Undertale: Reason to Live

Chapter 75

"Alright, done," Frisk said as he finally finished copying Burgerpants' and River's number into his phone.

"Good," River said. "Now, you have the numbers just in case."

Frisk went back to updating his family before he put his phone in his pocket and looked out over the river. It was quiet except for the peaceful sound of the river rushing by. The current wasn't that strong, so the rush wasn't too loud. It was just loud enough to lull one's mind into a state of calm reflection. It gave Frisk a sense of hope.

"Hey, River," Frisk said reluctantly interrupting the calm. "I know you're really risking your neck for me. Thanks for doing this."

River looked at Frisk for a moment and quickly turned away. Frisk couldn't explain why, but he could tell something was wrong.

"River, are you-?" Frisk began to ask.

"You shouldn't be thanking me, human," River said.

"Why?"

"Because I'm an accomplice."

Frisk felt the rug get pulled out from under him.

His stomach dropped as he inconspicuously typed a short text message to his family that read, "River's a traitor" before he willed himself to look back to River and ask, "Why?"

River sadly looked back at Frisk and said, "I used to work for Mettaton as his lawyer. I retired not too long ago and made my boating hobby a full-time taxi service, but we're still on decent terms. He asked me if he could borrow my boat. He also asked me if I would help him keep an eye on you. That's why Mettaton found you on the beach and hanging outside the bathroom window. Burgerpants knew I used to work with him, but he didn't know I was helping him. Mettaton doesn't know anything about Burgerpants' involvement with you either…"

"So, you're another traitor…" Frisk trailed off.

"I was. I told Mettaton when you were onstage, but he has no idea where you are now."

"So, you're on my side now? What changed your mind?"

"If I wanted to sound noble, I would say it was your courage. That is honestly a reason. But if I wanted to be honest, I mostly feel like sticking it to Mettaton. I have wanted to since I stopped working for him. You see, he is annoyingly demanding to all his employees. He pays well, but he'll work you like a slave and make your life miserable. I only worked for him for 6 months, and it was enough to make me quit being a lawyer altogether."

"Wow," Frisk said. "That sounds terrible."

"You have no idea," River replied as the boat finally came into view. "He treats Burgerpants the same way. I hate it. Burgerpants does, too. Our mutual hatred is what helped us bond so quickly at the casino. Anyways, I was helping Mettaton for the bonus check. But your audacity has inspired me, and I have too much respect for you to let it all be for nothing."

Frisk inconspicuously texted his family that River was a good guy now, put his phone away again, and smiled.

"Thanks, anyway," Frisk said quietly as the boat finally arrived at the boathouse.

River telekinetically placed Frisk on the boat before he shortcut to the front and began steering the boat away from the port.

"You can thank me when we can laugh at Mettaton from a distance," River said as the legs rose above the water and began sprinting.

"Definitely," Frisk replied with a smile.

Unfortunately, that was when they heard the back-exit door fly open. Frisk turned around and saw Temmie rushing through.

The little creature looked over, saw the boat, and screamed, "HOI, FERRYMAN! IMMA NEED A RIDE! WAIT FER MEH!"

River courteously lowered the boat into the water to wait for the cat creature to stretch her way over to the boat. But sadly, that was when the fan horde began pouring out of the back door.

"THERE, SHE IS!" someone in the horde screamed causing the whole audience to rush towards the boat. "GET THAT PHONE!"

The human and skeleton on the boat suddenly realized what Temmie was carrying in her mouth.

"That can't be good," Frisk said.

"Nope," River said raising the boat back out of the water. "Hold on, Frisk."

Frisk ran over to River and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"That works," River replied right before the boat started running downstream.

The boat accelerated almost quickly enough to knock Frisk over. Seeing this, River turned Frisk's soul blue and held it in place while still managing to control the boat.

"Thanks!" Frisk yelled over the rushing crowd.

River looked down at him and said, "Like I said, don't thank me yet. We still have to get away. I just hope Mettaton doesn't see any of this."

"HEY!" Temmie yelled as she stopped on the shore and backed up while extending her legs and aiming herself towards the boat riding away. "WAIT FOR TEM!"

Once her front paws were dug into the ground to give her a solid support, Temmie lifted her body off the ground and allowed her flexible legs to launch her into the air like a catapult.

Frisk peeked back and felt his heart flutter in a panic.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIII!" Temmie yelled sailing straight towards them with the phone somehow still in her mouth. "TEM COMING ABOARD!"

Despite River's efforts to make his boat run faster, the temmie landed on his boat right behind him. The crowd stopped on the shore and started whining and shouting after the boat and its passengers.

Temmie dropped the phone on the boat and said, "GO FAST AS YOU TEM TA WATERFALL! IMMA GO TO COLLEGE!"

"Uh, right away," River replied as he attempted to push Frisk over to the side.

Temmie quickly saw Frisk and said loudly, "HOI, HUMAN! WHY YOU NO BACK AT STUDIO WITH METTATON?!"

"Goddammit," Frisk whispered to himself.

"Hey! She's right," he heard another monster yell from the shore. "What are you doing on the boat, child?!"

The crowd continued to express similar sentiments from the shore as Frisk hid behind River as well as he could.

"WHY YOU HIDE, HOOMAN?!" Temmie asked as loudly as she possibly could. "WHY YOU SCARED?!"

"Shut up," Frisk pleaded.

"WHY?!" Temmie screamed. "WHY I NEED TO SHUT UP, HOOMAN?"

Frisk looked at the crowd and sighed in relief as he noticed the boat was gaining distance. Soon, they would turn the bend and not see the studio at all.

"Now, what?" Frisk asked River.

"We should be fine as long as Mettaton doesn't…" River said stopping mid-sentence. "Oh, no…"

Frisk peaked out from behind River to see that Mettaton was standing on the shore and talking to the monsters in the crowd who were pointing in their direction as the boat finally crossed the bend.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Frisk said. "God, what do we do? Huh?"

Without a word, River had picked up Frisk by his soul.

He then tossed him on the shore and said, "Run as far as you can, Frisk. I'll try to distract him."

Frisk stood up, brushed himself off, and nodded before dashing as quickly as he could through the sand to reach the boardwalk.

"WHAT'S GOING ON, TEM?!" Temmie yelled in confusion.

"Madame, please, I must ask that you stop yelling," River pleaded with her. "Listen to me, if you don't say where the human has gone, I'll buy the phone from you."

"YAY, TEM!" Temmie squealed joyfully.

Just then, a portal opened and Mettaton jumped out. River reluctantly stopped the boat right in the water.

The portal dissolved behind him, and he struck a dramatic pose before asking, "River, what are you doing?"

"I got bored," River replied. "So, I decided to go back to work and just happened to receive this young lady as a customer."

"So, you decided to take this temmie home even though she stole my phone?"

"Yes, tra la la!"

Mettaton rolled his eyes, looked around, and said, "Alright then, where is my son?"

"You mean the human?" River asked.

"Duh," Mettaton said crossing his arms.

"Haven't seen him," River lied.

"Oh, really?" Mettaton asked narrowing his artificial eyes. "I guess everyone on shore was lying then."

"HE'S NOT LYING, TEM!" Temmie added. "I HAVEN'T SEEN TEM!"

Mettaton turned around, crouched down in front of her, and said, "You don't have to defend him, dear. My human son stole my phone and gave it away without my permission. I do apologize for the confusion, but you really must give me my phone back."

"NO, TEM!" Temmie yelled. "THE HOOMAN GAVE ME THIS PHONE! I NEED IT TO PAY FOR COLLEGE!"

"But, dear…" Mettaton protested.

"NOI EXCUSES!" Temmie yelled back. "IMMA GO TO COLLEGE! Besides, I have a buyer already."

"Who?"

"HIM, TEM! FERRYMAN, HOW MUCH MONEY WILL YA GIVE FOR TEM?!"

Mettaton turned around, glared at River, and said, "River, what on earth are you playing at?"

"You might say that I just want to help a fine young woman go to college," River said. "While that is a big reason, if you want me to be completely honest, I hate you."

Mettaton's face had a flash of sadness that was quickly replaced with an angry scowl.

"Right now, I don't think I'm too fond of you either," Mettaton replied. "How much are you buying my phone for then, River?"

"However much the temmie wants me to pay," River said without flinching.

"HOI!" Temmie said. "I WANT 1000G! TEM!"

"1000G, then," River said to Mettaton condescendingly.

"Is that number supposed to scare me?" Mettaton replied before turning to Temmie and saying, "2000G!"

Temmie's face shook in absolute excitement.

"3000G," River said. "I was a lawyer. Remember?"

"4000G," Mettaton said without flinching.

"5000G!"

"6000G!"

"7000G!"

"8000G!"

"9000G!"

"10,000G and all the free merchandise you want!"

"HOI!" Temmie screamed at the top of her lungs. "TEM CAN'T TAKE THE EXCITEMENT! TEM! I'LL TAKE 10,000G AND DUH FREE MERCH!"

"Sold," Mettaton said smugly glancing at River before writing the temmie a check for 10,000G.

Temmie handed him the phone and squealed in delight as he handed her the check.

"NOW, TEM CAN GO TO COLLEG AND GRAD SCHOOL!" she squealed. "THANKS, TEM!"

"No problem, darling," Mettaton replied with a wink which caused her to faint in happiness.

Mettaton glanced condescendingly at River as he unlocked his phone and said, "I have to hand it to you, River. You have more gall than I ever imagined. If it wasn't used against me, I might beg you to come back…"

"You couldn't pay me to come back to working for you," River said harshly. "You use people like tools and don't care about anyone except yourself or your audience. It's no wonder your 'son' doesn't want anything to do with you."

Mettaton's face betrayed no emotion as he opened the app to find Frisk and said, "I'm sorry you feel that way."

The app said that Frisk was wandering the streets of the city.

Mettaton switched to his text messaging app, but the next second, he couldn't move.

Mettaton looked up to see his body was glowing purple and River glaring at him with his hood down and his eyes glowing purple.

River tossed Mettaton across the river and yelled, "Stay off my boat, ya jerk!"

Mettaton yelled in surprise as he fell into the river's steadily flowing water.

River smiled in satisfaction as he pulled his hood over his head and got his boat going again so he could take the stunned Temmie home.

Unfortunately, before River could even get out of view, Mettaton's arms shot out of the water, stretched onto the beach until they reached the wooden beams of the boardwalk, and pulled himself on shore. Even more sadly, Mettaton managed to hold onto his phone between his fake teeth.

River felt his heart sink as Mettaton yelled after him, "Nice try, but me and my phone are waterproof, bitch!"

Nonetheless, Mettaton's suit needed to be allowed to repair itself and his son was nowhere in sight, so he texted his "extra help" and created a portal back to his dressing room.