I was merely blown here by the winds of chance

[mettaton_rex]

It's almost time for this morning's royal announcement.

Mettaton's running through his speech one last time before the show begins, in front of his favourite full-length mirror. He needs to look and sound absolutely perfect for this, after all (but when doesn't he? Never. Never is the correct answer.) And he's so focused on his performance that he doesn't notice the moment when the room around him shifts, and becomes somewhere else altogether.

"- want to buy a delicious MTT-brand Glamburger, but it's just too much hassle to push that wheelbarrow full of coins all the way to the counter? Well, worry no longer, beauties, because starting today, we're switching to the new currency, MTTbucks! They're made out of holographic foil with my face on it, so you can easily carry thousands of them at a time! Economic problems: over.

That's all for now. Have a beautiful day, my darlings, and remember: I love you all just as much as you love me!"

Perfect. He blows a kiss to the imaginary audience, spins on his heel dramatically, his cloak swirling behind him, and - this is not his dressing room. This isn't any room he even recognises. It's full of mirrors, but apart from the one he's just been rehearsing in front of, they're all covered in dusty white sheets.

"What the - Sans! Papyrus!" No response. He's never known Papyrus not to come when he called. "Anyone?"

Alarm shows on his face for just a moment, before his expression hardens and he strides toward the nearby door. He doesn't know who could have possibly kidnapped him here, or how, or where the hell he even is, but he's going to find out. And someone is going to regret it.

Comments

[dustless]

Frisk is doing what they usually do these days, when they're not busy walking around, visiting their friends--sitting in a hallway's window. This one doesn't have any glass in it, so they're resting on it with one leg hanging inside the castle, one hanging out. More in a daze than thinking about much, even. Not a particularly bad thing after all the stress of the past few weeks.

...Maybe there should be another party thing soon. There's an idea they file away before getting lost in the (literal, since some are drifting in, its fog swirling around them) clouds again.

[mettaton_rex]

Mettaton stops in his tracks when he sees them. That - that's the human. What are they doing back here?

"You -!" No. No, he's not going to panic. He's the star, he's in control here. "Well, now. Couldn't get enough of me, darling? I can't blame you."

*rolls up sleeves*

[mediadarling]

Mettaton is in the middle of yet another hunt for halfway decent fabric (a real challenge in this mouldy old castle) when he hears the strangest thing coming from one of the empty rooms: his own voice.

It's such a shock that, when a "What?" escapes him, it's a relief to hear the sound coming from his own body. What a strange malfunction that would have been, and no Alphys to fix it, either.

But that leaves the question of how his voice has got--oh. Oh, of course. There are two Sanses here, so why not two of him?

...He frowns. He can't say he likes the idea of another one of him. How is he supposed to be his own shining star if there are two Mettatons?

Well...he'll cross that bridge when he comes to it. At the very least, one more person keeping an eye on Frisk can't go amiss, can it?

He lays aside his finds and heads out the door toward the sound of his own voice.

"Over here, darling!"

This is going to be interesting.

I'm sorry about him I really am

[mettaton_rex]

He assumes it's a recording, at first. Whoever brought him here must think they're being funny. But then he turns and sees himself, coming out of a room further down the corridor.

For a second he wonders whether he's hallucinating, maybe having some kind of catastrophic malfunction, but no, that's impossible. He's in perfect condition. He always is. Which only leaves one explanation.

He has a rival. Somebody's plotting to overthrow him and take his place. They must have been planning it for a long time, because that's an almost perfect copy of his body. Everything from the voice, to the hair, to the legs... but that must mean... there's only one monster in all the Underground who could have...

Oh, someone is definitely going to pay for this.

He smiles, though it's less a smile and more a baring of teeth, as he takes a slow, deliberate step forward. "Oh my. Don't you look handsome? Too bad it's all about to go to waste. You don't think my devoted fans are going to fall for some cheap imitation, do you?"

Have a shit-child, your majesty.

[demonthatcomes]

Ohhhhhhhh no. Chara could tolerate the other Mettatons, but this one? Willfully paddling south in the river of Dee-Nile. If he wasn't full of himself more than usual, Chara would almost pity this poor robot.

"How does it feel to be without your silver spoon?" They jeer. "Welcome to the castle in the sky. You're not the ruler of this world, and you're going to have to deal with it."

shit-child meet trashbot

[mettaton_rex]

Another human child fell down here? And he wasn't informed? What does he even have informants for if they're not going to inform him of things, honestly.

"Well. Rude. I guess someone doesn't want their free membership in my fanclub." He strides over to the child so he can tower over them more effectively. "Mind telling me what your little game here is, darling?"

He assumes they were speaking metaphorically with the 'castle in the sky' thing. There's only one castle in the Underground that he's aware of, and definitely no sky...

[notsogrimreaper]

As Mettaton is striding out the door, he'll run straight on into a gangly teenager, who lets out a slight yelp, trying to regain his balance. As soon as he's back on his feet, he's full of apologies.

"Ah! I'm sorry about that! I guess I wasn't paying enough attention..."

And that's when he catches a glimpse of who he's bumped into, and a relieved grin falls onto his face.

"Oh, Mettaton-san! I thought you were someone else. Don't you look handsome in that costume!"

[mettaton_rex]

Mettaton's - not sure what to make of this, honestly. If this is his kidnapper, he's not acting like one. He's talking as though they know one another, but... well. Mettaton only knows one human, and it's not this one.

He's just going to focus on the part of all this he knows how to deal with. "Well, of course I do! Although I wouldn't call this a 'costume'."

[systematicsupport]

Actually, Papyrus did in fact come when he was called, it's just that it's not quite the Papyrus Mettaton may be looking for. When S-4 heard Mettaton calling a name he knows is the name of Sans' brother, he freezes up just outside the door. He knows that's technically a name that he could be called, even if it's not the one he's used to, and the voice sounds so demanding that he has a feeling it'd be bad not to enter.

He peers into the room, some, but not all, of his nerves fading when he sees Mettaton.

"Were you calling for me?"

poor skelechild. I'm sorry

[mettaton_rex]

"Oh, there you are! What do -" Wait. This isn't right, either. Mettaton narrows his eyes. "Why aren't you in uniform?"

Papyrus is never out of uniform. Mettaton is fairly sure he sleeps in it.

[presumably after talking to Peasant Mettaton]

[whatdeheckisdat]

Welp, better get used to telling the difference between the two of them as soon as possible. Dhaos seeks out the castle's newest resident as soon as he has a free moment. If he's as... vocal as the other Mettaton, Dhaos and his unusually good hearing shouldn't have any trouble. He assumes the other will be wearing a crown.

[mettaton_rex]

He is, indeed, still wearing his crown. He'd considered taking it off after his double's little smear campaign, but no. He doesn't want to risk being mistaken for the other him, either.

Dhaos will find him pacing around the room he arrived in, with the mirrors, looking for anything that might be an exit. He's being... vocal enough to be heard from a few rooms away. "...calls me unbelievably rude, how dare he..."

[regalduchess]

Duchess sees him flouncing about and sits to watch; she's never seen Shakespeare performed with such enthusiasm, and this is a welcome break from the hollow emptiness the castle holds when she's alone.

Duchess applauds neatly, sitting up on her haunches, and looks up a Mettaton. "Bravo! Hello, Mettaton!"

She doesn't know that this is a different Mettaton; boy, won't she be surprised?

[mettaton_rex]

...apparently he has a fan here. He's not exactly in the mood to stop and chat, but he stops anyway, looking down at the small cat monster. "Hello, darling. You wouldn't happen to know the way out of here, would you?"

[bleakdrake]

Down the hall, there's a door cracked open, barely an inch. The room beyond is dark. The air that drifts from it is so, so cold.

Of course, it's up to Mettaton whether to explore or pass it by.

[mettaton_rex]

He feels the chill, and pauses. This - doesn't feel right. It wasn't that cold outside...

(This feels familiar.) He should move on. Move on and forget about ...whatever might be causing this. (So cold...) But - no. No, there's nothing to be afraid of. He's not afraid of anything at all. It's just a strange room in a castle that's apparently full of them.

He opens the door a little further, just to see. Just to prove to himself that it's nothing important.

I should probably have more of my characters meet this dude beside Mettaton!

[lightofthestars]

Tauriel is on her way to the kitchen to ready her sons' next meal when she hears Mettaton speaking strangely to...someone. She pays it no mind, for much of what Mettaton says is beyond her understanding--until he shouts for not only Sans but Papyrus.

She stops where she is. This cannot be the Mettaton she knows, for he would not call for one who is absent, especially when that is a name that could pain Esfor and Sans alike. It must be someone new.

It takes her little time to find this...other Mettaton; as she draws near to him, she calls, "Greetings."

let's see how long he can try not to be a jerk to someone

[mettaton_rex]

Mettaton has - not exactly calmed down at this point, but he has realised that demanding answers from people isn't going to help. He's trapped in a castle on the surface - above the surface? - and no one knows how to get back. That's all anybody can tell him, apparently.

So when Tauriel finds him, he turns from the wall that he's examining (for hidden doors, or puzzles that nobody's solved yet, or something, he's out of any other ideas here) and manages to smile with something like his usual brightness. "Hello, darling! You're another - resident here, I take it." That sounds better than 'prisoner'. Kind of.

[lostinmyway]

As Mettaton searches the castle, he's likely to run into a tall, beautiful woman leaning against a windowsill with her arms folded. She's looking out the window and clearly daydreaming, and Mettaton will definitely have to get her attention before she notices him.

[mettaton_rex]

The unknown woman doesn't even seem to react when he passes by, and in his current state of mind that's enough to annoy him. He's not used to being ignored.

He turns back to face her with a flourish of his cloak. "Good morning, beautiful!" (Is it actually morning here? He has no idea.) "I wonder if you can help me. I'm new to this castle, and I seem to be lost."

That's not even just an excuse to get her attention. He's fairly sure he's been down that last corridor three times already.

[lostlegacy]

Sophie has only just come in from playing outside, and so she managed to miss the entirety of the speech, as well as the initial yelling. On her way back to her room, when she runs into this Mettaton, all she does is wave and offer a "Hi, Mettaton."

finally gets to these tags orz

[mettaton_rex]

...everyone here is going to mistake him for his double, aren't they. Wonderful.

The irritation only shows on his face for a moment, though, before he puts on a smile. (He's not in the habit of terrorising children.) "Hello, darling! I'm afraid you're thinking of the other me." Not letting that little misconception go on for too long. "But congratulations! Now you get to meet the new and improved version."

He laughs, brightly, like he's kidding. No seething resentment here. Nope.

Latey late late...

[sansational]

If Mettaton actually builds up the strength to venture outside, he'll find himself confronted with quite a vast, sprawling garden complex - more than anything that could ever grow in the Underground, even under Asgore's care. There are fountains and flowers in a variety of flowers, there are birds in the trees and fruit on the branches.

Though, there's rather less fruit nowadays than there used to be. Sans has accepted that he still needs to accommodate the rest of the castle with his eating habits, but he still gets hungry a lot more quickly than he used to.

So Mettaton might spot an enormous, skeletal monster happily munching apples off a nearby tree - just reaching up, biting them down, and swallowing them whole.

[mettaton_rex]

He really didn't want to have to do this. The less he has to think about where he is, the better. But he wants his agent, and even if the Sans here isn't his Sans... he'll have to do. Except that he's outside being a giant monster right now.

So, eventually, Mettaton does venture outside. He falters a little at first - there's so much, he didn't know there could be this many flowers - but then he pulls himself together and strides out into the garden.

That is - definitely a giant skeletal monster eating apples over there, but they can't be Sans, can they? But unless somebody else is living out here...

He approaches the other monster, but slows down as he gets closer. For once, he's really not sure what to say.

[andthebat]

While going through the castle, Mettaton may run into yet another resident of the castle, though this particular beasty monster is striding through the hallways in a hurried manner. In fact, the Batman nearly passes by Mettaton without a word, if not for the fact he notices that Mettaton's wearing something different, and pauses to take note of that.

The crown and dramatic cloak look like they're from a costume and Batman wonders if Mettaton's planning another party- except his expression and general demeanor don't seem to fit with that.

"Is something wrong?" Batman asks.

[mettaton_rex]

Mettaton sighs heavily. "Other than the fact that I've been abducted by mysterious interdimensional forces, no, darling. Not a thing."

He's running out of energy to even be angry about it at this point. Nothing is going to get him out of here any time soon.