Charlie closed his eyes for a moment, and a sensation like rebirth flooded over him. When he opened his eyes again, his skin glowed with a faint, unusual blue, and his irises had disappeared, leaving his eyes pure white. He examined his transformed body and couldn't help but marvel. It felt entirely different from anything he'd ever experienced.
Dr. Manhattan, often nicknamed the "Big Blue D," was famous for transcending human limitations and performing acts of godlike power. However, he was also known for his unconventional choice to forgo clothing, viewing such concepts as beneath him. Charlie decided not to imitate that particular trait, finding it too awkward and indecent. He didn't need to strip to feel the difference in this new form.
This transformation wasn't like his past upgrades, which had given him immediate boosts of strength, speed, or agility. Those changes felt like a flood of energy pouring into his body, making him feel stronger and faster. This time, it wasn't about strength at all. It was like a light had been turned on inside his mind, illuminating everything he had never been able to see or understand before. It was as though his senses, once dulled by limitations, had been sharpened to a degree so extreme that they reached beyond the natural world.
For the first time, Charlie felt he could truly see and understand his place in the vastness of the universe. He didn't just look at the stars—he felt them, as though their light pulsed directly through his being. He could hear the subtle hum of the cosmic background and even sense the vibrations of particles dancing at the quantum level.
Even compared to the powers of Superman, which he had experienced before, this was something else entirely. Superman's abilities gave him superhuman perception; he could see molecules, hear whispers across vast distances, and observe things invisible to the human eye. But what Charlie felt now went far beyond just seeing and hearing. It wasn't just an observation of the universe—it was the ability to interact with it, to reshape it, to control it.
Dr. Manhattan was widely considered one of the most powerful beings ever portrayed in superhero stories. His abilities included seeing the past, present, and future simultaneously, manipulating time and space, disintegrating matter, creating objects out of thin air, rewriting reality, and even controlling the thoughts of others. These were just the abilities shown in movies and comics; the full extent of his power was left to the imagination. In DC's Doomsday Clock, Dr. Manhattan's power grew even more absurd, allowing him to erase entire characters from history, manipulate timelines, and casually traverse multiverses as if they were playgrounds.
As the transformation completed, Charlie stood quietly for a moment, adjusting to this overwhelming sense of control and awareness. Friday, his trusty AI assistant, finally broke the silence.
"I'm afraid I won't be much help to you in this fight, sir," she admitted. "Dr. Manhattan's abilities are beyond my calculations."
Charlie smiled gently. "Don't worry, Friday. Just wait here. I'll handle it."
For the first time, Charlie was stepping onto the battlefield himself, leaving the comfort of commanding from behind the scenes. He took a deep breath, and with a single thought, the world around him changed.
The scene shifted abruptly. One moment he was in his command room, and the next, he stood in the void of space. He was surrounded by the wreckage of countless warships, their broken remains floating silently like a graveyard of destruction. Bits of metal and debris hung frozen in the darkness, illuminated only by the faint light of distant stars.
Charlie realized he hadn't consciously decided to teleport—his new abilities had done it instinctively. Unlike traditional teleportation, where someone moves from one place to another, this was different. Charlie hadn't moved at all. Instead, he had shifted the universe around him. It was as though he had turned the universe like a giant wheel until the battlefield was placed directly under his feet.
The realization sent a chill down even his own spine. He hadn't just gained new abilities—he had become something entirely beyond human comprehension. Every breath he took, every small movement of his thoughts, now had the power to alter reality itself.
The enemy forces quickly noticed his sudden arrival. The remnants of their fleet, still reeling from their earlier losses, reacted with panic and overwhelming force. Beams of energy, kinetic missiles, and strange alien weapons lit up the darkness as they fired everything they had at him.
The starry void became a dazzling display of light and power, every shot aimed directly at Charlie. Yet, he stood calmly in the center of the chaos, unmoving.
As the firepower closed in on him, Charlie raised his hand.
Everything froze.
The energy blasts, projectiles, and invisible forces aimed at him halted mid-flight, suspended in the void like a painting frozen in time. Scientists aboard the enemy ships screamed in confusion and disbelief. Every law of physics they had relied on was being shattered before their eyes. Charlie wasn't just deflecting their attacks—he was dismantling them at a fundamental level, rewriting the rules of reality to suit his will.
He looked at the swirling chaos of destruction and waved his hand. The suspended weapons and energy beams disintegrated into harmless particles, scattering into the void like dust in the wind.
The enemy forces stared in stunned silence. No one could comprehend what they had just witnessed. For centuries, they had mastered advanced weaponry, building tools of destruction that had conquered entire galaxies. But none of it mattered here. Against Charlie, armed with Dr. Manhattan's powers, their technology was nothing more than toys.
Charlie spoke softly, but his voice carried a weight that made it feel as if the entire universe was listening.
"Science," he said, "is whatever I decide it to be."
With that, he stepped forward, leaving the wreckage of their attacks behind as he prepared to deliver judgment.