Chapter Eleven
The Next Day:
The child and Curtain were off, back on track from where they were after Undyne, Papyrus, and Sans saw them off. They rode the riverboat as the Riverboat Person tra la la'd away while setting sail for Hotland. With their ears sharp and eyes alert, they kept their wits up and their determination unfaltered in case Corruption did try to ambush them in any way. As they walked up back to where Corruption had trapped the child, Muffet and her spiders were back in their place as they took precautions by removing the doors completely. As thanks for saving the spiders and warning them about Corruption, Muffet each gave them a spider pastry on the house, which the two greatly appreciated.
After passing by her, they end up meeting Mettaton as he began his performance of Romeo and Juliet, also mentioning how long it has been since he's been waiting for them. Near the end of the song, Mettaton opened the floor under the child's feet as she fell down a hole. Before Curtain could jump down, Mettaon descended and sealed it back up before Curtain could reach in since he pushed her back.
The child had to survive the floor panels, while Alphys quickly called and hacked the firewall to stop it from burning the child when she didn't make it fully across in time.
"Oh no! How could this happen?! Foiled again by the brilliant Doctor Alphys! Tha-"
"That's right! Come on Mettaton, give up already! You'll never be able to defeat us… Not as long as we work together! Your puzzle's over… Now go home and leave us alone!" Alphys said.
"Puzzle? Over? Alphys, Darling, what are you talking about…? Did you forget what the green tiles do? They make a sound, then you have to fight a monster. Well darling… That monster… is me!" Mettaton said as he challenged the child.
Alphys pointed out that their phone had another feature to turn yellow and shoot, as the positive voice was done at this point from gaining enough proof that Alphys had to be working with Mettaton to cause all of this to occur since she was the one who fixed the phone.
+ She was watching me from the beginning! She knew my phone was old and already was starting on making that phone! That's why she was so fast to make it for me! She planned this with Mettaton!
- Woah… but why though?
+ Because! If she has Mettaton defeat me, she looks good to the monsters because she built him. However, if she saves me from Mettaton, she looks good to me. She is trying to appease everyone and not be at fault by being in the middle! She's looking out for herself!
- … Now that you mention it, it makes sense. It's too much of a coincidence.
+ You're putting my kid's life on the line for that?!
"Oooohh! Oooh! You've defeated me! How can this be, you were stronger than I thought, etc." Mettaton said as he left dramatically.
+ Are you serious?!
- It's true!
"L-Looks like you beat him. Y-You did a really good job out there," Alphys said, and the child started walking away to leave this place, as she frowned in realization of the situation.
"… umm, h-hey, this might sound strange, but… c-can I tell you something? … B-before I met you, I d-didn't really… I didn't really like myself very much. For a long time, I fe-felt like a total screw-up. L-Like I couldn't do a-anything w-without… w-without ending up letting everyone down. B-But… guiding you has made me feel… A lot better about myself. So… thanks for letting me help you. … Uhhh, anyway, we're almost to the Core. It's just past MTT Resort. Come on! Let's finish this!" Alphys said with more cheer as she hung up.
+ … My point proven. She is doing it for herself. I know this game! You are trying to make me feel bad for her, but it won't work! I've been betrayed because she wants to make herself feel better! Lying as if she was helping me by causing me problems? What the heck?!
- … So if you end up fighting her…?
+ Better not for her sake!
The child grew a little frightened by the anger of the positive voice, but knew that the positive voice was probably just upset now and maybe will cool off as long as they progressed. Upon returning upward, Curtain and the child bumped into one another as they were relieved to see that the other was alright. They continued along their path, meeting with the ice cream bunny and two guards.
As they bought some ice cream and ate together, the child asked Curtain,
"… I think Alphys is working with Mettaton… I thought Mettaton was attacking me for publicity and because he was supposed to as a robot to kill me but… I think Mettaton is just listening to what she planned already… Curtain, what do you think about this? What do you think I should do?"
"… Well as I can see, Alphys seems like someone who feels a lot of guilt about herself… so maybe she's also desperate enough to trick you like this with such an elaborate plan… I guess from seeing how you were able to spend time with everyone else that made a change… maybe she wanted the same thing for herself…" Curtain concluded.
"…" The child contemplated her words.
"Though… I think you're the one who should decide what to do once you confirm this, you know? If you still want to try to befriend her or not, that's you're choice at this point," Curtain said.
The child contemplated even more, and then the two finished up their ice creams and kept moving forward. After meeting Bratty and Catty in the alley, the two met with Sans just outside of the MTT Resort. Sans invited the kid to chat alone, as the child accepted while Curtain said she would wait for them to return. Curtain then decided to talk with Bratty and Catty for a while who mentioned to her information about Alphys.
Inside, Sans and the child stood face to face at one of the tables in the dining room.
"well, here we are. so. your journey's almost over, huh? you must really wanna go home. hey. i know the feeling, buddo. though… maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you. down here you've already got food, drink, friends… is what you have to do really worth it?" Sans asked, as the child took a moment to really think about this, but still felt she wasn't done yet.
"… ah, forget it. i'm rooting for ya, kid. hey. let me tell you a story…" Sans relayed to the child the story of how he ended up meeting Toriel from telling jokes behind the door to the Ruins, and that she had asked him to make a promise, which he hates doing, to look after the human who comes through there.
The child was surprised by this.
"do you get what I'm saying? That promise I made to her… you know what would have happened if she hadn't said anything? … buddy," Sans eyes closed, as the child instinctively moved back in her seat from him, especially when he opened his empty eyesockets and added,
"… You'd be dead where you stand."
+ ….
- ….
"…" The child just stared into the void of his eyes as they stared back, until the lights of Sans' eyes returned and he said,
"… hey, lighten up, bucko! I'm just joking with you. Besides… haven't I done a great job protecting you? I mean, look at yourself? You haven't died a single time. Hey, what's that look supposed to mean? Am I wrong…?"
The child had a frown on her face, mostly to the fact that she was attacked a few times already especially when he was sleeping while she was chased by Undyne, and the fact he scared her just now.
"… heh. Well, that's all. Take care of yourself, kid. 'cause someone really cares about you," Sans said, and then he got up and walked away, leaving the child to finally smile at his parting words to her.
She got up and went outside to see Curtain, but stopped in the lobby when she saw Curtain and Sans talking there. Instead of intervening, the child decided to explore the hotel until Curtain was ready to go since the conversation seemed serious.
"… Right now though?! But Sans, I don't want to keep her waiting," Curtain said while twiddling the edge of her scarf with her fingers.
"well, i'm sure the kid will be okay for a bit, and… just in case, I wanted to spend some time with you before she gets too far, you know?" Sans said, noticing the kid sneaking by to check out the rest of the hotel.
"Weeell… okay. Lead the way then," Curtain answered with a smile, as Sans' grin widened.
He lead her back into the dining room as they sat across from one another at a table away from the others.
"So… this is like an official date between me and you, huh?" Curtain asked.
"yeah, it is. thanks for inviting me," Sans kidded, as Curtain gave him a look but knew he was kidding.
"A bit unexpected, but since we're here already, might as well make this feel more like a date," Curtain said as she reached up to undue her ponytail.
"what do you… oh," Sans said as Curtain's hair fell neatly down her shoulders as it seemed to sparkle more then usual to him.
"Considering you like my hair down, might as well let it hang around for our date. It's quite special being our first one and all," Curtain said, as she raised her hand under her chin with a smirk seeing a small blush on Sans cheekbones.
"… hehehehe. and i wonder why i like you so much. not only a pretty, occasional punster, but a bold one at that," Sans said as he leaned his elbow on the table while leaning his cheek on his hand.
The two continued their date with jokes and laughs, as the child finished her exploration of the hotel and felt inclined to enter the Core. Although she wanted to wait for Curtain, the positive voice urged her on, as she decided to listen to them, especially when Alphys called her and was surprised any monsters were even there. To protect Curtain from having to fight monsters or them having to fight their own being Curtain, the child, filled with determination to prove herself to protect her friend considering she almost died for her before against Corrupion, pressed forward into the Core.
+ …
- So which direction are you going?
+ … All of them
- Wha?!
The child manuveured through the entire Core, leaving no place unturned, and dodging every attack that came their way. There was barely a scratch on her as she reached the end of the Core, tapping the two save points until she reached the final walkway. She entered and there stood Mettaton in his boxed glory in the center of the room.
"Oh yes, there you are, Darling. It's time to have our little Showdown. It's time to finally stop the "Malfunctioning" robot… NOT! Malfunction? Reprogramming? GET REAL. This was all just a Big Show. An act. Alphys has been playing you for a fool the whole time. As she watched you on the screen, she grew attached to your adventure. She desperately wanted to be a part of it. So she decided to insert herself into your story. She reactivated puzzles. She disabled elevators. She enlisted me to torment you. All so she could save you from dangers that didn't exist. All so you would think she's the great person… that she's not."
The child had no reaction on her face, as the suspicions already given to her were coming out true, as the positive voice had their arms in the air saying nothing while the negative voice just looked between them and what was happening. Mettaton continued speaking, saying Alphys will enter the room in their battle and deactivate him to convince the human to not leave if she can, but being annoyed by the predicatability, he wasn't going to let this happen. Even to admitting he has no desire to harm humans and only to entertain.
"After all, what's a good show… without a plot twist?"
In a moment, they heard Alphys at the door trying to get inside to follow through with the plan, but Mettaton was done with that. The floor rose up as Mettaton took over,
"Real drama! Real action! Real bloodshed! On our new show… "Attack of the Killer Robot!""
As the real battle again, with Mettaton admitting he hired assassins to go after the child and now he would do it himself, Curtain just reached that part of the Core when she noticed Alphys hitting the door.
"…"
"A-Ah! Oh i-it's you… the human's friend… listen, Mettaton has the human i-inside! The door is locked and I c-can't get it opened!" Alphys explained.
"…" Curtain looked at the door and examined it to see that it truly was locked.
"I-Is there a way maybe y-you can open it, Curtain?" Alphys asked.
"…" Curtain only looked towards her with a plain expression.
"…u-um… C-Curtain?" Alphys asked, as she took a step back, noticing Curtain's expression seem to grow a little darker as she said her name.
"… You caused this, so fix it yourself. But I'll tell you this… if my friend dies in there… then Mettaton will lose a friend too," Curtain said too coolly, as Alphys' eyes widened.
"… P-Please… no… I didn't mean for this to happen… I just… I just wanted…"
"Wanted to kill them?"
"N-No…!"
"Wanted to make her suffer?"
"N-No not at all…!"
"Drive her mad with the pain of betrayal?"
"N-No… b-betrayal… oh nononono! I didn't want to do something like that! N-Not at all! I just wanted to be… to be important to… someone…"
"… She hasn't harmed a single monster… and yet with as many as attacked her… I don't think she feels as much pain as you inflicted on her now. She knew something wasn't right… and yet she wanted to believe in you," Curtain said.
"…" Alphys just stared at Curtain with widened eyes as they began to water and she slouched down where she was.
She hoped that the child would survive, but in a way, she wished that even if they did, that Curtain would still inflict her punishment on her.
Inside, the child and Mettaton began their fight, as Mettaton explained that taking their soul will save humanity from Asgore trying to destroy it since he wouldn't destroy humanity. Although slouched on the floor, Alphys made one last attempt to help the child from Mettaton. She quickly made a call to them as Curtain watched her do so, telling them to flip the switch on Mettaton's back by making him turn around. Alphys also told Curtain she might be able to watch the broadcast of the show on her phone as Curtian did so while Alphys kept trying to open the door. There was smoke all around and two spotlights, as Curtain was confused. The child, on the other hand, was ready to take on whatever this new form was.
"You're desperate for a premiere of my new body. How rude… Lucky for you, I've been aching to show this off for a long time. So… as thanks, I'll give you a handsome reward. I'll make your last living moments… ABSOLUTELY Beautiful!" Mettaton boasted as his body shined forth in a humanoid fashion with legs of perfection in long boots, and athough he still had his thinner gloves arms he had broad pointed shoulders, and perfect hair that elegantly covered over one eye.
The child's mouth was agape, the positive and negative voices screamed, and Curtain just slowly looked towards Alphys and showed her the phone, as she shrugged in embarassment. Then the battle began as the child had to survive hoards of legs, bombs, and shoot at blockades while posing dramatically and following through for the ratings. A heart-to-heart revealed to the child that she needed to keep at it in order to weaken him. With the attention the child was getting, Mettaton's movements grew faster along with her.
Upon blowing Mettaton's arms off as the human was taken by surprise for a moment, she kept at it as the positive voice helped urge her on to survive.
"… Do you really want humanity to perish? Or do you just believe in yourself that much?" Mettaton asked, as the child nodded firmly.
"Haha, how inspiring! Well darling! It's either me or you! But I think we both already know who's going to win! Witness the true power of humanity's star!"
Mettaton sent more attacks as the child survived them, and upon doing so, Mettaton's legs blew off as just his torso and head remained.
"… then… Are YOU the star? Can you really protect humanity?" Mettaton asked as the fight continued for a little bit, with the child still surviving with a brilliant dodge that left the audience ratings to spike up high.
"OOH, LOOK AT THESE RATINGS! This is the most viewers I've ever had! We've reached the Viewer Call-In Milestone! One lucky viewer will have the chance to talk to me before I leave the Underground forever! Let's see who calls in first!" Mettaton said more confidently, though the child could clearly see steam coming from his body.
"Hi, you're on TV! What do you have to say on this, our last show?" Mettaton asked the caller.
"….. oh…. hi mettaton… i really like watching your show. my life is pretty boring… but… seeing you on the screen… brought excitement to my life… vicariously… i can't tell but… i guess this is the last episode…i'll miss you, mettaton…" the voice over the line said as the child recognized the voice along with the positive voice.
They noticed a sadness overcome Mettaton's face as the caller, Napstablook, continued speaking, "…. oh…. i didn't mean to talk so long… oh….."
"NO, WAIT! WAIT, BL… He… They already hung up…." The sadness once again taking over Mettaton's face, and the fact they know Napstablook made the child and the positive voice feel sympathy for Mettaton.
Mettaton then took in another caller, who was actually multiple callers saying how much they adore seeing Mettaton and that it pained them to know that he was leaving them. Upon the realization that the monsters really loved him, Mettaton looked towards the child and said,
"Darling… Perhaps… it might be better if I stay here for a while. Humans already have stars and idols. But Monsters… they only have me. If I left… the Underground would lose its spark. I'd leave an aching void that can never be filled. So… I think I'll have to delay my Big Debut. Besides. You've proven to be very strong. Perhaps… even strong enough to get past Asgore. I'm sure you'll be able to protect humanity. Ha, Ha…It's all for the best anyway… "
+ Oh no he's dying! No! I didn't like him but now I can't watch him diiie!
- What happened?
+ Napstablook called him and now he's dying!
- No, what?!
"M-Mettaton, what is… are you okay?" The child asked.
"… The truth is, this form's energy consumption is… inefficent. In a few moments, I'll run out of battery power, and well…" Mettaton answered as the child placed her hand over her mouth.
Upon seeing her expression, Mettaton looked up at her with a smile and said, "I'll be alright. Knock 'em dead, Darling. And everyone… thank you. You've been a great audience!"
With a finally blinding light, the child covered her eyes momentarily, and afterward saw that Mettaton was very still with his eyes closed.
This part made me sad with Mettaton...