A lovely, if semi amusing, tune filled the room as Mettaton began to sing.
"OH MY LOVE... PLEASE RUN AWAY... MONSTER KING... FORBIDS YOUR STAY..."
"Wow. Ok." Peter wasn't sure where to go with this, but Mettaton was clearly on a roll.
"HUMAN MUST... LIVE FAR APART... EVEN IF... IT BREAKS MY HEART..."
An opera soloist began to sing in the background. "THEY'LL PUT YOU... IN THE DUNGEON... IT'LL SUCK... AND-THEN YOU'LL DIE A-LOT!"
Mettaton began to file his metal hands, even though they were covered by a glove. "REALLY SAD... YOU'RE GONNA DIE... CRY CRY CRY... SO SAD IT'S HAPPENING..."
Mettaton dabbed his nonexistent cheek and offered a sniff. "SO SAD." He overacted. "SO SAD THAT YOU ARE GOING TO THE DUNGEON."
"Tis so passing sad, I suppose I have no choice?" Peter sing-songed.
Mettaton shook his head. "NOPE. WELL, TOODLES!"
Pressing a button on a remote, he dropped Peter through the stage and onto a platform below. Peter's spider-sense went off a few seconds later.
"Real helpful." He muttered.
"OH NO! WHATEVER SHALL I DO!" Mettaton continued posing dramatically. "MY LOVE HAS BEEN CAST AWAY INTO THE DUNGEON. A DUNGEON WITH A PUZZLE SO DASTARDLY, MY PARAMOUR WILL SURELY PERISH!"
"Got a dictionary with that fancy dress, or are you just hooked up to the net?" Peter asked.
"NOW THAT'S JUST HURTFUL." Mettaton replied. "I GOT THE DRESS FROM A THRIFT STORE." He pointed at the puzzle. "BEHOLD! OH HEAVENS HAVE MERCY! THE HORRIBLE COLORED TILE MAZE!"
Peter scratched his head.
"Um... didn't Papyrus try to use this on us?" Chara asked.
"OH THAT'S RIGHT!" Mettaton replied. "WE SAW THIS PUZZLE BEFORE! SO YOU DON'T NEED A REFRESHER ON THE RULES. OUR SHOW IS ON A TIGHT SCHEDULE, AFTER ALL!" He began to fly away, but returned quickly. "OH, AND YOU'D BETTER HURRY. BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T GET THROUGH IN 30 SECONDS..." A pillar of fire appeared behind Peter. "I'M AFRAID YOU'LL BE INCINERATED BY THESE JETS OF FIRE!" He began to laugh uncontrollably. "MY POOR LOVE! I'M SO FILLED GRIEF, I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING!"
Peter broke into a run as the timer started. The puzzle was too long to leap over, and he had no surfaces to web to, so he decided the best course of action was to try and beat the maze. Strangely, nothing happened when he stepped on the green tiles, but despite his best effort, all he could do was manage to get to the middle by the time the timer went off.
"OOOOH, I'M SO SORRY!" Mettaton flew back into view. "LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE OUT OF TIME!"
The fire advanced, and Peter looked about for a way out.
"HERE COME THE FLAMES, DARLING!" Mettaton exclaimed.
The flame advanced.
"THEY'RE CLOSING IN!" He yelled.
The flames got dramatically close, but Peter's spider-sense wasn't going off, so he relaxed.
"GETTING! CLOSER! OH MY!" Mettaton was beginning to loose steam.
The flames advanced suuuuuuuuuper slowly.
"ANY MINUTE NOW!"
The flames didn't advance any further.
Mettaton looked unsurprised, but also began to twiddle his thumbs. "COUGH COUGH. AHEM. I SAID. ANY. MINUTE. NOW."
Peter and Chara exchanged glances just as the phone rang. It was Alphys.
"Watch out! I'll save you!" She exclaimed. "I'm hacking into the firewall right now!"
The flames shut off.
"Like clockwork..." Chara mused.
"OH NO!" Mettaton posed dramatically. "HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? FOILED AGAIN BY THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS!" Mettaton continued posing. " Mettaton waited a moment. "EHEM, THA-"
"That's right!" Alphys continued. "Come on, Mettaton, give up already! You'll never be able to defeat us... Not as long as we work together! Your puzzle's over... now go home and leave us alone!"
Chara said something, but Mettaton was too loud for Peter to hear her. "PUZZLE? OVER?" He laughed. "ALPHYS. DARLING, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT...? DID YOU FORGET WHAT THE GREEN TILES DO?"
"Summon a monster..." Peter put two and two together. "Oh you've gotta be kidding."
"NO INDEED!" Exclaimed Mettaton. "THEY MADE A SOUND, AND NOW YOU MUST FIGHT A MONSTER... AND DARLING, THAT MONSTER... IS ME!"
"Called it." Chara sighed as a FIGHT began.
"Got any useful info?" Peter asked.
"His metal body is STILL invulnerable, if that's what you mean." Chara stuck her tongue out.
"YEP! NOW THIS IS IT DARLING! SAY GOODBYE!" Mettaton went to attack, but Peter's phone rang. "OH. IS THAT YOUR PHONE. YOU'D BETTER ANSWER THAT!"
Peter picked up. "Alphys, let me guess, you've got a gadget tailor made to this situation?"
"Uhhh... Yeah? You see the yellow button? Press it!"
Peter shrugged and pressed the yellow button on his phone. Suddenly, his SOUL glowed, flipped upside-down, and became bright yellow!
"OH! THAT YELLOW GLOW...!" Mettaton exclaimed.
"Now make a shooting motion!" Alphys yelled.
Peter did so, and suddenly his heart began to shoot magical pellets back at Mettaton!
"OOOH!" Mettaton yelled. "OOOOOOOOOOH! YOU'VE DEFEATED ME!" He posed dramatically. "HOW CAN THIS BE, YOU WERE STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT, ETC, ETC. WHATEVEeeeeerrrrrr..." He flew away.
Alphys called again. "L-looks like you beat him! Y-you did a really great job out there."
"You weren't so bad yourself..." Peter replied absentmindedly. He had a hand on his chin and seemed deep in thought.
"Oh, well I mean... You were the one doing everything cool! I just wrote some silly programs for your phone."
"That seemed custom built to deal with whatever Mettaton threw at us." Chara noted, arms crossed and eyebrows narrowed.
"... umm, h-hey, this might sound strange, but... c-can I tell you something? B-before I met you, I d-didn't really... I didn't really like myself very much. For a long time, I f-felt like a total mess-up. L-like I couldn't do a-anything w-without... w-without ending up letting everyone down. B-but! Guiding you has made me feel... A lot better about myself. So... thanks for letting me help you."
Peter shook himself back to reality. "You're welcome! I'm, uh, really glad I was able to help you with that. You seem like you could use a friend."
"Aw, geez. Uhh, anyway, we're almost to the Core. It's just past MTT Resort. Come on! Let's finish this!"
As she hung up, Chara turned to Peter. "Maybe I misjudged her a bit. She does seem like she was wanting to help. Still, something is up."
Peter nodded. "And MTT Resort? I don't like the sound of that. Something seems fishy."
As Peter walked up the path to the resort, he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised to see Sans standing in front of the Hotel.
"Hi Sans!" Peter waved. "What's up?"
"the rocky ceiling above us." Sans replied with a wink. "a little bird told me you were going to the core. how about grabbing some dinner with me first?"
"Sure! I'm kinda in a rush, but I haven't eaten for..." Peter thought. "A bit of time. Soon I'll be like you, all bones!"
Sans laughed. "great." He winked. "thanks for treating me. follow me. i know a shortcut."
He walked near the wall of the building, which seemed counter-intuitive, but this was Sans after all, so Peter followed him. Next thing he knew, they were sitting at a fancy table, presumably inside the resort. Lonely piano music filtered through the air as Peter adjusted to his surroundings.
"well, here we are." Sans spoke. "so."
"So." Peter replied. "How've you been?"
Sans shrugged. "business has been good. undyne and papyrus definitely make a pair, that's for sure. nothing much else. you?"
"I think I'm going to have to fight a killer robot." Peter sighed. "It is a Thursday. Though I haven't fought a robot personally before this whole thing."
Sans nodded. "your journey's almost over, huh? you must really wanna go home."
Peter nodded.
"hey. i know the feeling, buddo." Sans offered. "though... maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you."
"How so?"
"down here, you've already got food, drink, friends..." Sans drifted off, his glowing eyesockets seeming to hint at a past, a past that he could never see again. "is what you have to do... really worth it?"
"I have to convince Asgore to let me past, and somehow survive a TV show host robot." Peter replied. "And I have a responsibility to my home and the people of New York. That's where I'm from. I can't leave them in the lurch. Who knows what's happened since I've been gone..."
Sans sighed. "ah, forget it. i get ya, kid. and i'm rootin for ya. that kind of determination, will to follow through... well, i'd have given up by now, that's for sure."
There was silence for a bit.
"hey. let me tell you a story." Sans said. "so i'm a sentry in snowdin forest, right? i sit out there and watch for humans. it's kind of boring. fortunately, deep in the forest... there's this HUGE locked door."
"The door to the Ruins." Peter replied.
"yeah. the door to the ruins of home." Sans chuckled. "seems ironic, home in ruins. but i'm getting off topic. anyway, the door is perfect for practicing knock knock jokes. so one day, i'm KNOCKING 'em out, like usual. i knock on the door and say "knock knock." and suddenly, from the other side... i hear a woman's voice."
Sans cleared his throat, and in a passable Toriel voice, continued. ""who is there?""
Peter and Chara exchanged looks.
"so, naturally, I respond: "dishes." "dishes who?", she says. "dishes a very bad joke.""
Peter snickered.
"real knockout, amirite?" Sans winked. "she thought it was funny too. like it's the best joke she's heard in... well, a hundered years, i'd guess. so I keep 'em coming, and she keeps laughing."
"Mrs. Mom lady always was a sucker for jokes." Chara noted.
"she's the best audience i've ever had. then after a dozen of 'em, SHE knocks and says... "Knock knock!" i say, "whos there?" "old lady!" "old lady who?" "oh! I did not know you could yodel!""
The three of them burst out laughing.
"nedless to say, this woman was extremely good." Sans wheezed. "we kept telling each other jokes for hours. eventually, i had to leave. papyrus gets kind of cranky without his bedtime story. but she told me to come by again, and so i did. then i did again. and again. it's a thing now. telling bad jokes through the door. it rules."
Sans sighed. "... one day, though, i noticed she wasn't laughing very much. i asked her what was up. then she told me something strange. "if a human ever comes through this door... could you please, please promise something? watch over them, and protect them, will you not?""
Sans sunk into his chair. "now, i hate making promises. and this woman, i don't even know her name. but... someone who sincerely likes bad jokes... has an integrity you can't say "no" to."
He noticed Peter had his mouth agape, and his eyes were deep in thought. "do you get what i'm saying? that promise i made to her... you know what would have happened if she hadn't said anything? that first time we met... before I even knew your name. Do you know... What would have happened?"
His eyes went black. With a literal dead-eyed stare, he gazed at Peter. "... You'd be dead where you stood."
Peter sat back. No spider-sense, but he was immediately on guard. "What do you mean... Sans?"
Sans chuckled. His eyes were back. "hey, lighten up, bucko! I'm just messing with you. besides, having gotten to know you, even if i was being serious, i wouldn't do it now. not to mention the stellar job i've done protecting you. i mean, look at yourself. you haven't died a single time."
Peter raised an eyebrow.
"hey, what's that look supposed to mean?" Sans affected an offended expression. "am i wrong...?"
He tilted his head, curious.
"No." Peter gave him a good long look. "Not. In the slightest."
"heh." Sans got up, and began to walk away. "well, that's all. it's papyrus' bedtime, and "advanced quantum physic puzzles" ain't gonna read itself. take care of yourself, kid. 'cause someone really cares about you." He went to walk away, and paused. "my opinion though? don't forget what you're fighting for. and get a change of clothes." He winked. "you'll be on TV, after all."
Chara went around to where Sans had been sitting and sat opposite Peter. "Who'd have thought the comedian would be so... strange."
Peter shrugged. "I don't know if I can do this, Char. I'm almost done. But it feels like I have a mountain to move."
Chara stood up. "You won't do it alone. You'll have your friends."
He'd have his friends...
"A change of clothes..." Peter sat up. A thought had occurred to him. "Chara, c'mon back to the lab. I know what I gotta do. And I'm gonna need a new suit."
They took the elevators to the lab. Alphys wasn't home, but she had given permission to use the supplies around, which Peter decided to use. All the while, he thought of the people he had met along the way.
Rubber boots to absorb electricity. To make them look cool, he added detailing like Papyrus'
Purple worked well with his color scheme, and the purple material in the lab seemed to be flameproof. With bright red and royal purple, Peter put his sewing skills to the test.
Air conditioners, but white fur trim like that jacket Sans was always wearing. Perfect for temperatures ranging from Snowdin to Hotland.
Magical blue energy, crafted from the spear Undyne had tossed to him. Enough power to last several years.
Lenses made with a special material from Alphys' desk. He could see Chara through them, and she could interact with ghostly projected holograms.
And a heart-shape in the center. No more ripping feeling when his SOUL left his body.
Peter walked through Hotland, and back to the MTT resort. At the entrance, he donned the mask, and his new suit sprang to life. He gave Chara a questioning look. She nodded.
"Looks like you're ready to beat a robot and talk to a king." She confirmed with two thumbs up.
Peter pulled up his web-shooter display. "Well then... let's get to work."