The Watcher

Chapter 3: Mundus Novus (New World)

     I wouldn't exactly say I was alive at this point, even after I woke up from a coma. The nurse walked in and then immediately went out.
     A doctor came in, "Oh my God." The name caused my consciousness to succumb to rage. The building crumbled to ashes under my lighting and before I could stop myself the city was in ruin. I saw the flaming ceiling collapse and when I reached my hand to blast it away I was crushed. My body was pinned and my flesh was burning as if I were powerless. Moving the ceiling was as hard as moving a train. My skin peeled over the debris as I moved it inch by inch. My pale body had burned terribly from the waist to my neck. I tripped out from under the burning wreckage and searched around for a place to go.  I could only see one foot in front of me and my world was spinning. As soon as I could really see where I was, I lost consciousness again, surrounded by endless miles of fire.
     Regaining consciousness was an interminable journey. Decades pasts while I was in a dream-like state. I'd wake up in a new spot every day, usually covered in blood. When I did regain consciousness I went into the city and looked for a way to get off this planet or someone to help me. One day I regained my consciousness I was grabbing onto a skinny metal tower that extended into the clouds. A fog was covering the ground but I could see the world was completely covered by hell. A red glow showed through the fog and spelled out *WAR*. The tower swayed and the wind rushed. My breaths were shallow and meaningless and when the tower started rapidly falling I freely fell to the ashes.
     I woke up in a motel to an alarm clock. The TV was on and displayed the world I was just on getting engulfed by lightning. In the corner, I saw the words "live". This couldn't make any sense because I was sitting comfortably in a motel. Did it matter? It's not like I could fly over and check it out, besides I might only be in control for a minute. Thinking about it doesn't change anything and there is already plenty to think about as is. Part of me was thrilled by not having any responsibility or not having to live an entire day. This was probably the first time I woke up and felt like I could breathe since everything went down. Hell, this was the first time I woke up without trying to get my powers back to train and kill God. It was my first time wanting to do something to take my mind off it all. I twirled out of bed and slid on some fuzzy slippers that were just waiting for me. The air was cold but comforting and when I slid the curtains open I forgot about everything. Right in front of me lay a whole world. Of course, I only got a view of the parking lot and the road but I knew that there was so much I hadn't seen. The life the watchers were fighting for was here. This was the new world we wanted, any part of the galaxy where we could just exist and feel free. I reached into my pajamas and felt keys as well as a wallet. I took out the wallet and saw what I looked like. It wasn't a face that I chose but I guess it's not the face that makes a man. I looked like a more handsome Unabomber when he was living in the woods. I dropped my wallet into my pocket and grabbed the keys. I started pressing the button on the key fob to unlock the door but I still couldn't tell which car was mine. I slowly moved my key along at all the cars and was pressing the button at a million miles per hour. My fingers were frantic and when I started moving to my left I saw a wide-eyed old man side glancing the soul out of me.
     "You okay sir?" the man said as he pointed at me.
     "I forgot what car I was in I have this...uh....memory problem," I said as I kept pressing the key fob.
     "Look you clearly aren't okay I'm calling the police." He said as he slid his phone out of his pocket.
I punched him as hard as I could in his face and I knocked the little man right into the ground. His head soaked the sidewalk in blood as I walked to this old SUV the keys belonged to. When I opened the car door I got hit with the smell of donuts; surprised, I looked around in the car to see where the smell was coming from. I don't know how I missed it when I first walked by the car because the entire back seat was filled with about a hundred glazed donuts just laying all over the seat in a mound. I opened the glove department and three pistols just fell out as well as some ammo. I tucked two guns in my waistband and put a bunch of bullets in my pockets. I messed around with the car until I found out how to go into reverse. I backed out fast and hit a kid who was running ahead of their mom. The mom screamed so loud the whole world probably would've heard it if I didn't shoot her in the face. I don't even know why I did it. It felt like all my knowledge was subconscious and I just acted and then figured it out later. I drove over her and pulled into traffic. I pulled out in front of this guy and he swerved into traffic which caused a chain reaction of crashes. The whole road stopped and everyone got out to help or look at what happened but I just kept driving away. I somehow evaded the cops by sneaking on a backroad a few miles out. It was a road made up of orange dirt and rocks that led down a single-lane road for miles. I kept driving and I looked out the window at the stars that filled the sky. I felt nothing, no guilt, no euphoria, just an intense feeling of existing at the moment. I was so numb it felt as if I were dreaming.
     This world was beautiful, the desert was on both sides of me and the dawning sun made everything that much more orange. When the sun fully dawned I could still see a light at the end of the road on the horizon. When I got closer I saw it was an old bar. Intrigued, I drove to it and parked the car under a dim orange light to go in. The light I saw from many miles away was nowhere to be seen, all the lights around here were either dim or broken. The whole building was made of an old dark brown wood I couldn't identify. When I stepped inside I could feel the wood sink and heard it creak. The inside was only lit at the bar table and to my surprise, a man was drinking at the counter. I sat down and told the young bartender to give me four beers.  I never had drunk beer or any other alcoholic beverage but I wanted something to do while I was here.
     The old man sitting at the counter started talking, "The galaxy is full of things without meaning, simply because things don't have to have meaning. What makes everything beautiful is how we give it meaning. It's what makes everything personal even if it shouldn't be. To you, I may seem like an old man who maintains a life without meaning, but to me, this life is more special than anything that ever was."
     "You don't sound like you're from around here," I said as I pointed around with my beer in hand.
     "Well, that makes both of us. My question for you is what are you doing on this planet?" he said with genuine interest.
     "I'm stuck here and I'm trying to take my mind off of some things. Hey is there any way you could take me to a different planet?" I asked
     "I can do a great many things, yes....yes. But why should I take you anywhere? While you were here you caused more harm to this place than any single person has in a long time. If I let you go you'll just cause more harm and sufferi-" the old man said as he got cut off.
     "Look nothing I did was personal, I'd rather not hurt people but if I didn't my day would've been a lot worse. If I let those people catch me I would've probably destroyed the whole planet." I sighed. "So where I'm standing I barely caused any fucking damage."
     The old man lightly asked, "Do you know why you can't control your power?"
     "I switched bodies and I think it messed something up," I said as I twirled my last drink. "Or maybe... I'm afraid. Afraid that if I mess up that I'll be forgotten and that justice will never be served. Afraid that I'll be the reason, that my species is forgotten," I said as looked at the bottom of my drink.
     "We should talk more about this someplace else, I've drunken enough tonight," he said as he opened a bright white portal.
     I followed him into his strange portal. It led into this bright white room with very advanced tech and armor.
     "This is my trophy room now, but once it was the place where I could do anything. It's a pocket dimension filled with weapons, armor, tech, relics, and everything I thought was worth keeping over the past two billion years I've had it. If I can help you control your powers then I'll be able to do it here," the man said as he booted up a machine. The machine is connected to a clear tube chamber. 
     "Who are you?" I asked
     "My name is Glenwood Bankar," he said as he opened up the tube door. "get in"
     "How long have you been alive? I questioned as I walked in the tube.
     He replied with a laugh, "Roughly four billion years." He closed the door and my vision turned to white. I got launched into space and could feel the light dust particles against my body with no sensation of wind. The cold got to my body quickly and I faded out slowly while seeing Glenwood teleport in.