TRIGGER WARNING! PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN READING THIS CHAPTER!
Ugh.
Your nose reflexively scrunched up at the horrible combination of chemicals and was that... blood? With a silent groan, your eyes shifted everything around you into focus. A thick layer of grime covered the tiled lab floor. Some of it now coating your side from when you had been dragged in your sleep. A faint purple glow was gently drifting along the surface and you looked down to see that you SOUL was still out.
Great.
To be honest, you were surprised that you were still alive. That evil Mettaton had been hell-bent on trying to take your SOUL. Now that you were alone and in his domain, it was a small wonder that you still had it. Why the sudden change in temperament? Oh well, you shouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth. The awful high pitched keening of metal on metal broke into your thoughts. You cringed at the sound. Eyes looking for the source. Though you were now wishing you hadn't. Across the room, was the evil Mettaton... and a very crazed looking Alphys. Her normally cute glasses were clouded with swirls on the lenses as though she was knocking off a crazed scientist in an anime. Instead of a normal shirt and pants, she wore a black and red striped sweater with a long black skirt so that you couldn't see her feet. Overtop everything was a very used lab coat. It was frayed on the edges with deep red stains located on the sleeves, chest, and where it dragged on the floor. You didn't know how those stains got there or what they were from but you really didn't want to find out. After getting over the initial culture shock, you realized that the crazed yellow monster was talking quite loudly as she held a screw driver in one hand and a sharp implement in the other.
"Disgraceful. Fucking, disgraceful!" Alphys said in a tone that was full of disgust and malice. The foreboding aura that the monster was giving off was so intense that your blood ran cold. There was no way that this was your Alphys. She stood menacingly over Mettaton who looked as though he had seen better days. His hair was a mess, chest plate cracked, and one of his four arms was on the floor a little bit behind the scientist. "You are completely worthless, you know that?" She spat at Mettaton with him flinching horribly when she raised the screwdriver. "I do all of this work to make it so that we can access different universes and I give you one job. Just one teeny weeny job. Kill the first human you see, take their SOUL, and come back here. But no! You can't even manage that simple task!" Alphys struck evil Mettaton across the face with the screwdriver before jumping on the robot monster so he couldn't back away from her further. Your hands were clapped over your mouth as a silent scream wracked your body. What the hell were you witnessing? Fear was back and it held you place as you watched the scene unfold. The scientist began dismantling another one of Mettaton's arms and he let out an anguished cry that tore at your heart. "Oh shut up. You wanted to be human. Well, nerve endings are a thing and after your screw up you don't deserve to have them turned off! You would find the one human that we couldn't properly fucking use! Did you even look at her SOUL? It's cracked to hell just like yours!"
This caught both you and the other Mettaton's attention. Your eyes went to his 'belt' and his went to your exposed floating SOUL. Within the safe confines of the belt was a tiny, white, upside-down heart with several small cracks scattered across its surface. You had to fight back tears. You have seen your Mettaton's SOUL on a couple of occasions now outside of the protective enclosure. It was white and vibrant. Even though it didn't have a color it pulsed with life. This Mettaton's was almost the exact opposite. As though someone had broken him years upon years ago. What had happened to this one's SOUL for it to look like that? When your eyes trailed away from the sad soul, your eyes locked with his. They were wide with a mixture of sympathy, fear, and comradery.
Alphys let out a successful grunt to Mettaton's scream when she forcefully pulled the metallic arm from its position. "Not only that but I had to deal with your annoying counterpart. I mean I thought you were bad but this guy has his head so far up his own ass that it wasn't funny. He could give Papyrus a run for his money in the egotistical department."
Anger quickly snuffed out the fear as it surged through your being. So Sans had been right. When this Mettaton went your universe, your Mettaton went to theirs. They swapped positions. Your eyes narrowed in rage. How DARE she speak of your Mettaton that way. She had no right. No right! Especially not while she is torturing the one in front of her like this. Alphys's maniacal laughter cut into your thoughts and you focused on the two monsters once more. "That bastard had the nerve to criticize me and boss me around. It was all I could do to manage to keep myself from tearing him apart bit by bit. Who knew what would happen to you if I had killed him while you were over the-HEY!" She struck him across the face but this time with the sharp implement in her other hand. Mettaton had tried to wriggle free and now he was paying the price for his actions. "Just where do you think you are going? You fucked up. Now you have to pay the price." The small dinosaur monster struck him several more times each with a pained cry escaping the ghost in the robotic shell.
No more. She was going too far with this. He didn't deserve this treatment even if he had tried to kill you. This had to end! She shouldn't be allowed to just abuse someone like that! Without really thinking, you push yourself up off the filthy floor and make your way over to the two monsters. Alphys was so focused on beating the living shit out of Mettaton to notice you come up from behind. Grabbing the collar of her lab coat, you forcefully pulled the scientist off of the robot, tossing her over your head like a ragdoll. Your eyes were wide. You knew that you could pick up the Alphys in your world fairly easily but this one was even lighter. You hadn't actually meant to toss her like that.
Regardless, you twirl around with your arms outstretched in a protective manner in front of the other Mettaton. Man, you really needed a nickname for this guy. The easiest way was probably by color. Your Mettaton was black and pink whereas this Mettaton was more of a crimson. Crimson it is.
Crimson watched as Alphys skidded across the floor of the lab before she hopped up with a menacing snarl erupting from her chest with wide astonished eyes. She took a threatening step forward but you refused to back down. "Oh look. The worthless weak human is up. I knew I should have locked you up before you awoke. And-... what is this? Are you attempting to protect that worthless piece of metal trash?" She pointed a very sharp claw at Crimson behind you and you promptly nodded your head while giving her a glare. Doing your best to look as intimidating as possible.
It didn't work.
The scientist had to hold her stomach because she was laughing so hard. "Oh this is rich! A weaker person is trying to protect another weakling? What are you going to do to me? Stare me to death?" The laughter was starting to get under your skin but you refused to move. You weren't going to grace her with a reaction. "Seriously, this is too funny! Why are you protecting him? You do realize that the reason why you are here is because he dragged you through the gate. He can never do anything right! It's no wonder why everyone wants him dead. To be honest, I don't know why I don't just shut him down for goo-"
SLAP!
While Mad Alphys was having her laughing fest you had cleared the distance between the two of you until you were standing right in front of her. You raised your hand high and smacked the yellow dinosaur as hard as you could right across the face. Alphys's head whips to the side from the sheer force with a stinging starting to emanate from your hand from hitting her so hard. Your handprint now a nice feature to the scientist's face. A silence descended upon the monster. Her face full of surprise that you had the gall to actually strike her. However, you don't give her a chance to recover. "Just who do you think you are?!" Your hands signed while you still held a really pissed off expression on your face. "You have absolutely no right to treat Crims- Mettaton that way. Just because he messed up to YOUR standards doesn't make him your personal punching bag or slave. I will not stand by and let you torture him right in front of me!"
"How. Dare. You." Alphys recovered from her initial shock. She lowered her head and you could actually see her eyes over the glasses now. They did not look amused. Actually, they were full of unbridled rage. "I was going to let Mettaton keep you as a pet. A pet that I could experiment on from time to time but I think you would be more useful to me as a dissection dummy." With these words, she lunges at your exposed SOUL and you realized just how much you messed up.
You fall back to escape her clawing arms as Alphys is sent flying into the wall behind her. The scientist's tiny body hits the wall above the door with a sickening crack before falling lifeless to the floor. You stood there frozen. What just happened? Turning your head slowly to see metal next to your face. You follow the extended limb to its owner behind you. Crimson was propping his body up on his one good hand with the other extended past your shoulder. He appeared to be as shocked by his sudden actions as you were. "What... Did I just do...?" Crimson asks. His voice starting to tremble at the end. "Oh, what did I just DO?!" He wailed in fear and despair. His hand returned to him and one ran through his black locks while the other clutched his face. "I just knocked out Alphys. She is going to shut me down when she wakes up. Why did I just protect a fucking human?!"
Ignoring that last comment and letting Crimson have his freak out moment, you walked over to Alphys's still form. You checked for a heartbeat and her breathing. She was fine. Well, she was probably going to feel it when she woke up but she kind of deserved it. Not wanting to deal with her when she did, you looked around for something to possibly tie her up with. Your eyes landed on the empty cage that Alphys had mentioned earlier. Even better. Gingerly hoisting the small monster into your arms, you carried her easily over to the cage and put her inside. Making sure to secure the lock, after taking any keys out of her pockets, the moment you closed the door. You didn't want to chance her getting out due to a fluke. With a shaky sigh, you turned to the still freaking out Crimson. Your presence lost to the injured robot. This was too much. This was all just too much... you headed over to Crimson and knelt down.
He stopped mid-freak out when you entered his line of sight. He sat there on the floor. Frozen. Readying himself for whatever you were going to say or do to him. The tears were already flowing down your cheeks as you lunged into his lap. Wrapping your arms round his neck, you pulled his face into your shoulder. Hugging him tightly. His body remained rigid in your arms. One of your hands trailed up and started stroking his hair comfortingly as you cried for him. No one deserved what he had just gone through. No one.
It took Crimson several moments before his two good arms settled around your waist and his body seemed to mold into yours like a life line. "What is wrong with you?" You blinked at his kind of harsh words but didn't move. He held you tighter as he buried his face into the crook of your neck. "I tried to kill you. Not once but twice. Threatened you. Dragged you to this hell and what do you do when you wake up? Protect me. Why? What is wrong with you? I'm just what she said. I'm worthless. A disgrace to monster kind."
If you could growl you would. You pulled away a bit so that he could still rest his head on your shoulder but lifted one hand so that you could sign. "What is wrong with YOU?" His eyes went wide at his own question thrown back at him. "Why do you let her do those horrible things to you? I know for a fact that you could easily beat her in a fight. It wouldn't be hard. You aren't worthless. You aren't a disgrace. You are you and only YOU can decide what you are. Not me. Not Alphys. Not anyone but you. No one deserves to be tortured like that. No one should have that much power over another. You aren't her play thing to use as she pleases. I have no doubt that you are probably one of the kindest people in this cruel world. Kind, loving, caring and most of all... not a piece of trash."
Crimson is speechless as he read your hand before a bittersweet smile cracks across his damaged face. "You are just like them." A small laugh emitting as he said it.
You cocked your head at the robot. "Like who?"
"Frisk. They were the only one to believe in me until now. This is actually why Alphys sent me to your universe for a SOUL." He heaves a heavy sigh. "We need one more to break the barrier and none of us want to lose that adorable brat."
A smile sprouted on your features. Frisk was loved in more than one timeline it seemed. Your smile faded as you asked one of the questions again. "Why do you put up with Alphys like that?"
"Because she owns me." His eyes avoided yours as he spoke. "I was so desperate to become a star that I left my family behind and begged her to make me a body. But since she did that I am completely indebted to her. She made me a body without me giving anything in return. So now, when she wants something done, she holds it over my head. If I don't do well or as she says... heh. You saw what happens." His LED lights dimmed in his eyes. "I don't know why I'm telling you this but... it feels as though you already know me very well. Hell, I don't even know how you know that she was Alphys. She didn't introduce herself and I didn't say her name. But... I haven't been able to tell anyone about this. In this world... no one cares about me. In fact... they all hate me." He paused but you urged him to continue at what he meant. "Sweetheart, Everyone in The Underground despises my show. They only watch so that they can send me hate mail, hate comments, death threats... Actually, it was agreed when I reached a viewer milestone... I was supposed to press my self-destruct button. But Frisk was able to talk me out of it."
The fact that he said it so calmly made your stomach lurch. He was going to kill himself because his viewers wanted to see him die. What the hell was wrong with the people in this universe? You unconsciously held him tighter to you and he looked at you confused with your reaction. Fresh tears trailed down your cheeks at his sad words. It appeared as though he had ran out of tears for his situation because he had accepted his fate. But that was okay. You could cry for him.
Your SOUL bounced in the space between the two of you. Noticing that it was still out, Crimson gently pushed it back in and it settled back within where it belonged. "Is it true that humans have nerve endings in their bodies?"
Confused, you nodded your head and he laughed.
"Well... that's one thing I don't envy humans for."