Nemo stared. Frisk stared. Mettaton danced. Nemo was doing his best not to just disassociate to the next plane of existence. Nemo noticed a screen in the corner that said "Ratings" and it had a number that was steadily dropping. "Lights! Camera! Action!" Said Mettaton proudly. He then danced at them and started swinging his legs at the duo. Nemo jumped back from the first kick while Frisk ducked under it and out of the way. Nemo dodged the second one before Mettaton moved onto his hands and started spinning on them while kicking at Nemo like a deranged helicopter. Nemo ducked down, avoiding his legs before punching Mettaton. The robot was sent back by the punch and flipped before landing on his hands.
"Drama! Romance! Bloodshed!" Said Mettaton.
"One of those does not apply here." Said Nemo drily as Mettaton's next attack flew at them. Tiny Mettaton bots with umbrellas descended alongside more of those circular things. Nemo and Frisk blasted half of them while sidestepping the circular things. Then the remaining bots pulled out these weird heart things with Ms printed on the front and threw them at them. They were able to dodge it easily enough.
Nemo then ran over and kicked Mettaton. "I'm the idol everyone craves!" Said the robot. He then swung his leg at Nemo, but his kick was thrown off when Frisk shot his leg. Four boxes flew at them, but they were avoided. Mettaton tried to kick Frisk, but Nemo was the one to save them this time with a shot from his soul stopping Mettaton's leg. He then charged at him and punched the robot again.
"Smile for the camera!" Said Mettaton with a grin as he stuck his tongue out. He swung his arm at them as five more minbots flew at them. Frisk took care of his arm while Nemo managed to destroy three of the bots. He dodged the hearts they threw, but wound up getting punched by Mettaton's other arm.
Nemo rubbed his cheek before punching Mettaton again. "Oooh! It's time for a pop quiz!" Said Mettaton. Just then a keyboard dropped from above and into Nemo's hands. "Have fun with that keyboard! This one's an essay question!"
Just then the "Ratings" screen changed and had new words on it. "ESSAY PROMPT: What do you love most about Mettaton?" It said. Nemo raised an eyebrow before looking at the keyboard. He rolled his eyes and tossed the thing over his shoulder.
"Speechless…? Who can blame you?" Asked Mettaton. Nemo rolled his eyes again. "Your essay really showed everyone your heart. Why don't I show you mine?"
"What?" Asked Nemo. Just then the heart in Mettaton's stomach detached and started floating around him. "Huh…" Then the heart started shooting lightning bolts at them as more minibots began to descend. "Woah!" Said Nemo as the duo started running. They did their best to fire at the bots before they could throw their hearts at the humans.
"His heart!" Shouted Frisk. "Shoot it!" Nemo looked at them in surprise before aiming his soul at Mettaton's heart and firing multiple shots. He wasn't able to hit it every time, but he landed a few hits. Nemo ran up and punched Mettaton again.
"Ooooh! I'm just getting warmed up!" Said Mettaton. Then came another rain of bots. Nemo and Frisk readied their souls before plowing through most of the horde, save for two. Those two then threw a total of four souls, but the humans were able to dodge. Dodging one of the hearts caused Nemo to jump into the air, which he used to his advantage as he swung his leg and kicked Mettaton. "But, how are you on the dance floor?" Asked Mettaton as he kept dancing.
"What?" Asked Nemo. Just then a large disco ball descended and started shooting lasers at the ground, which Frisk and Nemo had to avoid. They made sure to stop at the blue ones, letting those pass over them before resuming running. Nemo moved around and punched Mettaton again.
"Can you keep up the pace?" Asked Mettaton. The lasers began to speed up and one managed to graze Nemo. He hissed as he grabbed the part of him that was burned before kicking Mettaton in the stomach. "Lights! Cameras! Bombs!" Said Mettaton proudly. More of the weird circular things began to descend at them.
"Those are bombs!?" Cried Nemo in surprise as he and Frisk blasted the bombs with their souls and jumping out of the way of the explosions. Nemo ran around and punched Mettaton again.
"Things are blowing up!" Said Mettaton as more bombs came at the duo at a faster rate, but they were able to handle those without a scratch. Nemo jumped and kicked Mettaton.
"Time for our union regulated break!" Declared Mettaton.
"What?" Asked Nemo as the words "HAPPY break time" Appeared on the ground. Nemo looked at the words, then at Mettaton, who just kept dancing.
Nemo rolled his eyes before punching Mettaton again. "We've grown so distant darling…" Said Mettaton. "How about another heart-to-heart?" He summoned his heart again and surrounded it with boxes to protect it while firing more lighting at the humans. Nemo and Frisk ran around the lightning as Mettaton kept dancing and the boxes flew around, doing a combination of attacking and defending. The humans kept firing shots, and after a bunch of direct hits to the soul, Mettaton's arms blew clean off.
"Geez!" Said Nemo as he dodged more lightning.
"A… arms?" Asked Mettaton. "Wh… who needs arms with legs like these? I'm still going to win!" Bombs and boxes began to fly at them, and the humans destroyed some of them before they all stopped and flew in the reverse order. Nemo and Frisk were able to avoid the debris. Nemo struck Mettaton again. "Come on…!" Shouted Mettaton.
A similar variant of the previous attack came at them, and the duo blasted their way through unscathed. "You can't win, so just give up!" Shouted Nemo as he struck Mettaton again.
"The show… must go on!" Replied Mettaton. This time it was like a rain of death as boxes and bombs came at them. But the humans used their souls to more or less blast a tunnel through the attack. Nemo then ran and kicked Mettaton. "D...drama! A...action!" Said Mettaton, refusing to give up.
Another rain of death, another unscathed escape. "We're not gonna lose to you Mettaton!" Shouted Nemo as he punched him again.
Mettaton smiled. "L...lights… c...camera… enough of this! Do you really want humanity to perish?!" He demanded. The smile faded. "...Or do you just believe in yourself that much?" More bombs descended, and they were destroyed. Nemo moved to the beat of the music as he spun and punched Mettaton, sending the robot back a bit.
"You'd better believe it!" Shouted Nemo.
"Haha!" Laughed Mettaton as his smile returned full force. "How inspiring! Well, darlings! It's either me or you! But I think we both already know who's going to win. Witness the true power of humanity's star!" He summoned his heart again, which now had bombs around it and shot lightning, while he charged and kicked at the humans from the sides. The humans did their best to avoid the attacks, one bolt actually singed the end of his scarf. They blasted the heart so many times it caused Mettaton's legs to get blown off, causing him to fall to the ground. Nemo didn't stop though as he punched the robot. Mettaton was quiet for a moment. "...Then…" He said. "Are you the star?" He was smiling as he asked this. This made Nemo pause for a moment. "Can you really protect humanity!?"
Mettaton's heart was summoned once more. Nemo realized that it was all or nothing now. The heart fired streams of lightning, and Nemo ran around to avoid it. Once Nemo saw his opening, he took it. Mettaton stared at Nemo's expressionless face as he raised his fist and brought it down. Mettaton stood there quietly for a moment. "H...ha…" He said. "So I was wrong. Darling… you really are strong enough to get past Asgore." Nemo didn't react, he just kept his fists clenched at his sides. "Well then… it's time for you to go. Don't worry about me. I might seem like I'm dying now, but… Dr. Alphys can always repair me. And… besides… even if I'm not cut out to be a star… I still got to perform for a pair of humans, didn't I? So thank you, darlings..."
Nemo bent down and hugged Mettaton, shocking the robot. "Thank you Mettaton. It was quite the show, y'know?" He said.
Mettaton was quiet for a moment before he smiled sadly. "You've been a great audience!" He said before a loud explosion rang out, along with a blinding light.
Frisk blinked for a moment before seeing Nemo lying on the ground in front of Mettaton's broken box body. "Nemo!" They cried as they ran over to him. He laid there, alive, but injured. He was bleeding from numerous cuts that he got in the explosion. Just then the humans heard the door open as they heard someone enter.
"I… I managed to open the lock!" Said Alphys. "Are you guys… oh my god." She saw Mettaton. She rushed over to her creation. "Mettaton! Mettaton, are you…" She was quiet for a moment before she looked over at the humans. "H...hey… d… don't worry about it… I can always… i can always build a different robot! ...Why don't you two go on ahead?"
Frisk helped Nemo stand up, the duo then made their way out the back door. Nemo was limping due to his injuries. He used the wall to support himself so he wouldn't need to lean on Frisk. "Are you ok?" They asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine, let's just keep going." Said Nemo.
"Ok…" Said Frisk. They took a right when Alphys caught up with them.
"S… sorry about that!" She said. "L-let's k-keep going!" Frisk looked up at Nemo who had a glare on his face. But he didn't say anything as he kept going. "S-so you're about to meet Asgore, h-huh? You must be… y-you must be… pr… pretty excited about all that, huh?" Nemo bit his tongue. "You'll f-f-finally… you'll finally get to go home!" The trio found themselves in front of an elevator. "W… wait!" Said Alphys. "I mean, um… I… I was just going to… um… say goodbye, and…" There was a long gap of silence. "I can't take this anymore. I… I lied to you. A human soul isn't strong enough to cross the barrier, not even if it worked with a second one. You need the power of both a human soul… and a monster soul… If you want to go home… you'll have to take his soul. You'll have to kill Asgore." Nemo staggered towards Alphys.
"Nemo, don-!" Cried Frisk, but they didn't react in time as Nemo's fist collided with Alphys's face, sending the lizard monster sprawling. She gasped and put a hand on her face as she looked at Nemo with fearful eyes.
"You gutless! Manipulative! Lying!" Roared Nemo. "Witch! GET OUT OF HERE! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!" Alphys whimpered before scurrying off. Nemo coughed as he fell to his knees.
"Nemo!" Cried Frisk as they ran to him.
"I could hear it…" He whispered.
"Huh?" They asked.
Nemo looked at them, tears forming in his eyes. "I could hear his soul shatter. Mettaton wasn't just some robot. He was alive, and I held him in my arms as he died." He said.
There was pity in Frisk's eyes as they held him close. "Oh Nemo…" They said softly. Nemo pushed them away.
"Don't. We don't have time to feel bad for me." Said Nemo. "Save it for after we've gotten out of this nightmare."
"Ok…" Said Frisk as they followed him into the elevator. It closed behind them as before taking them to the top.
Page 30 End
Chapter 4 End
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