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Chapter 185: Pure Scientific Evil I

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Unfortunately, things didn't go his way as not long after, he was teleported away forcefully as if it was a punishment for doing it without consent before.

"I Am. I Was. I Will Always Be... You Aren't. You Weren't. You Will Never Be."

Ian just wanted to be left alone, yet here he is, floating before a very peculiar being, a tall and muscular humanoid.

Nothing too strange unless one considers his completely blue skin which seems to be in constant alteration as if he can alter his shade and luminosity at will. That and he has no hair.

The being stood before Ian stark naked, unconcerned for his dangling meat. Privacy didn't seem to be a thing for him, proven by him bringing Ian to him without consent.

Ian certainly doesn't condone that because the times he had done that himself, it was always for the greater good.

He observed his surroundings first, finding himself in pure darkness. He could see nothing around, not a single thing, but he could breathe without using magic.

And only then did Ian eye the being before him. He knows exactly who he is, something he wondered about for a long time because he expected him to appear long beforehand.

"What does that mean?" Ian asked after feeling something akin to chains bounding him to this dark space.

Moreover, "We are in the center of a black hole, and I have all of your rings." The blue man spoke, almost instantly negating Ian's most effective methods of escaping.

Every black Rose ring was in the blue man's possession, even the ones Ian didn't have on his person.

"Dr. Manhattan." The Blue man further spoke, introducing himself.

"What do you want, and what does that mean?" Ian asked again.

"I want to study you, and I hope you cooperate." Dr. Manhattan answered, seeming quite straightforward, "Do no worry. I will not go too far."

"Why even ask?" Ian questioned with a frown.

"I know that I will see better results if you cooperate." Dr. Manhattan himself was very cooperative, solving all of Ian's doubts except for one.

"What do your previous words mean?" Ian asked again.

"You value deals a lot, so let's make a deal. Answers in return for your cooperation." Dr. Mahattan evaded the question yet again and responded with something that made Ian certain that he was observed for a long time.

"You know huh? Why now? Why only act now?" Ian asked with curiosity, but just as much tension because before him stood one of the most incomprehensible beings to ever exist.

"Because you stopped, or you have gotten slower. I theorized that that happened because of a loss in motivation. Not doing anything means I won't get to observe much. Thus, my research will never be complete."

Dr. Mahattan was basically telling Ian to his face that he was nothing but a guinea pig to him... How the tables have turned. 

"What kind of research?" Ian asked, seeing an opportunity.

"Time relative to your reality. Death relative to your reality. Changes caused by your death." Dr. Manhattan spoke many words, and each made Ian more confused than the previous.

"I can not die..." Ian stated, waiting for the being to clear his doubts.

"I thought so as well, but a recent happening changed my mind. You do die, and you're even dying at this very moment. It's almost like something is constantly killing you which triggers certain changes in the Multiverse, allowing me to understand how you work."

Ian was becoming more confused the more Dr. Manhattan spoke, and even the forever Force wasn't of much help. 

It took him a good few minutes to figure a few things out even with one of the most broken forces under his control.

"How does time work around me? You said, You Aren't. You Weren't. You Will Never Be. You clearly see a lot more than me, so does that mean I have no past, present, or future?" 

Dr. Manhattan shook his head, "No, You certainly have a present, but it doesn't function as it should, or like what I am used to... Your past and future... They, on the other hand, do not exist."

"I accept." After being thoughtful for a long while, Ian saw no solution other than accepting the deal. Dr. Manhattan must be seeing him more like an interesting piece of meat, so Ian wasn't taking any risks, not for now at least.

How Dr. Manhattan was seeing became more apparent as the Universe shook, literally every nook and cranny of the universe, no, the multiverse, all of it trembled.

"Almost," Dr. Manhattan mumbled, "I tried to disintegrate you, but the multiverse almost crumbled, and I do not know why."

"Oh yeah?" Ian muttered as he felt free again, able to move though Dr. Manhattan's words surprised him, making his lips twitch, "You started already? You really do see me as just a guinea pig huh?"

"No, I see you as something close, almost like kin of mine. I just can not hold back my curiosity, so bear with me. I had to just observe you for a very long time without doing much of anything." Dr. Manhattan responded.

"The concept of once one knows they're being observed, they'll act differently huh? You wanted me to act how I would've acted without knowing of your observation." 

Ian nodded seeming unbothered by how Dr. Manhattan was treating him, or the unfortunate circumstances happening to him constantly as of recently.

Perhaps he was feeling something. Perhaps he was feeling annoyed, angry. But if he was feeling something, we saw none of it because he made sure to hide his emotions.

"Is one hour enough?" Dr. Manhattan asked, drawing an odd look out of Ian. The latter remained silent for a while before answering, "Enough."

Ian had no idea where the monster of a being was taking him, so he acted quickly. He had already left the unconscious Raven with the girls in the House of Mystery, but Ivy have to stay in the realm of the green.

"Hey," Ian said as he appeared right next to Zatanna. She seemed to be focused on reading a book, a very interesting book, "A book of Magic?"

"Can you knock for once?" Zatanna's hands found themselves on her chest, feeling her heart almost leaping out of it with how much fright his surprise visit brought her.

"Do you knock when you have keys?" Ian asked in return.

"No?" Zatanna responded, confused about where he was going with this.

"I have the keys to almost every place imaginable, so why would I knock?" Ian smiled and answered.

"Shameless." Zatanna rubbed her temple. Honestly, if every magician went about life the way he did, magicians wouldn't exist anymore with how much hate they'd harvest.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? And do you know something about the books of magic?" She asked.

"Just checking up on you, and giving you a gift." He spoke as he handed her a hat, a simple magician hat with no apparent significance. However, that simple hat brought tears out of the usually calm and confident lady.

"Wher... How?" Her lips trembled as she asked, feeling Ian place the hat on her head, and it fit perfectly.

"You know, magic and stuff." Ian smiled, and added, "It's quite magical, so it should be of great help to you in the future."

"Is it?" Zatanna giggled as she traced the tears out of her face, "Is it your magic in it because I certainly don't remember my father having a magical hat?"

"Who knows." Ian shrugged, receiving a hug from Zatanna in return, a gentle silent hug that would've certainly turned into something else if Ian wasn't in a hurry.

So he went on his way, knowing that the hat will protect her from any harm, just like the house of Mystery will protect the others. His magical powers did reach new heights after all.

Ian did what he could in that hour without using the Forever force to mess with time because when Dr. Manhattan said an hour, he meant an hour of Ian's perceived time.

Whatever adventure or research Dr. Manhattan was leading him into, Ian didn't know, but it would definitely not be a lovely ride. That's what he assumed at least.