The beach had finally settled down.
For once, nobody was fighting.
One Naoya was standing nearby, talking with Maki.
The other Naoya was relaxing a short distance away, looking completely uninterested in whatever was happening.
Both Kirara's were sitting in the sand, apparently relaxing and doing their own thing.
Takeru was enjoying the peaceful moment.
Then—
FWOOM.
A strange purple portal appeared in the middle of the beach.
Everyone immediately looked over.
Takeru tilted his head.
"…That's new."
The portal rippled.
Someone stepped through.
A young boy.
He had slightly messy, darkish brown hair and was wearing a school uniform from a school nobody on the beach recognized.
He stopped.
Looked around.
Then looked at the ocean.
The enormous amount of food.
The strange collection of people.
The talking cursed spirits.
And finally—
Takeru.
The boy pointed at him.
"Who are you?"
Takeru adjusted his sunglasses.
"I'm Takeru Gojo."
He looked the boy up and down.
"Who are you?"
The boy paused.
"…Ren Calder."
Takeru stared at him.
Ren stared back.
Neither said anything.
Then, from behind them—
"Hey, Takeru!"
Takeru turned around.
"What?"
One of the Gojo's waved.
"You done fighting?"
Takeru sighed.
"Yeah."
Ren's head slowly turned back toward Takeru.
His eyes narrowed.
"Wait."
He pointed at Takeru.
"You're a Gojo?"
"Yep."
Ren looked behind him.
He pointed toward the two Satoru's.
"And they're Gojo's?"
"Yep."
Ren slowly looked toward the two Naoya's.
"And those are Naoya's?"
"Yep."
Ren looked toward the two Kirara's sitting in the sand.
"And them?"
"Kirara."
Ren stared at the beach.
Then at the two identical Gojo's.
Then at the two identical Naoya's.
Then at the two Kirara's.
Then at the talking cursed spirits.
One of the spirits waved.
"Hello."
Ren slowly turned back toward Takeru.
His expression was completely blank.
"…What the hell is going on in this universe?"
Takeru shrugged.
"That's a pretty complicated question."
A cursed spirit nearby raised a hand.
"I could explain."
Ren slowly turned toward it.
He stared at the cursed spirit for several seconds.
Then looked at Takeru.
Then back at the cursed spirit.
"…You know what?"
He walked over and sat down in the sand.
"Sure."
Takeru smiled.
He walked over and sat beside him.
"Welcome to my world, Ren."
Ren looked at him.
"Thanks."
He paused.
"…I think."
Takeru laughed.
"That's probably the correct response."
The cursed spirit sat down nearby.
"Alright. Where should I begin?"
Ren looked across the beach.
"Honestly?"
He gestured vaguely at everything.
"Start with whatever the hell this place is."
Takeru nodded.
"Fair."
And so, the explanation began.
Because Ren Calder had apparently stepped through a random purple portal…
and landed in the single universe where nothing was allowed to make sense.