“Hehehehahaha!” Hower’s face cracked immediately at the accusation as he let out an eerie giggle. He slammed both hands down onto the table and used the momentum to lurch up from his seat. “So you think you know everything, do you?! But don’t you want to know why I did it?!”
“Erm, no, not really,” Drim made a quick decisive decision, and delivered a crushing response.
“Wait, what?!” It clearly wasn’t the answer that Hower had anticipated, having been hyping himself up for some maniacal monologue.
“Don’t get it wrong,” the Fiendish King clarified. “You’re the evilest mawhger I’ve ever come across, and we absolutely will stop you at any cost. But ‘why’ doesn’t really matter to us at this point. It’s probably something ridiculous and convoluted, possibly even tragic. But we deal with villains all the time who think they’re in the right, or even if they don’t, try to get us to sympathise. And it never works, only serves as annoyances to dwell on later.”
“But do you care, Jaid?” Drim glanced over to his companion. “I’m willing to sit through it if you want to know.”
She dwelled on it for just a second before shaking her head in turn. “No, he just looks like another monster to me.”
“Well there’s your answer,” The Fiendish King reiterated. “So please, shut up and come quietly, or we will use force.”
“But what if I said that you’re the reason behind all this, Drim Drazah!” the vile politician attempted to up the ante and build intrigue, pointing at his rival. Though it certainly didn’t get the reaction he was anticipating.
“Uggghhhhhhhhh,” Drim hunched over, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Please don’t tell me that you’re another zealot obsessed with me. Seriously, I have enough of those, and I can’t deal with another.”
“Deplorable that you would ever compare me as such!” The Rep’s demeanor shook a bit at the accusation, his smirk turning to a frown for just a second before he wrenched it back into place. “No, you are nothing more than a blotch, a minor stain on my record. I have no admiration for you, and only disdain for what you’ve done. But I suppose I’m the fool, for not being able to prepare for the acts of an insignificant child. You are nothing compared to your parents, the mighty Eleen and Relyk Drazah!”
Oh Cosmos, he’s one of yours, Drim grumbled towards his eavesdropping heart. But at the very least, he had to hear the man out now—to understand what further folly his demented mother had wrought upon the world, and then correct it.
“The Drazahs are what inspired me to get into politics!” Gort Hower began his long gushing ramble. “How effortlessly they dominated the world, conquering it like no one had ever seen. In my eyes, they were the greatest pair to ever live, and I wanted to be a part of it.”
“Yes, I conspired to hand Horage over to them, to offer the final piece of their conquest on a gilded platter, in hopes that they would include me in the world they planned to build. One I so desperately wanted to see. But then you ruined it! The mighty empire destroyed overnight by a Cosdamned child.”
“Of course, I didn’t know the truth of their demise, or I would have sought your end myself. So instead, I aspired to do what they couldn’t: to take over the world! But while I was gaining popularity on the scene, I’d never cut it as a tyrannical dictator. I could command respect but not fear. So knowing my limitations, I chose a different route. I’d conquer it with a friendly face rather than pointing a gun.”
“So I began my real political career in earnest, rising to the top of Horage’s politics. Forming the Central Peace and becoming the speaker. Indwelling myself as the friendly face of the government, one that all would come to admire. I did everything right, but if only that was enough.”
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“The cruel reality of this world is that those who play by the rules rarely ever make it to the top. Even if I was beloved, I’d still lose in the end to someone who manipulated the game. So I had to adapt and beat them all to the punch. I came up with endless schemes, investing time and money so that I could remain at the forefront of all aspects of society.”
“Through my mercenaries, I had power to rival any other nation’s military. Through my networks, I had bribery and blackmail against anyone who could dare challenge me. I invested in every underground research group I could find to stay at the pinnacle of technology and experimentation. And of course, I provided logistics and support for criminal organizations so that I could keep building a near endless reserve of funding. I even made connections with the heads of various Cosmic-based religions to have favors in the spiritual side.”
“But I never could have anticipated Fiends. Though I’d reached the pinnacle of society, I’d only reached the top of what a mortal could achieve. And then all these undeserving little murderers suddenly had power I could only dream of. It was always a thorn in my side, gnawing at me as I tried to figure out how to surpass it.”
“No matter what we did, we could never recreate the same events to gain your supernatural powers. Staging murders was a failure, as were the means of creating artificial Fiends. It was all for naught, so much investment wasted. So I had to quickly pivot, to try to earn their loyalty and bring them to my side.”
“But you were of course in the way, Drim Drazah, hoarding all the Fiends and their favor for yourself. Even going by the name ‘The Fiendish King’ felt like a direct slight to my plans. And that’s why we had to get rid of you. I outright wanted you dead, but my team eventually convinced me to let you live so that we could use you for further experimentation. That’s why we had you imprisoned at the end of the tournament—out of the way but useful down the line.”
“Though your shadow remained as a constant annoyance. Even as the candidate who promised unification and a future for all races, it still wasn’t enough. And that’s where Humanity came into play. One of your accusations was right on the mark. I did ignore them on purpose, to let them fester and grow. It was all to bring things to a breaking point.”
“And then, just before the election, I was going to swoop in and crush them, become the savior of all Fiends and bringer of peace back to the world. That would have been the final grand gesture to secure my victory and their loyalty in the process. But you had to go and ruin that as well, by breaking out of prison, and sending your lapdog to destroy the group before I had the chance.”
“But still, I haven’t lost faith! We will see today where the hearts of the world truly lie! Even if you arrest me now, even if my crimes are exposed tomorrow, if I receive more votes today, then I still win! It doesn’t matter if I never get to wear the crown. I’ll have proven my superiority, that I am the one capable of conquering this world!”
“Drim, we’ve humored him enough,” The Paladin suddenly glanced over to the man with urgent eyes. “It’s far more than he deserves. Let’s be done with this. Use the power on him before he can do anything rash.”
“What, like this?” And just that quickly, it was already too late. Before Drim could utter a single word of an order, before Jaid could summon a clone near the man to try and stop him, by the time they could even finish processing Hower’s words, he had already enacted the point of no return. With speed that would make the best sleight-of-hand artists jealous, the politician had slipped a trigger out of his coat with his thumb already pushing the button.
“Zjik, the Retirement Plan!” Drim grabbed the sensor that he’d placed on his quiver, the one specifically designed to indicate the start of Hower’s world-ruining death throw. But the device was blank. And trusting in Nathym’s ability, there was no reason to doubt it.
“So you did find out about that after all,” the politician’s devilish grin grew wider. “Then you’ve come for the wrong reasons. Seems your information’s a bit out of date, because I abandoned that plan yesterday. After my actions were exposed and my mask shattered, the Retirement Plan lost all its luster. If such retaliation would be expected of me, then where’s the fun in it?”
“Then… the explosives?!” Jaid jumped to the next conclusion of what it could possibly be.
“Sorry to disappoint you again,” Hower was practically giddy by his enemies’ ignorance. “But that would actually be this remote.” With his free hand, he pulled a second trigger from his coat. “Though as you can see, all the lights are off. Your comrades must have deactivated them all, so this is worthless.” The man casually chucked the device aside.
“I do apologize, however. This isn’t the fastest process, so it will be a moment before you see the effects that I’ve just triggered. Oh, I do think we’re starting to see some progress,” the Representative glanced over to the conference table. And while nothing drastic was immediately happening, all those present suddenly looked rather ill.