Chapter 142

Arc 14 - Absolute Wish - Part 23

Friday, 2nd of July - Plymouth:

It was noon and Nazar wanted to go to Chias after a while, but he was called by his two old friends; Chris Johnson and Harry Jackson.

Right now, the three of them were sitting on top of a large rock near the sea. They were right under Nazar’s house.

Dangling their legs from the large rock, Nazar let out a heavy sigh.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you would be in if someone saw you with me?”

Harry shrugged, “Meh, who cares.”

Chris answered with a blank look on his face, “Shield us with your power, almighty.”

Nazar rolled his eyes, “Dumbasses.”

“Anyway, let’s leave that aside, ” Chris jumped from the rock and stood on the ground in front of them. “Soo… I hear you have another “best friend” beside us?”

“...”

Nazar’s eyes darted away.

“...Kind of.”

Harry, too, jumped down.

The two of them placed their hands on their hips and tilted their head to one side, teasing him.

“So, when did you start cheating on us?”

Nazar couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Eddie. Edward Hunt. That’s his name. I, uh, knew him in the old world and we clicked from the get-go. And in this world, it was no different. So...”

“Wait, so we are not the best best friends? But he is?” Chris frowned.

Harry shook his head in disappointment, “I thought we were three of a kind and clicked… Siiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhh. I can’t believe an outsider came in. And let alone an American?”

“What’s wrong with Americans?” Chris looked at Harry, questioningly.

“Nothing,” Harry replied exasperatedly, “thought it would be funny.”

“Ah, alright.”

“How do you know he is American?” Nazar was curious. He never mentioned that part to them.

“Wait, I was right?” Harry’s eyes went wide in amazement. “No fucking way,” he laughed.

Nazar just shook his head with a heavy sigh.

“And does he know you have powers?”

To Chris’ question, he nodded, although with hesitation. He felt guilty for not telling his friends about his powers but at that time, he thought it was for the best.

“Damn it! Were we the only ones in the dark,” Harry added with a frown.

“I… Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” both of them said at once, but slowly.

“What’s done is done,” Harry added with a shrug and small smile.

“If he wasn’t American, we could meet him one day,” Chris sounded a little disappointed. “Oh well...”

“Doesn’t matter, I will call him over.”

In Nazar’s hand, a phone appeared. He dialled a number and waited.

“Oi, come here real quick.”

“- … -”

“Eddie?”

“- Nazar, it’s early in the morning. I am supposed to be sleeping. -”

“...Okay, and? Go to sleep early the night before then.”

“- Sigh. What do you want? -”

“Come here real quick.”

“- Why? -”

“Please?”

“- Alright. I will be there in a few minutes. -”

“Great!”

He cut off the phone and looked down at his friends.

“You will meet him soon.”

They did not question how the man will get here from America. They assumed Nazar would just teleport him from there.

“What kind of guy is he?”

Nazar thought about it for a moment.

“A little too serious at times, but in the old world, he was a lot easier going. He was also a nerd but here… Not so much.”

“Bummer.”

“So, do you have any alien friends? What are they like?”

“Let’s see...”

To Harry's question, Nazar looked at the sky, with an almost nostalgic smile.

“One is Lian, she is a close friend I have had for a long time. She was a spy.”

Two interested “Ooo”s ran out of those two.

"Spies are cool," the two of them nodded at one another.

“Another is like Martian Manhunter, but less muscular, and a little taller and more… meaty. He is called Kiet.”

“Hm, I see.”

“Yeah, and this other guy is like Doomsday with all those spikes but less muscular or taller. And obviously less powerful. He is called Hial.”

They nodded their head in unison, signalling him to continue.

“Another is an elf. He is called Weq.”

Their mouths widened a little in surprise. To them, elves were creatures that shouldn’t exist in this universe.

“Fantasy, nice.”

“And then there is another one called Phantom Star. She dresses up like Supergirl,” he chuckled before continuing. “Then there is a guy called Reaper, he made everyone think he was a vampire but he is like Captain Atom instead. He can manipulate the quantum realm.”

Another set of “Ooo”s escaped their mouth. They found his set of abilities quite interesting.

“Another is super fast. Too fast… but he died. But he came back. And uh… It’s complicated.”

Seeing how a bitter look loomed over his face, Harry quickly changed the topic.

“Ooh, speaking of,” Harry took out his phone excitedly. “Did you guys hear about the new comic from Geoff Johns?”

“I thought he stopped writing comics?” Nazar spoke in a confused tone. He wondered why they did not want to know about his alien friends. Perhaps they were too boring?

“Hell naw, if he does stop writing, I will never buy comics again.”

Both Chris and Nazar stared blankly at Harry.

Both thought at once; You really love that guy, huh?

“In any case, what is he writing?” Nazar narrowed his eyes slightly, very interested.

"You are not going to believe it," Harry's voice was crackling with excited laughter.

"If it isn't Green Lantern, I don't want it."

"Or the JSA," Chris added.

"Hell yes," Nazar agreed excitedly. "Hawkman would be cool too… but Venditti would do a much better job, no?"

"Hm, that is true. His run is the best after all."

"You won't get a disagreement from me on this. It's literally perfection. I hope he would get another chance."

"Nah, it's…"

Harry looked at both of them with his lips sucked in, likely trying to raise their anticipation.

"Oh, come on now, just say it," Chris frowned.

"It's Wonder Woman."

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

Unlike Harry, Chris and Nazar were quite disappointed.

"I mean… Huh, I don't know," Chris rubbed his chin with a complicated look on his face. "I mean his New 52 Wonder Woman in Justice League was…" he whizzed out a long breath as he shook his head. “Oof.”

"I wouldn't say bad myself," Nazar added as he looked at the far shores of the sea. "But I do prefer her classic characterisation."

"Man, you guys suck," Harry frowned.

“Thought you already knew that, dumbass?”

KRAKABOOM!

As the sky roared, someone landed near them in the sand.

From his landing, the dust had flown up and covered the man. But as it slowly faded away and they could see a man.

He was on one knee and his head was down. Electricity sizzled around him.

"Badass," Chris and Harry said in unison with fulfilled smiles, like they had ticked something off their bucket list.

The man slowly stood up and the electricity continued to sizzle around him.

However, they could not see his face.

Wait!

Both of them thought at once as they looked at one another.

Isn't that Norse God? Holy shit.

"So, what do you want?" Eddie spoke to Nazar.

"... Nothing, really."

The man breathed in, puffed his cheeks and after a short while whizzed out the air annoyedly.

Nazar couldn't help but laugh.

"Anyway, this is my friend Eddie."

"Wait!" Eddie wailed out. "My secret indentityyyyyyyyyyyy!"

However, it was too late.

The blur which hid his face had vanished and they could see his face as clear as a day.

Eddie grunted as his shoulders drooped down.

“Sorry,” Nazar apologised with a smile. “I will fix it after a few minutes, sorry guys.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Eddie said after another grunt. “If you can trust them, so can I.”

Eddie let out a heavy breath and sat next to Nazar on the rock.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Harry and Chris shouted out at once. “This guy is your friend?”

Nazar nodded.

Their eyes widened in amazement.

But then confusion overtook that short amazement.

“Wait, a damn minute.”

“Yeah, don’t you hate superheroes? So, why are you hanging around with this guy?!”

“He is an exception,” his answer was short, which caused them to roll their eyes.

All his talks about how pathetic superheroes are and yet here he is… the two of them thought, almost disappointed.

“Anyway, how did you get your powers?”

“What can you do?”

“What kind of flight do you have?”

“What does your name mean?”

“Are you a god? Or a human?”

Seeing how quickly their expressions changed, Eddie was confused about them.

“Heh,” he let out a small laugh. Nazar is like that sometimes too, so he knows where the influence comes from.

Hm, did he influence them? Eddie thought. Or the other way around?

But he did not care much about the question and faced the two boys.

“As for your questions… One: he gave me these powers,” he pointed at Nazar with his index finger. “Two: I am strong, fast, can fly, manipulate weather and some energy stuff. Three: I don’t get the question so… Normal?” Eddie titled his head quizzically. “Four: my name… Nothing much, to be honest. Just wanted to, uh, something similar to my powers. Anyway, five: no, I am a human.”

“Well… So you gave him powers, but not us?”

To the peering eyes of his old friends, he couldn’t help but avert his gaze.

“You are the worst friend ever,” Eddie saw an opportunity and jumped in on the bandwagon. “Seriously, how could you leave them out like this?”

“Eh?” he shot a baffled look at Eddie. “You too?”

“Well, yes, if I don't, who else?”

“But seriously, you suck.”

“Thank you,” Nazar said after a long and heavy and gloomy and annoyed sigh.

I really really got to stop sighing too much, Nazar thought.

လလလ

"So, the reason you called me here is because you wanted to show off you are a good friend with the greatest hero on this planet?"

To Eddie's question, Nazar pasted an expression which said: is it though?

"It was early in the morning. I just wanted to rest a little. Don't you know how different time zones work?"

"Why not go to sleep early?"

Eddie groaned.

"Mannn."

Eddie breathed out in annoyance.

"I, uh… There was another reason I wanted to talk to you."

Seeing the serious look on Nazar's face, Eddie became worried.

"Oh?"

"It's…"

Nazar spoke and told him something very important that happened on Wednesday.

“Are you sure?” Eddie was feeling conflicted, but he did see the merits in Nazar’s decision.

“Yep...”

He continued to explain something further.

It made sense to Eddie. But there was a feeling deep down that he couldn’t get rid of.

"What if it goes wrong?"

Nazar smiled confidently.

"It won't. I have made sure of it."

Eddie did not accept his answer.

"How sure are you?"

“100%. I have calculated every outcome and nothing will go wrong. 90% of the outcomes are in my favour, but even the remaining 10%... I don’t lose anything.”

“So, you lose nothing, even if something goes wrong?”

Nazar shook his head confidently.

“Indeed. It’s in my favour either way.”

More gloomy and heavy feelings loomed over Eddie’s face.

"But in his favour too."

"Well, yes. It's mutual. But think about it, isn't this what you asked me to do a long time ago? This is what I am doing. It's going to do the world wonders."

Eddie did ask Nazar to save the planet and help these people but he denied it then.

But now an opportunity had risen, so he took it.

But what kind of opportunity was it?

"If this fails, the world will not be changed for the bad. So it's a draw and win situation. There is no losing option for anyone but him."

"Exactly!" Nazar exclaimed. "Exactly! Either way, I ain't losing anything."

“But...” he hated that only ominous thoughts resided in his head about this situation, but he couldn’t help it. He had to be sure this decision wouldn’t bite them in the backside later down the line. “So, what happens if it's used for the wrong reasons?”

“He will die.”

“Ah...”

Eddie was not sure how to feel about that.

He takes human lives very seriously but Nazar is different.

Just two days ago, he came very close to killing someone and he has been beating himself over it since then. Every time he closes his eyes, the images of that day flashes in his mind.

So, he hated the idea of another person dying if he can change it.

“Don’t.”

“Alright,” Nazar said, “he won’t die.”

Eddie was not surprised that Nazar agreed.

He might not have a strict rule about killing, but there have been many instances where Nazar let someone live because Eddie asked him not to kill.

"Oi, what are you two talking about back there?" All four of them were walking on the footpath next to the road, going somewhere. Perhaps towards the town nearby? Chris and Harry were walking ahead of Nazar and Eddie, so one of them looked back and asked.

"Plotting to take over the world," Nazar shouted at him, jokingly.

“Nice.”

“Where are we going?” Eddie whispered to Nazar. “If it’s nothing important, I will go back. I need to sleep. I just fell asleep an hour ago.”

“Is that so…?”

Nazar knew what his reason was.

“S...”

Nazar opened his mouth, trying to apologise, but he glanced at Eddie and closed it back.

Damn it. If I had been faster the other day, none of this would have...

“Right, come with me to meet those guys later today.”

Nazar nodded.

“Here,” Nazar produced a green ball of energy and held it at Eddie. “This will keep the nightmares away at night. Oh, and it should fix your current sleepless problem.”

Eddie looked at the ball of energy then Nazar.

He always relied on him no matter what the problem was.

And right now, it was no different.

He always wanted to be someone who can stand on his own without Nazar’s shadow. But after seeing the battle between those people on Wednesday, he thought it was silly of him to think like that.

So, he sucked in a breath and smiled.

“Thanks,” he took the energy ball and instantly felt better.

"Might take a minute or so for you to feel it."

He still wants to stand on his own but before that, he will find the right place for him.

Perhaps Earth is the best option to be on, Eddie thought as he glanced at the sky. I can leave the cosmic stuff to this potato.

Eddie chuckled.

“I gotta say, bro, that was really something.”

“Hm?”

“Those fights, is that how it's always for you?”

Although Eddie has seen Nazar battle many times, he has never seen him fight someone this powerful.

“No, just once in a while.”

“I see. Well, whatever happens, I am staying away from it next time,” Eddie laughed.

“Good,” relieved, Nazar smiled. "Good."

“So, where are we going?”

A star-shaped light appeared, removing the distance between the two groups.

Harry and Chris gasped in fearful surprise once they noticed the two of them so close behind.

“At least give a little warning.”

Nazar shrugged, “Sorry.”

“That light...” Eddie narrowed his eyes a little. “Since when?”

“A few days ago, thought it would look cool.”

“It does.”

Nazar nodded.

Nazar wanted to say something, but he saw Eddie yawning.

“Time Zones sucks.”

“Mm-hmm, agreed,” Eddie nodded.

“!!”

A thin smile spread across Nazar’s face.

“...”

Eddie realised what was going on in his mind.

“Oh boy… You really gonna do it?”

"Yeah, you are not going to object this time, are you?"

"Nah."

Nazar snapped his fingers and the world changed in an instant.

“And done!”

Even Harry and Chris noticed the world change.

Everything looked the same, but something was different.

So, with their mouths opened in a confused manner, they turned around and asked, “Wh-what was that?”

“Different Time Zones no longer exist. The whole world will share the same time from now on.”

“...”

“...”

Harry and Chris did not understand at all.

“One. Why?”

“Two. How?”

“Three. How the fuck does that even work?”

“Exactly! How does the sun, the moon… How does any of this work?!?!”

Nazar stared at them blankly for a moment before letting out a sigh.

“One at a time, please,” Nazar let out a soft groan. “One; it’s convenient. Two; I just did it. Three; it just works. Four; same answer as before.”

“Uhhhh?”

“Uhhhh?”

His responses did not answer any of the questions, except for the first.

"I got the mightiest ability in creation, my friend."

Eddie’s eyes widened a little as he saw Nazar’s expression.

He looks a little proud…

“Since the answer is not satisfactory, let’s just say it’s reality-warping. The sun will reach every part of the world and so will the moon. Day times and night times are all the same. Dawn and dusk around the world happen at the same time. Isn’t that convenient?!”

“Sure, it is...”

Both Harry and Chris groaned as they turned and faced forward, continuing to walk.

After a few seconds, Chris said loudly, “Alright, here we are.”

“Maybe you wanna put on an illusion or something,” Harry told Nazar. “You don’t wanna scare that old man.”

They were standing in front of a small shop. A shop the three of them visited very often.

“It’s a comic book shop,” Eddie said slowly, not knowing how to react to this small shop. Bitter emotions overtook him, so he bit his tongue, tasting blood.

He kept his emotions down, trying not to show it on his face.

“Actually… I need to go,” Eddie said as he floated. “Sorry, I have to leave. I, uh...”

Without waiting for anyone’s reply, he flew away.

Nazar noticed what was happening.

“Sorry guys, I… I need to go.”

He flew after him immediately.

“Alright.”

Chris and Harry did not understand what just happened, but they thought something bad was happening somewhere in the world and Eddie wanted to help.

The explanation they came up with satisfactory enough for them to not question it any further.

Plus, they have an idea of how powerful Nazar is, so they did not need to worry.

“I guess since we are already here, we should just go in and check it out. What do you want to buy?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, actually. I will need to see what’s new here,” Chris said after a small sigh. “Maybe I should start buying from some other publisher.”

“Sounds good.”

The two of them bumped their fists as they walked into the small shop.