You'd think gathering powerful people in one luxurious space would promote cooperation.
No. It promotes chaos. Expensive, collateral-damage-causing chaos.
The penthouse was stunning—multiple floors, glass walls, an infinity pool, a helipad (because apparently Lloyd insisted), and even a mini training facility Ryusui commissioned "for dramatic entrances." There was even a separate room labeled Shadow Storage, which Jin-Woo promptly filled with an army of silent, brooding soldiers who made Toritsuka cry every time he walked past.
"I thought we were going for subtle," I muttered.
Gojo floated down the staircase in sunglasses and a robe. "Subtle? In this group? Come on, Saiki."
Kazuma was furiously tapping away at a loaner laptop. "I've spent three hours trying to get my account back. They said the server doesn't even exist anymore. Do you know what that means?!"
"That you need new hobbies?" Denji offered, holding a half-eaten sandwich from a catering tray that hadn't been paid for yet.
Meanwhile, Ryusui was giving the maid staff a rousing speech about ambition and gluten. "The flour must rise with purpose! For desire is the yeast of the soul!"
A new character?
"That's just François. Wherever Ryusui is François is by his side. Surprisingly even if the world is crumbling"
Senku finally pulled me aside.
"We need a plan," he said.
"You mean besides trying to survive this sitcom nightmare?"
"Yes," he replied, steepling his fingers. "We need to identify the origin of the glitch that merged our universes. That means science. Research. Cross-dimensional mapping. And ideally, no distractions."
Cue: loud explosion.
"DENJI, WHY DID YOU MICROWAVE YOUR FOOD IN A METAL BOWL?!" screamed Yuji from the kitchen.
"It said it tasted better than anything when hot! I was testing it!"
"A POTATO?!"
"IT WAS FOR SCIENCE!"
Senku pinched the bridge of his nose. "...This is going to be harder than I thought."
Subaru, to no one's surprise, had already tripped over a magic circle Lloyd was using to calibrate an escape route.
"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to trigger the emergency evacuation protocol—"
With a pop, part of the penthouse balcony vanished.
Makima, unphased, calmly sipped tea on the remaining edge. "I like the open concept."
I looked around at the damage. "You all realize this is day one, right?"
Gojo gave me a thumbs-up. "Still better than my last work retreat."
And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse—
A rift shimmered in the air like a glitching VHS tape. Another tear in space.
"...That's new," Senku muttered.
Lloyd and Jin-Woo instantly snapped to attention.
"Get everyone inside," Jin-Woo said.
"On it," Lloyd replied, already barking orders to Javier, who deployed defensive runes across the windows.
The rift pulsed.
For a second, I saw something—a silhouette. Eyes glowing red. A presence that didn't belong in any universe I knew.
And then it was gone.
Just like that.
The rift sealed.
Everyone stared.
Toritsuka screamed.
"Okay," I said, voice calm despite the impending aneurysm. "We're accelerating the timeline. I need everyone focused."
Ryusui raised a hand. "Can we eat first? A man of desire cannot work on an empty stomach."
"Eat after we save the multiverse," I snapped.
Kazuma finally closed his laptop with a dead look in his eyes.
The penthouse conference room felt like the most chaotic board meeting in multiverse history. Senku was diagramming temporal rift mechanics on a whiteboard, Lloyd was analyzing magical anchors, and Ryusui had—somehow—commissioned a miniature model of the tear, complete with gold trim.
"So," Saiki started, voice deadpan, "you all want to go back to your own worlds?"
"Obviously," Rudeus said, hand halfway in the air.
"Speak for yourself," Kazuma replied, chewing on someone's leftover sandwich. "I get to (freeload) live in a penthouse. Ignoring that, I lost my account. I don't have to risk my butt out on some quest"
Ryusui adjusted his scarf. "I could thrive in any world. But ideally, one with yachts."
Makima smiled politely. Gojo leaned back in his chair, sunglasses glinting. Shadow brooded dramatically near the window for no reason.
"Whatever," Saiki sighed. "I'm going to try opening the tear slightly. If we analyze the dimensional data, maybe we can isolate your home coordinates."
He floated the antenna pin back into place. The air snapped like charged wire. Space shimmered at the far edge of the city—on the horizon.
A ripple split the skyline like a crack through glass.
Everyone turned.
But instead of falling into the penthouse, the distortion pulsed outward—far away, near the city outskirts.
A shimmer, barely visible.
"Did... something come through?" Yuji asked.
Jinwoo's eyes narrowed. "Yes. Something did. I sense shadows I haven't summoned."
"People, maybe?" Lloyd asked, stepping up beside the window.
Senku adjusted his scope, peering through binoculars. "It looks like... individuals. Hard to tell. They're too far, and the tear's interference is jamming readings."
"Looks like some of them collapsed right out of thin air," Gojo observed. "Anyone we know?"
"No," Saiki said grimly. "Which means the tear isn't just pulling known universes anymore. It's random."
A sudden CRACK echoed across the sky.
A distorted screech echoed from the sky. The tear in reality pulsed, growing wider, threads of fractured space spiraling outward like spider cracks in a windowpane.
Suddenly—fwump!
A blur fell from the sky, tumbling through the air like a sack of potatoes.
"I'VE GOT THIS!" Shadow shouted, cape flaring as he dove.
He caught the falling figure with a single arm, striking a dramatic pose mid-catch. "HOHO! Welcome, new friend! I am the GREAT SHADOW!"
The boy blinked wildly, winded and covered in dust. "Wha—What the hell just happened?! Did I fall through time again?!"
Senku squinted. "...Chrome?"
"Senku?!" Chrome gasped. "Wait—what's going on? There was this shiny swirl in the sky and I jumped toward it to investigate and—"
He stopped mid-sentence and looked around at the towering buildings, neon lights, and bizarre crowd.
"Where are we, Senku?"
Senku crossed his arms, calm as ever. "We're in modern Japan. Although... it's not the one we came from."
Chrome blinked. "So this is what the old world looked like before the petrification?"
"Sort of," Senku said. "But this version comes with multiverse turbulence and psychics."
Chrome frowned. "Huh?"
Senku held up a hand. "Long story. Multiversal collapse. Psychic surge. Memory transfer. We'll science it out later."
The younger scientist stared at the sky again. The tear shimmered.
"That rift—it's pulsing! It's like it's reacting to something! If we map the frequency of the bursts—"
He froze, gears turning.
"Senku, there's a pattern!" Chrome shouted.
Senku's eyes sparked. "You're right. It's fractalized! Like the petrification wave—almost predictable. But its moving in a different wavelength beyond understanding.
It's a geometric repeat—meaning if we had enough data—"
SHHHHRIP!
The rift pulsed violently again, now a gaping wound in the sky.
Saiki narrowed his eyes.
Too dangerous.
He lifted a hand. Eyes glowing. Both antennas removed.
A burst of pink light spiraled outward as he concentrated, closing the tear mid-pulse.
The sky snapped shut like a door slammed.
Silence.
For a moment, everyone waited.
And waited.
Nothing.
Gojo looked around. "So... back to normal?"
"Why do I feel like that made things worse?" Subaru asked.
Makima turned her head slowly. "The world feels... heavier."
Jinwoo closed his eyes, brows furrowed. "The darkness didn't leave. It just moved deeper."
Lloyd's relic stopped glowing. "My detection spell is dead. Like the rift just swallowed the signal whole."
Shadow didn't move. "The darkness observes... and waits."
Denji blinked. "Creepy, but cool."
Ryusui stood dramatically, silhouetted against the window. "This world just became much more interesting."
As everyone processed the moment, Chrome stared up, jaw dropped. "Wait! We could've mapped it! I was just about to—"
Senku sighed. "If we could've gotten two more minutes to understand the fundamental patterns. Two more minutes."
"I said I'd fix it. Not wait around for you to start playing with space-time," Saiki muttered.
Chrome turned to Shadow. "That guy's seriously strong."
Shadow stood proudly. "Indeed! The powers of darkness yield many mysteries!"
Chrome just nodded slowly. "I have no idea what that means, but okay."
"Did anything actually change?" Subaru asked.
"Nope," Yuji said. "Still here."
Jinwoo narrowed his eyes. "The energy... didn't disperse. It just shifted."
Makima stared at the ceiling. "You didn't seal the problem. You buried it."
Everyone turned to Saiki.
He sipped his coffee jelly.
"I know."
Being surrounded by these weirdos are more straining than I thought.
Or just because I closed a rift with both antennas taken out.
I'm done for today.
Good grief.
- Somewhere from Japan -
A voice "Where am I?"
"A knight?" Another voice on top of a building whispered.
---
End.