Chapter nine:

Frisk keeps going through the underground looking for Mettaton around every corner. She doesn't want to get surprised by him suddenly appearing or anything. She does occasionally get messages from Alphys's social media where she gushes over her favorite show. She makes it through some puzzles that has her stuck for a few minutes before getting through. She pauses when Alphys suddenly calls her. She hopes that it is some good news. "Hello Alphys."

"H-Hi human. I-It seems you've m-made it pretty f-far." Alphys mentions to which Frisk hums in confirmation. "W-Well up ahead is s-some lasers. U-Um you n-need to do them in a-a specific way. B-Blue ones you s-stop moving and they w-won't hurt you. O-Orange ones you k-keep moving to n-not get hurt." Her words make Frisk want to groan.

Of course this is the news.

"I-I'll um try t-to help if n-needed. B-But I believe y-you can do this. G-Good luck." Alphys hangs up after that.

Frisk lets out a breath and heads forward finding what Alphys was talking about. She sighs and goes forward to do this puzzle. She keeps Alphys's instructions in mind as she stops moving as the blue lasers pass her, then keeps moving when the orange lasers go by. She takes her time to be careful and lets out a huge sigh of relief once she's made it across. She keeps going and with Alphys helping her a bit she makes it through the next puzzles. She goes through the door that opens and finds herself walking in darkness. She slows to a stop and her phone rings with Alphys on the other end.

"I-It's kind of d-dark in here." Alphys mentions over the call. "H-Hold on. I'll h-hack into the s-system and t-turn on the lights." She sounds like she's typing something. She soon gets the lights to flicker on revealing the room.

Frisk feels her heart drop as she finds herself on what looks to be a cooking show set. She can see Mettaton in a chefs hat just a little ahead of her. She had hoped that this wouldn't happen.

"Welcome ladies and gents!" Mettaton waves to a camera. "This is the..." He makes a sparkly pink sign pop up saying 'Cooking with a killer robot show.' He reaches over dragging Frisk closer. "Today I have a wonderful cohost. Welcome back the human!" He lets an applause soundtrack play.

Frisk keeps Alphys on the line though tries to not let Mettaton see she has her phone on her.

"Today we will be making a very special cake! It is one of my best recipes and you won't want to miss how to make it!" Mettaton tells the audience.

"Go w-with it for n-now. I'll t-try my b-best to h-help as n-needed." Alphys mentions over the phone to Frisk.

"Let's get this started!" Mettaton calls out in a happy tone. "Human! Be a dear and grab these ingredients." He lists them off with Frisk listening closely.

Frisk goes to grab what they need playing along to this game Mettaton is doing. She finds that it is a pretty normal cooking show as far as she can tell. She wonders how this could go wrong.

"Oh! And we can't forget our main ingredient!" Mettaton almost sounds sinister making Frisk take a step back. "A human soul!" He pulls out a chainsaw and Frisks heart skips a beat.

Frisk is about to run when a phone rings and Mettaton stops the chainsaw to answer it.

"Hello dear viewer! You're live on the Mettaton show!"

"H-Hold on!" Alphys's voice comes from the other side and Frisk glances down realizing that Alphys had hung up on her; not to at she could care as Alphys is clearly trying to help Frisk out. "W-What if someone is v-vegan? Is t-there an alternative f-for those viewers who a-are vegans?"

Mettaton pauses at this and Frisk deeply hopes it'll work. "My! You're right!" He puts the chainsaw away. "How could I be so blind to forget my dear vegan viewers! Of course there is an alternative for those who prefer it!" His words make Alphys hang up which is heard as an echo. He points to a cabinet way off to the side. "We have the human soul alternative in a can over there! It is very much vegan but still tastes great! Human. Be a dear and go fetch it for me."

Frisk heads towards it getting a gut feeling that this is some sort of trap. She reaches for it only to find that it shoots up making her jump back.

Mettaton leans in. "Oh dear! It seems the human needs to be able to get it before the timer runs out! Or we may have to stick with the nonvegan option! Will my cohost make it? Keep watching!" He flies up with that.

Frisk gets a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and jumps when her phone rings. She answers without checking who it is.

"I-It's okay h-human!" Alphys's voice is such a relief to Frisk. "I've a-added a jet pack o-on your phone." Her words make Frisk think that the other may have gone overboard in the upgrade, not that she can complain right now. "Push t-the big b-button."

Frisk does so and the jet pack forms. She is a bit wobbly with it at first as she flies upwards. She spots Mettaton ready as he starts throwing the ingredients at her so she dodges. She gets hit on the shoulder with an egg but pushes onward. She will get to the top. She shakes off some flour that lands on her head and is blinded for a moment. She tries to keep things steady as she uses one hand to wipe it off. She looks once clear and thinks that she can see the top. She sighs in relief only to gasp as Mettaton starts to shoot lightning bolt attacks at her. She dodges quickly and barely manages to touch the can before the timer runs out.

Mettaton stops at this. "Ah. The human has reached the can! We can use it!" He sends it all back down so Frisk lowers herself down as well. "What a great show! See you all in the next episode!" He looks to a surprised Frisk as the jet pack returns to a phone. "Oh don't look so surprised! Haven't you seen any cooking shows? I baked the cake beforehand!" He wheels off with that and Frisk is left to just shake off her shock.

Frisk continues forward hoping that Papyrus and Sans are okay.

...

"Sans?" Papyrus calls as he searches the forest for his brother. "Oh where could he be now?" He sighs to himself before deciding to call him. He sighs after this. "No answer." He glances upwards hoping for a sign of where Sans could be. He knows that in his heard no matter where Sans actually is he'll show up eventually. He closes his eyes to let out a breath. He opens his eyes and texts Alphys to see if she can locate where Sans is currently. He heads towards home for right now since there isn't much else that he can do right now.

Meanwhile...

A pair of glowing eyes watches Frisk from between two rocks which cast a big shadow. Sans slightly steps forward out of the light as Frisk continues. He's currently in his Ink Sans outfit and persona. So he is watching carefully from the shadows. "So far so good human." He mutters to himself softly as she leaves his line of sight. "I know you can fulfill your destiny." He turns about to move when his gaze becomes distant. His vision finds himself being flown through a starry sky that surrounds him. He can hear the whispering voices of his other personas as he passes by them; All while his instincts teleport him and change his clothes.

The whispers fade as if not being the one to come out right now. That is until one whisper becomes louder and louder.

Suddenly all Sans can see is darkness as things go silent. He stays in that darkness for a moment before opening his eyes to see who he is now. He can see the world through Swapfell's eyes. He blinks and leaves the house deciding to find the human. After he leaves he glances to spot Papyrus who looks at him before heading elsewhere. "Probably trying to get out of work again." He mutters to himself before he heads off for a patrol. He has decided that he doesn't have time to deal with Papyrus right now. He keeps his guard up not trusting those glares around him. He pauses to check his phone finding that it is Undyne who has messaged him.

Hey where are you?

Sans sighs softly to himself and messages her back.

Just leaving Snowdin. Why is something wrong? Did someone get hurt?

Oh. No. No one's hurt. I just wanted to check how it's going.

It's fine. How's the human doing?

She's doing okay. She's got everything under control. She hasn't even hurt anyone.

I see.

Sans takes a moment to pause after this and makes his decision.

Tell Papyrus to get back to work. I need to do a patrol. That lazy ass can't sit on his ass all day.

Okay.

Sans puts his phone away and heads off to do some patrols. He figures that he'll also check on the royal guard members ranked beneath him. He is Swapfell and he is captain of the royal guard!

No one will disrespect him or be lazy on his watch.