AN: END of HELL ARC
John watched his reflection ripple across the pond while the younger version of himself slowly disappeared beneath the sunlight.
“Maybe power won’t ever make me feel completely safe,” he admitted. “But you see, my world is really small. It’s only Kahndaq, my family, and the people I’ve somehow connected along the way.”
He picked up a small stone and rolled it between his fingers before tossing it into the pond. The stone skipped across the surface three times, disturbing the memories that had gathered there.
“This universe is filled with danger. There’s an insane number of beings living across the multiverse, omniverse, or whatever everyone’s calling it these days. Then there are self-proclaimed gods, actual gods, New Gods, cosmic monsters, and lunatics who can destroy Earth with a snap of their fingers.”
The Presence listened quietly while John stared across the water.
“So, I need enough power to surpass them and keep what I love safe,” John continued. “Until I reach that level, I’m not going to stop seeking strength. I’d rather spend ten thousand years training than stand helpless while someone takes everything away from me.”
The old man adjusted the fishing pole between His hands before looking toward John.
“What if you already possess that strength?” the Presence asked. “Have you ever wondered why you were reborn in this world, or why a human body can wield the combined authority of twelve gods and demonic powers without turning into dust?”
John’s expression became more attentive as the Presence continued.
“Have you wondered why you can use abilities that once existed only inside television shows, comics, novels, and stories from your previous world? You perform techniques created under completely different laws of reality, and you do so with remarkable ease.”
The fishing line shifted gently across the pond.
“Even with the Wisdom of Zehuti and Solomon, such things should have remained impossible. Wisdom could help you understand those abilities, though understanding alone wouldn’t allow you to bypass dimensional rules, incompatible energy systems, or the restrictions between separate realms.”
John stared at the old man for several seconds before pointing toward Him.
“Aren’t you the one who brought me back to life in this world and gave me some kind of special power?”
The Presence slowly shook his head.
“No, John. I watched your arrival, though I didn’t cause it.”
John’s fingers stopped moving against his knee.
“The Source chose you as the New God of Judgment,” the Presence explained. “Everything until now has been part of a trial created by the Source to judge who you would become when faced with suffering, temptation, loss, authority, and power.”
The pond changed again.
John saw flashes of Kahndaq, Luna’s death & resurrection, Harley's pain through her smile, Maureen crying in the snow, Hippolyta standing beside him before the armies of Themyscira, and Maze leaning against his shoulder beneath the peaceful tree.
“The amount of pain you experienced would have changed almost anyone,” the Presence continued. “Your sacrifices could have turned compassion into resentment. Your strength could have transformed responsibility into control. Hell could have taken your humanity and replaced it with cruelty.”
The water darkened as John’s reflection appeared upon Hell’s throne, surrounded by fire and kneeling demons.
“Yet you held onto your sanity and humanity,” the Presence said. “You became harsher when harshness was necessary, though you never forgot why you fought. You built homes, created families, protected strangers, and carried burdens that offered you little personal reward.”
John raised one hand before the old man could continue.
“Yeah, no thank you.”
The forest became strangely still.
The breeze stopped moving through the leaves. The glowing insects froze in the air, and the fishing line between the Presence’s hands went completely motionless.
For the first time since John arrived, the old man looked genuinely stunned.
John noticed the reaction and gave Him a suspicious look.
“What happened?” John asked. “Did nobody ever reject a cosmic promotion before?”
The Presence stared at him with quiet disbelief.
“You’re refusing to become the New God of Judgment?”
“Source, New God, cosmic trials, divine purpose, and judgment across creation all sound like a boatload of work,” John replied. “I’ve spent centuries running Hell, fixing punishment sectors, reading contracts, crushing rebellions, and listening to damned souls scream every second of every day.”
John leaned back on both hands and looked through the branches above them.
“When I finish my promise to Lucifer, I don’t want another throne. I don’t want temples, followers, cosmic trials, or beings from other universes appearing at my house because reality needs someone to settle an argument.”
The Presence’s surprise slowly softened into faint amusement.
John continued before He could respond.
“So, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to send me back to Hell, and I’ll keep the promise I made to Lucifer. After I finish those six thousand years, I’m going home and living a happy life with my family. Also, I gotta create the Council of Wizards.”
John gestured casually toward the pond.
“Lucifer agreed to keep outside troubles away once I fulfilled my side of the deal. I’ll protect Earth, Kahndaq, and everyone I love whenever something slips through. I’m thankful to the Source for giving me whatever special power helped me survive, though I’m good without the title and extra responsibilities.”
The Presence studied him for another long moment.
“Don’t you want immortality?”
“Nope, I don’t want immortality,” John answered without hesitation. “I don’t want to stand alone while my family dies before my eyes. I don’t want to watch my children grow old, bury them, meet their children, and repeat that cycle until every face I loved becomes another memory.”
His expression tightened as the peaceful forest reflected faintly inside his eyes.
“I don’t want to spend eternity pretending those losses don’t matter. I just want a peaceful life with my family. That’s all I wanted after Harley, Maureen, and Hippolyta came into my life.”
John paused as another face entered his thoughts.
“And Maze,” he added. “I definitely need to include Maze before she somehow hears this conversation and stabs me for forgetting her.”
A quiet laugh escaped the Presence while the forest began moving again.
“Your understanding of immortality is incomplete,” He said. “True divine immortality doesn’t force you to exist forever. It grants authority over your own ending. You would remain beyond disease, age, and involuntary death, though you could still choose when your journey had reached its proper conclusion.”
John glanced toward Him. “That sounds dangerously close to fine print.”
“You’ve spent centuries reviewing infernal contracts,” the Presence replied. “I assumed you’d appreciate precise language.”
“I appreciate precise language when someone else is getting trapped by it.”
The old man smiled and returned His attention to the pond.
“The people you love would also retain their own choices. Hippolyta and Maze already possess forms of immortality. Harley and Maureen could extend their lives through the Divine Lightning, or you can grant them cosmic power after becoming the New God, provided they freely accepted such a change.”
John’s gaze remained fixed on the water.
“I wouldn’t make that decision for them.”
“I know,” the Presence said. “That answer is one reason the Source chose you.”
John’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You’re trying to turn my refusal into another reason I deserve the job.”
“The Source doesn’t require employment from you,” the Presence explained. “It doesn’t need another servant carrying out orders. Judgment without free will becomes calculation, and judgment without compassion becomes tyranny.”
A soft golden light appeared beneath the surface of the pond.
“You were chosen because you understand power and still desire an ordinary life. You can erase souls, command Hell, reshape matter, and frighten ancient beings into submission, yet your greatest dream remains sitting beside your family without wondering when the next war will begin.”
John watched the golden light spread through the water.
“That doesn’t sound very godlike,” he said.
“It sounds exactly like the kind of god creation rarely receives.”
The words made John uncomfortable in a way Satan’s threats never had. He scratched the side of his face and looked toward the distant forest.
“Let’s clear up something important,” John said. “When you said everything was a trial, did the Source arrange Luna’s death, the prison, or the suffering that followed?”
The warmth around the pond faded slightly.
“No,” the Presence answered. “The Source placed you within this reality and allowed mortal choices to remain real. It didn’t force the guards to enslave people, command Luna’s death, create Joker’s cruelty, or cause the wars you faced.”
The old man’s gaze became more serious.
“A trial loses all meaning when every answer has already been forced. The Source allowed you to encounter a world filled with choices and consequences. It judged how you responded to what others freely chose to do.”
John’s shoulders loosened slightly.
“Good,” he said. “Because I was about to become extremely disrespectful.”
“I expected that possibility.”
John looked back toward the old man. “So, what exactly did the Source give me?”
The Presence lifted the fishing pole from the pond. This time, a tiny silver fish hung from the hook, flickering between solid matter and light.
“A fragment of its authority rests within your soul,” He explained while carefully removing the fish. “That fragment translates understanding into possibility. Your memories provided the designs, while the Source’s power allowed those designs to exist under this reality’s laws.”
The fish slipped from His hand and returned to the pond without creating a splash.
“When you use chakra, ki, Nen, Haki, or techniques drawn from stories in your previous life, you aren’t stealing power from those fictional worlds. Your soul recreates the principles you understood and adapts them into something this universe can sustain. In simple words, you can use any power you want as long as you know what it is and how to use it.”
John slowly nodded while thinking through the explanation.
“So, I’ve basically been using cosmic cheat codes.”
“In language you’d prefer, that description is reasonably accurate.”
“That explains far more than I’d like to admit.”
The Presence placed the fishing pole beside him.
“The twelve gods can empower you because your soul possesses the capacity to harmonize divine authorities that would normally destroy one another. Hell’s energy doesn’t corrupt you because the fragment within you weighs its nature, reshapes it, and places it beneath your judgment.”
The pond showed the moment John created Infernal Judgment.
Golden Living Lightning and infernal power collided between his hands before finding a shared purpose. Black-gold lightning filled the reflection while the training dimension collapsed around him.
“You believed you forced those powers to kneel,” the Presence said. “In truth, you judged their purpose and gave them a verdict they were compelled to accept.”
John stared at the reflection.
“That sounds incredibly arrogant when you explain it like that.”
“You did name yourself the King of Hell before calling Satan a mosquito.”
“He deserved that comparison.”
The Presence’s smile widened slightly.
“Your reality manipulation emerged for the same reason. Judgment requires an understanding of what exists, what should exist, and what must change. You’re beginning to impose those conclusions upon reality itself.”
John looked down at his hand, though no silver energy appeared inside the peaceful dimension.
“Then the power I’ve been chasing already exists inside me.”
“It has always existed inside you,” the Presence replied. “You’ve only accessed a small portion.”
John remained quiet as the implications settled through his thoughts. If the fragment came directly from the Source, then his current abilities were merely early expressions of something far greater. The beings he feared across the multiverse might already stand beneath the level he could eventually reach.
That realization should have excited him.
Instead, he thought about Hell’s endless paperwork.
Instead, he thought about Hell’s endless paperwork.
“You’re still not convincing me to accept the job.”
The Presence released a patient breath through His nose.
“The title doesn’t come with scheduled meetings.”
“That’s what every terrible job says during recruitment.”
“You may refuse worship, temples, followers, and cosmic administration.”
“I’m refusing all of those enthusiastically.”
“You may also live with your family and remain absent from the affairs of creation.”
John studied Him carefully. “There’s definitely another part coming.”
“The authority will remain yours because it has already become part of your soul,” the Presence said. “You can seal its greater awareness and continue living as you choose. When your world faces a threat beyond your current strength, you may open more of that authority.”
John considered the offer.
“And nobody summons me to settle divine disputes?”
“Nobody can compel you.”
“No cosmic court meetings?”
“You may ignore every invitation.”
“No universe-ending emergency every weekend?”
“I can’t control every foolish decision made across creation,” the Presence replied. “However, you won’t be obligated to repair every consequence.”
John’s expression remained suspicious.
“What does the Source get from this arrangement?”
“The Source gains a judge who understands when judgment should remain unused.”
The answer left John silent for several seconds.
He looked toward the pond again, where Harley, Maureen, Hippolyta, and Maze appeared together. Harley was laughing while Maureen tried hiding a smile. Hippolyta watched them with patient affection, while Maze threatened someone outside the reflection with a blade.
The sight pulled a quiet smile from him.
“So, I can finish my promise, leave Hell, live with my family, and ignore the rest unless something threatens us directly.”
“The choice is yours to make.”
“I won’t become some emotionless cosmic being who forgets how to enjoy pizza, arguments, or sleeping beside someone.”
“Your humanity has survived slavery, divine transformation, kingship, war, and centuries in Hell,” the Presence said. “Accepting the truth of your soul won’t erase it.”
The Presence picked up the fishing pole and cast the line back into the pond.
“Return to Earth. It's been six thousand years..."
"What are you?!" Before John could say anything more, a massive surge of memories poured into his head... Six thousand years' worth of memories. He could remember his training, new power, zero rebellion, and so much sex with Maze.
"A small gift from me... Also, take Maze with you. She's better off with you than Lucifer. Finally, it was nice talking to you, John. I'm glad you didn't freak out," Presence said with a little smile as the world around John began to distort.
John chuckled, "Feel free to swing by my house sometimes if you want to talk or have a drink or peace. I'm pretty sure you could use a drink with all the mess you deal with every second..."
"I might take you up on that," Presence replied as everything went dark.
...
[Some unknown times later...]
A familiar voice came to John's ears, followed by another... The voices he hasn't heard in centuries. Also, he felt someone lying on top of him.
"Wipe that drool off your face and get up off him."
"It's been a freakin' year, and from what I heard, that new girl has been ridin' my man... I mean, our man, for thousands of years in hell where time runs faster than on Earth, and ya want me to hold back? Also, I'm gonna smack him for not telling us."
"You'd have killed a bunch of people and then offed yourself just to go to hell if he told you the truth."
"Yeah, and we could've had threesomes and orgies with the succubus in Hell. Also, that new bitch stole six thousand years' worth of my cuddlin' time with Jonny. So, nope, I ain't gettin' up. I'm gonna latch onto him like a leech."