I was planning on uploading this chapter earlier, but I wanted to help my family decorate the big Christmas Tree in our living room. Speaking of which...I'm going to have so much fun making that Christmas oneshot! It'll be amazing to do! Anyways, I apologize for not uploading this sooner, my bad.
Tiryn - Yep, Sans will remember every little thing that Anna does. Also, that's not the only thing wrong with him. See if you can figure it out.
BlueAhoge - I remember Knight Knight. She was one of my favorite fights. I think what happens in this story with Anna and Sans is going to explain how FIGHTing with Knight Knight is gonna go.
mockstevenh - Having everyone explain what Anna did for them was one of my favorite parts about the story. I like adding in special heartwarming moments for everyone. It makes me feel good and I'm glad you felt good about it too.
Also, this is my longest chapter in the story so far! Until then!
...STOP READING THE TEXT ALREADY!
I walk through Hotland some more before I stumble upon another dark room. If this follows the same pattern as last time, I should look out for Mettaton. Alphys calls me when I step in this room.
"A-another dark room, huh? D-don't worry!" She says,"M-my hacking skills have got things covered!"
As soon as the room darkens, I'm welcomed with Mettaton, of course, sitting behind a stand like a news reporter. Alphys isn't even surprised anymore; her 'oh no' was replaced with a groan.
"Are you serious?" She sighs.
"OHHHHHH YESSS!" Mettaton says,"GOOD EVENING, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES,"
Does he call everybody that? It's a bit strange if you ask me. I wonder how awkward it must be for someone to outwardly tell him to stop calling them that. Should I do it?...It's tempting, but considering what happened to me earlier...nope.
"THIS IS METTATON, REPORTING LIVE FROM MTT NEWS!" He says,"AN INTERESTING SITUATION HAS ARISEN IN EASTERN HOTLAND,"
He must be talking about me. Everything else down here should seem normal to them.
"FORTUNATELY, OUR CORRESPONDENT IS OUT THERE, REPORTING LIVE!" Mettaton says,"BRAVE CORRESPONDENT! PLEASE FIND SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY TO REPORT!"
Wait, so I'm the 'correspondent'...then what's the situation? I don't want to move, but I guess I should. I walk about and see some pretty strange things. A glass of water, a basketball, a present, a book, and a glass of water. I walk over to the book since it was the thing that stood out to me. It had a picture of Mettaton on the front.
"OH NO! THAT MOVIE SCRIPT! HOW'D THAT GET THERE?" He says,"IT'S A SUPER-JUICY SNEAK PREVIEW OF MY LATEST GUARANTEED-NOT-TO-BOMB FILM: METTATON THE MOVIE XXVIII.
Why does he have twenty-eight movies about himself? It seems a bit egotistical of him. Though, considering what he's done before, this isn't completely out of the question. Mettaton rambles on about the movie script and I look around and go towards the basketball. I try and dribble it, but it just falls flat with a metal 'THUNK'. I stare at it for a second, pick it up, and start turning it over. I find an interesting string attached to it. As soon as I figure out what it is, it starts to activate. I hurriedly put it down and look around frantically for an exit.
"THAT TICKING SOUND...THAT LIT FUSE..." Mettaton says,"THAT IS MOST CERTAINLY A BOMB! BUT DON'T GET TOO EXCITED! YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE REST OF THE ROOM YET!"
The news stand that Mettaton is at starts to collapse and I scramble out of the way of falling debris.
"OH MY! IT SEEMS EVERYTHING IN THIS AREA IS ACTUALLY A BOMB!" Mettaton says,"EVEN MY WORDS ARE..."
His words literally fall from a suddenly appearing text box and explode around me.
"IF YOU DON'T DEFUSE ALL OF THE BOMBS..." Mettaton says,"THIS BIG BOMB WILL BLOW YOU TO SMITHEREENS IN TWO MINUTES! THEN YOU WON'T BE REPORTING 'LIVE' ANY LONGER!"
I get the joke...that's dark. Alphys instantly calls me after he finishes speaking.
"D-don't worry!" She says,"I installed a bomb-defusing program on your phone!"
"You seem to have a lot of things that fit the situation I was in, Alphys,"
"J-just a coincidence!"
Riiiiight. But maybe she's telling the truth. After all, she IS the Royal Scientist. I manage to defuse the dog since it was the closest to me. There were all sorts of things messing about. I had to deal with catching up to the bombs for actually getting to defuse it. After I manage to defuse them all, Mettaton flies over. He doesn't seem bothered by his failed plan in the slightest. In fact, he looks rather delighted.
"GREAT JOB! IF YOU DIDN'T DEACTIVATE THEM, THE BIG BOMB WOULD HAVE EXPLODED IN TWO MINUTES," He says,"NOW IT WON'T EXPLODE IN TWO MINUTES! INSTEAD, IT'LL EXPLODE IN TWO SECONDS!"
I had literally no time to think about my incoming death, but I had my diary with me so I should be okay. I didn't have to use it though because the bomb never went off. Mettaton notices this and gives a bit of a lower toned voice.
"AH, IT SEEMS THE BOMB ISN'T GOING OFF," He says.
Alphys calls and explains what she did, although she never finished her sentence. Luckily, Mettaton knew what happened and expressed a bit of frustration towards her.
"I-I think I'm getting a bit more confident about guiding you!" she says.
"Well, I haven't...died yet," I speak.
"True," She says,"N-now, let's, uh, get going!"
Alphys shuts off all the lasers and blockages in my path. I walk towards the next part of the room and get a closer look at the CORE. It looked magnificent as it stood proudly over the lava. I begin to wonder what it would look like inside the place. Alphys interrupts my thoughts with a call from her. I was fine with it since it wasn't another text she had thought of sending.
"I noticed you've been kind of quiet,"She says,"Are you w-worried about meeting ASGORE?"
Actually, since Mettaton had kept me occupied, I had forgotten about ASGORE. But, yes, I was a bit nervous about what to expect. He's the king I haven't before; he must have some surprises.
"Don't worry, okay?" Alphys says,"Th-the king is a really nice guy...I'm sure you can talk to him, and...w-with your human soul, you can pass through the barrier!"
She didn't sound confident when she said that. It almost sounded like she was lying. But she had nothing to lie to me about; I wasn't some dangerous murderer that was out to get her. Alphys hangs up and leaves me in silence again. There were no texts so far and I was enjoying the peace and quiet.
I reach another elevator and walk inside. Among the options, I choose left floor three. Making my way farther up, I walk outside and pass a spider standing outside of a stand. I thought about buying another Spider Donut like I did back in the RUINS, but these were waaay too pricey. Alphys rings me up when I come to another puzzle.
"Hi, Alphys here!" She says,"This room is like the room we saw before. There are two puzzles to the north and south. Solve them both to proceed!"
The puzzles were a bit high in the difficulty scale. It required me to hold back some of the blocks before sliding them around some more. Getting to the puzzles in the first place was minor difficulty because of all the propel-pads. Yeah, I call those plates with small arrows propel-pads...She then realizes that she had already signed me up for UnderNet and MonsterBook and that I've been reading her posts the entire time.
She then says she hopes I agree with her opinion on Mew Mew 2. But I have absolutely no idea what it is. I stumble across Vulkin again and soon after that, Tsunderplane forces itself into the FIGHT. I manage to SPARE Vulkin and that only left Tsunderplane.
"Why are you doing this?"
It turns its nose up at me.
"Doing what, human?"
"You forced your way into a FIGHT you weren't in, and now you're attacking me," I explain,"Why?"
Tsunderplane just flies there in silence.
"Listen, I know you want to say something, but you hold everything in!" I say to it,"You can't just go on like this and deny everything that's happening. It's a lie to me and a lie to yourself,"
"L-listen,"Tsunderplane says,"I-I...uh..."
"Come back to me when you've figured it out," I interrupt.
I run from the FIGHT and walk through the main door after finishing up the puzzles. Getting to another safe place, I write down in my diary about the puzzles I did and the Mettaton News Report. I write down where I'm currently at; a place filled with cobwebs. I walk inside and see clusters of spider webs. I look about and try to move quickly through the area. I hated spiders above snakes and cockroaches. They were creepy looking and dangerous to be around.
"Did you hear what they just said?" I hear a voice say,"They said a human wearing a skirt will come through,"
I look about and see some of the spiders talking among each other. Noting that they're talking about me, I pick up my pace slightly, but I'm slowed down by the webs.
"I heard that they hate spiders," one of them says,"I heard that they love to stomp on them,"
Stomping on spiders makes it worse! I'd never!
"I heard that they like to tear their legs off,"
Where is all of this even coming from? I'm being accused of things I never said or did...besides disliking spiders. Although, everything in the UNDERGROUND seems to be out to get me.
"I heard...that they're awfully stingy with their money,"
I see a spider suddenly appear on a large web. It laughs, covering it's mouth with one of it's hands. I turn to run, but my exits are blocked by other spiders.
"You think your taste is too refined for our pastries, don't you, deary?" it says,"I disagree with that notion,"
"L-Listen, I wanted to buy one, b-but the price was-"
"I think your taste...is exactly what this next batch needs!"
"WAAAAAH!"
-88-
Muffet sends more of her spiders after me. I jump from web to web, dodging them. Muffet had turned my SOUL to a purple coloring and now I can't move as freely; I can only stay on the webs.
"Why so pale?" she asks,"You should be proud...that you're going to make a delicious cake~"
Muffet had spiders coming at me from left and right. I jump about the web, screaming as some of them got ahold of me. I shake them off and flee from them.
"L-listen," I start,"We've had a big misunderstanding. I-If you let me go then-"
"Let you go?" She asks,"Don't be silly~"
Well it was a good try at least. As I deal with the spiders, I notice a sign with a picture of a cupcake on it. Were they serving their products during a FIGHT? Well, it's helpful, at least.
"Oh, how rude of me! I almost forgot to introduce you to my pet~" Muffet says,"It's breakfast time, isn't it? Have fun, you two~"
The web begins to shake and the spiders start to gather around me. I jump to another part of the web and a giant cupcake best gnashes its teeth at me.
"THAT ISN'T A PET!" I yell.
It begins to chase me as I climb my way up the wall, using the web. The spiders try and slow me down, but I push past them, taking damage. I launch myself from the wall and bounce off another web, landing and rolling on the web filled floor. The spiders clap and create a beat. They seem to be making some sort of music.
"The person who warned us about you..." Muffet says,"Offered us a LOT of money for your SOUL,"
Muffet pours a cup of spiders while she speaks. I shudder at the sight of them squirming inside of the cup. A spider comes up with a sign that looks to be a picture of a croissant.
"They had such a sweet smile~ and..."Muffet laughs,"It's strange, but I swore I saw them in the shadows...Changing shape...?
The croissants are sent after me and I dodge them like I would the spiders. However, they come back like boomerangs and I'm forced to hop onto the web again to avoid them. I could struggle all I want and Muffet would be amused by it. A spider comes up with a picture of a cupcake.
...Oh no...
I struggle and try to break free of the web, but Muffet just laughs. The giant cupcake monster from before lands on the web in front of me. Its landing causes me to fly off this web and onto another.
"Oh, it's lunch time, isn't it? And I forgot to feed my pet~" Muffet says.
I try and move, but I find my right leg caught in a knot. I hurriedly untie it and get out of the way just as the beast's jaws snapped down on it. Muffet sends her spiders after me to slow me down like last time, but I manage to get through them all with no problems.
"With that money, the spider clans can finally be reunited~"
Her attacks come at me a lot faster than normal. I get hit by most of them and my health is left at a low point. Eating the Crab Apple I went and bought earlier, I look towards another sign that the spider has and it looks to be Spider Donuts.
"You haven't heard? Spiders have been trapped in the RUINS for generations!" Muffet says,"Even if they go under the door, Snowdin's fatal cold is impassable alone,"
"I know that!" I say,"I've seen them! I even bought a donut from them!"
I dodge the Spider Donuts and they bounce after they hit the ground. A while later, a spider comes through and holds up what looks like a phone.
"Huh? A telegram from the spiders in the RUINS?" Muffet says,"What? They're saying that they saw you, and...you helped donate to their cause!"
I smile, knowing that helping the spiders so long ago had paid me back. I was finally a-okay.
"Oh my, this has all been a big misunderstanding~" Muffet realizes,"I thought you were someone that hated spiders~ The person who asked for that SOUL...they must have meant a DIFFERENT human in a skirt. Sorry for all the trouble~"
"N-no problem, Muffet!"
"I'll make it up to you~ You can come back here any time...and, for no charge at all...I'll wrap you up and let you play with my pet again!" She chirps.
I struggle and panic. There is NO WAY I am coming back here! Muffet laughs at my reaction and speaks.
"I'm just kidding~" She says,"I'll SPARE you now~"
Her cupcake monster picks me up in its jaws and I freeze, my eyes darting around in a frightened manner. After the creature sets me down, I dart towards the exit, trip over my feet and into a spider web, scream as I try to get it off, and run far FAR away. I can hear Muffet's laugh at my slip-up as I leave the room in a hurry.
As I walk out, I notice a poster on a wall. It has a photo of Mettaton in a spotlight on a star-filled night. Apparently the musical was about a tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers, kept apart by the tides of fate. I walk out into an open area and look about.
"OH? THAT HUMAN,"
The robotic voice...that's definitely Mettaton. He peeks out from behind a corner.
"COULD IT BE...MY ONE TRUE LOVE?"
Mettaton comes out from behind the wall and is wearing a white dress. Aaaand it's getting weird. WOW ten seconds since I stepped in the room! That's a new record for how long it takes Mettaton to weird me out. Mettaton comes down the steps, slowly wheeling his way towards me.
'Oh my love...Please run away...'
I start heading towards the exit, but I'm blocked in. I'm forced to sit here and listen to this song play out.
'Monster King...Forbids your stay...'
'Humans must...Live far apart...'
'Even if...It breaks my heart...'
'They'll put you...In the dungeon...'
'It'll suck...And then you'll die a lot'
'Really sad...You're gonna die...'
'Cry cry cry...So sad it's happening...'
The song finally ends and I'm left with an uneasy feeling in my chest.
"SO SAD...SO SAD THAT YOU ARE GOING TO THE DUNGEON," Mettaton says,"WELL, TOODLES!"
Mettaton takes out a remote and presses a button, a trapdoor opens and I fall through it. I land in a sort of a gauntlet. Mettaton flies down and speaks dramatically.
"OH NO! WHATEVER SHALL I DO?" He says,"MY LOVE HAS BEEN CAST AWAY INTO THE DUNGEON,"
Please take off that dress...
"A DUNGEON WITH A PUZZLE SO DASTARDLY, MY PARAMOUR WILL SURELY PERISH!"
Mettaton introduces a color tile maze. I remember this to be just like the one Papyrus had showed me. I smiled at seeing something familar...before realizing I have absolutely no idea how it works. I'm pretty sure Paps went over the instructions, but I just sort of zoned out because they were too complex to follow. Well...there's a first time for everything, right?
I start the puzzle and try to make my way through it. Unfortunately, I wind up getting trapped because the darn fish don't like the scent of oranges.
"OOOOH, I'M SO SORRY! LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE OUT OF TIME!" Mettaton says,"HERE COME THE FLAMES, DARLING!"
Flames started to surround me and get ever closer. I look for a way to escape, but I'm trapped.
"THEY'RE CLOSING IN!" He says,"GETTING! CLOSER! OH MY!"
They're right next to me. I can feel the heat from the flames surround me. I can't move an inch otherwise I'd get burned. Alphys decides that this is the perfect time to call.
"Watch out! I'll save you!" She says,"I'm hacking into the firewall right now!"
"OH NO!" Mettaton says, the flames shutting off,"HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? FOILED AGAIN BY THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS,"
"Come on, Mettaton, give up already!" Alphys says,"You'll never be able to defeat us...Not as long as we work together! Your puzzle's over...Now go home and leave us alone!"
"PUZZLE? OVER?" Mettaton asks,"ALPHYS, DARLING, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT...? DID YOU FORGET WHAT THE GREEN TILES DO? THEY MAKE A SOUND, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER. WELL, DARLING, THAT MONSTER IS ME!"
I'm thrust into a FIGHT with Mettaton. I look around for any sign of escape. There's no way I'm going to be able to win against this guy knowing what he did to me not too long ago. Sans remembers it too, oddly enough.
"THIS IS IT, DARLING! SAY GOODBYE!" Mettaton speaks,"...IS THAT YOUR PHONE? YOU'D BETTER ANSWER IT!"
"H-hey! Th-this seems bad, but don't worry!" I hear Alphys voice,"Th-there's one last thing I installed on your phone...!"
"Might wanna hurry up and tell me, Alphys!"
"You see that yellow button?" she asks,"Press it!"
When I press the button, my SOUL turns a yellow coloring. A small toy-like gun appears in my hand and I aim it at Mettaton.
"Now, fire!"
I shoot the gun and it seems to be effective. Mettaton seems to be overreacting about how strong the gun is, but I'm not too concerned with that. I'm focusing on my little revenge from earlier. Mettaton slinks away in a sort of flamboyant fashion.
"Y-you did a really good job out there,"
"It was thanks to YOUR convenience!"
"What? Oh no, I mean...YOU were the one doing everything cool!"
"Alphys, listen, I'm just using the things you made. If it weren't for your excellent programming and hacking, I'd be dead by now! So...thank you, Alphys, for helping me out!"
"...Umm, h-hey, this might sound strange, but...c-can I tell you something?" She asks,"B-before I met you, I d-didn't really...I didn't really like myself that much. For a long time, I f-felt like a total screw up. L-like I couldn't do anything without...without ending up letting everyone down. Guiding you has made me feel...A lot better about myself,"
She pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath. I listen as she continues telling me her thoughts.
"So...thanks for letting me help you," Alphys says,"Uhhh...anyway...we're almost to the CORE. It's just past MTT resort. Come on! Let's finish this!"
I finish talking to Alphys and head outside. I walk outside and see the Nice Cream Man right next to the two Royal Guards I went and met earlier. The man is smiling in a very big way.
"Hey! It's you again!" He cheers,"Business is excellent here! These two fellas bought ALL my ice cream! I've actually sold out of everything!"
He pauses for a moment and seems to have a bit of regret.
"...sorry," he says,"Wait! I've still got something for you!...a big smile! How about that!"
Son of a goat, Nice Cream Man. I leave him and walk over to the two guards from earlier.
"Oh, hey," 01 says,"We're, like, taking a rain check on that killing-you thing. Like, don't tell Undyne about this, OK?"
I look to 02 and he waves at me happily.
-88-
I had met up with Sans and we agreed to hang out within the dining area at MTT Resort. Sans is staring at me with a sort of frustrated look. He isn't smiling his usual smile. I decide to break the silence.
"...Uh...you okay?"
"...What the hell were you doing!?" He suddenly snaps,"What was that all for!?"
"H-hey, c-calm down," I stutter.
"You nearly died, even after I tried to keep you safe!" Sans says,"And you want me to calm down!?"
"I'm alright now!" I reply,"Everything is okay!"
"No, everything ISN'T okay! You completely put yourself at risk LOADing like that!" he sighs and holds his skull in his right hand,"i hate making promises..."
"Er...what are you talking about?"
Sans just pauses.
"so, your journey's almost over, huh?" he says,"you must really wanna go home,"
"Well, yeah, my place is above ground!" I respond.
"hey, i know the feeling, buddo," he says,"Though, maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you,"
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"down here you've already got food, drink, friends," he says,"is what you have to do...really worth it?"
"Of course it is!" I answer,"I know that the things I'm doing are causing me to get injured, but I have a family that loves having me around! They're probably worried sick about me right now. I know I'm surrounded by friends down here, but you can't replace family..."
Sans closes his eyes for a bit and mumbles, as if talking to someone else. He speaks after a few seconds.
"...hey, let me tell you a story," he says,"so, i'm a sentry in snowdin forest, right?"
'i sit out there and watch for humans. it's kind of boring.'
'fortunately, deep in the forest...there's this HUGE locked door.'
'and it's perfect for practicing knock knock jokes'
'so one day, i'm knocking 'em out, like usual'
'i knock on the door and say "knock knock"'
'and suddenly, from the other side...i hear a woman's voice'
'"who is there?"'
'so, naturally, I respond: "dishes"'
'"dishes who?"'
'"dishes a very bad joke."'
'then she just howls with laughter, like it's the best joke she's heard in a hundred years.'
'so I keep 'em coming, and she keeps laughing.'
'she's the best audience i've ever had.'
'then, after a dozen of 'em, SHE knocks and says..."knock knock".'
'i say "whos there?"'
'"old lady!"'
'"old lady who?"'
'"oh! I did not know you could yodel!"'
'wow, needless to say, this woman was extremely good.'
'we kept telling each other jokes for hours.'
'eventually, i had to leave. papyrus gets kind of cranky without his bedtime story. but she told me to come by again, and so i did.'
'then i did again. and again. it's a thing now. telling bad jokes through the door.'
'one day, though, i noticed she wasn't laughing very much.'
'i asked her what was up.'
'then she told me something strange...'
'"if a human ever comes through this door...could you please, please promise something?'
'"watch over them, and protect them, will you not?"'
'now, i hate making promises, like i said before.'
'and this woman, i don't even know her name.'
'but...someone who sincerely likes bad jokes...'
'has an integrity you can't say "no" to'
Sans pauses and stares off for a small bit.
"do you get what i'm saying? that promise i made to her...you know what would have happened if she hadn't said anything?" he asks,"...buddy..."
'...You'd be dead where you stand.'
I flinch and give a frown. I start to think about who would protect me and why.
"hey, lighten up, bucko!" Sans says, noticing my frown,"i'm just joking with you,"
That frown still keeps itself on my face, undisturbed and not going anywhere anytime soon. Sans' smile falters a bit, noticing that I'm still bothered by his 'joke'.
"b-besides," Sans starts,"haven't i done a great job protecting you?"
That's true, he's done a fantastic job at helping me in any way he can. I owe part of my survival to him, that is for certain.
"i mean, look at yourself," he says,"you haven't...died a single time,"
I notice that Sans had hesitated to finish that sentence. He turns away for a small bit and I notice one of his eye sockets is faintly glowing a blue color. He must be still angry at me about my recklessness. He takes out a case and slides it over to me. I open it and my clarinet is inside, good as new.
"Thanks, Sans!" I say, smiling.
I look at the clarinet for a small bit. I think about what I could play on it before settling on something. I decide to play the tune of the music box I heard inside of the statue. Sans listens for a bit, his eyes back to normal. That stressed look he had while he was talking to someone the other night appears for a split second before he looks completely relaxed. I had to stop because he looked just about ready to fall over into a complete sleep.
"Sans," I ask him.
"yeah, kid?" he responds.
"Why are you always so tired?"
"can't sleep,"
"Why not?"
"i'm always listening to someone,"
"Who?"
"..."
"Sans?"
"..."
Sans gets up and walks away from the table. He turns around and looks at me, his left eye half closed. He must be worn out.
"well, take care of yourself, kid," he says,"'cause someone really cares about you,"
He walks away shortly after that. I put my clarinet back into the case and strap it on my back. As I look about the dining area, I tilt my head towards the floor and close my eyes.
"Thank you, Toriel. I miss you," I say to myself.
Soooo, how'd I do on this chapter? I don't know if this has the same amount of humor as the other chapters or if it's chock full of powerful messages. Also, yay for Anna getting her clarinet fixed!
Also, regarding Sans, that 'person' he said he was listening to is the same one from the other chapter. I still want you guys to try and get a clear picture of who it might be. Like I said, it's a VERY special character...
Anyways, if you enjoyed the chapter, please review, follow, or favorite! Until then!