{AN: Sup.}
Pain was the easy part. He'd forgotten how many times he'd been stabbed, shot, or otherwise forcefully deprived of his bodily fluids...
Red or otherwise.
But such is the life of a soldier, especially one in the midst of a war zone. World war three had erupted years after The Orange Man somehow managed to become president even when he was a felon. It was too much for him to understand, but Jamie followed orders.
No matter the cause, no matter the consequence, he knew that if they failed to win, then it wasn't the president who would be harmed, it was those he had sworn to protect.
So, Jamie never complained. He had enlisted in order to get free education, as well as that damned car he was sure he was never gonna see. But at least he could protect people this way.
And protect he did.
On one fateful mission over the pond, his squad had somehow been pincered from both sides when their allies retreated without telling them. Faced with death and no way out, Jamie did the first thing that felt natural: Protect his own.
"Fall back! I'll hold them off and follow once you're clear!" His squadmates only hesitated for a moment before flying into motion, dragging their injured behind them. They knew once he'd set his mind on something there was no changing it.
Jamie held them off far longer than he initially hoped to, flying from position to position, making them believe it was a whole team still firing on them rather then just one man. But the illusion didn't hold for long.
Soon enough, they caught on and riddled his position with suppression fire, and as a live grenade landed at his feet, seconds from blowing, Jamie didn't feel regret.
Nah, he felt accomplished. In a world where he had no choice but to do as he was told, he'd managed to save so many lives. And that was enough for him.
BANG
...
Silence.
A silence that felt strangely calming in the chilling darkness. No screaming, no shouted orders, no feeling of shrapnel ripping through his ribcage.
He simply drifted for a long while, enjoying the silence, before something changed.
Suddenly he was in a dojo. The air was cleaner than he'd felt in years, full on incense and something that reminded him of tea, even though he'd never had any himself.
He also noticed that he had a body. Floating in the void was disorientating, but he'd realized his lack of a body at some point.
The sound of someone clearing their throat caught his attention, causing him to pan his head to the middle of the room, where an older man sat on the other side of a table.
The man smiled kindly at him. "Hello Jamie."
Jamie, confused by the strange events, sat down slowly. "Who are you?"
The old man shrugged. "I have a lot of names, but most you won't be able to comprehend." That answer was just as simple as it was complicated.
"...Then what can I call you?"
He shrugged again, offering a cup of fresh tea. "Three sugars, I know you still have that sweet tooth. And just call me Jack for now. It's one of my old ones."
He took a sip of his tea before sighing contently. "Let's get this out of the way: You've died and now have the chance to reincarnate. All you have to do is choose a world and we can decide on your perks."
Jamie was both exited and wary to learn of this. "Why?"
Jack shrugged. "You weren't supposed to die there, but a reincarnate from another god changed that. Normally, I wouldn't have stepped in, but your readiness to sacrifice yourself in place of your team caught my interest.
"Huh...Okay." He'd never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he simply took it at face value. "I wanna go to a DC world."
Jack raised an eyebrow as he sipped his tea. "Not a Marvel one? They have much more variety, and a lot less present danger."
"I'm not afraid to get hurt. I just like more of the people over in DC." That seemed to be enough for Jack, as he simply moved onto the next subject.
"Okay. There's an opening in one of the Young Justice AU's I have access to, but you won't be able to be 'yourself.'"
Jamie thought about it for a moment before looking back up to Jack. "Will I still be a guy?"
"Yes."
"Will I be disabled?"
"No."
"Does he have potential?"
"Yes, but it's limited to a point."
"Then okay. Can I know about who I'll be or not?"
Jack thought for a moment for shrugging again. "I don't see why not, you'll be Jaime Reyes, otherwise known as Blue Beetle."
'I can work with that.' Jamie thought. 'It'll take some getting used to the new pronunciation of my name, but that's the easy part."
"How will I explain my personality changing?"
"Car accident. This Jamie was meant to die at that moment, but you can say the trauma changed you."
"Will I still get the scarab?"
"I can arrange that. It's not hard at all. What else?"
"...I want the ability to transform technology like the All Spark from Transformers."
Jack winced. "That'll take some restrictions. You won't be able to create life, strictly speaking, only being able to make AI's. Next, you'll only be able to change existing material, and only something that qualifies to be man-made. Finally, everything you change about something must be something you know. You won't be able to make an arc reactor just because you know it's name."
Jamie though about it, and noticed a loophole. "Aren't other people technically man made?"
Jack paused mid sip. "Only technology, things like vehicles, appliances, and telephones."
"And weapons?"
"...I'll allow it."
For the first time since the start of the conversation, Jamie allowed himself to smirk. "Can I also have a stronger body? I don't want to waste time being sick or anything."
"Sure. Immunity from disease and illness. I'll even throw in minor adaptability for any outliers. But that's all I can give you."
Jamie slowly closed his mouth, having been prepared to ask for another ability. He just sighed, and looked down at his lap like a puppy that'd just been scolded.
"...Fine. If they like you, the greater forces of the universe will allow you to tap into them, but it won't be anything crazy."
Jamie perked up like a gambling addict that'd just his it big. "Yes! Okay, I'm ready now!"
Jack just sighed, putting his tea down. "Just go, before I end up giving you anything else." He waved his hand, and suddenly Jamie was gone, off ton terrorize someone else with his puppy-eyes.