"I am Amon, the Lord of Mysteries."
"No."
"Huh?"
"That can't be true. No way."
"But it is. Why'd you think a god would lie?" For the first time since he'd arrived in this dark room, JJ saw a drastic change on the face of the man in front of him who claimed to be a god.
"You're not wearing a monocle, duh. So of course you're not Amon. And Klein is Lord of the Mysteries. Aren't you just a wannabe cosplayer? Amon cosplayer without a monocle? Man, get a life." Said JJ with a shrug on his shoulders. Clearly the man had to be on something to think he'd be able to fool him with such a terrible cosplay.
"You... have you really read it? You have... huh? You really have?" The man's lips flapped like a dying fish as he stared into the infinity with his eyes wide.
JJ shook his head. A little grin adorned his face as he spoke, "Of course. I'm guessing not many people recognise you in that cosplay? I can't blame them, the last time I cosplayed Amon at a comic-con, only two out of thousands of visitors recognised me. But man, even I didn't dare call myself Lord of the Mysteries."
The man's eyes finally gained some focus. He sighed a deep sigh, his shoulders deflating. Shaking his head, he sat down on the pitch black ground. Somehow all light in this room was only being reflected by the man's attire and his face.
He spoke with his legs crossed, "I see. So you are one of my those two people. To think it had to be today, when I'd lost my monocle..." the man shook his head again in sorrow. Looking up at JJ, he wistfully continued, "Also, it's not 'Lord of the Mysteries', it's 'Lord of Mysteries."
JJ couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Hahaha, man, so you're an Amon cosplayer without a monocle, and you're LOMer too? Seriously? Who's being a grammar Nazi now? And this means you really are not a god, huh? Not gonna lie, you really had me believing you until you avoided telling me your name twice before."
"Calling it with the grammatically correct translation is not being a Nazi. And no, I am not a god. But my boss is. I just work for him in the Transcarnation Department." The Amon cosplayer employee of a god said with a little fire in his eyes.
JJ snorted a laugh. "Lmao, seriously? Transcarnation? Who gave it that stupid name?"
"I did." Said the wannabe God with a blank face.
JJ couldn't help but laugh even harder. "I'm sorry bro, like I know it might hurt, but that's such an ass name!"
If JJ could make a sobbing emote, he would with his face.
The man seemed to have visibly deflated.
"I'm sorry bro, I really didn't mean to hurt you...", the man shook his head, waving off JJ's apologies.
"It's okay." He said, "My girlfriend feels the same way about it. It cannot be helped. Maybe I just am terrible with names."
JJ didn't know what to say, so he kept quiet. Before long, the failure of a cosplayer stood up straight and looked at him with great intensity.
"I'm not really a god, but my boss is. The department, and the work we do is real too. Since you are one of the few lucky people who didn't do more than a few terrible things in life, especially the ones that hurt anyone besides you, you are here. So, are you ready to Transcarnate?"
JJ stifled a laugh as he nodded his head.
"Good, now then, there's not really much for you to do. You will soon be escorted out of this place. You might, or might not get a perk or two upon your Transcarnation, but do not expect much. As for the world you get sent to, god only knows. Do you have any questions?"
JJ nodded in response. "Can I ask your name? Are you allowed to tell me that?"
The man in front of him relaxed his posture, and spoke, "Well of course, my name is Peter. Peter Parker..."
JJ was about chuckle out a laugh again but suddenly found his mouth covered by some sort of sticky membrane.
"...but you may also call me Spider-Man." JJ looked up as Peter's voice rang out in the dark room. He had a little smile on his face. JJ tried to say something but he could not push air out of his mouth.
"Don't worry, wait ten seconds. It'll dissolve soon." Peter said in hurry as he waved both his hands, trying to ease JJ's worries.
There might actually be some truth to his new acquaintance's new claim.
...
Before long, the web quickly sublimated into the air, and JJ found he could open his mouth again. He took a long breath with his mouth.
"Are you really Spider-Man? What about New York? Why are you working here? And wait, how are you real? Are you really real? Are fictional characters actually real?"
"Do you know the theory of Fictional Realism?" Peter asked him back, instead of answering.
"Kinda...? I'm not sure..."
"Well, it states that any and every fictional reality imagined or created becomes a true reality in an alternate plane of existence."
"You're kidding."
"I am not. But seriously, it also took me a long time to accept this. I still don't to a degree. I mean, can you imagine a reality where you are a fictional character? Hardly conceivable even as a thought, right? Imagine my surprise when I was brought here to actually see comics about my life. It was crazy."
"Damn..."
JJ really didn't have words to express his disbelief.
"H-how did you cope with it? I can only imagine the existential dread I'll feel if it turns out that I'm just an imagined character in a story..."
"Well, it took me a good amount of time to adjust, but the explanation by my employer helped. He said that it's not that the imagined worlds become reality, in fact, it is the opposite. Infinitely many realities exist, and there's only so many of which the people can dream of across realms. And what they see the visions of, they bring to life as fiction. That certainly helped calm me for a while. At least I was real. But the dread still took a long time to disappear."
"A-amazing.. to think that it is all real! Then, Amon, is he real too?"
"Of course, he is. I haven't met anyone from that reality though, since I work in yours. Also, your time is running out, so you gotta go now. It was a good time interacting with you and not having to perform the entire time."
While JJ was still in great disbelief, he suspended it for a moment, and tried to relish the moment. He was looking at Spider-Man, the real, true Spider-Man.
"Umm... Peter? This might be a bit weird, but can you please give me hug?! I'm a huge huge fan of yours ever since I first watched the Ultimate Spider-Man!"
Peter gave him a toothy smile, and opened his arms. With a nod, he said, "Why not?"
JJ made a quick sprint of the distance between him and one of his most loved heroes.
In a moment, he was in a bro hug with the Spider-Man. He tried to control his tears and sniffles but they came still. "I love you man. No homo tho. And I know you ain't single anyway. But I love you. Thank you. Thank you for never giving up, and fighting no matter how bad everything got. I can't believe it, everything that happened to you, it was all real. I could not imagine being a hero and still doing what I believe if I lived even half of what you did..."
"It was good to meet you too, John. Funny name you got there, but I hope you have a good time in your next life. Also, I hope you never have to like anything like me. I wish you a happy new life. Bye bye."
Before JJ could even process all of Peter's words, everything around him disappeared. He could no longer feel Peter in front of him. Suddenly, everything was dark again.