He could feel it. The ache in his bones, the fever in his soul.

He's dying. He's sure of it.

"You just have a cold, Dada, don't be silly." Eggy says, patting his warm forehead.

"Oh, sweet summer child," he thought. "I must take my leave from you. Tell Mama I love her. You can have the last piece of cake, my last gift to you!" He mutters, as he coughs. It's usually at these moments Eggy wished her natural form had eyes, because she wants to roll them at her father's antics. She tucks the blanket around him as her father buries himself into the living room couch.

Heedless of his daughter's thought, can feel his mind shutting down, the universe calls to him now and he will rejoin the cosmos, the birthplace of him and many others.

"Uh, oh." Eggy suddenly blurts out and Penny panics (because oh shit he was joking about dying) eyes popped open as he cranes his head towards his child. Eggy's is focusing at the door, mouth open in shock.

His daughter then adds, "Mama's angry,"

Oh shit. Did you find out about the chocolate? No, no, he had hid them well. He can't help it but those chocolate are delicious and you've been super snappy at everything and he just wanted a taste. Oh crap, he knew he should have taken the trash out yesterday; you may have found those wrappers.

"Wait, does she know about the chocolate?"

Copper hair turns around, and Penny swears he can see her non-existing eyes narrowing at him.

"No. It's something worse."

That made him sit up.

Oh no; you know about the Disney movies.

"Heh…Eggy, can you turn into another flu? Avian flu? Pig flu? Anything, Dada has to be extremely sick right now." He begs but Eggy shakes her head.

"Sorry, Dada…too late." She replies and both of them hear the sounds of your tires screeching into the driveway. Penny tries to escape, thinking that if he pretends to be dead he'd might escape whatever anger that's coming from you. But before he could bolt, the door swings open and slams against the wall. You march in, your footstep thunderous as you zero in on the blanketed figure on your couch.

"Er…hey [Y/N]…"

You kick the door shut, your fists clenching and unclenching as your gaze pierces his.

"Daddy?" you hiss, glaring at Penny. The former clown's expression turns from mild fear to confusion.

"Yeah…?"

Your fury was such that it had rendered you unable to form coherent sentences, so you opt for keywords instead: "Bob. Daddy?"

Penny makes a quick glance at Eggy who walk up towards her mother. You shake and shiver, trying to calm down as your child tentatively touches your hand. Quickly you send an image of Bob to her mind, you can feel her confusion but as soon as the picture is ingrained within her, she walks back towards the bewildered Pennywise.

The both hold their hands together as you collapse onto the chair beside sofa, your face covered within your palms. You had zero recollection of driving home, torn between fear and anger that Penny is keeping shit from you; there's another one of him, his father and now he's dropped to 'visit'? Right before yours does?

You don't need the stress god damn it!

You were so intent in your own thoughts you nearly missed the look of rage crossing Penny's face.

"Oh. Oh no – that…" he spits in an alien language, his fingers clenched tightly around Eggy's. You daughter whines as he drops her hands, sending an apologetic glance her way.

"Sorry, sweetie but it's just. [Y/N], I can explain."

Your head snaps up, "You'd better. What is this about your 'dad'? You said you were born from nothing and now there's another one of you running around! You said no more secrets Penny!" you growl. Penny, to his credit didn't even flinch but looks upset at your remarks.

"I didn't lie about that! My kind, well, my generation, are born, well created, from nothing! We don't have families like you." He explains. Your lover walks over to you and although you want nothing more than to be away from him, you still melt into his warm embrace, his body hotter due to his cold. Eggy climbs up and sits between both of you and you feel yourself calm down.

"Then who is he? He appeared from nowhere and he has your powers, Pen. And he's like a clown but not like you? He even used the same name."

Penny tightens his arms around you and you can hear his mind racking up a way to explain the whole mess, "Look, [Y/N], it's…complicated."

You think of your life so far. You had dealt with cosmic horrors that would make Lovecraft cry, you have a child who could join the X-Men and you just encountered Pennywise 2.0 while Pennywise 1.0 is sniffling with a cold. Also, you're pregnant and you have only a few days before you must come up with a backstory for a literal alien from space for your mother.

(And someone had eaten your chocolate.)

Complicated sounds simple at this time. You sigh, rubbing your forehead hoping to ease the migraine that's threatening to come.

"Just…try me. Okay, Penny? And don't keep anything from me anymore."

Penny nods, his lips thinning as he braces himself.

"He's not my father. I mean, I have a maker, sort of, yes but it's not the creature you met today." He explains, frowning.

"That man, this Bob, is something like me. We are of the same species but not of the same dimension. The closest human equivalent would be siblings …or cousins. But definitely not father or mother."

Penny sounds sincere and you feel a knot untangle deep within you. Something about that creature not being a father seem to ease you for some reason, but why did Bob say that? He even went as far as claim you as a daughter-in-law when it hits you.

Of course Bob would be lying – if Penny and this other guy are of the same cloth, then he would have a penchant for lying and trickery. It's one of their modus operandi. The clown scared you then tried to brush it away like it's a joke, like how Penny used to do to you.

And you fell for it.

"This guy, this Penny-Bob, he and I used to be…erm…" Penny hesitates, trying to figure out the correct words to explain the whole Penny/Penny-Bob relationship.

"He, er…he used to be my mate."

Record scratch.

You feel your jaw drop because – what. What the hell? Penny not only has a cousin/sibling whatever, but there were mates? As in lovers? Alien-Clown Spider/Alien Clown Spider?

The expression on your face must have been something because Penny quickly raised his hands in defensive.

"Look! It was a long time ago and it didn't work out, so we parted dimensions. I came here and he went elsewhere. I swear it's over between us. I am sworn to you and to our children! I promise!"

"You said I was your first! That you were a virgin when you met me!"

Penny's eye twitched and you fight the urge to bean him with a pillow.

"Pennywise the Dancing Clown is a virgin when I met you. My true form is more complex, my former relationship was based on our desire to create a new offspring. Sex was…well, it wasn't sex what we had, not in your terms. And anyway, it didn't work out. I thought for the longest time the only way our kind could breed is via asexual reproduction…that is until you."

Fondly, he pats Egg's cheek. "You are my family now. I swear to you upon the Beams and Towers."

You sense his sincerity, the way he looks at you, hoping you'd understand. And you do. You don't expect Penny to ever completely be honest with you; his existence, his history is beyond your human comprehension. But you expected him to at least be honest about certain things, like his time in Derry, his 'family', his former mate.

"Is this guy your only former mate?" you ask because you can only take so many more surprised visit.

Penny taps his chin in thought, "Hm…there was another one but it was less mating and more mentor and student. Why, did you see another Pennywise?" he asks bluntly.

"No, just that guy. Bob. Why do you think he's here? Is he going to stay around or is he just dropping by?" you question. Because if there's another Devourer around that you're worried that children and adults are going to start missing. And you don't want that; Derry deserves to heal. As though he can read your thoughts, Penny frowns.

"I hope not. But by right he shouldn't even be here. We have our rules and one of them is not to thread on another's hunting grounds."

"But you're not hunting anymore now are ya, lover boy?"

You screech and instinctively grab Eggy close to you. Penny jumps to his feet between you and the clown that had suddenly appeared in your home. Despite being human, his powers stripped you can feel the energy emanating from him. The urge to protect his family seem to drag whatever power he's barred from into the room. Even Eggy joins in, humming and hissing as she bares her jaws. You can feel a coldness sweeping your veins but your child carefully stops before you both collapse.

Penny hisses, eyes burning with fury.

"Get out!"

Bob mock pouts, "Aw, is that the way you'd greet an ex?"

"You're trespassing! This is my grounds! Get out!"

The clown narrows his eyes, then before you can blink, the creature swings his palm and Penny crumples to the ground, out cold. You cry out and kneel down to him, seeking for signs of life; you nearly weep with relief when you feel him breathing. But he's cool to the touch and you sob before turning towards Bob. The clown seems unmoved, shrugging his shoulders at the scene in front of him.

"Not when you're stuck like that you're not." He chides and takes another step forward. You cover Penny with your body, trying to protect him when Eggy shrieks and lunges towards the intruder. Bob's eyes widen with surprise before his entire neck is engulfed in Eggy's jaws.

A sickening crack fills the air as the clown and your child struggle in the room. Bob is swearing loudly as he tries to disengage Eggy from his neck. But for once Eggy's tiny size gives her an advantage. Your daughter would swing and bend in ways that's not possible as she avoids Bob's claws. The latter growls and roars in anger as he tries to disentangle your child to him, his eyes blaze with yellow fury. Sounds of hisses, growls and bones breaking echo the room and you're half terrified and half hoping someone would hear and call the cops. Even though you don't have a single clue how to explain the whole situation to them.

You try to rouse Penny, hoping it was just a simple faint and that he didn't get hurt. His eyes flutter but he remains unconscious in spite of the chaos reigning in front of you.

Part of you wants to collapse and cry because this is not how today was supposed to go. Then there's another part of you who is furious. This alien clown comes to your town, scares you then knocks your lover unconscious?

Fuck this asshole.

With a yell, you grab the nearest thing to you, your table lamp and swing it straight into Bob's torso. The clown lets out an 'oof!' then stumbles down to the floor and you lunge and wrap your arms around his legs, trapping him.

Sensing a weakness, Eggy sink her teeth deeper and deeper until in one loud crunch, Bob's head lolls unnaturally from his body. Your daughter remains there, her body shaking and shivering when, with one final bite, Eggy tears the clown's head clean of his shoulders. Blood spurts comically from the stem and defying gravity floats above the clown formerly known as Bob. Eggy's jaws unhinges and she swallows the head in one loud gulp.

Eggy growls and spits at the remaining corpse. She turns to face you and reach out and pull her close to you, peppering her face with kisses and tears. Eggy croons and keens and you release her as she bounds toward her comatose father. Then, gently, she starts licking Penny's face.

You crawl up to him, whispering and begging him to wake up.

Slowly, his eyes open and you cry out, kissing him again and again, because what he did was sweet but also so fucking stupid and you're glad he's alive and oh shit you have a corpse in your house!

"…[Y/N]…?" he moans, his hand reaching out to you.

"You idiot! You idiot!" you wail, wrapping your arm around his body.

"I think I'm sick, sweet thing …" he says absently, then his eyes fell onto Eggy who continue to lick any part of his exposed face.

"Oh, Eggy, you got some blood on you…" he mutters, feebly wiping the mess of her face but Eggy just half-laughs and half-sobs, "Dada, don't be silly."

The man sits up, groaning when he spots the beheaded body lying on the living room rug.

"Fuck."

"I did that, Dada!" Eggy exclaims, beaming and pointing. Penny's expression was both comical and surprised.

"Damn, Eggy! That's amazing!" he praises, patting their child with wonder.

"You moron! We thought we lost you." You say, holding him close. Penny grins at your words, "No. I'm fine…the guy just knocked me out a bit. But Eggy! Look at you, fighting a fully empowered Devourer and winning! I can't believe you're just a hatchling!"

Your child giggles, "Hehe, Dada, Mama helped too." Penny turns and you feel your heart wanting to burst at the stupid look on his face.

Well, you would have, if not for the raspy laughter that joined in.

The three of you freeze as the corpse, Bob's corpse, shake and twists and then stands up like it's a puppet tugged by its strings. All of you watch in horror as bones, sinews and muscles blossom from its neck, like some twisted flower that began to form a jaw, lips, cheeks, eyes and then forehead winged with fiery red hair.

Eggy hisses and before both of you can stop her, she jumps again intent to ending the intruder when Bob snatches her from mid-air. He pinches the area behind her neck and you watch as Eggy falls limp, like a kitten. Bob's skull continues to reform, echoed with that raspy laughter.

With one final guffaw, Bob aka Pennywise the Dancing Clown shakes his head and grins malevolently at the both of you.

"Geez, tough crowd." He says, chuckling to himself as he snaps his neck left and right. "But gotta admit your kid is something, lover boy."

Penny growls, "Don't call me that! And let go of my child!" he says. Penny tries to stand up but he falls down, wheezing. So you stand up instead, glaring at him.

Bob seems amused by your stance. "I would…but only if you listen to what I have to say."

You want nothing more than to punch this jerk's face in but since Eggy is down and Penny is still sick from the flu and whatever the hell this bastard had done, you have no choice but to hear it.

"Fine, but then you let my child go and leave us. This is not your haunting grounds, you have no right to be here."

An ugly sneer forms on Bob's lips, "Girl, you don't get to order shit from me. But I'm gonna let this one slide, since you're this little tyke's Mama and Mama's gotta stick together."

You don't even understand what the fuck this guy is saying, so you glower instead. The clown had the audacity to laugh, shaking Eggy in his hands.

"Oho, you're fiery! I can see why you settled with this broad, sweet cheeks."

"Stop calling me that!" Penny spits.

"Yeah, only I get to call him that!"

"No, you don't!"

"Shush Penny! And you, say whatever you want to say."

"Ehehehe. Okay, [Y/N]. Firstly, I'm not going anywhere."

"WHAT?" Penny and you shout as Bob waves absently.

"Listen, kiddos. Word on the street is that you managed to create not just one but two offspring with your little wifey here. Now, I know, I know, congrats and everything. But the word is also that you, lover boy, had your powers stripped by senile reptile over here."

You can feel Penny stiffen next to you, "Yeah. So? I'll get them back. The fucker's dead, so it's just a matter of time. I don't see why you need to be here."

Bob tuts like he's dealing with a rather dense pupil, "Oh boy, looks like being an actual human had made you dumb too. Look, your kids' special. Like impossible miracle special. I mean look at this one! She's premature and she bit my head off."

"I know right. She's amazing." Penny gushes.

You shake your head, "Yeah, that's great and all but why are you staying?"

"Look, your kids need a tutor. I mean, yeah you two can handle this one now, but eventually she's going to need someone to guide her."

Amber eyes narrow as Penny stares at Bob, "I can handle it."

Bob sniggers, "No, you can't."

"Watch me," Penny snarls as he walks up to Bob. You try to pull him back when Penny slams to the floor, as though some invisible hand is pressing him down.

"No, stop that!" you cry out as Penny struggles against the pressure. Bob chuckles, then tilts his head releasing the copper-head man from the floor.

"Fuck you!" he spits.

Bob cackles before covering Eggy's ears. "Oh! Language!"

"Stop laughing you big jerk! If you're here to help then why the fuck are you doing this?" you shout.

"Gee, sis, you're busting my balls. Right now, your sweet kid is still able to cope but her next change is coming and I doubt ol' Penny here or you can handle the power up your kid's going to get."

As he says that, Bob carefully cradles Eggy to his chest, stroking her voluminous red hair, so reminiscing of her father.

"And trust me kid. It will get ugly." He lets the words hang in the air ominously. You turn to Penny, hoping that he'd tell you that it's not true, that this asshole is lying for some reason. At the crestfallen expression on the man's face, you feel your heart sink.

"Penny?"

"…sorry [Y/N], but he's…he's right."

Bob laughs as you whimper, "No. C'mon, Penny we don't…"

Penny shakes his head, grimacing as he speaks the words, "I'm sorry [Y/N], but he's right. As much as I hate saying this but he's right. We – I – Eggy needs someone like him. She's gonna go through a cycle. And I…look at me. I can't even handle a human cold! Much less Eggy's growth spurt. We…I'm sorry, but we need him."

You want to deny him, grab the foul clown by his fucking neck and kick him out but Penny looks so small and lost and your child is dangling limply in Bob's arms and you just want to scream. You try to think of another way, of another path but Maturin's dead and he can't help you anymore, so you're coming up blank. You stomach twists as the whole reality sinks in. You don't know what this change is…but if it's anything like what you think it is, then…

God fucking damn it.

As though reading your mind, Bob chuckles, looking remarkably smug as he makes to sit on your chair.

"Aww, no need for all those frowns. I promise you all that it's going to be quite fun. Let it not be said that I am a terrible guest!"

Noticing that his audience isn't being receptive, Bob coughs, before standing up and gently placing your sleeping child on the chair. "Eh, maybe you two need to talk a bit more about this. I'm just gonna get a snack or two. Try not to kill each other, all right? See ya kids!"

With a pop, Bob vanishes leaving the three of you alone.