Multiversity

What Exists Behind The Filter

(Earlier)

M stretches as he activates the device to return to his pocket dimension. As he appears in the room, someone with a white cloak stabs someone resembling Neptune in the leg with a piece of broken wood, causing the Neptune-looking person to misfire his gun. M ducks as the bullets hit the wall behind him. The room was completely destroyed, everything that could've possibly been furniture or an appliance was smashed, shredded, blown apart, and flung across the room. "I leave for a day and..." Z hops into the room from behind him, noticing the mess. "Hey, what's up M? Are the Nazis invading aga~..." The one in the white cloak smashes the coffee pot on the floor. "SCATTER!" The two quickly flee the room through portals that appeared underneath them. Z looks around the room, then to M. "It's...not that bad..." At that exact moment, the oven explodes, filling the room with smoke. Z coughs as M sighs from underneath his mask. "'Not that bad,' huh?!"

(Back to the Now)

M exhales, starting to take off his mask. "That took way too long to clean up. At least we had insurance for everything..." Z enters the room as M finishes taking off the goggles, turning to the girl as she enters. "Oh, you're here. So, what movie are we watching tonight? I'll make dinner." Z awkwardly smiles, as if she was worried about something. At that moment, Neptune hops out from behind her back. "Hiya! It's been a while." M quickly turns away from the two of them, scrambling to get his mask back on. "Zoey, why did you bring her?!" Z awkwardly laughs. "Uh-heh-heh... Sorry...she was wandering around the streets alone...and I thought it'd be fun to invite her to movie night." M sighs, waving his hand. "Fine, fine... It'd be rude to send her back now." The two girls sit down on the couch, Z looking over to M, who was in the kitchen preparing the meal. "Honey, could you grab me a can?" M sets the frying pan down, sliding to the fridge. "Sure, sure. Is Root Beer okay?" ~ "Yep." Neptune raises her hand, moving forward a bit to look past Z. "Ooh, ooh, can I have one too?!" M sighs. "Right." He grabs two cans from the fridge, wincing for a second, walking over to the couch and handing a can to each of them. Neptune cheers, pumping her arms in the air. "Yay! Thank you." Neptune cracks open the can and starts gulping it down, Z looking over to her with a small smile. "It's almost like she's our daughter, right M?" M, who was currently drinking from his own can, chokes on the liquid. Z laughs, going to crack open the can. M glances over to the girl with a glint in his eyes. Z cracks open the can, as it fizzes over and explodes in her face. Neptune giggles, watching with the can up to her mouth. M smirks, going back to the frying pan. Z stares at the empty can for a moment, the contents dripping off her chin and hair. "I-I'm going to step out for a minute." Z gets up and walks to the backroom, the room filling with silence, except for the occasional flip of the frying pan and sizzling. Neptune looks to M and opens her mouth to speak, but decides against it. About five minutes later, Z returns to her seat, her hair let down and damp. "M, you used your ability to shake that can, didn't you?" M dumps the contents of the frying pan on three plates, grabbing a pot from the cabinet. "Yeah. I'm fine, though. I'm used to it by now." ~ "If you say so..." M fills the pot with water, turning on the burner. "Funny thing, you noticed me shaking the can, so I gave it to Neptune instead." Z giggles. "Yeah, I can imagine you doing that." Neptune tilts her head. "Hey...you say 'ability,' but what are you talking about?" Z looks to Neptune. "Well, you see-..." M looks over to Z. "You sure we should be telling her that?" Z looks back to M, who was resting against the counter, drinking from his can. "Do you not want me to tell her?" M takes a second to think, before shaking his head. "Yeah, go ahead." Z turns to Neptune, leaning in. "Now, you must promise that you won't tell anyone this." Neptune puts her hand across her chest. "I promise on Histoire's life." M glances over to the goddess, slightly whispering. "What?" Z nods, thinking for a second. "Okay...so M has this ability to view the vast multiverse. He can overlap a different outcome with the current one. Like how he overlapped an outcome where he shook the can with this one. Doing this happens outside the reaches of time, making it seem like an instant. M, himself, is not affected by this, so he doesn't have to worry about his current position changing." Neptune tilts her head again, Z trying a different approach. "How 'bout this... M and I like to prank each other...a lot." Neptune nods, Z continuing. "So, let's say...if I try to throw a pie in M's face, he could overlap a different outcome with this one, and make it so that it hits mine instead." Neptune places her closed fist on her open hand. "Oh~..." M looks over from the kitchen. "She speaks from experience, by the way." Z turns as red as her hair, quickly turning to M. "M!" M snickers, as he pours the water out of the pot, splitting the pasta into thirds. "Alright, done." He brings out three plates of bowtie noodles with Alfredo sauce, mushrooms, peppers, and onions, and a side dish of fried rice. "Bon Appetit." M places the plates in front of the girls, sitting down beside Z, who takes out the remote. "So, what movie are we watching?" M takes out a small rolled slip, unraveling it as it rolls across the floor, circling around the couch. "There's a wide catalog of movies throughout the multiverse that may be fun to watch... Re;birth Elementals...the first three chapters. Frosted Flames, Sunset Nova...I hear the sequel is pretty good so far. Have we checked out Legacy yet?" Z looks to M. "Isn't that still in the works?" ~ "Yeah, I wish they would just finish it already." Neptune looks to M. "Can I see the list?" M hands the list to Neptune, who starts scrolling through the titles of movies that would most definitely get the Author sued if she were to read them off. Z starts playing with her hair, rolling it around her finger. "I was thinking of how I should style my hair next..." M looks to Z. "Oh yeah, you change that every week, don't you?" Neptune drops the list, looking to Z. "Oh hey! Why don't you style your hair like mine." M snickers. "Yeah, style... You look like a hedgehog." Neptune looks to Z. "What's up with him?" ~ "He...gets like that when he's tired... Speaking of hedgehog, I hear there's a new movie about a hedgehog that runs fast." M checks the list on the tv screen. "Yeah, it's here... A hedgehog running fast? I can't think of anything more stupid." Z looks to M. "Even a sequel that refuses to be rewritten because of how bad it was?" M pauses for a moment... "Touché."

(One Movie Later)

M stands next to the exit portal, motioning to the exit. "Alright, movie's over. My wife and I are going to sleep now." Neptune waves goodbye to Z, before stepping through the portal. M sighs, closing the portal. Z smirks, half-walking half-dancing around the couch. "Now, are we really going to sleep already?" M gives a small smile, starting to take off his mask. "Hell no. I'm gonna keep you up all night." M walks over to Z, kissing her as she pulls out a game controller. M looks down to the controller. "Oh, you know me so well." The two sit back on the couch, preparing to play the night away.

(Meanwhile)

The fortune teller steps into a dark room with a single desk sitting at the back. He throws the cloak aside, opening the blinds covering the windows, letting the rising sunlight in. The man had tidy purple hair, wearing a light purple business suit. On the desk was a chess board with several chess pieces in blue and purple, separated into groups by colour. The man reaches for the purple pawn, moving it forward towards a blue pawn. Someone enters the room, bowing in front of the man. "Sir Queue, it's time for your seven thirty..." The man smirks, knocking over the blue pawn and stepping towards the door. "I've made my move M, let's see how you respond to this..."

End of Chapter