Sunset kept Missy clutched tight against her chest as she rushed through the tunnel, keeping a silent prayer in her heart that the little girl would be alright.

Missy's breathing was short and fast, giving Sunset even more reason to worry as she rushed down the tunnel.

It was an apt name. As she proceeded further, she was struck by wave after wave of oppressive heat. Still, she pressed forward, even when the blues gave way to a red glow.

She only hesitated for a moment when she exited the tunnel, stumbling when she found herself on another bridge. The tunnels opened up into a massive, hollow cavern like the inside of a volcano. She couldn't see the roof, and all that laid beneath her was a lake of slowly churning lava. In the distance, she could see a monumental machine built straight into the stone wall, dipping into the lava and chugging like the heartbeat of a sleeping titan.

When the shock had worn off, she steeled her resolve and pressed onward into the heat. She crossed the bridge over the lava, trying not to look down at the potential fiery death below. She didn't spare the time to feel relieved once she was back on solid ground. She had a mission.

Finally, she found herself standing outside a building that she could only assume was the one the armored monster had been talking about. It was a huge white building with multiple hoses and pipes poking out of the sides and roof that lead away and out of sight. The word "LAB" was printed in red lettering above a pair of sliding doors, and there was only a number pad in lieu of a doorknob.

Sunset glanced down at the child cradled in her arms, gasping as she noticed a disturbing new development: Missy was breaking up. Fine lines were beginning to emerge in her flesh, dividing her entire form into tiny triangular pieces that flexed in and out, parting slightly in time with her breathing. Sunset knew that sign, she'd seen it before: Missy's body was about to disintegrate, just like any monster being destroyed in a duel.

Sunset urgently rapped her knuckles against the metal doors hard enough to leave her hands stinging.

"HELLO? I- WE NEED HELP!" she shouted. "Please! There's a kid out here, and she's hurt! Is anybody there?"

To Sunset's relief, the doors slid open in a gust of chilled air, revealing a creature standing just behind them. She almost looked like some kind of yellow dinosaur, with thick scales, a triangular-shaped head that flared out into evenly spaced points near the back, and a short, stocky build that only came up to just past Sunset's waist. She was dressed in a white lab coat and wore a pair of thick glasses. Behind those glasses, Sunset could see eyes wide with fear, and she seemed to be trembling as anxiously wrung her hands in front of her.

Sunset dropped to one knee, placing herself at eye level with the monster and carefully cradling Missy in the space between them. The stranger glanced back and forth between Sunset and Missy, her eyes still wide. Finally, she swallowed and settled to focusing on Missy, gently lifting her enough to get a look at the wound on her back.

"Th-that's not good..." she stuttered in a nasally voice. "C-come inside, I'll try to get her stabilized."

With that, she turned around and rushed back into the building. Sunset followed her, trying to keep up with the lizard's anxious shuffle.

The inside of the lab seemed less like an area for experimentation and more like someone's home, with numerous dirty teacups scattered and stacked on open surfaces that weren't already covered in thick stacks of paper. There were multiple billboards scattered around the space, some covered in formulas and technical diagrams, others in sketches of different characters and amateur anime drawings. Beside a well-worn desk with a computer terminal was a refrigerator and, oddly enough, a massive bag of dog food. Two escalators softly hummed, one leading upstairs and the other back down to their level. The most notable item in the room, however, was a huge monitor mounted on the wall, with a complex-looking array of buttons and switches underneath it. Currently, the scene playing out on the screen was a view of the ongoing battle back in Waterfall, all from the perspective of a hidden camera.

Penn was gritting his teeth and gripping at one arm. It was bleeding from a gash where the child had managed to land a blow. He was on the defensive, but his resolve looked strong. The other human still had the same stony expression they'd had when Sunset had first seen them and they were without so much as a scratch.

Sunset felt a touch of fear as she realized just what she had tried to do earlier. She'd turned the lightsaber on a kid, absolutely with killing intent. She was an almost-fully-grown adult, and that child couldn't be more than ten years old!

On the other hand, however, if Penn was right... then that child had single-handedly wiped out the entirety of the population in the three different areas they'd traveled through.

Her host ran up to her desk, pushing aside the contents and letting them scatter across the tile floor. "H-here! L-lay her down here!" the lizard ordered before rushing away. She tapped a spot on the wall, prompting a panel to spring open and reveal several technical-looking instruments.

Sunset did as she was told, gingerly placing Missy down on the wooden surface stomach-down so her wound was exposed to the air.

The doctor rushed back, how holding a wide tablet-like device. "P-please step back..."

Sunset nodded and took a step away from the desk. The doctor set herself to work, passing the device over and along Missy's body. After a few seconds her brow furrowed, and she tapped at the screen and repeated the motion.

"W-well, this device-" she gestured to the tablet in her hand, "lets me view a monster's soul and what condition it's in, along with the flow of magic in their body! But according to this..." she glanced back at the screen, slowly lifting it up and away from Missy's body and turning it towards Sunset's. "Her magic doesn't just stop at her own body! There's a secondary flow that goes out and into you... then from your soul BACK to her!" She adjusted her glasses before giving Sunset a wide-eyed stare. "I've never seen anything like it! Who- who ARE you?"

"My name is Sunset Shimmer, and this is Missy." Sunset glanced anxiously back at Missy's frail form. "So... what does this mean? Can you help her?"

"The first thing we need to do is get the wound bandaged and properly treated so she stops bleeding magic power, then we can look into the other types of damage..." She shook her head. "I-I don't think we can use our usual method of trying to block up the damaged magic pathways, there's too much risk of cutting off a necessary connection to you. We'll have to settle for traditional bandages." She jumped slightly as a nearby door dinged, revealing itself to be an elevator. The door slid open, clearing the way for what looked like a large, multicolored box with arms balanced carefully on a single wheel. "M-Mettaton! Can you go fetch us some bandages?"

"OF COURSE I CAN, ALPHYS, DARLING!" The robot gestured wildly with its arms before somehow bending over in a showy bow. "I'LL BE BACK BEFORE YOU CAN SAY 'IT'S SHOWTIME!'" With a chorus of heavy thuds, it began to forcefully roll itself up the escalator.

Sunset nodded, trying not to think about the fact that this monster had a machine that could see souls, nor question why she appeared to have a robotic gender-swapped Rarity.

"O-Once her wound is clean and b-bound, we can move her to my hyperthaumic chamber, that should stop her condition from growing any worse..."

Sunset nodded, feeling a sigh of relief slip out. "I can't thank you enough for your help, Doctor..."

"A-Alphys! My name is Doctor Alphys!" she stammered, holding out a trembling clawed hand. "S-sorry, I should have introduced myself!"

Sunset gave the offered hand a gentle shake, noticing the way the doctor flinched when they touched. Before she could offer any kind of reassurance, the moment was interrupted by more heavy crashing as Mettaton came rolling back down the escalator.

"HERE YOU ARE, ONE SET OF CLEAN BANDAGES, DISINFECTANT, AND GAUZE!" he declared, handing the objects in question to Alphys.

"Thank you..." she muttered, turning back to her patient. "Now, we need to take off her-" Alphys's eyes widened as she fingered at the blue hoodie Missy was wrapped in. Sunset was sure it had some kind of significance, but Alphys had shaken off the shock before she could ask. "Can you two help me get this hoodie off? Her other clothes are made of the same kind of magic as her body, but we need to clean her wound before we can apply the bandages..."

Sunset nodded, watching as Mettaton's large hands eased Missy into a sitting position and kept her supported while she and Alphys set to work removing the extra article of clothing.

Sunset felt her own emotions conflicting as she carefully eased what was left of Missy's wings through the holes torn in the hoodie's back. Part of her wanted to explode with unbridled fury, but another part of her was forcing tears up into her eyes, forcing her to weep at the sight of Missy's injury.

She considered leaving. Missy was in safe hands, now, and Penn was fighting that kid. Even in the brief moments she'd spent trying to get revenge, Sunset could tell that there was something wrong with that child. There was something dark about them, a hatred to their actions that sloughed off of them in waves. Combined with their ability to dodge everything Sunset could throw at them, even in her berserk state, she felt genuine fear that this child could pose a genuine threat to Penn's life.

Alphys took a small bottle, squeezing a large dollop of green cream onto her palm and spreading it over the surface of her hands. She leaned in close to Missy's ear. "Missy? Can you hear me? I'm going to try to clean your wound. This might sting a little..."

Missy was completely unresponsive, and after a few seconds of waiting for a response, Alphys nodded and began applying the cream to the wound. It seemed to serve two functions, cleaning away the half-dried blood on her back and filling in the crevice that had been carved into her flesh. Soon, with the carefully practiced ministrations, the wound was no longer visible, covered by a layer of the softly glowing medication.

"Th-this should help kick-start the healing process, this cream's infused with healing magic... Can you apply the bandages, Sunset?"

Sunset nodded and reached for the gauze. As she was occupied with setting layers of protection over the wound, Alphys turned to the disembodied wing. Once again, she scanned with the tablet-like device, her brow furrowing before she moved to pick it up. She carefully fingered at the feathers, holding it up inches from her face.

"N-normally, when a body part is severed from a monster, the magic that makes up their body immediately disincorporates... The fact that this wing is still in one piece-" she caught herself. "W-well, I d-don't want to make any promises, but..."

"Do you think we could re-attach it?" In spite of the disclaimer, Sunset felt her hopes beginning to rise. Alphys held her hands up defensively in response, as if she were trying to physically push away the suggestion.

"W-we could try, but I'm not qualified for that kind of procedure! I'm not a doctor! I- I mean I'm not THAT kind of doctor! I-it's not as simple as just slathering it with healing magic!"

"THAT WOULD REQUIRE INCREDIBLE PRECISION!" Mettaton added. "REAL-TIME SURGERY AS IT HEALS! THOROUGH ANATOMICAL EDUCATION! IMAGINE IF THE WRONG TENDONS OR LIGAMENTS WERE RECONNECTED TO ONE ANOTHER!"

Sunset's hopes began to sink again, looking longingly at the disembodied limb. She wanted to make an argument that they had to at least TRY, but... Mettaton was right. If it healed wrong, it could be much worse for Missy than just leaving it as it was. She shook her head and forced herself to continue wrapping the bandages around Missy's chest.

That was when she felt a set of sharp claws pushing off of her back, sending a jolt through her and causing her to yelp and drop the bandage roll. With a soft clatter of metal on wood, she watched Isis's repair drone land on the table, taking in its new surroundings with curiosity.

"It's okay! She's with us..." She reached over, picking it up around its barrel and holding it at eye level. "Isis? Any luck getting a signal through that barrier? We could REALLY use some advice right now..."

The drone tilted its head in confusion, twisting awkwardly to stare at Mettaton. Sunset sighed.

"Don't worry. Without a connection back to the main AI, she's just a harmless repair drone. She's on autopilot. She'll either just watch us or find something broken to fix." She set it back on the table and finished wrapping the last of Missy's bandages.

"Fascinating..." Alphys whispered, instantly entranced. After a few seconds of silence, their attention was drawn back by the sound of Mettaton pretending to clear his throat.

"R-RIGHT! We'll need to take her downstairs... Would you like to carry her, Sunset?"

"Listen, my other friend... he's still fighting that kid. If Missy is going to be safe here, I should probably get back there to help him."

"What? N-no!" Alphys declared, more than a slight edge of panic in her voice. "D-don't you understand? You two are connected! If you leave, we can't be sure that she'll be able to hold herself together, no matter what we do! You HAVE to stay here!"

Emotion celebrated its victory as logic was stamped out. She HAD to stay close to Missy until she was better, there was no choice about it. She nodded and carefully looped her arms around Missy's frail form, trying not to cringe when the drone dug in its claws and climbed back onto her shoulder as well.

"WELL, I'M AFRAID WE WON'T ALL FIT. I'LL WAIT UP HERE AND COME DOWN ON A SECOND TRIP."

Sunset tried to ignore the growing dread in her chest as the door of the elevator shut, beginning their descent. She was glad that she had a good reason to stay by Missy's side, but...

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"So... settle a bet, would you?" Penn asked, breathing heavily as he caught another one of the human's attacks by the wrist. They used his grip for leverage, pulling themselves up and placing a kick right on his chin. He was fairly certain he heard one of his teeth crack as his jaw was slammed shut, and the whole world spun for several seconds.

"The button" was a boxing term he'd learned back during a brief fixation on the life of Muhammad Ali. It was the spot on the head where a direct blow would cause the brain to collide with the skull due to the sudden motion. Usually, it was enough to floor an opponent with an instant knockout, but the kid couldn't get enough force behind them for that. It was still enough to completely disorient him, though. Unfortunately, that momentary daze was enough to force him to let go and stumble back several steps. The child seemed completely unfazed, easing back into a striking position. Through the haze, Penn forced his hands up into a guarded position. It was a bluff, given that he could hardly see straight, but it seemed to be enough to make the child reconsider their follow-up attack.

"So..." Penn shook his head, trying to clear away the haze of pain and dizziness. "Are you Frisk, Chara controlling Frisk, or some third party affecting them both? If it's the second one, I win twenty bucks from a friend of mine."

"Wow, they must have hit you in the head harder than it looked like they did!" Undyne heckled.

"Who's the one who can suplex boulders for fun and almost got killed in one hit, again?" he fired back. He didn't take his eyes off of the kid, but Undyne's indignant gasp was enough to put a smile on his face.

Penn smiled and spread his arms wide, backing away from the fight. It was only when he realized that the sound of clanking armor was headed towards HIM that he took his eyes off of the child for the first time. He didn't even have time to process the threat as Undyne plowed past him on the most direct route to Frisk, clipping his shoulder hard enough to spin him a full 360 degrees and leave him in a heap on the ground.

"Ugh... you fitsh..." he muttered, making the decision that he was going to go ahead and take his break right there.

The Multiverse in a Nutshell

by Pennington Inkwell

There's Fighting Somewhere Else