Work Text:
Humans who fell into the Underground world of monsters have never left, and never stay alive for long.
All except for one, who was the only human to survive and escape from the monsters.
However, they left the monsters in a worse condition than before.
They killed several monsters during their journey, including the Queen who had locked herself away in the Ruins, and the Captain of the Royal Guard. Most importantly, they murdered the King, leaving the throne empty.
That was until the most popular celebrity (and the only celebrity) among the monsters decided to declare himself as the new King, and took the crown and throne for his own.
Mettaton did not wait for any approval from the other monsters. Upon hearing the news that the King had been killed in a battle with the human, and watching the confusion of the monsters as they scrambled to find a new King, he simply strolled into the castle, sat down upon the throne, and crowned himself. He then claimed that as the new King, he wanted to bring some ‘changes’ to the Underground and to the monsters’ livestyles.
One of the very first changes Mettaton did as King was to hire two skeleton monsters as bodyguards. This raised some questions among the older monsters. King Asgore never hired bodyguards throughout his entire reign. And besides, why hire two relatively unknown skeleton monsters from Snowdin, rather than any of the trained Royal Guards?
King Mettaton brought around more changes. In order to keep his people’s spirits up, he organized free weekly concerts for the monsters to attend. All of these concerts featured him as the main singer and actor, and all of them singing his praises.
Over the weeks, more and more monsters attended these concerts, mostly curious young monsters who wanted to see King Mettaton, and who were hoping to escape the depressing atmosphere around them. Soon, the frequency of these concerts increased to three times a week, with many monsters attending them religiously, excited to catch a glimpse of their new King. There were also frequent parades and social events, all organized by him.
All entertainment on television and radio stations were taken over by the King as well. Most of the shows on TV, regardless of whether they were cooking shows, talk shows, news, movies, documentaries, or drama series, featured him or talked about him in some way. Almost every song played over the radio was either sung by him or directed by him.
Within a few months, King Mettaton had also monopolized all companies made by the monsters. All food items, electronics, furniture, and daily use items were under the MTT brand. He bought over every single clothing line and made sure that all clothing were designed by him alone. Everyone was soon wearing brightly colored clothes covered in copious amounts of glitter, and everyone had to get used to eating food laced with rhinestones or actual powdered gold.
There was no variety or individuality in clothing items at all. The food was expensive and unpleasant to eat. But anyone who refused to participate in these trends were mocked and shamed upon by their peers. It was either be part of the trend, or be forced to live on the fringe of society.
With all these companies under his belt, King Mettaton then started construction projects all over the Underground, bringing about “improvements and developments” as he called it. Housing estates were built in Waterfall, with the homes advertised to be in a peaceful and soothing environment, and dams built on many of the rivers there. Half of Snowdin was turned into a tourist area, complete with resorts and theme parks, and the other half into houses for richer monsters.
Hotland was turned into a metropolis, with buildings that almost touched the ceiling of the cave, and large areas dedicated to factories and power plants. There were also now billboards all over the Underground, advertising products from the MTT brand, or sprouting propaganda.
The Ruins, however, were completely sealed off from the rest of the Underground, with the entrance to it utterly destroyed.
Because of all this changes, many new jobs and new positions opened up, which the monsters were glad for. However, anyone who worked under him wasn’t treated very well, and also a lot of his old workers seemed to have gone missing. But the pay was good, and workers were often given free MTT products, so most people didn’t complain.
No one knew how he managed to change things around so quickly, and most monsters didn’t care. They were too preoccupied and dazzled by the tri-weekly concerts and the new shows on TV and the radio, or too busy with their new jobs.
Those who did care suspected that the two bodyguards he hired had something to do with it. They were always standing beside Mettaton and always in the background of every event at the same time. Despite being skeletons, they looked rather intimidating in their suits and sunglasses, and with their never fading grins.
There were rumors about these two skeletons, about them possessing very strong magic, unique to only them. Rumor had it that they can show up anywhere at anytime, almost immediately. They could be in a Snowdin resort one moment, and then in Hotland at a concert the next, guarding Mettaton.
They could disappear as quickly too, sometimes with other monsters.
There were monsters who stood up against King Mettaton’s reign. Monsters who disagreed with his methods, monsters who didn’t want so many changes, monsters who didn’t want a King, monsters who felt like they were being dragged into a cult. Many of these monsters attempted to start protests, some attempted to start an anarchy to bring King Mettaton down.
These monsters were very quickly dealt with by the skeleton bodyguards.
No one really knew what the skeletons did to them. All everyone knew was that if a protest or a rebellion was about to start, if anyone dared to disobey King Mettaton’s laws in any way, the skeletons would very quickly find them and capture them. It’s even been said that they can find any secret location and enter through locked doors. The leader and many participants of that protest or rebellion would disappear for a period of time.
Sometimes they disappeared forever, never to be seen again. Sometimes they came back. But one couldn’t be sure if it really was them, because they always come back slightly...wrong.
They seem to completely forget their original beliefs and mentalities, and would join the concerts and buy MTT items like any other fan of the King. They also act very bizarrely, seemingly forgetting important bits of their past, including family members and past routines. They would almost always be glued to the TV or to the radio when MTT programs were on. And they were always, always singing King Mettaton’s praises.
To the monsters not obsessed with King Mettaton, this was utterly terrifying.
It grew worse as the fans of King Mettaton grew more and more fixated on him, and more and more frenzied for him.
Monsters who went to his concerts more than once a week developed the strong urge to go to every concert, and to watch or listen to every single one of his shows. Monsters who started to enjoy him grew more obsessed the more they saw him. Some resisted, but many gave in completely.
A change was seen in those that gave in as well. They spent every cent they earned on MTT products, even buying things they did not need just so they could have it. They worked themselves to exhaustion in MTT companies.
‘It’s all for our wonderful King!’ they would say, partially to themselves, ‘He deserves the best from us, he deserves our all. He has done so much good for us after all, we are all in debt to him.’
Sometimes a monster would collapse from exhaustion in a MTT company. Sometimes fights broke out during the concert among the frenzied fans.
Dust mixed with the glitter.
These dust piles were very quickly cleared up. And the two skeleton bodyguards would always be there, watching silently.
Those not completely obsessed with King Mettaton only grew more terrified.
The feeling of being trapped grew worse for them, as if being stuck Underground wasn’t bad enough. The King may be far away in his castle, but they always felt surrounded by him, hounded to death by him.
It felt like eyes were always watching them, wary of them if they took a step out of the norm. Ears were always listening, listening for one single word against the almighty King. Mouths ready to cry out if they did something different, alerting those who adored him. Hands or paws ready to drag them away into the King’s presence, either to be never seen again or to come back wrong.
And of course, the dread of the bodyguards was always present. There was always the fear of them appearing suddenly with a blink of an eye, and spiriting away anyone who did something against the King.
So these monsters lived in fear, but forced themselves to surrender to the norm. They wore the gaudy clothes, ate the overpriced glittery food, forced a pained smile as they worked, and attended as many concerts as they dared. Everything they did was with caution, as to not raise any suspicion from those around them.
It was a painful existence.
They would never leave his reign, and they would never reach the Surface. The King declared that his Kingdom was such a wonderland, such a beautiful place, that there was no need to go to the Surface. Let the humans have their dirty, ugly world all they want, the Underground was far more glamorous and much more fun.
Months passed, and months turned into years.
Older buildings and structures began to fall apart from the lack of maintenance. Food and resources grew scarce. Monsters grew more weary and falling down began occurring more often than before. But all of this was covered over by a layer of neon and glitter.
New buildings, shiny, sleek, and often bright pink, were built haphazardly over the old. Concerts and events increased in frequency to make monsters forget their pains and woes. Fallen monsters were left to die, their dust piles were quite literally swept under the rug, with no proper ceremony to preserve the dust or the memory of the deceased.
There was no escape, no hope.
In a last ditch attempt to escape this terrible life, a few monsters, consisting mostly of young defiant monsters and old wise monsters, decided to come together to form a rebellion.
They had no idea what there were going to do, but they attempted to meet together in secret, being as cautious as possible to not be discovered.
Of course, they were very quickly found by the skeletons, and spirited away before they could escape.
They were locked up in dusty cells for a few days. Each day the skeletons would drag one of them away, begging and screaming, while the others watched in terror.
Some of those dragged away vanished forever, some were allowed to go free, but without their mind intact.
But for the final two prisoners...
The skeletons came for them after the rest had been dragged off. Each of them took one prisoner, chaining their hands behind their backs and and holding onto their shoulders.
Both of them were surprisingly gentle.
There was a flash, and the prisoners found themselves at the edge of Snowdin, deep in an overgrown woods. Before them was what appeared a purple wall, built into the walls of the cavern itself. A pile of purple rubble laid before them against the wall.
They were surprised, and also terrified. Was this where monsters who disobeyed were disposed of or “changed”?
No monster has ever heard the skeletons spoke before, as they were always silent, even in the presence of the King. But now, they spoke to their two prisoners.
‘this is the ruins.” said the shorter skeleton, in a lazy but friendly drawl, ‘mettaton felt that this place was useless, and destroyed the entrance to it. no one has used the path leading to this place in years.’
‘IT IS THE ONLY PLACE SAFE FROM HIM,’ continued the taller skeleton, his voice loud but gentle, ‘HERE YOU CAN FIND REFUGE AND SAFETY FROM HIM. A FRIEND OF OURS HAS BEEN LIVING HERE SINCE METTATON WAS CROWNED, SHE HAS HER OWN GROUP HERE AND HAS BEEN PLANNING A REBELLION ALL THIS TIME.’
As they spoke, a hatch opened before them, covered in fake snow and foliage. A short lizard monster poked her head out from the hole.
‘You m...managed to s...save more, I see?’ her voice was stern and determined despite her stammering.
‘yes, mettaton thinks we made them ‘vanish’, he won’t know anything about this,’ replied the shorter skeleton.
‘PLEASE TAKE THEM INTO YOUR CARE. I AM SURE THAT THEY WILL BE SAFE WITH YOU.’ continued the taller skeleton.
‘O...of course,’ the lizard monster turned to the prisoners, who looked very confused, ‘My n...name is Alphys. I’m l...leading a group of monsters who wanted to escape M...mettaton’s rule. We have been s...staying in the old buildings of the Ruins all this time, b...because Mettaton doesn’t bother looking at this location at all, and h...he thinks I’m dead. Mettaton is a...actually a ghost monster that I...I made a robot body for, his b...body is one of the reasons why he became famous. I...I felt partially responsible for all of this, t...this is why I want to lead a r...rebelion against him.’
She smiled a little at the skeletons, ‘Sans and Papyrus h...have been secretly helping me, g...giving us supplies and sending monsters like y...you to us.’
‘mettaton has a weird bit of magic up his sleeve that he’s been using. he’s able to use glamor to ‘dazzle’ people, as he calls it. it’s why so many monsters have fallen for him and are so willing to obey him. they can’t help it.’ explained Sans, ‘of course it only works on monsters who give into it, it can’t work on people who rebel against it, like both of you, and everyone else with alphys.’
‘MY BROTHER AND I ARE SOMEHOW COMPLETELY RESISTANT TO THIS POWER. I WAS VERY EXCITED TO BE CHOSEN BY METTATON AS A BODYGUARD MANY YEARS AGO, WHEN I WAS STILL A HUGE FAN OF HIS, BUT WE SOON REALIZED THE REASON WHY IS BECAUSE WE COULD RESIST HIM, AND HE DID NOT WANT US TURNING AGAINST HIM.’, Papyrus continued, his expression growing sad despite of the permanent grin on his face, ‘HE HAS ALSO THREATENED US WITH EACH OTHERS SAFETY. I DID NOT WANT MY BROTHER TO BE HURT.’
‘and i didn’t want him hurting my bro either,’ Sans’ voice grew a little hard, ‘we had to do everything he said, as much as we didn’t enjoy it. but, we are trying to help Alphys as much as we can, even though it seems kinda pointless.’
‘IT MAY SEEM THAT WAY NOW, BECAUSE METTATON HAS GOTTEN TOO OBSESSED WITH HIS OWN POWER THAT HE IS TOO FAR GONE TO TURN BACK. BUT I BELIEVE THAT WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN ALL STILL BE FREE. SO PLEASE,’ Papyrus said to the two monsters, pleading to them, ‘WORK TOGETHER WITH ALPHYS AND ALL THE OTHER REBELS, AND SAVE THE UNDERGROUND. THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE.’
‘we’re counting on you two, and everyone in the ruins,’ Sans, for once after so many years, gave a genuine grin, ‘we have to go back now, alphys, before he realizes anything. we’ll probably be seeing you real soon again with more saved prisoners.’
‘A...and I’ll be waiting here.’ replied Alphys, as the skeletons removed the chains from the prisoners and ushered them over to the trapdoor. Alphys waved goodbye to them, as they vanished, and shut the trapdoor behind her, making sure to blend it in well with its surroundings once again.
There was still hope in the Underground, as faint as it was. Perhaps one day this glittery dystopia would end, and everyone could be finally free.