Simon's eyebrows arched with that answer, his curiosity increasing along with his distrust. Now, he definitely wanted to know who was the person talking to him.
[ Before you ask any questions, let's go to a quieter place so we can talk better ]
Click!
Simon could swear he heard something similar with the noise of a door opening, and in the blink of an eye, he was no longer in his room. Now, he was in what he thought was a park. There were trees and concrete passages everywhere, animals and people scattered in random directions and a fountain in the background. But there was something in that environment that caught Simon's attention.
First, absolutely everything in that place was gray. The people, the animals and even the water from the fountain, everything had a morbid and cold shade of gray. That is, all apart from him, who was the only colorful thing in that place.
Second, everything, except him, was completely stopped. It wasn't that he was moving slowly, they were completely devoid of movement, as if they were just extremely realistic statues. Not even the birds in the sky were spared from this, being paralyzed in the air while defying gravity.
And the third, but less important, was silence. Most likely due to the fact that everything and everyone was paralyzed, there was not a single sound in that place. The only one Simon heard was the sound of his heart beating in his chest, which showed how quiet that place was.
Probably teleportation. Simon had already dealt with enough things to identify certain powers or meta-abilities, so he understood that probably the person he was talking to also had the ability to teleport or had some spatial ability. How much for the paralyzed people and the gray environment? It could very well be an illusion or mental trick to scare him.
And honestly? It would take much more than that to scare someone who has already been in front of the Darkside and survived to tell the story.
[Not arrogant at all]
There she was, that voice again. But this time, she wasn't coming straight from Simon's head, but from behind him. The person he talked to mentally a short time ago was after him.
Simon slowly turned towards the voice. He wasn't scared or worried, at least not so much. From your experience, if someone is after you and doesn't attack you right away, either you are dealing with someone very powerful or someone very naive. In both cases, Simon was confident because even now with his child's body, he still had an advantage of being face to face with the mysterious person.
When his eyes landed on the owner of the voice, the figure he saw was very different from what Simon expected. Instead of a man or a woman, what was in front of him was a semi-transparent humanoid silhouette, which emitted a slight navy blue glow that covered his entire body.
What drew most attention was that in the place where their "eyes" should be, there were two bright white spheres without pupils or sclera. Still, Simon could feel that the figure was looking directly at him.
The unusual appearance didn't scare Simon at all. Was he surprised? Maybe a little, but he was far from feeling threatened. He had already seen beings with much more grotesque appearances.
"First of all, let me introduce myself" The strange but already familiar voice of the figure brought Simon back to reality and made him focus on what she said "You can call me Z, it has no specific meaning, but it already serves to refer to me"
Z, as if he called himself the thing in front of him, extended his hand towards Simon, probably wanting a handshake. It was a respectful and friendly greeting, and in any other circumstance, Simon would probably have accepted the squeeze, but this time he didn't shake Z's hand.
He didn't trust Z and had enough reasons for that. In the few minutes that have passed since he realized that he was back in time, Z was the first person who spoke to Simon, someone who already knew him, someone who knew that he had somehow gone back in time and someone who claimed to have the answers to his questions. The simple fact that the first person he "met" was someone who already knew all this was a very absurd coincidence.
And if there was something Simon hated more than anything, it was coincidences.
"You're thinking too much" Said Z with his strange and broken voice "A coincidence or two are good for the lives of human beings"
"Stop reading my mind" Simon ordered with a firm voice.
To his irritation, Z just kept looking at him as if he were some beggar asking for money. Even without appearing to have a mouth, Simon knew that Z was smiling now.
"Won't you ask how I'm doing this? Won't you bother at all that someone is reading your thoughts? "Z asked as if he were a child.
"You are not the first and unfortunately you will not be the last telepath to read my mind. At this point, I already expect this from anyone with psychic powers near me " Simon replied not making a point of hiding his annoyance " But enough of small talk. Who are you really and what's going on now? "
Simon didn't want to waste time with Z's jokes. In other words, he didn't have time to waste time with Z. There were too many things happening to him at once, and he still hadn't had time to process everything.
If Z had the answers he wanted, then Simon would listen without complaining. If not, he would just find a way to leave and never cross paths with that fool again.
Having most likely read his thoughts, Z let out a laugh and made a small gesture for Simon to sit next to him. Without much he could do, Simon just accepted.
Sitting there, with his back leaning against a tree and his legs stretched out, Simon momentarily admired the frozen landscape before turning back to Z, who now seemed more serious.
"Tell me..." Z paused, probably to let the phrase gain weight " Do you believe in God? "This question left Simon unanswered.
He was someone who believed in many things. No, he didn't believe it, he was absolutely sure that these things existed and he had already seen and felt them.
During the time he worked for Waller and ARGUS, he had glimpses of the most supernatural and mystical side of the world, as well as several discoveries about the aliens and other strange things that inhabited the earth.
He had captured demons, talked to magicians, deciphered languages and studied objects of alien origin, and many other things. So, yes, Simon Drewler definitely believed in God. After all, if there were demons and a hell, there must also be Heaven and angels.
"Yes, I believe" He replied after pondering a little, only to see Z nodding his head.
"This makes things easier" Said Z with a strange tone of relief "What happened to you was that a 'God' decided to give you a new chance"
Simon's eyes widened with that revelation, his heartbeat accelerating and his brain having difficulty processing the sudden information.
"A God? " Simon asked incredulously, even though he already had the answer to this question.
"Yes, my creator to be more precise" Z replied, only making Simon more surprised.
"Are you an Angel? "
"No" Z replied calmly, totally ignoring Simon's surprise and panic "My creator is different from the God you are thinking now. He is God, a very powerful one, but he is different from the God of this world " He said without caring about Simon's reaction.
Hearing all this, Simon forced himself to stay calm. He couldn't exalt himself, not now, he needed to be focused.
Closing, Simon began to perform slow and long breaths, while simultaneously making his brain all the negative thoughts for now to focus on them later.
After a few minutes, he finally calmed down and returned to focus on Z, who did nothing and just waited for Simon to calm down.
"And what made your creator choose me among so many people who exist in this world? " Asked Simon wanting to get to the main point of the issue.
"Nothing" Z replied in the simplest way possible "You were simply the first soul he saw, and he decided to choose you. Simple as that. If he had seen any other soul, then someone else would be in this same situation that you find yourself "
In short, Simon was lucky to be the first thing on the radar of a divine being. He didn't know if this was good or bad.
"How will I know you're telling the truth? "Simon asked, wanting to close the matter for good.
"It depends on you. I know I'm telling the truth, at least my truth. Whether you believe it or not, the choice is yours " Z replied without showing any emotion other than a little fun.
Simon fixed his gaze for a few seconds, before just sighing and leaning back more on the tree.
He had already accepted that he was not dreaming or hallucinating, since the whole experience was very real, at a level that not even the best telepaths could replicate.
He had really gone back in time, he was in the past now, he was a child again. He had the chance to change his destiny, to finally fix his mistakes and have his "happy ending"
This was a chance that many wanted, and Simon was having this chance now.
... But something didn't seem right.
"I would eventually find out where and when I was, so it was unnecessary for you to call me just to say that. And if it was just to tell me that it was your creator who gave me a new chance, then you could have already dismissed me before " Simon said no to himself, but to the person next to him " That is, there is something else in this situation " He said ending his reasoning.
Z just stood there, with no reaction.
"Tell me, what else do you have to say about this 'new chance' I received? Because as far as I know, everything good comes with a price " He asked now looking directly at Z.
Z turned to Simon, his eyes crossing for a moment. Simon's determined and interrogative eyes with Z's empty and expressionless eyes. For a moment, Simon felt that a fight was about to begin.
But to his relief, Z just let out a small laugh and a cyan blue sphere appeared next to him, with strange images starting to pass through it.
"You're right, there's a little thing I need to tell you" Said Z looking at the sphere "Even though he had enough power for that, my creator found the idea of sending you to your old world too boring, so he sent you here" Said Z with clear spirit in his voice.
"For here? " Questioned Simon without understanding.
"In a nutshell, another universe. A universe similar to yours, but with some changes " Said Z still focusing on the sphere.
"How similar? "Completely ignoring the different part of the universe, Simon just wanted to know how similar his new universe was to the old one.
"The events are the same, following almost the same sequence as in your old universe. BUT, there are some new things you should pay attention to "
Only that Simon could question, Z gestured for him to look at the sphere, which Simon just did without questioning.
In the sphere, several different images began to appear in sequence, each one more distinct from the other.
Images of a man in a blue, white and red uniform wearing a shield with a star in the center.
Images of a man with long blond hair wearing a flying armor while holding a hammer with a very disproportionate size.
Images of a giant green monster destroying war tanks while passing over entire battalions.
And more and more images of figures that Simon had never seen. With each image, there were more questions to which Simon had no answer.
"In this new universe, in addition to the heroes and villains you already know, there are also new... 'characters' you've never seen before" Said Z with a certain joy "New heroes, new villains, new conflicts..."
"New problems," Simon added.
"Extactly" Said Z making the sphere disappear "But along with these new problems for you to face, my creator also decided to give you a gift"
"What? "
The moment he asked, 7 floating spheres appeared around Simon, all with a vibrant and flashy glow, having respectively the colors red, green, gold, purple, white, blue and yellow.
"This is your gift" Said Z taking Simon out of his trance "Each of these spheres represents a power that you will carry with you in this new life, and to which you will have total control and autonomy to decide how to use. But remember, you can only choose one " Said Z clapping his hands.
Simon stood there, looking paralyzed, not knowing what to do or how to react.
"Now, Simon Drewler, please choose your new power"