Chapter 1: A Meeting with Death

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was a cold New York morning. I was on a standard pre-work espresso run, from the boutique coffee place. Three blocks away from my Hell's Kitchen apartment. Already behind, my smart watch notified me my boss wanted me in the office "sooner than later."

"Prick." I muttered crossing a street on my way to the nearest subway tunnel.

As I was making my way, I noticed a near 13-year-old boy in a black sweatshirt running with the fervor of a youth in peril. I soon realized how perilous his situation was. He was being chased by no more than 5 other youths of varying ages the oldest of which who couldn't have been old enough to drive but was most definitely the black clad youths senior. The kid sprinted past me and unceremoniously tripped not a foot past my side. Causing me to pause.

'The hell' I wondered

The 5 feral youths managed to catch their prey on his knees as he tried to recover. The first of the youths to reach him, a mid-sized boy in an orange hoodie looking not unlike a rather substandard sized gourd.

"Think you can steal from us Cooper?" He growled out. As he let out a swift knee to the kneeling boys back Causing him to topple to his front as the rest of the group surrounded him in the middle of the road.

"I didn't steal nothin' " came a swift reply from the rapidly standing kid in black. Cooper, I noted.

"You took my brothers cash and you call me a thief"

I paused my observation of the kids and noted the rapidly growing crowd of observers. Some holding phones, none intervening. I sighed.

"Listen asshole" a heavily breathing boy in a red hoodie and blue cap. The huskiest of the bunch wheezed "your brother gave us that money for protection from bullies."

Cooper facing the five boys down looking not unlike a street dog preparing himself to go out fighting.

I took pity on him my own troubled youth coming to mind.

"The only bullies I see here are you five ganging up on one guy." I spoke the 5 boys looked shocked as if noticing me for the first time.

I moved between the kids and stood at my full height towering over the tallest of the boys.

"We have a problem here kids?"

"No mister" said a boy in a brown jacket with a blue cap glaring at the chubby red jacketed boy and the orange clad youth. The boys returned from the way they had come thoroughly cowed but the glares sent to Cooper showed that they had unfinished business.

As I turned to look at the boy I heard a gasp and noticed a significant number of the crowed looking up the road a van turned down the street we were standing on and barreled toward me and the black clad boy and was upon us almost before we could react. With a quick shove I pushed the boy out of the vehicle's path as I thanked God for my life so far.

When you get hit by a Van going full speed there are a few things one can expect to happen the first most definitely is pain. The pain never came.

I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was a beautiful dark-haired woman in an equally dark dress, sitting at a rather elegant desk with a single high-backed chair sitting in front of her. The desk was bare of anything except a large tome, that was bound in a dark leather.

The room was completely white and almost undiscernible walls, floor and ceiling blending together at the edges. making it impossible to tell where one began and the others end. The black-haired beauty at the desk stood up and said simply "sir, please come take a seat."

I hesitantly complied my confusion overriding any sense of caution from my surroundings. I clearly had to be dead.

The woman looked at me through rather thick glasses. A rather perplexed look on her face "Cooper?" She questioned

I shook my head "Sorry, I'm not cooper"

She went through a few expressions first shock then confusion again, before settling on fear. But I don't think it was me she was afraid of.

"let's see here." she muttered her glasses becoming reflective as she eyed me warily. Her book flipped through pages before settling on one without her input.

"Miss-"

"Ah John Anderson, it says here you were supposed to live another 54 years and 4 months "she interrupted.

"Not good at all he's going to have my hide for another mistake of this caliber" her head fell to the desk she sat at.

"A mistake" I said confusion slowly giving away to anger "how can I mistakenly die. I have work this morning and am already running rather late."

The raven-haired beauty looked up regaining her businesslike composure.

"Yes, Mister Anderson. I don't know how this happened. That van was supposed to hit one Cooper Smith and you were supposed to be on your way to your place of work. It says it all right here in the book of fate but yet here you are." She said almost frantic.

"Book of what now" I questioned hardly believing my ears.

"Tis simply a book that shows the destiny of those before it. And yours was not to meet me for quite some time sir." She nodded matter-of-factly.

"And who might you be exactly? I ask because you mentioned a boss so you're clearly not in charge. And since I'm dead I doubt you're God.' My brain finally calming down and putting the pieces together.

"Let me guess either you're a Shinigami or some sort of extra dimensional entity who otherwise interacts with the recently deceased and ferries them to the afterlife. yes?"

The shock on her face was palpable "how did you know that? Very few guess correctly when we meet. It's usually 'God is a woman?'. Followed by 'it's not my time.'"

"I had a lot of downtime in college, anime and manga feature your kind quite heavily." I spoke

"I see she said I get very few easterners from your world that must be where the lack of recognition comes from."

"My world you say? So, there are others. like multiverse theory?"

"Indeed, but we are getting side tracked it seems there has been a grave error the likes of which I have never seen before. You have defied fate and I was pretty sure that wasn't possible before I read your entry in fates book." She turned the book to face me and I could see upon its pages not words but intricately detailed scenes from my life.

ten a page showing everything from my first steps to my first day in college, my graduation, to my first day on the job, and going even further beyond showing me replacing my boss.

Me meeting a beautiful stranger on the subway, that woman becoming my wife and so on and so forth up until the final image. me much aged clutching my chest at a Christmas festival my wife, kids and grandchildren looking aghast.

As you can see you were supposed to grow old but if you turn the page" she looked down and the book flipped to the next page.

"You see that this is not your original strand of fate. You were never supposed to graduate college, you were supposed to leave,5 years after that you were supposed to start your own business 3 years ago you were supposed to revolutionize computer science with the world's first true Artificial intelligence. Instead, you went to work for fintech and here you are."

"Really?" I said wondering why my path differed from what she said. "Revolutionize all of computer science, me?"

"On your original strand yes, however it seems you subverted fate herself with your focus on your studies how interesting." She said her expression one of excitement

"I'll have to call my boss, but I'll tell you know you can't go back there are other options but returning isn't one of them." She said pulling back in her office chair and pulling out the desk's drawer.

"Wait you still never told me who your boss is or your name miss Shinigami." I said nervousness tinging my voice

"Oh, right I'm D-Lilah and I must say you are taking this rather well for someone who's not supposed to be dead." She spoke her hand rooting through the desk and finally pulling out a 2000's era flip phone causing my eyebrows to quirk up rather quickly.

Noticing my expression she said "right my direct superior in the heavenly hierarchy is Lady Death herself, and above her is the One Above All of course. And if your curious about the phone it's more a cosmic representation of communication than anything." She began dialing

"Ok, I do have a few more questions . . . did you say Death is your boss?"

"Yes, Lady Death and do please stay polite when she gets here. I'd rather not return to the filing department because of this, it was a hard thousand years to get here to soul judgment" she held the phone to her head and a after the first ring a voice one the other line could be heard mumbling.

'What an odd Shinigami' I thought

Yes', Lady Death it seems we had a mix-up in judgment" another longer mumble from the phone

"Yes, before his time" D-Lilah pause before some longer mumbling

"No, that's not why I called you. it's because it wasn't in the book." An audible gasp came from the other end of the phone, followed by further mumbling.

"Yes, it was not his first time switching strands, he was on his second strand before he died, that is I guess this would makes this the third. Him coming here that is my Lady." A sigh, mumble.

"Yes, I figured you would want to tell him in person how it works. Please give me a moment to prepare him for your arrival." D-Lilah looked at me closing the phone and putting it back where it came from closing the desk drawer and sliding her chair back into place.

"Now Lady Death rarely meets mortals these days, so please do not trouble her with any issues. just accept whatever deal she has and please don't cost me my job or even worse my existence." D-Lilah spoke unease still showing in her body language.

"Death erases people from existence?" I asked the shock of my situation finally settling into my bones. "What exactly does that mean?"

She started "it means that when Lady Death wills it an entity just stops being, no afterlife, no consciousness. just erased as if they never existed in the first place, I've even heard it removes all memory and trace of the person through time space and possibly the multiverse- "

Before she could continue a black tear began to form in the space behind her growing bigger until out stepped a black boot?

Followed by a pale hand, black jeans, a black tank top, a silver necklace in the shape of an ankh, with dangling earrings that matched and finally a pale face with mid length dark hair. whose top half was hidden by a black umbrella.

"Well, hello there little soul who might you be?" her cold but not unkind voice resonated clearly in the room.

She slowly, almost sensually, closed her umbrella. Giving D-Lilah not but a glance as she turned to face Lady Death, her onyx black eyes focused on me almost intrigued like I was a rather special bug.

"John Anderson Ma'am." I spoke hesitatingly wondering why this Lady Deaths presence felt so relaxing

As my name past my lips, her eyes began to seemingly grow blacker as her gaze upon me began to feel like it was drawing something from me. Like I was being drained. Then it stopped.

"I see, remember these names have power little one" she said turning to D-Lilah "Representative 35627 you have done good work finding me a mortal like this one. While his soul might be weak it has a power, I have seen in very few and none from his earth remind me what was its numerical designation again."

"Designation: earth-1218. Mistress."

"Ah yes I think I have something rather special for him."

"Wait a minute" I spoke regaining my composure from my weird stare down with death. "What was that just now"

"Ah you can actually feel my gaze upon your essence impressive." She walked around the desk before placing her free hand on my shoulder "now is not the time to dally, you may yet do great things young soul"

"I will take him to my realm, and brief him on his mission for me you D-Lilah have done well I think a promotion may be in order. We shall speak later."

before I could say another word, I vanished from the room of all white and appeared in a throne room. There Death sat atop a pile of skulls in a chair made of bone. She licked her black lips

"Now mortal let us discuss your new role"

'Oh no' I thought 'death is going to enslave and possibly violate me whoo-hoo.'

"I heard that" she spoke her lips upturning into a rather amused smile "That's not what this is"

Well, this is a new chapter of a story I'm working on tell me what you think. It's going to be a Harry potter marvel crossover with an isekai into Harry.

Yes, I used DC's version of Death as the characters basis, the reason being twofold one, Death in the marvel universe is known to take on attractive forms, and Dc death is pretty iconic. Two, DC death has appeared in the marvel comics, so creative liberties on that one.

Currently, the plan is to do four years of Hogwarts, a few at Kamar Tage leading up to a SHIELD arc and Iron Man, then basic MCU, until a cosmic arc sometime in the future. Without giving to much away, if that's your thing. Follow, favorite and hold on this will be a bumpy ride.

This is essentially a preview while I build up chapters on the site which will not be named if you can't wait to read more, chapter two will be out before Christmas. links in bio.

Let me know what you think of this story and see you in the next chapter.