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Chapter 192: Monsters III
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"I'll accelerate time a bit because otherwise, those things will take a few months to take effect." Dr. Manhattan murmured, and his words were brought to reality an instant later.
And soon, a friendly neighbor arrived, The Green Martian, or as he calls himself, the Martian Manhunter.
He flew from Earth to Neptune and landed exactly before Ian and Dr. Manhattan. The universe, most often than not, wants the Earth to survive. It's the natural order of most universes like they are revolving around the Earth. Destiny wants its survival, so it wasn't too unexpected for the people of Earth to be the first ones to detect the viruses.
That's especially odd considering Ian spread the virus throughout space, on different sides of the universe, yet they noticed it first before anyone even died from it.
That's even weirder considering there are many civilizations throughout the universe many times more advanced than Earth.
Not just that, the heroes of Earth detected Ian and Dr. Manhattan by pure coincidence, and they sent the Martian Manhunter because of his ability to phase through everything.
They took into consideration the danger of these two beings, so they sent him as he can escape better than anyone if things go awry.
Furthermore, the Heroes of Earth associated the two monsters with the viruses they detected. They were not sure, but there was a high possibility the two were responsible for those viruses.
Yet even Earth's greatest minds were only able to detect two viruses, the biological one and the Magical one. Some, however, theorized that there could be a third that combines the two, but it wasn't found.
The curse, on the other hand, went over everyone's head. No one saw it coming. No one detected... Despite it being the most widespread.
And now, as the Martian Manhunter found himself standing before the two monsters, he found himself shaken.
His eyes trailed across Dr. Manhattan, noting that the latter's attention was never on him as if he doesn't exist, almost like he was considering him nothing but a bug.
The being had a blue glowing skin for christ's sake. That's enough reason for the Martian to be cautious.
The other person on the other hand was even weirder despite looking a bit normal, a handsome young man, seeming to be in his late twenties.
He was adorned in classy white clothes, complemented by two earrings in the shape of rings, Black Roses.
Nothing peculiar so far. The only odd things about him were the staff hovering behind him, and the slime-like thing acting like a cute dog around him.
He really didn't look too dangerous at all, but the Martian felt fear for some unknown reason as if the fears hidden deep in him were being devoured.
"What do you want?" Ian asked as he stood up. He found Neptune to be quite lovely, very cold and chilly, sounds like a good vacation to him.
"I... May I know who you are?" The Martian took a formal approach as he asked, not wanting to stir up things if unnecessary.
"Terrorists... Wait, I meant tourists, just here on a vacation." Ian said as he let out a yawn, his attention turning to Dr. Manhattan, "I have a theory to test. Take us to the realm of Nekron."
Instantly, before the Martian can respond, Ian and Dr. Manhattan vanished, leaving confused, 'Was he just messing around with me? Do beings like them misspeak? And who, or what is Nekron?'
The Martian had many doubts that he wanted to solve, but he was at least relieved that nothing went wrong... Yet.
The thing that bothered him most was the location of the so-called realm of Nekron because if the ones to release the viruses were truly those two, then solving the problem might involve finding them.
The two monsters on the other hand were treating everything like a puzzle game to be solved, "Hmm, it's very peculiar, isn't it?"
"It is peculiar. I just wonder what are the limits." Dr. Manhattan noted. He and Ian were hovering in the middle of nothingness, literal darkness.
"So this is why my universe's Nekron was able to escape his realm and save me?" Ian remarked, remembering his first meeting with his universe's Nekron.
The Death monster emerged from his realm right before Ian only to be sent back within due to the clash with Darkseid's main ship, moving at a speed incomprehensible to most beings.
And now, Ian's eyes can see another Nekron far away. It wasn't the same Nekron he had met before. The one before him was vastly weaker, and Nekron seems to be in something akin to hibernation.
"It didn't intend to save you. It was a coincidence or the doing of your own power. I sense it, still getting stronger at all times. Let this Nekron be a point of comparison." Dr. Manhattan stated.
"Is it because of my Death Force? My Death? The Death I cause?" Ian contemplated the odd effects of his power, but he didn't dwell on it for long. The answer will come with time, "Let's accelerate the universe again."
Nekron felt nothing but constant growth, remaining unaware of the preying eyes, studying him like a guinea pig.
If Dr. Manhattan doesn't want someone to know something, they will not know. Honestly, Ian felt like he was cheating at the moment, carrying such a cheat code with him.
Ian observed the many places across the realm of the unliving, the space that holds Nekron's army of the dead, and the lands of the dead. The realm was horrifying, existing simply for his sake.
There was no rest for the dead here, only slavery for eternity. Nekron was after all purely evil unlike the Death of the endless.
'Stop dying huh?' Ian remembered someone telling him that long ago, and he has only started to understand what that meant, "I have to find Death of the endless."
"Impossible for now," Dr. Manhattan stated, and added, "It doesn't exist. The other endless do not know her whereabouts."
"I know. I was told that by Dream of the endless long ago. Her disappearance coincided with my awakening, I should say. I do wonder though, is she benefiting from my existence too? If so, we can find her by tracing that connection." Ian concluded.
Death. The fear of many. The desire of some. The destiny of most. It's never been more prevalent than now. The universe started dying out, but no one was able to stop it.
Such are the powers of the Force of evolution. Ian used that force to evolve those parasitic viruses to such a degree he created a force capable of a universal scale of annihilation.
The Slow Death of the universe brought on dispair as every single being watched the universe die out, and there was no light at the end of the tunnel to save them, there was only death.
"Monsters... Who would've thought that I despair would ever see such a level of despair? But those monsters don't see it. I'ts but a... It's lovely, but it's also scary."
Despair, one of the endless. It is both lord and personification of all Despair and Hope. Despair saw no hope in this universe at all.
Despair spoke with some of the other endless, and understood a lot about Ian, but it was only now that Despair saw how fast this unknown creature could go.
All of the endless came to that same conclusion. Ian and Dr. Manhattan were two sides of the same coin, both monsters the likes of which the world have never been seen before.