//------------------------------// // Bring It In, Guys // Story: The Multiverse in a Nutshell // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// "Oh! This is simply wonderful!" Toriel repeated. Everyone shot each other knowing glances as they all ticked off another number on the counter they were keeping in their heads. "Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined such a day would come!" She gave Missy another squeeze, still refusing to let the little spirit leave her arms, "A day where I would not only see my children returned to me, but the barrier dispelled, as well! Thank you, little angel!" "No... problem..." Missy croaked, clearly being squished in the embrace she was unable to leave. Penn chuckled to himself, simply enjoying seeing everyone alive and so happy. The ruins seemed to be absolutely abuzz with activity this time as they passed through. Monsters of all kinds were flittering and hopping about, exchanging excited reunions and hushed whispers about their seeming return from the great beyond. In the few seconds they'd had before Toriel had noticed them, everyone in the know had agreed to keep the truth of what had happened a secret. This was Asriel's second chance, and his time as the soulless creature known as Flowey would be a secret he could to keep for as long as he wanted. Instead, everyone except for Missy had come to a unanimous conclusion: Blame the angel. And so, rather than a face-off between Sunset Shimmer and a flower-turned-god, the act that had turned the tragedies of the last 48 hours on their heads was an act of "angelic intervention." All any of monsterkind would ever know was that a once-in-a-lifetime miracle wrought by the angel of the prophecy had resurrected the underground and shattered the barrier. That meant that Missy had been the one to receive the brunt of the praise, with Penn and Sunset being delegated as her "guardians," a position that garnered much less attention. With all of the attention on her, Penn had taken the opportunity to fall to the back of the pack. Undyne didn't seem to need to be asked to do the same, and soon the two of them had managed to separate from the rest of the group by a wide enough margin not to be heard. "So... I would REALLY appreciate if someone would fill me in." "Figured that was coming..." Undyne sighed. "You sure you don't want to be sitting down for this?" "What do you think I'm gonna do? Faint?" Undyne chuckled. "Well, you asked for it..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By the time they had reached Toriel's house, they had managed to amass a small army of monsters behind them, all wanting to follow the "legendary angel" wherever she was going. Apparently she's been promoted from "prophesied" to "legendary..." Sunset could only laugh quietly to herself as Missy squirmed and blushed, clearly uncomfortable with the undeserved attention. Thankfully, one chiding look from Toriel was all that it had taken to disperse the crowd, and soon all of the humans had filed into the house behind her. Sunset lingered by the doorway for a few seconds, still unable to fully believe everything that had happened. It had really seemed like everything was lost, that there was no way to find a happy ending. She'd almost given up hope. And somehow, just when she thought she'd pushed them away for good, her friends managed to find her and lift her back up out of that despair. She knew that in secret, Penn and Missy were giving her more credit than she deserved because she'd stood up to Asriel, but it was everyone's efforts that had made this impossible miracle happen. "Hey, Sunset, you coming?" Sunset was snapped out of her reverie, looking up to see "Penn" offering her a hand in the doorway. She stared for a moment at the offer before nodding and stepping into the house on her own, too uncomfortable with the doppelganger of her friend to accept the hand. Unlike their first time through, the house was practically abuzz with activity. There were children in every room, all as cheerful and energetic a if they'd never suffered so much as a cold, let alone been dead a short time ago. In the other room, she could still hear Toriel's voice speaking. "Now, sit right there, and I'll make us all something sweet to celebrate!" Sunset stepped into the living room, almost bursting into laughter at the sight of Missy nearly buried in the reclining chair. Help me... she mouthed. Sunset smirked and shook her head before walking to the dining table, where Undyne was sitting. She was clearly debating whether or not to put her feet on the table, and seeing Sunset watching her seemed to convince her into keeping her feet on the floor. "So... This is weird." Undyne smirked, one of her eyes flashing violet. "You're realizing this now?" Sunset leaned forward. "Okay, seriously, what's with the changing eyes? Does that mean you're in control, Penn's in control, or what?" "You think I can see my own eyes change color?" Undyne shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "A monster hasn't absorbed a human soul in a thousand years, I know as much as you do!" "Okay, but does-" "Penn doesn't know, either." Undyne cut her off, her eyes flashing purple again. "Right... sorry." "Why don't you ask him?" Undyne nodded towards the hallway. Sunset quickly turned around, feeling as if she'd been caught... only for the doorway to the hallway to be empty. She made sure that she was giving her best "unamused" face when she turned back, but it didn't seem to wipe the smirk off of Undyne's face. "Wow, he really DOES have you jumpy, doesn't he?" Sunset scowled as she realized she HAD been caught, just not at what she thought. "Well, look at yourselves..." Sunset folded her arms for a moment before reaching out and prodding at Undyne's chest. "I know Penn's soul is right here..." She leaned closer, dropping her voice to a whisper. "So who is-" Sunset had to pull back her hand as fast as she could when Undyne lunged forward, snapping at her hand with her fangs. Sunset yelped as Undyne's jaw snapped shut like a steel trap, nearly taking off her hand at the wrist. For a split second, the two of them were frozen like that, until Undyne seemed to some back to her senses and leaned back again. "Don't... do that." "You nearly bit my hand off!" Sunset cried, inspecting her wrist to reassure herself it was still connected. "It was a reflex." Undyne waved her hand dismissively. "You call THAT a reflex?" "Well, I get a little defensive when people poke at my buddy-" "Uhm, girls?" Missy poked her head up between them, having finally gathered the courage to leave her assigned seat. "Before we get into this argument, I think I have an answer to Sunset's question..." She removed her hat, reaching inside and grabbing a few cards. Without waiting for a response, she began laying them on the table. "Okay, so imagine you're in a duel..." "Not hard to do." "And you summon these two monsters!" Missy placed down two cards, each one featuring a spandex-clad superhero. "Elemental Hero Avian and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix." Sunset nodded, indicating for her to continue. "Now, you use THIS spell, Polymerization. This card fuses the two of them together..." she picked up the two cards and moved them to the graveyard pile before placing down a third card. This one was dark purple in color and featured a hero that was a strange combination of the previous two. "They form Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. You follow?" "Right..." Penn had never gotten to "fusion" when he started teaching her the game, but it seemed simple enough the way Missy explained it. You used a special spell and the "material" monsters listed on the purple card to summon that monster. "Now, imagine you have Monster Reborn..." Missy reached into her hat. After a few seconds, her expression changed to one of surprise, then frustration as she reached deeper and deeper. When she finally pulled her hand out, it was a closed fist clutching a few blackened shreds of paper. The two of them stared at each other for a second. "Guess Sis wasn't kidding when she said there could be repercussions..." Missy whispered. Her eyes were wide with shock as she watched the remains of the spell disintegrate between her fingers. "Are... you okay?" Missy swallowed loudly. "Eh heh heh... Well, being a duel spirit, watching a card fall to pieces is a bit... morbid." Sunset's own eyes grew wide as she realized that Missy had been holding the card equivalent of a dead body in her hands. Before she could ask a follow-up question, Missy cleared her throat and dusted off her hands against one another. "So imagine you have Monster Reborn..." She reached back into the graveyard, plucking out the copy of Elemental Hero Avian, "and you use it to bring back one of the fusion materials!" She gestured to one card with each hand. "Where's the original Avian?" Sunset looked at the situation for a moment, then pointed to the fusion monster. "Well, it's there. We used it for the fusion." "Ah, but this is the card we USED for the fusion!" Missy tapped Avian with one hand. "Literally the same card with the same spirit!" "But..." Sunset blinked. "Then, is THAT the original Avian?" "Is it?" Missy asked, pointing back to Flame Wingman. "I mean, if Avian's THERE, then what did we fuse to make this monster?" Sunset sat back, groaning as she tried to wrap her head around the contradiction. "So... the one we brought back from the graveyard is a copy?" "Nope!" Missy folded her arms over her chest. "Well they can't BOTH be the original!" Sunset buried her face in her hands. "Just because Princess Twilight and Sci-Twi are both Twilight Sparkle doesn't mean they're the same person! There was only one!" "See? THIS is why spell cards like Monster Reborn aren't meant to be used on things that aren't duel spirits!" Missy shook her head. "We can be in two places at once and still both be ourselves! We can be in multiple copies of the same card, OR be a different individual entirely from another copy of the card!" She rapped her knuckles against the side of her head. "It's NATURAL for us! We're built for it up here! Humans aren't!" Both of them groaned as she scooped up the cards, whispered a quick thanks to them, and then dumped them back into her hat. "So the Penn that's fused with Undyne..." "Is Penn." "And the Penn that's come back to life..." "Is ALSO Penn." "But they're not the same Penn." "They ARE the same Penn. There's just two of him." "Then they're not the same!" Sunset groaned. "And I thought mirror universe doppelgangers could get confusing... This is WAY worse." "Oh, just wait until the day I try to explain pendulum summoning." Undyne raised an eyebrow as one of her eyes changed to violet. "Pendulum what?" "Pendulum summoning!" "What summoning?" Missy blinked for a second before settling into a smirk. "Pendulum summoning." "What what?" "Pendulum. Summoning." By this point, Sunset could tell that there was some kind of reference going on here that she didn't understand. She sighed and pushed away from the table, excusing herself from the discussion to wander around the house. After a few failed attempts at striking up conversations with the revived children, she found herself descending the stairs to the basement. It wasn't a dingy basement, but it did have more of a cave-like aura than the rest of the ruins. There was only very low light, and the dampness and chill seemed to be creeping in through the doorway to Snowdin. She kept her hands shoved into her pockets as she trudged down to the end of the hall. She hovered at the doorway, considering whether or not to continue. Leaving the house without telling anyone felt like a bad idea, but she was beginning to feel a little boxed in. She needed space. I guess it wouldn't hurt as long as I don't go too far... she thought as she stepped across the threshold. She didn't even need to worry about getting her shoes wet in the snow, since it looked like a certain fish-woman had come through earlier with enough force to carve a cleared path through to the dirt beneath. The cold air stung against her skin, forcing her out of her own head and into the present. Everything was as silent here as it had been on their first time through, and for a moment she wondered if Monster Reborn's effect had managed to reach this far. Normally this kind of quiet would be eerie, but after the chaotic night she'd had, it felt blissful. "Wish I'd grabbed a jacket before I got captured by a giant, psychotic flower monster..." she muttered, rubbing her hands together to warm them up. "I like it..." a voice mumbled from nearby. Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin as she tried to find the source of the voice. "Wha- Who's there?" As she watched, an arm rose up out of the snow a ways off the path. After another second, "Penn" sat up, making it clear he had been laying there before she'd arrived. "How are you not freezing?" "My family lived in Maine before Texas. I prefer the cold." He shook himself vigorously to knock off the remainder of what was clinging to his clothes. "What are you doing out here?" Sunset folded her arms, pulling them closer against her body to stop herself from shivering. "I could ask you the same thing..." He shrugged. "Y'know, just trying to cryogenically freeze myself until the existential crisis passes. Nothing special." Sunset paused. She'd heard Missy's explanation, seen how dismissive Undyne was about her concerns... but she needed to be sure for herself. "Who are you?" She almost regretted asking it when she saw the look of hurt on his face. He opened his mouth to answer, only to stop and think more carefully on the subject. "As far as I'm aware... I'm the same Penn you've always known." "The Penn I've always known had his soul fused with Undyne. What's left of him is back there!" She pointed back to the door to Toriel's house. "And you know what? Maybe that's my fault, because I couldn't keep my promise to rescue him the same way he saves me, but at least I KNOW that!" "Mint chocolate chip." "What?" "When we met, that's what you had. A mint chocolate chip milkshake." Sunset tried to think back to the first day after the explosion. He was right, she could distinctly remember the flavor. "I had a fruit smoothie instead of a milkshake, but you didn't seem to notice." He took a moment to stand up before continuing, roughly brushing the snow off his pants. "On the Dalek warship, you almost got us caught because you didn't think to tie your hair up. In Aperture, I was so sleep-deprived, I accidentally asked you to strip in front of me when you got hurt. In Remnant, you left me alone in the forest with only a socket wrench to protect myself, so I hid under the car all night." "So, what's your point?" Sunset was surprised at the amount of irritability sneaking into her voice. "Well, as a great celery-wearing time lord once said: A man is the sum of his memories." He sighed in a melancholy way. "Sunset, I remember everything. All our travels, all our adventures, they're all right here!" He pointed to his head. "As far as I know, we just climbed down here together a few hours ago!" "But we didn't!" Sunset groaned. "It's been more than an entire DAY since you died, and I've been here the whole time! You MISSED it! You were GONE and I-" Sunset caught herself, stumbling over her words before she cut the train of thought off. "You were alone." His voice was low, ashamed of himself. "That's why you're angry, isn't it? I died and left you behind." "You promised we'd find my friends together..." She whispered. She hated herself for starting to cry in the cold, it only amplified the stinging of the cold on her cheeks. "And now you went and got yourself stuck in a place we can't get you out of..." "Sunset, I'm right here..." When Sunset felt him starting to hug her... It wasn't just her brain that recoiled. Her body, her mind, her soul... all of it convulsed wildly at the dissonance of what she'd thought she finally accepted and what was happening now. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She didn't see what happened to him after she pushed him away. She thought she heard the sound of snow crunching, or maybe it was branches in the trees off of the path, but she was already running. She didn't have any idea of where she was going. She didn't know how long she ran, and she wasn't paying attention to where she went. She didn't stop until she was all of the way in Waterfall, with the chill of Snowdin far behind her. She was in the dark, that place with the glowing moss paths. She had run herself ragged, until she was just as lost in the mountain as she was in her own head. This was cruel. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "K-K-KING ASGORE!" Asgore looked up, spotting the Royal Scientist as she burst into the tent. He took the time to pull on the last strap of his armor. "You know the situation right now better than anyone, so I trust that you have not come here idly." "Y-y-yes!" Alphys muttered. "It's about the magical shock waves we've been feeling! I know that until now we've been assuming that they're signs of some titanic battle, but... There's been a development!" "Alphys, the angel and her human companion are missing, along with the captain of the guard. The waves of magical power are unlike anything we have ever experienced." He reached down to the space under the cot he had been sleeping in, grasping a weapon he'd hoped never to need again. At his touch, his magical power traveled into the conductive trident, causing it to glow blood red. "You are smart enough to know that this is not the time to mince words." "There are monsters coming out of the mountain!" Asgore stopped. "I thought that you had issued a warning not to return until-" "They're- Oh, you're not going to believe me, but... They're NOT evacuated monsters who returned! Th-They're... Oh man... They're..." She wiped a heavy layer of sweat from her forehead. "Th-They're the victims of the human's rampage..." That was enough to give Asgore pause. Of all the news he had been bracing himself to receive, that had not been on the list. "Doctor Alphys, are you certain?" She waited for a moment before pulling open the door to the tent, revealing a pair of skeletons. Papyrus was holding his brother like a stuffed animal, clearly refusing to let go. Sans seemed to have no objections to his brother's affections, waiting quietly and seeming to enjoy the lack of a need to stand under his own power. "Heya." "I... do not understand. However..." Asgore did what he always tended to do when a scenario presented more questions than answers: get practical. "If this is true, we'll need to at least double our supplies and the size of our camp..." He looked up at Papyrus, remembering a discussion he'd had with Undyne before about her "trainee." "Papyrus. You and your brother are both employed as sentries in Snowdin, correct?" "Y-YES, your highness!" Papyrus snapped to a salute, continuing to hold his brother with his free arm. "In that case, in the absence of Captain Undyne, I would like you to gather the Royal Guardsmen and form retrieval parties to go back into the mountain and find more supplies." He took a moment to place his trident in a hidden strap beneath his cloak. "I will personally lead another party to seek out any other monsters still in the underground and bring them to the surface." "D-Does that mean-" Asgore nodded. "Welcome to the Royal Guard, both of you." "WOWIE!" Papyrus cried, clapping his hands to either side of his enraptured expression. Even without his brother's support, Sans didn't yield to gravity. "Wow, a postmortem promotion... Does that mean we're forming a Corpse Corps?" "SANS!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You just let her run off?" "Oh, I'm sorry, but nobody told me that a side effect of having 'determination' was the ability to throw someone twenty feet into a snowbank!" Undyne dragged her hand down her face, trying not to get riled up. They were on a mission right now, and she couldn't let herself get distracted. "You know, I WANT to scream at him for being an idiot, but he IS me- No, you know what, I AM going to yell at him, let me take over!" You're going to call YOURSELF an idiot? "You have my soul planted in the middle of your chest and you're only NOW realizing how little self-esteem I have?" How awesome I am must be balancing it out. Undyne wanted to smile at the humorous self-aggrandizing, but the sight of their goal made her more worried than anything. Too late, we're here... The two of them came to a stop at the spot Penn had specified. It was just outside Toriel's house in the ruins. At first glance, it didn't seem to stand out at all, and Undyne would never have given it a second thought. It was only after standing and staring at the empty space that she started to notice something... off. It started as a shimmer in the air, like a heat mirage, but the longer she stared at it, the more that a shape began to form. She leaned closer, watching a crystalline object beginning to form. Her eyes widened as a golden glow filled the floating object, finally becoming solid enough to be clearly seen. "What... is that?" "You can see it?" Penn asked, rubbing at his head. "I've really only got... an impression that something's there." "You need determination to see them. Neither of us probably have enough on our own, but when you put our souls together, it seems like we cross the line." Undyne nodded. "So... this is the thing Flowey used to lock Frisk in a time loop?" "And to kill the rest of us over and over." "Yeah." Undyne had to admit, she wasn't entirely sure what was supposed to come next, but she felt a reassurance from the back of her mind. Her arm started to move on its own, reaching for the otherworldly object, and she quickly yanked it back again. "HEY! Are you trying to get US locked up, instead?" "Undyne, I... I think I know what I'm doing." Penn's voice in her mind sounded much less certain than she would have liked. "I remember this... I don't know where or when I learned it, but... it's there. I know what to do. Trust me." Undyne hardly would have called it a compelling argument from anyone else, but there was something about the whole situation that was also resonating with her. It wasn't a memory, more like a forgotten word, something just on the tip of her tongue. Something they'd been taught, and then forgotten... If we wind up in a time loop, I am going to be PISSED. She sighed and let go of her control enough for him to take over her arm. She could only watch as her hand reached out, entering the shimmering field around the object. She could feel it sending tingles up her arm as her fingers gingerly wrapped around the glassy surface. Penn was being as careful as he could be, but she could tell that from the moment he'd first made contact, there was no way that he was going to release it. It started to hum and vibrate in place as their grip grew tighter, slowly growing more and more violent. It was as if it was trying to escape them, sending vibrations all the way up into her shoulder. She could feel that there was SOMETHING happening beyond the physical level, some kind of magical tinkering that she couldn't explain. "Come on... COME ON.... Just LET... IT... GO!" With that thought, Undyne's feet planted themselves and her entire body wrenched back, pulling with all of her strength. The save point nudged at first, then began to steadily moved out of place. She could feel the sensation of tearing, like a thousand strings snapping together as a tangle was ripped out from their center. With a feral roar, she finally yanked back her hand, taking the crystal along with it. She could feel a ripple travel through the area, but... that seemed to be the only reaction the rest of the world had. A glance down made it clear that she'd changed something. The object in her hand was only glowing at a fraction of its former strength, and the otherworldly shimmer around it had vanished. It seemed... inert. "Whoa..." Penn whispered. "Okay, I'm not sure what YOU saw, but from my perspective you just pulled that out of thin air..." Undyne stared at the little object that had caused so much pain for the monsters of the underground. She wanted to crush it then and there, but something in her gut told her that doing so wouldn't help. It was an aberration, something that shouldn't have been able to exist in real life. After a few moments of thought, she sighed and glanced at the corporeal copy of her brain buddy. "When this is all over, you're leaving, right? Back onto the road to, like, a ton of other worlds?" Penn nodded, still unable to take his eyes off of the crystal. After only a moment of reluctance, Undyne held it out to him. "Get this thing as far away from monsterkind as possible. If you find some remote universe to throw it in or a way to destroy it, then that's all the better." He looked at the thing in her hand as if it was going to bite him. "Are you sure? I mean, in the wrong hands..." "Around here, it's BEEN in the wrong hands!" Undyne snapped. "Look, normally I'd protect something like this myself, but I can't ignore just how much SUFFERING it's caused for the ones I'm supposed to protect!" She shoved it into his hands before he could object again. "I want this thing as FAR from the ones I care about as possible. It doesn't matter if it's a monster or a human who uses it, it's been nothing but trouble!" The two of them both fell silent, staring at the accursed object. Undyne felt a wave of relief as he closed his hands around it, finally accepting that she was making him take it away. "Fine... It won't cause trouble around here again." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You know what you are asking me for, do you not?" Asgore spoke softly, but it was clear that his quiet voice was a disguise for his rage. "I understand, your majesty, but... as we explained, Frisk IS just another victim." "So you keep saying..." Asgore huffed, "but their crimes are not the kind that can simply be overlooked." "And YOURS are?" Toriel huffed, making Asgore flinch. "You should count yourself fortunate that the children do not remember much of their encounters with you... Another mercy of this angel's miracle, I suppose." Sunset, Undyne, Missy, Asgore, and Toriel had all gathered in the king's tent, which had become an unofficial meeting place for them over the past three days. Sunset had picked up on a substantial amount of tension between the current king and the former queen, and her motherly demeanor seemed to vanish entirely around him. "And then there is the matter of the vigilante..." Toriel folded her arms. "That brute beat the child within an inch of their life." Missy shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and Sunset couldn't bring herself to react much. What they had seen of Frisk had been barbaric. It was only thanks to Toriel's healing magic that they were on their way towards a full recovery. Both Sunset and Missy had the same idea about who was responsible, and for the moment they weren't eager to present their theory. Judging by Undyne's refusal to make eye contact, she'd come to the same conclusion about what Penn's wrathful "partner" had been up to before she made it to the final battle. As for the rest of the conversation, Sunset had really been able to nod through it without really thinking in the present. From what little she'd picked up, it was mostly plans for a much grander celebration, Missy's insistence that she not get so much credit, and something about a national holiday. Somewhere in the middle Missy had wound up being hugged in Toriel's arms again, where she remained for the rest of the meeting whether she liked it or not. She almost didn't notice when the meeting came to an end. Everyone rose to their feet, and Missy gave her wings an insistent series of flaps to persuade Toriel to let her go. Asgore politely let his ex-wife leave first, but only received a cold shoulder for his troubles. He followed after her with a forlorn sigh, shaking his head. Sunset continued sitting, waiting for Undyne and Missy to go on their own ways just as they always did, only to find them both standing and staring at her with their arms folded. If she hadn't finally settled into a friendship with Undyne, Sunset would have been worried at the mere sight of her: her body seemed to have been changing more every day. Alphys claimed that it was a side-effect of absorbing Penn's soul, that her body was adapting to her new power by growing and morphing. Her teeth had taken on a metallic sheen, her fins had become bioluminescent and begun glowing red in the dark, her forearms seemed to have sprouted new, short fins to match the growing webbing between her fingers, and her wiry frame had begun to fill in and look less lanky and more solid. Combined with her new height, her constantly-shifting eye color, and the thick, darker-colored scales growing on her skin, she was beginning to look like a predator that could rip apart her prey on sea OR land. Sunset pushed herself to her feet, holding her arms open to invite whatever confrontation was coming. "What?" Undyne and Missy glanced at each other before they shrugged in sync. "We were just wanting to see where you were gonna go." "Yeah! You never leave the tent the same way we do, we were getting curious!" Undyne shrugged. "Where do you go?" "Back to Sylvia." Sunset shrugged as she turned towards the back of the tent. "Missy knows that." "Going through the front's faster, but you don't go that way." Undyne wasn't asking a question. It was a simple statement. Sunset knew the direction this conversation was heading. "I'm taking the scenic route..." She began to hurry towards the back of the tent, only to find herself cut off by a violet shield. "We know why you're going that way, Sunset." "It's because he's waiting for you out there." Missy folded her arms. "He waits every day, every meeting, just so you know that he's there for you... and you're avoiding him!" Sunset tried to step around the shield, but it moved to counter her. She stepped to the other side, and it moved again. "If Penn's out there, then who's making this shield?" Sunset whispered. "Sunset-" Sunset spun on her heel, pointing to the magical construct. "WHO, UNDYNE? Because even if that is a Penn, it's not MY Penn! That is NOT the same soul that I climbed down into the mountain with! That Penn is-" she choked on her words for a second, "he's not there for me. He's here, right HERE!" She pointed at Undyne's chest before spinning back around. She was too fast for the shield this time, dodging around it and making her escape out the back of the tent. Her route back to Sylvia still hadn't been discovered, so she took it again. It was a quiet walk, passing through the newer half of the encampment. It was mostly the monsters from the Ruins, who were all quiet types, for the most part. Every now and then a Loox or a Froggit would try to get her attention, but it was easy enough to shrug them off when Missy wasn't with her to start a round-robin of praises. When she had arrived, she reached into her pocket, grabbing the keys. The motion was familiar, but the feeling of the object in her hands was still wrong. She pressed the button to unlock the doors and stopped. As she did every day, Sunset struggled with a question... and for the first time, she changed her answer. She pulled open the driver's side door and slipped into the seat. It was surprisingly close to the steering wheel, still adjusted to the last person who had sat there. She didn't change it, she simply pushed and pumped on the pedals, trying to imagine what it would be like to drive. "Greetings, Sunset Shimmer." Sunset took a deep breath as she watched Isis climb up onto the dashboard. Something about her even voice and calm demeanor made the little robot's presence a grounding force for her. "Hey, Isis. How are we doing?" "Once again, all diagnostics have come back green. Primary and secondary maintenance has been completed. For lack of a better phrase... The only way I could continue to 'repair' the Oldsmobile would be a wax and polish." "Thanks... Sorry if I've been pushing you, lately." Sunset leaned her head against the headrest. "I am under no stress. Would you like to know more about the space-time anomaly that was provided by Entity Two?" Entity Two. That was what Isis had been calling "Penn" for the moment. "Sure." "It appears to function as an entanglement device, synchronizing a being's consciousness with local space-time while preserving the information the comprises said individual in a pocket universe. When that consciousness ceases, time-space reverts to the quantum state at which it was synchronized. That would explain why, outside the boundaries of the local universe, I could not maintain a steady signal. Local quantum states were constantly in flux." "So... it really is a save point?" "It functions nearly identically to the video game mechanic known by that name, yes. However, said entanglement appears to be irreversible from the inside." "Could we... use it to go back? To before Penn died and got fused with Undyne?" "Negative. The entanglement device has been disentangled." "So it's useless." "For that purpose, affirmative. It is not a time machine." She took a long breath. "Great. Just great." "I have an inquiry." "Yes, Isis?" "Why do you refuse to acknowledge the similarities between Penn and Entity Two?" "Same reason you call him Entity Two. Because he's not Penn." "I call him Entity Two because it is a direct order from my administrator not to duplicate Penn's credentials." "Wait... the little dragon guy? The one I saw in...I saw in Penn's head?" "Affirmative." "Why?" "I do not know." "Can you ask him?" "Would you like to place a call?" Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You think he'd actually TALK to me? He didn't seem to like my biggest fan the last time we met." "These are extenuating circumstances." Sunset sighed. "You know what? At this point I'll try anything. Patch me through." "Placing call..." Isis's drone body hopped down to the center console, opening its mouth and projecting an image onto the windshield. It was black at first, with only the word "CALLING..." in pink lettering. When it finally changed, it was an image of some kind of workshop, with screens on every wall and a wide array of tables covered in mechanical pieces. The majority of the wide-angle lens, however, was taken up by a very angry-looking sliver dragon. "THIS HAD BETTER BE GOOD, SHIMMER!" "Nice to see you, too..." Sunset muttered. There was a brief pause as his expression shifted to one of disbelief, then anger. "Okay, Isis, cut the-" "Wait, wait!" Sunset held up her hand. "Sorry, I'll cut the sass. I just... need to ask you something." "I'm waiting." "Why won't you let Isis copy Penn's credentials to... to Entity Two?" "Do you realize how high up Penn's credentials go? I built Isis, but he's the one who MADE HER UP into existence! There's no way I'm going to let that kind of access just get doubled!" "Wait... You know Penn wrote Isis? But you built her?" Sunset blinked for a moment as the pieces began to fall into place. "That's why I saw you in his head! You're another one of his characters!" "Can I go get a julep while you figure out the obvious? I'm going to need it." Sunset blinked before trying VERY hard to keep herself from snarking back at him. "So... You don't think he's Penn, either?" "I think that coming back from the dead is something that should NEVER be trusted. Until I can verify he is who he says he is, he's staying Entity Two." "How are you going to verify it? Can't you get into his head and check?" "You know, the boundary between imagination and headspace is a lot more complicated than you think, Sunset. If there's one person who wouldn't put up with a fake Penn, it's his dueling partner. Once I get a hold of her, she'll give the green light on whether to trust him or cut him off." "Okay... so we need to get her to come out again?" That question managed to finally break his angry expression into what she could only guess was one of delight. "HA! Good luck with that. She'd sooner rip you in two than do anything YOU asked for. Leave this up to the people who actually KNOW what they're doing." "Who even IS she?" Sunset leaned forward, trying to figure out how to get anything out of his reptilian expression. "Missy just calls her Big Sis, and she won't so much as look at me without trying to light my hair on fire through sheer willpower!" "Oh, she doesn't need willpower. If I were to tell anything she doesn't want you to know, I'm pretty sure I'd spontaneously combust! And that's coming from a dragon! We're supposed to LIKE fire!" She saw his tail move in the background to hit some unseen button, and the screen went black. Sunset sighed and leaned back again, pressing her palms to her temples. "Well, that was helpful..." "Indeed." "Isis... Don't get me wrong, you're smart, but you REALLY need to work on your grasp of sarcasm." "But your statement was correct. If there is a duel spirit partner associated with the legitimate Elijah Bakersfield, then she could ONLY be found with a legitimate Elijah Bakersfield." Sunset pulled her hands away from her head as the realization settled in. "Isis... Isis, you beautiful machine, that's it!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So, what are you gonna do?" Undyne shrugged. "Well, as cool a head-roommate as he is, we're probably gonna see if we can manage to split up again." Penn nodded. "Makes sense. If Monster Reborn was able to do all..." he motioned to himself, "this, have you thought about De-Fusion?" "Well, once I'd looked at a few of the cards, yeah, it occurred to me." Undyne rolled her eyes. "Until SOMEBODY pointed out that the 'fusion materials' were my dying body and his disembodied soul... Not great assets if we separate them that way." Penn cringed. "Okay, fair enough... After that, though?" Undyne couldn't hold back the grin. "I'm gonna go get myself a giant robot." He seemed to ponder her response for a few seconds before nodding. "You know... that does NOT sound like a bad idea." "I KNOW, right?" Undyne rubbed her hands together. "First, though, I'm gonna go get myself a cool sword! A katana, or maybe something like Sunset's got!" The instant Undyne said Sunset's name, a change came over Penn. His shoulders slumped and his expression became dour. Undyne instantly regretted her words, reaching out and taking him by the shoulder. "Hey, bud, she'll come around, I'm sure of it!" "Come on, I heard every word back in the tent." He sighed. "Besides, she's got a point. If the Penn who came down here with her is there..." he pointed to her, then to himself. "Then... who am I?" "Pfft. You're Penn!" Missy snorted from the corner, where she'd been hiding for the last few hours. "Just like if I summoned two Alucards, they'd both be Alucard!" Undyne turned to the little angel, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be getting fitted for some royal robes?" "Okay, first of all, bright purple is NOT my color..." Missy gestured to her darkly colored dress. "I don't DO bright colors. Second, I think if I let Toriel get a hold of me again, she's not gonna let go until I sign the adoption papers! Third, do you have ANY idea how awkward it is to go around pretending I brought a bunch of people back from the DEAD? Seriously, they've gone from treating me like an angel to treating me like a goddess!" She shivered violently at the thought. "I'd rather go through Christmas in July than have monsters look at me like that..." "Wait, if you don't like bright colors, why is your hair pi-" Before she could finish her question, Missy had jumped up and grabbed her by the front of her shirt, a wild look in her eyes indicating that she was nearing the end of her sanity. "Don't START WITH ME, Undyne!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asgore had been right about one thing: The monsters' celebration had been a party like no other. There was singing, bonfires, a feast of delicious food that seemed to melt in your mouth as fast as you could eat it, and even displays of magical power that rocked the forest like an otherworldly fireworks show. Missy, of course, was pride and center of the event, seated among the members of the royal family as if she were one of them. She received the best of everything, including a set of white robes with the delta rune embossed in bright purple, a number of songs and costumes meant to pay tribute to her, and a pile of sweets, pastries, and treats taller than she was. Asriel and Chara would both snicker behind her back every time that she was asked to "bless" something, clearly enjoying watching someone unfamiliar with the royal treatment squirm under the pressure. Every time she would compliment something, it would be taken as a request for more, and all of the monsters nearby would practically fall over themselves to grant it. Toriel and Asgore both seemed to find it just as amusing as their children did, but would occasionally step in to distract their subjects long enough for Missy to slip away... usually ending with her colliding face-first with whatever event was to come next. At one point, she'd made the mistake of summoning Ghostrick Jackfrost to help chill a tepid punch bowl, and from that moment there was no cease to the requests for more displays of her magic. Soon, the entire archetype had arrived, mixing and mingling with the monsters of the underground. Some stuck close to one another, clearly uncomfortable with the attention their relation to Missy garnered, but they otherwise seemed to embrace the party ("early Halloween" as Missy had called it) wholeheartedly. Sunset was right beside her for most of the night, doing her best to stay out of the limelight. She was occasionally approached by monsters trying to thank her for delivering their "promised angel," and she would gladly deflect their praise with a mention of one of Missy's "magic tricks" or some made-up request the little angel hadn't made, which would send them scattering to fulfill it. She DID enjoy picking and choosing the best of the pastries and other treats once Missy's usually-bottomless hunger for sugar had reached its limit, however. Undyne had managed to retrieve her spare set of armor from her house and had buffed it to a mirror-like polish, allowing the glowing purple heart across the breastplate to shimmer with magical light. It was easy to see that she was growing too big for it as more physical changes set in, but she seemed more than happy to suffer for the night if it helped raise spirits even higher. Her staunch refusal to leave her chair, however, was an attempt to hide the hole she'd needed to tear in the back of her armor for a thick, finned tail that had begun growing from the base of her spine. Whenever attention was turned to her, she would simply stand, bow, and then something, somewhere, would turn into an emergency as a spear accidentally appeared where it didn't belong, pulling said attention away long enough for her to return to her seat. Penn had been the only one free enough of attention to slip into the crowd and vanish as the night went on, despite the numerous insistences from Undyne that he stay to be humously awarded his previously posthumous titles of "Honorary Guardsman" and "Guardian of the Realm." With her half-developed tail making it too embarrassing for her to hunt him down, Undyne had been forced to stand in his place as the titles were bestowed on the glowing purple soul in her chest, instead. Those close to the event would have been able to hear Undyne swearing vengeance under her breath. The party continued on late into the night as everyone present lost all track of time. Some of the more meek or less hardy monsters disappeared at some point when the moon was overhead, but neither Sunset, Missy, nor Undyne got any chance to sleep before they spotted the sun beginning to peek over the horizon again to signal the morining. Even when the sun had risen, the monsters seemed to almost take shifts at keeping the party going as those who had drifted off to sleep returned, and those who had partied through the night finally crashed into their beds and sleeping bags. Sunset had managed to make it well into the morning before finally drifting away, and Missy and Undyne were both grateful for their ability to forego sleep entirely. There had been rumors that Penn had been discovered sleeping in the car after his vanishing act, but no one had been willing to verify it or bring him back except Papyrus... who returned empty-handed, muttering something about "lazy bones." Eventually, though, the party did come to an end. The last of the bonfires burned itself out, the final tray of food was nibbled into oblivion, and even those who didn't necessarily NEED sleep had resorted to "resting their eyes" for a reprieve. Despite their attempts to help, the guests of honor had been turned away when they tried to help with the monumental cleanup efforts. All in all, the monsters had been true to their word: it had been a festival unlike any other. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You're LEAVING?" Undyne nodded. "Yeah! I mean, the monsters need to start looking for a new home, and I wanna go see the ocean for myself!" "B-but... what about separating you and Penn?" Sunset stammered. "Well, Alphys and Isis are working together on it, but it's gonna take time." Undyne shrugged. "I can't just sit around on my butt while we wait!" She turned slightly to look at her new tail. "Literally... Still getting used to THIS thing." "I think it's neat!" Missy chimed in. "You're looking pretty sharp, Ripjaws!" Sunset didn't feel any reason to smile, even while she watched Undyne give Missy a pat on the head. "But... What are we supposed to do?" Undyne looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Same thing you always do. Get the team back together, get your heading, and get on the road. Penn's getting antsy, I think I saw him re-organizing his cards for the fifth time yesterday!" "But we can't go without- without..." Sunset trailed off. Undyne placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a tired smile. "Sunset, the job here is done. Not only are monsters free, but you brought back everyone we'd lost AND broke the cycle of resets. It's time for you to go." "What about-" "Penn is THERE. He's right by your side." Undyne placed her hands on her hips. "Same as he's by mine, now. He's just watching twice the number of backs!" Sunset wanted to grumble, but Undyne had made it clear that she wasn't going to hear any more arguments that "Penn" wasn't Penn. Even Isis had gotten approval to reinstate his credentials with this new copy or clone or whatever he was. Sunset had spent the last couple days trying to spy on him and see if there were any signs of his "partner" coming out again, but so far there hadn't been anything the indicated she was there, which meant that she wasn't convinced. "So... we're just supposed to move on?" "Hey, you're not gonna find the rest of your friends sitting around here!" Undyne chuckled. Sunset knew that she'd made her problem with it pretty clear, which meant her objections were being purposefully ignored. "Besides, between you and me, I think Toriel might be planning on actually trying to adopt Missy!" Missy shuddered, floating a little closer to Sunset. "I don't wanna eat any more pie..." That set Undyne laughing, but Sunset didn't think it was funny enough to overcome her disappointment. All this time, she'd been stalling, hoping that they'd find a way to separate the REAL Penn from Undyne so they could all leave together, but... It seemed like that wasn't going to happen. Sunset stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Undyne, pressing her ear against her chest just over Penn's soul. "Thank you... for everything." "You talking to me or Penn?" Undyne patted her comfortingly on the head while wrapping her other arm around to return the hug. Sunset couldn't help feeling the moment tinged by disappointment as she realized that Penn's all-comforting hugs hadn't transferred over with his soul, something she'd been counting on to make the farewell less bitter. "Both?" Sunset tried to hide her tears behind a soft laugh and a mirthless joke. "Buck up, Sunset. You've still got a Penn who's all yours waiting for you back where he belongs!" Undyne tousled her hair again. "Alphys and Isis are good buddies, which means EVERYBODY's phones are getting upgrades! Don't be afraid to call, okay?" Sunset nodded, forcing herself to smile through the tears. "Make sure to send us some photos from the ocean... and take good care of my pal, okay?" Undyne's smile shifted to a more forlorn look. "I promise, we'll be just fine. Penn says he's more worried about YOU two..." Once they'd said their farewell to Undyne, it was a long walk back to their original camp. Other monsters stopped them a few times to talk to her or chat happily with Missy, but the majority of the refugee-camp-turned-emigration was too caught up in packing to notice them. "Penn" was sitting in the driver's seat of the car, eyes shut for a mid-day nap after taking care of their own packing. It was a scene so peaceful, so natural, that for a moment it felt right. For a moment, Sunset forgot that this wasn't the same person who had always been in that seat. That slip, even as momentary as it was, was enough to scare her. It frightened her that, even for a single moment, she had forgotten. That was what made up her mind. She needed to take direct action, now. Sunset walked up to the driver's side door, yanking it open and startling "Penn" awake. She leaned down, looking him straight in the eyes. "So... you REALLY are Penn? MY Penn?" "Oh boy, here we go again..." Missy whispered. "Oh, hey, Sunset, nice to see you..." he grumbled, rubbing at his eyes. Sunset kept staring at him with her best glare of suspicion. It didn't seem to have much effect on him while he was still half-asleep. "Well?" "Yes, YES I am... How many times do I have to tell you?" he groaned before stretching as best he could in the chair. "I'm starting to wonder if I'm the one in the time loop..." Sunset leaned back, folding her arms. "Then you should be able to answer this question... Who is your partner?" Everything stopped. It was quiet enough that they could have heard a pin drop. Sunset decided that he seemed to be struggling with the question. "When you were DEAD, your duel spirit partner didn't show up like Missy, she took over your dead body like some kind of demonic possession! She beat Frisk almost to death and then stood up to attacks from Asriel's god form like it was NOTHING!" She leaned down again, looking him directly in the eyes. He was wide awake now, eyeing her with a mix of shock and fear, like he'd been caught by her. "Who. Is. She? The REAL Penn would know!" "Sunset... I don't think this is a good idea..." Missy whispered. "If you don't even know who she is, how would me telling you prove anything? I could lie and you wouldn't even know!" "Missy would tell me if you were lying, and then I'd know you're not REALLY Penn." "And you KNOW my partner doesn't like you. She'd want me not to say anything just to spite you, Sunset." "And I would never be able to trust you again." His eyes narrowed. It was a snarl, like a threatened animal trying to scare her off. He knew she had him cornered. "So to earn your trust, I have to betray hers?" "All I want is a name! A card with a face I could think of instead of some demon eye glaring at me through that disgusting hole that was burned in your chest!" The two of them continued glaring at each other as Missy flew between them, trying to push Sunset back a step. "Hey, Sunset, cool off!" "That, or I could reach into your head and get some answers, myself-" "Try me." "Penn" growled, pushing up out of his seat and stepping out of the car. "I trust you, Sunset, but if my partner wants to keep you out of her life, then I won't hesitate to protect her, too." "O-Okay, we've all been really stressed, lately, we just need to STEP BACK..." Missy continued trying to push them apart as she was squished between the two of them. "So you won't do it? The one thing that only Penn could know, you're not going to tell me?" "No. After everything I've done, I shouldn't have to prove myself to you, Sunset." "Then there's only one way to resolve this..." Sunset reached down to her belt, grabbing the black satchel she'd been keeping there. Undyne had given it up days ago, but she hadn't been willing to risk giving it back to an imposter. Now, though, she unclasped it and shoved it into his hands, forcing him to take it. She could feel the cards shifting around inside, the same cards that seemed to disappear every time she looked inside, just to tease her. "If you won't tell me, maybe I can find out who your partner is in a duel." "Cut... it... OUT!" Missy shrieked, finally mustering up enough strength to shove the two of them apart. She gave her wings several frantic flaps, forcing them both to back away to avoid being slapped by a faceful of feathers. With the two of them separated, Missy spun around in place, pointing an accusatory finger at each of them. "CUT IT OUT, BOTH OF YOU!" "YOU need to stop it!" She shouted, pointing at Sunset with an uncharacteristically angry glare. "Seriously! This isn't LIKE you, Sunset! I get it, you went through the wringer, and then just when you FINALLY made peace with Penn's death, you had to deal with this identity crisis! That would make anybody suspicious! But that's no excuse to treat your FRIEND like this!" She put her hand over her own heart. "If you don't think you can trust him OR trust yourself OR trust Undyne, then trust your partner when I tell you he's the real deal!" With that, she turned back to "Penn." "And seriously? You're being all kinds of vague right now, and it's NOT helping! You don't think Big Sis might be trying just a little to sabotage your friendship with Sunset by making you keep her identity a secret? We BOTH know she's not above doing something like that!" She glanced back and forth between the two of them. "APOLOGIZE! NOW!" The two of them stared at one another for several seconds, neither showing signs of remorse. "Penn" was the one to finally crack first, giving a tired sigh. "Fine. Sunset, I'm sorry for giving you more reason to worry and be suspicious..." He reached into the satchel, pulling out the deck of black-sleeved cards. "THIS is proof, the fact I'm even holding these means my partner trusts me. YOU can't get a hold of these cards, can you?" Sunset was tempted to grab the cards while they were right in front of her and rifle through them before he could stop her, but she had a feeling they'd melt to dust in her hands like Monster Reborn just to spite her. "I'm... sorry that I'm having trouble trusting you... and for getting in your face about it." She mumbled as she walked to the other side of the car and took her normal place in the passenger-side seat. Missy continued hovering outside for a few seconds before popping open the back door and settling into the back seat. "Those were some of the worst apologies I've ever heard, but I'll take what I can get." They all sat there awkwardly for several seconds before "Penn" looked at Sunset expectantly. "So... are you holding onto my keys along with my cards, or what?" "Right..." Sunset mumbled, digging into her pocket to pull out the familiar keyring. She didn't like giving him the keys while she still wasn't convinced that he was who he claimed to be, but... she didn't have a choice at this point. She was outvoted. Denying it at this point would just be obstinate for the sake of being obstinate. Chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk! Sylvia didn't seem to want to respond to him, either, as the engine struggled more than usual to turn over. Sunset smiled and lovingly gripped the handle of the door. At least the car seemed to agree with her that something was wrong. "Penn" rubbed at the steering wheel. "If it's the darn fuel pump again, I'm going to lose it..." Chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-VRROOOOOM! The motor finally seemed to catch and whir to life, much to everyone's relief. In a few minutes, they were once again on the road, leaving the cursed mountain behind far behind them.