A/N: Boy, am I overloading myself with fanfics or what? I'm really thinking this up while I write, counting I have to think up things for this one and the Soul Eater story, and dig up old ideas and thoughts I almost abandoned for that Durarara! (had them a while ago as I… Eh… Should've updated them long ago) and other Undertale fanfic (old addition to Zarla's Handplate AU); Not that easy XD

So yeah, this is going to be difficult…

But, BUT! We'll pull through.. Somehow..

Anyways, you know how it is with me, I finish a chapter late and then fix it up tomorrow, so I recommend you read this one again about 8 hours after publishing.

Also DISCLAIMER, the protagonist is describing True Lab as "something like that game… Silent Hill?", because that's the first impression I got when playing through that stage. I do not own that game.

SPOILERS for True Pacifist route

and WARNING for a maybe triggering features in this update.

Anyways, let's go back into the story


Chapter 4:

Secrets Riddled

Below

Hah, I knew you'd come back..!

Well.. Not actually.. But I really left off a bad place then, Heh?

….

Right, right, the story…

Well, I was pretty sure I was a goner there.. I mean, me with LV 1 against an experienced Royal Guard. But I knew that if they had their way, that if I dropped the optimism, I would all be over. And I couldn't let that happen.

… Alright, I admit, I died a few times in the process, but soon we both got tired of fighting. The Royal Guard was hotheaded and focused on capturing me, but could soon barely keep herself standing; I-I haven't hit her once though, I swear!

Well, counting I had recently LOADED, I wasn't that exhausted, and made a run for it. A loud sound of rocks falling was a clear sign that the two guards were soon going to find a way through that pile of stone debris and head my way; the only way that seemed good to run or at least hide through was a really old looking building like a lab.

It was locked from the inside, so I had to ACT quick. I snatched the guard's battleaxe (it wasn't as heavy as it looked, believe it or not) and swung at the doors.

I don't know what happened, maybe the electrical charge that I felt in the axe's blade when it hit me earlier fried the lock, because it definitely wasn't my lameass swing.

I pushed the doors aside; the place was dimly lit and messy; there was a huge monitor displaying a few familiar locations, a fridge and a messy table with a... catgirl figurine..? But the approaching footsteps meant that I didn't have the time to worry about that. I hid in the nearest room possible; the restroom.

What became clear to me as soon as I entered the restroom was that it wasn't a restroom; it was an elevator. A rundown elevator.

I thought to myself, "Everything was going to be fine if I just don't do anything. I just have to hope they didn't find me and wait it o-"

The trail of my thoughts was cut off by the elevator shaking violently.

Only then I noticed it had no control pad or anything; it was activated when someone came in and headed in one direction, and it was obviously delayed a bit after I walked in because.. Well.. The building is really old!

And.. The sensors maybe didn't pick me up immediately because of my height, b-but! Nevertheless, moving on!

The elevator ride was very slow and loud, so it gave me some time to think. For example, the building looked abandoned, but was locked from the inside, and it seemed that life in there was just.. Stopped at some point in time. A thought occurred to me, that my mother maybe had something to do with that, but I shoved it in the back of my mind. I didn't want to believe what Sans said, but it was pretty obvious, now especially, isn't it?

Then, the ride came to a sudden stop; I was confused and got up, but the elevator shook violently once again and I could feel my feet leave the floor; I was freefalling with the elevator; one of the cables must've snapped. I felt dizzy, disoriented, and I panicked.


I woke up in the now completely dark elevator with pain in my back. Man, that was such a rough fall, I don't know how I even survived it.

Nevertheless, I got up and searched for some kind of a light source; even though it was faint, I could see a slight opening between the doors. I dug my fingers between them and pulled them aside, and made my way out; it seemed like a lab.

A lab under a lab? Seems kinda funny now that I say it out loud.

But no, even though that lab up there was old, there wasn't even a single particle of dust. And counting that dust it just human or animal skin that they throw away for new to form, that meant Nothing went in there at all. Not an animal, not a human, not a monster, not anybody or anything. It was sterile and frozen in time.

This, however, was something awful.

It was dirty, it was old, it just gave off the vibe of that game.. That game.. What was it called again? Silent Hill?

Yeah, like THAT. The aqua-green tiled floor and walls of the same color took on an awful dirty shade, most of the lights hanging from the ceiling weren't working and those that did were flickering and shining very dimly, the walls were riddled with cracks, with some monitors here and there, the whole place was filled with some kind of fog and seemed like some mutilated abomination will jump out at you and just that fact alone sent the chills down my spine.

In short, it was dirty, it was dimly lit, it was CREEPY.

I wanted to go back up, but the elevator was obviously out of order for good. There HAD to be some other way out.

And while I didn't want to, I pressed on ahead. I was bummed out by my dumb decision. Not just hiding in the elevator, but the whole idea of GOING onto the mountain in the first place. I seriously had no leads on what to do; Should I try to find some kind of a power source? Should I look around if there's someone in the facility?

The latter was obviously a stupid idea, even though whoever locked themselves in here might've been down here the whole time. Nevertheless, I decided to look for some kind of a generator. Not long passed, I already found my solution. Or, err.. It wasn't immediate…

I found a note that said something like powering up the whole lab and elevators would take four keys. There were no keys around, so I just assumed I'd have to find them on my own.

I normally liked puzzles and quests. I loved them in fact, and my mother was always.. How should I put this.. Puzzled by my love for puzzles. Heh. Aw jeez, why does this scarf start itching every time I make a word play or something? But, Erm, this was one step too far, even for me. I had to find four differently colored keys, and unlock four locks of the same color to get the generator working and the doors to open.

Now, Puzzles were the thing that I liked. Quests in real life horror houses? Not really my cup of tea.

Still, as I had no clue on what else to do, so I decided to go along with it and started looking for the keys.

Now, it'd be really awful if I had to drag everything I experienced while I was down there, it'd take me forever. So, I'm just going to say the most important things.

Now, I could go in two directions from there, and I decided for left because hey, thing of habit. There was really nothing important to see, three medical beds and three sinks.

I thought, since I had brushed my hand across one of the medical beds while passing and picked up something white while doing so, I should wash my hands, right? Because, aside from just being sticky and gross, that stuff was giving me an uneasy feeling.

None of the sinks actually worked. One didn't have any water flowing, other I couldn't even move the handle! And the third…

Well, I realized where that sticky white stuff came from.

Three… Things… That looked like a few monsters melted together, came out of the tube. They looked like they're going to fall apart any moment now, but weren't doing so. They said in a singsongy voice: "Come join the fun"

I couldn't do anything, but just felt as if I needed to show them something. I took out my phone, I heard voices from the receiver, "Come join the fun"

Though, they quickly became bored with me after I refused. They disappeared, leaving a red key in the drain. I took it and soon found the lock it belonged to. I took care of that one and headed out.

I hoped I'd never have to see them again. My wish, however, was not fulfilled. Quite the opposite actually, the place was FILLED with them!

Though, I remembered a few parts of every single of those things I encountered afterwards.. From other monsters I had SPARED earlier, back in Snowdin, Ruins, and that watery cave. Yeah, that's right. I didn't always run away, because sometimes I couldn't. They wouldn't let me. So, instead I just had to find a way to assure them that I meant to harm, and that wasn't always as easy as talking. I had to behave like them, tell or do things to appease them. And counting those things were obviously some kind of a fusion, I had to do multiple of those things.

Long story short, it seemed like to get to a certain place or get a certain key, I'd have to FIGHT and SPARE one of those creatures. Anyways, the generator was soon working and the power went back on. I must say, some of those things were pretty depressing. And not only those things. A whole BUNCH of other stuff.

Like what? Err… Well, there was this one room, the doorknob was cold… Like really cold.. Inside was nothing but a chair with a lab coat and glasses in front of it, covered in dust. And on the pipe below a noose was tied… I felt my heart sink.

I looked away, I knew what happened from just one glimpse at it, and I did not feel comfortable looking into it any further.

In the corner was a busted up old robot, covered by a sheet. I uncovered it, because I was curious. I could see it was attempted to be fixed, but it really looked beyond repair. And whoever was trying to do so, realized that too it seems. Back then, it seemed like chills going down my spine, but now I know what it was.

It was the feeling of my sins, crawling on my back.

I also saw some blueprints, for another robot. I took out my phone and snapped a picture of it. Again, I felt that this may be of some importance, but I did not feel comfortable taking it. It would feel almost like… Stealing

Anyways, next up, those things too.. Their back-story is kinda depressing. They were monsters that "Fell down" and practically awaited death. It reminded me of something I had watched in a show on television; It's like when human becomes brain dead. Their brain, or some parts of it die out, but they live for a short while in a coma before finally dying because their body cannot complete functions without a command center. Similar to how an empire can't work without a leader. Even though monsters' bodies worked differently than that, I think it was something like that.

Anyways, they were injected with large amounts of DETERMINATION I had previously used to cheat on death several times, and counting monsters' bodies haven't got enough physical matter to handle that, counting their bodies are made of their soul, which is mostly magic, and…

Huh? How do I know all that?

Well, that's the thing… While I was down there, I found those Entries… Explaining what happened to those poor beings. Speaking of information, I found those really old books about monster anatomy, and a few weird audio visual tapes, but with none actually having any video content. I think they forgot to remove the caps off the camera. For some reason, I felt a huge weight building up in my chest while watching, err… Listening to them.. Not a very pleasant feeling, counting it could've been from the impact when I hit the ground along with that elevator. Anyhow, I'd like… If possible, bring them back to their families… But counting they might misunderstand and… Y'know, they kinda ran away… I also found one tape that consisted only of strange symbols. I assumed that was just some nonsense.

Hm?

...

Oh, okay, sorry.

Anyways, The entries were all jumbled up, and it took me a while to go through them all. The last one, was immediately before I exited the lab through an elevator. It was… disturbing to say at least..

"I've chosen a candidate. I haven't told ASGORE yet, because I want to surprise him with it... In the center of his garden, there's something special. The first golden flower, that grew before all the others. The flower from the outside world. It appeared just before the queen left. I wonder... What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?"

I felt an awful chill go down my spine. I knew it was about that flower. How did I know? That was the thing. I didn't. It wasn't a hunch or anything, I just knew, even though I didn't. It freaked the hell out of me, and the fact that after I read it, it just shifted into a creepy red smile.

I'm not an expert or anything, but I'm pretty darn sure shady experiment entries weren't supposed to do that.

The underground was pretty scary because I wasn't used to it, but this? This place, ladies and gentlemen, takes the whole goddamn prize!

I had enough of that, I ran away from the monitor and headed for that elevator with which I arrived. I turned on the generator that monitored to power of the elevator, and there was no other way back up other than that, right? Right?

Well, apparently not.

As soon as I stepped into the mid room before the gigantic doors the doors closed behind AND in front of me.

The room shook violently. That didn't happen when I passed through it the first time.

Of course it didn't.

Because the elevator's power generator was off

The speed the room, no, the elevator, escalated up caught me off guard. It's like gravity was legitimately increased on me. I fell to the ground while the elevator went up and up and up and up and up, until…

It suddenly stopped.

The flashing red lights stopped.

Everything stopped.


I carefully got up and went over to one of the doors; the one that I could actually even budge.

It took me longer than with the last elevator; Not because it was in better shape than the it, but because the entrance was bound by thorny vines.

Even with that setback I succeeded to push through and got out of the elevator; it was stuck just a little above a floor where I could exit, so I crawled out. Man, this place was a real workout for me.

As soon as I got out I smelled the soothing smell of ozone in the air, I saw bright blue walls and a pathway above a huge pit that would've looked like abyss if it wasn't illuminating strong, electrical white glow.

I had heard about this, not sure if from a monster or from a book down there in that awful lab, but I knew what it was, and this time I was positive about that fact;

That was the CORE, the power source for the whole Underground. Just how the hell did I manage to end up here? And it looked like I was SPARED from the walking too, it seemed to be its very end, just one more room and….

And…

Ugh, I remember that feeling. I was so exhausted, hungry, beaten up, but glad I made it from that depressing horror lab, I just had to sit down and rest a little. I sat between the elevator and pathway leading to the elevator that'd bring me to the capital, to rest my feet. I placed my bag on my lap and dug around it; I still had that slice of butterscotch pie. Surprisingly, it was still as toasty and smelled like it was freshly baked. That's monster food for ya, Heh.

Anyways, while I munched it all up, I couldn't help but feel sorry for that poor lady Toriel… I left her all alone in the ruins… Well, not all alone, there was Sans too, but…

And then it occurred to me, I haven't heard from him in a while. At that exact moment, when I had finished the pie, my phone rang. I picked up, only to be greeted by a tired sounding voice from the other side.

"hey kid, what's the deal? i've been trying to reach you for last 4 hours or so" the skeleton spoke, his voice giving away that he has been, even if little, either worried or upset. Or both. But at that moment I was too busy trying to fathom the fact that I had spent that much time mostly SNOOZING in that god forsaken place. Of course it had no reception, it was like two miles under the Underground's ground level!

"H..how did you get this number?"

"i took a wild guess kiddo. i thought ya died or something like that"

I could almost feel that was a lie. He was different from others. He seemed to know what was up better than anyone, he knew the uses and origins of DETERMINATION too well (I noticed while he was explaining LOVE and other acronyms to me), to be just nobody, and I'd bet mine that he knew about my death-life fiddling.

"Oh, uh.. Sorry about that… I'm fine."

"good to hear. still sticking with our agreement?"

"Of course I am!" I said with as much confidence I could muster after everything I experienced lately.

"heh, good to hear too.. say kiddo, where are you that it took you that long to pick up? i haven't seen ya anywhere around my stands."

"Stands? You mean those with snow on the roof?"

"of course. i sell hotdogs"

"But… There are so many!"

"heh, what can i say, i'm all over the place"

"Uh.. Okay then.. Anyways, I was stuck in some kind of lab place, but now I'm at the end of the CORE, by an… Uh… Now out of order elevator…"

He paused for a while, then resumed

"welp, i think you'd better be careful then. i think someone's still waiting up ahead of you before you face Undyne."

"What?" I was genuinely confused at that point, how did he know all that?

"Sans?" there was a clicking sound; he disconnected. Why was he being so shady?

"Sans, you bag of bones, answer me!" I yelled into the microphone even though I knew he wasn't on the line anymore, I tried dialing him again, but he wouldn't pick up.

I soon realized it was pointless and got back up. I felt a bit better after eating the pie, and despite being a bit angry at the skeleton, was good to go. I couldn't stay mad at him anyways, he started growing on me, and I could tell that it wasn't just one sided. N-nevertheless, don't get any funny idea, I liked the skeleton because well, he got worried about me, and he helped me back in Snowdin. I will make sure to pay him back for that, I hate staying in debts.

I stepped into the room leading to the elevator. It was dark, and the doors closed behind me after I stepped in; I was getting pretty tired of that trick already.

I saw a tall figure's outline in shadow, in front of me.

"Oh… So you really came…" a cold, robotic voice spoke, "I already know most of the things about you so… Let me introduce myself…"

Two light blue reflectors illuminated the silhouette; it was a Tall, human-like robot; he had short white hair, black and blue headphones, a ribbed blue area on the gray metal of his face, reaching from his eye to the jaw he had some sort of a small "x" symbol under his eye; He wore plain, long grey trousers, blue gloves that reached halfway to his elbow (or at least were it would've been, his arms were divided into many fragments), and his chest was plain metal or plastic, I couldn't really tell; some holes that might've been speakers or microphone were in form of a musical note and two circular handles that I didn't know what were for by it. He had grey shoulder guards that were pointed down, with two black and blue speakers on each department between arms and chest, upper one bigger and bottom smaller like they bound his shoulder guards together with the chest. and a collar of the same color with a black musical note in the middle, separating his fragmented neck from his chest. He had a small department in his abdomen containing a white monster soul in some kind of fluid, grey belt, and grey, almost empty, droopy eyes. They almost looked blank. It looked familiar.

He looked like an entertainment robot, a DJ.

Then I remembered, he was the robot from the blueprints.

"I'm MetaBlook, the last and greatest invention of brilliant Professor Alphys. I was made to be the Underground's new star of entertainment and hope. My job is to keep the residents of this cave entertained…" he looked to me with an almost scary, sharp glare. "… And exterminate every human that dares to set foot here…"

The ground shook as it raised into a podium, and continued raising as he shouted:

"Lights! Camera! Action!"


A/N: Wow, this is a seriously long one. And I did it all in one go!

Plus, I have the time to start working on the next update, I have to speed things up a bit if I want to make it.

I should probably check for grammar and story mistakes, but I'm first gonna take a liiil' break. Anyways, that's all for now, if you didn't understand the MetaBlook's appearance explanation, look at my DeviantART page; stupidusernamepolicy, I did like three submissions with his design.

This on the cover is a bit outdated design, so I recommend you look at the newer one that goes by the same title this fanfiction does, and there's also a short panel comic of a scene I'm planning to do in the next update.

And yes, SPOILER ALERT, MetaBlook was made by Alphys, following the design of Mettaton and placing Napstablook's soul into the vessel.

And also YES I'M USING A HE PRONOUN FOR NAPSTABLOOK.

Just to warn you, I'm not going to take critiques for that because I took on a more.. Male design for the robot, and it's just easier for me that way. I mean, assuming Napstablook's cousin, Happstablook, is Mettaton, we know nothing of their gender, but as an entertainment robot, Mettaton's a male, and now so is Blooky. If you disagree with my logic could you at least be silent for as long as the next chapter? Thank you.

Anyways, sorry because of that all, I hope this long chapter makes up for the wait and the possible wait too. Buh bye