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Chapter 208: Broken Soul. Broken Family. Broken Mirror II
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Thus why Dr. Manhattan asked this question, "How are you alive when you're supposed to be dead? I can finally see it, your soul is fractured beyond repair..."
His soul was supposed to have been destroyed, so why does it look even more broken?
While his soul was very hidden before, it looks seeable to all now, or at least, that's what one might think.
What happened next made it clear that what Dr. Manhattan saw was not really his soul, but merely a reflection.
That became clear once Ian changed something in himself, resulting in his body fracturing like a broken mirror.
His once blurry body now looked like it was on the verge of breaking down, with cracks traveling through it, making it even more obscure.
He looked horrifying, getting further and further away from humanity. Perhaps he was never close to humanity in the first place. His father certainly didn't seem like a human.
The most interesting change however was well hidden. Very deep in his soul was the Mirror dimension. It's no longer dark as if the light switch was turned on.
Now it looked bright and fuzzy, well, more so confusing because the Mirror dimension looked broken, made solely of broken mirrors that reflect themselves.
Ian only showed Dr. Manhattan his broken self for a moment before returning to normal, and with that change, the mirror dimension changed as well.
It was no longer a broken mirror, but a vast mirror-like expanse that simply couldn't be explained with words. It was smooth, seeming like a single whole mirror, yet its dimensions were seemingly infinite.
At the very center of the Mirror Dimension, there was a bright rose. It only had ten blooming petals, but it was very much different from the Death Rose he used to have before.
The Death Rose was no longer on his back because its true form bloomed. In the Dark Mirror World, there was a dark object in the center. That was the Rose, and it only bloomed once he recovered.
This one, however, was exponentially different because while there was only one Rose, there was numerous reflection of it throughout the Mirror World.
Normally, that wouldn't signify multiple Roses, but in his nonsensical World, it does which means the capability to potentially control numerous Death Roses at the same time.
That was his goal all along, his current incomprehensible state. Despite that, the Death Rose wasn't his main source of power. It was merely a side effect of his true power, a force he developed to fight True Death.
The full extent of his power doesn't make any sense as he took a step and escaped the Multiverse along with Dr. Manhattan.
It was finally time to face what was waiting for him outside... The beast.
"I want to say it took you a while, but it happened in the blink of an eye."
Right as they stepped into the voice, they heard a sweet but exhausting voice reverberate around.
"Death, lovely to finally meet you." Ian smiled as he eyed someone or something he was very much looking forward to meeting.
Floating before him was Death of the endless, the personification of Death. She looked rather lovely for being Death, in Ian's eyes at least.
She had an exquisite gothic style with solely black clothes, tightly fitting around her slim pale body. Her hair was inky, looking incredibly silky, flowing just a bit beneath her shoulders.
Exhaustion was very much apparent on her lovely face as she floated into Ian's arms, and went to sleep with a yawn, "I'm sleepy."
And Ian gladly held her in his arms with a smile. She was after all a key piece in the success of his plans.
"I feel toyed with." The other individual around spoke calmly, a middle-aged man gentleman wearing a bowler hat, dark suit, umbrella, and with a gray mustache.
"You shouldn't. You allowed this to happen out of the kindness of your heart, so thank you." Ian smiled and kindly shook his head.
Before him was the Presence, the ultimate creator, the Source of all things, God. The Presence has taken numerous forms throughout history and has many aspects, including The Voice, The Hand, and The Source.
He's all of them at the same time, the one who pulls the string which is why it's very odd to hear this from him, "Everything went out of hand. I had no control over my own home."
He truly seemed depressed because since Ian appeared in this world, things went south very quickly.
Almost instantly, a beast lunged at his world, threatening to erase his Multiverse. Moreover, the beast was too monstrous even for him to the point he could only defend.
And he would've failed even at that if not for Death intervening, and telling him the way to stop it. It's by focusing the beast's rage towards a certain point, Ian Rose.
That way, Ian could resist the beast's attacks without the Multiverse suffering. As a consequence, Death started becoming stronger by the second to the point she was almost stronger than him by this point.
How? Because of Ian. The way his power works makes it so all Death creatures benefit from his existence just like Nekron.
What was unknown to Nekron, however, was the fact that he was digesting only the residue of what Death of the endless was devouring.
In the hierarchy of Death, Nekron was an ant, so Death of the Endless had priority, and she used it fully to rise to her current level and help the presence stop the beast in its tracks.
The beast couldn't do anything against Ian, so could the presence hope to have any effect? Perhaps not because he knew better than the try.
And he had his suspicion, but it really seemed like Death was in coalition with Ian, serving to help him achieve whatever it was he wanted to achieve.
"I see the strings, but is it truly you that's pulling the strings I see?" Dr. Manhattan asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
"There is always someone or something higher... As far as I can see at least," The presence's answer was vague as he let out a sigh and added, "I'm out to go. I have a son to talk to."
Dr. Manhattan did nothing but observe everything with his emotionless eyes. Deep inside though, he was happy for going through such an incomprehensible experience because he thought he lost that chance after becoming the thing he is today.
He could already see a significant portion of Ian's plan, and it already feels very incomprehensible to him.
He had to choose a world where things would go exactly the way they did. The chances of that happening seem to be close to Zero, yet Ian must've made some tweaks to make sure everything goes perfectly.
The beast had to hate him. It can't be smart, but it can't be stupid either. It also has to be blinded by its rage to a certain extent, and its rage has to last for long.
Moreover, the beast had to be exactly strong enough to keep the presence's attention, but also not too strong as to not outright destroy the Multiverse along with the presence.
And this was only for the things he sees. Let alone the countless variables Ian must've calculated to make sure everything worked out.
Such as, "What have you done to make it like that?" Dr. Manattan wondered as he eyed the massive beast who seemed to be afraid like it had PTSD just from Ian glancing at it.
The beast was quite cute, a disgusting yellow squid-like creature, seeming extremely sticky and gooey. In fact, Ian chose it exactly because of how cute it was so as to not feel bad about what he did.
"I just put its kids to rest about a few trillion times in front of its eyes while it was powerless..." Ian shrugged as his eyes lined up with those of the beast, making it shrink in horror.
However, its agony and wrath were strong enough to make it rise again, and glare at Ian with pure eerie hate.
"Why are you mad?" Ian wondered with a sweet smile, ready to show the result of his plans. The true extent of his powers.