Hotlands was miserable. Just misery on every side. Loki felt like he was melting. Maybe he was. Wearily, he staggered after Sans up to the big, white building labeled "lab", and slumped against the wall, wiping sweat off his face.

"Hotlands sucks, doesn't it, Loki?" Undyne growled, her gills twitching in discomfort. Loki could only nod. "I bet you're more suited to Snowdin, honestly."

The doors opened, releasing a gust of cold air. "Ah, air conditioning…" Sans sighed, taking Loki's wrist and dragging him inside. "Isn't that better?"

Loki furrowed his brow. "Now that you mention it, it is." He glanced around at the interior of the laboratory. "How do you do that?"

Sans waved a hand. "I'll tell you, later."

"ALPHYS!" Undyne called impatiently. "GET OVER HERE!"

Hesitantly, a small, dinosaur-like creature peeked around the corner of a doorway. "Oh, h-hi, Undyne…" She blushed, scurrying forward. "Hi, S-Sans. And you must be the alien. It's a pleasure to… I mean, It's nice to… nice to meet you." She smiled up at him. "I'm A-Alphys."

"Loki." The Trickster returned. It seemed everyone down here possessed either no self-confidence at all, or far too much. "You're the royal scientist?"

"That's me!" Alphys nodded nervously, backing up a few steps.

Sans flopped onto a nearby couch, taking the whole predicament entirely un-seriously.

"Alphys, Loki says there's a potential threat coming, pretty soon." Undyne spoke up. Loki cringed, hating to hear his brother considered a threat.

"L-Like, what kind of threat?" Alphys asked. "Dragons? Cave-ins? No more anime?"

"My brother." Loki explained. "I don't know what's gotten into him, but he seems to have developed an addiction to killing people."

"Oh, that's serious…" Alphys murmured.

Loki nodded somberly. "Indeed. He'll be out of the ruins any minute, and when he does, there'll be no stopping him."

Alphys was shocked into silence, so Undyne spoke up. "What do you say, we give Mettaton a slightly deadly tune-up, and sick him on Loki's brother?"

"Please, don't kill him." Loki whispered. "Just stop him. Get him to realize what he's doing is wrong."

Alphys blinked. "I c-can't exactly… sick Mettaton on someone…"

"Who's Mettaton?" Loki spoke up.

Sans rolled his eyes. "You don't want to know."

Alphys grinned sheepishly. "He's not that bad, right, Undyne?"

"He's that bad." Undyne affirmed.

Sans grinned. "I wouldn't say his name out loud, he might hear us."

The scientist cringed. "Yeah… about that… I may have alt-altered his programming a bit?"

"Like, how?" Undyne raised an eyebrow.

Alphys wrung her hands. "Well, I was just trying to upgrade his programming, but… I may have… a-accidentally…"

There was a distant thump that shook the whole building. Sans jumped to his feet, one of his eyes starting glow blue in a highly unnerving fashion. "What was that?" Loki gasped.

"Oh, no…" Alphys groaned, just before the wall caved in.

"OOOOOOH, YES!" A metallic voice cried jubilantly. "HELLO, BEAUTIES, AND GENTLE-BEAUTIES!"

"Mettaton, no!" Sans and Alphys rushed forward to stop… whatever was going on.

"METTATON, YES!" What appeared to be an electric box, balanced on a single wheel, holding a microphone in one of its hands, the other raised aloft in a dramatic pose. "WELCOME, BEAUTIES, TO… A QUIZ SHOW!"

"What in the nine?" Loki muttered, turning in bewilderment to Undyne, who shrugged in exasperation. "Mettaton." She said, by way of explanation.

"STEP UP, DARLING!" Mettaton called to Loki. "YOU'LL BE OUR FIRST CONTESTANT! THIS IS LOKI, BEAUTIES – A REAL SPACE ALIEN! WHY DON'T YOU GIVE HIM A BIG HAND?" Loki was a little embarrassed, but shrugged, and waved at the cameras, anyway, as Mettaton clapped enthusiastically. Alphys ducked under a table for cover.

"Mettaton!" Undyne shouted, at top volume. "We have an actual problem!"

Mettaton slumped in irritation. "YES, WHAT IS IT, UNDYNE? WE'RE LIVE, YOU KNOW; MAKE IT QUICK."

"We need your help." Loki clarified. "If you wouldn't mind… not being live?"

The robot did not appear pleased with this idea. "BUT, DARLING… THE SHOW MUST GO ON!"

"The show must be postponed." Undyne stated firmly.

"I'M AFRAID I CAN'T SIMPLY STOP…" Mettaton insisted. "WHAT WE COULD DO, THOUGH, IS COVER WHATEVER PROBLEM YOU'D LIKE ME TO HELP WITH ON LIVE TELEVISION! WHATEVER YOU NEED ME FOR, I'M SURE ALL TWELVE OF OUR VIEWERS WOULD BE INTERESTED!"

Twelve? Loki face-palmed. This guy was a lunatic.

"Actually, that would get the news out faster than what my bro could do." Sans admitted good-naturedly. "Why not?"

"ALRIGHT, UNDYNE, GO AHEAD AND EXPLAIN WHAT IS THAT IS SO IMPORTANT." Mettaton encouraged.

The fish-woman did not seem pleased to be on camera. "Metta-" She began, but the robot cut her off. "GO AHEAD, DARLING!"

So, Undyne had no choice. She turned to the camera in frustration. "Alright, punks. Listen up. There's going to be another alien, coming through here, and he's extremely dangerous. Everyone, and I mean everyone needs to make their way up to Hotlands, where Doctor Alphys will be able to keep you safe. NOW!"

Alphys blushed furiously, and stood up a bit straighter, only succeeding in banging her head on the underside of the table. Mettaton stood absolutely still, the screen on the front of his box-like body flickering apprehensively. "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I COULD HELP WITH THAT?"

Undyne's gaze shifted to him, her ponytail swishing dangerously. "I've seen you fight, robot. You're almost as good as me. If anyone can beat this 'Thor' guy, it's me, but if it's not me or Asgore, it's you."

"BUT, DARLING…" Mettaton gasped. "I'M NOTHING MORE THAN A GHOST INHABITING A ROBOT! I CAN'T…" The robot trailed off, glancing at the cameras. "WELL… I SUPPOSE I CAN'T PERFORM, IF THERE'S NOBODY LEFT TO PERFORM IN FRONT OF, RIGHT?"

Loki snorted. "That's one way to put it, I suppose."

"THEN, I'LL HELP YOU, BEAUTY!" Mettaton clapped his hands in determination. "FOR THE FANS! UNDER ONE CONDITION, THOUGH. LOKI, DARLING, YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST BE ON MY COOKING SHOW, THIS EVENING!"

Loki shrugged. He was a marginally decent cook, normally having been the one chosen to prepare food for Thor and he warriors Three on their quests. At least he wouldn't make a total fool of himself. "Very well."

"SPLENDID!" Mettaton cheered. "THEN IT'S ALL SETTLED! TUNE IN NEXT TIME, BEAUTIES, FOR MORE DRAMA! MORE BLOODSHED! MORE ROMANCE!"

"There was any romance to begin with?" Sans smirked.

"GOOD POINT!" Mettaton agreed. "UNDYNE, YOU AND LOKI SHOULD BE A COUPLE. THE AUDIENCE IS SIMPLY DYING FOR SOME ROMANTIC ACTION!" Loki and Undyne glanced at each other in shock. "ANYWAY, TOODLES!"

With that, Mettaton wheeled away, leaving the four of them in stunned silence.

"D-Don't worry about him…" Alphys spoke up, blushing furiously. "He's always like that."

Loki chuckled nervously, sparing a glance towards Undyne, who seemed entirely unfazed. "Alright…"

"Bro, you're turning purple." Sans spoke up, a knowing smirk on is face. "That normal?"

Loki knew it wasn't, and shot the skeleton a glare. "How would I know? I just figured out I'm Jotun, the day before yesterday."

Sans giggled mischievously. "You should probably get that checked out."

Undyne glanced between them, totally lost. "We should go tell King Asgore, now, right?"

"Yes, of course." Loki quickly stated, smiling innocently.

"I know a shortcut to the castle." Sans volunteered. Loki knew, by now, "shortcut" when it came to Sans, meant the same thing as "teleporting". He led them through the same door they'd come in by, there was brief jolt, and they were standing in a calm, sunny room full to the brim with golden flowers. A large figure stood in the middle of the room, concealed mostly by a long, thick purple cloak.

"Dum de dum…" The deep voice hummed. "Is someone there? Let me just finish watering these flowers."

Another second passed, and the figure turned, revealing… a goat-person. A pang of grief stabbed through Loki's heart.

"Hey, King Asgore." Sans grinned, stepping forward. "This is Loki."

Asgore smiled kindly, extending a paw-hand-thingy towards Loki. "Nice to meet you. My name is Asgore."

Loki shook the king's hand, pretending nothing was wrong, and swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Why don't we all sit down, and have some tea?" The king suggested kindly. "I understand you have something to discuss with me."

*hums "Its Showtime!"* I think Undyne's a bit better, here. Maybe? Mettaton was a ball to write, though...

TheOnlyHuman.