"So you could not live up to the test version of the multiverse system."
"Where does that take you?"
"Right back to me.", God said, looking right at me.
Before I realized it, I was standing in front of the same omnipotent white-haired being who called himself God. This wasn't the first time I arrived in this place. My memories were still hazy, but I couldn't recall exactly what had happened before coming to this space.
"Something happened to me, right? I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to encounter you again. I just remember that you gave me a second chance at life while letting me select the character I wanted to become, Baki Hanma. You also gave me that multiverse system which collided worlds together. It had a reward system that boosted my stats to strengthen myself, and it even gave me a status window. Apart from that, I don't remember anything.", I said to God. I realized I was that golden ball of light again, the same one you would call, a soul.
An untimely event? I'm not sure. Seeing God again, he began explaining the situation to me.
"Indeed. The system given to you, RDX-69, was a test version for a reason. Only a handful of souls have made use of it to live out their lives. You, sadly, did meet an end. Quite literally. As you continued to strengthen yourself at your own pace, the chaos caused by RDX-69 grew too rapidly, as did the Dark Dimension. Your reality was engulfed by it, consuming everything in its path. You couldn't even react to your own death.", God explained.
"I really did perish...", I responded, hearing God say that to me. "Perhaps the Dark Dimension consumed my memories of the world you made for me too? I can only remember bits and pieces of it. I'm thankful that I came out of that in one piece. Or one soul, in this case?", I mused, hearing God explain what happened to me. "Was it some sort of incursion?", I questioned.
"I'm afraid so. I was able to anchor your soul from being swept away. I had to do some meddling myself, but that world is gone, so to say. Not all is lost, though.", God continued to explain.
"Not all is lost?", I responded with gaining interest.
Asking that, all I saw God do was snap his fingers.
The empty white space surrounding us in its entirety subtly shifted nearby. I saw space begin to distort to my left. It was as if a spatial rift was tearing right into here. Three small spheres soon emerged from it. Unlike my golden halo-like soul, which shone bright as the sun, these three spheres beside me were entirely...pink?
It was clear that these three were souls.
"This...", I began, taken aback from what had happened before me.
"As you can see, I managed to rescue three others. It isn't the best outcome, but I can only do so much. I'm not the highest ranking godly being out there, and my primary role is to ferry souls to begin their next life anew."
"And that is the case with these three individuals that I have rescued, along with you. The four of you will soon start your next life.", God said.
As God said that, the three pink souls began to materialize into existence, becoming three girls. Once I saw them, I was struck with a strange sense of deja-vu. I just stared at these three. They all were dressed in a lemon-colored school uniform with a green skirt. The top-half was sleeveless, and they wore a white shirt underneath it. Of the three figures, the middle one was the tallest, and oldest. The two beside her were younger by a couple years, but they still all had an older look than their usual counterparts, acting as if they had aged a couple years.
But if there was one thing to point out, it was where my attention was presently drawn to. Sticking out of their backs were three spade-shaped black tails. Something you wouldn't expect a normal person to have.
Well, that's the thing, these three girls weren't human. They were aliens, unlike me.
That deja-vu feeling I received suddenly grew stronger. I was starting to feel a mix of emotions while I observed these three girls in silence.
"...Lala?", I uttered a name, which immediately caused the girl's ears to perk up. The two beside her remained unconscious, for now at least.
The middle girl's head slowly raised her head. Her eyes were drawn to my direction.
"Baki-kun? Is that you? And am I seeing things or am I seeing two of you?", The girl responded to the name that I called out with. She was rubbing her eyes in a cute manner, acting as if she was seeing two of me.
I couldn't see behind me, as I was a soul myself. But if I had to take a guess, there were likely two holo-like figures floating where my soul was situated. Unlike Lala, I lived two lives. One as Mr. Takakura, and the other as Baki Hanma.
Taking a moment to process what was happening before her, the girl's gaze became clearer, and was soon swept with shock. All she saw around here was a vast and empty white space, no matter how far it stretched.
"And where on earth is this!?", The girl exclaimed.
"It really is you...Lala...", I uttered, taking some time to let my emotions calm down. I recalled venturing with Lala and her siblings in the world I was brought into, but sadly, I couldn't remember what had happened, for the most part. It would seem God here was able to save Lala's soul, and not just her. He also saved those two other girls.
Likely Momo and Nana Deviluke, Lala's two younger siblings. If there was a thing to be grateful for, it was the fact that God managed to save all three siblings, instead of just Lala. To that end, I was extremely thankful.
After getting my own emotions in order, I just decided to lay it real with the pink-haired girl before me.
"I'll just get straight to the point, Lala. We died. Plain and simple. What you see here is the afterlife.", I explained the situation to her.
"We...died?", Lala uttered in shock. "But how? I can't remember anything!", Lala shouted again.
"Hoho, and you likely won't, as most of your memories were swallowed up. Your reality ended in a flash, unfortunately. I did what I could. I was able to rescue you and your two sisters, Miss Deviluke.", God said, giving the situation to Lala.
"Eh?", Lala responded, shifting her gaze to a white-bearded man near us. "Who are you?", Lala continued to ask.
"Who I am is not important. What is important is whether or not you have the will to move on. To move past that which you once loved. Mr. Takakura, or Mr. Baki in your case, has already experienced such an instance. He has lost everything once, and almost everything twice. You, as do your two sisters, have not experienced Loss.", God said, revealing a gentle look in his eyes.
"Loss...", Lala uttered, taking a moment to look around. It was just white, white and more white. Everything felt very surreal. What God said was true, though. I already lost a life once, and now apparently a second one, even though I don't remember much of it.
"That means I won't be able to see my parents or my friends again...", Lala uttered to herself. Before she realized it, tears were starting to form in her eyes. She took a moment to glance down at her two younger sisters. "It's probably for the better that these two aren't awake right now.", Lala continued. She gently reached out her hand, and ruffled Momo's hair in silence.
Was Lala feeling grief? I wasn't sure. As much as I wanted to console her, I knew now wasn't the time to do such actions. We could only spend so much time in this space that God occupied. But to my surprise, Lala then shifted her head back to me, showing an array of emotions. Perhaps it was curiosity that trumped them all?
"And you even experienced Loss twice, Baki-kun? I can't even imagine what that would be like...", Lala said to me, unsure what to say in this situation.
"It's all in the past. I've overcome it. But it is as this person stated. Our reality is gone, and this space is used to ferry our souls into our next life. We can take all the time to mourn our losses later. But the question is, can you move on?", I asked Lala.
"That...", Lala paused, not giving me an answer right away. Instead, all Lala did was look back down at her two phantom-like sisters still showing their pink souls. Momo was the closest next to her. Lala continued to ruffle her hair, acting as if Momo was actually there. Momo even smiled while she remained unconscious.
"I think we'll manage. We still have each other. And you, Baki-kun. You are right. If this person really is designed to make sure we move on, then we can't mope around forever. We can do that later. But there is a question, though. Where exactly are we going?", Lala questioned.
"That is a good question, isn't it? And I think you have the answer to that.", I said to God.
"I do. Why don't we take it a step back this time, shall we?", God explained.
Hearing that, a look of confusion appeared on Lala's face.
"What do you mean 'this time'?", Lala asked, picking up what God had said.
"Never mind that part. I'm more curious as to what you mean by taking things a step back. How so?", I mused, wondering what God had in store for us.
"This time around, that rapidly expanding chaos will not happen. It will be a single world. I will present you with RDX-69 again, but its features will be different. You and that young lady beside you will be able to explore its capabilities once you've settled into your new life. And you didn't hear that incorrectly. RDX-69 will be given Lala too.", God explained. Even this caught me by surprise.
"RDX-69 will be given to both Lala and I...?", I asked, shocked by God's proposal. Lala only stood there, obviously confused by our ongoing conversation.
"What's a 'System', Baki-kun?", Lala asked me.
"I'll tell you about that later. You'll be getting one too, it seems.", I said, shrugging that topic off for now. As God mentioned, we'll have plenty of time to explore what this new version of RDX-69 will be able to do once we've settled. Otherwise, we'd be stuck here for a lot longer than what God likely intended, haha!
"Quite intriguing, is it not? As for the world you four will be heading off to, it will be the MCU. Its universe is already expansive enough as it is. Considering that Lala and her sisters will be with you this time around, Baki, your starting point will be different. I won't say much about it, but you will be given enough protection to see your new life through.", God said, cracking a smile.
"I don't like the sound of that...", I retorted, pausing my train of thought. "Still, the MCU. I think I can work with that. There are many more dangerous worlds out there that aren't the MCU. And seeing that it's only a single world this time, the danger should be less.", I concluded. Confusion remained in Lala's eyes as she heard that. Makes sense, considering she didn't know about the MCU.
"The MCU?", Lala asked again, unfamiliar.
"The Marvel Cinematic Universe. Like I said before, our previous reality is gone, so this is where we will be heading to next. And I'm guessing this world will be created anew?", I questioned God. Meanwhile, I almost forgot something to say, and I spoke out to Lala. "Oh, and I'll give you a history lesson on the MCU later, Lala-chan.", I continued to say.
After I said that, God nodded his head.
"That would be correct, Baki. You will still be able to explore your supporting worlds, albeit through a different method. RDX-69 will give you a full rundown of it.", God replied.
"Sounds good to me. We'll be able to take things at our own pace, Lala-chan. If you want to mourn, we'll mourn. If you want to move on, we'll move on. We can't remain in this space forever. I'm sure God has plenty of other things on his plate he needs to do.", I said to Lala.
"Baki-kun...", Lala uttered. A heartfelt smile appeared on her lips. She held back her tears, but still took a moment to wipe them away with her fingers. She then nodded.
"I understand. To be honest, I wasn't sure if there would ever be an afterlife, but we shouldn't miss an opportunity given to us. We'll start over. I've had my suspicion as to who you were since I was brought here. You really are a god?", Lala questioned the white-haired figure before us.
"Take it as you will. There are many godly beings out there, and you will have your chance to find them in the world you will be sent to. With what I am giving you two, it should make up for that difference. The rest will be yours to discover.", God answered, smiling back at us.
"Yeah! I mean, what's the worst that can happen? I'm grateful enough to even have this opportunity. We shouldn't keep this god waiting any longer Baki-kun. I'll have to break it to Momo and Nana, but they'll come around to it.", Lala said to me. But this time, we felt a subtle shift in the air. Despite being holographic-like, the girl closer to Lala opened one of her eyes, and gave us a playful smile.
"Oh I'm already taking "enough" in already. You will have to break this to my gullible sister though, Onee-sama. Looks like we'll be able to have a lot of fun where we will be heading to, huh?", Momo said to us, causing me to pause. If I had my cheeks still, they would have twitched here.
"Why am I not surprised you've been listening to this, Momo-chan?", I sighed, retorting to her. Still, all Momo did was smile at us, and resumed her sleeping posture, acting as if she had been asleep this entire time.
Seeing Momo now unresponsive, I paid her no mind. She liked to tease us a lot, while Nana was the more stern sister of the three.
"Hehe, Momo might be accepting of this already, but yeah. We can for sure tackle this once we've settled.", Lala replied, giggling at her sister's remark.
"Sounds like you've managed to head to your next destination. Then allow me to present you with RDX-69 once more.", God said, snapping his fingers a second time. Before we realized it, a familiar mechanical-voice sounded off inside my head. But this time, Lala's eyes turned wide in surprise, acting like she heard this voice too. Well, she did!
[It is a pleasure to be of your service again, Master. It is also a pleasure to meet you as well, Mistress.]
Hearing that voice, Lala's eyes sparkled.
"Baki-kun, I heard a voice directly speak into my mind. So cool!", Lala happily replied. Her tail swerved around.
"So you could hear it too, eh? This might be weird, if it's a shared system. Do you have the capability of splitting your consciousness into two?", I asked.
[I do, if that is what you desire, Master. That way, one will be assigned to you, while the other to Lala. Both are capable of performing the functions of the RDX-69 system.]
"Then please do so. I am faintly recalling I assigned you a name too. Can we stick with Aura?", I questioned RDX-69.
[Very well. I shall be called Aura again henceforth. Mistress, you should now have a system to call your own. Please assign them a name.] Aura said, still sounding as mechanical as ever. No personality to it.
"Just like that?", Lala replied, blinking her eyes. She expected something amazing to happen, but nothing did.
"Just like that. You'll get used to it. Assign yours a name and we'll get a move on.", I said to Lala.
[It is a pleasure to meet you, Mistress. I am part of RDX-69, and hereby assigned to you. If you wish to designate a name to me, then please do so at this time.]
"Then you'll be Sephie-chan, after my mother!", Lala said. Her spade-shaped tail swirled around in glee.
[Very well. I am Sephie-chan from here on.]
Hearing that, I smacked my head.
"Lala-chan, these systems take inputs quite literally. Just "Sephie" is alright, RDX-69.", I quickly said.
"Oh!", Lala responded, understanding what I was referring to.
"Hoho. With that, these two systems are yours. Off you go.", God said to us. It's a shame that Momo or Nana won't be receiving one, but receiving two systems already is a blessing. Thanking God, he snapped his fingers thrice.
We couldn't even do anything else before our vision faded, warping out of that space directly. Our souls swiftly moved onward, wanting to start life fresh. This time, on the other hand, it looks like we were directly transported into the MCU!
I wasn't alone either. By a twist of fate, I will be sharing this new life with Lala and her two sisters, Momo and Nana, who came from the To Love Ru series!