//------------------------------// // Projections // Story: The Multiverse in a Nutshell // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// "How much farther can this go?" Clara moaned. Sunset's brow furrowed with frustration as she looked at the walls around them, which didn't seem to have changed in hours. "I have a theory, and if I'm right... forever." Clara stopped short. "Forever? There's got to be a way out, right?" "This place might be just to keep us occupied. That's why the demon chased us in here..." Sunset pressed a hand into the ink again. "It wasn't an escape hatch, it was a prison." "Okay, wouldn't be my first time in a jailbreak..." Clara glanced around, trying to spot any kind of irregularity. "We just need to figure out the key, right?" "Maybe..." Sunset reached up to her neck, unfastening the necklace with her geode. She curled her hand around the orange stone, forming a tight fist. "Or maybe we just need a more literal jailbreak." "Wait, what? Sunset, wait! You almost broke your hand last time!" Sunset nodded, inhaling deep and then letting out a shaky breath. "Yeah, but this is the only way to check if I'm right, and we don't have any more time to waste." "Right about WHAT?" "HI-YAH!" Sunset cried, thrusting her fist straight into the ink and against the wall. Clara cringed as she heard a gut-wrenching crunch, but Sunset smiled as she pulled her hand back, revealing it completely unharmed. There was a moment of pure silence, but just as Clara was about to ask Sunset what she'd done, the entire tunnel shuddered and shook, more cracking noises running up and down the length. Splits began to appear in the black walls, with white light seeping through from the outside. "How did you..." Clara trailed off as Sunset shook out her fingers. "My geode's been humming since we first got here, and it's only gotten stronger. That was my first clue." She wrapped her fist around the geode again and readied herself for another blow. "Second was the tunnel... HYAH!" She punched again, and the cracks all widened and pulled away from one another. "I've seen this kind of tunnel before, but minus the ink." "Then where ARE we?" "I wouldn't do that, if I were you!" an unfamiliar voice called from behind them. Both of them spun around, spotting a new figure forming out of the ink. This one was... human. Or at least, she looked human at first. She was tall, with pale white skin and black veins on the edges of her face and covering her hands. She was dressed in a low-cut black dress and her silver hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Once she'd finished forming, she clasped her hands behind her back and gave a condescending stare. "I think you'll find that to be a very bad idea..." she declared. Another ghost of Sunset's past? Clara turned around to gauge Sunset's reaction. The look of sheer HATRED on Sunset's face was like staring down an oncoming train. "You know... the third clue? This..." she gestured to the strange woman. "You see, the ink demon thinks that it knows what scares me because it knows what scares PENN." She stepped slowly around Clara, walking up to the stranger with barely-restrained control. "It doesn't realize that THIS person would be the exact WRONG thing to show me, because it's the best image to use to scare Penn into submission. To him, she's the scariest thing in the world. It knows that because it's in his head..." Sunset reeled back with her hand. She pivoted on her heel, driving her fist straight into the strange woman's face with enough force to lift her off of her feet and drive her into the wall. When skull met wall, Sunset's hand drove straight through, splattering the woman's face to an ink blot and shattering the wall behind it. The wall fell away, forcing Clara to cringe and look away from the sudden brightness. Once her eyes had adjusted, Clara could see that Sunset had opened a new tunnel, this one leading upwards and brightly lit with sunlight. She motioned for Clara to follow her, and the two of them climbed up and out of the underground. "Breaking through the wall confirms it." She brushed her fingertips against the clean, glassy wall of the new tunnel. "A while back, Penn was in a coma, and Missy and I had to use my powers and the geode to go in and pull his mind back out. Missy used tunnels just like this one to get us from place to place!" She knocked her knuckles against the wall. "This isn't a different dimension, the demon was trying to take us out of the equation so we couldn't do something like that again to save Penn from being possessed!" "Wait... so you're trying to tell me we're inside Penn's head?" Clara almost stopped climbing out of sheer disbelief, but she instinctively wanted more than anything to get to the surface. "It would explain how the ink demon knows so much about me and what I'm scared of. But, that last image was the WRONG one to show me." Sunset said as they emerged in the middle of a front yard covered in dead grass. The sun was painfully bright, heating the air to almost-unbearable temperatures. Behind them was a small, tired-looking house with a sagging roof and a weather-stripped front door. "Huh... Back in Seminole..." Sunset muttered thoughtfully. "Wasn't expecting that. It was different last time, or maybe we were just in another area..." Clara stretched her arms and gave her shoulders a roll, enjoying the now-abundant elbow room. "So... what do we do now? If I had to guess, I'd say we should find Penn, right?" "Sounds like a place to start, but-" Sunset shook her head, but before she could give an answer to follow it up, they were both cut off by the sound of screeching tires. They watched as a familiar silver car came tearing around the corner of the street, sliding around the corner in a nearly-out-of-control motion before taking off again at full speed in their direction. A second later, they could see what it was trying to frantically to escape: the ink demon. It wasn't the same form that had chased them into the tunnels, but much more monstrous, running on huge, muscular arms long enough to support its whole body and with a gigantic mouth of mismatched fangs. For something so big, it was keeping perfect pace with Penn's Oldsmobile, only a few lengths behind it. "Of course. If we want to find Penn, we just find Sylvia!" Sunset muttered, raising her hands to protect her face as the two thundered past them. "But they're headed into a dead end!" Clara countered, pointing to the end of the road. They watched as the car careened towards the end of the street, where the pavement came to an abrupt end in front of several fenced-in backyards. With practiced precision, the car slammed on the brakes and turned the front wheels to the side, causing the car to turn and slide across the asphalt. Clara was almost certain she could see the ink demon grinning wider in the second it took to close the gap, but just as it was nearly on top of its quarry, the back wheels began to spin again, fast enough to kick up a cloud of white smoke as it drove the car forward and knocked the demon's arms out from underneath it. The ink demon clattered across the car's roof, nearby buckling it inwards with its bulk as Sylvia punched through to a clean getaway. The girls watched, unsure what to do until the car stopped directly in front of them, the driver's door opening and revealing a pair of empty seats in the front. "GET IN!" a voice shouted. Clara considered arguing the idea of jumping into a driverless car, but the demon was already starting to recover, and even without eyes she could tell that its gaze was lingering on them, the easier prey. Sunset dove in headfirst, leaping over the central console and into the passenger's seat, and Clara followed close behind to take the driver's spot. The engine roared and Clara was pressed back hard into the seat as they took off as fast as they could. Behind them, she could hear the pounding steps of the ink demon chasing, resuming the chase as it had been when they had arrived. The steering wheel spun wildly, practically throwing her out of her seat as they drifted their way around a corner and sped away towards the center of town. "What on EARTH do you two think you're doing here?" a voice snapped at them, clearly coming from the car's radio. Clara didn't recognize the voice, but judging by Sunset's smile, its anger wasn't any indicator that it was a threat. "Thanks for the save-" "I'm NOT saving YOU, Shimmer!" "-again-" "Now shut up and make yourself useful!" "-Big Sis..." "and I'm not YOUR big sis!" Sunset folded her arms. "Well, you COULD just tell me your name, and then I'd know what to call you!" "I enjoy how angry it makes you not to know." There was a brief pause. "Also, welcome aboard, Clara." "Umm... Thanks?" Clara glanced back and forth between Sunset and the car's radio. "Am I missing something, here?" "This is Missy's big sister, Penn's duel spirit partner, who REFUSES to tell me who she is." Sunset motioned to the radio. "This isn't the first time she's managed to save us without showing her face." "Penn's partner... is a car?" "I'm DRIVING the car." The voice declared. "This car is the place he feels safe and in control. The demon already took over most of the dreamscape and Noir's workshop, keeping the war room moving is the only way he can think clearly enough to put a plan together!" There was a short pause as the car slammed on the brakes and turned again, this time onto another back street. A second later, it made another hairpin turn into a side alley. "We know this city like the back of our hands, there's no way the demon will be able to catch us in it, but we can't run forever! This is just to buy time until we figure out how to beat it." "Then where IS Penn? We can help him figure out a plan!" Clara asked. "Back seat." In the moment that Clara and Sunset both twisted in their seats to look behind them, the car struck a bump in the road, catapulting them out of their spots and into the back of the car. Except... there wasn't a back of the car. In the moment that Clara closed her eyes and braced for impact, the world around them changed. When she opened them again, they were standing in a dark-walled room lit by a single hanging lightbulb. Her attention was almost instantly captured, however, by the far wall: It was covered in paper, as wide and as high as the eye could see. Some were text, others were photographs, newspaper clippings, and she could even see moving pictures playing on some of them, memories of videos perfectly preserved. Threads of red yarn and thumbtacks criss-crossed and connected hundreds of different pieces, and a familiar figure had his back turned to the two of them, frantically moving from one paper to the next and examining them for a second before moving on. "An exorcist? THE Exorcist? No, sequels proved that didn't work-" he rushed to another area of the board. "It uses pentagrams, the inverted form of the pentangle, symbol of five virtues, with the topmost pointing to Heaven. It was on the shield of Sir Gawain, representing faithfulness, honor, Christian Faith, goodness, and purity-" he cut himself off, following the thread up and to the left. "Arthurian legend, the knights of the ground table, the holy grail! Holy item, Christ's cup from the last supper- what about sacred items? They could purge it, right?" He wrapped his fingers around the thread and yanked hard, pulling a long line of photos from the wall so he could look at each one independently. "Holy Grail? Heals and gives eternal life. Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch? Blows up, not favorable. Excalibur, Caliburn, the Lance of Longinus, the Millennium Rod, Necklace, Ring, Scales, Key- Sunset would get a kick out of that one- Puzzle?" He moved down the line faster and faster until coming to a stop. "Puzzle can put souls back in their proper vessels AND runs off of friendship, which is Sunset's thing, maybe we-" He shook his head, dropping the string entirely and sprinting for another section of the board. "No, we could never get our hands on it, Sunset couldn't out-duel the King of Games. Think differently, new angle, mulligan hand! Approach it from a biological angle, like a virus! How do you destroy a virus? Destroy, destroy, destroy the virus... Magnamon!" He reached up and grabbed at a new thread. "Magnamon and Golden Rapidmon cured BlackCherubimon's virus from the inside, maybe if we got Isis the golden armor digieggs-" "Penn?" "Maybe nanotechnology is the key? But Isis hasn't gotten to that stage-" Sunset and Clara looked at one another, each uncertain whether or not he knew they were there. "Hey, Penn!" "We could beat a virus WITH a virus, like if we combined CRISPR with a holy entity's RNA sequence- what about Evangelion's angels?" "PENN!" "Of course, the cost-benefit of possibly causing the who-knows-what-number impact versus letting the Ink Demon run free in the world is- could we even get a genetic sampler through an AT field?" "ELIJAH!" Sunset shouted. Clara blinked. "Who's Elijah- wait, is that his REAL name?" Sunset's shout finally seemed to break through his concentration, causing him to finally turn away from the titanic conspiracy board and look at the two of them. "Wait... what?" He blinked several times before pressing his palm against his forehead. "You did it again, didn't you, Sunset? You're using your magic to read my mind again." Sunset rushed forward, wrapping her arms around him in a bone-crushing hug. "You're here! I KNEW you were still in there, somewhere!" Clara stepped forward, offering a small wave. "In our defense, we're not TRYING to invade your privacy. The ink demon dragged us into this." Even as Sunset continued hugging him, Penn's attention turned to Clara, his eyes widening somewhat in surprise. Finally pushing Sunset away enough to break off the hug, he offered her a hand. "Clara Oswald, right? It's a pleasure." Clara chuckled. The formality of the greeting reeked of self-restraint. Still, she took the respectfully-offered hand and gave it a firm shake. "It's good to see you again, Penn. Well, again for ME, for the first time for YOU, if Sunset is to be believed!" He looked confused for only a second before settling into a grin. "Wibbly-wobbly..." "Timey-wimey," Clara completed the phrase. It was one of the Doctor's favorite ways of avoiding giving long and complicated explanations of time travel, and anyone who traveled with him long enough came to know it well. "So... you're working on a plan to kick this demon out?" Sunset asked, glancing dubiously at the giant wall of notes. "Working? Yes. Plan... not so much." Penn sighed. "I just don't know enough about the demon to beat it, if it even CAN be beaten." "Of course it an be beaten! We just need to play the right cards!" the voice of Missy's sister echoed from above them. "Well, WHAT CARDS?" Penn held his arms wide and stared upwards, looking more like he was questioning Heaven itself than some unseen partner. "Because short of going and asking the Anarchy sisters for help, I've got nothing!" Clara tapped her own chin in thought. "No Isis, no lightsaber, no Sylvia, no Missy... We really don't have much to work with, do we?" "What are you talking about? Penn's more dangerous than ever!" Sunset chimed, smiling and patting him on the back. Both of them took a moment to stare at her. Clara was confused, and Penn seemed both confused and exasperated. "HOW?" Sunset rolled her eyes. "Well, MY Penn, the Penn I know does two things well:" she held up two fingers to illustrate. "One: He protects people! And if this ink demon gets through him, then we're going to be next, that's for certain! And two: he uses his enemies' strength against them, and this thing is strong enough to warp the fabric of reality!" She grinned and rested her arm on Penn's shoulder to lean against him. "Can you imagine how devastating that's going to be when he figures out a way to turn it back where it came from?" Penn chuckled nervously as he glanced at Sunset. "Your Penn?" Clara spotted a flash of guilt in Sunset's face. "Look, Penn. I really screwed up lately. Ever since... Ebott... I haven't been fair to you, and-" she sucked in air uncomfortably through her teeth, and Clara could see her trying to hold back tears, "and then I made it even worse with the whole deal with Alice Angel. I was scared, and alone, and for the first time in a long time, I didn't think Missy and I were going to make it out of there and- and that's still no excuse. Deep down, maybe some awful, AWFUL part of me just thought that if you stayed with Alice, I'd have an excuse to insist we go back to the you who was with Undyne..." She wrapped her arms around him again, pulling him tight in a hug he failed to reciprocate. "I promise, from now on, I trust you! Like Missy said, Penn is Penn! And I'm sorry, I'm SO sorry!" She buried her face in his shoulder. "I understand if you-" "Oh, just shut up!" Penn cut her off, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in tight. "Can we just... forget all of this? I don't even want to THINK about the last couple weeks, any more..." Clara couldn't help smiling as she watched the two friends finally reconciling. It was here that she was reminded of something the Doctor had said to her after she'd done something awful, herself: Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference? Friendships that could survive an acid test like this weren't the kind that came along every day. They were forged in fire and laughter, in tears of joy and tears of sadness... and more often than not, had been shattered and put back together multiple times. "This is sweet and all, but it doesn't put us any closer to figuring out how to stop this thing from taking over the last of Penn's mind and wiping us ALL out!" Clara took a moment to look back at Penn and Sunset, then at the massive wall of notes behind them, and finally at the room they were standing in, supposedly one of the last safe places left. "You know what? I think I've got an idea..." Penn and Sunset both turned to look at her. "We're all ears, Clara..." "Well, I was thinking, 'What would the Doctor do in this situation?'" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE THAT LEVER?" Missy screamed, clinging for dear life to avoid being sucked out into space. "WHY DID YOU PULL THAT LEVER?" The Doctor asked, trying to climb his way back up to the airlock lever. "YOU SAID IT WAS THE EMERGENCY EVACUATION LEVER!" Missy shouted back, watching as several inky creatures were ejected into the infinite abyss. "'ATTACKED BY INK MONSTERS' SEEMS LIKE AN EMERGENCY!" "YES! BUT 'EVACUATION' HAS A DIFFERENT MEANING ON A SPACESHIP!" "WELL HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "and if the Doctor were here, he'd point out that we have a secure room that it shouldn't be able to break into or out of, a friend who SHOULD have total control of this place if it's in his head, and a friendship that it definitely CAN'T break!" Clara pointed to the two of them. "Those are some pretty good assets!" Penn seemed confused, but Sunset's eyes widened. "Are you implying... we try to trap the demon? In HERE?" Clara nodded. "Why not?" "I... think that's the start of a plan," Penn mumbled and glanced back at the board. "It's certainly a different way of looking at this..." "A BAD one! We want it OUT of Penn, not trapped inside him!" Clara held up her hands in an attempt to placate the angry voice of his partner. "Okay, but consider this: WHY did it do this, to begin with? Why Penn? Why possess him instead of just turning him into another monster, or something? Sunset and Missy said he could make stuff out of the ink, right? Penn's a WRITER, right? Maybe the reason it can do any of this is because they're compatible in some weird, demon-y, artist-y way?" Clara gestured to Penn. "I mean, the Doctor said it himself, a Penn with ink inside him is just TOO good to be a coincidence!" "Penn, there's no way you're considering this, right?" All eyes turned to Penn, who seemed to be swiftly losing himself in thought. Finally, he took a deep, shuddering breath. "Okay, but-" "WHAT?" "BUT-" Penn pointed an angry finger upwards to silence his partner. "As my voice of Reason is quick to point out, this isn't a good situation, trapped or not! This plan is only a stopgap, to buy us a few more turns until we draw more favorable cards!" He folded his arms over his chest with a shudder. "And for the record, I'm agreeing to this because I don't have any better ideas!" Clara grinned. "That could apply to a LOT of the plans the Doctor and I have made work in the past..." Sunset smirked. "Well, our modus operandi is generally to make up the plan as we go along, so it looks like we're all in our element!" "Fine. FINE! Let's do this, then! Let's try to trap an already-vindictive demon in one of the most sacred portions of Penn's subconscious, RIGHT AFTER the two of us finished fixing it from the LAST vindictive monster that came rampaging through here! You're gonna endanger us! You're going to endanger your client, the very nice lady who saved your lives in advance!" Sunset glanced over at Penn, raising an eyebrow. "I wondered for a long time whether or not she was as sarcastic to you as she was to me. Turns out she is." "You get used to it, it comes from a place of love." Penn shrugged. "Most of the time, anyway..." There was the slightest hint of a smirk tugging at Penn's lips as he glanced upwards. "Hey, partner, look at the bright side: not necessarily! There's definitely a very slim chance we'll survive." "I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! LET'S DO IT!"