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From:

mttbrandlegs

[There's always been questions pricking at the edges of his mind about Asriel. Naturally, of course, seeing as he was alive and well here. That had pretty much resolved itself when he learned about resurging. But...then there was the question of why Asriel had said that he had met Frisk before coming here.

There was the fact that he said he was not a very nice person either.

In a different time, Mettaton might have insisted that Asriel was being silly, and he would have talked the kid up just to make him feel better.

Now though...]

WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT? YOU HAVE NEVER STRICKEN ME AS AN UNKIND PERSON. PERHAPS AN AGGRESSIVE MONSTER WHEN COMPARED WITH THE REST, BUT NOT UNKIND.

From:

pleasereset

Because I was unkind once.

[Multiple times, actually. Timelines that were ruined, reset, and ruined all over again. Timelines that ran together in Asriel's mind. He doesn't want to have this conversation. Not now.

... He doesn't want to be Flowey anymore though. No more lies or tricks. Papyrus believed in him, so m-maybe...]

If I tell you more, will you... promise that you won't hate me?

[It's a selfish, childish request. But he's already really scared.]

From:

mttbrandlegs

[Mettaton's answer is immediate.]

I WILL NEVER HATE YOU, ASRIEL. NO MATTER WHAT, YOU ARE MY FRIEND.

From:

pleasereset

[Haaa... Asriel feels some relief, but more so he's just really happy that this is text right now. At least Mettaton can't see him tearing up like a giant baby.

It's definitely a conversation they should be having in person, but with their situation already being as touchy as it is, maybe this was the only way right now. He nods at the text, before realizing that no one can see him.]

Thank you. I appreciate it, really I do.

[More than he can actually say with words. The next part he types out carefully.]

How much do you know about me? I mean after I died.

[Asriel's heard the stories passed around about his death through the Underground. Mettaton's probably heard them, but just so they're on the same page...]

From:

mttbrandlegs

ADMITTEDLY, I DON'T KNOW MUCH.

IT ISN'T THAT IT WAS NOT RELEVANT, BUT I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO ASK YOU ANYTHING PERSONAL PERTAINING TO THE SUBJECT. BUT WHAT IS THERE TO REALLY KNOW, RIGHT?

YOU, AH. YOU WERE BROUGHT BACK FROM DEATH TO WORK ON THE SHIP, RIGHT?

[As far as he knew, there wasn't any reason to think differently.

...Right?]

From:

pleasereset

Sort of.

There was a time between my death and when I was brought here, where I came back as something completely awful and evil and soulless.

I wasn't a monster anymore, I wasn't even the same Asriel you're talking to right now, I was just... something cruel that wanted to inflict pain on others.

The reason I know Frisk is because they saved me from that. They stopped me before I could do something even worse than I'd already done. They made me remember my old self again, for just a little while.

[Asriel's typing is slow and careful. When it's sent, he's holding his breath for Mettaton's reply.]

From:

mttbrandlegs

[Mettaton's answer is hardly immediate. He's giving this information some thought, and replies after a good five minutes, at least.

That, for him, may as well have been an eternity. And...the question is very simple.]

HOW DID YOU COME BACK AT ALL? DO YOU KNOW?

From:

pleasereset

[More questions come as a relief. Sort of.]

I don't know. I just remembered collapsing in the garden and then I woke up. I didn't think I died at first, but I came back much different than who I was.

[There was a lab too, but considering how upset Mettaton was at losing Alphys, maybe it was best he left that part out.]

From:

mttbrandlegs

WHAT DID YOU DO AT THAT POINT? I KNOW YOU DIDN'T TELL ANYONE, BECAUSE IF YOU DID, EVERYONE WOULD HAVE HEARD IT SOON ENOUGH.

YOU ARE ROYALTY, BUT ABOVE THAT, YOU WERE PART OF A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR MONSTERKIND--SOMETHING EVEN I COULDN'T OUTSHINE.

WHY WOULDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?

[He's not accusatory. He's actually concerned about why Asriel would hide. He says he was a soulless, evil creature, and for a brief moment, Mettaton is reminded of that tall, murderous boss monster who he'd seen slaughtering Caducans. The monster who had spared him an even quicker death, at least for that one moment.

He wants to understand.]

From:

pleasereset

I tried. Mom and dad knew, but there was nothing either one of them could do. I thought if I just stayed with them, I'd be able to regain my love and compassion back but... you can't get back what you lose once your soul shatters. There's just no way.

[Except here? He's still not sure if he has a soul here or not. He can feel love, compassion, and guilt. But he felt those things for a little while even after he released all the souls he was storing inside him.]

Do you remember when everyone's soul got stolen? Do you have any memories of that?

From:

mttbrandlegs

WHAT?? NO I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING LIKE THAT!

[Shortly after that message is sent, Mettaton amends it.]

I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD. IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH FRISK, RIGHT?

[He can't quite place it...he doesn't know why he feels as if Frisk was linked to it. But...souls? Stolen?

...It's hard to convey over text how uneasy that makes him feel.]

From:

pleasereset

[Even as he types his response, Asriel regrets bringing it up. He's regretting bringing this whole topic up. Mettaton really doesn't need this.

But he does deserve the truth. In a weird way, Asriel is relieved that Mettaton doesn't remember. That means mom, dad, Papyrus... none of them remember too. As much as their souls helped Asriel remember his compassion, he could feel their fear and confusion too.

It's a feeling that he'll never be able to forget.]

Frisk is the one who saved everyone.

From me.

They rescued everyone's souls while I tried to take them for myself. Frisk stopped me before I could do it. Between Frisk trying to save me and having everyone's souls, it was the first time in a long time where I felt like I had a real soul again.

From:

mttbrandlegs

[Mettaton wishes he could say that his memory was lucid. But it wasn't. And by the time he finished reading Asriel's text, that uneasiness hadn't lifted, nor had his memory really cleared on the matter.

But he does feel rather intensely aware of a very uncomfortable feeling between goading Alphys and Undyne to kiss and seeing Frisk again in Waterfall. Was it...was it because of what Asriel said?

Had Asriel really taken his soul? No...that's not right. Is it?]

when you had those souls, did you also take a human soul somehow? maybe one of the six?

[He has to know.]

From:

pleasereset

I took all six of them.

[Just like he had with the refugees. Admitting it leaves a sick feeling in his stomach.]

I had a lot of reasons for doing it, none of them excuses what I did. In the end, Frisk and I used the power of everyone's souls to break the barrier before all the souls were returned back to where they belong.

From:

mttbrandlegs

[Mettaton doesn't bother using his usual typing method at this point.]

I see.

So when I saw you a few months back, it really was an accurate representation

that is what a monster looks like when they absorb the soul of a human.

[Not a monster anymore, as the books say. But Mettaton doesn't seem to find that true. After all, Asriel had done it for a good cause. An inexcusable amount of death, to be sure, but. They had all made stupid decisions during that invasion.

And...as for what Asriel had done in the Underground...?]

it does not excuse it.

But you were doing what you believed was right, weren't you? You were doing it because you wanted to feel something, rather than nothing?

From:

pleasereset

Yeah, that's what I looked like back then too...

[Mettaton's response stings a little. But it's honestly not at all as bad as he thought it was going to be. Even if Asriel didn't go into full details - timelines where he killed and manipulated fellow monsters, where he erased each timeline if he didn't get the result he wanted, Mettaton still had every reason to be upset with him.

He'd seen what Asriel was capable of doing after all.]

Well, I can't say I did at first. Frisk was the one who knocked some sense into me, and it was because of them that I was able to do the right thing in the end.

Before that, there was a lot of things I wanted to use the souls for. To break the barrier and show everyone just how awful the world they wanted really was, that it was kill or be killed. That was before Frisk really showed me that humans could be kind. But honestly? It wasn't even about that.

It was about Chara. Or, when I saw Frisk I mistook them for Chara. No, I think I wanted so badly for Frisk to be Chara that I refused to see them for who they really were. And I was willing to go to any lengths, no matter how terrible, to make sure they didn't leave again. Pretty stupid, huh? I mean, they're both so different...

[Honestly Asriel's not sure how much Mettaton knows about Chara either, but they were on the ship for a while that Asriel thinks they could've ran into each other.]

I was a pretty rotten sibling, mistaken identity or not.

[...]

I'm sorry Mettaton, this is something I really should have told you sooner. You were tearing yourself down about how you didn't have any friends and that you hurt the ones you had and I just didn't think it was right to act like I didn't get it.

From:

mttbrandlegs

[To show everyone how awful the world was? But it wasn't too awful at all! Yes, monsters did encounter some problems with getting used to it, as did the humans. But to say that it was awful...

Well, to be fair, Asriel didn't have an excellent point of reference. He was killed by humans, so adopting that 'kill or be killed' ideology wasn't too farfetched.]

I don't think you are a rotten sibling. Asriel, you were a young boy. Your decisions were not good ones, and I think you know deep down what is and is not forgivable, but I don't think you're a bad person

Just one that made the wrong decisions and acted out.

[Mettaton's fingers paused over the MID as he considered Asriel's apology. He was...empathizing. He had told Mettaton this in a show of solidarity...]

We have all made mistakes. I am not so cruel as to hold it against you.

Thank you for telling me this. I guess we do have some more in common than I thought.

[Not that he thinks it's good that they've both done hurtful things. But that's his way of expressing gratitude for the perspective.

He's not as bad as he could be. And honestly, neither is Asriel. Things have changed with them.]

From:

pleasereset

[Mettaton can't see or hear him, but Asriel lets out a sigh of relief. He's so glad Mettaton doesn't hate him. He's so, so glad. Asriel has managed his own guilt for a long time, but the thought of losing a friend like Mettaton hurt way too much.

He's seen Asriel at his worst, after all. He's seen him at his weakest and most vulnerable, and at his cruelest. It made things feel... a lot less lonely. To have someone like that as a friend.]

Thank you for letting me tell you all that. And for... staying friends with me anyway.

Thank you.

From:

mttbrandlegs

I wouldn't be a good friend otherwise, would I?

Truly though. You should know that I value our friendship, and I would never compromise it if I could help it.

Like I said, I am determined to be a good friend this time. :)

[Mettaton's not quite ready to lay on his caps lock right now. But he is starting to feel a little less upset.]

From:

pleasereset

[So is Asriel, though after the tension of spilling out his whole backstory he's feeling kind of tired.]

I think you're already a great friend, Mettaton.

From:

mttbrandlegs

That means a lot to me, sweetheart. I'm sorry I was so negative before

I'm not really like this all the time, it's just that things have not been the greatest. It's a lot to take in.

From:

pleasereset

I understand.

I'm not ungrateful for having my old self back, and getting to go to space for the first time but... I wish it wasn't so hard out here. I thought it'd be so much cooler. Like going to planets and having exciting adventures and meeting new friends.

[Instead it's more like suffering, heartbreak, and a heaping pile of tradegy after tragedy.]

To be honest, I think I've had enough of all these space adventures. I think I just want to go home with everyone.

[If he can.

He doesn't think he can though.]

From:

mttbrandlegs

I would bring you home with me. I'm sure I said that before, but I would find a way to make it happen.

You have your soul here, don't you? So why not?

I know I've been saying that the ship is the safest but that's basically in reference to everything else. Everything else out there is worse.

[He's circling around the subject, but clearly said subject is the Outpost.]

From:

pleasereset

[He hopes you can, Mettaton. Asriel can only assume that he has a SOUL, or else he'd be Flowey right now. And the Captains have proven over and over they can bring back those from the dead. So could he keep his SOUL too?

If Asriel's wrong, and he goes back only to find his fate as Flowey waiting for him... he's not sure if he could handle it. He could back then, back before he actually got to know any of the monsters that showed up on this ship.]

I'd like that. I don't know if I can keep my SOUL once they send us home, but I hope I can keep mine. I really want to see what the surface is like.

[He almost adds "for more than a few minutes" but that feels a little too bitter. Asriel also knows what Mettaton is exactly implying.]

Yeah, I used to think this ship is pretty dangerous too. But out there is a lot scarier.

From:

mttbrandlegs

We will have to ask. I don't see why, given a SOUL here, you would be stripped of it just because we get sent back home through a weird portal.

And anyway, it is not as if we, monsters, can refute the power of magic. Let's have a little faith in it, shall we? :)

[Mettaton doesn't want to delve into the topic too deeply. This...just isn't a thing he can chatter away from. It stings.

It stings even more than Papyrus leaving...]

You're right. It is scary out there. I still...do not understand the concept of one person owning another. There's no sense of ethics around here, is there?