(1.B)e Lively

"Let's see how my chosen hero is faring," Life, a being similar to Death, shivered in anticipation and chuckled at its own words. Unlike Death, they didn't need a constant refresher of the soul's life. Instead, L preemptively prepared everything with a single passive thought as a rather large humanoid outline burned itself into existence.

"I thought I was going to die because... of those... little...", the new and very loud soul paused after taking a good look at its surroundings.

"I'm dead aren't I?", the soul looked at its glowing body and pointed at itself.

"You are," Life stifled a laugh.

"Fucken hell. If I ever see them again, I'm going to teach those little bastards a lesson... Whoa. You are a very beautiful miss," the new and very loud soul paused after taking a good look at the person who answered it.

Life smiled and then said, "Did you call me miss?"

"Oh. I'm sorry. Are you a guy or... um... What would you like me to call you? I'm very bad with these kinds of things. Um, by things I mean.... uh, you have a real swell outfit," the soul backpedaled.

Life stood up from its crystalline throne and approached the unnaturally large frame of a soul. Life narrowed its eyes with a smile as it trapped the soul against a wall that magically erupted behind it.

"I am not of any particular gender or species until I've chosen to do so. Thus, you may think of me as you wish, and I will be. For that is the nature of life...", Life ran its fingers across the large soul's indistint face and shapely arms.

"So go wild," L then pat its head like a human would a pet an adorable little dog.

"Anything?", The soul smiled like a hooligan when the curvaceous body of Life slid right by. The wall was nowhere to be found as space didn't conform to any rules. Life simply sat back down in its throne that looked like glass.

"Yeah," Life said as it passed by. A being beyond a convential deity and a human soul stared into what could be each other's eyes and smiled like idiots. Life broke the silence.

"Did you just picture me naked?", from experience, people couldn't help but picture something or someone that embodied their ideals. More often than not, it was the form of a naked God, Goddess, or totem they believed in or someone they lusted after in their old life.

"*Hearty laughter*, No. I imagined you as a few people who I thought were pretty funny characters. There was this super buff dude flexing in an anime I saw before I joined the military. Then I thought of a few other characters I thought would be funny. *Heartier Laughter*, It's even better in person," The oddly muscular soul laughed and approached Life's throne like the situation was completely normal.

"Yes. You are my type", Life laughed and gave the big soul a gentle smile. With a wave of a hand, Life brought a chair and table into existence so the soul could relax.

"Sorry, but I have a very nice lady back home. Thank you though," The soul said while putting up a hand that meant stop.

"I know. But you can't say that you've absolutely remained faithful now, can you? I know how you have lived. I even know the thoughts you've had throughout. Having a lady back home doesn't really matter to you, does it?", Life crossed its pristine leg and fixed the light pink (almost white) outfit that just barely covered its human- like body.

"You don't know everything about me, I definitely am faithful," the soul puffed out its chest in confidence but deflated after seeing Life's even brighter smile.

"There has to be at least one instance, right?", the soul shuddered.

"Wait a second," the soul put up a finger and delved into the pits of its memory.

"Huh… I guess. Yeah, no. I never cheated on my old lady but it feel wierd," The soul sighed and rubbed its face. It thought about the past hoping to find a moment where it could prove Life wrong but instead, it found confusion and a rising sense of dissonance.

Surrounding the old Jack was an old lady with graying hair, four adults and about half a dozen children, which included a baby in the arms of one of the adults. Jack reached out to the baby to give it a kiss and what touched the newborn's rounded stomach was a prosthetic arm.

"I'm fine you bunch of morons. I just fell down a few steps, this is nothing," Jack said with a smile. He patted his fleshy bicep with the prosthetic arm.

"Hey! I'm not a moron, I'm smart", one of the children puffed.

"Yes, you are", one of the kids in the corner of the room said with a roll of his eyes.

The youngest child, aside from the newborn, stayed quiet at the side of Jacks hospital bed but the silence only made one of the other kids feel like something was off.

"You aren't going to say anything big mouth, what are you doing over there," the kid grabbed the little child's shoulder and was surprised to see dentures way too big for the child, stuck in her mouth. Already blue in the face, the adults scrambled to get help or take the stolen dentures out.

In the madness, someone hit old man Jacks IV drip and revealed a problem that wasn't noticed by the nurse who set it up. At the top of line, there was a cut just large enough to open up if the line moved anywhere other than downward. 

Jack, being at the center of the family circle, didnt notice the bump on the other side of his bed as he stood up with a wince and caught the baby. Delicately, the old man removed the oversized dentures and placed them back inside of a cup that had fallen over in the struggle. As one of the two elders of this small family, Jack roared at everyone to be quiet as he hummed a small tune for his granddaughter with a smile. Everyone could see now see the second set of prosthetics going all the way down his left hip, replacing his entire leg. Once the song ended the family wanted to go back to talking but how could they.

One of the kids noticed small bubbles in the Iv and some liquid dripping onto the floor. Before anyone could even be prepared, Jack's body slumped over to the side at the end of the song. It was right about now, that the soul got angry about he died.

"Damn....", The soul shouted in frustration and stood up.

"The little brats. But what can I do besides never having children ever again. Hmph," the soul settled down. It only took a few seconds to reminisce, so the soul didn't forget about the situation at hand. But those few seconds felt... wrong... Just as it should thought about his kids in life, another memory burrowed its way into his mind.

"MOMMY'S BACK!", a little kid jumped off of a couch and ran straight out the front door to meet a woman in her prime. The woman tossed her duffel to the grass beside the path and scooped up her baby with a laugh. She possessed a domineering frame that would put many small giants to shame, so her child laughed after being lifted so high into the air.

"Hello darling," A short man in a pink apron that said kiss the cook, smiled from the doorway of the house with a mug that said 'The wurlds 1 bestst dad' scribbled on the side in permanent marker. His fluffy bunny slippers wiggled to a stop as he leaned against the door frame.

The soul remembered sitting on his mother's stomach as she effortlessly lifted nearly 200 kg's.

"Are you leaving again mommy?", the soul didn't remember ever asking this question. That said, the soul definitely remembered its mother put the bar on the rack and sat up with a smile. The woman kissed the soul on her hear, and with a gentleness someone would not expect from her rough hand, she lifted the soul up so they could see eye to eye.

"Jac. Do you think mommy is strong?", the mother asked with a waver in her voice.

"You are the strongest ever and daddy is the bastes", Jac squished their mother's face with chubby little hands and wiggled them.

"Ewy. Mommy's all sweaty"

"Oh yeah, then how about this...", the baby laughed like a bell because of their mother's relentless tickles.

"Do you know why mommy is so strong, Jac?", Jac's mother smiled.

"Cuz you're really big?", Jac extended their little arms with a laugh.

"Yes. Because I'm big. And you are small...", She pinched her baby's cheek with a laugh that sent her into tears.

"I have to go because there are other small people like you that don't have strong moms or the best dads to protect them," the soul furrowed its nonexistent brows and tried to reconcile this memory of the past to the one he remembered.

The soul paused at this memory for some unknown reason and gripped the chair. Little details about this memory felt off, but no matter how hard it tried to figure it out nothing gave way. Everything mingled, details so small and innocuous that they melded and confused the soul to the point where it thought there was something wrong with its memories.

"Yay. Park. Park. We're going to play in the park", Jac ran rings around their father as they walked through the grass towards a playground.

"Where are we going to play first?", Jac's father dropped a huge bag of sports equipment by a park bench and raised a hand to scout out a good location.

"Dad, I actually thought I would play at the playground with the other kids today," Jac said with a little bit of embarrassment.

"My little baby. Of course, go make some friends", their father held back his tears and sat down on a bench.

"If you need anything at all, just call my name and I'll be there in a blink," the poor dad crossed his arms and attempted to look strong, but his blubbering just made him look like the child.

"Okay," Jac ran off to the playground where some kindergarten friends played around as well.

"First time your kid didn't want to play with you?", some other parents congregated around Jac's father and offered some advice and simple companionship as they all bonded over being parents to some of the children at the park.

Jac, in the meantime, ran over to the children who grouped up on the far side of the park, away from the parents. Some of the children were familiar, but most of them were slightly older kids who had the freedom to walk over to the playground by themselves without a guardian being nearby.

They led the games using playground rules, they were older and knew more games. Classic games such as tag, freeze tag, zombie tag, hide and seek, cops and robbers, and God knows how many other running based games were ruled by the most experienced and fastest of the children.

Most of the day passed by in what felt like minutes as Jac stomped and jumped around without ever stopping for a moment.

The most important thing about this set of memories is, Jac didn't know when it started but throughout the day some kids picked on the slowest runner on the playground. Unlike the rest of the group of older kids, Jac pulled her aside so she wouldn't get purposefully hurt. After playing together for a bit, Jac found her to be a very cheerful person, much like themself. Needless to say, they instantly hit it off.

Even though they were kindred spirits and tried to stay away from the main group of kids, Jac couldn't protect the girl when nearly every older child was on the playground. They somehow turned bullying the child into a fun little game turning the little girl into the group's punching bag. The bullies even extended their ruthless behavior to Jac, disguising it as accidents and childish clumsiness.

By early evening, the kids had already repeatedly pulled Jac's hair, and knocked their new friend to the ground "accidentally" more than a dozen times. Every time, Jac brought her to their dad so she could get a band aid. Despite the constant scrapes, Jac's new friend always went back to playing around, seemingly oblivious to the torture. Despite knowing their time would end, Jac stayed by the girl's side and tried their best to make sure they both had fun at the park. Late in the evening was probably the worst part about this memory for the soul.

"I'm going home right now, are you leaving too?", Jac shared a PB & J sandwich and a juice box with the girl who was being bullied for no apparent reason. All of the food Jac's father prepared was shared between the two children throughout the day and this is all that was left.

"I can't leave. My mom told me to stay here until she comes to pick me up," the girl ate the food as if she hadn't eaten in a day or two and teared up.

"Okay. It's getting late though so be careful, okay? And stay away from those big meanies?", Jac wanted to say something else but didn't know what or even how to say that thing... that feeling. It hurt. As far as Jac was concerned at the time, it felt like being sad but in your heart.

Just as Jac was leaving the park with their dad, she caught sight of some older kids leading their new friend away from the playground. Jac didn't know why but that crying in their heart turned into a deafening roar. The soul didn't remember this either, it was another moment in its past where things blurred to obscurity but now...

"Jackie, where are you off to!", Caught off guard, Jac's father picked up the sports equipment he dropped and chased after his child.

The soul watched as the children in its memory beat the little girl away from the eyes of any adults.

"What do you want, little girl?"

"Yeah, we'll beat you up too."

"..."

The third kid didn't even have a chance to speak before two baby teeth were sent flying. Jac punched him in the face, mimicking some punches they saw their mother do as a warmup every morning. The soul frowned at this violent childhood memory since it felt really off, just wrong.

"I could've sworn I made a roundhouse kick then punched the second kid in the face?", the soul whispered. Life raised an eyebrow then laughed since the soul didn't even realize it was reminiscing out loud.

Jac, beat the children to a pulp. The soul, however, scratched its head as the memory darkened and nearly split its mind. One of the kid's kicked Jack in the crotch and dropped them to the ground. Jack couldn't stand up, but neither could the kids who had some broken bones. Jack's father showed up and immediately called some other adults over for help...

The next thing the soul remembered is being in the hospital, but the memory darkened beyond anything it could truly make out. Just barely, the soul could see their father's face, as pale as a sheet of paper and the doctors. The doctor's relaxed smile said that the kids only had a broken rib or arm, but it didn't match his body language and facial expression.

"Did someone die there? I remember everyone telling me I sent those bullies to the hospital, but they didn't die. I saw them at the park later on," the soul went forward in its memory a few more weeks and saw the kids on the playground in casts.

Not realizing it spoke out loud, Life laughed and shed some light on the soul's memories.

"No one died. You just remember it like that because you were just a child, it was just a bad experience. Just like how those kids remember you beating them as a nightmare rather than something that actually happened. It's actually very similar to what happens on one's deathbed. Take yours for instance. You probably remember it as chaos and something you did in the moment but everyone in your family remember it as a beautiful moment."

"Bah. Enough about those idiots. I'm here, so let's focus on that. You can make me better at fighting in my next life right...", the soul practiced some punching and kicking moves and desperately tried to look good. It failed miserably but then stopped for a moment when a move or two came out with an odd near perfection.

"Silly child. Who ever said you were getting another life?", Life laughed at the soul who desperately tried to avoid talking about its new situation.

"I am here to be reincarnated right? Or sent back to my world or something like that right?", the burley soul froze with childlike innocence.

"-Straightforward, full of vigor, and delightfully silly. Definitely my type...-", Life licked its lips and stopped thinking to itself.

"It's as you stated. I have brought you here to do something grander than you could ever possibly imagine.…", A holy and bright glow expanded like a halo as sparks danced around like fairies.

Life's speech was cut short by the souls' increasing demands.

"Then, I actually want to be a godly berserker …", The soul swung imaginary twin hammers.

"Okay", Slightly amused despite the fact that its grand opening failed, Life covered its stunning smile.

"No. I want a great sword and immortality...", Once again, the soul swung an imaginary two-handed weapon.

Life could only stifle its laughter and accept the ambition and energy its chosen warrior emanated.

"OH, wait. I want that spear weapon from that one popular movie quitology, Reach, beach, ah, it was named after some famous drink. Damn, I forget the name of the guy who has it…The bald one, Ichi-something", The soul looked here and there while jumping every time it had a "new" idea. The demands continued to increase by leaps and bounds until the things it asked for cycled. Though, even while asking for the same thing, the soul somehow managed to make it look and feel entirely different.

It was around this time that Death called Life.

"-- Our champion is asking about the viability of...*Recounts*...their reincarnation. This is your job so what do We say? --"

Death didn't make any promises or decisions since reincarnation was not in its job description or even something it liked to do since it went against its main job.

"Don't worry about it. I'll go through the usual steps just give me a second…"

Life closed the channel it had with Death and linked to someone/ something else.

A few seconds later, Life's (Womanly or was it manly?) voice, cracked. Death heard Life curse for the second time in all of conceivable and inconceivable time. The first time Life said it, living things evolved a new way to procreate, "Fuck…"

Concerned, Death asked, "--What happened? --"

Life struggled to say, "-...Those two want in-"

A few minutes later, the soul stopped rambling about all of the insane and overpowered skills it wanted and asked, "Are you okay? You look sick?"