“What are you doing here, Whill?” Drim questioned the man in the far right cage. Now that Bray’s imminent crisis was over, she gave the caged man more attention. Somehow she hadn’t noticed before, but it was blatantly obvious now that he was a Fiend. That made it more sensible why the Drazahs would know him.
“Clearly, I am in the middle of a rescue attempt,” the man jested, somehow in good spirits despite his circumstances. She’d come to know later that his name was Whill Ponde, a Fiend known as The Deterrent. “But as the rescuee no longer needs to be rescued, it would seem that I am now next on the list. So help me out, wontcha?”
“You’re here on a rescue mission, seriously?” Phon could hardly fathom his words.
“Well you see, I decided to take a bit of a break from my city. Got too big for my britches and scared off all the bad guys. Nothing left for me to do there, so I set out on a pilgrimage of heroics.”
“The city kicked you out, didn’t they?” Drim easily saw through his ruse.
“Not allowed within 50 lages, yes,” Whill played it off like it was nothing. “So I found myself here in Constead, rummaging through some trash bins near the edge of town, and I see some suspicious looking fellows escorting this little lady here who didn’t look like she wanted to be escorted.”
“So naturally, I confronted them, but uhhh, didn’t know they had some friends around. Before I could get two lectures in, one of ‘em snuck up behind me and put me in this Cosdamned handcuffs.” Whill took a moment to rattle them a bit as if trying to break them, but they only jingled sadly. “Did you know they make you feel so weak that you can barely use your powers? Kept trying to pull his keys over to me, but I could barely shift them in his pocket.”
“Yes, that is actually very concerning,” Drim looked over the cuffs. “How did this group of thugs get tech like this? Only a few people should be capable of making it. If it becomes widespread, that will certainly be a problem. But it’s already a problem if it's in the hands of people like these.”
“Well my problem is that this tech is currently—” Whill got cut off.
“We know where they got it!” the couple screeched from the center cage. “You remember who we are, right?” How could the Drazah siblings ever forget, no matter how much they wanted to.
“She’s Mith, He’s Bere, and together, we’re Mith and Bere! Pew pew pew pew!” They reintroduced themselves anyways. Since their hands were restrained and they couldn’t make finger guns, they did their best to mimic it with their mouths. “Also known as the righteous and rascally, Rambunctious Ranglers!”
“I bet you want to know how we ended up in this situation too!” Mith started. They didn’t particularly, but guessed she was going to tell them anyways.
“So we heard about the Red Eyes Gang,” Bere continued.
“And we were like, we have red eyes! We should check ‘em out!” Mith alternated, as they would continue to do for the rest of the story. “We wanted to see if they were a group worthy of having the famed Ranglers join.” “But we wanted to scope them out first.” “So we came and joined as trial members.”
“But then we found out they were kidnapping people.” “Which totally wasn’t alright with us.” “Since we’d made a few friends, we tried to start a mutiny!” “But it didn’t go well.” “Turns out they weren’t really our friends after all.” “Then they threw us in these cages.” “So we were stuck here, helpless to help when these other two showed up.” “A classic tale of woe!” “I know, Bere, I know!”
“So where’d they get the tech?” Phon wanted to end speaking with them as quickly as possible.
“You’ll never believe this…” Mith tried to build suspense. “They got it… from someone important!”
“From someone important…” Drim parroted, dumbfounded. He wasn’t expecting much but was still let down.
“Well, that’s all they would tell us,” Bere tried to shirk some of the disappointment. “We were only trial members, after all. Unaffiliated in all their crimes and wrongdoings.”
“Ah yes, we were completely innocent in everything,” Mith understood the importance of expressing their non compliance. “We never committed a single crime!”
Before they could go into another ramble, Drim got the keys from Bray and set them and Whill free.
“So where to next?” Mith asked as they exaggeratedly rubbed their wrists after being freed from the handcuffs. “We going to go raid the main base?”
“Main base?” Phon was the first to ask.
“Yes, of course!” Bere added. “Did you think this was all there was to it? This place is nothing more than a holding cell. The actual hideout is in an old mine not too far from here.”
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“Ah, yeah, I did hear them talk about that quite a bit,” Whill provided some ever so slightly more reliable intel.
“Tell you what,” Drim took the reins before it got out of hand. “You three go on ahead. We’re going to escort this mother and daughter to safety since they’ve been through so much already. I don’t really think you’ll need it, since you’re all already so capable, but we’ll have backup join you there soon.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Mith and Bere grabbed their confiscated gear from a rack nearby and rushed out of the cave.
Whill seemed a bit more unsure about the idea, so Phon sent him a little manipulation. “I’d be worried if it was just them, but luckily they’ll have a hero like you to keep them safe.”
“Damn right, I am a hero after all!” Whill straightened his suit and charged out after them.
“We won’t actually be providing backup, right?” Phon wanted to be sure once the nuisances were out of earshot.
“I never said who the backup would be,” Drim smugly shrugged. “My first thought was to call the police and tip them off, but they may not be enough. Now I’m thinking the Central Peace would be good since their headquarters isn’t too far. They could probably deploy faster than the police could.”
“I’ll take care of it then,” Phon immediately whipped out her phone. “Hello Uncle, how’s your day going?” she clearly wasn’t in a hurry to get to the point. After some small talk, she finally mentioned, “Oh by the way, could you get a message to the private military for us?”
“Yes, I know that’s not your department, but we don’t have a way to contact them. Who to reach out to…? Good question… Oh! I know. Have it sent to Jaid Luciri. She’ll take care of it. Yup, old friend of ours. I’m sure she’ll be delighted to hear from us. Thanks uncle, I’ll call you again soon.”
“We’re good to go,” Phon nodded over to Drim. He headed over to Bray and Mazie to discuss what they wanted to do next. After a long talk, Phon eventually teleported them all away.
◆◆◆
“Begging won’t work on me,” Ahvra lethargically leered at the woman knelt before her.
Bray and Mazie decided to move to the Fiends For Hire compound as residents. It wasn’t a particularly hard decision for them, since Mazie was already struggling to maintain a normal life, and Bray immediately had her doubts after her own transformation. She tried to establish a remote-work option with her current company, but they wouldn’t have it, so she was starting fresh.
Mazie had already expressed interest in becoming a member, once she was more grown of course. However, she would be allowed to take part in some of the less serious trainings to see if it’s something she wanted to pursue—a child’s whim is often fluid after all.
On the first night, after Mazie had been tucked in, Bray ventured over to the mansion with a new request. She had heard tell of The Witch’s power, and asked for the opportunity to grovel before her.
“Please,” Bray was on the verge of tears. “I have failed as a mother, and I don’t know if my daughter and I can ever have that relationship again. But Mazie is strong, and she doesn’t need me as a mother, but maybe I can be there for her as a friend! I will never abandon her, even if you say no, but I believe this is the best way that I can give her the life she’s always wanted.”
“Fine, I will grant your wish,” Ahvra finally caved, probably because this was just becoming a nuisance that was inhibiting her work. “But I have several conditions.”
“First, I will turn you back into a child, the same as your daughter; 5, yes? This will not be a gift of time. No, you’ll just be borrowing it”
“For whatever reason, age 105 is the limit of my power. I can’t make a person any older than that. So, assuming you’re still alive on what would be your 105th birthday, I’ll pay you a visit to take the time back. You will immediately grow to the age of 105, and live what little life you’d have left, or you may just die on the spot.”
“In exchange for not living out your elderly years, you’ll be getting a second chance at childhood. A bargain many would take, but they don’t know the full extent of what they ask. I hope you do.”
“The minute you’re turned back to 5 years old, mental capacity will be severely reduced. Not the least cognizant age I could make you, but dumb kid is still dumb kid. Over time, memories may start to fade and personality change a bit. Point is, if I ever change you back, you won’t be the same person.”
“Brings us to condition number two. You will be subjected to my experiments whenever I like. For you, most interested in the long term effects of age alteration, but may call upon you if I can’t find any volunteers for other experiments.”
“Third—won’t say last because I may think of more later—condition, is that you must make your daughter happy. You may doubt your child’s need for a mother, but even I understand the importance of a loving family. If that child is ever unhappy, or wishes for her mother back, I will give her back, and you will take responsibility.”
“A deal?” Ahvra stood up. She wanted to change into an adult to be taken more seriously, but staying a child was more convenient for what she was about to do, just height wise.
“Yes,” Bray finally started groveling and took Ahvra’s outstretched hand then. She wasn’t even given a warning before everything around her suddenly looked bigger.
◆◆◆
Mazie awoke in the morning and sleepily slumped out of bed. It took her a moment to remember where she was, her own room in their new apartment. After a quick trip to the bathroom, she went to the kitchen to look for food.
“Uhm, hello?” Mazie warily greeted the child who was sitting at the table. She looked awfully familiar. “Do you know where mommy is?”
The kid immediately frowned. “I’m sorry, your mother isn’t here right now… But my name is Bray. I’m here to… be… your friend!”
“Really?!” Mazie was instantly bursting with excitement. “Does that mean we can play all day?! Oh, I know. Will you be my best friend?! I’ve never had one before.”
“Yes!” Bray didn’t hesitate and slipped down from the chair. She rushed over to Mazie and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her tight. “I’ll be your best friend forever!”