... Maybe we should hope that we don't encounter it at all. But with all of this buildup, it's practically inevitable. From a narrative standpoint. Why did Astoria send us here at all, if we were too late to respond to the distress call to begin with...?

[He remembers chatting with Merlin about things being doomed from the start and wonders if this is merely a repeat case. They don't have much to protect here, in Mettaton's eyes. There's Violet. That's about all he can see.]