Hey folks! Thanks for clicking on this link. :)
Some of you might already know me - previously, I spent a few months writing a long Undertale story called 'First, There Was A Flower', and now I want to continue writing. I took the opportunity to write my first short story, and I will keep making these either only until I have a new long story to tell (which will likely happen by the end of Summer holidays - I might have a rough plot written down already!), or even along with writing a bigger fanfic. Stay tuned for more details, and if you have a character that you'd like me to write a short story about, let me know in the reviews and/or PMs!

The First Show

He's been dreaming of this moment for as long as he remembered dreaming at all. And it was about to come true in just a few more minutes.

Of course he was shaking frantically on the inside. Who wouldn't? He cared about this way too much to stay calm and just let it happen. What if something, or multiple somethings, went wrong? This might just be his one shot for the stars, and he would never forgive himself had it not worked out. Or, what if everything was perfect – and it wouldn't bring him exactly what he imagined? Could he just have been chasing for a dream so wonderful that it couldn't be entirely satisfied in reality?

The stillnes was driving him crazy. He stood up and began moving his body back and forth, from one wall to the opposite one. Each time he turned around towards the mirror and slowly approached it, he studied his reflection as closely as he could. He reminded himself of all that he's gone through to get this far. Like leaving his loved ones behind, with nothing but a promise that he'll return one day. He didn't even know if he spoke the truth.

He hasn't heard a word from his cousins ever since he left for good. He only had the chance to say goodbye to Blooky – which, knowing his other cousin's fierce temper, was probably for the best. It was bad enough that he had to face Napstablook. He hated seeing him cry.

But sacrifices had to be made. That's showbusiness.

Mettaton sighed. At least it was supposed to be a sigh – it only came out of his speaker sounding like a slightly distorted breathing. Sometimes he forgot how much has everything been different since he entered the mechanical body Dr. Alphys made for him.

Even if this was just a temporary solution built during a short period of time, it was an incredible feeling to have a corporeal form like this for the first time in his life. His cousins didn't know, couldn't have known what it was like. When they were younger, they sometimes used to possess inanimate objects that fell into the garbage dump from the outer world to mess with strangers who happened to pass by. However, being in control of a fully operational body was something completely different. What he enjoyed most was the feeling of a floor, a solid surface under his wheel. When he and Alphys were discussing the specifics of the new, final body, he always made sure to mention he wanted to own a glorious pair of legs, the longer, the better. The thought of being able to stand and walk fascinated him.

Knock, knock on the door.

"May I come in?"

Speak of the devil...

"OF COURSE, ALPHYS, COME RIGHT THROUGH."

Her head popped out behind the open door. "Hi, Hap... I mean, Mettaton," Alphys quickly corrected herself. "Sorry, I've known you for so long now, it's hard to accept that you've changed your name."

"NO WORRIES, ALPHYS," said Mettaton in response, and gestured towards an empty armchair where the royal scientist gladly sat. He didn't need a seat, short of any muscles that could ache him.

"So... how are you feeling?" she asked him. Alphys was holding some sort of rolled piece of paper. She wore a lab coat that she apparently saved for special occasions – judging from its brightly white colour and lack of any visible stains. She could really use a cute dress, he thought to himself.

"I THINK I SHOULD SAY I'M FEELING THE TRIUMPH WITHIN MY REACH," he replied. "BUT HONESTLY, I'M SCARED."

She remained silent for a few seconds. "I know what you mean... I'm nervous, too." Alphys looked at him. "But not because I don't trust your abilities or anything! It's just..." And she turned her eyes towards the floor. "Nevermind, it's stupid."

"ALPHYS, FOR ALL THE TIME WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER, I HAVE NEVER HEARD YOU SAY ANYTHING STUPID." Mettaton rode near her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "SPIT IT OUT."

"Well..." She kept staring down. "I know this is your big day, but... It's a special day for me as well. I built this body for you with my own hands, I put a lot of time and effort into it..." Alphys finally looked at him and smiled. "You'd never forgive me if your arm suddenly fell off during your act, would you?"

"I KNOW IT'S YOUR NATURE TO DOUBT EVERYTHING... MAYBE THAT'S WHY YOU'RE THE ROYAL SCIENTIST, ANYWAY," he told her and looked at himself in the mirror again. "BUT WE'VE RUN COUNTLESS TESTS TOGETHER, AND WE'VE PROVEN THAT EVERYTHING-" he knocked on his chest two times- "IS FLAWLESS. YOU DID A FANTASTIC WORK."

"Thank you," he heard her respond. "I know I'm just freaking out. Plus, I really want Asgore to be proud of me... us." Mettaton heard a sound of the sheet of paper being unfolded, and he turned around. Alphys was standing and held the piece of paper in front of her; he only saw the blank side of it. "Listen, I just wanted to show you this before you go out there... Maybe it will encourage you a little."

Mettaton approached Alphys as she leaned the drawing towards him so that he could have a look at it.

"It's just a rough sketch, so please don't be too harsh. Or actually, be as harsh as you want, we have to make everything perfect for you."

Mettaton just stared at the paper for a good couple of seconds.

"Yeah, I know," said Alphys, evidently nervous from his silence; "like I said, it's still a work in progress... If you want to start from scratch again, I don't blame you."

"ALPHYS." he said, short for words. "THIS LOOKS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL."

What Mettaton was looking at was a drawing of a robot with a handsome face, wide chestplate, two arms and two long legs in pink high heels. It had a humanoid appearance – maybe Alphys found an inspiration somewhere in her history books or movies. The rest of the paper was covered in small notes regarding some technical specifications for the body.

And to think this body could one day be his... If his current form had tear ducts, he'd probably start crying.

"You really think so?" Alphys seemed relieved and happy that Mettaton liked her idea. "All I really did was put all the things we've discussed together. What bothers me the most is that according to my calculations," she pointed at a specific place among her writing which he wasn't able to decipher anyway, "this body will need a huge amount of energy to maintain. I guess I'll need to focus primarily on creating a stronger power source."

"I DON'T CARE, I WANT IT TO BE FINISHED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!" he exclaimed in robotic euphoria. "I CAN'T WAIT TO WALK AROUND LIKE THIS! CAN'T YOU PLEASE JUST BUILD IT AND WORRY ABOUT THE BATTERY AFTERWARDS?"

Alphys laughed. "Well, I've been thinking that maybe, I could build this body inside of you, at least for the time being."

Mettaton paused in his cheering. "INSIDE OF ME? I DON'T GET IT."

"Look," she pointed at another one of her notes; "If I, say, made you a switch so that you could turn into this new form from you old body... Originally, I intended that primarily for testing purposes – instead of leaving one body and entering the other one over and over again, I could just flip the switch and you'd turn into one or the other in no time. But I guess once this thing is built properly, and until we find a way to make the battery last longer, you could be using it as a sort of a power saving mode. Your current body's energy consumption is at least forty times slower than I estimate for the new one."

"YES, I GUESS THAT WOULD WORK FOR ME." He couldn't help it, he gave the scientist a big hug. "ANYTHING FOR MY DREAM."

Alphys hugged him back. "Well, I'm glad you like it." She folded the sheet again. "Do you want me to leave it here? Maybe after you're done with your performance, you'll want to study it closer and write down some things that you might want to change."

"IT'S ALRIGHT, I THINK WE MIGHT BE CELEBRATING THE ENTIRE NIGHT," Mettaton rejected her offer. "BUT IF WE COULD MEET AT THE LAB TOMORROW MORNING, WE CAN DEFINITELY GET A CLOSER LOOK AT IT."

"That sounds good to me." She looked at her watch. "Whoops, you're going live in five minutes, we should probably get there before they start to freak out."

Together they left Mettaton's dressing room and walked (or rode, respectively) forward, towards the muffled sound of monsters talking.

"SO, ALPHYS, WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU CAN START WORKING ON THE NEW BODY?" he asked. He was becoming a little worried that he might not focus on the show as his thoughts were with the doctor's wonderful design. But he can handle it, he's a proffesional-to-be.

"Soon," she simply replied. "I'd like to finish the business I have in the lower laboratory."

"WHICH WILL BE...?"

"Soon," Alphys said again and chuckled. "I just want to run one or two more tests, make sure everything will be fine... and if everything goes well, I can send... I mean, I can make it public by the beginning of the next week," she finished, slightly blushing.

"I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU'VE BEEN KEEPING SECRET FROM EVERYONE FOR SO LONG," said Mettaton. "YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD ANYBODY, HAVE YOU?"

"I can tell you this much – it concerns a few families mostly from Snowdin and Waterfall, and they know something's going on." They reached the small backstage area; a couple of the crew members were walking rapidly from place to place, checking if everything and everyone was in place.

"But they've been in it since the beginning, and other than that, no, nobody knows." Alphys looked at him. "I'm sorry I'm keeping this from you as well... you're like my best friend now, but I want it to be a surprise for everyone."

"ALPHYS..." Mettaton turned his body towards her and held her hands in his. "YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND AS WELL. YOU'VE DONE SO MUCH FOR ME LIKE NOONE ELSE BEFORE." He pulled her in for a tight embrace again. "I WILL MAKE YOU PROUD TONIGHT, I PROMISE."

He then turned around and adressed the staff.

"OK, EVERYONE, IF YOU COULD PAY TEN SECONDS OF YOUR ATTENTION TO ME. THIS IS THE BIG HOUR WE'VE BEEN WORKING TOWARDS FOR SO LONG. I WANT EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE TO BE PERFECT, AND IF ANYBODY SCREWS UP, ONE DAY THEY'LL HAVE TO TELL THEIR GRANDCHILDREN HOW THEY LET THE AMAZING METTATON DOWN AT THE DAY OF HIS FAMOUS PREMIERE... AND HOW HE HAD TO FIRE THEM RIGHT AFTER THE SHOW. NOW, LET'S ALL BE GREAT AND MAKE HISTORY TOGETHER, ALRIGHT?"

Everyone nodded, a few monsters cheered, and they all returned to their work.

"Two minutes!" someone shouted.

"RIGHT, RIGHT, GOTTA GO," said Mettaton and approached the ramp that led to the stage.

"Wait, Haps?"

He turned around and saw Alphys. She seemed worried about something.

"YES, WHAT IS IT?"

"Will you..." she mumbled in embarassment. "Will you still be my friend when you make it big?"

Hapstablook stared at the royal scientist, and for a brief moment, he returned to his old snail farm, and saw his cousin standing in front of him with tears in his eyes, promising he'll be eagerly awaiting the day the star returns.

For the third time that day, Mettaton gave his friend a hug, and this one was the longest.

"I SWEAR, I WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU DID FOR ME. I WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR FRIEND."

"Sixty seconds!"

As she watched her creation with the ambitious ghost inside appear at the stage, greeted with polite clapping, Alphys felt all kinds of feelings battling inside of her. She was proud of her friend who, against all odds, actually managed to put this all together and worked hard for his dream. And yet, she had a bad feeling about the future. Being a workaholic star dedicated to showbusiness meant leaving people behind... And Alphys was afraid that once the new body is finished, Mettaton might not need her anymore. Being who she was, and having as little friends as she had, she didn't want to lose anyone.

At least the fallen monsters were doing really well. Perhaps she didn't succeed in what she hoped to acomplish, but at least she'd be able to return a few parents, siblings and children to their families. Who knows, maybe then she'll become more popular as well, and more monsters will want to be friends with her.

"Five... Four... Three... Two..."

Music began to play, and the crowd, being instructed by the crew, cheered loudly. In front of them stood Mettaton, ready to make his first impression.

"GOOD EVENING, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES!"