Powerup

Bruce had no idea what was happening to him. In fact, not even the most powerful beings could have guessed what was happening to him. The reason being that the Manhattan Project was not at the stage that it would have made Dr Manhattan! Bruce had got in too early and the outcome would have been his total molecular annihilation. However, Bruce had one thing that nobody would have guessed he had, a 'get out of jail free' wish.

Basically, the wish would defy logic on his behalf just once. But once is all he needed to become one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Dr Manhattan would later describe his coming into power as 'the most logic defying feat in all of creation' once he saw the past.

First, Bruce got his consciousness. His consciousness would be described as having evolved to a point it could no longer be explained. He could feel his molecules scattered all around the continent. Even if they were damaged, he could feel them and know, he could recall them. But, what's the point of having all this power and yet having the same old body. So, he called forth the power he felt most comfortable using at his stage, molecular manipulation.

Molecular manipulation would make even an idiot the most sky level god in the universe and a genius would use it to become a multiversal entity. The first thing he did was create his nerves system from nothing. It was the most excruciating pain he had felt so far, having all nerves, feeling what they felt when exposed to the air. But, pain is the best motivator for success and he soldiered through all of it.

When all the nerves created, he decided to embue a certain energy he felt all across the universe, the connective energy. It was the energy made up of Super-celestials and it was the cause of birth of multiverse. He decided to be greedy about it and absorbed large amounts of the energies and strengthened his nerves for about ten days. By then, the nerves had started to shine blue in colour and the space around them was starting to distort!

When he figured that was enough, he then made his skeletal structure, making himself taller than he was before. The skeleton stood at 1.99m. Height has been known to be a deterrence factor in fights in history. It is both intimidating and awe-inspiring, a form of psychological battle if one may think about it. It's also the reason that comic authors prefer to make their characters tall hunks of muscles. Look at Darkseid, he is a huge motherfucker and he is one of the most powerful beings in DC. In fact, one can look at the entire most powerful beings and conclude that the short ones could be counted with one hand.

As before, Bruce absorbed vast amount of connective energy and strengthened his structure. This time, it took twenty days before he felt he had his fill. By then, the space around him was not even space but a distortion in time, that was the power he had in him. Now, it was time to make his muscles. His skeleton and nerves started been covered by blue coloured muscles slowly and excruciatingly painful. Bruce felt the urge to stop but he thought of what he was at the moment, nothing but consciousness. He might be powerful, but that could not help him in the long run. He needed a powerful body to go with his consciousness.

So, he soldiered through all the pain till he was covered by muscles. He had no body fat, duh, and his imagination had grown wild to a point his muscles were lean but very pronounced. The most eye catching factor was the ten abdominal muscles showing in his stomach. Before he decided to absorb the connective energy once again, he decided to make his organs. He decided the most important ones would be his skin, nose, ears, mouth, lungs, brain and perhaps stomach if he needed to keep appearances and eat.

Once they were all there, he absorbed the energy once again, forming a cocoon of sorts. Day in day out, the amount he absorbed became to a level the entire universe was shaking. In fact, Dr Manhattan had already been born by the time he was at the latter stages of his final evolution and he could feel him. Curious, he came to the folded space Bruce had hidden and his eyes sparkled at the sight in front of him. It was like he was looking at his siblings for they were made in the same way yet he could feel the vast amount of energy Bruce had exceeded his in the most unusual way.

A month of curious observation and finally, the cocoon with colours no mind could comprehend finally broke apart and he saw the most magnificent display of specimen he had ever saw. The most curious part was he could see his past but not his future! This was the first time this had ever happened and he was fully welcoming it. The being in front of him took the appearance of a human, 1.99m tall, naked, blue skinned and bald, just like himself. The residue energies around him was absorbed by him in an instant and now, the two of them were just staring at each other. Yet, they were communicating with so much words it would be impossible to even record.

"Hello, Dr Osterman," Bruce greeted the being in front of him.

"Dr Osterman is a distant past, the same for your past as Bruce Smith," Dr Manhattan stated as gently as he always does. Bruce chuckled at this before stretching his both hands and a miniature figure of him as human Bruce appeared on his left hand and on his right a miniature figure of himself now.

"I am Bruce and I am me. There is no conflict in my two identities because I know who I am. That's the reason why my humanity is still contact and your, on the other, is cracking. I would suggest that you should not stay here for too long least the last bit of your humanity erodes," he said before a black hole appeared behind him and he flew into it. The black hole collapsed as soon as he was gone but Dr Manhattan had not register it.

"My humanity is cracked?" he questioned himself before playing back his memories. His eyes widened as he came to realize just how true those words were, he was slowly becoming apathetic towards humans to a point he was finding difficulties in seeing the difference between two or more humans. Sure, he could see the differences, see how their entire structure was made up different from the others, but at the same time, he always had the conclusion that they were all humans and thus, not that different.

"Am I becoming mentally insane?" he asked himself finally.