Waiting. I stood there, holding myself for the burning sensation of fire. But, it never came. I could still feel the flames warm up my body but not burning it. A dry wind whipped a few strands of my hair to my side. Looking up, the flames were a foot or two away from my face; staying unsteadily still. I frowned in confusion as I unhunched my back; standing upright in front of surrounding weapons of fire. They were still.

¨Umm........Was something supposed to happen?¨ I ask, glancing at the killer robot.

¨ANY MINUTE NOW!¨ Mettaton ushered. I crossed my arms and waited. This probably would have been the best time to find a way out. But, I chose not to. ¨I think its broken.¨ He only responded with an awkward cough. How he coughed is unknown to me. Anyways, it has been a full 3 minutes and the fire still didn't move from its stationary position. It just kept flickering like how it was made to do. Then, out of nowhere, Alphys' voice came over a hidden speaker.

¨Watch out!! I'll save you!! I'm hacking into the firewall right now!¨

¨Uhh. I don't think-¨

At that, the torches retreated into their proper places; extinguishing their flames. There really was no need for Alphys to do that. I mean, it wasn't moving anymore. Unless she was late to the party or something. I turn my attention towards the flying robot; to see if he has anything to say.

¨OH NO!!! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN??? FOILED AGAIN BY THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS!!¨

¨That's right! Come on, Mettaton, give up already! You'll never be able to defeat us........Not as long as we work together! You're puzzle is over!¨ Alphys remarked rather cocky.

¨Alphys, I appreciate the help but getting him mad is not going to make my situation better.¨ I respond, glumly.

¨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. ¨

¨Oh no.¨

¨OHHH YESS, DARLING!~ THAT MONSTER.............IS ME!! ¨ he exclaims, sending me into a fight. Dang it, I knew I should have remembered the tiles! But NO! I had to forget it and, now, I have to fight this egomaniac!!!!! UGH!!!!! ALPHYS!!!!!!!!!!! And, that's not even the worst of it. Looking at him, he has 30 attack and 255 defense!! Either way, I couldn't win this duel! Plus, his body renders him invulnerable. I gulped and broke out in a sweat. Waiting for his move.

¨THIS IS IT, DARLING! SAY GOODBYE!¨

Before he could attack me, however, my phone started to ring. Knowing it might be the scientist, I picked it up without hesitation. ¨Hey, I hope you got some plan for Mettaton. 'Cause I don't think I can spare him.¨

¨H-hey!! Th-this seems bad , but don't worry!! T-there's one last thing I installed on your phone.......!¨

¨Shoot.¨

¨Go to this phone's [ACT] menu and press it!!!¨ I opened the [ACT] menu and the phone started to pulsate in the direction Mettaton is in. I pointed my phone towards him and my soul turned upside down. Then, it chimed as my soul changed from red to yellow. From my point of view, I could see the heart pulsate softly. The cracks still visible, from my perspective. ¨Now press [Z]!!!¨ Alphys shouted at me. I let out a breath of air and called Mettaton's attention.

¨Hey, Mettaton! Eat lasers!¨ and I pushed the button. A yellow bullet fired and hit him in the screen, cracking his monitor. I continued to push it three times before stopping to see if I have wounded him. The only thing that was damaged was his screen. His body didn't even have a single dent besides the cracks! But, what happened next made things a little weirder.

¨OOOOOOOHHHH! YOU HAVE DEFEATED ME! HOW CAN THIS BE, YOU WERE STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT, ETC. WHATEVER.¨ As he started to run off, I shouted at him to come back. How he said that didn't seem right. Like he was reading off a script or something. To some people, it might not have phased them. After all, Mettaton is a weird monster. But, not me. I was a little more observant since I had to pretty much read between the lines all my life. It could have been my paranoia that got to me. Or, my hunger since I haven't eaten anything for some time. At response, my stomach started to grumble in unison with my thoughts on food.

¨L-looks like you beat him!¨

¨Yeah.....I guess.........¨

¨Y-you did a really great job out there.¨ she gushed.

¨Aw, c'mon! I didn't do anything, you did most of the work! I'm not the one that deserves a pat on the back.¨ I blush in embarrassment. Alphys is just the nicest person I've met so far. Well, besides Toriel and Pap................My face falls thinking about him. I can't believe he is actually gone. Even if he was the one who gave me that cider. He probably just knew I would run into Muffet before he...........you know.

¨H-hey, c-can I tell y-you something?¨ Alphys asked, interrupting my thoughts. I nod before realizing she can't see me and said 'yes'.

¨B-before I met you, I d-didn't really........I didn't really like myself very much. For a long time, I f-felt like a total screw-up. L-like I couldn't do 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.¨ Alphys chirped, happily. I smiled and giggled. Making someone's life better is a great perk in this entire adventure. Well, except saving monster-kind from alienation. But, still pretty good.

¨Alphys...........ever since I was a child, I was told that I needed to hate monsters like you. And, even if it would save me a lot of trouble if I followed everyone else's example, I still believed that monsters are good. But, I didn't know this journey would bring me great friends like you, Undyne, and Papyrus. So, you shouldn't thank me................Thank you for making this worth my while.¨

For some time, there was a settling silence between the two of us. Not of awkward silence or being away from the noisy places of this world. But, the comforting silence with a friend. Even if it was through a cellphone. After some time, she broke the quietness and told me that the Core shouldn't be too far; saying it was past MTT Resort before hanging up. My smile softened as I put my phone in my pocket and headed out of this place. I got out and, on my way, picked a couple more Nice-Creams from that nice bunny-monster from Snowdin.

I kept walking towards another elevator; the vicinity, strangely, empty. I know I shouldn't be too surprised since a lot of the places in Hotland were empty. But, still............It feels lonely without monsters smiling at you. Even if they sometimes give me a murderous look. Gaster still hasn't showed up. Not surprising at all. I tapped the button to, where I haven't been to, and waited as the elevator went up. I decided to try to call Undyne while this small contraption takes me to the resort. However, she didn't pick up. It was weird because she seemed like the kind of person to call by the first two rings.

Huh, I wonder what's going on today?

Suddenly, as soon as I stepped out of the elevator, my eyes met with the eyes of someone that I used to know. He gave me a smile and waved, casually.

¨hey, kiddo. long time, no see.¨