The sweltering heat would once again hit in full force as Frisk and Chara arrived back from the ferry dock to the main crossroads of Hotland, the magma flow not that far below the craggy red rock cliffs that made most of the pathways of the area. Strewn out above were metallic man-made structures connected into the walls, pathways weaving and intersecting with one another as powerlines seemed to connect between unseen points on the towers of buildings among the structures. Lava would be pouring from above into the massive magma pool below, pipes letting out intermittent bursts of steam every now and again like clockwork.
Frisk would be taken aback by the rather massive sights before. "Wooooah... this place is HUUUUUGE!" She said.
"Yyyyyep, the biggest place in the Underground." Chara said. "Next to New Home, this is where the majority of the monsters live down here; this place is triple-layered and goes almost halfway up the entire cave itself!"
"Oh wow..." Frisk said, before shaking her head. "B-but how are we going to get to New Home?"
"There should be an elevator that'll take us up to East Floor 3, and from there we can shortcut straight through the CORE." Chara said. "If my estimates are correct, it'll be less than ten minutes before we reach da- I-I mean, Asgore."
Frisk made note of that verbal tick Chara made before she started walking north towards the-
"Yo, Frisk, save first?" Chara said, indicating to the small golden light at the center of the crossroads.
"Oh! Right!" Frisk said, walking back down and interacting with the SAVE Point.
Frisk LV1 EXLV5 59:19
Hotland - Laboratory Entrance
File Saved.
With a fresh SAVE tight under her belt, Frisk would walk up the flight of stairs towards what appeared to be a tube with a twin hatch door embedded into the ground, rising up into the ceiling. The icons of "W1" were emblazoned in neon above the door. Approaching the door, Frisk and Chara were soon met with a pop-up screen from a blocking teleprompter device.
WARNING!
ELEVATOR STATUS IS CURRENTLY BROKEN.
CURRENT TIME TO FULL REPAIRS: UNKNOWN.
"...well then, looks like we gotta take the long way." Chara said, floating back down. "C'mon, we can probably take a shortcut through the Lab to get to the rest of Hotland."
"A-are you sure that's a good idea?" Frisk asked, soon following after as she stumbled a bit, the heat starting to get to her. "I-I was hoping this would be a short trip..."
"Relax, we'll be fine." Chara said. "Let's just get inside the lab and let the AC do it's work on ya before we continue on."
"Please..." Frisk said, pulling on her collar a bit as a puff of steam let out from it. "I need something cooler... literally."
Chara rolled her eyes as the two came up to the large metallic building nestled within the crag area, several pipelines and gears sprouting out of the massive structure and leading off who knows where into the ceiling or below into the lava. A large label above the two iron doors read "LAB" in bright red lettering.
Frisk would walk up and politely knock on the metal doors, the clanging of her knuckles against the sturdy metal sending a small ring throughout the area."H-hello?" She called out. "Anyone home?"
No response.
Frisk knocked again. "Hello-"
Suddenly the doors would open without warning, catching Frisk off guard as she hesitated for a moment, then slowly stepped inside the building, the doors closing behind her. The lab was dark, light barely coming off of anything in the main hall as she slowly started walking down the main corridor, the technological whirring of the machines around her unnerving her ever so slightly.
"Hey, is the main computer still turned on?" Chara asked, noticing a light coming from the main console in the main room.
"I... think it is..." Frisk asked, walking up to it and looking at the screen of it, currently encased in white noise. "What... is this..."
While leaning forward, she wouldn't realize her and would graze a key, soon whirring the entire setup to life as multiple camera frames came into view. Frisk stumbled back a bit in surprise, but then took a closer look at the frames that came up...
...these were live feeds of places in the Underground. From the moment she left the door to Home in Snowdin, she had been watched every step of the way.
"...so THAT'S how Papyrus got wind that I was already in Snowdin when I just left!" Frisk said. "Someone was spying on us!"
"Well THAT totally isn't creepy." Chara said. "Alright, well we've found that out I guess, let's get going bef-"
The sound of an elevator catches the both of them off guard as Frisk glances over to see a small ray of light escaping from the bottom of a door on the far side of the lab. Frisk freezes up as the sounds of the metal doors open up and out steps another monster... about as tall as her.
The monster was definitely reptilian, seeming to sport a five-pointed crest coming off the back of its head as its body was adorned in a white labcoat, the thing moderately short tail sticking out the back end of it. The sleeves of the coat had another Delta Rune emblazoned on each one, and there was what looked to be a technological med pack attacked to her back by a few black straps, much like a backpack. Wrapped around her head were what appeared to be a pair of black lab goggles.
"Ooooooh, these results aren't looking promising..." She muttered to herself as she reached over and flicked the lightswitch, soon seeing the human and taking a step back in shock. Frisk jumped back as well from the sudden advancement of light, but soon the scientist monster sighed in relief.
"Oh thank goodness." The lizard breathed. "You must be Frisk, right?"
"...yes?" Frisk said. "Why do you ask?"
"Ah! I didn't even introduce myself! I'm sorry for that." The lizard said, clearing her throat. "Dr. Alphys, head royal scientist to Asgore." She spoke, extending her scaly hand for a handshake.
Frisk relieved her tension and shook hands with the monster. "You already know me, but I'm Frisk." She said.
"Excellent!" Alphys stated. "So, with introductions out of the way, let's get down to business, you're headed for New Home, right?"
"Well, yeah?" Frisk said.
"Ah, I might be able to help you then!" Alphys said, walking over to the computer and typing something in. "With the West 1st floor elevator down, it's thrown the entire system out of order and is causing things to only go in a straight line manner for the time being. You'll have to take the long way to get up to the top of Hotland."
"And... how would I go about doing that?" Frisk asked.
"Well, I could guide you!" Alphys said. "I've got cameras all over Hotland's areas, so keeping an eye on you should be super easy to help guide you through it!"
"That... actually would be super helpful!" Frisk said, pulling out her phone she got from Toriel. "What's your phone number?"
"Oh that-" Alphys said, before noticing the phone. "Oh dear lord that thing is ancient!" She said, taking the phone. "There's no way I'm going to be able to communicate with you effectively on this! Give me a moment would you?"
Frisk sweatdropped as Alphys scampered over to her workbench near the computer and began going to town on reworking the phone. After about five minutes and a whole lot of noise, Alphys returned with a sleeker, much more modern looking phone compared to the original one given by Toriel.
"There, nice and upgraded!" She said, looking at Frisk. "Already got my number in and signed you up for the Undernet chat room! There's also a couple extra features I built in but I won't want to reveal those quite yet."
"Thank you!" Frisk said, pocketing her phone. "Alright, now-"
-THUNK-
Frisk froze up. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Alphys asked.
-THUNK-
"...uh oh." Alphys said soon scampering over to the other side of the room to a control panel.
"That doesn't sound promising..." Frisk said as the thumping grew closer.
-THUNK-
-THUNK-
-THUNK-
-THUNK-
-THUNK-
"...oh no." Alphys said as a bright white flash came from the final thunk and everything went dark. Frisk couldn't even see anything...
...except for the 5x4 light grid showing a large red 'M'.
"OOOOOH YESSSSSS!" A suave voice echoed from the area. "WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN..."
A spotlight would then light up as it was soon seen who had broken it... or more accurately what. It was a large metal box, almost the size of a moderate minifridge, suspended on one wheel with four dials at the lower front side and a set of four lights in a row as a 'mouth' below the larger light array that made the 'face' of the robot. Two flexible arms would be coming from the bot itself, capped off with white gloves; the right one holding a microphone. Atop the robots head off to one side was a top hat with a single red stripe, and just below the 'mouth' of the robot was a black bowtie.
"...TO THE UNDERGROUND'S MOST FABULOUSLY ENTERTAINING QUIZ SHOW!" The robot exclaimed as bursts of confetti and gameshow disco lights soon came down from the ceiling, soon baffling both Frisk AND Alphys. "THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER ROUSING ROUND OF 'MEDDLE CRUSHER'! I'M YOUR HOST, METTATON, AND HOO BOY MONSTERS OF THE UNDERGROUND, HAVE WE GOT A ROUSING CONTESTANT FOR THE CHALLENGE THIS TIME!"
At that point Frisk noticed the studio cameras being manned by other robots on the back wall. Those weren't there before, were they?
Before Frisk could even comprehend what was going on she had been swept off her feet and slammed onto a 90's style gameshow booth right in the middle of the lab. The robot, Mettaton, would then slide into frame with the microphone.
"HEY KID GLAD YOU COULD MAKE IT! WHAT'S THE NAME OF OUR DARLING CONTESTANT FOR TODAY?" He said, soon basically shoving the microphone into Frisk's face.
"U-uhhh..." Frisk said, her eyes darting around the room before she answered. "I-I'm Frisk, an-"
"FRISK, DARLING GLAD YOU JOIN US FOR THIS ROUSING ROUND OF MEDDLE CRUSHER!" Mettaton said. "LONG TIME FAN? NEWER WATCHER? OH WHO AM I KIDDING, YOU ALREADY KNOW WHO I AM, THAT'D BE SILLY OF ME TO ASK!"
Frisk sweatdropped. Was this guy for real?
"AND NOW LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S TIME FOR OUR CONTESTANT TO FACE THE ONCOMING CHALLENEGES OF OUR EVER-INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT QUESTIONS, TO SEE OF SHE WINS OUR GRAND PRIZE! METTATON DARLING, WHY NOT TELL OUR CONTESTANT WHAT SHE'S WINNING IF SHE ANSWERS ALL THE QUESTIONS RIGHT?" Mettaton said as he wheeled himself over to another location, the spotlight lagging behind deliberately until it settled on the new spot.
"SURE THING METTATON!" Mettaton said as he looked at the camera. "THE GUEST WILL WIN A LIFETIME SUPPLY OF MTT-BRAND EXCLUSIVE DEALS ALL FROM THE EVER LUXOURIOUS MTT RESORT LOCATED AT THE OTHER END OF HOTLAND! FOOD AND ENTERTAINMENT BEYOND HER WILDEST DREAMS! BEDS FIT FOR BOTH A KING AND A QUEEN! AND OH, THE ROOM SERVICE!" He'd then wheel back to his original spot, the spotlight lagging again.
"THANKS METTATON!" Mettaton said, soon turning his attention to Frisk. "ALRIGHT CONTESTANT, RULES FOR MEDDLE CRUSHER ARE AS SIMPLE AS PIE! EVERY QUESTION WILL BE GIVEN A 45 SECOND TIMER FOR YOU TO SUBMIT YOUR ANSWER! ANSWER THE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY IN ORDER TO MOVE ONTO THE NEXT ROUND! BUT IF YOU ANSWER A WRONG QUESTION, YOU'LL BE IN FOR A SHOCK! AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, LET'S BRING ON THE MEDDLE CRUSHER!"
The battle sequence started abruptly!
*Mettaton starts the show!
Frisk swallows a bit as she selects the ACT command and chose *Check.
*METTATON - HP 9999 ATK 30 DEF 999
*His metal frame renders him completely invulnerable to physical attacks.
"LET'S START THINGS OFF WITH AN EASY ONE!" Mettaton announce, slipping to the side as a screen came down. "QUESTION ONE! WHAT'S THE PRIZE FOR ANSWERING CORRECTLY?"
The four answers would pop onto the screen:
*A) Money
*B) Mercy
*C) New Car
*D) More Questions
"CLOCK'S TICKING DARLING, BETTER SUBMIT YOUR ANSWER!" Mettaton said as the timer started counting down from 45. Frisk started sweating as the timer started counting down before she slammed her hand on the button.
"U-uuuhhh, uuuh D!" Frisk sputtered out.
Dramatic silence...
"THAT IS CORRECT!" Mettaton announced as confetti rained from the ceiling. "YOU'RE A NATURAL KID, A NATURAL! NOW, ONTO THE NEXT QUESTION!"
Frisk selected to skip her turn to proceed to the next round.
"HERE'S YOUR TERRIFIC PRIZE!" Mettaton said, soon bringing in the next question. "QUESTION TWO! WHAT IS THE KING'S FULL NAME?"
The four answers would pop up onto the screen:
*A) Lord Fluffybuns
*B) Fuzzy Pushover
*C) Asgore Dreemurr
*D) Dr. Friendship
"It's C." Chara whispered to Frisk.
"huh?" Frisk asked herself.
"Hey, I lived with them for four years, I know my family's by heart!" Chara said.
"TIME'S TICKING HUMAN!" Mettaton commented. "HURRY UP AND ANSWER, WE'VE ONLY GOT A LIMITED SCHEDULE FOR AIRING!"
Frisk slammed her hand on the button. "C!" She yelled.
"THAT..." Mettaton said. "...IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!" A studio audience applause played as confetti fell again. "WELL DONE, WELL DONE! YOU'VE STUDIED ON YOUR MONSTER HISTORY!"
Frisk sighed in relief as she skipped her next turn.
"BUT ENOUGH ABOUT HISTORY LESSONS, LET'S SWITCH TO ME!" Mettaton said. "QUESTION THREE! WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY COMPONENTS OF MAKING ROBOTS?"
Once again the answers would appear below.
*A) Hopes and Dreams
*B) Metal and Magic
*C) Snips and Snails
*D) Sugar and Spice
Frisk would be initially taken aback by the choices of the question. Surely this couldn't be... serious, right?
She'd hit the buzzer. "I'll take B."
"...CORRECT AGAIN!" Mettaton said, clapping. "WATCH OUT UNDERGROUND, WE'VE GOT A NEW HOT STREAK COMING, AND IT'S NOT ME THIS TIME!"
Frisk sighed as she skipped the next turn.
"I HOPE YOU'VE STUDIED UP ON YOUR MATH SKILLS, THIS ONE WILL BE SIMPLE ENOUGH IF YOU HAVE!" Mettaton said. "QUESTION FOUR! TWO TRAINS, TRAIN A, AND TRAIN B, SIMULTANEOUSLY DEPART STATION A AND STATION B. STATION A, AND STATION B ARE 252.5 MILES APART FROM EACH OTHER. TRAIN A IS MOVING AT 124.7MPH TOWARDS STATION B, AND TRAIN B IS MOVING AT 253.5MPH TOWARDS STATION A. IF BOTH TRAINS DEPARTED AT 10:00 AM AND IT IS NOW 10:08, HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL BOTH TRAINS PASS EACH OTHER?"
Frisk froze up. "Crapbaskets." She said to herself as the answers popped up on the screen.
*A) 31.054 minutes
*B) 16.232 minutes
*C) 32.049 minutes
*D) 32.058 minutes
Frisk started sweating as she frantically started doing the calculations in her head, her eyes darting between the answers frantically.
"TIME'S TICKING DARLING! BETTER HURRY!" Mettaton said, just putting pressure on Frisk harder as she started to panic.
"Nonononononono!" Frisk said, soon slamming her hand on the button.
"AHP! WE HAVE A LOCKED-IN CHOICE!" Mettaton said. "WHAT'S YOUR FINAL ANSWER DARLING?"
Frisk swallowed hard, her hands trembling as her eyes quickly darted around the room, trying to look for some sort of sign... and then she'd notice Alphys signaling her from off set on the other side.
Sign language!
"D! It's D!" Frisk blurted out, panting as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"..." Mettaton seemed to hold out the silence for an unbearably long time...
"...THAT IS CORRECT!" Mettaton said as another burst of confetti rained from the ceiling. "CONGRATULATIONS, ONLY ABOUT 23.7% OF MONSTERS GET THAT QUESTION RIGHT WITHIN THAT SMALL OF A TIME WINDOW! WELCOME TO THE UPPER QUARTER, EGGHEAD!"
Frisk sweatdropped as she elected to skip her next turn.
"BUT DON'T 'COUNT' ON THIS NEXT ONE! IT'S TIME TO PLAY A GUESSING GAME!" The robot said as a small pedestal with a jar of flies rose up into the center of the room, between Frisk and the screen. "QUESTION FIVE! HOW MANY FLIES ARE WITHIN THIS JAR?"
*A) 54
*B) 53
*C) 55
*D) 52
"Well this doesn't seem fair..." Chara said, squinting at the jar. "With such a small space and the constant movement it'd be almost impossible to-"
Frisk hit the buzzer. "A!"
Chara seemed dumbfounded until she noticed Alphys was signing. "Oooooooh, that makes more sense now..."
"I'M SHOCKED! IMPRESSED, EVEN!" Mettaton said. "ANOTHER RIGHT ANSWER! THIS HUMAN IS LOOKING TO COMPLETELY STEAMROLL THE PREVIOUS RECORD ANSWER STREAK!"
Frisk was slowly starting to grow more and more confident as the quiz went on, skipping her next turn.
"TIME FOR YOU TO REALLY FLEX THOSE BRAIN MUSCLES! LET'S TEST YOUR MEMORY!" Mettaton said, an image coming up of half a Froggit's face on it. "QUESTION SIX! WHICH MONSTER IS THIS?"
*A) Froggit
*B) Whimsun
*C) Moldsmal
*D) Mettaton
Frisk was about to hit the button-
"Wait." Chara said, stopping Frisk. "This has to be a trick question."
"?" Frisk breathed.
"Something's egging me on that's not actually a Froggit's face." Chara spoke, crossing her arms. "If I were you, keep following Alphys' sign language, I'd rather not find out what happens if you get a question wrong."
Frisk swallowed, glancing to Alphys' signing before she hit the button.
"D!" Frisk said.
"...ARE YOU SURE?" Mettaton said.
"Yes!" Frisk answered.
"...ABSOLUTELY?" Mettaton added. "THERE'S NO SHAME IN RETRACTING YOUR ANSWER RIGHT NOW AND PICKING ANOTHER!"
"My answer is D and that's final!" Frisk said.
"...WELL THEN..." Mettaton said, tapping the mic. "YOU... ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!" He exclaimed as the image pulled out to reveal it was Mettaton wearing a Froggit shirt. "NOT EVEN FALLING FOR THE MIND GAMES TRAP THAT SO MANY OTHER CONTESTANTS DO! IMPRESSIVE!"
Frisk would skip her next turn.
"ONTO THE NEXT ONE!" Mettaton announced. "QUESTION SEVEN! WOULD YOU SMOOCH A GHOST?"
*A) Heck Yeah
*B) Heck Yeah
*C) Heck Yeah
*D) Heck Yeah
Frisk was frozen in dumbfoundery at the question before her.
"Oh, a romance question?" Chara said, nudging Frisk's shoulder. "Good thing you've already got so much practice with that..."
Frisk blushed heavily.
"Especially thanks to me~" Chara said, giving a joke wink.
If Frisk's face turned any redder she'd look like a tomato.
"T-trick question!" Frisk yelled, cupping her face. "They're all right!"
"...THAT IS CORRECT!" Mettaton exclaimed. "NO TIME TO WASTE, ONTO THE NEXT ONE!"
Frisk would skip her turn, but it's clear the length of the quiz was starting to take it's toll on her.
"HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR ANOTHER BRAIN-TEASER!" Mettaton announced. "QUESTION EIGHT! HOW MANY LETTERS ARE IN THE NAME METTATON-" At that moment Mettaton would seemingly have a voice breakdown and constantly be repeating the last 'N' in his name over and over, and as a results all four of the answers would constantly be having their numbers increasing as well, making it almost impossible to tell which was which!
Frisk's eyes would dart to Alphys and then back to the answers before she slammed down the buzzer.
"C!" Frisk yelled, panting.
"CORRECT!" Mettaton said, snapping out of his glitch state and returning things to the status quo.
Frisk would skip her turn.
"TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS!" Mettaton said. "QUESTION NINE! IN THE DATING SIMULATION VIDEO GAME 'MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE', WHAT IS MEW MEW'S FAVORITE FOOD?"
Before the answers ever come up or Frisk has a chance to even answer, Alphys suddenly interrupts.
"OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! 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 FLAVOR AND SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS IT! IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE GAME BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY POWERFUL message about friendship and..." Alphys' voice trailed off as she soon saw that everyone in the room was looking at her.
Mettaton would waggle a finger. "ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS." He said in a mocking tone. "YOU'RE NOT HELPING OUR CONTESTANT ARE YOU?"
"What? N-no, I-"
"OOOOOOOOOH, YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME YOU LITTLE SCAMP!" Mettaton said. "I'LL JUST ASK A QUESTION THAT YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO!"
Mettaton would turn back to Frisk. "ALRIGHT OUR BEAUTIFUL-BUT-NOT-AS-BEAUTIFUL-AS-ME CONTESTANT! IT'S TIME FOR THE FINAL QUESTION! WHO DOES DR. ALPHYS HAVE A CRUSH ON?"
*A) Undyne
*B) Asgore
*C) Frisk
*D) Don't Know
Frisk swallowed hard, glancing over at Alphys who was just waving her arms in a 'please god no' manner.
Swallowing hard and taking a deep breath, Frisk would hit the button.
"OH? SOUNDS LIKE WE'VE GOT A LOCKED-IN ANSWER LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Mettaton said, soon sliding up next to Frisk and holding the microphone up to her.
"...D." Frisk said.
"CORRECT. DR. ALPHYS HAS A CRUSH ON... THE UNKNOWABLE. YOU SEE, ALPHYS BELIEVES THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE. SOMEONE WATCHING HER. SOMEONE SHE THINKS IS "CUTE" AND "INTERESTING." HELLO, THEORETICAL PERSON. DR. ALPHYS LIKES YOU. TOO BAD YOU ARE NOT REAL." Mettaton said, soon hitting a button and playing a studio audience laughtrack, making Alphys sweatdrop and Frisk deadpan.
"Don't think that was your intention, was it Frisk?" Chara asked. Frisk shook her head as Alphys spoke up.
"H-hey, I've done research about this!" Alphys exclaimed. "There are alternate universes out there! S-someday, maybe, I could meet them..."
"YOU SAID THE EXACT SAME THING ABOUT "MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE."" Mettaton said, rolling the lights on his screen. "BUT I'LL GIVE YOU THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. PERSON, IF YOU'RE OUT THERE... HOW ABOUT GIVING US A SIGN, RIGHT NOW?"
A long undisclosed silence seemed to persist in the area.
"...THAT SETTLES THAT, DOESN'T I-"
At that moment an energy spear crashed through the ceiling and slammed into the floor, shocking everyone in the room from it's unexpected entrance. Alphys would be seeming to let our a starstruck breath while Mettaton seemed to be confused.
"...WELL JUST SHUT ME UP WHY DON'T YOU." Mettaton said, soon turning to Frisk. "WELL, WITH ALPHYS BASICALLY HANDING YOU THE ANSWERS ON A SILVER PLATTER, THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION! NO BUILDUP! WHERE'S THE FUN IN THE SHOW IF THERE'S NO LIVES ON THE LINE?"
Frisk would slowly start to try and sneak off the podium-
"BUT! BUT! YOU'RE A KILLER ON CAMERA DARLING!" Mettaton said, pulling Frisk in next to him. "THE CAMERA LOVES YOU! I MEAN, GRANTED, NOT AS MUCH AS THEY LOVE ME, BUT THEY LOVE THE ATTENTION YOU DRAW IN! I CAN TELL YOU'LL BE THE NEXT STAR SOON IF YOU KEEP AT IT!"
He'd then center back to in front of the camera. "WELL FOLKS, THAT'S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE FOR TODAY, BUT UP NEXT, MORE ACTION! MORE DRAMA! MORE ROMANCE! MORE BLOODSHED! UNTIL NEXT TIME DARLINGS! STAY FABULOUS!" With that, Mettaton would jump back, his arms and wheel retracting into his body as he took off upwards like a rocket and crashed through the ceiling. "METTATON AWAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyy..."
With that, the lighting would return to normal as all the show props and setpieces disappeared, leaving the lab back in it's original state, save for the giant hole in the wall where Mettaton initially broke through
*YOU WON!
*You gained 0 EXP, 1000 Exp. Points, and 0 G.
"Well..." Alphys said. "That... was not how I was expecting this to go."
"So..." Frisk asked. "You wanna... explain exactly anything of what in the world we just were a part of?"
Alphys sighed. "Sorry... I thought I deactivated him before you got here... apparently his backup power source must be going haywire and sending him out of control."
"That explains the what but not the who." Frisk said.
"That was Mettaton." Alphys said. "The king originally wanted it commissioned as a robot with combat capabilities but after several years and not hearing back from him on how he wanted it I just refunded him and kept the progress built on it. Then one of these days a ghost comes along and asks if I could potentially finish it in their pursuit of stardom and... well, here we are now. It's now a robot with a self-ego complex and a desire for stardom... but the original anti-human weaponry still fully functional."
Frisk sweatdropped. "That... doesn't sound promising."
Alphys sighed. "Well, not to worry, I might have a way to counter him that I've installed on your phone, so if worse comes to wear, just activate that and it'll drive him away."
Frisk sighed in relief. "Well at least that's good to know..." She said. "So I better get going, I-"
"I'd... probably change into something a bit more... hot-weather oriented." Alphys said, looking over Frisk. "Right now If you head out there like that you're going to give yourself a bad case of heatstroke."
"Oh... uh..." Frisk said. "Any chance you have a changing room?"
"Just upstairs." Alphys said. "Take the quick escalator, then its the first room on the right."
Frisk nodded, soon heading up the escalator as Chara remained behind to observe Alphys. As soon as Frisk was out of sight she let out a deep sigh.
"Good lord that was way too close..." The lizard said, pulling a file folder out from her coat. "Almost got caught red-handed with this... I don't know what I'd do if I was caught with this in my possession..."
"Hiding some secrets are we?" Chara said to herself, floating over next to Alphys, out of view. "Alright doc, let's see..."
The folder definitely looked aged, a coffee spill or two on it, several stickynotes attatched to the front of it and loose leaf pages nearly spilling out of the thing, but it seemed to have some sort of other writing on it... symbols? At the top of the folder the tab merely read:
DT EXPERIMENT STUDIES
"DT..." Chara spoke to herself. "Determination? Why would-"
Before Chara would even finish that sentence Alphys would move to a filing cabinet and tuck the folder away in the far back of the files, almost completely out of view if the drawer wasn't opened all the way. She'd then close the drawer and lock it, soon hearing a beep as she'd go over to the coffee maker and grab a freshly brewed cup and headed over to the computer terminal, typing something away.
"...you're hiding something..." Chara said, putting a hand to her chin. "...I just need to figure out what."
"Alright, I'm ready!" A voice came as Frisk slid down the down stairs, her outfit now changed. Her sweater now tightly wrapped around her midsection, she was now sporting a purple tanktop with a cat face on it and a pair of brown shorts, the goggles she had on from earlier now placed over her eyes.
"Ah, excellent!" Alphys said. "You'll fare much better in the heat out there now wearing that."
Frisk nodded, heading for the other end of the lab to the exit door. "So... you'll keep in touch?" Frisk asked.
"Yup!" Alphys responded. "Be it by either messaging on the Undernet or through me actually calling you, I'll be there to help you every step of the way!"
Frisk smiled as Chara floated over near the human. "Thanks again miss Alphys!" She said, before turning and heading out the door.
The rush of heat on the human's face snapped her back to reality as she soon found herself behind the lab, molten rock running below, and several rocky cliffs and embedded buildings around her as the pathways criss-crossed above her head. Support pillars would be glowing with their neon red accents as embers slowly rose from the lava below.
"Woah..." Frisk breathed.
"No time to get distracted Frisk." Chara said. "We've got to make up for lost time. Let's find that elevator and get to the next floor!"
"R-right!" Frisk said, as she started running along the rocky pathway, soon taking a left and heading down another 'street', conveyors churning out as other monsters stopped to stare at the oddity they saw before them. That didn't stop the human though as she soon found herself taking another turn and winding up near a back area, lava still flowing hot and several cliffs a fair distance from eachother, steam vents slowly leaking steam from their covers.
At that moment Frisk's phone would ring, so she quickly accepted the call and put it on speakerphone.
"Almost lost you in the crowds back there but I've got visual on you once again!" Alphys' voice rang over the phone. "You see the camera on the pole in the wall over there?"
Frisk would glance around before seeing the pole sticking out of the crag, a bubble-like device attatched to it with a blinking red light.
"I have sight of it." Frisk answered.
"Alright, now, you're going to have to use the steam vents to get over to the other side." Alphys said. Frisk seemed concerned by this idea, and Dr. Alphys immediately picked up on this from the camera footage. "D-don't worry though! It's 100% safe!"
Frisk took a deep breath and stepped onto the panel, soon feeling the steam pressure building up underneath her feet before she was launched forward, landing on the other cliffside in a sprawl.
"Still can't stick landings, huh?" Chara asked as Frisk got up, making a mock pouty face at her.
"Are you alright?" Alphys said over the phone.
"I'm good! I'm good..." Frisk said, getting to her feet. "That... is gonna take some getting used to." With that out of the way Frisk would soon take the other steam jets and land onto an upper pipe walkway, running across that until-
"WAIT, FREEZE!" Alphys yelled through the phone.
"Hu-" Was all that came out of Frisk's mouth before she screamed in pain from the moving blue laser trap.
35/35 - 30/35
Frisk laid on the ground for a moment as she clutched her chest, before slowly getting to her feet.
"Shoot, why did the backroad security system come online like this?!" Alphys said. "Crapbaskets... alright, you're gonna have to navigate these while I investigate the power grid on this! Just remember! Blue is stop, orange is move!"
"R-right!" Frisk said as she remained motionless as another blue laser washed over her. Once it was gone she took off across the pipeline, soon orange lasers coming on in front of her. Frisk charged straight through them with no regret in her step, before having to skid to a stop as another blue laser passed over her.
"She's... getting a lot more confident ever since that fight in Waterfall..." Chara spoke to herself. "Huh... no wonder mom had seen me in her."
Another blue freeze and an orange dash later, Frisk soon found herself back on a connected walkway, the heat from the lava still evident from the rising embers, but now it seemed like she was in an actual 'city' area of Hotland, with proper buildings and neon signage indicating there was at least some population here. Glancing around, Frisk would seemingly have a bit of trouble trying to find which way she needed to go.
"Lemme take a look above." Chara said, flying up and glancing around, before seeing where there seemed to be a rather large bit of activity; a large gate door near the northern part of the street, a large group of monsters gathered around it. "I think I see our lead! Head north, looks like there's a gate blockage going on!"
"Alright!" Frisk called back as she took off north across the street, soon skidding to a stop near the back of the group of monsters gathered in what seemed like annoyance at the front of the massive industrial gate.
She'd soon tap a monster on the shoulder, being a green flame elemental. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" The green flame girl replied, turning to Frisk. "All of a sudden the gates into the norther part of Level One just completely shut down on us! No one's been able to get between sectors for almost an hour now!"
"An hour?" Frisk said. "Oh dear... hey, wh-what if I help find what's wrong?"
"I dunno what you can do kid, but I wish you luck on it." The flame girl said, soon turning back to the crowd. Frisk would step back and study the situation.
"I heard all of that you know." Alphys said over the phone call, causing Frisk to freeze up. She completely forgot she was still on call!
"Sorry Alphys..." Frisk apologized.
"Thankfully enough I know just what you need to do in order to move on!" Alphys explained. "Can you see doors on either side of the rockfaces near the gate?"
Frisk would take a quick look on the right side, and sure enough there was a metal opening with an upside down heart symbol right above it. "I see one on the right side."
"Excellent!" Alphys said. "Head in there."
Frisk merely nodded, soon heading into the room itself where she came across a large screen, two arrow indicators and a 3x3 grid pattern; four opaque boxes at the corners and two transparent ones in the top and bottom gaps. An indicator at the left showed an icon of a bullet with a visible '2' next to it. A console with a single joystick and a button would be visible in front, and the faint churning of gears could be heard from within the walls.
"Alright!" Alphys said. "Now, you should see the door matrix in front of you, correct?"
"I think so..." Frisk said.
"Okay, take ahold of the joystick." Alphys said, Frisk doing so. "Once you've got it in your hands, move it around to get a feel for it moving the null values within the grid."
Frisk would wiggle the joystick around, seeing that if the boxes weren't already pressed up against a wall in the direction she moved it, the boxes would slide in that direction until they hit another wall.
"Alright, so I've got a box out of the way, now what do I do?" Frisk asked.
"Hit the button on the stick to fire off a data packet that'll remove the value that it hits." Alphys said. "You'll want to destroy the lock value at the top of the screen in order to disable the lock on that side, but the gate will only fully unlock if both lock values are removed."
"Got it." Frisk said, soon hitting the button as the small arrow at the bottom of the screen fired off a bullet that destroyed the one blocking box. She'd take another shot and split the arrow in half at the top of the screen as text appeared:
LOCK VALUE SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED
"Alright, one down!" Alphys said. "You still need my help for the other ones or do you have a handle on how these work now?"
"I think I've got an understanding." Frisk said. "Appreciate the help getting me started though."
"I'm here to help!" Alphys said as Frisk soon made her way to the other side of the gate... only to come across a large blue laser wall.
"Ah, that doesn't seem passable..." Alphys said. "Let me check the grid quick... so if I disable this node here..."
All at once the blue laser wall would shut down and open up the way to the other room. "There you go! I'm gonna hang up for now but I'll call back if anything comes up!"
"Thanks Alphys!" Frisk said. Wasting no time, Frisk would run into the other room, soon seeing a puzzle that was... much more complex than the first one. It was a 4x4 grid with solid boxes in positions 1, 4, 10, 12, and 13, and empty boxes filled in positions 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, and 15, with the gate lock and packet shooter in column three.
"Alright..." Frisk said, grabbing the joysick and looking over at her shot count.
Only two.
"Let's see... if I first move everything up..." Pressing the joystick forward would shove all the unblocked boxes to the top of the screen. "Then if I press to the left that will lock that box into the small alcove on the side..."
"Then simply pull back down and shove one of the other boxes into the other left side alcove, then it'll be one shot to break the first box, then a second to disable the lock mechanism." Chara said.
"You've done these before?" Frisk asked.
"It's basic sliding puzzle logic." Chara responded. "This isn't that hard of a concept to grasp."
Frisk shrugged, finishing up the puzzle as the text popped up onto the screen of the disabled lock. All at once a rumbling would occur, causing Frisk and Chara to exit the room and look out to see the gate was opening, the residents starting to pile through it as the way through to the northern sector was now finally free.
Frisk, taking a deep breath, would follow through by the group of monsters as she found herself on the other side, more bustling wall buildings as well as walkways above. Most notable being the absolutely massive mechanical structure stretching all the way towards the ceiling, almost letting out a glow of cyan against the backdrop of orange heat, piping and wires coming off of it and extending to nearly all points in the cavern. The several rock floors above having hanging structures and walkways, the megma still pouring down from above like a river of molten fondue, only much, much deadlier.
"Looks like I see where we need to go." Chara said, shaking Frisk's shoulder. "You see that tube over there?"
Frisk would over to see a wide vertical tube extending upwards into the ceiling of the next rocky floor. "That?" She asked.
"Bet that's our elevator." Chara said. "Let's get going." She'd then start flying towards the elevator itself.
"Hey, w-wait!" Frisk called, soon hopping onto a steam vent and launching her to another and another before she lands on an upper catwalk, soon following after Chara through another large building...
The lights were out, and soon enough the door shut behind her, trapping her in the inky black.
"Chara?!" Frisk called out. "Chara!"
"Over here." Chara soon responded, reappearing next to Frisk. "I thought you could keep up with me."
"You know I can't fly!" Frisk argued before her cellphone started buzzing again. Frisk would check; it's Alphys. She'd accept the call.
"Hey, I think I lost you on visuals after you went through the gate, where are you right now?" Alphys asked.
"Some sort of dark room? On the path to the elevator?" Frisk answered.
"I might know where that is. Let me just throw the light node there and get a visual..." Alphys said. Soon enough the lights would flash on...
...it was a kitchen set inside a studio?
"Oh no." Alphys' voice merely muttered as soon enough the metal form of Mettaton popped up from behind the counter, now wearing a baker's hat and apron.
"WELCOME ABOARD LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Mettaton announces as a studio audience applause track plays. "ACCORDING TO OUR SCHEDULE IT'S TIME FOR OUR PREMIERE COOKING SHOW OF THE ENTIRE UNDERGROUND! IT'S TIME FOR..."
A large decorated sign with the words 'COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT' was lowered from the ceiling, glitter effects making it sparkle as Mettaton approached Frisk.
"AND WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?" Mettaton said. "WHY, IT APPEARS TO BE NONE OTHER THAN OUR SPECIAL GUEST COOKING ASSISTANT FOR THIS EPISODE! MOST OF YOU MIGHT REMEMBER OUR LITTLE FRISKY BITS HERE FROM THE EARLIER EPISODE OF 'MEDDLE CRUSHER' AND NOW SHE'S HERE TO ASSIST IN MY CULINARY EXPERTISE!"
Frisk sweatdropped as Mettaton pushed her over to the counter, soon wheeling beside to continue talking.
"IT'S TIME TO INTRODUCE OUR SPECIAL RECIPE FOR TODAY!" Mettaton said, twirling on his wheel. "WE'LL BE PREPARING A DELICIOUS MONSTER CAKE, PERFECT FOR THE STAY-AT-HOME MOM-STER!"
Frisk internally groaned at the pun.
"NOW THEN, FOR MAKING OUR BASE BATTER WE'LL BE USING FOR THE CAKE, WE'LL NEED THE INGREDIENTS PROPER BEFORE WE START!" Mettaton said before turning to the human. "DARLING, WOULD YOU BE A SWEET AND GRAB THOSE FOR ME? WE'LL BE NEEDING THE SUGAR, MILK, EGGS AND BUTTER!"
Frisk merely nodded as she went to go grab the ingredients.
"NOW BEAUTIES, WHILE SHE'S GRABBING SOEM OF THE INGREDIENTS, LET'S GET STARTED ON THE OTHER PARTS SHALL WE?" Mettaton said, wheeling over to the oven. "FIRST, PREHEAT YOUR OVENS TO APROXIMATELY 350 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, WE WANT THE OVEN TO BE NICE AND TOASTY BY THE TIME WE'RE READY TO START THE BAKING PROCESS!"
He would then pull out a pan, bag of flour and a bottle of oil as Frisk first came back with the bag of sugar and set it on the counter. "Got the sugar!"
"AH, EXCELLENT! WE'LL NEED THAT FOR OUR FIRST MIXING STEP SO BE A DARLING AND GRAB THE BUTTER NEXT WOULD YOU?" Mettaton said, before turning back to the camera as Frisk went to the fridge. "NOW, WHILE THE OVEN IS CURRENTLY IN PRE-HEAT, YOU'LL WANT TO TAKE A CAKEPAN AROUND ROUGHLY TWELVE INCHES IN DIAMATER AND LIGHTLY OIL IT BEFORE FLOURING. THIS IS TO ENSURE THAT YOUR CAKE WILL NOT STICK TO THE PAN AND CREATE NOTHING MORE THAN A MESS TO TRY AND SCRAPE OUT. ALTERNATIVELY YOU COULD USE A BAKING SHEET BUT THIS IS JUST FASTER AND WILL CREATE A CLEANER, SMOOTHER CAKE."
Frisk at that point would come back with two sticks of butter and a gallon of milk.
"AH, EXCELLENT!" Mettaton said, soon taking one of the sticks of butter and breaking it in half, dropping half into a mixing bowl before grabbing the sugar. "NOW, AFTER ADDING A HALF-CUP OF BUTTER, ADD IN THREE CUPS OF SUGAR!" Mettaton added, soon adding the cups of sugar. "AFTER THAT, STIR FIRMLY UNTIL THE MIXTURE IN THE BOWL IS WELL BLENDED AND READY FOR THE NEXT INGREDIENT!"
Frisk would come back with the carton of eggs as Mettaton would grab a few. "NEXT! ADD THREE WHOLE EGGS AND TWO EGGS AS JUST YOLKS TO THE MIXTURE, THEN STIR UNTIL THE MIXTURE IS LIGHT AND FLUFFY." Mettaton would do so, then pull out a small bottle and a measurement spoon. "THEN FOR THE EXTRA FLAVORING, SPRINKLE IN TWO TEASPOONS OF VANILLA EXTRACT, THEN STIR UNTIL THE EXTRACT IS EVENLY MIXED THROUGHOUT THE BATTER."
Frisk would shuffle a bit as Chara floated away to watch from a distance. Something seemed... off.
"NOW... OH MY!" Mettaton exclaimed. "WAIT JUST A MAGNIFICENT MOMENT! HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT?!"
"Oh?" Frisk asked. "What are we missing?"
"QUITE SIMPLE DARLING!" Mettaton said, soon having all the pixels on his 'face' turn red as he pulled out a very pink chainsaw from underneath the counter. "A HUMAN SOUL!"
Frisk screamed in terror as Mettaton soon started chasing her around the set with the chainsaw, occasionally taking a swing that was... nowhere near her at all. Chara was trying to hold in her laughter a bit; despite the fact that Frisk was clearly in present danger, the physical image of being chased by a chainsaw-wielding metal box was enough for her to lose seriousness in the entire situation and laugh.
Soon enough Frisk would trip and faceplant on the floor before flipping onto her back, Mettaton on the approach...
Then a phone would ring as both of them stopped, Mettaton rolling over to the one on set and putting it on speakerphone.
"HELLO?" Mettaton said. "WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SHOW HERE..."
"Hold on a second!" Alphys yelled. "You can't use a human Soul in the recipe! Couldn't you make a substitution?"
"OH?" Mettaton said. "WHY NOT?"
"Well, what if the monster is vegan?" Alphys asked.
"...VEGAN."
"Y-yes, well-"
"THAT'S A BRILLIANT IDEA ALPHYS!" Mettaton said, clapping as another studio audience applause track plays. "ACTUALLY, I HAPPEN TO HAVE AN OPTION RIGHT HERE! MTT-BRAND ALWAYS-CONVENIENT HUMAN-SOUL-FLAVOR-SUBSTITUTE! (NOW IN CINNAMON FLAVOR) A CAN OF WHICH..." He exclaimed, soon pointing to a small countertop with a can perched on it. "IS JUST OVER ON THAT COUNTER! WELL, DARLING? WHY DON'T YOU GO GET IT?"
Frisk took a deep breath and walked over to the other counter-
-KA-CHUNK-
and would stumble backwards as the counter shot skyward, extending higher and higher in this seemingly large room.
"BY THE BY, WE'RE RUNNING A RATHER STRICT SCHEDULE TODAY DARLING." Mettaton said, rolling up. "SO IF YOU CAN'T GET THE CAN WITHIN THE NEXT ONE MINUTE, WE'RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN! SO BETTER GET CLIMBIN' IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOURSELF LIVING!" Mettaton would then seemingly be pulled up by stage wires as he ascended out of camera frame, Alphys soon ringing in.
"There's no way you'll be able to climb up that thing normally in time!" Alphys said. "Alright, thankfully I have a preventative measure for this. You holding your phone?"
"One sec-" Frisk said, pulling out her phone. "Alright, what do I do?"
"Navigate the apps menu until you see one that says 'Rock-it', and push that!" Alphys said.
Frisk would quickly scroll through the list of apps before she found said 'Rock-it' app and hit it. Suddenly her phone began to vibrate as she dropped it from her hand, the handheld called soon transforming outwards into a fully-fledged rocket pack, complete with twin handles for grabbing.
"Say hello to the Thermal Thruster!" Alphys said. "Quick, put it on and go after that can! You should have enough fuel to make it to the top!"
Frisk would quickly put on the jetpack and began her upwards ascent, soon shooting higher and higher up the counterfront, Chara soon flying in right after her.
"Alright, I'll admit." Chara said. "This is pretty kickass."
Frisk smiled, soon twirling around the counter as if she was trying to show off.
"Alright hotshot, let's not try to get TOO overconfident here." Chara chuckled, before noticing the flying form of Mettaton. "Heads up! Bogey at three o'clock!"
"Wuh-oh." Frisk said, noticing Mettaton flying in and dumping... eggs at her. Frisk would cartwheel out of the way as she made her way further and further up. Mettaton would be coming flying by again with another pass, this time throwing the sugar into the air like a sort of fine misty wall... but that didn't deter Frisk as she powered through the gaps, wrapping around the other side to try and lose the robot.
"He's persistent..." Frisk muttered to herself as soon a torrent of milk came pouring in her direction. Frisk would blast off to the side before shooting straight up in one final burst...
...and barely grab the can with her right hand. "GOT IT!" She exclaimed, soon flying back down and sliding across the set, can in-hand.
"MARVELOUS, SIMPLY MARVELOUS!" Mettaton said, clapping. "WELL DONE DARLING, LOOKS LIKE WE CAN PROCEED WITH THE RECIPE USING THE SUBSTITUTION!"
"NOW, COMBINE TWO AND A HALF CUPS OF FLOUR, ONE AND A HALF CUPS OF THE SOUL SUBSTITUTION, TWO TABLESPOONS OF SALT AND TWO TEASPOONS OF BAKING POWDER INTO A SEPARATE BOWL, THEN STIR THE MIXTURE BEFORE ADDING IT TO THE MAIN MIX!" Mettaton said, mixing the ingredients together before pouring it into a cakepan. "NOW, THE OVEN SHOULD BE PREHEATED, SO WE'LL BE PUTTING THE CAKE IN FOR ABOUT AN HOUR." He'd roll over and put the cake in, setting the timer for an hour.
"NOW, OBVIOUSLY DARLINGS, OUR SHOW DOESN'T RUN FOR THAT LONG." Mettaton said to the camera. "IN FACT, WE'RE ALMOST REACHING THE TIME LIMIT FOR THE SHOW RIGHT NOW, SO BEFORE WE GO, LET'S BRING OUT THE FINISHED PRODUCT OF WHAT YOUR CAKE SHOULD LOOK LIKE!" Mettaton would then wheel over to another cabinet and pull out a cake, finely decorated with buttercreme icing. "OF COURSE, A GOOD HOST ALWAYS PREPARES THE DISH IN ADVANCE IN CASE A SCENARIO LIKE THIS HAPPENS! FRISKY DARLING, CARE FOR A SLICE?"
Frisk would merely nod, Mettaton cutting a slice out and handing it to Frisk on a plate with a fork. Frisk would take a bite...
...and her eyes lit up as she was almost star-struck by the flavor.
"WE HAVE A WINNING RECIPE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Mettaton said, soon waving to the crowd. "YOU'VE SEEN IT HERE FIRST FOLKS, MONSTER-CREATED, HUMAN APPROVED!" He'd then check his non-existent watch. "AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON! WE'RE OUT OF TIME FOR TODAY DARLINGS, BUT TUNE IN NEXT WEEK WHEN OUR NEXT SPECIAL GUEST WILL HELP US WITH ANOTHER SPECIALY RECIPE: OAKEN CASK SPAGHETTI! UNTIL NEXT TIME DARLINGS, STAY CLASSY!" Mettaton would leap back before rocketing through the ceiling once again, an "OFF AIR" sign showing the cameras had stopped rolling.
"Well, I'll admit, that detour was mildly entertaining." Chara chuckled as she floated over to Frisk. "Your little skit with the chainsaw chase was pretty funny."
"You were laughing?!" Frisk said, seemingly upset.
"What? It was clear you were never in any real danger from him." Chara said as the two left the studio on the other side. "He couldn't aim his swings for beans!"
"...huh." Frisk said, thinking. "That... does seem odd." She spoke, soon walking along the pathway they were on, the large mechanical structure that made up the entire center of the Underground just visible from their path. Another Save Point would be visible on the left of the path, Frisk walking up and interacting with it.
Frisk LV1 EXLV5 64:27
Hotland - CORE View
File Saved.
"Alright, one floor down..." Chara said, soon noticing the path ahead. "Only... two more..."
"I-Is something wrong Chara?" Frisk asked.
"...we've got company." Chara said, pointing ahead and indicating to the glitching pathway ahead. Frisk swallowed hard as she pulled the stick out of her back, holding it tightly.
Soon enough the glitching worsened before a corrupted rift tore itself open and a figure collapsed itself out of it, the floor remaining glitchy around it as it slowly shambled to its feet, hunched over in an awkward back-broken position, its left hand gripping its head in almost a pained way as it's right hand was holding something... that could only be described as a head. A viscous black liquid dripped down from the creature's head as it shambled towards Frisk and Chara.
Frisk shuddered a bit as she gripped tightly to her stick. "W-what... is that..."
The creature then spoke, seemingly its word choking on themselves...
"Alphy$ m1ghT w0rk fAsT3R. buT Th3 0ld R0yAl $c13nt1$t, D0ct0R W.D. GA$t3R?" It choked out. "0n3 dAy, h3 vAN1$h3d w1TH0ut trAc3. TH3y sAY h1$ c0n$c10u$N3$$ wAs d1siNT3gRAt3d cr0ss t1m3 nd SpAc3..." The creature would then shake a bit, pained laughs coming out of what could only be assumed was its mouth underneath the viscous black liquid. "...h0w caN 1 b3 S0 sUR3 y0u m1ghT Ask? W3LL..." It said, holding out the arm with the head. "I hAv3 p13c3 oF h1M... r1GHt... h3Re..."
The battle sequence would initiate without warning!
*HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Frisk's grip faltered as she stared down the creature, it's shambling figure looking like it was going to collapse in on itself at any moment. As her hands trembled she slowly reached over and pressed the ACT button.
ACT - *Check
*HHHHHHHHHH - HP 1700 ATK 66 DEF 66
*It won't listen to MERCY.
Frisk swallowed hard. She knew what that meant.
The creature would soon begin its assault by throwing unknown symbols at Frisk, the human struggling to dodge as she tried to keep a level head. Soon enough her turn came back up as she selected the FIGHT option.
The timing bar came up as she waited...
Dead center.
Frisk swing her stick as hard as she could into the monster, a glaring '157' appearing over the monster as Frisk leapt back, the creature's next attack soon throwing the head at Frisk, spinning as it spat out a viscous black liquid, staining the ground as Frisk dived to the side... but still taking a hit from the extra projectiles.
30/35 - 27/35
Frisk would stumble back to her feet, hitting the FIGHT option once again. The bar would slide across the timing bar...
Off slightly to the left.
'152'
Frisk would then be knocked backwards as she landed on her back, a torrent of black liquid drenching her as she screamed in pain.
27/35 - 20/35
Frisk would struggle to get back to her feet as she selected FIGHT again. The timing bar came up...
Dead Center.
Something felt different in Frisk's body as she felt the stick swing in her hands, her DT spiking...
The stick would slam hard into the creature, it letting out a dial-up screech as a hard flashing '629' flashed above it. Growling in pain it would soon grab Frisk by the neck and slam her into the ground repeatedly, causing her to groan in pain.
20/35 - 17/35
17/35 - 14/35
14/35 - 11/35
The creature would then throw Frisk back towards the other end, causing her to skid across her face on the ground.
11/35 - 4/35
"Nnngggh..." Frisk moaned, shakily getting to her feet as she turned to to the creature, struggling to keep her posture. Arm shaking, she'd reach to the ITEM button and grab the leftover Crabapple, downing it fast.
4/35 - 22/35
As soon as she finished the Crabapple the area around her would distort as she became disoriented, soon getting pelted with more and more symbols as she staggered back.
22/35 - 11/35
"I-I'm not sure how much longer..." Frisk coughed. "N-no... no..."
"Frisk, you're not gonna survive this if we keep going like this." Chara said. "We need to finish this off, NOW!"
"I-I can't do this alone!" Frisk said. "I-I'm gonna drop!"
"Damnit..." Chara said. "Shit shit shit... gah, alright, just hold still, I'll give you a power boost!"
"Wh-wha-" Frisk said, before Chara grabbed her shoulders. Frisk suddenly felt her whole body burning as she felt DT rushing through her, the sienna brown locks of her hair glowing red as she felt her power growing. "Wh-what are you doing?!"
"I'm increasing your Attack power! Strike that thing down now before it kills you!" Chara yelled.
Frisk scrambled to select FIGHT as the timing bar came back up again.
Dead center.
Frisk swing fast and hard at the creature...
'1304'
The creature gurgled in pain and roared before ultimately disintegrating in on itself, soon falling to pieces into a puddle of its own viscous black liquid, the corruption around them beginning to fade away...
*YOU WON!
*You gained 0 EXP, 1000 Exp. Points and 0 G.
*Your Level increased!
Frisk collapsed to her knees, panting heavily as Chara let go of her, the sienna brown of Frisk's hair fading back in from the DT red. The corruption ahead of them would fizzle out and fade from existence, leaving only the path they were originally taking to the elevator.
Slowly, Frisk got to her feet as Chara checked Frisk's stats.
Frisk
LV 1
EXLV6
HP 16/40
ATK 26 (33)_EXP: 0
DEF 21 (21)_NEXT: 10
MAG 27_ EXP. PNT: 4550
SPD 22_NEXT EXLV: 3250
WEAPON: Rigid Stick
ARMOR: Nothing
GOLD: 132
"N-next time..." Frisk said, getting to her feet. "Warn me before you do that."
"...sorry." Chara said, a disheartened look on her face. "Spur of the moment, I didn't want to risk you getting hurt more."
"..." Frisk would suddenly hug Chara, catching her off guard.
Chara would be silent a moment before hugging Frisk back, sighing.
'I can't risk losing you...' Chara thought. 'Not like how I lost him...'
After a moment of silence the hug was broken, and the two continued on to the elevator and headed for the second floor...
CHAPTER 7 FIN