A fairy Greg flitted over a group of heavily armored individuals as they pulled supplies out of their dropship. Emphasis on drop. The thing didn't even have engines! Just parachutes and airbags to slightly soften the fall. It was obvious the Demon Empire operated on a do or die strategy. Greg paused. Thinking about it, so did the Mage Republic… man, aliens were extreme. After spending a few minutes studying them as they set up their defenses, he decided it was time to try and say hello.

"Hey there!" Greg announced as he shifted into his human form, landing on top of a large crate and waving. Sharp exclamations immediately erupted from the Demon Empire troops as they raised their weapons, releasing a barrage of energy blasts at Greg. "Ouch, tough crowd." Greg chuckled as he reformed, taking a seat on the crate as he studied the aliens more closely. Based on their armor, they appeared to be humanoid, but beyond that Greg couldn't tell. The armor covered them from head to toe, keeping him from seeing any details other than two arms, two legs, and a head.

A few of the troops shot at him again, before a commander yelled something, causing them to stop, though they all still kept their weapons pointed at him. The commander stepped forward, motioning at Greg, shouting an unintelligible mess of sound at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that." Greg rolled his eyes. Obviously the aliens weren't going to speak the same language as he did. Was this guy dumb or something?

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that." The commander repeated back at him.

Greg's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? Copying, huh? Some sort of translation?" The commander grunted, making a gesture that Greg assumed meant he should keep talking. "Well have I got a story for you!" Greg crowed happily, jumping down from the crate and wrapping an arm around the commander's shoulders, startling the troops but the commander quickly waved, calming them down. "You see, I have had a stressful day- well, not stressful per se, I don't really feel stress, but a lot of things have happened and I feel the need to vent. See, for the last two years, or at least, I've been told it was two years, I've been stuck in my own personal hell. Trapped in a limited space with just myself to keep me entertained and no way out. And I mean no way out. See, I'm made of smoke. I can't die. At one point, I'd thought I'd found a solution, when I learned I could make my smoke real." Greg chuckled as if recalling a pleasant memory. "Oh how naive I was. Turns out, my smoke is still my smoke, even when it's real. I tried turning all of me into metal, killing myself… really the only two options honestly. Neither worked. Whatever my consciousness was in simply poofed back into smoke. I was stuck."

Greg sighed heavily, before suddenly perking up. "But then! This morning it all changed! I was released! I found people again! Not just people, but my old friends! My girlfriend! It was amazing! It is amazing! But for some reason it just feels so surreal. I spent what felt like an eternity alone, and now- now everything is just back to normal. I sort of want to freak out about it, but I also feel like it'd be forced to actually do it, you know? Like yeah, I'm back, I have friends again, and that's great, but I'm hauntingly aware that inevitably, I'm just going to be in the same situation again. I mean, obviously I can't die. Literally impossible. I've tried. When the inevitable heat death of the universe occurs, I'll still be here. Presumably. Maybe I'll get sucked into a black hole or something and that'll do it, but I'm not counting on it. The realization that nothing in my life will last as long as I will has been sobering. Despite my joy at finding my friends, I just can't seem to properly embrace it."

"And that's just this morning!" Greg exclaimed. "Then I find out that magic is a thing! And apparently there's a big war between those who have it, and those who don't, but you'd know all about that, now wouldn't you?" Greg chuckled. "Now me and my friends are stuck between a rock and a hard place, because the Mage Republic killed half our species and you want to kill the rest of them because they can use mana. Supposedly. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, obviously, since we are getting all our information from the Mage Republic, who, as I said, wiped out half our species, which suggests they aren't exactly the most reliable source of information. Anyways, everyone's been all blah over what we're going to do now, I've been listening to our Generals arguing all damn day, and now you guys are here, which is making them freak out even more! But, you know, I'm not terribly concerned. I can't die, remember? Still, I'd like to keep my friends around for a while longer, so if you guys could not be total dicks about all this, that'd be great." Greg finished, patting the commander on the back. "Did you get any of that?"

"I have reviewed your mad ravings." The commander nodded. "Why have you intruded on our camp? What is your purpose here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to say hi, see what you guys are all about, you know?" Greg shrugged. "I assume you're here to take down that there light pillar, so you can kill everything on this planet for whatever reason. Not gonna judge that, but you know, I'd prefer it if my people weren't on the planet when you did. Of course, they're all mages. That wouldn't be a problem for you, would it?"

"Filthy devils must be purged!" The commander snarled.

"I'll take that as a yes." Greg sighed. He tapped the armor, some sort of energy barrier keeping his smoke out. He really wanted to eat one of these suits, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. Not yet at least.

"You, however, may be spared. Strange creature though you are, you are not contaminated by the devil's corruption." The commander continued. "Help us destroy this cursed barrier preventing us from purging this cursed world, and we shall allow you to join the United Technocracy!"

"Ha! No." Greg laughed, shaking his head. "Come after my friends and I'll murder you and eat your corpse."

The commander paused. "Excuse me? I believe my translation software malfunctioned. Did you say you wished to consume me?"

"Yup! Nothing personal, really. I eat everyone I kill." Greg shrugged. "Helps increase my biodiversity. The good news is that when I inevitably wipe out your entire species for being utter douchebags, your DNA could be used to repopulate it! Maybe not though. Not sure how hot you are underneath all that armor. Don't want to repopulate your race with ugoes, you know?"

Greg couldn't actually see it, but he felt the commander blink at him incredulously. "You are a mad man!"

"Nope! Completely sane! I've just come to grips with the fact that my immortality makes consequences a joke and time my bitch. I will outlast all of you and turn everything you work towards to dust. Not now, maybe not for centuries, but inevitably, it will happen. I guarantee it." Greg replied, his grin taking on a vicious undertone as a wild look lit up in his eyes. If there was one thing that he'd confirmed in the transmutation chamber, it was that he was going to have time to figure out everything he needed to in order to accomplish pretty much whatever he wanted. Admittedly, he could lose many things in the process… he would figure out how to kill all these aliens, but if he did it after all his friends were already dead… the accomplishment was pretty empty.

*

"So, it turns out the Demon Empire does want to kill all mages. Calls us devils. Well, calls you devils. My smoke apparently doesn't count as mana for them, so they offered to let me join them if I helped kill you all. I said no." Greg commented.

Tessa groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Please tell me you at least got some useful information."

"Well, they're all wearing this weird armor that generates an energy field, keeping my smoke out. Probably lets them do other things, but I haven't seen anything yet. They're mostly just trying to get me to leave, and I am amusing myself greatly by not." Greg chuckled. "It's just keeping them busy, since I can't actually do anything to them, but at least as long as they're focused on me, they aren't working on killing you guys."

"At least until they figure out they can incapacitate you with a simple forcefield." Tessa pointed out.

"Well, sure, but until then, I get to annoy genocidal aliens." Greg grinned.

Tessa sighed. "Look, Greg, I'm glad you're having fun, but I'm a little worried about what we're going to do when the Demon Empire finally gets to the point that they are ready to attack us. Buying us a little time is good, but eventually we're going to have to fight them, and… I just hope we're ready." She finished in a small voice, concern clear in her voice.

"Yeah…" Greg frowned. "The problem is, it's war. People are going to die, no matter how prepared we are. Particularly in a war which seems as evenly matched as this one." He paused. "Or even stacked against us… so far, the Mage Republic seems to be on the defensive. Using fresh recruits to resist an invasion… not the best sign."

Tessa groaned. "Greg, that is not helping!"

He shrugged helplessly. "There isn't much to help. Even if we manage to fend off the Demon Empire, or United Technocracy as they apparently like to be called, what are we going to do about the Mage Republic?"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Whatever we can!" Tessa snapped, before sighing in frustration. "Look, Greg, I know we're in a bad position, but… we'll figure it out as it comes, okay?"

"I know. I do. I'm just saying it's hard to point out the silver lining, when the only advantage in any of this is that no matter what happens, I'll be around to settle the score." Greg replied, his expression twisting. It was hard to distance himself from the idea of losing Tessa when she was right there. He wished he could just whisk her away to somewhere safe, but even if he had the ability, there was no way she'd go along with it. She genuinely cared about her people. It was why he loved her.

"That's not exactly comforting." Tessa grumbled. "I know how bad you can be when you're bored. I don't even want to know how bad you'll be when you're pissed."

Greg thought back to a few of the scenarios he'd devised in the transmutation chamber, when he'd thought the Mage Republic had killed everyone. He'd decided to focus his wrath on only the people directly responsible, but those people were going to suffer. He'd thought of enough ways to punish them to entertain himself for decades. "Not the most wholesome use of my creativity, no…"

Tessa grabbed his hand. "Greg, just- if- if this all goes bad… promise me you won't give up, alright? Keep being who you know you should be, not that maniac you want to be. Remember that people can be good, and they deserve a chance."

Greg blinked at her as he processed what she was saying, until something broke inside him. He pulled Tessa into his arms, holding her tight as tears began to pool in the corners of his eyes. "I- I will try. I will try." He replied in a hoarse whisper, Tessa's arms tightening around him as he did. He would try… but he was more and more certain that eventually he would fail. He knew how dangerous the slippery slope was to him, and the more that got taken away from him, the less he could resist it. It'd only taken him weeks to devolve into debauchery in the transmutation chamber. He hadn't been able to help himself. If the Mage Republic and the United Technocracy took Tessa from him… well, he already knew what he'd do. Both organizations would cease to exist, their leadership screaming in agony as his smoke ensured they survived heinous tortures, the people forced to obey his rules, or face a similar fate. He'd already planned it all. It was only a matter of time. Whoever took Tessa from him would burn! Even though he knew Tessa wouldn't want that. He knew it wasn't the right thing to do. He just… wouldn't be able to help himself.

*

Now that the United Technocracy had arrived, everyone shifted into high gear. While the Generals may not have been the best at figuring out the best course of action in a hopeless situation (not that anyone was particularly good at that), they knew what to do when an enemy was at the gates. Defenses were erected, walls were manned, scouts deployed, everything that needed to be done to prepare them for the United Technocracy's inevitable attack. The one thing they didn't know how to deal with was Greg. His ability was too weird and untested for them to feel comfortable relying on it for any part of their defenses, so he pretty much had to just sit back and watch.

At least, that's what they wanted him to do. The only thing Greg could sit back and watch were movies, and even then he liked to play a game on his phone while he did. No, after two years with nothing to do, he was not just sitting around and watching while his friends fought and possibly died. He couldn't contribute to the defenses, not without messing everyone else up, but he was sure there was something he could do. Fighting was also out. He'd already tried, and even his strongest form just annoyed the United Technocracy, not even scratching their armor, which he thought was bullshit. Greg paused. Annoy? A slow grin began to spread across his face. He could do that, couldn't he? Distraction was a terrible thing in war. Hell, he was pretty sure he was close to giving the United Technocracy commander an aneurysm.

"Who do you think would win in a fight: a human sized ant or a human sized bear?" Greg asked, currently in fairy form, lounging on the commander's shoulder.

"I do not know what an ant or a bear is!" The commander groaned.

"I think it'd be the ant personally." Greg continued, ignoring the commander. "They say an ant can lift a hundred times its weight! Of course, when you only weigh like… less than a gram? That isn't all that impressive, but if it weighed as much as you or me? Damn, right?" Greg paused. "Unless, whatever structures supporting that strength couldn't function at that size… I want to say it's something like the cubed squared law that determines all that, but just saying that name sounds ridiculous, so I think I'm wrong. You'd probably know something about that, right? You are from a more advanced society. You know, if you don't count the racism. How do you think being blown up to human size would affect a tiny insect?"

"I don't care! Leave me alone!" The commander cried in frustration, smacking Greg hard, causing him to poof into smoke, before reforming on the commander's other shoulder.

"Oh! We should just shrink the bear down to ant size! That should work. Unless the bear has issues being that small… There has to be a reason most insects are small and most mammals are large, right?" Greg asked, before pausing as a giant spider burst out of a crevice, attempting to grab one of the soldiers, before being blasted to pieces. "Well, I stand corrected. Or is that a mana thing? Mana does let creatures do weird things… not sure if you can consider that natural."

"Nothing that devil energy does is natural." The commander growled.

"Well of course you'd think that." Greg snorted. "You want to wipe it out altogether!" He paused. "It has to be somewhat natural, though. I mean, no one is producing it, right? I mean, manufacturing it. Obviously it has to be produced somewhere, like plants producing oxygen. That doesn't make it unnatural though."

"It is unnatural!" The commander exclaimed. "The devils used to be like us, simple people who relied on science and technology! Then they conducted an experiment, piercing the veil and unleashing the devil energy upon their world. It destroyed their technology, forcing them into savagery, but granting them their devil gifts! Like an insidious seed they grew, cultivating the devil energy, spreading it from planet to planet! It is a corruption, and contamination that cannot stand! They must be eradicated!"

Greg paused. "Cool story, bro, but that doesn't mean everyone with mana has to die, right?"

"It doesn't belong in our world!" The commander cried. "Every drop must be expunged!"

"Why?" Greg asked, cocking his head.

"Because it is evil!" The commander growled.

"Why?" Greg repeated.

"Because it is unnatural!" The commander hissed, growing frustrated.

"See, now you're just going in circles. Just because something is new doesn't mean it's evil. Intelligence was new once. Every piece of technology you use was new once! Does that make it evil? Sure, mana does some weird stuff, I'll admit that, but that doesn't make it all bad! Hell, just the ability to transform freely, which is apparently pretty basic, seems like it'd solve a lot of social issues to me." Greg pointed out. "Of course, the whole 'some people can use mana while others can't' thing is kind of a bummer, plus the fact that a significant portion of the population gets driven insane when first exposed to it…" Greg paused, registering a point he'd glossed over earlier. "Wait… the Mage Republic spreads the mana? It doesn't just spontaneously happen?"

"Of course not!" The commander scoffed. "The devil energy exists and spreads through living beings. They act as a conduit for the devil energy to enter our universe, which is why they must all be destroyed! The more beings use the devil energy, the faster it spreads, until the entire universe is covered!"

"And you think that's bad?" Greg asked skeptically.

"Of course it's bad! Anyone who cannot use the devil energy becomes a monster under its influence! At first you can stave this off with food, but once the food has been corrupted by the devil energy as well, there is no escape! That is why we must wear our armor at all times and keep our energy shields up, only consuming what our suits have processed. To keep ourselves safe and uncorrupted!" The commander explained.

"Well, unless you can use mana. Then you'd be fine, but… well, I don't think you'd be happy with that either, now would you?" Greg commented.

The commander scowled. "No. We would not."

Greg hummed, half in amusement, half in thoughtfulness as he considered everything the commander had just told him. It'd certainly explain why the Mage Republic had wiped out everyone else on Earth. If they were destined to become some sort of monster… then again, if the Mage Republic was the one who started the problem in the first place… Well, he was already of the opinion that the Mage Republic was kind of shitty. He could agree with the United Technocracy on that. However, he wasn't about to say that all mages were bad, or that the very existence of mana was evil. Sure, some people had a bad reaction. However, other people had an amazing reaction! There had to be some sort of balance to be found. Starting with figuring out if mana actually would spread across the universe if enough people had it. Greg highly doubted it. The universe was huge, and the amount of people comparatively insignificant.

Plus, the United Technocracy had already proven they could block mana out with their energy shields! Creating a few safe planets for those who couldn't handle mana would be simple! Plus, they could always use the suits if they wanted to travel. Greg paused. Actually, that would probably end badly. A group of disadvantaged people living on reservations? Particularly when they literally couldn't leave? Recipe for disaster. Probably just start another war or something.

Greg sighed. How are you supposed to handle relations between two groups, when one group's very existence was dangerous to the other? It was pretty much either separation or extermination. They either needed to find a way to never interact, or one of the groups had to die. Unfortunately, both groups naturally wanted to expand, so complete separation would be impossible. Plus, what about cases like Earth, where the same species had people who could and couldn't use mana? Do you test each person individually, then separate them? What about families? Who would get the planet? Greg wasn't going to say it couldn't be done, but it'd be a lot of work, and people just weren't that accommodating. Plus the fact that apparently all the Mage Republic needed to do was bombard a planet with mana, and it was theirs. It was a choice between doing something hard and getting a portion, or doing something easy and getting everything.

Greg let out a sigh. It was a heavy subject, and he had more important things to do. "You know what would be a really interesting fight? An octopus and a crow." He continued as the commander let out a frustrated groan.