Back in Drim’s room, Mallea quickly crafted a new set of clothes for him. It didn’t take but a moment, since she had already made copies of his clothes in roughly that size before. Speaking of which, Pox had run out of the room during this time to go get his own version of the outfit so that they could match. Mallea may have also added the pointed ear-pouches to Drim’s hood as well because it was just too damn cute.
She wanted nothing more than to watch over him all day and relive that blissful life when she first became his caretaker. But she had work to do and knew this problem wouldn’t solve itself if she indulged in her selfish desires. Mallea took Drim over to the main building, and while he was shy at first, he quickly got used to the other children and started playing with them.
Things had gotten significantly more under control in the little time since she’d been away, so Mallea, Deborah, and Crucion sat down and got to work. First, they needed to check if everyone was accounted for. It was the weekend, so most members were taking the day off. But, Rezin was out at the assisted living facility again, and a few other Lessers and Fiends were off on missions.
Residents and members weren’t required to stay at the compound, but the barrier logged any time someone entered or exited. All residents who were on-site were accounted for. There were a few off on trips or out doing errands or working. One had come back to the compound since the change had happened, but they went back to their home as if nothing was different, and was sent a text explaining the situation.
That just left a few members that hadn’t been found yet. While Ahvra was likely at the center of this, the members of the science department didn’t exactly go anywhere, so they should be easy to find. Solving this issue would come after ensuring everyone was safe and sound. In between making sure that the children weren’t about to injure themselves, Rusa was digging through Ahvra’s recent experiment notes to see what she could uncover. So they were at least making progress on that front.
“I had a feeling things were a bit too calm and quiet,” Mallea quipped in the room filled with restless and screaming children. Phon was one of the only two members unaccounted before, besides the scientists. As far as she was concerned, it’d be for the best if that little tyrant stayed missing until this was all resolved.
The other missing Fiend was Itsy. “You checked her room, right?”
“Yes,” Crucion confirmed. “Her room is bigger than the rest, but I checked every inch. Since she’s often working on her monster truck, I checked inside the cab too, but there was no sign of her.”
As if on cue, there was a thud on the table they were sitting at. A toddler appeared and then fell back onto her butt. She was carrying a small infant in her arms, the smallest they’d ever seen in their lives.
It was obvious that the first was Phon. She had dressed herself in an oversized shirt and was still wearing her usual hat, though it was far too big for her head. Who was she holding, though? Process of elimination and the rust-red hair meant it could only be one person, but how could such a behemoth of a woman turn into this little shrimp. The baby was so small it looked like it shouldn’t have even been born yet.
“She is actually alive, right?” Deborah stared in concern.
“Yes,” the baby Phon answered to everyone but Mallea’s surprise. “She’s still breathing, but she can’t seem to make any noise or even really move at all. I found her stuck in the engine of her monster truck. She must have been working on it when the change happened and then fell inside.”
“Okay, great, but why are you acting normally?” Rusa had rushed over and was now fully examining Phon with her Curse activated.
“As Mallea is sure to remember, I have been fully cognizant ever since I was about this age,” Phon answered clearly. She really did seem to have roughly the same mental awareness.
“Oh, how I wish I could forget. Maybe if you had stayed a cute innocent baby for longer, then you wouldn’t have grown up to be… well… you.” Mallea had absolutely no quandaries about throwing shade at this baby in particular.
“Quite intriguing,” Rusa was more excited about this crisis now than she really ought to have been. “It seems everyone's actual personal and medical history is taken into account when their time is rewound. Oh, how it makes me wish I had some. I feel like I’m missing out on the childlike wonder. Well, if things aren’t fixed within the next few weeks, I’ll just join in then.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Mallea wanted as little time around all these children as possible. “Now that everyone is accounted for, I’ll head to the lab and figure out what the zjik is going on. If you’d teleport me there, little tyke.”
“Ask me nicer next time, but I’m going to refuse,” Phon pouted. “My Curse is very hard to use right now. This small form just doesn’t have the stamina. Finding and rescuing Itsy and then bringing her here took a lot out of me. I can tell you the usual group was down there the last I looked, though. Oh, and I’m coming with you!”
“Fine then,” Mallea got up and took a few steps towards the exit but then stopped. “Aren’t you coming?
Phon glanced at the floor, refusing to look Mallea in the eyes. “Carry me,” she demanded.
“Huhhhh?” Mallea groaned in confused disbelief.
“I said, carry me!” Phon repeated herself in annoyance. “I’m tired, and small, and walking takes too much time. If I have to do it myself, it’ll take forever to get there.”
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“Uhuh….” A grin slid onto Mallea’s face. “You just told me that we need to ask things more nicely of each other, and I agree. So go on then…”
Phon let out a deep sigh. “Pl.. Ple… Please… Please carry me.” She finally spat out the words like they were bitter ash in her mouth.
“Oh, if only you had been so well behaved when you were actually this age. It brings a tear to my eye when I think of what could have been,” Mallea jested rhetorically as she hoisted Phon onto her shoulder. Neither would stand for the indecency of Phon having to be carried around like an actual baby.
Just as they were about to actually exit the room this time, the door opened, and a very frustrated Andi entered. She was holding a small Nathym in one hand, keeping him as far away from her as he could. Her other arm was covering her chest as if she was covering herself while naked. “Someone, please take this little wretch off my hands,” she begged. “I need to get back to looking after Ahvra, but this bastard keeps causing trouble if I look away for two seconds.”
“Is he really that bad?” Phon asked after Hazzle came to take Nathym away.
“You’re cosdamn right!” Andi’s agitation was bubbling over. “He dismantled everything he could get his hands on. My pens, my phone… my bra…” It was clear his gynophobia didn’t bother him as a child since he was now trying to wriggle himself into Hazzle’s top.
“What did you mean that you’d get back to taking care of Ahvra? Is she not a baby like everyone else?” Mallea hoped that the worst option was off the table.
“No… Uhhh… she’s sick… but…” Andi tried to explain. “It’s better if you just come and take a look.”
Andi rushed back ahead of them while the other two made a slight detour to Phon’s room. Mallea’s excuse was that she didn’t want Phon’s naked bum resting on her shoulder for any longer than they had to. After making an altered set of clothes, they hurried down to the lab.
Ahvra had been taken back to her room, and Andi had hooked up several machines to monitor her vitals. The small girl was lying in bed, unconscious. She was sweating through her clothes and breathing heavily with no sign of waking up any time soon.
“She’s been like this since I found her,” Andi explained. “Nothing I could do would wake her up. I tried giving her medicine and hooked up an IV, but… it looks like she’s getting worse. It’s not rapid or anything, and I’m not a doctor, but it feels like she’ll just keep declining if it goes on like this. May take days or weeks, but she might die.”
“And if she dies, we might be stuck like this,” Phon sounded both concerned and selfishly worried at the same time.
Mallea had some clinical experience, but not enough to offer much more. So, Rusa was called down for a moment to give her thoughts, having at least studied various diseases and medical treatment, but it was about the same diagnosis as Andi’s. “All symptoms make this look like a standard viral infection, but this makes no sense for a Fiend.” Those words didn’t exactly inspire hope.
“Okay, I have an idea!” Phon struggled to climb onto Ahvra’s bed and then hovered over the unconscious girl. Slap after slap, Phon slammed her tiny hands into Ahvra’s face, alternating between each cheek. She did it for about a minute, until there were visible marks, but then gave up. “Well, if that’s not waking her up, nothing will. We need a real doctor.”
“And where exactly do you think we’ll find a doctor that can treat a Fiend?” Mallea wasn’t questioning the idea, just the how. “I guess Drome Coli would be the obvious starting point.”
“Well, as it happens, I heard about a miracle doctor when I was there recently,” Phon gave them a lead to go on. “Don’t know where they work or who they are, but basically everyone in the city was gossiping about him.”
“Okay, let’s get moving then. As much as I’d love to raise Drim again, I’d quit immediately if I was stuck with the rest of you. Abby, can I trust you to keep looking after her?” Andi merely nodded in acceptance as she went to go grab another IV.
Before heading out, Phon and Ahvra briefly returned to the main room. It seemed the lull had passed where everything was under control. Nachi and Tize had each other pinned, wrestling in the middle of the floor. Several of the babies, and Pox included, were all holding hands and spinning in a ring around the two elderly fighters while humming.
“I see everything’s going well,” Mallea addressed the now even more exhausted looking Deborah. She called over all the staff and explained the situation. For the time being, the Fiends For Hire would be operating as a daycare, both young and old, until she and Phon returned from Drome Coli—hopefully with some help.
Even with flying, it wouldn’t be a fast trip, not to mention tracking down this miracle doctor. So, the human staff would have to keep all these overly strong elderly citizens and superpowered babies alive and well for a minimum of a few days. At least they had Rusa to help, but this incarnation of her didn’t care much for responsibility, and seemed to be growing more and more bored of the situation by the minute.
To ease some of the burden, Mallea took a few minutes to make a full line of baby clothes, tailor made to each Fiend. Cosmos knows she couldn’t make them all look generic. Because if the Fiends found out they were dressed in dregs, she’d never hear the end of it once they turned back into adults. It seemed becoming a Fiend also came with an inexcusable fashion sense and aesthetic commitment.
While Mallea had been working, Drim had approached her, an eager look in his eye. But, being the good kid that he is, he noticed that she was busy and waited his turn. With every passing minute, however, he started to fidget and pout more and more but still never complained.
The moment Mallea was done, Drim raced over, bouncing with excitement. He finally pulled out the item he’d been hiding behind his back and showed it to her with the biggest grin on his face. “I maded you this drawing!” It was a picture of her, Drim, and Pox hugging at the base of a tree.
Squeeeeee!!!!!!! Wait… Squee? Parental instincts that had been dormant for over a decade suddenly started firing in full, nearly melting her heart from pure happiness. The feelings were confusing and conflicting with her unbreakable professional facade, so she couldn’t fully show her joy in the moment. “Thank you Drim. I love it,” Mallea still took it with an endearing smile that she’d only let him see.
The happy boy ran off to play with the other children again while Mallea examined the drawing once more. It was still in the realm of what one would expect from a child—drawn in crayon with rough edges. However, it was far more detailed and artistic than he should be capable of. Maybe some sense of skill or talent hadn’t been lost when their bodies had gone back in time.
To Mallea, though, it was a masterpiece—something she’d want to put on the mansion’s fridge immediately. However, she knew the adult Drim would certainly dispose of it if he ever saw it, so she’d have to hide it in her room.
Once the plans had been organized the best they could, and one final hug with Drim from both of them, Phon and Mallea headed off to a helicopter, hoping to make it to Drome Coli before nightfall.