head, their nerves too shocked for them to be able to speak.
"What do we do?" Monster Kid's voice is small, barely a whisper.
Finn focuses for a moment, trying to put their emotions back together. It doesn't work, so they force themselves to pick up their feet and walk forward, toward Undyne's dust. They hear Monster Kid hesitate for a moment, then walk after them, their steps slow and heavy.
Finn reaches the pile, careful not to step on any of it. The RESTORE button fades into existence much faster than usual, begging them to use it.
"She's gone," they hear Monster Kid murmur behind them. "Oh, she's gone, she's gone, she's gone..."
Finn presses the button and steps back, almost knocking over Monster Kid. "Sorry," they say automatically as the kid hops out of the way, staring at the now-moving dust with wide eyes.
"Wh... what's it doing? What's happening? What did you..." Monster Kid trails off, speechless as the dust reforms into the shape of Undyne, then solidifies.
Undyne looks a bit different now. There's an eyepatch over her dark eye, and her armor is nowhere near as spectacular, though it's still a decent set of armor, dark gray and plated. The sweat is gone from her face, and she's no longer trembling. Her good eye, the one they can see, is closed, but it soon flashes open, then blinks as she looks around in complete confusion. Her red pupil fixes on the bridge first, then on Finn, then shifts to Monster Kid.
"Didn't.... didn't I tell you to get out of here?" Her voice is quiet and slightly dazed, but powerful, no longer hoarse or shaky.
Monster Kid's mouth is open in complete shock, their eyes so wide they practically take up their entire face. "Undyne - You - I - You're alive?!"
Undyne brings up one of her hands and studies it, flexing the fingers. She closes it into a fist. "Seems so." Her voice is losing its dazed quality, taking on a stronger, fuller tone.
"How did... What did you do?!" Monster Kid cries, whirling on Finn. "How did - Yo, you did something, right? Yo!! Are you a superhero?!"
"Undyne's the only superhero here," Finn answers quietly, conscious of Undyne's suspicious gaze moving down their mask. They reach up and gently peel it off, shaking their hair back to reveal their very human face. They stare at Undyne, and Undyne stares back, her expression unreadable.
"Yo..." Monster Kid exclaims, almost breathless. Finn can see them out of the corner of their eye, studying them intently. "You're.... you're a human, too?!"
"Yeah," Finn replies, keeping their eyes on Undyne's face. "And I'm... I'm..."
They trail off, a vast emptiness suddenly opening up in their throat. What can they say? What can they possibly say, to explain all of this? Emotions pour into their SOUL, vast and tumbled and splashing angrily, and suddenly their eyes fill with tears and they throw their arms around Undyne and hug her, sobbing into her armor.
"I'm so, so sorry," they weep, their voice breaking. "For everything we've done to you. There's nothing... there's nothing we can possibly do, to make up for it all. We started a war over something you've never done, we hurt you and beat you and imprisoned you underground for hundreds of years and now we're back slaughtering you again, killing innocent people who've never done any harm to us, for absolutely no reason. We all deserve to die for what we've done. I'm so, so, so sorry..."
Finn pulls away and wipes their face on their sleeve.
"Yo," they hear Monster Kid say in a voice of awe. "Nobody's ever hugged Undyne before..."
Undyne is still staring at Finn, her face twisted into some odd mixture of surprise, anger, and confusion. She continues to stare for a few seconds, then grabs Finn's arm and starts marching towards the tunnel entrance, yanking Finn along behind her. Finn, somewhat startled, stumbles along obediently, refusing to fight her grip.
"H-hey," Monster Kid begins, then stops and hurries after them.
Undyne pulls Finn all the way to the other side of the bridge and doesn't stop until they're both on solid land. Then, surprisingly, she lets go, turning Finn to look them straight in the eyes.
"Where's Papyrus," she says in low tone, studying them intently.
"I told him to hide... not to answer his phone..." Finn stumbles in their speech, fighting to find words. "I didn't want it to find out that he was alive again. It was brutal enough... the first time..."
Undyne relaxes somewhat. "So he's alive." She breathes a sight of relief, then straightens, flowing back into a stern, powerful stance. "You brought him back to life. You brought me back to life. What are you? Why are you helping us?"
"I need to make things right," Finn explains. They feel a tear trickling down their cheek and hastily wipe it away. "I... I love you. All of you. I have to... I can't let you all die."
Undyne stares for a moment.
Then she chuckles.
"Well. Usually I challenge everyone who touches me like that to a fight to the death," she says matter-of-factly. "But I guess I'll make an exception for you. What's my job?"
Finn blinks as Undyne looks at them expectantly. "Um... what?"
"Come on, punk, you've obviously done a better job at protecting the Underground than I have," Undyne says impatiently. "I'd rather die again than admit it, but there it is. You're going to follow this demon and keep us all safe, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well? What's my job? Where do you need me?"
"Erm..."
"You want me to stay here and control the perimeter? Great! Because I can't face that demon again, it's way too hard on my self-esteem. Come on, punk," Undyne adds, shooting a glance at Monster Kid. "Let's get you back to your parents."
"Aww mannn...."
"Wait! Undyne," Finn manages, remembering something suddenly as Undyne moves away. She turns back, raising an eyebrow.
"Papyrus," Finn explains. "You should let him into the Royal Guard. He came extremely close to defeating... to defeating them."
Undyne looks thoughtful. "Huh. He really had it in him." She narrows her eye, then laughs. "Of course he had it in him, the whole world's gone nuts. Tell Alphys I said hi, kid. 'Course, you don't know who that is. You'll find out soon enough."
She turns and starts marching away across the bridge, dragging Monster Kid along with her.
Finn looks after them for a moment, then turns and regards the entrance to the tunnel.
They have a mission.