32 A Little Test For The Universe

The experience of having involved in a dead or alive situation, twice, had forged Chris's mind to stay vigilant all the time. He was worried that another incident would befall them at any moment. If his family was involved, he had to make sure that the threat wouldn't reach them.

As he ran inside, he found out that the roller coaster's cars were derailed. Killing all of the passengers riding on it and unfortunate bystanders on the ground. Although it was still pretty nasty and people would judge him if they knew what he was thinking about, he still breathed a sigh of relief because it was just an accident.

He met with the group of teenagers who were supposed to be on the rides a few minutes ago in front of the entrance and asked them about what exactly was happening. However, no one knew except one particular girl. The staff also said that there must be a malfunction on the rides itself and it was just a simple accident without the involvement of a third party.

The owner of the Park must have been fainted by now because no matter what answer they provide to appease the public, the Park would be closed until god's know when. And also they will be waiting for charges to be filed.

Now, Chris's view was focused on the girl, who was still sobbing at the corner. Thinking that she might have a prophetic ability, Chris approach her and asked what was making her get out of the roller-coaster's car.

Meanwhile, Claire and I were both sitting in the car. She sat on the driver seat, just in case we need to move out, and I was on the backseat, with the window open, talking with Regina.

"Regina, do you know anything about the sound earlier?" I asked, whispering. Claire was still watching the entrance, waiting for Chris. People were still trying to get out, worried about another accident falling on them.

[Not so much, Sir. There must be an accident involving one of the Park's rides. From the direction of the sound, it must be the roller coaster, since the other dangerous rides were placed far from each other.] answered Regina.

"You said you know about my memories, right?"

[Yes, Sir. Partially.]

"Then you must know that this accident was part of a movie in my previous life."

Regina paused a bit before answering. She might have been pondering about it for a while.

[Do you mean Final Destination?]

"Yes, the third movie. Do you know how to survive it if you were one of the victims? There must be a way, right?" The reason I asked this question was because of how the rules would affect my action in the future. And what if I would be one of the victims of the scenario. It must be noted, that none had survived in the movie.

[A victim was not a proper word, Sir. Since those involved were scheduled to die.] answered Regina, opposing my conjecture.

"Anyway, you got my point."

[There's no other way except looking for the most painless way to die. Death could be cheated, but never to be evaded, Sir. The only thing you could do was delaying the inevitable.] said Regina. It was what I expected, but hearing the answer directly from her made me feel hopeless.

"But, on the 5th movie, there were two survivors that could escape them, although they got pulled into another shitty situation."

[Language, Sir.] Protested Regina. I could even hear her pitch getting higher by the end of the word.

"Hey... I've been saying things a lot earlier, why now?" I argued, trying to defend myself.

[Earlier, we were still in a war. Thus, it was acceptable.]

"Okay, sorry... Jeez... Anyway, got any idea about that?" I raised both of my hands. Arguing with her wouldn't end in my favor no matter what I said. Is it just me? I think that she was getting more expressive the more I talk to her. She seemed to just sigh and continued.

[On the fifth movie the main character didn't pay attention, and so did you.]

"Hey...What was that supposed to mean!" I accidentally raised my voice, causing Claire to hear my protest.

Ahe turned her body and asked, "Is there anything wrong, Edward?"

"Nothing, aunt Claire. Just wondering why pizza was named pizza... haha..." answered me, while laughing awkwardly. Then I thought about my impromptu answer. 'Huh? Why they named it pizza?'

As I continued thinking, Claire walked out of the car while warning me. "Okay, your uncle is taking too long. I'll go and check him, but you have stayed in the car. Don't talk to any strangers and keep the window closed. I'll be back in a minute."

"Okay, aunt Claire. Be careful." I watched her getting further and enter the Park. I moved my attention toward Regina again.

"Okay, continue."

[Just like I said, in the fifth movie, the last two protagonists were supposed to live. They survived the initial accident, the falling bridge. However, as they were basking on their newly won life, they never stop to review the vision in greater detail. If they did, then they would have found out that Death never targeted them in the first place.]

"Then why did Death killed them in the airplane accident?"

[The obvious reason would be because that was their schedule to die.]

"So, in conclusion, you are fucked, no matter what." I knitted my brow and held my forehead.

[Language... but yes. At least, that was what the movie depicted as the rules.]

This would change many things. The main reason that I asked it was because of one possibility. What if, in the future, I had to save someone and tried to change their fate, only to find out that they were dead in a later time. Then my action would be futile. What if I saved a lot of people in Raccoon City. Would all of them suddenly die, one by one?

"Wait a minute, this is not the movie. This is a whole another universe."

[Again, Sir. It's not your responsibility to save those teenagers.] Regina was assuming that I was trying hard to find out a way to help the characters from Final Destination.

"It's not it! This world is a combination of several other worlds. I have to know the main rules first. Each world has a different set of rules to follow. Carving the identity of the world and determining which world to be the main world, and which were the integrated world. Having this knowledge would answer my dilemma about my future action and might help me on different occasions. Even predicting the course of an event that didn't happen in the main storyline."

As I keep pondering, I continued, "What if... What if my action in saving people that were destined to die would turn in vain, ending with them dying at a later time. Connect me to Dante!"

I was growing excited by the possibilities. But I need help with this, as I don't have even a glimpse of power to do anything yet. There's only one person in this world that has the power to help me. The one who would also be interested in them. The Ancient One.

[Alright, then. First, get out of the car and go to the nearby payphone.] said, Regina. She changed her perspective on this event, as she also realized how important it was.

To contact Dante was simple. All I need was a phone or any communication tool, and the system would connect me to him through the closest one to him. After a while, there's a voice answering on the other side.

"Welcome to Devil May Cry, unfortunately, we are closed until uuhh... I don't know when. If you have any message you could start after you hear the beeping sound." followed by a fake beeping sound made by his mouth. Currently, he was sunbathing on someone's rooftop, topless, with sunglasses on.

"Cut it off, Dante. It's me, Edward."

"Huh? Shit... I thought you were Lady. How do you know my phone number? I never gave you one. Or did I?" Dante raised his body, surprised by the unexpected person on the other side of the phone.

"Let's just say it was my power," answered me, trying to make him ignore it.

"So your power is stalking? You know that I still like women, right?"

"Shut up! Listen, I need your help." I looked around as I saw the Park was getting quite deserted already. From afar, ambulances and police cars were rushing in.

"Business? Or just help?"

"Why would you be so petty?"

"I need to make a living, man. Can't keep hiding away like this." protested Dante.

"Okay. I'll help one of your mission, free of charge."

"Make it two."

"Fine!"

"So, what is it?"

"I need you to take several people to meet The Ancient One."

"Hey! I don't have a plan to go home yet. It's still summer for god's sake. Vacation time!" Dante was bewildered. It was the least expected request he could ever think of. He was afraid to know if I already found what happened on that night with The Ancient One.

"It's important, just do it once, for me!"

"Urrgh... okay, where are you?"

Not long after, Dante arrived using his oval portal. I forgot that he was raised by the Sorceress Supreme in this world. It was weird seeing him using magic.

I walked him into the Park and met with Chris and Claire. They were talking to each other, discussing the bizarre event. The local police had arrived and taking the employees for questions. The poor remains of the victim were being carried into the ambulance, one by one. The teenagers were also trying to leave before being stopped by us.

At that moment, Claire saw me walking with Dante.

"Edward! Why are you here!"

I was startled by her, I should have hide or used stealth. Anyway, I already told Dante about everything, including the premonition that the girl saw. Everything would be dealt with by him from now on. I only need to wait for The Ancient One's response. She will be interested in this event as she also has the same problem.

"Uhh... I was looking for you because you were taking so long," answered me while fidgeting. Chris chuckled at my poor action, but Claire was effectively fooled by it.

"Ohh... my poor boy. Let's go home now," said Claire, taking my hand as we walked back to the car. Chris followed right behind us. Funny enough, no one seemed to suspect the odd white-haired man wearing red trenchcoat who was leading a group of teenagers away. I looked toward him and made eye contact, signaling him about my request. He just sighed and take them away. Fortunately, after watching the accident directly, the group was pretty much obedient when Dante explained what was happening and that he offered a hand to them. All I have to do now was wait for the result.

20 minutes later, we arrived at home. Although there was a slight hiccup at the end, it was fun spending time with my Chris and Claire. As I opened my door, I saw the opened window and traces of someone inside my room. It seems he already left as there was no presence of anyone now. Is it burglary? What do I do? This is the first time I was facing this kind of issue. I checked my belongings, looking for any missing properties. Then I ran to the living room while shouting in panic, with tears glittering on my cheek, after finding out what was missing.

"Uncle! Aunty! Somebody just robbed my Uncle Scrooge comic collections!"

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Somewhere, inside a helicopter. Agent Maria Hill was staring at the sleeping Nick Fury, with a box of comics by his side.

"Did the Director of SHIELD just rob a bookstore?"