The Multiverse in a Nutshell

by Pennington Inkwell

Dark Void

It was dark.

He didn't like the dark any more.

This wasn't the right dark. It was cold. It was oppressive. It was trying to strangle him, getting into his lungs, into his blood. He was being eaten from the inside out. He could see the insects crawling around under his skin and in his guts, carrion beetles and spiders that came together from the bits of dark floating in his blood. This darkness was full of monsters, of grief, of the crushing weight of his own helplessness.

Then came the voice.

Boy, I asked you a question...

The very sound of her voice sent the bugs in his gut into a frenzy. He wanted to answer her. He screamed and shouted and begged and wept, offered everything, anything to let it all end, but no sound passed his lips. The things in the dark jeered and mocked him, waiting for their turn at the rapidly-dwindling scraps of him that were left. A pale hand with pitch-black veins lunged out of the dark and down his throat, pushing down through his chest and into his stomach. Sharp nails dug into the lining before pushing through, and then pulled upwards. He could do nothing to stop it as he felt himself being pulled inside-out. The hand re-emerged, holding a mushy pile of organs, insects still crawling in and out of the crevices.

"Barbaric, isn't it? Contrary to what you may believe about me, I DO loathe doing this to you."

He needed to hold on. Needed to stay alive. Sunset needed him. Sunset required him to survive this.

So he refused to die.

The arm released its grip, vanishing away and leaving him holding his own heap of organs. He was dying. He could feel it. But being "dying" was fine, dying was just a fancy way of saying "not dead yet." So long as he never reached dead, he could go back to Sunset.

"Why fight so hard to save a race of humans who are so awful?"

Not for humans. For Sunset. He gathered up his pile of himself and tried to walk forward. He just needed to take one step. Then another. Back into the light. It was like moving through mud. Cold, dirty, bug-infested mud.

"I feel you ought to know that time is running out for Sunset Shimmer."

He was alone. He couldn't voice his need, his deep desire, to just accept. To give up and make it all stop by taking the deal. Sunset would understand, right?

"She won't. She's GOOD. She wouldn't forgive you for joining the BAD GUYS..." Not-Real-Sunset gurgled as she limped by in the opposite direction. Her cloudy eyes lingered on his, and he couldn't look away. "Bad guys... She's not FRIENDS with bad guys..." She reached out with one mutilated hand, plucking out a piece of entrails from the pile cradled in his arms and inserting it into her mouth.

That was right. He couldn't take the offer because Sunset never would. And he couldn't go and save her from the bad guys if she hated him.

More Not-Real-Sunsets began to pass him, until he was passing through a horde of the undead.

"Why don't you save me?"

"What will you do?"

"Where are you when I need you?"

"How could you leave me alone?"

"Someone has to do SOMETHING!"

"Why won't you fight for what's RIGHT?"

"Why would you run away?"

Each one plucked another little bit from his exposed innards. It wasn't the fact that he was being plucked apart bit by bit that scared him, it was how little it hurt. Nothing but a thousand little pinpricks as he was torn apart, like being pinched.

Well that's because-

He let the "fun fact" drone on without listening. Nobody else listened to his fun facts. No wonder. So annoying.

"Saaave meee..." one Not-Real-Sunset hissed. That started a new trend in the crowd he was trying to push through, all beginning to echo that one in voices too familiar to him.

"Saave meeeee..."

"Whyyyy?"

"Why didn't yooou?"

"Why won't you saaaaave meeeee?"

He knew these weren't Real Sunset. Real Sunset wouldn't be begging to be saved. She wouldn't be telling him to save her over and over and over and over. Real Sunset would be charging in with her best intentions, and he'd be scrambling behind her and screwing up by protecting her when she didn't want it.

That was why they were all dead. All zombies, hollow shells being thrown at him. To break him. To tell him what he already was going to do and drive him mad at his inability to do it. But he wouldn't break. He WOULD do it. He would do whatever it took to make them stop. He would break THEM. Make THEM afraid... He just had to survive.

"And what could make her so special to you that you would become what you consider a monster just to keep her safe?"

His arms were empty. All of him had been plucked away, save for a few fleshy ribbons hanging from his mouth, just enough to continue making it impossible to speak. He couldn't explain. He couldn't tell her he WAS saving her. He was just another empty shell, plodding along in a sea of them.

"You know, you'd told me that you were willing to do ANYTHING to protect Sunset Shimmer. I'd had such high hopes for you... Everyone wants to watch the world burn when they're angry or bitter. Even those who would destroy everything for a loved one think they are following some noble purpose like 'true love' or 'honor.' However, I could see in your eyes that you had no qualms about what actually doing it would make you into, no misconceptions about what it would mean to burn it all down..."

That was right. He could still become a monster. He just needed to be a GOOD monster. Real Sunset would be friends with a GOOD monster, right?

He could see a light in the distance, fiery reds and oranges. He wanted to believe it was a sign of reprieve, but he knew it would be fleeting. It was a Sunset, not a sunrise. He could see her in the distance. He could hear the clicking of gun barrels opening behind him. He reached out, but found nothing to brace himself on as the turret's bullets slammed into him. He couldn't fall now, no matter how much he wanted to. If he did, those bullets would reach HER. His back exploded with pain, hot, burning, infected pain that filled the hollow where his innards used to be until he felt like he was about to rupture, like something was going to rip apart.

When the gunshots finally stopped, the last of his strength went with it. He fell, but he didn't receive the luxury of being able to rest. He was falling far and fast, locked inside a tin can full of wires and metal bits and pointy things. He was tumbling down through infinite space, unsure if there was Earth beneath him or simply more of the endless, cold, choking void. He wasn't shivering, any more. There was nothing left inside him to shiver. He'd been gutted and beaten and eaten... but he hadn't given in to the bad guys.

Just like a superhero would. Just like Sunset would want.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

He wasn't going to make it back to Earth this time. He was lost in eternity.

He began to count. He needed to know how many seconds there were in eternity. How many more seconds he would have to live like this.

Just for Sunset.

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Penn bolted up in his bed, grabbing frantically at his chest. He instinctively began to pat himself down, checking that everything was in its proper place. He practically leapt from his bed, feeling like he was flying compared to the cold sludge he was wading through in his nightmare. He ran to the pool of water in the corner of his bedroom, checking his reflection.

No bloody entrails hanging from his mouth. No bugs crawling around under his skin. There was only the signs of a cold sweat and bloodshot eyes staring back at him. He let out a long breath, using one hand to splash the cold liquid onto his face several times. After several seconds of dripping, he changed his tactic and braced himself against the edge, plunging his entire head into the small, chilled pool.

It was just a nightmare. Just another nightmare, just like all the rest.

He waited as long as he could stand it before he finally pulled his head back out of the water. He didn't breathe a word as he walked to the chest that he kept in the corner specifically for this occasion. He shuffled through the contents before finally uncorking a bottle of shimmering pink liquid and pressing it to his lips. He knew he didn't need the regeneration effect the potion would give him, but the warm tingling and general sense of wellness it gave him always dissolved away the last vestiges of the shivers from his nightmare.

He checked the gold-rimmed clock mounted above his bed. By his estimation, it was still three hours before dawn.

He polished the last of the potion off, savoring the salty taste of the ghast tear that had gone into brewing it. It had quickly become his favorite of the potion flavors, since it was almost the same savory satisfaction of the gatorades he tended to drink back home, but with more "warm fuzzies" when he was done drinking and an absolute certainty it was healthy for him.

Three hours would be plenty of time. He sighed as he wiped the last drops from the corners of his mouth.

"Okay... let's do this."

Author's Note:

Wanna give a shout-out to everyone who commented on the last chapter pointing out how Penn had "forgotten" about Sunset not wanting or needing to be rescued and being strong on her own. It was exactly the criticism I needed in order to realize that we weren't seeing enough from Penn's perspective to understand WHY he'd regressed a bit in terms of his relationship with Sunset.

I generally try to stick to Sunset's perspective as much as possible, but sometimes I get a little too caught up in that and forget to actually get the things I know about the characters across to YOU guys!

Thanks for getting me out of my own head, fellow adventurers! (Or, considering Penn is a self-insert, into my own head?)

Comments

[Alex3410]

it just shows that everyone is selfish (which is not a bad thing) sunset wanting penn to stop being this protective, penn ignoring that and wants to protect her.

both of them are wanting something

[Venerable Ro]

You know, I've seen nihilistic megalomaniacs with a higher opinion of themselves than this guy. Such extraordinary self-flagellation for some platonic ideal of a Sunset who has never existed. As if Sunset herself wouldn't burn the world for the sake of her loved ones. Vader's bloody lightsaber found her in the very first moments of this cataclysm, what does that say about her nature?

media.discordapp.net/attachments/662785751347363873/715493837761413181/0c8849cc40bd617b17506a770435ee51.png?width=328&height=466

[Raistlin]

10256472

I mean no offense, but the flashback nightmare is too long and mostly reuses the same scenes we have already read back in the RWBY chapters.
I think it would have been better by showing other details of Penn's imprisonment to reveal his mental broken state.

[Pennington Inkwell]

10256963
You're probably right. I just felt like a nightmare sequence might have more impact than a flashback at showing how much he's regressed into this one-track mentality. I got a few bits of imagery in my mind and kind of wrote this around them. I was probably beating some points over the head with this chapter, but I was trying to make sure I wasn't forgetting to communicate things to the audience.

Guess this WAS a bit too far in the opposite direction, but better to overcorrect, I guess.

[A_Bloodthirsty_Unicorn56]

Wait, that’s it for now? But I’m on a 16 hour ride home!

Uff.

[Venerable Ro]

10259493
Nice, sounded just like him.

[Pennington Inkwell]

10259335
Apologies! I'm trying to get updates out every Sunday and Tuesday! Believe me when I say this story is ALWAYS on my mind, though!

[Pennington Inkwell]

10259499
I try! ;)

Hellsing Ultimate Abridged is one of my favs

[A_Bloodthirsty_Unicorn56]

10259509
No apologies needed, you keep being awesome and writing at your own pace! No need to burn out for us.

[DIRKWITHAGUN]

wow i need to stop binge reading everything i come across

[Jane_Shadow]

10257025
i liked it. though, it does imply that he's been srsly downplaying the effect these adventures are having on him