Chapter VII –Contact
"Hey, you know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing about Sans."
The next day in the arena, I try to get Gobber to give me some answers. We've seen what Sans can do, so I doubt that there's that little information about him. I of course don't think we know something else other than the attacks, but… It's barely anything. Those who wrote the book paid good attention to details, as far as I know.
I tried to ask Gobber while we walked here so I didn't have to leave myself unwary of attacks during the session, but he was talking to the teens and I decided to keep my mouth shut before they decided to target me again. I overheard him saying that last training was just the beginning, and that from today on we'd learn to fight the most dangerous and tricky monsters we have captive. Great news… As soon as we got into the arena, the first thing we realized was that there was a maze made up of tall, wooden barriers. Gobber told us to grab a weapon and a shield and quickly scatter around without asking while he released the monster. He climbed up the metal bars that surround the arena afterwards, and now watches us from here. I still don't even know which monster we're fighting yet.
What worries me the most is the fact that Gobber can't protect us from up there, so if we happen to get into trouble, we're on our own. Today, I really do feel like I'm going to die. A surely dangerous monster on the loose, and a trainer who can't protect us? Yeah, if I manage to get out of this alive, I'll jump off a cliff to make completely sure I'm not dreaming. Not literally, of course. Perhaps in my mind.
"Is there like another book, or a- a sequel? Maybe a- a little pamphlet-"
I'm pulled back suddenly as something I barely recognize as a lightning bolt-shaped projectile crashes against the axe I'm holding, completely decimating the top and leaving me with a useless, scalding wooden stick; the wall behind me is burned and small sparks come out for a second. That went fast. Now what am I supposed to do, hit the monster with a shield? As if that was going to work.
"Wow…!" I gasp, looking around me to see where the threat came from. I put the shield in front of me just in case. Honestly, the last thing I expected was the monster finding me. I thought these walls plus a few bickering teens willing to fight would keep whatever it is away from me, at least until I managed to get Gobber to listen to me. Guess I'm a way too easy target for monsters to ignore.
"Focus, Hiccup! You're not even trying!" Gobber yells in a bored tone, completely ignoring my question, and that's when I see our next foe several feet away from me and glaring, hopping off the wooden wall. I'm not anywhere near as scared as I would be any other time; I actually read up the manual attentively to be prepared for today. I managed to remember the monsters Gobber told us we were going to fight so I had at least a single clue on how to fight them. The Gyftrot was definitely the easiest, compared to the others. And this one is anything but a monster you should lose sight of, if you want to live.
And it's a very weird monster too. Metta-something, I recall he was called. I know that this thing does not take being here lightly, and that has several 'forms' – three to be exact, and this is the one called 'EX'. Unfortunately, this form is said to be the last one you want to deal with in a fight. One of the things that makes this creature extremely weird is that he's a monster created by another monster, and I'm not even kidding. I also read something about this kind of thing being called a 'robot', if I remember correctly.
Guess today's my lucky day, huh? I'm here weaponless and with a very angry monster fighting me. Can things be worse?
"Focus indeed! Snap out of your thoughts, think about ME!" the monster yells proudly in a strange voice, and I don't hesitate before hurriedly choosing a direction to run off to. I also read that this monster is really narcissistic and attention-seeking, and the book said that this thing keeps talking about his 'perfection' to confuse us.
"Today, is all about attack!" Gobber instructs, and I run faster as I realize this darn monster is following me, moving about on top the barriers instead of following us directly – likely to not get hit by any axes or swords, and I don't think anyone except for Astrid is good at aiming and throwing weapons here; a quick look at them tells everything. Clever monster, if I do say so myself.
"Running off? Can't even dare to fight? I had no idea humans were this cowardly!"
Wow. Now even monsters make fun of me.
"Mettaton is quick and light! Your job is to be quicker and lighter!"
And how, exactly? Sometimes I don't think Gobber is trying to teach us properly. All he does is watch, tell us about what the monster does (barely), and give us orders about what to grab and where to go. At least he could tell us howto fight, like he did the first time – the more or the less. I turn around to gladly see that this living pile of metal is not following me anymore, but I hear Fishlegs giving a brief shriek, and the monster almost jokingly saying, "Screaming is against the rules, darling!"
Is that an actual rule? Look at how much I care, and how much Fishlegs cares – he still screams even louder after I hear a few electric noises, and I see him running into my sight with his shield full of smoke and with visible burn marks. The monster probably used the same lightning-projectile attack on him, and I'm sure I don't want to get hit by that. Now I start to think that the Gyftrot's snowballs were a gift compared to these mortal bullets.
"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" Fishlegs tells Gobber nervously, running through the maze to avoid being found again, but I don't really see our so great instructor caring; he, instead, continues his non-helpful teaching.
"Look for his blind spot. Almost every monster has one."
Oh, the blind spot, I remember that. A monster's blind spot is the zone where it can't see you any longer. For example, if we were fighting against a Glyde, its blind spot would be its tail, because it can't turn its head around that much. Yes, basically, it's the part where the monster can't really see you approaching at all without turning its entire body around; it doesn't really mean that the monster is literally blind.
But this Mettaton thing is an exception to that, because he actually has a spot in which he can't see, as if he really was partially blind. According to the manual, if you stand several feet away and in front of him, he can't see you. The moment you move left or right, get too far or too close, or for some reason start dancing like crazy, then Mettaton will realize you're there. It's apparently an 'error'. The book stated that this monster's creator, Alphys I think was its name, was still working on him and must've messed up Mettaton's sight somehow. Good for us, I guess.
"Find it, hide in it, and strike!" Gobber continues, watching the arena intently. I honestly think using the blind spot to kill a monster is unfair, but if that's how it is, then that's how it is. I'm definitely not the one to judge this.
I walk around with alert eyes. I don't hear the robot wandering around, and I can't see him standing on any of the wooden walls either. As I move through as silently as I can, though, I hear his voice right after I hear gasps apparently coming from the twins. "Since when can humans become invisible?" I can safely assume that those two are on the blind spot, but not even in such a crucial moment can they stop being… well, themselves. Just a small moment of silence, and then it's ruined by Ruffnut complaining about her brother's bad smell. That's when it starts to go south; I hear their shields clashing and the two yelling at and threatening each other. They sure do care more about a simple insult than a deadly foe in front of them.
They suddenly become quiet, and I overhear Mettaton saying, "Oh, there you are! Just in time to die!" I realize they were behind the walls in front of me as I see Ruffnut and Tuffnut running out, and heart-shaped bullets exploding just inches away from them. The monster doesn't seem to follow them, so I better keep myself wary in case he ignores the others and finds me.
"Blind spot, yes. Deaf spot? Not so much." Gobber comments, chuckling afterwards. I think I may have a chance to ask him now. I just want to know one more fact about Sans. Just one, is it too much to ask for? I know what most of his attacks do, I know what he looks like… I only want to know some kind of behavior example. I'm actually starting to think that visiting the cove, going there by myself, is a good idea. Gobber has a pretty long rope in the stall, so I might be able to use it to get to the cove and go back up.
All I need to get my plan to work is to get out of here alive.
Astrid and Snotlout run past me, and I stop as I find myself under Gobber's bored gaze. "Hey- hey, so… How would one sneak up on Sans?" I hope he doesn't find it suspicious that I'm suddenly so concerned about this monster, but then again Gobber doesn't really mind this stuff.
He puts a hand over his forehead as if trying to get rid of the headache my questions were giving him, and hurriedly says, "No one's ever met it and lived to tell the tale," only to then shout, "now GET IN THERE!"
I step back at his sudden tone as he points at the arena. I'm not going anywhere with this, and I really think I'm going to be forced to learn new information by myself. "I know, I know, but hypothetically-"
"Hiccup!" Astrid whispers harshly behind me, and I flinch thinking she was going to smack me for being the annoying idiot she probably thinks I am. She's crouched against one of the walls, Snotlout with her. "Get down!"
I do as she tells me when I see Mettaton looking for us. "Cowards? Heh, more like crybabies. Come on, I just want to kill you all!" Astrid peeks around the wall and takes a few confident breaths. She doesn't even feel threatened. I call it now, I will never understand how she's never even afraid of these things.
Silently, she somersaults to the next wall, evading the monster's sight. Snotlout follows. Come on, if that guy can do it, so can I. Right? To be honest, I never did a somersault in my entire life, but Gobber used to tell me that 'sometimes, first times are the most successful'. Now it's a great moment to listen to him.
I dive in, and the maneuver seems good at first, but then I'm pulled back by the weight of the shield. Definitely, the first thing I'm going to do tomorrow morning is train these twigs I have for arms. The shield did a lot louder noise than I expected it to produce, and it throws a blast of bad luck at me as Mettaton faces toward my direction. I can easily tell I'm not in the blind spot because he immediately lets out a laugh and summons a few copies of his first form, literally a rectangular box, and I get to my feet faster than I ever thought I could before the heart bullets they shoot obliterate me. The explosions they cause in contact with the floor almost make me stumble.
As I look behind I see Mettaton following Snotlout and Astrid, so I can use the little time I have to ask Gobber again. He has to answer just one of my questions, so far he only told me the obvious – that no one has survived and encounter with Sans. Except for me, of course. Not to brag, but I survived twice.
"Maybe somebody has seen it, or we could see it at a certain time." I insist; Gobber is not even looking at me.
Somewhere near where I am I can hear Snotlout trying to flirt with Astrid and uselessly impress her again; he confidently says, "Watch out, babe, I'll take care of this!" I hear his weapon crash against the wall and Mettaton laughing mockingly. He probably missed by a mile, not a surprise. I hear more explosions, and Snotlout still attempting to gain Astrid's attention. "The sun was in my eyes, Astrid! What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I can do that, I just don't have the time right now!"
"It probably takes the daytime off." I'm so focused into getting a single answer that I don't even try to dodge Astrid, chased by Mettaton, who both go right past me. I hear the walls crumbling as the monster crashes into them. "You know, like a cat? H-has anyone ever seen it… napping or something?" All the teens run past me, hitting my shoulders over and over again.
I don't look at what's happening around me until Gobber frantically yells, "Hiccup!" Peeking over my shoulder, I get impressed at the sight. The entire maze has fallen down, but that's not what I should be worried about. Astrid jumps into a falling barrier with Mettaton following, and I realize too late that they're coming towards the last wall; which is the one that's about to fall on top of me.
"HICCUP!" Astrid screams atop of her lugs, as she is forced to jump off before the wall hurts her, and I trip as she lands on top of me with her axe dangerously close. The monster stumbles away and I realize that Astrid's axe is stuck on my shield – if it wasn't for it, I would be dead by now. She violently tries to stand up and retake her weapon, pushing and hitting me.
"Oh, love on the battlefield!" Tuffnut comments with a huge grin, only to make this even more awkward.
"She can do better." Ruffnut adds.
"Let me- why don't you-" I try to help Astrid before she tears my face off, but she finally gets off of me without killing me in the process, albeit she knocks the air out of my lungs as she uses my chest to pull herself up. A sudden noise of broken wood flying off and an angry, "That's it, sweetheart! You've done it!" coming from I already know who tell me that this is just about to get worse.
I try to stand up and just give Astrid the axe, but before I can she crazily tries to rip the weapon off the shield. Her boot on my face, she snatches the axe, still stuck on the shield, out – almost ripping my arms off as well – and, almost with utter fear, lands a perfect strike as the shield literally shatters into pieces when it hits Mettaton.
He wobbles back with a startled yelp, and muttering, "Sheesh. Humans are cowardly AND aggressive..." returns to his cage by himself in defeat. I can tell, that had to hurt, you being made out of metal or not.
"Well done, Astrid." Gobber congratulates her as if nothing too bad had happened, but she doesn't look pleased. In fact, she's breathing heavily, and that fiery glow on her eyes is gone – she is afraid. She was at the border of death, and not even a warrior like her was able to restrain the fear from escaping. I feel like this is all my fault…
Astrid suddenly turns around with an angry gaze that could intimidate almost any monster. She was frightened just a second ago, now she's firm and determined again, while I'm here, lying on the ground, hands over my head like, as Mettaton said, a coward, a crybaby. "Is this some kind of a joke to you?" she yells, bits of fear still invading every word of hers, but she quickly overtakes it. "Our parents' war is about to become ours." She points the axe, with half the shield still stuck on it, at me menacingly. "Figure out which side you're on."
The side I'm on? I honestly have no idea anymore.
And it's time for me to find out.
As always, nobody noticed I was gone. I may be about to regret this, but for me, it's a must-do thing. I grabbed a shield, a knife and the rope and quickly ran into the forest before anyone could stop me and interrogate me for having all this with me. Vikings are stubborn, but most of them would think I'm demented if they knew what my plans are. A weakling facing Sans alone with a small dagger and a shield? Not even a drunk Viking would do such thing, but here I am.
I tied the rope to a strong, protruding root near the entrance cave, and carefully slid down the steep cliff. I land hidden between two boulders and, with the shield covering me, I take a look around. Much to my surprise, there's no monster to be seen. He couldn't be gone, right? That's impossible. I got clear that there was no way Sans could get out of here.
As I make my way in, I start to think of the consequences. I glance at my shield; there's no way this small, wooden thing can protect me against lasers that can destroy an entire catapult tower, but hey, better than nothing. I still have the knife anyways, but I hope this creature gives me no reasons to use it.
I take a step forward, but before I can tell I'm stopped abruptly. Oh great, the shield got stuck between the boulders. I'm so stupid… I try to pull it out, but it's completely motionless. Anything but this! The sooner I think about it, the sooner it happens. Now I don't have anything to protect me with. I duck under the stuck shield and try to get it out from the other side, but to no avail. My shoulders drop. Oh well, just another lucky day in the life of Hiccup the Useless.
I sigh, and as carefully as possible, walk into the cove. Everything is strangely silent. No birds singing, no fish springing out of the water, no wind blowing. This feels like a nightmare in which a horrifying creature is about to pop out at any moment. There's still no sign of Sans, and I wonder if he actually did manage to leave, but I doubt it.
I look all around me. I feel like a couple of eyes are digging into my back. I can sense my breathing getting funny. If Sans is here and decides that I'm not friendly enough, then I'm pretty much a goner. There's no way I can get out of here without getting burned alive by a blast. Why do these things even cross my mind? Or, better question: why do I even listen to my mind?
"human…"
I freeze and I feel my blood running cold. There's no way that sinister voice belongs to a Viking. There's only one thing it can belong to. Sans.
I turn around slowly at the sound of a few pebbles sliding down a rock, and gasp, flinching back, as I see the monster coming down a boulder. He was watching me and I didn't even notice. No wonder he has been unseen this whole time – his stealth works even during the day. I try not to make any abrupt movements, and stay as calm as possible. Sans looks at me with both curiosity and anger, though it's not that easy to tell; this monster seems to have a permanent smile, and his eyes tell everything you need to know about his mood, apparently.
"what are you doing here."
I can tell he's not about to greet me like a good friend. We tried to kill each other and I'm the reason of why he can't leave, so of course he's not going to become my best friend forever in just a second. I gulp. I don't know what to say to make him believe that I have no intentions of fighting. He's too wary of my presence.
"I- I don't want to fight you, o-okay?" I stutter, fear taking over me. That glare is actually threatening enough to make any Viking run away, but I have nowhere to go. So, either I manage to become his friend, or at least get him to stop seeing me as a threat, or I'm blasted out of existence. There's no turning back. Do or die.
He looks confused for a moment, but the glowing irises suddenly disappear and he looks more than ready to fight in just a small moment. "heh heh, really funny. your knife tells otherwise."
I pull back my coat, revealing the blade, and look at him. He eyes the weapon as if it was his worst enemy. This just keeps getting better and better; now I have to get rid of my only defense left if I want to get out of here alive, thing I doubt anyways. My hand barely touches the hilt of the knife when that blue fire covers Sans' eye again, and I step back. "throw it away."
My breathing almost stops at the cold tone on his voice, and I carefully pick up the knife, hold it on my arm to let him see that I don't plan on tricking him, and let it fall on the ground. Sans still doesn't look satisfied. "away." he repeats aggressively. This is the only chance I have to walk back home without a scratch, hopefully, so I better listen and do what he tells me. I pick up the fallen dagger with my boot and throw it into the lake, where it sinks in the clear water, never to be seen again.
Now I'm completely defenseless. I really do hope this monster knows what a fair fight is, otherwise I'm more than screwed right now. Sans looks at the water, then back at me, the flame vanishing and his white eyes returning. He seems much calmer now, for my relief.
"what's with you?"