***Hello, everyone! After eating lunch, I bring you the next chapter. Mettaton, Alphys, Undyne, Napstablook, and Shyren belong to Toby Fox, Tara is my child on the weekends but otherwise belongs to Kender20, and Tara's family is mine. Let's go!

Chapter Nine: When All Breaks Loose

Mettaton was used to performing through pure agony by now. The adrenaline from performing normally helped him numb it, though.

But tonight, there was something wrong. He was a star-studded celebrity, but he was falling apart due to the intensity in unfamiliar territory.

His knees began to shake, despite his dancing. His voice began to waver, despite his singing. He was falling to pieces as the pain was slowly radiating throughout his whole body.

The world around him became hazy and slow, loud pop music blurring into white noise and artificial vision beginning to glitch out.

He tried hard to fight. He tried his hardest.

But his body wasn't strong enough, and he collapsed onstage.

XxX

After Mettaton's collapse, the entire arena fell silent. On an immediate reaction, Tara lowered the stage curtain to provide some privacy.

Alphys and Undyne, who were regulars at sitting backstage by now, joined Tara, Napstablook, and Shyren at crowding around Mettaton's limp body.

"Um, U-Undyne? Can you p-pick him u-up?" Alphys asked. So, Undyne knelt down and held Mettaton over her shoulder. When Tara looked confused, the fish didn't seem phased.

"He looks sleek, but good God, he's heavy. I have to move him when he can't walk or something," she said.

Alphys sighed as she looked over Mettaton. "W-well, l-let's get him t-to the tour bus," she said.

XxX

Tara, her family, Undyne, Shyren, and Napstablook waited outside of the bus, sitting with their backs against it.

Alphys was working hard inside, using the emergency tool box she stored in the bus as a precaution and using the bed inside as a lab table. At one point, Undyne felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Tara wants to know how long you think it will be before Mettaton is repaired. She really cares about him," Tara's mother asked, her accent thick.

Undyne shrugged. "Alphys is probably just doing temporary repairs right now, since she just has that tool box here. Permanent repairs happen back at home, when she has full access to her junk," she said.

It wasn't but half an hour later that Alphys came out to everyone, her clothes stained with oil. "W-well, M-Mettaton's system overloaded from sh-shock of d-damaged a-artificial nerves on the s-soles of his f-f-feet," she said.

Tara looked uncertain.

"When did he get his nerves messed up?" Undyne asked. "If I h-had to a-a-approximate, it g-goes back to wh-when he was in that c-car accident," Alphys said.

Tara stood in front of everyone, her mother standing next to her to translate. As Tara began to sign, her mother looked surprised.

"It seems Tara knows more than any of us thought."

XxX

The bus drive back home was a lot more tense than the bus drive over. Undyne still drove, leaving the window next to her open so she could smoke and relieve herself of the tension.

Mettaton was asleep on the bed, attached to a power source, his temporarily-repaired feet resting on pillows. Alphys sat next to him, nervously nibbling on her claws. Tara sat and watched solemnly, her family having decided to drive behind the bus again. Although Napstablook was showing Shyren track samples to the side, he was doing it much more quietly now, and they both seemed distracted.

Until they all noticed Mettaton begin to shift. "Nn... ugh, my everything..." he mumbled, his voice tired. He shifted around on the bed, getting a feel for how his body worked again before opening his eyes. "Can someone tell me what happened? Did... I black out?" he asked.

"Y-yeah. I f-found out about the n-nerve damage, and T-Tara told us e-everything. But my q-question is... wh-why didn't you t-tell anyone?" Alphys asked. Her voice was calm as she ran her fingers soothingly through Mettaton's hair.

The robot felt guilt pang at his SOUL. "I'm sorry. But my career was about to begin, after so much hard work! I can tell you did some temporary work, and I thank all of the gods above that the agony has been somewhat relieved. But... I knew that the repairs would take forever to stay permanently." Mettaton smiled sadly, curling around a pillow.

"I'm a star, darling... stars fight through the pain."

Then, Tara came forwards and hugged him. She traced letters on his back, and when he realized her message, he began to cry from relief and happiness.

You are not alone.

***This chapter was brought to you by Random Encounters musicals. And by the way, there's only one more. Anyways, be sure to leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you all in the next one! Bye!