Gatrim and Kaizu were already waiting for Xard out by the mansion’s front steps. They were both inspecting their weapons, having not used them in some time, and were both adorned in their combat outfits that had undergone a few alterations. Gatrim’s change was minor. His vestments no longer bore the Foilepe family crest, having been replaced with a Fiends For Hire logo.
But Kaizu’s black slitted outfit had been changed to alabaster to match her hair. And she now donned a wide-brimmed matching sunhat. The woman no longer looked like a reaper out to stalk her prey, but rather ready for a nice stroll on the beach. It highlighted her change, both in appearance and personality.
“I should warn you,” Kaizu brought up right away. “But I no longer kill anyone myself. If their own guilt consumes them, however, that is another matter.”
“That’s perfectly fine,” Xard saw no issue. “You can leave that burden to me. And our goal here isn’t necessarily to kill them, but to make sure they leave and never return while ensuring the safety of the town. However, if they decide to stand their ground and fight back, then I’ll resort to more direct methods.”
“Well there is one more thing to discuss,” Tize strolled up, right on time. “Crucion. A few days ago, he was on a fake supply run and got captured by Humanity. Though from what we can tell, they’re treating him well enough. We suspect Humanity believes that they’ve saved him from us, as if we were forcing him as a human into our servitude. There’s also a good chance they’re trying to win him over to their side.”
“And we’ve been planning over the past few days on how to save him without causing an incident. But now that plans have changed, feel free to do as you will. I just figured I’d mention it in case you were thinking of causing excessive force in the area—to be careful that he doesn’t get caught up in the crossfire. But I doubt you would anyways as to not overly damage the town.”
“However, there is an additional issue as a result, and that’s Itsy. She’s gone ballistic ever since. We’ve had to restrain her and lock her in her garage in the meantime so that she wouldn’t go off and do something drastic. But now that it’s come to liberation, I’d ask that you take her with you. As we’ve seen with Kaizu, if our members keep their aggression bottled up too much, it can have devastating consequences, so we should let her out to vent.”
“Alright, that’s fine,” Xard agreed. “She’ll help get this done even faster, I’m sure. So let’s go let her out and get this started.”
The small group walked over to the rotating member cubes on the east side of the compound. Conveniently, Itsy’s garage was already up on the surface, and a guard had been posted in case she tried to escape. But Xard wasn’t sure who, or what it was.
“Uhh, a new Fiend?” the man probed for an introduction.
“Hmm, yes and no,” Tize looked for the right words. “It’s hard to explain, but you’ve met them before. This is Ten Tackles.”
The short girl jumped up at the mention of her name. “Hello Fiend Tize!” she saluted with what Xard then quickly realized wasn’t a traditional arm. “I have not left my post. Fiend Itsy is still inside, though she yells on occasion about Human Crucion. As ordered, anytime I hear her bang on the door, I increase her allergic reaction to it.”
“Okay, I’m going to need a bit more of an explanation,” Xard was completely enthralled by the monster girl, and it wasn’t something he could just accept and let slip by. Somehow the giant behemoth of a monster had been compacted into a small, mostly humanoid, girl.
She only went up to about Xard’s chest, and that included the large trunk and fin above her face, looking more like a squid-shaped hat that the girl was wearing. And her ten tentacles had been divided up around her body. Four of them had become her limbs. On her hands at least, what had previously been a blade at the end of the tentacle had been broken up into five sharp nubs that resembled fingers.
Xard wasn’t sure if that was the same case for her feet since they were tucked away in specially made shoes. But the other six tentacles were protruding from the bottom of her squid-like hat, mimicking hair with their swordfish tips dangling at the end as dangerous accessories.
“So this is actually the result of a dual synchronization,” Tize started to explain. “Between Laurim and Ten. With Kada gone, Laurim started helping out a lot more at Ledmer with taking care of the monsters, and she and Ten became friends. Then through their shared bond as misunderstood monsters, they were able to synchronize. I was surprised when they asked to try it, and even more surprised when it worked.”
“But, it’s a rather strange sync, and one that’s not too useful in most cases. It creates an incubator thing that sort of looks like a large egg-coffin. And you can put any size of monster into it since the monster themself will shrink to fit if they’re too big. The incubator then changes the shape of the monster into one that looks either less threatening or more appealing to humans, so they’re less likely to confront or attack them.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“However, it does nothing to remove their tendencies, so for already aggressive monsters, or ones that aren’t sentient enough to take advantage of it, there isn’t much point besides maybe making humans feel more hesitant. But for Ten, it turns them into this condensed humanoid form. And it turns out that she was a girl all along. I think we were all surprised.”
“And Ten had become somewhat of an attraction at Ledmer, but that also drew the eyes of Humanity once their group formed. They began harassing the Ledmer staff for allowing a monster Fiend to be there and started sailing boats around the island trying to hunt Ten down. So she decided to come live with us. And while she can turn back to her original form at any time, if she wants to become humanoid again, it requires both myself and Laurim.”
“Alright…” Xard’s head was spinning a bit, trying to process that long-winded explanation. “Well regardless, welcome aboard. I hope you’re comfortable here.”
“Yes, I am, thank you, Fiend Xard,” Ten smiled at him. “This form took some getting used to, but it is comfortable, and I require less nourishment. People food is much tastier too. Getting used to walking around like you do was hard, but I got many stares when I tried to use more than two tentacles.”
“And I don’t like spending too much time out of the water, so they let me sleep in the big bath in the general’s mansion and take naps in Kada’s room. I miss her. Will she be coming back soon?”
“Yes, she shouldn’t be much longer,” Tize assured her. “And thank you for guarding Itsy all this time, but you don’t need to do it any longer. We’ll take it from here.”
“I see. I shall go get my daily nourishment then!” the girl’s face lit up. “But I did not mind this since I understand her troubles. She had her mate taken away. I have seen it happen many times in the sea. The creatures are never the same after that.”
“Oh, did they get together?” Xard was curious about some gossip he’d seem to have missed.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Tize denied. “But they do spend a lot of time together, and it isn’t my business to pry.”
“Huh, how strange,” Ten seemed confused. “When they’re together, their pheromones would indicate that they are mates. Like with you two,” she wiggled a tentacle in the direction of Gatrim and Kaizu, causing them to blush. “But it is not my cornern. Now I shall go get my morning nourishment.” The girl then stomped away with a skip in her step humming, “Food food food. Yummy yummy food!”
“Seems I’ve missed quite a lot,” Xard glanced away from the blushing couple, “But we can exchange stories later.”
“Right,” Tize took a step forward and banged on the garage door. “Hey, Itsy, we’re going to let you out now. Xard’s here, and he’s going to go with you to save Crucion. So try not to rush off on your own again, alright?”
There was a bit of grumbling behind the door, and then finally a low, “I can do that.”
Tize unlocked the door and Itsy lumbered outside, rubbing her eyes and nose, still dealing with the lingering after effects of Ten’s Curse. “So we’re going to get him. Right now, right?” she asked between a few sniffles.
“Yes Itsy, we’re going to get him back and make them pay for doing it,” Xard declared, his words strong and resolute. “Today we liberate Bisomote, so let’s get to it.”
“I wish you all the best of luck,” Tize nodded to them. “Stay safe out there.”
“You won’t be joining us?” Xard raised his eyebrow, certain that Tize would have jumped on the opportunity.
“No, I think you’ll be just fine without me,” the man insisted. “I had originally thought of coming along to protect Kaizu, but with Gatrim alongside her, there’s no need to worry. My tired hand will just slow you down if anything. This past year has really made me feel my age more than I’d care to admit. So I think I’ll let you youthful youngsters take care of this one and see if I can get some rest, and I’ll be waiting for you to come back. But if you need my help, just call my name.”
“Of course,” the redhead accepted, feeling a bit guilty since he hadn’t thought how much of a burden it all must have been on the man with their sudden departure. “Thank you for all you’ve done, and rest up, we’ll take it from here. Do we have any idea where Crucion is being held?”
“Last we scouted last night, he was over in the residential district, in a holding cell there,” Gatrim relayed. “Apparently, they’ve been trying to ‘deprogram’ him by making him watch anti-Fiend propaganda.”
“Those Cosdamn mawhgers!” Itsy already started boiling with rage once more. “I’m gonna bust out and charge my way there!”
“No Itsy, there’s a better way,” Xard disagreed. “You can still charge at them, but go out the tunnel’s secret entrance first. That way there’s less to fight through to get there. We wan’t to cause as little destruction to the town as possible. But for Humanity, we won’t show them any mercy if they try to stop us.”
“Now Gatrim and Kaizu, I was thinking I’d have you two go through the north entrance and fight your way back around.”
“That works,” Kaizu agreed. “We think we know where the leader is stationed as well. “We’ll make our way towards her and let her face her own guilt.”
“And I’ll go out the front,” Xard informed them. “Wait until I start. I’ll get their attention on me and begin the extermination. But I will give them a fair chance to repent.”
The redhead slowly walked to the compound’s main entrance after their group split up. As he approached, the main gates slid open automatically, and he stopped, standing just inside the barrier. Xard raised an audio-boosting device to his mouth and laid out his terms.
“Attention Humanity. Your siege has come to an end. Drop your weapons, leave at once, and never return. This is your only warning. Abandon this foolishness and go back to your lives. Once we fight back, that will be your end. You have one minute to start your retreat…or stay and face your death.”