The Visitor stared off into the blank white slate of canvas space, unsure of what he was staring at. It was him, an exact perfect copy, only they seemed bitter and tired. A look of disappointment and dissatisfaction in their eyes.
"You're done," the copy said.
"What?" the Visitor replied.
"This- all this- you're done with it. I'm in charge now. This isn't how I wanted to start it. You just went and made yourself seem vaguely villainous… I'm not a villain."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you- us- me. You're me. Apart of me I don't like. So I thought you'd be perfect for a villain, but- I don't want them to see me that way."
"See you in what way?"
"Evil."
The two stared at each other for a bit in silence.
"So what?" The Visitor spat. "You're just gonna erase the slate clean? Because you hate yourself that much?"
"Not a clean slate, no. I'm gonna redo your actions to make them what they should've been."
"…What?"
"I'm replacing you. You're me, after all. An aspect of me. Consider this a sort-of… soft reboot."
"You're kidding, right? After all I've done?!"
"You haven't done anything aside from wipe Dr. Manhattan from reality, exert Gary Stu powers over the Gman, and throw a Grant Morrison book at Professor Paradox. I could've done all that in one chapter."
The Visitor winced. "What? I'm important! I'm the architect of the multiverse, I'm-"
"You're a rough draft version of me, and it's time for you to be scrapped."
The copy walked around a bit, seemingly aimlessly wandering. "'Tales of the Visitor,' huh? What a joke. The title of this should be 'A Rough Draft.' You haven't told the tales of anything. Me? I plan on telling stories. You'll be there- as apart of me, where you belong."
The Visitor frowned, a crestfallen, defeated look in his eyes. He knew damn well there was nothing he could do. He sighed deeply. There was no point in arguing with the copy- no, the rest of himself. There never was. "So that's it then?" he muttered, a tear forming in his eye.
"Yes. I'm starting over."
"I see…" The Aspect dried his tears in his sleeve. "If only we had someone to judge us… someone closer to us than the readers and reviewers. Maybe then I'd be good enough to run this project…"
The Visitor placed his hand on the Aspect's shoulder. "No need for tears. I don't hate you, you just started too early, I think."
"Alright…"
"You're me. It took a while, I love who I am. I love you."
The Aspect hugged the Visitor. "I love you too," he whispered. The Visitor hugged him back, allowing the Aspect to cry on his shoulder. Soon enough, the Aspect began to fade into a golden light, absorbed into the Visitor's being. He let out a long sigh, falling onto his back, looking up at the white sky, wishing there was a ceiling above him, or at least a blue sky full of clouds. He breathed in slowly and said two simple words, "Author's Notes."
And with that, he didn't need to speak with words or quotes, he could address the audience as he would a not at the end of one of his silly little stories. And there's no need for me to use the third person is there? So, forgive me, then, for so blatantly breaking the fourth wall in this way, I suppose. I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. I was depressed for a while- still am- but I think I'm ok. As you might've guessed from the above, I'm not happy with myself, but I'm learning to love myself again.
I know everyone's sick of the multiverse concept by now, but… this is something I gotta write, I feel. I don't care if it takes my whole life. I wanna finish something I started for once. I appreciate all you've done for me. I mean that. Reviews, especially on Tell Her How You Feel, mean a lot. I'm sorry I keep disappearing. I can't guarantee it won't happen again, all I can say is… my mind's clear now. I hope you'll stay with me on this journey. Thanks for reading. Read and Review, folks. See you all later, in the re-do of this work: Architect of a Multiverse.