Beatle looms before the pair. He smirks, taking off his mask, and upon laying their eyes on his face, they are astonished to see a familiar look.

  Miguel is shocked. “You’re… me…?”

  Beatle adamantly nods. “Come with me if you wanna live.”

  “You stole that from Terminator 2,” said Anna.

  Miguel is exasperated, looking at Beatle’s scarred face. “You’re Earth-1’s Beatle.”

  “Yep,” said Beatle. “You comin’?”

  Miguel backs away.

  “Look, man… I need your help. Our worlds have collided. Please. I know a part of you needs to make an understanding of this, but there isn’t time. Any time now, Unbreakable will awaken-... HEY!!! BACK AWAY OR I’LL KILL BOTH OF YOU!!!” he boomed at Dark and Askal. He turns back to Miguel. “Not really. I don’t like killing people, especially when the Voice tells me to.”

  “Wha-?”

  “Never mind. Dude. We gotta go,” Beatle offers a hand, and Miguel nods, and he takes it.

  Myrmex grabs onto Miguel’s hand as the trio teleport away.

  Unbreakable booms angrily upon their disappearance, screaming at the top of his lungs.

  “Boss,” said Dark, terrified.

  “GET THEM, YOU IDIOTS!!!” he stomped angrily at both of them as Dark and Askal back away in fear. “GET THEM OR I’LL MELT WHAT’S LEFT OF THE GRAY MATTER THAT IS SO-CALLED YOUR BRAINS!!!”

  Beatle rips the collars off their necks, barely with any strength.

  “Well, looks like somebody isn’t late for class. Christ, man,” said Myrmex.

  The Aswang Prince sighs and coughs. “You okay?” he smiled, looking at Myrmex’s neck.

  “I am. I am,” smiled Myrmex.

  Beatle gives a soft sigh. “You’re his Anna.”

  “Uh-huh,” said Myrmex.

  “Hm,” Beatle said with a saddened tone underneath his voice. “Well…” Beatle sniffs and spins his eskrima sticks together.

  “You have sticks, too?”

  “Forged from the Spear of Destiny,” said Beatle.

  “Oh. Mine are… mahogany. So, anyway, what’s the deal with uh… Mighty Crab Shrek… over there?” asked Miguel.“And… So, you guys are the extremists I see on the news, right?”

  “That creature is the Unbreakable. Represents the faction of the Black Spiral. Against Morningstar Prime but also against our faction, the Christ Crusaders, now known as the Starcross Crusaders since I took over. We are represented by the patterned star, and have been resisting for more than 800 years. We argue for equity and autonomy. They are among the factions that split off and twisted Beatle’s words,” said Starcross Beatle. “Many Crusaders gave their lives for Maharlica-152.“

  “Okay… So, your friends?”

  “Off to fight Morningstar Starcross.”

  “So, why are we here?” asked Miguel. “How do WE fit in the equation of your whole… ordeal, let’s say!”

  “Can I please watch cable during my stay here? Vice Beauty is on tonight.” Myrmex smiled, raising her hand.

  “You have been chosen by our current leader to become his heir,” said Beatle, looming before Miguel. “He saw how you saw those patterns with relative ease. He found that you have strength and grit, enough so that it allowed you to fight off Unbreakable.”

  “Okay?” asked Miguel, backing away. “I DID NOT ask for this. I didn’t want to be a part of some interdimensional war.”

  “Well, my boss says you are very much needed. If you don’t join us, either Unbreakable or Morningstar Starcrioss gets you. Neither of us wants that, now, do we? Under the feet of a terrifying megalomaniacal psychopath and a psychotic deluded narcissist?” Beatle stomps and approaches Miguel, who backs away. “I am trying to help you, kid.”

  “I grew up being raised by good people…”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “I know.”

  “And those people fought for me… kept me safe from all this, and you want me to plunge myself into this dumb war? I didn’t ask to be the center of it all!”

  “Whoever has you gets to be the true Saint King.”

  “Aren’t you Beatle Saint King!?”

  “I’m… not the Multiverse’s Saint King. Just the Saint King of my dimension. The Multiverse’s Saint King is long gone, and the Aswang King is his unwilling successor.”

  “So, it’s just US…!?!?” asked Myrmex.

  “Yep. Pretty much,” said Beatle, walking away and sniffing. “You guys like Adobo?”

  Myrmex smiles. “SURE!!!”

  Miguel facepalms and cringes at his own destiny.

  Later that evening, Beatle places a large bowl of adobo, cooked with garlic, onion, peppercorns, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, chicken, bay leaves, and even more garlic. He serves it and places it on the table.

  “You seem… a bit… I dunno! Rugged,” said Myrmex.

  Beatle sits before them. “Explain.”

  “Well, I mean! You’re uh… You look like Henry Cavill’s Superman.”

  “The FUCK I do!?” asked Beatle.

  “What?”

  “You look like fucking Spider-Man and Scott Lang’s bones from DP and Wolvie fucked and had a baby!” yelled Beatle.

  “Why are you mad!? Do you HATE Cavill’s Superman THAT MUCH!?!? He popularized Superman!”

  “That was a character fucking assassination, you fuckin’ casual fuck,” said Beatle.

  “Okay! Alright! Sheesh!” yelled Myrmex. “While you were learning ALL THAT, I had sex, you fucking virgin.”

  “Sex with no kids is hot, sticky, and for people with emotionally stunted decisions in life, you fuckin’ casual,” said Beatle.

  “What the fuck!? Fine! I’m sorry for having… OFFENDED you for comparing you to Man of Steel!”

  Meanwhile, Miguel is annoyed, so he covers his ear the entire time.

  “Thank you, Tom Holland,“ said Beatle.

  “Did you just fucking compare me to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man?” asked Myrmex.

  “So, YOU ARE a fuckin’ super nerd, just a gross Marvel fan. Painful to hear being compared to character assassinations, huh?”

  “Marvel’s awesome, asshole!” yelled Myrmex.

  “Yeah, I like some Marvel,” smiled Miguel.

  “Yeah. And that’s why your generation fucked up the world and caused THE FUCKING APOCALYPSE!!!” yelled Beatle. “All of you making out and doing drugs like fucking maniacs.”

  “Isn’t our generation the same as yours, since your timeline is a post-apocalyptic future?” asked Anna.

  “Just shut the fuck up and eat the adobo!”

  Suddenly, the toilet flushes and out comes a strange fat old Filipino man who coughs and scratches his butt.

  He smiles at the group. “Hey. So, uh… How do I uh… greet y’all Humans.”

  “What?” asked Myrmex, with her eyes darting left to right.

  “Oh, uh…” Beatle snaps his fingers repeatedly, trying to name this guy. “This is uh… Lawa? Yeah. Lawa. Hey, Lakan uh… Lawa.”

  “Hey, bitch,” said Lawa, squeezing his flabby nipples together. “Wanna nut on my chest, fuck nut?”

  The couple turns to Beatle.

  “They’re uh…” said Beatle, sniffing. “He’s a fuckin’... sexually frustrated speciesist.”

  “So, Homo Sapiens, right?” he smiled, massaging Miguel, who obviously felt very disgusted. “Mmm! I just looove eating Homo Sapiens.”

  “Dude, I’m a fucking Aswang.”

  “No, way, bruh! Same!” smiled Lawa, smirking and making a peace sign. “Mmm! Look at that gigantic Beatle in front of us! Mmm!”

  “Why does he like you so much? Also, I am very uncomfortable with this random fat man massaging me while freshly thinking about you,” said Miguel.

  “May I present to you the first Aswang King!” Beatle fixed himself.

  “You’re the King of Aswangs in the Multiverse!?” smiled Miguel. “The… RACIST!?!?”

  “Not anymore,” burped the Lawa. “Am just a good ol’ species-blind individual.”

  “‘Species-Blind?’” asked Myrmex.

  “I uh… Struck him with the Anti-Racist Beam from my Cainmarker and turned him race-blind. Though it didn’t work since he still retained the majority of negative sentiments,” said Beatle.

  “Shut the fuck up, you fucking Red Martian FUCK,” said Lawa.

  Miguel facepalms.

  “What’s wrong, babe?” smiled Lawa.

  “What’s FUCKING WRONG IS THAT YOU PEOPLE ARE CLEARLY CRAZY!!!” yelled Miguel, standing up. “No! I am NOT going to JOIN ANY TEAM with you guys! My community needs me!”

  “Your community has other heroes,” said Beatle. “But Unbreakable lingers in every fucking universe.”

  “But I don’t want to be a part of this! I’m just some kid who got in over his head, okay!?”

  “And that’s every Miguel’s problem. When you chew more than you can swallow, you fucking spit,” said Lawa, farting on the chair as the others covered their noses. “Excuse me, sorry, fuckers.”

  Beatle evaporates the gas by zapping lightning. He sighs. “You don’t have a choice.”

  “You can’t choose my future!”

  “I’m not. Morningstar will KILL us, Miguel. What don’t you understand? All we want is to keep everyone at peace.”

  “How?”

  Beatle sighs. “We stood for pacifism.”

  “Clearly you don’t anymore,” said Miguel.

  “Yeah… Now we stand against Morningstar. Freeing worlds from her tyranny. Wiith her ruling over everyone? We can’t do anything. She kills your kind for a living and sells your kind’s blood as fuel.”

  “I know,” said Miguel.

  “Do you not care about your kind? Your people being ground into bloody planet-powering paste!?” asked Beatle.

  “I do, but-! I’m just some Neurodivergent Filipino kid from Tondo!”

  “So am I. Baguio City,” said Beatle, sniffing.

  Miguel angrily stabs the chicken with his fork and eats the chicken with much furious chewing.

  “You’re gonna be THIS difficult, huh?”

  “Mhm. Fuck off,” said Miguel.