(Lian Li POV)
There's… Two Masters?
I mean… It wouldn't be the first time we see multiple Masters but it's the first time we see Master fighting with Himself…
We watched as the two of them continued their stare off while the space around them seemed to warp and tear itself apart, a clear indication that neither side was happy with the other.
Diao Chan looked around, "Hey… This is the centre of the Universe, isn't it?"
The bitch, who had come through the rift after us, nodded her head slowly.
"Then why are we still around?! Were you lying to us?!"
"No… I have told no lies in regards to this place. As to why none of you have ceased to exist, even I do not know…"
Tsuki scowled at her, "Not as Omniscient and Omnipotent as you make yourself out to be now, are you?"
"Ara? If you recall, I never once did claim that I was either of that?"
Hmm… I hate to admit it but she's right, she never did claim to be any of those in the first place aside from her being 'The End'.
Putting that aside for now, I tried to get Master's attention.
"Master?"
The Master on the left reacted and turned towards us, only for the Master on the right to wave His hand and cause the left side's Master to have His head cut off.
I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who started to scream at the sight and I'm even more sure that none of us knew how to react considering it was Master who attacked Master.
"And so… This place shall End…" The second Master deadpanned.
He reached out His hand into the air and a black ball started to form above His palm, slowly enlarging itself over time.
That was when Master's voice came from the decapitated body, "Woah there, don't kill me off so fast! I already said no!"
The black ball suddenly winked out of existence and the Master who had His head cut off was restored back to normal, as though what just happened was an illusion.
"Ma… Master?" I asked, a little more quiet this time.
"Oh, hello everyone, sorry you all had to see that but as you might have surmised… We're split evenly at the moment…"
Eh? So… Does that mean we both reached fifty percent?!
The look on that bitch's face also suggested that she had no idea it was a tie between us either.
Brendan was the first to recover from the shock, "What do we need to do?"
He must be asking what we needed to do to help our half of Master beat the other half that the bitch had created.
Master raised an eyebrow, "Hmm? Nothing actually. What you're seeing now is just me having a small case of a split personality, something like Eris's situation except we have completely different goals. We just need to settle our differences."
"H… How?" I managed to croak out.
"By having a civilised and proper debate of course."
'Then why did the other you cut your head off?' was the question everyone wanted to ask.
Just as I was considering to ask that very question, our version of Master had His arm cut off without any warning.
That was when I realised that there were no blood splatters at all, even from His earlier decapitation.
Master also looked more annoyed than in pain and His arm shifted to restore itself instantly.
"How rude, can't you see I'm talking to my disciples?"
The other Master tilted his head slightly, "Disciples? I do not know what you are talking about. Are we not discussing about how we should End this Universe?"
"No, no, you really need to get that stick out of your ass. We were never of the consensus that this Universe had to End."
"Stick? I do not understand, I do not have a stick up my--"
Master disappeared and reappeared in front of the imperfect version of Him, punching him across the jaw before he could even finish what he wanted to say.
Our Master then followed up with an open palm slap across the other's face and the imperfect version of him disappeared without a trace.
Master then dusted His hands and turned to us, "Alright, that should keep him out of here for some time. Welcome to the centre of the universe everyone! Or at least, the centre of this universe in particular."
"This… Universe in particular?" I could not help but mutter.
"Yep! Made this one specially for all of you to play around in, how was it by the way?"
The bitch went up to Him with her hands visibly trembling, "Master… What do you mean?"
"Oh, Iris! I wanted to ask, how was the other me? Terrible wasn't he? I did warn you about it and you didn't believe me so now what do you think after seeing it for yourself?"
"Master… Is it really you?"
"Of course? Just for the record, every single me you've seen were not fakes. They are all me. So that version of me you restored? That would really be how I would act if you had succeeded. Doesn't make for great companionship, does he?"
The bitch averted her eyes, "I… Yes, Master… Please accept my apologies… If… If you wish to get rid of me… I…"
"Nonsense, I never said anything like that, did I? I won't just abandon you for something like that."
"But… Did I not cause most of you to change into your other self?"
Master raised an eyebrow, "Do I look like the emotionless version of me right now?"
Manami tilted her head, "Ara… Then does that mean that this bi… I mean… Iris and us actually tied in restoring our version of Master?"
"Well you did. But not in the way that you might be thinking of actually. It seems like someone else was also trying to create their own version of me and they managed to capture two percent of me, so the both of you actually tied at forty nine percent each."
"What? But who?!" I shrieked, wondering which other person would dare, dare!! Try to take Master away from us?!
"Well, I can show you all which would be simpler but just give me a moment while I End this Universe, ok?"
Elaria gasped, "Eh?! What are you doing, Onii-sama?!"
"Hmm? Like I said, Ending this Universe. We don't need it anymore."
"But what about us?"
"Ah, was my explanation too confusing, the universe we're in right now isn't the real one, so we're going back to it now."
It took me a moment to comprehend what Master had just said and I only had time to look at Him in shock before Master snapped His fingers, turning the white space black in an instant.
Master? What do you mean by it's not the real one?!!
😉