Chapter 6: The Man That Changes Reality

The wind blew softly, as the sun slowly but surely kissed the beautiful horizon. The sky was showering in an array of heart-wrenching colors.

It was a magnificent view, from a looming cliff, over a stretched-out ocean. The sea breeze smelled as fresh as ever.

A single, oak tree grew on the summit of the hill, and below it, sat two old friends: A teacher, and a student.

"So, this is still your favorite spot, huh?" The hooded man asked playfully, "You still haven't changed a bit, mate."

"Of course, master. You know I enjoy the little things in life, it's what you taught me." John laughrd. Then he sighed and stared out into the distance, "After such a long time... you finally came back."

"How long has it been?"

"Around thirty years."

"Only?" The hooded man faced John in surprise, "I thought it had been at least a century... Well, I guess if it were, I probably won't be seeing you now." He chuckled, then put a hand to his chin, "Come to think of it... what is the average life span of a person here? It's been quite a while."

"Most likely around the same as the people in the worlds you visit." John explained, "That is... if you are strong. If you're weak and can't defend yourself against those who ARE strong, then you're better off dead after the age of twenty..." He sighed, "I really dislike the systems here... It's really unfair towards those who were unlucky."

"This world... Every world is unfair. You can try to do something about it, but there will always be an imbalance." The hooded man stared off into the distance as well, "But it's not a bad imbalance... There will always be someone who suffers for someone else's success. That's normal. It's fundamental. It's necessary for the survival of The Ten Dimensions." He paused for a moment, as if recollecting something from a very long time ago. "I tried to change that once. Many times actually. And every time I did, it always tears itself apart instantly. No matter how fair I made it, no matter how peaceful it was, the world couldn't sustain itself for long. And everything came crashing down." His eyes became misty, "Trust me when I say this. There's no such thing as a fair utopia."

John tilted his head towards the hooded man with annoyed eyes, "Master, I didn't wait thirty years just to hear a depressing speech."

The hooded man laughed heartily, "Of course. Of course. I just started ranting because I saw the opportunity. I haven't done that in eons, feels good!"

John sighed sarcastically, "And you say I hadn't changed a bit. Please look in a mirror before you judge others."

The sun dipped lower and lower into the horizon. The sky lost its beautiful colors ever so slightly.

"Hey..." The hooded man finally remembered, "What ever happened to that boy I gave you?"

"You mean the boy you LEFT me?" John glared at the hooded man.

"Yep." He answered casually.

"Hah..." John sighed, "He's doing well. But I do wish that you had given me a heads-up about his power before just leaving him in my care."

"Hm?"

"He's extremely powerful. I can feel it." John explained, "And he's getting stronger, I doubt that even I can't control him if he continues to grow like this. Maybe give it three to five years."

The hooded man thought of something, "Do you think that he could beat me?"

"He's powerful, but not THAT powerful." John admitted, "He has the potential to destroy an entire solar system, most likely. But to destroy universes so casually like you do, I highly doubt so."

"That's a shame." The hooded man looked at the branches gently swaying in the wind, "I'm already running out of things to do. I've lived so long, I honestly wouldn't mind kicking the bucket soon." He joked.

John was silent for a moment, "... Do you really believe that there are entities out there who can beat someone like you?"

"There will always be an entity that is stronger than me. And another entity that's stronger than it." The hooded man philosophized, "It's an endless paradox. Like how I'm stronger than you, I believe there is someone stronger than me."

John stared at him for a second, then sighed, "Well, good luck in finding that entity. I doubt it'll be very easy."

The hooded man laughed, "Oh, you have NO IDEA, how hard it is!"

They continued chatting for a bit. Catching up on old times. The sun was almost completely lowere

"Speaking of Daniel..." John said, "Where'd you find him

"In a deserted world whose inhabitants tried to kill me. I think I was bored, so I killed them."

"Thanks for casually putting that out there." John remarked.

"No problem. But anyway, I found a small baby while in the midst of my massacre. I think he was being worshipped as a god or something, so I freed him, curious to see what would happen. Nothing much, the locals got even more angry, they tried harder to kill me, they failed. Just the usual. I wasn't in the mood to take care of another baby, and I didn't want to kill him. So yeah, he's here now."

"That's honestly a really messed-up backstory."

"Meh, it's a complete norm for me. You should see what I did a few million years ago. I conducted messed-up experiments like bringing the Trolley Problem to the next level, and testing how much pain can a single person take."

"Knowing you..." John rubbed his hands uncomfortably, "It was probably very painful..."

"I collected... interesting results." He admitted.

"Whatever... let's just change the subject." John thought of something else, "How long will you be staying this time."

"Honestly, I've pretty much settled on everything I wanted to settle. So I probably have three months or so..."

"A bit short for thirty years. But I guess I can't complain." John checked his wristwatch, "Actually, it's getting a bit late, I gotta go back for Daniel, he might get worried." He jumped to his feet.

The hooded man watched as John dusted himself off, "You know what...?"

"What?" He adjusted his tie."

"I wanna meet Daniel..."

--

I took another sip of coffee. Then set the cup back down on the counter.

"Pffff..." I blew out a puff of air. I laid lazily down on my bed, staring up to the ceiling with bored eyes.

It's been about three hours since John left to do... whatever he does. I dunno.

I so wanted to punch his face right about now. Oh just punch anyone's face for that matter.

Life's so unfair.

I couldn't believe that John just gave up on our fight. It was getting so interesting.

The more I thought about it, the more restless I became.

I want a rematch. And I want it n—

"Daniel." John barged into my room. "Please clean up, I want you to meet someone very special."

"Huh? What? Now?" I whined, "Do I really have to. Fight me first, if you win, then I'll—"

"It's nonnegotiable." He extended a hand towards my torso.

I suddenly felt an overwhelming force lift me up and dropped me down on my feet. "Woah!"

"C'mon. Quickly now. Chop. Chop." John clapped his hands twice.

I blinked, surprised. John barely used his Powers outside of the Simulation Room, "What are we doing?"

"Just follow me... I'll show you." John walked out of my room.

I stood there, speechless.

What just happened?

--

"We're almost there, just wait a minute." John explained.

I sat in the vehicle, bored. We were going away from town, towards the outskirts, which I wasn't really familiar with.

I had only been out here twice: The first, when I was three, when I discovered my Powers. The second when I was fourteen, the day after I first fought John.

And we always went to the same place.

I could tell we were getting close, despite the few times I had been there. But I was never mistaken.

I could smell the sea breeze blowing, and in spite of the night sky showering the land in darkness, I could see the familiar oak tree was getting closer and closer.

We finally stopped, and got out of the car.

The thick grass beneath me tickled the sides of my ankle, and the cold breezes made me shiver. I summoned a small flame in my hand to keep us warm and provide a bit of light.

"He's on top of the hill." John said.

"Who?" I asked.

"Go see for yourself."

I narrowed my eyes in annoyance and sighed. John could be really frustrating sometimes.

But I couldn't go against his word, so to the top of the hill I go.

With every passing step, I could feel this... presence... growing. It felt unnatural, unreal. Not even John could radiate this amount of... unpredictability.

I calculated as many possibilities as possible.

I braced myself for the worst.

And as I took that final step over the hill...

I saw an absolutely gigantic man.

He was just... huge.

He towered over me, at least an entire head taller. He was probably the tallest person I've ever seen.

But he was skinny, and looked quite weak. But I felt this feeling radiate from him.

He was powerful, very powerful.

In the dim light of my fire, I could see he was wearing a black or dark blue hoodie, with his hood draped over his head, I couldn't see his face.

He suddenly stretched out a hand towards me.

And...

"Hi Daniel!"

Huh?

"Wow, I can't believe that I am finally meeting you!" His voice wasn't as deep as I expected, he sounded like a teenager just like me.but he sounded a bit more playful. "It's an honor!"

"Huh?" I tilted my head in disgust, "And ho are you?"

"You don't know yet?" The hooded man asked, "I'm gonna be learning under your master!"

My eye widened. "But that would me—"

"Yep! We're gonna be fellow students!"