Undertale: Reason to Live

Chapter 63

Back in the dressing room, Mettaton shut the portal behind him and put Frisk down on the floor as he said, "Ah, finally, we can have some time alone to talk. That was quite the show. Wasn't it?"

Frisk turned around with tears streaming down his face and screamed, "GO TO HELL!"

Mettaton looked at him disapprovingly, grabbed a towel from the bathroom, started rubbing his hair dry, and said, "Darling, I honestly don't understand why you're so upset. I thought being adopted by someone rich and famous was every orphan's dream."

"Not mine, dick," Frisk said glaring at him angrily.

"Ouch, that hurt," Mettaton said sarcastically while sitting down on the couch. "Never heard that one before."

Exasperated, Frisk ran to the other side of the couch, stood right in front of him, and asked, "Why are you doing this?! You don't want to kill me and take my soul like everyone else, but it's not like you have time to raise a child. Why do you want me so badly?"

Mettaton smiled, laid down on the couch, crossed his arms behind his head, and responded, "In a word, darling, ratings."

"What?" Frisk asked as his expression changed from angry to confused.

"I want you because you're too valuable to leave alone," Mettaton began. "It's funny. I did want to kill you and take your soul. Hell, I would have made a show of it, but seeing you interact with your brothers on Alphys' camera feed opened my mind to all the other possibilities. You see, when I saw you and how protective your brothers were of you after that horse merman attacked, I was so moved. It was so heartwarming and inspiring. I just had to have you on a reality show of some sort, so all the Underground could be inspired and entertained by you and your brothers. I tried running the idea by Sans, but he was dead against it. He wouldn't let me go near you. He was being ridiculously overprotective. So, I had to come up with other plans. Fortunately, my wonderful intuition helped me quickly come up with another plan that would bring even better ratings and be a bigger hit with the press. I'd adopt you myself. It would be huge and revolutionary! That hasn't been done since King Asgore and his family took in a fallen human child decades ago…"

"Wait, King Asgore raised a human child?" Frisk asked.

"Yes, but that's another story," Mettaton said putting his left hand under Frisk's chin to keep his attention. "The point is that since then the Underground hasn't had another royal family to inspire them the way you humans do on the surface with your celebrities. These poor monsters had little to occupy their attention or lift their spirits before I came along, but with you, we can change that. We can be that royal family that entertains them! It'll be perfect. You and I could be like business partners. You help me keep my lovely audience entertained, and on my end, I'll protect you, take care of you, and spoil you rotten. There's literally no downside."

"Not for you," Frisk said spitefully slapping his hand away and glaring right into his eyes. "But there is for me. I have a family already with Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and Toriel. And you're not going to keep me from them. Ratings or no ratings."

Mettaton's hand resumed its former position as he said, "Darling, you're not looking at the greater good here. Think about what this could do for human and monster relations. Maybe once they realize that your kind isn't so bad, we could start taking trips to the surface and free everyone that way. That's a much better idea than letting Asgore take your soul so he can start another war with humanity. Isn't it? At any rate, it's better than Dr. Alphys' plan. You should have heard what she wanted to do with you. It was cringeworthy."

Frisk responded by opening his mouth and biting Mettaton's gloved hand.

"What the -? Stop that!" Mettaton said before moving his hand away from Frisk's face.

"I'm not going to fight Asgore or let him take my soul," Frisk said moving quietly to the door while Mettaton was examining his gloved hand. "I'm staying down here. Once Undyne and Papyrus win, I'm going home with them for good."

Frisk quietly opened the door and just managed to take a step out before Mettaton grabbed the neckline of his sweater and pulled him back in.

"It looks like someone's going to be keeping me on my toes," Mettaton said bemusedly as he picked him up and placed him on the sofa next to him. "We'll see how your friends do, darling. If Papyrus and Undyne win or somehow Sans and your other friend manage to fill out all those adoption papers before the end of the show, you can go home with them and do whatever you like. But if they can't, well, after seeing all the psychiatrists I've lined up for you, you'll adjust."

Frisk replied spitefully, "I get it. So, either they win, and I go home, or you win and you'll brainwash me. I see how it is. But you must not know them very well if you think this will stop them."

Mettaton laughed gently, looked at his son, and said, "Frisk, darling, you misunderstand me. I'm not going to brainwash you. I'm going to win your love with my kindness."

"You're kidding," Frisk said looking back at him cynically.

"I'm not," Mettaton said. "I really do intend on spoiling you rotten in a way I never was. It'll be fabulous. You'll see. I'll only start seeking more hardcore methods if your condition does not improve, son."

Frisk responded with a glare and turned away and said, "I'm not your son."

"Whatever," Mettaton said looking away and acting like he didn't care. "I'm not much of a stickler when it comes to rules. I don't care if you give me back sass or if you talk to your little friends behind my back or anything like that. All I ask is that you do what I tell you when I tell you to do it, darling. That's not too hard. Is it, son?"

"I'm not your son," Frisk said still refusing to look at him.

"I'll reward you for behaving, which reminds me, if you keep listening to me, as a reward, we can pick up your girlfriend once you hit puberty," Mettaton said happily. "Hell, we can get her sooner when we go pick up your backpack if you want. With her around, we'd have plenty of opportunities for expanding the act if you catch my drift."

Frisk's eyes flashed in panic as he turned back to him and yelled with ferocious anger behind his voice, "If you go near Varda, you will die!"

Mettaton was taken aback for a moment, but he went back to his normal expression and said, "Okay, fine. It was only a suggestion. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, son."

Frisk had enough.

He stood up on the couch, ran over to Mettaton, and screamed, "CALL ME SON ONE MORE TIME!" before kicking Mettaton in his side plate causing his HP to drop by one.

When he realized what he had done, Frisk calmed down and said, "Oh, my God! Are you alright? I'm sorry!"

"I'm fine," Mettaton said calmly to disguise his annoyance before he picked Frisk up. "But you need a timeout."

Mettaton opened the door to the bathroom, dropped Frisk in, shut the door behind him, and said, "Stay in there until you empty your bladder's contents and do whatever else humans do to calm down before the intermission ends."

Frisk walked to the window, sighed deeply, and let himself shed a few tears.

After a second, Mettaton opened the door, tossed Frisk a water bottle, and said, "Here, keep yourself hydrated. I've read that humans need water to stay alive."

Mettaton slammed the door again to leave Frisk to his punishment and give himself a moment to think.