THE MOMENT
Johan laughed, it was the only possible response. He sat in a familiar cafe on a different Earth watching the presidential inauguration. He couldn't comment on the unknown politics of an alternate Earth. From his particular perspective, the universe was openly mocking him; and, he had to admit it was funny. Dracula was being sworn in for his third term as President of the United States. Johan had a brief history with vampires and lately, it felt like they were a recurring theme in his multiversal journey.
He learned about the multiverse as the indirect result of a vampire encounter. He visited several Earths and saw new things at first; then, over time he spotted more and more evidence of vampires in each new universe. It was interesting in a way, it gave him a chance to learn more about vampires and see how different they could be from Earth to Earth. But, this was the first time he saw a vampire openly leading a major nation.
As he watched the TV a black portal opened in the center of the cafe, and three teenage girls walked out. Johan could travel between universes with portals, and this current Earth was familiar with the greater multiverse as well; no one cared about their sudden appearance except for Johan. The girl in a white suit with short rainbow hair looked familiar. He didn't recognize the other two. One had curly brown and orange-tipped hair, the other with straighter brown hair sporting a golden streak.
"Monday!" Johan called out; then, he blinked.
"Hey, Johan, how's it going?" He opened his eyes to see two of the girls exiting through a portal; but, Monday stayed behind.
"I missed something; what happened?" he asked.
"Magical girl stuff," Monday shrugged. "This Earth is protected by Chroma Corp., so we had to handle the situation discreetly. I zoned everyone out for a second and Quinn stopped time while Jubilee handled the lunatic. Oh, you don't know them," she glanced back but they were gone. "Quinn is the one with orange tips and Jubilee is the other one."
"Oh..., okay," Johan nodded. He'd heard of the concept but hadn't met a Magical Girl before.
"How's it going in the multiverse? Getting along okay?" she asked.
"Yes, except for that," he chuckled and nodded at the TV.
"President Dracula?"
"Not specifically; but, Mundo said there are infinite Earths. Somehow, I keep finding the ones with vampires," he said.
"Well, you were an NPC before you Woke up; I think you might still have vampires on the brain," she giggled.
"I keep thinking of them because they're always around," he shrugged. Monday shook her head.
"You notice they're always around because you're thinking about them subconsciously."
"Even on a different Earth?" he asked.
"Mundo likes to leave this part out when talking to Estrellas so they can discover it for themselves; but, I think it's okay if I give you a shortcut," she said. "There are infinite Earths, right? You can Traverse to any of them; but, that's a lot of options. When you open a portal, the universe tries to connect it where it thinks you want to go. If you're thinking about vampires, it'll take you to more vampires."
"But, I don't like vampires...," he shook his head. He didn't hate them exactly, and he'd met some nice ones in his travels; but, he still carried some resentment from when he first Awakened.
"Then, the universe takes you to vampires so you can dislike them some more," she shrugged. "It's still thinking about them."
"Oh," he had a lot to consider now, and he needed a different topic for a moment. "So, you're a Magical Girl, huh?"
"When they need me to be," Monday nodded. "Quinn can usually stop time without anyone noticing; but, it's harder on an Earth that's Multiverse Aware. You realized something happened because you saw me first," she said. "No one else noticed." He looked around the cafe and out the windows to the bustling downtown street.
"What happened? It's okay if you can't tell me, I'm just curious," he added the second part quickly.
"Sure, I can tell you," she nodded. "But, a public spectacle might've looked bad on President Dracula. There's a glitch in the AlterNet known as 'Error 23'. It's been creating corrupted nodes and the people who find them get a Unique Ability and go around rampaging like a lunatic. Oh, actually, that's a good tip. If YOU see an electric blue node don't touch it and send me a Whisper. It hasn't affected any Unique Souls yet, but, that doesn't mean it won't."
"Oh, thank you," Johan nodded.
"Well, I gotta get back to school," Monday nodded as she dropped a black portal card at her feet. "Any other questions?" she asked. She stood on the black portal as if it were a solid hole.
"Can you recommend something to take my mind off vampires?" he chuckled. It was meant to communicate his lack of questions more than actually wanting an answer. She understood and began sinking into the hole with a smiling nod. But, she did give him an answer as she disappeared completely.
"You haven't tried Roller Derby yet, have you? You should make an AlterNet Character."
