Your Best Friend
Honestly, it was scary how focused Undyne's mind was.
As in, she only really thought about one thing at a time, but she thought about it with one hundred percent of her attention.
By the time Penn had managed to pull together enough of his consciousness to remember his own name, she had managed to pull her body back together, stagger up onto her feet, and start tracking Frisk. She'd easily dismissed the question of how or why she was alive in favor of resuming her task of stopping Frisk... as soon as she'd managed to stop slamming into the ceiling, running into walls, and falling flat on her face because of her newfound strength.
Honestly, for a short period, he'd been so swept up in her own focus that he had simply hung along for the ride, also unable to ask questions or even differentiate his thoughts from her own. Eventually, enough of his faculties had emerged for him to finally separate their consciousnesses and begin to think for himself.
That, of course, had been the only thing capable of sending Undyne's own train of thought flying off of the tracks.
After a hefty amount of arguing, they'd come to the following conclusion: SOMETHING had brought them together as they both hung at death's door. A human soul had a much higher ability to produce, contain, and utilize determination than a monster's, so Undyne's condition had been reversed as Penn's soul absorbed her excess, allowing her to revive completely. As a result, they were now both stuck in Undyne's body, unable to separate. Undyne's body was shielding his soul from shattering in the outside world, and his soul was keeping her body from overloading from her own determination. It was a symbiosis that was keeping them both alive.
Well, "alive" in a manner of speaking, in Penn's case.
He'd wanted to laugh at the delicious irony as he realized that he was now the advising voice in someone else's head.
Now he was "standing around" in Undyne's head, only able to watch the ongoing events like some kind of outsider. He could get impressions if he focused, phantom pains and sensations, and occasionally a brief moment of lucidity where they seemed to swap roles, usually in a moment of panic or urgency, but...
It was like standing in a dark room. The panic and fear and lack of understanding of what was happening to them tried to draw their attention, crackling and screaming like a chorus of breaking glass, but Undyne's focus kept it all in the dark. The only light was cast on what they were doing here and now, in the moment, and at the moment they were alive and their mission wasn't completed.
Honestly, trying to think about anything OTHER than what Undyne was thinking about felt like working in a fog or going against the current, but he knew he HAD to. Undyne was the single-minded one, but that wasn't his strength. He worked best looking at the big picture, trying to incorporate as many pieces of knowledge at once to find a solution.
That's what I'm best for... remembering. Remembering the details, the important information, the- the...
He would have blinked, if he had eyes of his own. He was confused. He couldn't remember the word he was trying to think of. Every gear in his brain seemed to grind to a halt, he felt the edges of his mind growing blurry.
He was alone. In the dark. Again. Undyne wasn't paying attention to him, she had her mind set on hunting down Frisk. And now he couldn't even think of the right words. He was losing his grip on himself. He felt like someone had taken the dictionary in his head, turned it upside down, and shaken all the words out into a big, jumbled-up pile. He was trying to sort through, but it was just... mess in his head. Her head? Did he even have a head, any more?
He was expecting a voice. This was the place where Reason always slapped some sense into him, just on the precipice of losing control.
But she wasn't there. He couldn't hear her. He could ALWAYS hear her.
The dark was so much darker without her. Dark... darker... yet darker...
✡⚐🕆 💧✌✡ ✡⚐🕆 👎⚐ ☠⚐❄ ☞☜✌☼ ❄☟☜ 👎✌☼😐. ✡⚐🕆 🕈✋☹☹ ☠☜☜👎 ❄☟✌❄.
It was a memory, a message given to him by a friend, but... he couldn't affix a time or place he had ever heard it, nor a face to accompany it. Only the faint scent of chamomile.
☠⚐❄☟✋☠☝ ✋💧 ☹⚐💧❄ ✋☠ ❄☟☜ ✞⚐✋👎. ✋❄ ✋💧 💧✋💣🏱☹✡ ⚐🕆❄ ⚐☞ ☼☜✌👍☟. ⚐☠☜ 💣🕆💧❄ ☜💣👌☼✌👍☜ ☠⚐❄☟✋☠☝ ❄⚐ 💧☜☜ ☜✞☜☼✡❄☟✋☠☝☟.
He knew that they were right. He knew he could trust that old friend.
He tried to take account of himself, seeing clearly the blur at the edges of his mind that he had been fighting.
And he let go.
It was like falling, dissolving away until he didn't exist any more. He felt himself slipping lower and lower, plunging deep into the forgotten and the discarded. He told himself that the dark was nothing to be afraid of. It was a warm embrace, an old friend...
A calm sea.
When he opened his eyes, and he DID have eyes, it was to a world changed.
He was floating underwater, but he could still breathe. He was staring out over a huge, bottomless ocean, with currents and eddies that gently tugged at him, beckoning him along without forcing him to follow. He could see different creatures of every kind swimming through the briny deep, each one with their own purpose, their own direction. Looking up, the surface of the water shimmered just over his head. It took only a thought for him to float up and breach the air, laying eyes on the passing clouds and shining sun.
It was a dreamscape. Undyne's dreamscape. It was practically a blank slate, but... he'd found his way inside.
As far as the eye could see, there was open ocean and a flat horizon... until one spot in the water began to churn. It bubbled and boiled and rolled until the cause became clear: something was rising up from the sea floor. He watched with anticipation as what looked to be a desert island sprung into existence right before his eyes. As he closed the distance the to solitary landmass, he could see a familiar shape rising up at the center. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of a familiar, weather-stripped door on a trashy-looking house. He couldn't resist a smile as he twisted the doorknob and gave it a hard shove with his shoulder, cracking the stubborn door open.
He walked inside, seeing his house exactly as he remembered it, let himself fall into a comfy place on his couch, and grabbed the TV remote.
It was a relief as images and sounds began to flash by, impossibly fast and completely indecipherable, and he felt his mind coming back together. His memories, his words, all of it finally settled into place, and he felt like himself again. He could think properly for the first time in what felt like ages.
The image on the tv finally settled on a first-person view of Undyne chasing down the human child who had killed them both, and he let himself be drawn in, immersing himself in the experience.
"Sorry about that... Had to pull myself together. Cleared out a nice little spot for myself."
"Good!" Undyne declared, hurling another spear in Frisk's direction as they fled further into the MTT Resort. "I could use a hand getting the hang of this power boost!"
"I'll get working on it..."
It didn't take long from there to get the hang of things. Somehow, the teamwork they'd established while they were fighting together had translated well into this new form. Still, trying to figure things out by "feel" wasn't easy... He counted himself lucky that he could lean into Undyne's way of thinking, drawing his attention to the details she might have overlooked.
Honestly, he was more than satisfied that his contribution had been to add a shield to her abilities. They were both a pair of idiots who couldn't care less about protecting themselves if there was somebody else to protect. Now they could claim to be protecting each other. It was far from a well-oiled machine, but that teamwork had managed to not only save them from Frisk, but actually capture them, a feat he would have claimed was impossible a short while earlier.
That had changed when they saw Sunset.
He had barely managed to eke out a warning to Undyne before slipping into shocked silence at what had become of her.
Everything he'd done, trying to protect her, trying to keep her out of all of this... had been for nothing. Even at a distance, they could feel it: Sunset's empathy, her forgiveness, her element... had been flipped on its head. They were staring at a woman who felt nothing but hatred and wanted nothing but revenge. She had more than enough power to overwhelm any creature in this dimension with her sheer presence alone...
And somehow, they were going to have to defend themselves from her wrath while also piercing through to whatever sensible part of her was left.
The question was whether or not their shield and spear were up to the task.
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"S-something's wrong..."
It had been a long time since Asgore had needed to care for a child. It felt like it had been centuries, but instinct picked up instantly when it had needed to when the little angel's eyes rolled back into her head and she dropped from the air.
She had acquired eight of the ten ghostly orbs of light that she claimed would fuel her barrier-shattering spell when she had begun to show the first signs of illness. Her complexion had gone pale as a sheet and her wings began to tremble, barely able to continue holding herself up in the air. She'd only managed to add one more orb before she'd been overcome by the fainting spell, forcing Asgore to catch her.
She groaned and gripped at her head for a moment before her eyes flew open wide. She scrambled wildly to get out of his grip, running to the corner of the room and retching loudly as the contents of her stomach splattered onto the ground.
He carefully approached her, placing his hand on her back and trying his best to soothe her as she vomited onto the floor. He repressed the questions he had about the gratuitous amounts of half-digested candy she had regurgitated, though it may have explained her sickness. "Miss... are you alright?"
She shook her head, gasping for air as she clutched at her stomach. Before Asgore could ask another question, they both felt a tremor pass through the ground, shaking the very earth beneath their feet. In all of the time since Mount Ebott had become their home, there had never been a single recorded instance of an earthquake, they were simply in the wrong part of the world for it to happen, which meant that something had shaken the mountain to its core.
"Y-your majesty! Your majesty!"
He easily recognized Alphys's voice before he saw her burst through the doorway, frantically waving her phone in her hand. She practically fell over herself as she sprinted across the room, forcefully trying to shove the tiny device into his large hands.
"Y-you n-need to see this!"
The timing was inopportune, to say the least, but he knew from her panic that this was a serious matter. He glanced back at the little angel, who seemed to be doing her best not to vomit again as the ghostly orbs drew in close, flickering and threatening to wink out of existence.
"Doctor, tend to her..." he muttered, stepping aside to try and focus on watching the image on the device. His eyes widened as he saw something that should have been impossible.
The Captain of the Royal Guard had undergone a shocking transformation. Undyne had always been one of the hardiest monsters of the underground, but she now possessed what looked like a human soul beating in the center of her chest, one with the "perseverance" attribute. He had personally trained Undyne, and he shuddered to think what kind of warrior that terrifying power would make her. No monster had managed to acquire the power of a human soul since...
On the other hand, her opponent was a human... or, at least, what looked like a human, but... he couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was more to her than met the eye at first glance. There were tiny attributes of monstrous traits scattered across her body, and her magic power was dizzying enough to manifest a representation of her blazing soul outside her body. Even through the screen, he could feel the waves of animosity washing off of her, and he couldn't help but swallow nervously. It was said that the power of a monster with a human soul had no counter, but... if one existed, he could believe he was looking right at it.
Undyne was pacing in a wide arc, ready and alert, while the human was standing perfectly still in a ready position, the picture of stoic poise. Whatever signal to attack passed between them, it was too fast for him to see before they had both rushed in. Undyne was wielding one of her spears with both hands, using it to counter the human's glowing red sword. When the two weapons collided, the image flickered and distorted with static. A second later, another tremor rumbled through the ground, followed by what sounded like a clap of thunder. His eyes widened as he realized that the shock wave had managed to reverberate through the entire mountain.
The two combatants stared into one another's eyes for a second as their weapons ground against one another in a screech like the sound of claws on a chalkboard. Again, he couldn't even make out the signal that they had given to move again, but each took only a step back before both unleashing a furious flurry of blows that could barely be tracked with the naked eye. The camera recording them seemed to finally fail completely, reducing the screen to static as the world began to tremble.
Right now, he was certain that the monsters outside would be frightened. There were already too many reasons for them to be frightened, their world had already metaphorically crumbled to pieces, and this would only add to it.
He looked to the pair in the corner, where Alphys was gently feeling at the angel's forehead and taking careful measurements. Caring for her was a doctor's job... the king was required elsewhere.
"Doctor Alphys... see to it that the angel receives everything she needs... I'll make certain the monsters outside are safe."
"Y-Yes, sir! A-a-absolutely!" Alphys stuttered, snapping to a salute, then a bow, then a curstey before finally settling on a respectful lowering of her head.
Asgore forced himself to smile as he handed back her phone, seeing the instant reassurance it gave the nervous scientist. He paused, trying to think of some reassuring words for the little angel. Before he could speak, however, she took the initiative, forcing herself to smile and giving him a trembling thumbs-up.
"I- I'll do it..." she stuttered. "I w-won't d-disappoint them..."
For just a second, Asgore didn't see an angel... he saw a child. His child, another child who had once been thought to be the prophesied angel and called the hope of the underground. He fell to one knee, half to address her and half from the sheer pain of the memory. He reached behind her head, pressing her burning forehead to his own as he felt a tear escape the corner of his eye.
"I'm sorry... to place this burden on your shoulders..." he whispered.
She chuckled in a melancholy way. "Duel spirits d-don't shy away when we n-need to fight. We play to the last c-card."
Asgore felt his heart break further, wanting nothing more than to simply pick up this child and protect her until this danger had passed. Unfortunately, both of them had their duties, and he could neglect his no longer.
"Stay safe, child..." he muttered before releasing her. Without allowing himself to dawdle a moment longer, he passed through the door to the garden, leaving to address his subjects.
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"Penn, this would be a great time to start speaking up again..." Undyne muttered, gritting her teeth as she slid to a stop. The stone floor beneath their feet had been reduced to a thick layer of fine gravel, making it harder and harder over time for her to get her footing solid. "I'm open to id-"
She was cut off as Sunset pushed off again, closing the distance in less than a heartbeat.
The two of them were moving so fast, it was like the rest of the world had fallen into slow motion. She could see stalactites falling and ages-old dust being shaken loose from its hidden places while they fought, all falling with a slowness that gave the entire fight a surreal feeling. Undyne reached out, snatching a fresh spear as it materialized. She gripped the end with both hands, swinging with all of her strength to meet Sunset's blade. As the two weapons collided, there was a flash of blinding light and a crackle of energy, momentarily blinding her. She could sense that something had changed, though, as her spear continued to swing forward after the impact, the resistance lasting only a moment. Her eyes widened as she spotted a red glow in the corner of her vision and felt the slap of Sunset's hair against her face. She had taken the force of the impact and used it to twirl in mid-air, an instant second attack from the opposite direction.
She released her grip with her right hand, focusing her energy on the ground she was standing on and pulling upwards. Heavy-looking pillars of light erupted from beneath the gravel all around her, forming a ring of vertical spears around her. The saber was caught halfway through, coming close enough to leave a stinging burn on the fin on the side of her head.
Sunset was completely unperturbed, placing her foot against the cage and pushing off into a backflip as she pulled her sword free. As she was landing, Undyne could see the hint of a smile playing at her lips before her attention was drawn to the cracking noise above her.
"Aw, nuts..." she muttered as she saw the pillar of stone about to crash on her head, carved free by the ring of spears that had stabbed who-knew-how-far into the rock above her. She leaned back as far as she could, lowering the spears behind her as her shield-bearing arm came up for a heavy haymaker. The edge of the metal shield dug into the stone from the side, splitting off the bottom few feet into a disk of bedrock weighing several tons. Below the shield, her fist impacted the gigantic puck and pushed it forward, sending the boulder rocketing at Sunset. She followed through on the motion, swinging her arm in its socket hard enough to nearly pull it loose and raising it just in time to repeat the attack. She let loose a roar as she felt her arm threatening to fly off, but she refused to stop until the pillar was gone, having never touched the ground before being turned into improvised projectiles.
Undyne panted for breath as she stared at the pile of rocks that had once been Sunset Shimmer. There was no sign of red light in the room, having transitioned back to Waterfall's typical shades of blue and green. "Dodge... that..."
"Is that the best you've got?" Sunset's voice growled, echoing off of the walls of the cave in every direction.
"Wha-" Undyne snapped her head back and forth, trying to find some sign of her. It was only when she saw a glowing ember floating down in front of her face that she remembered Penn's earlier warning. Her head snapped up as she readied her shield. Sunset was like a smoldering wraith, only a few glowing embers and the light in her eyes allowing Undyne to make out her form propped up inside the pitch-black hole she had punched in the ceiling.
She switched off the saber to get a sneak attack on us!
FZZT! The saber hissed as it switched on again, Sunset already swinging it wildly as she fell through the air. Undyne raised her shield (something she was growing more and more grateful to have as time went on), allowing Sunset to land on it feet-first. Every bone in her body strained as Sunset used her defenses as a springboard, launching her towards the still-captured Frisk with her saber at the ready.
"NO!"
Another of the glowing shields appeared in mid-air, slamming into Sunset's face and sending her tumbling to the ground. Undyne rushed over, holding a spear to the human girl's throat. There was a second of silence as the two of them heaved to catch their breath, each one staring the other in the eyes.
"Yield..." Undyne muttered. "I can explain everything... if we can just talk..."
Sunset's smile sent chills down her spine, even from her helpless position. "If you're THAT smart, you'd watch your back more... But I guess you're pretty lousy at watching people's backs, huh?"
"Undyne, behind you!"
Undyne didn't need Penn's warning to know she was in danger. Turning back, her blood ran cold as she saw what Sunset had been referring to.
The wild swinging of her saber a moment ago had left large crescents of red energy hanging in the air, strikes seemingly frozen in time, waiting to be called upon. One by one, those frozen strikes began to rotate, each turning to point at her before launching off in a flurry of burning projectiles.
Undyne called up her own attack, sending a whirlwind of brightly glowing green spears to intercept. It was a sloppy counterattack, though, a "spray and pray" approach had been all she'd had time to summon. Three of the blazing arcs managed to make it through. The first one struck her across her chest, causing her torso to explode with searing pain. The second struck her across her lower legs, forcing her to her knees as she cried out in pain. In the haze of red and pain, she wasn't sure which of them managed to do it, but their shield raised to protect her from the third, barely blocking it from taking off her head at the neck.
She sat there for a second, trying to bring the pain under control, even as she could feel her armor glowing red-hot in the places it had been struck, threatening to sear itself to her skin with one wrong move.
Everything fell into a blur for several seconds as the heat and pain enveloped all of Undyne's senses. She wasn't sure whether or not the blows had been fatal, but the sheer malice and hatred behind them was enough to make her head spin. Suddenly, Penn's evaluation of not being able to withstand her attacks made more sense. She closed her eyes, taking several seconds to try and get her body to obey her again. She knew she needed to move before Sunset could land a killing blow herself...
Things were getting dark.
She needed to move...
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When she opened them, she was already up and on her feet, add she and Sunset were both holding a blade to the other's throat in a standstill. Her shield had been ripped in two, the edges of the tear still glowing red-hot as half of it clattered to the ground.
How did I-
"Sorry, you blacked out from the pain, so I took over for a few seconds..." Penn's voice answered.
About time you got in this fight...
"Again, sorry. Sunset kinda scared me beyond the capacity for rational thought."
Undyne took a moment to examine the fresh stalemate she had found herself in. Sunset had the tip of the lightsaber pressed to her throat, but Undyne had not only the spear in her hand, but several more floating in the air behind Sunset's back, ready to do their work if she so much as twitched a muscle. It helped that Undyne had several inches of reach advantage over Sunset, as well. More spears were floating in from every angle, eventually pinning Sunset in place in all three dimensions.
If the pain was enough to make ME black out, how did YOU-
"I learned a lot about pain tolerance from an immortal witch. That wasn't the worst I've dealt with."
Undyne raised an eyebrow as she stepped back, away and out of Sunset's reach. Remind me to ask you for THAT story some time...
"Ready to go back in?"
Undyne nodded, and soon found herself back in control of her aching body. She felt like she could barely stand, but she forced herself to keep up the appearance of strength.
"Now..." she huffed. "Will you give me... five minutes... to explain?"
Sunset's face settled back into a scowl as her eyes rolled from side to side, taking in the full extent of her situation. Even with this much insurance that she couldn't break free, Undyne felt a touch of fear when Sunset locked her eyes back on her.
"I don't want your excuses..." she muttered. With those words came a fresh wave of blistering heat that slammed into Undyne face-first, causing her to cringe and step back. When she was able to look back at her prisoner again, Undyne felt her jaw drop.
"Is... is that POSSIBLE?"
"Looks like it..." she whispered.
The spears were melting. Undyne reached out, trying to fortify them with magic, but it was like trying to inflate a popped balloon. The magic dissolved away as fast as she could provide it.
"What I WANT is to make that thing-" she pointed to Frisk with her saber, stepping through the dissolved spears with hardly more than a flinch, "to PAY for what they did to my friend. Instead, you're protecting them!" She turned the blade back to Undyne, continuing her advance. "I can't think of a single thing that could justify that!"
"Undyne, I've got an idea, but it's a long shot... You ever read "The Lightning Thief?"
Undyne raised her hand, readying a fresh spear and hurling it at Sunset, only to watch it dissolve into glowing smoke in her blazing aura.
Just DO IT!
Undyne found herself once again falling into the lightheaded feeling of her body being possessed. Her hands raised into a defensive position as she began to shakily walk backwards.
"O-Okay, I know it doesn't SEEM like there's any possible good reason, Sunny, but-"
"GRRRAAAAAH!" Sunset didn't give Penn a chance to finish, rushing forward with her saber readied for a piercing attack. Undyne could only watch as she fruitlessly raised the remains of her shield, the tip of the blade easily piercing through the metal and lunging for her head. Somehow, Penn still smiled at this, yanking the shield to the side and taking the blade with it. There was a strange sense of detachment from the pain as the tip nicked at her left fin, but she was just happy not to have her head on a skewer. As they leaned back to dodge the attack, Undyne felt her sense of balance give out completely as they surrendered to gravity, pulling Sunset with them. There was a moment of weightlessness as they all fell off of the path, sparing only a second to throw Sunset further behind them, and then the entire word became muted as they crashed into one of Waterfall's many pools of water.
What are you doing? We can't just swim away and leave... Frisk... behind- Oh, that is GOOD... Undyne's train of thought trailed off as her battered armor dragged them deeper and deeper, washing them in dark, icy goodness from every angle, reaching every ache and pain of her body and washing them all away. She shuddered with pleasure as the stresses of the battle seemed to all dissolve away, and the cold seemed to bring the vigor back into her overworked muscles. At the same time, the water washing over her gills felt like a huge gulp of fresh air, the kind of deep satisfaction that lungs just couldn't give.
"I had a feeling water might heal us, or at least help us get our second wind. Looks like I was right."
Penn, I'd call you a genius if it weren't for one thing.
"What's that?"
Why didn't SHE stay to fight the kid instead of you?
"Oh, SHUT UP! She was busy saving Missy! You know, if it wasn't for me, you'd be a McDonald's Fish Fillet by now!"
Undyne snickered as she watched her own hands undo the clasps and buckles on her ruined armor, letting it sink away and out of sight so they could swim up to the surface. As she ascended, she could just make out Sunset's form hauling herself out of the water.
Swimming had always been Undyne's preferred, if VERY limited, way of traveling, and she was VERY good at it. There were few monsters in the underground that could even attempt keep up with her. She had always taken to it, well, like a fish to water. (Sans had never let that pun go after the first time she'd taught a lesson to the guards in water-based combat. On an unrelated note, it had also been the LAST time she'd taught the guards about water-based combat.)
Now, she hesitated to even call what she was doing "swimming." It was flying. She wasn't just moving through the water, the water was moving WITH her, pushing her along at breakneck speeds in a current that seemed to exist only for her. She made a mental note that she NEEDED to do this more when all was said and done, she knew she could break every record she'd ever set.
It was child's play for her to breach the surface with enough force to soar over Sunset's head, landing easily on her feet and grinning wide. She reached out her hand, taking hold of a fresh spear before planting it in the ground and giving Sunset a cocky grin.
"So, ready for Round Two?"
Sunset gave them a fresh glare, but Undyne smiled as she realized that her fiery aura had been substantially quenched. She gripped the handle of her saber with both hands, flicking the switch to turn it back on, but received only a series of sparks and pops in response. She felt a bubble of satisfaction rise up in the back of her mind from Penn's consciousness.
"Looks like she didn't manage to switch it off before our little swim... Lightsabers short out if you turn them on underwater."
"Nice touch..." Undyne whispered. "All according to keikaku, right?"
"Well, I have it from a reliable source that 'keikaku' means 'plan' sooo... yeah."
They watched as Sunset growled in frustration before screeching and flinging the empty handle to the side. She forced herself up onto her feet, her drenched hair falling all across her face and shoulders as she settled into a fighting stance, bare hands at the ready.
"Right... She's a black belt. I forgot... Am I the only one thinking this looks like 'The Grudge' mixed with 'The Karate Kid?'"
"Focus, Penn... This isn't over..." Undyne muttered.
Sunset only had the chance to take one step forward, however, before the entire battlefield seemed to explode into blue.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Papyrus's voice cut through the air as he raced onto the battlefield, situating himself between the two of them. He turned to face Sunset, his arms held out to block her from advancing any further.
"Sunset Shimmer, I understand how much pain you're in right now, but Undyne is our FRIEND, and I won't let my friends hurt each other any more, not after everything we've already lost today!"
Sunset seemed unmoved by Papyrus's declaration. She attempted to move through his blue attack, only to hiss in pain as the magic burned at her skin.
"I'M CERTAIN THAT UNDYNE HAS A VERY GOOD REASON WHY SHE'S TAKING THE HUMAN ALIVE..." Mettaton added from the sidelines, where he'd wrapped his flexible metal arms tight around Frisk to keep them from escaping in the confusion. "AND I, FOR ONE, WOULD LIKE TO HEAR IT!"
"I don't CARE!" Sunset snarled, forcing herself to move in spite of the magic. She made it several steps before collapsing to her knees. Undyne could feel the overwhelming sadness Penn was experiencing watching her in such a state. "SHE LEFT PENN! SHE LET HIM DIE AND THEN SHE JUST LEFT HIM THERE- GAAH!" She cried out as she tried to move again, causing everyone present to cringe for her sake.
Undyne took a deep breath. She wasn't one for helping people through this kind of thing, empathy wasn't her wheelhouse by a long shot, but... it needed to be done.
"Paps... let her go."
Papyrus spun around, eyes wide as he stared at her in disbelief. "Undyne, she'll-"
"Nothing she can do to me would be more painful than what she's feeling right now... Let her go."
Papyrus swallowed nervously before nodding. The blue bone-shaped magic retreated back into the floor. This time, Sunset didn't move except to weakly pound her fist against the ground over and over. Undyne forced herself to close the distance between them. She fell to one knee, reaching out to the girl and gently placing her hand on her shoulder.
"Sunny-"
"DON'T CALL ME- Sunset cut herself off with a gasp of shock, staring at Undyne as if she had seen a ghost. Judging from the soft glow of the geode around her neck, Undyne suspected that she'd finally seen the truth they'd been trying to tell her all along:
"I'm right here, Sunny..."
Sunset stared for another few seconds, tears welling up to overflowing almost instantly before she planted herself face-first in Undyne's shoulder. Undyne didn't need to signal the swap, Penn's soul naturally taking over in the moment to give her a bone-straining hug.
"WHAT... JUST HAPPENED?" Mettaton asked, being the first to break the silence after nearly a full minute of Sunset sobbing into Undyne's shoulder.
"That's... going to be easier to explain with Alphys's help." Undyne stated, finally breaking the hug in favor of a comforting arm around Sunset's shoulders. "We-"
Everyone paused as another tremor ran through the mountain, this one bigger than all the rest. Undyne was instantly alert, watching for signs of a cave-in or any other structural damage their battle had caused, but smiles from Papyrus and Sunset were enough to tell her that, wherever it was, this one was planned.
"WAIT, DOES THAT MEAN THAT MISSY..." Mettaton trailed off, sounding as if he could scarcely believe his own words.
"Missy what?" Undyne raised an eyebrow. "Come on, don't leave me out of the loop-"
That was when she felt it: a change in the air, as if a long-held tension had snapped. Everything felt... lighter, like a pressure all around them had finally been released. There was no mistaking the feeling, even if she had lived her entire life without it.
"They- did they use- to- Oh Ra, that is BRILLIANT! Never in a thousand years would I have thought of..." Penn trailed off into incomprehensible ramblings and cheering in the back of her head as Undyne's realization dominated all other thoughts.
The barrier was gone.
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Sith/Discorded mode deactivate?
10454788
Cooldown_hug.exe successful, sithset.exe shutting down...
Okay, that's one problem taken care of, but we still need to stop Frisk!
Awesome! I'm glad Pap stepped in, sunset probably would have caused a cave in with her sheer power. I wonder how they'll have penn get his body back, considering, you know, the big hole in it.
Wrestling the timeline from frisk should be both simple and unnecessary at this point. At least, that is if the power only works in that one universe. Maybe sunny will get some cool new power from taking it anyway.
Your best friend ;p
...
Your worst nightmare.
10454832
And Flowey, don't forget about him.
I just realized that I am following this epic tier story but I have yet to like it, this has been remedied
10454832
I dunno, he seems pretty comprehensively stopped to me...
"Penn's spirit is in here with me." Seven words. That's all it would have taken to shut this down. Gods I hate it when people draw out drama by having characters ignore explaining stuff which would instantly resolve the problem.
10457530
You're probably right...
But the idea of "Sunset vs Penndyne" was too good for me to pass up with a peaceful and logical solution like I did at the end of the Portal arc.
Why do I think Penn's soul fusing to Undyne is W.D. Gaster's doing somehow?
10490588
Who?
10490702
Pen is now officially the man with 4 souls!
1-Penn
2-Reason
3-Noir
4-Undyne