About Tenebris' guns, Nos and Feratu, if you want a video game equivalent, think of Dante's duel guns from Devil May Cry, both appearance and sound, plus the revolver barrels. Also, if you guys want colors, Nos is jet-black with purple writing, while Feratu is dark purple with black writing.

/

Tenebris tried, and failed, to fall asleep in the darkness of the hotel room. Whether it's from his fear of Mettaton pulling a cheap shot or straight up wanting to prevent nightmares from manifesting themselves, he didn't know. As a result, he spent a fair amount of time observing the sisters sleep.

It warmed his heart to see them cuddling so closely with each other while they slept. He also blushed whenever he thought about crawling into bed with them, primarily because of Selendis. He recalled her becoming a bit timider than usual and wondered if it was because of her massive scare/panic attack with the spiders. Or was it because of what he did to reassure her?

He sighed. No way that could be the case; she would never feel the same way about me as I do for her. Hell would freeze over before that would happen… I really got to stop thinking like this. I won't know until after I ask her.

Deciding he needed to get out of the rather stuffy room, he wrote a note to the sisters saying that if he wasn't back by the time they wake up, he would be in the hamburger shop in the hotel. Placing it on the chair, he leaves the room and entered the shop.

"Welcome to MTT-Brand Burger Emporium, home of the Glamburger. Sparkle up your day (TM)." Tenebris looked to see a cat-like monster manning the store. His face seemed to be a mix of bored and depressed, considering the place was dead despite a bunch of monsters still being active outside. "How can I help you, O customer."

The shadow-eyed human hummed. "What's your recommendation?"

The monster tensed up a bit. "Well… the Starfaits are great for cooling off or quenching your thirst."

"Sounds good. I'll have a glass of that."

He seemed overjoyed that Tenebris was buying something. "Thanksy! Have a FABU-FUL day!"

Tenebris chuckled; at least he made someone's day or night better. "Do you mind if we chat? You don't seem to get that many customers, so I figured I would keep you company."

"W-well… I hate to say this, but I'll get in trouble if I get chummy with the customers. Sorry." Tenebris sighed, but nodded as he sipped on his drink. The monster felt legitimately bad about it; this customer looked like he was having a massive bout with insomnia. After studying him a bit more, he suddenly realized something. "Wait, aren't you the shadowy-eyed human Mettaton called the Grim Reaper?"

Said human winced but nodded. "Yeah… my name's Tenebris."

"My name is… well everyone calls me Burgerpants, so that's what I go by now." Seeing Tenebris' concerned look, he smiles a bit. "And to think it's a human who would first show concern over that prospect. Don't worry about me, I'm used to that. More importantly, I'm a BIG fan of you!"

"Wait, why are you a big fan of me? For that matter, why is it that everyone who recognizes me doesn't fear me?"

Burgerpants chuckled. "Probably because you played it off as a fake-out. That's not why I'm a fan, though. You're the first person who has EVER challenged or insulted Mettaton right in his face and the fact that you gave him a scare was just the icing on the cake!"

Tenebris looked at some of the décor in the shop. "This place is owned by Mettaton and you're one of his employees, right? The way you said that makes it sound like you HATE your boss."

"Ah, yes." Burgerpants launched into the explanation like he had been rehearsing it for a while. From making him regret his wishes to commenting that Mettaton vetoes any changes that are largely considered good. Tenebris expressed disgust over hamburgers being made of sequins and glue, which Burgerpants was happy being right about.

Tenebris shook his head. "The deepest ocean trench in the world wouldn't be able to drown that robot's ego…"

"I agree. Hey, do you mind if I light up a cigarette?" Tenebris waved it off as he took another drink. Burgerpants made a happy and relieved sound as he lit one. "I seriously don't get to do this at all, even on my breaks… if I ever get any."

"Sounds like another thing to… dismantle that rust bucket for."

Burgerpants chuckled. "As much as I hate Mettaton, I would advise against that as it would be counted as killing him… I think. I have an alternative, though." Tenebris leaned in to listen. "Alright, you know how much of a glory hog he is, right? Well, if he ever confronts you and you happen to see a "ratings board", do your damnedest to out shine him. That'll show him you're not to be messed with!"

Tenebris frowned. "Thing is, yesterday there was only about eight to ten people watching his programs."

Burgerpants snorted. "Yeah, he complained that yesterday was a slow day overall, even after you and your companions were brought in. I'm willing to bet today will be a bigger turnout, so my point still stands. Try and get a bigger increase in the ratings than he does and it SHOULD help… and I'm sorry if it doesn't, but it's all I have right now!"

"Any suggestions for raising the ratings? The only thing I can think of is posing… and I'm not sure if badass poses work."

"Very much so, especially if you a dramatic one while injured. Eating or drinking a popular item like that Starfait you're having will also increase the ratings. Last one I would recommend doing is boasting about not getting hit; for some reason, the tv watchers seem to love that."

Tenebris nodded, trying to commit all of that to memory. "Thanks, dude. Hopefully putting Mettaton in his place will brighten your future."

Burgerpants lets out a depressed sigh. "I hate to be a sudden downer, but… future? WHAT future? Nothing down here EVER changes. I'll probably be stuck at this stupid job forever." Tenebris now looked guilty and Burgerpants panicked before thinking of something. "BUT! There's one thing that keeps me going! If Asgore gets just one more human soul, we'll finally get to go to the surface! And… uh… by one more soul, I don't mean you or your companions."

"I thought you would of…"

"No. You are a great guy and I wouldn't wish that fate on you or your companions." He thinks about something for a moment. "Actually, they came in yesterday. While they didn't buy anything, the kid brought a smile to my face, something I never thought would happen. The older girl as well; she was so kind."

"Yeah that sounds like them. Speaking of, I should probably head back. Could I get… maybe six Starfaits to go?" Tenebris started counting his money.

Burgerpants chuckled as he prepared the drinks in sealable to-go containers. "I'll give you a discount on them. I can't discount too much, else Mettaton will know what's up, but that's fine. All I ask is that you give him a bad time!"

"Will do." After gathering the drinks and bidding Burgerpants good-bye, Tenebris headed back to the room, where the sisters were starting to wake up. "Wakey wakey, sleepy heads!"

"Five more minutes, please…" Tenebris had to look away to hide his blush at how cute Selendis sounded. Frisk opened an eye just in time to see him look away and she hid a smirk.

When the trio where ready to go, they called up Alphys and told her they were moving further into the core. She informed them that she has a map of the Core, so they shouldn't worry about getting lost. What threw her off was when the humans saw some monsters head through the entrance to said Core. "N-nobody else is s-supposed to be here… I would say we can't worry about it now… but I think you should keep an eye out for anything. I've got a mildly bad feeling about this."

Selendis groaned. "It's still too early to be worrying about things…"

"You never were an early bird, were you Selly?" Frisk teased her still drowsy sister. Tenebris chuckled nervously; he didn't want them thinking he never got sleep.

Alphys told them that the elevator would take them to the top of the Core, but it wasn't working. "That's… not right… u-um, I guess we have to go the long way. Go right from there."

When they went right, all the trio was met with was a pit of fire. Frisk frowned. "She sounded so confident about this being the right way too…"

Sure enough, Alphys was baffled over the existence of the pit. When the humans went the other way, they got ambushed by a Madjick. While the pun wasn't lost on Tenebris, Selendis was quickly annoyed by its orb attacks. "Tenebris, could you find a way to get rid of those things?"

"I think I already have a way." Tenebris quickly pulled out Nos and Feratu and fired a round at each orb. Both orbs cracked and the monster immediately didn't want to battle anymore, which resulted in it getting spared.

Alphys was still on the phone as Madjick left. "Th-that was close… why… are there so many active monsters here?"

Frisk sighed and shook her head. "That could explain why we saw monsters coming here as well."

"That's all fine and dandy, but it was almost as if that one was… waiting, for us." Tenebris gripped his guns tighter. "I've got a bad feeling about all of this. Alphys, cross-reference your map of the Core to its current layout. If that first blunder was anything significant, the Core's layout has probably shifted."

"O-okay. I'll stay on the line as I do that, though." The humans nodded to each other before moving forward. Finding a force-field and some deactivated lasers, he quickly said, "Um, before I do that, the lasers will activate after you hit the switch. They will come in the order of orange, orange, and blue."

Selendis didn't look convinced. "Are you positive about that, Alphys?"

"I… actually I'm not. If I'm wrong, I'm truly sorry." The trio prepared themselves before Frisk threw the switch. As Selendis was suspicious of, the order was actually blue, blue, and orange. When she was informed, Alphys was appalled. "I… guess I was wrong. H-has everything changed like Tenebris suspected?"

Frisk gave the phone a worried look. Alphys was slowly losing her confidence. "I hate to say it, but maybe it has…"

"I-I guess you guys are on your own, I hate to admit. I don't want t-to point you into a-any traps. I'm sorry." Alphys hung up after that. The trio shot each other worried looks; if Alphys was getting things wrong in an area she SHOULD know, something was up.

At the next juncture, they tried going left, only to run into Knight Knight. Selendis noticed the monster looked tired, yet alert. Remembering Shyren's song, she started singing it and the monster soon fell asleep. Tenebris suddenly felt sleepy himself from hearing the song and wished he listened to it last night. It didn't help that Selendis' voice sounded very pretty.

When they found another bunch of lasers, Alphys called again. "O-okay. I won't be messing around this time. I'll deactivate the lasers for you!"

There was a pregnant pause as the lasers continued to remain on. Tenebris sighed. "Uh… that doesn't look very deactivated…"

"I-I'm trying, yet they're… not turning off. I can't turn them off… l-looks like I'll just have t-to cut off that whole node's power!" This time the lasers, as well as the lights, shut off. "There, that should be good!"

Selendis rolled her eyes as they continued. "Does something finally- "

"Selly, don't say anything!" Frisk cut in with a worried tone.

Sure enough, Alphys suddenly yelled, "W-WAIT, STOP!" The humans did, just as the power suddenly flickered back on. All three of them grew pale when they realized they were trapped in a field of blue lasers. "The power is… turning itself back on! D-damn it… th-this isn't supposed to…" Selendis let the curse pass by; Alphys sounded like she was desperately trying to hold onto her confidence. "I'm going to turn it back off. Once it is, move a little, then stop again. I'll keep it up until you get across safely."

"Thankfully, it's easy to tell when the power forces itself back on." Tenebris commented, tempted to twirl Nos, but refrained under the assumption that the laser would hurt him if he did. As Alphys said, the power turned back off and the humans made a run for the other side, screeching to a halt whenever the lights flickered back on.

Once all three were across without a scratch, Alphys finally regained some confidence… only to lose it again when she informed them that she confirmed that her map didn't match up at all with the Core's layout. The trio didn't know what to do; if Alphys went out of her way to make a map, then the Core could be a maze, one that would take a good while to get through.

Going left from the next juncture, they found a puzzle similar to the ones in Hotland. This one had a fair amount of difficulty, which took until Selendis' third try to solve. At one point, Frisk found a Glamburger in the trash that was still in decent condition, though she was reluctant to keep it after Tenebris told her what it was made of.

When they reach a path with a sign saying that The End will open if traversed, they found themselves attacked by more guard monsters. The first group was a Whimsalot and a Final Froggit. The Froggit was easy enough to pacify when Tenebris mystified it with his shadow magic, but when Frisk prayed for safety, the words he spoke made Tenebris feel strangely sad: "There's still hope!"

Both Selendis and the Whimsalot noticed this. "Tenebris, what's wrong?"

"Ah… I'm sorry. I suppose, as someone who had once lost all hope, that sentence… struck a chord with me."

Whimsalot fluttered up to him. "Don't give up, o shadow-eyed human. Thou may has't a soul covered with darkness, but thou has true companions with whom thou has chosen to walk the path of light with. There is no greater calling than that." With that, the monster flew away.

Frisk waited a bit before nodding. "He's right, Tenny! Besides… what do you mean by calling yourself "someone who has lost all hope"?"

Tenebris sighed and shook his head. "Being experimented on and losing one's parents has a way of obliterating the very prospect of hope. I… guess I was able to recover it."

Selendis gives him an odd look. "When did you start recovering it?"

"Truthfully… when I first met you two. Sure, it was a slow recovery and I've had some dives, but in the long run you two have instilled so much hope in me… and for that, I'm grateful." He bows courteously to them, which made Frisk extremely happy for him. Selendis had to look away to hide her burning blush, but deep down, she was thankful she was able to do something for him long term.

When they tried to continue, they got ambushed again, this time by another Knight Knight and Madjick. Tenebris tried shooting the orbs again, but this Madjick was smart enough to keep its orbs moving to avoid the bullets. He managed to drag it away, allowing Selendis to put Knight Knight asleep, before landing a round in each orb and pacifying it.

The final ambush came from another Final Froggit, another Whimsalot, and an Astigmatism. At Frisk's suggestion, Tenebris was the one to pray for safety which made the Whimsalot remember his conscience. Selendis managed to mystify Final Froggit, though they were caught off guard when the Astigmatism told them to pick on it. Tenebris did, somewhat out of spite, and it didn't care anymore.

After hitting the switch and wandering around lost for a little while longer, they found the elevator that was connected to the one earlier next to the supposed exit to the core. Tenebris got a feeling that something big was ahead, so he gave two Starfaits to each of the sisters, who were confused about it. All he said was, "I'll let you know what those are for soon."

When they entered, they staggered for a bit as their eyes adjusted. The room they just entered was far darker than the rest of the Core. When they got to the center of the room, they found Mettaton sitting there. Selendis spoke up first with a rather tired, "It's you."

"OH YES IT'S ME. YOU'VE FINALLY ARRIVED, MY DARLINGS. WELL… IT'S TIME TO HAVE OUR LITTLE SHOWDOWN." This tipped the humans off to something being wrong. "IT'S TIME FOR THE THREE OF YOU TO FINALLY STOP… THE "MALFUNCTIONING" ROBOT… NOT!"

Tenebris grinned. "I don't know… maybe you could do with a few fixing tweaks here and there."

Mettaton scoffed. "I'LL GO OVER YOU IN A SECOND, SHADOW-EYED HUMAN. BUT I DIGRESS… MALFUNCTION? REPROGRAMMING? GET REAL. THIS… WAS ALL JUST A BIG SHOW; AN ACT. ALPHYS HAS BEEN PLAYING YOU THREE FOR FOOLS FOR… MOST OF THE TIME; I'LL COME BACK TO THAT IN A SECOND AS WELL. AS SHE WATCHED YOU ON HER CAMERAS, SHE GREW ATTACHED TO THE ADVENTURES YOU THREE HAD… SO MUCH SO THAT SHE DESPERATELY WANTED TO BE A PART OF IT."

Both Tenebris and Selendis didn't break their straight faces; they had both known something was up ever since Mettaton had started to grow weary of it. Frisk, on the other hand, was struggling coming to terms with their earlier suspicions coming true; she desperately wanted to believe Alphys had good intentions.

Mettaton continued in spite of Frisk's conflicted look. "SO SHE DECIDED TO INSERT HERSELF INTO YOUR STORY. SHE REACTIVATED PUZZLES, DISABLED ELEVATORS, AND INLISTED ME TO TORMENT YOU… ALL SO SHE COULD SAVE YOU FROM DANGERS THAT DIDN'T EXIST. ALL SO YOU WOULD THINK SHE'S THE GREAT PERSON… THAT SHE'S NOT."

"Wow, what did she ever do to you to earn THAT remark?" Tenebris shook his head. "I knew you were growing tired of the whole situation, but that's just excessive." The sisters look at each other; they never thought of it that way.

"HEH… MAYBE I AM A BIT SPITEFUL FROM ALL OF THIS. THING IS, AT THIS VERY MOMENT, SHE'S WAITING OUTSIDE OF THE ROOM. DURING OUR "BATTLE" SHE WILL INTERRUPT AND PRETEND TO DEACTIVATE ME, "SAVING" YOU ONE LAST TIME. THROUGH THIS ACT, SHE WILL BECOME THE HEROINE OF YOUR ADVENTURE AND WILL EVEN BE ABLE TO CONVINCE YOU THREE NOT TO LEAVE… OR NOT, I REALLY DON'T KNOW."

Selendis frowned. "Why would she not want us to leave, current situation aside?"

Mettaton actually shrugged. "TRUTHFULLY, SHE NEVER TOLD ME. ALL I KNOW IS; I'M GETTING TIRED OF THIS PREDICTABLE CHARADE. BESIDES, ALL THREE OF YOU CAUGHT ONTO IT MID-WAY THROUGH ANYWAYS, SO I'M PRETTY SURE I'M NOT ALONE ON THIS." He suddenly pointed at Tenebris. "IN FACT, WHILE ALL THREE OF YOU KEPT IT INTERESTING TO MAKE IT BEARABLE, TENEBRIS WAS ESPECIALLY INTERESTING."

"Yeah, I helped keep it interesting by making you rust your pants… if you even have any." Selendis facepalmed at that.

Mettaton actually chuckled. "I WILL CONCIDE, YOU DID FRIGHTEN ME. THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT, THOUGH. I ENJOYED GETTING AGGRESSIVE REACTIONS OUT OF YOU THROUGH FLIRTING WITH SELENDIS. IT WAS QUITE AMUSING TO SEE YOU BREAK THE PACE BECAUSE OF THAT." Selendis let out a quiet squeak that only Frisk heard, which earned her a look. She didn't realize that was the reason Tenebris kept getting worked up.

Tenebris scoffed and shook his head. "Yeah, then you started flirting with ME. Are you bisexual or something?"

"NAH, I JUST DID ALL OF IT TO GET A RISE OUT OF YOU. IN FACT, AND THIS MAY SURPRISE YOU, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO HARM HUMANS; FAR FROM IT, ACTUALLY. MY ONLY DESIRE IS TO ENTERTAIN! AN AUDIENCE DESERVES A GOOD SHOW, DON'T YOU AGREE? AND WHAT'S A GOOD SHOW… WITHOUT A PLOT TWIST!"

A door suddenly slammed behind the trio, startling them. All three of them were even more shocked when Alphys' voice suddenly said, "H-hey, what's going on?! Th-th-the door just locked itself!"

Frisk had finally accepted that Alphys had, indeed, been playing them, at least up until the Core. However, with how she was acting during the Core, she knew there was no legitimate ill-will behind any of it. Full of determination, she faces Mettaton. "She still had good intentions, so bring on whatever your "plot twist" is, Mettaton!"

The older humans gave her a confused look, only for Tenebris so shrug his arms and Selendis to roll her eyes. Mettaton simply chuckled. "MY, MY. SUCH FIRE. SORRY, FOLKS! BUT THE OLD PROGRAM'S BEEN CANCELED! BUT WE'VE GOT A FANALE THAT'LL DRIVE YOU WILD!" The humans stumbled as the floor suddenly raised itself. "REAL DRAMA, REAL ACTION, REAL BLOODSHED! ON OUR NEW SHOW: ATTACK OF THE KILLER ROBOT!"

Everyone's souls emerged as Mettaton went grayscale. Tenebris looked around to see anything that has ratings projected onto it, but found nothing. Frisk wasn't fazed as she activated the soul mode change for her soul. Selendis looked uncertain; Frisk had her soul and Tenebris had his guns, but she didn't have anything besides a frying pan.

Tenebris suddenly thought of something. "If you had been "working with" Alphys up until now, then why was the Core so different from her map? Was it because-"

Mettaton chuckled at the mixed reactions he got before saying, "YES, I WAS THE ONE WHO REARRANGED THE CORE. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT I WAS ALSO THE ONE WHO HIRED ALL OF THOSE MONSTERS TO KILL YOU! BUT NOW I REALIZE… THAT WAS A SHORT-SIGHTED PLAN. WHAT WOULD BE A HUNDRED TIMES MORE EFFICIANT? KILLING YOU MYSELF!"

"I thought your only desire was to entertain!" Frisk shouted as she shot Mettaton with her soul.

The shots plinked off him and he chuckled. "THAT WORTHLESS PEA-SHOOTER WON'T WORK ON ME, DARLING. DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT ACTING IS?"

"That explains why the shots didn't make the sound for what damage they were supposedly doing..." Selendis commented with a worried voice.

Mettaton clapped sarcastically. "CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ACTUALLY SAW THROUGH THAT RUSE! TOO BAD IT DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING!"

"Maybe that won't do anything, but what about THESE!" Tenebris whipped out his guns and started rapid-firing them. Unlike Frisk's soul shots, these shots had the effect of knocking Mettaton around a lot, much to his surprise. "Didn't expect us to get an upgrade for our ranged capabilities, did you?"

Mettaton made an effort to dodge the bullets as he sighed. "I'LL GIVE YOU THAT, BUT I'VE SEEN THE WAY YOU THREE FIGHT. TENEBRIS IS THE ONLY ONE WITH ANY SORT OF "POWER" AND EVEN THEN, HE'S VERY WISHY-WASHY WITH IT. IF YOU CONTINUE FORWARD LIKE THAT, ASGORE WILL TAKE AT LEAST ONE OF YOUR SOULS. AND WITH THAT SOUL, HE WILL DESTROY HUMANITY NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS."

He suddenly fired a wave of hollow-looking boxes at the humans. Both Frisk and Tenebris were able to shoot an opening through the wave so that they wouldn't get hurt, though Selendis managed to hit one at Mettaton to distract him. "I… don't know what I can do, but I'll try my best!"

Tenebris gave Selendis a worried look over how uncertain she sounded. "Don't worry about it too much. Here, use Feratu for a bit. That way we all have ranged capability for what may come." Seeing her inquisitive look, he shakes his head. "Just trust me on this, please."

Mettaton started speaking again, "BUT IF I CAN GET ONE OF YOUR SOULS INSTEAD, I CAN STOP ASGORE'S PLAN AND SAVE HUMANITY FROM DESTRUCTION. THEN, I'LL CROSS THE BARRIER AND BECOME THE STAR I'VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF BEING!"

As he shot through Mettaton's attacks, Tenebris huffed. "You do realize that Asgore can still take another soul from one of the two survivors. Plus, the humans will have your… body donated to science if they found out you killed a human to get there!"

All that got was a dark chuckle from the robot. "SO WHAT IF SOMEONE HAD TO DIE TO GET ME THERE? THAT'S SHOW BUSINESS, BABY!"

Frisk shook her head. "That's not how show business works!"

Selendis was about to comment on that when the phone suddenly rang. Frisk answered it, but didn't put Alphys on speaker. "U-uh, I can't see what's going on in there, but… d-d-don't give up, okay?! Th… there's one last way to beat Mettaton! It's… a work in progress, so don't judge it too hard! But… y-you know how Mettaton always faces f-f-forward?" Frisk's eyes widened in realization. "That's because there's a switch on his backside. So… if you… um… turn him a-around, he'll… be-become… vulnerable."

Frisk noted the slightly despondent voice she had, but couldn't comment on it before she hung up. She suddenly said, "Mettaton, there's actually a mirror behind you!" This got odd looks from the older humans.

Mettaton bought it. "OH, A MIRROR? RIGHT, I HAVE TO LOOK PERFECT FOR OUR GRAND FANALE!" He turns around and the older humans see the switch and quickly realized what Frisk was going for. "HMM… I DON'T SEE IT. WHERE IS IT?" Tenebris quickly teleported up to him and flipped the switch. This made the robot freeze in place. "DID YOU… JUST FLIP… MY SWITCH?"

Tenebris chuckled as Mettaton started freaking out. "Ctrl alt del, Mettaton. Time for you to shut down." There was a flash and the area was suddenly covered in smoke.

"Oh yes…"

All three humans gave the general direction of Mettaton's voice a shocked look. They were even more shocked when the saw a silhouette of a humanoid. "Oh my… if you were so eager to flip my switch, that can only mean one thing: you three are desperate for the premier of my new body." He lets out a chuckle. "How rude… lucky for all three of you, I've been wanting to show this off for a long time. So, as thanks, I'll give you all a handsome reward. I'll make your last living moments- " The smoke suddenly dissipates and the humans see Mettaton as a humanoid robot, albeit still monotone in color. "- Absolutely beautiful!"

Frisk deadpanned as music started playing. "I guess that's what she meant by more vulnerable."

Selendis looked at her sister. "Alphys told you that? I suppose it makes sense; a rectangle, metal body is harder to damage than a humanoid form designed to…" She deadpans as the newly dubbed Mettaton EX began dancing and posing. "Um… designed to dance and pose."

Tenebris looked around and quickly found a "ratings board" like what Burgerpants explained to him earlier. He gave is a surprised look at the current ratings, four thousand and slowly dropping, before shaking his head. "Attacking him may not be the best course of action, as much as I hate to admit it."

"Seriously? Then what do you suggest?" Selendis folded her arms.

"This." Tenebris suddenly struck a pose. Both Mettaton and the sisters noticed the ratings go up from the pose. "Outshine him, that might be the only way out of this!"

Frisk quickly nodded and struck her own pose, which increased the ratings further. Selendis was a bit skeptical about it being the only way out besides fighting, but she sighed and posed with Frisk.

Mettaton was amazed that the humans were increasing his ratings like that, but he knew he still needed to kill them. What better way to do that than to pose and dance while doing so? "Lights! Camera! Action!"

The trio broke their poses to dodge and/or fire at Mettaton's attacks. They dodged a flurry of magical… leg attacks, though Selendis got unlucky and was hit by one. Tenebris breathed a little bit; he couldn't lose his cool, not anymore. Not only was he scaring himself losing his cool, but he was scaring the sisters and he hated doing that.

After Mettaton stopped attacking the sisters posed again, with Selendis' pose being a bit more dramatic because of her injury. However, Tenebris merely laughed and folded his arms with a smirk. "That was nothing! In fact, I'm going to tell you right now that I'm not going to get hit at ALL!"

Mettaton answered with his own smirk, not noticing the ratings gradually getting higher. "Such confidence and integrity! I hope you can back it up, darling!"

The battle went on like that for a while, with the humans posing between Mettaton's attacks and Tenebris occasionally boasting about not being hit at all. He even mixed it up a bit by summoning shadowy clones to make poses with. All three were able to keep damage to a minimum thanks to all of them having access to ranged projectiles to shoot Mettaton's attacks down with.

The essay question Mettaton threw at them caught them off guard for sure. Frisk mentioned his rather good dancing, Selendis commented that his voice was far better than before, and Tenebris merely mentioned that he just looks better like that than as a rectangle. Mettaton responded positively to all of them.

Right after that, Mettaton said, "Your essays showed everyone your hearts, darlings. How about I show you mine?" The heart that was on his abdomen suddenly separated from his body and started shooting lightning bolts. Frisk was set to shoot it with her soul while the older humans covered her with Nos and Feratu.

When Mettaton suddenly challenged them to dance instead of pose, Selendis switched seamlessly. Frisk had to stop and stare at how good of a dancer her sister was before trying to join as well.

What made both her and Mettaton pause completely was when Tenebris joined as well. The two older humans were so focused on outshining Mettaton that they didn't even realize they were dancing with each other in perfect harmony. So much so that the ratings were beginning to skyrocket. Frisk smiled at the scene; if that didn't prove that they were made for each other, she didn't know what else would.

Mettaton, not wanting to be outmatched, quickly joined the three and danced with them. It made for quite the show.

The battle of ratings continued a bit longer until, after another heart shooting segment, Mettaton's arms suddenly came off. This made Frisk and Tenebris pause for a moment. "Holy jumping jellyfish are you alright?"

Mettaton huffed a bit in pain. "Y-yeah I'm fine! Besides, w-who needs arms w-with legs like these?"

Selendis snorted. "He's fine. Pretty good balance considering."

Things continued like that for a bit longer, though all three humans began showing worry when Mettaton was noticeably struggling. He kept playing up the whole movie star thing until he suddenly said, "Enough of this! Do you really want humanity to perish?! Or do you believe in yourselves and each other that much?"

Tenebris was about to speak when Frisk cut him off. "Of course I believe in the both of them. We would never have gotten this far without that belief!" This prompted the older humans to look at each other before nodding.

Mettaton chuckled a bit. "I suppose you make a fair point. Haha, how inspiring! Despite that, I think we all know who's going to win this. Witness the true power of humanity's star!" Mettaton quickly ate his words when, after another "heart shooting segment", he lost his legs, which made all three humans stop entirely. "Then… are you three the real stars? Can you really protect humanity?"

Selendis sighed; she didn't want this to go on much long and even she was starting to feel guilty about Mettaton's condition. "We don't know the answer to that, but I can assure you that we will do our best. But please, isn't this enough?"

Mettaton noticed the desperation and chuckled. "It is wearing on quite lon- " He cut himself off when he looked at his ratings. "OOH, LOOK AT THESE RATINGS!" The humans looked at they saw that the ratings were at eleven thousand. "This is the most viewers I've ever had! Because of this, we've reached the viewer call-in milestone!"

Tenebris shrugged. "Guess the Underground is more populated than I thought."

"Don't forget that we've yet to reach the actual capital." Selendis reminded. "For all we know, this is just a small portion of it."

Mettaton continued speaking. "One lucky viewer will have the chance to talk to mebefore I leave the Underground… forever." This prompted odd looks from the older humans; he was in no position to try and take any soul. They didn't get to comment as they heard a ringing sound coming from Mettaton. "Hi! You're on TV! What do you have to say on this, our last show?"

There was a brief moment of silence before a familiar, sad voice said, "Oh… hi… Mettaton. I really liked watching your show. My life is pretty boring, but… seeing you on the screen brought excitement to my life… vicariously."

The humans looked at each other again, this time with saddened looks. Despite his glory hogging ways, Mettaton was bringing excitement to monster lives. "I can't tell, but… I guess this is the last episode? I'll miss you… Mettaton…" Now Mettaton had a sad look, looking like he was about to cry. The caller suddenly said, "Oh… I didn't mean to talk so long… ohhhhh…"

"NO WAIT, WAIT! BL- H… they already hung up… I'll take another caller!"

What resulted was many monsters calling to tell Mettaton how much they loved him and how much he would be missed. Frisk gave the robot star a desperate smile. "They all love you, Mettaton! Don't leave them like this!"

Mettaton was silent for a bit until he chuckled. "Everyone… thank you so much. Perhaps… you're right, darling. I didn't see it before, but… humans already have idols and stars, but monsters… they only have me. If I left, the Underground would lose its spark and there would be an aching void that cannot be filled." He gives the humans a genuine smile. "I think I'll delay my big debut, even permanently if needs be."

Tenebris approached him and kneeled down to put a hand on his shoulder. "While we didn't get off on the right foot, just know… I respect you, Mettaton. As showy as you are, you always tried to put the audience first, and that's the best thing an idol can do."

"Thanks, Tenebris darling. I apologize for antagonizing you and your companions. Besides, all three of you have proven to be very strong; strong enough to get past Asgore even." Looking at Selendis he adds, "I no longer have any doubts over your ability to protect humanity. Perhaps… this is all for the best anyways."

Selendis approached and shook her head. "Don't give up on your dream yet, though. I promise that if we ever come back, it will be with a way to shatter the barrier without the sacrifice of anymore lives."

Mettaton chuckled again. "A big undertaking, but I can tell it's one you all will pursue none the less. But don't worry about me." The light on his chest, now pink since they were no longer in a fight, started to flicker. "Truth is… this form's energy consumption is… inefficient. In a few moments, I'll run out of battery power… "

Seeing the horrified looks all three humans had made him sigh with a smile. "Despite everything I did to you, you still treat me with kindness. I'll be alright. All three of you, knock them dead! And everyone else? Thank you. You've been a great audience!"