//------------------------------// // A Bad Time // Story: The Multiverse in a Nutshell // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// "So... he's really in there? With you?" Sunset asked. Undyne rubbed awkwardly at the back of her head. "Trust me, it's as weird as it sounds... Only reason I didn't freak out completely was, you know..." she gestured between Frisk and Sunset, "either getting revenge for my own death or fighting for my life..." Sunset felt her face flush harder as her gaze locked onto her feet. "I'm sorry, I-" "Stop." Sunset flinched as Undyne cut her apology off. Whatever was coming, she knew she deserved it. She could scarcely believe her own memory, but she knew she had jumped the gun in a MAJOR way, and completely given herself up to her rage. It was wrong, and she'd nearly made a huge mistake by jumping to conclusions. "Look, I..." Undyne groaned, pressing her palm against her forehead. "I've got a one-track mind, okay? When I realized I somehow wasn't dead any more, I just took off to track down the hu- track down Frisk. I didn't even THINK about Penn." Sunset felt the arm wrapped around her shoulders squeeze, pulling her closer. "You're not wrong, I DID just leave his body there. If I found my bestie like that... I'd be on the warpath, too." Looking up, Sunset noticed her eyes lingering on Papyrus's back. "One warrior to another, don't worry about it." Somehow, Undyne's forgiveness felt even worse than the tongue-lashing (and possible literal lashing) she'd been expecting. "We're here..." Papyrus whispered, bringing an end to any conversation. Sunset had seen it before, but rage had dulled the pain. Now, the full force of seeing Penn's dead body slammed into her like a tidal wave. She clapped her hand over her mouth to hold back any sounds as the tears began to flow. Undyne gave her one last squeeze before stepping up to the body. "This is SO weird... This is so WEIRD... This is SO WEIRD." She muttered to herself constantly as she dropped to one knee, reaching towards Penn's body with a trembling hand. Just before her fingers were about to brush against the hole burned into his chest, she paused and turned her head, as if hearing something none of them could. "What? No way, it's not a problem for me to- I don't care what you think, it's important!" "Uhm... Undyne? Are you alright?" Papyrus asked, cautiously looking in the same direction she had turned. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if she was cringing in pain before slamming her palm against the side of her head. "Y-yeah, Penn's just being stubborn..." "WELL? FILL US IN!" Mettaton placed his hands indignantly where his hips ought to be, his arms somehow long enough to wind around Frisk while doing so unimpeded. Undyne sighed. "He's saying we should just take the important stuff off of him and get to the surface- HEY, cut that out!" In an act seemingly detached from her conscious efforts, her hands had begun rifling through his pockets. With a grunt of effort, she pulled herself away, each of her hands holding one of Penn's possessions. His car keys hung off of her right index finger, while the black satchel he kept his cards in was clutched in her left. Sunset gripped her hand tighter over her mouth, but it didn't stop everyone from hearing the yelp that had slipped out. All eyes were instantly on her, all with concerned looks, and she forced herself to pull her hand away from her mouth. "Th-those... those are his..." were the only words she could force out before she felt herself beginning to crumble and had to turn away. She rushed to the wall, trying not to let them see the tears now streaming down her face as she began to sob into her hands. She was vaguely aware of the presence of hands on her back trying to comfort her, but they did little to help. She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that, but by the time she had collected herself enough to turn back to the scene, Undyne seemed to have come to a decision. She was dragging Penn's body to the wall, where she propped him carefully against the wall and moved his hands to his lap. She still had his keys in her hand, and she had surreptitiously clipped his card satchel to the waist of her pants. She was holding his phone in her hand, looking at it as if it were completely foreign to her. "Uhhh... Is there an 'Isis' on this thing?" "Greetings, Undyne. I am the Integrated Superior Intelligence System. How may I be of assistance?" Undyne's head tilted again, and Sunset caught a pulse of purple light glowing under her shirt in the center of her chest. "I... Wait, slow down..." "Hello. My name is Isis-" "Not you." Undyne shook her head, finally opening her eyes. "Okay, I think I've got it..." She cleared her throat. "Isis, we have a 'Code Greedling' scenario. My passphrase is..." She looked uncertain for a moment, and another pulse of light seemed to reassure her. "I'm rubber, you're glue. Dex three-fifty-nine. Salem can suck it." There was a pause for several seconds as the phone screen flickered. "Passphrase confirmed. Vocal print rewritten. Host privileges have been reassigned. Welcome back, Penn." Undyne blinked before grinning and punching the air. "I've got a freakin' robot! SICK!" Sunset couldn't resist the urge to reach for her own phone. "Isis, what just happened? What did she do?" "'Code Greedling' indicates the consciousness transfer of a previously registered user. This protocol alters the registry to match said user's new vocal print and identity, as verified by a previously set user passphrase." "But... I never set a passphrase, did I?" "Your security clearance did not merit such preparations." "Gee, thanks..." Sunset grumbled before shoving her phone back into her pocket. "You are welcome." "Hey, so, uh, Isis? Penn's body is here and it's a bit of a mess..." Undyne's face scrunched up in displeasure. "It, uh, kind of smells, and there's this puddle..." "The bowels and bladder evacuated upon death as the muscles relaxed completely." Undyne and Papyrus both made disgusted-looking faces at one another before glancing nervously back at the body. "Well, we want to get him out of here, but... We're not really equipped to deal with it unless we want to get messy. Can you help us out?" "... I do not have any drones equipped for embalming or corpse removal." Silence fell again as all assembled stared at the lifeless body. Undyne sighed and stepped forward, kneeling down one more time and reaching into another one of his pockets. After a few seconds, she stood up again and tossed an item to Sunset. After a moment of scrambling, she managed to catch it, realizing that it was his wallet. "Listen.... I know you don't like it, but... Penn REALLY doesn't want this stuff just left down here." She shook her head as she carefully straightened his hat before stepping away. "We're going to come back. He doesn't want us to worry about the body when his soul is right here, but it doesn't feel right." "You know..." Papyrus spoke with an uncharacteristic quietness. "When monsters die, our bodies turn to dust. I did not know that humans' remains are so... permanent. But perhaps, with everything that's been lost as of late, permanence is what the victims deserve. They are... gone forever..." He placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder, giving it a squeeze so tight it bordered on painful. "But perhaps... their memories could live on in this not-so-living testament?" Sunset felt her soul sink lower still into despair, finally turning away and beginning to walk back down the path. "I'm sorry, but... I don't think I can handle talking about this stuff right now..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The rest of the walk to the surface felt like a blur of misery. They walked through Hotland, stopping occasionally for Undyne to grab a drink of water due to the extreme heat, passed through the core area of the underground unopposed, and finally passed through a city of gray stone without encountering another living soul. It was only when they entered what appeared to be a kind of garden full of golden flowers that Sunset finally saw another face. He was a tall goat-like monster, wrapped in a large purple cloak that hid a set of plate armor underneath. When he turned to face them, Sunset saw Undyne snap to attention, then quickly drop to one knee and bow her head. "Your highness! We've brought you the human responsible for the deaths of the monsters in the ruins, Snowdin, and Waterfall!" She gestured to Frisk. The monster, who was apparently some kind of royalty, looked at them all with eyes that betrayed a heavy burden on his shoulders. Sunset could recognize it, she'd seen that same look on Princess Celestia's face every Nightmare Night since she was a young filly: regret. "At ease, Captain..." He whispered before stepping forward. "You've all done very well. Because of you four, monsterkind has been saved from extinction." He turned and gave each of the monsters a pat on the shoulder and a smile before finally coming to Sunset. His smile was widest for her, but she could sense that simply looking at her made his regret mount. "You must be Sunset Shimmer, Angel Missy's friend. Doctor Alphys told me of the great efforts and risk you went to in order to save her life. In doing so, you saved us all." There was a long pause as he looked over the group, raising an eyebrow. "She also told me that there was one more human who had chosen to stay behind and fight alongside you, Undyne. Might I ask where he is?" "Well, you see..." Papyrus started, only to trail off, looking at Undyne for help. "HE... DIDN'T MAKE IT..." Mettaton added. Undyne stepped forward, drawing attention to herself as she tugged on the neck of her tank top until it exposed the glowing purple heart shape on her chest. "Asgore... he's here." "Oh my..." Asgore's eyes widened in surprise before turning back to Sunset. "I... I am so sorry." "You're not the only one..." Sunset muttered. "Both of us died in the battle. Our only means to continue our existence was to combine our strengths..." Undyne fell to one knee again. "I know that the duty of the guards was to collect the human souls for you, and it was never my intention to-" "Rubbish." Undyne's head snapped up, shocked at the king's dismissal of her apology. Asgore gave her a fatherly smile, which seemed to assuage her fears. "The reason for collecting the seven souls was to free and protect monsterkind. I can think of no one who would better live up to those ideals than you." He let out a long, tired-sounding sigh before shaking his head. "I suppose that we will have to begin making arrangements to mourn the victims... and the protectors. However..." he gestured to the dark doorway on the far side of the garden. "Before that, the surface is open to monsters for the first time in centuries. Would you like to see it?" "YES!" Papyrus yelled. "MOST CERTAINLY! I'VE BEEN WAITING TO MAKE MY DEBUT FOR AGES!" Mettaton added. "But what are we going to do with them?" Undyne cast a furious glance at Frisk, who was still wrapped up in Mettaton's arms. Asgore straightened, his expression hardening into one of cold fury. "For now, they will be imprisoned, to stand trial for their crimes after both our celebration of freedom and mourning of the lost. Mettaton, if you would be so kind?" "TO THE DUNGEON IT IS, THEN!" Mettaton announced before swiftly rolling away. "Excuse me, your highness..." Sunset finally spoke up. "But where's Missy?" His more unpleasant duties finished, Asgore once again returned to that forlorn smile. "Resting in the spare room. Breaking the barrier appeared to be extremely strenuous for her. She is quite safe, I assure you." "Can I see her? I need to tell her what happened." She noticed a flicker of hesitation cross his face, and Sunset briefly wondered if there was something he was hiding. "Why not let her sleep? A child should be allowed happy dreams in a time such as this..." Sunset thought about arguing for a moment, but... he was right. Missy deserved a good night's sleep after everything they'd been through. Speaking of which, she could feel her own exhaustion making it more and more difficult to stand, and it looked as if the crisis had passed, which meant she wasn't going to get another shot of adrenalin to keep her going. "You... wouldn't happen to have another bed in that spare room, would you?" Asgore chuckled, his deep voice making it sound like a roll of thunder. "You know, I believe I do... Right this way." It was a short walk to the "spare room." In fact, she couldn't help but notice that the area beyond the garden looked like an almost perfect reproduction of the house they'd passed through at the end of the ruins. She had neither the time nor the energy to think about the implications of that, however, as Asgore led her to what looked like a children's room, complete with posters, toys, and a small bed in the corner where Missy was soundly asleep. The last thing Sunset remembered before slipping into unconsciousness was leaning against the side of the bed while the rest went to move in a second one from another room. The last sound she heard was the rhythmic rise and fall of Missy's breathing, and a sense of relief that it brought to her to hear that peaceful sound. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset wasn't sure how she'd done it, but she'd managed to fall asleep sitting up. She tried to stand up, receiving several formal complaints from her body in response. Her muscles were threatening to go on strike, her head was requesting time off to practice drumming, her legs were boycotting the idea of standing, her stomach had decided to take up making balloon animals out of itself until she fed it... at least her spleen wasn't complaining, so that was something. She managed to turn her head enough to see that the bed she was leaning against was empty, and one of the blankets had been laid over her as she slept. With time and several careful stretches, she managed to quell enough of the issues to stand up and walk to the door. She had to shield her eyes from the light as she stepped out into the hallway, but she'd soon made her way to the "living room" of the recreated house. Missy was sitting on the floor, shuffling unenthusiastically through her cards. Undyne was seated in a reclining chair, eyes shut. One cracked open, glowing with a violet light as she pressed her finger to her lips. "SUNSET!" Missy, who had clearly missed the memo on being quiet, leaped up, throwing cards everywhere as she rushed across the room and flew up to wrap her arms around Sunset's neck. "I was so scared, I KNEW something was wrong, but I couldn't call you and I- I-" she stuttered, the flood of words stopping for a moment before she buried her face in Sunset's shoulder. "I WAS SO SCARED!" Undyne blinked several times before rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Uff... guess that means everybody's up, huh?" Sunset patted Missy on the back, trying to comfort the young girl. "Weren't you already awake?" Undyne yawned again, exposing her sharpened fangs. "Nope! I was out stone cold." "But.. you shushed me when I came in!" Undyne tilted her head, still looking confused. It was only now that Sunset noticed the bright red color of her eyes. "Except your eyes were purple, just like..." Both of them looked warily at the spot on her chest where Penn's soul sat. "Okay... you know what? Let's discuss THAT later..." Undyne muttered, pushing her way past Sunset and back into the hallway. "So weird, so weird, so weird..." she repeated to herself, occasionally stopping to shiver. Sunset sighed, reaching up to pry Missy off of her enough to hold her at arms' length. "Missy, I'm afraid I... have some bad news." Missy looked down, a fresh round of tears welling up. "I know... Undyne told me everything." Sunset took her own turn to initiate the hug, pulling Missy tight against her chest. "I... I don't know what we're going to do." "Well... I guess we start by going up to the surface, right?" Missy muttered. Sunset took a deep breath, adjusting her grip on Missy to seat the young duel spirit on top of her shoulders. "Right... One step at a time." This time, instead of a doorway in the basement, Sunset found herself entering a long tunnel. She couldn't help but marvel at the size as it grew wider and wider, opening up into a massive hole that had been blown out of the side of the mountain. Missy's win condition doesn't mess around... The sun was hanging low in the sky when they finally found themselves once again staring out over the forest. When they exited, they were standing on a small plateau that let them see for miles, and Sunset could already feel the fresh air and sunshine helping to push out the misery and pain she'd been steeping in under the mountain. "You know... I always knew Asgore was going to get us out of there, but I still can't believe we're finally free..." Undyne was seated on the edge of the plateau, dangling her legs out over the steep slope leading downwards. "U-Undyne! Sunset! Missy!" Sunset smiled as she heard Alphys's voice calling out. She came scurrying into sight some distance down the path below, waving for them to follow. Undyne didn't hesitate to jump down from the plateau, falling several stories to land right next to Alphys. Sunset opted for the much safer path that had been actually made by the countless feet that had hiked this path down before her, soon catching up to the pair of monsters. "Alphys, how are you?" It felt wrong to smile in the face of so much pain, but Sunset was genuinely happy to see her alive and well. "G-Great! We've set up a t-temporary camp at the base of the mountain, r-right next to what we assume was yours!" Sunset nodded. "Great... I could REALLY go for a change of clothes." "W-Well, whenever you're ready, we should p-present our findings about the timelines to King Asgore, t-then we can start working on a dimensional e-evacuation before it collapses!" Alphys wrung her hands in an attempt to release some of her tension. "I-I'm not sure how much of it he'll understand, but..." "That will not be necessary." Everyone looked to Sunset's pocket, where the muffled voice of Isis was coming from. She retrieved it, holding it up for everyone to hear more clearly. "After thorough examination, it would appear that the dimensional boundary coincided with the area encased by the barrier. Now that you have all left the mountain, you are safe from the collapse." "Wait, what? You mean it's already done? We're saved from the anomaly?" "Affirmative." "It was the kid." Everyone turned to look at Undyne, who appeared to be deep in thought. Looking closely, Sunset could see her eyes flickering between red and violet as she stared into space. "Wh-What? No, there's no way that one person could disrupt the entire space-time continuum like that!" Alphys cried. For a moment, Undyne's eyes settled on violet, looking at Sunset and raising a sarcastic eyebrow with the slightest hint of a smile. Somewhere in her gut, Sunset knew that was Penn looking at her, pushing his way past Undyne's consciousness solely to acknowledge the irony of Alphys's statement and who she was talking to. And then Undyne's eyes shifted again as she shook her head and pressed a palm to her forehead. "Look, just... you need to trust us on this, okay? There's too much information for me to sort through, it's giving me a headache. Penn's going nuts trying to tell me how it works..." "He DOES talk fast when he's trying to explain something in the heat of the moment," Missy muttered. "And he does talk a LOT when he's trying to think," Sunset added. "Fascinating..." Alphys whispered, retrieving a notepad from her pocket and beginning to scribble down notes. "So knowledge isn't shared between the bonded souls instantaneously or all at once, but they are capable of communication at the speed of thought!" Once she'd finished writing her notes, she slipped the notepad back into her pocket. "If you're right, then we should be safe as long as we don't return to the underground, which I don't think will be a problem for most monsters..." She sighed and shook her head. "I just wish you'd come a day sooner... I-Its not that I'm not glad we're free! It's just that there are a lot of monsters who would have loved to see this..." "Yeah... if only..." Sunset sighed. "There's a lot of 'if onlys' that we're going to have to come to terms with..." "If only..." Undyne repeated, once again appearing to lose herself in thought. "O-OH! That's right!" Alphys hopped in place, as if surprised by her own thought. "King Asgore wanted to see you two as soon as you woke up! This way!" She scurried back down the path, motioning for them to follow. Sunset looked up at Missy, who looked down at her at the same time. "One step at a time, right?" Missy nodded in return. Just as Sunset was taking her first step down the path to the base of the mountain, she paused, a thought coming to her. She turned back to Undyne, who still seemed to be contemplating whatever information Penn was feeding to her. "Hey, Undyne?" Hearing her name seemed to snap Undyne out of her reverie with a bit of a shock. "Huh?" "Can you tell Penn... that we miss him? A lot?" Undyne smiled and nodded. "He knows, but I'll make sure he doesn't forget it." Sunset smiled and gave her a grateful nod before heading down the path. Somehow, the aching in her heart felt much less painful now, a comfort she hadn't expected to come. "I guess... he's not REALLY gone, right? Not completely?" Missy asked. Sunset nodded. "He's still right there, just... stuck. But if anyone can figure this out, it's him." "Also, am I the only one surprised Undyne's that lanky? The armor made her look so buff!" Sunset didn't hold back a laugh as they descended, nodding her head. "Y-yeah, she's a lot skinnier than I thought she'd be! How much extra space do you think she HAS in there?" Once they'd reached the base of the mountain, Sunset found herself among what seemed like a sea of tents and improvised shelters, carefully navigated by Doctor Alphys with her following close behind. Eventually, they reached a tent that looked like any other, except slightly bigger, and Alphys motioned for her to enter. As Sunset stepped inside, she found herself once again standing in front of King Asgore. He seemed to have cast aside his plate armor and cape for a more practical-looking pair of pants and a flowery-patterned shirt. When Sunset entered, he was watering a small pot with the same golden flowers that had been growing in the throne room. She waited a few seconds to be noticed before loudly clearing her throat. She still wasn't certain if she should bow or curtsey or something, so she simply stood straight and have her head a respectful bow. "You wanted to see us, your majesty?" "Ah, Sunset Shimmer and Missy the Angel!" He smiled warmly. "I'm sorry, I just get so caught up in caring for my plants at times, these flowers have a... special meaning to me. Please, come right this way!" He motioned for them to follow as he slipped out a second entrance in the back of the tent. As they followed, Sunset found a simple folding table and chairs waiting for them in a small private area that seemed to have been set aside for the king. She was admittedly surprised when the folding chair held the weight of the imposing monster, but gladly took her own seat when he motioned for her to do so. "Would you like some tea? I may have taken a box or two of my favorite blend with me once I was certain the evacuation was proceeding smoothly." "Sure!" Missy chirped, floating off of Sunset's shoulders and taking a perch in the air beside the table. Clearly, the lack of a third chair was no obstacle to her. "I would be delighted, sir." Sunset found herself slipping easily into the mannerisms she'd been taught when living in the castle among Equestrian royalty. "Oh, there's no need to be so formal, Sunset. You may call me Asgore. I'm the king of monsters, not humans or angels." He chuckled softly to himself as he reached over to a kettle sitting on a magical flame nearby. By the time he had turned back, Missy already had a cup and saucer in her hands, taking a quiet sip. Both of them stared at her for a moment before each chuckling to themselves. A minute later, all three of them had been furnished with a hot cup of tea, which felt just right in the face of the setting sun and the crisp air of early autumn. Finally, once they were about halfway through their tea, Asgore set his cup down and sighed. Once again, Sunset received the overwhelming sense of weariness about him. He was a king who had clearly seen more unhappy days than happy ones. "I wanted to call you two here, yes, but for admittedly opposite reasons..." he began. "I suppose that I may as well start with the happier one. Missy?" "Hm?" Missy looked up from adding what had to be the fifteenth sugar cube to her teacup. "The monsters are planning a celebration of our new freedom, and we would like for you to be our guest of honor. It will take some time to bring back the necessary supplies from the underground, but I promise you that you will have never seen a party the likes of it before." "Party? Count me in!" Missy grinned and raised her teacup before pouring it into her mouth from several inches above her head. Somehow, it appeared to have been filled completely with sugar by this point, simply pouring out the white granules into her mouth directly. "I'm certain everyone will be delighted to have the angel of the prophecy here to celebrate with us." Asgore smiled again, and Sunset was fairly certain she could tell that he was developing a soft spot for her. Once the cute moment had passed, his look darkened and he stared forlornly into his cup for a moment. "Sunset... It has been some time since I last familiarized myself with human mourning rituals. Do you still... bury your dead?" The question hit Sunset like a punch to the gut. Even Missy stopped her antics, sinking down low with a miserable look on her face until she was only visible from the nose up. "Uh... Yes, we do, si- Asgore." Asgore nodded sagely. "It would be an insult to those who perished to begin celebrating our freedom before we've mourned their loss. Thanks to Doctor Alphys's cameras, monsters everywhere saw what happened... saw the sacrifices that were made to buy us just a few minutes of precious time. We would like to name him an honorary member of the Royal Guard and Guardian of the Realm, with all of the honors that come with those titles." He sighed. "Ordinarily, at the end of a monster's life, their life is celebrated and their dust scattered in some place where wind or water can carry it to a new place in a new form. However, simply too many monsters were lost for us over too wide an area to be able to collect it all, let alone differentiate one from another." Sunset saw tears welling up in the old king's eyes. "I had thought that I would never again have to bury a loved one, but... perhaps in the ceremony for one friend to monsters, all of them can be honored and buried along with him?" "I like it." All eyes turned to the intruder on their private moment: Undyne had just emerged from the tent. Was she... always that tall? "Undyne, were you eavesdropping?" Asgore asked, seeming unsurprised at her sudden appearance. She grinned and rubbed at the back of her head. "Sorry, but Penn heard you talking about him and threatened to bug me all night if I didn't come listen in... Turns out he's a bit more curious than I am polite." "Well, both of you are welcome to join us. I was just discussing funerary arrangements with Sunset." Undyne cocked her head. "But... why not just talk to me- us? Penn's right here, even if I have to be the go-between..." Asgore looked down as Undyne found a chair and unfolded it, choosing to sit on it backwards with one leg on each side and leaning against the back. "In all honesty, Undyne... It is because this... situation... make me very uncomfortable. Only one other monster has ever absorbed a human soul, and they both..." Undyne's eyes widened before she sat back, clearly getting some kind of message Sunset hadn't. "I- I'm sorry, I've been so caught up in how strange all of this is that I completely forgot! I didn't mean to open those old wounds..." Old wounds? Sunset and Missy glanced at one another, both equally confused. Asgore shook his head, giving Undyne a sad smile. "It isn't your fault, Undyne. It was cowardly of me to try and avoid this. One way or another, I would someday have to face the memory of my children again when the barrier needed to be opened." "Well, for what it's worth, Penn says he likes the idea!" Undyne smiled unconvincingly, and Sunset couldn't help noticing that her teeth seemed a little longer and sharper than the last time. "He doesn't like the fancy titles, but as Captain of the Royal Guard, I'm not giving him a CHOICE!" That sent a chorus of chuckles around the table, finally relieving the tension of whatever unspoken event Undyne and Asgore had been skirting around mentioning. Asgore gave his huge hands a clap. "It's decided, then. Tomorrow, we will go and recover Penn's body and as much dust as we can, and we'll honor the dead before we celebrate the living. Thank you all for your help." "I don't feel like I did much..." Sunset felt awkward as she shook Asgore's hand. His paw-like fingers were large enough to completely envelop Missy's lower arm as she did the same. "Yeah, and I just agreed to party, as if that wasn't a question with a foregone conclusion!" Missy added once Asgore was done shaking her up and down. He shook his head. "You reassured an old man that he was making the right decisions. In times like these, reassurance is worth its weight in gold." He began to pick up the dishes from their tea while Missy stashed her own cup and saucer back in her hat. "Please, feel free to come by if you need anything in the future." Sunset nodded. "Thank you, Asgore." With that, all three of them stepped back through his tent and outside again. As they emerged, Undyne reached into her pocket. "Oh, Sunset! Penn said you'd need these. That's why I came looking for you, to begin with!" She reached over, placing the car keys in Sunset's hands. "But- I can't take these! Penn never even lets me TOUCH these!" Sunset practically shouted, pushing them back towards her. "Well, didn't you say that you want a change of clothes?" Undyne refused to take them back, placing her hands on her hips. "Well, yes..." "And where are your clothes?" "In the car..." Sunset mumbled, kicking at the dirt. "So take them!" Undyne rolled her eyes again. This time, Sunset couldn't help noticing another change from earlier. "Wait... weren't you wearing an eyepatch before?" "Huh? Oh, this?" She pointed to the now-uncovered eye, which had a scar mark trailing both above and below it. "Healed when I melted into a puddle and came back from the dead!" "You what?" Missy and Sunset asked, both horrified. "Yeah, pretty handy, huh? Throwing spears accurately is WAY harder without depth perception!" Undyne grinned again. "Anyway, I'll see ya later! I'm sure you two wanna get changed and cleaned up, right? Your camp is..." She tapped her chin for a moment before pointing into the trees. "That-a-way!" With a small wave, she ran in the opposite direction, leaving both of them standing in shock. "You know... the sooner we figure out how to get Penn back and get out of here, the better..." Missy muttered. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By the time they'd managed to track down their campsite (Which was not "that-a-way" but, in actuality, in a direction nearly ninety degrees east of "that-a-way"), it was already dark. They'd thrown together a cold dinner of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches before each retiring to their own space. Missy had claimed the car's back seat, while Sunset stayed in the tent. Probably because of her earlier sleep in Asgore's home, Sunset couldn't manage to force herself to fall asleep now. She tossed and turned in her sleeping bag as the hours seemed to crawl by at a snail's pace. Her head was too full of thoughts to calm down and rest, anyway. Is there a way to separate Penn and Undyne? What about his body? Even if we could get his soul back in it, it's not going to just come back to life with a hole through his chest! Are we making a mistake giving him a burial? What if we need it to bring him back? Isn't there some kind of magic we could use? Resurrection spells were a long-banned practice in Equestria. More often than not (meaning 99.9 percent of the time), a 'resurrection spell' would result in one of three outcomes: an abomination against the laws of nature, a mad-with-power necromancer, or some lich or dark spirit being VERY happy someone had fallen for their hastily-relabeled summoning spell. But I'm not IN Equestria! Surely there's SOMETHING in the multiverse that can bring him back safely, right? And if there isn't, then by the very DEFINITION of the multiverse, there's a universe where there IS! She was so caught up in her own thoughts, it was some time before she head the voice outside along with the rustling of plastic. "Huh... cool. Lame. Cool. Really cool! Ugh, laaame." She carefully picked herself up, tiptoeing to the door of the tent and opening the zipper a small amount to peek through. It was a flower, one with gold petals around its outer edge. She could only see it from behind, but it seemed to be using roots and vines to browse through Penn's card binders. It turned the plastic page, using a root to point to the different cards. "Cool. COOL. Lame. Lame... LAAAAAME." The flower huffed to itself before turning the page again. Sunset narrowed her eyes. She wouldn't be surprised if this was just one of the monsters that had wandered into their camp, and they were clearly a kid by the fact that they had chosen to spend their time judging Penn's trading card collection. "You know, you shouldn't touch things that aren't yours..." Sunset muttered as she unzipped the door to the tent. The flower turned to face her, revealing what looked like a face made of white paste at the center of the petals. The flower gave her an amused glance. "I don't see your name on them!" "Look, I think you're a little lost, kid, and I'm REALLY not in the mood..." she growled. "Why don't you head back to the camp with the rest of the monsters and leave us alone, okay?" "WhY dOn'T yOu HeAd BaCk To ThE cAmP wItH tHe ReSt Of ThE mOnStErS aNd LeAvE uS aLoNe, OkAy?" The flower spat back a mocking imitation of her before turning back to the binder. "Oooooh! THIS looks like it could come in handy!" Sunset reached to her belt, grabbing her lightsaber and flicking the switch. She cringed as a series of pops and crackles reminded her that the weapon was out of commission for the moment. "Aw, what's the matter? Did you break your little toy?" the flower hissed. Sunset watched as fine roots worked their way into the plastic, pulling out one of the cards and waggling it teasingly at her. "Too bad you can't use one of THESE on me, huh?" Sunset lunged forward, ready to pull the cards out of its grasp with her bare hands, only to be cut off by a row of softly glowing projectiles. She considered forcing her way through them, but the last time she'd tried forcing through a monster's magic hadn't been what she would call a pleasant experience. "Nuh-uh-uh! You wouldn't wanna hurt your old pal Flowey the Flower, would ya?" "I have literally no idea who you are." "Oh? You don't?" Flowey gasped in mock surprise. "Well, that's rude! And after I went to the trouble of giving Missy that nice little anklet garland before she came down to the underground!" "Wait..." Sunset's eyes narrowed. "YOU were the one who tied Missy to the boulder?" "'Tied' is such a strong word! I prefer 'introduced!'" The flower's tiny face grew more sinister as a slight edge crept into its voice. "Maybe I should have tried talking to the nerd. At least then we could have swapped gaming tips!" A pair of vines moved in a way to mimic a shrug. "Of course, I've played this game SO many times, gotten SO many endings, but I never got one like THIS before!" "You... know it's a-" "Video game? Well, DUH!" Flowey grinned wider. "I used to be the one doing the saving and reloading before Frisk came along! It got so lonely being the only one who knew the TRUTH... And then YOU all showed up! Here I was hoping for a new best friend, and he goes and dies on me! It really is a shame..." "Somehow, I get the impression the two of you wouldn't get along..." Sunset muttered, watching the flower closely. It had a spell card gripped in its tendrils, but she couldn't tell which. And I'm talking to a self-aware flower from a video game. Honestly, anything goes with whether or not he can actually USE a spell card... Flowey "shrugged" again. "Maybe, but it's too late now! Or, at least... It's too late for ME to do anything about it..." "What's that supposed to mean?" "Ooooh, if only, if only!" He moaned in faux anguish. She watched as his face seemed to melt, reforming into Alphys's nervous expression. "If only you'd gotten here a day earlier!" It shifted again, now to Undyne. "If only we could have stopped this from happening!" It changed once more, now into a mockery of Asgore. "If only we could just RESET it all, RELOAD it from the beginning and try again!" "What are you saying?" "Ugh, do I have to spell it out for you?" He growled, the friendly pretense falling away completely. "The most determined person in this world can possess the power to SAVE and RESET! And that's you, sweetheart! You can turn back the clock to before any of this ever happened and start it over again the RIGHT way! Whatever way you choose!" One of the roots pointed up at the mountain. "All you have to do is go back in there and take it!" Sunset looked back at the mountain, a rush of different emotions conflicting in her gut. She wanted to believe what he was saying, but it seemed too outlandish. "And why should I believe you? Especially if YOU were the one who got us into all of this, to begin with?" "How do you THINK the kid knew every move you all would make before you made it? Why do you think 'Penndyne' over there insisted on NOT killing them?" The flower chuckled to himself. "Because that would let them RESET! As for why I'd wanna help you..." He waggled one of the vines in a non-committal way. "Consider this an apology! Because I wanna stay on your good side from here on. Until now, Frisk was the most determined soul I've ever seen, and you practically made them wet their pants! I can't even BEGIN to imagine all the things YOUR determination could accomplish!" He shifted his face to look like the kid Missy had saved earlier, batting big, teary eyes at her. Sunset's mind felt like it was swimming in possibilities. "So... If I go back and reset everything... I can prevent Missy from getting hurt? Stop Penn from dying?" "You'd have the power of a god!" Well, THAT doesn't sound suspicious at all... But if there's a chance... "I don't want to be a god, I just want to stop my friends from getting hurt." "For you? It'd be child's play!" Flowey grinned wider. "Whaddya say, friend?" Sunset sighed. "Fine. I said I'd do whatever it takes to save my friends, and I meant it. I'll go get dressed..." Doesn't mean I don't have a bad feeling about this, though... She paused for a second, poking her head back out the tent. "And seriously, put those cards back where you found them!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Mmph... Why are we doing this, again?" Missy asked, rubbing at her eyes. "Especially in the middle of the night?" "If we wait until tomorrow, the underground is going to be full of monsters gathering supplies, and Penn's body will be gone. This is our only chance to do this without anyone bothering us." She squinted, trying to make out the path as best she could in the darkness. The moon was already on the other side of the mountain, meaning they were stuck in the shadows. "In the middle of the night? You know, blowing up half a mountain tends to leave you pretty wiped out..." "It's more like a quarter of the mountain, really..." Sunset rolled her eyes. "And I thought you didn't need to sleep?" "And I thought YOU knew better than to mess around with time after the incident with the Time Twirler..." Missy mumbled. "Yet here we both are." "Well, that's why I'm not coming alone. If this "Flowey" guy tries anything funny, you'll have me covered!" Sunset gave Missy a playful nudge to wake her up more. "As if I'd take an offer that sounds THIS 'too good to be true' without some backup?" "Fine, fine... If it's a chance to get Penn back, I'll try anything..." Missy smirked and swung back around in the air, crashing into Sunset shoulder-first to return the nudge. The tension finally broke between the two of them as they broke out into a chorus of giggles. She had to admit, the sudden infusion of hope might have lifted their spirits a lot higher than they would normally have been. Either they were about to thwart a betrayal attempt by a literal flower she could pick with one hand behind her back, or they were going to get their best friend back. There was no way they could lose. It was only a short matter of time before they had reached the opening of the crater Missy had blown in the side of the mountain. "Okay, you know what? I'm willing to split the difference and say it's a third of the mountain," Sunset said, stroking her chin. "What do you think?" "Gee, and I thought Rarity was the generous one..." Missy grumbled, but her smile betrayed the fact that she was only pretending to be offended. "Well, shall we?" Sunset motioned to the darkness just beyond the reach of the moonlight. "WE SHALL!" An army of vines and roots shot up from the ground, wrapping around Sunset and pinning her arms to her sides. "SUNSET!" Missy cried, a pair of cards already in her hand. "I SUMMON-" Her announcement was cut off by what looked like a massive green paw with red claws shooting out of the darkness and into her, punching her off the side of the mountain and out of sight. "MISSY!" Sunset cried. A moment later, the world went dark with the sound of slamming metal doors. She pulled and tore at her restraints, but she couldn't seem to break through them. "I'm getting Camp Everfree flashbacks..." she growled to herself as she tried again and again to break through the vines. She could feel that she was being carried deeper and deeper into the mountain, and there was the sound of machines whirring to life all around her. Familiar machines. "No... NO NO NO NO!" Her cries fell on deaf ears as the motors of the DT extractor spun to life. Down each of the vacuum tubes, she could see different colors of light, and a horrifying thought came to her. Didn't Alphys and the others keep saying they'd already captured SIX souls to break the barrier? "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Even tied against one another, Sunset was able to curl her legs up and kick at the doors, but it seemed as if they'd been tied shut by even more vines. "You know... This wouldn't have worked if your know-it-all buddy had been here! He NEVER would have trusted me! Frisk definitely wouldn't, either!" "YOU REALLY ARE AN IDIOT..."