“Out of my way, small fries!” Lieu blasted the children with his gun, showing no mercy as he trudged past their corpses—or at least that’s how the children took it, decisively shot and defeated in laser tag by the man who seemed far too old to be playing it. The ex-soldier was possibly taking it a bit too seriously, but he was determined to have his own fun.

His pride was on the line as a former veteran, and he couldn’t let his upstart friend, who had never seen real war, best him at the game he chose. Somehow, even though Kalter couldn’t use his Curse, he was still a very good shot and just as good at dodging. Now they were almost tied. Lieu was having a hard time pinning him down, and these little tykes kept getting in the way. He’d already come close to accidentally trampling a few of them.

The two Fiends had tried to book the entire laser tag arena just for themselves, but the venue refused, since a few children’s birthday parties were already in progress. However, since it was only the two of them, the manager let them join the games, which they were certainly regretting now.

Lieu and Kalter had both formed their own solo team, so it was quite literally each of them versus everyone else. Not that either Fiend had counted, but there were roughly three or four different teams of children running around, trying to have their own matches against each other. But at some point, all the kids, even those that had never met before, all made a pact and one unified front against the evil villains.

It was highly unlikely that either man noticed their team-up or gave it any consideration. Both Fiends shot and ‘killed’ any child they saw immediately—swatting them away like flies in their path. To them, their battle was between the two of them alone, and they got so engaged that they barely even noticed anything around them.

Lieu wished he had some of his mines or at least maybe a tripwire. He considered fashioning one from the straps of the vest they’d forced him to wear, but then they’d almost certainly charge him to replace it. So this fight had devolved into hit and run tactics on both sides—whoever could find the other person and get away before they faced retaliation.

Kalter was smaller and could more easily maneuver around the course, but Lieu was quicker on the draw, so he just had to keep his eyes open, and make sure his friend didn’t get the drop on him. Keeping his ears open, he heard some scrambling behind him, so he whirled around, while grabbing the nearest kid who was attempting to charge in his direction by the scruff.

Lieu held up the child as a shield, the poor kid taking several laser blasts from Kalter’s gun. The athlete was so thrown off by Lieu’s brashness that he was hit by a return shot before he could scramble away. Lieu set the kid down and began pursuit, hoping to catch up with Kalter again before he could return to his base, planning to blast him again as soon as he was vulnerable. He wasn’t below camping the boy’s spawn point if it meant victory.

Eventually, the lights came back on, signaling the end of the match. They boys met up in the lobby to see their scores since Lieu had lost count at some point during the fight. However, they found their names nowhere on the leaderboard, only the teams of children with pathetic tallies.

“Yeah, so you guys were doing all kinds of rule-breaking zjik, so we disqualified you,” the low-level employee, who clearly didn’t care about this job whatsoever, informed them when they went to the counter to complain. She didn’t even flinch in the face of Fiends, showing really just how defeated and dead inside she was. The spineless manager who let them play in the first place was nowhere to be found, cowardly hiding behind their more competent employee.

The two men had already vented enough anger through the game, so they dropped the issue and headed outside. There, they were met by a battalion of moms with their sniveling children behind them who were pointing out the two men who had ruined the game. Mom-squad was ready to give the Fiends an earful, until they saw that they were actually Fiends, and quickly pretended like they were looking for someone else before ushering their children to the cars with expedience.

“I’ll admit, that was pretty fun,” Kalter couldn’t deny. “I do feel better, but next time, let’s reserve the place without the whimpering children.”

“Agreed. Now- hold on one second,” Lieu picked up his phone since he was getting a call.

“So what’s the next plan on this Mancation of—” Kalter’s words stopped when he noticed that Lieu had walked away, deeply engaged in whatever this phone call was.

The ex-soldier came back with a maniacal grin on his face, scrolling through his phone until he pulled up an article to show Kalter. “One of the Vice-Representatives of Horage just got ousted. Apparently, the other Vice-Reps were the ones who reported her, and the main Rep condemned her actions. Connections to monster breeding, human trafficking, and arming terrorist groups. Wild zjik going on at the Central Peace.”

“And why do we care about some political drama?” Kalter questioned the importance.

“Because that was a call from a friend of mine back before I joined Above,” Lieu elaborated. “He works for the agency that assigns Criminal Score, and used to call me with big tip offs. As of three minutes ago, this former politician has a DoA warrant.”

“Again, why should we care?” Now Kalter was starting to get annoyed since his friend wasn’t getting to the point. “Are you saying we should degrade ourselves to basic bounty hunters now?”

“I’m saying that this is a chance to get that publicity you were talking about!” Lieu clenched his fist with excitement. “This info hasn’t hit the bounty hunter network yet, so not even the For Hires would know about it. And it’s only a matter of time before the CP sends their squad after her too. This is our chance to nab the Silver Swan before anyone else. So let’s kill this mawhged up politician, earn an assload from the bounty, and make front page of tomorrow’s headlines!”

“We don’t even—” Kalter still tried to refuse but couldn’t finish voicing his concerns.

“Last known location: seen entering her beachside mansion in the south-west corner of Horage. Her private army has been making fortifications.”

“That’s… not far from here at all,” Kalter’s eyes went wide, now finally understanding how possible this really was. “Fine, for once let’s come in first.” The men grabbed each other’s hands and shook on their commitment. They then bounded to the top of the laser tag arcade where they’d parked Kalters blimp and took off.

◆◆◆

The news broke about the politician’s misdeeds and her warrant while the two Fiends were in flight. But that only made it easier for the pair to find her location, since some bold local news station had gone to the mansion and started broadcasting live. This made it trivial for Kalter to aim the blimp directly towards it, and they raced towards their prey.

Through the livestream, they could see that the police had already surrounded the perimeter, so they couldn’t dally. But Lieu read a little deeper into the woman’s crimes to kill the time and temper his excitement. That didn’t work quite as he planned, though, since he only got more assured about what they were doing as he read into her actions. Also, a few more of her crimes came to light by the minute, increasing her criminal score, and making her bounty only that much juicier.

As they got closer to the mansion, they saw a military caravan on the road beneath them. Things were moving quite fast, so they just had to be even faster. But as soon as the mansion was actually in sight, two helicopters swarmed around the blimp, touting that it was a restricted airspace, and demanded that they either land or turn around.

“Screw these zjikholes, max speed, Kalter!” Lieu pointed forward in earnest, straight at the mansion.

“No, we need to be slowing down if we’re going to land!” the pilot insisted, actually understanding how momentum worked.

“Nah, we’re getting the jump on all these mawhgers!” Lieu got that devilish look in his eye again. “Don’t slow down. We’re forcing our way in!”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Kalter could only sigh, but knew he wouldn’t win with any kind of logic when the veteran got like this. Crazy and reckless was Lieu’s wheelhouse and where he did his best work. Though with his Curse, he could afford to act with abandon. So Kalter did as was asked, and funneled as much power as he could through the blimp, and they jerked forward with blazing speed.

The two flew right over the police blockade, right past the make-shift fortifications the resisting force had built, and crashed the blimp right through the third story window of the mansion—only having their momentum finally stopped by wrecking a priceless piano. Fortunately, the blimp’s cockpit was fitted with well-restrained seats, so the boys were fine, though a bit shook up, as they wrestled with the straps to set themselves free.

Lieu stumbled out of the blimp first and was shot on sight by the bewildered and quick-triggered guards. “Hahaha! These idiots!” Lieu laughed madly and then shouted, “Fog of War!” It didn’t take him long to clear the room, clicking his lips in annoyance when all threats were gone and his Curse deactivated.

“Alright, Kalter, you cover the rear and watch the windows,” Lieu ordered once his wounds had been fully healed by his fog. “Snipe anyone before they get too close, but only hit the legs if they’re law enforcement. They’ll be forced to act since we’ve made our move. So we need to find this mawhger before they can get inside!”

Room by room, they cleared the mansion as they made their way down. Kalter hadn’t been able to adjust the blimp enough to get it to crash into the first floor, since it was doubtful from the beginning that the villain would be up high. They were almost certainly in some underground bunker. The two Fiends just had to hope that she didn’t have some escape tunnel, but if she did, they could catch up fast.

Lieu didn’t struggle at all, easily able to dispatch any resistance once he’d been fired upon. Only on one occasion did the guards not immediately shoot at him. Instead, they hid behind flipped over tables and just pointed their guns. This annoyed the Guerilla, so he grabbed the nearest bust and hurled it at them, finally prompting them to fire.

On Kalter’s end, they never were ambushed from behind, so he could solely focus on what was going on outside. It was a full skirmish between the military and this woman’s private army. A few of her soldiers did try to retreat back into the house, and a few of the military tried to sneak around, but Kalter made sure they didn’t get the chance.

He had a few darts with him at all times, but they were really nice, and in this situation, he wasn’t confident that he’d always be able to get them to return or retrieve them later. So instead, he threw whatever small bits he could find, usually bullet projectiles leftover from Lieu’s skirmishes. But he did joust a few pool cues he came across in one of the rooms, surely confusing everyone who witnessed them.

The original idea was to kill all of the politician's guards. But he decided that would only give the military an advantage and allow them to breach the interior even quicker. So he acted as an aggressor against both sides, physically disabling them from progressing further. There were a lot of busted kneecaps, shattered ankles, and impaled legs to prevent them from walking. For every guard he hit, he tried to hit a soldier too, so the odds would stay even—often getting a 2-for-1 shot.

It only took the Fiends a few minutes to make their way down to the ground floor. Once he’d cleared out the parlor, Lieu took a moment to lay out a few traps for anyone stupid enough to come through the front door and then did the same for the back.

“This office looks mighty suspicious, wouldn’t you say, Kalter?” the Guerilla grinned at his friend as they took a look around. It was rather small for an office meant for a politician of this stature. The walls were surrounded with untouched and dusty books on all sides. Lieu tried picking at one, but it didn’t budge—all clearly fake.

The room’s rug had also been rolled up and leaned against the wall. At the very center of the office was a desk—a boring plain-old desk with nothing at all on it. Lieu tried picking up the desk but found it wouldn’t budge. There was almost certainly some cliche trick among the bookshelves to get it to move, but they didn’t have time for such annoyances.

With one solid kick from above, the ex-soldier smashed the desk in half, crashing through the boards below too, and revealing the hidden stairs. Not missing a beat, both boys rushed down through it as the fighting around them only got louder and closer. They were running out of time.

“That’s a big sturdy door,” Kalter rapped his hand against the metal of the large double doors blocking their path. “Got something that can blast through this?”

“Tch, not anything that wouldn’t also collapse this tunnel or kill us too!” he had to refuse. “But maybe if I just…” he grabbed the two handles and pulled with all his might. “Damn, no good!” he let go after seriously straining his muscles. “Not even a Fiend’s strength will be enough.”

“Let me handle it,” Kalter brushed past him and grabbed both handles. He began pulling with every ounce of strength. “I will never come second to anyone ever again! Not even you, Lieu!”

For Kalter’s Curse to take effect, he only had to fulfill one condition, which was to touch and throw an object. But the definition of throw wasn’t so specific, and in reality, it just meant that he had to move the object at all. So Kalter went past straining his body, nearly ripping his muscles apart as he pulled at the door. But he didn’t need to open them, and nearly let out a tear of self-satisfaction when the doors creaked, even moving just a fraction of an inch.

He let his Curse take hold and moved off to the side, prompting Lieu to do the same. It wouldn’t be easy, but Kalter could unleash his full power now. He targeted the wall on the opposite of the room and aimed the doors at them with as much force as possible. They really didn’t want to budge, but it was all about willpower now.

Kalter screamed at the top of his lungs, surely alerting anyone nearby to their location, but it had to be done so he could push himself past his limits. The boy doubled over on the ground in pain, clenching his entire body as he put more energy and effort into his Curse. Eventually, the bolts holding the door in place buckled, and the two giant slabs of metal flew across the room and slammed into the wall with a reverberating crash.

“Ahahah, wow, you did it!” Lieu laughed in disbelief. He ran over and helped his friend to his feet but then said, “You just wait here a moment and catch your breath while I clean up this trash.”

There was more maniacal laughter and countless gunshots when Lieu entered the bunker, but they’d stopped entirely by the time Kalter poked his head in. Everyone else was dead except for Lieu and the scummy politician. His Curse had faded since she never attacked him, but he kept his gun drawn at her.

There wasn’t time for a standoff, however, or for the woman to beg for her life. The Fiends heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs behind them, so they scrambled. Lieu grabbed the woman and hid behind her, pointing his gun at her head. And Kalter was able to hide his slimmer frame behind Lieu’s bulging one to keep him from any harm.

Soldiers quickly surrounded them, clearly having won the fight as expected. “Drop the weapon and surrender. We’re taking you all into custody!” one of them shouted.

“Kalter, do it!” Lieu ordered his friend before addressing the soldiers. “No, we’re taking this bounty, and here’s where to send the bill!” With his freehand, he flung a business card at someone in the room.

Fog then started pouring from his eyes. Kalter had used one of his darts to stab Lieu directly in a buttcheek—where it would hurt the least but still count as an attack. “And here’s your proof!” Lieu blasted the woman in the head, killing her instantly, but grabbed her corpse before it could hit the ground.

The soldiers opened fire at that point, but it was too late. “We’re taking the body with us, so you can’t steal the credit for yourselves,” the Guerilla informed them as his own body evaporated into fog.

Similarly to Phon’s Curse, who could teleport anything she touched along with herself, Lieu could bring anything or anyone he was touching with him. So with the corpse in one arm, and Kalter in the other, they dissolved into a cloud and flew out of the room.

Control was one of the harder things for Lieu to learn while he was in this state, but he’d eventually mastered it after getting one of his companions to stab him several times over. The foggy cloud drifted back upstairs to their blimp. Some soldiers were investigating the outside, trying to figure out how to open it, and didn’t even see the fog slip in through the cracks.

Given the shape of the blimp, it could only really move forward, so Kalter had to make it crash through the other side of the mansion, further depreciating the property value even more. As the Fiends made their escape, a weird object flew past them, descending towards the ground. The boys eventually recognized it as the coffin of Izma Ronk, and once they landed, they watched Jaid Luciri pop out of one of the pods.

They really had made it out just in time. Kalter was still tired from the doors, and using his fog escape left Lieu weak as well. So taking on the CP Fiends at this time would surely result in their loss. To avoid any further chance of them being shot out of the sky, Kalter built up any remaining strength and blasted them out of the area as fast as he could.

Once they were firmly out of danger, Kalter flew them over the nearby ocean. After taking plenty of pictures as proof, they filmed themselves dumping the body into the water where no one would ever find it. No matter what, they made sure that they’d be the ones given proper credit.

With that all out of the way, the two men could finally take a moment to sit and relax. It was silent and awkward for a bit, but as they stared at each other, smiles crept onto both of their faces, and eventually, they both burst out laughing at the insanity they’d just gone through.

Crazy as it may be, it was the most fun, the most exhilarated Kalter had been in a long time. So he couldn’t help but ask, “Now what’s next for this Mancation?”