The spider girl took her leave, and after resting a moment, Nemo and Frisk stood up and decided to double back to the star in order to recover. Once healed, they made their way back across the web bridge and into the next area. Frisk and Nemo stopped when they saw a poster for Mettaton's next show. Looked like some sort of tragedy performance. "This can't be good." Said Nemo drily. The duo continued walking and stopped when the scenery looked very different from the previous area.
"OH? THOSE HUMANS…" They heard Mettaton's voice say.
"Oh no…" Said Nemo as he looked around.
"Where is he?" Asked Frisk.
Then Nemo spotted something at the top of the tower next to them. "Up there!" He said while pointing. Frisk followed his finger and saw Mettaton in the top of the tower, which had a fake moon and fake stars hanging next to it. "COULD IT BE…?" He asked, as he stepped into view, revealing that he was wearing a dress. "...ARE ONE OF YOU MY ONE TRUE LOVE?"
"Is this guy for real?" Asked Nemo flatly.
Suddenly music started playing as Mettaton made his way down the stairs and started to move around them. "Oh my love," He sang, " please run away. Monster King, forbids your stay. Humans must live, far apart. Even if... it breaks my heart." Suddenly cherry blossoms started to fall from the nonexistent sky. "They'll put you... in the dungeon. It'll suck… and then you'll die a lot. Really sad… you're gonna die. Cry, cry, cry… so sad it's happening." He then put a hand on top of Frisk's head before wiping away a nonexistent tear from his nonexistent eye. "SO SAD. SO SAD THAT YOU ARE GOING TO THE DUNGEON."
"Wait a second…" Said Nemo.
Mettaton then backed away and pulled out a device with a button on it. "WELL, TOODLES!" He said.
"Oh crud." Said Nemo as he looked down. Mettaton then pressed the button, causing the ground to open beneath the humans. "Mettaton you jeeeEEEEEEERK!" Shouted Nemo as he and Frisk fell.
Nemo let out a grunt as he and Frisk hit the ground. He looked around and immediately noticed that they were in Hotland again. He coughed as he and Frisk stood up. Then Mettaton descended while still flying. "OH NO! WHATEVER SHALL I DO? MY LOVE AND THEIR FRIEND HAVE BEEN CAST AWAY INTO THE DUNGEON. A DUNGEON WITH A PUZZLE SO DASTARDLY, MY PARAMOUR WILL SURELY PERISH!" Nemo and Frisk looked over and noticed that it was the same tile puzzle that Papyrus had tried to use before.
"Oh no…" Said Nemo as he facepalmed.
"O, HEAVENS HAVE MERCY! THE HORRIBLE COLORED TILE MAZE!" Said Mettaton. "EACH COLOR HAS ITS OWN SADISTIC FUNCTION. FOR EXAMPLE, A GREEN TILE SOUNDS A NOISE, AND THEN YOU MUST FIGHT A MONSTER. RED TILES WILL… ACTUALLY, WAIT A SECOND. DIDN'T WE SEE THIS PUZZLE ABOUT A HUNDRED ROOMS AGO? THAT'S RIGHT. YOU REMEMBER ALL THE RULES, DON'T YOU? GREAT… THEN I WON'T WASTE YOUR TIME REPEATING THEM!"
"I think I remember them…" Said Nemo as he wracked his brain for what Papyrus had said yesterday. "Wait, was that seriously only yesterday? It feels like that was months ago…" He thought tiredly. "Whatever, Frisk, just follow me and we'll try to get through." Said Nemo.
"Right." Said Frisk.
"OH, AND YOU'D BETTER HURRY." Said Mettaton. "BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T GET THROUGH IN THIRTY SECONDS…" Suddenly Nemo felt heat behind him. He turned and saw that there was a line of fire behind them.
"Geez!" Said Nemo as he took a step away from the flames..
"YOU'LL BE INCINERATED BY THESE JETS OF FIRE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHA… HA… HA! MY POOR LOVE! I'M SO FILLED WITH GRIEF, I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING!" Said Mettaton.
"This guy isn't very good at hiding his emotions." Thought Nemo flatly.
"GOOD LUCK, DARLINGS!" Said Mettaton as a weird timer descended from the sky and started counting down.
Nemo's eyes widened. "Gogogo!" He shouted as he grabbed Frisk's wrist and ran towards the tile maze. Frisk onto the puzzle while Mettaton sang, but Nemo didn't listen. They didn't get far before getting stuck in an area that made it so they couldn't leave since the surrounding tiles would either make piranhas chomp them, they'd get electrocuted, or it was those stupid red tiles. "No… no no no!" Said Nemo as he frantically searched for an out.
"Nemo…" Said Frisk as they grabbed his hand and pointed at the timer. Nemo felt his heart drop as the time hit zero.
"No…" Said Nemo as he felt hope fade away.
Mettaton flew above them. "OOOOH, I'M SO SORRY! LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE OUT OF TIME!" He said.
"This puzzle was bogus! We couldn't even get through!" Argued Nemo.
Mettaton ignored him as flames surrounded the humans. "HERE COME THE FLAMES, DARLINGS!" He said.
"Get close Frisk, I'll try to protect you." Said Nemo. Frisk nodded as they moved close to him.
The flames then started to get closer. "THEY'RE CLOSING IN!" Said Mettaton. "GETTING! CLOSER! OH MY!" Nemo held Frisk close as he prepared himself for the end. "ANY MINUTE NOW!" Though nothing happened. Eventually Mettaton let out a fake cough.
Suddenly their phone began to ring. "Watch out! I'll save you!" Said Alphys. "I'm hacking into the firewall right now!"
"Alphys!" Cried Nemo and Frisk as the flames shut off.
"OH NO! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? FOILED AGAIN BY THE DOCTOR ALPHYS!" Said Mettaton. There was silence. "THA-"
"That's right! Come on, Mettaton, give up already! You'll never be able to defeat us… not as long as we work together!" Said Alphys. "Your puzzle's over… now go home and leave us alone!" Nemo suddenly felt his relief rapidly turn into anger.
"PUZZLE? OVER?" Asked Mettaton. "ALPHYS, DARLING, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT…? DID YOU FORGET WHAT THE GREEN TILES DO?" Nemo's anger turned into fear as he remembered the tiles. "THEY MAKE A SOUND, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER. WELL, DARLINGS… THAT MONSTER… IS ME!"
Suddenly Frisk and Nemo's souls manifested as the fight started. Nemo growled as he tried to punch Mettaton. But his attack did nothing, just like before. "THIS IS IT, DARLINGS! SAY GOODBYE!" Said Mettaton. Suddenly their phone began to ring. "IS THAT YOUR PHONE? YOU'D BETTER ANSWER IT!"
"H-hey! Th-this seems bad, but don't worry!" Said Alphys. "Th-there's one last thing I installed on your phone…! You see that yellow button…? Go to this phone's ACT menu and press it!" Nemo looked at the phone and pressed the button. The phone began to resonate with Mettaton's presence.
"OH! THAT YELLOW GLOW…!" Said Mettaton.
Nemo's eyes widened as he saw his and Frisk's souls turn upside down, and yellow. "Woah…" He said.
"Now fire!" Ordered Alphys.
"Fire? What?" Asked Nemo in confusion. Frisk then raised a hand at Mettaton, which caused the tip of their soul to aim at him as well, then a single yellow "bullet" fired from their soul and hit Mettaton. "No way." Said Nemo as he mimicked what Frisk did.
The two of them fired a few shots at Mettaton before he reacted. "OOOH!" He said. "OOOOOOOH! YOU'VE DEFEATED ME! HOW CAN THIS BE, YOU WERE STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT, ETC. FAREWELL!" He then fled the battle. Nemo sighed as his and Frisk's souls vanished.
"L-looks like you beat him!" Said Alphys over the phone. "Y-you did a really great job out there." Nemo didn't say anything. Alphys was quiet for a while. "...umm, h-hey, this might sound strange but… c-can I tell you something?" She asked. Nemo felt like he was about to explode. "B-before I met you… I d-didn't really… I didn't really like myself very much." This made Nemo pause for a moment. "For a long time, I f-felt like a total screw-up. L-like I couldn't do a-anything w-without… w-without ending up letting everyone down. B-but…! Guiding you has made me feel… a lot better about myself. So… thanks for letting me help you… Uhhh, anyway, we're almost to the core. It's just past M.T.T Resort. Come on! Let's finish this!"
Nemo put the phone away. "...Nemo?" Asked Frisk worriedly.
"When I see that lizard, she's toast." Growled Nemo. This made Frisk let out a small whimper. He looked at them out of the side of his eyes. He then sighed. "C'mon kid, let's get to Asgore so we can finish this."
"K…" Said Frisk. The duo walked past the rest of the grayed out puzzle and took a turn. The duo wound up at the Nice Cream Guy's place.
"I thought for sure if I went to Hotland, I'd sell some Nice Creams. But nobody wants them. Everyone's just eating Starfaits and Glamburgers." He said. "So! I'm having a going out of business sale. Hello… would you like some Nice Cream…? It's the frozen treat… that warms your heart. Now only twelve G!"
"Just one, for them." Said Nemo.
"Here." Replied the Nice Cream Guy as he handed over the Nice Cream, which Nemo gave to Frisk.
"Thanks." Said Nemo as he handed over the G. "C'mon Frisk." He then started walking north.
"K…" They said as they started eating the Nice Cream and followed Nemo. The duo stopped in front of the resort. "Nemo." Said Frisk as they bent down and picked up a piece of paper.
"What is it?" Asked Nemo.
"Hey." Read Frisk. "Go up the creepy alleyway on the right for some great deals."
"Seriously?" Asked Nemo with a tired expression. "Obviously we aren't... going… to…" He trailed off as Frisk went down the alleyway. "Darn it Frisk…" He said as he followed them.
"Hey! Check it out!" Said an alligator monster.
"Yeah! Check it out!" Said a cat monster.
"What is this…?" Asked Nemo.
"It's a shop." Said Frisk. Nemo looked around and saw some stuff.
"Can I have this?" Asked Frisk as they grabbed a Cowboy Hat.
"Sure…" Said Nemo. "How much does it… Geez…" He reluctantly handed over almost all of his money.
"Bratty!" Said the cat happily as she handed over the hat. "We're gonna be rich!"
"Yeah, enjoy your money." Said Nemo. "That's all I could afford, we're gonna have to leave now."
"K." Said Frisk as they left.
"Like, see ya later!" Said both monsters. The duo walked out and were prepared to enter the resort, when Nemo noticed something, or more specifically, someone, out of the corner of his eye.
"Sans?" Asked Nemo in surprise.
"Hey." Greeted the skeleton. "I heard you're going to the core. How about grabbing some dinner with me first?"
"Dinner? Well…" Said Nemo thoughtfully. Then, the sound of his stomach growling made his decision for him. "Dinner sounds nice."
"Great, thanks for treating me." Said Sans as he walked over to the other side of the building. "Over here. I know a shortcut."
Page 27 End