In a place between the between, on a highway constantly being created and destroyed, drives a truck. Within the bubble of reality, inside the vehicle Del drove, guiding them through the chaos, while Ge read a clipboard, with her eyes wide in disbelief. She had read the request over and over, expecting the words to change, or that she misunderstood what it was saying.

She shook her head in disbelief, “A demon lord!?” She finally gave in, as she shouted at Del, “You can't be serious!” They had brought countless Heroes who were summoned just to defeat them. How could they deliver to one?

Del began to shake. At first, she thought it was, embarrassment, but she quickly saw the smile on his face. He was holding back a laugh. “Sometimes we do these kinds of runs too.”

Ge thought she knew what this job was all about by now, but seeing this order through a wrench in everything she knew. “But I thought we were trying to save worlds from the chaos not help it?”

He snorted, “This is different.”

His callousness at the entire situation was starting to piss her off. Why did he find helping a murderous demon lord so funny?! “How? It's killing off a bunch of people.”

Del stopped laughing when he heard the serious outrage in her tone. Realizing how this might look from the outside, he turned serious. “Actually, and I think I've told you this before, demons are just another natural species. Albeit a bit more...” He trailed off searching for a word.

“Evil.” She supplied, hotly.

“I would say angry, or hormonal. Kinda like a teenager, but all the time.”

A shiver went up Ge’s spine imagining an entire species of teenagers, all the pettiness, all the sudden emotional changes, the overall horniness, and suddenly demons made too much sense. If he was right, they were as evil as middle schoolers, and that was debatable. She still gave the man a confused look willing him to continue.

Del picked up on her silence, “As to why we are delivering a Hero to one.” He shrugged, “This is because the demons in their world are starting to get pushed onto an inevitable decline, that will lead to their eventual extinction. The demon people’s God doesn’t want that. So we are helping to adjust the balance”

“So we are essentially delivering a Hero, just not on the traditional side.”

He tapped his nose, “Correct!”

Ge thought this was an interesting solution until a glaring problem stood out, “But won't that make it go the other way with humans?”

“It might. I think the pantheon wants the species to strike a balance, the demons aren't evil just hot-headed. Honestly, they tend to be more powerful as well, usually striking the balance in their favor, hence why Heroes tend to be on the human side, ”

“I could see how conflict could happen.” She imagined how easy it was for a teenager to hold a grudge for the simplest slight, or just dislike someone for no reason, or just simple anger.

Seeing the gears moving in her head, he added, “Sometimes there's actual peace between the species, but it's the same for many different species, not just demons. There is almost always a conflict between any species when it is easy to point out their difference.” Del explained.

Ge began to ponder, starting to look at demons in a different light, “So what kind of person do you make a demon?”

—

On a small blue marble, in a place of cold, and steel, a place crumbling and yet strong, a place of resilience, yet bleak, a man, named Sanya, stands on the corner of a street in the bitter morning air. It was a Tuesday, and like every Tuesday Sanya stands on the corner waiting.

Sanya waits in a place no law enforcement would ever come to, as they know they weren’t welcome. Here in this spot, one must be cautious, and always look over their shoulder, else they turn to prey. Except for Sanya, this was his spot, and he had claimed it time and time again. There he waits for his contact, his eyes never wavering from the phone in his hand. Those in the area knew the man and knew to never bother him, for now, he was safe. Sanya was playing a game, as he waited. He guided a kingdom to victory, or at least tried to, his opponent was playing dirty using premium items. Sanya was actually proud that he was almost able to win without spending a cent, he was just about to claim victory when his opponent suddenly used an expensive premium item that completely wiped Sanya’s side of the field. “Dammit.”

He was frustrated, at the game. He hated playing against a player who spent premium currency like water, despite priding himself on never spending the cash, he never felt more tempted than in moments like this. With determination and a lot of luck, he was eventually able to turn it around causing a stalemate, when a random man in a trench coat walked by shoving a piece of paper in Sanya’s hand, as he passed by. Sanya let out an annoyed breath as he lost his focus and the game. They always show up at the worst times. He thought before taking a breath and heading out.

He had always hated the paper, every single time he took a slip he felt more of who he died. But, he had made a deal. A deal with people you should not make deals with. He would do what he was told, and when this mission was done, he would finally be done with his part. On the paper, Sanya found an address, no name just an address, and the man readied his tools to take out the target.

The targets were usually gangsters or druggies unable to pay their debts or had failed their employers. But other times they were men who fell on bad times or double-crossed their boss.

Sanya wasn’t a saint, he knew these men would die, either way, he couldn’t allow himself time to care about the lives he was taking if he did he didn’t know what he might completely break. That was what he told himself, wanting to believe it was true, as he made his way to the address on the little slip of paper. He would follow procedure, the target would be at the location at a certain time. He was to take out the second person to enter the building, as they would be the target. If for some reason that was the wrong individual, then they would receive a reprieve. It rarely happened, and only once was it purposeful. The employer didn’t care how the target died, or who necessarily did, just that the message was sent, and someone paid for it.

All too soon Sanya was setting up a spot on a roof a few buildings away from the address, with a perfect visual of the interior, and the door. While there was a time they were supposed to appear, it was more like a time frame that could range four hours or so, and he was early. He ended up sitting in that spot for hours, as the sun went down and the temperature dropped down below freezing. He sat and waited to look through his scope, hands slowly going numb when the door finally opened. A man in a suit, followed by a woman in a high-end pant suit, and behind them, four more well-dressed individuals entered the room. He readied his weapon waiting a few minutes, letting them all get comfortable before firing.

He knew why they wanted him to do it like this. To strike fear into the heart of all its members, to keep them in line. They all would know that this woman had done something to betray the organization, it was a statement, that someone was always watching.

Sanya lined up his shot and fired, a bullet piercing through her skull. The woman was flung back, and she fell to the ground dead. As she fell Sanya’s hand moved to grab his spent casing, and quickly made his way off the roof and out of the area. He moved slow and calmly to not draw suspicion. He moved to make his way home, serpentining his way through the streets. He had his bag already packed and waiting by his door. He just needed to grab them.

His hand reached out grabbing the door handle, unlocking the door, and opening it. Only to be greeted by the sound of a gun and a bullet to the gut. Sanya looked up at the man taring his eyes away from the gunshot, to see the man he had made a deal a deal with all those years ago, Alexy head of the local chapter. Sanya, despite dying, asked curious, “Why?”

Alexy sneered and laughed, “Did you think you could really be free.” He says holding up a plane ticket.

Sanya couldn’t help but laugh. He had been so careful about his plan, everything was so hush-hush, that it should have been impossible. How could he have been so stupid not to think Alexy would have his people’s names flagged for, something so mundane as a plane ticket. Despite everything, he had almost expected something like this to pop up, when he was about to retire. “Ha, was gonna try.”

“You see, you were my property the moment the deal was made, and as soon as the deal ends, I get to decide what to do with you.” Alexy leaned forward, anger boiling behind his eyes, “Not you.”

Sanya flipped Alexy off, “Fuck you.”

Alexy let out a disappointed sigh, “You see I'm disappointed, I actually was going to let you go.”

“No, you weren't.” Sanya knew he would have never let him go, he was too good at his job.

“True, but we could have altered the deal. You'd didn't have to die like a dog.”

“You’re the one who’s a bitch.”

Another gunshot rang out, and Sanya found a bullet in his brain and fell over dead.

Alexy looked down annoyed at Sanya’s dead body. “Why did you have to do that? I wanted to have more fun.” He kicked the dead man in the gut.

—

Somewhere far off in a distant world, a man begins to wake up.

Darkness. Darkness, warmth, and comfort. Those were Sanya’s first thoughts, as he floated in nothingness.

Where am I? Am I dead? I should be dead. He shot me in the gut and head? Sanya’s thoughts were disjointed and confused.

He was trying to piece things together, Am I in the hospital? No, I don't feel an IV… then he realized, I don’t really feel anything except warmth. Sanya’s mind faded falling into darkness for a time, for a time he found himself waking from time to time only to find darkness. He would only be awake for a thought or two before fading back into the dark until he was jolted awake as he felt something squeeze him. The darkness changed, there was a small light, and he felt himself moving towards.

What's this? Sanya began to move towards the light. He tried to reach out but found his arms not listening to him. He was on the whims of whatever was pushing him towards the light. There was no fear, whether it be hell, or heaven, he just knew this was were he needed to be. He reached the light exiting the small darkness, falling into the waiting arms of a giant. Sanya panicked, trying to struggle away, but found he couldn't control his limbs. Limbs that he quickly found to be stubby and short. “The fuck is going on.” He tried to say but nothing came out except a loud piercing cry, that he couldn’t control.

All around him were giant green blurs, when it finally hit him. I think I'm a baby. Shit I've reincarnated. The newly born babe tried to look around but his eyes wouldn't focus. All around the child, he could hear people talking, and he couldn’t understand a single word. He found the voices short and quick to shift in tone. Despite the changes, Sanya felt happiness and joy when his mother snatched him away, to her chest. That's when the child got a good look at his mother. Green skin, big ears, and sharp teeth, but still pretty. He would have laughed if he could, I'm a fucking goblin.