Not even halfway in their walk towards the waterpark did Drim and Jaid come to the conclusion that something chaotic was happening. So they put some pep in their step and hustled the rest of the way over. As they ran down the park’s main street, both Fiends had to suddenly jump back to avoid being slammed by a speeding vehicle in the cross traffic.
Which was odd because the street they were on certainly didn’t allow for cars. There were a few small scooters that the visitors could rent, but Itsy’s monster truck that streaked by didn’t seem quite safe or legal in the pedestrian area. So the pair chased after the careening vehicle as it rampaged through the park, weaving in and out of buildings, skirting around pools and attractions until it finally settled on a destination.
The monster truck was headed right for one of the major water slides, but in reverse. It glided right through the plunge pool at the bottom and then drove straight into the trickling open-aired tube and climbed the spiraling and winding wet track all the way to the top. There, the vehicle didn’t stop at the top, instead it kept going, using the momentum to launch itself over the railing.
Who they assume had to be Itsy—unless someone stupid had stolen her truck—then entered a freefall, but only for a second before the monster truck’s flight function kicked in. The faux skycraft only glided for a few feet until it was above a log flume. Then the hover functionality shut off and they plummeted once more, landing perfectly on the new slide about halfway down. Those in the vehicle then enjoyed the ride almost as it was designed, letting gravity and water take them all the way down, ending with a big splash.
There, Drim was waiting for them. He immediately jumped onto the hood, droves of vines flying from him in every direction, latching on to every pole and rung they could find. The other ends then wrapped the monster truck in a hurry, forcing it to come to a full and complete stop.
The king then skirted off to one side, ripping open the door to check on the passenger while Jaid saw to the driver. And this time she really was ready to deliver a lashing. “Itsy, are you seriously driving drunk?!”
“Whatchu talkin ‘bout?!” the giantess immediately went on the defensive. “I’d never drive drunk! Haven’t never a day in my life! And I’ll thank you not to say so!” Not only was the woman still completely sloshed, but apparently she was a very antagonistic drunk.
“Then what are you doing?” the king took a different approach to try and calm her down.
“Oh hey, Drim!” Itsy immediately switched to her usual friendly courtesies. “You in this race too? What a crazy track they’ve got!”
Now it was all starting to come together, in her drunken stupor, The Wrecking Ball had nearly become a literal one, imagining she was a part of some zany race. “Wait a second, where’s y'all's car? And why aren’t we moving?” She started to piece together that things weren’t right, confusedly spinning her steering wheel.
So the leader came up with a quick way to end it. “The race is over, Itsy. You already won! Congratulations!”
“I did? Heck yeah! Time for a feast to celebrate.” The woman celebrated, pumping both of her fists.
“Well how about a celebratory nap,” Jaid tried to sway the course, catching on to Drim’s plan. “It looks like Crucion here is tuckered out from all the excitement.”
“He is?” Itsy craned her neck, finding the boy who was completely out cold in her passenger seat. “Ah shucks, guess he couldn’t handle all the excitement. S’pose I was driving a little wildly. Oh well, I’ll tell him all about it later.” The giantess scrambled out of the truck, bringing Crucion with her, slinging him over his shoulder.
“I’ll make sure he gets tuh bed,” the woman suddenly shifted to loving girlfriend mode. “But erm, you think it’s fine for me to park here?” she looked around at the pool of waist-high water they were all still standing in.
“Don’t worry, we’ll move it somewhere safe for you,” Drim insisted. “Wouldn’t want you getting a ticket.” The woman only nodded in appreciation, happy to be taken care of. It was as if her inebriation had hit her all at once, and Itsy suddenly wasn’t looking so hot. So she and her unconscious boyfriend sauntered off, leaving the pair of Fiends to do the same, hoping that they wouldn’t run into anything else so insane.
Though the next encounter could also be considered crazy, it at least wasn’t so hectic and disruptive. “Go, be free, back to where you belong with your friends and families!” Senli chucked an armful of pool floats and innertubes into the water park’s biggest wave pool, joining the hundreds of others that were already bobbing up and down in the rhythmic current.
While the girl wasn’t doing anything that couldn’t easily be cleaned up later, the pair still went to care for her since she was clearly a touch delusional in her current state. And not only that, whenever she got close to the pool’s edge to chuck things in, she got dangerously close to falling in, and that wasn’t acceptable while her legs were obviously wobbly. So Senli got carted off to the park’s first aid station against her will, where she was given plenty of fluids and a comfortable pillow that made her pass out the moment her head hit it.
The next resident Fiend they found was already unconscious, though nowhere comfortable. Rishaki was in the Pirate’s Plunder Plaza, collapsed on top of the pile of plastic silver treasures and fake coins. She was hugging it as one would snuggle up to another, never wanting to let go of her true love.
And then they found someone a bit more active, Xard standing at the bottom of one of the park’s many artificial waterfalls. But instead of bearing the weight of the water, letting it rap against his head and bank so that he could meditate, the man was punching it with all of his might. It was like he was trying to fight the flow, prevent a single drop from hitting the ground, using his curse to blast it all away when his fists weren’t enough.
“Think you still might be a little out of it, Xard,” Drim sounded a bit more amused than concerned. “I don’t think you’re going to win against water.”
“No, I’m very much sober right now,” the man rebutted, slicking back his drenched red hair that had become disheveled. “And if I can’t beat water, then how are we supposed to beat the entire planet? She has power unlike anything we’ve ever faced. Or should we just start ramping up pollution and try to poison Rathe to death?”
It was a crude bit of sarcasm, but the man had a point. For years now, Fiends had been the strongest beings on the planet, with nothing even close in comparison, not even the best technology that humans could create would even come close. But now they were facing a deity with unimaginable power. It was impossible to predict whether their abilities and strengths would hold up against the very being that had bequeathed it to them.
“Maybe we should do more training over the next few days,” the king began to think on the matter. “Try to really hone in our coordination working together as a large group.” If anything, they at least had numbers on their side. Normally, the Fiends would either fight alone or in small squads, rarely as one unified pack. Even in Bastion, they split apart, tackling their own groups of enemies.
But this would be all of them against one single foe, assuming it came down to fighting. And they’d need all hands at their strongest and most capable, especially if they intended for as many of them as possible to come back alive. That thought put a pit in Drim’s stomach. The thought of losing anyone was unbearable.
If it were up to him, he’d go meet Rathe on his own, but he knew there’s no way the others would allow that. So for the best odds, he’d just need to make sure that everyone was at their peak condition, and that he was as well, so he could do his damndest to protect them.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Do me a favor, Xard,” Drim suddenly spoke up after a bit of silent reflection. “Set up a meeting with Nachi, and we’ll discuss ideas on how to prepare ourselves. We won’t force anyone to join this last minute training if they have other commitments to take care of. But those who are willing, we’ll do our best with the time we have.”
The Artillery merely nodded and blasted away, off to complete his assignment without needing more instruction. They hadn’t even told him where Nachi was, but he’d surely be able to find her easily. Though Drim’s mind was now even further distracted with worries, they still had their current mission to complete. By his count, however, there was only a very small number of residents and even fewer members left to find.
The residents actually made it rather easy on the scouring pair. They were all clumped together in the lazy river, floating unconsciously down the gentle stream in a giant collective of rafts. They’d basically made their own moving island, or more likely the ‘ride’ had pushed them together at a chokepoint and the floats just sort of congealed into one big mass.
But it was still a dangerous place for the inebriated to be, one roll in the sleep away from waking up to an unpleasant bath or even drowning. So Drim and Jaid pulled all the rafts onto the shore, the latter even using clones now to speed up the process since her hangover had passed. A few of the residents woke up in the process, and began helping and checking on the others. So once everyone was safe, they headed out.
Now there were three members left to find, but they were also proving the most difficult. The pair had walked around the park twice, but there was no sign of any of them anywhere. “I’m telling you, that’s where they have to be!” Jaid insisted again since her first mention of the possibility had been dismissed as a silly idea, even by herself after a few seconds.
“I guess it doesn’t hurt to look,” Drim conceded, and they began walking towards a specific attraction. “Kaizu’s morality is definitely this way. I’d never confuse her special blend with anyone else’s. But it’s just hard to imagine that they’d be there of all places.”
“Well, they’re a couple, what do you expect?” the knight reminded him, as if anyone could forget with how much they clung to each other. “Even as weird as they are and certainly have an unconventional relationship, all couples want to act lovey-dovey every once and a while.”
So the two arrived at ‘The Siren’s Snuggle’, a dark ride meant for couples or people who wanted to make fun of couples where they rode around on a boat in a mixture of cozy atmosphere and sudden jumpscares. Then right on cue, one of the passenger cars popped out of the ride’s exit and looped around to the disembarkment area. The first few times Drim and Jaid had passed by, all the currently visible mini-ships were empty.
But this one was occupied with Gatrim and Kaizu, their shoulders pressed together and their heads leaning against one another for support. Both had their eyes closed with smiles on their faces. Though it seemed they weren’t having blissful dreams, rather a happy reality because both of their eyes opened to glance back at their onlookers.
“Wait what the heck is this, Kaizu?!” Jaid noticed something shiny on the woman’s hand while helping the woman back onto solid ground.
“Oh, that, erm,” in a complete betrayal of her usual demeanor, the former serial killer turned away and blushed.
“I proposed, of course!” Gatrim didn’t share such reservations, ready to shout his love to anyone who would hear it. “As you said, our end may be coming soon, and I wasn’t going to have any regrets. When we face this so-called demigod, we will do so as man and wife!”
“Oh, you’re going to get married before then too?” Drim was surprised by the expedience. “Less than a week certainly isn’t a long time to plan a wedding.”
“Well, simple suits us best,” Kaizu justified.
“Yes, I completely agree,” her husband-to-be had her back. “If I was my past self, I would have insisted on nothing less than gilded extravagance, with anyone of major status in attendance. But that isn’t what would make us happy. In fact, it sounds rather horrible.”
“So we were thinking something small, most likely at the assisted living facility where Kaizu’s parents reside, since they can’t travel far. Besides that, it would likely just be my sisters since my father still isn’t speaking to me after I stripped our nobility. Of course, anyone in our group is welcome to come, though we won’t send out invitations and cause a fuss during this turbulent time.”
“Well, I’ll at least make sure a clone is there if nothing else,” the knight really had no excuses, though she was happy to participate regardless.
“Erm, actually there is one person we really want to come,” Kaizu then turned to face the king, sincerity etched on her face. “Drim, since we never would have met each other without you. We were hoping that you would officiate. If you have time for it, I mean. I know you’re exceedingly busy, this week especially.”
“I’d be honored to,” the man didn’t hesitate for even a second. “Just let me know the time and place, and I’ll be there.” The couple happily accepted his offer, and skipped away, discussing more plans. It was a little nauseating to watch how happy and in love they were, though their joy was also a little infectious. But with the impromptu engagement party coming to an end, the main celebration had to as well. There was only one person left to find.
“Just where the heck is Niloy?” Jaid was starting to get annoyed. “We’ve combed this entire place but there’s been no sign of her, and no one we’d talked to had any idea. Do you sense anyone in an unusual spot, Drim.”
“Yeah, I do,” the king confirmed. “But I originally thought it was security or someone along those lines since they haven’t moved. Because why would one of our members be there? There’s really no other reason to be at that spot.”
So the two headed to the last location, praying that’s where she’d be. If she wasn’t, then it was possible they’d missed her in the main resort building, massive as it was with thousands of rooms, shops, and even an extensive network of tunnels beneath that went all over the park. And if she wasn’t anywhere on the island, then they’d need to enlist Phon’s help to find her, as soon as the woman was recovered enough to do so.
“Oh, there’s my cloak,” all the extra worry was for naught, and Drim craned his neck high, finding his lost garment. They were staring up at the giant ‘Mermaid’s Reef’ sign above the security checkpoint that served as the main entrance to the resort. His cloak was dangling towards the ground, at the end of a long rope with the other end attached to the bottom of the sign.
Poking out underneath the garb was the head of a dark-skinned woman with flowing pink twin tails that were currently aiming like spikes towards the round. The rest of her body was swaddled tightly in the cloak, keeping her suspended upside down in mid-air. “Pleeeeease, let me down!” Niloy pleaded at the top of her lungs as she gently swayed. “I swear, I’ll never do it again!”
“So you admit that it was you then?” Jaid took advantage of her tortured state to pry for a confession.
“Yes, I did it!” The Flesh-Eater didn’t even hesitate. “I just wanted to liven up the party, okay?! Everyone was so worried about Rathe and the other zjik you said that the mood was way too tense. I just wanted to get everyone a little buzzed and loosened up. But then I guess when I was buzzed as well, I thought it’d be fun or something to make them all even drunker. I couldn’t help it since I was out of it too!”
All Drim could do was let out a heavy sigh. He didn’t fault her intentions, though her execution was far too reckless. And it seemed she’d been punished enough. “Alright, I’ll get you down!”
“Thank you!” Niloy let out tears of joy, raining down on those beneath her. “I’ve been here all night, and it feels like my head is gonna explode from the pressure. It’s been so long that I thought you guys forgot about me! The only person who came by at some point was Valen, and she said it was a better story to leave me for someone else to find. Can you believe that?!”
“Though she did put my blood back to where it was supposed to be, so I had relief for a bit. But then it sucked even more when it slowly trickled to my head again!”
As the woman started to complain endlessly, Drim prepared to help her down, figuring the best way to do so gently. But before he could put any plan in motion, though, he was stopped by a new appearance on the scene. “It seems the perpetrator has been caught!” Phon appeared next to them with a sadistic smirk on her face.
“This is just too funny! Look at how uncomfortable she is! Well deserved. I commend whoever orchestrated this punishment. Wait, did I do this? It seems like something I’d do, but I can’t really remember. Oh well, before we let her down, everyone should get to see this! It’s too damn amazing to keep to ourselves!”
One by one, members and residents began appearing on the highway, those who were conscious enough to appreciate it, anyways. Many laughs were had at Niloy’s expense. Then beneath the crying ornament, those present began to discuss plans for the week. Goodbyes were had, hugs were shared, and worries started to permeate through the crowd, bringing the mood back down again.
So Phon took it upon herself to change the atmosphere once more. “Hold on a second. I’ll go get a long stick, and we’ll see what kind of candy pops out of this pinata!”