“I see you got into another fight…”

These withered words came from an elderly man adorn in the standard robes of a priest. His old face showing years worth of wrinkles caused by stress and worry for the people that he welcomed into the house of God, and yet his old age and pretty frail form couldn’t hide a fierce spirit and his eyes held the strength that a man in his station carried. Said eyes at the moment where borrowing into the form of a familiar redhead, though this one was a bit younger than the last time we saw him.

“Well Krieger?” the old priest asked as he looked upon a younger Krieger who looked like he just got out of the losing end of a fight with a fight. Said youth looked away from the priest in defiance. “You know you can’t be getting into fights with the other children in school, it was hard enough to get you and the other children in there in the first place.”

“Well, the teachers there should do their job,” muttered the child as he rubbed off some dried blood from his busted lip. “They should have stopped those older kids from messing with me if they didn’t want to see them get beaten up.”

“Krieger…,” Sighed out the old man as he gave the young youth a disapproving look. “That is the path of wrath my child, and indulging in one sin will lead to another.”

Krieger gave the old man a grin that showed off the fact he lost a tooth in that little fight and boasted. “Don’t worry Father Miller! I won’t be tempted by sin, and besides, I think the beating I gave those bullies will make them think twice about messing with me again, they’ll learn just like the others!”

“And there's pride,” the old priest said as he rubbed his bald head in frustration before giving his young ward a look. “You see? This is what I’m saying. You waste your strength on trivial things like pride and anger towards someone poking at said pride!”

“But they were making fun of the church!” Krieger defended as he glared at the aged man. “Saying I’m wasting my time praying to a dead man nailed to a stick!”

“And what weight do words from children that only say them to make you angry carry?” Father Miller asked while raising a grayed brow. “Nothing, unless you react in the way they want.”

Growling in anger the young teen shouted. “And what am I to do!? Just let them get away with that and let them go unpunished!?”

“Why should you be the one to punish them?” Miller asked again. His annoyance leaking into is words. “Child, we are only the servants of God, not his enforcers, you should not throw your fist in anger at what some children say.”

“But why!?” cried out Krieger. “Why should I just let them disrespect my belief but also let them walk all over me!”

Taking a step forward, the young child continued his rant. “Everyday I have to deal with people talking down to me, calling me a freak because of how tall I am or how I look, or about what I believe in! I’m fed up, and they should learn not to mess with someone who can fight back!”

“You know nothing child!” yelled Father Miller as he stormed towards Krieger. Said child took a step back and closed his eyes. Waiting for his punishment for losing his temper.

________________________________________________________

Jolting up from his sleep, a now-adult Krieger sat up in a cold sweat as he let out a few shallow breaths.

“Wha.. what?” Krieger muttered as he frantically looked around, noticing he wasn’t in the convention center anymore but now was in some kind of forest. “Why am I in a-!!! Ugh, my head!”

The redhead’s ranting was cut short as he held his head in pain. The young adult had to hold back tears as his head felt like was on fire and breaking apart at the same time.

“This is worse than the time I snuck into the church’s wine cellar,” Krieger muttered as memories of himself at the fresh age of 16 thinking it would be an awesome idea to sneak into the wine cellar and help himself to some wine.

The lecture he got the next morning was torture with the hangover he had, and the punishment from Sister June was worse…

Holding back a shiver at the thought of going through that old nun’s punishments, the young man started pulling himself up.

“Ok,” Krieger muttered as he got up. “Why the heck am I in a forest and how far from home… am… I.”

As the redhead was talking he slowly stopped once noticing a few key features about himself.

“What the!?” yelled Krieger as he looked at his arms, both now covered in black marking that had blueish-green outlines on them they were even on his bare chest. “What happened to my shirt!”

Panicking the young adult looked around until he spotted a small stream near him and bolted towards it. Making it to the edge the redhead went to his knees and looked at his reflection in the water, and was met with a startling sight.

“What the hell,” he muttered as he saw himself in the reflection, but with some new features. The same black marking on his arms and chest where also on his face which was not sporting yellow eyes! And his slacked jaw expression let him see that he was sporting some longer than normal canines. “This gots to be a joke!”

Scratching his head in annoyance the young adult soon noticed another thing.

“OH GREAT, MY HAIR’S LONGER TOO!,” he shouted as he jumped up to his feet and looked around in anger. Damn it, it was tough already taking care of his hair when it was only down to his neck, now it was all the way down to his shoulder blades!

Growling in anger Kreiger shouted. “OK! Who’s doing this!? I swear if this is some kind of joke it ain’t funny!”

Getting no response the redhead let out a tired sigh. “What’s going on and who decided to make me look like a demonic version of a Red Hot Chili Peppers album(1)?”

“Welp,” he muttered. “I guess I should get moving before it gets dark,” he muttered before realizing they sky was already pretty dark with how the nearly black clouds covered the sky.

“Well…, before it gets any darker I guess.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~(An hour later)~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ok I’m big enough a man to know when I’m lost,” muttered the redhead as he walked past the same bent tree three times by now, and if wasn’t so tired he’d thing the darn tree was glaring at him with how the torn up trunk resembled a face.

“Ok now, I don’t think I’ve been gone from civilization long enough to start seeing things, next thing you know I’m gonna start calling one of these trees Wilson.”

Laughing at his own joke the tall man decided to go down one of the many twisted trails he hadn’t walked down yet.

“Well at least I hope this isn’t the same path,” he muttered as he kept walking. Feeling confident that this one would lead him out of the forest!

~~~~~~~~~~~~(Three hours later)~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well screw you too chosen path!” he screamed as he saw the SAME bent tree again! This was the fifth time in a row! “There has to be someone close by who can help…”

“Ah’m tellin’ ya girls, we should head back ‘fore the others know we’re gone.”

“Hm?” Krieger muttered as he looked towards the direction of the voice he heard. It sounded young and with a southern accent to it.

“Oh come on Applebloom, we haven't been gone that long!”

“A second one?” he muttered as he heard a second voice. This one had a bit of a squeak to it.

“Sweetie is right, besides we all promised to help gather food so our sisters and the other grown-ups didn’t have to do it as much.”

“And a third one,” Krieger said as he made his way towards the voices.

As he pushed past the branches and made his way through the bushes the tall redhead could hear the voices getting closer. The thought of not being alone in the woods filled the man with happiness as he quickened his pace.

“Hello!” shouted Krieger. “Is anyone there? Can you hear me!?”

“Did you hear something?” the third voice asked.

“Sounded like a stallion to me,” answered the second voice.

‘Stallion?’ Krieger thought as he made his way into a clearing. ‘What do they mean by tha-!!?’

Any thoughts going through his head died as he looked upon three surprised faces.

“Hooves?” he muttered as he tried to process what was in front of him.

The three before him were definitely girls if their developing curves were anything to go by, that and their attire looked girly enough. Though it was hard to tell with how… not human they looked.

One of them had a pale olive skin tone, her eyes were a brilliant shade gamboge that stared back at him in panic. Long red hair with a pinkish bow adorning her head and was wearing a yellow shirt under a pair of blue overalls.

The second one had pale white skin with pale green eyes and a head of curly hair that was a grayish mulberry with pale, light grayish rose streaks. Out of the three, she was wearing the most feminine outfit. With it being a white sundress with what looked like little blue jewel designs on the bottom.

The third one, who was trying to be brave with how her pale purple eyes glared at him. She had orange skin and a head full of purple hair done in a tomboy fashion. She was wearing a black hoodie and a pair of bike shorts.

Now their skin tone and hair was one thing, but the real kicker was the fact that all three girls had horse-like legs! Each one of them had a single pair of legs with hooves and all, heck the fur one them match their skin tones. And the orange one had a pair of wings, and the pale white one had a horn sticking out of her head!

‘Did the person who brought me to these woods drug me!?’ Krieger thought. Trying to make sense of the scene in front of him.

A few agonizing seconds passed as the two parties stared each other down until they both reacted in the only way that fitted this situation.

“DEMON!!!” screams the three in such a high pitch that could of broken glass.

“ALIENS!” Krieger screamed as he didn’t even take a second to register what they said as he bolted back into the forest. “Screw this! I’m going back into the forest and take my chances there!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~(moments later)~~~~~~~~~~~

“What were those!?” the redhead said as he bent down, using his knees as support as he took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down from what he saw. “What the hell is going on?”

Taking a few more minutes to calm down the young man stood up straight as he tried to think and figure out what he just saw.

“Ok so you just saw some human-looking aliens,” he muttered while brushing his hand through his long hair. “Well I guess I can cross that off the bucket list, but what are they doing here, and why were they dressed like that?”

The memory of what they wore was really sticking out. If these were aliens then why did they have such human-looking clothes? Heck besides confusing his voice for a stallion they seem pretty human. Have they been living on earth for a while with no one seeing them, and what was that about them looking for food?

“Are they hungry?” Krieger muttered as his more sympathetic tendencies started to take over. Were they lost? Did they have anyone else looking for them? Heck, they kind of… looked like...

“Children,” he muttered with a frown until his eyes widen in panic. “I just left a bunch of kids alone in the woods!”

With that he turned around back where he just ran away from. Aliens or whatever they were, it didn’t matter Krieger couldn’t just let some kids wander the woods alone, they could get hurt.

“Damn it!” he shouted. Let’s hope whatever these girls where they didn’t eat brains.

While running through the forest the redhead soon heard some familiar screaming.

“The hell!” he shouted as he rushed through the woods and into the clearing. To where he saw the three girls being attacked by some very odd creatures.

There were 4 of them, all around the girls in height, so barely up to his chest in height. All of them looked the same. Red skin and super spiky hair, with pointed ears and all wearing black tunics.

“What in the hell?” Krieger muttered as he was stunned by what he saw, but the screams from the girls knocked him from his daze as he saw the little monsters close in on them.
“Get back!” screamed the orange girl as she swung a stick at the cackling creatures.

“Someone help!” the white one cried out.

Help, help, help…

Those words ran through his head as he rushed towards the group with memories from old started to pop up in his mind.

~~~~~(flashback)~~~~~

A young Krieger closed his eyes preparing for a hit from Father Miller, but instead of a smack to the face like he was expecting instead, he felt a hand gently land on his head and ruffle his hair.

“My child,” Father miller muttered as he gave the child a soft look. “You were blessed with a strong body and a strong will.

Going to one knee the old priest looked into Krieger’s eyes with a strong look.

“But you should never waste it on petty grudges,” he said as he ruffled the young boy's hair. “You are meant for so much more than violence!”

“But,” the old man said with a sigh as his gaze turned more somber. “But if you must swing your fist…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(Flashback end)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then swing them so you can protect something!

“RAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” Krieger screamed as he rushed towards the horde of red goblin-like being. Completely catching them off guard. Leaving one of them completely off guard for a savage haymaker that shattered its face from the pure force behind the punch! Teeth and blood flew through the air as the little red demon was sent flying into a nearby tree witch it slammed into with enough force to shake the tree.

‘Wait, what?’ Krieger thought. Stunned by his show of strength. While not unwelcome, the fact he sent something of that size flying left him dumbfounded. Unfortunately, this didn’t seem to keep the other goblins stunned for long, and they soon charged at their marked foe.

One of them leaped at him, its screeching battle cry enough to snap him out of his thoughts before he quickly backhanded it away. It didn’t do as much damage as his haymaker but it was enough to send the creature back into another tree. The rest lunged at his legs, deciding to try a low attack instead. He leaped and rolled out of the way in time for them to smash into each other, and he took advantage of his crouching position to shoulder charge into both of them, sending them flying.

Krieger stood up to see the kind of damage he’d caused only to feel something that felt like a burning punch to his back, he stumbled a bit and turned to see that the creature he had backhanded before had somehow struck him from several yards away, it’s hand extended at him. ‘Did… he use some kind of-?’ His thoughts were cut off as the creature’s hand glowed red. Trusting his instincts he dropped to his hands and knees and saw a basketball-sized fireball shoot out from its hand and fly over him. Not wanting to give it another chance he charged, catching it off guard with speed before clotheslining it in the neck. He heard it gag as the hit landed, and he clenched his arm to grip it, using the momentum from his charge to lift it up before slamming it back first into the ground. Not wanting to get surprised like last time, he stood up before stomping on its face as hard as he could, hearing a crack and seeing some blood cover his boots.

He turned and saw the other two had gotten up and were looking particularly vindictive as they both held their arms out for more fireballs. Krieger charged right at them, hoping he could tell when they would fire their attacks. Sure enough, he saw a cue, a small compressed explosion that seemed to launch them. He dove under them both, rolled forwards, and then launched himself at the creatures. One was able to dodge out of the way while the other felt the full force of his tackle and then the pain of Krieger’s whole body weight slamming it into a nearby tree, leaving an indent in the wood as the creature gasped out in pain before he let it drop limply to the ground as blood leaked from its open mouth.

A scream caught his attention, and he turned to see the last one had seemingly decided to go for an easier target: one of the girls. With a burst of speed and anger, he sprinted the short distance to cut it off, grabbing it by the neck before spinning and raising it above his head, grabbing one of its legs, and then pull down on both ends, the creature being roughly stretched across his shoulders. With a primal shout of fury, he hopped up, still gripping the creature tight, before using the shock of the impact of landing while dropping to his knees for a backbreaker drop, hearing and feeling the creatures spine snap before letting it roll off his body and drop to the ground.

Letting out a few huffs of air as he felt his heart rate go back to normal while looking at his handy work and wincing at the results of his fight. The dead bodies of the red goblins laid across the clearing.

“Oh god…,” Kreiger muttered as he held back the vomit that wanted to come up from seeing the beaten corpses. Though he didn’t need to pay them any attention as the sound of a snapping twig was heard and he turned to see the three girls still here. Surely they would have run after seeing what happened.

“Uhhh…, Krieger could only look blankly at the three possible aliens. (Though the theory was slowly dying as the minutes went by.) Not knowing what to do, the redhead decided to go with the simple approach and walked up towards the three children, bend down and give them a smile.

“Yo!” he said with a wide grin. “Sorry for scaring you and calling ya aliens earlier! Hope we can get along and you can find it in your heart to help me, the names Demi-Fiend by the way!”

A few minutes passed as the three just stared at him and he stared back in return with a blank look as what he just said registered in his mind.

“I… have no idea why I just called myself that,” the now-named Demi-Fiend said as he gave them a confused look. Though he wasn’t going to stay confused for long. Because he was soon met with sweet unconsciousness after the orange skin girl slammed her large stick into his face.

Well, that's one way to meet the locals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter end

Next time. Meeting the locals, fighting the locals.

(1)Kazuma Kaneko has said in an interview that the concept of the Demi-fiend was inspired by the band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Additionally, Demi-fiend's tattoo design is intended to convey the image of a shaman

Author's Note

hope you like the chapter.

ShinigamiSparda did the fight scene for this one so a round of applause for him!