Chapter Text
In 26 different universes, a video message played. Some universes had it playing on every possible channel, while others only had it on certain screens. Despite the circumstances of how it was broadcast, the message it showed remained the same. It was a message that did not originate from any of the 26 universes, but another one entirely.
The message showed the viewer a shot of what appeared to be a forest area with artificial trees. In it, man made himself known to the audience by walking into view. He looked to be an older man, though he was a handsome one, wearing some extravagant golden robes. On his face was a blue line that went from his lower lip to the bottom of his face. Facing the viewer, a smile was plastered on his face.
"To all of those who are viewing this message, congratulations!" he said as he opened his arms. "This right here is the very first episode of my new show. I call it...Grand Drama!" He stopped speaking and smiling as he remembered something. "Oh right, I should probably explain some things first." he muttered, before he went back to beaming.
"My name is The Grandmaster, and I am the ruler of this little planet called Sakaar." He exposited as he walked through the forest. "You see, normally here, I do an event called the Contest of Champions. In it, combatants would battle it out in a series of fights, and whoever won the most fights would be gifted with the honor of being my champion."
He made it to a part of the forest whose background wasn't covered by trees, revealing a sky that looked similar to Earth's, as in colored blue with occasional clouds. The only difference between the sky there and the sky on Sakaar was that Sakaar's was littered with purple-ish wormholes. “You see those little wormhole-things over there?” he asked, pointing at the holes in the sky as he did so. “We had to wait on those to grab some random person from the reaches of space and drop ‘em here in order to get combatants. Or at least, that’s what we used to do.”
"About a couple of years ago" The Grandmaster continued to exposit. "Some of our top scientists were able to figure out how we essentially make our own wormholes. That way, if we hear tale of someone outside who we think would be fun to participate in these games, we would just grab them from wherever they were instead of just having to wait to see if they would arrive here by random chance. In fact, I would as far as say that ours are way better because we could. Wanna know why? Because these babies...are portals to the multiverse!"
"And that was originally our plan; to bring people from across the multiverse in order to participate in a new version of my Contest of Champions. But then, something changed. Through checking out the different universes, I came across this show, one that I had never seen anything like before." The old man said, as he continued to walk. "Some of you have a word for what it's called, I think it was... a reality show? Might have to check that later. Anyways, I watched it and I was... well, mesmerized. That's when it hit me; this is what my show should be like! And so plans were changed."
The Grandmaster stopped his walk at an area with a fire pit in the middle and bleachers that were made to look like they were made of wood. "Instead of getting them to fight each other in tournaments, a handful of contestants from different universes, 26 of them handpicked by us, will compete in various challenges against each other. Then, once all is said and done, after each challenge is over, the losing team will get to vote and the ones who stay in will be handed out these - marshmallows." He then proceed to hold up said white food in his hand, for the audience to see. "Whoever ends the night with no marshmallow in hand will be voted off the show."
As he says this, a drone with a platform on top flies down to where the humanoid man was standing. "When they do, they'll be escorted onto this little robot here and be sent away to the Loser's Dungeon, where they'll remain for the remainder of the game."
"Now, some of you might be wondering what our competitors will be fighting for." He assumed as the drone flew off again and he walked away from the fire pit area. "I'll be more than happy to explain. Whoever wins this competition will win the equivalent of 1,000,000 USD of whatever currency that their world has. Quite the prize, I know, which is why I'm certain that our competitors would put in nothing but their best efforts and give us a show to be remembered." He stopped when he reached an area where the trees only stood behind him.
"So, who will end up taking the win and leaving the others in their dust? Find out here on Grand! Drama!" As he says the last two parts, the camera zooms out each time to punctuate what he said, revealing that the forest was located atop a floating mechanical island.
The footage then proceeded to transition into the opening titles
- - -
An opening riff began to play as several shots were shown. Those shots being the inside a wooden building, at the top of an artificial tree and the face of a statue dedicated to one of the Contest's previous champions. At each shot, a camera pokes its head out. It then cut to a far away shot of the floating island, before moving closer to it.
"Dear Mom and Dad, I’m doing fine.”
The camera moved through the floating island, going through the trees and past two large cabins, one typical and wooden and the other high-tech and fancy, before stopping past a cliffside, where it finally stopped and looked down onto the water.
“You guys are on my mind.”
A dive into the water revealed the first of the 26 contestants, Nimona, swimming underneath the waves with a mischievous grin. She was on the shorter and chubbier side, wearing a reddish colored tunic over greenish-gray chainmail as well as a pair of brown boots. Most of her hair was shaved off, with the exception of a few groups towards the front of her head, which were dyed a fiery scarlet.
“You asked me what I wanted to be, and I think the answer is plain to see.”
It cut to the surface, where two individuals were relaxing whilst sitting on floaties. The first of them, Luigi Mario, was a man with a cool-looking mustache, a green shirt and blue overalls currently reading a book. The second was Killer Moth, a man in a bright colorful purple and orange costume with a moth-like green helmet who was busy sunbathing.
Both of their activities were interrupted when Nimona popped out of the water in the form of a shark, startling Killer Moth and causing Luigi to fall off of his floaty in fear. She then shapeshifted into a hawk and swooped onto the super-villain's face, ripping off his helmet, causing him to cover his face in order to protect his identity. The camera followed the now bird as she went higher and higher into the air.
“I wanna be…famous.”
After a certain distance, Nimona proceeds to drop Killer Moth’s helmet down to the ground. The camera panned back down to show two figures in the forest; Taranza, an androgynous-looking spider magician with silver hair and dark green clothing and Strax, a short-stocky man with a potato-like appearance in butler clothes.
Currently, Taranza was attempting to create a monster made out of materials nearby with Strax holding a giant blaster on his shoulder, looking very eager to fight it.
He was about to shoot it, but it was then when the green helmet landed down straight on his head. It didn’t seem to do major damage to the Sontaran, but it did disorient him enough to cause him to fire the weapon all over the place. The spider was able to realize this and ducked when the blast neared him.
Thankfully, the only things that ended up getting wrecked were the trees and Taranza’s make-shift monster, to the relief of the spider himself.
He wasn't the only one who was relieved, as the camera panned over to reveal a man and a woman sitting against a large mechanical tree that was cut down in the blast, with both ending up unharmed. The man was Sylvester Ashling, a young man with large round glasses, fluffy hair colored salmon and wearing a white jacket over a yellow hoodie. The woman was Barbara Przybylski, a rather fat woman with a green bandana atop her brunette hair and wearing a grey suit. Sylvie was currently breathing hard due to what just happened while Barbara wrote down details in a notebook with great interest in what transpired.
“ I wanna live close to the sun.”
A different shot of the island is shown, with two of the competitors on what appeared to be a hi-tech version of a canoe yelling at each other.
The first was a half-elf sorceress named Tuatha. She wore a purple and yellow outfit with brown gloves and boots. She had freckles on her face and blonde hair that only grew on one side of her head.
The second was a demon with the appearance of a swan woman named Stella Goetia. She wore a regal white and pink dress and wore a golden crown atop her head. She had eyes with red sclera and white pupils surrounded by absolutely massive eyelashes.
The two of them were so invested in their own shouting match that they didn’t notice the canoe was about to go over a waterfall until it was too late. Coincidentally, it was also then that they found out that futuristic canoes still obey the laws of gravity.
“So pack your bags cause I've already won.”
The scene pans to showcase a cliff face close to where the waterfall was. Two figures were currently sitting on it, Leif and Reigen Arataka. Leif was a tall moth man with blue skin and a cold neutral expression on his face. Reigen was a human in a gray suit with ginger hair.
The self-proclaimed greatest psychic was currently talking to the moth, but both stopped and turned as a third figure made his way towards them. Said figure was Axel, a man with spiky red hair wearing a long black coat. Currently, he was also holding three of a treat from his homeworld - Sea Salt Ice Cream - and was going to give one to Leif and another to Reigen.
As he was passing them, behind them fell the canoe as well as a screaming Tuatha and Stella. The three turned to look upon hearing the noise, but by the time they did, the two were already out of view.
“Everything to prove, nothing in my way.”
It panned down rapidly to the base of the waterfall where the canoe and the two women finally splash down into the water. The canoe ended up upside-down while the two ended up drenched as they floated alongside the river. After a few moments, they looked at each other and then proceeded to continue their shouting match
The camera followed them as they floated across the water. It stopped after a while and zoomed in on a cabin that had entered the frame. As it zoomed in, the silhouette of a rather unique looking individual was made present.
“I’ll get there one day.”
Once it got close enough, the shot transitioned to the inside of the house, where we see the individual in full. They had a bright pink wedge for a head with two antennas of different design poking out like horns. One of their eyes was of normal size while the other was yellow and swollen. Their body was a yellow with orange spots jellybean shaped object with a blue ring attached to the chest. Each of their limbs were mix-matched as well.
This character, also known as Zooble, was currently making drinks with a miffed look in their eyes. The reason their expression was like this was due to who they were making drinks for. It was a rat on two feet that was given the unoriginal name of Rat. Currently, Rat was drunkenly sitting on a barstool in front of the bar that Zooble was behind. He's already had a few drinks, but doesn't stop him from wanting more, something that the shape-made being wasn't fond of.
“Cause I wanna be famous.”
The camera panned over to see a short and stout mouse woman, Bitsy, currently in the middle of making some kind of brew at one of the tables. Unbeknownst to her, someone was staring at her from behind. This someone was The Rat Creature, a man sized creature covered in brown hair with large red eyes and sharp teeth. Currently, it was drooling at the sight of the mouse woman, a hungry look in its eyes.
The Rat Creature was unaware that there too was someone behind him, this one being Laios Touden. Laios appeared to be a normal human, having short blond hair and wearing a set of silver armor. He was staring at the monster in a similar way that the monster was looking at Bitsy.
The scene then proceeded to change to the outside of the building on the other side, an area that led to a beach-like environment. Two people were sitting on towels there, an umbrella covering them from the sun. The first was Slushi, a fox with light-blue fur. The second was Declan Hickey, a bespectacled boy with black hair who could pass as a regular human if the pink wings on his back didn't betray him. The duo were relaxing and talking to each other about pop culture.
“Na-na nanananaa, nanana-nanaa, na-nanananaa”
The shot pulled out and panned across the docks to see a purple-skinned man wearing fancy-looking clothes was standing there. His name was Niklaus Hendrix. As he was standing on the docks, he turned and looked out onto the horizon of the lake. Squinting his pitch-black eyes, he was able to make out a trio of figures flying over the water, barely touching it as they did.
“I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous.”
The camera zoomed in to focus on the figures, each one getting a moment of screen-time on their own before another one got focused on. The one that got showcased first was Balan. He was a tall, slender man in a white suit. A white hat covered a majority of his face, his eyes peeking out from the red hat band whilst a wide smile adorned the uncovered part of his face.
Next was a pale-skinned woman named Eda Clawthorne with wild neck-length gray hair, one arm and a single gold tooth within her grin. She was currently in harpy form, giving her wings, claws and talons like that of a beast.
Thirdly was Serial Designation J, otherwise just known as J. She was a white robot with a transparent visor showcasing eyes made of yellow LED lights. She had gray hair with two pigtails adorned in black ribbons. She wore a black suit and skirt with a yellow armband on her left arm. Unlike the others, the expression on her face wasn't showing one of excitement but rather determination.
“I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous.”
All three of them then came in flying together at once. J did not seem happy about this, as she tried to elbow the nearby Eda out of the sky. The pale-skinned witch followed suit against her robotic companion. Eventually, this led to a conflict between the two where they ended up having their elbows against each other as they tried to see who would be the first knocked out of the sky. Balan kept himself out from the violence, instead trying to mediate peace between the two, but to no avail.
The fighting stopped once a fourth player passed them. This player was none other than Noko Shikanoko. She had the appearance of a young girl with large green eyes and short brown hair wearing a traditional version of the Japanese school uniform. She flew right past the three causally, the deer antlers on her head rotating around and around like a helicopter's propeller. The sheer sight of this caused the trio to stop in midair as they watched the human-deer hybrid pass them. As they did, the camera panned up to showcase the sky.
The scene transitions from daytime to a starry night as it begins to pan back down and see the last two competitors sitting by a campfire. The first was Josuke Higashikata, a teen wearing a dark modified Japanese school uniform, open at the chest to reveal a yellow shirt underneath. His most defining feature was his pompadour, which he was currently in the middle of combing.
The second teen was Anzu Hoshino, a red-headed girl with equally red eyes wearing a white collared shirt and a blue skirt with plaid markings. She wasn’t interacting with anyone, instead choosing to keep to herself.
That is until Riri, a small yellow egg-shaped creature wearing a purple wizard’s hat and cloak with stars flew by and positioned themself to Anzu’s left. Suddenly, the creature changed into a feminine blonde human, in the process bumping into Anzu causing her to fall onto Josuke’s lap. The two of them shared a brief look at each other, before looking away, a blush forming on each of their faces as the camera zooms out to reveal the other 24 competitors sitting by the campfire enjoying themselves as the last notes of the theme song were whistled.