1 The End or A New Beginning?

Everybody has desires. Hopes. Dreams. Ambition. Nobody is ever satisfied with what they have. They always want a promotion, a lover, money, and the list goes on and on. Most even go as far as to say that their life is miserable. Very rarely was their life as bad as they make it… However, that wasn't the case for a certain orphan boy.

Forced to live on the streets, he did everything he had to in order to survive. He killed. He stole. He lied. The real question was what didn't he do? He climbed the ranks of a criminal organization and was even considered to be Evil incarnate. After years of suffering and pain, his life would soon come to a close.

"I'm already in a shitty mood," The Orphan said. "Just pay what you owe, and you won't get hurt."

The Orphan and another criminal, whom he considered a younger brother, cornered a well-known CEO. This man made multiple shady deals with the mafia boss and tried to escape his debt. Therefore, the Orphan was sent to retrieve what was due.

"W-w-wait! I just need a bit more time!" The CEO begged for his life.

It was a pitiful sight. He was on his ass, crawling towards the wall. His eyes were wide with fear, and his once slick back hair was falling in front of his face. He held a hand up as if it would stop his pursuers. 

"Let's make this quick, Big Bro! I want to get a beef bowl!" The little brother smiled.

"Yeah. Let's hope he pays up after I break his kneecaps," The Orphan sighed.

Just as The Orphan cracked his knuckles, the CEO's face transitioned from fear to a sinister smile. It was too much of a change for someone who was in danger. The Orphan felt that something wasn't right.

BAM!

The Orphan felt his shirt getting wet from his chest. Soon, the uncomfortable feeling was followed by pain. Unbearable pain. He looked down and saw a hole in his chest. His eyes widened in realization.

"Sorry Big Bro. The Big Man said you were becoming a pain," The little brother smiled.

"Now, I can stop pretending," the CEO stood up.

He slicked back his hair and sighed. He walked to the little brother and patted his shoulder. The Orphan fell face first on his face and his life flashed before his eyes.

There was nothing noteworthy. His entire life amounted to nothing. He never trusted anyone, and he always knew this would happen eventually… but the pain of betrayal was too much.

"You said you wanted a beef bowl? Alright, come on," The CEO motioned the little brother to come.

"Say less!" He cheered.

The Orphan lay in a pool of his own blood. Everything was turning black. At the end of the day, no matter how hard The Orphan tried, he was still human. Anger, sorrow, jealousy, all of these emotions hit him all at once. His life was hell just because he was born in the wrong place at the wrong time! 

"I guess that was just my luck…" Those were his last words.

…

Confusion hit The Orphan. Why was he sitting at a table, in front of an old man? 

The old man was bald and had a long beard. His white robes were annoyingly bright, and he sipped his tea without a care in the world.

"Ho ho ho. I see you finally realized that I was here," He cheerfully said.

The Orphan's first response was to attack the old man, but something told him not to. Something deep down inside him knew that he would not stand a chance. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Are you God?" The Orphan finally spoke.

"Nope! I'm not that powerful!" He laughed. "I'm just a guardian of Earth!"

"You suck ass at your job," The Orphan sighed.

"Well, the last person that was here, I accidentally killed," He shrugged. "But he's doing his own thing now."

The Orphan hated this man, but he knew that he couldn't do anything. Instead, he just accepted his fate. Part of him was skeptical that any of this was real, but he decided that it was better than dying. 

"You haven't touched your tea…" The Old man seemed sad.

"I didn't see it being poured. It could be poisoned," The Orphan replied.

"I am much more powerful than you. You think I need poison to kill you?"

The Orphan knew this was true, but he was still skeptical. Instead, he poured the tea on the floor, without breaking eye contact. The Old man sighed.

"Troublesome child. I'll make this quick then. I am giving you a second chance at life. You'll have all of your memories and all of that. Any questions?"

"What's the catch?" The Orphan questioned.

The Old Man sighed as he shook his head. The Orphan lived a life full of suffering, so he had habits that he couldn't shake off.

"The catch is that you getting out of my face! You are making my mood sour!" He sighed.

Before The Orphan could retaliate, the Old Man snapped his fingers. A bright light blinded the Orphan and he screamed his surprise.

He wanted to curse out the man. No matter how hard he tried, nothing came out of his mouth… Wait that was wrong. Only cries escaped his mouth. Through much struggle, The Orphan opened his eyes. 

A huge womanly face filled his vision! It scared the shit out of him… and he cried?

"Ahh! Honey the baby is crying!" The woman began to tear up. "I only picked him up!"

The woman was beautiful. She had long silver hair that was tied up into a ponytail. She had beautiful tan skin, but she had bags under her eyes. It was from endless nights of taking care of her baby.

"Don't worry, love. He must be a bit cranky. Have you fed him yet?" A handsome man walked into the room.

He had a long brown beard and glasses. The hair on the top of his head was short. The one thing that was noticeable about him was how muscular he was. The Orphan couldn't help but admire him.

"It's every time I pick him up though," The woman still sounded worried. "Raza, do you hate your mother that much?" The woman kissed the baby on the forehead.

Raza, previously The Orphan, was confused. In his eyes, the way she described the baby was as a disobedient runt. However, the mother showed some sort of… love. 

'How can she kiss me when I was causing her to worry?' Raza thought to himself.

"Vivian, he's still just a baby," The man said. "Not even a year old at that. You should get off of his case," He sighed.

"But Alden!"

The husband, Alden, walked over to his wife and picked up the baby. Raza examined the man. He wasn't even aware that he was subconsciously sizing him up out of old habits. Alden smiled at his child and kissed his forehead.

Something inside of Raza… wanted to relax in his new father's arms. His body was slowly beginning to shut down as he closed his eyes. It wasn't long before Raza fell asleep. This was something that Raza never experienced in his past life.

"See! Raza fell asleep immediately after you picked him up!" Vivian pouted.

"Sshhh… Dear, the baby is sleeping," Alden resisted the urge to laugh.

While rocking the baby, he waltzed over to Raza's crib. Alden looked at his son before turning to his wife. He walked to the bed and sat next to her, kissed her cheek, and sat next to her.

"You still seemed worried, love," Alden softly said.

"Dear, I…" Vivian began to say something, but Alden sealed her lips with a kiss.

This caught her off guard, but she didn't resist it. Instead, she embraced the kiss. Alden pulled away and smiled at his wife.

"I understand. However, at the end of every dark tunnel, there is light," Alden said in a soft and hopeful voice.

"I just wished things happened differently," Vivian held her husband's hands.

Alden didn't say anything in response. He only tightened his grip around Vivian. She rested her head on Alden's shoulders and sighed. Many things were running through the couple's minds, but there was one thing that they were sure of. They loved each other, and they loved Raza.

Meanwhile, Raza was processing what had happened to him.

'That man must have done some trick that caused me to fall asleep in his arms. That's so pathetic of me!'

Raza was instantly on guard after he woke up from a short nap. The lights were off, and his parents were asleep. After thinking everything through, he understood what had happened.

'I was betrayed and killed. That old man forced me to come back to life as some worthless infant, and that couple must be my parents. For now, I can leech off of them until I am able to fend for myself. I will not put myself in a position to be betrayed again!'

Proud of himself, he yawned. Doing this much thinking was exhausting for his infant mind. No matter how much he fought the urge, Raza still ended up falling asleep.