She'd never seen anyone make it this far. Frankly, she'd never seen anyone escape Evernight, to begin with, but she had to admit she was impressed. Rumors had traveled fast when all of the Grimm had gone berserk for a day, even moreso than usual, and she'd seen what was left of Salem's castle when she went to investigate... or rather, what wasn't left.

He'd been only barely keeping ahead of the grimm for three days, now. He had scavenged what he could from abandoned and destroyed villages, seeming to be determined to stay alive above everything else. He hadn't been too afraid or squeamish to pry a sword and shield from the hands of a corpse, either.

But he had been half-dead already when she saw him, and if he was healing at all, he was doing so slowly. If he had access to his aura, he had yet to rest long enough for it to replenish. Every day, he would limp and shuffle his way down the road. When he tripped, which was often, it took him longer to get back up every time. Once when he had fallen, he'd slept for the night in the middle of the path, and she wondered if he may have died there. Come morning, though, he had risen once more, still keeping that singular determination and focus.

He'd caught sight of her a few times, and each time he had regarded her with a suspicious glare. She wondered if he knew she wasn't what she seemed. If he did, she wondered where he had learned it. She could count on one hand the number of people who could have told him.

Now, though, she was letting him face one final test alone. A pack of Beowolves had chased him into a small clearing. She had take a moment of blindness on his part to eliminate all but one. If he possessed the strength to survive this on his own, she would be willing to finally lend him her aid.

He couldn't outrun it any more, not now that it had his scent. That didn't stop him from trying, however, with a loping, clumsy run of a man whose body refused to properly obey. It chased him through the trees, swiftly closing the distance between them. She didn't move to help him when she saw him trip on a log hidden in the underbrush. He seemed to have a good reflex on how to use the shield he'd taken, bringing it up to protect himself just as the monster leaped on top of him, snapping hungrily at his face. He was crumbling beneath gravity and the monster, threatening to fall apart completely as it inched its way closer and closer to his throat.

And then she saw it: that look. One that seemed to dare the world to bring him down. She could see it in his eyes, wrath and fear mingled together until they became a potent mix, like dust thrown onto a bonfire. THAT was what she had been looking for. The quality that would ensure survival when the weak were separated from the strong. She heard him roar as he released his grip on the shield with one hand and grabbed for his sword. The Beowolf came down on him, wrapping its fangs around his neck as the surface of his sword flashed in the sun.

It didn't bite down. There was no chomping, no ripping sound of tearing flesh. How could there be?

He laid there as the remains of the monster dissolved away into ash, breathing heavily and with his eyes wide. She fluttered down to the ground, transforming back into her normal form.

Just as she was about to make her entrance, however, she was cut off by an intruder on their silent moment.

She backed away, further into the shadows before her brother could spot her. He rushed to the young man's side, inspecting his injuries before trying to pull him back onto his feet. However, he hung completely limp, either unconscious or having finally lost his last ounces of strength fending off the attack. "Hey, are you- wait a minute. You're that guy Oz told us we needed to be keeping an eye out for, aren't you?"

How typical of her brother, still serving at Ozpin's every whim. The stranger stirred slightly, trying and failing to get his feet underneath him. He mumbled something, and she strained her ears to make out the slurred words.

He was delirious. Qrow reached over and pressed his hand to the stranger's forehead, only to pull it away quickly while sucking air in through his teeth. "You're burning up... Come on, bud. You need help, and fast."

She considered intervening. Her camp wasn't far from here, and losing someone with this kind of potential to Ozpin was a genuine shame.

But she had better things to do than find herself in another argument with her brother. She'd been gone from the camp long enough, and she had duties to her tribe. If he really is a strong warrior, he won't die, even if he is in Qrow's poor care. I'll remember him, and if I see him again, then I'll make my offer.

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Sunset didn't even slow down as the barreled down the hallways of Beacon Academy, the rest of her team struggling to keep up.

Together, they sprinted across the campus all of the way to the infirmary, only to draw up short at the door. Professor Ozpin was waiting for them, hands rested on top of his cane.

"You really found him?" Ruby asked, running up to the door only to find herself stopped by the headmaster's cane.

"An associate of mine found him wandering through Anima, feverish and babbling." He slowly shook his head. "I feel as if I should warn you all, he is still in an unstable condition. The moment that we had placed him safely in medical care, whatever force had been keeping him conscious seemed to finally run out and he slipped into a coma. He has yet to awaken." He gave the door to the infirmary a sad look. "I urge all of you to let him rest, but I won't stop you from seeing-"

Sunset didn't wait for him to finish, pushing his cane to the side and stepping through the door to the infirmary.

There, laying in a bed, was Penn. He looked better than when Sunset first saw him, it looked as if someone had been kind enough to clean him up when he had been admitted, and his injuries had all been bandaged up and wrapped in gauze. Even if they were all covered and out of sight, Sunset couldn't look at the bandages without seeing the image of him in the video call, half-dead and blood-streaked. He looked gaunt, as though he hadn't eaten in weeks, and his skin was pale and sun-starved. A small tube traveled up and into his nose to help him breathe, and numerous machines were beeping and displaying jagged lines beside his bed to monitor his vital signs.

Sunset tried to hold back the tears as she walked across the room, taking up a position just beside his bed. Isis hopped down off of her shoulder and onto his chest, pacing up until she was above his head. There, she curled up just above him, settling into a resting position.

Missy floated down out of the air, seeming to wilt at the sight of him. She settled at the edge of his bed, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she gripped at his hand. Before Sunset could say anything to comfort her, she had buried her face in the blankets, mumbling indecipherable words into the mattress.

Sunset heard her teammates filing into the room behind her, turning to see their reactions. Blake seemed the most affected, her hands covering her mouth in horror. Weiss couldn't seem to bring herself to look directly at him, averting her gaze down and to the right. Yang had reached over and protectively grabbed hold of Ruby, who was brimming with tears of her own.

"I promise you, he's in no pain. One of the first tests we ran once he fell into this coma was to take a look at his brain..." Professor Ozpin stated as he entered the room alongside them. "An MRI showed us that his frontal lobe is almost completely inactive. Nearly every connection between it and the rest of his brain was severed. What activity there is seems to show that he seems to be in a constant state of REM sleep while the brain tries to repair itself." Ozpin walked up and stood beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Sunset slowed her breathing, forcing herself to stay in control. She could feel a tremble in her single arm that wasn't bound across her chest in a sling. Her hand wandered down to her belt, taking a white-knuckled grip on her saber.

There was a long pause as everyone in the room turned to stare at her as if she had lost her mind. Even Missy looked up, her eyes bloodshot.

"Sunset... This is no time to lose your head. Even if I knew, which I do not now that her base of operations is in ruins, going after her directly would be an act of suicide." Ozpin gave her shoulder a tight squeeze. "And if he is responsible in the way you and your friends theorize, I would say to be careful what you wish for, because I'm certain Salem has already begun searching for him. You may find that she comes to you, instead..."

Sunset looked down at her hand, unable to willingly pry her grip off of her weapon. "Good."

"Hey... I have a question..." Ruby whispered. "If the reason he won't wake up is in his brain... what about Sunset's semblance? Could she... I dunno, fix it?"

Sunset blinked, trying to understand Ruby's implication. "What? No, I'm not a healer, I just... kind of peek at memories. I can't do anything about..." she gestured to her comatose friend, "this!"

Sunset shook her head, ignoring Isis's logic. "And what if I just make things worse? What if I just put a bunch of magical stress on him and just finish what Salem started?"

"Do... do you really think the power of the Elements could hurt someone like that?" Missy whispered.

"I don't know WHAT they could do, any more!" Sunset threw her hand into the air as she turned away from the painful sight and walked to the nearest corner of the room, resting her head against where the walls met. "I thought I knew what my magic was capable of, but then it just ran totally out of control and blew apart the multiverse out of nowhere! I can't... I can't trust it, any more..."

There was a long period of silence before Ozpin's cane tapped decisively against the floor. "Perhaps we should give Miss Shimmer a moment alone. Come along, girls..."

Sunset heard the sound of multiple sets of feet filing out the door. Still, she wasn't alone, a pair of small arms wrapping around her from behind.

"I understand if you're scared..." Missy whispered. "But... if Penn was here, he'd probably say you're right. That we can't take unnecessary risks."

"No buts... We're just going to have to wait." Sunset felt Missy's face nuzzle into her back, creating a moist patch as she sniffled. "It's not like I can make any demands... I was the one who said we should let him rescue himself..."

Sunset turned around, eyes wide as she faced the crying spirit. "Missy, this isn't your fault!"

"Isn't it? If we'd gone and rescued him like you wanted, then- then maybe we could have gotten him out before he wound up like THIS!"

Sunset dropped to one knee, putting herself at eye-level with Missy as she wiped a tear from her cheek. "If we had gone to rescue him like I wanted, we'd all be in hospital beds right along with him, or worse... YOU were the only one who kept a level head and trusted him when the rest of us were ready to give Salem what she wanted. I think..." She slipped her hands under Missy's arms, picking her up as she rose back to her feet. "I think it's time for us to stop blaming ourselves... And start driving forward, don't you think?"

Missy nodded, and Sunset found herself looking past her and back at her comatose friend. As she stared, she could have sworn that she could see the slightest hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

"And that starts with not letting our fears get the best of us." She stepped back up to the side of the bed, hovering her hand just above his arm. "If we're ever going to put the multiverse back together, then we're going to have to use the Elements of Harmony... I can't avoid it or be afraid of it..." she whispered to herself. Still, her hand refused to stop shaking, no matter how much she tried to force herself to be calm... until Missy's hand settled on top of hers.

"You're not alone, Sunset... We're partners, remember?" Despite her reddened and puffy eyes, Missy gave her a cheerful smile. "I'm gonna be right by your side!"

Staring into that beaming, unwavering smile, Sunset felt her fears ease back from the forefront of her mind. Missy had the utmost faith in her. I have to live up to that faith...

"Hey, Isis?" Missy turned to look up at the drone resting just above Penn's head. "If we manage to wake him up, a little music is gonna be the perfect way to ease him back into the world of the living! Think you could pick out a track for him?"

Sunset and Missy glanced at one another, then nodded. Sunset took one last deep breath to steel herself, then placed her hand on his arm.

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Sunset opened her eyes, trying to make sense of the world around her... and the fact that there WAS a world around her.

She'd seen this kind of phenomenon once before: Camp Everfree. When she and her friends had all used her power to enter Twilight's mind and help her control her magic. Twilight's world had been one of swirling stars and cosmic skies, free and open to be filled just as fast as she could think. It had been ethereal, more concept than solid reality.

Inside of Penn's mind was much more... filled out. She was standing on solid ground, with a sky above her and a definite horizon. She could even see signs of buildings in the distance, signaled by a plume of black smoke that ascended and merged with the dark clouds that filled the sky.

"This... isn't a good sign..." Sunset turned around, spotting Missy kneeling on the ground and running her fingers through the dead, brown grass under their feet. "It's been a while since I was here, but... Penn's dreamscape doesn't usually look this... dead."

"I wasn't trying to go inside his head like this... I was just trying to look at his memories!"

Missy floated up into the air, awkwardly rubbing at the back of her head with a smile "That might have been my fault... I used to hang around here a lot before you summoned me to the human world! I guess I must have opened up the way in without thinking about it!"

Sunset sighed, looking around at the half-destroyed world inside Penn's head. "Well, I'm not going to complain. Maybe we can do even more good here than we first thought... But we're going to have to find Penn, first. If we can pull him up to the surface, maybe we can get him to wake up in the real world!"

Missy pondered for a moment, looking around at the ruined area before snapping her fingers. "In that case, there's only one place to go! When Penn really needs to get his head on straight, he goes to the War Room! Don't worry, I know a shortcut!"

Before Sunset could ask any questions, Missy had reached down and snatched up a handful of the ground, pulling it up like a carpet and exposing empty space underneath. She grinned and waved Sunset onwards.

Sunset decided it was better not to ask questions as she ducked down and clambered under the layer of sod. To her surprise, there seemed to be nothing under the ground, not even more soil, just a plunge into empty darkness. She was standing in some type of tunnel made from a transparent glassy substance, barely tall enough for her to fit inside hunched over. Missy easily fit in behind her, ducking between her legs and beginning to strut down the tunnel with a smile on her face.

"Man, this really takes me back... I used to use these all the time, since Penn said I wasn't old enough to have keys of my own!" she snickered to herself. "Probably because he knew I'd use them to pull pranks..."

"Well, duh! Before he let you 'borrow' my deck," she turned around and began walking backwards so she could place air quotes around the word "borrow," "we WERE dueling partners! I was never as close to him as Big Sis, but we were still besties!"

Sunset ran her hand along the wall, taking in the glassy feel of it as her fingers traced their way up and down uneven lumps and bumps in the surface of the tunnel.

"When we first met, he was REALLY opposed to me using my powers on him... At first I thought he was just trying to stop me from learning things about other people's futures, but I'm starting to think that wasn't the only reason... Especially if he has all of THIS in here..."

Missy chuckled to herself. "Well, he IS a storyteller, making worlds kind of comes naturally to him! Why do you think we all call him 'Penn?' Whether he's typing on a computer or writing by hand, he's always got a story on his mind!" Missy gave a shrug. "As for why he wouldn't want you in here... well... we've all got things about ourselves we don't like." She gave Sunset a raised eyebrow. "Considering how you looked like you were ready to kill when you first saw him like this, I'd have to guess you've got some issues with your temper?"

Sunset's face flushed slightly with embarrassment. "You... might say that, yeah..."

"Well, when someone else is inside your head, you can't really hide things like that. He probably just wants you to think the best of him."

The tunnel was beginning to slant upwards, and Missy spread her wings to fly on ahead, coming to an oak door at the end of the tunnel. She smiled and gave it a speedy knock before pressing her ear to the surface. With a nod of satisfaction, she gave the handle a push, swinging it outwards.

As the two of them stepped out into the open air, Sunset glanced back. Apparently, they had come out of a door carved into a large oak tree. When it swung shut, it was almost completely indistinguishable from the bark. She took the opportunity to straighten her spine as she looked around at their new surroundings.

They had emerged in a small forest clearing. Unlike the field they had started in, all of the plants here were still very much verdant and vivacious. There were still signs of a struggle, however, as there were large chunks torn out of the ground in places, and several of the trees had been scorched or even completely snapped like a twig. In the center of the clearing, there was a small pool of still, crystal-clear water, no bigger than a manhole cover. There were an abundance of burn marks moving outward from the pool, as if it had been filled with flames only a few moments before.

"This is the War Room?" Sunset mumbled, brushing her fingers against the charcoal of the scorched grass.

"GAH!" She stumbled back, falling to the ground as her doppelganger staggered forward. Her eyes widened as it seemed to begin to decay right in front of her, the flesh rotting away and its clothes begin ripped apart by lacerations appearing all over her body. It breathed in hoarse whispers, ready to pounce on her.

"HEY, UGLY!" Missy swooped in, delivering a kick to the head that knocked it completely from the shoulders and off into the distance. The rest of the body quickly dissolved away, and Missy dusted herself off with disgust.

"Intrusive thought." Missy reached down, wiping a small amount of the residue from her shoe and giving it a sniff. "Based off of a real memory, though..." She shuddered and held her finger at arm's length. "Looks like they didn't just torture him physically... They got inside his head, literally. Maybe even gave him hallucinations to try and push him to give in..."

Sunset felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. "Y-you mean... he was seeing things like THAT while they were keeping him prisoner?"

Missy shrugged as she floated over to the pool and slipped off her shoe, beginning to wash it in the water. "It's just a guess, but maybe your memory powers combined with the damage and gave us a look at what caused it?"

Sunset glanced around, suddenly realizing that she was standing in the middle of a mental minefield. "Can... can we fix it? Repair the damage?"

Missy shook her head. "That's something only time can do... Besides, we're just here to pull Penn back out of his own head, remember? This isn't the War Room, there's just only one way in if you're not Penn..." She gave her shoe a shake, forcing out the water before jabbing her thumb at the small pool. "Hope you can swim!"

Sunset sighed, rolling up her sleeves as she walked up to the edge of the pool. "You're sure Penn's going to be there?"

Sunset nodded, crossed her arms over her chest, and hopped feet-first into the water.

Her eyes widened as she saw just how deep the pool went, widening out into what looked almost like an ocean of inky depths. She shook her head, trying not to think about just what else could be living in such a place, and began to swim downward.

In the dream-like world she was in, Sunset felt no need to surface for air, continuing further and further downward into the dark until she could no longer even see the light of the hole she had entered through. She could only press onward.

Sunset drew up short, her eyes wide as she watched movement appear in the black depths. She almost screamed as a titanic eye opened up beneath her, looking large enough enough to swallow her up in its pupil alone. Its cornea looked yellowed and diseased, bloodshot and spiderwebbed by pulsating red veins. The pupil glowed bright red and drew in tight.

For a split second, Sunset's memory transported her back in time to the night that her soul had been taken by Joshua. She remembered the malignant entity she had felt hovering above the tent where Penn was sleeping, the hateful gaze that had lingered on their intruder, soon followed by Penn's forceful arousal from his drug-induced slumber. In her mind's eye, she saw the moment his carefree facade had slipped and he had revealed the sheer, unadulterated wrath lying just beneath the surface.

And now she recognized every ounce of that wrath lying in this demonic eye, all being leveled towards her with a laser focus.

She wanted to scream, to run and hide and never come back. She never thought it was possible, but even in this dream world, Sunset knew on a fundamental level that she was in danger right now. Her heart was pounding painfully in her chest as she stopped short, unsure how she could move any further forward with this... thing in front of her.

The sheer force of the scream tore through the water, battering Sunset as a physical force. She tumbled helplessly head over heel as she was flung towards the black waters. She lost all sense of direction and orientation, feeling the pressure of her depth finally beginning to press down on her. Her whole body began to press inwards, being crushed from the outside. When she opened her eyes, the monster's eye was gone, and we was alone in the dark.

Can... can I get lost in here? What if I never make it out? What happens to me outside?

Despair seemed to seep into her skin, putting a chill into her blood as she realized just how helpless she truly was. Why did I ever think I could help? How stupid am I?

Sunset felt a pair of arms loop under her shoulders, carrying her upwards and out of the dark. Seconds later, they burst from the water, and Sunset began to cough violently, hacking up entire lungfuls onto the floor as her whole body convulsed.

"Geez, don't SCARE me like that!" Missy cried, falling to the ground beside her and wringing out her hair. "I said to just go straight down, not go for a swim in the manifestation of Penn's clinical depression!"

Sunset took a shuddering breath before hacking one last time to make sure the last of the water was out of her lungs. "The- the eye... Didn't you see the eye?"

"What?" Missy tilted her head and gave her a skeptical look. "No, it was just a clear shot to the War Room! What did it look like?"

Missy's brow furrowed in frustration. "Must have been Big Sis... No wonder she'd snarl at you like that when Penn's head is in such a bad state."

"THAT was your big sister?" Sunset's eyes widened. "I thought she was going to KILL me!"

Missy tapped her chin in thought. "Knowing her, that's probably not too far off the mark of what she wanted to do..."

Sunset looked around her for the first time, finally taking in the sight of their destination.

The walls and ceiling were pitch-black, giving the illusion that the room extended out into infinity. The only decorations were a large, heavy-looking table made from dark wood and a crystalline light hanging above in the air. Sunset pushed herself up onto her feet and walked up to the table, looking at the arrangement on its surface.

She gasped as she saw even more signs of damage. Deep gashes and long, trailing claw marks had been carved into it, destroying the surface and scattering what looked like the shredded remains of Yugioh cards like confetti. At the center was a hastily-scrawled note in black marker: Out to lunch. Behind her, she heard Missy hissing in air through her teeth.

"Looks like Penn's not here. So much for our daring journey to the bottom of the sea..." Sunset muttered, reaching out towards the remains of the cards. She caught herself just as she was about to touch one of the gashes in the table. Probably best not to...

Missy smiled and flew up to one of the walls, yanking open a previously-invisible black door. On the other side, Sunset could hear music and see colored lights.

Sunset nodded, following Missy through as the door shut behind them. Sunset instantly recognized that they were now in a night club of some kind, albeit a thoroughly trashed one. Broken glass and splintered furniture were all across the tile floor, and there were almost no patrons of any kind. She could see a stage for live performances, but it was dark and empty with curtains half-pulled to block it off. There were more lights than she could count and massive speakers taller than herself, but the atmosphere was surprisingly muted. The lights had constrained themselves to simple hues of blue and purple, and the only music was coming from a radio up at the bar, where the only living creatures were both sitting.

Sunset rushed forward, only to find herself shocked as she realized that the small reptile sitting on the counter beside him was NOT a robot. It was an actual flesh-and-blood dragon, complete with silver scales, sapphire-blue wings and a matching underbelly.

"S-so then I tell her, 'If you want what's in my head, you're gonna have to dig it out, yourself!'" Penn gestured with a small bottle in his hand.

"Bold play, Penn!" The dragon countered. "Wha'd she have to say about THAT?" He arched his neck upwards, plunging almost his entire head into a bourbon glass and sucking down a portion of the lime-green liquid inside.

"She DID IT, the absolute madwoman!" Penn laughed, rocking back on his stool until he nearly fell backwards. Sunset lunged forward and reached out, barely catching him and pushing him back up into a sitting position.

"Hmmph... I'll deal with THAT later..." Penn didn't so much as turn around in his chair, just making the slightest of moves to look over his shoulder before catching himself. He made a small waving motion with his hand, and Sunset's eyes widened as she felt herself violently flung to the side on a collision course with the wall. Just as she closed her eyes to brace for the impact, she felt her entire world spin several times before she was deposited back on her feet. She looked over at the wall just in time to see Ghostrick Go-Round's revolving stone door fading away. Missy flew up to her, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.

"That was a close one..." she whispered. "He must have thought you were an intrusive thought... which really isn't that far off, I guess? We ARE intruding..."

Sunset looked back at the bar, watching him take another long sip from his bottle before sighing to himself contentedly. She squinted, trying to read the label in the low light.

Catharsis? He's DRINKING a bottle of catharsis? I guess that's not the weirdest thing I've seen today...

Sunset squinted her eyes, walking back up to the bar with determination in her gait. "Penn, I'm not just some thought you can just push away! I'm REAL! Missy and I are here to try and help you!"

Missy flew past her, snatching up the drink beside the dragon and giving it a sniff. She recoiled with a look of disgust on her face before tossing it over her shoulder. "Menthol juleps? Seriously, Noir? You fell off the wagon again?"

"Heeeey, no kids during happy hour!" the dragon countered, stumbling a few steps forward before falling flat and slamming his chin on the surface of the bar.

Penn still refused to acknowledge Sunset, turning and placing his hand flat on the surface of the bar. When he picked it up, a fresh glass appeared, which the dragon instantly wrapped his tail around protectively before beginning to lap up the liquid inside.

Sunset and Missy both looked at each other. Missy pouted and reached down, trying and failing to lift the glass off of the surface of the bar as if it had been glued down.

If we're going to get through to them, we're going to have to do it on their own terms...

She sat herself down on the stool beside Penn, ignoring how much it stung to see him pretending she didn't exist.

"I've missed you... a lot." She nodded her head towards the back of the bar. Missy frowned, but seemed to pick up the hint. She dove behind the counter and out of sight, re-emerging seconds later in a white button-down shirt, black bowtie, and matching black vest. Sunset almost laughed when she picked up a bottle of chocolate syrup and carton of milk and began combining them in a cocktail shaker. She shook it vigorously, eventually settling into a beat and beginning to dance.

Sunset turned back to Penn, hesitantly placing a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't know what you were going through, but... I always was afraid. Afraid of what could be happening to you... I guess I was right to be."

The dragon raised its head a bit, turning and staring Sunset directly in the eyes.

He immediately got a spray of seltzer water in the face courtesy of Missy, leaving him sputtering and coughing up spurts of steam.

"So anyway, I try to do the whole 'my mind, my rules' shtick, but she's immune!" Penn continued. "So I move on to plan B."

The two boys chuckled together for a moment before each taking a turn with their drinks.

"Well, clearly not!" Noir replied. "I mean, you're here and she's probably bawling her eyes out in a crater, somewhere!"

"I wasn't smarter, I got LUCKY." Penn shuddered. "We had NO idea that we could swap places while Salem was rooting around in my brain! She managed to make it to the portal gun and I set it to go off... And then Emerald shot me and I fell out a fiftieth-story window."

Missy and Sunset's eyes both widened, and Missy stopped her shaking. They both glanced at each other, clearly equally shocked at the story. Missy shook herself out of the stupor, opening the shaker and pouring the contents into a glass... which consisted of a large stick of chocolate-flavored butter, wrapped in wax paper. She reached down and plucked the butter from the glass, giving it an angry glare before unwrapping the top and giving it a small nibble.

"Hah! You fell out a window that high up you lived to tell about it?" Noir asked.

"Yup. I told the people on he forty-ninth floor, the people on the forth-eighth floor, the people on the forty-seventh floor..." Penn replied, and both of the boys chuckled to themselves again.

Sunset tightened her grip on his shoulder. "Please, Penn... I'm sorry I split up the team, I never should have thought that you were being selfish or heartless! I just want my friend back..."

"HUP!" Missy tossed the shaker into the air, where Yuki-Onna appeared and breathed a frosty blast onto the metal surface. Missy grinned as she caught the cup in a towel and poured the contents into a glass, which she quickly deposited in front of Sunset. Sunset sighed, taking her hand off of Penn's shoulder and turning to the drink. She took a long sip, relishing the taste of chocolate spreading over her tongue and the creamy smoothness of the milk.

The moment Sunset started drinking, there was a change in the air. She felt herself drawn in, suddenly no longer shunned to the outside but sat directly between the two of them.

"What I don't get is why." The dragon flicked his tail back and forth with irritation. "Whether it's one world or the other, let them burn. Salem can do as she likes and get riddled full of bullet holes for her trouble... It's all just humans killing humans, at the end of the day! What makes it worth all the torture?"

Penn mulled over his drink for a moment before turning, locking his eyes straight onto hers.

"Because Sunset would never have forgiven me if I gave Salem what she wanted, even in exchange for her life... or mine."

Sunset felt her heart crush with guilt as she remembered her own willingness to give in to Salem. He had been tortured for weeks not wanting to disappoint her... If Missy hadn't stepped in when she did...

"Ugh, Sunset, Sunset, Sunset!" Noir groaned, rolling his blue eyes faster with each repetition. "She's-"

"From a different world. Different values. Different... standards." Penn cut him off. "Kindness. Generosity. Honesty-"

"She's not perfect. But... she's better. Her whole world is. If either of us are going to talk about her, we have acknowledge that she's not the same standard of humanity we know. Even YOU don't have any good reason to summon of guile for her, Noir!"

Sunset blinked, her eyes wide with shock. "Penn... I'm not- I'm not better than anybody!" He didn't seem to hear her, reaching over and giving Noir a pat on the head before downing more of his Catharsis.

"Of course we can hear you..." Penn muttered into his drink. "Missy wouldn't be here if it wasn't really you, this time. I just had to get used to ignoring your voice if I wanted to survive being tortured by an illusionist who knew how you look and sound."

"Penn..." Sunset couldn't stop the tears beginning to run down her eyes before she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him without abandon and hugging him with every ounce of strength in her body. "I'm sorry! I'm SO SORRY, I just wanted to help people here, I never wanted any of this!"

"Sunset... don't apologize for doing the right thing..." He slowly wrapped his arms around her in return, applying a gentle-but-hesitant force to her to return the hug. She felt a shudder rack through his body as he began to sob. "I- I- don't want to believe this is r-real... Any second you're going to turn into a nightmare or another illusion..."

"Shhhh..." Sunset rubbed his back as she eased his head into her shoulder, letting him have some small measure of privacy as his tears continued. "It's real. It's real, buddy... You're safe now..."

Sunset tensed, feeling the familiar air of hatred growing around her as the voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

"And what happens the next time you get yourself in over your well-meaning head?"

Noir and Missy each glanced at each other, then up to the stage. Sunset followed their gazes, but saw nothing but an encroaching darkness seeping out and spilling onto the floor like black smoke.

"You've been nothing but unhealthy to him. A burden. A RISK." The darkness continued to spread, eating up the rest of the club and making its way toward the bar. In the deepest, darkest part, Sunset could see the glow of a familiar red pupil beginning to grow.

"Penn... what IS that?" Sunset asked, more urgency in her voice as she gave him a gentle shake.

"I'm the one who protected him when Salem tried to raze his mind. I'M the one who stayed by his side when you were enjoying the high life at Beacon! I'M. HIS. PARTNER!"

Sunset flinched as tendrils of darkness lashed out at her, cracking like whips at her head...

Only to freeze in mid-air as Missy interposed herself, arms thrown wide to protect her.

"I get it... you're mad..." Missy floated forward, and the dark seemed to push away from her. "Who wouldn't be, watching someone they care about hurt so much? That's YOUR policy, isn't it? Someone hurts Penn, and you make sure they can never, EVER do it again! But you can't blame Sunset... We both know it wasn't her fault. If she hadn't insisted on staying, we never would have stopped Salem from changing the timeline..." She slowly floated to the ground, letting the smoky blackness lap at her feet. "We were led here, sis... Not by Sunset, by MAGIC. I think... I think we were supposed to be here. Who else could have stopped her plans the same way we did? We were the perfect team for this!" She motioned to the group at the bar.

"Who else except Sunset Shimmer could have been such a stalwart moral compass in the face of a call to right these wrongs? The Ghostricks were PERFECT for delaying the White Fang just long enough for Sunset to get there and call SHIELD in the nick of time and defuse the bomb! Could ANYONE except Isis have countered their computer viruses and bring back the Fall Maiden from the dead AND be in so many places at once she could stop Cinder while also warning the rest of the world about the bomb AND safely take the blame for the bombing?"

Sunset noticed a small hum of satisfaction from Noir as pulled his head out of his glass. "Haaaaaaa! Thash my giiiirl!"

"I can't think of anyone else except Penn could be so relentlessly clever to keep Salem occupied the ENTIRE time? Even if she saw through his plans, she still had to DEAL with him, which meant she couldn't focus on the rest of us!" She floated forward and finally up onto the stage, placing first her hand against the eye, then pressing her forehead onto it. "And without YOU, he wouldn't ever have survived it... So please... you need to rest, too. You're getting grouchy..."

Sunset could scarcely believe the now-tender tone coming from the monster hiding in the darkness.

"YES. You do... Now come on... Take a deep breath, and take it from me..." she smiled. "Sometimes, even duel spirits need to take a nap."

There was a pause, and the lights in the room rose back up to their full brightness... and it was gone.

Missy snickered to herself as she floated back over to the bar. "Right back at ya, Ghostfreak..."

"Nothing special." Missy smiled before sitting down on the bar, her wing definitely-not-accidentally knocking over Noir's glass. "Trust me, Sis is a lot nicer once you get on her good side, a big teddy bear, same as Penn. It's getting there that's the hard part."

Sunset finally felt Penn pull himself away from her shoulder, his eyes bloodshot and face flushed red. She smiled, reaching up and patting him on the cheek. "Come on, buddy... It's time for you to wake up. We need you back..."

"Full disclosure, Sunset... there were people in that castle. This wasn't just someone's own game coming back to bite them, like before." He set the bottle back on the counter. "I didn't want to think about it, that's why I came here, with my old pal..." He held up his hand, counting off names on his fingers. "Watts... Hazel... Tyrian... Mercury... and Emerald." He looked to the side, clearly ashamed. "I tried to warn Emerald. She was... salvageable. She had reservations. But I killed all of them... Just to make sure they couldn't follow me... so they couldn't hurt me ever again..." He shook his head. "Stopping the from hurting anyone else was secondary. Saving this world? Happy coincidence..."

Sunset took a deep breath. "Penn... I can't say they had it coming, but... you did what you had to. Not just to survive, but to protect two worlds! I... I almost didn't." It was Sunset's turn to look away in shame, now. "When I saw what they did to you, I was ready to give Salem anything and everything she wanted just to get you back... I would have let everyone get hurt again, on PURPOSE this time, just so I wouldn't lose another friend!"

She took a deep breath. "I don't think... anyone is going to lose any sleep over them. Taking over the world is a game nobody ought to play if they're not willing to lose everything for it... Take it from someone who almost DID."

She leaned in, pressing her forehead against his. She could feel it: the hurt, the shame, the self-condemnation... all boiling up until he couldn't take it any more. She could feel him wanting to run and hide again, deep inside himself.

"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?" Sunset whispered.

She heard him laugh, and the feelings began to give way to relief, gratitude, and even... joy. Sunset could feel the world around them beginning to heal, hear the rustling as the debris in the bar began to sweep itself away.

"Please?" Penn whispered in return. Finally, Sunset felt like he had taken the first step on the path to recovery.

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Sunset opened her eyes. She looked up, spotting Missy hovering just above Penn's body and eagerly watching. At the head of the bed, music was winding its way out from Isis's speakers in a language she didn't understand.

Kono mama mō sukoshi... Arukou kata wo daki!
Kie yuku yume wo kazoe kareteku nakama wo mita.
Kayoi nareta michi ni mayoikomu kono goro...
Yami ga mō hitori no jibun wo tsukuru!

"PENN!" Missy practically dove on top of him, crying and giggling with joy as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He couldn't seem to do much to return the affection, but the smile on his face made it clear he was enjoying it. His eyes trailed over to Sunset, looking first at her face, then down to where her hand rested on his arm.

Sunset nodded. "I know you didn't want me to, but... You were in a coma. We thought we might lose you."

Sunset shook her head. "It's nothing. Nothing to worry about, at least." She shrugged and gave him a carefree smile just like the one he so often seemed to give her to make her feel better, hoping it would have the same effect. "Made a dumb mistake while I was saving the world... saved it anyway, with a generous amount of help from my friends."

He looked up at her a small bit, his head barely seeming to be able to move. "I need... need a..." his train of thought seemed to trail off.

"The only thing you need is to rest." Sunset smiled, grabbing a nearby chair and sitting herself beside him. "And I'm not going to leave your side while you do, okay? Now that I know you're not going anywhere... and you're not going to wake up with amnesia, or something."

"No, I need... ugh..." he groaned with disgust. "Brain still isn't working good... Can't string together what I'm thinking... like grasping at smoke... Well. Working well..."

"Salem did a real number on you, Penn. We managed to wake you up, but that doesn't mean you're magically healed, my magic doesn't work like that..." Sunset gripped his arm a little tighter. "Then again, I guess I'm not entirely sure I know everything my magic can do, either."

Sunset glanced down at his hands, spotting them twitching back and forth with his fingers spaced out a familiar distance. "You... want your cards?"

Sunset walked to the opposite side of the bed, only to find the cards already in his right hand.

"Need a duel. Gimmie..." he groaned again, rolling his eyes. "Let's just warm up with something easy... Dark World?"

The drone clambered up on top of the machinery monitoring his vitals before projecting a familiar dueling field onto the bedsheets.

Penn nodded towards his hand. "Sunset... could you draw five for me? I can't really get my arms to move that well..."

Sunset's eyes widened as she looked down at the black-sleeved cards. She was almost afraid to touch them. "Th-they're your cards, Penn... That's a little different than you giving me the Ghostricks..."

"It's fine. It's not like you can invade my privacy any more than literally going inside my head, right?" he chuckled to himself, and Sunset felt a twinge of guilt. She started to reach for the cards, only to feel a wave of hot malice radiate off of it.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "I need something to jump-start my brain, Sunny... You said it yourself, I'm a mess."

"Oh, I'll do it!" Missy fluttered over, easily pulling the top cards off of his deck and scanning over them. "Hmm... I think you mighta bricked on your opening hand, Penn."

Sunset was about to reply when she was cut off by something unexpected. The entire building rumbled with a tremor, sending everything shaking. All of them looked wildly around the room, trying to spot any sign of danger.

"Isis, what happened?" Missy asked, still holding the cards down in Penn's line of sight.

The projection of the dueling field switched off as she turned to the far wall and began a new video.

"That... can't be real, right?" Sunset looked between Penn and Isis for confirmation. "There's NO WAY that's real!"

Sunset could only watch as the video footage switched constantly from one feed to the next, all displaying the same continuous image:

A massive Grimm. One larger than Sunset even thought was possible, large enough to swallow up a double-decker bus in a single bite. It was in the shape of a wyvern, with wings that could span multiple city blocks and a long, wide mouth with teeth that extended well down the neck. Sunset's blood ran cold as she heard a distant roaring.

The door to the infirmary burst open, and the entirety of both Team RWBY and Team JNPR burst in, practically falling on top of each other.

"THERE'S A GIGANTIC GRIMM COMING! IT'S A HUGE DRAGON THAT- LOOKS JUST LIKE THAT ONE!" Ruby pointed at the projection in horror.

Everyone stopped to stare at Isis in various states of horror, worry, and determination.

"Isis, I'm gonna need you to put on 'Duel Madness..." Penn muttered, drawing everyone's attention. A rapid electronic beat began to pulse as a new song began to play. He nodded forward, causing Isis to bring the seat up until he could address everyone directly.

Gotta find a way, just to play,
play a little game!
Got a compulsion,
wanna be a champion!
Gotta feel the heart,
gotta be smart,
play the card!
Gotta get inside the mind of my counterpart!

"Now everybody listen to me closely, because I do NOT have the energy to repeat myself..."

The Multiverse in a Nutshell

by Pennington Inkwell

A Yell Of Thirst