"Ouch." My head hurts a bit too much for a normal headache, and I can't see anything. Oh wait, my eyes are closed. The young Asian-American's eyes opened as he got to his feet.

"Ho, he's woken up finally!"

"Huh, what the fudge... OL' HUBBA!" Before him stood the wizened figure of the elderly outrealm dweller. He blinked a few more times and ascertained that yes, the splitting image of said character that appeared in some FEA dlcs was standing in front of him, and they were surrounded by a swirling and blue… void.

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" Hubba squinted and looked over the befuddled man. He took out some parchment and a inked quill from a fold in his robes and started scribbling. "Let's see five foot nine and of medium build, has black hair, brown eyes and glasses. Gonna half to get spares ready… " He stopped writing and checking off things on the list and pushed it into the blueness. "Well, looks like you're the one I've been waiting around for. Welcome to the outrealms!"

The man was very confused. But he was too calm to panic. Logic dictated that he should start asking questions. Well, guess I'll go with the flow. "Okay, outrealms, I get that part. First, is this a dream? Second, how? Third, why were you waiting for me specifically?"

Old Hubba chuckled at the bluntness. "Right to the point eh? Well then, no you are not dreaming. As for how, okay don't freak out, but you kinda died next to a temporary outrealm gate."

The man was not amused."I don't feel dead, and what do you mean by temporary?" I'm dead!? Huh, trippy afterlife. Thought it'd be more… I guess more of something.

Hubba took a deep breath and launched into his explanation. "So you see, each world has its own outrealm gate. But smaller gates can pop up sporadically depending on how out of whack the dimensional boundary is. As for being dead, focus on what you remember happening before you woke up here. All I can say for sure is that some kind of force was involved, and the impact jarred your soul into the small gate that popped up for that brief instant."

That's very nice of him to be so honest. Same ol Hubba. Let's see here. Woke up. Went to work. Cleaning shit up. Going to the trash compactor… I slipped on some cardboard. I fuckin died because some asshat from night shift left cardboard on the snow! The inadequate railings and very painful metal that I hit my head on didn't help.

Old Hubba looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

"Yeah, you were right. What now? Will I pass on to the other side eventually?"

"Umm, that's part of your third question. Your soul has been drifting, gathering energy and snippets of your other iterations for decades now." Sheesh, how long was I out? "You aren't going to pass on because your soul has remanifested its own vessel. I'm pretty sure I saw you drift by a few times before actually."

"Vessel, like a body? I'm alive again?"

Hubba had a somewhat distraught expression on his face. He took a deep breath. "No, you are not. Well, not yet. There is simply a container that is keeping you in limbo. I can give you the final push, quite literally, back into life through a outrealm gate. Which goes into my next explanation. So you see I may have been contacted by a group of very fine red-haired ladies to reacquaint you with the living."

The expressions of joy or shock eluded the long dead man, so he settled for narrowing his eyes. "The Anna's, of course. But knowing them, there'll be a steep price tag and endless teasing as part of the package. But I want to know why they want to bring me back. Shits and giggles? Manual labor? I bet the former."

Hubba couldn't help but chuckle again. "Spot on young'n, they wanna see how you, I quote, fuck shit up. And who said drunken bets were a bad thing, hah! Their family reunion played a part in this, but have no fear! They've gotten some stuff together for you so death can't catch up to early. Oh but disclaimer, you will be biologically immortal, sort of."

"From the whole gathering energy thing, right? I can live with that."

Bad pun completely intended.

"Yep, you'll age sort of like a manakete. Oh, but let's move onto your stuff! Pretty fancy stuff at that! Okay, first is your armor!" Hubba clapped his hands together.

The man found himself suddenly enveloped in a suit of armor that felt oddly light. He looked at his gauntlets and gasped. Shimmering metal and bluish hide melded into functional and artistic design. He could only mutter in astonishment. "The Legiana armor… Only in my daydreams did I imagine having my own set." And then it hit him. He was wearing a full helmet, without his glasses, and see perfectly fine.

Old Hubba gazed at the excited youth, wondering if this journey would become a dream come true for the man, or his bittersweet nightmare. "Yes, yes thank me all you want. The Anna's also had me dig around for equipment that you had in other lives, though it was quite easy to find since your soul decided to grab a bit of everything on its way. I just retraced the steps. Alright then. Next is this fancy sword among others." Hubba pulled out another list and started tracing out and listing things. "Titanium-alloy katana, modified Chrome Assault bowgun, SP89 doohickey, serrated BC-41 combat dagger, and a enchanted ammo pouch. All accounted for." Hubba looked up to see the stranger stumbling around trying to balance all the extra wait that had suddenly attached to him.

"Where the ever loving fuck did this come from!" He had finally righted himself and was looking over his new kit with both awe and suspicion.

Sword is understandable, but the bowgun seems a bit much for where I think I'm going. Bah, who cares about playing fair. That knife though, so many war crimes in my future. And my dad's SP89! I had always wanted to try it at the ranges some day. Maybe he buried it with me? Nah.

"Okay, all set, ready to go? Oh and what was your name? Nearly forgot to ask since you knew mine."

The now heavily armed man was smirking underneath his helmet, already planning chaos. "Hmm, well this seems to be a new life in a new world. You can call me Masaru."

"Well then Masaru, off you go!"

"Wait a second, awakening verse right? Good timeline or failed timeline?"

"What's that? Alrighty then. One failed timeline comin right up!"

"What! No!" Hubba shoved him into the blue void. "FUCKING HELL!"