To be honest, even for Black Adam, seeing the current forms of Wonder Woman and Shazam made his teeth ache.
Looking at Wonder Woman, whose half-body had been rebuilt with gleaming cybernetics, and Shazam, whose limbs now pulsed with magical constructs, Black Adam couldn't imagine what kind of suffering they must've endured.
After all… they were gods.
The divine energy flowing through their veins was enough to command even his respect. And yet now, they looked like this—half-man, half-machine... broken but standing.
"We probably don't look anything like what you remember," Shazam stepped forward, his eyes complex as he looked at Black Adam. "But don't worry—we're here to help."
In Shazam's own world, there had been a Black Adam too, but he had fallen when the Paradooms arrived. So not just Black Adam—even Shazam felt emotional seeing this version of the man he once knew.
"Save the reunion for later. Clark needs our help," Wonder Woman said, drawing her enchanted sword. She looked up toward the sky, toward the monstrous Shadow Demons blanketing the horizon.
Hearing her, the others quickly fell into formation, weapons drawn, their gazes locked on the dark sky and the titan looming above them.
"A pathetic band of insects, barely surviving by huddling together in fear—and you dare speak of defying anti-matter itself? You have no idea how many universes are being wiped out as we speak beneath the crushing weight of the Anti-Matter Wall…"
The Anti-Monitor sneered, staring coldly at Superman Clark, who floated nearby. The others didn't matter to him—but this Kryptonian… the power in his body was unlike anything he'd seen.
"And you don't know how powerful we are together, Anti-Monitor!" Clark clenched his fists, his gaze fierce.
"You? You're nothing but a Kryptonian."
Before the Anti-Monitor could finish, a flash blazed through the clouds—a meteor streaking across the sky, radiating black and crimson energy. The oppressive aura immediately seized everyone's attention.
Black Canary stared, stunned, as the figure tore through lightning as if it were standing still, stopping mid-air directly in front of the Anti-Monitor.
"How about counting me in too?"
Sensing this sudden threat, the Anti-Monitor's eyes narrowed in alarm.
Such overwhelming power. Even as a being of the Anti-Matter Universe, he had never encountered such violent, surging energy in any lifeform before. This was not something a normal being could contain.
When his eyes focused, he saw it clearly—black hair, blood-red suit.
A moment of shock—then recognition.
"You!?"
He knew this man. This was the one who once radiated golden energy—the one he had already infected with the Anti-Life Equation, feeding the darkness in his soul. So why—?
"I should thank you," said Sentry, his voice calm, watching the Anti-Monitor.
"If it weren't for you… I never would've fully grasped this power. But now—finally…"
Sentry clenched his fist—
"I'm whole."
"So this is your trump card?"
In a quiet bar across reality, the Watcher stared into his drink, lips curling into a dry smile.
"Power born from the energy of a million exploding suns... But you know this, don't you? The Sentry isn't omnipotent. In some universes, yes—he's conquered time and space. He's destroyed multiverses with ease. But that's only in some. He can never truly achieve that, because—"
"Because he's bound by the rules," said Alex, sitting across from him, finishing the Watcher's sentence. "Or maybe... corrupted by some higher, fundamental source of decay."
The Watcher chuckled.
"Seems you understand more than most."
Alex didn't reply. He simply lowered his gaze and took a sip of his white wine.
Even for someone like Alex, who had seen more than his share of power levels that defied logic, this was far from surprising. After all, even beings like Lucifer and Michael, for all their might, were just brawlers in the alleys of Supernatural Universe. A "trillion-degree fireball"? Sounds impressive—until you realize it's barely enough to shatter a windowpane.
Likewise, a fully-realized Sentry did possess the theoretical power to destroy the multiverse—but he would never actually do it. The upper-layer corruption—those unseen authorial forces—would never allow it. Like Doctor Manhattan, Sentry existed only to keep the narrative going.
But—
"That's already enough. Your plan will never succeed. The existence of the Sentry proves it. Don't you get it yet?"
Alex looked at the Watcher, his tone laced with sarcasm.
"You have no idea what I truly desire. As a higher-dimensional being, how could someone like you understand what I'm after?"
The Watcher found Alex's gaze irritating. His voice chilled.
"Your Earth… is the defining axis of all existence. Even when we speak of the 'Prime Universe,' the 'Main Timeline,' or 'Origin Earth,' they're all just lies we tell ourselves. Counterfeits."
"So?" Alex frowned. "What are you really trying to say?"
"That fakes shouldn't exist. If our world is ever going to be truly free, we must destroy this warped balance."
"Destroy it? And how exactly do you plan to do that? Have you ever seen a comic book character jump out of the panel and slap the reader? Or erase a story mid-frame? As long as there is inspiration, the narrative continues."
"Yes... inspiration... narrative infection. I've seen it from the other side of the Rift."
The Watcher sneered darkly.
"But what if I opened that Rift completely, Alex? What if I allowed those carrying the infection—those wielding things called 'systems'—to invade this world? Would you still be so calm then?"
The words hit Alex like thunder.
"So that's your goal…"
He hadn't expected the Watcher to descend into such madness—willing to unleash derivative contamination in order to rebel against the original authorial corruption.
If both forms of corruption collided within the multiverse… the resulting damage wouldn't just stop there. Even the mirror worlds on the other side—
"You've noticed it too, haven't you? How hollow superheroes really are."
The Watcher grinned, and his eyes began to glow with a faint crimson hue.
"All inspiration stems from the author's values and worldview. No matter how beautifully they package it, they can't deny the darkness buried within themselves. That's the flawed nature of life—and the deepest truth I've uncovered through corruption."
"The longer goodness persists, the more the audience craves shock—blood, brutality, and slaughter. But once that thrill fades, what remains is exhaustion... and disgust."
Saying this, the Watcher looked deeply at Alex.
"Even here, you must have noticed it. Contamination isn't static. Fewer and fewer eyes are watching these worlds. And the story? It will end. You can't change that."
"But this isn't your story to end, Watcher," Alex said calmly. "Didn't you already prepare yourself for this moment?"
"You once said I was trapped inside the story. But if that were really true… I'd be standing in front of the Anti-Monitor right now."
"You should be standing there!"
The Watcher's composure cracked, rage flaring.
"But I'm not."
Alex shook his head, unshaken by the outburst.
"I only appear where I'm meant to be."
"By what right?"
There was a shift in the Watcher's gaze.
"Didn't you already say it yourself?"
Alex smiled faintly, lifting his chin toward the skies.
"Because this… is my story."
.....
📢Advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
1. 20 advanced chapters of The Witcher: Wolf School's Hunting Notes.
2. 30 advanced chapters of What year is this? You're still writing a traditional diary?.