While hallucinating, Buddy comes to realize that there is much about his life he doesn't understand. When Buddy suddenly feels like his family might be in danger, he rushes home to a shocking scene.
An unknown person sits typing at a computer. He recaps where Buddy and Highwater were last at, and tries to figure out what happens next. Finally, he decides: the secrets of the universe.
Buddy and Highwater are still on the mesa undergoing their peyote trip. Everything is red, and Buddy wonders why. Suddenly, he realizes that he is an ocean of blood that turns out to be a whale's eye. The whale tels Buddy not to worry because it's just a hallucination and everything is connected. He then reveals to Buddy the first secret:
The next two pages are done up like an old "Who's Who in the DC Universe" entry. It recaps how Buddy was a teenager on a hunting trip when he received his powers from two yellow aliens. The final panel is of Buddy in a swirl of red; like blood going down the drain. Buddy lands in an are of plain whiteness and a voice proclaims the second secret:
An older version of Animal Man wearing a different costume approaches him and tells him that isn't how he got his powers at all. The alternate Buddy tells him that he was almost 30 when a spaceship exploded in his face. This Buddy was married, but with no kids. The other Buddy bitterly states that his life was wiped out and replaced with our Animal Man's. He begins to lose control. He grabs Buddy and tells him that he's not real anymore and he's afraid. Our Buddy starts to ask him questions, but his alternate disappears. A voice tells him that if he really wants to know answer to his questions to turn around and he'll see the third secret. Buddy does so and in a moment of total disbelief he sees us, the reader.
Highwater approaches Buddy who is standing at the edge of the mesa saying, "I can see you" repeatedly. He manages to calm Buddy, and they both sit down on the mesa. They talk about the nature of God and the Creator, and Buddy tells Highwater that he caught a glimpse into another world. The world of the Creator wasn't a paradise, though. To Buddy, it seems more like hell. He begins to wonder if they're just characters created for entertainment. Their mesa starts to float, and they see what they think is an island in the distance. The island turns out to be a giant whale, and it swallows them. Foxy appears and tells Buddy that the truth always comes with a price, and then tells him that he's sorry. Buddy cries out Ellen's name. Highwater looks around, but Buddy has disappeared. Suddenly, a giant hand comes through the panel border. Buddy has been taken outside of the panels and is now between space.
The pair finally come out of their peyote trip, feeling reborn. Highwater tells Buddy that since he's connected to the morphogenetic field; he doesn't have to be near an animal to use it's power, he can just "think" of it. Buddy asks him about the other stuff that he saw; the stuff about God and reality. Highwater tells him that he doesn't know, and asks him if it matters. He then quotes Edgar Allen Poe: "All that we see or see is but a dream within a dream."
Buddy uses his powers to fly home. He notices that everything is beautiful, but he has an uneasy feeling for some reason. He opens his front door and enters his house. He finds his wife and children laying dead on the kitchen floor.
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