Leo's death was… disappointing.
There was no blaze of glory, no final stand, no tragic sacrifice that would earn him a dramatic monologue or at least a decent epitaph. One moment he was alive, distracted, tired, and vaguely annoyed at the universe. The next, everything simply stopped in the most absurdly mundane way possible.
He tripped on a soda can and hit his head.
When awareness returned, it wasn't to pain.
It was to silence.
Not the comforting kind either. This silence had weight. It pressed in from all directions, vast and endless, like standing inside an unfinished thought. There was no ground beneath Leo's feet, no sky above him, just an infinite, colorless expanse.
"Wow," Leo muttered after a moment. His voice echoed far longer than it should have.
"So this is it. That's underwhelming."
"Ah. You're taking it rather well."
Leo turned.
Something was there now. Not a shape so much as a presence, casually leaning against reality as if it were optional. It looked vaguely humanoid, but the details refused to stay consistent. One second it was sharp and defined, the next blurred and indistinct, like a character rendered at the wrong resolution.
The being smiled.
"Name's Rob." it said cheerfully.
Leo stared. Then blinked. Then laughed, because at this point, why not.
"Let me guess," he said. "You're God."
Rob winced. "A god. Important distinction. Titles get messy once you start counting infinities."
"So I'm dead."
"Yes."
"And that was it."
"Yes."
Leo sighed and rubbed his face. "Figures."
Rob tilted his head, studying him with open curiosity. "You know, I usually get screaming. Or denial. Or bargaining right out of the gate. You're refreshingly resigned."
"Hard not to be," Leo replied. "I didn't exactly die doing anything worth arguing over."
Rob chuckled, then grew thoughtful. "That's actually why we're talking."
The void shifted. Somewhere far away, stars flickered into existence, then vanished again, like concepts being tested and discarded.
"Your death," Rob continued, "was statistically impressive in all the wrong ways. Short. Sudden. Completely unremarkable. I'll admit, I felt a bit of pity."
"That's comforting," Leo said flatly.
"As a result," Rob said, raising a finger, "I'm offering you a second chance. Reincarnation. New life. New world."
Leo's eyes sharpened slightly. "What kind of world?"
Rob smiled wider.
"A blended one. A universe stitched together from multiple narrative frameworks. Specifically, the cinematic continuities of DC and Marvel."
Leo froze.
"You're kidding."
"I never kid," Rob said. "I may exaggerate. Lie. Omit. Bend causality. But I don't kid."
Leo stood there in stunned silence, imagination racing ahead of common sense. Heroes. Villains. Gods. Aliens. Magic and technology colliding daily.
"I get powers," Leo said carefully.
Rob grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask that. Because, due to my earlier guilt, I'm willing to grant you three wishes before you go."
That wiped the skepticism clean off Leo's face.
"Three," he repeated. "No tricks?"
"Oh, there will absolutely be tricks," Rob replied. "Just not hidden ones."
Leo thought.
Really thought.
If this was real, and every instinct told him it was, then small wishes were a waste. He needed survivability. Control. Something that let him stand on equal footing with monsters, gods, and whatever else that world would throw at him.
"I want immortality," Leo said at last.
Rob's expression didn't change, but the space around them trembled slightly. "A big one. Define it."
"Ageless. Unkillable by time. Extremely hard to permanently kill by anything else."
Rob nodded slowly. "Accepted."
Leo swallowed, then continued, momentum building.
"I want The World."
Rob blinked. "The… Stand?"
"Yes," Leo said. "The World. Time stop. Full potential. No drawbacks."
Silence.
Rob stared at him for several seconds, then let out a low whistle. "You are ambitious."
"I'm not done," Leo added quickly. "I also want Hermit Purple."
Rob laughed outright this time. "You want two Stands?"
"Yes."
"From the same source."
"Yes."
"In a universe that already runs on incompatible power systems."
"Yes."
Rob crossed his arms, thinking. The void around them began to fill with drifting symbols, fractured equations, and half-formed worlds colliding and separating again.
"Leo," Rob said finally, "those wishes are excessive. Individually powerful. Together? Borderline catastrophic."
Leo met his gaze. "Then don't send me somewhere that requires less."
That earned him a long, appraising look.
"…Fine," Rob said at last. "But balance must exist. If you're bringing that level of power into the setting, I'm adding one more genre to the mix."
The stars shifted.
Something colder moved beneath them.
"Ever heard of the SCP Foundation?" Rob asked.
Leo's stomach dropped.
"You're joking."
Rob's grin returned, sharp this time. "Oh no. Very real. Very active. Very contained, until it isn't."
The void warped, showing brief flashes. Impossible creatures, broken physics, things that should not exist but very much did.
"Anomalies will begin appearing in your new world," Rob continued. "Objects. Entities. Events. Some harmless. Some apocalyptic."
"And me?" Leo asked.
Rob pointed at him.
"You are not required to handle them," the god said lightly. "Free will and all that."
Then his tone hardened.
"But if no one does, that world won't last very long."
The light began to collapse inward, reality forming around Leo like a closing fist.
"Oh," Rob added, as the void started to tear open beneath Leo's feet. "One last thing."
Leo looked up.
"Good luck," ROB said. "You're going to need it."
And then Leo fell.
Into a world of heroes, gods, monsters, and things that were never meant to be known.
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That will be all for the first chapter. No worries, for the first chapter is just an intro. Chapters will be around 1500 to 2500 words.
Hope you all look forward to this one as I am.
Add to collections and stay tuned.