UA Multiverse Peek
Chapter 43
I know this has been a long wait. But honestly, I just haven't had the motivation to write this chapter for so long. And I'll be getting a lot further with the next few as is. Also to those asking, I'll have the next one be Kung Fu Panda 3. But I will not do KFP 4. After watching it, I'm not a fan at all and don't want to put it into the story. Anyway, on with the show.
(No POV)
"I wonder how Aizawa or Valiant is going to handle having a killer in his house." Yui noted bluntly as they filled back next to the screen. Mic grunted at that and Aizawa glared in the girl's direction. Making her shrink down as the screen lit up again.
As Shorty was settling into bed, Roger turned over in the bed as well. Leaving the two uncomfortably close and leading to them screaming in each other's faces upon realizing what was going on. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN HERE?!" Valiant demands after both back away. Roger sheepishly replies with a light wail, "through the mail slot. I thought it would be best if I waited inside. Seeing how's I'm wanted for murder."
"I was about to ask how that works, but I'm guessing it's a Toon thing." Ida says with a light shade over his eyes. All Might laughs and says, "that would have been funny to see. Especially with how hyper active Roger is." Mic blushes as everyone has a laugh at his counterpart's expense. Not that he doesn't laugh too.
"No kidding! Just talking to you could get me a rap for aiding and abetting!" Shorty says while walking away from the Toon. Until he considers the idea that someone might know the rabbit was at his office. Questioning the Toon about the matter, Roger just has this to say; "No one! Not a soul…. Except uh…. Well, you see. I didn't know where your office was. So, I asked the newsboy. He didn't know. So, I asked the fireman, the greengrocer, the butcher, the baker, they didn't know! But the liquor store guy, he knew."
Aizawa facepalms before saying, "of course he did. And of course, your counterpart couldn't resist blabbing to everyone where he was going." Mic shrugged and said, "hey your guy could stand to be nicer or get along with others. That would have made getting to you easy." The two have a back and forth of snarks at one another before Midnight breaks it up with, "how about we leave the comedy to the Toon on the screen. Rather than the tools out here."
Valiant's eye twitches and he says, "In other words, the whole DAMN TOWN KNOWS YOU'RE HERE! Get out of here!" Picking the rabbit up by the ears and trying to toss him out of the office. Roger tries to stop Shorty and get him to let him stay for a while. Claiming innocence and saying, "I didn't kill anybody! I swear! This whole thing's a set up! A scam, a frame job! OW! I could never hurt anybody! OW!" All the while the detective is first pushing and then pulling to slingshot Roger out of his office.
A few of the heteromorphic students wince at seeing how roughly Shorty was handling Roger. "You know yanking someone around by their ears like that would probably get you arrested in our world." Pony noted while rubbing her horns. Shoji looked down and noted that it would probably depend on who was reporting. "Not to mention if it was seen as intentional or a misunderstanding. Or that could even be falsified," he said while bringing a hand to his mask.
"My whole purpose in life is to… make… PEOPLE…. LAUGH!" Roger says before letting go of the door and knocking Shorty to the ground. He hops onto the bed again and says, "okay, okay, sure. I admit it. I got a little steamed when you showed me those pictures of Nemuri. So I rushed over to the Ink and Paint Club. But she wasn't in her dressing room." Roger has to dodge Shorty once when the man leaps at the Toon, and he is looking more and more annoyed with each word the rabbit says.
Especially when Roger told Shorty that he wrote his wife a love letter. "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're telling me, in a fit of jealousy, you wrote your wife a love letter?" the detective asks incredulously. Roger nods and said that she was just a victim of circumstance.
Laughs were had at Roger dodging Shorty and Midnight felt a little pang of guilt for what her counterpart had done to Roger. 'Even if it seems innocent by our standards,' she thinks before blushing at Roger saying he wrote a love letter. "That brings back some bad memories," she says with a little blue shade over her eyes. The students give her a look and ask what she was talking about. Only for Midnight's eyes to go wide and she covers her mouth to say nothing more.
Valiant gives him a flat look before saying, "I suppose you used the old lipstick on the mirror routine huh?" Roger admitted it was lipstick, but not on the mirror. He had found a clean sheet of paper in the dressing room to write it. And then started reading it aloud while bouncing on the bed.
The blue shade grows more as Midnight sees the letter that Roger had written for her Toon self. 'So many bad memories. Did those idiots really think that would get me interested in them? Or that their bad poetry would be enough to get in my pants as I got older?' she thinks with annoyance. "Wait what?" she heard next to her.
And wouldn't you know it, she'd thought all of that aloud for the whole first year class to hear. Suddenly her blue face turned red and she said, "nothing you all need to worry about!" Mic and Aizawa just smirk at her for her little faux pas before high fiving each other.
"Why didn't you just leave the letter there?" Valiant asked while standing up. And all Roger had to say was that "a poem of this power and sensitivity must be OWWW read in person. So, I went home to wait for her." Shorty had yanked Roger by the ears again while he was talking, working his way back to his desk. "But the weasels were waiting for me. So, I ran." Roger explains with fear in his eyes.
While the blue shade was back a little bit, that feeling of embarrassment turned to worry as Roger talked about being afraid of the Toon Patrol. "I'm not sure I want to know what they'll do to anyone who gets in their way." Izuku says with a narrowed gaze. His fellow hero students agree and question if that was really what justice was for Toons in that world.
Shorty shakes his head before asking, "so why come to me? I'm the guy who took those pictures of your wife!" Roger agrees before noting, "yeah and you're also the guy who helped all these Toons! Everybody knows when a Toon's in trouble, there's only one place to go: Valiant and Valiant."
Aizawa had a smaller smile, and Mic looked down in sad remembrance as well. "Well, I guess it's good to know you did care for quite a while. And know how much of a hero you were to Toons." Mic said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. 'I wonder if that's for me? Or for Oboro?' Aizawa asked in his head.
"Not anymore." Shorty says before downing a shot of whiskey. And right as he was though, Roger was about to take a seat at Oboro's desk. "GET OUT OF THAT CHAIR!" Valiant roars at Roger. Who trembles slightly before easing away from the furniture. "That's my brother's chair," the detective says dejectedly.
The two old friends wince and look down in a touch of sadness at Shorty's reaction. "Think we'd be like that if we lost one of our class?" Toru asked with a likely sad look to the ground. Ochaco, Ida, and a few others look down before Mina spoke up. "If they died, maybe. But if they were just lost, I think we'd go looking for them more than anything," she said with a small smile. One that warmed the others up before agreeing with her.
"And even if we did lose them, we maybe wouldn't stay angry." Mineta said with a light thumbs up. Kaminari agreed with his friend before noting that they'd just have to remember the good times. "And make sure to be great heroes in their place!" The moment of solidarity with 1-A and also in 1-B brings a touch of hope to the two hero teachers and they also consider how Oboro's death had affected them. And what ways they pushed themselves afterwards.
Roger tries to change the subject with "yeah where is your brother anyway? He looks like a sensitive and sober fellow." The Toon looking over the old picture of the pair while giving Shorty a sideways look. Which only serves to piss Valiant off and he tells Roger he's calling the cops.
"Go ahead! Call the cops! I come here for help and what do you do? You turn me in! No don't feel guilty about me!" Roger starts dramatically while walking away from the desks. Opening a door and finishing by slamming the door with a "so long! And thanks for Nothing!"
"Okay I want to feel bad for my counterpart getting turned into the cops, but he was kind of asking for that." Mic says with a little grinding of his teeth. The teens chuckled meanwhile at the dramatic actions of the Toon. "Is he being serious or just dramatic?" Kirishima questioned with a tilt of his head.
Only for his dramatic moment to be broken up by Shorty saying, "that's the closet you idiot!" He lets out a growl before making his way to the closet to yank the Toon out and kick him out of the office. Only for Roger to pop out of his trench coat and with a blocky face say, "Shota Valiant! You're under arrest! Bubbubhbb!" Handcuffing them to one another.
Aizawa facepalms at acknowledging the same problem as his counterpart. And his eyes started twitching upon seeing Roger cuffing himself to Shorty. "Okay, he's just asking for butt kicking." Itsuka says with a facepalm of her own. Awase then points out, "uh, but since he's a Toon, doesn't that mean it wouldn't hurt him?" The martial artist girl raises a finger before realizing that the bandana wearing teen was correct.
Shorty shouts in anger as he yanks Roger out of the closet while cuffed to him. "You idiot! I got no keys for these cuffs!" Valiant explains as a siren is heard outside. Roger turns back to the window before leaping to it to look outside. While Shorty gets pulled along with him. And what he sees scares him. The Toon Patrol is outside with the weasels running across the street.
"Welp, they're boned. Not sure "they" is accurate given the weasels are just after Rabbit-san. Do you really want to bet that they'll just leave a witness with Valiant? Given they work for Judge Doom, they can probably get away with it. True. He did dissolve a Toon shoe in front of police after all. Definitely no justice there." These are some of the thoughts mulled by the teens as they watch the events unfold.
Roger screams in panic before trying to find a place to hide. When he dives into Oboro's desk drawers, Shorty yanks him out by his throat. "Don't let 'em spy me!" Roger starts before he vocalizes more of his fears as the weasels knock on the office door. "C'mon Shorty! You're my only hope. Puh-puh-please Shorty. You know there's no justice for Toons anymore. If the weasels get their hands on me, I'm as good as dipped!"
Mic gulps and suppresses a feeling that told him he should make a joke. "Oh boy. Do you think you'll…. he'll help?" he asked Aizawa while also looking at Midnight. Aizawa looked to the screen before narrowing his eyes at his counterpart. And a tiny smile graced his face. "You'll see soon," he said with a nod.
Valiant looks between the door and Roger a few times with some worry and sympathy. "What are we gonna do Shorty?! What are we gonna do?!" Roger asks as the weasels keep pounding on the door. "What's all this "we" stuff? They just want the rabbit," is Shorty's response to the situation.
"Oh, that's gotta sting." Nirengeki says with a wince. A few others from 1-B and 1-A agree, but some of the brighter or trickier students among the classes have a different idea. Setsuna smirks with Juzo, while Izuku scratches his chin before coming up with the answer. Asui, Mina, and Mineta also think about the way Shorty had phrased that statement. Each coming up with a few different ideas.
The next scene shows the lock to Valiant's door being shot up and the weasels ease in. The green suited weasel comments that the two gave them the slip, but the lead one pulls out his normal pistol and notes that Shorty stashed Roger somewhere. Finding Shorty at the sink washing something. "Hello boys. Didn't hear you come in." Shorty responds sarcastically.
Pony chuckles before saying, "American gun control at work." All Might thinks for a moment before noting, "not sure if that's entirely accurate. Given the Toon Patrol are…. Kind of police?" Izuku tilts his head before questioning if it counted as excessive force. "How about we shut it about unnecessary laws and just see what happens next?" Bakugo says in annoyance.
The lead weasel yanks a chair over to get eye to eye with Valiant before asking where the rabbit was. "Haven't seen him," is Shorty's response while still messing with something in the sink. "What's in there?" the weasel demands after sniffing around. And Shorty just pulls out one of his socks and says, "my lingerie."
Most of the teens recoil at the sight of the sock and could only imagine the smell. Aizawa and All Might though noticed the likely scenario before them. And how it would play into the events to come. 'Hope Roger can hold his breath well enough.' All Might thinks with a chuckle.
This disgusts the weasel and he storms off. Only for Roger to pop out of the sink and spit out some water. Before the weasel could turn around, Shorty pushed him back under the water. Giving a strained smile to the Toon Patrol boss. Who narrows his eyes before telling his crew to tear apart the office to look for Roger.
Chuckles were let out seeing the Toon popping out of the sink and then being forced back down in. "Wonder if Roger has had to do similar things with his wife at times?" Mineta commented perversely. Causing both Midnight and Mic to blush then blanche slightly at the thought. Well Mic blanched, Midnight found the idea entertaining.
"Look Valiant. We got a reliable tip that the rabbit was here. And was corrugated by several others. So, cut the bullschict," the boss says while pushing his gun into Shorty's cheek. Who narrows his eyes before saying, "you keep talking like that, and I'll have to wash your mouth out!" Shoving the bar of soap in hand into the weasel's mouth and down his throat.
"Well said. Too bad there's not enough soap in the world to fix certain mouths." Kan quips while looking at Bakugo and Kamakiri. Who look ready to rage but are stopped when they remember that it was a teacher saying it. So they just fumed in place while their classmates laughed at them for a moment.
The boss weasel freaks out and recoils at the action, sending him out of the kitchen. Allowing Roger to come up for air again and surprising the other weasels. Who all start laughing as their boss is coughing up soap bubbles. "STOP THAT LAUGHING!" the boss says before spitting out the soap to knock a tommy gun and chain-smoking weasel off a table.
But his goons just keep laughing. "Stop LAUGHING! You know what happens when you can't. Stop! Laughing!" the boss says before knocking a straight jacket wearing weasel and a green zoot suited weasel over the head with a plunger. Finishing by chucking the item at a bigger weasel with a bat and pinning him to the wall of drawers for a moment.
Izuku and the more analytical students noted the reaction of the weasels and the way the boss reacted. "Is there something bad that happens when a Toon laughs too much in old cartoons All Might?" Momo questioned while narrowing her eyes at the screen. "No. Not that I remember. It might be something else and something to that world only," he said with curiosity.
Aizawa meanwhile was just reminded of the hero he was stuck tagging along with or she was tagging along with him in that silly version of his costume. "I know that too much laughing in real life can be a problem. Possibly causing someone to pass out. Like what Joke does." Aizawa says with a groan.
"One of these day's you're gonna die laughing," the boss says while adjusting his suit and making his way to talk to Shorty some more. Who had pushed Roger's head down again before the weasel warned they'd "hang him out to dry" as well. Once they left though, Roger was brought back up with a spray of water.
"Ah. Yeah, that makes sense on why he's worried." Izuku said with a slightly wide-eyed gaze. The others gulped at the thought but were certain that the boss was just being paranoid. While also being afraid for both characters on the screen.
After Shorty noted they were gone, Roger was so happy that the Toon hating detective had saved him. "How can I ever repay ya!?" Roger asked before expressing his happiness by kissing Shorty full on the lips. To the human's annoyance. "For starters: don't ever kiss me again!" Shorty said after tossing Roger away and spitting.
Aizawa's eye was twitching rapidly upon seeing what Roger did. "Don't even think about it," he said with an erasure glare directed Mic and a few of the students' way. Mina turned a pale shade of pink and her eyes shrank upon seeing the glare. All Might dissuaded the matter by saying, "that was a common gag for Toons back in the day. Same with uh…. Cross dressing to throw off certain characters." The teens look at him funny before having moments of questioning the reasoning behind such gags.
A little later, Shorty had his trench coat on and made his way over to Emi's bar. Muttering, "stop kicking" to Roger as he was hidden inside while Shorty kept his cuffed arm inside the coat as well. And having to shout for Emi over the rumbling of the train that went by the bar.
A few of the patrons complimented Shorty for making front page news between their drinks and eating a few things. Roger meanwhile kept trying to bust out of the coat instead of holding still inside. Coming out of the collar before Shorty could shove him down. Leaving his coat in a very interesting position afterwards.
A few laughed at the antics and ways Shorty was trying to hide roger in his coat. Especially as they could only imagine how much the Toon was squirming under the coat. "He's lucky it's only one Toon. Can't he sit still for a moment? He's a Toon, they're hyperactive as is. Oh, please other Emi; make the joke I'm sure we're all thinking of!" The last comment was made by Midnight upon seeing the position Shorty's coat was in after shoving Roger down into it.
"So, tell me Shorty: is that a rabbit in your pocket? Or are you just happy to see me?" Emi asks wryly. And Valiant just grumbles at her before saying, "cut the comedy Emi, I've had a very hard day." Pulling her to the wall and noting he had to get out of some handcuffs.
The snorts of laughter were had at Emi and Shorty's interaction. With the loudest cackles being from Midnight and Mineta as they had both thought the same thing. Aizawa meanwhile stood up and went to the kitchen to try and find a frying pan. "Why do you need that?" Mic asked. Aizawa deadpan looked at him and said, "I'm hoping to knock myself out with it."
The wall turned to the side and let the trio in. As Roger was asking where they were, Shorty hit his head on a low hanging light before they were turned on. "It's a rotgut room. Hold over from Prohibition." Emi explained while turning the lights on. Roger looked around excitedly, calling out all of the old names for hidden bars (hooch parlor, speakeasy, gin mill), and then looking out the spy hole in the wall. Though not without knocking over an empty beer bottle next to the hole.
"Huh. Nice perk of being from that time period I suppose." Kan notes with a nod. Laughing at Roger's apparent excitement over the room. Aizawa meanwhile noted it would be perfect to hide Roger while his counterpart looked for who really killed Nezu Acme. "I agree. But I have a very bad feeling that Rabbit-san is going to blow his cover in a very overt way." Nezu analyzes with a sip of his tea.
Shorty grumbles again as he takes the tools from the wall to get free. Emi though is upset and says, "I thought you said you'd never take another Toon case. What? Didja have a change of heart?"
"Nothing's changed. Someone's made a patsy out of me and I'm gonna find out why!" Shorty says while hitting his head on the light again. Propping up a box while holding a handsaw. Cutting into his cuffs to free himself, but the box was rocking around. "Hold still, will ya?" he demanded as Roger was moving around slightly.
Aizawa grumbles at how the other Emi is questioning Shorty, but he couldn't deny it was a decent point. 'But maybe that's a way he moves past the pain or something,' he thinks before focusing on what is happening on the screen. All Might meanwhile was having a moment where he realized what was going to happen next. Snickering to himself as the events unfold.
So to help him, Roger slipped out of the cuff and held the box in place. "Does this help?" he asked innocently enough. "Yeah thanks," was Shorty's initial reaction. Only to realize that the Toon had gotten himself out. "You mean to tell me you could have taken your hand out of that cuff at any time?!" he asks angrily. "No, not any time. Only when it was funny! Bbubhabhu!" is Roger's response as he darts away.
Ida, Momo, Jurota, Aizawa, Kan and a few others look at the situation with confusion while the rest of the audience has a laugh at the goings on. "Let me guess: it's a Toon thing right?" Ida said with a shade over his eyes to match his hair. All Might is laughing before saying, "yeah. It's part of the Toon Force or whatever it's called. A Toon can break all kinds of laws of physics and the like if it's funny." Kan groans before saying, "I guess we should be glad no one has a Toon quirk out there. They'd be a nightmare to deal with."
"C'mon Shorty! Where's your sense of humor?" the Toon asks while Emi questioned if he was always this funny, "or only on days when he's wanted for murder?" This gets Roger to expound the philosophy "if you don't have a sense of humor, you're better off dead!"
"I believe Fukukado-san has much the same philosophy. Does she not Eraserhead?" Nezu asked with a teasing smile directed Aizawa's way. Who let out an angry and annoyed sigh before saying, "yes."
Shorty shakes his head before saying, "you may just get your wish if I can't figure out what happened to this!" He tosses the enlarged image of the photo he took, focused on Nezu Acme's will. "I think Maroon played the part of sound mind and your wife the sound body." Shorty explains while Roger "resents that inuendo."
Midnight winced at the inuendo, but she did agree with the detective. "I get the feeling that she has a bigger role here. But to what end?" she questioned while others laughed at the comment. "Maybe RK coerced you? Using my counterpart as leverage?" Mic thought aloud while considering the matters on screen.
"What's the scheme Shorty?" Emi asked while taking a hammer from Roger. The detective notes that they didn't get to the will. When questioned how he knows, Shorty reasons that they were still looking for said will after Acme was killed. When Emi offers to help, Shorty asked her to check with the probate.
"Yeah, check the probate. Why my uncle Thumper had a problem with his probate, and he had to take these big pills, and drink lots of water!" Roger says with a few gestures. The humans give him a look before Shorty exclaims, "not prostate you idiot! Probate!"
Facepalms abound with the probate prostate joke. "Is that another Toon thing or is he just dumb?" Yui asked with a blue shade over her eyes. "Eh, bit of both I'd say. It is pretty common for Toons to either be dumb or do dumb things to make what they're doing make sense. Other times, it's just a part of a script for a misunderstanding." All Might explained while he had a red handprint on his face.
Roger shakes his head before confirming that Shorty thought that RK Maroon killed Nezu Acme. "Just so he could get his hands on Toon Town?" Roger asks with incredulity. "Yeah. That's my hunch. Could he stay here for a couple of days?" Shorty says then asks as the saws through the cuffs. "He's not going to do anything crazy is he?" Emi asks. And just as she's saying that Roger is using a flat file to rub inside his head through his ears.
"What would Maroon get by buying or getting his hands on Toon Town? He's basically right next to it as is. Maybe he just wanted priority when it came to which Toons he could hire? No, this feels like something else. The connection between it all is weird though." Each hero or hero hopeful keeps trying to analyze the scenario and consider what possibilities could arise. Before having a moment where they all snort at Roger's actions with the flat file.
When asked where he was going, Shorty mentioned pounding the pavement a bit. Talking with a few others on anything pertaining to Maroon. Only to end up covered in some paint due to a few Toons and getting nowhere. Heading back to his office for a shower.
While he was in there though, he had an unexpected visitor. A shapely visitor is seen through the window of his office door. And she sultrily asks for Shouta Valiant. Her hips shadow swaying in the glass as she walks forward. And the screen cuts to black.
Aizawa was initially proud of his counterpart for looking into other details pertaining to the plot before him. Only for that pride to fall apart slightly as a few Toons covered Shorty in paint supplies. "Well at least he's closer to fitting in with Toons." Mic says with an elbowing of his friend.
That teasing stopped though when Valiant returned to his office. And who would show up just as he was showering than Nemuri Rabbit. Causing both counterparts of the Rabbits to freeze up and go pale. "Oh no. Please tell me she's not going to go all femme fatale here!" Midnight says as the scene cuts out and they were given a five minute timer for the next stage.
She lets out a relieved sigh before excusing herself to refill her drink. Picking up Mic and Aizawa's as well. Given they had gone stiff as boards after seeing the scenario set up. And could already piece together what was going to happen next.
I know some of you might be wanting to get right to this scene, but I can't do it right away. Each time I've tried to write it I end up laughing too much at the ridiculousness. Also, yes I added that bit to make more sense on why Eddy or Shorty would be showering when she arrives. Given there was actually a scene cut in the original. And don't worry, once I get to where I don't laugh at it, I'll finish the next segment. Please review!