AN: Here it is. My first fic for 2016. Here's to a happy new year.
Disclaimer: Undertale is from Toby Fox.
I remember when I first met them. They came every other month, their parents leaving them with me. Their parents probably wanted them to work on the farm or something. They were a smaller ghost, but I was told that they were older than me. I didn't really care. They were always bobbing up and down, moving all over the house and marvelling at all the human stuff that I had salvaged from the dump. There were not many, and the stuff were mossy, gross and barely working, but they loved it anyway. It was kind of nice to see a new face.
But my first mistake was to show them the television.
I had found it one day; it was huge, so I had to ask Aaron to help me. He just flexed for 10 minutes so I asked Temmie instead. She brought her sister, her brother, her father, her half-brother, the village's shopkeeper, her cousin, her cousin's egg, Bob and her allergic half-sister to move them. They lined up in a line and vibrated the television to the house. They later flooded the house to watch it.
I got a warning from the capital that day, something about causing a tectonic disruption.
But the next day, they came. Their parents left them with me again, and he immediately noticed it. He asked me what it was for, and one thing led to another, and eventually they found out about the Underground television system. It was kind of boring; mostly just to broadcast the King's messages, sometimes some strange human shows, but they were entranced by the idea of such entertainment.
At first it was kind of endearing; always talking as though they were destined to be a star, to become corporeal and entertain all the beings in the Underground. Each time we worked on the farm together, holding the snail races or raising the snails, he would talk about how he wanted to 'make it big' in the Underground. It was beginning to become worrying, to the point that their parents actually asked me to stop influencing him with 'human garbage'. I didn't really care.
My cousin soon left for some job with the guard in the next room. By that time, only I and they were left on the farm. They were now living with me in a house right beside mine since their parents had left them with me and never came back. Business was at an all-time low, with the whole 'declaring war against the humans' thing. I remember that day like it was yesterday; they were watching the tele, I was at the computer working on some music, when they started to complain, loudly, that his program was cut short by the King's message. We watched it together, and even though I didn't really care at all, the King looked angry. We never really saw the King so angry, especially since he was a regular at the farm. He declared that the humans had once again taken everything from us, and that he was going to initiate a new law; all humans that fall into the ruins must die.
I turned off the tv at that point and left with them, as it was time to feed the snails.
Business went on as usual for a while. The King still came to feed the snails and race them, as though nothing had happened. Eventually, though, he stopped. I didn't really care, since that gave me more time with my cds, but they were livid at the boredom. I even heard that he called for a 'Human Loving Fanclub' or something like that. I didn't really care, but it was nice to see my cousin look so energetic again. They lost that after his parents disappeared.
The second mistake I made was to not intervene.
They were meeting with the Royal Scientist; Dr. Alphys. One day on the farm, they came to me with the happiest look I've ever seen. He then told me that the 'kind' Doctor was building a body for him, and that it was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. They showed me the blueprints, and I said that it looked cool. They seemed happy with the answer, and made some weird sound and floated away to the house. They didn't feed thundersnail that day. I didn't really care.
Eventually, they left too. I found that out when for 3 days straight their house was locked, and they were nowhere to be seen. I think I actually cared a little. But I went on as usual, until one day Woshua, Aaron and Temmie showed up at the farm for two reasons; one, because the Temmie population wanted to race the snails, and two because their tv was out so they asked to watch on mine. I was confused. They then asked if I had never seen Mettaton before. I didn't.
The Temmies were weird, but harmless, so I let them throw all their money into the jar while I brought Aaron and Woshua inside. Aaron wouldn't stop flexing, but Woshua was nice enough to clean all the gunk on the human stuff. That was when I saw him; a shiny metal rectangle that looked exactly what the blueprints I had seen months ago. His speech was kinda garbled, but it sounded exactly like them.
I stared at the screen for a moment, looking as the rectangle danced, sung and acted out parts of plays, and didn't stop until the screen cut to black.
Mettaton was the only reason why I even turned on the tv anymore. The Temmies stopped coming eventually, and the snails apparently became self-sustaining. One even sold his shell. It became routine for me to work a bit on my cds, then watch the tv, then back to my cds again. It kept on like this, eating ghost sandwiches alone while watching my cousin be happy again. It was nice to see them so happy, even if I was alone. I didn't really care.
…
I think.
…
...
Then the human came.
I was lying in the ruins, being by myself without the sound of flexing, washing or vibrating, when a small human came along. I pretended to sleep at first, until they tried to push me. I just laid there and wondered what they wanted. They smiled at me. I got up a bit to get a better look at them. He told me a little punny joke about skeletons, which was pretty funny. I showed them a little trick I learned while crying myself to sleep, which I liked to call 'dapperblook'. They seemed to like it. Usually the ruins were empty, but that day I met someone nice.
I met them another time after that, when I fell into one of the pits. They helped me up. I eventually managed to get back home and just laid there for a while. I put on my headphones and just laid there on the ground, until I heard some strange cackling from the dump. I just shut the blinds and went back to lying on the floor. I later went on a walk and found the human again, playing with some cotton dummy. I accidentally cried on them, which made the dummy run away. I felt terrible, but the human seemed…relieved?
I invited them to spend some time with me, but I didn't really expect them to show up. So when they actually did, I was really surprised. We listened to some music, we ate some ghost food, we even laid on the ground and felt like garbage, like how I and Mettaton used to. Eventually they had to leave, but they were nice people.
I didn't see them again until Mettaton's show. They weren't the best actor; more like wood then an actual monster. But it was nice to see two of my friends act together. It was going well, and like with almost all of Mettaton's shows, the plot twist really got me in the end. I even got to see the completed body that Mettaton had, which was nice. Mettaton taunted the human a bit, and the human raised the burnt frying pan in his hand.
And bashed.
Again.
And again.
And again.
They didn't stop, until Mettaton's legs and arms fell off.
I wanted to turn off the tv, but I refused.
I wanted to just leave the screen, but I refused.
…
Eventually the human stopped hitting Mettaton. Even through all that, Mettaton was blinking. Mettaton looked sadly at the human and just thanked them for being a great audience, before collapsing into his rectangular form again. The Doctor appeared soon after that, but I didn't care. She said something about repairing him, but I didn't care.
That's because I knew.
She couldn't repair him.
Mettaton…
my cousin…
was dead.
...
…
..
.
Dr. Alphys looked on as the human left from sight, before kneeling down to Mettaton's broken form and breaking into sobs.
"Oh my god…Mettaton. If only I didn't ask you to help me…"
She turned him around, only to see that the batteries had been fried.
"Mettaton…I'm so sorry."
"...You should be."
Dr. Alphys turned around at the unfamiliar voice, to see the floating ghost of Napstablook, in all his crying glory, looking at her.
"Na-Napstablook?"
His magical tears slid down his form to make burning holes in the metal floor below him. His eyes were dented, with his headphones playing a soft jazz tune that only made him sadder.
"…Doctor Alphys…"
Napstablook stopped crying for a brief moment.
"…Can you make a body for me?"