Camp Justice

Truth

"What?" I said.

"It's what I said," said Jor-El. "It's about your father. Dr. Manhattan believes everything is predestined, even his own actions. Your father believes in hope. In order to prove his point, he needs to destroy your father's hope. To do this, he rescued me from Krypton's destruction and...hmm, set things up so that I'd see things his way. Once it was time, I would return and break the bond between father and son.

Manhattan furthered his work by pushing you away from Kal-El too. The return of Manchester Black, Mxyzptlk trying to erase you, future Tim Drake telling the Titans that you would destroy Metropolis, all of it was orchestrated to push you into coming with me. And he knew if you'd come, so would Lois; thus, leaving Kal-El alone." He slowly began to approach me. "Plans are already in motion. My son will be pushed to despair. He will fall and Manhattan will finally prove that there is no hope."

I shook my head. "I've got to get back."

Jor-El's left eye began to glow the green sickness of kryptonite. "I'm afraid...I can't let you do that."

He suddenly launched himself at me. He collided with me and both of us went tumbling out the window. We were in free fall. I was in too much shock to fight back and Jor-El kicked me away and through the window of the nearby BLT International building. I flopped with a roll and came to a stop on my side. He landed with a dramatic, and evil, landing.

I slowly stood. "You're not like this. You're a good person."

"That's the point! Everyone has always seen Jor-El as a kind and benevolent father. So when it turns out he's really a crabby, psychopath who sees humanity not as a force of potential, but a disease, hope...is...destroyed. And it worked! My son wouldn't let me take you. You and your mother had to beg him. He sees me as a villain!"

"I still see hope. You can still be that man."

Jor-El stopped for a moment. For a moment I thought I might have gotten through to him. But, then he began to chuckle. "It's kind of ironic that we should end up here."

"How so?"

"Blue Light Technologies. The cause of all this."

"Huh?"

"Long ago, on Earth Prime or Keystone Earth or whatever you wish to call it, BLT invented virtual reality. But the kind of virtual reality people have been dreaming of for years. At least, that's what they thought they invented. What they really created was a portal into parallel worlds. With their gear, a person could visit other realities.

Teams of scientists, explorers, and reporters began traveling to other realms. BLT used these expeditions as plots for movies, books, video games, music. They used knowledge gained from the travels to create new buildings, technology, and sports. The voyagers would also tell the tales of their adventures. Soon, BLT grew to have departments in publishing, game development, research, sales, food; then, they began opening up offices across the Omniverse. The Board of Directors and Shareholders became the Powers That Be."

"What does this have to do with Dr. Manhattan?"

"In a world, much like Earth Prime, Jonathan Osterman was caught in an intrinsic field generator and disintegrated. He reintegrated himself, eventually, and became Dr. Manhattan. Because of his power, the world changed. A team of non-powered humans called the Watchmen was born. But the world soon fell into chaos. One of the Watchmen felt that the only way to save the Earth was to stage an alien invasion. Manhattan and others kept the truth of the invasion a secret. Manhattan then left to explore and possibly create life.

You see, Jon, in that world—much like here—our universe is a comic book, published by DC Comics. Apparently, that Jon...Manhattan liked the comic books for some reason, so when he found out about the Omniverse thanks to BLT...well, do the math."

"He...created our universe?"

"The Hand that is creating our universe at the beginning of time...is Manhattan." I took a step back trying to process all this. "And from there, it branched out. All sorts of possibilities came from that creation. For instance, a teenager in New York who chooses to see an exhibit and gets bitten by a spider. Or the canister of ooze that breaks and the kid that trips and his pet turtles fall into the sewers. Or those people who activated the mechanical spaceship lion. In some way, they all branch from your father. That is why Manhattan is after him. Destroy Superman, destroy all of them."

Jor-El took a deep breath. It seemed to almost bring him pain to say the next statement. "Without heroes, there's no hope. Even in ancient times, it was heroes that brought hope. They were the ones to cure the curse or to stop the monster."

"Why tell me all this?"

"Because I wanted you to know how close you were to fixing it and realize that you can't. That is...despair." He took a step towards me. As he did, the advanced technology in his clothes changed his suit into the robe and cloak of Mr. Oz. His scythe seemed to grow out of nothing.

"Dad'll noticed if I disappear," I said, trying anything to stop him.

He laughed. "Jon, you are but one of a thousand. There are plenty of other Jon Kents to choose from. In fact, there is a high probability that you are nothing more than a fanfiction, a quantum possibility so slight that only a DC fan would pick up on." He pointed the scythe at me. "In a near-infinite sea of possibilities, no one can hear you scream."

He slashed at me with the scythe. I managed to dodge by stepping backwards. The scythe still got my shirt. A tear formed across my chest. Oz gasped. I checked my chest. Under my shirt was the Kryptonian suit. Right now it was in its default setting of an all white garment. The House of El symbol on my chest was white with a blue outline.

"That's impossible!" shouted Oz. "You shouldn't have your powers here!"

I softly touched the diamond shape. "That's right. Powers." I reached up and grabbed hold of tear's edges. "If you won't listen to reason, Grandfather, then I suppose we'll have to do it the hard way." I paused for a moment. "I have a feeling this was a long time coming." I then ripped open the shirt the rest of the way, revealing even more of the "S." The suit began to shift in appearance.

The white garment became blue. Slowly reinforced red boots and red arm guards appeared. A yellow belt with a red diamond on it formed around my waist. Red armor plating formed around my...ahem lower body. A red cape then began to flow out from the Superman symbol on my chest, which now looked more like the one Dad wore. I could also feel my hair become more...tidy, by a little bit. Finally, a strand of my hair curled into an "S" shape.

I couldn't stop from smiling once the transformation was complete. "This is AWESOME!"

But that didn't stop Oz from attacking me.

He used the scythe to blast me through the wall.