1 Death & Reincarnation
The last day of my life was violent to say the least. What else can you call beating, breaking and killing violent rioters that helped beat your father and little brother to death for protecting the corner store that your family had owned and operated for 40 years, fucking parasites. I'm just glad mom wasn't alive to see any of it.
When I found them I snapped, I went home, grabbed my kevlar vest, various other pieces of body armour such as tactical knee, elbow, forearm and shin protectors and a pair of combat gloves. You know the stuff you see online blocking knives and shit, stopping baseball bats ect. It's amazing what you can buy online with the thought of making a badass, fuctional batman costume for your nerdy little brother. The weapons weren't very varied but consisted of blades (machete, hunting knife, switch blade ect), guns (a few pistols, a fully automatic rifle and many double drum mags) and home made pipe bombs (thanks anarchists cook book).
I started what would later be referred to as "A rampage of violence and death" an hour after the riots had started back up the next night. I gave no warning and I gave no mercy, because I had none. Explosions, gun shots and screams rang out like an active war zone, anyone dressed in black or hiding their faces were targets for my rage.
In the end 150 people were killed or died later of their injuries, 40 more were permanently crippled in some way and 80 had been injured to various degrees but would recover, albeit with physical and mental scars. It was called the single greatest solo domestic terrorist act in history, a video I made before things started went viral, it was an honest accounting for why I did what I did, made no apologies and asked for no forgiveness as I knew I wasn't worthy of it for what I had planned to do.
My end came when I was making my way to execute some downed masked piece of shit with bright blue hair. By this time the cops had shown up and found me standing over the human shaped turd with a pistol in my right hand down by my side. All credit to the boys (and girls) in blue they screamed for me to stop and drop my weapon or they'd shoot, I simply replied "Do what you gotta do officers, I have nothing to live for anymore anyway". One quick shot, followed by many others brought the gruesome situation to an end. Number 150 had a hole in their head and I had about 15 in my torso after they'd managed to rip through my kevlar. I hit the ground but didn't feel it, I just stared up at the night sky waiting for my end to come. The police surrounded me, weapons still drawn, yelling instructions but I just lay there, can't turn over after a bullet has pierced your spine between your shoulder blades. I bled out quickly, it was like going to sleep, I just put my head back and let it take me, I was so tired.
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Now here I am, in what appears to be space, it's just darkness and stars as far as the eye can see in every direction. I've only been here for about an hour when it looks like space itself condensed into a human shape with a spinning galaxy inside the head, to be honest it looks pretty damn cool. "Thank you for the compliment" the being says, weird, I only thought that. "I know, but being omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent lets me do things beyond comprehension " the being replies to my thoughts once again. "Ok so you're god? Or one of those ROBS I read about?" I ask. "God, a human concept but applicable to me I suppose" he replies, "Should I bow or kneel or something sir?" I ask, not wanting to anger him. "No no, I'm above such meaningless platitudes" he informs me "I just want to give you your 5 wishes, then send you off to a new world".
My brain stops working for a second, then seems to jump-start back up again. So it's one of those reincarnation/ sent to a new world situations I read about on webnovel, ok, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, he clearly knows who I am and what I've done. If he doesn't care and still wants to give me this monumental gift then I'll accept it whole heartedly. "Thank you for this great gift" I say, no point being rude or over eager. "You're welcome, now take your time to think of the wishes you want, time means nothing to me" he says matter of factly "Just none of the 3 O's, the choice of what world and what you look like come with the deal so you don't have to waste wishes on them." Now that's just awesome! I suddenly catch that I'm in a good mood, I'm not heart broken or filled with rage anymore. It's a sobering feeling that I have to ask about, "Sir?" I start "Just call me god, and when you pass over the threshold of death you let go of your old life, you retain your memories if you choose to go to the afterlife and forget them if you're reborn, however, all negative feelings are expelled permanently, holding on to hate is how people like Hitler come into existence, and he only had one lifetime of hate in his heart, imagine if he was reborn with that hate and got to lead a second life with it."
Damn that's a lot to take in, but it makes sense I guess. I decide my first wish fairly quickly, "I would like an unlimited physical and mental eidetic memory with perfect comprehension and instant recall that works retroactively, allowing me to keep all knowledge and memories from my last life in my new one, I'm fine with not retaining the feelings and emotions." "Very well, that's 1" god replies, not seeming to care that I'll have a lifetime of perfectly recalled knowledge and memory, that I can infinitely add to, not to mention being able to perfectly understand anything I take in. Then again god's omniscient, my new mental faculties are probably an eye drop in the ocean of what he's capable of.
Ok so that's one, now what else do I want? Think think think, then I have it, this next wish will completely break any form on balance I could think of. "I wish for a perfect blend of Peter Petrellis power from seasons 1 & 2 of heroes with Task Masters, with a change to what I can perfectly copy. I don't just want to copy powers and physical abilities I see permanently, but all physical skills and abilities both seen and unseen. That way with Peter's power they're permanent, I only have to be within 20ft of them and don't have to actually see them use said skills or abilities like Task master does." I become giddy thinking about how much ufc, boxing, kickboxing ect I used to love watching on YouTube. Not to mention the random parkour and other physical vids I watched, I will start very physically dangerous.
"Are you sure that's one wish?" God asks knowingly. I was caught a little off guard but I managed to reply "It is only one wish, I didn't add anything those 2 powers combined shouldn't be able to do, I just wanted to explain how I want the power I wished for to work." "Hmmm, that is acceptable, wish granted but make sure it is only an explanation of how the wish should work, don't try adding things into the wish thinking you're being clever or sneaky, I'll see right through you" God says bluntly.
YES! I just got the single greatest power in any universe, I can literally copy anyone/things powers, abilities and skills... Holy shit I'm gonna be OP!
Anyway, two wishes down, 3 to go. Power wise I don't need anything so let's think lifestyle wishes, I only get to choose the world I go to and what I look like, God didn't say anything about my family situation or what age I'll be when I get there. With that I know my next 2 wishes, "I wish to be born into a loving, non-evil but realist, multi billion dollar family between 1989 and 1990. My next wish after that is to wake up on my new bodys 5th birthday with all the memories of the first 5 years of life, which would have been lived as if I was pseudo in control from the moment of my birth." I cross my fingers on that last one, I don't know if it exactly counts as an explanation. Luckily it seems god is pretty chill, "Done, that's 4, one more left then you can choose the world and do some, as you would call it, character creation."
I'm kind of stumped about what to ask for, I'll have power, money, skills, loving family and I wont have to live through my own birth and formative shitty diaper years. I'm thinking for quite a while but then I ponder, why not help my old world and get rid of the filth? I mean I'm set for my next life, so let's give some justice. "God, for my final wish, I want sweeping change brought to my old world, I want all greedy, evil, manipulative people to be exposed and punished while innocent, good and even people that are just not guilty are saved, I want this to work permanently for humanity and any allies they make." "So you're wish is basically making karma a very real thing that works to the level of the person." God simplifies and clarifies for me. "Yes sir, too many people scream and shout one thing while doing the opposite, even when their intentions are good in their mind, they still hurt innocent people." I reply, thinking of my father and brother. I made this wish, not out of emotion (I had none about my old life remember?). I just objectively don't want the innocent to keep going through hell because of other people's bullshit. Now if you're a good person, good things will happen, especially after something bad happens (other people's actions, natural disasters ect.)
"That's a very selfless wish young man, granted. You're old world is about to change drastically, but very much for the better. Also, pretty slick adding humanities allies to it in case they meet aliens that wish to ally with them" God says. Hearing him say this I feel like my chest relaxes for the first time in a long time, I feel light and I feel genuinely happy for people who will get some much needed karma, whether good or bad, it'll be earned.
"Now with that out of the way what world would you like to go to? Seeing as you used a wish that will help a great many people and future generations you can be specific and I'll make some changes if necessary."
That was surprising but great to hear, as I already know what I want.
"I'd like to go to a marvel universe that's a mix of comics and movies, I want the aesthetically pleasing, god like, no pun intended, model looks of the comics mixed with the realistic looks of the movie costumes and aesthetics ect." I'm pretty excited to see all those curvy hot AF super ladies in their costumes, not to mention how ridiculously hot the average person is depicted in comics as well. God gives me what I assume to be a knowing look, the guy literally looks like a universe given human form so reading expressions is pretty impossible. "Granted, I suggest you try to walk past someone with great self control so you don't have a permanent erection" God replies dryly.... Did god just make a dick joke?! I crack a very big grin, it seems god has a pretty good sense of humour. "Of course I do, I did invent comedy after all" he says, seeming to read my mind again. Which prompts me to ask "Why did I have to vocalise my wishes if you can hear or see all my thoughts?" "A fair question" he replies "Because a persons thoughts are their own, I may know them but those wishes were yours, you needed to verbalise them so there is no doubt it's what YOU actually wanted." He says, which I admit makes sense.
"Ok here's a character creation screen, edit how you want to look in your physical prime and you'll grow into it, I'll be nice and give your body a gift, no matter what you eat or drink you'll look exactly as you designed your body to, so enjoy all the fatty fast food you want." My eyes light up hearing this, no more grilled, skinless chicken! No more fucking salads and veggies, no more protein shakes and supplements!
I face the character creation menu and quickly get to it, I discover the interface works on intent so I make the avatar of what I'll look like a 6ft 6, healthy tanned caucasian male, I basically give myself a mix of my old face and Jason Momoa. The body is built like he is in aqua man but comic book, male model ripped (look up best aesthetic male models to get an idea of how the muscles could look). I then think refine and the looks become even more masculine yet aesthetically pleasing. Now to the most important part, he cock situation, I made sure to make it impressive, there will be zero complaints there, lol. I change the eye colour to a startling blue (Google image search: startling blue eyes, and you'll get an idea of what they look like). I make the voice I'll have sound like Jason's as well, the deep grumble always sounded cool to me, and he can sound light and funny, so why not? Also I'm a tad lazy haha. Finally I choose my first name and what my family name will be, I smile and think, let's go a little edgy. I input Alex Mercer, nickname Lex. In my opinion Prototypes Mc had a cool name and I like the nickname Lex from DC, so two birds, one stone.
With all the changes I want made I look at god and say "I'm done, thank you so much for this". "It's no problem, after all this was one of the wishes your father and brother made together for you before they moved on to the afterlife to be with your mother" God says surprising the hell out of me. I cant help but smile thinking of my old man and little bro, always looking out for me, always caring. With that last piece of information, I truly feel a sense of peace. My family is together and happy and they want me to live a full, happy life. They can bet their asses I will.
"Have a good life Alex Mercer, I will see you again one day, in the very distant future." God says as he puts his hand on my shoulder, it felt warm, it felt loving, it felt like forgiveness for how my life ended. Without thinking I hug him like any child hugs their dad, I feel him hug me back and things suddenly go dark.
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God stood in space after sending Lex to his new life, "Find happiness my child and when we meet again , it will be as old friends" he says to himself with his equivalent of a warm smile.
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And that is the first chapter of the first story I've ever written, let me know what you think. Let me know if there's anything I can improve on and I'll try and get another chapter out next week.
