The Warners, having successfully befriended Undyne, started to think that there wasn't much more they should be afraid of now that the fish knight was no longer a threat. The only thing they really had to keep an eye out for was Flowey; he was still out there stalking them. Despite this, he wasn't a big deal at the moment, for as long as they knew to continue sparing every monster they met, the chance that Flowey could overpower them the same way he did in Yakko's nightmare would be nonexistent. This was something the Warners could use to their advantage as they couldn't consider it a challenge. After all, they had a natural-born ability to get along with everyone in the Underground, even if it took a while to befriend some of them.
After walking for a while, they made it back to Hotland, where two guards stood at their post and blocked a passageway.
"Hey," said Dot, "whatcha doin'?"
"Sorry..." said the first guard. "Undyne, like, told us there was totally a human in the area. So, like, us Royal Guards are blocking off the elevators for now."
He looked up and pounded his fist against his chest.
"Ngah! Even if the elevators aren't working anyway, we'll do our best, Ms. Undyne!"
"That's nice to know," said Dot.
The second guard was silent until Dot stared at him for a while.
"...what?"
"Aren't ya gonna say anything, sweetie?"
He shook his head.
"Oh...ok."
They left and found a twinkling star on the ground, filling them with determination. Across from them sat a hooded riverperson on a canoe while there was a laboratory in front.
"Whoa," said Yakko, "would ya look at that?"
As they walked towards it, the door automatically opened.
"I guess we better go in," said Wakko.
They entered to find complete darkness. The door closed as well, so that most likely meant no turning back. However, as they continued onward, they found three large screens centered on each of their faces.
"It's...us?" said Dot.
"Well," said Yakko, "at least we know who put out all those cameras."
They shrugged it off and continued moving forward until a short lizard (or dinosaur, they couldn't tell) wearing a lab coat and glasses entered the room and turned on the lights. She didn't notice them at first, but when she turned around, she gasped, put her hands on her face, and spoke with a slightly raspy voice.
"Oh. My god. I didn't expect you to show up so soon! I haven't showered, I'm barely dressed, it's all messy, and..."
The Warners exchanged confused glances as the lizard started to calm herself down.
"Ummm...H-h-hiya! I'm Dr. Alphys. I'm Asgore's royal scientist!"
"Hi!" said all three of the Warners in unison.
"We're the Warner Brothers!" said Yakko and Wakko.
"And the Warner Sister!" said Dot.
"Y-y-you don't really need to introduce yourselves. I already know who you are."
"We get that a lot," said Yakko. "So, you're the one who set up those cameras?"
"Yeah. Actually, since you stepped out of the Ruins, I've, um...been 'observing' your journey through my console. Your fights...Your friendships...Everything!"
Alphys started to blush, but Dot took care of it.
"Don't worry about it, hon. We love the publicity!"
"I can tell, e-especially when you made those funny faces in Waterfall!"
She giggled.
"I was originally going to stop you three, but...Watching someone on a screen really makes you root for them."
"You can say that again," said Yakko.
"S-so, ahhh, now I want to help you! Using my knowledge, I can easily guide you through Hotland! I know a way right to Asgore's castle, no problem!"
"That's great!" Dot cheered.
"Lead the way!" said Wakko.
"Well, actually, umm, there's just a tiny issue."
"Probably nothin' we can't handle," said Yakko.
"Try not to get ahead of yourself, Yakko. As I was saying, a long time ago, I made a robot named Mettaton."
"Hey," said Dot, "I think that's the MTT thing I saw on Papyrus' TV! Why should we worry about a guy like that?"
"Well, I originally built him to be an entertainment robot. Uh, you know, the way you saw him: a robotic TV star. Anyway, I recently decided to make him more useful. You know, just some small practical adjustments. Like, um...Anti...anti-surface people combat features?"
Alphys started to sweat nervously.
"Oh," said Yakko, "I can see where this is going."
"Of c-course," said Alphys, "when I saw you coming, I immediately decided...I have to remove those features! Unfortunately, I may have made a teensy mistake while doing so."
"Let me guess," said Yakko, "he went haywire instead?"
"Well, um...now he's an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for surface creature blood?"
"That's what I thought," said Yakko. "Looks like we're gonna have to fight him."
"Ehehehehe...you're taking this really well."
"Of course we are!" said Yakko. "We're cartoons; we can handle stuff like this! So don't you worry about a thing, ok?"
"I-I guess you're right. But, ummm, hopefully we won't run into him!"
Almost right after she said that, a large thud was heard.
"...Did you hear something?" said Alphys.
Another thud was heard, this time being powerful enough to make the Warners and Alphys jump.
"Alphys," said Dot, "don't take it personal but I think ya jinxed us."
Five more powerful thuds had a bigger impact on them.
"What's going on?" said Wakko.
"Oh no," said Alphys.
Suddenly something crashed into the wall and the lights went out.
"OHHHH YES!"
"That's him, isn't it?" said Wakko.
"WELCOME, BEAUTIES..."
A spotlight landed on a rectangular robot holding a microphone. He didn't have any legs, but instead rolled into the scene with a wheel.
"...TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!"
Confetti fell from the ceiling and a sign that said "Game Show" appeared over Mettaton's body with two disco balls next to it.
"Not gonna lie," said Yakko, "but I didn't see this comin'."
"OH BOY! I CAN ALREADY TELL IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW! AFTER ALL, OUR LOVELY CONTESTANTS ARE STARS LIKE ME. STRAIGHT FROM THE SURFACE AND FROM THE ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL CARTOON 'ANIMANIACS', EVERYBODY GIVE A BIG HAND FOR OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANTS: YAKKO, WAKKO, AND DOT, ALSO KNOWN AS THE WARNER BROTHERS AND SISTER!"
"Finally someone down here knows about our show!" said Dot.
"Aw," said Yakko, extending his hand, "ya flatter us."
"NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, GORGEOUS?"
"Can't say we have," said Wakko.
"NO PROBLEM! IT'S SIMPLE! THERE'S ONLY ONE RULE."
His screen changed so the red pixels would reveal the number 1.
"ANSWER CORRECTLY...OR YOU DIE!"
"Wait, what?" said Dot.
All three of them were so caught up in Mettaton's surprise introduction that they forgot about Alphys' warning. Right after Dot had her reaction, the three of them found their souls activating as a stand appeared for each of them, containing a small microphone, a timer, and four buttons marked "A", "B", "C", and "D".
"LET'S START WITH AN EASY ONE!" said Mettaton, starting the quiz.
Yakko immediately pushed his "D" button before Mettaton could ask the question.
"More questions!"
"I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING YET, BUT-"
Wakko pushed his "D" button as well.
"More questions!"
Dot also pushed her "D" button.
"More questions!"'
"...AS I WAS SAYING, YOU'RE RIGHT! SOUNDS LIKE YOU GET IT!"
The Warners cheered.
"HERE'S YOUR TERRIFIC PRIZE! WHAT'S THE KING'S FULL NAME?"
Wakko pushed his "C" button.
"Asgore Dreemurr!"
"CORRECT! WHAT A TERRIFIC ANSWER! BUT ENOUGH ABOUT YOU. LET'S TALK ABOUT ME! WHAT ARE ROBOTS MADE OF?"
Dot pushed her "B" button.
"That's easy. Metal and magic!"
"TOO EASY FOR YOU, HUH? HERE'S ANOTHER EASY ONE FOR YOU! 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 AND TRAIN B IS MOVING AT 253.5MPH TOWARDS STATION A."
"What is this?" said Dot, the question being too math-y and starting to irritate her.
"I'm confused..." said Wakko, scratching his head.
"IF BOTH TRAINS DEPARTED AT 10:00AM AND IT IS NOW 10:08, HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL BOTH TRAINS PASS EACH OTHER?"
They didn't know how to answer this one, but managed to spot Alphys making the letter "D" with her hands. Yakko looked away as if he was about to get hurt and pushed his "D" button with his finger.
"Uhhhh...32.058 minutes?"
"WONDERFUL! I'M ASTOUNDED, FOLKS!"
They all let out sighs of relief.
"DON'T 'COUNT' ON YOUR VICTORY..."
Wakko managed to play the drums and accompany Mettaton's pun.
"HOW MANY FLIES ARE IN THIS JAR?"
The Warners' eyes moved quickly as they examined the jar. All three of them pushed their "A" buttons and answered the question simultaneously.
"54!"
"CORRECT! YOU'RE SO LUCKY TODAY! LET'S PLAY MEMORY GAME. WHAT MONSTER IS THIS?"
It showed half the face of a froggit. Wakko was about to slam his fist on his "A" button, but managed to catch Alphys making the letter "D" with her hands out of the glimpse of his eye. He stopped himself and changed his answer, answering triumphantly.
"You!"
Yakko and Dot felt like facepalming themselves until the photo zoomed out to show a picture of Mettaton wearing a froggit shirt.
"I'M SO FLATTERED YOU REMEMBERED!"
"Boy," Dot whispered to Yakko, "I can't believe we almost fell for that!"
"BUT CAN YOU GET THIS ONE? WOULD YOU SMOOCH A GHOST?"
Alphys had an annoyed look on her face since all the answers were "Heck Yeah". Strangely enough, the timer started counting up instead of down this time. Yakko pushed his "A" button.
"Heck yeah!"
Wakkp pushed his "B" button.
"Heck yeah!"
Dot pushed her "C" button.
"I'd rather kiss a skeleton. But that's not an answer, so heck yeah."
"GREAT ANSWERS! I LOVE THEM! EVEN THE BRUTALLY HONEST ONE."
"You're too much," said Dot.
"HERE'S A SIMPLE ONE. HOW MANY LETTERS IN THE NAME METTATON NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN"
The N's kept appearing and the numbers in the answers kept increasing; this was incredibly mind-boggling for the Warners. However, they managed to see "8" as the original number on the "C" button, so Yakko went for it.
"It's C! Just make it stop, I'm begging you!"
"OF COURSE THAT WAS EASY FOR YOU!"
"Ugh, I think that question gave me a headache."
"TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS! IN THE DATING SIMULATION VIDEO GAME 'MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE' WHAT IS MEW MEW'S FAVORITE FOOD?"
Before the answers could be revealed to the Warners, Alphys raised her hand.
"OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM!"
She blurted out the rest of the answer without stopping to take a breath.
"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..."
She realized what she just did and started sweating. Mettaton wagged his finger at the scientist and gave her a disapproving look while the Warners looked at her with wide eyes for a moment. They snickered, trying not to laugh at Alphys geeking out.
"ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS. YOU AREN'T HELPING OUR CONTESTANT, ARE YOU? OOOOOOH! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME. I'LL ASK A QUESTION...YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO!"
The Warners looked at each other deviously.
"This is gonna be good..." said Dot.
"Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?"
She moved her hands as if to tell them not to answer. This time, the timer stayed at 30 seconds and didn't count down from there. The Warners didn't really think about the answers and each chose a different one at random. Yakko pressed his "A" button, Dot pressed her "B" button, and Wakko pressed his "D" button.
"Undyne!"
"Asgore!"
"I don't know."
Mettaton decided to start with Wakko.
"CORRECT. DR. ALPHYS HAS A CRUSH ON...THE UNKNOWABLE."
Alphys glared at him.
"I'M JUST KIDDING! AS FOR YOU, YOUNG LADY..."
He looked at Dot.
"WHY WOULD SOMEONE OUTFIT AN AMUSEMENT ROBOT...WITH BRUTAL COMBAT ABILITIES?"
Dot opened her mouth to answer, but Mettaton interrupted her.
"SIMPLE. TO IMPRESS MR. ASGORE DREEMURR, OF COURSE! OR AS ALPHYS CALLS HIM...'MR. DREAMY.'"
Alphys blushed and hid her face.
"THOSE STRONG ARMS...THAT LUSTROUS BEARD...LIKE ALL THOSE WHO CREATE WEAPONS, SHE CRAVES THE TENDER EMBRACE OF A BURLY MAN. CAN SHE BE TRULY BLAMED? BUT NEVER MIND ALL THAT; IT'S IN THE PAST. ALPHYS HAS LEARNED TO MOVE ON. AND ISN'T IT OBVIOUS WHO SHE LIKES NOW? EVEN YAKKO WARNER HIMSELF FIGURED IT OUT."
Yakko realized his answer was right and pumped his fists in the air.
"Oh, yeah! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!"
"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: ONE PERCENT."
Yakko smiled smugly at his siblings for answering correctly.
"Oh, come on!" said Dot. "You chose without even thinking!"
"WELL WELL WELL. WITH DR. ALPHYS HELPING YOU...THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION! WE CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS! BUT. BUT! THIS WAS JUST THE PILOT EPISODE! NEXT UP, MORE DRAMA! MORE ROMANCE! MORE BLOODSHED! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS...!"
His arms and wheel entered his rectangular body and he blasted off into the air as the stools disappeared and the Warners waved.
"Bye, Mettaton!" said Wakko.
"See ya later!" said Dot.
The lights went back to normal.
"...Well that was certainly something," said Alphys.
"Yeah," said Yakko, "it was different than what we expected. Can't wait to see what he has in store next time."
"Sorry he had to humiliate you like that," said Wakko, patting Alphys on the back.
"I-it's ok. He wasn't s-supposed to ask that one..."
"We should get goin'," said Dot.
"Yeah," said Yakko. "If ya need anything, just find us on that screen of yours, ok?"
They were about to exit the lab when Alphys stopped them.
"Wait, wait!"
"That was quick," said Yakko.
Alphys walked up to them.
"Let me give you my ph-phone number!"
"Faboo!" said Wakko.
"Even better," said Dot.
"Th-then...m-maybe...If you need help, I could..."
"Sounds good with us," said Yakko.
"Wh...why is your wifi down!? You can only get calls and texts on these things!"
Yakko shrugged.
"Guess they're not used to being underground."
"W-wait a second, please! Can I upgrade them for you?"
"Sure!" said Dot. "It'd be nice to have the internet back."
Alphys took their cell phones and upgraded them, then handed them back to the Warners.
"All done! They can do items, they have key chains...I even signed you three up for the underground's No. 1 social network! Now we're officially friends!"
"Alright!" said all three Warners.
"Thanks, Alphys!" said Wakko.
"No problem!" said Alphys. "Glad I could help! Also, I'm a big fan of your show. I used to watch it as much as my favorite anime!"
"Really?" said Dot. "Ya flatter us, Alphys. We're not really well-known down here, though."
"I-it used to be popular in the underground until it got taken off the air."
"Oh," said Yakko. "I guess that makes sense; the same thing happened on the surface too."
"You know, you three just might ani-make it out of here! Ehehehe...hehe..."
Yakko and Dot chuckled while Wakko played the drums for Alphys.
"Good one," said Dot.
Alphys started sweating and got silent for a moment, not knowing what else to say.
"What's the matter?" said Yakko. "Getting cold feet again?"
"I'm going to the bathroom."
She ran away and entered an elevator-like door with a bathroom sign next to it.
"Let's explore this place for a bit," said Yakko.
The hole in the wall wasn't too wide, since Mettaton was probably waiting behind there to make his entrance. Looking at all the furniture they missed in the dark, they found a half-full bag of dog food, a fridge filled with instant noodles and soda, them taking a package of noodles, a desk with a beat-up figurine of a female human with cat ears, a computer accessing some kind of puzzle in Snowdin, and many notes to something written all in chicken scratch, probably a walkthrough to a game.
"Hey," said Wakko, "aren't we in one right now?"
"She knows," said Yakko. "We better run."
They headed for the door, but stopped.
"But first, we're going upstairs!" said Yakko.
They got onto the escalator and found many bookshelves. One had very dusty scientific books. The next one was labeled "Human History". Yakko grabbed one and started reading.
"Hey sibs, check this out!"
"Is that a giant alien fighting an alien princess?" said Dot.
"Helloooooo nurse!" said Yakko and Wakko.
"It's not even accurate," said Yakko, "but it's a pretty good comic book. I'll ask Alphys if I can borrow it later."
The third bookshelf had various VHSes and DVDs. They were mostly anime, but some happened to be normal cartoons, all labeled "Human History".
"Whoa," said Yakko, taking out five DVD cases, "she's got all four volumes of us and our movie!"
"She really wasn't joking," said Dot, examining them closely.
"How'd she even get them?" said Wakko.
"They probably fell down the mountain," said Yakko.
"Can't believe she hasn't shown the others," said Dot.
"Either way," said Yakko, "I kinda take it as a complement to be labeled 'Human History'. We're way more interesting than the real deal, but the monsters don't know that."
They put the DVDs back, Wakko grabbing another comic book from the next shelf.
"What does that one say?" said Yakko.
"Two chefs are flinging energy pancakes at each other."
His mouth started to water.
"Looks like it's right up your alley!" said Yakko.
"How about this one?" said Dot, taking a comic book from the last shelf as Wakko put his away. "Yeesh, that android needs a makeover!"
"Is that a piece of toast in his mouth?" said Wakko.
"Looks like he's late for school...now that's accurate!" said Yakko.
They put the book away. Moving on, there was a strange machine with pink goop dripping from it.
"Wonder what that's for," said Wakko.
"Her work table's pretty dusty," said Dot.
She moved her hand across it to get rid of the excessive dust. After that, she examined her wardrobe. It was filled with dirty lab coats and a clean dress.
"She's got mail," said Yakko. "From Froggit, Snowy, Doggo..."
"What do they want from her?" said Wakko.
"No clue," said Yakko.
They were next to a lamp with pink fish on a blue lampshade, but no light bulb. It came off as weird to the Warners.
"Look at this incredible invention!" said Yakko. "This bed seems to fold into an extremely-easy-to-draw box when no one's using it."
"A promo poster for Mettaton's TV premiere?" said Dot, looking at the wall. "Looks like something Papyrus would like."
On the flap, it said "Thank you for making my dreams come true." The Warners could tell it was from Mettaton to Alphys and thought it was sweet of him.
"Well," said Dot, "we've seen everything."
They got back onto the escalator and returned to the first floor; during that trip, they took some time to make their profiles for the social network, which was known as the UnderNet. Yakko was TheYakker14, Wakko was HungryToon11, and Dot was UltimateCutiePie. They also mentioned their celebrity status, despite the fact that Mettaton's TV show already made it known and gave them many followers as a result, including Papyrus, Sans, and Undyne. But one thing they didn't quite know for sure was if the monsters followed them just because Mettaton said they were celebrities or if they suddenly remembered the show as a whole and did it due to being fans. However, the Warners didn't think it was very important at the moment. They put their phones away once they reached the end of Alphys' lab.
"Come on," said Yakko, "time to explore Hotland."
As they left through the door, Alphys updated her status.
*just realized i didn't watch undyne fight the warners. v.v
A few minutes later, she did it again.
*well i know she's unbeatable i'll ask her abt it later ^.^
Only a few seconds later, with the Warners barely in Hotland, she updated yet again.
*for now i gotta call up the toons and guide them =^.^=
They paused for a moment.
"Ok," said Yakko, "I think she stopped."
They continued onward, wondering what the puzzles would be like in Hotland. That and Alphys being nice enough to guide them to Asgore's castle filled them with determination.
A/N: Hello, everyone. I just want to make a quick note about why I brought up Animaniacs being known in the Underground in case you start asking questions in the reviews; I thought it would be interesting for Animaniacs to be one of the cartoons/anime Alphys has in her bookshelves. I also thought it would kind of enhance the ability of the Warners and Mettaton to play off each other in the future, especially when the big battle between them happens. Besides, Animaniacs and Undertale are both fond of breaking the fourth wall, so why not make the Warners formerly well-known in the Underground? Well, that's all for now and I'll see you in the next chapter.