This image is AI-generated. No real human cosplay or fanart was used in training, except for my own. Look here to see how I made this model without stealing art or harming the environment!
Fic Title: If We Move Forward Together, No One Gets Left Behind
Summary: Take on Undertale True Ending if all of the other humans who fell down before Frisk had never left the Ruins.
Rating: Not Rated
Read On AO3: x
Chapters: 20/?
"I can't believe you brought that all the way from Snowdin!" Alex remarked as they watched Bell flatten and shove a Cinnamon Bunny under one of the hotel room doors.
"Yeah, well, it's about to pay off," Bell said as they finished jamming the pastry under the door.
"HUH!?!?!?" the voice behind the door exclaimed. "That's just the way I want! Here's a tip. Thanks a million!"
Bell picked up the gold as it was slid under the door and grinned at Alex as they held it up for their inspection.
"Aw what!? 99G!?!?" Alex exclaimed.
"Told you it was gonna pay off!" Bell beamed, turning and flouncing away down the hallway.
Alex shoved off the wall where they'd been leaning and started to follow Bell. A couple of feet down the hall, Alex stopped at another door and knocked.
"Ooooooooah! Room Service!" another hidden voice called out. "Got my 'Sea Tea'?"
Alex patted their pockets, but knew they didn't have the item the monster behind the door wanted. "Uh, no..."
"Then...!?" the voice asked, irritated.
Alex backed away from the door then, scuttling to catch up with Bell. Their younger sibling had crossed through the lobby to the MTT-Brand Burger Emporium where the rest of their family was. The other five humans were all leaning over the counter, expressions bearing varying degrees of interest as they spoke to the cat monster, whose nametag read Burgerpants, running the burger stand. Hop had an armful of glittering sandwiches labeled 'Glamburgers' that were selling for 120G each.
"Hop," Alex said as they stepped into the shop. "Where'd you get the money to pay for those?"
"Laurel bought them for me with their birthday money," Hop grinned.
"That money was supposed to be so you could buy something for yourself," Alex said.
"Eh," Laurel waved their hand dismissively. "I already have a ton of health items, and Hop really liked those sparkly burgers. Besides, it's my money to spend how I like."
Alex looked to Robin. "What do you think of this?"
"It's Laurel's decision," Robin shrugged. "Anyways, Hop hardly had any health items. I certainly feel better going into the CORE if we all have at least some form of protection."
"Ooooooh!" Bell surged forwards, breaking through their siblings and plunking 60G down on the counter. "I'll have one of those Starfaits!"
"Here you go, little buddy," the cat monster said, taking a drag on his cigarette as he handed the Starfait to Bell.
"Have you two met Burgerpants?" Laurel asked. "He was just telling us how horrible Mettaton is."
"Darn right!!" Burgerpants said, clenching his fists. "Why do people find him so attractive?? He's literally just a freaking rectangle..."
Hop laughed out loud at that.
"You know, one time," Burgerpants continued, turning a bit embarrassed. "I bought one of those, uh, kits online...to...Uh, make yourself more rectangular...They don't work."
"Yikes," Laurel raised their eyebrows, scrawling in their notebook. "So, uh, what about your future then?"
"Future? WHAT future? Nothing down here ever changes. I'll probably be trapped at this stupid job forever..." Burgerpants despaired. Then, he thought of something else. "But wait! There's one thing that keeps me going!"
"What's that?" Twain asked.
"If Asgore gets those seven human souls, we'll finally get to go to the surface!" Burgerpants said. "It'll be a brand new world! There's gotta be a second chance out there for me! For everyone! So stay strong, little buddies. When I make it big, I'll keep you in mind."
The humans shifted uncomfortably, they had once again been reminded that the extent to which most monsters stayed hopeful relied heavily on Asgore taking their souls. And no matter how friendly or nice people kept telling them Asgore was, none of them could forget how much Toriel had warned them of his intention to kill every human that fell down.
"Okay," Robin spoke up first, pushing away from the counter. "Everyone ready? Let's go to the CORE."
----
The kids went through the glass doors at the back of MTT Resort and found themselves on a narrow boardwalk, the entrance to the CORE waiting up ahead. As they walked along the planks and got closer to the entrance, the humans could just make out two shadowy figures standing in the mist. But as soon as they were spotted, the figures vanished.
Twain's phone rang and they picked it up.
"Huh? Who are they?" Alphys' puzzled voice spoke out. "N-nobody else is s-supposed to be here..."
"Hmm," Laurel hummed, actually buying what Alphys was saying for a change.
"Oh well!" Alphys piped up. "We can't worry about that now!"
Alphys hung up, and the humans continued forwards. Passing through the glowing blue entrance to the CORE, the group came into a room that looked entirely made of blue circuitboards. The room beeped and hummed with activity, converting geothermal energy into magical electricity.
"Ready? This is it!" Alphys' voice came out of Frisk's phone next. "Take the elevator up to the top of the CORE!"
Frisk walked forwards and tried to press the elevator's buttons, but nothing happened.
"What? The elevator should be working..." Alphys said. "W-well then! Go to the right and keep heading up!"
Frisk gave the right doorway a long look; then, giving the others a shrug, headed to the left. Not wanting to split up, the other humans followed Frisk.
"H-hey," Alphys called Frisk again. "Why don't you try to go to the right first??"
Frisk didn't have time to give an answer, because a shadowy figure was headed straight for them.
"W-watch out!" Alphys shouted as Frisk got pulled into battle.
The battledome went up and Frisk looked to see who they were fighting. Some wizard monster named Madjick had popped out of his hat and was now floating before Frisk, waiting for their first move.
Instantly, Frisk held up their stick and gave it a wave and flourish.
"Ah! A fellow wizard!" Madjick remarked and began his attack.
Little magic crosses popped up around Frisk and a menacing orb chased and cornered them around the battle ground. Frisk suffered a bit of damage, but otherwise came out of the attack unscathed. Then, Madjick was able to be spared and Frisk did so, collecting the reward money of 60G.
"Th-That was close..." Alphys was saying as Frisk came out of the battle. "Wh...Why are there so many monsters here? I mean...It's no problem, r-r-r-right? W-w-w-we've just got to keep heading forward!"
"Okay, I've definitely got a bad feel about this," Bell said.
"Do you want to turn back?" Robin asked.
"No, I...I'm just scared, okay?" Bell faltered. "Forget it, let's keep going."
"Bell..." Robin murmured.
"I said forget it!" Bell snapped, walking past Frisk and heading into the next room. The others followed, coming to a bridge that led to the next part of the CORE; but the bridge was blockaded by an electric fence.
Alex's phone rang next.
"Looks like you can't proceed until you hit the switch," Alphys said. "B-but, those lasers will activate when you do."
Alex lifted their gaze to the ceiling, where three unactivated lasers waited in dormancy.
"Ummm...Looks like they'll come in this order: Orange. Orange. Blue. Got it? Move until the third one!"
"Welp, let's get this over with," Alex said, slamming the switch on the wall.
"N-No, Alex, wa-" Robin broke off with a yelp as two blue lasers struck their moving body. The other kids didn't have time to register the change in expected color, and all got hit by the blue lasers; except Frisk, who had been standing still the whole time. Luckily, the group was still moving when the last laser went over them a burning orange. Frisk stepped through the orange laser and was the only human to come out without damage.
"What the heck!?" Alex groaned, clutching their side.
"Let's just get across this bridge," Robin said, smoothing down their hair which was standing on end from the electricity.
The group went single-file across the bridge, coming to the other side without another attack. Alex's phone rang.
"Oh my god..." Alphys gasped. "Are you guys hurt? I...I'm so sorry...I gave you the wrong order."
"Yeah, no kidding," Alex muttered.
"Everything's going to be fine, okay?" Alphys said, trying to sound convincing not only to the humans but to herself as well. "L-Let's just keep heading to the right."
The kids headed to the next area and stopped at the two diverging paths before them, unsure of where to turn.
Bell's phone was the next to ring.
"A crossroads...Uhhhh..." Alphys stammered. "Tr...Try heading to the right!"
"Okay," Bell said, taking a step forwards.
"W-wait! No, I think you sh-should head up!" Alphys said.
Bell blew a strand of hair out of their eyes in exasperation. "Alright," they said, hanging up their phone and heading up to the next area with their siblings behind them.
Bell stepped into the small space first and was greeted by more shadowy figures. The kids barely had time to backtrack before Bell was yanked forcibly into battle.
Gathering their thoughts, Bell looked up to see a monster named Knight Knight blocking their way. Bell didn't know what to do at all. Looking down to their ACT menu, they saw a suggestion labeled 'Sing'.
"Sing...?" Bell wrinkled their brow. "Sing what?"
For some reason, as they puzzled over what to do next, Bell thought of sans. They thought about how he'd laugh at Knight Knight's name being a play on the phrase 'Night Night!" as if her entire existence revolved around putting people to sleep. Then, something clicked and Bell knew what they had to do.
Taking a deep breath, Bell began to sing. But they didn't sing just any old lullaby; they started singing the song they'd learned when they'd performed with Shyren. As they finished the song, Bell smiled at Knight Knight's lowering eyelids.
"Adieu," Knight Knight said, smashing her Morningstar.
The attack began with Knight Knight summoning the moon into the middle of the battleground. Bell drew back, amazed to even be seeing the moon after so many years underground. The marveling was cut short though, when deadly raindrops began to fall.
Bell back away as far as they could, and then danced and twirled through the rain as best they could. Unsurprisingly for their siblings, Bell managed to dance between the attacks flawlessly; coming out of the attack without a scratch.
Smiling, Bell began to sing again. By the time they finished Shyren's song again and Knight Knight went to attack, the might monster was fast asleep. When she started snoring, Bell spared her and collected their 70G of prize money. Whipping around, Bell gave their siblings a triumphant thumbs-up as their phone rang again.
"Sorry," Alphys said as soon as Bell picked up. "I...I...I thought that...Let's try the right path instead."
Rolling their eyes, the kids left the room and headed to the right. Stepping into the next area, the group of humans paused as they came to another bridge blocked by swarms of lasers.
"M...more lasers..." Alphys said, calling Robin this time. "Okay, I...I won't mess around this time. I'll just deactivate the lasers and let you through."
Silence followed. Nothing happened. The lasers stayed on.
"They're...They're not turning off..." Alphys said, voice growing more and more distressed. "...I can't turn them off, I...I-i-it's okay! I have this under control!"
"Alphys..." Robin rubbed the back of their neck. "You don't have to..."
"I'm going to turn off the power for that whole node. Then you can walk across," Alphys said hurriedly. The power in the room cut out, leaving the seven humans in darkness. "Okay, go!"
Not having any better ideas, the kids made their way across the bridge. They could vaguely see in front of them, but not really in the darkness. As they made it about halfway across, there came a clicking noise from overhead and Robin's phone rang again.
"W-WAIT! STOP!" Alphys shouted as soon as Robin picked up. The lasers clicked back on and the kids were stuck in a field of blue lasers. "Th-the power...It's turning itself back on. D-damn it...Th-this isn't supposed to...I'm gonna turn it off again! When it turns off, move a little, and then STOP! OK?"
"I...I guess..." Robin said, trying to stay as still as possible.
"Y-you won't get h-h-hurt," Alphys promised, hanging up.
The lasers went off again and the others all followed behind Robin as they stepped tentatively forward.
"STOP!" Robin shouted as soon as they heard the lasers begin to click on again.
Robin turned out to be a very good guide, and managed to get the entire group through the flashing lasers in one piece. They took a deep breath and picked up their ringing phone.
"S-see? I've got everything under control!" Alphys said. "Everything's under control!"
"She doesn't even sound like she believes that," Bell muttered as Robin hung up the phone.
"Nevermind," Robin took a deep breath. "Let's go."
Walking further up into the CORE, the seven humans came to what they assumed was the main part of it.
"Guess we're in the core of the CORE now, hah," Bell joked.
Laurel rolled their eyes. "Bell, I swear to-" they stopped talking when their phone started ringing. Digging their phone out of their pocket, Laurel picked up. "Yeah, Alphys?"
"OK!" Alphys said, voice edged with nerves. "Y-you should...You should..."
"...Yeah!?" Laurel prompted, growing agitated with the royal scientist again.
"I don't know?" Alphys whimpered. "This doesn't look like my map at all..."
"What do you mean!?" Laurel bit out, their voice getting higher the angrier they got.
"I'm sorry...I...I..." Alphys stammered. "I have to go."
"No, wait! You can't just-AARRGGGHHH!!" Laurel roared when Alphys hung up. "Can you believe this!? Sh-she lies to us this entire time and now she's not even going to help us get through this place? If I ever see her again, I'm-"
"Laurel!" Robin snapped. "This isn't helping us either. I agree, this whole situation sucks. But right now, we need to not let our emotions get the better of us and work together to get out of this crazy place."
Laurel took a deep breath. "Okay, fine."
"Alright, now, where do you guys think we should go first?"
"Well, let's see," Laurel straightened their glasses and read one of the electronic signs on the wall. "North, the warrior's path. West, the sage's path. Any path leads to The End."
"So, it doesn't matter where we go?" Alex raised an eyebrow.
"Let's go West," Robin suggested and began leading the group to the left.
"Why not North?" Alex challenged.
"You just said it doesn't matter!" Robin exclaimed.
"I know. Just, why not North?" Alex repeated.
"Oh my God, we are not having this argument!" Robin held up their hands and started going left.
"Kinda think we are!"
"We are not!"
"Yeah, we are! We're literally fighting right now!"
"You always do this! I'm not going to waste any time fighting with you when-"
"But you are wasting time fighting with me by arguing about how you're not going to-"
"Cut that out! We are not fighting!"
Frisk blinked up at Robin and Alex as they dissolved into another of their famous pointless arguments. Sneaking a glance to the others to see if they were paying attention to them, Frisk slipped away to the left.
Frisk thought they had gone unnoticed, but they were wrong. As they were leaving, Hop had caught sight of of Frisk out of the corner of their eye. Trying and failing to get their older siblings' attention, Hop stamped their foot and stormed after Frisk themself. Then, when Hop stormed off, Twain caught sight of them and went to follow them as well; leaving only the four oldest siblings at the common area of the CORE.
"-and when I say we aren't fighting, I mean we aren't fighting!" Robin argued.
"Well, if we aren't fighting, how come we aren't getting along!?" Alex countered.
"Because you keep arguing with me!" Robin shouted.
"Hah! See, you admit it!"
"Oh, would you two just shut up!?" Bell screamed over Robin and Alex. "We have to get through the CORE and we're not going to do that if we stand here listening to you two fighting all day! I mean, really, who gives a damn which direction we go?"
"Uhh...guys..." Laurel spoke up, looking behind them. "We've got a big problem."
"What could possibly go wrong now?" Alex asked.
"Where are the other kids!?" Robin shrieked, realizing what was wrong before Laurel could drop the bomb.
"They must have left while we were fighting," Alex concluded.
"Well, what are we gonna do!?" Bell demanded.
"We...We're going to..." Alex spluttered.
"We're going to look for them, of course!" Robin butted in. "Bell, you come with me; we'll go North. Laurel, you go with Alex; you two go West. The CORE interferes with our phone signals; so, don't lose your partner! We meet back here in approximately twenty minutes. Got it?"
"Got it!" the others said in unison. Then, they were off to their separate directions of the CORE.
----
Frisk had managed to make their way to the uppermost room of the CORE. There was a bridge to cross with a switch at the end of it, that they figured needed to be turned off for some reason. As soon as they took a step onto the bridge, though, two monsters had jumped out at them and attacked.
The monsters looked vaguely familiar, like monsters from the Ruins but with dramatic makeovers. Frisk read their names: Final Froggit and Whimsalot. Unlike their Ruins counterparts, these monsters didn't seem timid or unwilling to fight. Since they had never gotten very far in a battle against a Whimsum, Frisk figured they would go with battling the Final Froggit first since they at least something of battling this kind of monster. To mystify Final Froggit, Frisk took the gross bandage off of their cheek and then slapped it right back on the other side. While slightly disgusted, Final Froggit seemed to realize it had more to learn from the world.
The attack began and Frisk tried their best to dodge the swarming butterflies and zooming flies coming from both Whimsalot and Final Froggit. Although the attacks were familiar, these non-boss moves were less predictably patterned and Frisk couldn't help but get struck a few times. When the turn was over, however, Final Froggit was reluctant to fight them. Frisk was about to spare Final Froggit, when they heard their name being called. They turned and saw Robin and Bell had entered the upper room.
"Frisk!" Robin ran forward without a second thought, and burst right into the middle of the battle. "What the-What's going on?"
Frisk spared Final Froggit, a little annoyed at being interrupted. They turned to fight Whimsalot, but still didn't know what to do. In the Ruins, Whimsum had never stuck around for this long; and Frisk wasn't sure if the tricks they used for Whimsum would work on Whimsalot.
Looking down at the two humans, Whimsalot shook its head dismissively.
Frisk blanched, not knowing what to do. Just when they were about to hit spare out of reflex, Robin dove to their knees in the middle of the battleground.
"Rob, what are you doing!?" Bell called from the sidelines.
Robin wasn't listening, though; their hands were folded and their head was bowed as they prayed for safety before Whimsalot. Whimsalot's posture changed and seemed to remember its conscience.
"Don't give up!" Whimsalot called down to Robin.
Robin looked up and smiled at the Whimsalot as the attack began. Hoisting Frisk up onto their back, Robin spun around as a circle of butterflies came down around them. Stepping to the edges of the ring of butterflies, Robin reached out and touched two green butterflies that boosted theirs and Frisk's HP a point each. The attack ended and Whimsalot didn't want to fight any longer. Giving a low bow, Robin spared Whimsalot and the battle ended. Frisk and Robin split the 100G prize money and turned back to Bell.
"Nice job!" Bell said, stepping forward and taking Frisk's hand. "Now, let's go hit that switch, huh?"
As Frisk and Bell took another step forward, though, two more monsters appeared. Knight Knight and Madjick had both come to battle their respective opponents again. Brandishing their stick, Frisk looked up to Bell who was clearing the vocal chords. Not wasting another second, the two began their moves.
The battle was over in less than two rounds, Knight Knight falling asleep to Shyren's song as easily as the first time and Madjick being just as gullible towards a broken tree branch as before.
"Good work you two," Robin said. "Now, let's get moving before another monster attacks."
The three moved even closer to the switch, but didn't get much closer. As soon as they walked more than a foot, three monsters descended and attacked.
Bell looked from the Whimsalot to the Astigmatism to the Final Froggit and took in a sharp breath.
"What a nightmare!" they exclaimed.
----
Laurel and Alex continued up the West side in a straight line. They walked past a bay where enormous cubes of ice were being thrown into the CORE to keep it cool. When they passed there and into the next area, Laurel paused and peered to the left.
"What's over there?" Laurel wondered out loud.
"Don't know," Alex said. "Think we should check it out?"
Laurel walked up to the electronic sign on the wall. "Solve this puzzle, and The End will open."
"Sounds like our ticket," Alex shrugged, and the two went to the left.
In the puzzle room, Laurel and Alex found Twain desperately struggling to solve a puzzle by themself.
"Hey, Twain, need a hand?" Laurel called out, smiling down at their sibling.
Twain turned away from the puzzle and lit up with relief. "Oh, you guys found me! I went to follow Hop, but I lost track of them. So, when I read the sign out there, I figured I may as well try to do something useful while I waited."
"Good call, buddy," Alex smiled. "How about we give Laurel a crack at it?"
"Okay," Twain said, gladly stepping away from the puzzle.
Looking at the positioning of the blocks, Laurel was able to decipher the puzzle in a manner of minutes. When the cubes were all slid into place, Laurel turned around and smiled at their siblings.
"Alright, I think it's been about twenty minutes," Laurel said. "We should head back to the common area."
"Right," Alex nodded. "Let's go!"
Alex, Laurel, and Twain all made their ways back to the common area, taking care not to get lost or separated again. When they reached the common area, the three of them waited for the others to trickle in.
After a few moments, Robin and Bell came loping into the common area with Frisk holding onto one of each of their hands.
"Are we all here?" Robin asked, looking around for a head count. "You didn't find Hop?"
"No," Alex shook their head.
"Oh no," Twain began to despair, feeling guilty for not being able to keep up with them.
"Hold on," Laurel held up a finger. "If you guys came from the North, and we came from the West, and Hop knows there's nothing new for them to the South...It stands to reason they'll be in the East."
"Of course!" Robin exclaimed, following the logic. "Nice thinking, Laurel. Now, come on!"
----
Hop had wandered all over the CORE by the time they made it to the East Wing. They'd found money and Glamburgers in different trash cans, taking both; they'd attempted a puzzle but found it too difficult and gave up, and had almost battled a Final Froggit but then thought better of it and fled the battle. Now, they found themselves at the start of a great wide bridge. Still looking for Frisk, Hop started forward.
Miraculously, only one monster attacked as they crossed the bridge. A little eyeball monster named Astigmatism who went away after Hop picked on them. Shrugging at the strange request to be bullied, Hop continued forward.
On the other side of the bridge, Hop found two different exits from the area. The one was an elevator, one that actually worked; the other was a doorway. After trying the elevator and finding it only took them back to the beginning of the CORE, Hop figured Frisk wouldn't go that way and decided to go through the ornately decorate doorframe.
This has to be the way to the elevator that will lead to the King's Castle. Frisk must be through here. Hop thought, steeling themself as they passed through the doorway.
The hallway was dark and narrow, Hop couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of them. The walked for what felt like ages but in reality was only seconds and finally saw a clearing up ahead. There was a vague, smallish figure standing in the center of the room.
"Frisk...?" Hop called out as they stepped into the clearing. When the figure finally came into focus, Hop gasped in shock and nearly jumped out of their skin. Standing before them, wasn't Frisk, but Mettaton.
"OH YES. THERE YOU ARE, DARLING," Mettaton said, sounding bored in his own robotic inflection. "IT'S TIME TO HAVE OUR LITTLE SHOWDOWN. IT'S TIME TO FINALLY STOP THE 'MALFUNCTIONING' ROBOT....NOT!!!"
Hop winced away from the harsh tone of Mettaton's words; he'd never been nice to them per se, but he had never been so blatantly vicious to them either.
"MALFUNCTIONING? REPROGRAMMING? GET REAL," Mettaton said. "THIS WAS ALL JUST A BIG SHOW. AN ACT. ALPHYS HAS BEEN PLAYING YOU FOR A FOOL THE WHOLE TIME."
Hop swallowed. They knew Mettaton was right, but they hadn't wanted to hear this from him. They'd wanted Alphys to come clean on her own so Hop could forgive her. But now...Mettaton had beaten her to the punch.
"I-I know that!" Hop shouted, hands shaking at their sides as they stood against the enraged robot alone. "But do you know why!? Maybe she had a good reason."
"GOOD REASON!? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH, DARLING," Mettaton snorted. "AS SHE WATCHED YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ON THE SCREEN, SHE GREW ATTACHED TO YOUR ADVENTURE. SHE DESPERATELY WANTED TO BE A PART OF IT. SO SHE INSERTED HERSELF INTO YOUR STORY. SHE REACTIVATED PUZZLES. SHE DISABLED ELEVATORS. SHE ENLISTED ME TO TORMENT YOU."
"But why!?" Hop repeated.
"HAVEN'T YOU BEEN LISTENING?" Mettaton asked. "SHE DID THIS 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."
Mettaton allowed for a small silence while his words sank in. While the two stood opposite each other, Hop found themself backing slowly towards the exit. If Mettaton had had a human face, he would have smirked.
"AND NOW, IT'S TIME FOR HER FINEST HOUR," Mettaton picked back up again. "AT THIS VERY MOMENT, ALPHYS IS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ROOM. DURING OUR 'BATTLE,' SHE WILL INTERRUPT. SHE WILL PRETEND TO 'DEACTIVATE' ME, 'SAVING' YOU ONE FINAL TIME."
Hop stopped breathing and glanced behind them, hoping Alphys would come through at that very moment. Even if Alphys had lied the whole time, at least she'd never meant to hurt anyone. The way Mettaton was talking...Hop could almost feel his murderous intent permeate his words.
"FINALLY. SHE'LL BE THE HEROINE OF YOUR ADVENTURE. YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WILL REGARD HER SO HIGHLY SHE'LL EVEN BE ABLE TO CONVINCE YOU ALL NOT TO LEAVE," Mettaton finished running through the planned sequence of events. "....OR NOT."
"What do you mean?" Hop asked.
"YOU SEE, I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS PREDICTABLE CHARADE," Mettaton explained. "I HAVE NO DESIRE TO HARM HUMANS. FAR FROM IT, ACTUALLY."
Hop couldn't wrap their head around whatever angle Mettaton was trying to work. "What do you mean!?" they demanded, growing increasingly distressed the longer Mettaton dragged his monologue out.
"MY ONLY DESIRE IS TO ENTERTAIN," Mettaton said. "AFTER ALL, THE AUDIENCE DESERVES A GOOD SHOW, DON'T THEY?"
Hop backed away even further, but found their back pressing flat against some sort of invisible barricade. They couldn't back away anymore.
"AND WHAT'S A GOOD SHOW..." Mettaton went on, his voice growing in drama. "...WITHOUT A PLOT TWIST?"
There came a knocking on the door and Hop whipped around in the hopes that it was someone come to help them.
"H-hey!!! W-wh-what's going on!?" Alphys' voice called from the other side. "Th-the door just locked itself!"
"SORRY, FOLKS! THE OLD PROGRAM'S BEEN CANCELLED!!!" Mettaton declared to the cameras, the floor beneath him lighting up red. "BUT WE'VE GOT A FINALE THAT WILL DRIVE YOU WILD!!!"
The floor beneath them shook, and Hop was sent slamming down into the hard tile as the platform they were on with Mettaton sprang up and shot into the air. Backing away from the edges, Hop stared fearfully up at the robot who had them trapped.
"REAL DRAMA!! REAL ACTION!! REAL BLOODSHED!!" Mettaton cheered, raising his hands in excitement. "ON OUR NEW SHOW..."
Hop struggled to their feet, dreading the drop of whatever new title Mettaton could have possibly given his new show. But Mettaton was all too eager to take the reigns of his new program, and wasted no time in revealing the title of his solo debut.
"'ATTACK OF THE KILLER ROBOT!'" He announced, cackling maniacally as the show began.
