“So, what you’re saying is that you want us to kill a bunch of orphans…?” Phon asked the woman sitting behind the desk.

Kada had returned after a couple of days, and was now living with the two Drazah siblings. She was eager to take on jobs and work as a Fiends For Hire right away, but they decided it was best that she just accompany them on other jobs first before completing them on her own; so that she could get a feel for it. So far, she had accompanied Drim and Phon on one job each.

She helped Drim with recovering a monster that escaped from the zoo, and helped Phon make deliveries. ‘Helped’ was definitely a loose term in this case. With the monster, she had just accidentally annoyed it and it chased her around until Drim could catch it in a vine cage. The deliveries didn’t go much better. It was a rush delivery, so Phon used her Curse to move them around fast. Having a second person is definitely convenient in this case, but the sudden changes of location caused Kada to throw up repeatedly.

Phon had to give her credit, though. She was relentless in trying to be of help and kept up a good attitude. Earlier that morning, they received a new request from Kaselle Vinlot, one of the most well known real-estate tycoons in Domister. This came as a surprise to the group, not expecting someone so respected to be seeking out their services, at this early stage at least.

An actual request had not been given, but instead it asked them to meet her at her office. The request had asked specifically for both Drim and Phon to come, but they decided to bring Kada as well since it could be a valuable learning experience, and they didn’t know what they were walking into.

The three of them now stood in an office on the top floor of a very tall skyscraper. The office was lavishly decorated and was larger than the entirety of their apartment. There were ten guards in suits in the room with them, five off to each side. They all had their hands in their coats, clearly armed and ready to draw their weapons at a moment's notice.

At the far end of the room, in front of a wall that was entirely a window, Vinlot sat behind what Phon could only assume was a desk made out of some exotic wood. She was wearing a black suit, Phon guessed that it was tailor made and must have cost a disgusting amount. It reminded her of the clothes she was forced to wear as a child.

Vinlot had her elbows up on her desk and her hands clasped together. She lifted up one of her hands and waved away the notion of what Phon had said. “Now now, I didn’t say that you had to kill them,” Vinlot said in a pompous tone that only the richest members of society would dare attempt. “That orphanage is on a prime plot of land. I’ve bought up everything else around it. It’s all that remains.”

“So I want the orphans removed. If there’s none left then there’s no reason for an orphanage to exist. How you do it is up to you. Do it by force, trick them, I don’t know, get creative. I would personally suggest leading them into the woods with a trail of candy, but you do you. If a few of those children happen to wind up missing or dead, well, such is life.”

Phon could see Kada shaking next to her, assuming this didn’t sit too well with her. Drim reached out and grabbed her wrist to help her calm down. Phon looked back at Vinlot and asked, “Shouldn’t you be talking to the owner of the orphanage about this? We appreciate you thinking of us, but I’m guessing there’s an easier solution here.”

“When I spoke to the owner, he flat out refused any offers to sell it. Frankly, he seemed a little fishy, so you’d probably be doing those children a favor,” Vinlot said as she stood up and walked over to a shelf. She uncorked a bottle of some form of alcohol and poured herself a glass then gestured over to the three Fiends. Phon waved her off, so Vinlot took her glass and returned to her desk and continued speaking.

“Now, I saw the footage of the two of you at the museum. The way you handled it was outstanding. What I wouldn’t give to be able to cause a ruckus like that and get away with it…” Vinlot said as her mind seemed to drift for a second. “So, I know you two are capable and willing to do things on that side of the line. I’m guessing your little friend there is just as capable as the two of you if she’s part of your group. This should be a walk in the park for you all, and I’ll definitely make it worth your while.”

Before Phon could say anything, Drim spoke up and asked, “Do you have any children, miss?”

Vinlot tilted her head a little and replied, “Yes I have four, but I don’t really see what that has to do with anything.”

“Oh okay, I guess the orphanage should stay open then... They may need it soon.” The way Drim said that frightened Phon a little. It was so cold and ruthless, almost like he was a different person. Drim raised his arm, holding it in the direction Vinlot was sitting. All of the guards acted in response, pulling out their guns and pointing it at them. Phon didn’t know exactly what Drim was planning, but had a good guess as to what, and what he expected from her.

Phon quickly lifted both hands and covered her eyes. This worked as a temporary solution to provide darkness and activate her Curse. It wasn’t good for a long encounter, since it left her unable to fight; so she would opt to use her ribbon most of the time. Phonscience knew she didn’t have much time, so she quickly summoned a 3d replica of the building with the roof missing.

She grabbed all of the pieces belonging to the guards, five in each hand. If she could, she would just fling them away and send them flying, but unfortunately her Curse wouldn’t allow for that. The limitation was that she had to be able to place them somewhere within her range, so there needed to be a solid surface. However, said surface didn’t need to be flat and horizontal, and they only had to touch there for a moment.

Phonscience touched the base each piece to the outside walls of the office. In an instant, all the guards vanished from the room. Screaming could be heard all around them before they plummeted down towards the ground. Phon could check on their condition if she wanted, but didn’t bother. A fall from this height would kill a human without fail.

Vinlot slammed her hands on her desk as she stood up and yelled, “What the hell are you…” The sentence was cut off by the choking sounds that were now spurting out of her mouth. Drim had pointed a finger at her, causing a vine to shoot out directly at her. It pierced right through her neck, leaving a splatter of blood behind her on the otherwise spotless window.

“Not gonna lie, I did not see that coming when we got this request. How do you feel about it, Kada?” Phon asked the girl who looked stunned by what had transpired.

“Well, she definitely deserved to die…” Kada said once she regained herself. “It’s still a little weird seeing people die, though. It’s only the second time I’ve seen it.”

“Well, I know it can be rough, but you’ll likely see it a lot more if you stick with us. Honestly, if you wanted to bail, now would be the time to do so,” Drim said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have a criminal record yet, so if you wanted to leave, we’d understand.”

“No, it’s okay,” Kada reassured them. She pulled out the pack of crime cards Phon had given her and began looking through them. “Huh, there’s not enough murder cards for everyone.”

“Oh, I thought about that. I added ‘mass murder’ cards to the deck that go up in increments of five,” Phon said as Kada continued to sift through the deck. She pulled out a ‘Mass murder x10’ card and a regular murder card to cover all of them.

Kada was about to set one of the cards down and asked, “Hey, how do the police know which one of us committed the crime?”

Phon seemed taken aback by this and pondered for a moment. “Hmm, that’s a good question. It didn’t really matter when it was just Drim and I since we didn’t care who the crimes went to, but now that there’s more of us, I guess we should distinguish them,” Phon said as she pulled out a marker and handed it to Kada. “I’ll make customized sets for each of us later. For now, put my name on the back of the mass murder card, Drim on the regular murder, and do an accessory card for yourself. Oh, and do a looting card for each of us.”

Kada did as she was told and then placed the cards around the room. When she got over to Vinlot’s corpse she placed the card in her suit pocket then stared at the hole in her neck for a bit. “Hey Drim, do you have to do motions like when you pointed to use your Curse?” Kada asked curiously.

Drim, who was now looking through the bookshelf, perked up and thought for a second before responding. “No, I don’t have to do it. It just helps me distinguish when I’m using it, so I don’t do it accidentally… and I think it’s a little cool too…”

Phon smirked after hearing this, thinking it was just like him, then continued looking through Vinlot’s liquor stash. “Hey Kada, maybe you can answer this since you’re the only one who’s of drinking age. Can Fiends even get drunk? I’ve been wondering about that for a while,” Phon asked.

“Hmm, don’t know, never tried myself,” Kada replied before saying cheekily, “Never thought you’d be the type to obey something like drinking age laws.”

“Meh, just never had an interest,” Phon responded emotionlessly as she continued to sort through the bottles. “I can use some of this for cooking, so guess I’ll take those. It’ll taste extra good knowing I’m putting top shelf stuff on mediocre ingredients. I can hear the alcoholic’s cries of agony already.”

Once the three of them were content with their looting, they headed out. They got an endless amount of gazes as they walked through the lobby. Phon laughed in her head thinking about what the onlookers must be feeling, seeing three super-out-of-place-looking people walking around with boxes of their boss' stuff.

When they got outside, police were already investigating the bodies of the deceased guards. They were so distracted that Phon didn’t even need to use her ability for them to get away. They just walked away nonchalantly and no one even tried to question them. As they headed to the nearest subway station carrying their spoils, Phon noticed that Kada looked a little down and asked, “Everything alright, Kada?”

“Huh? Oh yeah I’m fine,” Kada said even though she had clearly just been in deep thought. “It’s just, I wish I could have done more. Well to be honest, I didn’t really do anything.”

“Your time to shine will come. I know it,” Drim reassured her with a smile.

This seemed to lift Kada’s spirits a bit as she began to walk along with a more relaxed stride. After a few more steps, she seemed to remember something and asked, “Oh yeah, are we going to do anything about that orphanage? Vinlot did say the manager seemed weird.”

“Not our job. She could have just been lying to further incentivize us to take it,” Phon dismissed quickly.

“Err, what Phon means to say is that no one has requested it of us,” Drim added. “It’s fine to do things out of personal interest without it being a formal request, but I find it’s generally better to not interfere with people's lives unless they ask. That said, I did take Vinlot’s file on the orphanage, so I guess the best thing we can do is keep an eye out for any news involving it.”

Fiends For Hire Job Report

Job No. 000014

Status:

Failed

Date Received: 1/24/2077

Date Accepted:

1/24/2077

Date Completed:

N/A

Client: Kaselle Vinlot

Reward: ???

Original Request: “I have an opportunity for you. Please meet me at my office at your earliest convenience. I require both of you to be present.”

Requirements for Completion:

* Meet with client, complete their request if possible

Job accepted by:

* Drim Drazah

* Phon Drazah

* Kada Susten

Additional Notes:

(Drim) Job Failed. Clients terms were unacceptable. She was killed as a result.

(Phon) We got a lot of decent stuff from her office so at least the trip wasn’t a total waste.

(Kada) Drim and Phon were really cool. I would have liked to have been more useful though.

◆◆◆

They had made the round trip from the office, back to their apartment in just a few hours. Drim was now in his room reading files he had taken from Vinlot’s office, Phon was taking a bath, and Kada was preparing dinner. Since they had been living together, Phon had been doing the majority of the cooking, but Drim was versed enough to make something when she was busy. However, Kada had now insisted that she be allowed to help and suggested a rotating system of making meals, as well as with other chores.

Drim had tried to advocate that everyone could just do their own thing for meals, but the other two were firmly against it. Phon wanted to make sure that he was eating properly, and Kada felt that the idea of helping each other and eating a meal together would help boost comradery. So now there was a schedule of Phon cooking three days a week and Drim and Kada each having two days.

Drim was laying in his bed as he went through the files. He read up on the orphanage and a few other prospects. It seemed Vinlot had used underhanded tactics in the past but nothing to the degree for which she wanted to hire them. Must be the first time she couldn’t eventually get her way, Drim thought to himself. After he finished reading, he tucked the files away, laid back in his bed, and decided to rest his eyes for a minute; or this would have been the case if the smoke alarm didn’t suddenly start blaring.

Drim sighed, rolled out of bed, and headed out of his room. There was a large plume of black smoke trailing out of the kitchen, briefly followed by Kada stumbling out of it while coughing. Before Drim could say anything, the bathroom door burst open and Phon stomped out. She was wearing just a bath towel, was completely drenched, and had an intense scowl distorting her face.

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

“What the hell are you doing?!” Phon screamed at Kada.

Kada blinked a few times to help clear out her watery eyes before looking at Phon to respond. This was immediately followed by Kada swinging her head away bashfully and asking in just as eccentrically, “Before you yell at me, could you please put some clothes on?!”

“Oh get a grip, we’re both girls,” Phon sneered. “I guess you really do swing both ways if you get this uncomfortable from seeing me in minimal clothing.”

“Well yes, but it's a normal response to avert your eyes when someone’s naked regardless of gender,” Kada protested. “Drim, back me up here!”

Drim just shrugged as Phon pinched her forehead and grumbled, “Whatever, that’s not important. Why does the kitchen look like a chimney exploded?”

“Oh right, that,” Kada said, now looking away and pushing the tips of her pointer fingers together repeatedly. “Well, I was making burgers, and they were cooking pretty slowly, so I got impatient. I thought that if I melted them they would cook faster cus of the higher surface area.”

“So, your Curse works on dead animals then?” Drim asked while Kada just stared at him, confused. “You said before that your Curse didn’t work on animals, but burgers are made from cows. So I guess the stipulation is that it’s a living thing and not that it’s an animal.”

“I mean, I guess,” Kada replied. “I never really thought about it.”

“Drim… Priorities…,” Phon interjected before resuming glaring at Kada. That gaze softened a bit after a few seconds and she said, “Well, in theory, I guess that should work… It would also allow for a more even cook throughout for some dishes...” Phon seemed to trail off and become lost in thought. One of the few things Phon seemed to care about besides Drim was cooking.

“It did work!” Kada said proudly before a dejected look spread across her face. “It worked too well. Once I did it, they cooked really fast, and started burning before I could change them back. Then, at that point, they were boiling so I didn’t want to get burned trying to change them back.”

“We resist heat Kada…” Drim said as a sudden look of realization popped up on Kada’s face.

“Weird methods aside, tell me Kada, have you ever actually cooked anything before,” Phon asked, seeming to have lost a bit of patience.

“Well… Instant foods,” Kada mumbled while doing her best to look innocent.

Phon let out a large groan as her head rolled around. “I’m going to go dry off then get dressed. You! Will go clean up whatever mess you made in the kitchen. Then we will all go out for dinner.” She didn’t wait for any response before heading back into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

Kada looked towards Drim eagerly, her eyes begging for assistance. Drim’s eyes went deadpan and he headed back into his room. Kada lifted a hand out towards him, looking betrayed, while Drim closed the door slowly while staring at her.

◆◆◆

“Look Kada, I know you want to be useful and all, but if you don’t know how to do something you’ve gotta let us know,” Phon said as the three of them walked down a back street.

“Yeah, we’re all good at different things. So we can pick up each other’s slack, and we can help teach you anything you need to know, assuming we know it ourselves,” Drim added.

Kada had been beating herself up over it, so she was glad they were saying these things, but still couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty. So far, she hadn’t really done much of anything that felt like she really contributed. They basically still had to hold her hand through what seemed like simple tasks. She wanted to be able to pull her own weight as soon as possible. Drim and Phon utilize their Curses in useful ways I could have never imagined myself, I need to work on getting myself up to their level.

Even before Kada joined, Drim and Phon would rarely go out to eat. Wanting to keep a low profile was part of it, but they also needed to save money at the moment. In general, they stuck to buying cheap groceries, or Drim would go out and hunt and gather, then they would make food with that.

This didn’t mean that they didn’t like eating out, however. Phon was always on the lookout for new recipes, and wanted to try as many foods from as many places as she could. Drim simply enjoyed visiting different places, and while he had never been a social butterfly in these past years, it put him at ease whenever he saw others having a good time and enjoying themselves.

The restaurant they chose tonight was one that none of them had ever visited. It had decent reviews, but was the sort of out-of-the-way place where they hopefully wouldn’t draw too much attention. When they got to the restaurant and looked inside, it was all but deserted. There was only a couple at the counter, and an elderly man and woman tending to them.

When the Fiends walked inside, they found a quite unexpected situation. “It’s not really negotiable you old coot, give us your money, and we won’t shoot you in the head,” the man of the presumed couple threatened the elderly pair. The woman was pointing a gun at them while the man was holding out an empty sack.

Kada’s eyes widened with excitement once she grasped the situation. Wow, is this really happening? Things like this actually happen? She hollered in her head. She was standing in the middle of Drim and Phon and began quickly glancing back and forth between them while asking repeatedly, “Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I?”

“Sure, have fun,” Drim said as he shrugged. “Try not to damage the place too much, though.”

Kada felt her heart begin to race and adrenaline surge through her body. She stepped forward a few paces, pointed at the criminal couple and shouted, “Halt, ye dastardly criminals. Stop what you’re doing at once or face my judgment!” Kada could hear muffled laughter coming from behind her. It seemed Drim and Phon couldn’t hold back from laughing at what she said, but were doing their best to try to conceal it. This didn’t really help her self esteem, but it wasn’t the time to worry about that.

The criminal couple at the counter spun around with utterly bewildered faces. “What the zjik?! Is this girl mawhged in the head or something?” the woman asked her partner and then pointed the gun at Kada. “Listen here, special girl, and your two giggling friends. You best get your asses out of here now if you don’t want to get hurt.” Kada could hear the laughing behind her grow even louder. She didn’t know if they found it funny that the woman was making fun of her, or the idea that a gun would even be remotely effective.

“Well, we’re not leaving. So what will it be? Do you want to surrender, or do you want to fight?!” Kada shouted while doing her best to strike a heroic pose.

“Yeah… Just shoot her…” the man suggested. A second later, the woman pulled the trigger, sending a bullet soaring right at Kada. It was a direct shot, right to the stomach, but the bullet didn’t penetrate. Instead, it melted on impact, splattering all over.

Kada touched some of the metal liquid that was sticking to her and made the bullet projectile reform. The two criminals just stared in shock with their jaws dropped. Kada stared back for a bit, then looked at the bullet and said, “Oh, do you want this back?” She threw the bullet directly back at them with all the force she could muster. It wasn’t enough to rival how fast the gun shot it, but it was definitely enough to do some damage.

The man screamed in pain and collapsed to the floor as the bullet penetrated his shoulder. It got lodged since there wasn’t enough force to drive it through all the way. The woman knelt down to check on him, but he stopped her and got back up. “She must be a Fiend,” the woman said while helping him up.

“Welp, have fun Kada, we’re gonna go get food,” Phon said as she and Drim walked off. After they were a good distance away, Drim pressed a hand with his fingers spread up against a wall. Black vines shot out along the wall and ran all around the restaurant. They covered the door and windows at the front, and went as far back to the customer side of the counter. This created a cage that held Kada and the two criminals with no way for them to escape, but left enough room for Drim and Phon to walk up to the counter.

When they got to the counter, the elderly couple manning it were zoned out. They had been standing there in a stunned silence the entire time. Phon tried to say a few things to get their attention and waved a bit. There was no response, so Phon began mashing the little bell on the counter with extreme speed until they snapped out of it. Once she had their attention she said, “Yes, I'll have a number 6… What do you think Kada wants Drim?”

“Hmm not sure,” Drim responded while looking at the menu. “I guess just get her a standard meal to be safe. I’ll have a number 3-” Before Drim could finish speaking, the woman criminal was thrown hard enough to break through the vines behind them and slammed against the wall. Drim did a little wave at her which caused the vines to drag her back in and reseal the cage, then turned back to the couple and added, “-for takeout please.”

The old man nodded and headed back to the kitchen, while the woman stayed at the counter. “I suggest that you call the police, but if you don’t mind, we’d appreciate it if you wait until we leave,” Drim said to her.

Back in the cage, the woman was coming at Kada from the front, while the man was attacking her from the back with a chair. When the chair impacted, the parts of it that touched Kada turned to liquid, causing the chair to just breeze past her. Once it was all the way through, it resolidified and carried the momentum straight into bashing the woman.

The woman collapsed as she reeled in pain. The man stopped moving right behind Kada as he looked at the woman in horror and guilt. Kada hit him in the face with the back of her fist sending him to join the woman on the ground. Kada groaned as she leaned back and moaned out, “This is too easy! Drim, I’m bored now!.”

“Kay,” Drim said as he waved at her. He did a little twisting motion with his fingers, and the vines that had formed the cage dashed towards the two downed criminals. It wrapped around their bodies tight, leaving only their heads exposed. Kada laughed a little when she imagined them wrapped like Boon Day presents. She tried to not let it bother her that Drim could have done that from the beginning..

When their food was ready, Phon carried it while Drim and Kada dragged the two snuggly trapped criminals outside. They had tried to pay for their meal, but the elderly couple flat out refused and thanked them for what they had done. They pulled the criminals back into the alley next to the restaurant. They could have easily picked them up and carried them, but they felt this would be more unpleasant.

“So, what do we do with them?” Drim asked.

“Well, there’s no point turning them into the police really, since we’re criminals ourselves. We wouldn’t get a reward out of it. Plus, it would be a huge pain to take them there,” Phon mentioned.

“Well, I don’t want them to get away, I worked... I want to say hard, but it wasn’t really to stop these guys. So I don’t want them getting away,” Kada stated firmly.

“What do you suggest then?” Phon questioned.

“Hmm, I’ve got an idea,” Kada said as she shuffled over to a clear space in the alley. She spread her arms out as wide as she could, then slid her feet until her legs ran parallel to them. She spun rapidly in place and activated her Curse. As gravity pulled her down, it created a deep puddle which she sunk down into, and kept going until her head was submerged.

She climbed out of the hole and walked over to the robbers. As she bent down to pick them up, they began to flail their heads rapidly, like they were trying to scream. Drim had gagged their mouths too, so only severely muffled noises got out. She grabbed them by the top of their heads and carried them over to the puddle. Then, she lowered them into the hole feet-first until only their heads were still above the liquid.

Kada motioned to Drim to release his vines, then resolidified the ground, leaving the pair buried up to their heads. “Oh cool, it actually worked. I was wondering what would happen to the excess ground, but it just shifted,” Kada said as she looked around. The area surrounding them had been raised slightly, causing a distorted slope around them.

“So, what would have happened if it didn’t work like you thought?” Drim asked her.

“Uhh, probably their heads would have been cut off and then their bodies would have been crushed until they were squeezed out. I’ve always wanted to test it, but didn’t want to use myself as a guinea pig.” As Kada said this, the eyes of the two criminals widened as far as they could go.

Phon stared at them with a sadistic smile for a while. Kada guessed that she was happy she hadn’t taken any regard for their safety. When the smile faded away, Phon asked, “Couldn’t you have just tested it with a stick or something?”

“Huh, never thought about that,” Kada mentioned, feeling a little dumb now. The Fiends were just about to leave when a light was suddenly shone on them.

A male voice yelled at them, “You there, don’t move!” as four figures appeared at the edge of the alley.

“Guess we took too long,” Drim said as they looked at the four cops, and held up a hand to block the blinding light.

“So what now? You going to teleport us out of here?” Kada asked as she looked at Phon.

“Nah, let’s let the mawhgers chase us a little,” Phon said as the sadistic smile crept back up on her face.

As the four officers drew closer, one of them spoke out. “Hey wait, I think that’s the Drazahs!”

“Holy zjik, really? Didn’t they just kill eleven people earlier today?! We don’t stand a chance against them,” another officer protested.

“That doesn’t change what we have to do!” the officer holding the flashlight insisted. The other two drew out their guns while he spoke. “You three are under arrest. Come quietly or…”

Before the officer could finish, the three Fiends began sprinting away. The officers chased after them in pursuit, with only one staying behind to tend to the entrenched criminals. The chase went on for a few minutes. They weaved in and out of the backstreets. The Fiends purposefully weren’t going their full speed to give their pursuers a feeling that they had a chance.

After a while, they got into the area of the city that was nothing but tall skyscrapers. Phon stopped running and motioned for the other two to do the same. She didn’t say anything, but just pointed a finger up at the roof of one of the buildings next to them. She then placed her hands over her eyes and vanished.

Drim raised his arm and shot a vine up to the top of the building, grabbed the bottom, and made the top reel itself in as it was absorbed, causing him to soar up the building at blazing speed. Kada was a little annoyed that they left her to her own devices, but was happy that they thought she’d be able to handle it. She looked around for any easy ways up and noticed the cops steadily drawing closer.

She jumped up and grabbed the railing of the nearby fire escape, and used that to propel herself higher. She did this repeatedly all the way up the building, clearing a few stories at a time. When she got to the top, Drim and Phon were sitting down and had spread out the food from the restaurant. The three of them ate quickly, but still had enough time to finish before the officers made it up to the roof.

The three officers were quite winded and taking deep breaths while slumped over. The Fiends took this opportunity to clean up, and then just stood at the other side of the roof until the cops were ready. When they were able to stand up properly, all three of them pulled out their guns and attempted to aim. However, they were all shaking too badly to line up a proper shot.

Drim smirked and then charged directly at the officers. They feebly tried to follow him with their guns but it was useless. When he got closer, they braced for whatever he may do to them, but Drim ignored them and ran right past. He got to the edge of the roof and leapt. He moved across the gap, spun around in mid air, taunted smugly towards Kada and Phon, and landed on the roof on the opposite side of the alley with a backwards slide.

Phon had mentioned to Kada that Drim sometimes liked to act showy or went out of his way to do things he thought were cool. However, she couldn’t help but take this as a challenge, and the serious look on Phon’s face next to her told Kada that she felt the same. Phon was up next, when she got to the edge she did a forward cartwheel and sprung off with her hands. She spun several times in the air and landed with a roll.

Kada felt she needed to give it her best too. She charged at the officers but didn’t run past them like the others. She grabbed the head of the middle officer and used that to pull herself up. Then, she kicked off the heads of the other two officers allowing her to get a decent amount of height. She did two backflips while fully extended, then did a divers pose towards the roof. She sunk into it until her feet caught the edge, then sprung herself up with them and ended in a bow.

The officers were shocked by the display they had seen. They had missed most of Drim’s jump but caught the other two in full. Two of them seemed completely disheartened and ready to give up, but the third wasn’t going to give in just yet; the one with the flashlight from earlier. He backed up a bit, rushed to the edge, and leapt across. There was nothing stylish or flashy about his jump, it was only pragmatic, and enough to just get him across.

The Fiends were now just as surprised, not thinking that any of them would have the guts to follow. They weren’t going to stop there, though. They then leapt across to the next roof in just as showy a manner as before. This continued on a few more times, with each of the Fiends doing their best to one up each other, and the police officer just barely managing to make it.

Finally, they reached a jump that they were certain he wouldn’t be able to cross. The three of them had already made it and were staring back at him on the opposite roof. However, the officer didn’t seem like he was going to give up no matter what and attempted the jump anyways. He leapt across, but couldn’t manage to grab the ledge and began falling down to his certain doom.

A hand shot down from the top of the roof and grabbed his arm just before it was out of reach. It was Kada; she was happy that she had just barely managed to make it in time and pulled him up onto the roof. The cop sat there for a few seconds to recuperate then asked, confused, “Why? Why did you save me?!”

“I dunno, felt like it,” Kada said as she shrugged.

Drim chimed in and said, “Well, it's not like we really see the police as our enemy. We won’t go out of our way to hurt you all or innocent people.”

“But you already killed several people today! How can you do that then goof off like it’s nothing? Then you have the guts to say that!” the officer yelled at them.

“Trust me, they weren’t innocent,” Phon said as she crouched down next to him and looked at the name on his uniform, then spoke with as nice of a smile as she could muster. “Now, we may have saved you this time officer… Tusmon… but if you try to catch us again, we won’t hold back from brutally obliterating you into nothing. Have a good night!”

Phon clasped her eyes and the three of them vanished into the night, leaving the officer alone, stuck up on the roof.