A Maelstrom's Tale

Chapter 6: Roguish Brawn and Timid Brains

While walking along the pathway, Naruto couldn't help but think that the Hotland is literally living up to its name due to the climate. Naruto and Frisk kept wiping the sweat from their foreheads before it dripped into their eyes and Nikan was panting a lot because of the heat around them.

"Man, it really is hot here," said Naruto, again wiping the sweat off.

Frisk was fanning herself "You're right, it's like we're at an underground volcano," Nikan yipped in response as he panted from the heat.

"We better make our way through there quickly or we might end up getting dehydrated," Naruto pointed out.

The trio continued on their way until coming across an intersection where they saw a tall white building ahead of them, to the north are a pair of guards dressed in knightly armor that are currently barring the way and to the south is a pathway leading to somewhere they don't know quite yet. Spotting a nearby SAVE Point, Naruto went to interact with it.

(Seeing such a strange laboratory in a place like this…you're filled with Determination. SAVE? Yes/No)

Confirming the SAVE, Naruto went to confront the guards but were told to not let anyone pass under command from Undyne so as to corner the humans running about. Deciding to take an alternate route, the group took the east path towards the laboratory but ended up getting into another jam.

"Hmmm…the door won't open and I don't see a door handle to use to open it," said Naruto observing said door and knocking on it to see that it's made of metal "We have two ways blocked with a third leading to who knows where, I'm up for suggestions,"

Frisk hummed in thought before coming up with an idea "Let's call Papyrus, he might be able to help us,"

"Sounds about right, especially since we don't have Sans' phone number on either of our phones," Naruto shrugged.

Frisk dialed Papyrus's number and called it, they didn't have to wait long for the ever-friendly skeleton to answer it with happiness in his voice {Hello humans, the Great Papyrus is honored to have been called by you}

"Hello Papyrus, we're at Hotland and don't really know where else to go as some of the pathways are kinda blocked and hoping you could help us out," said Frisk.

{Of course! I would love to help my friends and not annoying dog, I even have a great plan to make you and Undyne friends!} said Papyrus excitedly.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Naruto worriedly, not feeling keen on encountering the spear wielding knight in case she tries to attack them again.

{Absolutely! I the Great Papyrus will never steer you wrongly!}

"Okay, but where would we meet you?" asked Frisk curiously as she was more for it compared to Naruto.

{Since you're both close to the entrance to Hotland, take the southern path of the first crossroads to the end where you will meet the River Person, he will give you a boat ride to anywhere. Have him transport you to Waterfall then you make your way to the Quiet Area and take the leftmost path which will lead you to Undyne's home. That's where I'll be waiting to introduce you to her} said Papyrus.

"Okay Papyrus, we'll be coming over," said Frisk.

{I can't wait to see you again} said Papyrus before ending the call.

"Are you sure about this? She might attack us again," said Naruto with a frown.

Frisk nodded in response "Very sure, if we let her understand that we're not enemies of the monsters then she could even be our friend just like Papyrus,"

"…fine, I hope you're right about this," said Naruto in resignation.

Returning to the crossroads, the group took the southern path till they arrived at a riverbank where they encountered a mysterious figure donning a purple hooded cloak but couldn't see the face standing on a wooden boat. The hooded person turned towards them and spoke.

"Tra la la, I am the Riverman…or is that the Riverwoman? It doesn't matter. I love to ride in my boat, would you care to join me?" asked the River Person.

"Yes please, could you take us to Waterfall?" asked Naruto.

"Climb aboard and we'll be off," the group got on the boat and it proceeded to move along the river without the use of oars or motor. It was a quiet trip with only the sound of water and the River Person making some strange mutterings like one of having forgotten to wear their many pairs of pants today till they arrived at their destination.

"Thank you for getting us here," said Frisk.

"Come again sometime, Tra la la," the River Person replied.

The trio made their way up the path, past Gerson's shop to return to the Quiet Area where they took the leftmost pathway to find Papyrus standing before a house. The building appears to be designed to resemble an angry fish with the door being the mouth and the windows as eyes. Naruto spotted a rather familiar dummy placed at the side and was about to examine it if not for Papyrus noticing their arrival.

"Oho, you have finally arrived! Are you two ready to hang out with Undyne? I have a plan to make you two great friends" asked Papyrus.

"Yes we are," said Frisk with a nod.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Naruto muttered lowly.

"Okay stand behind me," the children complied with the skeleton whispering over his shoulder "Pssst, make sure to give her this," he held out a bone wrapped in a red bow ''She loves these," Papyrus knocked on the door and didn't have to wait long as the door opened and Undyne came out no longer in her armor but dressed in a black tank top, blue jeans and boots.

"Hi Papyrus! Ready for your extra private, one-on-one training today?" asked Undyne.

Papyrus nodded eagerly "You bet I am, and I brought some friends along," he stood to the side to reveal Naruto and Frisk.

"Hi, I don't think we've…," Undyne trailed off upon seeing the humans and wolf pup

…

…

…

No one said a single word and the tension was so think that one could cut it like a knife through butter, the one to finally break the silence was Undyne herself.

"Why don't…you three…come in?" Undyne went inside with Papyrus wiping his feet on the doormat in a funny way before following afterwards with the rest in tow.

The interior of the house was quite simple really, consisting of a kitchen with a table, some chairs, a large sword, a piano, and a window on the left side of the house. There was also another door besides the one serving as the entrance leading to another room.

"Here Undyne, my friends brought a gift for you on their own" Papyrus presented the bone to Undyne who received it awkwardly.

"Thanks, I'll…uh…put it with the rest," Undyne went to a kitchen drawer and pulled it open to reveal even more bones before putting it amongst them and closing afterwards "So, are we ready to start?"

"Whoopsy doopsy! I just remembered, I have to go to the bathroom! You three have fun!" Papyrus suddenly dove through the window, smashing through the glass panes.

Naruto looked at the window in shock "Did he just…,"

"Why did he do that?" asked Frisk confusedly, they turned to Undyne who was looking at them with a frown.

"…so why are you two here, to rub in my defeat in my face? To humiliate me further?" asked Undyne.

Frisk shook her head in response "Not at all, we just wanted to make sure that you're doing okay after what happened over at Hotland,"

"Is that so? And I bet you're hoping that we would be friends afterwards?"

"Well, it would be far better than being enemies," Naruto pointed out.

"Like that's gonna happen, why would I be friends with either of you when you're the enemy of everyone's hopes and dreams. I will never be your friend, now get out of my house!" said Undyne, making Naruto frown a bit and Frisk look down in sadness.

Suddenly, Papyrus poked his head through the window "Oh dang, what a shame…and here I thought that Undyne could be friends with you. But I guess…I overestimated her, she's just not up to the challenge," then he left before Undyne could say anything.

"Challenge!? Papyrus wait!" Undyne turned towards the humans with a glint in her eye "He thinks I can't be friends with you two? Fuhuhuhu! I'll show him that I can become friends with you two losers! Listen here, we're not going to be just friends,"

"We aren't?" asked Frisk nervously.

"Of course not, we're going to be…BESTIES! I'll make you like me so much…you won't be able to think of anyone else. It is the perfect revenge!" Undyne pumped her fist as if proud of her plan.

"So that was his plan all along. Gotta hand it to Papyrus; that's pretty smart of him," thought Naruto.

BGM start: Undertale OST; Dating Start!

Undyne smiled politely which is a sharp contrast to her usual behavior at this point "It's so nice to have you here, why don't you take a seat or make yourself at home?"

Frisk being a naturally curious girl decided to explore the place while Naruto decided to sit down and look around bit. Frisk discovered several…interesting things during her look around; a drawer full of the basic kitchen utensils along with…tiny swords, axes, spears, nunchucks and other stuff, she also took note of the refrigerator that actually heats food instead of cooling, the large sword leaning against the wall. Frisk went on to check the drawer where Undyne kept Papyrus' bone presents only to find the white dog from before there and the bones were gone. The dog winked at Frisk before she awkwardly closed the drawer back.

Meanwhile, Undyne wanted to ask Naruto something which had been bugging her for quite a while "There's something I've been wanting to ask you,"

"What is it?" asked Naruto curiously.

"During our fight, you were suddenly able to block my attacks and break free of my spell several times with the other human, and let's not forget about one of your eyes were glowing. What's up with that?"

Naruto hovered a hand over his left eye with a small frown on his face "I'm not too sure myself, all I knew was that I didn't want either of us to get hurt no matter what then I felt something come over me and I performed feats which I shouldn't be able to do normally," since then, he could feel that strange power within him and simply waiting to be called upon.

Undyne snorted in response "So you just awakened some sort of power, sounds about right according to Alphys' archive on human history. So where did you learn to use the wooden sword like that?"

"Actually…my dad taught me. It's called the Gale Form which focuses majorly on defense and ensures one's survival despite the severe lack in offense," Naruto explained albeit feeling a twinge of pain in his heart upon recalling the times spent training with his father.

"Sounds like a strong warrior, bet he's got some sweet moves,"

Naruto smiled sadly "…yeah, he did…," Before anymore could be said, Frisk returned to sit next to Naruto.

"Now that you're both comfortable, let me get you something to drink," Undyne went to the fridge and brought out several items which she placed on the kitchen counter "All set, now which would you like?"

Naruto made to get up when Undyne suddenly threw a spear which pierced through the table, breaking it into half and surprising both humans at the sudden expected action.

BGM Stop

"HEY, DON'T GET UP! YOU'RE THE GUESTS SO SIT DOWN AND RELAX!" said Undyne irately.

"B-But how do we let you know exactly we want from here?" asked Frisk, fearfully clutching onto a sleeve of Naruto's hoodie.

Undyne sweated at the point made "Um…how about you simply point at what you two want? You can even use the spear,"

BGM Resume

"Okay…?" Naruto pulled the spear off the table with some effort and held it in both hands before looking at the kitchen counter, so far there's sugar, soda, green cylinder labeled 'Hot Chocolate' and tea. Given that the soda won't be the best choice, he pointed the spear at the cocoa.

"You want the Hot Chocolate? Hang on…I just remembered that it's empty, I stopped buying anymore since it's a hassle. Plus, Asgore keeps getting marshmallows in his beard!" Undyne laughed at the memory of it.

"Then in that case, we'll go with the tea," Naruto pointed at said item.

"Okay then, give me a moment to make some," Undyne went on to prepare the tea while the others waited until she was finally done as she placed the two cups of tea on what's left of the table before taking her seat at the other side.

"Thank you," said Frisk, she blew a bit on the tea and took a sip, finding it to be a bit scalding to the tongue but good nonetheless. Naruto sipped on his tea as well albeit wincing from the heat.

"It's good right? Nothing but the best for my ABSOLUTLEY PRECIOUS FRIENDS!" Undyne chortled with pride before falling into silence "Hey, you know…it's kind of strange that you choose that brand of tea. Golden Flower tea, that's Asgore's favorite,"

"Really?" asked Naruto with interest.

"Yeah, now that I think about it; you kinda remind me of him. You're both total weenies!"

Naruto smiled in response "I think I'll take that as a compliment,"

"It should be!"

BGM Change: Undertale OST; Memory

Undyne was deep on thought for some time before speaking up again "I was a pretty hotheaded kid back then, I actually tried to fight Asgore to prove myself as the strongest in the Underground,"

"You fought Asgore?" asked Frisk with surprise.

"Heh yeah with emphasis on the word 'tried', I couldn't land a single hit on him and he didn't even fight back which made me feel even more humiliated,"

"So, what happened next?" asked Naruto.

"Afterwards, he actually apologized to me and said something goofy 'Excuse me, do you want to know how to beat me?' I said yes and from then on, he began to train me. One day during practice, I knocked him down which made me feel…bad. But he was actually smiling, I had never met anyone happy to get their butt kicked. Long story short, he kept training me and now I'm the head of the Royal Guard which now makes me the one who gets to train the dorks to fight like…Papyrus,"

"We met him, he really wants to be a member of the Royal Guard," said Frisk.

Undyne nodded albeit reluctantly "Yeah, but if I'm to be honest…I don't think I can let him into the Royal Guard,"

"Why not?" Frisk looked at her confusedly, Naruto remained silent as he has a very good idea why she said that.

"It's just…well…he's not weak in anyway…he's actually very tough! The thing is…he's just too innocent and nice! I mean look, he was supposed to capture the two of you but ended up becoming friends instead. I can't send him into the battlefield, he would be torn into small smiling pieces,"

"Oh…," Frisk now understood where Undyne's reason came from, she was looking out for the kind skeleton.

"That was why I started to give him cooking lesson, to try to get him to choose another path in life you know?"

"We understand, Papyrus is a kind person and I can tell he would prefer settling things peacefully from what I can tell about him," said Naruto.

BGM end

Undyne nodded in agreement then she noticed that their teacups were empty "Oh, it seems like spoke for so long that your cups are empty. I'll get some more," she got and was walking towards the stove when she suddenly stopped halfway much to the confusion of Naruto and Frisk.

"What's the matter Undyne?" asked Frisk.

"Papyrus…his cooking lesson…HE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT RIGHT NOW!" Undyne suddenly yelled out much to their surprise "And if he's not here to have it…," she turned towards the two children, making the feel nervous "THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO HAVE IT FOR HIM!"

Naruto and Frisk blinked in confusion with the former uttering one word "…Huh?"

BGM change: Undertale OST; Spear of Justice

Undyne leapt into the air to land atop the kitchen counter and swept across it, knocking the items to the ground before jumping off "That's right! Nothing brought Papyrus and I closer than cooking! Which means if I do give you his lesson, WE'LL BECOME CLOSER THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE!" She laughed out loud "Afraid!? Don't be, we're gonna be great friends!"

Undyne jumped in between the two to grab them by the back of their collars to lift them off their seats before jumping back to the counter and placing them before it "Let's start with the sauce!" Undyne stomped a foot on the ground to make vegetables drop from above onto a chopping board "Envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy and pound them to dust with your fists!"

"Umm, I haven't done this before," said Frisk nervously.

"Well I have, remember I said that my mom's a cook and owns a restaurant so I know my way around the kitchen and learnt to cook a few recipes," Naruto spoke up confidently, he opened up the drawer and took out a kitchen knife and a few bowls "I got this!" he began to chop the vegetables one by one into little pieces at a rapid pace much to their amazement.

"That's so fast," said Frisk in awe.

"That's pretty good punk, how I take over from here since I can do it a lot faster!" said Undyne.

Naruto shook his head in response "No need for that, mom told me that rushing through cooking won't make a tasty meal. How about you and Frisk work on the noodles, that way everything would be done sooner than when done one at a time,"

"You got a point there, come on then!" Undyne lifted Frisk by the collar again and carried her over to the stove "…now to add the noodles!" she stomped the ground again to make a pot of water and a pack of noodles drop down onto the stove "Homemade noodles taste the best but I just buy store brands…they're the cheapest! Anyways, let's put them into the pot," she handed the pack to Frisk who was nervous.

"O-Okay," since it's her first time cooking, Frisk took things carefully as she put the noodles into the pot one at time till they were all inside.

"Nice?" said Undyne with a sweatdrop "Now it's time to stir the pasta! As a general rule of thumb, the harder you stir then the better it tastes! Ready? Let's do it!" Frisk grabbed the ladle and proceeded to stir the noodles "Stir harder!" Undyne demanded with the girl complying but wasn't satisfied "Harder! HARDER! Ugh, let me do it!" Undyne conjured a spear and struck at the pot, denting it all over "Fuhuhuhu, that's the stuff!"

"Everything okay over there?" asked Naruto, having heard the banging sounds of metal while still preparing the sauce.

"Everything is going perfectly!" said Undyne although Frisk looked a bit unsure if they were doing the right thing.

"Alright then, I'm almost done with the sauce here,"

"Perfect, now for the final step; turn up the heat and let the stovetop symbolize your burning passion! Let your hopes and dreams blaze! Don't hold anything back!"

"I-I'll do my best," Frisk took hold of the knob and began turning it to the right with the flames beneath the pot getting bigger and hotter.

"Make it hotter!" said Undyne, Frisk continued turning the knob and making the flames bigger and like always the knight wasn't satisfied "Hotter darn it! HOTTER!"

Naruto was finally done and carrying the pot over "Hey guys, I'm finished with the sauce so let's put it onto the…," he trailed off when he saw what's best described as a bonfire with the stove "What the…STOP! THE FLAMES ARE TOO-,"

FWOOSH*

There was a bright heated flash of light which engulfed the entire room before dissipating to reveal several parts of the house on fire and Undyne's face was covered in soot while Frisk somehow emerged unscathed but Naruto noted Frisk's SOUL returning to her body and figured that she must have shielded herself instinctively.

BGM End

"Do I need to ask how a supposedly normal cooking lesson led to the house being on fire?" asked Naruto putting away the pot of uncooked sauce on the counter since there isn't a point to it anymore.

"Uh, we kinda got carried away. Man, no wonder Papyrus sucks at cooking," said Undyne sheepishly with a nervous smile which faded away "…oh who am I kidding. I really screwed this one, didn't I?"

"What do you mean?" asked Frisk confusedly.

"I can't force you two to like me, some people don't just get along so easily. I can understand if you feel that way about me, and if we can't become friends then that's okay with me…,"

"Undyne…," Naruto looked at the knight sadly.

"Because…if we're not friends…IT MEANS I CAN DESTROY YOU WITHOUT REGRET!"

BGM Start: Undertale OST; Spear of Justice (Sped Up)

Undyne took a stance and conjured a spear into her hands while making Naruto and Frisk's SOULs emerge from their bodies to signal a fight much to their confusion, and the blonde was vocal about it.

"What are you doing Undyne?" asked Naruto.

"I've been defeated…my house is in shambles, and I even failed to befriend you. I don't care if you're my guests anymore…a final rematch with both sides going all out! It is the only way I can regain my lost pride so come at me and hit with everything you got! NGAAAHHH!"

Frisk turned to Naruto worriedly "Naruto…what do we do?"

"…," Naruto didn't respond to the question.

"Show me what you've got human!" Undyne demanded.

"…Very well then,"

Naruto dashed towards Undyne with a fist reared back much to Frisk's shock and lashed out with a punch once close enough….and tapped her leg with little to no strength behind it.

BGM End

Undyne blinked in confusion "…That's it? That is all the intent you could muster to attack me with?"

Naruto was silent before responding "…yeah, that's because you aren't an enemy to begin with. And you also mistaken about something…you didn't fail to become friends with us,"

Frisk spoke up in agreement "Yeah, Monster Kid has said many good things about you with one of them being you would never hurt an innocent person. The first time may have been rough but now we know so much about you that the last thing we would ever want to do is hurt you,"

"…Heh, you know what?" Undyne dropped her spear for it to fade away "I don't actually want to hurt you either. At first, I hated your stupid saccharine schtick, but the way you hit me just now…it reminded me of someone I used to train with…,"

"You mean Asgore?" asked Frisk.

"Yeah, I realize now that you two aren't just wimpy losers," Undyne grinned at them "You're wimpy losers with big hearts… just like him," Naruto and Frisk smiled in response "Listen, no doubt that both of you and Asgore are fated to fight. But knowing him, he probably doesn't want to fight. Just talk to him, I'm sure you can persuade him to let you go home. Eventually, some mean human would show up here and I would take their SOUL instead. But just know that if you hurt Asgore, I'll take the human SOULs…cross the border…and beat the crap out of you two! Cause that's what friends do, right?"

Naruto smiled and nodded in agreement "Yeah, friends watch out for each other after all," unknown to them was that Naruto's hand used to hit Undyne was shaking but he had hidden it behind his back to prevent them from seeing it.

"Fuhuhuhu, now let's get out of this flaming house!" said Undyne, receiving eager nods of agreement from the two children.

Everyone quickly exited from the house which has now become charcoal black and could still see the flames burning inside through the windows, Nikan leapt into Naruto's arms as the wolf pup had been waiting outside the whole time and sorely missed him.

"Sorry, we kept you waiting Nikan," said Naruto with the wolf pup happily licking at his face in response.

"I gotta admit it was a lot of fun, we'll have to hang out again another time! But uh somewhere else," said Undyne happily.

"It would be nice," said Frisk with a smile.

"In the meantime, I guess I'll hang with Papyrus. If you need any help, you can call Papyrus so I can talk to ya! Well, see ya later punks!" Undyne then took off running, most likely for Snowdin.

"Glad to see that we're friends with Undyne now, guess Papyrus' plan worked after all," said Naruto with a smile, no longer having to worry about being pursued by her anymore but it doesn't mean that he could let his guard down anytime soon.

"What do we do now?" asked Frisk.

"Best we head back to Hotland and try to find our way forward from there,"

"Okay,"

Naruto along with Frisk and Nikan made their back to the River Person to transport them to Hotland where the guards were still barring their way. So, they went to the lab once more and this time the doors actually opened automatically on their own much to the group's surprise but decided to go inside since there wasn't any other route available to take.

"Oh, it's so dark here," Like Frisk said, the interior of the lab is dark with hardly any lighting.

"Hang on, I'll use the torch on my phone," Naruto brought out the phone from his pocket and activated the torchlight feature of it. They continued on their way when they came across something peculiar, the trio came upon a large mainframe computer with the monitor and it was displaying them as they moved around.

"Is that us?" asked Frisk.

Naruto waved his hand and the monitor displayed him doing so, causing him to look around for any cameras and not seeing any "Could it be that something has been watching us?"

"I don't know,"

"I think we should make our way out of here quickly before we end up meeting the person who has been watching us," receiving a nod of agreement from Frisk, they hastened through the room only to stop upon hearing a door open ahead of them and soon after, the entire room lit up for them to see who it is.

Before the trio is what appears to be a reptilian monster with yellow scales and seems to be in a hunched over posture, wearing a pair of round glasses and a white lab coat, and judging by the eyelashes, she's a female. The monster seems to have noticed their presence and began to panic.

"Oh my god, I didn't expect to see you so soon! Especially right after I restored the power to the lab, haven't yet showered, the place is a mess, and…," the monster managed to finally calm herself down before turning to the children and wolf pup.

BGM Start: Undertale OST; Alphys

"Ummmm, H-h-h-hiya! I'm Dr. Alphys, Asgore's Royal Scientist!" said the now introduced Alphys.

"Alphys, where have I heard that name before?" Naruto muttered lowly.

"Undyne said that name a few times before," said Frisk.

"Oh right, I remember now,"

Alphys saw the children whispering to each other and felt a bit nervous before speaking up "Ummmm, I-I'm not one of the 'bad guys'! I've actually been observing you two ever since you stepped out of the Ruins,"

Naruto blinked with surprise "That long?"

Alphys nodded shyly "…your fights…friendships…everything! I was going to stop you at first, but watching someone from a screen kinda makes you want to root for them instead. So now I want to help you two! I can use my knowledge to easily guide you through Hotland right to Asgore's castle,"

Frisk perked up at that "Really? That would help us a lot, thank you!"

"Um well, there's a tiny issue that you need to know,"

"What issue is it?" asked Naruto curiously.

"A long time ago, I created a robot named Mettaton for the purpose of entertainment. But I kinda added some…anti-human combat features,"

Naruto slapped a palm to his face "You gotta be kidding me, out of the frying pan and into the fire?"

"I tried to remove them but I ended up making a slight error and made him bloodthirsty,"

"Oh dear," Frisk stood next to Naruto with worry and Nikan whined a bit.

"I-it's okay, everything should be fine as long as he doesn't find you," said Alphys assuredly.

BANG*

Something made a strange sound within the walls close by which everyone noted confusedly "Hm…what's that sound?" Alphys wondered.

BANG*

BANG*

BANG*

Then the scientist began to realize what was happening "Oh no…," suddenly the room went dark again as the sound of something smashing through the wall was heard and a deep baritone voice spoke up.

"Ohhhh Yes!"

The spotlight came on to shine down upon what appears to be a large gray robot in the shape of a rectangular box with a grid of lights which change colors at the top, it has four dials along the bottom of its body, a single leg which ends in a wheel, and two segmented robotic arms which end in white gloves. The robot was currently holding a cordless microphone in hand.

"Welcome beauties…to today's quiz show!" said the robot as a large neon sign saying 'Game Show' was lowered above him and multicolored disco lights shone all over the room.

BGM Change: Undertale OST; It's Showtime!

"Oh boy, I can just tell that it's gonna be a great show! Everyone give a big hand for our wonderful contestants today!" the robot clapped his hands while the sound of applause could be heard in the background.

"I'm guessing he's Mettaton," said Naruto.

"He sounds like those announcers I see on tv," said Frisk.

"Never played before? Well, it's simple sweethearts! There's only one rule, answer correctly…OR YOU DIE!" no sooner Mettaton said those words that Naruto and Frisk's SOULs emerged from their bodies to signal a fight.

BGM Change: Undertale OST; Metal Crusher

Naruto was quick to select ACT and use CHECK to get some information on Mettaton so as to know how exactly to handle him.

[Mettaton. His metal body renders him invulnerable to attack]

"Oh boy, this is gonna be tricky," said Naruto.

"Let's start with an easy one!" Mettaton rolled to the side and snapped his fingers to make a large screen to lower down next to him before taking out a sheet of paper to read off "What's the prize for answering correctly? You have thirty seconds to answer," then four possible answers appeared on the screen.

Naruto could easily tell that selecting (B)Mercy is just asking for the penalty and the other two are no good, that's when he noticed that Alphys was using her hands to form the letter (D) which was hinting that the answer is More Questions and so decided to select it which turned out to be correct.

"Right! Sounds like you get it!" said Mettaton "Here's your terrific prize! What's the King's full name?" Naruto and Frisk didn't really need help for this question as they chose (C)Asgore Dreemurr as the correct answer.

"A terrific answer! But enough about you, let's talk about me! What are robots made of?" Naruto selected (B)Metal Magic out of the others as the most logical choice and got it right.

"Too easy for you huh? Here's another easy one for you!" this time Naruto and Frisk were knocked for a loop as the next question was actually a math problem and the former knew that he couldn't solve it in time and relied on Alphys by choosing (D)32.058 minutes as the correct answer.

"Wonderful, I'm astounded folks! Don't 'count' your victory…," he snapped his fingers for the screen to display a large jar full of flies "How many flies are in this jar?" with another question requiring a lot of time to solve, they had Alphys give them the right answer which is (A)54.

"Is it me or are these questions getting harder?" asked Naruto.

"They really are and my head is hurting a bit," said Frisk.

"You two are so lucky today! Now how about a memory game, which monster is this?" the screen displayed half the image of a familiar monster. Naruto was instantly about to select (A)Froggit when he saw Alphys shaking her head rapidly before signaling with her hands to select (D)Mettaton. Considering that she has been right so far, he chose (D) and the screen suddenly zoomed out to reveal Mettaton actually wearing a t-shirt with Froggit's face on it.

"That question nearly tricked us to choose the wrong answer," said Frisk.

Naruto nodded in agreement "Yeah, and it was a good one too,"

"I'm so flattered that you remembered!" said Mettaton happily "But can you get this one? Would you smooch a ghost?" Naruto immediately shivered at the thought of doing such a thing that even Alphys wasn't hinting a thing. What's worse is that all of the options said Heck Yeah and the timer was rather increasing instead of counting down. Casting caution to the wind, they chose any of the options which were all correct to begin with "Great answer, I love it!"

"…Well I don't," Naruto grumbled to himself.

"Here's a simple one, how many letters are in Mettatonnnn…," the 'n's kept increasing with the same going for the answers in the options, Alphys hinted for them to choose (C) which was the correct answer being 70 "Of course that was easy for you!"

"Alright then, time to bring out the big guns; In the dating simulation game 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie' what is Mew Mew's favorite food?" asked Mettaton.

Alphys suddenly waved her hand excitedly "Oh! Oh! I know this one! It's snail ice cream!" she began to explain quite a lot about the game before realizing what she just did and started to sweat nervously.

"Uh oh…," said Frisk worriedly.

Mettaton tsked several times at the Royal Scientist "Alphys Alphys Alphys, you haven't been helping our contestants, have you?"

"N-No…," Alphys looked anywhere but at the robot with that response.

"You should have said so my dear, I'll ask a question that you know the answer to…," said Mettaton, Alphys shook her head, hoping that it's not what she think it is "Who does Alphys have a crush on?"

Naruto and Frisk looked at the options on the screen while the scientist pleaded with them not to answer the question, even the timer was paused for them to make a choice. Naruto hummed thoughtfully as he went over the options and is finding it difficult to choose which one.

"Hmmm, what do you think is the right answer Frisk-chan?" asked Naruto.

Frisk looked at the options carefully a couple of times before making up her mind "I would go with (D), it seems like the best option so far,"

"You too huh…," Naruto turned to Mettaton "We'll go with (D) Don't Know since we just met Alphys and don't know her that well,"

"That…is the correct answer!" Mettaton announced, Alphys breathed a sigh of relief at that "Dr. Alphys has a crush on…the unknowable. You see, she believes there is someone out there who she thinks is cute and interesting. Hello, theoretical person. Dr. Alphys likes you, too bad you're nonexistent," then there was a laughtrack played in the background.

Alphys looked a bit offended "H-hey, I've done research about this! There are alternate universes out there! Someday, maybe I could meet them…,"

Mettaton retorted to that "You said the exact same thing about 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie' but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Person, if you're out there…how about giving us a sign, right now?" there was silence save for the crickets chirping "That settles that, doesn't it?"

"Aww…," Alphys slumped a bit.

"Well Well Well. With Dr. Alphys helping you... The show has no dramatic tension! 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 withdrew his hands and leg into himself before launching into the air like a rocket and smashing through the roof to who knows where.

BGM Change: Undertale OST; Alphys

"Well…that was certainly something," said Alphys awkwardly.

"Oh boy, now we got to watch out for another major one who wants our SOULs while trying to find our way out of here," Naruto groaned out.

"I could help you, if we exchange phone numbers then we could keep in contact while I help navigate you through Hotland,"

"Sounds like a good idea, let's do it then," Naruto took out his phone with Frisk doing the same but Alphys gasped in shock at the sight of the latter's phone.

"Wh-Where did you get that phone? It's practically ancient and doesn't even have texting!" said Alphys in shock.

"Um, well…," Frisk didn't know exactly how to explain about it.

"No need to say anything else, just let me take a look at it and see what I can do. I-I can do the same thing for yours if you'd like," said Alphys.

"I'm not too sure, my mom will be very upset if I do anything that voids the warranty on the phone," said Naruto reluctantly.

"N-no need to worry, nothing like that would happen," Naruto and Frisk handed the phones over to Alphys albeit unsurely from the former before the professor made her way to the room to apply modifications to the phones.

"I hope that I made the right choice," Naruto muttered worriedly.

"How about we take a look around while she's busy, I wonder what other inventions she has," said Frisk.

Naruto shrugged in response "Might as well while the time away instead of just standing around,"

The duo took to exploring the place, noting the fridge full of instant noodles which Naruto fought the urge to help himself to some, and the large bag of dog food next to it. They took the escalator to the second floor to come across shelves full of books which were labeled Human History, they opened some of the books to discover that they were actually comic books instead and didn't exactly strike them as accurate.

"Guess it explains Undyne's 'knowledge' of humans," said Naruto with a sweatdrop.

"Naruto, come and take a look at this," Frisk called out to him to approach her at a table which held a stack of letters "Look at these…,"

Naruto went ahead to check "Hmmm…Froggit, Snowy, Doggo…these are all letters from the monsters we've met so far but they're unopened,"

"I wonder why she hasn't opened them yet?"

"I don't think we should pry on this, let's head back down and wait for Alphys," Naruto suggested.

"Okay,"

They took the descending escalator back down to the ground floor and waited by the computer, it wasn't too long that Alphys returned with both phones in hand and a proud look on her face.

"Here I upgraded them for you! I made both of them able to access the Dimensional Boxes from wherever you are and I even added a keychain for one of them and special apps in both. I also signed you both up for the Underground's No. 1 social network, so we're officially friends now!" said Alphys giddily.

"Thanks Alphys, this will definitely help us a lot along the way," said Naruto gratefully.

Frisk nodded in agreement "Yes, thank you very much,"

Alphys felt shy at how kind they are which made her look down at the ground a bit "Umm…I think I need to wash up in the bathroom, I'll call you later," she scampered over to the aforementioned bathroom and locked the door.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders before turning to Frisk and Nikan "Alright then, let's head on through to the other side and keep an eye out of Mettaton. No doubt he's got some plan in mind for us,"

"Okay Naruto," said Frisk with Nikan barking in agreement. The trio made their way out of the lab through the other doorway as they resumed their journey towards the barrier and the eventual encounter with Asgore.

Elsewhere atop a cliff in Hotland, a black silhouette donning a hooded cloak was surveyin the landscape when it suddenly perked up and raised its head to sniff at the air a couple of times

"*Sniff*Sniff*…this scent…I recognize it. This is the scent of…humans!" the figure growled as it brandished a rapier in hand "They have made a grave mistake coming here…one that shall cost them their very lives!" the figure leapt off the cliff to the bottom below as it began to track the source of the scent.

This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto and Frisk were finally able to stop Undyne from constantly pursuing them for their SOULs with an act of kindness but found themselves in a temporary jam. With nothing more to do at the moment, the trio complied with Papyrus' plan to befriend Undyne which led to them learning more about the knight as well as Asgore. They soon became friends as well albeit at the cost of Undyne's house being lit on fire. The trio made their way back to Hotland and could access the strange building where they met with the Royal Scientist Alphys who actually wants to be their friend although she sheepishly informed them of an entertainment robot on the loose and targeting their SOULs with the very same robot showing up to engage in a rather dangerous quiz game.

Not only do they now have to watch out for Mettaton every step of the way, the humans and wolf pup are unaware of an unknown heading their way with no small amount of hostility compared to Undyne. Stay tuned to find out more, and don't forget to read and review like always.

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out and staying alive.