"A few days had passed since the final deployment. Ultron was neutralized, the System fragment extracted, and the city returned to a tense calm. Those who bore scars emotional, digital, or metaphysical nursed them in silence.
Yet outside the Council, Marisov, and Zalthorion… no one truly understood what had happened. The influx of refugees, anomalies, and alternate versions of legendary figures was quietly swept beneath Evolto's ever-expanding rug. Residents, now used to the extraordinary, simply added it to their list of 'odd Tuesdays.'"
"But not everyone was concerned with the fate of worlds or multiversal politics."
Morning, Nyxia's House
The front door slammed open.
"WAAGNEEERRR!" came a singsong shriek from the sky.
Vidarath flew in upside-down, spiraling like a sugar-high comet before landing with exaggerated flair, arms wide like a child showing off a prize.
Behind him, floating reluctantly on a hover disc and already regretting everything, was Dr. Wagner his coat half-buttoned, coffee mug still in hand, and a glare sharp enough to cut metal.
"Vhat… is zhis madness?" Wagner muttered, adjusting his glasses. "I voke up to alarms und screeching. I expected a breach. Not… cartoon time."
Vidarath grabbed his arm, dragging him forward with infectious excitement.
"Correction! Peak fiction time! Nyxia's already got the screen queued we're watching Attack on Titan, One Punch Man, and Chainsaw Man. Then we're doing a break for Spy x Family! And if we don't cry during Clannad, Wagner, I'm rewriting your soul!"
"Mein Gott…" Wagner whispered. "You are serious."
Inside Nyxia's House
The living room was an organized chaos of anime figurines, unopened ramen cups, and plushies. A massive screen covered an entire wall, already paused at the intro for "Attack on Titan" Season 1.
Nyxia was seated cross-legged in front of the screen, hoodie on, snacks at his side, giving a lazy wave.
"'Bout time. Sit down, Doc. You're in for the ride of your life."
Dr. Wagner looked at the two with a mix of dread and suspicion.
"Zhis is… children's television, ja?"
Nyxia and Vidarath turned in perfect synchronization, deadpan:
"It's war, betrayal, godhood, and trauma."
Vidarath flops on the couch
Vidarath already had a bowl of popcorn hovering in the air, fiddling with reality to randomize the snack flavors.
"Also, we're watching Code Geass after this. For the psychological warfare. You'll love Lelouch he's basically anime Zalthorion but with more sass and less fire."
Wagner raised a brow, cautiously lowering himself onto the couch.
"Fine. But if zhis ends vith tentacles und screaming schoolgirls, I vill self-destruct."
Nyxia tossed him a blanket with a One Piece logo.
"Relax, Doc. Today, the only war we fight… is for the remote."
The intro music began.
The screen lit up.
And for once, in Evolto City, the only reality-warping crisis… was choosing the next anime episode.
The room was darker now, lit only by the glow of the screen and the flickering subtitles of Black Lagoon. Ramen cups were stacked like war trophies. Nyxia was slouched with a pillow over his head, Dr. Wagner sat with his arms crossed but eyes glued to the screen, visibly invested, and Vidarath was practically leaning into the TV.
They had just reached Roberta's Blood Trail.
And then
Roberta died.
Silence. Just the hum of the credits and the faint sound of thunder outside.
Vidarath leaned back slowly, eyes wide with reverence.
"I can fix her."
He said it without hesitation. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Nyxia turned slowly, face a mixture of disbelief and concern.
Dr. Wagner followed suit.
"Vidarath… are you insane?" Nyxia asked.
"Actually," Wagner muttered, "I think he is. Zhis explains so much."
Nyxia stood up now, waving his hands dramatically.
"You realize she would shoot you just for breathing near her, right? She'd probably skin you alive, hang your body on a tree like the Predator, and write poetry about it. No one is safe! Not the CIA, not Hotel Moscow, not even her Young Master! The woman literally hunted people because she thought they were hallucinations!"
Vidarath's grin only widened.
Nyxia pointed a finger, as if making an official declaration.
"There are only two kinds of people in this world: people who are alive… and people who say 'I can fix her.'"
He began to stutter.
"A-and y-you… you're not just that… you're-you're you! You know what fuck it. Fine."
He crossed his arms.
"Let's make it interesting. You get one Roberta to fall in love with you. One. That's all. Bet?"
Vidarath's smile stretched like a lunatic granted a license to play god.
"Bet."
He stood up, fingers already twitching with chaotic energy. With a casual flick, he pulled out his Multiversal Transition Device (MTD) and twisted it open.
A swirling rift tore through the living room wall, revealing an alternate Black Lagoon universe in the middle of a cartel shootout.
The second the rift opened
Gunfire screamed into the room.
Nyxia and Wagner dove behind the couch.
Vidarath stared into the chaos, heart pounding with glee.
Then came a blur of red a combat maid with twin pistols and a machete strapped to her back, charging straight at the rift.
"Perros malditos!" Roberta's voice rang out.
Vidarath's face went pale.
"Ohhh fuuuu"
He turned and ran as a bullet grazed his sleeve, leaping through the hallway like a startled cartoon character.
The rift snapped shut behind him.
Nyxia peeked out slowly, blinking.
"So… that's how he dies."
Dr. Wagner, holding a piece of shredded popcorn bowl like a shield, sighed.
"Nein… zhat's how ve get a second Roberta invasion scenario."
Nyxia just nodded.
"Yeah… he's totally going to bring her back, isn't he?"
Wagner downed the rest of his coffee in one swig.
"Ve need a bigger daycare."
The Streets of Evolto City – 12 Minutes Later
Explosions echoed through the sky. Civilians calmly stepped aside, sipping coffee or checking their holo-devices. It wasn't every day a combat maid with blood-red glasses, military-grade rifles, and feral rage chased a laughing lunatic across rooftop gardens and anti-grav trams.
"You are a delusion! A weakness to be cleansed!!" Roberta screamed in Spanish, unloading a fresh clip at Vidarath.
Vidarath skidded along a floating food truck, knocking off an umbrella stand and juggling dumplings mid-dodge.
"C'mon, mi amor! It was just a coffee suggestion!"
Bullets whizzed past his head.
He spun, dropped the empty takeout box, and finally flicked open the MTD.
"Time to go home, spicy terminator."
With a burst of light, Roberta was pulled back into her home universe, her final gunshot ricocheting harmlessly off a fountain sculpture of Zalthorion.
Silence.
Vidarath dusted himself off, fixed his hair in the reflection of a window, and whistled as he strolled back to Nyxia's place like he hadn't just gotten chased by an unhinged maid with murder in her heart.
Nyxia's House – Front Door
Nyxia stood leaning against the doorframe, sipping a soda, wearing the smuggest grin in Evolto.
"You give up yet?"
Vidarath didn't even flinch. He walked past him casually, eyes on the prize: the bean bag throne in the center of their chaos cave.
Plop.
He sank into it, arms behind his head like a man completely at peace with bad decisions.
"Nope."
Then he reached into his coat, pulled out the MTD, and cracked it open again.
"Let's try a different Roberta."
Nyxia's drink nearly fell from his hand.
"You maniacal gremlin. Do you want to get buried in a maid outfit!?"
Dr. Wagner, now wearing noise-cancelling headphones and journaling notes about combat maids in German, didn't even look up.
Vidarath grinned like a devil blessed with infinite retry buttons.
"Statistically, one of them has to like me."
Another portal opened.
Another explosion echoed.
Nyxia sighed, walking back into the living room.
"This is gonna become a recurring arc, isn't it?"
Wagner calmly flipped a page.
"Ja. And ve need a Roberta-proof panic room now."
The sun was long gone, replaced by the soft golden glow of the Cerian Sun, casting twilight hues over the skyline. But in one particular corner of the city, chaos had become a daily broadcast.
The news headline read:
"Combat Maid Terrorizes City Streets (Again) – Authorities Still Unbothered"
Inside Nyxia's house, the anime binge had been paused… for the tenth time.
Vidarath stood over the MTD, flipping through dimensional coordinates like he was browsing dating profiles.
"Nope… That one stabbed me."
"That one cooked for me then stabbed me."
"That one turned out to be a vampire."
"That one was a guy still stabbed me."
Nyxia, surrounded by snack wrappers and exhaustion, just stared, eyes bloodshot from stress and disbelief.
"You've been shot sixteen times today."
"Seventeen," Wagner corrected from the couch. "Ze last one shot him in ze shoulder before kissing him on ze cheek. Very confusing."
Vidarath smiled proudly, bandaged, bruised, and no closer to giving up.
"Progress."
A sudden explosion outside.
Another Roberta launched through the rift, wielding dual machetes and a nuclear-powered toaster, screaming obscenities in Latin.
Vidarath casually flicked the MTD again click. The Roberta vanished in a blink.
"Next."
Nyxia dragged his hand down his face.
"You've been through twenty-eight versions. You fought the cyborg one, the feral one, the nun assassin, the headless ghost maid, and the ugh buff male Roberta who suplexed you through the Council Tower."
Vidarath: "He was very polite about it."
Wagner, sipping tea, added:
"Ze male von vas oddly charming. Had a very tragic backstory. Vould make a good anime."
Outside, the night air was finally still.
A police drone lazily hovered above the roof, leaving a ticket that read:
"Cease and Desist: No more maid extractions until morning"
Vidarath read it, then shrugged.
"Guess we're taking a break."
He slumped onto the bean bag again, the MTD still glowing softly in his hand.
"But tomorrow… I will fix her."
Nyxia turned to Wagner, deadpan.
"How long until this becomes a multiversal war?"
Wagner didn't hesitate:
"By Friday."
The MTD buzzed quietly on the coffee table, faint traces of gunpowder and scorched hair lingering in the air. The windows had been reinforced again. Nyxia sat slumped against a wall, while Wagner meticulously cleaned a shattered teacup.
Vidarath stared blankly at the ceiling, lips curled in confusion.
"I don't get it… I've seen at least five Roberta variants living peacefully in Evolto. I passed one teaching sword forms to kindergartners. Another was working as a bodyguard for the Dendrites. Hell, I think one of them was running a tea shop downtown."
He sat up, gripping his head dramatically.
"How!? How did they fix her? What did they do that I didn't!?"
Wagner let out a long, exhausted sigh, like a father explaining something to a particularly rebellious child for the hundredth time.
"Zey broke her."
Vidarath blinked.
"…what?"
Wagner stood and began pacing slightly, adjusting his gloves with that usual German precision.
"Ze Roberta variants that are 'sane' here… either had their neural pathways chemically altered to suppress ze berserker loops… or"
He pointed his thumb behind him, as if gesturing to some far-off institution.
"were locked in deep-core multiversal psychiatric care for years. Full neural reframing. Some even required Void Mind Therapy."
Nyxia chimed in from the corner, half-asleep:
"One of them literally had to live in a fabricated anime slice-of-life world for three decades before she stopped killing anyone who sneezed too loud."
Wagner continued.
"Zey did not fall in love, Vidarath. Zey were systematically broken down and rebuilt. Slowly. Safely. Vith clinical oversight and a very patient case manager."
Vidarath paused.
Then frowned.
Then said, absolutely deadpan:
"So you're saying there's a chance."
Nyxia threw a pillow at him.
"NO! That's not what he's saying!"
Wagner just groaned and sat down again, muttering in German.
"Warum bin ich überhaupt hier…"
Vidarath casually spun the MTD between his fingers.
"Alright, next plan: I find one of the already-sane Robertas and reverse engineer her healing process. Should be easy. Bribe a therapist, steal some trauma logs maybe run a social experiment or two. Nyxia, get your notebook."
Nyxia stared at him like he had grown a third eye.
"You are going to get us all killed."
Vidarath just smiled.
"But with style."
"Hey buddy, do you by chance have a new ability?"
Nyxia narrowed his eyes. "Why do you ask?" he said, defensively.
Vidarath didn't answer right away. Instead, he pulled out a sleek, black tablet and held it up. A thin beam of light scanned Nyxia from head to toe. On the screen, Nyxia's DRS Data Resonance Stat began to light up with new data points.
Vidarath's grin widened. "Bingo."
Data Resonance Scan: NYXIAENTITY CLASS: Meta-Creative | Tier: ???Scan Type: Full SpectrumResonance Sync: 99.87%Security Clearance: Override // VIDARATH-ALPHA-1
Primary Stats
Cognitive Field Output: 813% above baseline
Dimensional Awareness: ACTIVE
Resonance Fluctuation Stability: 65% (⚠️ UNSTABLE)
Neuro-Echo Loops: Present (Creative Feedback Cycle Detected)
Multiversal Imprint: Imprinted Origin Unclear
Core Attributes
Creativity-to-Reality Conversion (CRC): 74% Efficiency
Conceptual Binding Threads: 3 active / 9 dormant
Narrative Influence Rating (NIR): ★★★★★★★ (7/7 - Theoretical Max)
Anchored Narrative Weight: Partial fluctuating between Dream and Reality layers
Anomalies Detected
"Echo Script" Loop Fragment: Incomplete idea from a discarded project is forming self-awareness.
"Fourth Wall Sensitivity": Minor. Nyxia may become aware of narrative structure or external observation.
"Vidarath Resonance Link": Strong. Collaborative feedback loop amplifies both subjects' creative output unpredictably.
Current Abilities
Shadow Monarch: Mastery over shadows as physical and metaphysical extensions.
Umbral Shift: Instantaneous teleportation through shadows within a limited radius.
Umbrakinesis: Manipulation of darkness to create constructs, illusions, and offensive/defensive effects.
New Ability-Scriptweaver's Nexus
Description: Nyxia can tap into the raw "script" of reality around him, weaving narrative threads to subtly rewrite small aspects of the present. This ability manifests as an ephemeral web of glowing threads visible only to Nyxia, allowing him to reshape cause-and-effect within a localized area.
Capabilities:
Alter minor events or decisions within seconds e.g., cause a dropped object to land elsewhere, change a person's spoken words, or rewrite a brief memory.
Temporarily merge "conceptual binding threads" to bring dormant narrative possibilities into reality, manifesting latent ideas as tangible effects.
High cognitive and resonance output required; prolonged use risks increasing Resonance Fluctuation Instability.
Limitations:
Cannot rewrite large-scale events or deep history; effects are short-lived unless reinforced.
The "Fourth Wall Sensitivity" anomaly heightens with use, risking awareness of narrative observers or meta forces.
Relies on collaboration with Vidarath to stabilize and amplify; alone, the ability is less predictable and more volatile.
Vidarath lowered the tablet and glanced at Dr. Wagner, who had been quietly studying the data.
"Interesting," Dr. Wagner said, his eyes narrowing behind thick glasses. "Nyxia's Resonance Instability… and that 'Echo Script' anomaly… This could either be a breakthrough or a ticking time bomb."
Vidarath smirked. "Either way, it's going to shake things up."
Nyxia shifted uneasily. "Great. Just what I needed more chaos in my life."
Suddenly, the tablet flickered and emitted a low hum.
"Wait," Vidarath muttered, leaning closer. "Something's happening…"
The screen pulsed violently as lines of code and symbols scrambled into an unknown sequence.
Dr. Wagner's voice dropped to a whisper. "That… wasn't supposed to happen."
And then