Iteration U

Finally home again, it was time for the most exciting part of her day.

Alphys took deep breaths as she shut the door to her lab, feeling the wall of exhaustion finally crashing down on top of her. It was like she'd been pushing herself to her limits for the hour she'd spent outside, never even realizing it. As though she'd been carrying a heavy weight all that while and only now realized just how relieved she was to put it down.

She flicked on the lights and moved inside, the cozy, if messy interior of the laboratory greeting her. It was bright, full of familiar things, and best of all, empty of anyone but herself. No one expected her to be social in here. In here, she could pretend everyone else in the world didn't exist.

The stack of letters she walked past remained unopened, and she refused to give them a second glance. Not... not today. She was too tired. Maybe... maybe some other day.

She refused to acknowledge the waves of guilt that shuddered through her when she walked past the letters. Envelopes, unlike people, could never talk or stare her down in judgement. Besides which, they were here and had been here a while, making them merely a part of her familiar surroundings. When she was outside was another matter altogether. Any time she went out she might randomly encounter one of the monsters who'd written those letters, and their rightful judgement and disappointment wouldn't be so easily ignored.

Her breathing picked up as the thoughts came to her; the thought of exactly what she would say if Shyra's sister or Whimsalot confronted her on her way into Waterfall. She could imagine the hate in their eyes. Hear the accusation in their voices. Picture herself breaking down in front of Asgore, forced to confess everything.

She wondered how she could live her life after that. She wondered if she even could.

She forced the thoughts away. She was back home, and could rest. More importantly, she had a brand new anime, and the sequel to her favorite. The excitement nearly pushed away everything else.

Nearly.

Iteration D

Home once again, it was time for the most relaxing part of her day.

Alphys let out a sigh as she shut the door to her crummy apartment, feeling a slow exhaustion finally overtake her. The day had been a busy one, the class particularly rambunctious. It was nice to be able to finally enjoy some time to herself and not feel like she was doing fearsome battle with a horde of teenagers.

Even so, it would have been nicer if she could have enjoyed that time anywhere else. The apartment was messy, as usual; she was always too tired to give it a proper cleaning. Stacks of curricula notes and future assignments were placed anywhere she could fit them, and there was a quiet here that clashed with the noise she usually heard around the town.

She should find that comforting. But there was a certain pleasure to be had from being outdoors, wandering the town and knowing she could bump into someone she knew at any time. Maybe Snowdrake telling jokes on the street corner, or Shyren and her friends putting on an impromptu show in the park. When she came home for the night, after talking to people all day, she was forced to confront a singular fact.

She was alone.

Oh well. There was nothing to be done about that. And loneliness and boredom, grating as they could be, couldn't touch her today. Today she had something calm and relaxing to keep her busy and soothe her into her sleep.

It was a brand new anime, and not just any dumb shounen or crappy manga adaptation. This was the sequel to her favorite of all time, and the eagerness to get under the covers and play it on the TV in her bedroom nearly overcame every other feeling she had about this house.

Nearly.

Iteration U

The smell of instant noodles heating up was like a ward against evil thoughts.

She took her time taking in the smell as she stirred them up into a bowl, letting the steamy aroma drift through the lab. It covered up the dirty dishes, at least, and the smell of the dog food she'd spilled all over the floor yesterday. She really needed to get that cleaned up, but... not now. She was too tired.

At least she had something exciting to raise her spirits.

Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 was already set up and on her monitor, the series' music playing nostalgically on a loop over the main menu. Despite everything, Alphys found herself smiling as she collapsed into her chair, pushing aside notebooks full of mechanical designs to give herself more room to take in the screen. She'd been waiting for this a long time.

She did wonder how Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 would manage to move on from the original. The first series had wrapped up so incredibly neatly. Every character had a happy resolution, and the nature of the series itself made it difficult to imagine how another one could hope to carry the same impact as the first.

Even so, she trusted the creators to pull it off. They wouldn't make another one unless they were confident they had another great story to tell.

Shoving a huge and comforting bite of instant noodles into her mouth, she pressed play and prepared herself for the experience.

Iteration D

The feeling of her heated electric blanket was like a ward against the discomfort of the house. She sighed contentedly as she wormed her way in, feeling her ectothermic metabolism thank her profusely for the comfortable surroundings. A claw groped its way at her bedstand until it found a remote control, and soon the TV came on to display exactly what she wanted to see.

Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 was on her screen, the music playing nostalgically from her speakers. The background was pink and Mew Mew herself was beaming at the viewer, as though welcoming them to another joyous viewing experience.

Alphys felt a warm feeling in her SOUL at the sight and sound of the show, and felt even more comfortable than before. If this had been the point her day was building up to, it was worth the time she'd spent standing in the cold waiting to see if her new cat would finally reveal itself, and just how long it had taken to explain the concept of electricity to Tem. (How had she even gotten to this grade without knowing that??)

Still though, there was some apprehension on her part. She wasn't sure how Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 could move on from the original, since the original series had neatly, even beautifully tied up all the character arcs it had established. There didn't need to be a sequel, and indeed the nature of the series would make it difficult to tell one.

She had a personal fear that this was a play to capitalize on nostalgia, and that storytelling might be thrown out the window in order to retread what the first Mew Mew Kissy Cutie had already done so well.

Well, there was only one way to find out how the sequel would play out. Snuggling herself down into her warmth-radiating blankets, she pressed play and prepared herself for the experience.

Iteration U

Everything looked so good at first.

The series started exactly as she hoped it would. Mew Mew, riding her bicycle, touring the town and waving hi to the characters she'd come to know so well in the last series. It had been so long since the first series had dropped into the Underground that Alphys felt an unexpected rush of warm feelings and nostalgia just seeing them on screen again.

Charlie Charles, the ice cream man.

Officer Naiad, the town defender and obvious waifu.

Stevely the Stev, the minor antagonist whom Mew Mew had befriended during the course of the last series through the power of friendship, which of course Stevely the Stev had scoffed at earlier on in his arc but had learned to appreciate by watching the way Mew Mew always had her friends to get her out of a jam which forced him to realize that he didn't have anything like that in his life and that it was something he desperately wanted which ultimately made for a powerful message about cynicism and how it opposes idealism as an ideology.

Just seeing the characters in passing made the old essays she'd typed up come flooding back to her. Soon her instant noodles were forgotten altogether, pushed to the side as she leaned forward and practically bathed in the new experience.

But then it all went so, so wrong.

At first she was excited to see the new conflict being introduced; it all tied into Mew Mew's mysterious backstory, one of the few pieces of story that hadn't been drawn to a close in the original series. It was a brilliant foundation for a new series!

When the flashbacks began she watched holding her breath. The excitement in her was so palpable it stirred her magic, causing weak bullet patterns shaped like anime girls and title cards to drift around her. She didn't even care. She had to see where this was going.

But...

But then the hospital scene happened.

As it turned out, Mew Mew's backstory was a dark one. She hadn't gotten her powers from being gifted by a magical fairy, nor was she an alien as was Alphys' personal theory.

The show took a dark nosedive. The reveal was that Mew Mew was the victim of secret experimentation.

Alphys felt uncomfortable as the flashbacks showed a dark hospital, Mew Mew with her eyes closed and her limbs tied down to a table as doctors injected mysterious substances into her. There was no humor here; it was played as deadly serious. When the scene changed to Mew Mew, eyes wide open as she thrashed against her bonds, screaming for her family and begging to be let out, it was treated as the tragic past that it was. And it played every excruciating moment with sincerity and realism.

Every drop of sweat on Mew Mew's forehead was perfectly animated, maybe even better animated than the original. It was as though you could watch the girl melt before your very eyes.

The mysterious backstory was revealed. The darkness many had speculated existed in the world of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie was revealed all at once, and the writers, animators, and voice actors held nothing back. It was probably the most well-done scene in Mew Mew history.

Alphys wasn't holding her breath anymore. She was hyperventilating. She'd scooted her chair back as far as possible from the monitor without even realizing it, and felt her scales coated in sweat.

She wasn't in Mew Mew's world anymore. She was in Alphys' world, Alphys' memories. Memories of screaming and thrashing and crying in the corner until her eyes wouldn't make tears, as the screams just kept coming.

"Sn... ow... y..."

"Welcome to my special hell..."

"Come join the fun."

She wasn't sure what was happening on the screen anymore when she finally shut it off.

Just like she wasn't sure what time it was when she finally powered through her panic attack.

Iteration D

Everything looked so cheap at first.

The series started exactly as she feared it would. Mew Mew was riding her bicycle, happy music playing as she waved hello to all the friends she'd made in the past series. All the characters were there.

Stevely the Stev, reformed bully.

Officer Naiad, the town defender and obvious waifu bait from the creators.

Charlie Charles, the ice cream man whose relationship with Mew Mew had gotten a rocky start at the beginning of the last series after she used her mind control powers to regularly steal from his stand, creating an adversarial relationship which juxtaposed Mew Mew's seeming innocence with the consequences of her actions in the real world and finally culminating in an exploration of forgiveness as she came forward and apologized to the man and wound up striking a deep and affecting friendship with him.

She was reminded of all the essays she'd written and posted online about the characters. Cynically, she rather felt that was the purpose. So far it was a literal trip down memory lane, playing on the nostalgia of both Mew Mew and the audience. She watched, content with it, but also felt a bit of disappointment. There was nothing here to captivate her as the original once had.

But then the hospital scene came around, and it all got so good from there.

The series had chosen not just to retread the past series; no, far from it! It wasn't long at all before the series set its sights on one of the major unresolved mysteries of its predecessor, which was the origin of Mew Mew's powers. But they weren't derived from aliens, nor from a gift from magic fairies which had been Alphys' personal theory; instead, the new series had chosen to dive bravely into darker waters.

Mew Mew was the victim of scientific experimentation, and the flashback scenes which revealed this were executed flawlessly. They were real tear jerkers, and held nothing back when it came to depicting Mew Mew strapped down and injected with chemicals, and the pain in Mew Mew's desperate cries for help were perfectly depicted by her voice actress.

Alphys found herself sitting up in bed, holding her breath as the series unfolded. She wasn't in Mew Mew's world anymore. At least not as she knew it.

This was better than Mew Mew's world.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed up binge watching the entire series from beginning to end, nor was she sure what time it was when she finally cried watching the end credits roll and slumped backwards into a deep sleep.

Iteration U

A day later and Alphys wasn't upset anymore.

She was pissed.

"It's trash," she said out loud, storming back and forth. Her voice was raised a few notches from usual, and she was gesturing with a force that was usually unlike her. But some things mattered, damn it.

"It's absolute trash," she repeated, "Because it takes the expectations we had for the first and it flushes them down the toilet! That's where this whole series belongs. Down the toilet!"

At this point Mettaton finally looked up from his fashion magazine, which as usual he was combing extensively for misspellings of his name.

"Wait a moment—just wait a moment, darling," the ghost in the machine said, garbling in his electronic tone. "These toilets—humans flush their trash down them?"

"Huh?" Alphys paused, temporarily taken aback. "W-Well... I guess they might? I read something about trash in the oceans, and their toilets flush things into the ocean, so... s-so I guess they must..."

"Fascinating," Metaton replied, excitedly writing something down in a notebook. "That's just the touch my hotel needs to be a success. The plumbers will be thrilled."

"My point is," Alphys said, voice loud and clear once again. "Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 is neither kissy nor cutie. It's trash. It tried to make a dark and gritty series out of a series that was never supposed to be either. It was a cute, escapist work of fiction and they ruined it."

"Mm hmm," Mettaon grated, flipping pages in the magazine once more. "I'm listening."

"I just can't believe they'd betray their viewers like that," Alphys said again, still seething. "There's... there's a promise between creator and consumer. And they broke it. I'm sure they thought they were being very deep and meaningful by putting all this horrible gruesomeness into a show about friendship and magic, but all they did was break that promise."

In one claw she held the new box with the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 CD inside of it. She held it above her head as though it were a venomous reptile, before dramatically throwing it into the garbage.

"This is where I make my stand," she said firmly. "Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 is everything that Mew Mew Kissy Cutie wasn't, and I'll stick to that opinion. There is no world in which I'd put my seal of approval on that filth. This is the hill I've chosen to die on!"

"Darling... it's a cartoon," Mettaton said lazily. "Now, since you obviously won't be spending any more time on that series, let me ask—have you finally gotten around to perfecting that new body yet?"

Alphys' fury died off at once, replaced with embarrasment and red cheeks. "O-Oh. Uh..."

Now that the robot was actually looking in her direction she found it difficult to make eye contact. Or, rather, eye contact with the colored squares that were his approximation of a face.

"I-I've been working on it," she stammered, staring down at her feet. "It's—it's a-almost done, I promise."

"Darling," Mettaton said, with a hint of judgement coming through the electronic sound bites. "You've been telling me that since before you started rambling about the first of your... mewling kissing cartoons."

"I mean it this time," she mumbled, feeling exhausted again. Her eyes glanced up at the clock, and an idea struck her.

"Oh my God," she said suddenly. "It's almost 10! Are you ready for that next show?"

The robot suddenly gasped, or rather let out a stream of garbled techno sounds which were basically the same thing. "And here I thought the time was dragging on! It was flying me by this whole time! Hold that thought, Alphys darling. I must prepare myself!"

His built-in rockets kicked in, and without another word for her Mettoton was out of the lab and soaring through the Hotlands.

Iteration D

A day later and Alphys wasn't surprised anymore.

She was in love.

"It's a masterpiece," she said excitedly, her usual timid nature dropped altogether as she rambled about the show. "Just an absolute masterpiece. While the original had its moments, it was shallow compared to the immersive experience that is the sequel. We see real pain on the screen this time, with real consequences for the dark events in the past. It delved into difficult topics I never expected Mew Mew Kissy Cutie to breach, and I applaud them for it!"

She beamed at the classroom, the shadows under her eyes, unkempt coat, and slightly manic expression all the proof they needed to realize she'd stayed up all night, woken up late, and guzzled four pots of coffee in an attempt to prepare herself for teaching.

A bit of awkwardness settled through her, as she felt their judging stares pierce through her.

"...u-uh," she stammered, smiling nervously with a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. "A-And... and that's relevant because... b-because... anime can change over time, just like the states of matter?"

A husky, obnoxious tone interrupted from the back of the classroom.

"That was even more useless than regular school," Susie complained. "I'm out. Later, shitheels."

And she was gone, and Alphys couldn't issue a detention without calling attention down on her, er, slightly unprofessional behavior. She smiled weakly at the class.

"S-So, um... chemistry, anyone?"

Iteration U

Alphys slumped down into her chair, claws over her face as she calmed herself down. She'd nearly forgotten why she'd stopped inviting Mettaton over to chat. He brought the same judgement and guilt as anyone did. She'd have to keep her venting sessions strictly online from now on.

When her claws moved away from her eyes, she could make out the corner of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 sticking out of the trashcan. She averted her gaze, the bitter pit in her stomach stirring again.

"It's a cartoon," Mettaton had said.

She picked up the box for the old Mew Mew, hugging it close to her chest.

"I know..." she whispered, only to herself. "But... it was my cartoon."