Frisk looked at the lab that loomed in front of them. It was rather intimidating, actually. They decided to go down south (Phrasing! The Hunger laughed) before heading inside. South was actually the only other path they could take that wouldn't lead them straight back to Waterfall, with west being the way they came and north being blocked by some guards (who weren't too smart.) East being the lab, of course. They recalled their strange one-sided conversation with the guards.
"Sorry… Undyne, like, told us there was totally a dangerous beast in the area. So, like, us Royal Guards are blocking off the elevators for now." One of the guards had told Frisk as they approached them. "Ngah! Even if the elevators aren't working anyway, we'll do our best, Ms. Undyne!"
When Frisk had paused to stare at the guard in amusement, he had continued his monologue. "Like, NO WAY you're getting by us. But, between you and me… I think you could go through that creepy lab over there." The guard pointed to the lab. "Between, you, me and my bro here, I mean. I tell him ALL my secrets."
As Frisk was reminiscing, they realised they had arrived at an area not too different from the area that was south of the old turtle's shop. The river seemed to continue on from there to where they were currently. Speaking of the river, there was a suspicious hooded person sitting on a two-person boat in the river. They moved to speak to them.
"Tra la la. I am the riverman." When the riverperson had started talking, they had turned their head towards Frisk. They couldn't see anything inside the hood. "Or am I the riverwoman…? It doesn't really matter. I love to ride in my boat. Would you like to join me?" Frisk politely declined. "Then perhaps another time. Or perhaps not. It doesn't really matter."
The riverperson turned away again and Frisk headed back up to Hotland. They stood in front of the entrance to the lab, nervous. It was a very creepy lab, after all.
As they took a step closer, the lab door automatically opened. They stepped inside.
*Woah, what?! Another perspective switch?! You better get used to these*
Chara's whole family, including them, sat squashed together on two couches. They couldn't believe that their family had grown so much they couldn't even fit on two couches without being squashed. Their house was bigger than ever, as well. They'd had it extended to fit all of the children Toriel had adopted.
But that was beside the point. The TV was on and it showed a screen that was counting down to Mettaton's live quiz show. It didn't have long left to go now.
When the timer ended, the screen suddenly went black and everyone very clearly heard Mettaton yelling "OHHHH YES!" Chara hadn't even seen him yet and they were already fed up with him. His voice had a way of doing that, for them at least.
MTT continued. "WELCOME BEAUTIES…" Suddenly a spot light appeared over Mettaton and what seemed to be a big hole in the wall of Alphys and Betty's lab. They heard Betty groaning about how they'd have to fix it. "…TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!"
The black room got a little less dark as Mettaton's gameshow music started and a huge sign saying "Game Show" appeared along with two rainbow disco balls, which illuminated what was definitely the lab. Alphys was also there, looking distraught.
The main thing Chara was focusing on, though, was the new human. They looked extremely similar to Chara, but were wearing a pink and blue striped shirt with two stripes, compared to Chara's lime and cream one with only one stripe. Their trousers were blue to Chara's red, and their hair was a darker shade of brown to Chara's. Their boots were the same brown colour. They looked quite confused and slightly surprised. Mettaton probably hadn't given any warning before presumably bursting through the wall.
What shocked Chara the most, though, was the fact that their eyes were red like theirs. It was almost like having suddenly met an identical twin, except they were slightly different.
They started listening to the show again. "…CAN ALREADY TELL IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT SHOW! EVERYONE GIVE A BIG HAND FOR OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANT!" Mettaton clapped and a rain of confetti fell over the human.
"NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, GORGEOUS?" MTT asked as the human tried to get the confetti out of their hair. "NO PROBLEM! IT'S SIMPLE! THERE'S ONLY ONE RULE. ANSWER CORRECTLY…" The music stopped for dramatic affect. Chara rolled their eyes. "OR YOU DIE!"
Chara was suddenly very interested in this new version of the quiz show that Mettaton was doing. They wholeheartedly agreed that it was a good new rule, although it was probably only for dramatic effect, like most things MTT did. While they had been thinking, Mettaton had drawn the new human's soul out and started his battle music (or at least, one version of it. God knows how many versions he had.) Everyone immediately noticed something wrong with the soul, which was that it had a crack running straight through it.
That doesn't look healthy. Chara also noticed that the soul was red, like theirs. That meant that the human had a determined soul like them. They wondered if there were any other ways they were similar, and listened as everyone else voiced their concerns over the soul (with Betty blabbing to everyone what she had told Chara.)
Meanwhile, the show was continuing. The human had checked MTT. Obviously, no one else could see his stats other than them, but Chara didn't need to because they already knew them.
METTATON – ATK 30 DEF 255. His metal body renders him invulnerable to attack. They ran over the stats in their head.
Because the human had wasted their turn checking, it was MTT's turn. Obviously, this was a quiz show battle and so Mettaton used quiz questions instead of attacks. "LET'S START WITH AN EASY ONE!"
You'd have thought Betty and Alphys would have managed to stop him from shouting all the time by now, Chara thought as the first question appeared along with a 30 second timer. The timer was going down faster than in seconds.
What's the prize for answering correctly?
A: Money B: Mercy C: New car D: More questions
The human's hand hovered on B, which Chara knew was wrong, before suddenly pressing down on D. "RIGHT! SOUNDS LIKE YOU GET IT! HERE'S YOUR TERRIFIC PRIZE!"
What's the king's full name?
A: Lord Fluffybuns B: Fuzzy Pushover C: Asgore Dreemurr D: Dr Friendship
The human immediately pressed on C while Chara and their family teased Dad over the other options. The quiz show continued. Chara had stopped listening to Mettaton's comments on the human's choices already.
"ENOUGH ABOUT OTHERS. LET'S TALK ABOUT ME!" That was a very MTT statement.
What are robots made of?
A: Hopes & Dreams B: Metal & Magic C: Snips & Snails D: Sugar & Spice
The human paused to read all of the options before pressing down on B. Chara noticed that every time it was their turn, they just selected Spare. They sneered and thought that maybe they weren't so similar after all. Although it wasn't as if anyone could hurt Mettaton.
"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 Train B is moving at 253.5mph towards Station A. If both trains departed at 10:00 AM and it is now 10:08, how much longer until both trains pass each other?
A: 31.054 minutes B: 16.232 minutes C: 32.049 minutes D: 32.058 minutes
"That's not easy!" Asriel cried in indignation. It was just like MTT to lie blatantly like that.
The human looked extremely confused and also slightly annoyed. They moved their hand over all of the answers without picking one. Chara realised they were just doing eeny-meeny-miny-moe. They suddenly pressed down on A and their soul got zapped while Mettaton yelled that they were wrong.
Chara noticed that the human seemed to… grow a bit when they got zapped? Chara leaned forward. Their hands had also seemed to have changed into claws without them noticing. Just as soon as it had happened, they were back to normal. They weren't sure if anyone else had noticed, so they shot a look at Betty. She nodded in confirmation that Chara wasn't hallucination. They leaned back in deep thought as the next question was asked.
"DON'T 'COUNT' ON YOUR VICTORY…" Mettaton revealed a jar of flies.
How many flies are in this jar?
A: 54 B:
The rest of the questions didn't even have time to load as the human instantly slammed their hand on A. They were correct. "WONDERFUL! IM ASTOUNDED, FOLKS!"
Chara was impressed as well.
"LET'S PLAY MEMORY GAME."
What monster is this?
A: Froggit B: Whimsun C: Moldsmal D: Mettaton
Knowing Mettaton, since the question seemed so easy it was probably rigged. They wouldn't be surprised if the answer was actually MTT himself. That would be just like him. The human seemed to agree, and they pressed on D. (Hey, that rhymed!) They were both right.
"I'M SO FLATTERED THAT YOU REMEMBERED! BUT CAN YOU GET THIS ONE?"
Would you smooch a ghost?
All the options were "heck yeah" and the timer was going up. The human grinned and pressed down on one of the buttons enthusiastically. Chara's family burst out laughing. "GREAT ANSWER! I LOVE IT! HERE'S A SIMPLE ONE."
How many letters in the name Mettaton?
A: 11 B: 6 C: 8 D: 10
The number of Ns increased and eventually went straight off the screen with the numbers in the answers increasing accordingly. However, the human managed to get it right almost straight away again by pressing C. They weren't sure if it was luck or skill this time.
"OF COURSE THAT WAS EASY FOR YOU! TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS!"
In the dating simulation video game "Mew Mew Kissy Cutie" what is Mew Mew's favourite food?
Alphys suddenly burst out. "OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM! 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 broke off her rambling and looked sheepish. "ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS. YOU AREN'T HELPING OUR CONTESTANT, ARE YOU? OOOOOH! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME. I'LL ASK A QUESTION… YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO!"
Who does Alphys have a crush on?
A: Undyne B: Sans C: The new human D: Don't know
"That's not in the script!" Betty sounded flustered, but not as panicked as Alphys looked. The human smirked before pressing down on C.
"...SERIOUSLY? MY MY... HOW CONCEITED CAN YOU GET...?" Ironic, coming from him. "I LOVE IT! AND WHILE YOU ARE COMPLETELY WRONG, YOU DESERVE SOME CREDIT. I'VE SEEN HER WATCH YOU ON HER COMPUTER SCREEN. SMILING WHEN YOU SUCCEED. SHRIEKING WHEN YOU FAIL. AND ALWAYS, ALWAYS, WHISPERING... 'NO! WRONG! YOU HAVE TO GO THAT WAY!' IN ITS OWN WAY, IS THIS NOT LOVE?" Chara snorted in amusement. They were enjoying this quiz show much, much more than usual.
"WELL, WELL, WELL. WITH DR. ALPHYS HELPING YOU… THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION!"
And we all know that you can't live without that, can you? Chara thought.
"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…!" Mettaton retracted his arms and wheel and used a rocket to fly away just before the show ended and the screen went back to the waiting screen.
For the first time in their life, Chara was looking forward to the next MTT show.
Who here knows that vampires traditionally have arithmomonia? It means that they have an obsessive urge to count things.