No Chance: An Omniverse Story

When the Mourning Comes

Matthew is a good person and a good father. Viral knew that. Viral saw past the unstable power a long time ago. He knew that his outrageous behavior was a result of the enormous amounts of uncontained power.

Matthew was a good father in the way he payed close attention when Maxwell went on a rant. Max had a habit of waving his hands and rocking on his toes. He went on and on finding new topics to babble about. Viral had learned to tune him out after a year. Recently... he tuned back in and noticed something. Matthew was listening. He was paying attention to Max. He had this patient smile and a calm face. He occasionally asked a question but other than that he let Maxwell talk. He looked fond...

After that Viral started paying more attention. He noticed the way Matthew kept back from Cypher. He stayed at a distance when he asked what Cypher was studying. He was polite and careful with his words. He listened when Cypher talked about his complicated work. Cypher had always been weary of Father, especially after Matthew's breakdown, but recently he had been opening up. He liked being listened too. Father understood his thoughts pretty well, they were so similar after all. Viral suspected Cloud had talked to Cypher.

Runs was a strange case. She was always one to jump to Father's aid. She was headstrong and she knew what she wanted. After Father's breakdown... She didn't know what to trust anymore. Matthew was patient and gentle with her. He let her have some space since he had been hovering rather hard beforehand...

All three could agree that it was strange seeing Matthew change so drastically.

As for Matthew himself... He was doing fine. His therapy sessions continued to delve farther into his emotional issues. Occasionally he still had chest pain, Cypher suspected that would be a lifelong thing. Other than that Matthew was doing well! Better than he had in thousands of years.

The Center was prospering. There was a total of two prisoners, Charlie Miraculous, the Black King, and Terrance the strayed guard. The Omniverse shone under Queen Rachel's guidance.

And then Queen Charlene passed. It was a rather peaceful death, she was still a bit young, but with her sight problems and her form being killed before... No wonder she died.

The entire castle went into mourning. Charlie was allowed at her funeral in cuffs. He looked... distraught. Everyone was upset...

Viral watched them mourn. This was the second death in their family. Second one they knew about... Viral couldn't held but feel a bit detached. He had liked Charlene yes, she was kind and gentle and always seemed to see more even with her sightless eyes, but they still mourned her.

They never even knew about his death.

Viral hovered near Matthew and Maxwell as the finishing touched were put on the tombstone. His tail flicked to the side lightly. "Are you okay...?"

Matthew didn't respond. He stared at the stone with a blank look.

"Dad..?" Max called softly.

Matthew looked up. "Huh..?"

"Vi asked if you were okay.."

"I'm fine." Matthew ruffled Max's hair and then Virals. It had faded to a black color after he was attached to Matthew. He no longer looked like Maxwell. Viral couldn't tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing...

It was a good thing for some people.