[You've died unjustly, having borne the consequences meant for a Higher Being. I'll correct this mistake and transmigrate you.]
A voice echoed in the void I had found myself in for what felt like an endless eternity. I didn't know how to reply, but I was excited to return to the living, despite being confused about how I ended up here in the first place.
[You'll return with abilities. Which ones would you like?]
I couldn't speak, so I thought about the ability I had always wanted.
'Hypnosis, only this ability, but I need it to include...:
I went on a rant in my mind, tailoring a perfect hypnosis ability for myself without it being too overpowered, since I needed a challenge in my next life.
[I've heard your thoughts and will place a limiter on this ability. It cannot be used on the Justice League members.]
'Fine by me,' I thought.
[Then, shall we never meet again.]
Before I knew it, light entered my eyes and I was standing on an apartment balcony. I staggered a little and used the balcony for balance.
When the vertigo passed, I finally took in the city I was in and immediately recognised it. How could I not? The Flash was my all time favourite hero in the comics, before realising that with all his powers, not even Superman could be his match, yet the world of DC was still shit.
"Central City, huh? I would've much preferred Gotham. You can kill someone with little to no consequences due to how thinned and corrupt the police department is, but here, every murder would be easily investigated and found out."
I sighed and walked into the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror, and I was pleasantly surprised to see me from my previous life.
With a smirk, I undressed and took a quick shower. When I was done, I headed to my room and changed into something casual, a pair of jeans and a shirt.
I took out my phone and checked my bank account to see if I had any money left, but while the good news was that it's most likely everything about my previous life was integrated into this new world, the bad news was that I was broke, just like I was in my previous life.
I checked my contacts and called my mother in this world, trying to see if she was someone different or the same.
The phone rang for a full minute before someone replied, "What do you want?"
I sighed. This was definitely my mother alright, same tone and attitude.
"Stop being a bitch. I'm thinking of visiting soon. Is that alright?"
"No, don't come back here until you go back to school. I didn't sacrifice everything so that I can hear you dropped out of college."
Hmm, so even dropping out of college is still the same. That means...
"Mom, tell me where do we live?"
"...do you have some kind of brain damage?"
"Maybe, now please answer my question."
There was heavy breathing and cursing. "I'm staying where we have always been staying, in Gotham. That's why we sent you to Central City to get the best education without worrying about being stabbed or something worse."
It's the same, but the difference is the cities in question, yet exactly the same. My family was poor and they did everything for me to get the best education, but living for someone other than yourself causes a rift. And that's what happened between me and my mom.
We always fought about what was best for me. I wanted a different path than the one that was laid out for me, and she wanted the one she chose for me. And it seems just like in my last life, in this life I also didn't live up to her expectations.
I sighed. "Mom, I'm sorry, but I can't live my life for you. I'll create my own path, and if you don't like that, deal with it."
"Carl Viggo Manthey Lange, don't be a punk—"
I didn't let her finish and just dropped the call. I threw the phone on the couch while I sat down and started thinking.
I dropped out of college. I don't have money, yet I was able to afford this decent apartment that has a balcony. Something isn't right. Am I a criminal? Having a background living in Gotham, that shouldn't be far fetched.
Hmm, it doesn't really matter. What's important at the moment is experimenting with my hypnosis ability. There's so much I want to try.
I hope I don't do anything to alert the Flash, for example accidentally causing the death of someone. But at the end of the day, I didn't ask for hypnosis to be a murderer, but something much worse.
I took a deep breath and walked out of the apartment, leaving behind my wallet and phone. I won't need those. I pressed the elevator button and waited.
"Carl, is that you?"
I turned around to the person who called my name. He was some random dude about my age, early twenties, with a blond bowl cut. I guess he'll do.
For my first experiment, I shall implement Cognitive Lag to slow down his thinking speed, Attention Lock to force him to focus on my voice, eyes, or presence.
Then, for countermeasures, as you never know with these superhero worlds, I implemented Emotional Dampening to suppress specifically his suspicion and resistance.
And lastly, Perception Filtering, so he doesn't notice any contradictions in anything I will say. Not that I care, but he's my first target, so I have to go all out just for him.
"Who are you?"
I asked, my hypnosis in full effect.
He chuckled for a minute, trying to gather his thoughts. There's no doubt it's because of cognitive lag. "It's me, Dave. We are elevator buddies, though I say that you always ignore me. I remember getting your name was even more difficult than battling a shark, not that I ever did battle a shark before. Haha."
So he's a yapper. I don't blame the past me for ignoring him all this time. But that means I wasted my time hypnotising him, though at least the results weren't disappointing. The way he replied to my question was so nonchalant, with not a hint of suspicion.
And even now, his attention was on me, my presence. So everything worked out, but I want to see if I can do more. After all, there's a chance the way he replied might just be his personality. I don't know him.
"Pull down your pants and think about your crush and jerk off," I told him.
He paused for a second before answering.
"Okay."
And immediately after, he did what I said. I turned away from him, as I wasn't interested in seeing another man jerk off, and thought about the use of my hypnosis.
I think Cognitive Lag was a bit of an overkill. It slows him down. This should be used for people who are a little resistant to my hypnosis. Also, I think I should use the sub-abilities of my hypnosis one at a time instead of four or more at once. This will allow me to fully examine their limits without missing anything.
"Mhn~ S-sarahhh~"
Hmm, so Sarah is his crush? It seems I already have another lined up for me. But first, let's see what happens when I deactivate my hypnosis. The first thing you need to understand is that I know how to fully use my hypnosis ability thanks to the Presence for integrating it into my soul.
Second, when I use my hypnosis on someone, I notice a misty aura cloaks them, like Dave right now. And from my instincts, I think my eyes have changed colour, meaning as long as they have changed, my hypnosis will remain in full effect.
And when they change back, it'll deactivate. And if I want to permanently hypnotise them, there's another sub-ability for that. I arranged this ability in such a way that I'll never get bored.
From the stories I read, it's all fun and games when the main character gets this kind of ability, until chapter five when you realise it's too broken and because of that the story lacks tension.
It's the same in my case, but if I say meet someone like the Flash, I'm screwed. So at least there are consequences were I to use it on Iris, for example, which I think I will. But getting entangled with the Reverse Flash in any way makes it seem not worth it.
Ding~
The elevator doors opened, and at the same time Dave groaned and let his sticky stuff land on the carpeted floor. The poor old lady that was on the elevator was horrified, to say the least, and immediately I deactivated my hypnosis and observed Dave's reaction.
He did not disappoint. He looked at the old lady, then at himself, then at me. And immediately, horror, fear, confusion, and suspicion flashed through his eyes as he quickly pulled his pants up and ran back to his apartment.
Hmm, his apartment is close to mine. I think I'll go check up on him after I return from the bank. I walked inside the elevator and pressed the button that brought me down, not waiting for the old lady to walk out. I still had some experimenting to do.