“Welcome to FiendCon 3!” Valen, who was wearing a pair of Pox ears, greeted them with vigor after the group stepped out of her portal on the last day. On cue, a giant banner unfurled behind her over the convention center.
“I know what you’re all thinking: Wasn’t Fiendcon 2 just recently? Yes, yes it was. But once the organizers heard that you all would be participating, they managed to scrape it together and get the word out in just over a week!”
“No, I was thinking what the hell is Fiendcon,” Phon was annoyed already but then her eyes drifted over to Drim and Xard. “Seriously, what the hell is it…?” her interest and bewilderment only grew when she saw the distress in both of their faces.
“Oh yeah, I heard about this!” Kada at least somewhat knew. “Only found out about the second one after it had ended, or I totally would have gone. Been to a few conventions before, but none like this. The uhhh, convention center looks a bit shabby, though. Wait, are we in Shindig? This place looks like a rundown warehouse compared to the rest.”
“Yes, this was one of the buildings destroyed in the recent Mam-moth attack,” Valen informed them. “The owners gave us a steep discount since we’re probably the only business they’ll have until they open again in full. But the outside doesn’t matter. All the fun is indoors. So let’s get going!”
The Fiends were not ready for the deafening screams and applause when they rounded the corner. Someone in the crowd pointed them out and they got a bit rambunctious to say the least. The doors hadn’t been opened yet, so they were all still waiting to be let in, and it was more fans than any of them ever could have anticipated—except for Phon who had already taken a peek.
Still, the Fiends all became a bit overwhelmed even though the day was just beginning. Certainly, there’d been a surge in popularity of their group, mostly due to Chorus’ efforts, though they’d prefer to believe it was due to the Fiends For Hire’s hard work and good deeds. The fact that there were this many overeager and zealous supporters was staggering.
Tons of them were dressed in cosplay—Countless Drims and Xards. There were a few less Phons and Kadas, probably because their outfits were a bit more revealing and the season was only just starting to warm up. Some of the other Fiends For Hire members could be spotted throughout the crowd, though not nearly as many as the main four.
There were also a few Jaids and at least one Dura to represent the Central Peace. It didn’t look like anyone had a full Alk cosplay, mostly because her outfit was quite impractical to most, though there were a few black masks to showcase her in spirit. Unfortunately for Creti, it was hard to discern if someone was trying to look like her or was just so poor that they only had rags to wear.
In addition, some seemed to be putting their own spin on Fiends. A few appeared to be taking a more monstrous inspiration of those that already existed while others were cosplaying as their own original Fiends—hair and eye color combinations that had never been seen before. If someone actually was a Fiend, it’d be a good place to hideout in plain sight.
The chaos that swelled seemed to be getting a bit over rowdy. And the barriers—which thankfully there were barriers protecting the Fiends from the crowd—began to shake from the fans getting restless. Security stepped forward to try and calm things down to little success.
“Oh, you should put up a vine barrier, Drim,” Valen suggested. “Block them from seeing us so they calm down.”
“Wouldn’t that be kind of rude?” he had to ask. “Since they are here to see us after all.”
“Nah, they’ll love it,” she convinced him. “And it’ll be good proof that you all are the real deal. Wouldn’t be surprised if some of them are still trying to figure out if you’re well dressed fakes.”
Drim held out his hands and countless strands of vines rushed over to the barriers. They latched on and built a wall that completely obscured them from the crowd’s view.
“What the heck did you do?” Xard asked when the crowd, which they now couldn’t see, got even wilder.
“Oh, I added some of my usual roses on the other side that they could pluck as souvenirs,” he mentioned. “In hindsight, I now realize that it may have been a bad idea.”
“Well, there’s still some time before opening, so let’s get you all inside,” Valen ushered them towards the side door. “Go ahead and go through security, and I’ll meet you all in just one second. After I get one of those roses!”
“Hmm, that’s some impressive security,” Xard admired the machine that they walked through after Valen caught up with them. “It even found Phon’s hidden baby knife.”
“Ahh, yes, that was definitely something vital,” Valen nodded. “We can’t exactly discern the good from the bad. So at a venue with so many wanted criminals, we have to keep further criminals from infiltrating the place while also keeping the criminals inside safe from bounty hunters and law enforcement. We won’t ask you all to surrender your weapons, though.”
“And more importantly, you may have also noticed a bit of mist floating about in the scanner. Should be fairly undetectable unless you know what you’re looking for, which is good because some attendees would refuse if they noticed. That’s a deodorizer. So if you didn’t take a shower this morning, no one should know. Trust me, you’ll be thankful later.”
“Now, your days aren’t too busy. We wanted to give you time and walk around so you could enjoy the event too. You guys will be the opening panel in the biggest room. Since it’s already full to the brim with reservations, we’ll be broadcasting it around the center for everyone to see who can’t attend.”
“What, you want us to like present or something?!” Kada started to panic. “But I don’t have anything prepared. Ahhhh, I haven’t had nightmares like this since back in high school.”
“No need to worry about that,” Valen assured them. “You’re welcome to talk about anything you want, but we have a few other presentations in mind. For you all, it will mostly be Q&A at the end that will take up the majority of the time. So let’s get you back to the yellow room before people start flooding in.”
◆◆◆
The Greaters hung around backstage, relaxing and noshing on the provided snacks. The organizers decided not to bring them out on the stage right away at the start of the panel since it’d just cause the audience to get restless and disinterested while the other speakers were presenting. But the group still got to watch what was happening on a monitor in the yellow room.
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“Greetings everyone and welcome to Fiendcon 3!” Valen began the panel. “I know it was short notice, so I want to thank you all for such an amazing turnout. Without a doubt, this will be the best Fiendcon yet!”
“Before we go any further, we do need to lay some additional ground rules since we do have a lot more Fiends on site than at previous events. Most of them are common sense, but sometimes you have to reinforce the basics.”
“First and most importantly, the Fiends are here at our behest, but please understand that they do not owe us or you anything. I’m sure most of them will try to make your experience here as memorable as possible.”
“But if they get annoyed or upset, they are welcome to leave, and we won’t try to stop them. So please be on your best behavior. Don’t ask anything of them that you yourself wouldn’t want. Definitely don’t try to goad or attack them because you think they’ll be fine. And certainly don’t touch them in any way without their permission. That’s more for your safety than theirs.”
“If they don’t want to answer your question or complete your request, they don’t have to. Just because they’re Fiends, some of you might have forgotten that they’re still people and not animals at the zoo for you to gawk at. They can get uncomfortable and have their feelings strained just like everyone else.”
“I know this because I myself just recently turned into a Fiend, and I wake up everyday feeling just the same as I did when I was a human. So that brings us to the panel, and allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Valen, The Boyslove Bloodletter, a Fiend who just recently joined the Fiends For Hire.”
“And I would like to talk just a bit about my experience with them so far. I am not a traditional member. Instead, I work in the science department. I’m sure a few of you all have already read about my circumstances in joining, about the fun day I had kidnapping Drim and Xard which has led to my lifelong servitude.”
“But, just because I am a member now, do not expect me to be spilling all their secrets. In a first for the group, I was actually hit by a Drazah Demand from Drim to not share anything confidential. Either speaking aloud or writing it on one of the forums online, I physically can’t do it.”
“It’s certainly for the best, since I have a certain reputation among the community about being a bit of a blather mouth, and I’m terrible at keeping secrets. But because of that, you can be assured that anything I say is the genuine truth, and that there won’t be any repercussions of me saying it.”
“I know most of you didn’t believe me at the last Fiendcon, and unfortunately, I can’t actually use my Curse as proof. As a surprising side effect of the demand, I’m not allowed to actually discuss the nature of my Curse anymore, as even that would be telling of some confidential facets. Some of you may remember bits of it, and I would ask that you keep them to yourselves, but I understand that the speculation mill will do what it will, so you’ll probably have a good idea soon enough.”
“So anyways, my first few days were a lot of tests, mostly judging the limits of my Curse. After that, I was released into the care of the science department, mainly Ahvra as my direct supervisor. She hasn’t been quite what I expected. Sure she’s short, both physically and with her words, but she’s far more compassionate and considerate than I’m sure any of us realized.”
“Sadly, she’s not here today at the convention, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. But she’s almost taken on like a mentor role for me—very patient and willing to explain things when I make mistakes. She says that they’re just variables to change instead of anything I need to fret over. I have been dissected a few times, but it’s honestly not bad at all once you get over the mental hurdle.”
“She’ll probably hit me for saying this, but I’ve come to think of her like a big sister, and I think she’s reciprocated, and probably welcomes it because Andi has mostly transitioned under Farian’s care. So I think she’s just been a bit lonely.”
“And Farian and Andi have been great as well, and are here today, by the way. They’re usually up in the clinic, so I don’t see them much during the day, but we hang out quite a bit in the lounge of the secret lab after hours. It’s been a lot of fun, like being back in college with roommates again. Though, they go out a lot on their own.”
“Honestly, I think they may actually be dating. They’ve never said as much in confirmation, but there’s plenty of signs. We may actually have our first official FFH couple! Shoutout to the Fariandi squad for calling it first!” There were a few woos in the crowd.
“And before you ask, since I was able to mention it, the secret lab isn’t really confidential anymore. Definitely one of the worst kept secrets like the CP headquarters. Of course, I can’t actually tell you anything about how it’s accessed.”
“Anyways, as for Nathym, I actually haven’t seen him around much at all. He’s been out working on some big project I can’t talk about. But when I do see him, he’s friendly enough, but avoids getting too close to me because of his condition. Yup, I can confirm that to everyone, but he just has to know it makes us want to write about him even more!”
“So anyways, my time there. My day to day is pretty routine, lots of experiments, lots of waiting around, not the glamorous dream most people have of the Fiends For Hire. However, I have free reign of the compound and can come and go as I please as long as I show up for work.”
“The place really is everything like we’ve imagined. I’ll be posting a lot of pictures soon, once they’ve been approved—got in trouble for that already—since I know the bits that people really want to see. And just being around them has been amazing. Pretty sure the other members find me creepy since I just kind of lurk and don’t say too much—just so starstruck—but it’s getting better.”
“And even though I’m not a full member, they let me take the ranking tests since I wanted to witness them first hand. These aren’t confidential, but they haven’t really released all the details, so I’ll clarify some things.”
“First of all, yup, that’s lube on the first two tests. I didn’t have to interact with it at all on the first test, but I found out personally on the second when I was knocked into it by Nachi. That wasn’t a fun rest of the day since she didn’t let me do anything about it until after the third test, but that was no issue.”
“I still haven’t attempted the fourth yet since I’d have to do it over the weekend, and I can’t use it as an excuse to miss work. Plus, the wild has never been my favorite thing. I need to figure out the best way to use my Curse and a plan of attack before even attempting it. If I do make more advancements, I’ll be sure to post about it.”
“Now I have actually done two real missions—one by choice. It was to transport a witness in protective custody stealthily across the continent, something my Curse is quite suited for. That was so thrilling and went off without a hitch, probably because I’m so unknown as a Fiend so far.”
“The second mission was a punishment for posting a photo I didn’t have permission to post of the secret lab. I thought it wasn’t anything serious, but apparently there was part of a scientific formula in the background that’s confidential, so they had to use their resources to scrub it from the bowels of the internet. And let me just say, if you have a copy of it somewhere, post it at your own risk.”
“It was definitely an oopsie on my part, and I accepted my punishment with grace. The mission was to clean the sewer system of Bisomote—as far from glamorous as you can get. But it wasn’t too bad. Thanks to some remote assistance from The Beacon, I got it done pretty quickly. Can’t quite say how she helped me, but it would have been so much worse without her.”
“And just a shoutout to The Beacon, by the way. I can understand why she wasn’t allowed into the Fiends For Hire, but she does some good work out there. And she’s always willing to help out anyone, especially Fiends, or Cosmos’ Chosen as she calls them. Really a good soul that I feel is underappreciated in the Fiend community, probably because of so few interactions.”
“Anyways, that’s been my story so far. It’s only getting started, but I won’t take up any more of your time, so we can get to what you’re really here for. That said, I’ll be walking around after this, so feel free to approach me with any questions you have. But let’s go ahead and move on to our next speaker!