~Percy~
Percy scanned the room. He put his glasses on. He shook his head. He felt normal again. By normal, he meant both conscious, and he could think about anime and manga.
He was on a couch. A blanket was covering him. He scanned the area around him: a carpeted floor, a bunch of people (great), some monsters (even better), a TV, a kitchen, a table. He recognized this house. Sans and Papyrus' house.
"HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed. Percy flinched. He forgot how loud Papyrus was. "YOU ARE AWAKE!"
"PERCY!" Brayden jumped on top of Percy. "You're okay!"
"Brayden!" Melody scolded. She pulled him off. "I'm so sorry, Percy. You know how it is."
She looked curious, though. Percy was curious too. What was that dream about?
"What were you goin' on about, Percy?" Clover asked, folding her arms. She still looked annoyed, yet… slightly relieved.
"I…" Percy shook his head. "I had a strange dream. It was dream that depicted an image of a child that looked like you…" He eyed Frisk. "Or it was you…? You were wearing Melody's ballet clothing for some reason. You were fighting… Undyne…?"
Frisk made a face. "That's… weird. I don't remember doing that."
"Did someone say my name?" Undyne walked over. She grinned at Percy. "Oh, you're awake! What's up, punk?! Also, don't do that again! I ALMOST freaked out!"
"You…" Percy stared at Frisk again. "You… killed Undyne, then… the Fallen Angel appeared. They said we would fall down. They also said 'they will destroy you'. I remember they had glowing red eyes. The dream melted before I woke up."
"Are you okay, Percy?" Cody asked. "It sounds like a scary dream…"
"On the scale of nightmares, yes, yes it was," Percy admitted. "Tokyo Ghoul is scarier, though."
"(That kid has seen Tokyo Ghoul?!)" Undyne asked. "(I LOVE IT!)"
"Well, it was just a dream," Frisk spoke up. "Remember what I told you, Percy. You're stronger than that."
"I don't care what that fallen Angel says," Clover said, her arms still folded. "We're gonna stop them."
"YEAH!" Brayden cheered. "I'll punch 'em in the face!"
"Yes, of course," Melody agreed. She looked at Percy. "Are you sure you're okay, Percy? You passed out and…"
"The energy from my determination," Percy said. He shook his head. "It drained me. But now I feel better." He stood up. His friends smiled at him. "We should leave if we want to stop Chara."
"oh, percy's awake?" Sans strolled over. "nice."
"PURPLE HUMAN!" Papyrus held up a plate of spaghetti. "YOU SHOULD TRY MY SPAGHETTI!"
"uh, actually, pap, the humans have gotta go," Sans told his brother, winking at the kids.
Undyne frantically gestured at the door, sweating. "Yeah, they've gotta go to Hotland right now, Pap."
"OH," Papyrus said. He patted Percy's head with his big red glove. "GOOD LUCK, HUMANS!"
No one wanted to walk all the way to Hotland, especially not Percy. Luckily, Frisk had a solution.
There was a boat that went all the way from Snowdin to Hotland. It was driven by a strange, hooded person known as the river person. It was in some part of Snowdin that was connected to a river.
The kids climbed onto the boat, floating upon the cool, blue water. The river person took them to Hotland. They spoke to Faye about random nonsense during the whole journey.
When the kids arrived at Hotland for a second time, the first thing they found other than the barren land was a white laboratory. Percy got excited. He was all about labs. Especially since his parents were scientists.
"A random laboratory," Faye commented. "That's nice."
"Lame," Brayden groaned. "Can we go somewhere else?"
"The laboratory is the only place we can go," Frisk told him. "Those Royal Guards are blocking the way." They pointed to two royal guards blocking another path. "To the lab."
The kids entered the lab. It was quite dark. There was a faint outline of white walls, a table full of stuff, and a screen with a video of the kids.
"Ooo," Faye said, looking around.
"Someone's recordin' us." Clover said, eyeing the TV.
"Heyyyy," Brayden waved at the screen.
Faye blushed, looking a little self-conscious. Melody waved at the camera, doing her hair.
"Does someone live here?" Cody asked, looking around.
Percy was eyeing that computer. There were also some anime-related things surrounding it. He smirked.
The kids passed a bag of dog food. Frisk stopped. They were staring at a door. It opened, revealing a small, yellow, dinosaur-like monster. She had glasses, buck teeth and was wearing a lab coat.
Percy had to admit, she was kind of adorable for a monster, even if her spikes reminded him of Lisa Simpson. The lights switched on.
"Hello!" Cody waved at the monster. Clover was staring at her. Melody had her arms folded. Faye was waving. Percy took out his notes.
"Hi!" Frisk waved.
"Yo," Brayden shrugged.
"Oh," the monster freaked out. She ran around in little circles. "My God. I didn't expect you all to show up so soon! I haven't showered, I'm barely dressed, it's all messy, and…"
"Calm down, pardner," Clover said, folding her arms. "What's your name?"
The monster took a deep breath. "Ummm…. H-h-hiya! I'm Dr. Alphys. I'm ASGORE's royal scientist!"
"ASGORE has a royal scientist?!" Brayden asked. He looked confused. "What's a royal scientist?"
"I, um, basically help the king with scientific stuff," Alphys answered, laughing anxiously.
"Lemme guess, you wanna hunt us down?" Clover asked, raising her brow.
"Oh, no!" Alphys squeaked. "No no no! I'm, uh, not of the 'bad guys'! Actually, since you all stepped out of the RUINS, I've been, um… I've been observing your journey through my console."
"So you've been stalking us..." Faye said. She shrugged. "You have lots of cameras. I saw more than five."
Everyone stared at Alphys.
"I-it's not like that!" Alphys said, waving her arms. "I saw it all… your fights… your friendships… … everything! I was originally going to stop you guys, but… watching you guys going through the underground like a little family… it was so cute, I started rooting for you instead! S-so, ahh, now I want to help you all!"
Everyone stared at her.
"Uh…" Alphys looked away for a moment. "Using my knowledge, I can easily guide you through Hotland! I know a way right to ASGORE's castle, no problem!"
"Although, Papyrus already told us a way," Melody pointed out. "We have to go to the end of this cavern, he said."
Alphys nodded. "Well, I-I can help you get there faster!" She paused. "There's, um, actually just a tiny issue."
"Oh no!" Cody commented. Melody sighed.
Percy opened his notes. Whatever this issue was, he wanted to know about it.
"Tiny?!" Brayden asked, folding his arms. "We can take it!"
"Eh…" Alphys laughed anxiously. "A long time ago, I made a robot named Mettaton. Originally, I built him to be an entertainment robot. Uh, you know, like a robotic TV star or something."
"Like an animatronic?" Percy asked.
"I guess," Alphys agreed. "Recently, I decided to make him more useful. You know, just some small practical adjustments. Like, um…" She sounded nervous again. "Anti… anti-human combat features?"
"Are you kiddin' me?" Clover groaned.
"Well that's just great!" Melody groaned sarcastically.
Everyone was glaring at Alphys, who sweatbeaded.
"Can we stop him?" Cody asked.
"Well, of c-course, when I saw you guys coming, I immediately decided…" Alphys paused. "I have to remove those features! Unfortunately, I may have made a teensy mistake while doing so." Everyone stared at Alphys again. "And.. now he's an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood?"
"Are you KIDDIN' me?!" Clover grumbled.
"Tiny issue?" Melody asked. "More like huge hassle!"
"You shouldn't have been watching sci-fi," Percy said, adjusting his glasses. "It really changes your perception on robots."
"But I like robots…" Faye sighed.
"YEAH!" Brayden yelled, punching the air. "He's going down!"
"Well, we might not run into him, right, Alphys?" Cody asked Alphys.
"Hopefully not, Cody, eh heh heh!" Alphys chuckled.
"Well, if he does, we'll be ready," Frisk held up their fists.
Suddenly, there was a loud stomp. The ground shook.
"The heck was that?" Brayden asked, looking around.
"Someone's coming," Frisk gasped.
Clover held out her pistol. Melody held out her ballet slipper.
"Oh no." Alphys commented, fear in her eyes.
"OHHH YES!" an overly dramatic, robotic voice called. There was a flash of light. "WELCOME, BEAUTIES…" A robot appeared. "... TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!"
He looked like a calculator with red and yellow buttons. He had a bunch of dials as well. In a gloved hand, he was wielding a microphone.
"Is that a calculator?!" Brayden asked. "NO! I HATE MATHS!"
"That's a robot, Brayden." Melody sighed.
The kids stood in a line. Streamers with their SOUL colours were everywhere. Percy was covered in purple streamers. He couldn't complain. He had long, purple hair. He looked like a lot of his favourite anime characters.
"OH BOY!" The robot Mettaton shouted. "I CAN ALREADY TELL IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW! EVERYONE GIVE A BIG HAND FOR OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANTS!"
More streamers appeared.
"Wait, are we on TV?" Cody asked. He looked at the cameras and waved. "Hi, Dad!"
"Your father most likely won't see this broadcast," Percy told Cody. "I've tried calling numbers from home. They don't connect to the surface."
"Oh…" Cody frowned. He cheered up again and waved at the camera. "Hi, Sans, Papyrus, and Undyne!"
"Hey, we've never played before," Clover spoke up, folding her arms. "This ain't fair!"
"And there are too many streamers!" Melody complained. She was covered in them. "I look like an octopus!"
"And I look like Rapunzel," Clover grunted. "Get over it, Mel."
"You look more like Miyukia Shiba from Mahouka Koukou, actually." Percy told Clover.
"Who in the heck is that?" Clover asked, raising her brow.
"Miyukia Shiba?" Alphys asked. She gasped. "Wow! S-she's so beautiful!"
"Oh, huh," Clover shrugged. "I'll take it as a compliment. Thanks, Perce."
Percy squeaked and hid his face.
"NEVER PLAYED BEFORE?" Mettaton asked. "NO PROBLEM! IT'S SIMPLE! THERE'S ONLY ONE RULE. ANSWER CORRECTLY…" He paused for dramatic effect. "OR YOU DIE!" A battle started.
"Alright, guys," Frisk held up their hands. They turned to Percy. "You ready?"
"Notes taken." Percy nodded.
"LET'S START WITH AN EASY ONE!" Mettaton yelled. "What's the prize for answering correctly?"
The souls of the kids were standing in the middle of four answers with letters in front of them. They started bickering over the answer.
"Oh look, Alphys is giving us the answer." Faye commented, noticing Alphys. Her claws were shaped into a 'D'.
"This is gonna be easy, then," Brayden grinned.
The kids selected D: More questions.
"RIGHT!" Mettaton exclaimed, waving his arm in the air. "SOUNDS LIKE YOU GET IT!"
"What kind of prize is more questions?" Melody asked, folding her arms.
"Stop complainin', Melody." Clover grumbled.
"Oh says you." Melody grumbled.
"Guys, we gotta focus," Frisk waved their hands.
"HERE'S YOUR TERRIFIC PRIZE!" Mettaton exclaimed. "What's the king's full name?"
Four more answers appeared.
"It's ASGORE DREEMURR," Faye said. "Undyne told us."
Frisk nodded and put the answer in. There was even more confetti. Melody groaned, her hair draped in multi coloured streamers.
"CORRECT!" Mettaton yelled. "WHAT A TERRIFIC ANSWER!"
Percy took down more notes. He wanted to see if Mettaton had any sort of weakness.
"Do you guys think if we threw Mettaton in a pit of water his body would malfunction?" he asked his friends.
"Maybe…?" Cody answered.
"I guess," Clover shrugged. "I dunno much 'bout robots, pardner."
"I wanna do that now!" Brayden yelled.
"ENOUGH ABOUT YOU," Mettaton spoke up. "LET'S TALK ABOUT ME! What are robots made of?"
"We weren't even talking about ourselves!" Melody complained.
Four more answers appeared again.
"Sugar and spice and everything nice," Faye recited. "Snips and snails and puppy dog tails."
Frisk answered Metal and Magic, which was correct. Confetti was everywhere.
"HERE'S ANOTHER EASY ONE FOR YOU!" Mettaton yelled. It was a really long question about mathematics that went on forever. Percy pulled out his notes. He could solve this question.
"Maths!" Brayden yelled. "Nooo! My one weakness!"
"Okay," Percy said, looking up from his notes. "I'm about halfway there-"
"CORRECT!" Mettaton grinned down at Frisk.
"Oh," Percy sighed. "Nevermind." He turned to Frisk. "So," he asked them. "Do you like anime?"
"I sure do," Frisk replied.
"Which one/s do you like?" he asked.
Frisk shrugged. "Pokemon, Yu-Gi-OH, One Piece…"
"Hey, we're fightin' here!" Brayden yelled.
"We'll talk later." Percy said, nodding at Frisk. They gave him a thumbs up.
"DON'T 'COUNT' ON YOUR VICTORY…" Mettaton said. "How many flies are in this jar?" A jar full of flies appeared.
"NOT MORE MATHS!" Brayden groaned.
"That's animal cruelty…" Faye said, frowning at all the trapped flies.
Percy observed the jar. He stared at Frisk. As usual they already had the answer. He sighed. That kid was too smart. In the end, they were the one with all the knowledge.
"LET'S PLAY A MEMORY GAME!" Mettaton exclaimed. "What monster is this?"
A picture of Froggit appeared. Percy whipped out his notes. It was definitely Froggit.
"That's the frog, right?" Brayden asked.
"Froggit." Percy told him.
"Hold on, I don't think so," Frisk grimaced. "Alphys is saying it's Mettaton."
"Whaddya mean that's Mettaton?" Clover asked.
"Yes, that is clearly a Froggit." Melody agreed.
"She's been right so far," Frisk made a face, choosing Alphys' answer.
The picture ended up being Mettaton wearing a Froggit shirt.
"I'M SO FLATTERED YOU REMEMBERED!" Mettaton cheered. "BUT CAN YOU GUESS THIS ONE? Would you smooch a ghost?"
All the responses were Heck Yeah.
"What kind of question is that?" Melody asked. "Why would you smooch a ghost?"
"Love wins," Frisk replied.
"I guess if it was a nice ghost." Cody commented. Clover gave him a weird look.
"I wouldn't smooch a ghost, but there are a few anime…" Percy trailed off. "Um, nevermind."
Frisk selected 'Heck Yeah', of course.
"GREAT ANSWER!" Mettaton yelled, waving his arm. "I LOVE IT! HERE'S A SIMPLE ONE. How many letters in the name Mettaton nnnn…" The ns continued forever.
"This quiz show is so weird." Melody commented, shaking her head.
"I like the confetti." Faye said.
"I like the anime references." Percy said, adjusting his glasses.
Frisk selected the right answer, of course.
"OF COURSE THAT WAS EASY FOR YOU!" Mettaton exclaimed. "TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS! In the dating simulation video game 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie', what is Mew Mew's favourite food?"
"OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE!" Alphys and Percy screamed together, totally in sync. "IT'S SNAIL ICE-CREAM! IN THE FOURTH CHAPTER EVERYONE GOES TO THE BEACH AND SHE BUYS ICE-CREAM FOR ALL OF HER FRIENDS BUT IT'S SNAIL FLAVOUR AND SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS IT! IT'S ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PARTS OF THE GAME BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY A…"
"... very powerful message about friendship." Percy finished. He and Alphys stared at each other. They blushed.
Melody face-palmed. "Oh Percy…"
"ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS," Mettaton said, wagging his finger. "YOU AREN'T HELPING OUR CONTESTANTS, ARE YOU?"
"To be fair, she was a little," Clover huffed.
"OOOOHHHH!" Mettaton yelled. "YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME. I'LL ASK A QUESTION… YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO! Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?"
The options were Undyne, Asgore, one of the humans, and don't know. Percy wondered what human Mettaton was thinking of.
"Oh, please," Melody scoffed. "There's no way I'd date a monster. Sorry, Alphys."
"It's… fine…" Alphys replied, looking extremely uncomfortable.
"We don't know who Alphys' crush is, let's say Don't Know." Clover said, folding her arms.
"We can't say that," Percy argued. "It's either Frisk due to their provocativeness, or…"
He'd been noticing how Undyne spoke about Alphys… it reminded of doujin romance. Alphys and Undyne. It spoke to him like anime.
His voice, for once, was full of sincerity and emotion. "Alphys and Undyne is my new OTP. We have to say Undyne."
"Alphys and Undyne sounds… kind of cute…" Faye commented. Percy was glad someone agreed. Cody shrugged like he didn't mind. Melody folded her arms. Brayden looked confused. He gave Percy a thumbs up.
"Makes sense," Frisk chose the answer.
"SEE, ALPHYS?" Mettaton asked. "I TOLD YOU IT WAS OBVIOUS. EVEN THE HUMANS FIGURED IT OUT." Alphys had gone bright red. He ranted, "YES, SHE SCRAWLS HER NAME IN THE MARGINS OF HER NOTES. SHE NAMES PROGRAMMING VARIABLES AFTER HER. SHE EVEN WRITES STORIES OF THEM TOGETHER… SHARING A DOMESTIC LIFE. PROBABILITY OF CRUSH: 101 PERCENT. MARGIN OF ERROR: 1 PERCENT."
"Wow," Cody commented. "I didn't realize Alphys felt that way!"
"Love wins," Frisk beamed.
Alphys hid her face, trembling.
"WELL WELL WELL," Mettaton spoke up. "WITH DR. ALPHYS HELPING YOU… THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION! WE CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS."
"Aww, that was kind of fun." Cody said, frowning.
"BUT. BUT! THIS WAS JUST THE PILOT EPISODE!" Mettaton exclaimed. "NEXT UP, MORE DRAMA! MORE BLOODSHED! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS…!" He turned into a rocket and flew away.
"AW C'MON ON!" Brayden complained. "We didn't even get to fight him!"
"Who wanted to, anyway?" Melody asked, making a face.
"I did!" Brayden yelled.
"Did anyone else?" Melody asked. Brayden groaned.
"Well that was certainly something." Alphys commented, making a face. Percy had to agree.
"I suppose we'd better be off, y'all." Clover said, eyeing the exit.
Percy didn't want to leave just yet. He wanted to observe the laboratory, speak to Dr. Alphys and Frisk about anime, then speak to Dr. Alphys about science…
"Wait, wait!" Alphys squeaked, racing over to the kids. She wasn't much taller than any of them. "Let me give you my ph-phone number! Th-then… m-maybe… if you need my help, I could…" She gasped, observing the phone. "Wh… where'd you get that phone!? It's ANCIENT! It doesn't even have texting."
"I know, right?" Percy asked. "I want to fix it up but I don't have the resources to do so."
"W-well, I can help with that!" Alphys said, grinning. "Because, I, um, do have the resources!"
"Can I help?" Percy asked.
"Oh, uh, sure," Alphys told him.
He followed Alphys. They entered a little laboratory. Alphys, with speedy claws, added a lot of upgrades to the phone. Percy was astounded.
"Wow," he commented with no emotion. "You'll have to teach me how to do that."
"I-I will one day, Percy," Alphys said. She handed him the phone. "Here, much better. It can do texting, it's got a keychain… I even signed you and your friends up for the Underground's No. 1 social network! Now we're all officially friends! Eheheh… heheh..." She gasped. "Also! I have phones like that one for all your friends."
She handed Percy six phones. He carried them in his arms like they were his children.
"Can I alter my username?" Percy asked. Alphys nodded. Percy opened the phone. He changed his username to 'PercyLovesAnime'. He nodded. "Alphys. I hear you're a fan of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie?"
"Y-yeah," Alphys said, blushing. "I really like it…"
"Me too," Percy agreed. "It gets really good after season 4 'cause…"
Percy and Alphys returned to the others. They were still talking about anime.
"About time!" Brayden whined. Percy handed him a phone. He grinned. "Cool! I have a phone now!"
Percy gave everyone a phone.
"I hope you all know how to use a phone," Percy said. "Otherwise I will be severely disappointed."
"How the heck do you turn this thing on?!" Brayden asked, checking out the phone. He accidentally took a selfie.
Percy sighed.
"Um, well, you guys have fun!" Alphys said. "I'm… going to the bathroom!"
She went into the bathroom. Yellow feet were tapping just behind the door.
The kids spent a bit of time exploring Alphys' lab, even if Melody said it was an invasion of privacy.
Percy found 'human history' in Alphys' bedroom, which was actually manga and anime.
He realized this is what Undyne must've seen. Poor naive Undyne. Or lucky, actually.
He sat down and read some of the manga. Part of him wanted to stay here and read manga forever, but another part of him knew he couldn't do that. He'd have to leave eventually.
I guess Alphys must've made those phones in advance for us, Percy thought. She knew we were coming. It almost seems too… perfect. Or am I being paranoid?
"Percy," a voice spoke up. It was Clover. Percy almost jumped. "We're going now."
"Okay." Percy's heart fluttered. He put the anime away. Clover had her arms folded. She was staring at him with her yellow eyes.
She's so… Percy looked away, furiously adjusting his glasses.
"You alright, pardner?" Clover asked him, reaching out a hand.
"I'm fine," Percy stammered. "I. Uh. We. We need. We need to go."
Clover sighed, patting his shoulder. "Mind if I say somethin' a little personal?"
Percy gasped internally. She… she wants to… share her headspace with me?
"Okay," Percy said.
"I don't want anything to happen, y'know?" Clover grumbled. "The whole Fallen Angel thing's kinda freakin' me out."
"You're right to be suspicious," Percy told her. "We still don't know much… even with all my notes, I don't have a clear conclusion. I wonder how Frisk got their hands on all this knowledge. Even with that said, they're right…" He sighed. "We need to be optimistic and count on our survival. We can defeat the Fallen Angel and get home."
Clover tipped her hat. "You've gotten braver, Percy. Proud of ya."
Percy gasped. "Oh… um… you mean it? You really think I…" He looked away. "Thank you. I am trying."
"Now come on, pardner," Clover put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get outta here, ya little hero."