Twist of Fate

[Kirano Jr]

“Alright, places, places, places!” yapped a middle-aged Caucasian. The man was naturally loud, so the red megaphone made his words boom out; the base so deep that it rattled their ears; every cast and crew member in the proximity of the outdoor set.
 
The leading star of the film could just about tolerate the director’s irritating tone. That was not his main issue though. It was closing scene of the ‘third act’ about to transpire, which left the teenager looking glum.
 
Many would call it a cliché; ‘the kiss scene’.
 
“Why does there always have to be a kiss scene?” was what the renowned martial artist, Kirano Jr wanted to ask the director, however, held his tongue; knowing it was merely a rhetorical question. It was like asking why the sky was blue; pointless; a waste of time.
 

====

 
Kirano Jr had no answers; the reason for being summoned to this verse; his purpose; his destiny; unclear. He already had a great reputation on Planet Earth; furthermore, had just topped Forbe’s list as the ‘Most Influential Teenager in the World’.
 
Even more unsettling was the setting; his surroundings; naught but white.
 
Kirano Jr removed his eyes from the ground, peered upwards, capturing the colour of the sky, and then lowered his head to the ground again; this time, shaking his head in disbelieve.
 
The earthling instantly concluded that he had never seen anything like it; not even close in resemblance to the ‘Omniverse’.

[Kirano Jr]

Everyone was in their places. The scene was set. Kirano Jr gazed at the script, which trembled mildly between the fingers of both hands; battling to keep it steady.
 
KYO EDGES TOWARDS REMONA UNTIL THEY ARE FACE TO FACE.
 
[FIXED ON REMONA’S EYE’S] KYO PLANTS HIS LEFT HAND AROUND HER WAIST.
 
Kirano Jr felt a tingle run down both sides of his waist, and then goosebumps enveloped his entire body.
 
KYO LOCKS LIPS WITH HERS.
 
‘Not even kiss…LOCK LIPS’, thought the main actor. His interpretation of the line he had just read was – ‘a passionate kiss’ rather than ‘a peck on the lips’.
 
Kirano Jr read the line two more times, and then again, and then grumbled; unable to detect any typos.
 
“Everything alright over there, Romeo?”
 
Kirano jerked his head towards the director. “Huh?!”
 
“The script!” The director replied, waving it to and fro in his left hand. “Any problem?”
 
Every fibre in the lead performers body urged him to snap, ‘duh, of course there’s a problem, but then KJ would have to explain his problem with the script, which would certainly be an ISSUE.
 
“No” Kirano croaked. “No,” he reiterated, after clearing his throat.   
 
“Then let’s get this ball rolling!” barked the curly-haired brunette.
 
The young lead actor gazed across the set, towards the supporting actress; paying close attention to her physical features. It was not that she was bad looking. On the contrary, she was the complete opposite; fine, long luscious hair, braided, sparkling eyes so captivating. In his opinion, she was as close to perfection as possible.
 
That was just it.
 
Her attractiveness alone was a hindrance to him, coupled with the fact that he had bonded with her a lot off-set; to the extent that he had become infatuated with her. Therefore, to him, this was not like sharing a kiss with ‘Remona’, but one with Elena, the ‘star’ behind the starlet; hence the reason behind his nervousness. As a crime fighter ‘courage’ was a prime characteristic he possessed, however, the second-generation superhero lacked the courage to perform his duty as an actor. Being the professional he was, the reality stung enough to dampen his mood.
 

=========

 
After an uneventful ten minutes of arguably, the most boring trek of his life, the teenage crime fighter and actor heard noises. He could not spot any figures from his current location, but calculated he was roughly ten yards away from encountering the lifeforms responsible for – what KJ guessed, was a confrontation.
 
Whoever they were, Kirano Jr gained a small trace of satisfaction from being close to gaining the opportunity of meeting the first forms of life since being thrown into Omniverse against his will.

[Kirano Jr]

“Action!” barked the director.
 
This was it. The scene was set. There was no turning back now. The moment had drawn for Kirano Jr to pucker up and kiss his female counterpart, Remona, played by Elena. She was an exceptional martial artist in her own right. He discovered that during their light spar, which she had managed to gain the upper hand, due to KJ holding back.   
 
Kirano Jr’s heartrate increased with every step he took towards her. THUD, THUD, THUD, were the repetitive sounds his heart produced; simultaneously, his legs began to feel like led.
 
‘Calm yourself, it’s just a kiss’, the brunette said to himself.
 
Breathe in and out, inhale, exhale, he remembered his father often recite to his mother, to prevent her from having a panic attack.
 
It’s working, he thought, slightly smiling.
 
Now they were a couple of inches apart. Suddenly, KJ’s athletic frame tingled. The nerves returned.
 
‘Bad timing’ were the words that entered his mind. Bad timing, bad tiiiiming.
 

====

 
That was the scene before a black switch occurred, shutting his mind down for a split second, before realising he had been transported to another location, apparently, the OMNIVERSE.
 
Kirano Jr experienced extreme difficulty deciphering the answer to his current predicament. The brown-haired youth could not decide whether he was fortunate to have been whisked away from the movie set, or unfortunate to have been transferred into the unique, yet bizarre verse that the omnipotent entity, Omni, referred to as the Omniverse.     
 
Not even one, he frowned.
 
Kirano Jr felt as if he were talking to a brick wall because Omni had not even answered any of his questions; simple ones such as, ‘Why he had been brought to the Omniverse?’ ‘What his purpose was for being in the Omniverse?’ ‘Why him?’ ‘Why Kirano Jr?’ ‘Why now?’ ‘Why this?’ ‘Why that?’ Etcetera.
 
Persistence was one of Kirano Jr’s strongest assets; a great quality he inherited from his father, Kirano. It was the reason the teenager maintained optimistic that he would uncover every question he had asked Omni, no matter how long it took.

[Kirano Jr]

KJ finally caught sight of the group responsible for the disturbance. Approximately ten mitres ahead, were ten figures, clad in white uniforms - wearing masks to conceal their identities. Opposite them stood a peculiar looking creature; to be precise, a giant turtle with fiery red hair – tied in a ponytail. The large fountain close by (probably) explained why the turtle was soaking wet. Regardless, Kirano Jt could not help but sympathise with the jade-skinned reptile, as its odds of overcoming a (potential) ten against one skirmish, was slim.
 
Don’t tell me they’re bent out of shape coz a turtle – of ALL creatures, took a dip, thought KJ.
 
Instantly, six firearms diverted from the green turtle, towards the brown-haired teenager, while the remaining four troopers kept their weapons locked onto the freshwater reptile.
 
Their actions failed to startle Kirano Jr, whom did not even flinch. Furthermore, the youth was not the least bit intimidated. On the contrary, a grin emerged on his tanned face; as expected of an attention seeker.
 
“Should I put my hands up? Or, would you shoot me if I tried to put my hands up?”
 
KJ’s questions seemed to fall on death ears, as the atmosphere fell silent.
 
“You guys do speak English, right?
 
Still, silence.
 
“Tell me at least one of you soldiers speak English?!”
 
“Put your hands up!” one of them finally yelled, aggressively. “How’s that for English?!”
 
“Thank God!” a relieved KJ replied, enthusiastically throwing his hands up, above his head.
 
The Trooper that had spoken, directed a thumb towards the fiery, red haired, muscle bound mammal. “Are you affiliated with this turtle?”
 
KJ did not even acknowledge the jade skinned creature, before uttering, “Nope!”
 
The teen finally laid eyes on the unidentified animal. “Don’t know him.” Then his eyes returned to the main trooper (presumably the captain) while his hands remained up. “Don’t know you.” His direction then shifted from left to right, quickly. “Don’t know any of you. Don’t really know what I’m doing here either.” He thought back to his encounter with Omni. “Obviously, I'm a hot commodity, but your boss, I assume, wasn’t quite clear about why he needs me here.”
 
There was another moment of silence, before the Trooper confirmed, “A newbie.” Upon lowering his weapon, he continued, “Okay, you can put your hands down.”

[Kirano Jr]

A toothy grin emerged from the turtle’s face. “If you were going to shoot me, I still wouldn’t be standing here, soaking wet! So, put the guns down already!”   
 
The first piece of intel that Kirano Jr had gathered was that the turtle had common sense.
 
“The Nexus Fountain is out-of-bounds for swimming!” uttered the captain, before giving a hand gesture to his subordinates; causing them to lower their guns.   
 
The creature’s snout turned red; embarrassed by the thought of having lost his balance and tipping into the fountain. Even worse, it believed – telling the troopers the truth would make him feel even more like a buffoon; therefore, the fiery haired biped summoned the most reasonable retort it could think of, “fine, whatever; next time put a sign up to save you the trouble of whining.” The turtle felt it was a reasonable reply because it did not lie, simultaneously, came across critical towards the militants.
 
The turtle’s response caused Kirano Jr to chuckle. The human-hybrid then diverted his attention to the alleged Storm Trooper captain. “The overgrown turtle has a point.”
 
“What?!” The jade skinned creature screwed up his face. A few veins even emerged. “Who are you calling overgrown?!”
 
Kirano Jr had a good sense of character and could tell the turtle (physically) was no pushover. The apparent omnipotent creature of the Omniverse, Omni, probably had a purpose for summoning the unidentified giant turtle to his verse – as well.
 
Furthermore, KJ did not want to get into an unnecessary skirmish, despite a small fraction of his being itching to test how tough the large turtle was; it was not the right setting – not with a dozen soldiers carrying plasma rifles, locked onto them.  
 
As a reasonable individual with a knack for negotiating, KJ tried to ease the atmosphere as smooth as possible. “Easy, the young actor replied, raising his hands, and then letting them drop by his sides. “It’s just…where I come from, turtles are…a lot smaller…although I’ve heard of some that can talk…um…” He scraped his head. This is getting awkward…but I gotta finish smoothly, he thought, due to the quiet atmosphere (so quiet you could probably hear a pin drop). “Just pointing out that you’re an extraordinary turtle.”
 
Boom. Start with an insult, end with a compliment. That was an exemplification of Kirano Jr’s silver tongue – the formula behind his charisma; the main reason he was adored by millions of people across Planet Earth (arguably more popular than his dad Kirano). Kirano Jr’s attractive physical features were a bonus.
 
KJ gazed up at the white sky - ejecting a sigh, before retuning his direction to the unique looking turtle. “This whole place his strange.”
 
To KJ’s surprise, the turtle did not erupt with rage as it had dreaded, nor give a hostile response. Instead, it sighed too. “I know.”
 
Maybe the two visitors could actually get along.