VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 15

"Darlings and Gentledarlings!!" Mettaton threw his arms up grandiosely, beaming at his adoring fans with pearly whites, taking in their cheering and applause as the spotlights blazed down upon him. "Thank you for attending this special early morning premier of the 'Cooking With Mettaton' spin-off . . . 'Skelechef'!" More applause, much to the robot's satisfaction. "Unfortunately, dear fans, I won't be your host this time around, but fear not! Your chef is someone with plenty of glamor—introducing The Great Papyrus!"

There was a wave of clapping and cheering, whistling too as Papyrus pranced onto the stage, striking a few dramatic poses as he did. He was wearing his 'cool dude' outfit, along with an apron and a chef's hat. "NYEH! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME, METTATON!" Papyrus greeted him as he arrived at the center stage.

"Of course, darling," Mettaton smiled brightly at the skeleton, before lowering his voice, "You memorized the script right?" he muttered urgently.

"ERM. YES. OF COURSE," a bead of sweat trickled down Papyrus' skull as Mettaton let out a sigh.

"Well . . . I have faith in you, Papyrus. Knock 'em dead, darling~"

Papyrus's grin widened, and he turned to face the audience, who were awaiting his cooking expertise. Mettaton dramatically danced his way backstage, leaving the skeleton alone.

"AHEM! NOW, TODAY, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE MAKING ONE OF THE MOST GLAMOROUS DISHES IN THE WORLD! AND IT IS . . . A WONDERFUL CAKE!"

Mettaton made his way past a few crew members, heading for the dressing room. Papyrus' program was only thirty minutes at the moment, plus commercials, so that gave the robot just enough time to beautify himself for the after-show; the finale to season 8 of 'Cooking With Mettaton'. Some had questioned his decision to place Skelechef ahead of the finale, but frankly, he felt pretty positive about this obviously superior choice. In the face of adversity, he would shine like the star he was, to hell with critics and reviews!

He could hear the skeleton talking about proportions and whatnot, which was in the script, luckily. Most stars had people to help them with their outfits, makeup, hair, and overall glamor, but Mettaton had refused to hire anything of the sort. He was more than capable of self-beautification, after all. He entered his personal, private dressing room, softly shutting the door behind him before falling into a seat with a sigh. He definitely was gonna need a recharge once the morning was over, and that much-deserved break was just over the horizon . . . Once the finale was over, Mettaton was going on a vacation to the Bahamas. Why? Because he felt like it, that's why. Papyrus would handle things back here until the robot returned home.

There was a soft knock on the door, surprising Mettaton, who frowned. "I'm in the middle of de-stressing!" he shouted through the door. "You know how I feel about being interrupted."

No reply, just another knock. Mettaton blinked, even more annoyed. He decided not to answer, but then there was a third knock on the door. The robot groaned, standing up, wondering who he was about to fire. Whoever was on the other side of the door was persistent, which was extremely odd—maybe the show had gone wrong? Oh, dear . . .

When he opened the door, Mettaton was greeted by . . . nobody. Hm. Had they left after knocking a third time? Or perhaps it was just his imagination. If it was a mistake, he needed to get his audio sensors checked. It was about that time for a tune-up from Alphys anyway, they were scheduled to meet tomorrow, so hopefully he wouldn't be hearing things for much longer.

He turned back around, closing the door behind him, shaking his metallic head. "I need this vacation . . ." he muttered to himself, staring in the mirror at his literally perfect body made of perfection.