Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended for 5pb's Steins;Gate or the other properties depicted. This is a story simply written just for fun.

Infinity Crisis: Multiverse TV

Let's just that isn't your typical Infinity Crisis story. For starters, there are no big threats on the horizon or universe-hopping shenanigans just a self-proclaimed "Mad Scientist" and his friends using a special remote that can show visions of other universes. And all of this is thanks to me when I visited this universe at some point.

Earth-209

July 28th, 2011

Future Gadget Laboratory. Tokyo, Japan

Okabe Rintaro sat on the couch of his laboratory in his full mad scientist garb. He was looking at a device on a table. This device of course was a remote but it wasn't any ordinary remote. It was a special remote gifted to Okabe by yours truly when I posed as a foreign exchange student from America. Since Okabe knew little English, he relied on his girlfriend Makise Kurusu who knew English well enough to converse with me. Still, he wasn't aware that I knew who he was and this entire world. He correctly guessed that I was an American through my standard accent, even if I was brown-skinned. I spent two months on Earth-209 to know Okabe and his friends better and we got along quite well. Regarding his friends, Okabe and I spent the most time with Mayuri Shiina (or Mayushii as she called herself), Hashida Itaru, Makise Kuruse, Ruka Urushibara, and Moeka Kiryu. That said, I also spent some time with Okabe's other friends. Okabe also told me (in Japanese, of course) about "the mysterious cataclysm in which people suddenly disappeared for no reason," including the loss of Mayushii and Moeka, and noted how this changed their lives considerably as they volunteered to help others impacted by the Snap and attended support groups for those who lost their loved ones not too dissimilar to the ones found on Earth-95 of course. Eventually, I revealed to him and the others on July 26th that I was the Multiverse Monk known simply as "The Pilot". I explained that his world was part of something known as the Multiverse along with the numerous heroes and villains that existed. Okabe replied that he knew the Multiverse already as a science geek and given his expertise in time travel needed no further explanation. But before I left, I told Okabe that I had a surprise for him and his friends: A special remote with a black and green color scheme with the words. He asked me what it does and I simply told him it was a surprise along with a list of realities to check out. Afterwards, I told him to go home because he's got another one alongside this and he did just that when I teleported away from this world.

For Okabe himself, the surprise seemed rather ordinary: A simple television set not too different from the ones in his world apart from the fact that it was placed in the same spot as his old television. Its name was Multiverse TV. He had the strange remote in his hand and used it to turn on this new television. He discovered that this television had two features which were labeled "Regular Programming" and "Multiverse," in English and Japanese. When Okabe selected Multiverse, he saw a vision of another world that existed only in fiction and that world was Earth-95, otherwise known as Neon Genesis Evangelion. The reality designation number was displayed on the upper-right corner alongside the logo of Evangelion. Like many in Japan, he knew what Neon Genesis Evangelion was and was, in fact, a fan, given his interest in sci-fi. He realized that this remote would show him different realities and so was this television. But before the Watch Party, Okabe made sure to watch one last reality and it's name was Earth-86, the home of the oppressive religious theocracy known as Gilead and it's policies horrified him and he was glad not to live in this reality. Another was an Earth home to an iteration of the Doctor followed by the anime adaptation of 0verflow's School Days. From then on, Okabe kept this television to watch these realities and maybe visit them someday.

Today was when Okabe and his friends would watch as many realities in the Multiverse as possible. Over the course of a day, they prepared to start the Multiverse reality-watching marathon by getting all the necessary stuff to organize this event. Okabe and his friends bought no less than five popcorn bags, full bottles of Dr. Salt (The Dr. Pepper of this world), and large bowls to fill their stomachs by the time it was over. Since the setup was rather simple, Okabe already had Mayuri, Makise, Hashida, Ruka, and Suzuha on board for the watch party. He was less lucky with Faris and Maho as both were busy with their jobs at the moment while Yuki chose not to but sent her daughter nonetheless to attend with her permission. For the realities, Okabe wrote down a list of the ones he and his friends would see. Apart from Earth-95, the realities on the list were Earth-199999, Earth-1996, Earth-2002, Earth-96283, Earth-51, and Earth-1. Everything was set for "The Multiverse Watch Party" as Okabe sat patiently for the event to begin.

As Okabe waited patiently for the party to start, Mayuri warmed up the fifth and final bag of popcorn in the newly created Insta-Microwave. she poured all of it into a bowl for her friend to eat.

("Tuturu!") Mayuri cheerily chanted. ("The popcorn is ready.")

("Thank you. Now we can get this watch party started,") Okabe told Mayuri.

("You've got it, Kyouma-san!,") Mayuri told him with a smile on her face.

Mayuri brought the five bowls of popcorn to the couch or table for her friends to eat from the Insta-Microwave along with cups filled with Dr. Salt. She would sit next to Okabe himself with Makise, Hashida, Ruka, and Suzuha coming afterwards. The Multiverse Watch Party was now official.

With everything in place, Okabe used the Multiverse Remote to turn on the television gifted by yours truly.

("And now it is time for the Multiverse Watch Party!") Okabe exclaimed. ("Are you all ready?")

("YES WE ARE!") Mayuri shouted.

("Good. Here we go.") Okabe turned on the Multiverse TV, and the screen turned to green and black, just like the remote. As before, the features "Regular Programming" and "Multiverse" were on the screen, and Okabe naturally went with the latter option. He typed numbers 1 and 9 on the remote to direct him to the first reality for him and his friends to witness. When the channel number "Earth-199999" was displayed, the screen went black and for a while nothing was shown. Okabe wondered if the Multiverse TV wasn't working.

("Hey, why isn't television working?") Hashida asked.

("Uh, maybe the Pilot's TV has some issues,") Okabe told him. ("I'll have to check whether it's working or not.") Okabe got out of the couch to check if the Multiverse TV was working or not. Suddenly, the screen was turning static and transitioning into a reality. That reality was Earth-1999999 and Okabe was taken aback by this as he jumped slightly to the ground. He then went to the couch with his friends to see the reality for the first time together. As the reality came onto the screen, it displayed a compilation of clips of the Avengers assembling, from the birth of Captain America to Tony Stark suiting up as Iron Man and the First Battle of New York, respectively. A notable aspect of this footage were the inclusion of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, the Rocketeer, and other heroes resembling those from other media or the comics of which the latter was rather confusing to them as the Rocketeer was not a Marvel hero. Though Okabe and his friends knew what the Avengers were from translated copies of American comics and the movies, the clips from the First Battle of New York were unfamiliar to them as they were from a piece of media that wasn't fully released on Earth-209 yet. Thus they didn't fully understand the context other than the Avengers fighting Loki and space aliens. Like on Earth-95, the Avengers, as well as all Marvel characters, were fictional, and Okabe, alongside her friends, knew this. Still, the First Battle of New York was cool to see on the screen.

("Wow!") Mayuri exclaimed. ("That is such an amazing display of heroism from the Avengers.")

("Yeah. They're kicking ass and taking down the bad guys,") Okabe remarked.

("If this is what the new Avengers movie is like, I hope it will be just as exciting as the clips we saw,") Hashida told the others.

("Hmmm...seems very interesting,") Ruka noted.

In contrast, Makise wasn't too terribly excited at the prospect of seeing this iteration of the Avengers without Ant-Man and the Wasp.

("Uhhhh...Ant-Man and the Wasp made a great superhero couple,") Okabe's love complained. ("They should have been in this movie and the costume on Captain America looks ridiculous.")

("C'mon, just enjoy the action,") Okabe told her. ("It's so cool!") repeated Okabe in the same stilted English to a foreigner.

As the compilation went on, Okabe and his friends saw Iron Man facing off against the impostor Mandarin Aldrich Killian, Thor fighting Malekith, Captain America exposing HYDRA, the Guardians of the Galaxy saving Xandar from Ronan the Accuser, the Avengers stopping Ultron from ending the world, the birth of Daredevil, Jessica Jones taking on her former abuser, the Avengers Civil War, Luke Cage rising to become the hero of Harlem, Stephan Strange becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, the formation of the Defenders, Daredevil facing off against the Punisher, the destruction of Asgard by Surtur, and more all while munching down popcorn and sipping Dr. Salt. All of this was confusing to Okabe and the others since they were from media not yet created on his Earth but were still entertaining.

("You know, my favorite hero has to be Iron Man. He's like the greatest inventor of all time with an awesome suit of armor!") Okabe told his friends. ("Robert Downey Jr. is doing a great job with him").

("Yeah, Iron Man is my hero too") said Makise.

("Same.") Hashida concurred.

("I like Spider-Man!") Mayuri told Okabe. ("He's the best superhero ever!").

Okabe then turned to ask Ruka for his favorite hero.

("Ruka, do you have a favorite Marvel hero?")

("Not really, Kyouma-san. I don't have a particular preference") Ruka informed Okabe. Okabe turned his attention to Suzuha for her favorite Marvel hero.

("Is there any Marvel hero you like?")

("I guess it would have to be those Guardians of the Galaxy or whatever I'm seeing")

The climax of the compilation clips from Earth-199999 was none other than the Infinity War, which changed the course of not just this world but the entire Multiverse. The depiction of these events was shocking to Okabe and his friends as a purple alien warlord appeared inside the Asgardian ship known as the Statesman. His name was Thanos and he was about to change the course of history with this attack. Okabe and the others could only watch in shock and interest of what would happen next even if they knew nothing.

"I assure you, brother, the sun will shine on us again. You...will never be...a god," uttered Loki to Thor and Thanos before the latter killed him.

"No...Loki..." Thor said with sadness as he crawled toward his brother's now-dead corpse.

The next clip shown after the Attack on the Statesman was Thanos' conversation with Dr. Strange on his former homeworld of Titan.

"Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, not enough to feed. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution".

"Genocide."

"At random. Dispassionate; fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman... and what I predicted had come to pass".

"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers. They would all cease to exist and I call that mercy," Thanos explained to Doctor Strange.

Finally, Okabe and the others saw the Battle of Wakanda between the Avengers, Wakanda itself, and the forces of Thanos, culminating in the catastrophe known as the Snap.

"You should gone for the head," Thanos yelled as he performed the Snap with the Infinity Gauntlet.

Thor was helpless to stop it and screamed, "NOOOO!"

As with Shinji and his closest allies on Earth-95 did before, Okabe and the others looked on with horror and shock at the Avengers losing to Thanos and half of all life being wiped out from people to plants. It was the end of the clip compilation of Earth-199999. The fact that this was happening in their world also made the Future Gadget Laboratory realize that this mysterious cataclysm was the Snap itself.

("The sudden disappearance of people from around the world is the result of this Thanos snapping his fingers to wipe away everything,") Okabe concluded to his friends. ("We finally have our answer.")

("This explains why we lost so many this year,") Makise remarked.

("Yeah, it was so devastating and disrupted the world,") said Hashida.

("Might be worse than the SERN-dominated future of 2036") Suzuha noted.

Still, the compilation was not yet over as the next clip was the Infinity War spreading over to the entire Multiverse with the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy teaming up with Team Arrow and Team Flash of Earth-1 and the Justice League of Earth-1 while Thanos recruited their respective villains such as General Zod and Red Skull. This struggle was grand and epic in it's scope and participants ending with the Hulk using the Infinity Stones to reverse the Snap through a special gauntlet. Okabe and every member of the Future Gadget Laboratory was impressed with the battle and return of all individuals, plants, or animals from the dead.

("What an impressive battle that was,") Okabe remarked.

As the clip compilation of Earth-19999 ended, the screen turned black and turned static for a while before transitioning into the next world, which was none other than Earth-1996, the home of the Personas and Shadows, including the likes of Vincent Brooks, Katherine McBride, and Catherine. Okabe and everyone paid close attention to what happened, including the appearance of the first clip from this world. That clip was the confrontation between the Shadow-hunting organization SEES and the Nyx Avatar with SEES member Minato Arisato sacrificing himself to save Earth-1996 from annihilation. It was the first such clip from Earth 1996 because of its prominence even if other events from before existed and a personal choice of mine. What made this stand out was the presence of high school students fighting to save the world from greater evils. While Earth-199999 had Spider-Man amongst a largely adult band of heroes, the ones from Earth-1996 were very much teenagers and were closer in age. Like the Avengers, Okabe and the others knew what Persona was and this clip was not too unfamiliar. Still, it was fun.

After Arisato's sacrifice, the Future Gadget Laboratory saw the Investigation Team and their various encounters with the Shadows leading up to the final showdowns against the crooked detective Tohru Adachi and the Shinto goddess Izanami. Once again, a band of teenage heroes were fighting to stop a greater evil but it was still wonderful to watch.

But then, the next clip compilation from Earth-1996 were none other than the Phantom Thieves of Hearts specifically the story of how this team of modern picaresque heroes came to be from the very first Heist against the sexually abusive Kamoshida to Ren Amamiya firing the crucial shot to kill Yaldabaoth and the last confrontation with him as the popular phone app EMMA. Everyone in the room, including Okabe, didn't recognize who these individuals were or their significance at first, as they came from a Persona installment not released on Earth-209, but they knew the general gist of who these Phantom Thieves were. In particular, Okabe noticed that Ryuji Sakamoto had a familiar voice both as himself and the Phantom Thief Skull.

("Why does this boy sound so much like me,") Okabe said.

("He doesn't seem to be a doppleganger from what I can tell,") Makise observed. ("But he still possess a similar voice to yours nonetheless").

Unlike Earth-199999, Earth-1996 did not show the Snap as it's history was limited only to every event prior to the catastrophe though Okabe and the others could deduce that it was one of numerous realities affected by it. The screen transitioned again to show Earth-2002, the home of Sora and the Keyblade Wielders including it's versions of classic Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Kingdom Hearts and Disney were big in Japan and so Okabe and the others were not confused with what happened with the exception of 2018's Kingdom Hearts III. As usual, every notable event from Earth-2002 was shown, including III, but there were two notable exceptions: The first was the Ghost meeting Sora and informing him of the wider threats to the Multiverse, including Freddy Krueger. The second was Sora's accidental encounter with my friend known as the Pighead. Okabe and the Future Gadget Laboratory deduced that the Ghost was a Multiverse Monk just like me and the Pighead, given their knowledge of the Multiverse itself, even as other details were unknown to everyone. The Pighead's near-fatal encounter with Sora in particular was shocking to the Future Gadget Laboratory as they assumed every Multiverse Monk was friendly and never figured that they could be roguish.

("Seriously!?") Okabe uttered. ("Isn't every Multiverse Monk supposed to be helpful and kind?")

("This Pighead seems like bad news") said Ruka.

The clip compilation from Earth-2002 ended and the one for Earth-96283 began. It was the reality of Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, his friends, and his foes, which were very familiar to Okabe and his friends since everyone saw the trilogy by renowned American director Sam Raimi when they were children. The compilation of clips from Earth-96283 showed the origins of this version of Spider-Man as well as the events from all three movies up until the moment when Tobey Spider-Man was raising his daughter Mayday with his wife, Mary Jane Watson. Of all the realities on the Multiverse TV, everyone was cheering for Spider-Man to triumph and every moment was to live for as they saw it.

("We were so lucky to have Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man exist in the Multiverse and thus we can finally meet him at some point.") Okabe explained to the others.

("Can't wait to meet him, someday,") Ruka said.

The next to last reality shown on Multiverse TV was Earth-51, the home of the DCEU Justice League and associated characters. Of all the realities shown, it was the least familiar to the Future Gadget Laboratory as 2013's Man of Steel wasn't released yet and so these events were unfamiliar apart from the presence of DC characters from the comics so much of the focus was on the Justice League. Among the clips shown from Earth-51 was the formation of the Justice League itself and the fight against the forces of Darkseid. Unbeknownst to Okabe and his friends, these clips were the result of the Pighead altering the history of Earth-51 to closely resemble the Snyderverse. Still, the clips from Earth-51 explained what this version of the Justice League was.

("So this is the Justice League that fought alongside the Avengers and other heroes") said Okabe.

Finally, Earth-51 was shown to the Future Gadget Laboratory, including Okabe. It was a reality whose heroes were the first to encounter Earth-19999 and Earth-1, respectively, and join forces in saving not just their worlds but the Multiverse. This world had the Flash and Supergirl much like the latter world but it's collection of heroes was much different as there was no Justice League or Steppenwolf and the Apokoliptans for that matter. Instead, Earth-1's premier team of heroes were Team Arrow and Team Flash while it's greatest adversaries were villains like Reverse Flash and Deathstroke. Much like Earths 199999 and 51, there was plenty to take in from this reality for Okabe and the Future Gadget Laboratory, especially in relation to potential visits to said reality as well as the remaining popcorn and Dr. Salt to consume.

("We better have a strong stomach to finish the popcorn and Dr. Salt before this is over,") Hashida noted. ("That and the whole Multiverse stuff.")

("You got it, Haker Itaru.") Okabe told him.

Earth-1 was also the reality in which Team Arrow and Team Flash banded together with the Avengers and Justice League to save the Multiverse from Thanos. It was at this moment that Okabe and his friends understood the importance of my list. This list consisted of different realities which were crucial to the history of the Multiverse as a whole or were those I visited at some point like Earth-199999 and Earth-1996.

("You know, I think the Pilot handed us the list of these realities because of how important they are,") Okabe noted to the others.

("Probably. He did speak of numerous realities in the Multiverse after all,") said Makise.

Ruka provided a question for Okabe to hear and respond to.

("With this Multiverse thing real, do we get to meet these heroes?")

("Someday, Ruka. Someday,") Okabe reminded him and everyone else.

The Multiverse Watch Party continued with some going to the bathroom because of the amount of popcorn and Dr. Salt consumed until the final seconds of the clip compilation of Earth-1 came to an end. By this point, the popcorn and Dr. Salt were finished and the Multiverse TV's screen was now static. It was also nighttime, and thus, the Future Gadget Laboratory had to gain some much-needed rest. Okabe and the Future Gadget Laboratory were grateful to watch all the footage from different realities as they could learn something new. Still, the Multiverse Watch Party was worth it.

Okabe used the Multiverse Remote to turn off the TV and put it away. After the Multiverse Watch Party ended, he explained to his teammates on what to possibly expect from meeting visitors from different universes before they went to bed.

("We know that our world is just one of many. Someone from another world will visit us or we visit them and so the situation will be very different from ours so prepare for such a scenario in the near-future.")

Okabe and the others left the room and went to bed with the Multiverse Watch Party over, aware of the wider Multiverse and its many heroes and villains, all thanks to me.

And that was Infinity Crisis: Multiverse TV, a simple one-shot set in the universe of Steins;Gate after the events of the main story. Another Infinity Crisis story, another meta fanfic. This story was also created as a one-shot because I wanted to create simple and understandable stories after spending so much on the first chapter of Multiverse Warriors (which will resume for the next seven chapters).

Now for Multiverse TV itself, I've seen some of Steins;Gate and know the visual novel as well as it's anime adaptation which is why I decided to work on this story. Given the time I spent on writing the first chapter of Infinity Crisis: Multiverse Warriors, I thought that a one-shot story would do and so I turned to Steins;Gate. Furthermore, Steins;Gate is a time travel story and Back to the Future has been featured here hence it's inclusion in Infinity Crisis. Plus, visual novels aren't properly represented in Infinity Crisis apart from the mention of Junko Enoshima from Danganronpa in The Multiverse Files and The Pilot and the Meddler Hit the Road so I decided to take the time to introduce the first visual novel in the IC Multiverse with more to follow eventually similar to how Infinity Crisis: Neon Genesis Evangelion led to more anime and manga or anime-related properties coming.

As you can tell from the story, Multiverse TV takes place after the events of the visual novel and anime adaptation, respectively, with Steins;Gate 0 being an entirely separate reality from Earth-209. Furthermore, the other installments in the Science Adventure series are canonical as well. Needless to say, expect spoilers here for those who haven't played or seen Steins;Gate!

The July 28, 2011 date is a reference to the final episode of the anime adaptation.

Since this is a story set in Japan, the language is Japanese even if it's written out in English for those reading it. In other words, it's Translation Convention. Furthermore, the voice cast is about the same as the original Japanese version, apart from Trina Nishimura as Makise Kurusu since she is of Japanese descent and can speak English. As such, all instances of Japanese are rendered in parentheses inspired by a similar rendition from the Persona 5/Fallout: New Vegas crossover story. Unlike Infinity Crisis: Neon Genesis Evangelion, the story has no English-speaking Western characters hence the parentheses.

It's now official, The Handmaid's Tale exists in it's own universe sans Evangelion designated Earth-86.

The inclusion of Doctor Who and School Days refer to how Steins;Gate involves time travel and is also a visual novel respectively.

Earths 95, 199999, 1996, 51 and 1 have all been featured in previous installments of Infinity Crisis. Earth-2002 was featured in Ghost Stories which had it's link on Wattpad deleted but was canonized in Excuse Me, Did Somebody Saw the Keyblade Guy by The Pighead. Multiverse TV also includes this setting and the events of Ghost Stories did happen more or less. Earth-92683 was also mentioned in The Multiverse Files and this is the very first appearance of this particular story in the IC Multiverse. Speaking of Earths, all of these worlds are Mutually Fictional here as are other pieces of media like The Lord of the Rings or Kingdom Hearts, much like in Infinity Crisis: Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Okabe's quote "Why does this boy sound so much like me," is an Actor Allusion to the fact that Mamoru Miyano voices him and Ryuji in the original Japanese versions of Steins;Gate and Persona 5, respectively.

As always, feedback is welcome in improving this story.