listen to the radiation, put you back in circulation

[mettaton_rex]

[three days after this thread (warnings: violence, death, robogore)]

Fade in on the same spot, three days later...

Awareness comes back slowly. It takes a while for Mettaton to realise that he can feel his whole body again. His arms, his legs. Did someone fix them? Did -

"Alphys?"

Maybe he's back at the lab. Maybe he always was, and that whole thing about ruling the Underground and being trapped in a weird otherworld castle and dismembered was some awful nightmare.

He opens his eyes, blurry vision gradually coming back into focus. No. Not the lab. Still the floor of the library.

There's no one around, for now. No murderous crocodile-person lurking. He sits up, slowly, half-convinced he's going to come apart again just from the motion, but everything seems to work perfectly. Like that never happened. Like he never has to think about it ever again.

Except.

His core. He remembers feeling it shatter, like his SOUL itself breaking apart (not quite - that came just after) and now it's back where it should be but... there seem to be cracks covering its whole surface, as though it's been hastily glued back together.

And then he hears movement behind him, or thinks he does, and then he's running and then he's out in the hallway slamming the door behind him and then - he slumps back down to the floor, curling into fetal position. There's an old family tradition. He hasn't followed it in ages, but now -

- it's a really good time to feel like garbage.

[ETA: if anyone decides to CHECK him, his DEF is now reduced to what it would be as Mettaton NEO...]

Comments

[sansational]

He did hear movement behind him, in fact, and Sans is cursing himself for that much. He really hadn't meant to startle the poor guy or sneak up on him.

But it doesn't take a quantum physicist to see that Mettaton is not having a great time of things right now. And as far as Sans knows, there's still a marauding crocodile on the loose. So he's not about to let one of his friends potentially go charging right into it.

So, for lack of any other way to follow, he hastens after Mettaton, wrenches open the door, and...trips over the robot on his first step out. It's surprisingly painful, since he's finding himself still a little steady and sensitive on his feet after his efforts to save him.

"...ow."

[mettaton_rex]

The door opens and someone's on top of him and Mettaton screams before he can stop himself, before he sees that oh, it's just Sans. Lighting Sans, not recording Sans, he thinks.

"Watch where you're going!" he snaps, sitting up. Because clearly it's normal for him to be lying down out here. Of course. Nothing anyone needs to wonder or ask him about at all.

[sansational]

Meanwhile, Sans is hastily taking in details of which Mettaton he'd just tripped over. Not the one who's Ryoji's boyfriend, he thinks. The one who used to be a king.

He hastily shoves himself away and off the hapless other monster, slumping back against the wall and grinning apologetically. "sorry, sorry. but hey, you know how it is. i mean, i'm assuming you know about the giant crocodile running around the place? that kind of thing can make a guy a little jumpy."

...he suspects that Mettaton must know about the giant crocodile, at least. After all, even for this particularly dramatic robot, Sans doesn't think it's normal for him to be lying down out here. And that scream...wasn't just a startled scream.

[mettaton_rex]

He's already starting to deeply regret that scream, looking apprehensively towards the library door. But Sans just came from there. Does that mean the coast is clear now...?

"I - I know, yes." He puts a hand over his core, even though all that's going to do is draw attention to it. It doesn't hurt, exactly. It just feels far too fragile.

[sansational]

It does draw attention. Sans' eyelights swivel towards Mettaton's core as though on a winch. His eyesockets narrow fractionally, as he makes a few possible guesses as to what happened, and tries to think up a reasonably tactful way to ask.

Then he reasons that it's been a long week, and tactful can go right straight to hell.

"you run into him too, then?" For lack of anything else to do, he reaches out to pat Mettaton on the shoulder. "yeah, he...kind of gave me a bad time." Though not nearly as bad of a time as the other him.

[dustless]

Frisk finds him.

Not...intentionally. They're just sneaking around, trying to scope the library out without actually needing to go inside. Croc's been around here, and they want to have a talk. One that they do not expect to go well, but they still need to try.

What they're not expecting is to see King Mettaton on the floor--it surprises them enough that they just stop. And don't say anything. Or do anything except stare. It goes from pure curious confusion to looking for injuries--something must've messed him up to have him down there, maybe one of his heels broke--?

If he doesn't spot them and cover up fast enough, they'll see that shattered SOUL container.

[mettaton_rex]

They're not doing anything threatening. Garbage isn't very aware of its surroundings. It takes him a moment.

Then he does see them, and the way they're looking at him, and hurriedly gets to his feet, forcing a smile. "-oh! Darling, you startled me. I, ah-" what can he possibly say? "Did - did I miss rehearsals?"

...he mentally kicks himself. Yes, his double's little vanity project is clearly what's important here. Perfect.

[dustless]

"Um...dunno. Been sort of busy."

There's a short pause as Frisk considers whether to dance around the subject or be straightforward. Yeah, best to just ask. Mettaton's good at avoiding stuff he doesn't want to talk about on his own, he doesn't need their help.

"What's wrong?"

[mettaton_rex]

"...nothing's wrong."

Oh, sure. That's convincing. And he can't cover the damage up now, that would just draw more attention to it. "This - this might look bad, but it's - it's superficial damage. No big deal."

Except that if it was just his looks that were damaged, he'd be in a rage over it. He might be later, but right now he can't seem to feel much except sick and exhausted.

[dustless]

Frisk clearly does not buy that at all. They're not even thinking of his looks, just that the superficial damage is right where his SOUL is.

"Then why were you on the floor?"

[itstheend]

There's a robot in the hallway.

A strangely familiar-looking robot. Chara is sure it will come to them in a second.

*He's Mettaton!

There we go. Wasn't Mettaton a box? Or that absurdly easy to kill form with legs for shoulders?

*They were good legs.

Oh god, no. No, this is a conversation that's going elsewhere right now. They step closer towards the robot (*Mettaton!) and tilt their head, observing the cracks.

"Oh dear, you've broken down, haven't you?"

*You don't get to do that!

[mettaton_rex]

He's staring into space as they approach him, and startles when they speak. ...he met this child once before, didn't he? Or another version. What do they want? Are they mocking him?

"I'm fine." It's a reflexive response, as he moves to stand up.

[itstheend]

Chara themselves has no idea what they're planning to gain from this encounter, other than maybe amusement. They'd just come from a furtive, shadow-checking expedition of the library (there's a book shoved down the front of their sweater for safekeeping, because they don't want to make frequent trips to this apparently dangerous area) and saw him, and thought 'why not'.

"You have an interesting definition of fine," they smile. They look up as he stands - they'd forgotten just how tall he was. "I would question the skill of your manufacturer if this was normal for you."

An extremely roundabout way of suggesting he go for repairs. See, Frisk? They can do nice things!

*You have an interesting definition of nice.

[mettaton_rex]

That hits a nerve they probably weren't even going for. His expression darkens. "And if I were you, darling, I'd leave my manufacturer out of this."

Which doesn't even make sense, but he's not exactly thinking straight. (He really thought she might be back, for a moment there. She'd know how to fix this. He's sure of it.)

the joys of only experiencing the two endings where Alphys survives to the end

[itstheend]

*????

That... definitely wasn't something Chara expected to hit, and it shows on their face. Much as they like jabbing at people both physically and verbally, they like to have total control over what they hit and how much damage they do - an accidental hit can mean a later accidental miss.

It was the lizard that made him, right? (*Her name is Alphys!) Why would there be a problem? Frisk suddenly turns a horrified dark churning feeling, but won't elaborate on it even with Chara's mental prods, so they're left even more at sea.

Perhaps they had a falling out while they were here. Perhaps she is not here, and that's a sore topic. Chara's smile returns to their face. A sore topic for a sore topic.

"Joke's on you, rustbucket. I don't have one."

[pleasereset]

Asriel was making it a habit to keep his distance from other castle residents, at least until he was sure it was safe for him to go approaching other people. But after a few day of nothing happening, the little monster decided to go exploring. The castle seemed quiet enough and it's not like he would've missed anything-

The slam of the door causes his fur to poof out after it scares him half to death, and suddenly there's a familiar-looking robot in the hallway. He leaps behind a corner, but slowly pokes his head out once he sees Mettaton isn't moving around much.

"Are you... are you okay?"

Should he get help? He knows a few people from back home are here, but at the moment he doesn't know where any of them are.

[mettaton_rex]

Mettaton starts a little at the voice, but doesn't look up to see who's there just yet. They don't sound threatening. He's tired.

"I - I'm fine!" Can't he feel awful in peace? "I just... need a moment."

[pleasereset]

Asriel stays where he is, trying to give Mettaton space.

"Okay... sorry. If you need anything, I'll be... um, right here."

He won't talk if Mettaton wants some quiet, but it doesn't feel right to just walk off when it looks like someone's in some kind of trouble. He'll stick around for a few minutes.

[mettaton_rex]

Okay. Good. Back to the garbage zone.

...it dawns on Mettaton that that's a very young voice, and the thought what are they doing here, don't they know it's dangerous leads to the ugly realisation that being right outside the library really isn't any safer than being inside it, for either of them. He gets up, quickly, trying to keep his voice light as he speaks again. "Ah... actually, darling, m-maybe it's better if we both go somewhere else. Right now."

[pleasereset]

"Uh, oh! Um, all right. If you want?"

Asriel's nose crinkles up, seemingly confused, but he moves into Mettaton's sight. He didn't really know where he was, or what kind of danger Mettaton had been in a moment ago. And the possibility of him being in danger didn't really occur to him either.

"I don't know where we are right now, and I don't really know my way around so..."

[lostinmyway]

Grune blinks. She'd been about to pick out a storybook for Yukio from the library when suddenly someone had run very quickly out the door. Were they late for something?

They don't run very far at all before they just...drop to the ground. And then they lie down.

They don't seem to be doing very well at all.

"Hello?" she asks softly as she steps out of the shadows. "Are you all right?"

Is that...Mettaton?

[mettaton_rex]

He barely raises his head as she approaches. "I'm - fine. I'm okay."

Clearly not. Not even a little bit.

[lostinmyway]

It's clear he doesn't want her to worry, but...she's worried anyway.

She keeps coming closer until she's standing beside him. Then she sits at his side and carefully stretches out a hand to set on his shoulder.

"What happened?"

[mettaton_rex]

He pulls away, shifting position to try to hide that cracked SOUL container. "I don't want to talk about it."

[lostinmyway]

She brings her hand back to her lap.

"All right. We don't have to if you don't want to."

Still, she needs to check: "Are you hurt?"