Bab 54: Chapter 54
On the front of the boat, Mettaton was steering with his long oar while his passengers were sitting at the back end and quietly talking amongst themselves.
"Wait, Sans made you call Varda?" Undyne asked. "Papyrus, how could you let your brother make Frisk do that? You know how embarrassing those types of things are. I wouldn't know, of course, but it's scary to call a crush for the first time…"
"Hey," Frisk interrupted defensively. "I never said she was my crush. She's my best friend on the surface..."
"Sure, you should have seen him when Sans got her on speaker," Papyrus said in an amused tone. "He couldn't say a word at first."
"Wait, is that true?" Undyne asked.
Frisk felt his face flush as he avoided looking at her and said, "I thought I would never hear her voice again. When I heard her, I was…surprised, but we eventually started talking. It turns out that it has only been four days since we last saw each other. She thought Sans and Papyrus had kidnapped me and threatened to beat them up to save me. I had to calm her down and tell her I was alright. She hasn't changed at all…"
While he remembered her face, Frisk closed his eyes and smiled as his palms grew sweaty and his heart started pumping faster. That was not lost on anyone in the boat, especially not on Mettaton.
"Oh, darling, you have it bad," Mettaton said.
"He really does," Papyrus replied.
Frisk opened his eyes in embarrassment and quickly wiped his hands on the sweater he was now wearing.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Frisk said defensively. "We're friends. I missed her a lot."
"Leave him alone, guys," Undyne said to back him up. "He said she was just a friend, so let him be. He's 10. Not every relationship has to be romantic…"
"You would know," Mettaton chimed in.
"Watch it, pretty boy…" Undyne snapped.
"Yeah," Frisk began sadly. "I'll probably never see her again anyway. We'll just be talking and texting buddies…"
"You could see her if you tried going back to the surface, dear," Mettaton chimed in.
"That's not happening…" Frisk said carefully choosing his words.
Undyne sighed understanding his feelings.
"At least, not until, his HP is at full health," Papyrus said.
Frisk and Undyne glared desperately hoping that he would get their meeting, but the next thing Papyrus said was "That's when we're getting Frisk's backpack…"
"Papyrus…" Undyne said quietly while Frisk sighed in despair.
"What?" Papyrus asked before he figured out what he just said wrong. "Oh…uh, yeah, the backpack that is at the top of the hole Frisk fell down but still past the barrier. We must climb to get it and that'll take tons of energy..."
"Yeah, it certainly will," Frisk said praying that Mettaton bought their story.
"Whatever…" Mettaton said convincingly enough. "Here, we are, my beauties! Welcome to my studio!"
Frisk and the others looked up to see a tall building with flashing neon lights of Mettaton all over the front and every side of what was otherwise a plain building. Shrubs cut in his shape dotted either side of the front entrance.
However, instead of stopping, Mettaton kept going until the boat rowed around the bend to the back. Then, the boat stopped at an empty, elaborately-decorated dock with a boathouse that had a painted woodcarving of Mettaton in the center of its entrance.
"Let's go," Mettaton said hopping off the boat and rolling up the dock while his passengers stood by in confusion.
Papyrus quickly hopped off the boat and followed him out of the boathouse. Frisk tried to follow, but Undyne held him back on the boat.
Noticing that those two were not following him, Mettaton turned around and asked, "Well, aren't you coming?"
"Why are we entering this way?" Undyne asked suspiciously. "Why couldn't we just enter through the front?"
"Yeah, why aren't we going through the front, Mettaton?" Frisk asked.
"That is a good question," Papyrus said trying to mediate. "You're not planning something evil. Are you?"
"I'm surprised at all of you," Mettaton said posing dramatically. "Do you really think of me that way?"
"Well…" Papyrus hesitated.
"Well then, I'll have you know we're entering this way to keep the human child out of the spotlight, dears," Mettaton said getting out of his pose. "The paparazzi would have a field day if they knew he was here, and the surprise would be ruined."
"You mean, the other monsters don't know I'm gonna be on your show?" Frisk asked climbing onto the dock behind him.
"No one except me and my wonderful staff inside," Mettaton said rolling to where Frisk was and taking his hands. "You're a surprise, darling. Now, let's get going. I'm having a complementary lunch brought in for all of you in my dressing room. I'm sure you must be famished."
"Ooooooh," Papyrus said while Frisk smiled at the very idea. "That is so generous of you."
Undyne finally hopped on the deck and pulled Frisk by his sweater away from Mettaton before she said, "Alright, Mettaton, I guess your story checks out, but remember, I've still got my eye on you."
"You're so overprotective, Undyne…" Mettaton noted.
"Of course, I am," Undyne said. "I'm going to be one of his legal guardians after today."
Mettaton paused for a second before he asked, "Is that right?"
"Yes," Papyrus said. "Sans and I are, too. We'll legally be his siblings! Isn't that great?"
Mettaton immediately perked up again and said, "Of course. Now, if you'll follow me, I can bring you to a feast to celebrate."
Papyrus ran past him to the back door. Mettaton looked at Undyne and Frisk one more time before he rolled to catch up with Papyrus.
Frisk followed them out of the boathouse, but before he could get too far, Undyne placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "Hand me your phone."
"Why?" Frisk asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her.
"Because I have a feeling that that bucket of bolts is going to separate us eventually, and when he does, you need to have my number," Undyne said while entering her number into his phone. "You have Sans' and Papyrus' numbers already, right?"
"Yeah, Sans put the numbers in before I got the phone back," Frisk said while looking up to see Mettaton gesturing for them to come in. "He wants us to follow him now."
"Alright," Undyne said handing the phone back to Frisk and pulling him up to her shoulders so he could ride on her back while she powerwalked off the deck towards the backdoor. "You know. I still don't trust Mettaton. If he weren't offering ya money, we'd be halfway back home by now. Are you sure you still want to do this? This could get dangerous very quickly, and if I let anything happen to you, Sans would kill me."
"Yes," Frisk said with determination. "You guys have been wonderful, and I haven't been able to do anything for you in return. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being so helpless…"
"I hope we know what we're doing…"
"Me, too. I'll pray for both of us."
"Oh, dear," Mettaton interrupted with a weird amount of concern behind his voice. "Is he feeling okay?"
"Yeah," Undyne said before Frisk could come up with a response. "He's just a bit tired and hungry from all our training."
"I'll be fine as soon as I eat," Frisk said as he and Undyne went through the opening.
"Oh, good," Mettaton said sounding unusually relieved as he shut the back door and followed behind. "I'd hate to have anything happen to make my precious little darling miss the show."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone