Chapter 66

"Beauties and gentlebeauties!" Mettaton announced gleefully before the crowd. "I apologize for the delay. My son wandered off by himself and I had to find him. You know how that is."

Frisk rolled his eyes disdainfully while the audience applauded wildly.

"Now, if you're ready, prepare for the custody battle of a lifetime!" Mettaton said sitting Frisk down on the couch.

A stagehand handed Mettaton a microphone and quickly ran off stage while Frisk turned away from Mettaton and the audience and curled up on the couch.

Once the stagehand had left, Mettaton announced, "Remember, my lovely audience. If Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton can reach the obstacle course before the show is over or if his other two would-be legal guardians show up with completed adoption papers during that time, I will concede custody of Frisk to them. But if or when they lose, Frisk will be living with me as my legally adopted son."

The audience cheered louder, and Mettaton basked in the glory while Frisk was texting his family.

Frisk learned that Alphys had escaped her prison with the help of Napstablook. The two were heading back to the studio, but since Napstablook had never been to the studio and the ferry was not running, they were walking on foot and going to take a while.

As such, Frisk was turning his attention to Undyne and Papyrus.

"Is there any way for you to get past the fence?" Frisk asked Undyne and Papyrus' group message.

"Nope," Undyne replied. "It's electrified and VERY difficult to destroy! Papyrus and I have been trying to destroy it for half an hour. Seriously, what the hell is it made of? Human souls?!"

"Undyne!" Papyrus texted.

"Oh, right," Undyne said after a moment. "Sorry."

Frisk smiled in response, but before he could think of a text reply, he felt Mettaton's mechanical hands reach under his armpits and pick him up.

"Frisk, sweetie, the first rule of performing is to never turn your back on your audience," Mettaton said while positioning Frisk so that he was sitting up straight. "If you do that, they can't see your lovely face."

Frisk narrowed his gaze, crossed his arms, and looked away from him and the audience.

Mettaton put the water bottle in Frisk's lap, used his newly freed hand to move Frisk's face so that he was facing his, and said, "Darling, is there anything you'd like to say to our lovely audience before the show starts?"

Frisk shook his head out of Mettaton's hand and flinched when the microphone was shoved into his face.

After an awkward moment of silence, Frisk glared straight at Mettaton and yelled, "Yeah, I have something to say! None of you should applaud Mettaton. He's a maniac who's trying to steal me away from my family…"

Mettaton quickly pulled the microphone away from him, stood up, and said, "Okay, that's enough, dear. Now, why don't you drink your water? I happen to know from a reliable source that humans die if they go too long without water. As for your accusation, you have it all wrong, darling. I've simply taken you out of a less fortunate living situation…"

"You're kidnapping me! Just admit it!" Frisk yelled back.

The audience began talking among themselves in concern. Mettaton looked up at the rating board behind them and noticed that the ratings were beginning to drop a little. It was only by about ten viewers, but it was enough to make him worry. Nonetheless, Mettaton kept his composure.

"Frisk, we talked about this," Mettaton said proudly. "The reason I took you from them is that they are too poor. Look at you. You're malnourished and mentally unwell. I'm the only one wealthy enough to raise you…"

"They're not poor!" Frisk spat back. "You just want me so I can make you more popular!"

The ratings went up by 200 points for the drama. Mettaton smiled. His new son would be better for business than he thought.

"Darling, how could you say such a thing?" Mettaton responded as he sat next to the child on the couch who was doing his best not to look at him. "I know you're upset and it's hard to accept right now, but one day, you will understand that this is what is best for…"

Mettaton was interrupted by the water bottle hitting his face. Frisk turned away and curled up in his former position on the couch while the audience collectively gasped in surprise before they began murmuring about what a badly-behaved human boy he was.

Mettaton glared at Frisk, looked back at the audience, and said, "I do apologize for his behavior, beauties and gentlebeauties. My son is not in the most pleasant mood…"

"You can't let him talk to you like that!" a lady in the audience yelled.

"What?" Mettaton asked while Frisk looked at a text message from Sans that only consisted of a bunch of laughing face emojis.

"Yeah!" another one yelled. "You can't tolerate that kind of behavior from your son!"

"Okay," Mettaton said feeling unexpectedly touched. "What do I do then?"

"You give him a warning," the lady yelled back. "Then if he doesn't behave, you punish him. Also, don't forget to use your authoritative voice."

"Alright, my beauty," Mettaton said with a wink that made the monster woman faint in her seat. "I'll give it a try."

Mettaton picked Frisk up, held him at eye-level, and said firmly, "Darling, you will not throw things at Daddy, or I will take your phone away. Is that understood?"

Without even waiting for Frisk to respond, Mettaton turned his head back to the audience, dropped Frisk back on the couch, and asked, "How was that?"

"Great job," said another lady in the audience.

Mettaton winked at her causing her to swoon as well while Frisk glared back at him and said, "Hey! You can't just toss me around like that."

Mettaton looked back at him, handed him the water bottle off the couch, and said, "That's enough out of you for right now, darling. Now, drink your water before you get sick and Daddy has to call a doctor."

"You're not my…"

"Did I stutter?! Drink."

Frisk reluctantly leaned back on the couch, unscrewed the cap off the water bottle, and took a sip of the water within.

"He's so authoritative," the fire man from before yelled with foam coming out of the corners of his mouth. "He can even get a human to obey him. He's so cool."

The fire man fainted, and the audience applauded and cheered much to Frisk's chagrin.

The rating board rose by 20 more points. The show was now getting 1,060 views. That development was not lost on Mettaton or Frisk who was now looking at the board he had barely noticed before.

"Now, if you're done disobeying," Mettaton said as he rustled Frisk's hair and brought him back to reality. "We can start our show. Let the child custody battle begin!"

The audience applauded loudly, and Frisk noticed that the board's points were going up again.

Frisk turned around when he heard mechanical noises. To his surprise, the monitor had enlarged itself so that it was now the size of the average projector screen. Two more monitor screens came down in front of the left and right side of the audience.

Mettaton sat down on the chair opposite to Frisk as the image of Papyrus and Undyne trying to break through the starting gate came into view on the monitors.