Drim was chosen for their next target, a large plantation. Originally, he was going to go last so that he could confront the former Drazah governor himself. However, his teammates all came to a consensus that if he was to go last after the sun had set, it’d be too easy due to his dark clothes. Currently, the sun was about a half-hour from setting.

They’d spent the rest of the day up to this point going around and robbing banks per their main agenda. A nap in the car may have occurred halfway through. Drim was currently skulking in a sugarcane patch, waiting for a guard to pass. He had been here for quite some time now, scouting the area and learning patrol routes. Overall, he liked what he saw. If it wasn’t for the armed guards, it would seem like a nice place to work.

The workers were friendly towards one another, and seemed to have high spirits. There were also several benches around and water coolers if they needed breaks. The image was far from an evil noble who would essentially be forcing slave labor. Just as the guard was about to pass, Phon spoke up in his ear. “Hey Drim, there’s ten guards total, bonus points if you knock them all out.”

Damn, she knows I’m not one to easily turn away from a challenge, he thought. Without hesitating, Drim shot vines out towards the guard, wrapping them around him, making sure to cover his mouth. The vines reeled in, pulling the guard deep into the patch where Drim was hiding. Right away, Drim stabbed him in the neck with a needle covered in a plant mixture which would render him unconscious. Why do I let them bait me into these things? Now I have to waste time finding them all.

Drim dug his vines into the ground, to try and get a feel for the guard’s locations. Strange, there’s exactly ten evil people here. Does that mean the noble isn’t on site, or is one of the guards out of their element? It didn’t take long for Drim to incapacitate all of the guards that were roaming outside, taking them all out in the same manner as the first.

However, one guard had been standing in an open area, too far for Drim to drag him into a sugarcane patch without being noticed. Well, this place is practically a labyrinth of sugarcane, I doubt anyone will be too weirded out if there’s suddenly a bit more. Drim waited for his opportunity. The guard took a big yawn and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was surrounded by a forest of sugar cane. The guard only stood there blinking for a moment, likely trying to decide if he was hallucinating, unconscious, or just plain crazy. Before he could figure out his crisis, Drim had subdued him.

Now, all that was left were the remaining four guards in the large processing facility at the center of the plantation. Of course, he still had to find the key piece, but that had become more of an optional objective for him since they didn’t really need it. There was also a high probability that the noble wasn’t here to begin with.

Drim scaled to the top of the facility and snuck in through a window. He was now perched on scaffolding, observing the people below. This would be more difficult, since there were workers mixed in as well. An idea popped in his mind when he saw a fire alarm on the wall. Drim shot it with a thorn, and the whole building began to ring. It worked out in his favor as he’d hoped. The workers scrambled out of the building, leaving the guards behind to scout the area.

One of the guards foolishly walked below him, and Drim wrapped him up in thorns, then tied him to the scaffolding. Another was coming up the stairs, but heading to the opposite side. Drim clambered down to the floor, and began crouching his way around, hiding behind various obstacles to not be seen. He was right behind this guard, about to subdue her, when he was startled. Oh going stealthy are we?! Stab her in the neck! She won’t be able to scream if you do it fast enough.

Eleen had woken up, and was giving her unprovoked guidance. Drim quickly clasped a hand against his mouth to keep from shouting, and hid behind a crate. I would appreciate it if you were quiet now.

Woah, I just heard you without you actually speaking! That’s a first isn’t it? Eleen asked him.

Well, you manage it somehow all the time, so I figured I’d give it a shot, Drim told her. As long as you can’t read my normal thoughts, this should be better, so I don’t seem crazy like I’m talking to myself.

Eleen started making a humming sound for a moment. Nope, got nothing. All those thoughts you want to keep secret from your mother are safe.

For some reason it sounds like I’m having a lot of perverted ones when you put it like that, Drim rebuked.

Are you not though? I’ve seen some of the stuff you read when you think I’m asleep. Eleen began to chuckle to herself incessantly. It’s fine, you’re young and have never even kissed a girl, or a boy for that matter, mommy won’t judge. It’s understandable that you’re interested in those things. Just try to get someone better than that riffraff you hang around with.

Really, I don’t want to be having any of these conversations right now, I’m busy! Or actually ever for that matter! Drim screamed at her. It was nice being able to yell as loud as he wanted towards his mother. Maybe now his strong disapproval and disdain for her would get across. More annoyed now, Drim resumed his stalking of the guard and took her down without further interruption.

The next guard was easy to deal with as well. He was fiddling with the alarm, trying to make it turn off. Drim just slung a knockout needle at him and he collapsed. The final guard was on the very bottom floor, and to Drim’s delight, he was wearing a helmet. There was a move he’d always wanted to try, but never had the opportunity. Well, there were actually plenty of opportunities, but if they weren’t wearing a helmet, it would probably kill them.

Drim quickly scrambled back up to the top of the facility, but still made sure to keep quiet so the guard wouldn’t move too much. When it was all lined up, Drim started a freefall down the center of the facility, in the gap that spanned every floor. Drim prepared a heel strike, which connected with the head of the guard. The downward force knocked the guard down, with Drim standing on his head, rendering him firmly unconscious. Ooo, fancy. It seemed Eleen felt the need to comment on his move.

Just then, the alarm cut off, and Drim felt a presence he hadn’t taken note of before. I thought all the good people left?!

“Hands up!” Drim whirled around to find the woman noble who ran this place pointing a gun at him. “Hmph, not even a bit of hesitation or fear,” the woman noted. “Drazah, right?”

“Yup, that’s me, as much as I’d love not to be,” Drim admitted.

“I see, take this then.” The woman pulled her key piece out of her pocket and tossed it to Drim. She also stowed her gun into a holster on her hip.

“Just like that?” Drim asked, puzzled. “Can’t help but feel like I’m being tricked.”

“No trick, I’m just ready for this to all be over,” the woman confessed. She leaned up against one of the machines and sighed. “I’m aware that the evidence will put me in jail, but it’s well worth it to get this country on the right track. Truth is, I never really signed on for this whole corruption business, but my plantations are such an economic influence in this country that they forced it on me.”

“Those aren’t even my guards you’re currently trampling. They were sent here for my ‘protection’, but all they really do is harass my workers and make sure I stay in line. Honestly, I’d say I owe you a favor. They’re all jerks, so it’s nice to see them get taken down, and it even looks like they’re still breathing.”

“That’s a nice story, and quite convenient if you don’t want me to harm you.” Drim wasn’t going to back off just yet, but there was a fact he had to concede. She’s not evil. She’s not exactly great, but there’s no malice in her.

“I understand if you don’t believe me, and I don’t really need you to, but if you’re here, then I assume you believe my daughter.” Drim was confused until the woman explained a bit more. “She’s in the rebel army. Can’t say I approve exactly, but I also can’t say I’m not proud of her. You most likely met her; messy short hair, little chubby.”

“Sorry, there were a lot of people there, but it does kind of ring a bell,” Drim relinquished.

“Well, get out of here already,” the woman demanded. “If I don’t report what happened soon, they’ll likely get suspicious of me, not that it will matter if you succeed. Would be nice if none of them try to have me killed when we’re locked up.”

Drim heeded her words and took off. Since all of the guards were taken care of, he casually strolled back to his friends. “Oh, I recognize that piece now,” Eleen mentioned when she saw it along with the others. “We must be in Anoint then.”

The other three looked at Drim in surprise, his voice sounded more feminine since Eleen had taken him over and was speaking through him. Drim immediately took control back and muttered, “Could you not do that? It’s so annoying. At least ask permission first.”

“Too much of a hassle,” it was back to Eleen again. “Anyways, funny story about how I found it. There was this skeleton, you see, and it was clutching onto that diamond so tightly that I had to smash its hand to dust to get it to let go. As for how we found that door—”

“Ugh, nobody cares,” Drim interrupted. “Go back to sleep, or at least keep the conversations to just us. Actually don’t, please shut up and die forever.”

Ah, my son is as cruel as ever. With that last internal comment, Eleen went quiet for the time being.

◆◆◆

There was only one key piece left, and it was down to Xard. He had to retrieve it from the former governor who was now the head officer of the nation’s military. The Fiends were standing outside Anoint’s largest military base, where Phon confirmed the noble was waiting inside. It seemed he was well informed about the actions the Fiends had taken, and was prepared to greet them.

The noble was sitting at a desk in his office. With one hand, he was flipping the key piece like it was a coin. In the other, he was holding a pistol, pointing it at the door. Infiltrating the base was easy for Xard. Since night had already fallen and it was a clouded sky, visibility was minimal. He had blasted up over the outer walls and was currently perched on the edge of a guard tower.

Below him, countless soldiers were buzzing around, clearly on edge from an impending threat. The noble must have warned them about a possible intruder, and put them on high alert. This wouldn’t be too hard for Xard, though. While he was still far away from fully being able to fly, he had gotten much better at controlled jumping. At present, he could blast up high and then direct himself where he wanted to land fairly accurately. This meant he could just bound from rooftop to rooftop without being spotted.

Xard had made it to roughly the center of the compound and was standing on the roof of a large building when he heard grumbling in his ear piece. “Ugh, fine, we’ll take a look at the armory, just so you’ll stop bugging me.” It was Drim, most likely talking to his mother. However, Xard’s curiosity was piqued. If it was something Eleen Drazah wanted to see, odds are it’d be interesting.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Let’s see, if I remember right, the armory is in the southeast corner. Xard headed over in that direction to find the building. Ugh, really, a big sign that says armory? Might not be the best idea if you don’t want people like me finding it. They’ve got a few guards manning the door at least. Those guards, however, were irrelevant and Xard headed to the roof. There was a ventilation hatch letting him slip right in, although it was a bit of a squeeze.

Xard landed in the center of the room, and pulled out his phone to use the flashlight. Holy crap, this is quite the arsenal. There were large machine guns, rocket launchers, several kinds of outlawed ammo, and a few fancy looking weapons he didn’t recognize. This seems excessive for a country that hasn’t seen war in almost a century.

Officially, Anoint was a non-combatant country during the Drazah war. In actuality, their leader had been assassinated, and his death feigned as terminal illness. The Drazah’s implanted a puppet ruler who was now the leader of the military base. He had immediately declared support for the Drazahs, and sent them a lot of the country’s soldiers and resources. However, the soil itself never saw a single drop of blood.

“I knew it, those are mine!” A more feminine sounding Drim rang in his ear. “They stole my weapons, how dare they! Do you know how many armories we had to knock off, and corpses we had to rob to build that stockpile? Now it’s in the hands of some grubby noble, I’m mortified. Hey, Xard Randex, do me a favor and destroy all that stuff will you? I’d rather it be useless junk than be in the hands of some bastard with—” The shouting was cut off, meaning Drim must have taken control again.

Xard didn’t see any harm in her request. He’d prefer it if they were non-operational as well. Not wanting to spend too much time on it, he put holes through any parts that looked important. There wasn’t much he could do to the ammo without making it explode, but they wouldn’t work in standard issue weapons anyways.

Feeling morally confused since he’d helped out the most evil woman in history, Xard returned to his goal. Now, he was on the roof across from the noble’s office. He could see the noble sitting at his desk, still in the position Phon described before. Xard started contemplating how he could sneak in without being seen. The whole building was surrounded by soldiers. There were a couple of snipers on the roof as well. Thankfully, they were bad at their jobs and only surveying the ground.

Xard did see a ventilation duct on the side of the building, but decided against it. Getting in and out of the armory was a tight enough squeeze, and it was only a few feet., Plus he imagined moving around in air ducts was way noisier than the movies made it out to be. Well, I guess stealth’s out the window, or rather, through it. He couldn’t decide how bad that pun was and would field test it later.

Xard shuffled his feet towards the edge of the roof, then slid them down the side. He was now suspended off the edge, his feet against the wall, holding onto the roof with his arms behind his back. After absorbing energy from his missile ring, Xard let go. When the angling was just right, he blasted all the energy through his feet, and he became a rocket, zooming through the sky.

There was a loud crash as Xard burst through the window into the noble’s office. Still in flight, he grabbed the noble from behind, lifting them both over the desk. They did a full flip in the air, and then Xard slammed him to the floor. Xard had one hand on the back of the noble’s head, pinning it down, and used the other to squeeze the hand holding the pistol aimed at him, until the noble was forced to drop it.

No doubt, this commotion would draw attention, but the noble had almost definitely sealed the doors leading to his office. Xard had time, but he didn’t know how much, so he wanted to get out as quickly as possible. As on many occasions in his life, however, things didn’t go quite as planned. This time it was in the form of another argument in his earpiece.

“Will you stop trying to take over without permission?!” Drim barked angrily.

“You’d never give me permission even if I asked,” Eleen rebutted. “It’s too hard to see the screen when you’re in control. I don’t see out of your eyes unless I’m controlling you, but you see through them no matter what. My normal line of sight is your chest area. Oh, but it is a full 360° so I can also see behind you. Mommy’s quite literally got your back.”

“Shut up, and get back in there, you’re bothering everyone!” Drim protested.

“But I wanna see too! At least leave your tablet at chest level,” Eleen pleaded.

“Ugh, fine, if you stop taking over already,” Drim submitted.

“Yes yes, I promise,” Eleen agreed. Now that his comms were finally quiet, Xard could refocus on the situation, but it only lasted a second. “So it is that bastard!” Eleen was in control again. “I assumed he died. Well I guess we never fully declared him as one of us so he must have gotten off. And now he’s working for the enemy! Filthy traitor, I never should have trusted him! I gave him the cushiest job in the world, and this is how he repays me?! Xard Randex, favor number two: murder the unloyal bastard, I want to see his blood spray! And roll him over so I can see the light leave his eyes.”

“You just promised you wouldn’t take over anymore!” Drim groaned.

“Sorry sorry, mommy got a little emotional there, back to you.” It seemed Eleen gave up control again, but there was no way Xard was going to comply with this request.

I’ll just knock him out and get out of here, but maybe I should take my time. I don’t exactly want to get roped up in all that drama, and I thought my family dynamic was bad. His attempt at idleness was immediately thwarted when he heard banging nearby. Guess the soldiers are trying to break in, alright then, knock-out and escape it is. I think I’ll try the chop Phon used earlier, seemed simple enough.

Xard readied his hand, and struck the side of the noble’s neck. Blood immediately started spurting, and the noble began screaming. It seemed Xard had done it too hard, and his technique was probably off. The noble’s arm that Xard had pinned was desperately trying to free itself, so Xard let it go. The hand grasped around the noble’s neck, doing its best to keep pressure.

Zjik, he’ll most likely die from bloodloss if he doesn’t get help soon. Xard’s worry was drowned out by hysterical laughter he didn’t recognize over his earpiece, assumedly Eleen’s. A moment later, the door to the office burst open and soldiers quickly swarmed in. “Welp, that’s my cue to leave, get a doctor here soon if you want him to live!” Xard grabbed the key piece and ran towards the window. The soldiers immediately began firing on him to no effect.

Xard was back with the group in mere moments since he no longer had to worry about subtlety. As they loaded back up in The Tourist, Drim inquired to Eleen, I’m surprised you remembered Xard’s name, I doubted you would care enough.

I always remember the names of people important to me, Eleen responded. Well, ones I think I can use anyways, makes them easier to manipulate.

◆◆◆

The Fiends returned to the cave with haste. They wanted to open the door, get whatever was inside, then continue their journey without further delay. However, something made them stop in their tracks after a few steps. There was a man that none of them recognized. He could potentially be from the rebel army, so it didn’t spring immediate worry, but he was acting strangely.

The man was running into the door repeatedly. He’d slam his whole body into it, back up, and try again. Each attempt seemed to be a bit more forceful than the last. Then it happened, with his hardest hit yet, the man’s torso fell off his body and crumbled on the ground. The legs were still moving, and walked over to the torso. They collapsed onto the broken body, and every part of him began shifting.

The man reformed, back to how he once was, and tried again. It seemed like a futile effort, he wasn’t leaving so much as a scratch. Eventually, Drim called out to him. The man immediately whirled around. Then after looking upon the Fiends, his body started crumbling again. In a flash, the man was gone, only a pile of dirt remained where he stood.

“Oh, it was one of the dirt people!” Kada exclaimed. “I ran into one when we were stopping the tanks. Basically, the exact same thing happened...”

“It has to be the work of a Fiend,” Xard put forth. “I can’t imagine anything else that would cause this.”

“I think we’re all in agreement about that,” Phon stated. “But it’s a mystery for another day. Now if you don’t mind, can we hurry this up please.” Each of them pulled out the piece they stole. When they were just mere inches away from each other, the pieces automatically linked together. Perhaps they were magnetic, but the Fiends weren’t entirely sure.

Drim placed the combined diamond into the slot on the door. Without any other input, mechanisms and gears could be heard starting to fire up. Slowly, the large ornate door started to open, both sides of the door sliding away from each other. Then, there was a loud snap, and the door slammed shut. This triggered a chain reaction, and there were countless sounds of things breaking.

“Ah, it broke,” all four of them said simultaneously in a defeated tone.

“Lovely to see that all of our work was for nothing,” Phon huffed. “Though I will admit it was more enjoyable than I initially gave it credit for. Now Kada, what are you waiting for? Melt the damn thing already.”

Kada didn’t seem sure why Phon was getting snippy with her, but did as instructed. The ancient door melted away and flowed at their feet, so as to not damage whatever was inside. There they found piles of boxes filled with documents, a few weapons, and a couple of priceless antiques. It didn’t take long for them to confirm that there was indeed a vast array of incriminating evidence no lawyer on Rathe could dispute.

There was too much of it in fact that it’d be impossible to carry it all. Instead, Kada began loading up containers of it in liquid form. Since they were already overburdened, Drim placed a limitation, saying they could all only steal one fancy thing each from the pile.

Phon searched around quite a bit and took a necklace laced to the brim with jewels simply because it looked like the most expensive thing that was also portable. Kada grabbed a fancy pocketbook to replace her ratty old wallet, even though the pocketbook itself would likely be worth more than any amount of money it’d ever hold.

Xard tried to take a fancy dish set, but everyone denied it, saying it would be too much. However, he said that he would immediately ship it to his parents, to replace the many dishes he broke after becoming a Fiend. Thus, his request was approved. Drim decided to take one of the gears that had broken off from the door. It had an intricate design unlike any he had seen before, and thought Nathym might enjoy examining it.

All loaded up, they zoomed back to the rebel army’s base. It was the dead of night now, and almost no one at the base was awake. When the Fiends announced their findings, though, the place became lively like a year-end celebration. There were cheers, some sobbing, and toasts all around. The other three Fiends all eyed Drim since he appeared to be glancing at a slightly chubby girl for the duration.

Before they left, Drim instructed the rebels to digitally scan every piece of evidence before they turned in anything. Also, that they should send a copy of it all to him, and that he’d make sure it got delivered to their contact in the CP. This would severely limit any chance of retaliation from the nobles. The Fiends left the base soon after, even though the rebels seriously tried to get them to stay and celebrate. They made sure to stop by a post office so Xard could mail his package, then headed out to the next stop on their pilgrimage.

Fiends For Hire Job Report

Job No. 000065

Status:

Completed

Date Received: 4/4/2077

Date Accepted:

4/4/2077

Date Completed:

4/6/2077

Client: A bunch of wimpy so called ‘rebels’ who needed someone else to save their country for them.

Reward: Was there even an official reward, or are you just counting that stuff you stole as it? Really, you need to be more clear when negotiating or you’ll get taken advantage of.

Original Request: I don’t know, I was asleep, but I imagine it was something along the lines of ‘oh help us please, we’re so weak and pathetic, please deliver us salvation with no effort on our part’, disgusting.

Requirements for Completion:

* Get the evidence I guess, which they did. However, it looks like that traitorous welp will live. So, job not well done, I’m disappointed.

Job accepted by:

* Drim Drazah

* Phon Drazah

* Kada Susten

* Xard Randex

Additional Notes:

(Eleen) They all seemed too tired to make this report afterwards, so I’m doing it for them while they’re asleep. They can thank me later, but they should know that good organization is important and should always be a top priority.