Undertale: Reason to Live

Chapter 55

About an hour later, Frisk, Undyne, and Papyrus were just finishing lunch in Mettaton's dressing room. Mettaton had left right after they received their food for "some important business" he needed to attend to before the show.

Papyrus was concerned about Frisk trying the food, but he calmed down once Undyne told him it wasn't the artisan kind of spaghetti that would make Frisk sick. After that, the room was quiet while everyone enjoyed the food in front of them.

While they ate, they took in the lavish place that was Mettaton's dressing room.

They were sat down on Mettaton's antique, refurbished pink couch with fancy wood designs while a linen-covered table of Caesar salad and spaghetti and meat sauce was rolled out for them to eat along with a large pitcher of ice water and glasses to drink out of. To the right of the couch was an antique wooden table that had a coaster with Mettaton's face on it.


Their feet rested on a clean wood floor that was clean enough to see their faces on as if the mirrors on the wall in front of them that made the dressing room look like a mini-ballet studio weren't enough. There was a TV monitor in the corner that reflected them in a black screen, too.

On the wall to their right was the stereotypical vanity that was in every dressing room, except that it had a chair in front of it that looked like it belonged in a barber shop and that it was bigger and looked like it had been refurbished, too. On it were things like make-up and hairspray that it didn't make sense for a robot to have. Next to that was a mini-fridge, a large window, and then a dressing wall.

On the wall behind them was a bathroom and next to that was a rack of clothes. On the wall to the left was a bunch of posters and finally the door leading to the rest of the studio.

"He certainly likes mirrors," Papyrus said breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Frisk replied after sipping some more water. "They're everywhere."

"Classic sign of narcissism…" Undyne said under her breath before she took another bite of food.


"What's narcissism?" Papyrus asked after swallowing his last bite of spaghetti.


"It means he's obsessed with himself, right?" Frisk asked putting his glass down.

"Yeah," Undyne said feeling slightly impressed. "How did you know that?"

"It was in a book I was reading at the library," Frisk replied scooping the last of the spaghetti onto his fork. "I didn't know what it meant, so I looked in a dictionary."

"You're such a nerd," Undyne said rubbing her left hand on Frisk's still damp hair before she wrapped it around his shoulders and allowed him to rest against her side. "I could never get into all that reading for school, but hey, you had to do something when you slept in that library, right?"

"I've actually always loved reading," Frisk said. "You can learn and go so many places when you read a book. I never got along with most of the kids in school, so I read books during recess instead of talking to them. It was like an escape. Then when I was living on the streets, it was one of the only things I could do to forget that I was a homeless orphan for a while since everything else cost money."

"So, reading is like an escape?" Undyne said thoughtfully. "Like manga? Huh? Well, I guess that makes sense. I might just have to give reading those books without pictures another chance."

"You should," Papyrus said from the other side of her finishing the last bites of his food. "Reading's fun!"

"I honestly prefer the books without pictures," Frisk said. "I like imagining the stories inside my head."

It was then that Mettaton threw open the door and said, "I'm back, my beauties! How was the food?"

"It was great," Papyrus said. "But I think I could improve on it. You should try my artisan spaghetti sometime! Wait, you aren't allergic. Are you?"

Mettaton stared at him blankly until Frisk sat up and said, "The food was wonderful. Thank you."

"Oh, it's no problem, darling," Mettaton said rolling closer to him. "I'm glad you liked it…"

Undyne held Frisk more closely against her side and said suspiciously, "You were gone a while. What took ya so long, Mettaton?"

"I told you already," Mettaton said nonchalantly. "I had some last-minute details to look into and paperwork to sign before the show. I'd go into details, but it's so dreadfully boring that you'd be asleep before too long."

"I'm sure," Undyne said sarcastically.

Mettaton rolled to the other side of Papyrus and pushed the rolling table in front of them out of the room while he said, "Anyways, since you're done, it is now time for you to leave while I get Frisk ready."

Frisk's heart quickened its pace as Undyne stood up, picked Frisk up, and said, "What the hell do you mean?! Where do you get off?! Why do we have to leave him with you?!"


"Yeah," Papyrus said approaching Mettaton nervously. "Why can't we stay here and help? We are his future legal guardians."

Mettaton finished rolling the table out, posed in the doorway, and said, "I'm afraid it's protocol. The dressing room isn't big enough for people who can't help, so you must wait in the front row in front of the stage. Those are the rules."

"This is bullshit," Undyne said letting her anger show. "This room is more than big enough. There's no reason we shouldn't be able to stay…"

"Of course, you could all leave and call the whole thing off if you wanted to," Mettaton said. "It's no skin off my nose, but if you want to stay and give Frisk his prize, you must abide by the rules."

"But…" Papyrus said fearfully while Undyne held Frisk more tightly.

"It's alright," Frisk suddenly said. "Go wait for me in the front row. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Undyne asked.

"Yeah, you don't have to stay if you're scared, Frisk," Papyrus started to say.

"Yes, I'm not scared," Frisk lied before he whispered into Undyne's ear. "I have the phone with me. It's okay. I'll call you if there're any problems."

"You'd better," Undyne whispered back as she lowered him to the ground. "Do not let him take your phone away from you. Got it?"

"Got it," Frisk said as she slowly let go.

Suddenly, Mettaton rolled up behind Undyne and Papyrus and started pushing them towards the door.

"Alright, we'll see you soon," Mettaton said forcibly pushing them out.

"Mettaton, what are you…?" Papyrus asked.

"Get your hands off us!" Undyne yelled angrily trying to shake from his hands.

"The staff will show you to your seats. We'll see you in about two hours," Mettaton said quickly as he finally pushed them out and shut the door. "Bye!"

As the staff ushered his friends away to their seats, Frisk gripped his scarred arms nervously and began to pray. He was alone with Mettaton. Every other timeline, this had never gone well.

Mettaton breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Frisk, and said, "Thank God! I thought those two would never leave. Their hovering was driving me crazy. Anyway, let's see what we have here."

Mettaton rolled around Frisk to get a good at him.

"What are you doing?" Frisk asked suspiciously.

"I'm seeing what we have to do to get you ready for the show, darling," Mettaton said. "And I must say, I have my work cut out for me. You're a mess. There's no way you can go on as you are now."

"Why not?"

"Look at you. You're filthy, your hair's a mess, and you're dressed like you're homeless."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

Mettaton paused for a moment and said, "You're so sassy. For some reason, I expected you to be quieter. Weird, huh?"

A twinge of uneasiness came over Frisk and he replied, "Yeah, weird…"

Suddenly, Mettaton put his hand on Frisk's back and pushed him towards his bathroom.

"Anyways, we have to get you cleaned up," Mettaton said pushing Frisk until he was at the entrance of the bathroom, opening the door, and pushing him in. "Go take a shower, Frisk, and make sure you get everywhere, especially that hair. I'll be out here if you need me."

Before Frisk could respond, Mettaton shut the door behind him and left him to get to work. Frisk looked at the bathroom mirror, breathed a deep breath, and got to work.