The Multiverse in a Nutshell

by Pennington Inkwell


The Shining Beacon

Together, the three of them made their way into an arena-like building where the rest of the students had gathered.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" a blonde-haired girl called, waving enthusiastically to her.

For a moment, Ruby's face lit up with recognition before turning back to the two of them. "Oh! Hey, I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!"

In her pocket, Sunset felt her phone beginning to buzz.

"You are receiving a call from Elijah."

Sunset looked at Jaune as she shoved her hand in her pocket. "I'll be right back!" He stuttered some kind of response, but Sunset had to ignore it. She hurried back out of the room before finally picking up her phone. "Hey Penn, what's up?"

"Hey, Sunset! Good news: I've almost got the old tie rod out. After that, I'll have the rest of the day for making dinner! With all that time I should be able to make something special, any requests?"

Sunset felt a twinge of guilt. I guess Isis didn't tell him about the plan...

"Um, well, the thing is... I'm not coming back tonight."

There was a long pause, and Sunset could almost SEE the faces he was making through the phone as he processed the new information.

"I'm sorry?"

Sunset cringed slightly. She was still mad at him, but she was beginning to see just how little she had thought this plan through before jumping into it. "Isis... enrolled me at Beacon Academy. Whatever bad things are going to happen, I'm going to try to stop them from the inside."

There was the sound of what Sunset could only guess was a skull colliding with the underside of the Oldsmobile, then a long period of silence after that. Long enough for Sunset to pull her phone away to double-check that the call hadn't been dropped.

"Let me get this straight. Sunset, MY FRIEND... You decided to go enroll at a battle school for hunting monsters. Without telling me. While also leaving me in a forest full of those SAME monsters? His voice was quickly escalating to shriller and shriller pitches as a mix of panic and rage set in.

"O-okay, I'll admit I should have told-"

"And you also took... our ONLY WEAPON... WITH YOU?"

Sunset paused. "The lightsaber isn't our ONLY weapon, is it? What about the-" Sunset cut herself off before she mentioned the portal gun and opened herself up to correction. For all its utility, it was useless in a fight without a surface covered in moon rocks. "Well, what about-" she cut herself off again, remembering that Missy was the one carrying her own cards, now.

"I. Have. A. [BEEEEEP!] SOCKET WRENCH!"

There was a loud clatter before she was left listening to a dial tone.

"Isis... did you censor that?"

"Affirmative."

"Thanks."

For a few seconds, Sunset genuinely considered going back. Suddenly, she felt a lot worse about leaving Penn to fend for himself. "Isis, is he going to be safe out there?"

"It is a known phenomena that negativity attracts the creatures of Grimm. I shall do my best to protect him with the repair unit on hand, but his ability to keep a low profile will depend entirely upon his ability to control his mental state."

"In other words, it's really impossible to guarantee he'll be safe..." Missy added through her earpiece. I could go back for the night, but... Well, there's a 100% chance you're going to be in danger here. You're going to need me more."

Sunset glanced around, somewhat confused. "How am I in danger? It's a school, what could happen?"

"Well, tomorrow you're getting catapulted off a cliff without a parachute as your first training exercise."

It was Sunset's turn to take an excessive amount of time to process information.

"I'm WHAT?"

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Isis couldn't help but note that it took a significant amount of time for Elijah to calm down again. Generally, his anger would be fervent, but short-lived. He described it as "burning itself out," an apt metaphor. This time, however, he seemed to cycle several times between calm and enraged, never fully resting for nearly an hour.

"I just... can't believe she thinks this is okay!" he stated from underneath the car. He had not emerged for 45 minutes and 37 seconds, a personal record for staying underneath the car without leaving for tools or fresh air. Isis was beginning to believe that he was staying in there despite a lack of productivity.

"I can assure you that she does not consider the situation acceptable. She merely did not realize the full repercussions of her actions."

"Exactly! We had one argument, and she left me for dead without a second thought! What kind of 'friend' does that?"

"You are exaggerating her actions to suit the narrative that you are the victim here."

"WHAT?"

"Sunset took what she was considering to be a moral stand to defend Beacon Academy, placing herself in peril without fully understanding the extent of the danger she would be in. A moral stand, I would add, that aligns with your actions in the past to save the planet together. Splitting the party was YOUR idea to exclude yourself from that cause. Despite appearances to the contrary, YOU left HER."

As he gathered his faculties for a counterargument, Isis picked up the sound of rustling leaves and snapping branches. She swiveled her head for a perimeter scan, picking up three instances of the werewolf-like creatures of Grimm known as Beowolves. Hulking, brutish pitch-black monsters with bony protrusions and fanged white masks fused with their canine heads. They were sniffing at the air, exhibiting the behavior congruent with catching the "scent" of negative emotions. In a fraction of a second, she had analyzed their assets and devised a tentative plan.

"Danger! Grimm sighted! Please retreat entirely beneath the car!"

"WHAT?"

"Three beowolves. Hide beneath the car, I shall attempt to draw them away."

Elijah's legs frantically kicked and turned, laying him completely under the car and out of sight. If the Grimm picked up on emotions utilizing the same orifice they used for picking up physical scents, Isis surmised that the scent of motor oil from the puddle he was now laying in would overpower all other scents, both literal and supernatural.

Step two was to draw them away from any lingering signs of his presence with a distraction. Her loudest tool in this unit was a spot welder in the tip of the tail, and she diverted a greater portion of energy to her central processor, causing it to glow bright pink and flicker on and off. With both auditory and visual distractions in effect, she took to the air and flew her way around each instance of Grimm to draw their attention. Dodging their swipes was child's play, and she soon had gathered the entire pack behind her to give chase. After one more lap around the campsite, she began to fly in the opposite direction of Beacon Academy. The minimum safe distance was unknown, so she would settle for either ten miles or when the monsters began to show signs of exhaustion, whichever came first.

Meanwhile, underneath the car, another integrated unit was engaged: Elijah's cellular phone. "Are they gone?"

"Affirmative. However, I would ask you to remain hidden until the repair unit can return and re-establish a perimeter of surveillance."

He gave a long sigh, but showed no signs of disagreement, even in the cramped and dirty conditions. "Well, since it LOOKS like we're going to be here for a while thanks to Sunset, I might as well catch up... Isis, bring up RWBY. Start with Volume 1, Episode 1, we'll see just how long I can marathon it until I can't stand it any more."

"Affirmative."

"Oh, and by the way, for someone who claims not to be taking a side, you're REALLY taking a certain somebody's side in all this..." he hissed under his breath.

"Negative. I am merely presenting facts in context."

"Right. Just start the stupid show..."

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Stepping back into the auditorium, Sunset found herself fighting against a tide of other students leaving the room.

"Wait, is it over already?"

"I'm afraid so! The headmaster focused on keeping things brief," a chipper voice responded. Sunset turned, finding herself staring at another new face. This girl was tall, dressed in bronze armor and with the reddest red hair she had ever seen. Her weapon's colors matched, a circular bronze shield clipped to her back and a short red spear at her side. Despite her intimidating appearance, she gave Sunset a friendly smile. "I could fill you in on what you missed, if you like!"

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that..." Sunset chuckled and rubbed at the back of her head. "I got a call from a friend of mine that I just HAD to take, but it didn't really end well. This first day is a real roller coaster." She held out her hand to the girl. "I'm Sunset Shimmer."

The other girl happily took her hand in a bone-crunching handshake. "I'm Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos!"

Penn's words came rushing back to the forefront of her mind. Penny? Dead. Pyrrha? Dead. Torchwick? Dead.

This girl... is going to die?

Pyrrha seemed to notice Sunset's trepidation, as her happy expression faltered for a moment. "I'm sorry... is something wrong?"

Sunset blinked and shook her head. "No! Sorry, just- I thought your name sounded familiar, that's all!"

"Oh! Well, I hope my reputation hasn't given you any reason to worry?"

Sunset shook her head, forcing her aching hand vigorously up and down to make up for the bad impression. "No! Not at all, it's a real pleasure!" The enthusiastic handshake seemed to reassure Pyrrha, who gave her another warm smile.

"Well, all that you missed was an... interesting speech from the headmaster, and the announcement that we'll all be sleeping together in the ballroom tonight before initiation tomorrow!" She smiled and gestured around to the mass of students exiting together. "Until then, the rest of the day is our own!"

Sunset nodded to herself before a thought sunk in. "Oh no! I didn't bring my sleeping bag! And I don't think I'd be too welcome to go get it right now..."

"Well, I suppose if you need it, you could borrow one of mine! I brought a spare!"

"Really?" Sunset was surprised at the sudden kindness from this girl she had just met. "Are you sure?"

"Oh, it's no trouble at all!" Pyrrha reassured her. "If you still need it, come find me later tonight!" With that, she gave a small wave and turned to leave.

Sunset couldn't find it in her heart to believe anyone would want this girl dead. It just... didn't make sense! She needed to know more. Luckily, she knew how to get more information quickly.

"Hey, Pyrrha, one more thing-" Sunset reached out and tapped on her shoulder, this time reaching out with her magic.

It was like watching a montage of battles, one after another. Every single one was a victory for Pyrrha, dominating the competition. Tournaments, monsters, it didn't matter what she was fighting or why, she would always give it her all, and her all was enough and more to win. She could see a city by the sea filled with people who adored her, urging her to attend the schools of their choice when she was nearing the end of her training, but she already had one in mind: Beacon Academy. Sunset could see the fame and renown that came with constant victory, photo shoots, endorsements, people recognizing her as the untouchable warrior... and the distance it put between her and the rest of the world, with her reputation far outpacing her ability to meet and connect with people.

Pyrrha Nikos was practically invincible on the battlefield, but a gentle soul who couldn't seem to connect properly with others. Sunset found herself only more confounded, now not only failing to understand why someone would want to kill her, but how it could be done at all.

And then she was back in the present, Pyrrha giving her the odd look that people usually gave her when she was done "zoning out" to read a memory.

"Yes?"

"I... I just wanted to ask if you had any plans for the rest of the day? Because I'd really appreciate having a friend to hang around with."

Pyrrha pondered the question for only a moment before giving Sunset an positively radiant smile. "Of course! I would be happy to have your company, Sunset!"

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The rest of the day consisted mostly of hanging around Pyrrha as they explored the campus of Beacon Academy. Occasionally she would spot Ruby or Jaune and give them a friendly wave, but each of them were too involved in their own business to join them. Not that she minded. Pyrrha was plenty of company, herself. As the day went on, however, Sunset couldn't help but rely more and more on Isis to answer questions.

"So, Sunset, where are you from?"

"Vacuo. It is a desert region populated by nomadic tribes."

"Vacuo. I was part of a tribe there..." she paused for a second. "I hated it there, refused to pick up on any of the local slang or customs. The first chance I had to get out, I took without looking back."

"You... you stole Penn's Texas backstory!" Missy snickered in her ear. "Smooth!"

"Vacuo can be a harsh environment, but... could you really hate your home THAT much?" Pyrrha looked at her with a mix of concern and curiosity. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry!"

Sunset waved away her concerned. "Don't be. I could fit everything I needed in the trunk of a car, so why worry?"

"Everything except a sleeping bag?"

The two of them shared a chuckle at that.

"The only regret is... that I lost track of most of my friends." She let out a long sigh. "And the one that I've been traveling with, I think I might have just alienated by choosing to come here."

"That phone call that you said didn't go so well?"

"Yeah. That was him." She shook her head. "But- he wants to just live and let live, like the way things are going to be is set in stone and doing anything to change it would be a crime! But I can't just stand by while people get hurt or die knowing I could have done something!" She shook her head.

Pyrrha nodded, looking up at the tower at Beacon's center. "A lot of people think that destiny is something immovable, unchanging. Personally, I don't see it that way. I don't think destiny is something inescapable, it's more like a goal, something you strive towards that you set for yourself. And if you give everything to make it happen, you are what makes it an unstoppable force."

"I... think I like that better than Penn's way of thinking."

The rest of the day passed quickly, and soon everyone had retired to the ballroom, where there was a veritable sea of sleeping bags and pajamas spread across the floor. Thanks to Pyrrha's generosity, she was soon trying to scope out a place of her own to lay down a sleeping bag. Thankfully, she found an open place next to a familiar face and black bow.

"Hello again, Blake! It's good to see you!"

Blake, who had her nose buried in a book, looked up briefly before giving her a nod of acknowledgement.

"Sunset."

She remembered my name! That's a good sign, right?

"What are you reading, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's... a book about a man with two souls, both of them fighting for control over his body. I'm really enjoying it."

Sunset picked up on the less-than-subtle hint that she wanted to be left to her reading, but decided to ignore it. "You know, that sounds a lot like another story I heard about from a friend of mine. It's got a bit more of a sci-fi twist to it, though. He never published it, but if you want, I could try to get the manuscript for you."

An unpublished manuscript. It was the kind of offer that would usually have Twilight drooling. Blake seemed somewhat more resistant to the temptation, but she lowered her book ever-so-slightly to look directly at her. "That's... awfully nice of you."

"Ah, think nothing of it!" Sunset unrolled her sleeping bag in the empty space beside Blake. "It's the least I can do after you helped show me around."

"I left after five minutes." Blake narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Well, I did say it was the LEAST I could do." Sunset smirked as she slipped halfway inside the sleeping bag.

"HELLOOOOO!"

Both of them looked up to see a girl with long gold-colored hair strutting towards them with Ruby in tow. She gestured to the smaller girl, who did not look happy to have been dragged along. "I believe you two may know each other?"

"'Sup, Ruby?"

"Hey, Sunset..."

Blake finally seemed to give up on reading, placing a small bookmark and closing the cover. "Aren't you that girl that exploded?"

"Uh, yeah!" Ruby reached out for a handshake. "My name's Ruby, but you can just call me 'Crater...' uhh... actually, you can just call me 'Ruby.'"

"Okay..." Blake replied, clearly unsure what to make of the situation.

After waiting a moment, Sunset reached out and took her hand to give it a quick shake so her new friend wasn't left hanging. "I don't think Blake does the whole 'handshake' thing."

"What are you doing?" the gold-haired hissed.

"I don't know, help me!" Ruby replied.

"Sooo... I'm guessing you're Blake," she pointed correctly at her target, "And YOU must be Sunset!"

"That's right!" Sunset's smile was a little forced. Just as she had managed to start to get through Blake's tough exterior, this girl's overbearing personality had shut her right down again.

"Well, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister!" She looked between the two of them before turning back to Blake. "I like your bow!"

"Thanks..."

"It goes great with youuuurr.... pajamas!"

The compliment was shallow and clearly thought up on the spot. It was clear that she was trying to break the ice while standing on a glacier.

"Riiight." Blake reached over to her book, cracking it back open again. There was a moment of awkward silence between the four of them where she and Ruby exchanged knowing glances. Sunset silently mimed opening and closing a book with her hands while nodding towards Blake, trying to send Ruby a clue.

"Nice night, don't you think?" Yang continued, showing all the social finesse of a bear overturning a kitchen table covered in bowls of porridge.

"Yes, it's lovely," Blake replied. "Almost as lovely as this book." She paused there to wait for the hint to set in. It didn't. "That I will continue to read..." Yang continued looking expectantly at her, clearly missing or ignoring the point. "As soon as you leave."

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause..." Yang muttered, turning towards Sunset. Just before she could make another attempt to brute-force a conversation with her new target, Ruby finally spoke up for herself.

"What's it about?"

"Huh?" Blake looked up one more time, her attention barely snagged by the new voice.

"Your book! Does it have a name?"

"Well, it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

"Oh yeah... that's real lovely..." Yang rolled her eyes, but Ruby stepped forward, looking eager to hear more.

"I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters... They're one of the reasons I wanna be a huntress."

"Why is that? Hoping to live happily ever after?" Blake replied. Sunset suspected that this was the most engaged the girl in black had been in a conversation all day. Sunset smiled wider and settled into her sleeping bag, content with her small role in helping make the connection between the two.

"Well, I'm hoping we all will!" Ruby replied. "As a girl, I wanted to be JUST like those heroes in the books! Someone who fought for what was right and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"

Blake lowered her book more, setting it face-up on her lap. "That's very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

Real world? Oh Blake, if you'd seen the things I've seen... Sunset thought to herself with a huff and a smirk.

"Well, that's why we're here! To make it better."

"Oooh! I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang reached over and grabbed Ruby, picking her up off the ground in a massive bear hug. Ruby instantly began to kick and squirm in opposition.

"Cut it out!"

What ensued was a short-but-noisy brawl between the sisters. Sunset and Blake glanced at one another, each confounded by the sudden violence. Sunset shrugged as if to say "Must be a sibling thing," and Blake nodded in reply.

"Ruby, Yang, it's a pleasu-"

Seemingly out of nowhere, Weiss appeared, looking as furious as usual. "What in the world is going on over here?" Don't you realize some of us are trying to SLEEP?" After a moment, she and Yang locked eyes, apparently recognizing one another.

"OH, NOT YOU AGAIN!" they shouted in sync.

"Shh! Guys, she's right, people are trying to sleep!" Ruby interjected, inserting herself between the two of them.

"Oh, NOW you're on my side!"

"I was ALWAYS on your side!"

As the argument grew more heated, Sunset watched Blake roll her eyes, set down her book, and pick up their light source: a three-candle candelabra.

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a HAZARD to my health!"

Blake blew on the candles, extinguishing all light and decisively cutting the argument short.

"Well, at least SOMEONE around here appreciates a good night's sleep!" Weiss's voice muttered in the dark.

"Oh, go sit on a glacier, Ice Queen..." Yang's voice replied.

"How DARE you!"

"Can we please all just go get some sleep for tomorrow?" Ruby's voice begged.

With the unmistakable non-sound of several pouts that Sunset was sure were there, the three sets of footsteps walked away, punctuated by the occasional indignant squeak of someone being stepped on. Sunset was relatively certain at least two of those squeaks were Jaune. After a few seconds of sitting in silent darkness, however, a thought came to mind.

"Hey, Blake? Can I borrow your book? I like to read a little under the covers sometimes to help me relax..."

There was a sound of shuffling in the dark, and Sunset felt the hard covers of a book being pressed into her hands.

"Don't lose my place."

"Got it! Thank you, Blake!" she whispered before pulling her phone out of her pocket and the sleeping bag over her head. With the light of her phone's screen, she opened to the first page.

Long ago, someone decided to coin a phrase to substitute for the term "indecisive": Being "of two minds" about things. Indeed, the human mind and soul could be said to be at odds with one another on many an occasion in an individual's life, and even within these camps there are many an opposing view. Emotion grapples with logic, love with fear, the needs of the many and the needs of the individual, all are "two minds" that a man must keep in one soul.

It was these hundreds of twos that paralyzed Oliver on a daily basis, locking him in place at even the smallest of decisions. This, however, was to be only the start of his problems-

Her reading was interrupted by a sudden change in the light, flashing on and off. She quickly picked it up, only to realize Isis had been silently letting her know she had a call coming in. She swallowed hard as she saw the name on the caller ID: Penn. She took a deep breath and tapped the button to accept the call.

"Heeeey, Penn..." she whispered, trying not to make enough noise to escape the sleeping bag.

"Fine."

Sunset blinked, feeling like she was missing something, here. "Fine?"

"Fine, I'll help you." His tone was somewhere between a growl and a sigh of defeat. "You're going to need help to survive Beacon, anyway."

Missy's voice came through at a full shout, nearly deafening the ear Sunset was keeping the communicator in. "BOO YAH! The Man with the Plan is ON BOARD!"

Sunset could scarcely believe her ears. "You- you mean it?"

"But I'm not going to promise results in the end, and when I say you're in over your head, I need you to PROMISE that you'll pull back! It's not worth my time to pass info on to you if you're going to just blow it off because you think you know better!"

Sunset sighed, but nodded.

"Fine... why the change of heart?"

There was a long pause, only hearing the sound of his breathing. "I... had to spend a few hours under the car. HIDING under the car, I mean, not fixing it. Pretty much until nightfall. Turns out, being as mad as I was was like a magnet for every Grimm in a ten mile radius... Unfortunately, in that small of a space, your thoughts really tend to echo hard. I knew it was wrong to yell at you the way I did, even if you did kinda screw me over... Sorry for that, by the way. Guess I'm just scared. Scared of the kind of trouble you can get into without me around, scared of- Anyway, as Isis was eager to point out, YOU were the one who was still trying to save people, and I was the one who changed. So, I'm going to follow your lead. You're the moral compass this time, Sunset.

Sunset's vision blurred as tears began to flow. "I- I'm sorry, too. When you told me something I didn't want to hear, I just assumed you were being selfish. I used it as an excuse to do what I wanted and... how long were you hiding under the car?"

"Doesn't matter."

"He is still underneath the car."

"Tattletale."

"And you've been stuck hiding under the car all this time because I didn't have the common sense to leave you with a way to protect yourself!" she shook her head. "That wasn't fair to you, and you had every right to be upset with me for it."

"Look, if that's how you feel, do you want to just say we both messed up, call it good and go back to working together in the morning?"

"Please?"

"Deal."

Missy jumped in again on her earpiece. "The gang's back together, time for a reunion tour! Glad you finally made up your mind on this, Penn."

Penn replied with a soft chuckle. "You know me, Missy. I'm of two minds about everything: I still think this is a bad idea and we should just get out of here. I'm just forcing that part of me to defer to Sunset."

Sunset felt a chill run down her spine as her eyes flicked back up to the book. That phrase... It has to be a coincidence, right?

"OH, OH!" Missy continued (Sunset could practically hear her hopping up and down with excitement), "There's four of us now! That means we're a team, just like in RWBY! What should our team name be?"

"We'll work that out later, Missy. Sunset, we've all got a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so get a good night's sleep, okay? I gotta go."

"Night, Penn!"

"Nighty night!"

And with that, the call ended. Sunset looked up at the book one more time before closing it and sliding it out to the general area she knew Blake was sleeping beside her. The call had done a world of good to ease her nerves, and sleep came easily now...

Except for when she remembered what Missy had told her would be coming tomorrow.