Barbara and Marvin headed to Marvin's caravan, when an old woman saw a tall hooded man in a mustard cloak, carrying a crate and a floating head on her way out of the market.

Inside the caravan, Marvin sat behind a small wooden desk as he placed the crate on the left side of the desk while Barbara took off the invisible cloak. "By the way, here is your magic cloak." Barbara tossed the transparent cloak that landed on Marvin's head, turning half of his face invisible. "Now that we have the crate, would you mind telling me what has gotten into you as of late?" Barbara asked him, with a stern expression.

"Is not like I have another choice. I might as well tell you." Marvin said sarcastically.

"Alright, spill it!"

"You already know about that certain goblin that I mentioned before you interrupted me yesterday?... That goblin was actually my boss."

"What?!" That caught Barbara by surprise, she never thought that Marvin worked for anyone, not even for a goblin.

"And not just any goblin either. I worked for a dangerous ne'er dweller, Hob Goblin." Marvin said. Barbara turned pale by the mention of his name.

"Impossible! You worked for the most gruesome, merciless, conniving, deadliest most infamous creature in the whole land and lived? What were you thinking, Marvin?!" Barbara yelled.

"That was a long time ago. I don't wanna talk about it." Marvin covered himself with his invisibility cloak.

"Marvin, this is serious! I can't believe you would hide something so terrifying!"

That's not the half of it. Marvin thought.

"Do you have any idea what that man is capable of?" Barbara asked him, worried. Marvin glared at her. "For goodness sake, Marvin! If Hob Goblin is capable of killing two ogres in on blow, imagine what he'll do to us?! Facing the most menacing goblin in the Black Forest, it be suicide!" Barbara shouted.

"I know that goblin better than anyone!!!" Marvin yelled as he stood up, slamming his hands against the desk. For as long as she had known him, he wouldn't lose his temper so quickly. His outburst startled her. "I know a lot more about Hob Goblin that they're led to believe." Marvin firmly stated. He was usually calm and laid back, even when it came to facing the most life threatening situation, he kept a straight face.

"Then how come?"

"He's not a heartless brute like many people think."

"You're jesting, right?" Barbara asked him, her tone laced with sarcasm.

"I mean it, Hob Goblin was not always a ruthless killer like many believe. Back then, he was a common goblin whom worked as a miner, a slave that served for the Goblin King himself. But one day, when he finally found gold in the mines. It started out as a rumor that the mine had gold, one of the guards entered the mines to investigate. When he fell deep within the mines, he woke up when he heard the other miners fight for specs of gold. When this news reached to the Goblin King's ears, he sent his guards to keep the miners in line. When the Goblin King stepped foot into the mine, Hob Goblin already escaped the mines and fled into the forest while the king headed into the bottom of the mine, the gold was gone. The Goblin King sent his troops to find Hob Goblin and capture him, he offered a reward to whomever brought him back with the gold either dead or alive." Marvin told her.

"So how much did he offer for his capture?" She queried.

"I don't remember, though I heard that it was enough to buy a plot of land. By today's taxes it would be enough to buy off the whole village." Marvin commented as he scratched his chin, thinking what else he could remember about the goblin.

"It must have been a fourtune! My word! With that amount of pounds, I could fix my hut and convince aunt Elizabeth to retire."

"Now where was I... oh yes, Hob Goblin made it through the woods. On his way he encountered a troll that guarded a bridge to the mountain, the problem was that this troll was a trickster that confused travelers with riddles and practical jokes."

"Kind of like you, you tricked a lot of folks with your fancy vocabulary with the trinkets that you sell." Barbara interjected, Marvin stared at her in disapproval while she smirked.

"The hard part was tricking the troll into letting him pass, he failed. The troll took the sack full of gold and he fought for it. They resorted to flyting, after a couple of rounds, Hob Goblin won and took back the sack full of gold and crossed the bridge, without knowimg that a dragon lived among that mountain." Marvin told her, but Barbara was unamused.

"A dragon?... seriously?" Barbara raised the left side of her unibrow, incredulous.

"What?"

"If Hob Goblin barely had a chance to defeat a troll, how did he manage to defeat a dragon?" She asked him.

"Back then, he wasn't a bulky goblin with brute strength, he used to be a scrawny goblin who had to rely on his skills and ingenuity alone." Marvin explained. "When Hob Goblin climbed his way up to the mountain, he found an entrance to a cave that led to the dragon's den. He sneaked around the den to get to the other side of the mountain before he saw a red dragon blocking the exit as it slept. He tried to find another way out, but none of them led to the other side of the mountain. So he had no other choice but to climb on the sleeping dragon." Marvin told her.

"No!"

"Yes, he could've gotten out of there a lot easier if his growling stomach hadn't woken the dragon." Marvin added, Barbara was not impressed. "What? It could've happened to anyone." He shrugged.

"You're unbelievable. At times like these, it makes me wonder what goes on inside that thick skull of yours." Barbara remarked.

"Oh, come on! You could have been startled too if you woke up hearing a growling noise. Specially if that stomach growl echoed." Marvin retorted while Barbara shook her head in dissapointment. "Alright, I'll get to the point. Hob Goblin defeated the dragon by using a sword that he found on one of the dead soldiers he found nearby. He cut the dragon's neck and escaped to the other side of the mountains and headed towards the Misty Cove where the ogres lived and fled to the Dark Woods. Once he reached a cave, he tried to bury the gold nearby a waterfall until the goblin guards arrived in a nick of time. The guards retreived the gold and brought it to the Goblin King and was sent to the dungeon, and the rest is history." Marvin said before the caravan stopped.

They stood up from their seats, Barbara opened the door to she the ashen tree trunks and dark green leaves of the Black Forest. They arrived to Hob Goblin's domain, she steped out of Marvin's caravan to complete the task they were set out to do, with the crate in hand and the protection charm hanging around her neck.

"Marvin, I was wondering... why did you work for someone like Hob Goblin?" She knew that it wasn't the time nor the place to ask that question, but she needed him to be honest with her.

"I was in debt and I owed him money. Happy?" Marvin with a passive-agressive tone as he stood at the threshold.

"Marvin, aren't you coming?" Barbara asked him, he noticed that she was apprehensive. But she wasn't the only one who felt the lingering sense of dread.

"Don't worry, I'll catch up!" Marvin replied before closing the door. She was alone now. It was up to her to deliver the crate in time.