latelenovela Chapter 450: Soft Reboot.
Chapter 450: Soft Reboot.
(Jumping the shark here. I'm really sorry for this.)
[Edward POV]
I was in the Dunphy's house on the day of the Christening. However, I was truly disappointed when Phil didn't have any problems that day.
Luke wasn't in trouble at school for accidentally calling a teacher mom.
Alex didn't have a party that was stolen from her.
Haley didn't break her lesbian neighbor's lemon tree branch.
It was pretty boring. I wanted to see all of them get in trouble.
"I feel like you're thinking something rude again." Alex said as she sat next to me on the couch, wearing a conservative gown.
I wore a suit for the Christening and said, "I want to see some family drama."
Alex snickered and said, "Believe me. You'll see one at Church later on."
"I sure hope so. Otherwise I'd come to the Christening for nothing."
She looked at me with disbelief. "Is that the only reason you came here today?"
"Obviously." I joked. Alex got it and played along, "Maybe you can create your own drama."
"Oh. I can be Micheal Corleone. Your dad can be Vito Corleone. We can attack the other mafia family together."
Alex scoffed, cackling madly, "I'm sorry. You as a mafia boss? No one will ever believe that."
"Hey, I have range, you know." I said, leaning sideways on the couch and looked at her. She did the same and said, "I guess you do have range. Zombie hero. Psychopath with amnesia. But you can't be a mafia boss. Your facial features are too soft."
"Did you just typecast me in a role? Tsk Tsk Tsk. Alex, you've made a big mistake."
"Oh really? Are you going to use this as a motivation to take over Hollywood and prove yourself to the world?"
"Again, you got it exactly right."
I was slightly taken aback by the banter. Alex too realized we were being flirty with each other and immediately sat up straight. She cleared her throat and said, "Hey– Aren't… Aren't your girlfriend coming to the Christening?"
"No. I didn't invite her."
Alex was greatly shocked. "What?! Why didn't you?!"
"She has a photoshoot." I said casually.
Alex rolled her eyes and said, "You did that on purpose."
I snickered slightly. "Ah, Alex. I want to be an adult soon!"
"Why? Is this about your baby fever?" Alex asked, slightly guarded.
I said seriously, "Yes."
"So, you want to get married, have a kid and move into the countryside where you'll raise your family in peace?" Alex said sarcastically.
I gasped and said, "Are you proposing to me? I mean, we are not even dating."
She blushed and slapped my arm, "I'm not proposing!"
Phil walked behind the couch at the den at that time and asked curiously, "Aww. Who's proposing?"
I turned to him and said, "Alex just proposed to me. We're getting married soon."
Phil played along, "Alex. Did you even give him a ring? You can't lock him down without a ring." He pointed at his ring finger.
Alex froze in shock and got annoyed, "I hate both of you!" She stomped away angrily.
Phil laughed and then said seriously, "Edward. Don't play around like that. I can't let you screw up my second daughter too. Alright."
I was greatly taken aback by it. "Wait. Phil. What are you saying? Where is this coming from?"
He kept acting tough and said, "This is your last warning."
[Phil's commentary]
"Honestly, I have no idea what I'm talking about. But as the Godfather, I need to make sure to take care of my family." He laughed slightly.
[Commentary ends]
Phil's words made me think. Maybe I crossed a line here.
I went to the Christening and sat far away from their family, sitting with my grandmother instead.
"What's wrong Eddy?" Grandma Jules asked.
"Nothing." I shrugged. "Just… It's nothing."
Claire and Phil whispered at the side. "What's wrong with Eddy?" Claire asked.
Phil shrugged and said, "I don't know. I gave him a warning before, not to get near Alex, but he knows that's a joke, right?"
Claire turned to him with shock, "You said what?! Phil!"
"It's a joke!" Phil was taken aback. Haley and Alex heard it. "Dad, what did you do?" Haley asked, furious.
Alex was also angry. "Is that why he just left the house before?"
"It's a joke. All I said to him was that I couldn't let him screw my second daughter too."
"Dad!"
"PHIL!"
All of them were horrified.
"Screw… SCREW UP! Now Screw!" Phil corrected himself immediately. "It's fine. Edward's not that sensitive. He's just sitting with his grandma." Phil played it off.
The other people started arriving one by one. I watched the episode laid out in the church, met Sonia who looked exactly like Rosa Diaz, and left before the food service.
Phil called me afterward to apologize, but I just told him I had some calls from the President, that's why I left. I also called Jay and Gloria to apologize for getting out early.
It wasn't that I was being oversensitive by Phil's statement. I know he was joking.
But it made me realise something. I was the one being insensitive there. It was time for me to leave the family alone if I wanted to make sure Haley could really move on from me.
I saw how uncomfortable she was at times. Especially since she saw me with my new girlfriend.
…
At my mansion, Barbara approached me after her shoots, and she hugged me from behind.
"Guess who!" She played around, covering my eyes.
"You realize I buzzed you in, right?"
"That's no fun at all." Barbara smiled and sat next to me. "So, is it a fun Christening?"
"Nah, it's fine." I replied, dodging it slightly.
"What happened?" She asked, confused.
"I don't know. I don't want to get into it." I replied with a smile, and turned to grab her closer to me.
She got mad instead and said, "Again? Are you doing this again?"
"What did I do?" I was surprised by her reaction.
"You're keeping secrets from me! Right?" She stood up and spewed up angrily. "God Eddy. I kept being nice, and you kept treating me like this."
"Hold on. What exactly are you saying? Did I not treat you well?" I was slightly angry.
Barbara argued, "You didn't treat me like… like I'm actually your friend. Like letting me in on your secrets! You don't trust me like you do Alex or your other friends!"
"Why are you bringing Alex into this?" I was annoyed. "She's only my best friend."
"Oh, is she, really?" Barbara said sarcastically. "Is that why you kept flirting with her?"
"I– I didn't flirt with her!" I said defensively.
"Edward, you're a jerk. We're through." Barbara said and walked away.
"What's going on here!?" I was really baffled by what happened today.
"Why was my luck so bad?" I mumbled. "Did I make a mistake somewhere? I didn't think so, right?"
I called out to Sage. "Hey, if you're there. Do you know what's happening? Why am I being punished today?"
Sage didn't appear, but Gong Shin did. He smiled wryly and said, "Hi Edward. Sorry. Sage can't make it since she's at the company building at this moment."
"Oh. That's fine. Do you know what's happening?"
"Honestly? No." Gong Shin said with exasperation.
"{We can help answer that question.}"
Gong Shin and I turned to the source of the telepathic communication instantly. There, I saw someone familiar.
"Saiki-kun?" I was surprised. On his side was an older version of me, but his hair was green.
"Hi." The clone I left behind in Saiki's world greeted me. "Call me Eddy."
…
I broke the silence in the room by asking Saiki, "What's going on?"
"{Kusuke and your clone figured out multiversal travel. Twenty years have passed since you visited my world. So we're visiting you on yours.}" Saiki replied telepathically.
His jaw was sharper, and his face was more mature too. He looked really handsome and wasn't wearing his control antenna anymore.
My clone wasn't beefy like me. He was around 180 cm tall, and had a lean figure.
"Why are you here?" Gong Shin asked warily. "Did you do that? Messing with his life?"
The clone and Saiki nodded slightly. "Why?" I asked with confusion.
"Barbara will get pregnant in just a few minutes if we don't intervene." Eddy said casually. "She will carry your baby. She'll have a bad case of postpartum, and both of your lives will be miserable. It's better to avoid all of that."
"Oh." I was caught off guard. "She'll resent me? Did I not treat her well?"
"You would, but still, your life will be miserable too. Especially since you wanted to marry her, but she wouldn't accept your proposal." Eddy replied.
"Don't tell him his future. That will–" Gong Shin was interjected by Eddy.
"It's fine. The future is now gone." Eddy said. "We also did the same to Phil. Saiki controlled his mind a little bit to snap you out of your circle."
Saiki nodded as I looked at him, revealing that he did it on purpose.
"Anyway, we can't stay here long. It's almost been a day here, so 4 years now have passed on our multiverse. I came here to give you a present."
"What present?" I was slightly guarded.
He cracked his fist and said, "A knuckle sandwich."
The vein in his forehead throbbed slightly. "Do you have any idea how I lived? I have the mind of an 18 year old, in the body of a 5 year old. I had to go to pre-school for god's sake! Kids threw boogers at me!"
I sensed that he was far stronger than me. Although I didn't sense any malice from him, I know instinctively that the punch would hurt.
"Wait. Hold on a second. Why didn't you blame Amy? She was the one who pressed the button!"
"Cause she's my mother you jackass!"
He side stepped and appeared behind me before I could react. Then, he gave me a punch on the top of my head.
I got dizzy and fell to the couch limply.
"AHH! That's so refreshing! My twenty years old resentment feels like it's melting away!" Eddy exclaimed with bliss.
Gong Shin cleared his throat and said, "I should leave since this doesn't seem to concern me."
Saiki nodded at him, not talkative as always.
The dizziness disappeared quickly, and Saiki said something else, "{We brought you a present}"
"What is it?" I asked, excited.
"A limiter ring." Eddy threw the ring at me. I caught it in surprise and said, "Wait. So… My powers will be–"
"{99.99% of it will disappear. Kusuke made it by studying Eddy.}" Saiki said casually.
"Oh." My eyes glittered slightly. However, my excitement soon died out. "I'm sorry. The gift is really thoughtful, but I have too many people depending on me."
Eddy grinned and nudged Saiki, "Told you it won't work."
Saiki just grumbled.
"{There is another way.}" Saiki said. "{But Eddy will need to help you with that.}"
"How?" I asked.
"Your duplication ability. I have it too since I have most of your abilities and skills." Eddy replied. "But, I have more experience with it. Twenty years more experience."
He taught me a neat trick. To transfer all of my abilities and strength to a duplicate.
"It is still going to disappear within a day. So it's useless anyway." I said with a shrug.
Eddy smirked and shoved Saiki to the front. "Unless, you have this guy who could manipulate time."
"What?"
Saiki pressed his hand on my duplicate. "{10 years. He will be around for 10 years. And you can stay normal for ten years. This is our gift to you.}"
"Wait. Really?" I was really surprised by it. They disappeared as fast as they appeared.
My duplicate and I looked at each other in confusion. Then, he shrugged and said, "I guess I'll see you in ten years."
The duplicate would handle the company, the moon, and everything else. He would take on another identity so people wouldn't know I have a duplication ability.
So far, only Alex, Jacob, Frankie and my dad know about it.
All I have to do now, is to live a normal life.
"Isn't this like, the best gift ever?"
…
Three days passed by pretty quickly once I no longer had my powers. I understood it now– why Saiki wanted to lose his powers so much.
I wasn't hyper conscious of my surroundings, which made me able to live in the moment.
No responsibility, no stress, no need to sleep only two hours in two or three days to work extremely hard for no reason.
"I should go to college." I muttered with a yawn.
That day, I didn't do anything at all except stay in my house. I called the Caltech dean, and they got me into the program in just a few hours.
Soon, five months have passed by.
"Happy 18th birthday Edward!" My dad and Frankie brought me a cake on my birthday. I wore a simple Caltech hoodie and jeans as I blew the candles on the cake.
My friends were there, and also all of my family members.
My little sister, Heidi, was already born. Frankie carried her in her arms during my birthday party. Only two months old, the baby kept smiling when she was around me, as if she had recognized me.
I didn't date anyone in the past few months, only hanging out with my friends and studying in college. In my free time, I spent it with my little sister.
The Black Widow movie was aired, and it received 1.3 billion dollars at the worldwide box office.
I went to Jacob, Jenna and Elsa's graduation in June. Then, in the summer, we went to travel Europe together.
After summer ended, Jacob got into University of Southern California, on a football scholarship.
Jenna went to acting school. Elsa went to the police academy.
Finneas started working as an artist while taking online courses to get his degree.
"All of us are going on our own paths now." I said as I sat on Alex's dorm room bed.
She grimaced and rebuked me, "Why do you keep hanging out here? People are already talking about us!"
I snickered and said, "Wasn't you the one who read the study about stress level and sex, and began hooking up with me?"
She blushed and said, "Hey! You wanted it to!"
"Shut up and come here." I called with a smirk.
We weren't dating, just having a friend-with-benefits deal for now to manage stress from studying.
Alex and I became really close as we took the same course. Both of us got into accelerated programs, which made us able to get our degrees in just two years.
So in the next two years, we were basically hanging out, just the two of us.
Then, 2013 came to pass, and we entered 2014. Then, 2015. Finally, it was 2016.
…
"Happy 21st Birthday Edward!" All of my friends shouted as we celebrated my birthday at my mansion. We were beside the pool, and Enid brought the cake to me.
I had already celebrated my birthday with my family members, so the party was only with my friends today.
"Thank you everyone! As you know, the legal age for drinking was changed to 19 years old. So, there's nothing to celebrate today since I have already been drinking for two years."
"Try six." Alex interjected sarcastically.
"The first four don't count." I replied with a deadpan voice.
"Still, the 21st birthday is really special." Enid said convincingly. "This is when you're truly treated like an adult."
"I thought that was 18." Jacob asked Elsa in confusion. Elsa said seriously, "That is when you're no longer tried as a juvenile and can go to actual prison."
"Just blow out the candles already!" Finneas said, already tired from the jibber jabber.
I laughed and did it, which made everyone applaud. There were around 80 people in my house right now, attending the party.
Luke and Manny approached me, with Luke carrying an orb camera with him.
"Ed, can we have an orb-fie?" Luke asked.
"Sure." I replied and stood in between them, wrapping my arm around them.
Luke threw the orb to the air softly and it hovered. It automatically fixed its position and took several pictures of us before returning to Luke's hand upon him gesturing it to come back.
"Great. I can post this on my Instagram." Luke said with amazement. I whispered to him, "Hey, don't bring your girlfriend to my toilet, okay?Or I'll tell your mom."
He blushed slightly and laughed awkwardly. "What? I didn't do that."
Already 17, Luke was already dating several girls now. Manny too, and both of them weren't virgins anymore.
Mostly because both of them were quite good looking and were loaded nowadays as their Youtube channel surpassed 15 million subscribers.
Manny laughed and teased Luke, "I told you it's a bad idea."
"She wants to make out. I'm not going to tell her no." Luke said defensively.
I just laughed at their conversation. Even with girlfriends, both of them were really close with each other.
Alex approached me, wearing a black dress with a sexy neckline and deep cleavage.
"Hey, your girlfriend's here." She mocked teasingly.
A latina girl approached me, carrying a gift bag with her. "Hey Edward. Happy Birthday."
I turned to the girl in the floral one piece dress. "Thanks Victoria."
Victoria Justice worked on ZomWorld with me after the second season. The show now has ended, with 100 episodes in total, spanning over 5 seasons.
Both seasons 3 and 4 have 30 episodes each. It was a phenomenon when it ended. I assume that's how people would react if Game of Thrones has a proper ending.
The hype was massive. People were dressing up to watch the show's finale. It launched multiple new stars into peak stardom. Victoria was one of the stars.
"It's a watch." She said nervously as I peeked into the bag. "I bought it first, but then I realized, you might already have a lot of them. But it was too late for me to find another gift, so…"
I laughed slightly, finding her nervousness cute. "It's great. Thank you so much." I opened up the gift and wore it immediately.
Victoria was slightly baffled at first, then she smiled brightly. "Happy Birthday Eddy."
She kissed me on the cheek and left. I turned to Alex who was standing at the side.
She immediately mocked. "'Happy Birthday Eddy'."
"Wait. Are you jealous?" I asked playfully.
Alex grimaced and said, "I'm not jealous."
"You're not jealous as in, 'If I get jealous the hanky panky is going to stop since that's our deal', or you're not jealous as in you don't really care about it."
"The former– I mean the latter!" Alex stammered, and her face froze like a deer in the headlights.
Then, she ran away hurriedly.
"Oh dang." I was stupified.