Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance Cycle book series or the Young Justice TV show, nor do I make any money off of writing about them. And with that said, let's get on with the chapter!
You would expect the void to be black or white, right? Well, you would be wrong. The void is almost impossible to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it. The best way I can come up with to describe it is that it is perfectly clear. Not black, not white, just clear, completely untainted by the presence of light or matter. Which, by the way, is really weird to look at. I have no idea how long I was there. Time seemed abstract, a ridiculous concept when faced with the enormity and endlessness of the void. I had no physical body, and my mind had no way to understand the lack of physical sensation. Long story short, it was really trippy.
I floated for some indeterminate amount of time, before finally I heard something. I wondered for a minute about how I could possibly hear something when there was clearly no air in the void, and I clearly had no ears. The sound happened again.
"Ahem," the sound of a throat being cleared echoed throughout the infinite vastness of the void. I had merely one question. Who the heck starts off a conversation in the void with clearing their throat? It just seems kind of… mundane.
"Well, excuse me," the voice huffed. I suspected that the voice, presumably some higher being, was reading my thoughts. Speaking of which, my thoughts all seemed extremely calm for having been ripped from my previous life by… what happened? How did I die?
"Well, as for the mind reading thing, you don't really have a voice box to speak to me. As for the calm thing, you have no body, and therefore no stress hormones. And finally, you died in a car crash. The reason you don't remember is that I figured that would be unnecessarily traumatic when I give you your new body. Which you have… now," he said, and with a snap of his fingers, I had a rudimentary body. I say rudimentary because I had the bare basics: a nervous system, and actual body, and sensory organs. That was about it. I had no facial features, no hair, and no… sexual organs.
"OK, thanks for the body, but what the fuck is going on?!" I yelled, finally able to feel the panic and fear that should have been present from the start. Suddenly, hundreds of motes of rainbow-colored light flitter down like butterflies and gathered into a humanoid figure. Of course, that figure was Morgan Freeman. I sighed. Despite the fact that the way he appeared was pretty fucking spectacular, Morgan Freeman was way too overdone as God.
"Hey, this is my favorite form! Don't diss the drip!" God said, again huffing in frustration. I think I'll call him Morgan, God kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I mean, he wasn't wrong, Morgan Freeman played a fantastic God, but it was just so-
"Shut the hell up! Morgan Freeman is a classic, and I won't hear another word about it," he said. I shrugged. Now that I think about it, he probably took this form to provoke this exact reaction and calm me down. I certainly wasn't panicking as badly as I was before. He continued, "Now, before we continue, I need to drop a knowledge bomb on you. Primarily, as you figured out, you are dead. Reincarnation is a thing that happens, but mostly to different variations or points in time of normal Earth. Only when I feel like it does anyone get sent to a cool universe. Right now, I feel like it. Oh, another thing, the multiverse is real, as is evident by me talking about multiple universes, and I'm going to drop you in a version of the DC Universe. You are not allowed to be a civilian, you will be a super in some way. Hero, villain, I don't care. Basically, this is for my entertainment. I'm willing to grant a couple of wishes for you, as long as you promise to make things interesting. Also, I'm suppressing your panic now, because otherwise nothing will ever get done. Step One of the fun kind of reincarnation is to remake your body. Capisce?"
It was a good thing he was suppressing my panic, because I had started freaking out as soon as he reminded me that I was dead. My mind immediately calmed down and went back to the task at hand, remaking my body. I wondered about whether I wanted to be all that different. I decided against changing too much of myself. I wanted to be recognizable as being me. With that being said, I am a little self-conscious about my looks, so there are some things about myself I wouldn't mind tweaking. I felt Morgan shift control over my form to me as my spirit, for lack of a better word, floated out of it. The sudden cessation of physical sensations was decidedly disturbing, and I made up my mind to hurry up a bit. I shifted the avatar to my normal looks. I was chubby, clearly a bit overweight, but broad-shouldered. I slimmed myself down some. Enough that I had a flat stomach, even if I didn't have any abs. My average Caucasian skin tanned a little bit. My dirty blonde hair lightened just a bit to an almost golden tone. My eyes were fine, a mix of blue, grey, and green that I quite liked. My cheeks were a little less chubby and my jaw a little more defined after I slimmed down, so I decided to leave it be. I straightened and whitened my teeth, another thing I had always been self-conscious about. I gave myself just a couple more inches of height so I stood at a solid 5'9". I didn't need to be over six and a half feet tall or something crazy like that. Lastly, I am only a little ashamed to say that I gave myself another inch elsewhere. I was quite annoyed with the smirk on Morgan's face, but I got over it.
I looked back on myself. This was clearly me. Just me if I exercised regularly and ate better and a myriad of other things that would make me look better. I couldn't blush as a spirit, but if I could have, you could bet your ass I would be blushing up a storm at my own insecurity. I looked again. Something was missing. After a moment, I realized, I could finally have a beard! I hurriedly added a big bushy beard, changed my mind, and trimmed it into a goatee. Woohoo, no more ridiculous-looking scruff for me! I took a moment to relax, then floated back into my body.
"Step Two is normally choosing where you want to go, but I picked for you this time. So on to Step Three, which is making your wishes. What would you like? Remember, nothing too crazy powerful right off the bat or I won't do it," Morgan finished off his monologue with a dark glint in his eye that reminded me that I was nothing but his entertainment.
I thought for a moment. He said he was willing to grant a couple of wishes as long as I made things interesting. That sounded fine. If I am being honest with myself, then there is no way I could go to a superhero universe and not be involved. I am too much of a geek to be able to stay out of it. I also really, really didn't want to die again. Just the thought was freaking me out. Who knows if I would ever be this lucky again? So, I had to think of something that would make me a powerhouse, but not too much of one, or he wouldn't grant my wish. My mind raced to every powerup in every book I had ever read (I was far more of a reader than a gamer) before I settled on something perfect.
"So firstly, I want to be a Dragon Rider from the Inheritance Cycle. Secondly, I want an awesome sword. Thirdly, I want perfect knowledge of the Ancient Language," I said as I stared down Morgan Freeman confidently. My confidence waned as his smirk widened past what should be humanly possible. I became extremely nervous at the look on his face, and only partially at the facial shenanigans Morgan was pulling.
"Oh, thank you, you've given me a wonderful idea. I know I said I would grant your wishes but I promise you, this is going to be so much better. I promise you. It'll even be mostly similar," he said smiling literally from ear to ear (a decidedly disturbing look).
"But you said you would grant my wishes!" I complained. I really didn't like whatever he had in store for me if that was the face he was making because of it.
"Yes, but I promise you will be better off this way, as long as you work hard. Please? I know what I said, but this will be so much more entertaining. If you really want me to grant your wishes, I will, but I can make things more fun for both of us if we do it my way. You'll even be more powerful, if only slightly! Pretty please? I'll even grant you some minor mind modifications so you can succeed without freaking out all the time," he asked as the evil grin slid off his face. Puppy dog eyes on a nigh omnipotent being in the form of Morgan Freeman should not have been as effective as they were. That mind modification would be helpful too. I sighed. I hope I don't make that a habit. How many times had I sighed since I had been here?
"Fine, just please don't try and get me killed right off that bat," I told him. I got the feeling that this was gonna come back to bite me in the ass later.
"Yay! Now, onto other things. You will remember your past life, but the emotions connected to them will be muted, basically all but gone. All those memories will be protected from even the strongest telepath. You will also be incapable of telling anyone about future events. I won't hear any arguments. These are the rules I have to follow if I want to keep doing this, which I do. Any questions?" he asked.
"Umm, yes? What are my powers going to be? What idea did I give you? Am I going in as a baby or at my own age? Which version of DC am I going to? Where am I being dropped?" I questioned frantically.
"Spoilers!" said the cackling Morgan Freeman lookalike.
"Dude, really?! Those are all really important questions!" I yelled.
"Chill, chill, fine! I'll answer some of them. The others will be obvious when you get there, ok? I'll answer in reverse order. First of all, you're going to be dropped on Themiscyra," he said calmly, as if he hadn't just given me a fucking death sentence right of the bat.
"Morgan. If you just drop me on Themiscyra, the Amazons are literally just going to kill me. You do understand this right? A male, on their island? Dead in a second. It won't be entertaining at all for you," I said, hoping that would convince him.
"Hmmm. You're right. I'll just tell Hera to sponsor you for her people. You'll be fine," said Morgan. I glanced at him. He just implied that he could order around a goddess, and earlier implied that there was something or someone above him. It made me wonder how high this weird godly hierarchy went.
"Secondly," he continued, glaring at me as if warning me off the topic, "I'm going to drop you in Young Justice. I know, how kind of me to drop you in a show you've seen before."
I sighed in relief. Damn it, I've really gotta stop fucking doing that! Anyways, it really was a relief to be in something at least mostly familiar.
"Thirdly, you will be de-aged several years, so that you can fit in with the other teens better. Specifically, your 15th birthday will be on the same day you drop in, capisce? And for the next two questions, I'm not telling. It'll be more entertaining for you to figure it out. Oh, except for one thing. I won't give you perfect knowledge of the Ancient Language. That's too overpowered and you know it. It will just be enhanced memory of the words used in the books. And lastly, I will be following your journey closely, perhaps even conversing with you on occasion," he said with a smirk.
I counted to ten, breathing slowly and deeply. Somehow, this doppelganger pushed all of my buttons in all the wrong ways without ever having met me before. I finished my countdown and looked at him. I got the feeling this was all I was gonna get out of him.
"Ok. I'm ready. Let's do this," I said, feeling my stress-related emotions start to seep back into me as Morgan released control over them. He waved his hand, and everything disappeared.
(A/N): Hello everybody! My name is EmperorCyanide and this is my first ever fanfiction, or even actual writing project. I don't expect my content to be actually good for a while, or at least until I've developed my writing style fully. I am a pretty lazy guy at heart, so updates will probably be pretty sporadic. If you guys would be willing to drop a favorite, a follow, or a review, even if it's critical of my writing, I would greatly appreciate it. FYI, knowledge of the Inheritance Cycle is not necessary to enjoy the fanfiction; however, if you haven't checked out that series I would highly recommend it. Lots of love for that series. Anyways, peace out, and enjoy the ride!