Death

Mark found himself in front of a man seated at a desk, he looked around the room and saw it was filled with shelves containing thousands of thousand of files.

He is very confused right now, he remembered that he was about to eliminate a suspect who held a young woman hostage.

And now he found himself in an office before an average-looking man who had an irritated look on his face as he goes through a file. The man closed the file and grabbed a thermos to pour two cups of coffee, the man took one and offered it to Mark.

Mark: "Sir, would you mind telling me where am I right now?"

Mark demanded as he reached for his handgun, only to find it missing, Mark's eyes snapped down to his waist and saw he doesn't even have the duty belt on, which was used by the SWAT to carry equipment and gun, heck he isn't even wearing his SWAT uniform, instead, he wore a plain white shirt and a pant, and both of his shoes are missing.

Mark: "What the?!"

Without his gun, he felt like he was stripped naked and the man before had him at his mercy.

Man: "I have no intention to harm you, Mr. Smith." The man declared calmly and took a sip of his coffee.

Man: "After all, you have already died. I am the person who judges souls and what lay ahead for them, Mr. Smith" Mark gave a confused and dubious look.

Mark: "Dead? I was 150 yards away from the suspect & was positioned on a third floor, the suspect has no accomplice to help him, then how?" Mark expressed his confusion and tried to think of any possible situation where he could end up as a corpse.

Man: "Well, it's better if I show you..."

He summons some kind of advanced holographic screen with a snap of his fingers. For the next couple of minutes, he watched with stunned silence as the building he was positioned in collapsed just as he about to take the shot.

Mark: "I don't understand, how... Is my luck that shitty?" Mark grimaced while he pointed at the screen.

Man: "The steel support they used in making the building was defective, you are just in the wrong place and at the wrong time" replied the man.

Mark: "Sigh... Are you God, and why am I so calm?" Mark asked the man, even though he was trained to be calm and collected in dangerous situations, he was still a human being, situations like this would have definitely made him freak out.

But here he is, completely calm and collected as if the news of his death and being greeted by a God doesn't bother him that much.

Man: "Yes in a way I am one, but I prefer Death and I have suppressed your emotions, that's why you are so calm." The man replied and again offered him the coffee, this time he didn't deny the offer he took it and took a sip of it.

Mark: "What happened to the suspect?" Mark asked.

Man: "Your fellow officers were able to save the woman" Mark nodded in appreciation for telling him about the outcome.

Mark: "So, what will happen to me?" Mark asked still maintaining his calm and collected demeanor.

Death: "You have my permission to go to the afterlife, but I would like to offer you a deal" Mark placed the paper cup down and spoke.

Mark: "A deal, Sir?"

Death: "Yes." Death nodded & from one of the shelves he pulled a file towards him telekinetically.

Death: "Mr. Smith, have you ever watch any anime?"

Mark: "Uh... Only Three Sir, Naruto, Bleach, and Dragon Ball." Although confused why Death would ask about something trivial, he still answered him calmly.

Death: "You see Mr. Smith, these Animes, fiction, and even the Tv shows you humans watch are all real, and actually present in the multiverse as sometimes Random Gods and even the higher ones would create these sources of entertainment into reality, out of boredom." Death replied and hands him the file.

Death: "Take a look at this" Mark opened it and was horrified by the details written on the first page.

Mark: "T-This... How can someone be this evil?" Mark asked after he finished reading the first page that contains disgusting and messed up things done by one single man. Even though he wants to scream in rage, he felt a sense of calmness wash over him and the thought of throwing curses and profanities towards this man disappeared immediately from his head.

Death: "This man was from Earth, and after he died he was given a second chance at life by a no-name God" Death informed while he refilled his empty cup with coffee.

Mark: "No name God? How many are there and why would a God even offer a second chance to a lowlife like him?" Confused, Mark asked as he can't seem to find the logic behind giving a Second chance to a person like this!

Death: "Countless, Mr. Smith... and not all Gods are benevolent" Death answered and gestured him to check the other pages. Except for this man, he found a few other people's names & Photos, but nothing was written about these people.

Death: "Mr. Smith, I would like you to hunt this man down and capture his soul for me" Death revealed Mark's task.

Death: "You are Death, can't you just snap him from existence like Thanos?" Death shook his head.

Death: "When Universe gave birth to me, it also bound my being with rules. We the firstborn of the universe are not allowed to interfere with mortals & I have tons of work to do" Death Pointed at the stacks of paperwork lying on the ground behind him.

Mark: "Umm, so what happens after I kill him?" Mark asked.

Death: "You can live your life as you want, just do not cause destruction and evil like this man, you are free to do a little bit of chaos and destruction here and there, but remember if your actions bring trouble or disturb the balance of the universe, I will have to send one of my grim reapers to kill you too, Mr. Smith" Death answered darkly.

Mark: "Gulp... What about others?" Mark quickly change the subject, like hell, he would cause chaos and destruction, he ain't stupid enough to anger a powerful being like Death.

Death: You don't have to kill them, Mr. Smith. You see these mortals have been bestowed with the power of immortality and death immunity. Thus stopping me from claiming their souls. All you have to do is confiscate that power for me." Death replied.

Mark: Okay, so the first person is my Prime target and others are like side quests, Right?" Death gave a nod.

Mark: "But, Sir, how am I going to defeat him? If this Lowlife is capable of such destruction then he ought to have some superpowers like those in the cartoons and fictions" Mark asked Death. He saw the grim details about the man destroying continents & causing unnecessary massacres in various worlds, which is probably the reason Death is hell-bent on killing this man.

Death: "I will give you three wishes or Abilities, and also let me warn you. Since you are starting a new life, some part of your past life memories related to your family, your job, and your friends will be completely erased." Mark was left dejected, even though his parents have passed away long ago and he got over their death, he still doesn't want to lose those happy and precious memories.

Mark sighed sadly and sink down to his seat with a dejected look on his face. Mark took a deep breath and nodded his head in acceptance.

Death: "You should choose your wishes wisely, that man was provided with quite a powerful and phenomenal abilities." Death warns him.

Mark: "Can you tell what types of abilities the man has?" Mark inquired, it's better to learn every nook and cranny about the man before going against him.

Death: "He can steal other's powers, so he is always accumulating powers and abilities." Death replied.

Mark: "Damn that's cheating..." Mark muttered.

Death: "You don't have to worry about getting your powers stolen by this man, I will bestow my blessing on you it would protect you from any mental attack, block the man from stealing your power and give you immunity to death, which means if you die you will respawn again." Mark was completely dumbfounded on hearing this.

Mark: "Sir, why are you giving me death immunity, when you have clearly shown your displeasure against such powers earlier?" Confused, Mark asked Death who let out a gentle chuckle.

Death: "Every single being who is under my protection or formed a contract with me is blessed with Death Immunity. It's a common boon I bestow on my subordinates." Death replied.

Mark: "I see... Sir, I would like to ask one last question... Sir, how am I going to find these peoples? Aren't they on a whole different dimension and worlds?"

Death: "Leave that to me, once I bestow you with the powers of your choosing, I will teleport you to one of those people's world." Death answered and told him that once he captures the target Death will send him to the next world.

Mark: "Sir, can you give me some time to think about my wishes?" Mark requested.

Death: "Don't ask for stupid powerful systems, or the three Omni powers, I ain't going to give you that, you have to earn them for yourself and I am not going to tell you how to achieve them." Mark gave a nod of recognition.

After few minutes, Mark was ready to say his first wish.

Mark: "Sir, I want a status system with an AI that can hack any man-made, and alien tech. The system will only so me my status, the list of power I had and have an inventory to store my stuff."

Death: "Granted, next?"

Mark: "Sir when I was a kid I used to watch a cartoon called Ben 10, there is this guy called Kevin, he belongs to a subspecies of mutant human known as Osmosian, the species can absorb the energy and DNA of other life forms, they gain that creature's powers and abilities, but only at 1/10 of their strength. I want this ability but with some changes." Mark Requested.

Death: "Go ahead."

Mark: I want my ability to absorb 10/10 of anyone's abilities, knowledge, skills, talents, and powers permanently, without any drawback." Mark said while he nervously looked at Death, wondering if Death would accept such an absurd request.

Death: "Granted, next?"

Mark: "Really... Damn'Mutters'... Sir, My last request is a weapon that could change into any type of weapon of my desire." Mark stated.

Death: Granted... But, I am kind of disappointed, Mr. Smith. It will be very difficult for you to kill the man... Your choices are not that great." Death said in disappointment, but mark gave a confident smile in return and spoke.

Mark: "Sir, Can I go to a world of my choosing first? I want to power up a little before going on my quest." Mark asked hopefully.

Death: "I don't mind, so tell me where do you want to go first?" Death asked slightly intrigued by Mark's request.

Mark: "Ben 10." Death's eyes widened in realization, he connected the dots, and now he knows why Mark choose such wishes.

Death: "Hahaha, You Mr. Smith is one Smartass Cop!" Death laughed heartily. Mark on the other hand scratched his cheek and gave an awkward smile.

Death: "Any preferences for appearance?" Death asked Mark, who shook his head and told Death that he is fine with an average appearance.

Death: "I wish you luck, on your journey, Mr.Smith" Death reached out for a handshake, the second Mark shook his hand he felt his consciousness whisk away to darkness.