Mutant Pizza

PANEL ONE
Dog’s back is up against the trunk of the Oak Tree.
DOG: Do you ever get tired of multiverse stories in media?

PANEL TWO
Cat stands, glancing in the same direction as Dog.
CAT: Of course not! The multiverse is the ultimate form of storytelling.

PANEL THREE
A superhero that resembles a muscular version of Dog, named “Main Dork (#616)” poses confidently next to his grave, which has been crossed out by the omnipotent red correction pen.
DOG (OUT OF PANEL): I feel like those types of stories create an atmosphere where nothing happens.
DOG (OUT OF PANEL, CONT): There are no stakes!

PANEL FOUR
Back at the tree, Cat clenches her fist in the name of righteous storytelling.
CAT: That’s why they’re so good!

PANEL FIVE
A picture of Cat’s face is lazily taped over the money-maker of the superhero formally known as Main Dork, the red correction pen god having crossed out the word “Dork,” writing “Cool Dude” under.
CAT (OUT OF PANEL): They’re the ultimate crowd pleasers, giving audiences exactly what they want in a ‘vote by marketing data and internet mob’ fashion.

PANEL SIX
Dog waves their arm, further marking their indignant disposition.
DOG: That takes all the creativity and humanity out of a story, making it a soulless profit maximizing travesty.
DOG (CONT): Then we wonder why Hollywood lacks originality.

PANEL SEVEN
Cat, or someone who looks a lot like Cat but with white stripes against the orange fur of their arms and legs, devilishly smirks while retrieving something sinister from their backside.
CAT (OFF PANEL): Yeah, it’s great! If you hate something, you can whine about it on the Internet until some executive change it through the multiverse.
CAT (OFF PANEL): But there are some stories that excel at using the multiverse to drive their tales in exciting directions.

PANEL EIGHT
A very Dog-looking dog, but with a white tooth shape on their black belly in place of the star, rests against a very Oak Tree-looking tree. This better not be some half-baked “Mirror Universe” subplot meant to kill a complex topic for the sake of time.
DOG (OFF PANEL): I recognize that. There are stories that don’t lean on it as a crutch, rather–

PANEL NINE
The Cat, we’ll call them “Mirror Universe Cat” blasts the Dog, we’ll call them “Dog,” with twin laser pistols.
MIRROR UNIVERSE CAT: Eat laser, enemy!

PANEL TEN
Cat and Dog watch this through a portal. Mirror Universe Cat trods off towards the horizon; Dog (The one in the Mirror Universe that we are still calling “Dog”) is a pile of smoldering ash — his lavender collar resting atop the pyramid of his new dead form.
DOG: Glad we decided not to jump through this random portal.
CAT: I wish we had laser guns like that in this universe.

THE END.