King: I'm sorry this took so long to come out... Like, more than usual. We're coming up on the last few chapters overall, and I'm more skeptical of my works in these cases. I hope you enjoy as always.
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After everything started to calm down, the group returned upstairs. They all gathered around Alphys' kitchen table, or what would best count as one. It was more like a lab counter she kept in the middle of the room near her kitchen area. Alphys and Undyne were sitting on one side. Jaune, Frisk, and Chara were on the other. Gaster floated nearby, not needing a chair to join the table.
Alphys finished writing something before she looked back up toward the human trio. "I have to admit, this is quite an interesting situation." She flipped a page on her notepad back to review the information, "We already confirmed the existence of other worlds, and we've crossed through into another one. You," she pointed to Frisk, "went through all of this several times. Each time doing something slightly or outright completely different. Up to and including committing genocide on Monsters." She was far too analytical saying that.
Frisk nodded, "That's… right."
Alphys nodded in turn and turned to Chara, "And you were the ghost of the first human to fall into the Underground that somehow gained a physical body again thanks to the CORE energy."
Chara shrugged, "Probably."
Alphys then turned back to Jaune, "And this other world you come from is the one we're in now because of her DETERMINED guilt?"
Jaune nervously scratched the back of his head, "I mean… that sounds right."
"I'll admit, this is certainly difficult to wrap my head around. I think I understand the basics, though it's a little surprising to say the least."
"That's putting it lightly." Undyne growled. She didn't take the story nearly as well. This was understandable, she was Undyne, after all. Finding out she failed and everyone died, even if in another timeline, didn't sit well. She grit her teeth before drinking some of the tea they had on the table. "So, what now? You better not try that again, got it?"
Frisk quickly shook her head, "Of course! I didn't want to do that in the first place! That… voice… it wouldn't leave me alone! I couldn't eat or sleep properly. I never wanted that… I'm so sorry." She was shaking in her chair, a calming hand falling on her shoulder caused her to jolt. She turned to see a concerned Jaune. She calmed down a little as she let out a sigh.
{SPEAKING OF WHICH,} Gaster rose from his position and appeared as though he were standing before them. {I'D LIKE TO PRESENT MY HYPOTHESIS REGARDING THAT PHENOMENON.}
"What do you mean?" Alphys asked, notebook in hand.
{IF YOU FORGIVE ME A MOMENT TO INDULGE IN MY PROCESS.} Gaster moved slightly, as though he were giving a presentation. {TO START, AFTER I FELL INTO THE CORE, I WAS GIVEN QUITE A BIT OF TIME TO THINK TO MYSELF. IN PARTICULAR, REGARDING THE NATURE OF OUR IMPRISONMENT AND THE DELTA RUNE.}
"The what?" Jaune cut in.
"That angel-like symbol you see here and there." Chara explained.
{INDEED. A CIRCLE, WINGS, AND THREE TRIANGLES. IT REPRESENTS THE ANGEL DEIGNED TO DESCEND AND FREE THE MONSTERS FROM OUR PRISON. THAT SAID, MORE NIHILISTIC OUTLOOKS SUGGEST THAT FREEDOM IS FROM OUR MORTAL COILS.} Gaster moved as though he was pacing through the table. {DURING MY OBSERVATIONS, I INITIALLY BELIEVED THIS FIGURE TO BE THE FIRST HUMAN TO FALL, CHARA.}
That made Chara raise an eyebrow. She supposed she had a hand in destroying a world by the end of Frisk's runs, but she was just finishing what she started. It was kill or be killed.
{HOWEVER, HER PASSING LED ME TO BELIEVE OTHERWISE. AFTER THIS, I HYPOTHESIZED THAT IT MIGHT BE NON-HUMAN. AT ONE POINT, WITH THE TRAVELS OF FRISK, I BELIEVED IT TO BE ASRIEL.}
"Wait, who's that?" Jaune asked, having never heard the name until now.
Frisk looked down over the table, "He was Toriel and Asgore's son. They lost him years ago."
"Oh…"
Gaster continued, ignoring them, {HOWEVER, DESPITE WHAT I BELIEVED AT THE TIME, IT BECAME CLEAR THAT FRISK HAS TO BE INVOLVED. SHE IS PRESENT IN ALL ENDINGS. BUT, UPON REFLECTION, ONE CAN NOTICE CHARA PRESENT AS WELL. SO I BEGAN TO CONSIDER ALL OPTIONS I HADN'T CONSIDERED. AND THAT LED ME TO MY CURRENT HYPOTHESIS.}
"What would that be?" Alphys asked, finishing her last note.
{I CONSIDERED THE RUNE ONCE MORE AND NOTICED SOMETHING I HADN'T BEFORE. THE ANGEL'S BODY, SEPARATED FROM ITS HALO AND WINGS, IS MADE OF THREE TRIANGLES. IT IS MY CURRENT HYPOTHESIS THAT THE ANGEL IS NOT A SINGLE FIGURE, BUT THREE FIGURES ACTING AS ONE.}
This surprised Alphys enough to drop her notepad. "W-what do you mean? There's a third? Asriel died, Chara is… here somehow, and Frisk worked with Chara. I understand those two, but who was the third?"
"That voice?" Undyne offered. "She mentioned a voice in her head that forced her to do what she did."
{PRECISELY. I AM TO BELIEVE THIS VOICE IS AN INFLUENCE FROM BEYOND THE VOID. TOGETHER WITH FRISK AND CHARA, THEY ACTED AS THE ANGEL, FREEING THE MONSTERS ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.}
Frisk clenched her fists in frustration. She didn't hate often, but she hated that voice. Whoever that was that made her do so many awful things. It forced her to act by their whims or never find rest or sustenance. Even when she let it starve her, she'd just come back and the cycle would start again.
"It's not a problem now, right?" Jaune looked at Frisk, concerned for her.
Frisk thought for a moment. She hadn't heard the voice since throwing herself into the CORE, but she wasn't sure if it would come back. At best, she offered a non-committal affirmation.
{I AM TO BELIEVE THIS VOICE CANNOT REACH THIS WORLD.} Gaster continued, {PUT SIMPLY, MY CURRENT HYPOTHESIS SUGGESTS THAT MR. ARC HAS TAKEN THE THIRD PLACE IN THE RUNE.}
"Wait," that snapped Jaune back to Gaster, "you think I'm part of the angel thing? I-I don't think I'm cut out for anything like that."
Chara, however, challenged him, "what about that promise you made me? About busting open the barrier, come hell or high water?" That got the room to focus on Jaune.
Jaune rubbed the back of his neck, "I still plan to. I made a promise, and an Arc never goes back on his word. I just don't think I'm part of any prophecy thing."
"That's literally what the Rune says to do, though." Chara shook her head with an exasperated sigh.
"If we're going to the barrier," Frisk chimed in, "and assuming everything is playing out like they usually do, we should be up against Mettaton, right?"
"Correct." Alphys looked back over her notes. "I'd also like to confirm that you said everything followed the same paths no matter how many times you would redo them."
"Yeah… but…"
Chara cut in, "but everything's been different this time around. Everyone is in different places or slightly different in how they act. Like you two." She pointed between Alphys and Undyne.
"What'dya mean?" Undyne raised an eyebrow.
"You're willing to train a human and you're not doing that are they or not thing."
"What?" Undyne asked, not putting it together.
Alphys took a moment before her glasses fogged over with a red face. She cleared her throat and her toned down both, somewhat, "N-no. We… attempted, but it didn't quite work out at the time."
"Point is," Chara interrupted, "things are different. So we don't actually know how things are going to go this time. What worked for us might not work here."
"Is there a way passed Mettaton without fighting him?" Jaune asked. He didn't want to get into a fight if he could help it.
But it's never that easy. "I don't think so." Alphys confirmed, "He was able to hack into my channels. So he's probably taken control of the elevator toward the throne room, which you'd need to go through in order to reach the barrier."
Jaune nodded and looked down toward the table in thought. He didn't have much of a choice but to push through. Or… "If I can keep him busy, could you take control back?"
Alphys blinked before thinking out loud, "I should be able to… but I won't know until I get a look at it."
"It's worth a shot." Undyne suggested. "We don't have much of idea at this point."
"So, what's the plan?" Frisk asked, looking toward Jaune, "Assuming he's similar, he'll keep his attention on you while Alphys can work. He wants good ratings for his show, so he'll have to ignore her if he wants to keep up his appearances."
Jaune tapped his finger on the table a bit before he jolts slightly in his chair. "I might have something."
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"And that's the last we've heard of the Human since!" Mettaton spoke toward a camera from behind a news desk. "He's likely still around, so keep those eyes out and remember to call in if you have any information."
The camera cut and his little camera drone flew back and away from the scene.
Mettaton sighed and hopped away from the desk. "He's around here somewhere."
There was a beeping sound before a small drone flew down with a tablet. On the screen was a picture showing Jaune as he marched up toward the front door of the MTT Resort. He was close, which was surprising, but he still had the CORE to go through.
"Interesting. Alright. Let's see how you handle the mercenaries~"
Mettaton watched as Jaune walked into the resort. Switching feeds, he saw the human walk straight through the building and toward the exit into the CORE. Mettaton's phone-line was going off as people were reporting seeing the human. What's he up to?
He saw Jaune leave the building and changed feed. But then he disappeared. "What?" Mettaton looked through more feeds to try to figure out where he went. But nothing. "Where did he go?!"
He moved to another feed, only to see a blur of red shoot across the screen. Mettaton quickly stopped the feed and rewound the footage. He found a red blur on the screen as he paused, but the shape was barely visible. Difficult for Monster eyes, but his robotic sensors could see it within the blur. A red heart. A Soul. Or something that looks like one.
A beeping sound grabbed his attention. The motion detector went off and told him someone was approaching. He quickly swung his desk away and prepared. He didn't get what was happening, but he'd be ready. His camera drone flew in and started a live feed to his fanbase.
Even he had to be surprised as the heart flew in. After a moment, Jaune popped into existence from it before it flew over close to his chest, like any other soul. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"That was an impressive trick." Mettaton was genuinely interested in how a human could do something like that.
"I like to think so." Jaune pulled his old training sword from his belt and held his shield ready.
Mettaton chuckled, clearly happy that things were going so well for his show. "Excellent! Let's put on a show as I take your soul!" He swung his arms wide as a series of small flying bots flew forward at Jaune.
Jaune adjusted his stance as Undyne taught him, and swung his sword to knock one of the bots into another before blocking a third with his shield. As it bounced against the plate, he bashed forward and swung his arm to send it flying away as his sword was free to intercept another bot.
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Back in Snowdin, Papyrus was watching Jaune knock down a bot from his TV. "Sans! Get in here! Jaune Arc is on TV with Mettaton!"
Sans appeared from another room, hands in his jacket pockets. "how's he doing?"
"He's doing pretty well." Papyrus nodded sagely, "his training with Undyne must be doing him quite well. Plus! He has the Great Papyrus rooting for him!"
"that he does." Sans watched the screen, focused on Jaune's moves.
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Back in the fight, Jaune ducked underneath another drone before going into a charge. He held his shield up as he ran forward, knocking drones out of the way. As he approached, Mettaton swung back to avoid the shield bash. Before the bot could register what happened, Jaune grabbed his arm and spun him around before knocking the switch on his back over.
Mettaton was still for a moment before beginning to shake and released steam from within. Smoke filled the area before a pink glow took over the stage. "My, oh my!" Mettaton chuckled, "You must be quite eager to see my new form. But I'm more than willing to debut here. I shall ensure your death is absolutely beautiful~!" The smoke cleared and the box was replaced with a humanoid form. He looked like a tall man wearing a black body suit with pink chest armor, gloves, and boots. His hair swung down over one of his eyes as he smirked toward Jaune. Only to turn confused.
Jaune didn't seem surprised in the slightest. He kept his shield up and kept his eyes square on Mettaton.
"I'm surprised. Most people would likely have been at least a little shocked." Mettaton shifted his weight, disappointed.
"Oh! Um…" Jaune raised out of his combat stance, "Sorry? I mean, it's definitely cool. I'd probably be freaking out since… you know," he gestured over Mettaton, "awesome robot. But I also don't want to die."
Mettaton blinked, not really sure how to take that. "You sound like robots are common."
"I mean… I don't see them, but I heard Atlas' military has a bunch of them. They can't talk or think, but they're there."
"What?"
"What?" Alphys' voice echoed from nearby.
"Yeah," Jaune shrugged, "you're still cooler than anything I've seen online."
"Oh. Well uh…" Mettaton just processed that and decided to save it for later. "Regardless! It's showtime!" Mettaton charged forward in the blink of an eye and swung his leg wide in a kick.
His attack was blocked by Jaune, who used the momentum to keep the kick moving around and over him, hoping the over swing would cause Mettaton to lose his balance. But he was only met with a follow up kick from the robot who jumped upward to bring the toe of his metal boot into Jaune's chin. Jaune was sent flying backward as the red soul flew upward from inside his hoodie.
Mettaton saw the perfect opportunity and snatched the soul out of the air with his hand. "I must admit, I didn't think it would be that easy." He was cut off by a change in weight from the soul.
Before he could react, the red heart became a young girl in a blue sweater, her hand clutching to his wrist while the other was held upward. On the other end of that was another girl in a green sweater and her foot raised upward for a stomp. Her foot slammed into Mettaton's face and caused him to fall backward in sheer shock and surprise. He was eventually able to get back to his feet, if only to confirm what he'd seen.
Three humans. They stood side by side with Jaune Arc in the middle between the other two. He could only think of one thing at that moment.
Think of the ratings!
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A whim led Asgore to watching Mettaton's program. He'd finished watering the flowers for the day and wanted to relax in what way he could. Then he saw the moment. Her foot slamming into the robot entertainer's face. He… had to be seeing things, right? He rubbed his eyes and looked again. He switched the channel away and back. He tried to rationalize it. But it was her… It was…
He quickly ran to his phone. He hadn't called Toriel out of guilt for what he'd done and how he'd acted when they parted. But she HAD to know!
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Toriel returned to her home and placed a bag of groceries on her counter. She hoped Jaune was alright. Monsters would try to hurt him and take his soul after all. She let out a sigh as she started to put her groceries away.
Only for her phone to go off.
She was surprised, but picked it up. "Hello?"
"Tori!"
Asgore… They hadn't left on good terms, and she saw no reason to think he'd changed after all this time. She moved to hang up.
Only to hear, "Don't hang up! This is important!"
She was surprised, but brought the phone to her ear, "How did you know I was about to…"
"Tori, we were married. I know you. But that's not the important part right now! Do you have a television or smartphone?"
"Seriously? You called for that?"
"Do you or don't you?!"
That caused her to jump. She thought for a moment, but remembered her old portable TV she had for picnics. "I think so? Why?"
"Turn it on and set it to MTTV. Channel 1. You… I can't believe what I've seen and I need you to see it for yourself."
He's not making any sense… She dug up the old TV and plugged it in. The battery pack wasn't charged, but it came with the cord just in case. She set the channel and watched as it came to. She then froze.
"You see her too, then?"
"I… how is this possible? I don't understand… I…"
"I know… I don't know how this is possible." He was quiet for a moment before he continued, "What I do know, is that she's fighting Mettaton right now alongside two others."
At that moment, the cameras showed Jaune and the other girl she didn't recognize. She looked a lot like Chara, but there were clear differences. She blinked in surprise, not saying anything for the moment.
"If nothing else, I felt like you had to know… I knew you wouldn't believe me otherwise. I didn't believe myself. I'll leave you alone now if you want…" He didn't hang up, however.
Toriel knew why. Even after all this time, he loved her. He would hang up if she did or told him to do so. Yet, she didn't. Because, deep down… she knew she loved him too, but she just couldn't stay with someone so quickly willing to kill! Then she remembered those eyes. The piercing red eyes of the Grimm that stared her down. That bored into her being and frightened her into taking action. She had to act to protect herself and the Monsters in the Ruins. It wasn't the same! She wasn't setting out to kill humans just because!
…
No… that wasn't fair. He never wanted to hurt others. He wanted to free the Monsters. Humans killed Asriel, he was angry. The Monsters were desperate… She had time to think. And that moment acted as a spark that finally lit the fire for her to see more of what she already knew.
"Tori? Are you still there? Are you okay?"
She sighed. "Yes, I'm still here." She paused as she looked the screen. "Asgore."
"Yes?"
"Would you mind preparing some tea…? We need to talk."
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A clash sent Chara flying into Frisk, who was kind enough to catch her only to be knocked down for good measure. They were almost attacked by a drone, but Jaune swatted it away. He held his shield up and blocked another strike from Mettaton, holding his stance rather well. He swung his shield forward and swatted the robot back. Mettaton, ever the performer, backflipped off the parry and landed with a flourish.
Mettaton smirked as he looked down toward the humans. "You are just full of surprises."
"To be fair," Jaune smiled, trying to be cool, "I never said that trick with the heart was my trick."
"So you didn't." Mettaton rolled his shoulder, "Nice and sneaky. Perfect for a performance! But even that little trick of yours won't be enough to stop me from taking one of your souls. Then we can break the barrier and free the Monsters."
Jaune took a step forward and held his wooden sword forward, pointing at Mettaton, "I made a promise," his voice was loud, projecting nicely into the mics and to the audience behind their TVs. Almost… deliberately so. "I promised to break open the barrier without having to take a life. And an Arc never goes back on his word!"
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In the backstage rafters, Alphys and Undyne snuck around to a control panel, which Alphys hooked a laptop to. Their plan was to break Mettaton's hold on the elevator systems. They also had the perfect vantage point to watch the fight.
Undyne leaned against the railing, watching as Jaune did whatever he could to keep Mettaton's attention. "Do you think he can actually do that? Break the barrier without getting the last soul?"
Alphys looked up for a moment, but ultimately shrugged, "No idea. It would be nice. Hate to lose your new love interest."
"For the last time, this isn't like one of your anime. He's just my student. That's it."
"He called you cute though. You said so yourself."
"He also said I was terrifying."
"You're a shark woman, Undyne."
"Don't start, lizard girl." There was a silence over them before Undyne spoke up again. "That lab… That was why you were always so distant. Am I right?"
"Yeah." Alphys kept working, but she did slow down slightly. She clacked her keys one last time and nodded, "now we wait until the program purges Mettaton's access to the system and we regain control."
Undyne nodded, but kept up her questioning, "You need to fess up about them. You know that, right? Everyone deserves to know."
Alphys was silent but nodded quietly, "I know. I will. Once we're done here."
"You better."
They both went quiet after this, unaware of an evil smirk slowly lowering itself toward the stage.
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Mettaton kicked back away from the trio, grinning as his head's up display showed his current ratings. He was resting on a high like no other. But he wasn't satisfied yet. He needed more! He could hit greater heights, he just knew it. As he parried a strike from the girl in green, he turned in time to stop the boy from capitalizing. He was actually being pushed back. Now, obviously, he didn't appreciate that particular fact, but the ratings spoke for themselves.
He swung around with another kick to attack Jaune, only to pirouette into a standing split before slamming down with an ax kick onto Jaune's head. The girl in green slid around Jaune to try to attack Mattaton, only to be stopped by his metal armor. When he tried to counter, the girl in blue used her heart power to scoop both up and away from the followup attack. All three fell slightly onto the ground in front of Mettaton.
The entertainer smirked, "You three are just full of surprises. Unfortunately for you, so am I." Mettaton dropped to a low stance before quickly jumping forward. His body was twisting midair and ready to barrel a kick down onto his targets. Jaune was able to raise his shield, but this was Mettaton's plan. He used the shield as a platform and kicked over the blond and moved to strike the girl in blue. He only needed one of them and she was deliberately avoiding fighting. She was likely the weakest and he could knock her out quickly.
As if she could tell this would happen, the girl in green jumped and grabbed his leg, causing him to lose his balance and fall from the shield. Mettaton caught himself with his hands and used his robotic body to quickly spin his legs around like a top and knock all three away from each other. Once he swung back up, he looked over the three for signs of exhaustion. The girl in blue has hardly taken any damage. The girl in green had shrugged off a bit of it. But the blond? He threw himself in front of the other two to block damage, so his HP bar was down quite a bit. The bar was maybe at 30 percent remaining.
Mettaton grinned, having confirmed his target. "Alright darlings." He slid one foot back and swung his arm out. Mechanisms snapped and whirled around before his hand turned into an arm cannon. He pointed the cannon at the trio with a grin. "Enjoy the light show!" He fired a beam of pink energy at the trio, focused on the girl in blue. He knew the blond would jump in the way, which he did. A perfect little hero, but the beam was overcharged and prepared for a heavy hit.
A 30 percent hit.
Jaune fell and rolled across the ground. His HP bar hit zero and he was out of energy. Or so it seemed. Mettaton watched as the bar hit zero… only to reveal a second bar now hitting 99 percent.
Two HP bars?! How is that possible?
Before he could get an answer, Jaune slowly rose to his feet again. His body was glowing white, his soul flowing like the flame of a candle. He was…
Healing? The HP bar was rising back over the second layer. He's amplifying his soul somehow…
Before he could move, a voice ran from behind him. "Mind if I get in on this?"
Mettaton swung around, ready to deal with an obsessive fan. What he saw instead made no sense. It was a massive bear-like creature with black fur and a white mask. Its body was wrapped in vines with thorns sticking into its muscles. At the top of its head was a yellow flower with a malicious grin at its center.
"Howdy~!"
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Knox: To answer, humans in Remnant would have the equivalent of 2 HP bars: one for Aura and one for their actual HP. Jaune's 'Second HP bar' is a representation of how much Aura he has (giving him technically 3 bars total).
