Frisk continued on her way through the area called Hotland at a quick pace. The human was well aware that she had no time to waste on her journey, and without having someone physically there to help her she wasn't sure how quick things would go. "You made it to Snowdin just fine on your own. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to handle Hotland just fine." Chara's voice spoke to her in the back of her mind.
"Yeah. It was a struggle though, and the poison wasn't as strong then. I don't know if you can feel it but to me it feels like it drains my body of energy really quickly. I think Flowey's hoping I use enough of my soul energy that I can't break the barrier, or that I get to the point that I'm too exhausted to get to Asgore." Frisk replied quietly as she continued looking at the path ahead of her, sweat beading her forehead slightly as she went.
A short while later the woman came to a stop as she looked at the path in front of her with a quizzical stare. It appeared impassable as the road in front of her that led forward was broken up into small islands. On each island was a steam vent that shot powerful bursts of air into the sky above her head. Frisk looked around, searching for something that would help her cross through the area. The islands were too far apart to jump to by normal means, so she needed something to use as a bridge.
A loud musical ringtone came from her pocket as she looked down in surprise before pulling her new phone from her pocket. On the touch screen flashed the name "Alphys" in bold pink lettering. Blinking her eyes, Frisk swiped the answer icon upwards putting the phone to her ear now. "Hello?" her gentle tone answered the monster on the other end.
"H-hi Frisk!" Alphys shrill voice loudly answered the greeting in a nervous tone. The woman flinched slightly as she pulled the phone away from her ear in irritation. The lizard woman saw the reaction on her monitor she was using to watch Frisk and quickly silenced herself. "A-ah, I'm s-sorry. N-nerves got the better of me. A-anyways, you look confused about the path in front of you." Alphys quickly jumped onto the next subject not wanting to dwell on her screw up.
"Yeah. The path doesn't exactly look passable. Is there another way I can go that I overlooked?" Frisk asked as she stared at the islands again in confusion.
"U-um, w-we installed the vents to be a-able to pass through parts of H-Hotland that were broken up like this. Building materials were sparse in this area w-when we first settled here, and wood doesn't last very long t-thanks to the heat, s-so we had to make do with w-what we could." Alphys replied to the human's question.
"So you're saying to use the vents?" Frisk's gaze shifted sideways towards the voice on the other end of the phone. "Um… don't the vents expel hot air though? I don't know about monster skin but human skin doesn't do to well in extreme heat like that." The woman argued in a slightly frustrated tone.
"Ah… um… w-well, the v-vents are expelling s-steam from t-the Core. Its magical steam so it's n-not h-hot like normal steam would be, you w-won't be burned!" Alphys explained in a shrill nervous tone as she drummed her fingers on the desk beneath her monitor as her anxiety began to get the better of her.
"Oh, that's different then. So what about landings? If I use the vents to launch myself into the air I still need to worry about landing on the islands and not, you know, falling into the lava." Frisk replied in a calm tone once more. She could hear the nervousness creeping into Alphys tone and had to remind herself the doctor was trying to help her as best she could.
"T-the v-vents are programmed to r-release steam based on the weight of the o-object on them. So once you step on them they'll calculate h-how much steam to expel based on your weight. By doing th-that you won't o-overshoot the islands. A-as f-f-for landing, well… you'll just h-have to try r-really hard to land on your feet. There's n-no e-easy way for you to land, monsters are just naturally agile s-so we don't h-have an issue l-landing." As the lizard woman began explaining the way the vents worked a spark of excitement filled her tone calming her worries for the moment before fading as she tried to think of a way to make the landings easier for Frisk but couldn't think of anything.
"Great. I've never been the most agile or graceful person so… this is going to be rough. I think I can manage though." Frisk bit her lower lip slightly out of nervousness. As long as she didn't stumble and fall off of the islands she would be alright. "Thanks for the help Alphys, and for keeping an eye out for me. I know I'll get through this with your help." The woman smiled slightly knowing that Alphys could see her. "Talk to you soon." She hung up the phone and took a deep breath looking at the vents in front of her now.
After a little bit of mental preparation and gathering her determination and courage Frisk stepped forward onto the vent in front of her. The sound of gears whirring and metal clunking against metal could be heard as well as the faint sound of steam filling an unseen pocket beneath her feet. The woman clenched her fists nervously as she shifted her weight and position so she could be launched up at an angle instead of straight up.
Frisk gave a loud gasp as she heard the loud clunk of the steam releasing below her and felt a sudden burst of air below her feet. Giving a panicked scream the woman found herself in the air being launched towards the island in front of her. She wasn't ready for the landing and fell down with a loud thud on her hands and knees, gasping slightly from shock.
Standing to her feet as she panted slightly, Frisk flinched as the skin on her palms and knees burned from being scraped against the rocky ground. Looking at herself, she saw they were just scraped up and not bleeding. "Okay… okay. The first vent is down, not too bad of an attempt. I need to be better at the landings though or I'm going to get pretty beat up." Frisk tried to give herself a little bit of a pep talk as she stared at the vent on the ground in front of her now. "I… I really hope there aren't too many of these vent areas…" the woman muttered slightly under her breath as she approached the next vent.
A short time later Frisk finally found herself on the other side of the first vent area, and in pretty good shape as well. She did miss the second landing a little but managed to stop herself from landing on her hands and knees as she fell back on her butt instead. The third landing was a little better, and finally on the other side of the area she had managed to keep her footing. "Okay. That… that went pretty well. I think I can do this again if I need to. I need to be quicker from now on though." Frisk said in a breathless tone as she glanced back at the vent puzzle for a moment before giving a slight sigh of relief and making her way forward, heading deeper into the Hotland area.
Frisk made her way onward at a steady pace. She found there were more steam vent puzzles than she wanted to see but managed to make her way through them without too much of an issue. Although thanks to her less than graceful landings the woman was a little beat up, both her palms were scraped up almost to the point of bleeding and her capris had begun to tear at the knees where she was landing. Her butt and lower back were probably pretty bruised as well.
In between the various steam puzzles were the laser puzzles, which were a bit more complicated. The lasers were blue and orange meaning she had to be moving for some of them and still for the others. Some of the laser's were pretty much impossible to pass by, but thanks to Alphys hacking abilities she managed to beat them and continue on her way.
As Frisk had made her way through one of the steam vent puzzles the woman had seen something glinting on one of the far islands. While it was a little bit of detour and an unnecessary couple of vent launches, Frisk couldn't help her curiosity and was rewarded for it. The object that had been glinting off in the distance was an old frying pan that was charred but otherwise looked alright. She used the faded ribbon she had gotten from the Ruins long ago to fashion a holder at her hip for the frying pan, deciding that it would be a good idea for her to take it with her as it would make a good defensive weapon to hopefully deflect monster attacks.
Frisk was currently sitting on the ground with her hand draped across her knee as she took a short break. The heat of Hotland was starting to get to the woman, making it hard for her to breathe. Sweat was beading her forehead heavily as she brushed it off on her hand as she looked around. Enduring the cold of Snowdin and then having to endure this heat was starting to kind of take its toll on Frisk. "Thankfully I had a break between the two by trekking through Waterfall. That's a positive I guess." Frisk spoke quietly to herself as she struggled to stand.
The poison that was spreading through her body was slowly sapping her strength again and the fever that lingered from it was starting to come back, making the heat of Hotland feel worse. The effect of Alphys medication that she had given her didn't seem to last nearly long enough. Although grateful for the four pills that the doctor had given her, Frisk wanted to use them sparingly because when she was out she would have to manage with the fever on her own since once she was through Hotland there would really be no way for her to get anymore.
Inhaling deeply Frisk walked forward towards another set of steam vents. Running her fingers unconsciously over the healing charm she wore, Frisk stared ahead past the vents. A big building seemed to loom a short ways from the opposite side of the gap. "What is that? It's freaking huge…" she muttered to herself as she stepped forward onto the first vent to launch herself forward.
A few minutes later Frisk arrived on the other side with a thud as she landed in the crouched position. Standing up, the woman stared with a wide gaze at the building that towered over her now. It looked like a giant metal cube, but even for that it was pretty impressive, it also appeared that the only way to continue through Hotland was to pass through the building. Frisk couldn't just run in blind however, that would be stupid on her part. She slipped her phone from the pocket of her capris and searched through her contacts before hitting the call icon on the screen.
Alphys had left the monitor for a moment to take care of something in her lab when the theme song from Mew Mew Kissy Cutie began to play from the pocket of her lab coat. Jumping in surprise from the noise the lizard woman quickly dug her clawed hand into the pocket and pulled her phone out to see Frisk's name flashing on her screen. Feeling her heartbeat quicken in nervousness, Alphys hit the answer button with a shaking claw. "Konnichiwa, e-er h-hello?" the monster quickly corrected herself.
"Hi Alphys. I've got a question for you if you're in front of your monitor." Frisk's calm voice spoke on the other end, a hint of confusion could be heard in her tone. Alphys began picking up the pace as she made her way back into the living room part of the lab.
"I-I had to step away for a moment but I'm heading back right now! J-just give me a second." The doctor replied in a rushed, almost panicked tone as she moved quickly to be back in front of the monitor to see where Frisk now was. She tried to come to a stop in front of the monitor, but her clawed feet sent her sliding on her metal floor. "O-oh nooooo!" the lizard woman yelped loudly as she slid into a pile of boxes filled with research materials stacked against the wall.
Frisk pulled the phone away from her ear slightly as she heard a loud crash followed by a groan of pain. The woman gave a small gasp as she brought the phone back to her ear. "A-Alphys? Are you okay?" she asked in a slightly panicked tone. "Alphys?!" the worry increased when the doctor didn't respond right away.
"I-I'm fine… it's a-alright… ouch…" Alphys replied panting slightly as she struggled to free herself from the boxes that had fallen on her. Giving a slight groan as she freed herself from the boxes she adjusted her glasses on her nose and stood to her feet walking forward towards the monitor. Blinking her eyes Alphys looked at the monitor which displayed where Frisk was currently. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at the building Frisk was standing in front of "Oh…" the lizard woman muttered in a slightly strained tone.
"That didn't sound like a good 'oh'." Frisk commented in a slightly weary voice as she looked at the building. "What's the deal with this building Alphys? It looks like the only way to keep going through Hotland but it doesn't seem smart to just run right in."
"U-um… th-that's one of M-Mettaton's TV studios. B-because he was originally built to be an e-entertainer robot, Mettaton has a few d-different TV s-studios in Hotland where he films his shows." Alphys explained nervously as she drummed her clawed fingers against her computer desk.
"Oh… that's great. Is there any way you can check and see if he's waiting in there for me? I'm assuming he probably is and… I don't know what to do about him…" the mental exhaustion of the journey was starting to wear on the woman as she paced back and forth nervously in front of the building now. The skeleton brothers had been easy, she just needed to complete the puzzles they gave her; Undyne had been a little more difficult, and probably would have been a lot more trouble if not for Sans's help. Trying to get past Mettaton on her own though seemed very daunting to Frisk as she found herself wondering just how many times the timeline would be reset.
"Um… I th-thought of that too, s-so I added a few 'm-modifications' to your phone when I was programming it. I-I know that I'm not S-Sans and I'm sorry I wouldn't come with you, b-but I'll help you out the best I can, I p-promise." Alphys replied to the uncertainty in the woman's voice as her clawed fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard in front of her trying to pull up video feed of the inside of the building.
Alphys gave a small, triumphant grin as she hacked into the cameras in the building. Scanning the area she saw everything was pitch black, which caused a puzzled look to cross her face. "This is weird…" the doctor muttered in a low undertone as she pulled up information about the building onto her computer. "Let me try hacking the light system." She wasn't aware that she was talking out loud which was confusing Frisk, who shifted her gaze to the building again with a confused stare.
About 15 minutes had passed with Frisk standing there while Alphys muttered mostly to herself as she tried to hack various systems within the building. "Hmm… th-this is weird it says the light system is on and not detecting anyone inside with its m-motion sensors. I-it doesn't a-appear that Mettaton is actually in there. So y-you should be good to go through. The layout shows if you enter the door on this side and just walk straight through, you'll cross the stage and be at the exit to the other side." Alphys finally spoke directly to Frisk as she sat back in her computer chair looking at the screen.
"Alright… I guess it's time to go in then." Frisk took a breath trying to calm her nerves as she drew on her determination in her soul again. "I'm going to hang up now. Will you make sure to keep an eye on me? This feels almost too easy to me." The woman spoke in a nervous tone as she finally approached the door of the building in front of her.
"Yeah! D-Don't worry I'll s-send in my camera bot so that I can see everything in case you need help. J-just b-b-be careful, okay Frisk?" the lizard woman replied nervously at the end as she watched the human on the monitor in front of her. She saw the faint nod before Frisk hung up the phone; she didn't want Alphys to hear the nervousness in her voice.
The door in front of the woman automatically opened as she approached it slowly. Peering inside with her wide chocolate colored gaze, Frisk saw nothing but darkness before her. Taking a deep breath the woman made her way inside, flinching slightly as the door closed loudly behind her. The darkness pressed against her eyes as she moved forward through the building, her soft footsteps echoing against the tile floor beneath her feet.
She felt a chill of awareness crawl down her spine, and realized that she was not alone in this place. "It's a trap isn't it?" Frisk thought silently to herself as she gritted her teeth, fearful to continue onwards but knowing it was too late and she couldn't turn back.
As she made her way forward, Frisk heard the sound of her steps change, glancing down in the darkness she could just barely make out that the tile had changed to something that looked similar to wood. "I wonder if this is the stage… I must be close to the other side now." The woman thought silently to herself as she looked back up now.
"Hohohoho…" a faint laugh came from in front of the woman causing her to pause as her eyes widened. "Darling!" a robotic male sounding voice boomed out from the darkness. At the sound of the voice the lights in the building came on, temporarily blinding Frisk who had just gotten used to the darkness.
Giving a gasp as she shielded her eyes from the bright light, Frisk could see a blurry figure standing on the stage in front of her now. "I've been expecting you for quite some time! Don't you know it's rude to keep a star waiting?! Not to mention the audience as well!" the voice spoke again as the blurry figure shift to stand in a different position. "Now then, let's get this show started Darling!"
"W-what?" Frisk asked in a confused tone as she squinted her eyes trying to get a look at who was talking to her. As her vision started to return her brown gaze widened as she stared at the monster in front of her.
Relaxing on the couch after a busy night of cooking spaghetti and putting up with his brother's ridiculous puns during dinner, Papyrus was watching a rerun of his favorite Underground star's program. For a while now on the daily update show, Mettaton had been promising something new and exciting with an ultra special guest coming soon for his lovely audience. The patient skeleton had been tuning in daily to see if the new show featuring Mettaton and the guest had started yet.
As he sat watching the rerun of one of the robots cooking shows the screen suddenly flickered and a still image saying please stay tuned was shown on the TV. Papyrus sat up straight as his whole body tensed in anticipation. "IS IT FINALLY HERE?!" he spoke excitedly in a squeaky voice as he stared with intent eye sockets at the TV screen.
"Ladies and Gentlemonsters!" a robotic male voice boomed loudly from the TV. "MTTV is proud to announce the new, most anticipated show in the entire Underground! Super Mettaton EX VS The Human! This new action reality show starring the Underground's favorite TV star with a BRAND, NEW, EXCITING, THRILLING, FANTASTIC FORM!" as the announcer spoke, a small spinning image grew bigger before filling the screen showing a tall humanoid robot with shoulder length black "hair"; a broad, bright pink chest with black shoulder pads attached to it; a pair of shiny black pants that were tucked into a pair of pink heeled boots that came up to the calves of the legs. Mettaton's main body was a sleek silver color while one handsome black eye stared out at his viewers and a smirk lifted the robots mouth upwards in to a confident yet charming smile.
Upon seeing the robots new form, Papyrus let out a squeal of excitement as his eye sockets stared widely at the robot. "Will the brave hero of the Underground, Super Mettaton EX, be able to extract the final human soul and free all of the monsters that have been such wonderful fans? OF COURSE HE WILL! Stay tuned for the special live series and watch how it all unfolds!" The announcer said with an air of confidence in his robotic tone. Papyrus excitedly clapped his gloved hands together as he stared with a child like gaze at the screen now.
"OH MY GOSH! FINALLY, MY DILIGENTS HAS PAID OFF AND I SHALL GET TO SEE METTATON'S NEW LIVE SHOW! I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE HIM FACE OFF AGAINST THE EVIL HUMAN! ALTHOUGH… I THOUGHT THERE WAS ONLY ONE DOWN HERE… BUT CLEARLY THERE MUST BE ANOTHER, AN EVIL ONE THAT IS NOT FRIENDS WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Papyrus excitedly jumped off the couch to his feet as he continued to stare at the TV screen. Glancing upwards towards his brother's room the skeleton fell into a mental debate with himself. Sans had long since returned to his room after eating the dinner Papyrus had lovingly crafted for them. The taller skeleton was worried his brother would return to his intense focus on the puzzle he was trying to work out for Frisk, and become obsessed with solving it once more.
Giving a slight huff, Papyrus appeared to come to a decision as he made his way upstairs and knocked loudly on Sans's door. "BROTHER! YOU SHOULD JOIN ME AND SEE METTATON'S NEW LIVE SHOW! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO IT, AND SUPPOSIBLY IT INCLUDES THE APPEARANCE OF A HUMAN! I CANNOT IMAGINE ANOTHER HUMAN WOULD HAVE SLIPPED BY I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, BUT IT MUST BE TRUE!" Papyrus spoke excitedly through the door as a gloved hand hesitated by the handle.
Sans had effectively given up trying to get results from the materials for the night. His mind kept drifting from his work to the woman that was probably making her way through Hotland. There hadn't been a reset since their texts, at least not one he could remember. No odd sense of déjà vu occurred to the skeleton so he assumed she was fine.
Hearing the footsteps rushing up the stair Sans wondered what had gotten Paps excited now. Listening as the taller skeleton spoke through the door, Sans sat up quickly on his bed. His body was ridged and tense from the flash of anger and worry that shot through his soul. "Did she run into Mettaton already?" the skeleton rose his hand running it over the left side of his face in frustration as he tried to calm his temper. "Is that egotistical piece of scrap metal really making a new show out of his attempt to get Frisk's soul? How am I supposed to keep my distance now with it being broadcast through the entire Underground?" Sans mentally growled as his eye sockets narrowed at his thoughts. He could feel his magic brushing against his bony hand that covered his left eye as he tried to calm himself down.
"SANS? ARE YOU OKAY IN THERE?" Papyrus called through the door upon not receiving a reply. The taller skeleton hesitantly began to turn the door knob to enter the room. He didn't get far before the knob turned forcefully without his assistance and the door opened quickly.
Sans stood in the doorway grinning at his brother with a smile as he rubbed his eye sockets sleepily. "Sorry bro. I was just napping. I think I put a skele-ton of effort into trying to solve the puzzle and wore myself out." The shorter skeleton chuckled slightly as he stretched.
"SANS! REALLY?! I GOT ENOUGH OF YOUR AWFUL PUNS OVER DINNER, AND NOW YOU'RE STARTING THEM AGAIN?!" Papyrus whined slightly as he ran a gloved hand over his face in frustration before glaring down at his brother. "ANYWAY, DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID OR NOT?!" the taller skeleton asked as his excitement began to build again.
"Heh, sure did bro. I'll come down and see what's up with Mettaton's new show with you." Sans replied with a wink before disappearing and teleporting downstairs onto the couch. "Are you coming slow poke?" he called up to the landing as Papyrus blinked is eye sockets in confusion.
"NYEH! I AM DEFINITELY NOT A SLOW POKE SANS! YOU CHEATED USING YOUR POWERS!" Papyrus accused as he ran down the stairs before launching himself onto the couch next to his brother. "I'M SO EXCITED! I'M GOING TO TEXT UNDYNE AND LET HER KNOW SHE SHOULD COME OVER AND WATCH WITH US!" the taller skeleton quickly pulled out his cell phone and began to text Undyne.
"Heh, I bet she's been looking forward to this too Paps." Sans looked at his brother with a grin before returning his attention to the TV in front of them. His smile faltered a little as he tucked his hands into the front pocket of his jacket as his pinprick gaze watched the intro play for the show called Super Mettaton EX VS The Human. His eye socket arched a bit as he stared at the humanoid robot on the screen, dancing around in various clips that made up the intro. "Is that his new form he's been going on about?" Sans muttered mostly to himself.
"YES! ISN'T IT SO AWESOME?! ALTHOUGH I'LL ALWAYS LOVE HIS ORIGINAL BOXY FORM, I HAVE TO ADMIT THIS ONE IS PRETTY NEATO!" Papyrus replied to the question in his excitement as his eye sockets widened in admiration of the robot on the screen. "OH! OH! LOOK SANS ITS STARTING! UNDYNE HAD BETTER GET HERE SOON!" the skeleton leaned forward as the intro faded to black. Sans eyed the TV with a weary gaze not sure how much he would be able to stand watching and still keep his word to Gaster that he would let the human do this on her own.
Frisk's body was tense as she stared at the humanoid robot in front of her that had been speaking to her as the lights went on. "Darling you look a little tense! Is it perhaps because of the perfection that is my brand new body you get to have your big debut with? Darling just be your normal horrible human self, don't let my magnificence distract you! I expect fantastic battles between the two of us for my lovely audience!" the robot gave a slight giggle and waved his hand coyly at Frisk who just stared at him for a moment.
"W-what, but I don't want to fight! I'm just trying to talk to Asgore!" Frisk finally spoke in a disbelieving tone as she stared at the monster. She couldn't understand why it was so hard for them to get that she wasn't here to fight them, she wasn't a killer.
"Oh please Darling! Don't try to appeal to the audience's sympathy. You are the enemy of monsters here in the Underground, and I, Mettaton, am going to be the hero that defeats you and takes your soul to break the barrier! Hohoho good luck getting past me Darling!" Mettaton replied not believing Frisk in the slightest that she would do things peacefully. "Welcome to the party Darling! I hope you're ready to die!" the robot spoke in a dramatic tone as he looked at the human dramatically before grabbing a large picnic basket sitting on a counter and clicking the heels of his boots together to activate a pair of rockets within the soles that launched the robot skywards.
Frisk looked around now realizing the set was set up as a kitchen and dining room area, set up as if there was a party going on. However the room appeared to be in disarray as if the party goers had fled from the area as chairs were toppled over and paper plates and silverware were scattered over the floor.
The human gave a slight scream as something landed on the floor in front of her echoing with a loud boom at her feet. Looking up she saw Mettaton give a slight giggle above her as he held what appeared to be an egg in his hand "What's the matter Darling? Are the eggs a little too done for you?" He threw the egg in his hand at her as she jumped back from the dangerous explosive before looking up at him. "Well how about a little milk to settle your stomach? It's special formula that I bet you'll just be attached to!" Mettaton chuckled as he tossed a milk carton at the woman. As it landed with a splat something white seeped out onto one of Frisk's shoes. She tried to step back only to find that whatever it was was sticky and dried quickly as her shoe was stuck to the floor.
"What is this?" she yelled as she tried to pull her shoe free, but to no avail. Quickly she slid her foot out of the shoe and moved out of range before the robot could throw another one at her. She suddenly came to a stop as she saw the shadow of something else landing almost on top of her as she stepped back. With a loud bang, a bag of "flour" landed, hard, in front of her causing the floor to crack from the impact of the object.
"Not a fan of the milk either? How about flour? Although I've heard that stuff just sits like a rock in your stomach." The robot stared at her with a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth before digging his hand into the picnic basket once more to pull out one of the three to throw at the human. "Hohohoho! You better run if you want to live Darling!"
Frisk gave a squeak of fear as she ran to hide and avoid whatever he was going to throw at her next. She reached down to pull the frying pan from the holder, her fingers fumbled to grab the object as she was forced to stop in her tracks to avoid being crushed by a bag of flour in front of her. Finally freeing the pan of its holder Frisk swung it to save herself from the double barrage of eggs that Mettaton had just thrown at her, knocking them into the background of the stage and setting off two fiery explosions.
Giving a gasp the human ducked under the counter hiding in the little cubby that was there as several more eggs landed on the ground around her. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket Frisk quickly called Alphys from where she was hiding.
"F-Frisk!" she heard the doctor's voice from the other end of the phone. The woman was panting heavily trying to catch her breath after her death defying run for her life.
"Help me! What do I do about this guy?!" Frisk yelled in a panicked voice as she heard Mettaton laughing above her as he circled preparing to drop one of his last flour bags on the counter aiming to crush it and the human hiding in it.
"Y-y-your phone! One of the modifications I made c-can create a temporary force field, t-the option is in your settings! It won't l-l-last long, b-b-but maybe it can buy you enough time to make a run for the door! O-o-or you can throw the s-silverware at Mettaton and t-try to hit the button on the bottom of his boot heel that turns off his rockets!" Alphys held her phone in a tight grip right up to her ear as she watched the fight on pins and needles, hoping beyond hope that Frisk would survive the fight.
"Button on his heel huh? Okay… i-if I can disable his rockets it should buy me even more time to make a run for it." Frisk replied in a breathless tone as she looked out to see Mettaton preparing to drop the flour bag on her. "Eek! Thanks Alphys!" the woman squeaked in fear as she scrambled out from under the counter as the flour bag landed with a loud crash, shattering the counter she had been hiding under.
Hanging up the phone Frisk quickly pulled up her settings option and saw the Force Field option under it. Staring at it for a moment, Frisk decided not to question how this would work and pressed the button as she looked up to see the robot preparing to throw a milk carton at her. Giving a gasp Frisk closed her eyes as she hoped the force field would activate. A splat above her made the woman open her eyes as she saw a neon green bubble protecting her now.
"Hohohoho! I see you have a toy now huh Darling? Well this should get interesting if you have some tricks up your sleeve as well." Mettaton giggled slightly as he began throwing eggs at her again. Frisk quickly grabbed a handful of the silverware and started to throw it at the robot hovering above her. Mettaton avoided the projectiles with an agile spin in the air, stopping in a cute looking pose as he blew a kiss at Frisk.
"Really, Darling you could just throw flowers at me. They are much more fitting for a star than cutlery!" The robot said giving a slight glare at the human as he continued to avoid what she was throwing and return fire of his own. Frisk gave an irritated grunt as she kept missing, her eyes widening slightly as her phone began beeping frantically at her. Pulling it out she saw that there was only a little bit of charge remaining on her force field.
"Gotta make this one count." She thought silently to herself. Frisk understood the consequences but knew without help she wouldn't hit the vexing robot flying above her. The woman closed her eyes as she focused a small amount of her soul power into her palm. A faint red glow covered the spoon in her hand as she threw it in a swift movement. Her power seemed to increase how fast it was flying through the air and Mettaton couldn't avoid the hit as it struck the heel of his boot, disabling the rocket on that boot as the robot began to fly out of control.
"Oh no! It seems the evil human has bested me this time! Do not fear you beautiful monsters of the Underground. I will return to fight the human once more!" Mettaton spoke in an over dramatic voice as he fell towards the ground, landing with a loud crash back behind the stage.
"I'm sorry!" Frisk cried out frantically as she disabled the force field around her and looked around. "Where's it at?!" She muttered in a panicked whisper before seeing her shoe had somehow managed to come free of its sticky prison during their fight. Quickly grabbing it from the floor the woman took off running for the other side of the stage. She knew it was pointless to stick around and make sure Mettaton was alright since it would just result in another fight that she wasn't ready for.
Running a bit blindly in the dark area off to the side of the stage Frisk searched for the door to the outside. After quickly working her way through the props that had been blown off stage and blown out from behind the stage Frisk finally heard the whoosh of the door opening and saw the almost welcoming sight of Hotland staring back at her. "Thank goodness." She finally released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she made her way outside letting the door slam shut behind her as she leaned against the warm metal building before sliding to her ground to catch her breath and put her shoe back on.
"OH MY GOODNESS, THAT WAS SO EXCITING! I CAN'T BELIEVE THE HUMAN MANAGED TO BEAT METTATON THOUGH! HE SEEMED TO BE WINNING FOR MOST OF THE FIGHT!" Papyrus clutched a pillow from the couch to his chest as he stared with wide eyes at the stay tuned for more screen that had popped up after Mettaton said his vow to return and fight the human. "STRANGLY THOUGH THAT HUMAN APPEARED TO LOOK LIKE THE ONE WE MET A WHILE AGO DIDN'T IT SANS?" Papyrus commented running his glove gently over his mandible in thought. Upon not receiving a reply the skeleton glanced over at his brother. "SANS?"
The pupils had disappeared from the shorter skeletons eye sockets during the stress of watching Mettaton attack Frisk with the ridiculous, yet very dangerous props. "God damn it! That was awfully close Frisk! You're lucky you managed to get out without a reset happening. I bet that force field was something from Alphys." Sans's thoughts whirred in his mind like a blur as he seemed to have lost himself for the time being. "If she wouldn't have had that with her… Mettaton would have…"
"SANS!?" Papyrus's worried tone snapped Sans out of his thoughts as his pupils appeared in his eye sockets again as he gave his head a shake. What had Papyrus said to him? Sans tried to recall what he had been tuning out.
"O-oh right, right. Yeah bro, maybe all humans look similar? Ya know it could be a thing with them now days." Sans replied finally recalling what Papyrus had said to him. A slightly forced grin was given to the taller skeleton who looked at his brother with a worried stare. "Aw come on Paps don't look at me like that. I'm fine bro… really… I'm fine." Sans looked at his brother with a less forced grin trying to convince Papyrus that nothing was wrong, even though it was getting harder to do that thanks to the fact that he found himself caring about someone other than his small circle of friends and his brother for a change.
A loud aggressive knocking on the door distracted Papyrus from his reply as he jumped to his feet to get it. Sans breathed a soft sigh of relief for the distraction at least for a moment. "HEY DORK!" a familiar voice called out loudly from the door as Papyrus gave a slight cry as he was pulled into a headlock.
"UNDYNE, PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!" Papyrus groaned as he winced slightly from the noogie Undyne was giving him. The fish woman just laughed heartily at his reply before letting him go and walking in with her hands placed firmly on her hips.
"Heh, come on Papyrus! You know that's what you get when you invite me over, especially to watch the freaking tin can!" Undyne grinned at the taller skeleton with her sharp teeth as she walked forward. She paused in step as she saw Sans on the other end of the couch, still recalling the other day when he had reminded her very clearly how he felt about her swearing in front of Papyrus.
"Hiya." He grinned at the fish woman and gave her a wave of his bony hand. In all honesty he had all but forgotten his anger at her from the other day, as he was more concerned with something else at the moment.
"Hey bonehead." She replied in a hesitant tone sitting down on the other end of the couch so that Papyrus could sit between the two. Undyne figured it was safer that way. "So, what's this about Mettaton having ANOTHER new freaking show? What is it this time? You sounded super excited." Undyne rested her elbow on the arm of the couch after glancing at the screen and seeing the Stay Tuned image on it.
"IT'S A LIVE, ACTION REALITY SHOW! METTATON HAS AN EXCITING NEW FORM, AND HE HAS A SPECIAL HUMAN GUEST! I CAN'T BELIEVE ANOTHER HUMAN MANAGED TO GET PAST ALL OF US, BUT IT DEFINITELY LOOKED HUMANY TO ME!" Papyrus replied to his mentor in excitement still not making the connection that was the same human. Undyne however wasn't quite so simple minded as her good eye widened slightly at the news before flicking towards the shorter skeleton whose figure appeared more tense than it had a moment ago as well as his grin looking somewhat strained now.
"That's… pretty interesting that another human managed to slip by all of us. Not to mention unseen at that. How much did I miss then? You did say it was starting soon when you texted me." The fish woman turned her attention back towards the taller skeleton. It seemed Sans wasn't going to correct his brothers assumption that it was a different human, although she wasn't sure why. Wouldn't it make more sense to help the human if he really appeared that upset by what was going on? Surely Papyrus would be upset, he seemed to like the human quite a bit as well and she wasn't really all that bad in Undyne's opinion either.
"IT LOOKED LIKE THE HUMAN HAD CRASHED AN EXCITING BIRTHDAY PARTY AND SCARED OFF ALL THE GUESTS! METTATON WAS TRYING TO DESTORY THEM FOR THE SAFTEY OF EVERYONE! HE WAS THROWING BOMBS IN THE SHAPE OF EGGS AT THEM TO BLOW THEM TO BITS, MILK THAT WOULD IMOBILIZE THEM AND THESE HEAVY BAGS OF FLOUR TO CRUSH THEM! SOMEHOW, IN THE END THE HUMAN MANAGED TO ESCAPE METTATON FOR NOW!" Papyrus recounted the episode they had just watched with clenched hands as excitement filled his tone while he stared with anticipation at the screen in front of them.
Sans clenched his hands tightly inside the pocket of his coat as he tried to push the reminders of what had just happened from his mind. "She's fine. She made it out okay… there's no reason to worry. Except that it seemed like Mettaton gave up to easily… what's he planning on doing?" Sans's thoughts whirled in his mind again. He could feel the hot flash in the left side of his skull that told him his eye was beginning to glow again from his magic. Sans quickly moved his hand to cover his eye socket until he could calm down again.
Undyne glanced sideways at the motion he made, it was something he did when he was trying to keep Papyrus from seeing his magic flare up, especially when he was angry."Hey Papyrus! What kind of Host are ya trying to be?! I run all the way here from Waterfall and ya don't even offer me a drink punk?!" Undyne looked over to the taller skeleton with a playful grin on her features.
"OH MY GOSH! YOU'RE RIGHT UNDYNE! HOLD ON I'LL GET YOU MY MEGA WATER GLASS AND A PLATE OF MY AWESOME SPAGHETTI THAT I MADE TONIGHT!" Papyrus jumped to his feet and quickly darted off to the kitchen realizing that Undyne was right about his mistake. The fish woman cast a glance at Sans before turning her attention to the TV in front of them.
"Thanks." she heard him mutter to her as he dropped his hand showing his blue glowing eye before his eye sockets closed and he tilted his head back in an attempt to relax. The fish woman's eye widened in surprise at the word, it was probably the first time he had actually thanked her for something. A slight chuckle escaped her.
"I'm just surprised you managed to sit through that tin can's show if everything Papyrus said is true. You didn't even go to help her out at all." Undyne commented in a low tone to the skeleton. She didn't understand him right now, he had been more than willing to protect her in Waterfall but something changed once they got to Hotland.
"Heh… I'm not a babysitter… the human needs to be able to do this on her own… I… I can't go running off to help her every time she gets in trouble. It's not my style ya know?" Sans replied in a strained tone trying to push down the rush of guilt that her words made him feel.
"Well it's not normally your style to stand up against me either is it?" Undyne commented with a slightly dry laugh at his words. "When are ya gonna man up?" Undyne muttered in a low tone not really wanting him to hear her. Even if he did hear her, Sans didn't reply as the two heard Papyrus returning from the kitchen.
Frisk continued onward away from the studio now, hoping that she would have a short break from fighting. Looking to her left the woman's eyes widened as she stared in shock at a giant metal structure in the distance. There were wires and tubes, cogs and gears, stairs and elevators all over the structure making it a rather impressive sight for the human.
A gentle alert from her pocket caused Frisk to take her phone out at glance at a text message on the screen. "That's the Core! It's the structure monsters built to help produce magical electricity for the Underground from the geothermal energy of the lava!" Alphys text said in response to Frisk's amazement.
"Holy cow! It's freaking huge and… a little scary looking. I think Alphys said I need to go through that to get to Asgore too. I hope it's not as confusing from the inside as it looks from the outside." Frisk muttered to herself as she continued to stare in amazement for a moment before remembering that she needed to keep going. The large building filled her soul with determination that such amazing things were possible even here in the Underground.
The next part of Hotland wasn't too hard for Frisk to navigate. An odd elevator which seemed to be designed to go both up and down and side to side carried her through part of the Underground but it didn't appear to be a straight shot in that elevator. Frisk assumed there were probably other elevators similar in design to lead her upwards through Hotland.
Making her way through the next level she had gotten to wasn't that hard. A slightly difficult steam vent puzzle stopped her for a while as she struggled to figure out the pattern she needed to do in order to get out the other side. If it weren't for the giant screen displaying the puzzle from an over head view, Frisk probably would have struggled for much longer than she had since the areas she landed on were actually switches that changed the way the steam vents would launch her.
After sitting on one of the islands staring at the screen for a short time the light bulb finally went off in Frisk's brain as she realized what she needed to do to get to the other side. The woman was sitting near a healing stone now as she rested a bit. Her head was beginning to pound again from the fever that lingered and she was definitely feeling a lot more exhausted then she had originally felt, even with the use of the healing stone. They seemed to be doing less and less to really ease her fatigue.
Feeling at least a little bit rested Frisk moved on through Hotland. The woman paused in step as she heard two voices speaking up ahead of her. "Bro. I know what the guy asked us to do but… you've been sweating so much lately. Like, you seriously need to get your armor rebuffed with the heat resistant wax bro. It's super dangerous for you to be running around like that RG2." one of the voices spoke up in a worried tone.
"…I'm fine RG1… let's just stay in position here." A deep gruff sounding voice replied to the first one. Frisk gave a slight groan of despair. They were probably waiting for her to pass through, and it would probably end up being another fight.
"Better than facing off against Mettaton again already I guess." Frisk muttered under her breath trying to keep her determination to continue on. Giving a sigh the woman continued walking forward coming into sight of two heavily armor clad monsters. One looked to have rabbit like ears protruding out of his helmet and the other had fin like ears that vaguely made Frisk think of Undyne. They both held swords in their hands indicating they were probably a legitimate threat.
Both the monsters stood tall as they saw the human approaching them. Mettaton had said that if it looked too dangerous he would jump in, but he would rather RG1 and RG2 fight the human since it would draw more interest for his new show. The two guards agreed after a bit of convincing that they would do it. A faint nudge to RG1's ribs reminded the monster that he needed to say his lines as the human came to a stop before them.
"Like, human! We are going to stop you from going any further! The… uh… totally rad Mettaton shouldn't , like, have to deal with you and get his awesome new body all dirty… and stuff! So, like, prepare to die, alright?" the rabbit eared monster pointed in a dramatic way at Frisk before glancing off to the side at his partner. The fin eared monster gave a slight groan at his partner's over dramatic words but gave a nod of his armored head regardless.
"Do you guys really need to do this? I… I really don't want to fight you two." Frisk spoke in a tired sounding tone as she looked at the two of them with a weary gaze. The two monsters swung their swords through the air swiftly in unison as they remained in Frisks way.
"Don't, like, try to confuse us and stuff. You're a human, humans don't like doing things the peaceful way alright? So, like, we're going to capture your soul and stuff for Mettaton!" the monster spoke before charging forward recklessly.
"Tch, I don't get you guys. I try to do things peacefully and you all think I'm still a bad guy." Frisk muttered feeling as if she were on the verge of tears. Tired fingers grabbed the handle of the pan as she swung it upwards with one hand to block the sword from hitting her as she moved to the left to avoid the swing of the sword. "Thank goodness for playing tennis for a year in high school. It might not have helped my agility but at least I can make use of this pan." She thought to herself standing with the pan held in front of her with both hands, her feet positioned further away from each other as her whole body stood tensely waiting for the next attack.
RG2 attacked this time, his movements were more calculated than that of his partners as he ran towards Frisk while keeping his unseen eyes trained on her. She put more weight on her right foot so that she would be able to jump away from his sword attack as well. RG2 quickly made a sweeping motion around with his arm so he would attack in and upwards motion rather than a downwards one. The unprepared human lost her weapon as it was knocked out of her and RG2 balled up his fist, striking her squarely in the gut and sending her flying backwards off her feet a few feet as she landed in a dazed state on the ground.
"That was awesome RG2! You really rocked the human good. Why don't we just bring her soul to Mettaton instead of having to worry about her getting away?" RG1 suggested as he held out his fist for RG2 to bump against.
The monster hesitated and then fist bumped with his partner before giving a nod and turning his attention to the human. "Good idea RG1." He replied before raising his sword up to finish off the human. Frisk gasped as her eyes grew wide and she tried to back away from the strike of the monsters sword, but her attempt was in vain as she felt his sword cut mercilessly through her chest. The last thing she saw was her hand covered in her own crimson blood and her red soul bursting from her chest before her vision went black.
Frisk lay on the ground near the healing statue trembling slightly from the after math of her death to the two guards. She had almost let her guard down, almost forgotten how much pain she actually felt after dying. Thanks to Sans's help in Waterfall she had only had to experience it a handful of times and that felt so long ago. Tears stained the human's cheeks as she took several shaky breaths trying to push herself to get back up. "Uh… I feel so tired." Frisk muttered as she pushed herself to stand.
Looking in the direction of the two guards, Frisk took a deep breath and placed her palm on the healing stone. She focused all she could on gathering what energy the stone could give her, but even then she didn't feel as though she was at one hundred percent. "Gotta get past them though. I need to remember not to stand still with the one that was called RG2, he's a smart guy and I'll get killed again." Frisk muttered as she turned around and walked back towards the two guards.
The fight started off the same as last time with RG1 charging her first and Frisk dodging his attack completely this time before turning her attention to RG2. He charged at the human and she moved backwards to avoid him completely as well. With her attention on RG2 she didn't see RG1 had circled around back behind her. As she got ready to jump back she caught sight of the other guard as well as he prepared to slash his sword at her when she jumped back towards him. Freezing in place to avoid the slash of RG1's sword she looked in front of her again as RG2 brought his sword down at her; Frisk blocked his attack with her pan catching his blade against the flat bottom and using it as a shield as she shifted her position to jump back away from both the monsters.
Gaining to some distance from them, Frisk panted weakly as she noticed her vision seemed a bit fuzzier than before. "How am I supposed to do this while poisoned?! I'm so tired… my body… feels like lead at this point." Frisk ran her hand over her face trying to keep herself focused on the fight at hand; one death to these two was already too much.
The woman saw RG2's armor heaving as he panting slightly as well; he ran a hand over his helmet, she suddenly recalled what RG1 had said before she approached about his partner needing to get his armor buffed with the heat resistant wax. An idea came to her, if she could just keep him moving he might pass out from heat exhaustion bringing it down to one on one, and RG1 didn't seem as focused on fighting as RG2 was.
Frisk directed most of her attention to RG2 as she saw him looking in her direction even though she couldn't see his eyes; she tried to stay aware of where RG1 was as the two split up again trying to double team her. RG2 gave a slight growl and charged at the human in front of him his sword held high so he could swing downwards at her.
Frisk's body trembled as she watched him charge, she seemed frozen in place from fear. "Block his attack and beam him across his helmet with your pan! You need to do something!" Chara's voice echoed in the back of her mind.
"I don't want to hurt him Chara!" Frisk retorted silently giving her head a slight shake. She heard them give a groan of frustration to her reply.
"Oh for pete's sake you moron, you can't just stand there and let him kill you! DO IT OR YOU'RE GOING TO DIE AGAIN!" Chara's tone sounded violent as they reached their limit on patience. Frisk blinked back tears of frustration and backed away from the attack.
"I'm so sorry!" the woman cried as she struck the side of the recovering RG2's helmet with the pan with a swift swing hoping that it would only serve to stun the monster. Backing away, her eyes wide in fear, she saw the monster land on his side as RG1 ran up to him.
"Bro! R2! You okay man?" RG1 asked in a panicked tone as he knelt down next to his partner. The saw RG1's hand raise shakily as he put it on RG2's arm to try to get a response. RG2 gave his head a slight shake, indicating he was still conscious and just stunned from the blow.
"Damn…that was a good hit…" RG2 muttered as he sat up and panted loudly now, the heat of his armor was starting to get to him. "Too hot…" he grunted standing to his feet. While he wouldn't admit it the hit to his helmet had left him a little dizzy, that in combination with the uncomfortable heat was distracting him. "Screw it…" RG2 muttered as he unhooked the metal clasps holding the armor onto his torso letting it hit the ground with a loud "clang".
Frisk's already wide eyes somehow managed to widen even more in embarrassment as a faint blush crept across her cheeks. The muscles of his abs and pecks were wide making him look extremely buff as sweat shone on his scaly, green skin. She looked away not wanting to stare at him, even though she was definitely distracted from the fight now. Frisk wasn't sure who WOULDN'T be distracted from that.
If she felt distracted it was nothing to how RG1 looked. Even with the helmet covering his head the whites of his eyes could be seen now as he openly stared at his partner. "R-RG2?" the guard managed to squeak his words out as he stared at the monster.
RG2 appeared oblivious to the discomfort he caused as he flexed his muscles freely now giving a satisfied grunt as the heat became bearable again. "Much better." He breathed a sigh of relief as he grabbed his sword from the ground and looked over to RG1. "Come on… let's take care of this…" RG2 spoke in a low tone as he extended his hand to help RG1 to his feet.
The monster felt heat creeping into his face as a magical blush illuminated his helmet slightly as he stared at the other monster. RG2 tilted his head curiously not understanding the reaction his partner was giving him. They had seen each other shirtless before when swim training in Waterfall. RG1 put his hand to his face as he glanced way. "D-damn bro. I… I just can't. RG2, why you gotta do this now man?" RG1 tripped over his words, caught up in the moment, pretty much forgetting that they had a human to keep busy.
"What… do you mean?" RG2 asked not understanding his partner's words. He hadn't done anything wrong as far as he knew. RG1 usually was pretty chill with him being shirtless.
"Bro! I mean THAT!" RG1 gestured wildly to his partner's naked torso. "Like normally it's no big deal, cuz we're training, and talking and stuff and it distracts me, but RG2 doing THAT in the middle of a fight, just ain't fair man. I mean I like, LIKE, you man and then you go and do that." RG1 dropped his gaze to the ground as his blush deepened. "It just like reminds me how much I like how calm and cool and collected you are even with showing off your awesome bod. I like training with you, and I like how confident and smart you are, and I like to spend time with you." The monster seemed to forget about the fight completely as his words just seemed to spill out of his mouth like water busting from a dam.
RG2 stood in a stunned silence as he withdrew his hand running it over the back of his helmet nervously. He had never actually realized RG1 felt like that about him. Thinking about it now though it explained why RG1 acted the way he did sometimes. He saw RG1 stare at him for a moment before dropping his gaze in embarrassment. "RG1…" his deep voice finally escaped his lips as his partner looked up at him. "I…um… do you realize… er… do you… want to talk about this over some ice cream?" RG2 figured RG1 had forgotten this was being broadcast throughout the entire Underground, so he had just confessed his feelings in front of an entire audience. RG2 didn't want him to realize it and feel stupid while the camera was still rolling.
"Uh… yeah… that would be totally great!" RG1 replied in surprise to the offer as he took RG2's hand now and stood up as they walked the opposite way of the human who had been long forgotten in the heat of the moment that had just occurred.
Frisk had stood as still as a statue her hand covering her mouth when RG1 had confessed his feelings, realizing the same thing that RG2 had. The entire Underground probably knew now. "I hope… everything works out for them. That was… kind of an extreme way to confess his feelings but… at least he was honest." Frisk commented not sure what else to really say since she was pretty much frozen in shock from how the fight had turned. Not that she was complaining, she didn't want to have another reset take place.
Thinking about that made her realize that the poison was about to spread as a nauseous feeling filled her stomach. The sudden white hot pain that coursed through her body brought her to her knees easily as a scream of pain escaped her throat. If she could have processed a coherent thought at the time, Frisk would have been grateful that thanks to the poison weakening her she was quicker to black out this time as the pain pushed her into unconsciousness.
"Well Ladies and Gentlemonsters, it seems the Royal Guards managed to stun the human into sparing them!" The announcers voice sounded the slightest bit strained at what had just happened but he still tried to sound cool and calm regardless.
Undyne gave a loud groan as she ran her hand over her good eye in frustration. "Are you fuuuu, freaking SERIOUS?! Did he really just do that on freaking LIVE TV?!" Undyne shrieked as she dragged her hand down her face. "I seriously give him every other freaking opportunity to do it and he's got to do it THEN?! I mean seriously! They swim together in Waterfall for training! Man this is going to make the Royal Guard look like a damn joke!" She slammed herself backwards into the couch holding her face in her hands in embarrassment.
Papyrus sat grinning at the TV as he squeaked in excitement. This show really had everything, fighting, excitement, drama… love! "UNDYNE DON'T BE SO HARD ON THEM! IT WAS PROBABLY THE BEST WAY TO CONFESS HIS FEELINGS SINCE SURLY RG2 CAN'T TURN HIM DOWN NOW!" the taller skeleton's eyes shone with excitement as he quickly looked from the TV to Undyne and then back.
"It seems that love can really blossom anywhere, even in the middle of a battle that's supposed to keep the human busy so our hero can prepare for her arrival! Well Ladies and Gentlemonsters, the next episode will be airing shortly sooo stay tuned for the next stage in the humans relentless journey to destroy Super Mettaton EX!" the announcer spoke finally regaining his composure as the cameras zoomed in on the two royal guards walking away before fading to black and showing the stay tuned screen once more.
Sans had kept his eye sockets closed for most of the fight after he had felt the sickening sense of déjà vu from what he assumed was one of the royal guards killing Frisk. However even he couldn't ignore what had just happened as an eye socket was arched high in disbelief at just how the fight had ended. "At least she didn't die again. I guess that was lucky, but seriously?! What the… how the hell did that manage to go the way it did?!" Sans shook his head slightly at his thoughts as he closed his eye sockets again feeling a faint bit of relief flood him.
Suddenly his hand lifted to his sternum as he felt a dull ache in his soul causing his eye sockets to open slightly as he stared blankly up at the ceiling. "The poison…" he thought silently wondering if Frisk would be alright. "Heh… I promised she wouldn't have to go through that alone again…" he gave a slight humorless chuckle at another broken promise he'd made to the woman. He felt the bones of his ribcage thrum slightly thanks to the overwhelming guilt he was starting to feel.
"SANS PLEASE TELL ME YOU WERE AWAKE FOR THAT!" Papyrus looked over at his brother who appeared to be asleep. The taller skeleton was hoping that by keeping his brother distracted with the show, it would help ease his mind a bit. However if Sans was just going to sleep it wasn't going to do anything.
"Yeah bro I was awake I promise. Who would have thought that RG1 would confess like that right? I mean that was a pretty heated thing to do, he was risking getting real burned by rejection wasn't he?" Sans snickered slightly at the attempted puns as his brother glared at him.
"SANS!" the taller skeleton seethed slightly in his irritation as he looked away from his brother with a huff of irritation.
"Heh come on bro. You're getting all hot-headed over some puns. I think I'm on fire here." Sans closed his eye sockets as he laughed slightly at Papyrus's reaction. His brother was actually being pretty cool about his use of puns to show he had been watching.
Papyrus gave a deep groan as he smacked his face with his gloved palm before sighing in frustration. The skeleton stood to his feet and walked into the kitchen muttering under his breath about Sans making those ridiculous jokes.
Hi readers! First off I'm really sorry about such a loooong wait for this chapter. My creativity bounces from one hobby to the next sometimes and it's hard for me to focus, but I definitely gave myself a goal of getting this up by New Years day. I would have achieved said goal if I didn't go and rewrite most of this chapter because I was unhappy with how I had started typing it up a month ago. I'm going to try to make sure there is a lot less of a wait in between chapters from now on. I can't guarantee a time frame any more but I'm aiming to update this story at least once a month. To make up for the wait I made this chapter twice as long as my previous ones.
The reason for the long wait is the Hotland arc is basically me writing stuff and hoping that it will work out since this part of the game is a little weird to put in written form. In fact that's most of this chapter, me writing stuff and hoping that it doesn't sound too ridiculous! I mean the RG1 and RG2 fight was a real frustration for me and I almost skipped it except for the fact that it's one of those battles in game you need to do to progress the story.
Also if anyone was looking forward to boxy Mettaton I apologize but for how I want the Mettaton part of the Hotland arc to work I decided to take some creative liberties and have him in his humanoid form from the beginning. I think there will be bits of the Mettaton "fights" that I cut out because I'm not sure exactly how to make them work out with my idea for why Mettaton wants to capture the human soul.
I really hope all of you feel this is worth the wait! Thanks to everyone for the continued faves and follows even when I didn't update this like I should have been! You all are far too wonderful as readers! Thank you, thank you, thank you!