Ren was back in hell.
Finally, he stepped foot on the hot and cracked grounds once again.
Many years ago, Ren attempted to assassinate the ruler of hell, the man he worshipped his entire lifetime.
Though a pesky little insect informed Satan of his plan.
Abigorne, that little fucking pest. Nothing was more satisfying than killing him on earth.
Anyways.
Satan was furious when he'd found out Ren's plan and condemned him to a fate that was perhaps worse than dying again.
He took away Ren's physical form.
But Ren, ever determined, found a loophole, taking over the body of prolific serial killer Jack the ripper.
In the moments before Jack's death, Ren was able to possess another man's body and die again, giving him a new body.
Jack, a new demon, was obviously having issues coming to terms with death.
His soul arrived in hell, but he didn't awaken quickly like most souls do.
Ren decided he'd kill some time first.
He lifted Jack and his strange burden to drag him into town.
Jack woke up and panicked. He looked at his misshapen hands and the slight glow on his body.
He tried to speak multiple times, but couldn't. Jack looked around once more and saw Ren. Even though Ren terrified him, he was still a bit comforted by his presence.
"Oh! Finally you're awake!"
Jack pointed in multiple directions frantically.
"You're in hell, my friend!" Ren's voice rumbled. "Remember our little deal? It's time to get to work!"
Ren went on about something as Jack tried to process his situation.
"Hey! Asshole! Are you listening?" Ren snapped his fingers.
Jack tried to reply again, to no avail.
"You're a mute now?" Ren furrowed his brow.
Jack just lifted his arms and pulled at his horns.
"Strange... you weren't like that before." Ren stroked his chin. "Oh yeah, that's it. All demons hold some hallmark to how they died. Your lungs were punctured and filled with blood, so that's probably what's keeping you from talking."
Jack pointed to Ren.
"I live with this constant twisted pain in my abdomen." Ren sighed as he ran his fingers through his white hair.
Jack circled his throat with his fingers.
"No, I don't think you'll be able to speak, at least without magical help."
Jack exhaled, causing blood to leak out his mouth.
"Ahh, well, that sucks Jacky boy... at least you have some horns now... albeit they're snapped. A real shame, horns are quite a status symbol down here." Ren took Jack by the horns and shook his head. "Look at what you've become."
The tall blonde Englishman with all his teeth and a strong body, he was once quite the spectacle to the women of the Whitechapel slum.
Nobody knew the dark and twisted mind inside of Jack's pretty head.
Ren stretched out a bit.
"Anywho, Jack, we're about to go into town so we can- Wait. That's a human." Ren dissappeared, Jack turned to see he had teleported to a group of humans.
What were they doing in literal hell?
Ren spoke, holding up a crystal. It was as if he was striking a deal.
He was.
Jack shook his head to warn them.
Ren disappeared and came back with a severed head.
They exchanged a few more sentences before seeing the group poof away.
Ren appeared next to Jack suddenly.
"Oh my friend, it is our lucky day. Those idiots want to fight Chernobog for some reason. Apparently, he's been labeled a threat to their universe." Ren made a large flame come from his hand. "Idiots. That guy is so fucking dumb he couldn't even become an overlord without his big brain minion controlling him."
Jack gave a disapproving look.
"Oh... so you're ignoring me."
Jack continued to pout.
"Anyways, Jack, I think those oddballs come from somewhere like you, perhaps an alternate reality or timeline... no, definitely an alternate reality, valkyries were long gone by your time." Ren looked down to the floor.
A few dreadful minutes passed before Ren decided to go see the heroes in action.
They were not doing very well.
Chernobog was a towering giant, twenty feet tall, made of stone and flame.
"God, these guys suck! You have elemental magic and holy crusaders and wings, and you still can't beat this one brutish jackass?" Ren booed. "Losers! Your fucking magic sucks! No wonder your universe is threatened. He's just a dumb rock tower!"
Jack scratched at his neck wildly, stomping a trail of unnaturally large ants.
"Looks like you're not quite accustomed to the creatures of hell." Ren smiled and patted Jack's back, causing Jack to cough up some more blood. "Ah, sorry about that, Jacky boy." Ren looked back toward the battlefield. "You know what? That could actually work in a fight. Try to spit it in people's eyes."
The heroes had all powered up by now and made their final assault on Chernobog. It looked like an angel was using one of them as a vessel, and the woman with wings had some kind of massive power boost.
The heroes didn't know that the demon Chernobog held another entity at his core.
Ren decided to toy with them and tell them of Chernobog's weak spot, his heart.
The heroes all made concentrated attacks on the demon heart, whittling away at his outer armor. Through tremendous effort and willpower, they managed to fell the great demon overlord.
But from its crumbled remains, another creature arose.
A disgusting mound of flesh, bone, and severed limbs. The heroes attacked tirelessly but couldn't manage to wound the creature.
They soon flew into a panic, the flesh mound kept regenerating after every hit.
Ren decided to throw them a bone, unleashing a mighty plume of flame from his vantage point.
The group looked up at Ren before he teleported to them.
"You're some sorry excuses for heroes." Ren stared at the smoldering heap that was once a feared overlord.
"How fucking dare! You don't even know what we've just done today I-"
"Oh, trust me, I do." Ren smiled wickedly. "It wasn't much, but thank you."
He snapped, whirling these heroes back to the gates of hell.
Humans were quite pathetic. It took so many of them, such a tremendous effort to bring down just one demon.
"Let's hurry and get into town Jacky boy. Now that there's one less overlord in here. Let me just..." Ren twirled his cane, spawning a small demon in front of them.
"Oh my! Ah- er- eh- master you're back!" The goat like creature stammered. "I took you for dead!"
"Yes, Scruffy, I'm back. Now, clean this mess up. If anybody tries to claim this turf while I'm gone just..." Ren picked up a rock and held it, his hands lit a flame, and he presented a pink crystal to his servant.
"What's this master?" Scruffy looked up at Ren.
"You've served me this long and can't yet recognize a teleportation crystal? I'll come over if any lowlifes cause problems."
"Yes sir! I'll have this cleaned promptly!"
Ren snapped, disappeared, and came back with another demon, this one very lizard like.
"Scaley will help you out." Ren tossed a second pink crystal. "I expect this place to be spotless when I get back."
The two demon minions stood there. Thousands of corpses were strewn about.
Ren teleported Jack into one of the settlements of hell.
Limbo was some sort of sick mirror version of the modern world. They walked through the demented Victorian era town. Screams echoed out as demons were tortured and killed right in the streets.
But when Ren walked by, they cowered in fear, both predator and prey bowed down to him.
Snow white was a force to be reckoned with.
Ren was the overlord that toppled the natural order of things, a new demon that came in and absolutely decimated overlords that ruled for centuries.
Before his sudden disappearance, Ren had held 5 out of 10 overlord territories.
His return meant there would be chaos.
"Everybody seems quiet." Ren held his arms up. "Why did we stop that horrible discordant melody!?"
Not a single soul replied.
They all avoided making eye contact with Ren and his new lackey.
This pissed Ren off.
He decided to make a statement.
Ren appeared behind a rather large demon, severed his head, and then tossed it up into the air.
"Don't act like I'm any different from all of you." Ren twirled his cane as he walked away, adjusting his coat.
Ren was, in fact, quite different, considered brutal even by demon standards.
Wicked souls always became more powerful in death. Their suffering was immense, but they were no longer bound by laws of humanity, they could indulge in all their depravities here.
In this madmans playground, no price is too high to pay for pleasure.
Ren looked over to Jack.
"I need to find a way to get you to speak. Maybe I'll get you one of those birds." Ren droned on. He loved to hear himself talk.
But don't ever try to talk during a fight.
Like the challenger rising in the street, not shutting the fuck up about how strong he was.