Surrounded by darkness, the Warners didn't quite know what to expect.
"That's weird," said Yakko, "it's dark but not ominously dark..."
"Where are we anyway?" said Dot.
Just then, Wakko's phone rang.
"Hi Alphys!"
"H-hey Wakko," she stuttered. "Sorry to bother you, but it's kind of dark in there, isn't it?"
"Yeah, we can't see anything down here!"
"Don't worry! I'll hack into the light system and brighten it up!"
Once the lights turned on, the trio found themselves in a kitchen. It almost looked like Toriel's but with more color.
"That's better," said Wakko.
"Oh no," said Alphys, knowing what was happening as Mettaton crept up next to the Warners from underneath the countertop. This time, he wore a chef's hat.
"OHHHH YES!"
"Mettaton!" they all cheered.
"Good to see ya again ol' pal!" said Yakko.
"THE FEELING'S MUTUAL, DARLING. WELCOME, BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND'S PREMIER COOKING SHOW!"
A fancy title written in pink cursive appeared over their heads. It said "Cooking with a Killer Robot"
"This is pretty high-class!" said Dot. "I'm guessin' ya guys have a big budget?"
"ABSOLUTELY, CUTIE. PRE-HEAT YOUR OVENS, BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A VERY SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU TODAY! WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING..."
The Warners rapidly patted their hands on their legs, imitating a drumroll.
"A CAKE!"
"Alright!" said Dot.
"Perfect timing!" said Yakko. "I'm in the mood for a sweet treat."
"MY LOVELY ASSISTANTS HERE WILL GATHER THE INGREDIENTS. EVERYONE GIVE THEM A BIG HAND!"
They bowed as the audience clapped and confetti dropped from the ceiling.
"Thank ya," said Yakko, "thank ya, what a great audience!"
"WE'LL NEED SUGAR, MILK, AND EGGS. GO FOR IT, SWEETHEARTS! AND MAKE SURE WAKKO DOESN'T EAT THEM."
"One step ahead of ya, bud."
Yakko was holding Wakko's tail to stop him from running off. As they walked to the other countertop with Dot, Yakko grabbed the milk and put it on Wakko's head, then grabbed the sugar. Dot took the eggs, making sure they didn't fall on the floor and crack. They brought them to the table.
"There," said Dot, "all done!"
"PERFECT! GREAT JOB, BEAUTIES! WE'VE GOT ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS WE NEED TO BAKE THE CAKE! MILK...SUGAR...EGGS...OH MY! WAIT A MAGNIFICENT MOMENT! HOW COULD I FORGET!"
"Here it comes..." said Wakko.
"What's the catch?" said Yakko.
"CATCH? THERE'S NO CATCH, KIDS! WE'RE JUST MISSING THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT...A SURFACE DWELLER'S SOUL!"
He pulled out a chainsaw and revved it, slowly approaching the toons as his screen kept changing between yellow and red.
"You're not taking us down that easily, Mettaton!" said Dot.
The Warners pulled out their mallets, planning to use them as shields in case Mettaton actually attacked them right then and there. But the one thing that stopped a fight from breaking out was his phone ringing.
"HELLO...? I'M KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE."
"W-wait a second!" Alphys choked out. "Couldn't you make a...Couldn't you use a...Couldn't you make a substitution in the recipe?!"
"...A SUBSTITUTION? YOU MEAN, USE A DIFFERENT, NON-SURFACE DWELLER INGREDIENT? ...WHY?"
"C'mon Alphys," said Wakko, "you can do it!"
"Uhh, what if someone's...Vegan?"
The toons cheered for her.
"Good answer!"
"Yeah, good answer!"
"Ooh, that's a good one!"
"...VEGAN."
"Uh well I mean-"
"THAT'S A BRILLIANT IDEA, ALPHYS! ACTUALLY, I HAPPEN TO HAVE AN OPTION RIGHT HERE!"
"I guess he was ready to lose if Alphys didn't call," Yakko teased.
"MTT-BRAND ALWAYS-CONVENIENT HUMANFOLK-SOUL-FLAVOR-SUBSTITUTE!"
"What a mouthful," said Dot.
"A CAN OF WHICH...IS JUST OVER ON THAT COUNTER!"
He pointed to the side, where a small mahogany countertop interfered with the bright blue and yellow floor. On it was a small red can.
"WELL, DARLINGS? WHY DON'T YOU GO GET IT?"
"Don't mind if we do," said Yakko.
They bounced and tumbled to the countertop, tripping over each other at some point but still having fun.
"Boingy, boingy, boingy, boingy!"
"LOOK AT THEM GO! I ADORE THEIR PIZAZZ."
Suddenly, the countertop shot up like a rocket so far up it was impossible for them to reach on their own.
"BY THE WAY, OUR SHOW RUNS ON A STRICT SCHEDULE. IF YOU CAN'T GET THE CAN IN THE NEXT ONE MINUTE...WE'LL JUST HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN! SO...BETTER START CLIMBING, BEAUTIES!"
"Joke's on you," said Yakko, "my brother's the one with a gag bag!"
Wakko briefly dug into it for a few seconds, then pulled out a shiny yellow jetpack.
"This should do it!"
Yakko took the jetpack and put it on his back.
"Hold on tight, sibs!"
Dot held onto Wakko, who held onto Yakko. They soared as the timer started. Mettaton floated right above them, as if to taunt them. He took the container of eggs and scattered them all around the aerial battlefield in an attempt to slow them down. Yakko expertly dodged, needing to zigzag his way through. Dot almost lost her grip, but she managed to recompose herself. Mettaton's next attempt involved throwing flour in their faces. Yakko was hit once, then found a gap to escape through, and was hit again. His face was covered in flour and his chest had a few white spots.
"Hey," he chuckled, "that's cheating!"
He could have sworn he heard Mettaton chuckling back as he poured the milk on them. It wasn't very challenging, so he went back to pelting them with eggs.
"Keep it comin'!" Wakko shouted, gobbling up all the ingredients when they fell close to him.
Eventually, Mettaton's arms retracted into his rectangular body and the Warners reached the top.
"MY MY. IT SEEMS YOU'VE BESTED ME."
"Heck yeah!" Dot cheered.
"AND YOU ONLY NEEDED THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS TO HELP YOU ONCE. I'M IMPRESSED! OH, BUT I'M CURIOUS OF WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF SHE DIDN'T INTERVENE!"
"We still would have won," said Yakko. "I mean, so far nobody's taken us down!"
"THAT WILL MAKE IT ALL THE MORE SPECIAL ONCE I EVENTUALLY BEAT YOU. WELL, TOODLES!"
He started to leave, but came back as if he forgot something.
"OH YES! ABOUT THE SUBSTITUTION...HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN A COOKING SHOW BEFORE? I ALREADY BAKED THE CAKE AHEAD OF TIME! SO FORGET IT!"
The cameras seemed to have turned off as he floated away, but the Warners weren't done with him.
"Mettaton, wait!"
Yakko flew after him, grabbing his attention.
"MAKE IT QUICK, YAKKO. I'M ON A TIGHT SCHEDULE."
"Just wanted to say we're havin' a lotta fun here; it's been a long time since we've been on camera!"
"And we gotta say," said Dot, "you're awesome! When you're not too busy, feel free to give us a ring and hang out sometime."
"THANKS, TOONS. UNTIL NEXT TIME, LOVELIES!"
He waved at them, then flew away. The kids took a picture of Mettaton with their phones, then floated back down to the ground as Wakko and Dot released their grips.
"Ugh, my arms are killing me!" she shouted.
"Hey," Yakko responded, "at least ya don't have a face full of flour!"
Yakko brushed the flour off himself, then received a call from Alphys.
"Hey Alphys."
"Wow! You... you did it! You really did it! And you barely needed my help. Great job out there, team!"
Yakko chuckled.
"Thanks."
"W-well, uh, anyway, let's keep heading forward!"
She hung up.
"Yeah," said Dot, "there's still a lot to do in Hotland!"
They posted their photos on the Undernet, then skipped off as another yellow star greeted them. An ominous structure loomed in the distance, sparking their curiosity and filling them with determination.
"I wonder what that could be?" said Wakko.
Just then and there, Alphys texted them, remembering Dot's irritation.
*see that building in the distance? That's the CORE, source of all power for the underground.
*it converts geothermal energy into magical electricity, by...uh anyway that's where you're going.
"Thanks for savin' us the science spiel," said Dot.
Wakko texted Alphys back.
*Faboo!
Alphys sent another text.
*in the CORE is an elevator directly to ASGORE's castle. From there, you can go home.
Yakko chuckled at the words in all capitals.
"It's like she's shouting every other word."
He texted back.
*Who, me and my sibs? Nah, we're taking all ya guys with us! We're not leavin' until we find a way to break the barrier!
Alphys texted again.
*that's a nice thought. But don't feel bad when you can't.
Dot responded this time.
*IF we can't. Nothing's impossible with us around.
No response from Alphys. They stopped in their tracks, finding the R1 elevator.
"Only one way to go from here," said Yakko.
They stepped inside and were given two options: L1 or R2.
"Make that two!" said Wakko.
"L1's only gonna take us back to Alphys' lab," said Dot. "Let's take R2."
She pushed the button, taking them up. Once the door opened, they were greeted by a small flame person.
"Heh. I'm Heats Flamesman. Remember my name!"
"Sure thing," said Yakko.
Nothing too exciting. As they walked away, they found a hot dog stand occupied by none other than Sans.
"Sans!" they cheered.
"hey kids," Sans greeted. "what's up?"
"Just came back from Mettaton's show," said Yakko. "You?"
"sellin' hot dogs. wanna buy one? it's only 30G."
"Sure," said Wakko, "Mettaton's cooking show made me hungry!"
"When are you NOT hungry?" said Dot.
"We got lots of money to blow anyway," said Yakko.
He handed Sans the money.
"thanks, guys. here's your 'dog. yeah. 'dog. apostrophe-dog. it's short for-"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it!" said Dot.
Sans chuckled at her reaction. Yakko and Dot took a bite out of their hot dogs, but Wakko ate his whole.
"Mmm that's good!" said Wakko.
"thanks."
"Ya know," said Yakko, "we saw ya earlier when Undyne was chasing us. Ya fell asleep on the job."
"eh, not really. i was just faking."
"Why didn't ya help us?" said Dot.
"i knew you could take her down on your own. didn't need me at all."
"Well ya did slow her down a bit," said Wakko. "She stopped to wake you up."
Sans shrugged.
"Hey," said Yakko, "got any ketchup? Or mustard?"
"nope, fresh out."
"Aw man."
He finished the last bite of his dog.
"but i got more 'dogs. guess i'll put one on your head."
Yakko balanced it just fine.
"Heh, not bad! But I want a better challenge."
Sans put another one on Yakko's head.
"here, it's on the house. well, no. it's on you."
"Gimme more!"
Sans put eight more on his head.
"more h'dogs. have fun."
"How many can ya go to?" said Dot.
"well, i'll be 'frank' with ya, i'd stop at thirty but your brother's too tall for me to reach."
"Oh well," said Yakko.
He walked around, trying to balance the hot dogs on his head. He had a steady start, until he wobbled a little.
"Whoa..."
"Don't flail!" said Dot.
"Come on," said Wakko, "just a little more!"
Yakko then tripped over himself, causing all the hot dogs to fall as he landed flat on his face. Luckily, they didn't go to waste. Wakko ate every single one of them before they hit the ground. It still caused a commotion to everyone around them; even Sans seemed a little more excited this time around.
"Aw..." Dot muttered.
"i gotta admit, you lasted longer than i thought you would."
"Here," said Dot, paying him for the extra hot dogs. "Thought I'd keep ya in business for a little longer."
She winked at him.
"thanks kiddo. want a hot cat?"
"Sure! Too bad ya don't have any CATchup for that!"
Sans laughed.
"good one, dot."
The hot cat was just a hot dog shaped like a cat, but it still tasted good.
"Anyway," said Yakko, "we better get goin'. That barrier ain't gonna break itself. See ya later!"
"bye."
They left as Alphys posted a picture.
"You two check it," said Yakko, "I'm gonna look at updates for our post."
*dinner with the girlfriend ;)
"All she posted was a picture of a catgirl action figure next to one of those instant noodles thingies," said Dot.
"What does it say on our posts?" said Wakko.
"All of us got likes, Dot got a comment from Papyrus-"
"WHAT DID HE SAY?"
"Look for yourself."
Papyrus' comment talked about how surprised he was to see them hanging out with Mettaton and he would cheer for them next time they were on.
"He called him a sexy rectangle..." Dot muttered with clenched teeth.
"Don't be jealous," said Yakko, "you find a LOT of guys sexy. I've got a list of sexy nurses too."
"Don't brag about it," said Dot.
Despite her annoyance at Yakko, she found it reassuring and responded to Papyrus' comment with a smiling blushing emoji and a sparkling pink heart. Just then, Papyrus posted a picture on Alphys' thread.
*ARE WE POSTING HOT "PICS?" HERE IS ME AND MY COOL FRIEND
It was just him flexing in front of a mirror. He wore sunglasses and giant muscular biceps were pasted onto his arms, also wearing sunglasses.
"Hellooooooooo skele-nurses!" Dot shouted.
She sighed as her eyes turned into hearts.
"So dreamy~"
"That's more like it!" said Wakko.
Alphys responded to Papyrus.
*LOL, CoolSkeleton95! ...that's a joke, right?
"Oh crap," said Yakko as Dot seemed mad and protective after that response, "Alphys is gonna have Dot goin' after her head!"
Papyrus responded again.
*THE ONLY JOKE HERE, IS HOW STRONG MY MUSCLES ARE.
Dot typed back.
*Don't listen to her, Papy. You and your cool friend look great!
She ended it with an emoji blowing a kiss.
"Classic Papyrus. Nothing can offend him!"
Just then, Pyrope bounded towards them.
"Heh," said Yakko, "it's a living torch. Let's turn up the heat!"
They cranked up the thermostat. Pyrope got excited.
"Hot! HOT! Hotter! HOTTER!"
The sides of the boundary box wiggled and so did the Warners' souls.
"Huh," said Wakko, "this is interesting..."
Bombs were dropped in the boundary box. As soon as they touched the walls, they exploded with a loud "BOM".
"Watch your step!" Dot shouted.
The first explosion was in the back right corner, the second was right in the middle of the back left wall, and the last was in the very back; Wakko was caught in it and lost 2 HP.
"Want some more, bud?" Yakko asked.
"Yes please!"
The room became super hot as they cranked up the thermostat even more. The kids even broke a sweat! But at least it satisfied Pyrope. The boundary box wiggled a little more as the attack changed. This time, there were moving poles with three orange fireballs in between.
"Guess we gotta run into the flames!" said Dot.
They dashed through them. After passing through the fifth one, they spared Pyrope, allowing them to escape the sweltering confinement. They were given 20 pieces of gold and carried on. As they turned to their left to explore the ledge, they spotted an apron with a heart.
"I'll take it!" said Wakko, stuffing it under his hat alongside his other gear.
As they went back on the regular path, they all received a friend request from Napstablook22.
"Hey," said Wakko, "it's our ghost friend!"
"He's gettin' an absolute yes from us!" said Yakko.
But as they accepted the request, it seemed to have already rejected itself...
"Who hurt him?" said Dot.
Knowing that someday Napstablook would restore his confidence filled them with determination.
A/N: I HAVE RETURNED! No more hiatuses, Deltarune was just what I needed to get back into the swing of things as far as this fanfic is concerned. Expect more chapters to come, we are nearing the 75% mark before the Warners' long journey ends. Anyway, take care, my followers.