~~000~~

Tales of the Multiverse Bit 237

"I swear in the name of Pepsi that on this day forward, Rudy the cassanova wannabee, is dead and now I am Rudy the digital artist!"

Making a bold declaration, Ruderford "Rudy" Tucker stood proudly over his new devotion while Darius Greg and Gino Samuels cheered for him, and at the same time, Kennedy "Kenny" MacIntosh remains inside the burning drum with his legs sticking upwards.

~~000~~

The story opens in the bustling city of South Coast Pop which is a mix between Chile's Santiago and Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, and the city is currently holding an annual festival called the "Grande Festival de Bencaos" where the city streets are for more busier than usual thanks to the abundance of tourists and locals celebrating the occassion.

Walking down in one sidewalk, we see two figures getting into the festivities and these figures are none other than Jillian Ryder and Rebecca Ryder.

"Quite the festivity the city is having right now." Rebecca commented with a smile.

Jillian nodded in response, "Indeed." she said in agreement.

"Thanks again for coming with me, Jillian." Rebecca expressed in gratitude, "The festival is amazing but it feels rather isolating coming here alone." she admitted with a sheepish smile.

Jillian chuckled in response, "No problem." she reassured, "I kinda wish my brother could join us though." she uttered out loud.

Rebecca sighed in response, "It can't be helped." she replied, "Your brother is considered to be one of the most reliable heroes from New-New York, so he's schedule is pretty packed." she stated.

"I just hope that he's taking good care of his health." Jillian expressed in concern when a thought came to mind, "Speaking of which..." she trailed, "... how are you been doing lately?" she asked, "It's been a while since you've stepped down as the president of the Elemental City's Heroes Coalitions." she reminded.

"I've been doing great." Rebecca replied, "Ever since stepping down, I feel like I've lost a lot of load hanging on my shoulders." she described, "I'm a lot more flexible thanks to a much more lighter schedule and I don't get that much stress like I'm used to." she added.

"I can see that you're enjoying your new business venture." Jillian stated with a smile.

"Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy being the president of the Elemental City's Heroes Coalitions but it's a position given to me in a whim, so it's not really my thing." Rebecca admitted, "And while I did a very good job as a president, I still have my own dreams I want to pursue." she concluded.

Jillian nodded her head in response, "That's understandable." she uttered in acknowledgement.

"I do miss the heroes and staffs though." Rebecca admitted, "Getting by the day without experiencing their shenanigans feels kinda weird in my opinion." she stated with a sheepish grin, "I wonder how are they all doing right now?" she wondered out loud.

Unbeknownst to Rebecca, Jillian looks away with a nervous expression, "I'm sure they're doing well..." the agent reassured, "... probably." she muttered to herself.

Bzzztt...

Meanwhile in a city that has elements of a modern era and steampunk style called the Elemental City, we head towards a large dome-like facility situated in the middle of the aforementioned location, six pillars with glowing orbs on top are seen posted around the facility.

And inside a long corridor, we see Junpei "JP" Shibayama, May Lee Jinju, Noam Odin, Walkerton "Walky" Battler and Yuzuko Nonohara making their way towards a certain area.

"So, what do you think the stupid meeting will be all about?" Walky asked in annoyance.

"It's probably something related with the new management." Noam answered with hands behind his back, "Miss Ryder stepped down some time ago and Miss Mortem took over." he reminded, "She might announce some new rules or stuff." he assumed.

"I'm pretty worried about that." May admitted, 'I've been hearing rumors that Miss Mortem had been thinking of implementing some rules that benefits her ideals." she shared.

Yuzuko gulped in response, "Hearing that is making me anxious." she admitted.

JP thought about it, "I hope they announce a new rule that allows me to have an all-you-can-eat buffet in the cafeteria everyday." he stated out loud with a smile.

May facefaulted, "Such a selfish rule." she uttered in disbelief.

Noam tips his sunglasses, "I can say the same thing if the rumors are true." he replied, "It's Miss Mortem we're talking about after all." he pointed out.

"Yeah." May uttered in agreement.

A few minutes later, the members of Unit W arrives in a large auditorium where it's filled to the brim by heroes including Owen Brannon and some staff members, and on a large idol-esque stage, they saw Sherri Mortem, Farzeen Hermani and Francina Fiadh having a conversation.

Noam narrowed his eyes behind his glasses, "Seeing those three together is not a good sign." he commented.

Walky groaned in response, "We're soooooo doomed right now!" he exclaimed in annoyance.

"D-D-Do you will get demoted or something?" Yuzuko assumed in panic.

"Our Unit is part of the elite status, so we're fine." Noam reassured, "The others on the other hand..." he trailed.

"Oh, shit." JP cursed.

May gritted her teeth, "Nothing has been announced as of yet but I'm already not liking this." she expressed in concern and anger.

After a few minutes of waiting alongside a few more people joining them, Farzeen took a step forward at the near edge of the stage which got everyone's attentions.

Farzeen lift one finger up with the tip glowing before pressing it on her neck, "Attention please!" she called out with her voice becoming loud as a speaker, "Thank you very much for taking your time to attend this meeting." she expressed in gratitude, "We will now commence a very important announcement." she beckoned.

Farzeen then took a step backwards while Sherri took a step forward with a microphone in hand, she had a rather smug look on her face, irritating and making some members of the crowd nervous.

Sherri then spoke, "Greetings my beloved heroes." she greeted, "It is I, your new president, Sherri Mortem." she introduced herself, "Now, now..." she trailed, "... I know you already know who I am but it's a common courtesy to introduce oneself in this kind of occassions." she reasoned, "Now..." she trailed once more, "... as for why we're having this meeting?" she pointed out, "I'm pretty sure you've already heard some rumors, so I'm putting all of those to rest here." she acknowledged, "Yes." she confirmed, "This meeting is about the new rules I'm about to implement." she revealed.

"Good lord..." JP uttered in horror.

Everyone began to murmur among themselves and it become so loud that Francina had to step forward, "EVERYBODY QUIET!" the redhead screamed from the top of her lungs and amplified by Farzeen's magic, her voice is much more louder than normal that it nearly bursted everyone's eardrums, so they immediately went quiet.

"I really hate it when they do that." Yuzuko whispered and right next to her is an unconscious Walky with his soul coming out of his mouth.

Sherri nodded in satisfaction, "Now then..." she trailed, "... and while it's true that I'm announcing some new rules but I only made two new rules." she shared, "I guarantee that none of you will like it but some changes had to be done here." she stated which made everyone even more nervous, "And now for the first rule..." she trailed, "... any member of this organization who made repitive failures in missions and had no such improvements over the course of six months will be immediately be terminated!" she declared which made everyone gasped in response.

"Of course, she had to make that kind of rule." May grumbled in annoyance.

"Must be an influence from Donald White." JP commented.

"Fortunately, I'm happy to inform that most of you are doing well with your respective performances from the past months." Sherri stated with a smile before frowning in disgust, "Except for you, Owen Brannon." she singled out.

The aforementioned figure flinched in response, "W-What?" Owen squeaked in a fearful tone.

"Out of everyone here, you are the absolute worse!" Sherri declared, "You failed every missions you're in, you've struggled with training and you have no improvements whatsoever!" she listed off, "Miss Ryder may be lenient on you but we've reached our limits!" she exclaimed.

"You've been given the benefit of the doubt so many times alongside many second chances and yet you squandered all of that!" Francina added her cents.

"So instead of keeping you around, we decided to terminate your employment." Farzeen concluded, "You may pack your things and take your leave." she beckoned, "You are not needed here anymore." she declared.

Owen then suddenly got onto his knees and started to plead, "Please, please, don't fire me!" he cried out in desperation, "I can't loose my job and I had nowhere to go!" he reasoned, "I promise I'll try my best to improve myself!" he exclaimed when suddenly a large metallic claw grabbed him like a squeaky toy, "Ouf!" he breathed out with his head turning into a balloon.

The metallic claw came from a machine operate by Francina and the redhead is fuming in annoyance, "I had enough of you and your excuses!" she declared before pulling a lever to which the claw responded by shoving Owen into a large cannon, "Goodbye, Owen!" the redhead expressed in glee, "I'm so glad that I don't have to deal with you anymore!" she declared before pulling down another lever.

And with that, the cannon fired Owen through a large open window and is sent launching into the sky, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" the afro-haired lad screamed in fear before disappearing out sight and becoming a twinkle.

Francina breathed out a sigh of relief before smiling, "That was satisfying." she declared.

"Overkill much?" May uttered in disbelief.

Sherri chuckled evilly, "That takes care of that guy." she mused before remembering something, "Anyways..." she trailed, "... we'll be holding a meeting like this every six months where I'll be announcing to everyone the names that will be terminated for their failures or lack of improvement." she declared with a grin.

"That's a bit too much." Yuzuko uttered in concern.

"Sherri loves to humiliate others, so that's to be expected." Noam stated.

Farzeen then steps forward, "As for the second rule that Sherri implemented, we decided that this organization will only accept members with the age of 21-years old and below." she shared.

"Huh?" Walky uttered out loud in surprise, "That doesn't seem so bad." he commented.

"Superstar 4, I beckon you to look around and see if you notice something amiss." Noam beckoned.

Walky raised an eyebrow in confusion but did what he was told and at first, he didn't notice anything strange but after taking a good look for the second time, he realized something that made his eyes go wide.

"Wait a minute?!" Walky exclaimed in shock, "Where are the grown-up staff members?!" he asked.

Noam frowned in response, "Looks like she decided to lay them all off." he replied.

Sherri chuckled evilly once more, "Looks like you've all noticed it." she mused, "Indeed." she uttered in confirmation, "We've released every staff members with the age of 22 and above because we rather keep this organization as youthful as possible." she explained in revelation, "Also..." she trailed, "... staff members with a certain age are not the only ones that are safe from this rule." she added with a grin.

Everyone then gasped in response upon realizing what she meant.

"Oh, boy..." JP uttered in dread.

Farzeen brought out a tablet and swiped a few pages, "We had two members in the heroes roster and both of their ages goes past 21-years old." she shared before looking up with a small yet sadistic smile, "Looks like Owen is not alone in this one." she mused.

"We're talking about the two of you, Superstar 97 and Superstar 132!" Francina singled out.

Upon hearing their names mentioned, everyone turned their attentions towards a pair of figures from a corner.

The first figure is a young woman with a slightly chubby figure and her most prominent feature is her large ass, she had an average height and a fair complexion. She has a waist-length blonde hair and she had gray-colored eyes. She wears a black turtleneck sleeveless leotard with an open cleavage and silver belt, black arm gloves with cuffs, black folded socks and black boots. This is Abbey Bunner, also known as Superstar 97.

Secret Agent

Abbey "Superstar 97" Bunner

The second figure is a young woman with an average height, she had a slender frame and a fair complexion, she had a shoulder-length black hair, she had red-colored eyes and sports a pair of pointy ears. She wears a knee-length black maid uniform with puffy shoulders, an open cleavage window and white frills over a white-collared blouse with a black & ribbon tie, she wears a white-buttoned corset wrapped around her midsection and a white apron wrapped around her waist with a large ribbon tied in the back. Underneath the skirt of the uniform, she wears a black pantyhose and wears a pair of brown laced boots. On her head, she wears a black & white frilled headdress and on her wrists, she wears a pair of detached white-buttoned cuffs. This is Sage Devilotte, also known as Superstar 132.

Devil Maid

Sage "Superstar 132" Devilotte

Abbey then collapsed to the floor on all fours, "Damn it!" she cursed out loud, "Damn!" she cried out while pounding the concrete with tears pouring down her face.

Sage clenched her hands, shaking in small anguish before taking a deep breath and then lowering head, "Thank you very much for allowing me to be part of this organization." she expressed in gratitude and from the tone of her voice, she is deeply hurt.

"We appreciated both of your contributions but with the new rules implemented, we had no choice but adhere it and release the two of you." Farzeen explained with a rather flimsy apologetic tone, "We're not gonna send you away like we did with Owen but we do beckon that both of you leave this premises immediately." she stated.

Having no choice, Sage helped Abbey up and the two made their way out of the area, everyone can only watch them in concern and pity.

Sherri is holding herself back from laughing out loud but managed to kept herself composed, she then took a deep breath and looks at the remaining members of her organization, "Well then..." she trailed, "... that's it for this meeting." she declared, "I've already shared the new rules and even demonstrated on what will happen if these rules are put into question." she stated, "Once again, I look forward working with you all." she expressed, "And I do look forward meeting you all again after six months." she added with a dark smile.

Bzzzttt...

A few hours later after the meeting, we head towards the residential area of the city and inside the house where the Unit W resides, four members of the team are seen hanging out in the living room with Yuzuko and May sitting on a couch while watching JP and Walky playing a game on a console plugged in a large flatscreen-colored TV.

"That was a shitty meeting." JP commented with a blank look.

"While I'm glad that I'm still years away from turning 22, I think that age rule is really stupid." Walky admitted in disbelief.

"I'm kinda worried about the people whom were let go." May expressed in concern, "Owen especially." she singled out.

"He's been homeless before coming here, so I'm really worried for him, too." Yuzuko said in agreement.

Noam then made his arrival in the living room, "Well..." he uttered out loud, "... it's a good thing that I had some connections." he declared with a grin while bringing out his phone.

A/N: Inspired from someonestupED, damnlastwords, Jamesdean5842, Hope the Victor and Ace Neptune. All OCs and concepts not created by moi were given permission for me to use by it's respected creators.