The Multiverse in a Nutshell

by Pennington Inkwell

The Traveling Woman

"Here, eat this. It's one of Applejack's recipes: cinnamon-apple pancakes!"

Penn blinked, staring at the plate Sunset was handing him as if he didn't know what it was. "You didn't have to-"

"Oh, please!" Missy folded her arms as she floated by. "Nobody's expecting you to go right back to cooking and taking care of us! Just take the pancakes!"

With the danger having passed, everyone had gathered back together in the TARDIS's console room. The Doctor was carefully examining Penn from head to toe, and had been for nearly an hour.

"As usual, the great Sunset Shimmer and Penn had no REAL need for me..." he muttered. "Every time your group shows up, I somehow miss out on the excitement, which is exceptionally strange for me!"

"Hey, here I thought you'd be happy to have a day off again!" Clara heckled with a smile from her own seat. "Besides, it wasn't exactly pleasant fighting that demon!"

"Hey, don't forget about us!" Misprint yelled, nearly hopping off of the console with the force of her shout. "Me and Missy didn't have it so easy, either!"

Sunset took a deep breath and leaned back further into her seat. "Still, I never would have imagined that the ink demon went and built a new machine in another part of Penn's brain..."

"Judging by everyone's stories, I think destroying the machine's power source coincided with Penn's second wind." The Doctor straightened up to look closely at one of the screens.

"Well, we're still taking the ink machine apart, but I think it might have been tapping straight into his subconscious, probably to hijack it. As long as that thing was running, I'd theorize he could have completely supplanted Penn as the owner of the dreamscape!"

At least Noir's not mad at us again... Sunset thought. But I miss Isis. "Hey, no offense to... uh... Bastet, was it? But how long until Isis is back?"

"Are you JOKING? Even with all the repair drones back on their proper programming, this mess is going to take WEEKS to repair! Every hard drive and processor had its hard connection lines severed to try and prevent the demon's spread, on TOP of the absolute MESS that Missy left behind!"

Missy took a moment to pout and glare at the lone repair drone that had come to join them. "Hey! Would you rather have half a workshop or NO workshop at all?"

"You're still banned until further notice!"

"Ya old grump..."

"Speaking of old grumps..." Clara rose to her feet and stepped up beside the Doctor to get a better look at the screen with him. "What've you got?"

"Well, outside of a headache? Less than I'd like..." The Doctor rubbed at the back of his head before stepping away so that everyone could see the screen clearly. "I've been trying to figure out what exactly that so-called demon was and where it went, and between Penn's body and 'Monochrome Missy' over there... I'm still at a bit of a loss."

"Who are you calling 'Mono-'" Misprint took a moment to look down at herself. "...okay, actually, that's fair."

Sunset blinked. "Penn's body? What's that supposed to mean, he looks fine!"

"See for yourself." The Doctor pointed to the screen, which was displaying what was clearly a strand of DNA. "Ordinary human DNA consists of a double helix of nucleotides, but Penn's genetic material..."

Everyone crowded around the screen, watching as the entire strand of DNA was assaulted and crowded in by more black particles, linking to the outside, replacing entire portions at once with dark reconstructions, and then began to fold in on itself until it was a bundle of jet-black knots.

"That... doesn't look good." Missy whispered.

"It's been completely destroyed and rebuilt from the ground up. He looks normal, yes, but he's certainly not human, any more." The Doctor shook his head. "And his entire body is radiating hume fluctuations, artron energy, and, well, types of forces not even the TARDIS is sure how to classify. But it matches the readings from when he was completely overtaken by that so-called demon. Whatever it was, I'd categorize him under a similar type of lifeform. Close cousins."

"Isis was collecting data on things classified as 'supernatural.' She'll probably have a better chance at giving us some specifics once she's back online."

"Wait... does that mean that he's gonna..." Missy rolled her eyes back into her head and lifted her hands up to grasp blindly, "Y'know? Graaaah, souls..."

"Couldn't say, but his form seems to have settled back on recreating the human body, so I would guess that there isn't much danger of that. Different building blocks, same form and function. Not to mention that his consciousness seems intact, thanks to everyone's best efforts!"

That's... some pretty disturbing news. Sunset glanced over at Penn. How's he taking it?

Penn had set the plate of pancakes back in his lap and was examining his hands, clearly uncertain of himself. Sunset reached over and placed her hand on his leg, snapping him out of his reverie. When he looked at her, Sunset could see the fear in his eyes, and his breaths were starting to grow fast and shallow again. She moved her hand up to his, giving it a firm squeeze.

"Don't panic, we don't need you to go fainting now. Different parts, but it's still the the same boat." Sunset gave him her best reassuring smile. "Take a deep breath."

Her words seemed to cut through the worry, and he closed his eyes to focus on slowing his breathing. A few seconds later, he had returned to a more regular speed and returned the hand squeeze.

"Thanks, Sunset."

"What bothers me is how you said you destroyed the demon... I'm worried it might still be around, lurking somewhere, but not in control."

"Well, if it is, we'll be waiting for it!" Missy punched her fist into her palm. "I'm always ready to give that sucker his final fright!"

Misprint smirked and rolled her eyes. "Just as soon as you're done with your week-long cooldown, right?"

"Well, I'm no expert..." Sunset tapped her chin. "But, in the moment, I think Penn and I had the same idea. The demon was using him to get fresh source material to corrupt and recreate, so we gave it more than it could handle at once."

"We spread it too thin, literally. It couldn't hold itself together in a sea of information." Penn nodded. "The other ink creatures couldn't stay distinct when they touched big pools of ink, this was the same principle. I'm with Noir, it's probably still somewhere in there, but I've got it under control. It's never going to pull itself back together without me knowing."

"Well, I would LOVE to study your new biology a bit longer, if you'd let me! It's not very often that I get to study a creature I know nothing about!" The Doctor rubbed his hands together.

Sunset spoke up before Penn could answer. "You know what? That sounds GREAT! We'll hang around here until you're satisfied!" She glanced at Penn, who was looking at her with a mix of confusion and anger. "Right here. In the TARDIS. Where it's safe. No immortal witches, no more unexpected portals, and no chance of anyone getting into trouble in the middle of the night!" Penn's expression changed from confusion to understanding, and he sheepishly looked at his plate while rubbing at the back of his head.

"That DOES sound nice..." Missy admitted. "It feels like we've been going non-stop since Mount Ebott!"

"Yeah, twenty-nine chapters!" Misprint added. "We need some wholesome slice-of-life!"

Penn pondered for a moment longer than anyone else before shrugging his shoulders. "Looks like I'm outvoted. I'd be honored to hang around the TARDIS a little longer, Doctor..." He gestured to the rest of the room. "I mean, she IS the best ship in all of science fi-" he blinked as he caught himself in a slip of the tongue, "in the multiverse."

"Pfft, trust me, kissing up to her doesn't work, I've tried." Clara smirked and folded her arms.

"Great!" The Doctor turned to leave. "In that case, I'll be right back with some more advanced instruments!"

Sunset smiled and reached over, picking Penn's plate up off of his lap and pushing it back into his hands. "Eat."

"You don't have to act like I'm bedridden, or something." Penn raised an eyebrow. "Everyone's been acting like I'm super fragile, but I feel fine!"

Sunset folded her arms. "You just had the fundamental laws of your biology rewritten, of course we're all going to worry about you!"

"Maybe, but my mind stayed in one piece, thanks to you!" Penn turned to look at everyone else in the control room. "All of you. Thank you."

"Of course! What are friends for?" Clara flashed them a smile. "Not that you both remember that we're friends, yet. Think of it as us repaying you for repaying us for this later!"

"Ugh, that makes my head hurt..." Missy grumbled.

"For me and Bastet it was a case of survival, but you're welcome. A little help putting this place back together would be appreciated, though!"

"I'd love to, but..." Penn rubbed at his head. "I think my brain's a little... strained. It's gonna be a while before I can get back to my visualization exercises."

"Probably pulled some kind of metaphorical muscle in your mind's eye!" Misprint chirped.

"I was afraid you'd say something like that. Fine, just get well soon, I've got a metric TON of work to do! And that's more than an imperial ton!"

With that, the repair drone hopped off of the control panel and flew out of sight.

"Man, what a grump..." Missy folded her arms. "Anyway, we ALL had beef with that demon after he hurt you!"

"I was just glad to make it out of that dying universe!" Misprint cheered. "I wanna earn my keep!"

Sunset flinched at the mention of the universe that had collapsed behind them. "Hey, Penn? I think you were right... we DO need to be careful about how much we change things. There were a lot of people back there, and now they're-" She stopped when she felt a tug on her arm. Looking down, she could see Misprint giving her a sympathetic look.

"Free. I think the word you're looking for is that they're 'free.'"

"Well, I probably swing too hard in the other direction." Penn shrugged. "We're a balance. I know how things are supposed to happen, you know how things ought to be." He glanced at Misprint. "We messed up this time, but if anything, that's on me. I let that place get inside my head and tried to be you." He shrugged again, trying to look unfazed in spite of the anxiety clearly pushing through his poker face. He's faking it to try and make me feel better... "Besides, I think I might have a better idea of what they were going through, and... they're better off, now. The ink demon's corruption had sunken so deep into that place, there was no undoing it. Even if you made things better, it would have all just gone back to what it was: reruns."

A gloomy silence fell over the group again.

"Wow, no wonder you never want to talk about the early days." Clara stepped up out of her seat and gave Penn a pat on the shoulder. "You've all been trying your best out there, and from what I know about your future, you're doing good things!" She gave Sunset a warm smile. "Quit beating yourselves up for making a few mistakes when the whole multiverse is in uncharted waters! Even the Doctor and I have been a bit out of our depth, sometimes! You're all still alive and together, and that's what matters most!"

"Hey, that's right!" Missy hopped up and wrapped her arms around Sunset. "We've gotta cheer up! I didn't cross the boundaries of this world and the world of duel spirits to mope around!"

"...and I sure didn't push through a demonic possession just to be miserable." Penn sighed. "Clara's right, we've been giving it our best. If we're going to keep moving forward, we can't get hung up on our failures." He took a moment to look up, his eyes following the glowing column at the center of the console. "If you try to drive forward with your car in reverse gear, you're just gonna ruin the transmission."

"So, now that that's settled..." Clara gave them a wide grin. "No more sour faces! Got it? You're on the greatest adventure of your lives, so enjoy it!"

Sunset glanced at Missy, seeing that she was already smiling. Her gaze quickly traveled to Penn, where she could see the hints of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. For a moment, Sunset's mind flashed back to the image she'd seen when she first entered the TARDIS, of her and her friends all happy and smiling together in the future. They had seemed so carefree.

"Please... make it HERE. This far, to this future. This journey has been... amazing beyond words. Don't EVER give up."

"Yeah... Let's keep pushing ahead!"

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"When did you find the time to do THIS?" Penn cried.

"Well, you humans waste so much time with sleeping, I got bored waiting for you to wake up!" The Doctor brushed aside everyone's shock as he stood beside the open door to the car. "So, I thought, since you're looking for six more people, and there's already three of you who need seats, I'd help solve your little space issue!"

"But- but HOW?" Sunset leaned in to stick her head through the door and get a better look at the inside. "How did you make Sylvia bigger on the inside?"

The inside of the car had been expanded, growing to more than double its previous size. It was wide enough to seat at least four people in the back seat, and a second couch-sized seat had been added behind it, allowing for four more to sit comfortably. Penn never lets anyone work on his car, though... Is he-

"This... it's incredible! I can't thank you enough!" Penn held his hand against his head, clearly trying to fend off his shock.

"Ah, don't mention it. I know you've got this in your future, so I'm just making sure we keep the timeline intact!" The Doctor smiled. "Consider it a thank you gift for letting me study what happened to you!"

"Well, the information's been good for us, too... It's good to know I'm still me."

"An inhuman body with a human form and function... Honestly, it's fascinating! I wish I had more time." The Doctor sighed. "But I suppose I'll have more chances in the future!"

"And the past!" Clara added, with a grin.

Sunset reached out, giving the Doctor a firm handshake, as firm and warm as she could manage. She would have preferred to hug him, but every time she'd tried he'd managed to fend her off with the claim that he wasn't a "hugging person."

"Thank you, Doctor. Just when we needed help the most, you were there."

She felt a weight hit her from behind as Clara wrapped her arms around them both, forcing them into a group hug. "Well, it's like the sign says, right? Advice and assistance obtainable immediately!"

After a few seconds, the Doctor managed to break free of the hug, finally forcing them apart. "Okay, that's enough!"

"Come ooooon!"

"We need to get going!"

Clara chuckled. "I don't know how you're going to make it with double the Missys. That's too much chaos for one car!"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "I'm sure we'll manage somehow."

"Well, I suppose this is goodbye for now!" Clara reached out and gave Sunset one more hug. "Take care of yourselves, okay? And stay out of trouble!"

"We both know that isn't going to happen, but... We'll try." Sunset smirked. "At least we'll try to keep looking on the bright side of things!"

"Thanks for giving us a place to rest and catch our breath... we really needed it." Penn took his turn shaking the Doctor's hand. "It's been a real honor to meet my hero like this..."

"I'm not a hero," the Doctor stated with a frown.

"Well, you are to me. I've been watching your show since as long as I can remember, and you taught me so many things." Sunset could see tears brimming up in Penn's eyes. "That there's always a way out of a bad situation, that out-thinking your opponent is always better than overpowering them, and that there's always someone out there who cares, so I can always keep up hope!" He kept a wide grin, even as tears started to fall. "Never be cruel or cowardly. Always try to be nice, but never fail to be kind. I wish I could say that I've lived up to every lesson I ever learned from you, but I suppose I'm only human." He blinked before chuckling to himself. "Or, at least I WAS, I guess! So, beyond just what you did for us lately, thank you."

"This is why I hate meeting fans..." the Doctor grumbled, letting go of Penn's hand and turning to head back towards the TARDIS. "Be seeing you, Sunset! You too, Penn and Missys!"

"BYE!"

"See ya!"

"Guess I'd better get going, too, if I don't want to get left behind!" Clara gave Sunset one more smile before walking back to the TARDIS and waving. "See you later, everyone!"

With that, the door swung shut, leaving them alone with the tall blue box.

"I guess we should-"

"Not so fast. You're gonna want to see this." Penn cut her off with a smile.

Vrrrrmmm... Vrrrrrmmm... VRRRRRRMMM...

It was a sound of massive engines spinning to life, and the blue light on top of the TARDIS began to brightly flash. While normally that kind of mechanical noise would be grating to her, but something about it was... calming. Like an old friend.

Vrrrrrmmmmm... Vrrrrrrrmmmm! Vrrrrrrrmmmmm!

Sunset's eyes widened as the light began to shine not only above the TARDIS, but through it. The blue box was beginning to grow translucent, vanishing right before their eyes. The sound of the engines began to echo in some unseen void, amplifying and repeating on top of one another in a chorus of pitches and harmonies.

VRRRRM! VRRRRRMM! VRRRRRMMMM!

Finally, just when the light and sound seemed to reach the threshold of becoming painful, both of them began to fade. Moments later, both had completely disappeared, as well as the TARDIS, itself.

"What... happened?"

"Always wanted to see that in person." Penn sighed blissfully. "The TARDIS taking off into space and time."

"Wow, that was something else!" Missy shouted.

"Yeah..." Even Misprint seemed to be beyond words.

"Well, I guess we'd better get going!" Penn chimed, pulling open the passenger-side door and motioning for Sunset to enter with a sweep of his arm. "Could you give us our heading, Sunset?"

Sunset reached her geode, only to stop halfway.

"Hey... why don't we just go someplace?" Sunset looked over at Penn. "Isis was mapping out the other dimensions, right? Why don't we just pick one to try visiting?"

"Hey, I'm not your GPS! I've got a LOT of repairs to make here!"

Penn chuckled. "Bastet's not exactly going to be as helpful as Isis was. Until she's back online, we're going to be on our own. Your geode's going to be the only thing giving us directions!"

"I'm PLENTY helpful! I'm just not gonna hold your stupid hands!"

Sunset thought for a moment longer, then unfastened the clasp on her necklace and shoved the geode into her pocket. With a grin, she hopped into her normal seat. "Then I guess you're deciding our path this time!"

"But I don't-"

Sunset yanked the door shut, cutting him off. She snickered to herself as he stared at her through the window, completely dumbfounded. Behind her, Missy and Misprint both tumbled into the backseat, a pile of giggles and wings.

"Where are we going?"

"What's next?"

"What's for breakfast?"

"Can we get McDonalds?"

Penn slowly came around the front of the car, settling into the driver's seat beside her. "Sunset, what's this about? Don't you want to keep looking for your friends?"

"Well, I've been doing some thinking..." Sunset felt her face flush with embarrassment. "I've been so focused on finding them, I've never given anybody else a chance to go anywhere THEY want to go! And that's not really fair, you know? So I'm letting YOU pick where we're going, this time!"

"Well, without a map I've got no idea what's out there or how to find it." Penn shrugged and leaned back. "So, unless you give us our heading, it looks like we're stuck!"

"But-"

"If we find a place I want to stop, I'll let you know." Penn gave her a wide smile. "Having that option is enough."

"And I'm just along for the ride!" Missy cheered from behind them.

"Me, too! I'm just glad to be alive!" Misprint shouted.

"Well, I'm- I want YOU to-" Sunset stuttered.

"Sunset, please. Tell us where we're going." Penn motioned to the road. "I WANT to go where you choose!"

"But..." Sunset wanted to argue, but she could feel her argument die in her throat. "Geez... You guys are really more than I deserve, you know that?"

"We know, but you're stuck with us, anyway!" Missy chirped.

Sunset reached into her pocket and grabbed her geode. She stared at the crystal, pondering how much they all had chosen to trust it and the magic of friendship it held. They all have so much faith in me... and in this. She reached up and removed the small plush from the rearview mirror, replacing it with the hanging geode.

"I promise I'll never lead you astray..." she whispered.

With a final tap, she set the geode spinning. All of them watched it swing freely back and forth, until it eventually seemed to pick a direction, pulling in the direction of the road.

"That's more like it!" Penn smiled and inserted the key, bringing the car to life.

Chk-chk-chk-chk-VRRRRRM!

"You know... The TARDIS was cool, but..." Sunset pressed herself further into her seat. Certainly, the familiar chugging of Sylvia's engine had become a soothing sound. It felt like eons since she'd heard it. It felt like...

It felt like coming home.

"I think I prefer Sylvia."

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"So, how long does he usually stay in there?" Misprint asked.

"Church service usually lasts about three hours." Sunset rolled her eyes as she turned the next page of Inkheart. I can see why Penn loves this book so much. It's like a love letter to books!

"Ugh, that's FOREVER! We're not even halfway through!"

"Penn asks for three hours a week to devote to this in exchange for driving us day and night every other day, and it means the world to his mental state. I'm NOT going to tell him to stop, and neither are you!" Sunset turned around in her seat to give Misprint a chiding glare.

"Uh, then what's he doing out already?" Missy asked, pointing over Sunset's shoulder.

"Huh?"

Everyone turned to look out the windshield, spotting Penn walking out of the building. As he grew closer, Sunset could see scorch marks and burned holes on his suit and a frustrated look on his face. He didn't say a word as he yanked open the door and practically threw himself into the driver's seat. He didn't make an attempt to start the car, he simply sat and glared into space.

"Uhhh, Penn? You alright?" Missy asked.

"You look like you got into a fight with a bonfire and the bonfire won!" Misprint added.

Sunset reached up and brushed a bit of soot from his face. "What happened?"

Penn opened his mouth and coughed lightly, sending a small cloud of foul-smelling black smoke into the air.

"Turns out 'Church' and 'having an ink demon inside you' don't mix."

Everyone paused for a moment, unsure how to answer. After a few seconds, Penn slipped the keys into the ignition.

"Are... you gonna be alright?"

Penn paused, giving her a long look before smirking. "Hey, being weak to holy objects really soothes my inner edgelord. I've got my faith and I can still follow the most important commandment: love thy neighbor! The rest is all specifics about that, right?" He took a moment to stretch his arms before turning the key.

Chk-chk-chk-chk-VRRRM!

"Besides, getting to freak out when I see a cross or holy water is gonna get some priceless reactions outta people!"

Sunset gave a glance back at the two angels sitting in the backseat, all uneasy. As if he could detect their worries, Penn reached back and took a moment to tousle each of their hair.

"It's fine, I promise."

Missy reached up, grabbing at his hand and inspecting it. "Okay... as long as we don't hurt you. We ARE angels, after all!"

"Well, you ARE a dark-attribute monster!" Penn chuckled and gave her nose a poke before turning to Misprint. "And YOU are another ink creature, same as me. I don't think we'll be having any problems!"

Sunset couldn't help giggling a little at the silly moment. "You sure you'll be alright? I know this means a lot to you."

"Even if I wasn't, what could I do about it?" Penn craned his neck from side to side. "An exorcism wouldn't be pleasant, and there's no way I'm setting the ink demon loose on an unsuspecting world! Especially when the only way to kill it imploded with the rest of that dimension!" He shrugged and shifted the car into gear, beginning to back them out of the Church parking lot. "This is just how things are gonna have to be from now on."

Sunset bit her tongue about the rest of her worries. Penn was clearly set on not making a big deal out of what was happening. The best that she could do was be there to support him.

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Sunset took a deep breath. There was something satisfying about the symmetry of sleeping with an angel on either side, but the increasing number of loose feathers in the tent was beginning to get out of hand. Still, it made things cozy, and there was just enough room in the tent for the three of them to fit without feeling cramped.

And with the expansion to the car, I'm sure Penn's having zero issues with space! Sunset glanced around. I wonder... what are we going to do when we find more of my friends? Or if somebody new joins like Misprint? We're going to run out of space fast! Maybe I should start getting used to sleeping in the car, too?

Her contemplation came to an end when a hand patted against the tent door, catching her attention and beginning to rouse Missy and Misprint from their slumber.

"It's okay, we're decent!" Sunset called. "What's going on, Pe- WAUGH!"

Peering into the tent was the pale visage of Ghostrick Alucard. As usual, he was completely silent, simply seeming content to stare at the three of them.

"Alucard? What is it?" Missy mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Alucard continued staring.

"Yeah, I know what day it is, it's Thursday."

Alucard very slowly raised an eyebrow. Missy gasped, her eyes flying open wide.

"WHAT?" Missy bolted upright. "IT'S THE TWENTY-NINTH?"

"Ugh... what's the big deal?" Misprint groaned, rubbing at her eyes.

Sunset had a guess. "It's almost Halloween."

"Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot!" Missy grabbed her head with both hands as she floated up into the air and rushed out of the tent door. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no OH NO OH NO!"

Sunset stepped out the door of the tent. Missy was flying in tight circles around their campfire.

"What's the matter? You remembered in time, didn't you?"

"The last forty-eight hours are CRITICAL! I've been gone so long and left Mary in charge of this year, I completely lost track of time! I'm going to have to work TWICE as hard to make sure everything's right in time! There's so many final checks to do! So many last-minute adjustments!" She finally broke out of her circle, zooming over and grabbing Alucard by the lapels. "Is the elevator sufficiently squeaky and rattle-ey? Are the cobwebs in their proper places? Is Witch using the cooking cauldrons or the brewing cauldrons for decoration? You KNOW she can't tell the difference! Are there enough hor d'oeuvres for the visitors? Are Mary's mirrors polished? Who did you put in charge of digging up some fresh plots in the graveyard? What kind of cookies are we making, pumpkin or chocolate chip? Who's RSVP'd? Oh, PLEASE tell me the Traptrix are still coming! NO, WAIT! I don't want them to come, this is going to be so embarrassing!" She was practically lifting Alucard off the ground at this point. "If Warwolf and Ghoul try to use this as an excuse to renovate again, I'm going to LOSE IT!"

Sunset reached up and very gently pulled Missy back down towards Earth. "Woah, Missy, it's okay! You don't have to get upset!"

"Yeah! If you've gotta work twice as hard, then it's a good thing there's two of us!" Misprint added.

"Yeah, and Penn and I can help, too!" Sunset rubbed her hand on the spot between Missy's wings. "So just calm down, okay?"

Missy shook her head with a heavy sigh. "I wish you could, but even if the barrier between spirits and the rest of the worlds is thinner around Halloween, I'm not strong enough to move you guys from one world to the other and back!"

"What about me?" Misprint nodded towards Alucard. "I'm sure 'tall, pale, and handsome' over there can at least pull me across!"

"That... might be more doable." Missy mumbled as she scratched at her head. "But after Halloween's over, anyone crossing is going to need a bond to someone already ON this side. I've got Sunset, but you can't make that kind of bond because you're an ink monster instead of a duel spirit... I'm not sure if-"

"Then I'll stay."

All eyes turned to Misprint, who instantly became sheepish and looked down at her feet. "I-I mean, if the other Ghostricks would be willing to have me! I think it'd be nice to get in touch, you know? It's not like there's any 'Toon Alucard' or anything like that..."

Sunset dropped to one knee, placing her hand on Misprint's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "We didn't... make you feel unwelcome, did we? You don't have to leave."

"What? No!" Misprint shook her head hard enough to nearly send her tiny hat flying. "You've all been GREAT! Better to me than a tagalong like me probably deserves! But... I wanna try to find somebody like me! Penn's inky now, sure, but he's clearly still trying to be human!" She shrugged. "If things don't work out with other Ghostricks, there's always Toon monsters!"

"You're sure? There's no problem with you staying with us!"

Misprint nodded. "A girl's gotta find her own way, you know? If I go help out the Ghostricks, at least I can earn my keep!"

Missy dropped down to ground level, looking her double in the eyes with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "You sure about this? You're like me, so I know they're gonna love for you to stay, but the world of duel spirits can be a pretty crazy place."

Misprint smirked and put one hand on her hip. "Please. Compared to Joey Drew Studios and Penn's dreamscape, I'm sure it'll be a cake walk!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Sunset spotted Penn walking up beside her. He gave her a smile as he reached down and tousled Misprint's hair. "If that's where you wanna go, I'm not gonna stop you. The Ghostricks will take care of you. Right, Alucard?"

Alucard gave a respectful nod before turning back to Missy and pointing to his wrist.

"Okay, okay! I know!" Missy dropped down and grabbed her double by the hand. "Ready to go?"

Misprint took a deep breath and gave Sunset and Penn a grateful look. "Thank you for everything!"

"Don't forget to come visit when you can!" Sunset leaned forward and awkwardly hugged the ink angel.

"Take care of yourself, Misprint." Penn gave a wink. "And thanks for the help getting my head on straight again."

"You're welcome! Thanks for being my ride outta ink hell!" Misprint returned the wink before sticking out her tongue.

"I'll be back once Halloween is over!" Missy gave a quick salute as Alucard placed a hand on each of their shoulders. There was a flash of white light that forced them to look away. "See ya soon!"

Once the light had faded, Sunset and Penn were left standing alone in the camp. There was only a few seconds before Penn spoke up.

"It's too quiet already."

Sunset took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. "Come on, bud, let's use this chance to eat that Christmas candy we've been hiding from her."

"Dibs on the peppermint chocolates!"

Sunset scoffed. "Dibs? When you've known Pinkie for more than a week, you know candy is every-girl-for-herself!"

Comments

[Boltstrike58]

It's funny to see Missy Twilighting.

[Viatorem]

10699899

10700021

Well, I for once will love to see some sort of X-COM presence in the fic, mostly because if Penn reacted like this when he was in from of Cinder while she was fighting against him:

Okay that's hot- NO! NOT THE TIME! This is SO NOT the time! I need information, I need to get her talking about something USEFUL!

(From chapter: ....To the Same Pitiful Fate.)

And let’s not forget how he acted when he was in front of Alice Angle, who was also threatening him:

Sunset watched a shudder travel through him... as his face began to flush.
"Is she correct? Can you give me what I want, or shall I TAKE it from you?"
His face flushed harder, putting some very noticeable color into his cheeks. Sunset's eyes widened. You have GOT to be kidding me! Is he seriously-

(From chapter: Can't Be Erased)

I really want to see how Penn will react when he gets in front of one of this beauties:

40.media.tumblr.com/e15f7519fcb2005fb911388fb9d40540/tumblr_npbudhCvRj1tczsnro1_1280.jpg

And specially how he will react if the Viper uses her signature “bind” move on him:

(Because as you can see, that move puts that part of their physiology that both Vipers and human females share uncomfortably close to the Viper prey’s face)

...

Yeah I basically want to see how Penn reacts to Vipers, because, and let’s be honest here, the designers new 100% what where they doing when they made made the vipers the way they did XD

[MariusIoannesP]

"It feels like we've been going non-stop since Mount Ebott!"

"Yeah, twenty-nine chapters!" Misprint added. "We need some wholesome slice-of-life!"

I'm too lazy to check if it's been indeed 29 chapters since then. Still quite the fourth wall break.

"Not that you both remember that we're friends, yet. Think of it as us repaying you for repaying us for this later!"

"Ugh, that makes my head hurt..." Missy grumbled.

Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey!

"How did you make Sylvia bigger on the inside?"

The Doctor turned Sylvia into a TARDIS!

It occurred to me the other day. What if when The Doctor and Clara meet Penn and Sunset for the first time, it's the 11th Doctor and Clara?

It's cool you have Penn going to church. I'm a church person myself. But I'm Catholic so we don't do three hours every week. Rather unfortunate he can't go now being made of demon ink. It's really something you know. You have a self-insert that you kill, have his original soul stuck inside Undyne from Undertale, a doppelganger created from a combination of both Undertale and Yugioh card magic, and now you have said doppelganger transformed into demonic Bendy and the Ink Machine ink. It still boggles my mind the abuse you're willing to fictional you through.

And now we see Misprint leaving. I was wondering if she was going to be along for the ride. I don't recall her being in the video Future Sunset made for her past self. So that makes sense.

I miss Isis though. I hope she's back by the next chapter.

So I guess that's the obligatory cool down chapter in between arcs. That means if I remember correctly, they're going back to Remnant next. That'll be fun to see again. Probably should go catch up with Volume 8 just in case.

Anyway, I certainly look forward to the next installment. Keep up the great work.

[EnderHooves]

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Well, Sylvia isn't a TARDIS yet, but it does have the R.D.I.S part. Considering it's Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, Sylvia is not yet a time machine.
UARDIS? Universeal Traveling Spatially Compressed Automobile on the Roads? UTSCAR?
I feel like Sylvia deserves an acronym, one that spells Sylvia if possible.

Fantastic chapter! I look forward to the coming friendships! Next stop, the RWBYverse!

[ShadwSonic]

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The "Sending You to Lateral 'Verses Immediately Automobile"?

[Shrouded Lunes]

Anyone else not-so-secretly wanted to hear Penn make a wisecrack about The Doctor forgetting to take off the Parking Brake when the TARDIS left? Or just telling / reminding Sylvia he'd never be that forgetful with her?

[SlouchyFall]

Is there a chance that Penn would get some kind of powers from the whole Ink Demon incident? Or maybe even something like an underpowered omnitrix?

[reader238]

When they got to the church I was expecting something out of boondock saints maybe Penn could use that

[Pennington Inkwell]

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Give it a chapter or two, all I'll say is that he's gotten more out of this than an aversion to crosses and black blood.

[Raistlin]

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Why is ISIS out? The A.I once bragged to Cinder about how many backups she had on several worlds just in case some enemy tried to subvert her.

[Pennington Inkwell]

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Long story short: the attack happened too fast.

From a software standpoint, she could come back at any time. The problem is that her core hardware is all offline. She didn't have time to transfer to another system because she tried to quarantine the infection instead. She treated a supernatural attack as a digital one, and by the time she realized her mistake, she was too compromised to transfer out the proper permissions to one of her backups on different hardware.

She's not going to get caught off-guard like that again.

[Snowdrifter]

"We both know that isn't going to happen, but... We'll try." Sunset smirked. "At least we'll try to keep looking on the bright side of things!"

Always look on the bright side of life,
Always look on the bright side of life...

[Stet709]

Penn paused, giving her a long look before smirking. "Hey, being weak to holy objects really soothes my inner edgelord. I've got my faith and I can still follow the most important commandment: love thy neighbor! The rest is all specifics about that, right?" He took a moment to stretch his arms before turning the key.

Worse comes to worse, Penn can do a personal Bible study. With all the books he has, he has to have a Bible in there too, right?