Undertale

Chapter 17: Can You Really Call This a Hotel...

... I Didn't Receive a Mint on my Pillow or Anything

 There was no more orange rock. I was standing on cool gray pavement. The hotel was a huge purple building with glass doors that bright light shone through. Above them was a white and yellow checkerboard canopy, and a sign that said "MTT" with little winged Mettatons on either side. Standing next to the doors in front of a potted bush was Sans. "Hey, Sans! Nice to see you!"
"hey. i heard you're going to the core."
"Yeah."
"how about grabbing some dinner with me first?"
"Sure."
"great. thanks for treating me. over here. i know a shortcut." He led me up the alley on the right to the MTT resurant. The inside had purple walls, a blue and maroon checkerboard floor, and many tables with mauve tablecloths and little candles. Sans and I sat down at one of the tables. "well, here we are. so. your journey's almost over, huh? you must really wanna go home. hey. i know the feeling, buddo. though... maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you. down here you've already got food, drink, friends... is what you have to do... really worth it?"
I thought about it. Not... not really. I liked the monsters. I really did. At first I'd wanted to leave because I felt stuck. Stuck in the Ruins, stuck underground... but now, I knew there was a real society down here. The only thing waiting for me up on the surface was humanity... but some monsters still wanted me dead. Some monsters wanted my SOUL for their own purposes, or to free their people... it was probably safer on the surface. I wish that everyone could live on the surface together... and be happy... "Sort of..."
"ah, forget it. i'm rootin' for ya, kid." There was a moment of silence, then Sans said, "hey. let me tell you a story. so i'm a sentry in snowdin forest, right? i sit out there and watch for humans. it's kind of boring. fortunately, deep in the forest... there's this HUGE locked door. and its perfect for practicing knock knock jokes. so one day, i'm knocking 'em out, like usual. i knock on the door and say 'knock knock'. and suddenly, from the other side... i hear a woman's voice." He imitated a woman's higher voice. "'who is there?' so, naturally, i respond: 'dishes'. 'dishes who?' 'dishes a very bad joke'," he finished with a wink. "then she just howls with laughter. like it's the best joke she's heard in a hundred years. so i keep 'em coming, and she keeps laughing. she's the best audience i've ever had. then, after a dozen of 'em, SHE knocks and says... 'Knock knock!' i say 'who's there?' 'old lady!' 'old lady who?' 'oh! i did not know you could yodel!' wow. needless to say, this woman was extremely good. we kept telling each other jokes for hours. eventually, i had to leave. papyrus gets kind of cranky without his bedtime story," he said with another wink. I laughed. "but she told me to come by again, and so i did. then i did again. and again. it's a thing now. telling bad jokes through the door. it rules." He paused.
"That sounds fun," I said. I remembered the skeleton joke that was circled in Toriel's journal.
"one day, though, i noticed she wasn't laughing very much. i asked her what was up. then she told me something strange. 'if a human ever comes through this door... could you please, please promise something? watch over them, and protect them, will you not? now, i hate making promises. and this woman, i don't even know her name. but... someone who sincerely likes bad jokes..." He winked. "...has an integrity you can't say no to."
It suddenly went eerily silent. "do you get what i'm saying?"
"You've been protecting me, because she asked you to."
"that promise i made to her... you know what would have happened if she hadn't said anything?... buddy." Sans paused. The little white points of light in his eyes suddenly vanished. I stared into his black, empty sockets. "...You'd be dead where you stand."
I took a breath, not knowing how to respond. "Wh... what?"
"hey, lighten up, bucko! i'm just joking with you," he said, obviously to make me feel better, because I knew he hadn't been joking... he couldn't have been... "besides... haven't i done a great job protecting you? i mean, look at yourself." He winked. "you haven't died a single time."
Actually, I had, many times. I was starting to even understand my ability a little better... maybe, could I go back in time on purpose? Could I only do it when I died? And that wink... was that merely jovial, or was that sarcastic? "hey, what's that look supposed to mean? am i wrong...?" I didn't say anything. There was another moment of silence. Sans turned and walked away from the table. "heh. well, that's all. take care of yourself, kid. 'cause someone really cares about you." He walked out of the restaurant.

I walked around a bit, thinking about what Sans had said. Bulletins on the walls had performance schedules on it. Comedians, dancers, Sans... seems there's a break now. There was also a Wall of Fame full of quotes and photos form visiting celebrities. 'The food is to die for!', 'Gorgeous style and fragrance!', 'My face tastes beautiful!'... all of them were Mettaton.
There were a few monsters around. There was an orange monster that was shaped like a person. "As I came in, I realized I forgot to make a reservation," said the monster. "But I didn't want to look like I messed up, so I kept walkin' in anyway. Now I'm just... kinda... consuming dew off this ficus."
"Originally, we dug mazes with puzzles in order to foil human attacks," said a burly red monster at a table. "But now, building things winding and confusing... it's some awful tradition. You can't go (ugh) two feet without being up to your armpits in puzzles."
"I work at the CORE," said a monster that looked like a little mole in a hat. "The inside is a maze made of swappable parts... that means we can shuffle the layout at will." Uh oh... I would have to find my way through it. "Boy, was today a FUN day! I sure love PUZZLE!!!" He obviously disagreed with the monster across from him.
There was a monster in front of the stage that looked like Snowdrake. He had the same body shape and the same colors, but he looked older, and he was wearing a pink bow tie, pink shoes, and square glasses. "I'm the resort comedian. I'm very funny. People laugh at my jokes. Now, my son. He wants to be a comedian like his fathah. But his jokes. Aren't funny. He tells these awful puns. He's an embarrassment to our family. Ha ha ha ha... That's not funny."
Aww, poor Snowdrake. This was obviously his father. "Why don't you teach him some better jokes?"
"Since his mothah passed on, he couldn't stand. Living at home anymore. So he ran away. I haven't seen him since." Aww... I felt so bad for him. "I'm a terrible fathah. Ha ha ha ha... That's not funny."

Feeling awful, I walked past the receptionist, who appeared to be a giant green fish. "Blub blub... you'll have to reserve a table to eat here," it was saying. "You'll also need to reserve your chair, your silverware, your food, your..." I left the restaurant, going straight into the hotel.
The relaxing atmosphere of this hotel... it fills me with determination.