Other Half
Chapter 8
"Agh!"The strange sound came from within a hotel room, and the one who made the noise sat up in bed, her heart pounding. Immediately, the other college student that inhabited the shared hotel room turned off a blow dryer and bounded over to the noise's source.
"Frisk! Finally, you're up!" Ange said, pushing a still damp strand of hair away from their face. Frisk could only groan in response. "Seriously, what did Monster Kid have you doing last night? I mean, I know you two were busy, but you didn't come back for a while. And now you're tired!" They spoke again, and then sighed dismissively. "Don't stay out late with the boyfriend often, okay?" Ange said, a mothering tone in their voice. Frisk looked up at them in confusion.
"What?" She asked, not feeling ready to deal with new information this early in the morning. Chara had been plaguing her dreams all night, insisting that they continue communication all night long to be efficient. The result was the most tiring sleep of Frisk's life, in which her subconscious had to stay awake and cognitive to understand Chara's information while she slept. Meanwhile, Ange had a knowing smile on her face. It was weird, but the junior had voluntarily taken an almost parental role in the freshman's life, but the roommates' friendship grew because of it.
"Oh Frisk, I know what happened last night. You were out for hours, did you honestly think that I wouldn't notice what's going on?" They asked, smirking a little. Frisk paled. She wanted to keep this encounter of hers a secret, and she wondered if she'd been speaking aloud in her sleep to Chara.
"Ange, How did you-"
"I found out about it a few weeks ago!" Ange responded triumphantly, to the complete confusion of Frisk. "He was outside of our dorm. I don't think that he realized you were out. Anyway, I heard this weird mumbling near the doorway, so I obviously went to go check it out. After a second, I could hear him! He was practicing what he'd say to you when he finally asked you out! So after a few minutes of listening to him rhyme- which, by the way, was really funny, I stopped him. He was super embarrassed, but I promised I wouldn't tell you until he asked you, and he said he'd do it over the trip. After we talked a little and I did the typical roommate heart protector thing, I gave him some advice, and he said he'd do it in his favorite area of the underground!" They said, taking a breath. "Congratulations Frisk!" Ange shouted, and wrapped their roommate in a hug.
Frisk blinked and tentatively accepted the hug, then sighed mentally in relief. Thankfully, her roommate didn't know about the guest in her head, but that still left thousands of questions in Frisk's mind. She didn't want to spoil the moment, but her friend wasn't making any sense.
"Ange, what are you talking about? Who was this guy in front of our room door?" She asked, staring up at the college student. Ange immediately inhaled, a look of horror settling on her face.
"Didn't you say that Monster Kid's favorite place in the underground was the waterfall? You two went there yesterday, right?" They asked, now sounding frantic. "Frisk, what happened yesterday?" Frisk looked down for a minute. She realized that if she was going to keep Chara a secret, at least until she understood what was going on, she'd have to edit out multiple things that happened in her life when asked questions such as these.
"I- Well, we went on a boat to get to an area of the waterfall. Kid gave me a really nice tour, until we reached some ancient puzzle. I got separated from him, and we spent the rest of the time trying to find each other. Along the way, I met another monster, and he helped me find him." She said, her ears turning red in embarrassment. She hated lying, but she knew it was somewhat necessary. Ange sighed in defeat, and Frisk paused her thoughts. "Wait, it was Kid? He was trying to ask me out?" she asked, her cheeks starting to catch fire.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the surprise." The upperclassman said apologetically. "You like him right?" They asked, and Frisk looked away. "Wait, don't answer that. I've already involved myself in this too much. I'm really sorry Frisk." Ange said, and Frisk easily forgave them, but Frisk's mind wandered to Kid's strange actions that night. Ange left her to her thoughts, and Frisk sighed. After a few seconds, Ange walked back near an electrical outlet to turn on the blow-dryer again.
"I need a shower." Frisk said aloud, and Ange popped their head into the area of the room containing the bathroom.
"Take it quickly, we're touring the core!" They said excitedly, yet Frisk felt a little uncharacteristic dread enter her feelings.
After fully preparing herself for the day, Frisk hoisted a string bag on her back and exited her room. The only place within a sizeable radius that sold food was in the lobby, so Frisk took her time going down the elevator so that she could purchase some much-needed food. The girl stood in line for a few minutes, and then ordered their breakfast starfait. The food had a giant cookie sitting in the side, and the colors looked too unnatural to be fruit, but Frisk ended up enjoying the food immensely.
"Thanks!" She said to a cat like monster, which nodded and then returned to the other students in line. As Frisk left the burger emporium, she noticed her tall yellow friend exiting the elevator. He looked unhappy, and Frisk walked over to him. She hoped that she could help him smile again, despite the fact that he felt differently than expected about her. The considerably shorter human came up behind him, then tapped him on the shoulder. Kid turned around and looked down at the girl, and then sighed.
"Hello Frisk." He said, his voice monotone.
"Hey," She responded awkwardly, looking up at the boy. Now that she'd confronted him, she had no idea what to say to him. "So, what's uh, up?" She cringed. Her words sounded forced and awkward.
"Nothing much, we're just doing this Core tour." He said, looking away. Frisk noticed that his words rhymed, but she couldn't bring herself to comment on it, knowing that an attempt to lightening a situation like this would lead to failure. The girl had no idea what she would say to her adolescent friend, but she wanted nothing more than to repair their friendship.
"So, I noticed that you've been down lately." She said.
"I guess that I have been. Why does it matter?" Frisk's eyes widened, then she looked away, feeling a little hurt. Did he really think so little of their friendship? She felt like he was her closest current friend, and she hated the notion that she didn't care about him.
"Because- never mind." She responded, the hurt clear in her voice. Kid, in turn looked down at her in surprise, then looked genuinely unhappy about upsetting her.
"I-I'm sorry about yesterday." Kid said immediately, and Frisk sighed.
"Me too. Do you forgive m-" Monster Kid immediately cut in.
"Dude, of course." He said, immediately ceasing their apologies. Frisk offered him a tentative hug, and he accepted it, despite lacking arms.
"So," She said once the hug dissipated. "Are you excited about the Core? I heard it had tons of branches and stuff, so it'll be fun to explore." Frisk said, and Kid responded with a grin.
"Sure, but you better not leave my sight this time." He said, a mock threatening tone in his voice. Frisk giggled in response, then placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll be right by your side." She spoke and smiled. They still had a chance at friendship, despite the happenings of the previous night.
Meanwhile, Sans arose from his comfortable bed in Snowdin. After a quick call to his younger sibling and the pair's usual morning greetings, he hung up the phone and went to clean himself. The skeleton moved to his still working shower and removed his clothing, then jumped inside. He couldn't feel the icy cold pellets of water hitting his bones because he lacked skin, but he felt a little satisfaction in the fact that he'd cleaned himself that morning. After a quick wash, Sans wore more clothing, and then grabbed the key to his old workshop. He hadn't visited the area in ages, so he'd decided he'd check out his old, pre surface stomping grounds again.
"Is this a Laboratory?" He heard Gaster's voice ask, and the skeleton jumped before he remembered that another being inhabited his brain.
"It's more of a workshop, really." Sans responded with a shrug. "I think I just messed around with stuff in here." Gaster seemed to pause in thought.
"Wait, you think? How did you get this workshop, Sans?" Gaster asked, a little suspicion in his tone.
"I guess I've just always had it attached to our house. I come in here and tinker from time to time, but I started so long ago that I don't remember how I got the place." Sans sighed, looking around at the building. "This probably doesn't look like much for someone who was the royal scientist, but I enjoyed playing with stuff in my free time down here."
"Sans… what is under that curtain?" Gaster asked, his voice getting darker. Sans walked over to the curtain, then removed it with a quick burst of blue and faintly purple magic.
"This is, or rather was, something I worked on when I was feeling BONE-ly." He said, offering Gaster a grin. The doctor's face appeared yet again in his mind, and despite his distorted skull, his expression made it clear that he was unimpressed. "Heh heh, Yeah. But anyway, This was a time machine. It's been like this for as long as I can remember." Sans said again, a hand over his skull.
"Skeleton." Gaster said, his voice now deadly serious. "Would you like assistance in reconstructing the machine?" He asked, a strange, almost hungry expression on his disfigured face. "I have the ability to help you." Sans frowned at that. Despite his sympathetic war story, and his confirmed scientific background, the skeleton definitely lacked trust in this being that resided in his head.
"Nah, it can stay in pieces. I'm not really into messing around down here anymore. Actually, I live up on the surface now." He responded, a somewhat false easy smile on his face. Gaster's face didn't appear in his mind, but another textbox did appear mentally. It contained three consecutive symbols that correlated to an ellipsis in human writing.
"You live…on the surface. Have monsters reclaimed their land?" He asked, his voice sounding even more haunting than usual.
"Not necessarily. Monsters currently live alongside human beings. We- or at least, I don't blame the current humans for entrapping monsters thousands of years ago. A few humans even moved underground, and some monsters stayed, but most of us went for the surface." Sans responded honestly.
"I…See." Gaster said again, and went silent. After a minute, Sans decided to exit the area. All he really had to do today was wait around for Frisk's call.
Frisk looked around in amazement at the core. Almost all of the classes that visited the underground were here today, and they all stayed in a gigantic group that a tour guide led. She was peppy and knew her facts, so Frisk was more than glad to listen to her speak. After all, she loved history, so hearing about the origins and building of the maze like structure was fantastic. The students walked around for about an hour, exploring all of the core's branches and rooms. After going through all of them, the guide led students into a dark room with little more than neon lighting to guide them. After everyone came inside, the doors shut behind them, and they felt the floor elevate around them.
"Kid, what's going on?" Frisk asked, and the yellow monster just shrugged. The tour woman smiled and moved to the front of the crowd.
" As many of you know, one of the underground's most influential popular media stars was, in fact, Mettaton. This is the site of his last concert in the underground, before the legendary barrier broke. As you can see, the room is much smaller than his usual concert halls, so monsters designed this room for one of his special performances. He's made a name for himself both in the surface world and within the underground. Your passes include our one day only special end of tour bonus, so everyone, if you would, please put your hands together for the one, the only, the 'glamour-ific' Mettaton!" She said, her voice even more excited than before. Frisk heard several shouts and claps of approval across the room, and turned her eyes towards the stage. There she saw a gigantic robotic humanoid figure standing under the lights with a microphone. Smoke billowed out over the raised stage towards the crowd, and the smooth voiced pop star began to speak.
"Good morning beauties and gentle beauties, and welcome to my performance!" The robot's hair covered one of his eyes, but she still noticed one of the students blush when he offered her a wink, showing off his pink eye shadow. The robot was flashy and his voice was cool, so Frisk found herself enjoying his opening remarks before the concert.
"This is pretty cool! I've never seen a live Mettaton performance." Kid said. After his words, Mettaton broke into song, and the students clapped and cheered along. Frisk looked up at her friend. He looked more excited than he'd ever been before, and Frisk was happy that he was enjoying the show. After a few songs, the stage's lighting became normal for a second, and Mettaton stood alone above them.
"Now Darlings, for this song, I'm afraid that I'll need a volunteer." Immediately, almost all of the two hundred student's hands and other ligaments shot up. Frisk kept her hand down. While she would have loved to participate, she wanted others to get the chance to enjoy themselves too, and she didn't absolutely have to be up on stage with the robot. Mettaton put a finger to his metallic, yet soft lips, then pointed it out towards the crowd.
"Oh, I hope he chooses me!" Several students cried out, and others nodded in agreement.
"What about you two?" the superstar said, pointing at Frisk and monster kid. "Yes, The tall yellow boy, and the girl in the sweater! Come on up!" Mettaton said, flashing the crowd a grin. The crowd parted a little, allowing the two to ascend to the front. A single skeleton blocked their path, and he immediately produced two small, white bones. After running them over their sides, they gained permission to visit the front of the stage. Kid, however whispered to the skeleton guard before ascending the stage.
"Sir, why did Mettaton pick us? There's no way that I'm lucky enough for that to be random." The skeleton allowed a smile to grace his face.
"It's quite simple, really. Mettaton says that stardom is all about being different, and GREATer than the rest. You two didn't immediately throw yourselves at him, and it seems that he liked that. I, the greatest bodyguard known to monster kind, shall ensure that you are safe. Now, remember. You'll have dancing guides that you have to hit with magic, then dodge to correctly do the moves. The human will dance and pose, and you will make the effects active by hitting them with your magic, alright? It looks complicated, but fear not, for the Great Papyrus shall guide you!" He said earnestly, and Kid grinned in response, then ascended to the stage.
"Thank you for joining me on such short notice darlings. Now, I believe it's time for me to sing! Papyrus will help you, alright beauties?" Both Monster kid and Frisk nodded in understanding, and Mettaton pushed an ear microphone by his ear. "Now, everyone, we have two lovely volunteers today! They're going to help me on stage." He said, and the crowd shouted their approval. Music started to fade in for one of Mettaton's most popular songs, death by glamour, and the crowd cheered as his voice started to sing. Immediately, giant leg effects appeared, and Kid summoned small yellow hands to activate the dancing guides.
Meanwhile, Frisk looked at the two, standing still for a second, then moved away as they came towards her. She found a moment when no effects appeared, so she decided to fill the gap in space with a dramatic pose, and the crowd voiced their approval of her moves. Afterwards, small copies of Mettaton's rectangular form appeared, causing frisk to look back to Kid. There was no way that she could dodge all of them, so Kid hit a few with his yellow hands, and they disappeared. After beating those and posing yet again, Frisk found more holographic leg projections and small boxes coming at her across the stage.
While Frisk was just dodging and offering a few poses, the girl really looked like she was dancing tirelessly in tune with Mettaton's words. A line of white boxes appeared, along with a singular moving yellow one. Frisk waited for Kid to hit the moving box with his magic, then had to jump and spin around the now moving line of boxes to dodge them. Frisk posed yet again, and flashed a grin at the crowd.
Next, Mettaton's heart left its position in the center of his body, then started shooting out small white projections. Kid couldn't hit them with his magic, so Frisk had to jump, spin, dive, and wave her arms to get around all of them. The end result was a coordinated dance that led the girl over to where monster kid stood, then back into the fray, now with monster kid behind her. She grabbed his tail at one point to keep him from running into a white projection, and she in turn had to raise her legs in a strange position. The two honestly didn't feel like they were dancing, but the fun they were having was evident on their faces, and their happiness spread into the crowd as well.
The two neared the end of the song, and a disco ball that shot random lights at them from every angle appeared from the ceiling. The two were both attempting to dodge the lights, and their eyes connected for a moment. Without a word, Frisk decided to dodge the white disco lines, and Kid dodged the blue ones. The result was a duet to the end of death by glamour, and both ended up posed dramatically over each other. The crowd was silent for a second before they erupted in applause and cheers. Mettaton even clapped for the duo when he realized how well the two performed. After a second, the human girl and monster left their pose, their chests heaving in sync. Both had matching grins on their faces, and the crowd roared in approval when they bowed. After a few minutes, they left the stage.
"Thank you darlings! I-I've never seen ratings this high, thank you!" Mettaton said, winking at a camera. After the applause in the room died down, Mettaton sighed. "Now, I'm afraid that I'll have to leave you, dears. Stay glamorous!" He shouted, and the stage went dark.
The tour eventually ended, and both Frisk and Kid returned to the hotel in time for lunch.
"That was incredible!" Kid shouted for the fifth time that day. "You know, you're quite the dancer, dude!" Frisk smiled happily at the compliment.
"Thanks Kid, you know, you have some 'smooth moves' too!" The friends giggled a little. Both felt extremely lucky to have danced with Mettaton.
"You know that skeleton? He said some cool stuff. Anyway, it's almost two. Would you like to grab some lunch?" Frisk wanted to nod, but she gasped instead.
"Wait, skeleton? I forgot! I have to call him!" She said, feeling exasperated for forgetting. Kid's eyebrows raided in confusion.
"What skeleton?" He asked, and his expression immediately changed to a scowl of disgust. "Oh, that skeleton. I suppose I'll see you some other time then." He spoke, his words ringing with an undertone of hatred. Kid immediately walked away from the girl, and she turned to look at him.
"Kid! I-I don't have to call him now." She said softly. "Lunch would be-"
"I'll see you later Frisk!" Kid said, his voice unnaturally cheerful for the situation. Her friend didn't even look back as he walked away from her. Frisk sighed. This wasn't what she wanted at all. Actually, Frisk wanted to go speak with her friend, but he seemed intent on ignoring her. She had nothing else to do, so eventually the girl pulled out her cell phone. She had a call to make.
AN: Okay, wow. That one went on forever! Hey, let me know if you like the length. So, Mettaton came in, but I doubt he'll really do much in the story. I feel bad about patching things up with Kid and Frisk, only to just tear them apart again, but this long romancey filler felt necessary. Don't worry guys, next week it's all plot development. Also, watch out for Dr. Gaster. I didn't lie about the double agendas in the summary.
Uh, okay. Chara can communicate with Frisk's subconscious, and therefore show her things in her dreams. Unfortunately, that information isn't easy to retain once she's awake again. Chara revealed their (I'm undecided on pronouns for this kid. I may just continue this, or make Chara use m/f pronouns.) back-story to Frisk, but in her dreams. Weird, I know, and if you people have constructive criticism, I'm all ears, but it should (hopefully) all make sense in the end.
Question: What is your favorite ending of Under tale? Did the pacifist one look good? Did you do a true pacifist? Was it genocide for you, or do you have a favorite neutral ending? ((bonus points if you got the impossible ending, cool hacks bro.)) Let me know in a review, and I'll see you next week! Stay Determined!
~ST OUT!