The still air of the natural satellite's surface rests as the impossibly old professor stands still, gazing up at the glowing red wasteland that was once planet earth. Behind him, another version of him, from another point in time, stands with three teenagers. Despite standing on Earth's moon, none of them wear any gear necessary for oxygen. The other gun doesn't bother explaining how it's possible. The four talk amongst themselves for a bit, before eventually including him. He doesn't offer much help. Why should he? He's given up.

"What should I do?" the other version of him asks.

"Well, certainly not what I did," he responds. "But whatever you do, you better do it quickly. Time is running out."

As he finishes his statement, the other opens a pocket watch from his lab coat and transports himself and the teens away. He doesn't acknowledge it, for he would've done the same. Did the same. Does the same. Will do the same. All of it, to him, is the same. When you experience all of time at once like he does, they tend to blame together. He continues to stare at the ruined earth. Countless times he's saved the world, all for one fatal mistake to waste them all. All he could do was hope the other him could fix it.

From nowhere, a man stands next to him. Perhaps he was always there. Perhaps he isn't really there. All the same, he's there now. "Allowing yourself to feel the full extent of your failure again?" he asks, pushing the strands of long, blonde hair out of his eyes. "You know, professor, I could just tell you the answer. I've seen the episode like, a hundred times. Memorized its plot points. I know it by heart."

"If you're here to spill your guts about another God you killed," the professor hissed, "then I'd prefer you tell me at another point in my existence."

The man pouts in an insincere manner. "Come on, Paradox! I thought you liked my visits."

"Funny, with all my vast knowledge of space-time, I can't seem to find a place or time in all of reality that I ever said such a thing."

The Visitor crosses his arms. "Come on, Paradox, we're equals! Listen to my tale…"

Professor Paradox exhales in frustration, still not looking away from the planet. "Fine," he groans. "Tell me, what God did you feel the need to eradicate for no reason?"

"Dr. Manhattan," the Visitor replied, almost pridefully. "You know, the blue guy I mentioned."

"Indeed. Why?"

"To hook the readers. Start a story off with me erasing one of the most popular god-like characters from existence for seemingly no reason? It's genius, really."

"It's really pretentious and egotistical. No one thinks you're clever for doing such a thing. Especially when the character doing such an act is so blatantly obvious… well, you."

"Nah, I think people will look at it and go 'oooh! I want more of this!' and keep reading."

"Or they'll think 'what a narcissist this guy is, writing himself as an all powerful being who can kill gods.'"

The Visitor frowns. "You're one to talk about narcissism, professor. Half your screen time is you just flexing your superior knowledge and intellect onto Ben Tennyson and friends."

"Is that not part of the reason you grew to like my character?"

"Oh," the Visitor replied, frustration ever so present in his voice, "so is narcissism a negative character trait or not then?"

"It's all a matter of perspective. Who am I to say whether or not one personality trait is positive or negative? Especially with how long I've been detached from such notions."

The Visitor pauses. "Perspective, huh?" He raised his left eyebrow and squints his right eye, jutting his neck forward. A grin crosses his lips. "How about I show you a new one?"

Professor Paradox feels the slight sting of hand smacking his back, and suddenly he's looking at white. Standing in white. Seeing nothing but white. After a brief shock, he composes himself. Looking to the right of him, some distance away, the Visitor stands with his back to him, a book in hand. Paradox frowns. "Where have you taken me?" he asks. The visitor looks up from his book, but doesn't respond. Instead, in a quick motion, he closes the book, turns on his heel, winds his arm back as if he were about to pitch a ball and throws the book straight at the professor's head. Paradox catches it by the spine without trying, inches away from his face.

"Educate yourself," the Visitor says.

Paradox looks down at the cover. "THE MULTIVERSITY GUIDEBOOK" is the title. "GRANT MORRISON" is listed as the author. He looks up at the visitor. "As much as I enjoy the occasional light reading," he mutters, "perhaps you could save me the time with an explanation?"

"The DC universe is a multiverse," the Visitor explains. "Every alternate Earth in that multiverse is connected to the same Heaven and Hell. Around the whole multiverse is a sort-of ring of energy called the Speed Force. It's what every speedster on every Earth there taps into for their power. The Flash? Reverse Flash? Max Mercury? Enigma? All of them, on every alternate earth, are tapping into the same exact Speed Force across all reality."

"And what does that have to do with this place?"

"Beyond that speed force barrier is the Sphere of the Gods. Beyond that lies the Monitor Sphere. Beyond that…" He turns to face Paradox. "The Source Wall. The very limit of thought itself. Beyond that, the unknowable. The Source."

The Visitor raises his arms in the air, gesturing around him. "The Source, Paradox! That's what this is! The beginning of all fictional realities! A blank canvas for an artist to create a world!" He points behind the professor. "Look. Look at how small your world is here."

Paradox turns around. Before him, a black spot with small, dual sided tops, each representing a universe. The black void, the place where Alien X originates. Nothing more than a small painting on a larger canvas.

"Why have you brought me here?" Paradox asks, remaining calm in spite of the circumstances.

The Visitor smiles. "To witness my creation."

The two of them are transported elsewhere in the white void. "You see, even though Morison calls it the Source," the Visitor continues, "I like to call it the canvas space. Anything you think of you can paint onto the pages of reality here. That…" He points to a nondescript black blotch in the white void. "That is my universe. The one I've been wanting to make… but it's just so hard making something… original."

"Cry me a river, why won't you," Paradox remarks.

The Visitor ignores him. "So I got one better- I won't be original. I'll mash together things I like and tell stories in those worlds the way I want them to be."

"You can't be serious," Paradox replies, baffled. "Do you know what forces you are messing with?"

"I don't care, honestly," the Visitor shrugs. "All of reality will be reformed to how I want it to be. It's already started, Professor. Forty chapters and counting and two-shot, my multiverse is starting with romance. How could I be doing a bad thing if I'm writing stories about love?"

"You're doing a lot more than that," Paradox replies with a grimace. "You're going to destroy the fabric of other realities just to satisfy your own feelings."

"So what?!" the Visitor growls. "Do you know how many batshit insane crossovers people post here?! How many realities are constantly being mashed together, how many characters are given new personalities, how many lives are altered on a near daily basis by what the people here post?! How am I any different, professor?!"

"I'm admittedly new to this… fourth wall stuff," Paradox replies calmly. "I only first started to accept it as reality when you started appearing to me, in fact. But even still… I can't help but wonder if saying all this makes you less of a protagonist and more of antagonist in your own story."

The visitor grins. "I don't care what others think. Besides, I need a good adversary. When I was a kid, I wanted to be you. Only fitting I work to slowly destroy your attempts to stop me."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"You seem to be forgetting who's typing all this down, professor."

Paradox thinks for a moment, before smiling. "I'll tell you what," he says confidently. "Let's make a wager. I'm going to work to stop you, and you'll continue doing what you want. But if you ever start to feel the consequences of your actions, to the point you deviate from your original narrative plans…" His eyes narrow. "You will consider that as throwing in the towel, and give up on all of this."

The Visitor stares him down, unsure of what's going on in his head. "And what do I get out of this?"

"Assuming you actually make it to the end of your grand narrative, another all-powerful being to wipe from existence."

The Visitor smiles. "You'd risk your life against someone writing your own words?"

Paradox smiles back. "Would you not say that's… 'in character' for me?"

The Visitor hesitates, before reaching his hand out. Paradox accepts.

"Deal," the Visitor says, before letting go. He pulls out a smartphone and begins typing in the notes app. "Here, I'll throw you a freebie- I'm adding the ability to walk across multiverses I pull from to your skill set."

"You might come to regret that," Paradox muses.

"We'll see about that." The Visitor puts his phone away. "Tremorton's gonna be quite the hotspot."

"Noted," Paradox says as he pulls a stop watch out of his lab coat pocket. "Until we meet again, my dear Visitor."

The Visitor puts his hands in his pocket and slouches. "'Till then."

Author's Note: Reviews are appreciated.