As promised, this is a summary of What Would have Happened were I to finish NOiHWT as I had planned. I suppose, as is being done here, there's also going to be some commentary on my part, haha.

Anyway, though. Onward.

I think the biggest problem with the story, the biggest loose end that I wasn't sure of how to tie in would be Matt and Elise. "But everyone loves them," I bet you're saying, "And they fit in so well!"

Yeah, well, that's the problem. They weren't supposed to fit in. They weren't supposed to stick around. Heck, they weren't even supposed to have names, originally, much less move in and have a kid. But they did, and so I had to make things up as I went, hoping they wouldn't cause any more problems than they already had. Because I was unprepared for them. I didn't know where they were going, what they were doing there. Everything involving them beyond the first two chapters of their appearance was a spur of the moment, "Oh! I can stick them in here!" decision.

But anyway.

Most of the remaining chapters were going to contain shenanigans not unlike the vast majority of recent chapters- recent meaning, the ones last published, as I suppose, relatively speaking, a year without a single chapter is not "recent." But regardless, they were going to be generally lighthearted, fun times. You know, hanging out with Sans and Papyrus, training and anime with Undyne and Alphys, arguments with Flowey, general chaos at the lab while Gaster insisted he had everything under control. And all the while, in the background, construction on the new CORE would be in progress.

And eventually, the CORE would be completed, and thousands of people would be there to witness its grand opening. There would even be news crews- monster and human, at Toriel's disgression- to record the event.

And there would be Gaster, striding through the doors just as the cameras started rolling, and he would be grinning enthusiastically, and walking with purpose, and he would be spattered in blood, and he would be dragging along a human body.

This was, I think, the only thing I had really truly planned when I realized Matt and Elise would be sticking around for a while; it would be Matt whom Gaster had first slain.

Frisk would reload their save, of course, once they got  over the initial shock. But they would find that, despite the resets not supposing to affect Gaster, he would not be there. He would've teleported back to start over, complete his goal again. It would take Frisk several tries to find Matt and Gaster within the CORE before Gaster killed Matt. And there it would be revealed that it was not, in fact, Gaster who was killing Matt.

Back when Gaster had escaped the Void, it had only been via the Determination that Chara had poured into his Soul in the moments they had had it, and it was Chara's Determination that he continued to use to exist.

And, just as in the end of the genocide route, his constant reliance on Chara's Determination allowed Chara some control over his Soul, and, by extension, him.

And every unexplainable accident to occur in the lab- every accident right down to the explosion that had almost shattered Gaster's Soul- was their doing, subtly influencing him without him fully realizing. (Though, that time, they had not accounted on him jumping in front of Papyrus; it was never their intention to endanger Gaster, as then they would lose their connection to the world.) Gaster did, however, know Chara was there, murmuring in the back of his head. And every time after every mishap that he had insisted he was in control, he had been speaking to Chara- and maybe even himself, trying to convince himself of his control.

But now, after so long of biding their time and gathering their strength, Chara had- just as they would've if Frisk had really completed the genocide route- finally taken control of Gaster. When asked why, they would explain it was merely to finish what they had tried to start with Asriel- to wipe humanity off the face of the earth, this time with a nigh indestructible body and all the power of the Void- not to mention Gaster's own innate hatred for humanity, as opposed to Asriel's innocence, meaning less resistance.

And when Frisk would point out to Chara that things were peaceful between humans, Chara would only remark that monsters and humans were peaceful before the war, and history is doomed to repeat itself. And so, they would say with a sharp smile, they might as well get to making it repeat already, and this time, give monsters the edge they needed to survive.

Of course, Frisk would not allow this to stand, and, at Chara's goading, they would attack. And after several deaths on their part, something would shift just a little. Gaster, too, would be fighting back now, in any way he could, such as adjusting the aim of his Blasters so that, if they missed Frisk, they'd hit him, or forcing Chara to sidestep so a melee attack was less targeted.

And eventually, he'd gain enough control to force himself to kneel, and he'd tell Frisk to kill him- or, at least, to run him through, break his Soul so it could no longer hold the Determination required to keep him in reality. Chara would argue, of course, "you moron! It won't just send you back to the Void! You won't even have enough Determination to remain conscious! To remain sentient!"

To which Gaster would reply, "good! I'd rather sacrifice myself than live eternally with you in my head!" And with a confident grin, he'd offer Frisk a knife. The knife.

They would accept it, but still hesitate.

About then, Asgore and Toriel, who had been with Frisk before they found Gaster, but lost them as they were running through the CORE, would catch up. Frisk wouldn't know this, but they'd see the look in Gaster's eyes, and they'd be horrified. Like everyone else who knew Gaster before he was erased, they only had vague memories of him, but that look was very vividly accompanied by memories of blood.

But Gaster would still insist Frisk kill him. And at the look on his face, the absolute certainty, they would. They would stab him once, twice, three times, and each time he would lose a little of himself, reverting back to Void form.

And as he would fall, the last of his shape melting away into black, Sans, having felt all the resets, would come in, just in time to see his father slain at Frisk's hand.

And Frisk would see just a little something of Gaster's in Sans' gaze, just a little of that fire. They would, for the first time in their life, see Sans really, truly angry. Back in the Underground, when he had fought them, he hadn't really been mad but depressed, and he had only been trying to slow them down. Now, though, he attacked them with a fury worthy of his family's name.

He would only stop when Papyrus would come in. Then he would reach out, grab Papyrus, and shortcut them both away.

They would be found, eventually, once things had been cleared up, all the way back in their home in Snowdin. Neither of them would talk to Frisk, regardless of how much Asgore and Toriel would explain, and Frisk, near consumed with guilt, would leave.

And some time later, they would come up with their last brilliant plan to save Gaster. Chara had said Gaster wouldn't have enough Determination, so what if they could get more, and bring it to him in the Void? The Void machine was still operable, and so was the DT Extractor back in the Hotland lab. And where to get more Determination? After all, they needed all theirs in able to complete the task. So they would drag Flowey into it, telling him he'd only be 'temporarily dead' without his Determination, as once Frisk had gotten Gaster out, they could just reload their save, and since resets didn't affect Gaster, he'd be fine, and Flowey would be alive. Flowey would agree on the fact that he appreciated that Gaster was the only one who didn't still treat him like he was Asriel.

So they'd go down to Hotland, and Frisk would use the DT extractor, pulling the DT from Flowey, turning him back into a normal flower, albeit one that had grown in Asriel's dust. Then they would return to the surface, heading for the lab to go into the Void to save Gaster.

There would be a problem, though. The Hotland lab's computer was connected to the surface lab's, and Alphys would get the notification that the DT extractor was running. She would tell Undyne, and they, being well versed in tragic anime plotlines, would guess what Frisk was up to. So Undyne would go to stop Frisk. And Frisk, seeing that they would have to battle Undyne to get into the lab, would unthinkingly reach out and save before confronting her.

They would win, of course, and they'd run into the lab and barricade themself into the room with the Void machine. Then they'd start it up, and jump into the Void.

Gaster would be there, unresponsive, a limp frame in the darkness. His body would almost seem to be coming apart, Void ooze drifting away like liquid without gravity, though his mass- if you could call Void incarnate mass- would never seem to diminish. And his Soul, or the fragments of it, would look like they had exploded, glittering shards of white stardust in the dark, expanding away from his chest.

And Frisk would realize they had a problem. Chara didn't just say Gaster would no longer have the Determination to stay, but that his Soul would no longer be capable of containing it. And they would possibly start to panic a little.

At that point, Chara would probably show up, only a faint smear of red tinted color against the black. And after a long and deep conversation about motives, and where Frisk had gotten the Determination for this, they would suggest that Frisk try to use the Determination like glue to put Gaster's Soul back together. Then they would, with a small shrug and a sigh, fade away.

So Frisk would attempt to do so. It would work- with repercussions. For every shard of Gaster's Soul they touched, they would get just a glimpse, some little bit of a memory, filtered into their head through Gaster's eyes. Just little things. Standing in the chaos, laughing. Clinging tightly to his brother. A burning ache in his chest, a new strength surging through him. Awash in relief at an unexpected forgiveness. Cradling a small, comatose form in his arms, astonished that it had worked.

Peering down at the anomalous little being, unsure of their intent, unsure if they were trustworthy, after all they had done and failed to do, after all the choices they'd made.

And Frisk would start to understand the fire that burned in Gaster's Soul. (Frisk would not know or understand this, but I think it's possible they may have ended up accidentally absorbing a fragment or two of Gaster's Soul.)

Eventually, Frisk would get his Soul back together and drag him out of the Void. But he wouldn't be fixed. He would remain in the Void ooze state, a hunched, liquid black body, with an unchanging face frozen in a sad, cracked smile. His mental state, too, was broken, no longer the brilliant Royal Scientist, but acting as if he understood nothing about the world, unaware of his surroundings, not even capable of intelligent communication. Senile, almost.

But, with Gaster out of the Void, however brokenly, Frisk would go to load their save to bring Flowey back, too. But then they would realize something, realize how they had saved before facing Undyne, after draining the Determination from Flowey. Loading the save would not bring him back.

So now, now Frisk was faced with a choice, a difficult, painful choice, all because of a reflexive, natural, oh so thoughtless action.

They could reset, or they could not.

They could reset, all the way back to the beginning to bring Flowey back, but that would mean undoing everything they had achieved, the past years on the surface, meeting Matt and Elise, reuniting Toriel and Asgore, and while it wouldn't force Gaster back into the Void, as resets didn't affect him, it would leave him broken, uncomprehending, and alone on the surface.

Or Frisk could continue on. They could keep their progress- and mistakes. They could take Gaster to Sans and Papyrus, and apologize. But that would mean leaving Flowey dead.

Then they would remember that conversation so long ago, with Gaster, when he had said Asriel was already dead, and asked if Frisk thought Flowey was really truly alive, living without emotion.

Frisk would still feel bad. The decision would leave them with a funny taste in their mouth and a knot in their stomach. But they would decide to leave Asriel be, and let his consciousness finally rest in peace.

So they would start to guide Gaster- he would seem to have trouble moving, and they would have to take one of his goopy arms over their shoulder, letting him lean on them as they made their way forward- and they would head for the door. Right about then, Toriel, Asgore, Undyne, and Alphys would all burst into the room. Toriel would be holding Flowey's flower pot. They would all be intent on explanations (and I might've been planning on Frisk likening them to thumbless cats), but they would forget all of that when they would see Gaster. So they would let Frisk and their charge pass without comment.

Frisk would help Gaster all the way back to the Underground. On entering the CORE, he would seem to get excited, and he would let out a little staticky noise on passing the True Lab. Waterfall- particularly the spot where there should've been a hallway but wasn't- would be met with slight revulsion. And as they would approach Snowdin, Gaster would seem to recover some of his own mobility, moving a bit faster, leaning a little less on Frisk.

They would make it to the brothers' house, and when Frisk would knock on the door, Papyrus would answer. Gaster, though, would be the first to react, moving away from Frisk, letting out soft hisses of static, reaching out to gently pat Papyrus. Then he would hug Papyrus. Sans would show up then, shocked, and be pulled into the goopy hug.

Frisk would just explain that they had done the best they could, and they were sorry they couldn't do better. Then they would turn and walk away.

Some time later, likely months, they would return. And while Papyrus would keep Gaster entertained, Sans would sit down with Frisk, and tell them how things were going. He would say that Gaster seemed to remember very little of before, or at least no longer be capable of comprehending it. He couldn't speak- only sometimes they would get a random word without context breaking through the static that had replaced their father's voice- and communication as a whole was very vague and incomprehensible with him. But, even handicapped as he was, he did his best to make Sans and Papyrus happy.

As Frisk would start to leave, Sans would stop them. He would tell them that he was still angry. He understood what they did, why they did it, but he was still angry. Maybe, in time, he could forgive them. But for now...

Frisk would just nod. They wouldn't blame him for that. And then they would leave.

As they walked away, Frisk brooded on that. That Sans was upset. Most everyone was, really, Frisk thought. No one was happy with this. But Frisk knew, with time, unbroken time, wounds would heal. Not to say they wouldn't leave scars, but things would get better. And until then, Frisk supposed, they would just have to learn to be okay with this.

§

A/N

And so, with that, No One is Happy with This, as well as the Better Times trilogy, comes to its bittersweet end. It's been an incredible journey, but we've finally reached our destination- regardless of the divergence from the original, intended path.

And as we arrive here, I want to thank you all for sticking around. I know I kinda went AWOL on you guys, and I know after I promised to finish the story, this isn't exactly what you were expecting. But still, for everyone who is still reading my stories, thank you so much. It means a lot to me that people still think it worth their time, despite my lack of new content. I cannot thank you enough.

As for the future...

Like I said before, I... kind of think I'm done writing Undertale fic for the time being. Maybe I'll come back someday and do more, but I think it's time for me to move on, now. There are other things I want to do.

As for what I am going to do, now, I have mentioned that I do intend to write fics for a few other fandoms here. Whether that actually happens or not, though, remains to be seen, as intentions and what happens aren't always the same. And if I do decide to write more, here, I don't know how long it will be. I might just vanish off the face of the earth for a while again, catch my breath, get my bearing before I start something new. We'll see.

But anyway. I guess it's that time once more.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it, regardless of how it ended. Your comments and votes remain my Favorite Things, and every notification I've gotten still makes my day.

I'll see you all around,
                   ANinnyMouse42