I can't believe this happened! Over 50 followers! I feel like Papyrus when he hit double digits! From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Now for what you came for...
Alphys stood next to Mettaton in front of a metal door, her claws twiddling with each other. "Alphys?"
"Oo!" Mettaton's question made her bounce. "Y-yes?"
"It's been fifteen minutes now, darling. Now might be a good time to knock."
"Oh. Right!"
The scientist made a fist and tapped on the door with her knuckle. Immediately, an intercom buzzed to life. "Hello?" A male voice called out. "Is that you, Dr. Alphys?"
"Y-yes!"
"Ah, yes I can see you now! And that must be the robot we discussed. Please come in!"
After the voice finished, the door slowly opened, revealing a dark corridor.
The two worked their way to a stark elevator which took them downwards. It stopped and the duo found themselves in a well-lit laboratory. Most of the tables were clear save for a few which had mechanical parts and blueprints around. The sound of footsteps disturbed the quiet as a man came into the area from around the bend. He wore a lab coat and khakis; his nose was larger than average and his hair looked like a raised grey wig shaped as a bowl.
"Aha!" Mettaton shouted, dramatically pointing at the newcomer. "Dr. Stench I presume."
Rather than be taken aback, the doctor smiled. "Yes. And you must be Mettaton. Alphys has told me so much about you."
"Not too much, I hope." The machine nudged his creator with his elbow.
"No! I mean... like what?"
"Lighten up, darling! It was a joke!"
"Oh. Ha...ha." The lizard awkwardly laughed while making a trembling smile.
"In any case, welcome back," Dr. Stench greeted again. "Come here, I want to show you something." The human took a sheet of paper and hung it up. Upon further examination from his guests, it turned out to be diagrams of the inner workings of Mettaton. "Oh, my!" The robot gasped. "How scandalous! Where in the world did you get this?!"
"I sent it," the lizard answered meekly. "I have them in my phone... Please don't be mad!"
"Oh," Mettaton did a 180 and was completely calm. "That makes sense. Carry on, Dr. Stench."
"Thank you. As I was saying, I made sure to study these schematics so I can find some way of installing the new power source you requested. Many of these parts look fairly rudimentary in nature. The thing I can't wrap my head around is this." He pointed to a white heart-shaped component.
"Oh, that's where his soul is."
"His soul?"
"Yes, it's kind of the nerve center to the whole thing. You see Mettaton wasn't always a robot, he-"
Ding!
Alphys stopped as a noise rang from her pocket. She fished around and pulled out her phone. The lizard swiped it to unlock and her eyes grew wide. "Oh, crap! I gotta go! Mettaton!" The monster ran to the elevator. "You tell him the story! The guys are waiting!"
"Can do!"
The diminutive scientist went upwards, narrowly avoiding the beginning to another of Mettaton's patented two hour monologues.
"Where are they? Where are they?!" Alphys scurried around the bustling streets of M-City, her head frantically scanning her surroundings. "They weren't where they were supposed to meet! Could they..? No! They wouldn't leave me! Would they?!" Her muttering and quick motions earned a few glances from the shoppers around her. "Uh, excuse me?"
"Huh?" The monster looked up to see a tall man, his face obscured by a hoodie and baseball cap. In his hand was a plastic bag from a video game store, the contents obscured.
"Are you lost?"
Alphys couldn't help but blush uncontrollably, "Er, I... Yes! Ah, No! I mean, maybe...?"
"Okay." The stranger began to walk away.
"Wait!"
"Huh?"
"I, uh, m-my friends..." the scientist twiddled her thumbs. "I-I don't know where they are. Wesaidwe'dmeetatthisplacebutwhenIgottheretheyweren't-!"
"Slow down," the man interrupted, "I can't understand a word you're saying."
The lizard took a gasping breath. "Sorry, I do that sometimes."
"Ahhh!" A woman's scream drew their attention as people ran in the opposite direction. The clearing gave the two a look at what was causing the commotion. A disgusting man with disheveled hair, green skin, a tail and a pointed lizard-like face cackled in front of his captive audience. "Bwe he he! I am the man who loved lizards so much, I became one! Tongue Stretcher! Bring me your women so I may choose my mate!" An absurdly long tongue came from his mouth, swatting five men away. Alphys looked in horror as the stranger groaned to himself. He began stepping casually towards the perverted monster. "What, what are you doing?!" Alphys called incredulously. When the hooded man was in the clearing, the wind from the villain's tongue blew the man's disguise off. His face was serious with strong cheeks and half-closed eyes. His hair was short and golden, the locks curling at their ends. The most striking feature, however, was the three scars over his left eye, like he were marked by a ferocious tiger. Upon his reveal, the crowd fell silent. His very presence was unnerving, as if being stared down by a sentient force of nature. "It, it's King!" One of the bystanders shouted.
"King?!"
"King's here!"
"The strongest man in the world!" At once the terror amongst the people changed to triumph as they cheered.
"Kick his ass!"
Just as suddenly, Tongue Stretcher fell to his knees, lips literally kissing the street. "Please sir!" He begged. "I'm so sorry! Please just let me give myself up! PLEEEASE!" The man-turned-monster bawled harder than any child before the woman he terrorized stomped his head.
"That's for getting drool on me, you bastard."
Alphys pushed through the crowds legs and reunited with King.
"Ahh!" Someone screamed. "It's another one!"
"No, wait!" She raised her hands. "I-I'm a hero too! Class A rank 23! He and I were just-"
"You're together?!" Someone called.
"We, I-"
"Did you hear that?! King's got a disciple!"
"That's so generous!"
"Just what we'd expect from King!"
The audience broke into applause; Alphys was too shell-shocked to form any complete sentences and King wordlessly picked up his cap, dusted it and placed it back on his person.
"What's going on?!" Entering the clearing was a familiar woman her hands on her waist.
"Undyne!" The shorter monster dashed to her girlfriend and hugged her legs.
"Alphys? What are you doing here?"
"I-I came looking for you! You weren't at the meeting spot so I thought you were lost or kidnapped or-"
"It's fine, Alphys," the former captain grinned. "Although I don't remember you asking to come with."
"Oh, right. I was so focused on the date and time, I forgot to ask if I could come. Heh." The scientist couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly while scratching the back of her head.
"Yo," Saitama joined along with Genos, sans and Papyrus; everyone but sans either carried a plastic bag or cardboard box. "What'cha doin' here?"
"Oh, I came to meet you for the grocery sale here."
"Wait, were we supposed to meet you?"
"I do not recall agreeing to that," Genos stated.
"it's fine," sans shrugged. "the more the merrier."
Alphys' eyes were drawn to the writing on the boxes. "Any reason you're buying so much seaweed?"
"it's a new idea. if i want to stay ahead of the competition, i gotta try new things."
"But you're the only hot dog place in our city."
"yup. never hurts to get a head start. means you got less space to run when the race starts. by the way, you know why this seaweed was so cheap?"
"OH, BECAUSE THERE IS A LARGE AMOUNT AND THUS A CHEAPER PRICE IS NEEDED TO GET RID OF IT BEFORE IT GOES BAD?"
"nope. it's 'cause its sea grade." Saitama chuckled at the pun while Alphys' new friend winced. "Hey, who's this guy?"
Genos stepped forward. "Class S, rank 7: King. Known as the strongest man in the world."
Undyne's eye shot open. "Seriously?!"
"I remember you," King pointed to the cyborg. "You were there when those aliens attacked."
"Indeed." Undyne stepped in front of her fellow S class peer and gave her usual grin.
"So you're the strongest, huh?" She held out her hand. "Nice to meetcha." King took it but when they gripped each other, a crunch made everyone freeze.
Eeeeeeee!
"What is that?" Undyne asked. "Is there a mosquito flying around here?" When Undyne loosened her handshake, King quickly put his hand in his pocket. "Anyway, what'cha doing out here? You looking for bad guys?"
At that moment, the ground shook below them. The street in front of them tore asunder as a metal hand rose. From the crevice, a robot the size of a house arose. It's armor was arranged with ornaments and a cape adorned its back. The metal crown on its head was the last touch, making it look like a warrior of nobility. It looked down and pointed at it's target. "King," the voice was entirely mechanical. "I have come to kill you."
"What?"
"I am designated G4. I have been sent by the Organization to test your strength."
"Huh," the man scoffed. "You really plan on fighting me? The strongest man in the world?"
"Oh my God!" Everyone turned to see a smiling Undyne with stars in her eye. "Alphys! Alphys, please tell me I'm not imagining this! Is that really a... a giant robot?!"
"...I think?"
"Yes!" The excited monster pumped her fist. "I knew it! I knew Frisk was wrong! Giant mechs are real! Granted, it's not as big as the ones in Angelgellion or Gurren Lock-On. But still-!"
"Enough!" The machine boomed. In a swift motion, it pulled a giant sword from its back; Undyne could barely contain her screams of excitement. "Fight me now or I will reduce this city to rubble!" The hero lowered his head in thought. "Well?!"
"Fine," he stated. "But first let me use the bathroom."
"What?"
"I can't fight at full power if I hold it in. I doubt you'd get your readings then, right?"
"Very well." The warrior conceded. "I will wait for ten minutes. Every minute you are late, I will kill ten people. Should you run away, this city and everyone in it will be destroyed. I will begin once you leave."
King picked up his bag and turned around, not in any hurry despite the grave ultimatum just given to him. As he walked through the street, the crowds of people on the side cheered, confident that their invincible hero would triumph after his respite. When he was gone, everyone was quiet. "welp," sans spun around. "may as well go too since everyone's doing it."
"Wait," Saitama tilted his head. "You guys go to the bathroom?"
"OF COURSE! WHERE DO YOU THINK WE SHOWER?!"
"That's not what I meant."
Nine minutes later.
sans strolled back to his friends, hands drying off in his pockets. "hey, guys."
"Oh, hey," Saitama was the first to greet him. "You took your sweet time."
"yeah. the monotonous soul-crushing dripping of a broken faucet helps me come up with new material. speaking of which, why was it so loud in the funeral home?"
"Why?"
"they couldn't stop coffin."
"AHHH! SANS! WE'RE ABOUT TO WATCH AN EPIC BATTLE BETWEEN A HERO AND GIANT ROBOT! THE LAST THING WE NEED ARE YOUR PUNS RUINING IT!"
"i wouldn't count on it bro."
"AND WHY'S THAT?"
"last i checked, that guy vamoosed faster than a roadrunner with his tail on fire."
Genos' eyes widened, "What?"
"But why would he?!" Alphys started to sweat. "I saw him beat a guy without lifting a finger!"
"OBVIOUSLY," Papyrus had his finger raised. "SANS' PUNS REPULSED HIM SO MUCH THAT HE HAD TO GET AS FAR AWAY FROM HIM AS POSSIBLE!"
"maybe," the shorter skeleton shrugged. "some of my jokes might be seen as number 2, not 1."
"SANS!" Before Papyrus could lecture his brother, the sound of metal banging made their heads turn.
"Time is up!" G4 stomped forward. "It seems that a demonstration is needed."
"Halt!" Genos stepped towards the giant. "If it is a fight you want, I will oblige."
"You?" The metal man looked down at the cyborg.
"I am a Class S hero. If you want a challenge, I suggest you take my offer."
"Hold on a sec!" Undyne jumped to Genos' side. "You're not the only Class S here!" A spear materialized in her hand. "If anyone's going to take him down, it'll be me!"
"Two S class heroes? Very well. Let us see if you can buy time before my target returns." The answer made Undyne flash a grin.
"Hey, Genos," Saitama called to his disciple. "You sure you can handle this? If you want-"
"It is fine, master." He raised a glowing palm. "I could handle it on my own. With Undyne, I am sure we will succeed."
"That's the spirit, Blondie." Undyne gave a pat on the shoulder.
"'Kay," the bald hero turned around. "Guess I'll see you later."
"Y-you're not gonna watch?!" Alphys asked incredulously.
"he's right. c'mon guys."
"But why?"
"don't want the seaweed getting crushed. by the way, you mind if you get some of the boxes, 'tama?"
"Sure." The man lifted Genos' and Undyne's share easily. "Just don't expect me for a bit. I wanna check something out first."
"heh. i had a feeling you might. i'll meet ya there."
Saitama nodded before taking off. "you two should get going too," the skeleton looked to Alphys and Papyrus before casually walking towards a side alley. "W-wait! Where do we go?!"
"just follow the flying bald guy."
King was in an apartment room, back pressed at the door. Around the area, leftover plastic bags and wrappers laid strewn about. In the corner was a flat screen with a gaming console and an unorganized game pile. The man himself had a hand clutching the his left breast. He gasped loudly as his mouth was agape. His eyes still had drops of tears falling down while snot dripped from his nostrils. When the gasping stopped, he whined a few words, "That...was...so...scary!" The hero took a minute to gather himself and plopped in front of the tv. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a video game with young girls on it. "At least I managed to get this out." He kept talking to himself as he loaded his system. "I've been waiting forever for this dating simulator to come out." The screen flashed to a girl asking for the player's name. "Now who should I play as...?"
"how 'bout alphys?"
"Alphys? What kind of name-?" King stopped and turned his head slowly, his eyes growing wider. Greeting him with a smile and wave was sans. "well this seems like the kind of game alphys 'd like." King trembled. "what? do i got a booger on my face?"
"Hey, sans!" From the screen door to the balcony, Saitama entered without any warning. "You got here fast."
"yeah," sans shrugged, "the key is pacing yourself, y'know?"
"What are doing here?!" Their host screamed.
"apparently watching you play some girl game."
"Girl game?" Saitama turned his head to the screen. "Why ya playing that?"
"NYEH HEH HEH!" The familiar laugh filled the room as sans' brother burst from the door, breaking the lock. "FINALLY FOUND IT! NOT THAT IT WAS A PROBLEM FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS! WHAT'S THAT?"
"N-nothing!" King gained some semblance of composure. "T-those stupid video game people gave me the wrong game!" He hurriedly ejected the disk. "That's the last time I shop there!"
"Huff! Huff!" Just joining them was a breathless Alphys. "There, huff, you are," she wheezed.
"AH! THERE YOU ARE, DOCTOR!" Papyrus greeted. "ARE YOU HERE TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES WITH US?"
"What?!" Alphys and King shouted in unison.
"WELL, WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING WHILE UNDYNE IS DOING HER HERO BUSINESS."
King's eyebrow raised, "Hero business?"
"yeah, 'member that big tin can? she and 'tama's buddy are fighting it."
"R-really?"
"YEP! I COULD HAVE GOTTEN INVOLVED BUT MY BROTHER NEEDED SOMEONE TO HELP WITH THE SEAWEED."
"Uh, Pap?" Alphys tapped his leg. "Where are your seaweed boxes?"
"Crap," Undyne muttered, "guess I should look where I'm landing." Under her feet was a crushed box that felt a little slimy. She was brought back when she heard steel clash against steel. "Right!"
She jumped at Genos' deadlock, his arms creaking as he gripped his opponent's massive sword. At her apex, she aimed a spear for the rampaging robot's head. Before it reached its mark, the machine used its left arm to swat her away. Genos' eye gleamed at the opportunity. He twisted, wrenching G4's weapon from its other hand. He spun around and threw the sword at G4's shoulder, tearing the appendage off.
Rather than be dumbstruck by its missing limb, the robot instead kicked at Genos. Even though the cyborg raised his arms, the force sent him skidding on the road, tearing up his already damaged clothes. As the cyborg looked up, his eyes widened as G4 had already closed the gap between them. Its fist was raised, ready to crush the hero like a toy.
"Grahh!" Out of the blue, Undyne had rocketed in delivering a savage drop kick to G4's torso, the machine crashing into the side of a building.
"You okay?" Undyne offered a hand for her friend.
"Yes," Genos nodded. "Thank you for the assistance." While the cyborg didn't take her hand, the compliment made her grin. "No prob."
"Aaauggh!" The scream of a young girl made their heads twist. G4 was barreling towards a bystander who was paralyzed. "No you don't!" Jumping to the robot's rear, the monster threw up her hands. Just as the machine struck its arm at the potential victim, it hit what was almost an invisible force field. Undyne smirked, "Gotcha!" G4 turned. "What is this?!"
"Magic, a-hole!"
"Magic?"
"Get 'em, Genos!" The cyborg rocketed himself with boosters, his metal arm wound to deliver a Mach 2 punch.
"Yaaahhh!"
Kaboom!
"Ah, man," Saitama groaned. "You totally got me, man." On the television screen, a triumphant mech stood on top of a ruined one. "You're not only strong in real life, but you kick ass in games."
"Thanks," King muttered with a controller in his hand. "I cleaned a few tournaments in my time."
"well from that robot's view, it seems you got a handle on the nuts and bolts."
"SANS!" Papyrus was stretching in the corner, "WITHHOLD ALL PUNS UNTIL AFTER MY TURN! OR FOREVER! SPEAKING OF WHICH, ARE YOU DONE?"
"yep."
"EXCELLENT!" As the skeleton bounded to the controller on the ground, he turned to Alphys standing in the corner reading the case of King's discarded dating game. "OH! DO YOU WANT TO PLAY DOCTOR?"
"M-me?" Alphys was slightly startled at the offer. "N-no, I, I couldn't."
"SURE YOU CAN! YOU DESIGNED THE SHOOTY PUZZLES IN THE UNDERGROUND, RIGHT? THOSE WERE VIDEO GAMES!"
"I guess but..."
"HERE!" The tall monster grabbed his short friend and plopped her in his spot. "BESIDES, YOU CAN HELP MR. KING GET PREPARED BEFORE FACING A MASTER AT GAMES! THAT WAS ME IF YOU COULDN'T TELL."
"Y-yeah, I got it." The scientist grasped the controller with her claws. "You ready?" King asked his new opponent. "Y-yes! I mean, maybe. What are the controls?"
"Too late."
The screen flashed. "Round 1!"
King was merciless coming out of the gate, hitting Alphys' mech with punches and kicks. The monster could only flounder about, randomly pressing buttons as fast as she could. All the while, her eyes kept switching between the screen, her hands, King's face and his fingers. It didn't take long for Alphys' health bar to drain all the way and her character to fall over. "Oh no!" She buried her face in her palms. "I knew it! I knew I'd mess up!"
"Uh," King nudged her with little sympathy. "There's still another round to go. Do you wanna quit or..." Saitama put his hand on her.
"Lighten up. It's just a game."
"Uh?" Alphys looked up to see the usually bland-faced hero give a charismatic smirk. "Just do your best." It took the scientist a minute before snapping out of her trance.
"R-right." With a deep breath, she lifted the controller and got in position. "Ready."
King nodded and unpaused the match. This time, Alphys wasn't helpless. Her fingers moved in coordination, blocking, kicking and blasting in calculated fashion. With one last rocket blast, King's mech fell. "I, I did it," the lizard gasped.
"NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus laughed with crosses arms. "THAT'S THE ROYAL SCIENTIST FOR YOU!"
"Hold on." Saitama interrupted. "You still got another round left."
"Oh, sure, of course."
"yeah. just tri-angle to win and you'll beat this round."
"SANS!"
King gave no warning to his attack, leaving the doctor scrambling to defend. Once she parried, though, she hit the ground running. The two players had their eyes glued to the screen, their fingers going so fast that Papyrus could barely keep up. Their heads and hands were starting to sweat, making them almost glisten. Suddenly, King broke her guard, causing the scientist's mech to stagger. "No you don't!" The cry from the usually quiet Alphys made King hesitate for a second. That was all that Alphys needed. The monster's character dashed forward and strung a flurry of hits before ending with a shining uppercut. Her opponent's head flew off as the rest of it collapsed.
Player 2 Wins!
Alphys was paralyzed until a smack on the back by Saitama woke her. "Nice work."
"W-what?"
"HE SAID YOU DID GOOD! NOT AS GOOD AS I WOULD HAVE DONE, BUT IMPRESSIVE NONETHELESS! ISN'T THAT RIGHT, MR. KING?" The hero was silent, sporting a stony face which seemed to darken
"lighten up, man," sans winked. "you know what they say: don't hate the player, stay out of the kitchen." The smaller skeleton snickered, the mismatch apparently on purpose. The man remained silent.
"Well if you don't wanna play, can you tell us why you left?" Saitama's comment made King's ears perk up.
"INDEED, SAITAMA SKELETON," Papyrus rubbed his chin. "I WAS WONDERING THAT ALSO! A HERO NEVER RUNS FROM DANGER!"
"didn't you come running here?"
"THAT WAS DIFFERENT! UNDYNE AND THE ROBOT MAN WERE THERE TO TAKE CARE OF IT!"
"Genos." Saitama corrected.
"RIGHT! GENUS!"
"nope, that's my employee."
"HE'S WORKING FOR YOU NOW?!"
Kraaawww!
The group looked towards the window to see a giant crow the size of five busses dive bomb at them. As it bared razor-sharp teeth at them, Alphys, Papyrus and King barely had time to scream.
"Incinerate!"
Genos drove his glowing hand into G4's chassis. The strike preluding a giant fireball, melting the rogue robot from the inside. The cyborg immediately pushed away with his legs, avoiding the deadly flames. From his spot, he could see Undyne on the side. Jumping to his position, she wiped some sweat from her forehead. "Whew, give a heads-up next time you do an attack like that."
"Why?"
"Cause it's friggin hot! For once, I'm glad I don't have my armor." She turned her gaze to the melting machine. "So, you think you got him this time?"
"Absolutely," Genos answered with certainty. "It would be impossible for a robot of that caliber to survive an internal blast of that magnitude."
"Great!" She grinned. "Now let's find the others so we can-"
Crunch!
The sound of metal being punched through interrupted the celebration. Emerging from G4's remains was a smaller, black robot with round limbs and head.
"What the hell?!" Undyne screamed in frustration. "I thought you said you got it?!"
"I, I did." The cyborg had a tinge of incredulousness in his response. "Nothing should have survived. This one must have tougher armor."
"Well," Undyne made a spear and took a stance. "It's smaller than the other one, maybe it'll be easier." At that moment, hatches on their enemy opened to reveal dozens of missiles. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Get down!"
Nearly everyone had their backs pressed against the walls. King, Papyrus and Alphys either had their eyes covered or closed, trembling in fear. sans, on the other hand, stared speechless at what was in front of them. "You okay?" In front of the monster was Saitama, hand on its beak as if it were the most boring thing in the world. "y-yeah, we're good."
The others opened at their own pace, each as dumbstruck by the incredible feat of strength as sans. "Dude." The bald hero stared at King. "Did you seriously piss yourself?" The rest looked down at the growing dark spot in King's pants. While it might have been the perfect time for one of sans' jokes, even he couldn't muster the wit.
"Well, might as well take care of this." With the apathy of swatting a housefly, Saitama punched the beast, instantly decapitating it. The body fell to the street and the head went off soaring faster and farther than the eye could register it.
The shock stayed for some time before King broke the silence. "Y-y-y-you!"
"Huh?"
"You're the one! The one who killed all those monsters! Everyone thought I did!"
"Oh. Yeah, you're probably right."
"Aren't you mad?! I took the credit! You're the hero, not me!"
"That doesn't matter."
"What?!"
"You're still the one everyone looks up to."
"But... I... You..."
"I'm gonna go now," the bald man picked up the seaweed. "Let me know if you wanna play video games again."
"HALT!" Papyrus stepped forward, his eye sockets narrowed.
"SAITAMA SKELETON! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, REQUEST AN AUDIENCE WITH YOU ON THE EVENT THAT WE WITNESS!"
"Well, I'm here now."
"Y-YES! OF COURSE! NOW THEN... UH..."
"Spit it out dude."
"AHHH! PLEEEEAASE!" The skeleton fell to his knees, tears streaming from his eye sockets.
"Please what?"
"PLEEAASE TEACH ME HOW TO DO THAT! EVEN THE GREAT PAPYRUS COULD NEVER DO SOMETHING SO INCREDIBLE! AHHHH!"
"Is he okay?" Alphys whispered to sans.
"i don't know. i have never seen him like this. even when he was begging to join the guard."
Saitama's face once again became charismatic with determined eyes. "So you want to know how I got this strong?"
"YES YES YES!" Papyrus nodded furiously.
"Well I'll tell you." Everyone waited with bated breath while the superhuman paused.
"One hundred push-ups, sit-ups, squats and a 10K run. Do this every single day, never take a vacation or skip a day. Always eat three meals a day and never use the heater or A/C in the winter and summer. That is all you need to do to get strong."
"REALLY?" The skeleton lifted his head up. "THAT'S IT?"
"Yup."
"NYEH HEH HEH!" The previously downtrodden monster leapt to his feet and puffed up his chest. "VERY WELL! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL COMMIT TO THIS REGIMEN AND ACHIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE: BECOME EVEN GREATER!"
"Hang on!" Alphys waved her hands. "That's crazy! No human could get that strong from doing something so basic!"
"OH, ALPHYS," the skeleton bent down to pat her head. "YOU FORGET ONE CRUCIAL DETAIL! WE ARE NOT HUMANS! WE ARE SKELETONS!" Alphys could barely speak, still in awe at Papyrus' naïveté. "WELL, I AM OFF!" Saitama smiled and nodded.
"Go train hard."
"YES! ONE THING, THOUGH. WHAT IS A 'K'?"
"A kilometer."
"AND THAT IS..?"
"a thousand meters."
"THANK YOU! I AM OFF!" In true Papyrus fashion, the taller brother jumped out of the hole the crow made and literally hit the ground running. He soon vanished, leaving only a dust trail through the streets.
The bald hero once again picked up the boxes of seaweed. "Oh, uh, sans?"
"yeah?"
"You mind if I keep one of these boxes?"
"sure, no skin off my nose. heh."
"Cool. Thanks." Saitama proceeded to jump out to a rooftop a few miles away, making his way back to sans' restaurant.
"Uh, King?" Alphys was the one to break the silence.
"Y-yeah?"
"You know that dating simulator game? Can you maybe show me how to play it."
"Sure." King went to the pile of rubble to see what he could salvage. "Good news. The console and tv are okay."
"Great!" Alphys smiled without a hint of awkward. "Let's go!"
A knock at the door interrupted any ease in the room. "come in!" sans called. The door opened to reveal Undyne. Her tank top was slightly torn and parts of her skin were red and black. She hobbled on one of her teal spears as she breathed deeply. Despite all this, a grin came to her when she saw her friends, "You miss me?"
"Undyne!" Alphys ran to hug her by the waist.
"Careful, urg, I'm still a little sore."
"Oh, sorry. King, can she rest somewhere?"
The otaku hesitated. "Fine." He pulled out a futon that was in a closet to the side. As he laid it out, Undyne flashed a thumbs-up. "Thanks, man." King simply nodded, allowing Alphys to lower her friend into the bed. The fish woman sighed as she got comfortable. "That's better."
"Hey, Undyne?" Alphys nudged. "How did you know to come here?"
"Oh, after we beat that robot, I went looking for you guys. I saw Pap running down the street then Saitama jumping on freaking rooftops. I went in the same direction, saw an apartment building with a huge hole in it and put two and two together."
"makes sense."
"Y-yeah..." the scientist was quiet. "Um, how was the fight, anyway?"
"It was awesome!" Undyne chuckled. "That Genos guy is no pushover, but I was the one who saved the day."
"R-really?"
"Yeah. Get this, there was another robot inside the thing! It shot missiles and bounced around and stuff. It took forever to pin the thing down, but I finally got it and punched the head clean off."
"Wow."
"Yeah, I just did what Master Bang told me; got into my stance and everything. Then wham! No more bad guy."
Alphys couldn't help but smile as she grasped Undyne's hand. "I knew you'd make it."
Out of the blue, King spoke up. "What about the other guy?"
"Genos? He took what scrap was there and left. Said he wanted his friend to look at it; Doctor Stink or something."
"Ah!" The Doctor gasped. "Doctor Stench! I've got to pick up Mettaton later! B-but I can't leave you here!"
"i'll do it," sans had his hand raised.
"Really? Do you know where it is?"
"yup." The skeleton turned around. "besides, i'm sure ol' king here will look after ya."
"What?"
"sure. after all, you are a 'hero', y'know." sans gave the off-guard King a quick wink before closing the door behind him.
A damaged Genos stood in front of the door to Dr. Stench's compound. His shirt was gone and his left arm's servos were exposed and strained. On his face, a large crack split it near the middle like porcelain. In his other arm he held the wreckage of his foe, decapitated head and all. He pressed a few buttons on a keypad, opening the door. As he entered, a rustling in the bushes caught his eye.
"hold the elevator!" sans waved as his short legs ran as fast as they could.
"sans, what are you doing here?"
"checking up on the robot ham. alphys would do it, but she's doing a little fish sitting right now."
"Undyne is alright?" The skeleton nodded, bringing a smile to Genos' face.
"I am glad to hear that."
"if you were worried, why didn't you stick around?"
"I had offered assistance, but she assured me she would be fine. When I insisted, she yelled and aimed her weapon at me."
"heh. that's undyne for ya."
The two went into the elevator and stopped at the lab. "Doctor."
"Hello, Genos," Stench came from the corner. "And you brought one of Alphys' friends."
"'sup?"
"Are you here to see-"
"Oh, doctooorr?!" In his idol form, Mettaton came streaking in the air. "Didn't you want to hear more of my screenplay? We're only half-way through the second act of me dancing in the rain."
"does it involve the talents of a hilarious skeleton?"
"No, it- Oh, sans!" The robot flew in front of his acquaintance. "Look at me! Two hours and I still haven't burned out! I tell you, that Stench is a genius!" The Doctor just smiled despite the praise, choosing to humbly accept it. "So, where's Alphys?"
"at a friend's place. she wanted me to see how you're doing."
"Well I'm fabulous darling! With this new extended form, I'll take the entertainment industry by storm!"
"great to hear. you mind if you wait outside for me? i hear paparazzi like to sneak in these woods."
"Oooo!" The self-absorbed machine pushed the two out of the way and pressed the button multiple times before the doors finally closed.
"Genos, why don't you go into the back to the repair station, I need to get a few things in order."
"Of course." The cyborg left the scrap on a table before leaving the other two.
"so," sans stepped forward. "have you thought about what i asked?"
"Well as I said, I'm more of a specialist in robotics. Quantum physics are not my strong suit. I might be able to help with the device, but you'd need someone more rounded to really make a difference."
"any idea where i might find someone like that?"
"Check the Hero Association. From what I've heard, there are some heroes in the S-class that could help with this type of science."
"thanks." The elevator came back down and sans entered. "smell ya later. heh."
And that was chapter 4. First, one the elephant in the room: manga purists are going to be angry that Saitama and Genos have their hero names before they actually got them in canon. Well, in this universe, the monsters are going to get theirs at that point; keep the idea of alternate universes in mind for later ; ) Speaking of names, I want the community to decide whether Undyne's hero name should be the Spear of Justice or something else, using the poll I set up on my account page. I'm also going to be taking a small break from this. Because of the release of season 5 of Samurai Jack, I want to celebrate it by releasing a couple of chapters in my Fusion Fall story A Sword Reforged. If you're a fan of Cartoon Network, either past or present, I invite you to check it out.
Until next time, stay determined.
