001. [Video / Action for Goldenrod Rocket Base]

[ratingspoint]

[VIDEO]

[This room is far too nondescript for his liking. Ugly, really. The blank walls, the positively spartan furniture setup...how boring.

But you know what, even if the room itself isn't a thrill a minute, that doesn't mean that the performance itself needs to be disappointing; this entire situation is unnerving, for so many damn reasons, but if there's anything Mettaton is good at, it's making the best of situations that have no damn bright side. Glitter and glamour, baby, let's do this shit.

The person on the feed today is pale and androgynous, with a set of four beauty marks on his face – two above his left eyebrow, two below his eye on the same side – and heavy black fringe covering his right eye entirely; he's pretty young-looking, the sort of person that's hitting a range between 19 and 22, maybe. His smile is bright, though, if tinged with quite a bit of arrogance, and his voice is both decidedly masculine and equally bright when he speaks, if rather flamboyant.]

Hello, beauties! While I would have appreciated advance notice before making my debut here, I suppose it's possible that my agent just didn't get the memo...

[...Based on how quickly the look in his eyes darkens at that, he's judging pretty much everything alive for that oversight; at the very least, however, it doesn't take long for his expression to brighten again.]

But! If the crowd thirsts for drama, you give them a storyline dedicated to knocking 'em dead; if they cry for action, you keep them on the edge of their seats! So if it's improv that you desire...well, who am I to say no?

As the star of the Underground, I understand that I'm in high demand – and if that demand extends here, I'm not one to turn down the exposure. Far from! If I've been brought to fill the void that my absence would surely leave in the hearts and minds of those here, then I look forward to providing the entertainment that every single one of you needs and deserves!

[He...pauses at that, though, his gaze darting down and away; the smile doesn't falter, per se, though it does become a little forced.]

However, I...don't suppose anyone could tell me the length of my contract...?

[a w k w a r d.

That said, once again it takes him an almost surreally short period of time to brighten up; seems that's just kind of a trend with him.]

...Anyway. However long I'm here, I'll be sure to give you a great show – you can expect nothing less from humanity's star!

[...This guy is not on the same plane of reality as literally anyone else, is he.]


[ACTION; ROCKET BASE]

[Good...afternoon, Rocket base! It's another of those weekends where the new arrivals usually show up, and judging from what's standing in one of your training rooms today, this isn't much of an exception. Sure, between the boots, the weird adornments on the chestplate (...the fact that he's wearing a fucking chestplate to begin with...), and literally just everything his damn outfit has decided to be today, this guy's looking sort of like a cross between the worst sentai villain the world has ever seen and an escapee from Cirque du Soleil who fled by way of Elton John's closet; however, he's currently bent forward with his hands braced against his thighs, looking at the Slugma on the ground in front of him with the universal "what the actual hell is this supposed to be" expression that's probably familiar to the regulars around here.

Every once in a while his hand twitches upward a little before fluttering back down, as though he's obviously trying to refrain from touching his face; after a while he smiles, though, pulling the Pokéball he's been palming out a bit more obviously and twirling it between his fingers.]

Well, sweetheart, it's time to see what your little friend looks like! I'm sure you're just as excited as I am, aren't you?

[...It's a little hard to say exactly how genuine that is; it's sort of a case of "my voice says 'excited' but my heart says 'no,'" but either way it gets a wiggle out of the fireslug and he keeps the smile in place, and that expression lasts until about the exact second that he actually sees exactly what his slug's "little friend" looks like.]

...Oh.

[That's. That's kind of the sole reaction one can have to the veritable ball of purple...crap that he's been given, isn't it.

A brief moment passes before he kind of crouches down next to it, getting more on its eye level; he's headtilting something fierce.]

Are you all right, darling, that looks sort of...

[He reaches out through impulse as though he's tempted to touch it before he seems to realize what he's doing and draws back, fingertips curling inward toward his palm. Not even with his gloves on, buddy, sorry.

He stands up again, hands moving to settle at his hips.]

Well, whatever. You're a bit of a work in progress, but I can work with it. We'll just have to...glitter you up a little.

[BECAUSE LITERALLY EVERYTHING IS FIXABLE WITH A BEDAZZLER AND A CAN-DO ATTITUDE oh my god why is this his life right now he hates everything.]

Comments

[ACTION]

[deaftly]

[Luckily, you won't be running into Naki immediately. Instead, you get the joy of dealing with one of the squid squad. This one in particular looks very worried, occasionally chirping like this will somehow help instead of you know. Using her words.

It doesn't take her long to notice the fire slug and the pile of goop though and she approaches curiously.

...And then she gets a look at the trainer. Her eyes light up and the response can really only be described as omg omg omg so pretty!!!!!!

So uh. Have fun, Mettaton.]

[ratingspoint]

[...Oh! Oh, well, that's kind of a universal reaction, isn't it - he'd recognize adoring fans(...?????) anywhere, and it doesn't take him long to relax again expression-wise.]

Well, hello there, darling.

[She's cute, okay.]

[deaftly]

[...The response you'll get is going to be in your head, because Naki never bothered to teach the Inkays manners. Also that would imply Naki had manners to begin with, which he obviously doesn't.

Anyway, the basic summation of everything she says is "hOI!!!!!! i'm iNKAY!!" She's also very fond of your cute pink boots!! What a great color scheme!!! WOW YOU'RE SO PRETTY..........]

[ratingspoint]

[WHAT THE - WHY

okay

okay just keep smiling, mettaton, you can do this

... ... ...

my god, his head has never felt so empty as it does with you in it]

Oh, my - well, I'm not going to turn down comments from the adoring public! How sweet of you, I'm flattered.

[no seriously it's like being punched in the brain by a fucking void]

You might want to be a little gentler with that, though, sweetheart.

[He reaches up a bit, tapping the side of his head with his fingers; the whole...brainspeaky voidpunchy wordnoises thing.]

[Video]

[awesmazings]

[Sometimes, when Jimmy's checking the Network and greeting new arrivals as he tends to do, certain people really grab his attention right off. Admittedly, this is the first time he's checked the Network since mid-month sometime, still feeling a bit off thanks to the sudden disappearance of a friend. But if there's anything that can cheer Jimmy up, it's meeting and making a new friend.

And if Mettaton wants someone who's going to give his ego a gratuitous inflating, then look no further.

He's sitting in the grass right now...or rather, a single grassy patch on the ground that's just big enough for him to sit with his bag at his side, because there is snow literally everywhere else at the moment and steadily falling on top of that. Trying to ride a bike in the snow isn't fun, and forcing his Volcorona to keep up a steady Sunny Day isn't really fair, so while he and his travel partner take a rest, he sits near a tree with what looks like a massive fuzzy moth sandwiched between him and the trunk. She's serving as a heater and a pillow more or less, with Jimmy's only other Pokemon out being his Manectric curled up next to his other side.

For all intents and purposes though, he looks miserable and cold and this jacket could stand to be three times as thick as it is, but the smile on his face is wide, even if his teeth are chattering.]

H-hiya! I've b-been here a while...so if t-there's anything you got questions about, I'd be happy to answer them!

[But more importantly-]

Are you really a star? Like, seriously famous and everything?

[Jimmy has no clue but hey, he likes his enthusiasm.]

[ratingspoint]

[...

Child, you look kind of like you may literally die out there, and if the circumstances were any different, he would ask for your location right now because you may literally die and that'd be...

...okay, the way that sentence should probably end is "tragic" or "horrible" but what's really coming to mind is "well actually that would have been really damn convenient like a week ago" and that's. Probably awful? That might actually be awful.

Oh well!]

Of course I am, sweetheart - and not just any star, either. I'm Mettaton, Hotland's premier! You may not have heard of me yet, but it's only a matter of time until my name is on everybody's lips, just you wait!

[...jesus.]

Speaking of time. How long have you been here? Exactly, I mean. "A while" is a little vague.

[awesmazings]

[IT'S FINE, HE'S ODDLY DURABLE. With the way Jimmy chooses to live his life, it's a wonder he's survived this long in a world that actually punishes you with broken bones and real cuts that actually take time to heal, as opposed to what he'd been used to. But hey, he never said he wasn't as lucky as he is accident prone.]

It'll be two years in February! My birthday'll be then, too!

[Which Mettaton could have lived without, but February has a lot of things happening that Jimmy has reason to be excited about, after all.]

And it's nice t'meetcha, Mettaton! My name's Jimmy Two-Shoes! I've never heard of Hotland, but it sounds like a cool place! ...Well, not literally.

[If it lives up to its name, then Jimmy can relate to coming from a place that's hotter than it has any real right to be.]

[ratingspoint]

[...Look, that pair of insipid giggling girls hang out outside his resort and he works with Burgerpants, he's entirely too familiar with "he really didn't need to know anything about that, but by god, now he knows anyway."]

Ha, I guess not... It's been good to me so far, it's gotten me where I am today. I'm not surprised that you've never heard of it; most humans haven't.

[...]

You are human, right? Not something else that's just been made to look like one?

Video [Please tell me that there was some inspiration from Dawn's fabulous camp Grimer from anime]

[the_pilgrim]

What exactly do you mean by Underground? Like...D-List? [WIRT NO]

[ratingspoint]

Oh...don't you know about it? You poor child. So tragic. So deprived.

[...fuck's a d-list though]

[the_pilgrim]

Wha- Hey! I am not! I have excellent taste in media, thank you very much!

[ratingspoint]

You say so now, darling. But you haven't had your horizons properly expanded yet - just you wait, you'll see eventually.

video;

[ossifragant]

....Debut?

You some kind of television star or something? Radio?

[...look he only knows what TV is because of Johto, it's not his fault he looks confused as hell.

Then again, he's not really sure how to react to this latest newcomer at all regardless.]

[ratingspoint]

Television, movies, live performances... Whether it's on a soundstage or under the bright gleam of the spotlights shining down in front of a live audience - you name it, I've done it, gorgeous!

[...Greed, you are probably not prepared.]

[ossifragant]

[He is seriously unprepared.]

So, uh....

What sort of movies do you do, anyway?

[??????]

[ratingspoint]

Well, that depends on what's hot at the moment! Drama, romance, four-hour-long continuous shots of rose petals falling onto my reclining body... Things like that, usually.

[...Everyone may be seriously unprepared.]

[action]

[diosmio]

Planning to pass it off as some sort of shiny Pokemon?

[Dio hasn't really met any of the other nonnative Rockets yet (that he knows of), but this guy, this guy is definitely getting his attention at the moment. After all, here he was just planning on dropping in, delivering whatever Pokemon's relieved some hapless NPC of and continuing to just sort of exist, being Dio, but here he's found what appears to be some sort of entertainment.

So he'll just sort of comment while leaning against the wall, looking like his photo would go in the dictionary under the word smug.]

Or merely trying to make yours stand out?

[Because that sure seems to be a popular Pokemon with the local Rockets]

[ratingspoint]

[...Oh. Well. Hello there, you - he wasn't quite expecting an audience just now, but he doesn't seem troubled at it, nor does the surprise at being interrupted last for long across his features.]

It's more that it - ...he? Help me out, darling.

[...That last part would be addressed to the sludgeball; either way, Mettaton's going to presume that amount of writing around and dumb sounds constitutes a positive answer and move on with his day.]

...He seems to need the cosmetic help. Pretty desperately, actually.

But! Fortunately, he has me, so that's not going to be a concern for long.

[...Yep.]

[diosmio]

[That sure was something all right. Dio doesn't speak Grimer either, so for all he knows it wants to go ruin the base's laundry room or something, but yeah, sure, maybe that was the answer this guy is looking for.]

I imagine you'll find that quite a few Pokemon could do with some sort of improvements.

[Though he's not sure if glitter is the answer here.]

Though I'd say fixing him should be far easier than dealing with the other one, if you feel the need to style that one as well.

[Because sir, your slug appears to be um...melting. Or made of something that's melting. Look, Pokemon are weird, okay?]

action;

[aufsassig]

[...Well, this is. Uh. IT SURE IS, ALL RIGHT, THOUGH WE'RE STILL KIND OF WORKING ON THE "WHAT" A LITTLE BIT, UM.

So yes, here is...everything that Mettaton has decided to be, and coming down the hall here is Schuldig, and this hallway just got four hundred times more fashion atrocious in a span of about two seconds, and it's certainly not being helped any by the fact that the ginger-headed fucker in question has a tote bag slung over one arm with what appears to be a steel-armored ant peeking out of it like a purse chihuahua, and the other hand is occupied with what appears to be chicken shawarma, because every day is Treat Yo Self Day in Schuldig's world.]

...Didja know if that little lava fucker stops moving, it'll harden up and snap in half? Mother Nature really phoned it in on that one, huh.

[ratingspoint]

[...You know, it's going to take Mettaton a moment to respond to that, just because when he looks up at the sound of this guy's approach he's almost immediately of two minds about everything Schuldig has decided to be.

I mean, on the one hand, this person looks impressively interesting, if in a very 90s retro sort of way, and his hair is fantastic, and everything appearance-wise is kicking off another one of those fun trains of thought that starts with "are all humans like this" and ends with "...because if so, I want twenty."

...On the other hand, the fuck just came out of your mouth, good sir- ]

Really.

[That said, he sounds lightly amused once he's worked out that yes, that did in fact just leave this guy's mouth, rather than bothered by it or truly skeptical; that's...interesting, isn't it.]

You know, the best part about that is that I can't tell if you're serious or not?

[aufsassig]

[Oh, good. Someone with an actual sense of humor and a sense of how banter works, who evidently isn't the type to get all up in arms about a little thing like implicit animal cruelty. Always a nice thing to see on an average day in the Rocket Base.]

Haha, well, when the suspense starts killing you, try checking the Dex function on the communicator they gave you in your new kid goody bag. Turns out information's just a point-and-shoot away.

[He takes a bite of his shawarma, then shrugs.]

I'm assuming you're new, anyway. I haven't seen you around, and I'm pretty sure I'd remember —

[He pauses deliberately, making an obvious show of looking Mettaton up and down.]

...you.

video;

[heartdive]

[ you know, after a few years one would think that Sora would have seen just about every welcome there is.

unfortunately, this is one of the more... out there ones and he blinks owlishly at it for a few minutes. ]

...What kind of star are you?

[ratingspoint]

[Hey, he's here to make an impression, baby - it's not like he's going to complain about getting attention, far from.]

I do just about everything, sweetheart! Television primarily, though as far as show business is involved...well, if you can think it, I've probably done it.

[heartdive]

[ well an impression certainly has BEEN MADE ]

Huh! You must be very talented then.