Please read the author's notes. I put them there for a reason.
"Alphys?"
"Y-yes, Mettaton?"
"What is this?"
She pushed her eyes to the side, holding them on the pile of snow that the robot was standing in front of. Her ghostly form skidded over to the ball, at which she bent down at ground-level with, adjusting her glasses.
"I...think it's a snowpoff."
The robot nodded. He prodded it with his foot, placed his hands back on his hips and then moved to the ball of snow beside it. "And what's this?"
"Th...that's a snowpoff."
"And this one?"
"St-still a snowpoff…"
"What about this?"
"Mettaton...th-they're all snowpoffs."
He bent his knees, leaning forward, and reached one hand into the snow with a wide grin. "Yes, but this one has money in it."
"Uh…"
"Yip yip!"
The duo glanced over to the side where the path narrowed. There was a snowpoff in front of it, or at least, what appeared to be one at first glance. Soon after their attention was turned, a small tail poked out of the ball and began to wag profusely. It was followed by a muzzle, then the rest of the face, loose snow being shaken off and falling to the floor. Atop the creature's head were two tiny ears and in line with them, resting just above the muzzle, were smoll black eyes. Smoll puppy.
"Aww!" Mettaton exclaimed as the pup let out another 'yip!'. He clasped his hands together, stepping forward, bending down ever-so-slightly to get a better look at the smoll, smoll puppy. "Well aren't you just the cutest thing?"
Alphys wasn't so eager. She darted her own orange-brown eyes to the side a few times before holding out a shaky hand. That dog...that wasn't who she thought it was...was it? "M-Mettaton…?"
"Isn't it adorable, Alphys?" The robot shut his eyes. This was followed with a chuckle. "I must admit, I'm more of a cat person myself, but-"
"M-Mettaton!"
His attention snapped into focus at the sound of her cry. He had been reaching out to pet the pup at the moment, but his appendage had been brushed aside as the thing rose to two legs...or, rather, the boot pieces of a rather large suit of armor. When the thing had reached full height, it was just a little bit taller than him, and his body now stood at at least six feet, quite possibly more if he'd bothered to check.
"How… How did..?"
His question went unanswered, however, once his mind had shifted to the heart seeping out of his chest, and Mettaton let out a loud sigh. This again...lovely. The protagonist should probably be concerned with how many fights he seemed to be getting into, but Alphys seemed like she built a fairly sturdy body from how much damage it was able to withstand. Besides, it's not like he's died or anything.
Mettaton ignored the whimper coming from his companion. Feet planted firmly apart and hands on his hips, the robot strode forward. Even in armor, it's just a dog. A cute dog that he wasn't entirely sure he could…
No, no. He's got this. This is Mettaton, after all.
"Alphys? What is that?"
Alphys had lept a bit at his sharp tone but quickly brought herself back to Earth. Deep breaths, Alphys… Deep breaths…
"Alphys?"
*I-it's the Greater Dog.
Mettaton rolled his eyes. Oh, yeah. That helps so much. Y'know, he was starting to wonder why he even bothered asking things.
Moving his heart to the 'ACT' option, it came as no surprise he'd first let it hover over 'Check', then scanning over the shiny, tail-wagging creature holding...was that bone smiling?
Well, it wouldn't smile for long, as the spear-length bone was then placed inside of the dog's mouth, slobber dripping over it. That seemed to be more than enough to make Mettaton cringe.
"Ew."
*He's so excited, h-he thinks…
Sensing distress, the robot turned his head in the direction he assumed his partner to be (he was correct, of course), however quickly came to regret this decision as a loud bark was emitted from the monstrous pup. He thought nothing of it...not until something rammed into his chest, something too fast for his eyes to catch. There was a second thing that his attention just barely managed to hone in on, but it...it looked almost like the word 'Bark!'. Certainly it wasn't the word itself...that was just silly.
"Ack! What-?"
He moved his hand over the "ACT" button again as he said this, one hand curling around the afflicted area. Nothing. There was nothing in the hole but damaged wires and bolts. Alphys must not have seen them. If she had, she probably would've been crying her head off...not that she wasn't already. Just this time, it was quieter than he would've expected. Softer. More of a whimper. One top of that, she'd been doing it ever since the battle started. That's what worried him more.
So, waving his heart over the 'Ignore' option, Mettaton held his attention on his companion. This dog was just that- a puppy. He was made of metal! Sure, it may have made a small…er, dent, but with legs like these, who needed to worry about a few snapped wires?
"Alphys? What's the matter, darling?"
*Um, Greater Dog b-bounds...forward!
The ghost had whimpered that last note, bringing her hands up to her face with a shriek. It was enough to make Mettaton face his opponent once more and he huffed.
"Can't you take a hint? She's obviously afraid of you."
It let out another bark (Mettaton was right...it was literally the word 'bark' that this weird dog was using to attack with), the robot prepared to dodge this one, and then took a few more steps toward the two.
"Yip, yip!"
*G-Greater Dog just wants some...affection.
The former human sneered. "Stupid dog. Can't you leave us alone?" Jesus, this thing was dumb… Now he knew why he preferred cats so much.
When it continued on, he clenched his jaw, bringing his foot back to deliver a light tap against its side. Nothing too horrible- not like Toriel; he'd learned from that incident- but the puppy still whimpered and backed away.
*G-Greater Dog is making puppy dog eyes…
"Alphys, I'm moving on now."
He could see her take a glance over the puppy with a frown- wide, terrified eyes, but a frown of sympathy nonetheless. Of course, he kept moving. It was just a dog.
"M-Mettaton?"
"Yes, darling?" he replied, turning his head in her direction but sticking to the path.
Alphys twiddled her thumbs in response. "How...how hard did you kick him?"
"Dear, that was a dog you were obviously afraid of. Why does it matter?"
"It...it doesn't," she lied.
Mettaton raised an eyebrow, shaking his head shortly thereafter. It was just a stupid dog. There were more important matters up ahea-
"WAT!?"
-...never mind.
He needn't so much as move two more feet before identifying the cause of the commotion, which was located at the very end of a long, shaky rope bridge, which the former human's eyes then diverted to and he tapped it gently with his foot.
Deep breath, Mettaton. Deep breath.
"I said," a quieter voice echoed from the other side of the bridge, and Mettaton could hear the snicker being held back, "I caught a ghost on tape."
This was then supervened by a loud squeal, which Mettaton winced at, bringing his hands over top of his ears almost immediately. "DAS SO COOL!"
Mettaton looked up. He was careful to keep his eyes straight ahead as the heel of his pink nylon boots wobbled on the very first plank. On the other side, two figures stood, one holding their hands in their pockets and a scarf around the bottom half of their face, the other clapping her paws together in excitement as she stared down at her partner. Mettaton tried to focus on the pair as he kept himself upright.
Said partner would then remove one hand from their bulky winter coat to pull out some small contraption that the protagonist was too far away to make out. It was small, certainly, and shaped like a...TV remote? Maybe? Well, it was certainly small.
The smaller of the two then aimed it at Mettaton, and he almost stepped backwards until he remembered that doing so would cause the unstable bridge to shake. Instead, he stood frozen, watching as two long ropes descended from the ceiling above them. From the first one dangled a heavy black ball, several spikes protruding from its surface. They shone in what little light was visible underground, but Mettaton was fairly certain that he'd rather not be underneath. Of course, the second was no better. Instead of a ball of death, there was a piece of wood, extended in length so the very end, where a blade dangled loosely, would swing in random movements. Another thing Mettaton would rather not go under.
Below him...well, he wasn't looking below him. That would be a massive mistake on his part.
Something else caught his eye. Behind the giant spear- much smaller than either object in front of it- seemed to be...a blob of some sort. No wonder Mettaton hadn't noticed it at first; it was hanging by a roll of clear tape. Just...tape. It must not have been very heavy.
The blob itself seemed awfully familiar. It was a simple white, though there were two small dog ears poking out of the top, as well as a dog tail out the back. The eyes were white, a black ring encircling each. He was sure he'd seen the thing before… That was the one that Alphys tried to hide from, right?
"...Frisk?"
The shorter figure kept their head on the taller, and now the protagonist was close enough to make out who it was that was standing in the soft snow at the end of the bridge. Frisk held their nose up, waiting for the tem to finish her sentence. Their expression seemed neutral, as usual. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary.
Beisde them, Temmie had switched from extreme excitement to mild confusion as she glanced around at the contraption before her. "...where da tape?"
"Stuck to the ghost," was Frisk's response, and Mettaton could just make out a light smirk crossing over them.
"Frisk! Das not-! ...HOOMAN!"
When Temmie's eyes had met the robot, a sigh had to be held back. Not because Mettaton was trying to spare anyone's feelings… He honestly wasn't sure the bridge could handle any sudden movements. Not even from whatever was supposed to be his lungs.
The "child" beside her chuckled. Temmie then thrust her paw out, one digit extended toward the human in question who was currently clinging to the middle of the bridge for dear life. So he was either going to fall to his death, or get skewered trying to get off this damn, shaky thing! Lovely!
"Hooman! I has puz- Frisk put dat away! Is 2 dangerus 4 da huoman!"
The smaller of the two shook their head, pressing the button once more and shoving it back into their coat pocket. They could have sworn they heard a faint, "bye, mettaton…" as the contraption was retracted into its original position, which, to them, would only make sense, but they weren't so sure about the others. They'll just keep that one to themself.
"Hooman!" Temmie cried again, adjusting herself into position once more. "I haz final puzzle 4 u at de end of SNOWDIN! Snowdin is noice place :3"
This was followed by a giggle, of which Mettaton grit his teeth at. His eyes, deciding to ignore his usual flow of logic, peered over the edge of the of the rickety walking piece. All that was holding him was rope… Rope and wood. All that was holding him was rope and wood, directly over the thousands upon thousands of empty yards of air just sitting underneath his feet, waiting to swallow him in the black abyss of nothing. No, god, just let him off this damn bridge…
Temmie's giggle once more morphed into a wonderous shriek as she leapt into the air, her paws waving about. "OKEE! U GO SEE PUZZLE AN I M GUNNA WAIT AT THE END OF SNOWDEN! GOOD LUCK!"
And off she bounded.
As soon as she had left, the robot began to move again, slower this time. Each step sent whatever was supposed to be a heart pounding in his ears, and he swore his boots were sliding. He swore it! Why did he wear heels today? This was a terrible idea! What if a heel got stuck in a rung, or broke one of the planks, or-?
"I don't know what Tem is planning on doing."
He didn't look up. It was a bad idea to focus on the ground, because now that was all he could do. The fact that Mettaton even heard Frisk was a miracle in of itself, one he was too busy trying to survive to question.
Frisk didn't move either. "If I were you, I'd make sure I understand blue attacks." They then paused. Their eyes rolled up to the ceiling, as if in thought. "...blue attacks? ...yeah. Blue attacks."
The robot nodded. He still held his eyes to the ground, stumbling slightly and waving his arms to the side in a frantic manner. He had to keep balance. If he fell here...okay, don't think about that, just keep going…
Another step later, and Mettaton was face-first against the wooden planks that kept him from falling to certain death, and he let out a small whimper to show this. An embarrassing one, yes, and one he would regret later, most certainly, but that didn't stop him from doing it. Seeing what lay underneath him caused his electro pulses to freeze over, and for a moment our protagonist found himself unable to remove himself from his peril. Only for a moment. The next thing he knew, someone was tapping on his silky smooth hair, and that was able to relax him enough to look up.
What he saw was none other than Frisk (who he half expected to try to scare him even further) standing in the middle of his pathway, holding out a hand with a small smile plastered on their face. They were silent, but refused to remove themself, even after a few more seconds of empty air.
Slowly, our robot then clasped it, but did his best to push himself up, though certainly not countering any help that the human was giving him. Not on this bridge, at least. Together, they were able to make it back onto their feet and to the edge in no time. Though looking back...perhaps Mettaton should have let go of their hand before the pair got off.
He didn't bother to thank Frisk, though. Perhaps he was too shaken to; that's what Frisk liked to think.
"I better go catch up," they said once they had reached the end and had unclasped their grip from the protagonist's. The human then turned back to face him, throwing in a wink as they spoke. "Be careful. Wouldn't want you hurting yourself while you're falling head over heels for me."
"That wasn't meant for you," he groaned in return. One metallic hand flew over his closed eyes as he pointed his attention down at Frisk's feet, back slightly arched and hip jutting out to the side when he'd managed to steady himself. This dude...this dude needed to stop.
They added another wink (this one accompanied by sticking out their tongue) before giving a small wave, then strolling off after the tem. It was at this point that Mettaton would look back across the bridge and see Alphys, who had been staring down at a small pile of snow on the other edge. Her arms were crossed over her chest as usual, but even so, Mettaton couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.
She was talking to something, that was for sure. He could see her mouth moving. It was impossible to make out exactly what, but there were no doubts that she was talking.
"Alphys?" he called out across the bridge, cupping his hands against his mouth to strengthen the echo. The snow pile shifted somewhat when she looked up, and he could hear her yell something back, however, again, it was difficult to make out what. It didn't matter much. She hurried after him anyway, dragging her feet against the bridge in a horrid excuse of a run, which Mettaton turned away from. She was a ghost, so she probably wouldn't fall, but...he wasn't going to risk seeing that anyway.
He turned around, facing the path ahead of them. This was it now. Part 2 of...who knows how many parts? Hopefully not many. But the fact of the matter lie in having exited the Ruins, having made their way to civilization…
Next stop, Snowdin.
Jfc, I feel like this is going nowhere.
I don't know how to put this in a way that doesn't sound selfish, but there are a lot of AUs out there. Yeah, I know. The chances of mine getting noticed are...slim. But the thing is, some AUs practically gained popularity overnight, and I'm still trying to figure out how. It feels almost...unfair? EquationTale... There's no fanart, or comics...no music...nothing. It feels almost pointless. Y'know? Like this thing is just taking up space.
There are a few people that said they actually like EquationTale, so thank you for that. I won't delete it. But I'm starting to feel like it's pretty damn worthless.
I kind of don't have energy to do much anymore.
I'll try to still get an update every one to two weeks, but if I don't...I'm probably not dead...just not really feeling up to it right now, sorry...
Don't really have much else, so...reviews, I guess.
NoItsBecky: XD omg
I don't particularly like giving away positions, but I'll say this... Mettaton's role is a lot more serious in this than the original.
So, unfortunately, no spaghetti like these...
holy shit that would be amazing though.
(if someone draws this pls send me)
Ckbrothers: Oh, this is an odd AU alright. I think you know most of that though.
For anyone else bothering to read (because I'm pretty sure I already told you, Ck), I'm going to go out on a limb and say that out of every mind, Frisk's has been the most affected. But...maybe I should wait to say how.
Tatzbea: Yeah...I hope so.
What Happened: Uh...what...?
I'm not sure whether this is a question, an insult, or just a general observation...
Yes, I know it takes time to make stories. Trust me, I have quite a bit of experience with stories. But it's not ideas that I'm lacking in. Actually, quite the opposite. I've contemplated writing a PrequationTale (EquationTale before Mettaton fell down). No, ideas aren't the problem...it's motivation that's the problem. I already have an idea of how things will play out in my head, so it sort of...disinterests me? Like I said at the start of the author's note, nothing's being brought out of this. I draw a little bit, and my friend's been making pixel sprites, but other than that, it's not really...inspiring people? That's the wrong term. I've had a few people say that I'm an "inspiration" or whatever. But, y'know, just a writing muse. I could do that with any story...
ug, I'm just sounding worse and worse the more I go. I'll shut up now.
Can't wait 'til next chapter. Last one in Snowdin, thankfully. I'm kind of not enjoying writing in Snowdin.