Lights, Camera, Action!
Frisk trotted out of the burger joint and put the two smoothies in their bag. Flowey looked back at the store. "Well that was… something. Let's keep going. Save before you go through that door, though," Flowey warned.
Frisk nodded. "Okay. I will." The elevator took them straight to the flashy door and the save point.
"Behind this door must be the elevator to the king's elevator. Knowing that you will soon meet the king fills you with determination."
Frisk stepped through the door and into the room. It was dark with neon lights surrounding the stage. Mettaton stood in the center. "OH YES! DARLING, YOU'VE MADE IT! I GUESS IT'S TIME TO FINALLY HAVE OUR SHOWDOWN!"
Frisk puffed up their chest. "We're ready when you are!"
Mettaton laughed and waved his for hands. "YEAH. RIGHT. YOU DIDN'T THINK THAT THIS WAS REAL, DID YOU? THAT THIS 'ACT' WAS A REAL STRUGGLE? DR. ALPHYS HAS BEEN PLAYING YOU FOR A FOOL THIS ENTIRE TIME, YOU KNOW. SHE'S JUST PRETENDING TO HELP YOU. SHE'S JUST PRETENDING TO GUIDE YOU. DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU GET PAST ME AND GET TO THE KING? YOU BECOME HER TEST SUBJECT, OF COURSE! AS YOU ARE THE LAST SOUL, AND DEATH DUE YOU PART WITH YOUR SOUL, WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH A FEW FINAL TESTS? BUT FRANKLY, I DON'T LIKE THAT. THERE'S NO GLAMMER TO IT, NO SHOW! NO CLASS! SO, NOW THIS IS OUR FINEST HOUR, YOUNG HUMAN. TO BE HONEST, I FEEL NO DESIRE TO ACTUALLY KILL PEOPLE- HUMANS OR MONSTERS. AFTER ALL, IF EVERYONE IS DEAD, WHO WILL WATCH MY SHOWS? IT SO HAPPENS THAT I WANT HUMANS AS MY AUDIENCE AS WELL, TO SPREAD MY STARDOM TO THE WORLD! BUT IN ORDER TO DO THAT, I MUST BE ABLE TO CROSS THE BARRIER. I CAN ONLY DO THAT WITH THE SOUL OF A HUMAN."
The lights behind them shut off as the door was locked and the path to the stage lowered. There was no going back, now. Frisk looked back and then turned to Mettaton. "I admire that, Mettaton! I think that you would make a great star out in the human world! But honestly, you're going about it the wrong way. You need everyone's help to do that- including people like Dr. Alphys and the king. If you kill me and steal my soul, who would end up having your back?"
Mettaton cackled, "PLENTY OF PEOPLE. HUMAN, I'VE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR A WHILE NOW. YOUR SONG AND DANCE WON'T WORK ON ME." Mettaton raised his voice and waved his arms in a grand gesture. Cameras turned on all around. People flooded into the theater around them. "SORRY, FOLKS, BUT THE OLD PROGRAM HAS BEEN CANCELED. BUT DON'T WORRY, I HAVE A FINALE THAT WILL DRIVE YOU WILD!" Spotlights turned on and floor glowed in multiple places. "REAL DRAMA! REAL ACTION! REAL BLOODSHED! ON OUR NEW SHOW… 'ATTACK OF THE KILLER ROBOT!'"
Frisk's soul, yellow and upside down, appeared before them. Screens surrounded them.
"Mettaton- Attack 30, Defense 255. HP ? Seriously, his metal exterior still renders him invulnerable to attack."
Metaton purred, "IF YOU MUST KNOW, I RIGGED THE CORE AND HIRED EVERYONE TO KILL YOU. BUT TO BE HONEST, THAT WAS A SHORT-SIGHTED PLAN. WHY WOULD I WANT YOU TO DIE IN THE CORE, WHEN YOU COULD DIE BY ME ON SHOW? OH, AND THAT WORTHLESS PEA-SHOOTER DR. ALPHYS GAVE YOU WON'T WORK ON ME, SWEET-HEART. GUESS YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER WAY TO FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE. OH, HOW EXCITING! HOW DRAMATIC! THE HUMAN AND THEIR LITTLE PET STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE AN ATTACK BY AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE!"
"U-um, we don't have to fight, Mettaton," Frisk pointed out. "P-plus, isn't death or harming actors technically illegal? Um, somewhere at least?"
The robot chuckled, "OH DARLING, PLEASE. I'VE SEEN YOU FIGHT. YOU'RE PATHETIC. EVEN IF I WAS TO SPARE YOU, YOU WOULDN'T LAST HALF A MINUTE AGAINST OUR KING!" Boxes dropped from the sky. Frisk pointed up at them and shot. They dissipated when the bullets hit them.
Briiing. Brii- "H-hello? This is Frisk. I'm a bit busy right now."
"I know," Dr. Alphys stated. "Turn Mettaton around. There's a switch on his back. Press it." Click.
Frisk hesitated and then turned to Flowey. "Um… I don't…?"
Flowey piped up, "Hey! Looks like you got something on your screen there, buddy. Is that box debris? There's a mirror behind you."
"IS THERE?" Mettaton whipped around. "WHERE IS IT? I CAN'T SEE-" Flowey's vine snapped at the switch. It flicked on. Mettaton froze. "DID YOU. JUST FLIP. MY SWITCH?" Mettaton's screen flashed in a bizarre pattern of lights. He put two hands to his head and shuttered violently. A bright white light flashed. Frisk took a step back and put an arm over their eyes. Flowey hid in their backpack. When the light dimmed, Frisk opened their eyes. Fog rolled over the stage. Two stage lights flicked on. A four-armed humanoid shape stood in the fog.
"Ohhhh my…" Mettaton purred. His voice was smoother and less electronic. "If you flipped my switch, that can only mean one thing. You're desperate for the premier of my new body. How rude. Luckily, I've been aching to show this off for a while. So… as thanks, I'll give you a handsome reward. I'll make your last living moments…" The fog dissipated and all the stage lights turned on. "ABSOLUTELY beautiful!" Mettaton twirled and showed off his new body. Black and red worked together on top of gray metal. He shined in the light. Even his black hair glimmered in metallic light. His waist held a large box with a floating pink heart in it. His arms stayed relatively the same, though they now looked more humanoid.
Frisk looked about. People cheered and whooped around them. A screen nearby showed statics of the ratings thus far. They were pretty low. Frisk looked about and then at Mettaton. People cheered him on. He spun around and posed. Frisk smiled and copied him. Roars and nods rewarded them. Frisk and Flowey looked over the crowd. Some people they recognized were there. Shyren… Napstablook… Monster Kid… Papyrus! Sans! Captain Undyne! All three of them stood next to each other.
Frisk turned back to Mettaton and dodged a hard kick. Mettaton's six inch heels slammed on the ground near them. Frisk dodged and danced out of the way. Flowey corrected their movements occasionally, but otherwise just gave encouragement. "Yeah! You're doing great!" As they performed, the rating climbed.
"LIGHTS! CAMERA! BLOODSHED!" Mettaton cried and waved his hand. Small box-Mettatons flanked by bombs rained down. Frisk dodged a few of them, though they pointed their soul at another few. They were disintegrated.
"Whoa! Look out!" Flowey yanked their foot back. Frisk, determined to keep their balance, jumped back. A heart escaped each Mettaton and flowed past them before they dissipated.
"Darling, I'm the star that everyone craves!" Mettaton crowd and lashed out at them. Frisk managed to dodge, only to run face-first into his next attack. They were thrown back with a hard kick from his metal leg. Injured, they clambered to their feet and shook themselves. They didn't have very many healing items. Instead, Frisk struck a pose, just as Mettaton did. Roars of approval met them. Another hit by one of Mettaton's attacks, however, caused them to nearly fall over. Cracks formed over their soul. Any second, it could break. Frisk took out one of the starfaits and downed it in seconds. Their injuries were gone. Whoops and cheers met them. The audience loves the brand.
Frisk danced back with a playful giggle as Mettaton struck at them. After the third time they were evaded, Mettaton crowed, "Well time for our regularly scheduled break!" Frisk took a deep breath and straightened out.
"Frisk, be careful," Flowey urged.
"I will. This is so much fun!" Frisk chirped and bounced on their heels.
"Well, you've certainly shown your heart," Mettaton purred. "Why don't I show you mine?" The glass box on his waist opened. The pink heart floated above them. Electricity buzzed and burst out in all directions. Frisk dodged and shot at the heart at every opportunity. Quite suddenly- CRASH!
Two of Mettaton's arms, one holding a mic and the other one an actual canon, dropped to the ground. Mettaton huffed and smiled, "It'll take a bit more than that to take me down! Come on, Darling, let's dance!" He waved his remaining hands. A disco ball appeared. Lasers, some white, and some blue, burst from it. Frisk danced away from the white lasers that soared toward them and stood still in the blue ones. Flowey ducked his head on occasion and eventually just hid in the backpack.
By the time the attack was over, Frisk was beginning to become tired. Then again, one whack from Mettaton's mechanical foot that send them sprawling on the other side of the stage got rid of their exhaustion. Gasps rippled through the crowd. Frisk, wincing, got up on one elbow. Blood dribbled down the side of their face. They couldn't summon the energy to stand up. Mettaton, eyes bright and an excited smile lighting up his face, watched the struggling human.
Their elbow brushed something small and pointed. Frisk shakily put a hand on the ground and gripped the little thing. A blue spear clinging to a metal wire necklace was held in their palm. "When faced with a problem, WORK AROUND IT! Draw your power from your SOUL! Through sheer determination you will defeat your enemies!" Captain Undyne's advice shot through their mind. Frisk wiped the blood off their forehead and scrambled to their feet. They side-stepped a hard kick from Mettaton and darted around to get behind him. His canon hand blasted the ground they attempted to stand on. This caused them to stagger to the side to avoid being shot. They tripped and fell back. Flowey wrapped his vines around them. Their fall turned into a roll with a passive pose. The audience cheered as, despite their terrible injuries, and the fall, they still preformed well.
Ratings were starting to sky rocket.
Mettaton waved his arms. "We've grown so distant, Darling. Why not a heart-to-heart?" The glass box that held his heart flew back up into the air. Empty boxes materialized around it. Frisk struggled to dodge the lightning bolts sent at them while, at the same time, shooting at the heart. Flowey wrapped his vines around their wrist pointed them in the right direction each time they strayed.
CRASH! Mettaton's other pair of arms clattered to the ground.
"A-arms?" Mettaton huffed. "Who needs arms with legs like these?"
Frisk laughed and dodged the next bombs and boxes sent at them. Mettaton danced and posed, somehow looking dramatic without his arms. Boxes and bombs bombarded them. Frisk dodged or shot down most of it. However, they couldn't dodge it all, even with Flowey's help. A box tore through their soul, nearly shattering it. Frisk fell to one knee, clutching their chest.
Flowey looked up and pulled Frisk back to their feet. The young human staggered to their feet and copied Mettaton's pose again. The audience gasped. They wiped the blood off their face so that it didn't get in their eye or mouth. Mettaton cooed, "Oh, Darling, why do you keep fighting? Do you really believe in yourself that much? Haha… well, this is your last turn. So why not make it absolutely fabulous!?" His heart flew out of his chest and danced around. Two bombs protected it. Lightning flashed out. Frisk managed to dodge and, with Flowey's help, shoot his heart. Mettaton struck at them with his legs and bounded back to avoid being shot as well. However, he couldn't last for much longer. His heart shuttered and retreated. Mettaton's legs fell off and he clattered to the floor.
Frisk gasped and raced to his side. "Oh! Are you alright?"
"HAHA, DARLING… OH! LOOK AT THOSE RATINGS!" Mettaton gasped and looked up at the board. The ratings chart read over ten thousand. "THIS IS THE MOST VIEWERS I'VE EVER HAD! WE'VE REACHED THE CALL-IN MILESTONE, EVERYONE! SO, ONE LUCKY PERSON GETS TO TALK TO ME, METTATON, BEFORE I LEAVE THE UNDERGROUND FOREVER! LET'S SEE WHO CALLS IN FIRST!"
Flowey breathed, "How does he expect to do that?"
The speaker on Mettaton's chest rang. "HI! YOU'RE ON TV! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ON OUR LAST SHOW?"
"oh…" a very familiar voice sounded through the receiver. "hi, mettaton… you're… leaving forever… i really liked watching your show… it brought excitement to my life… vicariously… my life is pretty boring, after all… i'll miss you, mettaton…"
"NO! WAIT! WAIT, BL… THEY HUNG UP." Mettaton's smile began to fade in the sadness they soon felt. He shook himself and put on a grand smile. "I'LL TAKE ANOTHER CALLER!"
"Mettaton! You're show made us so happy!" "Mettaton, I don't know what I'll watch without you." "Mettaton! There's a Mettaton-shaped hole in my Mettaton-shaped heart!"
"…AH. I…" Mettaton's eyes closed and his smile left. "I… I SEE." His smile returned. "EVERYONE! THANK YOU SO MUCH! DARLING… PERHAPS IT MIGHT BE BETTER IF I STAYED A LITTLE WHILE LONGER. HUMANS HAVE STARS AND IDOLS. BUT MONSTERS ONLY HAVE ME. IF I LEFT, I'D LEAVE AN ACHING VOID THAT COULD NEVER BE FILLED. THE UNDERGROUND WOULD LOSE ITS SPARK. SO, I THINK I'LL HAVE TO… DELAY MY BIG DEBUT. BESIDES." Mettaton lost his smile. A seriousness fell over his red-and-gray face. "YOU'VE PROVEN YOURSELF STRONGER THAN I ANTICIPATED. PERHAPS EVEN STRONG ENOUGH TO… TO GET PAST KING ASGORE. HAHA… I GUESS IT'S FOR THE BEST. THIS SUIT'S ENERGY CONSUMPTION IS… NOT THE BEST. SOON MY BATTERIES WILL DRAIN AND I'LL… HEH. YOU HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS ON YOUR HEAD, DARLING. I'LL BE FINE. GO! FULFILL YOUR DESTINY. AND TO ALL OF MY WONDERFUL VIEWERS: THANK YOU!" Mettaton cried and looked about at his audience. "THANK YOU FOR STAYING TUNED AND STAYING WITH ME! GOODNIGHT!"
Mettaton flashed one last smile at Frisk before his eyes and glowing heart dulled.
Dr. Alphys unlocked the door and shuffled inside. "Mettaton?" For the first time Frisk, or Flowey, had ever seen, Dr. Alphys' voice changed and her face contorted into a strange emotion. It was not the cold curiosity the scientist often held when they were not void of emotion. It was surprise and… fear?
The scientist pushed past Frisk and knelt. "…it's the batteries. Thank God. He'll live-" Dr. Alphys' expression of relief melted away. It was replaced by the same emotionlessness Frisk knew. "My project will continue to function. You may leave, Frisk."
Frisk nodded and limped out of the room. From there, the exhausted human and their flower friend trudged down the hall and to the elevator. They nearly pressed the button when Dr. Alphys' voice called from the hallway: "Wait!"
Frisk turned around and watched the reptilian scientist approach. "Hello, Dr. Alphys. Did you need something?"
Dr. Alphys stopped in front of Frisk. "Yes. You know that the barrier can be broken. But did you hear about the legends of a being with a powerful soul being able to pass through it?"
Frisk nodded. "Yeah. If I can make it, I can go past King Asgore and through the barrier."
"That's only partially true. Your soul is strong, but not strong enough. In order to leave, you must absorb the soul of a monster," Dr. Alphys stated. "But not just any monster: a boss monster. The only boss monster in the Underground is King Asgore. In order to leave, if you want to survive long enough to help the monsters without dying, you'll need to kill King Asgore and take his soul. Do with this information what you wish. Goodbye." Dr. Alphys turned and shuffled down the hallway, back to Mettaton.
Frisk watched Dr. Alphys go. "I'll… I'll have to kill him?"
Flowey nodded. "If you want to leave."
"B-but I don't want to kill anyone! I just want to help them break the barrier and be free."
"Frisk, let me give it to you straight. Either you kill King Asgore and go find a human soul to use, meaning you kill a human, or you die and give up your own," the flower stated.
"I-I don't- what should I do?" they asked helplessly.
"I'm not going to make this choice for you, Frisk," Flowey denied. "I've been helping you as much as I can, and I will continue to help you, but this is a choice you're just going to have to make on your own. Let's go. Time waits for no one, Frisk. Leaving is not an option."
Frisk nodded and stepped through the elevator. They pressed the only button on there. The trip to the castle seemed to take a very long time- much longer than any of the other elevators. Frisk stared at their feet. So, it was a choice. It was either King Asgore, the king of all monsters, or Frisk, the blind child that stumbled upon monster land. They traveled the underground for days. They made friends. They laughed and sang and danced. They dodged and they deflected attacks. They met new people all around the underground. Everyone looked up to King Asgore. What right did Frisk have to take his life? Yet, the thought of dying… now, after finding happiness for the first time in so long… after finding a reason to live…
The elevator stopped. They stepped out. Their solemn journey through the gray-brick hallway was completely silent. The only noise came from Frisk's feet on the ground and the sound of their breath. Some distance away, the rest of the city blossomed. Buildings of all shapes and sizes filled the underground. Activity filled the streets. So many souls, so many lives, all clustered together so tight.
They came to a stop. A golden sparkle was before them.
"Determination."
