Sunset tried her best to hold on as the three of them made their way through Hotland, gripping Papyrus especially tight as they made their way across the bridge. They'd been traveling together in silence for a few minutes, Papyrus jogging as quickly as he could without throwing her off as Mettaton rolled along beside them. The quiet didn't help her think of anything other than the constant list of worst-case scenarios running through her mind. She was feeling a strange kind of paradox: her mind and heart were full of worry, but she couldn't bring her exhausted body to muster up any kind of appropriate response. She could only ride quietly on Papyrus's shoulders, reveling in the dissonance between her mind's panic and her body's calm. Finally, Papyrus broke the silence with a clearing of his throat.

"So, Sunset Shimmer, do you enjoy spaghetti? I was thinking that, once all of this chaos has calmed down, we could all enjoy a meal together at Undyne's place!"

Sunset blinked, caught off-guard by the sudden question. "Uh... sure, I like spaghetti..." she muttered. The strange inquiry had managed to snap her back into the present for the moment.

"EXCELLENT! In that case, once we've rescued our friends, I'll prepare a world-class pot of spaghetti! Undyne has been giving me cooking lessons, after all!" Papyrus declared, clearly not even winded as they reached the border of Hotland and Waterfall. "It will be a fine send-off before we leave the underground for good!"

"YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A FABULOUS IDEA! I'M CERTAIN THAT DOCTOR ALPHYS WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO JOIN, AS WELL!" Mettaton added.

A shudder ran through Sunset's body as Papyrus came to a sudden stop. She scrambled slightly to keep her grip, but managed to barely stay on top of his shoulders. Once she had regained her grip, she got a better look at where they had stopped.

It wasn't where she had left Penn and Undyne, they'd stopped too soon. They were in the long hallway between the two different areas, lit by the passing red letters of the glowing sign declaring their upcoming destination. She was about to ask why they had stopped, but as the red lights moved down the tunnel, the reason became clear:

The child. The child was here, standing at the end of the hallway. The only signs of their previous battle was a few scratches and small tears in their sweater. Other than that, they looked just as nonplussed as they had the last time Sunset had seen them.

Penn had been determined not to let the kid past him. Undyne equally, if not more so. There was no way that they would have let this happen, unless... Sunset shook her head, forcing the thought from her mind. Just because the kid made it past them doesn't mean the worst has happened. I've gotta trust Penn. He outsmarted SALEM, right? He's handled worse than this...

Sunset felt Papyrus's hands grip around her waist, lifting her up and over his head before setting her gently on her feet. She felt her knees wobble for a second, and Papyrus's hand caught her by the arm, slowly lowering her to the ground. For just a second, she noticed a change in the skeleton's face, a change in the shape of his eye sockets and a fade of his ear-to-ear grin that seemed to communicate a different, more pained emotion.

"Stay here..." he whispered. In that instant, Sunset felt that she was seeing past a facade, that some portion of hidden feelings had slipped through.

With that message communicated, his cheerful visage returned and he placed his hands confidently on his hips. He turned to look back down the tunnel, addressing Frisk directly.

"HUMAN! I'm afraid that we cannot allow you to proceed any further!" He held out one hand, seemingly trying to point at the human without taking off his mitten. "Either turn back, or renounce your wicked and murderous ways and throw down your weapon here and now! This is the final chance that I, The GREAT Papyrus, can offer you!"

"OTHERWISE, WE'LL BE FORCED TO PUT AN END TO YOUR MISERABLE EXISTENCE ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Mettaton added, folding his arms in a way meant to show stubbornness. "PERSONALLY? I WOULD ENJOY DOING SO..."

"Please... I know you can be better. You can do it if you just try!" Papyrus urged. Sunset felt a fleeting moment of hope. It was true that this kid had done some terrible things, and they NEEDED to pay for it, but... if there was a way to end this without more violence, she wanted to take it.

But she doubted it would happen, and honestly? She would be just fine with that.

After another few moments of silence, Frisk tightened their grip on their knife, making it clear that they were declining Papyrus's offer of mercy. Their eyes seemed to catch the red light of the "Welcome to Hotland" sign, gleaming with murderous intent. Sunset watched Papyrus sigh in resignation before gritting his teeth more tightly. Beside her, Mettaton began stretching his arms, finishing the action by mimicking cracking his knuckles.

"Very well! Then let the battle commence!" he declared. His hand twisted, turning to face its palm upwards before he swung it up towards the ceiling. Sunset's eyes widened as more glowing bones forced their way up and out of the ground, their pale white color tinged only by the red light of the sign. In the pit of their chest, Sunset watched their soul appear, flickering from red to blue. As it changed, an extra weight seemed to come over the human, dragging them down. With another wave of his hand, the field of bones began to move forward, advancing quickly on their target. With Papyrus's blue magic weighing them down, Sunset could tell that there was no way the human could dodge the attack.

Everything seemed to stop with the flash of red light. The magical bones were split across the center, only to dissolve to dust a few seconds later. Sunset's eyes widened as she recognized the weapon the human was now holding, glowing a fiery red in the dim light. For a second, Sunset's eyes met Frisk's.

They knew the question she was asking, even if it had gone unspoken... and they answered her with a smile.

Finally, her emotions seemed to overwhelm her physical limits, finally eliciting a response. Sunset felt the bottom drop out of her stomach as her fears were all but confirmed. It felt like she was falling, awash and drowning in a sea of fear and grief as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her completely.

Somewhere in her reeling mind, Doctor Alphys's words from the lab came back to her: "Every soul has an array of traits, but one attribute that dominates all others, resonating with a particular frequency of magic! W-what concept fuels them most strongly determines their magical abilities!"

Sunset felt the rest of her mind begin to shut down, and she gripped that memory with all of her mental fortitude: the blazing red flames of her soul. As she did, Sunset felt one emotion rising up out of the storm to drown out all of the rest, and it rose and bubbled and boiled until it had filled her completely. She pushed herself up and onto her feet, the weakness in her legs now washed away. She could see a red glow overtaking their half of the tunnel, drowning out the light of the sign and even the saber. She narrowed her eyes as she felt power coursing through her body, telling her what to do when she had never done it before. Across the tunnel, Sunset felt a pulse of emotion responding in kind, familiar to her.

She reached out her hand, feeling for her weapon. It wasn't happy, in fact it was just as hurt and as furious as she was. She called for it, called it home to its proper place.

The saber leapt from the child's hand, yanking them forwards until their grip failed. The sword hissed as it flew through the air before landing in her open palm. Sunset was determined to make certain that this was only the first of the things she would take from this child to satisfy her. She stepped forward, walking in front of Papyrus and Mettaton while never breaking eye contact with the now-shocked child. When she spoke, it was calmly. This wasn't like last time she had been angry, where her emotions were some screaming raging monster needing to escape. This time, she had complete control of herself.

"Where did you get this?" she muttered, examining the hilt for any signs of damage. When she turned to look back down the hall, she had to pick out Frisk's form from where they were standing: in the deepest part of her shadow. The new red light was coming from behind her, casting the shape of her down on top of Frisk until it enveloped them completely.

The child's face hand changed. For the first time, Sunset could see fear in their eyes. They had lost control of the situation.

She felt no urgency when Frisk turned and ran. They were just as trapped down here as everyone else.

She turned back to Papyrus and Mettaton, taking a moment to switch off the blade. Her eyes widened as she found herself face-to-face with the source of the new red light: it was her soul. It had appeared just behind her, blazing red and wreathed in crackling flames, just as it had been in Alphys's machine. She didn't know what it meant, and she didn't care right now. The fact that it had scared away the child meant that they were free to return to their mission.

Papyrus and Mettaton were both staring at her in awe, but Sunset dismissed it. They had more important things to do.

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Missy was used to being the odd one out, that came with the territory of being the one in charge of an archetype, but she had never felt quite so out of place as she did right now.

She was used to looks that told her she was weird, or inscrutable, but not the kind of admiration that she had been receiving. The monsters here were all looking at her like she was some kind of celebrity, like she was their only hope in the whole world.

Which, upon consideration, she realized she very well might be. That thought was enough to add a ten-ton weight to her soul as the pressure mounted.

She tried to take her mind off of her growing feelings of inadequacy by taking another card out of her hat. It was Ghostrick Break. She took a moment to admire the art, showing Stein, Yuki-Onna, and Yeti all resting in the hidden room of their haunted house. She sighed before tapping the surface, transforming it into a glowing orb of light. She closed her eyes as she tried to push herself through the feeling of attaching another Xyz material. It was true that they made her more powerful, but each one was like swallowing a jawbreaker whole: tasty, but nauseatingly heavy once it reached her stomach.

That makes four... she thought to herself. She always wanted to throw up by the time she reached ten, getting to use her ability was a relief in comparison.

Missy nodded. "Well, where I come from, most monsters are divided up into groups that all support each other well, called 'archetypes.' Every archetype has an ace, which is their leader. That's usually the most powerful one." She floated lower until she was at eye level with Alphys, the tips of her shoes nearly brushing against the ground. "I'm the ace of the 'Ghostrick' archetype. When I do this..." she pointed to the floating orbs of light, "I'm borrowing power from other Ghostrick spirits. We're stronger together, so each one gives me more power than the last, but I can't use much of it at a time..." She sighed, noticing the dozens of pairs of eyes watching them from behind and eagerly listening. "Once I have ten of these, I can unleash it all at once. It's... pretty intense."

"Well, I mean, it's not like it's easy to measure." Missy chuckled. "But last time I did this, I did vaporize a dragon about half the size of a skyscraper..." She paused, rubbing awkwardly at her neck. "...along with the rooftops of about half of the campus it was attacking..."

That was enough to cause Alphys to stop in her tracks, staring at her with wide eyes.

"W-well, it's not easy... It usually knocks me out." Missy felt herself flushing at the praise.

"Still, that's beyond any magic monsters here have EVER been able to harness!" Alphys continued. "Not without using human souls to empower ourselves!" She tapped her chin in thought as she began walking again, taking them further down the path. "I wonder if the process of your 'Xyz materials' is a temporary form of monsters' ability to absorb and merge with human souls... If so, we could learn so much from studying your abilities!"

Missy sighed with relief as Alphys's attention was diverted away by her own ramblings.

They had been walking for some time now, even taking an elevator up from the secret lab and into what looked like some kind of underground city. It looked almost identical to the ruins she'd traveled through when she and Lantern were searching for help, except well-maintained and crafted from gray stone instead of purple bricks. She could only imagine what it was like on an average day, full of monsters going about their daily lives.

Instead, the citizens were all wandering out of their hiding places and joining their caravan of refugees.

The caravan all looking at me to save them... She shivered uncomfortably, her wings trembling.

Her wings. Plural. She still wasn't sure what had happened between Sunset finding her and waking up in that glass coffin, but... she was better. She was healed completely.

Where she had gone in that time... she wasn't entirely certain. Part of her wanted to believe that she had been hovering on the border of this world and her own, but... another part of her wondered if she had been partway to the stars before they'd managed to tether her back to this world. It wasn't something that she particularly wanted an answer to, but...

She shook her head, taking another card from her hat to distract herself from such grim thoughts. This one was harder to swallow than the last, but it helped get her mind off of her potential brush with death. Now she was halfway there.

She was so focused on her next material, she nearly bumped straight into Alphys, who had come to a stop, as had the rest of the monsters. What had given them pause, however, became immediately clear.

A door. A huge, dark doorway. She swallowed nervously to herself before looking down at Alphys. The lizard-like monster looked up at her, motioning for her to go ahead.

Missy took a deep breath before nodding and forcing herself to fly forward and into the dark.

When her vision returned, Missy was floating through a long hallway of pillars and stained glass windows. The entire space was cast in oranges and yellows. She took a moment to look more closely at the symbol depicted in the windows. It was a circle flanked by a pair of wings, hovering above a trio of triangles, two pointing up and one pointing down.

He was a large, goat-like creature, with shaggy blonde hair and a beard to match. He was dressed in heavy-looking armor, but it was mostly covered by a large purple cloak. For a moment, her eye was drawn to the golden crown resting on top of his head. In one hand, he held a wicked-looking red trident, but he was using it in a way akin to a walking stick. There was a weight to him, as though the same weight she felt on her shoulders were on his, but a hundredfold. She watched as he stepped up beside her.

"The original meaning was lost to time, but the most common interpretation is that it depicts our oldest prophecy." He used the trident to point up at the winged circle. "The Angel... The One Who Has Seen The Surface... They will return." He moved the trident down, circling the triangles before gesturing upwards. "And the underground will go empty."

"I guess that's why everyone keeps looking at me like I'm some kind of miracle..." she muttered.

"Well, I suppose one could say that you are." The king chuckled lightly to himself. "I wish that I could invite you in for a cup of tea, but..."

"But we're running out of cards to play." Missy shook her head as she finished the sentence. "Everyone keeps telling me I can do this, but..." She glanced up at her recently-restored wing. "I had a bit of a blow to my confidence, lately... I'm not as strong or as invincible as I thought I was." She sighed, feeling the fear welling up and out of control. She bit at her finger, trying to hold back the sob. "I joke around to look good for my friends, but I'm just a duel spirit, not some holy messenger! What if I-" she blinked as the root of her fears made itself evident. "I couldn't even beat some other kid! What if I can't do this, either?"

That actually seemed to spur a chuckle out of the goat. "While I might not understand anything about a 'duel spirit,' you can trust this old man when he tells you this: I am no stranger to feeling crushed under the expectations of others. I can tell you from experience," she felt a heavy paw grasp her shoulder, "I have found that... when you look into their eyes and see the hope that you've given them, those same expectations give you the strength to do whatever is necessary to avoid disappointing them."

She paused, the many faces of the other monsters running through her mind again. As she thought of them, the faces of the other Ghostrick monsters seemed to intermingle with the crowd, each of them smiling and showing her their love, love from the perspective of those who knew her, both at her strongest and her weakest. They'd seen the true her, and they'd judged her worthy of their faith, just as much as the monsters who hadn't.

She took a deep breath, taking a moment to stretch her wings before reaching up and straightening her hat.

"If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna be counting on that strength..." she whispered, turning back to the king with a serious look on her face. "Which way to the barrier?"

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Thanks to their run-in with Frisk, Sunset wasn't surprised when they found Penn's body. It felt like a punch to the gut to finally have undeniable proof that he was gone, but... she wasn't surprised.

Angry at Frisk, of course, for what they'd done, but there was more to it than that. She was mad at Penn for throwing himself into something so dangerous, disregarding his own life because he had once again insisted on protecting her. She was mad at Missy for even coming down here, rather than just staying at the campsite like any rational person would do when they woke up in the middle of the night.

But above all, she was angry at herself. She had broken her promise. TWO promises, actually. She hadn't come back. She'd promised that she would be back soon, and then gotten herself stuck in a secret lab.

And when Penn had been the one in danger, she'd broken her promise to rescue him.

Splitting the heroics fifty-fifty... and I drop the ball the first chance I get.

"GRRRRRRRAAAAAAH!" She roared as she turned and punched the wall. Her hand stung as the skin was scraped off of her knuckles by the wall, but she had dealt more damage than she had taken, creating a small impact crater and sending out a web of cracks. She felt the saber at her side pulse in an empathetic response, fanning the flames of her rage even higher.

The wound that had killed Penn had been scorched around the edges, squarely through his heart without spilling a drop of blood.

She'd sent a photo to Isis with her phone, receiving the confirmation she'd never needed: the killing blow had been struck using the weapon she had left for him. Yet another tally to add to the reasons she was angry with herself.

"YOU DON'T SUPPOSE THAT MEANS SHE ESCAPED, DO YOU?" Mettaton asked as he turned from side to side to inspect the overall room.

Sunset's eyes narrowed as she began walking, stepping onto the rope bridge without an ounce of hesitation. "She had best hope that she fell down this pit, because if I found out she abandoned my best friend to die..."

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The child had crossed the underground in record time, running as fast as their feet could carry them. In so many iterations of the timeline, they had fought every kind of monster imaginable, and even the "Ultimate God of Hyperdeath" once Flowey had absorbed enough souls...

...and all of that had been NOTHING like that girl. Her determination had been like staring into the sun, threatening to burn them away to ashes even at a distance.

She wasn't human. She couldn't be. But that left exactly what she was a mystery. A mystery they were in no hurry to solve.

If she hadn't stolen the save file or reset the timeline already, then that meant that she probably didn't know she could. For the moment, at least, they were still in control. Of course, the problem with that was the fact that they had saved right after killing their LAST opponents, and their reservoir of healing items was running low.

So here they were, hiding in the MTT resort and rifling through the kitchen for any kind of food. Monster food was mostly made of magic, able to be eaten quickly and healing instantly, even just a pocket full of candy would be better than nothing.

Resetting completely didn't guarantee that they'd be gone, either. In fact, with her level of determination, that girl would probably be waiting for them, memories and power completely intact.

The only way out was to kill her before she figured out what she was capable of.

Without warning, the doors to the kitchen exploded open, creating a shock wave that not only shattered all of the lights, but knocked the human flat on their back.

Even as they scrambled to get back to their feet, dread settled over the human as they recognized that voice. It was impossible for that voice to be HERE, they had watched its owner melt into a pile of slime...

And yet, there she was, silhouetted in the doorway: the captain of the Royal Guard, a glowing spear clenched in one hand and dressed in a sharper, heavier version of her previous armor with a wide shield fastened to her opposite arm. The eye formerly covered by an eyepatch began to glow with emerald power. At the same time, a chunk of her chestplate began to glow, as well. This time, however, the glow was not the green of Undyne's magic: it was a deep violet, casting light over the entire room and lighting up her fang-filled grin from below.

This wasn't Undyne the Undying. There was something different, here... her magic aura had changed on a fundamental level, and it was several times stronger than it had ever been. There was only one way that this was possible.

The Multiverse in a Nutshell

by Pennington Inkwell

Battle Against the True Heroes