John opened his eyes beneath a bright blue sky.
For several seconds, he remained completely still, staring through the branches above him while sunlight slipped between green leaves and warmed his face. A gentle breeze moved through the forest, carrying the scent of damp soil, flowers, and clean water from somewhere nearby.
Nothing screamed.
There was no smoke burning his lungs, no infernal pressure surrounding his soul, and no distant sound of demons dragging the damned through punishment chambers. The air felt light enough to breathe without tasting blood, ash, or ancient suffering.
John slowly sat up.
He had fallen asleep beside Maze after returning from another training session. She had wrapped herself around him during the night, one leg resting over his waist while her head remained against his chest. He remembered running his fingers through her dark hair while she complained that he spent more time training than fucking her.
Then everything had faded.
John looked around the forest as suspicion replaced his brief confusion. The trees stood taller than anything he had seen on Earth, their trunks covered in silver patterns that shifted whenever sunlight touched them. Flowers in dozens of colors grew beside a narrow dirt path, while tiny glowing insects floated between the branches despite the afternoon light.
"Either Maze slipped something into my drink, or someone dragged me into another dimension while I was sleeping," John muttered as he climbed to his feet.
His clothes remained intact, though John could not feel his powers anymore. He clenched his fists and tried to feel his magic, but nothing. It was as if he became a normal human again. He smiled a bit. "Interesting. Been a while since I felt this weak."
John began walking along the forest path, moving slowly while his senses expanded through the surrounding land. He detected animals in the trees, fish moving through distant water, and several unfamiliar creatures hiding beneath the soil. None of them carried hostile intent, and no hidden presence attempted to enter his mind.
The place felt peaceful.
After spending centuries in Hell, peace had become suspicious by default.
'Weird. I can sense everything, yet can't feel my power,' He thought.
A deep cry suddenly echoed above him.
John looked upward as an enormous bird passed over the forest. Its wings stretched wider than a passenger plane, and blue feathers shimmered beneath the sunlight like polished metal. The creature turned once above the trees before disappearing beyond a distant mountain.
John watched it leave with one eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, this definitely isn't Earth," he said while continuing down the path.
The forest gradually opened around him. Trees became fewer, while the path widened and curved between fields filled with pale flowers.
The path ended at the edge of a pond.
John stopped when he noticed the old man sitting nearby.
The stranger wore a clean black suit and a black hat that shaded most of his face. A fishing pole rested loosely between his hands, with its line disappearing into the perfectly still water. He looked like an ordinary old man enjoying a quiet afternoon away from civilization.
John knew better.
He couldn't detect the stranger's heartbeat and his soul. The old man existed without creating pressure, energy, or any detectable change in the world around him.
That absence revealed more than overwhelming power ever could.
John stood there for several seconds, studying the old man before walking toward the edge of the pond. He sat beside him without asking permission, rested his arms across his knees, and looked toward the water.
Neither of them spoke.
The old man kept fishing as if the temporary King of Hell had not appeared beside him. His hands remained relaxed around the pole, and the faint smile on his weathered face suggested he had expected John to arrive at precisely that moment.
John glanced sideways once.
The Presence looked nothing like the being most mortals imagined when they thought about God. There was no blinding light, booming voice, golden throne, or endless gathering of angels singing praises around Him.
He simply looked like someone's grandfather.
John returned his attention to the pond.
The water rippled near his feet.
His reflection appeared first, showing the man he had become. His face looked older and harder than it once had, shaped by wars, loss, responsibility, and centuries spent sitting upon Hell's throne. Dark red light flashed faintly inside his eyes before disappearing.
Another ripple crossed the surface.
The reflection changed.
A teenage boy stared back at him.
John recognized the face immediately. It belonged to his first life, before divine lightning, Kahndaq, demons, world-ending invasions, and kingdoms. He had been reckless, arrogant, and convinced he understood far more about life than he actually did.
The water shifted again.
The principal's office appeared inside the reflection.
John saw his younger self looking at the principal, who was pointing his gun at him. His wife was still blowing John when the principal shot him.
John stared at the memory for a moment before giving a quiet snort.
“That was still one of the dumbest ways anyone has ever died.”
The Presence did not answer, though the faint smile beneath His hat widened slightly.
The pond continued showing John’s past.
The school hallway dissolved, replaced by darkness, heat, and the sound of metal striking stone. John saw himself awaken inside the mining prison in Kahndaq, trapped inside the body of a slave while guards beat exhausted prisoners around him.
He saw Luna again.
She sat beside him inside a narrow tunnel, sharing a small piece of bread even though she had barely eaten anything herself. Her smile remained gentle despite the dirt on her face and the bruises covering her arms.
The memory changed.
John watched Luna die during their attempted escape. He saw himself collapse beside her body while blood poured from his wounds and soaked into the ancient sarcophagus beneath him.
Then the voice returned from the darkness.
“Shazam.”
Lightning filled the pond.
John saw himself transform for the first time, rise from the blood-covered chamber, and tear through the prison guards while grief burned away every trace of hesitation inside him. He watched his search for Batman, his journey to Nanda Parbat, and the moment he killed Ra’s al Ghul before carrying Luna toward the Lazarus Pit.
The water showed Luna returning to life.
Her eyes opened without recognition.
John remembered the pain of that moment more clearly than any wound he had suffered since. She had returned, yet every memory they shared had disappeared from her mind.
He had protected her anyway.
The pond moved through the years faster.
John saw himself overthrowing Kahndaq’s regime and freeing the people who had suffered under it. He saw Amanda Waller watching him through satellite footage, wondering whether the new lightning god would become a greater threat than the rulers he had destroyed.
Harley appeared next.
She crashed into his life with violence, laughter, bad decisions, and enough emotional damage to frighten trained psychologists. John watched their early arguments, the first time she slept safely inside his apartment, and the moment her chaotic presence began filling the silence Luna had left behind. Then the bomb incident.
Maureen appeared before the pizza shop.
She stood alone and hungry, abandoned by a world that feared her powers and expected her to become another villain. John watched himself offer her food, shelter, work, and a place inside the strange family he and Harley were slowly building.
The small pizza shop rose inside the water.
J&H Pizza became JH&M Pizza and Ice Cream. Harley argued with customers, Maureen learned how to smile again, and John spent evenings cooking food while pretending their lives were ordinary.
The images moved faster.
Wonder Woman investigated him. Hotstreak attacked. Ebon built his empire. The Foot Clan entered Dakota City. John defeated Tengu Shredder and destroyed the fused creature created from Ebon and Hotstreak.
The Seven Deadly Sins emerged.
Blaze offered him Black Adam’s power and expected corruption to follow. John rejected her influence and eventually struck her down with Living Lightning.
Kahndaq transformed beneath his rule.
Broken roads became advanced cities. Magical industries rose beside modern technology. Creature preserves protected beings humans once hunted. Metas, magic users, and reformed villains found sanctuary within borders free from corruption and exploitation.
Themyscira appeared inside the pond.
John saw his political marriage to Hippolyta, Diana becoming queen, Tartarus threatening the Amazons, and Ares falling beneath his power. He watched Themyscira open itself to the world while ancient traditions slowly changed around a future its people had once feared.
The water showed the Kraang invasion, Kara Zor-L’s arrival, and the war against General Zod. Kryptonian ships burned across the sky while Earth trembled beneath an invasion capable of ending civilization.
John entered the battlefield.
Magic struck Kryptonians who had believed themselves invincible. Zod fell. The remaining army surrendered, and Earth survived another war that should have destroyed it.
Rachel Roth appeared next.
John watched the frightened girl ask for help while Trigon’s influence spread through her soul. Koriand’r stood nearby, prepared to kill Rachel rather than risk her father’s arrival.
The scene shifted to Lux.
Lucifer Morningstar sat across from John and explained the cost of saving Rachel permanently. One year ruling Hell would equal roughly six thousand years beneath the underworld’s distorted passage of time.
John accepted without hesitation.
“She asked for help,” his reflection said. “That’s enough.”
The pond darkened.
John watched himself enter Hell, sit upon Lucifer’s throne, and endure the screaming that never stopped. He saw the first assassination attempt, the blood covering the throne room, and the moment every demon realized the human ruler was far more dangerous than they had expected.
Shadow clones spread through Hell.
Punishment sectors became organized. Ancient archives opened beneath his authority. Rebellions collapsed before they could begin, while Infernal Judgment erased demons and condemned souls who believed corruption made them untouchable.
Maze appeared beside the throne.
The reflections showed her teasing him, threatening him, trying to seduce him, and slowly becoming frustrated when he refused to treat her as another meaningless distraction. The quiet date beneath the tree appeared afterward, followed by Maze resting against his shoulder while holding his hand.
Her soul began forming through every emotion she once believed demons could never possess.
The memories moved again.
Satan broke free.
Hell’s armies gathered beneath the First of the Fallen, only for John’s lightning to erase the rebellion within seconds. The pond showed their battle, Satan’s rage, and John finally crushing his soul beneath Infernal Judgment and Hakai.
Then Earth appeared.
Thousands of unauthorized demons were ripped from the mortal world and dragged back into Hell. Possessed humans collapsed as infernal creatures were torn from their bodies. Cults lost their masters, criminal empires lost their hidden patrons, and communities that had suffered beneath invisible corruption were finally freed.
The final reflection showed John sitting upon Hell’s throne with Maze beside him.
A temporary ruler.
A former slave.
A dead teenager from another universe.
A man who had somehow become powerful enough to manipulate reality and erase ancient demons from existence.
The water settled.
John stared at his present reflection beside the face of the foolish teenager he had once been. The two images remained together for several seconds before slowly merging into one.
“It feels like yesterday since I got shot and woke up in that hellhole,” John said with a chuckle.
The old man beside him finally moved.
He pulled the fishing line from the pond, though there was nothing attached to the hook. After examining it with unnecessary seriousness, He lowered it back into the water.
“You’ve experienced several versions of Hell since that day,” the Presence said. “Some were prisons made from stone and chains. Others were built from grief, responsibility, fear, and the belief that you alone must become strong enough to carry everyone.”
John’s faint amusement disappeared.
The Presence continued watching the pond while the fishing pole remained steady between His hands. “You freed slaves, protected the rejected, built homes for those who had nowhere else to go, and accepted suffering that belonged to others because you believed you could survive it. And your choices save Earth and reality from total annihilation. And as you are now, there are only a few who could really pose a threat to you.”
John leaned back slightly and studied the old man’s face beneath the hat. “That sounds suspiciously close to praise.”
“It was an observation.”
“Of course it was.”
The Presence’s smile returned.
Another ripple moved through the pond, showing John inside the training dimension while silver reality energy tore cracks through the artificial sky. His own voice echoed from the reflection.
“I need more power.”
John’s eyes narrowed.
The Presence looked toward him for the first time.
His gaze held no threat, anger, or judgment, yet John felt every defense inside his soul become meaningless beneath it. The old man saw the teenage fool, the grieving slave, the lightning champion, the king, the lover, the ruler of Hell, and every fear John had hidden beneath his hunger for greater strength.
“You’ve spent centuries asking how much power you need to protect everyone,” the Presence said. “Perhaps the question you should ask is whether power can ever make you feel that they are truly safe.”
John looked back toward the water.
For once, he did not have an immediate answer.