“Ugh…what the hell…” Nuevra uttered sleepily as she rolled onto her stomach to reach her ringing cellphone on the dresser. After struggling to grasp it in her numb hand, she finally answers the call.
“Moshi Moshi?” Nuevra murmured.
“Miss Suzumiya!”
“Ugh…Steve? What the hell do you think you’re doing calling me in the middle of my vacation?”
“We have an emergency ma’am!” The all too familiar bumbling scientist yelled in panic.
“Shut up, calm down, and tell me what this ‘emergency’ is…I swear if you idiots forgot to replug the computer in again~”
“It’s nothing like that, ma’am! The SIM has detected a universe with immeasurable power! We need you to come back! We have no idea what to do!”
“What?” She blurted out in disbelief, her face blue in pure shock. Never had she imagined a universe with near infinite power could exist. Just what the hell could it be? The continuum shift was clearly an insufferable douchebag.
The shock of the revelation slapped the sleepiness right off of her. Getting dressed in a hurry, she departed her apartment complex to be greeted by Guilhermes Brando, a limousine in his wake and train tickets in his grasp.
“You must hurry, Miss Suzumiya!” Guilhermes declared as he opened the back door of the vehicle.
In their haste, they made it to the train in no time. Seated adjacently of Guilhermes, Nuevra knew some sort of conversation with him was inevitable.
“Miss Suzumiya…” Guilhermes inquired with a somewhat inquisitive look on his face.
“Yes, sir?” Nuevra answered, perplexed. What could he possibly want to talk about?
“I’ve been asking myself this ever since that meeting nine years ago when we discussed the means of protecting our world and our timeline.”
“What is it, sir?” A casual look of surprise submerged from Nuevra’s face.
“We’ve decided to balance the multiverse individually by each universe. But why wouldn’t we combine all universes together? Is inequality not the true inlying problem here? If we were all under one universe, the continuum shift you spoke of would never exist. All worlds would be one and true peace could be accomplished, could it not?” Guilhermes pleaded, waving his hands charismatically as he spoke. “With the multiverse under one universe, we humans could govern the world rather than gizmos and gadgets and we would all be under one timeline. And so I implore you, Miss Suzumiya, why?” Guilhermes finished.
“With all due respect, sir, that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard in my entire life.” As Nuevra spoke, the maglev trained arrived in Japan. “The existence of a ‘multiverse’ is within the natural order. Combining it under one universe or world would screw up everything with consequences the likes of which I can’t even comprehend. That should tell you how dangerous such an idea is. I’d compare it to trying to get trees to produce beef.” Nuevra concluded as she got up and left the partition.
“Humans have warped nature in ways infinitely more destructive than mere meat from trees…so what is so wrong about warping it to achieve world peace?” Guilhermes pondered to himself as he watched Nuevra leave.
*
*
Caught off guard by Guilhermes’ proposition, Nuevra pondered just what that man could be thinking. Realizing there are more important matters than a delusional old man, Nuevra quickly made her way through Babylon Institution into the lab where Steve, along with the others of the mook squadron, sit in wait of her arrival.
“Ma’am!” Steve greeted.
“Yes yes, greetings and salutations…now TELL me what the hell is going on!” Nuevra yelled, her frustration portrayed clear on her face.
“It is as we told you! The SIM has detected a universe with power the likes of which we have never seen!”
“Lemme see!” Nuevra blurted as she pushed aside the bumbling scientist to peer at the computer monitor. Sure enough, on the screen, a graph that compared the universe discovered to the restriction set by the SIM was shown. The restriction’s graphic was unperceivable by the human eye while the universe in question’s graphic was at the top of the scale.
“Jesus Christ…We absolutely need to install a CAPP in this universe at all costs! The existence of the entire multiverse depends on it!” Nuevra declared. “How many of our Agents are currently in Japan?”
“None, ma’am”
“Shit...!” Out of options, Nuevra made a swift decision.
“Activate SPARTA now! We will observe the universe and come up with a plan once we know what we’re dealing with.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” The scientists shouted in unison as they manned the collective components that made SPARTA.
Suddenly, an alarm went off. A Code Black, the highest alarm there is.
“What the hell just happened?!” Nuevra inquired; flabbergasted that Code Black was even capable of being issued.
“Ma’am! The universe we connected to has managed to destroy the SIM lock protecting our world from the outside!!!!”
“….nani?” Nuevra uttered, her eyes opened wide in complete horror. How the hell was that even possible! The SIM lock exists within the 4th Dimension…to think something could destroy it was unfathomable!
Suddenly, chairs, tables, desks, pretty much everything in the room started to float around, gradually moving faster in a vortex that seemed to be connected to the arc within the photon emitter. Most of the scientists had already been sucked in; it was only a matter of time until Nuevra, too, perished in such a horrible way.
Nuevra Suzumiya, panicked beyond all meaning of the word, subconsciously activated her power. The power to warp reality. The power of Suzumiya.
Everything went white.
*
*
*
“Where…am I?”
“Suzumiya-chan!”
“I thought I told you to call me Nuevra~wait…Kazuki?!?”
Nuevra looked around in, what appeared to be, a white void. There was literally nothing everywhere. Nuevra didn’t even know how she could even tell the horizontal from the vertical. She turned direction, if that’s what it could be called, and came across Kazuki. As beautiful as ever, Kazuki wore a white dress that matched the void they seemed to be trapped in.
“Kazuki…wait…don’t tell me…I’m dead? God damnit! I was so young too! I didn’t even get to meet a good man!”
“As funny as it would be for me to say ‘No! Your actually alive!’ the truth is you are, indeed, dead, Nuevra-chan”
“’Nuevra-chan?’…I guess that’s a suitable comprimi~wait I’m actually dead?!?!” Nuevra blurted out in disbelief. “What kind of treatment of a heroine is this?! Damn it…”
“While it’s true your body has died, your mind now exists within the SIM, Nuevra-chan, along with my own.” Kazuki affirmed.
“Wait…this is the SIM?”
“Yes and no. We are in the SIM and at the same time, we are not. If I was to give this area, or dimension, a name, it would be: The Cloud.”
“The Cloud…” Nuevra repeated. She never imagined the completion of their work would create another dimension. “So…Kazuki, what exactly happened back there? I never imagined I would witness the beginnings of a black hole.”
“It would appear you already have an idea of what happened” Kazuki remarked with a smirk.
“You have a point…Why do I know exactly?” Nuevra inquired, clearly puzzled by her sudden omniscience.
“Because silly, you are now a part of the SIM. The Cloud is a dimension that acts as an onion layer of sorts to the multiverse. While in here, answers seem to come naturally” Kazuki concluded.
“Somehow, I feel like I’m cheating” Nuevra uttered. “So how exactly did we discover a universe in which the big bang had yet to occur?”
“Yeaaaah…sorry about that. As the SIM, I was assigned the task of finding universes with power higher than the restriction set, so it was only natural I would seek out the one with the highest.” Kazuki answered, rubbing the back of her head apologetically.
“I see…well it was inevitable. I don’t blame you, Kazuki” Nuevra concluded. “So how did I get here?”
“Your powers.”
“Powers? Me?”
“Yes, you, a Suzumiya. You have the power to warp reality”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Not kidding here. Just as your ancestors before you, you have the power to forge the world any way in which you desire. That’s why our formula succeeded.”
Shocked at this revelation at first, it didn’t take her long to come to terms with it. “I see…and so this world is a byproduct of my powers...”
“Correct! Prodigium Mulier Scientia indeed. You got things a lot faster than I did, Nuevra-chan.” Kazuki congratulated with a wide smile.
“Yeah…I guess The Cloud’s helping me grasp things…so now that I’m here, with my powers and all, I guess I can make sure to prevent another non-big bang universe from ever being discovered again, huh?” Nuevra asked her formerly, currently, or not so much deceased friend.
“Indeed! Your power lies in your mind, which is now a part of the Sovereign Integrated Mind. You’re free to do as you please”
“Excellent. I think I’ll be enjoying my stay here…even though I’m dead and all” Nuevra concluded with a sigh.
*
*
*
The entirety of Japan was in a panicked frenzy. It didn’t take long for word to get out that a singularity was ripping away land, water, air…pretty much matter in general from existence. Its spread wouldn’t take much more than a single hour. Countless civilians boarded emergency vehicles and maglev trains heading to all sorts of different locations.
As Guilhermes Brando was on his way to his private estate, he pondered what it would take to achieve his dream in which all in the multiverse could live equally. He was truly a kind man. The invasion of different universes to install, what basically amounted to, a collar, was no different from oppression to him. He acknowledged that perhaps, right now, combining the multiverse into one was dangerous, but he believed that, with further research, it was possible to avert these dangers.
Suddenly, the sounds of a ringing alarm startled the usually calm gentlemen. It was clearly an evacuation alarm, normally used when something like an earthquake or tsunami was about to hit Japan. Questions could be asked later, for now he needed to get out of Japan as fast as possible as the alarms advised.
“Jeeves! Quickly turn the car around! We need to get to the Emergency Vehicle station as swiftly as possible! I have a Babylon private flight vehicle there.” Guilhermes ordered.
“Sir, my name is not Jeeves! It is Maxwell! But it is as you say!” The man concurred.
Suddenly turning the car around like a professional race car driver, Maxwell smashed the petal and jolted up the street, at this point somewhat vacant from the people evacuating. Suddenly, Maxwell stopped in front of what looked like the remains of a fallen evacuation vehicle.
“My god! Maxwell, park the car! We need to search that wreckage for any survivors!”
“But, Sir! There’s no telling exactly what it is we’re evacuating from! Time is of the upmost concern!”
“Exactly, Maxwell! Just as we wish to escape alive so too did whomever was in that vehicle! We all deserve to live, Maxwell! Park the car this instant!” Guilhermes demanded.
“Yes Sir!” Maxwell complied.
Parking on the side of the street, Guilhermes made his way to the wreckage of the vehicle as fast as he could with his cane. Searching the rubble for any survivors with help from Maxwell, Guilhermes found nothing but corpses. “These poor people…all they desired were to live…a right all life possesses” Guilhermes uttered as he prayed for the lives of those lost. As he continued to dig, he eventually came across two small girls. One, with long ebony hair, was holding the other, a red head, within her arms, conveying a story in which a brave young girl saved her friend by sacrificing her own limbs. Upon checking their pulse, Guilhermes realized they were alive!
“Jeeves! Please help me take these two into my car! They’re alive! We must save them at once!” Guilhermes commanded as he made his way to the limo, exhausted beyond all belief.
“At once, sir! My name is not Jeeves, sir!”
Back on the road towards the station, Guilhermes looked over at the two girls. He decided that if their families were nowhere to be found, he would serve as their family, for they would no longer have anyone in this world to care for them.
It didn’t take them long to arrive at their destination with Maxwell’s high-class driving skills. Carrying the two girls in their arms, they boarded the Babylon sky vehicle, destined for Brazil.
Once in the air, the spectacle they saw before them was one that invoked shock and awe. The area where Babylon Institution was once located had been all but erased by what looked like a single dark point. It would probably go on to eventually engulfing the rest of Japan.
“Bloody Hell…” Guilhermes uttered. There was no way there would be any survivors on land in a phenomenon of this nature. Guilhermes prayed silently for all lives lost in this incident.
*
*
*
1 Month Later. International Territory, New York City.
“Guilhermes Brando and Natsume, Gendou…we have summoned you here to inquire and discuss the event recognized by the world as the cataclysm.” The representative of the United Nations announced.
The room in which the representatives of all acknowledged countries met and mingled was as vast as one would expect. Guilhermes and Gendou stood in front of their podiums as the representative overseeing the hearing looked down from his stand in front of them. Behind him, were the representatives themselves in desks that had their respective country’s name in clear English on name plates in front of them.
“Your honor, our knowledge on the matter is limited, for you see, we only have the data we backed up from Babylon Japan to Brazil. From what we have gathered, based on the backup from that day, is that we came across a universe that had nearly unlimited power” Gendou affirmed. “Based on what Guilhermes and many other witnesses described as they escaped Japan, the Babylon Institution was engulfed by a single dark point which we have identified as being a singularity or black hole.”
“I see” the representative acknowledged. “Continue.”
“It is using this data and witness testimony that we have come to the conclusion that we had somehow interacted with a universe in which a big bang had yet to occur” Gendou finished.
“Interesting…Would you say this was a result of negligence on Babylon’s part by assuming all universes were safe to observe?”
“Your Honor, our Institution prioritized the safety of our own world over all others first and foremost. Our lead scientist, Nuevra Suzumiya-Smith, who died trying to stabilize the universe in question, created a means of protecting our world and timeline from outside forces. This non-big bang universe, however, was powerful enough to destroy our defenses! We never could’ve foreseen that no matter how much we prepared” Gendou pleaded.
“Fair point, Mr. Natsume. So what do you propose we do to prevent something like this from happening again? The destruction the cataclysm caused was the likes of which we have never seen or experienced in the history of mankind! Half of the entire Asian continent and most of Oceania have been, I dare say, erased from existence!”
Guilhermes would not allow another opportunity to speak up to pass again. “Your Honor, I believe that the method we are currently using to balance the multiverse is both tedious and oppressive! How is installing power limiting devices unto other universes any different from invading a country in search of weapons?”
“Ah, Mr. Brando. You bring up a fair point. So I’ll ask the both of you, then. What do you propose we do to prevent this from happening again?” The Representative of Japan uttered with a grim tone.
“I believe, your Honor, that the key to multi-universal balance is to combine all universes under one! With a single universe under a single time line, the possibility of another universe without a big bang becomes 0! Mankind will be able to govern its own world without the use of convoluted machines! Not to mention that true peace could be achieved throughout the entirety of existence! It is truly the ideal method.” Guilhermes spoke, again in his charismatic manner.
“Your Honor, that possibility has already been explored in the past by Miss Suzumiya’s team and was deemed too dangerous to fulfill!” Gendou retorted, as he tilted his head, making his glasses glare. “The multiverse has always been just that, the multiverse! Tampering with it by combining it under one goes against the natural order! Not to mention, now that we know non-big bang universes exist, what would happen if we were to combine with one! It would not only be the cataclysm all over again, it would be the end of existence.”
“Point taken. Guilhermes, your method is much too dangerous to be considered”
“But your Honor! It is only dangerous now because we know very little of what we are actually dealing with! If we hired another team, we could research the safe way of unification and set it in motion!” Guilhermes pleaded with a truly humble expression.
“The safety of our own world should be first priority” Gendou declared, finger over sunglasses and elbow in hand. “We do not have enough time to dedicate our team of scientists to the pursuit of multi-universal unification, which is currently a more dangerous method than our current one. What we should do is split our one restriction of power to two. The balance of power will be between these two governors, making it impossible for us to run into another non-big bang universe. As we move along, we slowly increase the restriction to find other worlds. If we run into another non-big bang universe, we won’t need to connect to it to know what it is and we could lower the governors to search for more universes” Gendou concluded. “This is the absolute safest method”
“I agree, Mr. Natsume. What will you need to accomplish this?” The representative implored.
“Simple, I’ll need a new organization with the sole purpose of protecting our own world and the balance of others. We will call this organization “Redjust”. My wish is that it will be considered a Government Organization.”
“Granted and mandated, Mr. Natsume” The representative declared as he stamped the seal of the United Nations on the proposal for Redjust Gendou had prepared beforehand.
“Your organization will be directly under the jurisdiction of the United Nations. You will receive your grant to start it in a couple of days. Meeting adjourned!”
“Excellent” Gendou whispered to himself, glasses glaring, before slipping on flat ground again somehow. Quickly regaining his demeanor, he swiftly vacated the vicinity. Somewhere, in some other world, someone could be heard laughing hysterically.
*
*
*
As Gendou made his way to Babylon Brazil, which was now called Babylon New Japan; he couldn’t help but skip a little in celebration of the founding of The Redjust Organization, his sole proprietorship. Arriving in the lobby, he was greeted by Agents Souhaku Shio and Yaritza Maia.
“So, Sir…how did it go?” Souhaku asked in anticipation.
“We were approved. From now on, Babylon New Japan is now called Redjust Organization. You two will be receiving your new uniforms shortly” Gendou responded as he adjusted his glasses.
“Yes! Finally! I can start working!” Yari shouted as she jumped in celebration.
“Indeed. We’ll start installing CAPP’s again once we finish the rebuilding of SPARTA. Was the SIM retrieval successful?” Gendou inquired.
“Yes sir! As indicated by our sensors, the SIM was located in the equivalent location of where Babylon Main Branch used to be. It is currently in our labs where are newest recruits, Thiago Peluso and Rosabara Makihara, are using it to rebuild SPARTA” Souhaku responded.
“Excellent” Gendou uttered. “Maia-san, I have a personal favor to ask of you”
“What is it, sir?” Yari replied, a casual expression on her face.
“Would you mind personally training my nephew, Kazuya? You see…he lost his parents in the cataclysm. Under normal circumstances, a boy of his age would probably be crying himself to sleep every night. Kazuya, however, is strong. He wants to become an agent as quickly as possible and you, being one of the best there ever was, would be the perfect teacher for him.” Gendou responded.
“Ah. I would be honored, sir.” Yari complied. She always wanted an apprentice and who better than the director’s nephew? Perhaps this was her chance to prove herself to her superiors and earn herself a promotion.
“Excellent! I’ll be in my quarters then” Gendou concluded as he entered the elevator. Little did he know the edges of his long coat were stuck in the gap between the elevator doors.
*
*
*
2052 – New Korea, South Africa.
Guilhermes was not a man who gave up easily for, you see, his dream was peace throughout the entire multiverse; a cause no man could give up on without a fight. He didn’t care if the United Nations gave Gendou his own organization because he didn’t NEED their money or approval to start one of his own.
As Guilhermes drove around New Korea, his two adoptive daughters sitting beside him, he couldn’t help but tap a tune with his foot. With the help of a certain benefactor, the means to create his own organization were just around the corner. While Guilhermes was indeed a wealthy man of wealthy wealthiness, it took a lot of money to replicate a machine like SPARTA, which was why he needed the help of this benefactor in the first place.
Arriving at their destination, Guilhermes swiftly got out of the car and opened the door for his two daughters. The first to exit was the long, ebony haired girl who had lost the use of her limbs to save her friend, now her sister, from the vehicle crash. Moira Asahina’s eyes sparkled with a golden gleam in the sun as she got out. The other was the red head whom Moira had saved, her best friend since early childhood, Tamaki Takamichi. Her grayish blue eyes hid within them friendliness the likes of which no mortal had ever seen.
Stepping into the building with his daughters in tow, Guilhermes was greeted by three men. The first two were the former Babylon agents Griffith Satsuiken and Sohryu Kaminogi, now under his employ. The other gentleman, however, was one who did not belong in their world.
“Good evening, gentlemen” Guilhermes welcomed before introducing his new family. “These are my daughters, Asahina Moira and Takamichi Tamaki.”
“Very nice to meet you, sir’s” Moira and Tamaki greeted in unison as they bowed.
“You have such polite children, Guilhermes” Stefano DiMera affirmed as he patted both of their heads with a slight smile. An aged man, Stefano sported dark brown hair with a matching mustache that stretched to the sides of his face. The hairs on his chin that formed a beard were a testament to his age, as it had already gone white. Sporting a suit not too different from Guilhermes, they clearly had similar tastes.
“Of course” Guilhermes responded. “I can’t thank you enough, Mr. DiMera, for your generous donation to my organization.” As he spoke, he reached out to shake Stefano’s hand.
“Not a problem at all.” Stefano responded, grasping and firmly shaking the man’s hand. “I was frightened at first when your two Agents appeared before me out of nowhere in my estate, but after a long discussion, I see this as a great opportunity for my business as well.”
“Your satisfaction is also mine” Guilhermes concurred with a smile.
“I see your daughter has recovered wonderfully from her surgery.” Stefano noted as he glanced at Moira.
“Ah, yes! The operation was a complete success. Her paralysis is no more” Guilhermes affirmed. “The augmentation device was also installed with no complications. She is now capable of harnessing and wielding electricity as if it were natural, just as she had requested.”
“Requested? This...Child...requested ‘powers’ of her own free will!?”
“Yes, for you see, we both share the dream of unification. Unfortunately, power is a necessary requirement if we are to ever achieve true peace. My daughters have taken it upon themselves to personally see this dream become a reality” Guilhermes concluded as he bent down to hug both Moira and Tamaki.
“I see…well then, may all our dreams come true” Stefano uttered as he looked down at the family of peace seekers.
*
*
*
2061.
“Kazuya! Are you done yet? I don’t got all day you know!” Yari called out from the other side of the sparring cage. Sporting a uniform similar to her old Babylon uniform, the only real difference was red shoulder pads.
“I’m ready” Kazuya uttered, his determination clear from his tone. Activating his Vorpal Gauntlet, Mugen, light formed into his hand in the shape of a training sword. Holding his free hand out towards Yari, sword above his head, Kazuya adopted the very same stance as her, the one she taught him as his master.
“Excellent stance! I’ve clearly taught you well.” Yari noted with a smirk. “Let the Entrance Examination begin!” She shouted as she charged Kazuya at full speed.
“God, she’s fast” Kazuya observed with exasperation.
Yari started off the mock battle with a Cross Slash, appearing behind Kazuya faced in the opposite direction. Kazuya, however, was trained enough to actually see what she did and counteracted the hits with his own in quick succession.
This was a mistake, however, because the hits were already dealt by the time Yari had reached his back. Attacking in a manner that could be compared to break dancing, Yari descended, attempting to sweep up Kazuya with her legs. “You’re still too reckless!”
“Or just reckless enough” Kazuya remarked as he jumped to avoid the sweep. Taking this opportunity, he attempted to strike Yari as her back was turned from the rotation of her last attack. This was blocked, however, by Yari’s sword as she back flipped. “It won’t be that easy!”
“Damnit! Freakin amazon…”
Forced to take the defensive because of Yari’s repetitive backflip/somersault kick attack, Kazuya had to not only avoid the heels of Yari’s combat stilettos, but also block the sword strikes she somehow managed to throw in between. Temporarily ceasing the barrage as she stood on one hand, Yari began to rapidly rotate like a top, a sword to attack below like a saw and her feet to strike above.
“This is…ridiculous!” Kazuya exclaimed as he attempted to Sparta kick the middle where she was open.
“What can I say? I love me some freestyle fighting” Yari remarked as she came down to the floor to dodge the kick.
“Freestyle this!” Kazuya uttered as he cuffed his hands and shot a Hadou-ken at Yari while she was down. An unexpected direct hit!
“Ohoho~! So you swiped one of Ryu’s moves while we were in that universe, eh? Well then…congratulations, you are now an official agent of Redjust.” Yari uttered as she sat on the floor rubbing her gut. Not everyone knew, but getting hit by a Hadou-ken felt a lot like getting punched clean in the stomach.
“Yes!” Kazuya blurted, fist pumping in celebration. Finally he had done it. After years of training under Yari’s direct tutelage, Kazuya was at last an official Agent. He would be able to honor the lives of his lost family by personally assuring another event like the cataclysm would never come to pass.
“Domo Arigatou, shishou!” Kazuya shouted as he bowed to Yaritza, tears rolling down his eyes.
“No need to get all sentimental on me, man. Just suit up and prepare for your first official mission!” Yari remarked as she disengaged her Vorpal Gauntlet, Lirio; a grin clear on her face.
“Mission? Already? I just got hired…how could the SIM already assign me one?” Kazuya asked, clearly confused.
“Don’t ask me! All we know is that before you even took your exam, the SIM had detected a powerful signal in the past and wanted you to investigate and retrieve it.”
“Retrieve? Since when did we ever ‘retrieve’ something deemed powerful? Especially in the past!” Kazuya responded.
“This would be the first instance of such a thing, Kazuya. And whoever it is, we have reason to believe the SIM wants you to recruit them.”
“‘Them?’…It even informed you it was a person?” Kazuya blurted out in frustration. This clearly went against all protocols of their organization. He didn’t know what kind of power they were dealing with but surely it was something chaotic to be able to screw up the system.
“Yep. So suit up and get ready! You’re headed to the past.” Yari declared as she pushed her apprentice towards the lab.
“…yare yare daze” Kazuya uttered under his breath.
Bookmarks