The Game Cafe in Marvel and DC

71 – An interview with Lois Lane part 2

Gawking at the scene, Lois was the first to recover as she rushed over to the counter, where the strange alien creature floated calmly behind it. Clark, who saw this, couldn't help but imagine seeing a puppy chasing after a frisbee and let out a small chuckle. He quickly coughed to hide his chuckle before focusing on the creature, suspicious and ready for anything that may happen.

"Excuse me, would you mind if we do an interview with you?" Lois asked, getting the creature's attention.

"And who might you be?" The creature asked before tilting its head past her to look at Clark, "And panion?" 

Not even noticing the creature's lingering gaze on Clark, not that Zeref had eyes, Lois introduced herself. "I'm Lois Lane, and this is Clark Kent; we are with the Daily Planet news, and we were wondering if we could do an interview?" She stated again after introducing herself and Clark, showing a surprising amount of courage or...insanity with how cordial she was talking to the creature.

"I see...Sure," Zeref replied nonchalantly before waving his hand and summoning a...chair for Lois to sit down in.

"Take a seat, and you," Zeref pointed at Clark, "Get ready; if you need anything, just ask; for this interview, I will foot the bill."

"What do you mean?" Lois asked, confused.

"Exactly what I said. If you find yourselves hungry, thirsty, or in need of medical attention, all you need to do is ask. For this interview, I shall allow you to sample my products and goods and voice your opinions to the whole world," Zeref answered, only for Clark to raise his hand, getting both Lois and Zeref's attention. "You sure do sound...confident. Why is that?"

Zeref chuckled, giving those within earshot and listening in goosebumps. "Why wouldn't I be? I have nothing to hide or be afraid of. Even if you two were to be corrupt and lie about everything, there are plenty of other witnesses around you at this very moment to prove you wrong," Zeref answered, the cosmic energy in its body flaring while the black hole seemed to...vibrate while it laughed.

Looking around, they were met with flashes of cameras and phones recording the entire scene.

Waving to them, Lois turned to Clark and said, "Let's get this ball rolling. Are you ready, Clark?"

Nodding, Clark pointed the camera towards the two.

"Can you tell us about yourself...mister?" Lois fished for a name.

Zeref gestured to himself, his cosmic energy and the blackhole flaring ominously in his chest. "You can call me Zeref, as for who or rather what I am," Zeref started before pausing and leaving his audience in silence.  "I don't have any words to explain what I could possibly be...but why use words if I can simply show you?" Zeref ominously spoke out before waving its hand, enveloping the three in a black bubble and instantly making both Clark and Lois panic. 

"Calm yourselves. You are in no danger," Zeref spoke out from the darkness, amusement clear in his ethereal voice.

Before they could ask any questions,  Zeref continued, "Welcome to my mind, quite empty, isn't it?"

"Your...mind?" Lois asked, confused while looking around with wide eyes.

"Yes, my mind. I figured that if I could explain to you what I am with words, why not just show you instead?"

Suddenly, the darkness that surrounded them began to change as small specks of light appeared around them, slowly expanding to a star-filled expanse that surrounded them.

"Wha-..." Lois exclaimed as a literal universe formed around them.

Little did they know, what they were seeing was merely an illusion, one without any real...substance.

Before their eyes, a simple solar system with a massive star came into being. This system had several planets and celestial objects orbiting around the star.

"What...Where is this?" Clark asked.

"Somewhere far, far away," Zeref chuckled as if he remembered something when he said that.

That's when an ominous dark star flew through the system, draining the system of all light and life before it seemed to orbit around the supergiant start, latching onto it with countless dark appendages that seemed to grasp the star.

Before their eyes and recorded by the camera, the star began to shift and change, becoming a dark star. 

In the star's place, a creature began to form, one of gigantic proportions, shocking the two.

Before the two's eyes, the surrounding celestial objects began to break apart, transforming into cosmic energy that flooded into the creature, fueling its growth.

"That...is you?" Clark asked, much calmer than the horrified Lois.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. It both is and isn't," Zeref cryptically replied as the three watched the solar system collapse into dust, leaving nothing but Dark Star Xerath.

They watched as the being reborn as one of madness and hatred looked up to see the stars around it while the Dark Star that transformed it moved on.

The scene shifted; the three now floated above Earth. 

"This is Earth, my Earth, not yours," Zeref explained.

"Your....Earth?" Lois asked, confused and still reeling from all of the information and scenery that Zeref was throwing at them.

"Have you ever heard about the Multiverse Theory? That there are countless versions of the same world that you cannot see and that are beyond your grasp? It's real. I was born on this Earth; it's much like yours, but only a lot more vanilla," Zeref began to explain, only to be interrupted by Clark, "Vanilla?"

"Yes. To our knowledge, there are no aliens, gods, mutants, superhumans, or anything else. Just base-line humans—ah, that means humans who are completely normal and have no kind of modifications, gifts, powers, etc," Zeref explained.

"What about you?" Lois asked, confused by Zeref's statement.

"Ah, the same goes for me. I was once Human."

That got both of their attention.

"What do you mean? You were human? How? What?" Lois uttered, confused with wide eyes, looking at the eldritch cosmic creature that floated before them.

'How could he go from human to something like this? Especially if he said that everyone was normal?'  Lois thought to herself.

Zeref chuckled, “I lived on Earth as but a man for nearly two and a half decades,” Zeref started, waving his hand, bringing the three down to Texas in the United States.

“I was born to a simple family as a single child,” Zeref continued, showing three figures covered in darkness.

“I was your average human. There was nothing special or interesting about me other than my fascination with media, such as games, movies, TV Shows, and countless other things. I completely withdrew myself from my reality and dived down into the world of stories, but that all changed come my 25th birthday. My parents died, and I died not long after.” As Zeref delved into his memories, the space around them began to shift and change. 

Countless things began to appear and disappear like a flickering light in the darkness, as did whispers of madness and the long dead and forgotten. A Golden Tree, a planet’s surface bathed in fire from an orbiting ship, three separate hive-like insectoid monsters that consumed all in their path, and three separate forms of humanity had to fight these insectoid hive minds.

One version featured countless billions of guardsmen and footmen, with a few men in hulking suits of armor that stood multiple times taller than even the tallest guardsman. In another world, small groups of men in armor dropped onto the planet from orbit and treated the area like a black-ops mission, taking down objectives, hives, and bugs. 

The last featured both humans and some strange aliens in incredibly ornate armor with strange glowing blue blades flowing out from their gauntlets fighting against an unending swarm of bugs and aliens, ranging from large canine-like creatures with small wings to massive beasts with tusks and even flying organic ships that launched flying spaghetti meatballs onto human and alien fortifications.

The scenes shifted and changed so fast that Lois couldn’t even react to a vision before it changed to something else, but Clark saw it all from behind the camera. He saw countless worlds filled with conflict, war, and chaos. He saw everything within the few moments that passed, and yet he could not make sense of anything he saw, as what he saw just did not make any sense. How could he? The things he saw were beyond comprehension as countless scenes shifted and changed dozens of times in mere moments, far faster than the human eye could see.

Then, it abruptly changed back to the three in the cafe, with Zeref floating calmly in front of the two.

“Sorry about that…I have quite the…vivid imagination,” Zeref apologized before waving his hand, bringing forth two…strange golden-looking apples.

“Here, take these gifts as an apology,” Zeref floated the apples over to the two.

The two stared off into space, shock and a mixture of awe clear in their expressions as they fruitlessly tried to absorb all of the things they saw within Zeref's mind.

When the three appeared back in the  Cafe, the people observing gasped and began talking to each other, something the three could easily hear as they apparently did not know the meaning of whispering.

"Did they teleport?"

"They're back! Where did they go?!"

Focusing back on the two reporters, Zeref gave them some time to think. Clark appeared anxious and even more wary of Zeref, while Lois appeared pale and somewhat afraid. Despite that, she swallowed and asked, "What...are these?" before grabbing one of the Golden Apples.

"As their appearance may suggest, they are Golden Apples, a Minecraftian product known to be a life-savior in dangerous situations. Hmm. Here are two samples. Why not try them out?" Zeref suggested, effortlessly floating two more apples to the two.

"Go on, give it a try. I promise that you'll enjoy it," Zeref promised, not that Clark trusted Zeref's word, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to stop Lois before she took a bite and let out an obvious...moan that made her blush in embarrassment and made Zeref laugh.

A visible golden shine seemed to cover her body as old scars disappeared, cuts healed, pain and exhaustion cleared away, and even her skin became healthier and smoother as invigorating energy seeped into her body.

"W-What?" Lois stuttered, shaking as the energy flowed into her.

"What you have just eaten is a golden apple, a fruit from one of the games currently offered in the store, Minecraft, to be specific," Zeref explained.

"Minecraft?" Clark asked, concerned.

"That's right. Like I said earlier, it's a Minecraftian product, and I can guarantee that it is completely natural and in no way harmful to either of you," Zeref said, emphasizing 'Either' as it looked toward Clark.

"It's also one of the games available in the store. Perhaps I will show you in a bit. For now, I believe you have some questions," Zeref waved his hand, gesturing towards Lois to begin asking.

Seeing that Lois was distracted by the changes  happening to her body, Clark nervously looked over her before asking  Zeref, "How old are you?" 

"Decades? Centuries? Millineia? I cannot remember," Zeref replied with a half-truth. After he died, he had no way to tell time as he drifted in that dark void for who knows how long, though he felt as if he had forgotten something while he was trapped in the 'In-between,' in the Void.

"Why here? Why have you come to our...Earth?" Lois asked with grit teeth and a blush on her face, trying to gain control over herself.

"Hmm...because it's interesting. This universe is chaotic, to say the least. There's so much going on with this small planet and even the galaxy around it that, to be frank, I doubt I would run out of things to do for a few centuries, at least," Zeref explained.

"So...you are planning on staying on Earth for the next few...centuries?" Clark asked, baffled and worried.

"Sure, why not? Humanity is interesting, and I'd love to see how you guys fare against the wider universe come the next couple of decades," Zeref nonchalantly replied.

"Against the wider universe? Does that mean aliens exist?" Lois suddenly jumped in her seat, excited and curious.

"Of course. The likelihood of a dead universe is far lower than that of a universe housing life, and I can also guarantee that aliens do, in fact, live in this universe, some even calling Earth home. What did you think Superman was? He's certainly not a mutant, metahuman, or inhuman," Zeref commented off-handedly.

"Superman is an alien?! What are...Inhumans?" Lois asked, concerned.

"Yes, Superman is indeed an  Alien, a Kryptonian, in fact, one of the few of his species left, though a few are still out there roaming the stars or living out their lives in one of the galactic communities," Zeref answered.

"As for Inhumans, think of them as another branch of Humanity, much like the discriminated branches that have been given derogatory names such as 'Mutant.' I'll have you know that the term 'mutant' will only hurt the human race. Personally, I believe all you guys are doing with your discrimination against the Mutants and metahumans of Earth will only end with the conflict," Zeref spoke, clearly stating his annoyance with the matter.

"You believe it would end up in...war?" Lois asked, concerned and pale, imagining the kind of war that would be, one that would make World War 2 look like a Picnic if it were ever to happen.

"Correct; you remember your history, right? Magneto's attack on the White House? That's because back then, Mutants would have gone extinct if Trask Industries's robots were put into service, which, just some advice, would have eventually led to the extinction of the human race as well," Zeref stated as if it was nothing.

"W-What?" Lois asked with wide eyes, shocked.

"Right, I guess I need to give you some history in basic genetics. Unlike what governments and countries would like you to believe, every child born is capable of having what I will now call an active 'Gifted' gene that grants them powers. Which means that no matter who or where you are, eventually, down the tree, someone, somewhere, will give birth to a gifted child," Zeref explained.

"And those robots would have...realized that?" Clark asked, shocked.

"Right on the money, the Artificial Intelligence in Trask's Killer Robots would have realized that eventually, even a normal human couple would give birth to a quote on quote 'Mutant,' which means, if they logically wanted to make the 'Mutant Threat' go extinct, humanity would have to go extinct with it, a full-blown terminator situation is what we would have on our hands if that happened," Zeref explained before gesturing towards the pale Lois to ask another question.

"If...Aliens exist...what about other things? Like Gods? Or Magic?" Lois asked another absurd question that no one had a real answer to, no one but Zeref and the supernatural community.

"They sure do. I know for a fact that the Greek Pantheon exists, and so does the Biblical Pantheon, with big G, God, his angels, and demons as well. So, if you think someone has rapidly undergone changes near you and is possessed, please call an Exorcist. While most are hoaxes, the ones from the Vatican are the real deal," Zeref recommended with a serious tone.

"...Demons are real?" Lois asked.

"Sure are; other than that, Magic also exists; do with that what you will," Zeref explained, not going further into the details about Magic.

"Is...Is there anything else you think we should know?" Lois hesitantly asked.

"Ah, not all aliens are friendly, so I highly suggest NATO and other countries come together to either start expanding into space or, at the very least, begin the creation of planet-side defenses that will allow for the Earth to protect itself from any threat that comes from space," Zeref recommended.

"Other than that, I feel like I should give you guys a quick tour and some first-hand experiences as to what my Cafe can offer. Are you up for it? I promise to answer any more questions you come up with," Zeref asked, looking upon the two humans before it.