"Next Steps" - Part Two

Part Two

Zeeva’s words still lingered in the air: “Yes, sweetie…that Aznavorian.”

Finn stared at her. “…That’s not real,” he said, quieter now. Not disbelief—hope.

Zeeva tilted her head slightly, studying him the way someone studies a puzzle they already know the answer to. “Reality,” she said softly, “is a lot more flexible than you’ve been told.”

Behind her, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew adjusted a glowing device strapped to his wrist. It hummed with a rising, uneven pitch. “Fascinating!” Bunsen exclaimed. “The dimensional readings are spiking again!”

Beaker flailed beside him. “Mee-mee-mee!”

Finn jumped slightly as the rooftop lights flickered.

The air…bent.

Not visibly—but wrong. Like heat rising off pavement, except colder. Sharper.

Zeeva’s expression changed instantly. The warmth didn’t disappear, but something else stepped forward: focus. “Bunsen,” she said, calm but firm. “Tell me you didn’t activate anything.”

“Oh! Certainly not on purpose!” Bunsen replied cheerfully.

Zeeva closed her eyes for half a second. “…Of course not.”

Finn stiffened. “Miss…Zeeva…what’s happening?”

She looked down at him—and for a brief moment, something almost like regret flickered across her face. Then she smiled.

Gentle. Reassuring.

“Something that’s been looking for you just found a signal.”

Finn blinked. “…Me?”

Before she could answer, the air tore.

Not with an explosion…with silence.

A thin, vertical line split the space above the rooftop—black at the center, glowing faintly at the edges like burning paper. It widened slowly, unnaturally, as if reality itself were being unzipped.

Beaker screamed. “MEEEEP!”

From within the tear…something moved.

Not a creature.

A shape that couldn’t decide what it was.

Edges folding inward. Outward. Limbs forming and unforming like unfinished thoughts.

Finn couldn’t look away. “…Is that…” he whispered, “an alien?”

Zeeva stepped in front of him instantly. “No,” she said quietly.

Her voice had changed.

Lower. Older.

“That’s a mistake.”

The fracture widened.

The rooftop warped—edges of buildings stretching, snapping back, like reflections in broken glass.

Finn felt it.

Not fear. Something else.

A pull.

His small, foamy body…vibrated.

Zeeva noticed instantly. “…Oh,” she whispered. Not surprised. Confirmed.

The creature shifted—its form snapping toward Finn like a compass finding north.

Zeeva stepped forward—

But Finn moved first.

Just one step. Instinct.

The distortion around him…stilled.

For half a second—

Everything froze.