"Talk to me about this depression you've been feeling."
Terri tells me, sitting back in a large office chair, me sitting in a smaller swivel chair.
"Do we really have to do this?"
"Damian says that your training can't continue with you in a depressed mood and he asked me to talk with you to ease this all out."
"Do I have a choice?"
"Of course. I can't actually hold you here."
I start to get up-
"But, Damian says if you do, the chance of you winning is almost zero percent."
I pause while half out of the seat, not sitting all the way back down.
"You ever think maybe he could just be making up those percentages? I mean, he's the only one who can really see different futures."
"I believe him enough. I'm not good at reading personalities, but since he showed up, his goal hasn't deviated a bit. He has a firm set plan to achieve those goals. In a way, he's a lot like you."
That gets me to sit down.
"Just because we both work towards our goals in the same way, doesn't make him like me. I mean, we don't even know why he really wants to stop whatever he's predicting. I never got the chance to ask him this, but I feel like he's the type that wants to fix the universe. Maybe, whatever this thing is is the next stage of the adventure. Maybe, he just wants to stop the fun."
"Has he ever given any indication that that's what he wants?"
"No. He just talks about defeating this great threat to the world. But, you could argue I was and maybe still am the great threat to the universe. Maybe, even, I'm who he wants to stop "
"We're getting off topic, this isn't about Damian."
"Then what's it about?"
"It's about the things you told me right before you broke the universe. The issues you never properly handled."
"I handled them. That spaceman was the result of me handling it."
"That spaceman was the result of you running away from your problem. You didn't solve anything, you just escaped because things got too hard for you. The truth is we can't just force the world to go our way when we're not happy with it. We need to reconcile with what is bothering us and learn to live with it."
"Bro, I literally forced the world to go my way. I'm proof that you don't have to reconcile or learn or do any of that crap."
"Yet, you're still not happy."
I can't hide the look of sad realization spreading across my face.
"Worse than that, you're depressed."
"I'm depressed because I wasn't allowed to do what I want to do."
"Things can't always be what you want to do. Even with a broken world and spacemen crash landing in our backyard, you still have to have some elements of reality. Peter Parker still needs to go to his job after fighting the Lizard."
"Bro, do you only know Spider-Man?"
"I don't read that many comic books. But the point still stands; elements of reality still exist. Even after the rules of the fictional world fully invade our world, there will still be elements of reality. In fact, I think it's a core element of your character that you always have to face reality."
"Why would you say that? You know that saying stuff like that is like cursing it to become true."
"Because it is true. Now, I'm not gonna be able to cure your depression in a single session, but you need to think about what real solutions you can come up with for your hatred of reality. Maybe then, we can work together to find some kind of compromise."
"I hate that word. The only people who compromise are those too weak to fight for what they truly want. They settle for the best they think they can get and still don't find happiness."
"Kind of like you right now?"
With that, Terri walks out of the room.