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New Volume 3 Chapter(s) Weekly. Volumes 1 and 2 now complete!

“Hey, hey, how do I look in this uniform?” The girl walking behind Ms. Jaimess asked the boy walking next to her.

Earlier that morning, Ms. Jaimess had been called into the principal’s office at the high school where she taught. She had been entirely paranoid that she was in trouble, and spent the walk to the office running every recent event through her head to see if she had committed any fireable offenses. However, when she walked through the door into the office, it was the principal who seemed uneasy.

He was normally quite composed, but sweat was currently glistening off of his balding head, and he seemed to be fidgeting a little in his chair. “Ah, there you are Ms. Jaimess, we’ve been waiting for you,” he addressed her as she walked in. We? she wondered while looking around the room, not seeing anyone. After a couple of seconds the principal pointed behind her.

She crooked her head back and was startled when she saw the boy and girl lurking in the corner. Wow, I have never labeled students as ‘problem children’ faster than these two, she thought to herself as the girl gave a slight wave. Ms. Jaimess gave them a little nod in return, then turned back to the principal.

“These two will be joining your homeroom class today. Why don’t the two of you step outside for a moment while I have a quick word with your teacher,” he said to the two who then walked out of the room. After the door closed, he hurriedly stood up from his desk and sped over next to Ms. Jaimess.

He gripped her arm tightly and pulled her close, to a degree that it was almost hurting a little, and whispered quietly, right in her ear. “Now listen, Ms. Jaimess. It is very important that these two are here. Now, I’m not going to tell you how to do your job, but my advice is to do your best to not upset them. With any luck, they won’t be here for too long.”

He let her go, handed her a sheet with their information on it, and returned to his desk without saying anything else. She just stared at him blankly until he waved her away. She got out of the room, instructed the two to follow her, and couldn’t help from muttering, Why Me! in her head over and over. I know my class recently went down a number, but I’ve got my hands full. The student who just came back looks like he’ll need some additional monitoring as well.

Ms. Jaimess’ thoughts were drowned out by the conversation between the two students following her. “It looks pretty good on you, Though I think you’re trying too hard to go with the innocent look. More than anything, it’s just weird to see you without your hat,” the boy said.

“Pssh, you’re one to talk, mister only wears black. Maybe if you wore some other colors it’d make you look less intense,” the girl spouted back at him. Ms. Jaimess couldn’t help but agree with what both had said, barring the hat comment. Their school had a required uniform, but there were various color options to allow the students some variety.

The girl had gone with all white. She had white shoes, white knee high socks, a plain white pleated skirt, and had forgone the jacket and just went with the white dress shirt. The only thing off color was a purple bow tie that matched her eyes. With the white hair thrown in, she gave off a radiance like she was a maiden of extreme purity. I wonder just how black your soul is, though, Ms. Jaimess thought to herself, since her instincts had screamed ‘diabolical’ after just one good look at her.

Despite the boy’s appearance, she felt that he was actually kind and studious, or that was her intuition anyways. People likely wouldn’t think that though with just a quick glance. Opposite of the girl, he had gone with pure black shoes, pants, jacket, and dress shirt. He had a single strap green backpack which wasn’t the usual school regulation one, but there were no specific rules preventing students from using another bag. He was also wearing a green tie and she wondered if it matched his eyes like the girl’s. She couldn’t see them very well due to the hood he was wearing.

Wait… a hood? Ms. Jaimess thought to herself as she spun around to face the two of them. She thought back to the principal's warning, but decided it was her obligation to set a student straight when they were breaking a rule, regardless of who they were. “Excuse me sir,” she said, addressing the boy. “I’m not sure how you managed to get a uniform with a hood attached, but any form of headwear is against our school rules. I’m going to have to ask that you remove it at once.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got special permission for it,” the boy said while pulling a small sheet of paper out of his pocket, and holding it up for her to read. It was a note with the principal's signature at the bottom that stated ‘They are allowed to alter and wear their uniforms however they want.’

What the hell? The principal is usually pretty strict about school rules. What makes these two so special? Ms. Jaimess pondered. She wasn’t going to defy his decisions though, so she decided to drop it, but just then the boy lifted up the note up to his hood. A small furry hand leapt out from inside and grabbed the note. After it pulled it back in, she heard a slight munching sound. “Is that an animal?!” she yelled, doing her best to keep the volume down so people in the classrooms wouldn’t hear. The boy pulled out another note that said ‘Ignore any animals’ and then put that up to his hood, which was then taken as well.

This is crazy! How many special privileges did the principal give them? To think I was worried about being fired earlier, but now he’s going to be the one getting yelled at later! Ms. Jaimess thought as she turned back around to continue walking. When they reached the classroom door, she turned back towards the two and said, “I’m going to go in and address the class. When I call your names, please come inside and introduce yourselves.”

The two of them just gave a slight nod before she stepped inside. The class was rowdier than usual since it was already past the time homeroom was supposed to start. She got to the podium at the front of the class and cleared her throat, which caused them to settle down and stare at her. Once Ms. Jaimess had their full attention, she addressed the students. “I know this is unusual for this time of the year, but we have two transfer students joining our class today.”

She looked at the sheet that the principal had given her as she kept talking, having not read it yet due to the weirdness from before. “It is likely that they won’t be here for very long, but please do your best to make them feel welcome and get along. So, I would like to introduce Drim and Phon Dra… Zah…?” The words shocked her as they left her lips even though she was the one saying them.

The two students walked in and the class immediately erupted in chattering. Drim just nodded at the class and Phon said “Hello!” cheerfully. There’s no way that’s actually them right? Ms. Jaimess thought to herself. I mean, they match the descriptions pretty solidly, but what reason would they have for coming here?! Are they just impersonating them maybe? The students in the room seemed to be sharing similar thoughts with her, as the mumblings that she could hear matched closely.

During the commotion, one of the students knocked a pencil off their desk. Suddenly, a vine shot out from Drim which caught the pencil in mid-air. The vine carefully placed the pencil back on the desk and retreated back into him. This instantly erased any doubts about their identity and the room went silent; except for the distinct sound of approximately thirty people gulping at the same time.

Well, it’s definitely them, but that doesn’t answer the question as to what the hell they’re doing here! Ms. Jaimess thought to herself as she looked back down at the sheet. Underneath the part about them not being there long and their names was just ‘Goodluck (^.^)’. That damned old man! She shouted in her head as she crumpled the paper in anger.

Well, assuming we don’t get murdered by them, maybe I can use this to weasel a raise out of that bastard. If he doesn’t comply, I can threaten to take this to the school board! What should I do now, though… she thought as she noticed the eyes of the students wandering from the two Drazahs over to her with expectant gazes. Should I say something? I mean, they haven’t done anything wrong yet, could it be that they’re actually here to learn…? Ha! As if… Wow, I really don’t know what to do right now…

Just as Ms. Jaimess was on the brink of going into a full blown panic attack, one of the students stood up from their desk. The boy with short, extremely tidy black hair and glasses pointed at the two Drazahs and demanded, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave!”

“And you are…?” Phon asked with an annoyed look.

The boy pushed up his glasses and introduced himself. “I’m Kleff Brand, class representative. It is my duty to make sure that these students receive a safe and upstanding education. I don’t know how you two managed to get into our school, but it is no place for criminals such as yourself! If you don’t leave in the next ten seconds, I’m going to call the police,” he said as he faced the screen of his phone towards them, showing that he had already input the number, and just had to press call.

Yes, good work Kleff! I knew I made your nerdy little ass class rep for some reason, Ms. Jaimess thought as she looked hopefully at the situation. She was starting to feel that things may work out, but then Phon started laughing.

“Heh, you’re free to do whatever you like,” Phon scoffed as she shrugged at Kleff.

“So be it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Kleff responded as he pressed the call button on his phone. He set it to speaker mode so that everyone could hear the ringing.

After it rang a couple of times there was a click and a voice said, “Constead Police, what is your emergency?”

“Yes, hello, this is Kleff Brand, a student of Constead South High School. Drim and Phon Drazah have infiltrated our school, and are currently posing as students. Please send someone to arrest them immediately!” Kleff shouted into the phone as he stared at the two of them, beaming with pride.

Ms. Jaimess and the other students looked strangely at the phone when an unexpected sigh came from the receiver. “Listen kid,” the man on the phone said, “We get calls like this all the time from people claiming to have seen the Drazahs. I can’t think of any reason why they would be at a high school, so unless you can give me some proof then…”

“Oh, I know that voice…!” Phon spoke up suddenly. “That’s officer Tusmon isn’t it? Hi Tussy!” Phon shouted in a greeting tone and waved as if he was right in front of them.

“Oh Cosmos, it’s really them!” Tusmon shouted from the phone. “Hey kid, have they killed anyone?!”

“Uhh, well no I don’t think so,” Kleff responded confused. “I don’t really see how that matters though…”

“Sorry, the Constead Police force has reached a decision to not get involved with them unless there is a serious incident. Unless they do something that endangers lives, you’re on your own. Good luck kid, try not to piss them off.” There was another click after Tusmon finished speaking, and then silence flooded the room again.

Kleff sat down at his desk and just stared at his phone in disbelief while a good portion

of the rest of the students looked like they wanted to scream or cry. Phon walked over to Ms. Jaimess’ podium, slapped down a signed note that read, ‘They are allowed to take any items they deem necessary from anyone,’ then headed over to Kleff’s desk. She held out her hand and insisted, “Gimme the phone.”

Kleff looked shocked and appeared to be struggling to get words out. So Phon just grabbed the phone from him and said, “If you’re a good boy, I’ll give it back to you at the end of the day.”

That Draz… That’s my line! Ms Jaimess wanted to shout out at her. Taking students' things and holding them hostage was one of the small joys she got out of being a teacher, and she felt annoyed by the fact that someone else was doing it. I guess that doesn’t matter right now. Kleff looks like he’s about to pop. If I don’t do something this could be bad. She cleared her throat again and prepared to speak but had no idea what was going to come out of her mouth. However, before she could say anything the bell signaling the end of homeroom rang.

Every student rushed out in a hurry, leaving just the two Drazahs and Ms. Jaimess standing there. Phon turned to her, gave her a wave and said, “Welp, guess we’ll see you around Teach,” and the two Fiends headed towards the door to go to their first class.

“Ahh, umm, yes. Have a good day,” was all Ms. Jaimess could get out before the two of them left the classroom, leaving her standing there alone, wondering if everything that had just happened had been a fever dream.

◆◆◆

Xard had done his best to mimic the rest of the students during the incident in homeroom so as to not stand out. He was just as surprised as the rest but for different reasons. When everyone else rushed out of the classroom, he figured it would be best to escape with the crowd. Up until that point, he had done his best to avoid eye contact with the two Drazahs, but as he walked by he couldn’t help but glance in their direction.

Drim seemed to be staring off at nothing, but Phon was glaring directly at him with a smirk on her face, sending a chill down his spine. For whatever reason, the two of them were in all of his classes during the morning. He began to wonder if they had purposefully conspired it that way or if it was just a coincidence.

Surprisingly, during the lessons Drim appeared to be paying attention; listening to the teacher and taking notes. Phon had her eyes closed the entire time during each class. From an outsider's perspective it would look like she wasn’t paying attention or nodding off, but to Xard it felt like she was just as attentive as anyone. He also couldn’t get rid of a feeling like he was being watched the entire time. Even when he knew Phon couldn’t possibly be looking at him, he felt a burning stare.

He was surprised how calmly the classes passed. At first, everyone was very stiff due to their new classmates, but the other students had begun to relax seeing as the two Fiends didn’t seem inclined to stir up trouble. This didn’t stop them all from jumping and cowering in fear when Drim suddenly shouted, “That’s wrong!” in history class.

The teacher had been giving a lesson on a specific battle during the Drazah war. After he made a statement that there had been no survivors on the losing side, Drim voiced his opposition. The teacher began to noticeably panic a bit and squeaked out, “Uhh, umm, I’m sorry. That’s what is reported in the history books”

“There were survivors, fourteen of them to be exact,” Drim explained in a calmer tone than before. “They were taken to a secret area and tortured for weeks both mentally and physically. After they had been adequately broken and revealed all useful information, they were sent to a neighboring country’s capital. They claimed to be refugees, but once they were let into the capitol building, explosives that had been implanted into their stomachs were detonated, killing everyone in the nearby vicinity and destabilizing that country’s government.”

“Uhh, wow okay, thank you for that insight. I will contact the textbook publisher and see if that can be amended,” the teacher responded. After that, he was very careful with his words for the rest of the lesson, occasionally glancing at Drim to make sure there were no objections. Wow, even adults are terrified of them, Xard thought to himself. I guess it’s a rational fear. Even if they weren’t the children of dictators, they’re still extremely powerful and could kill anyone they disliked without fail.

The cafeteria was crowded as usual during lunch. Students were allowed to eat elsewhere during their lunch period if they wanted, as long as it wasn’t somewhere currently in use. There was even a nice pavilion outside where a good portion of them would go, but during this time of the year almost no one would go there because of the cold weather, so the cafeteria was packed.

Since he had returned to school, Xard hadn’t sat at his regular table from when Warig was alive. Now, he would just sit wherever there was room, and avoid speaking to anyone. Today there was a small empty table near a window no one was sitting at, so he figured that would be as good a spot as any. A short while after he sat down and started eating, he noticed the crowd around him suddenly and rapidly vacating. Jeez that’s a good way to make a guy feel self conscious about himself, Xard thought before double checking that he didn’t look weird or have a bad smell.

He suddenly understood the reason for the commotion when Drim and Phon sat down at his table across from him. Drim had a standard meal, but noticeably had about a dozen extra spoons. Phon’s tray was significantly more stacked with food. It seemed she had ordered everything possible off the menu. Xard sighed and said, “I should have guessed you two would come sit with me. You’ve been following me around all day.”

“Heh, believe it or not we didn’t actually ask to be in the same classes as you,” Phon retorted.

“Really? How would you be able to keep an eye on me then?” Xard questioned in disbelief.

“How narcissistic you must be to think that we’re here for you,” Phon sneered.

“We’re here on a job,” Drim said as he picked up a spoon and stuffed it into his hood. “And while it’s true that the job doesn’t relate to you, Phon’s just being belligerent. The reason we even looked into this school in the first place is because you were a student here.”

“What’s the job then?” Xard asked intrigued.

“Secret,” both Drim and Phon replied at once. Xard sighed. He actually expected them to be more open. They didn’t really seem like the type of people to hold back. Seeming to sense his displeasure, Drim added, “It’s not like we particularly want to keep it from you, but our client asked that we not tell any of the faculty or students as to why we’re here. It makes sense too, since it could definitely compromise our mission.”

“Fair enough,” Xard responded, surprisingly content with their explanation. However, he didn’t really want to let this opportunity pass, since it had already been mentioned that they wouldn’t be there for long. He also didn’t know if they would be so bold as to sit down with him again. “Is it alright if I ask questions as long as they don’t relate to your job then?” he asked. The two of them shrugged as they began eating their food.

“Okay, I guess the first question would be as to why you’re both in all of my classes if you didn’t request it?” Xard asked.

Phon held up a finger, quickly stuffed the rest of her sandwich in her mouth, chewed for several seconds, swallowed, and then finally responded. “Well, I have two theories on that. The first is that they want to keep all of us of the same species in the same location; in case one of us gets out of hand. The way the principal sees it, you’re probably the only one in the whole school who could stop us, and vice versa... I wonder which of us he’s more worried about.”

“Wait, so he knows I’m a Fiend?!” Xard blurted out. After realizing what he had said, he looked around. Luckily, the cafeteria was noisy enough that no one seemed to notice what he said even though he was louder than normal.

“Yeah, we didn’t even tell him either,” Phon added. “When we first approached him, he asked if it was about you. He seems surprisingly perceptive about what’s going on in his school; enough so that he realized it was likely in his best interest to hire us. Don’t worry, I don’t think he’s told anyone else that you’re a Fiend, but anyone with a couple of functioning brain cells could figure it out.”

“Okay, what’s your second theory then?” Xard asked, a little annoyed by her last comment.

“Well, since you murdered Warig, all of your classes have an empty space in them now. So, it makes them the easiest to fill,” Phon said with a smug grin. Xard practically leapt out of his skin after hearing that. He also broke the spoon he was holding, prompting Drim to hand him over a new one. “Don’t look so surprised,” Phon commented without breaking her grin. “Just because we’re not here for you, it doesn’t mean we didn’t look into you. We didn’t dig too much into your personal life, but we know everything about how you became a Fiend.”

Xard took several deep breaths and thought for a moment. There’s definitely a good chance that they actually do know everything, but I don’t think that they’ll tell anyone. They wouldn’t go to the police since they’re wanted criminals themselves, and if their goal was to ruin my reputation at school, they could have easily done so already. I don’t know her too well, but I can guess her personality is to get people riled up for fun… I need to stay calm, ignore her provocations, and keep asking questions!

“Okay, moving on. What were the three of you doing at the train tracks the day we first met? Also speaking of that, is the third one of you here as well?”

Phon had begun eating something else so Drim decided to answer this one. “We were training,” he answered. Xard just looked at him confused so he continued. “The idea was to work on our reflexes, instincts, and grace under pressure. Basically, it was a competition to see who would jump out of the way of the train last.”

Xard dropped his jaw a little in disbelief, then said, “That’s absolutely insane... but it does kind of make sense.”

Phon then chimed in with her mouth full. “As for the other one of us…” she said as she pointed out the cafeteria window. Xard looked out and saw students running around the track as normal, but found himself fixated on something else. The other girl he had seen at the train tracks that day was laying on a beach chair, in just a bikini and sunglasses, and seemed to be yelling stuff at the students between taking sips of a drink.

“She knows it’s winter, right?” Xard asked, thinking that this bunch couldn’t possibly get any weirder.

“Well the cold doesn’t really bother us,” Phon said, having now finished what she was chewing on. “She couldn’t really cut it disguised as a student, so she’s filling in as a substitute gym teacher. The beach motif was my idea. Thought it would be fun to add some stimulation to these teenagers' lives. Oh, and her name’s Kada by the way.”

“Yeah, that does sound more like something you’d come up with. Also, you’re barely pulling off the student look yourself. You may as well be an old hag in comparison to the rest of the students here,” Xard jabbed.

“Oi, I’m only twenty!” Phon rebuked. “Well, I’ll let it slide since you’re one of the few people whose ever dared try to insult me. Most have been too scared to even think of upsetting us. I guess that since you’re a Fiend too, you think you can be less afraid, but I wouldn’t get too comfortable if I were you.” Phon’s eyes began to pulse with excitement, causing Xard to rethink trying to get her riled up in the future.

Doing his best to divert from that subject, he decided to ask something a bit different. “I see you’ve got a lot of food. Do Fiends need extra sustenance to function? And wouldn’t all of that have cost quite a bit?”

“Nah nah,” Phon said waving off the notion. “It’s actually the opposite. Our bodies are so efficient that we can actually go a long time without eating. I just like testing all kinds of different foods for my own cooking. Also, this was all free. It’s one of the special permissions the principal gave us.”

“Special permissions?” Xard asked curiously. Phon reached into her skirt pocket and dug out a large stack of notes and slammed them down on the table. Xard moved his hand over to them and gave a look to Phon as if asking for confirmation that he could touch them; to which she gave a slight nod.

Xard began rifling through and reading the notes, all signed by the principal. Most were pretty standard things for special permissions at a school such as being allowed to skip any classes and go anywhere that was normally off limits. There were definitely a few though that vastly stood out from the rest including ‘Any damage to school property will be covered’ and ‘The murder of exactly one person is allowed. Injuries to others are acceptable as long as they are kept to a minimum’. Just what the hell kind of job are they here for?! Xard bellowed in his mind.

His train of thought was cut off by Phon saying, “Drim, this soup is actually decent. Tell Pox to give me one please.” Drim nodded and tapped the back of his hood. A few seconds later a small creature’s head and arms popped out holding a small white ball. Xard recognized the creature from the time before at the train tracks. Drim took the ball and gave it to Phon. Then he held up a spoon towards Pox who grabbed it and then retreated back into the hood.

Well, I guess that answers my next question of why he’s been putting spoons in there, Xard thought to himself as he watched Phon. She took the white ball and dipped it into the soup, then took a bite. Xard wasn’t prepared when a sudden squeal of elation erupted from Phon as she slammed her hand down on the table.

“Damn that’s good!” Phon exclaimed. She then took a small vial out of her pocket and dipped it into the soup, as if she was taking a sample. “Excuse me for a moment, I’m going to go ‘ask’ the lunch lady for the recipe.” Phon had used air quotes when she spoke the word ask.

Shortly after Phon returned, the lunch period had ended. Xard felt that he wanted a break from associating with the two of them, so he decided to skip class knowing that they’d likely just be there as well. It’s not as if he particularly disliked them, but talking with and being around them had left him a lot to think about, and he didn’t know if he could handle any more for the day.

Unfortunately, Xard didn’t have any form of special permission slips that would allow him to go wherever he pleased. Normally, students would get in trouble if they were found out of class without the proper permissions, or weren’t on their lunch break. So, simply wandering around the school was out of the question. If he left the grounds and wandered around town he could get in trouble with the police, especially since he was still in uniform. Also, the idea of breaking rules to that degree didn’t really sit too well with him.

He could just go home, but felt that would cause some unwanted tension with his parents. The faculty most likely wouldn’t mind. They were still in the ‘do what you can’ mode where he wasn’t really forced to do any school work due to his ‘grief’. The only option he could think of to ditch successfully was to feign illness and go to the nurse’s office. He had been there a few times before when he had genuine medical concerns, and the school nurse, Mr. Valker, seemed to be pretty laid back. So, Xard doubted he would mind.

When he opened the door to the nurse’s office he saw Mr. Valker huddled over his desk, seemingly working on some paperwork. “Hey Mr. Valker, it’s Xard Randex. I’m not feeling so well so I’m going to lay down in one of the beds for a bit if that’s alright,” Xard announced. The nurse didn’t even look up from his work, and waved with his hand. Xard accepted that as permission and proceeded to lay down on one of the beds, all of which were unoccupied.

Xard hadn’t been planning to actually sleep. He was just going to fake it until the school day was over, but guessed he actually was more tired than he thought when he found himself rubbing his eyes. He looked at the clock. About an hour had passed, and he decided to go back to sleep or at least would keep pretending to do so. He rolled over and was startled when he saw Mr. Valker sitting in a chair right next to his bed, staring at him intently.

“You’re one of them aren’t you Xard, a Fiend?” Mr. Valker asked seriously. “Who did you kill, Xard? Was it that student you were always hanging around with? What was his name… Warig?”

Xard felt panic and unease surge through him. “Uhh, I’m feeling better, so I’m gonna go,” Xard spouted as he scrambled to his feet. He grabbed his bag which was next to the bed and darted out of the room. He power-walked through the halls, only slowing down once he reached the outdoors of the school’s main courtyard. Guess I’ll just go home for the day after all. I can probably just hide out somewhere until I’d normally come home, Xard thought to himself before pondering where he could go to kill time.

“Stop right there Xard!” he heard shouting from behind him. He guessed it was most likely Mr. Valker, but didn’t really want to stop and check. Xard felt he’d been through enough for the day, and would deal with it some other time. This was one of the times he felt being a Fiend was fortunate. He could outpace anyone trying to tail him without even really trying.

“I told you to stop Xard… I mean it!” The shouting continued as Xard picked up speed. He was just about to pass through the school's gate, when a loud gunshot boomed behind him. A single bullet went whizzing past his head and out of sight. Normally, his instinct would have been to run away from there as fast as possible and call the police, but this time that didn’t cross his mind at all. He dropped his bag, turned around, and stared at Mr. Valker who was slowly walking towards him with a handgun drawn.

Xard didn’t know why, but he didn’t feel afraid at all. He felt that he should stand his ground, that this was something that he could handle. If possible, he could diffuse this situation so that no one would get hurt. As the gun drew nearer, a few sparse thoughts of, What the hell am I thinking! ran through his head, but were soon drowned out by determination. He didn’t know why this was happening, but he needed to find out, no matter the risks.

“That’s very good Xard, now put your hands up,” Mr. Valker ordered as he edged steadily closer.

Xard felt it would be best to comply for now and lifted his arms to the sky. “I didn’t know you were such a stickler for school rules, Mr. Valker. Ditching school early seems a little undeserving of pointing a gun at a student,” Xard said cooly. He didn’t know where the confidence or verboseness was coming from. Perhaps he was mimicking what he felt the other Fiends would do in this sort of situation.

“Now answer me honestly, Xard. Are you a Fiend? Did you kill someone?!” Mr. Valker roared at him. Xard only gave a slight nod in response. “Then I’m afraid you have to die!” Mr. Valker yelled before aiming his gun directly at Xard’s head and shooting. Xard moved his left hand and opened his mouth, wanting to shout “wait” but it was too late. The bullet was already rapidly approaching. Even with Xard’s improved reflexes there would be no way to dodge in time.

However, his instincts kicked in and his left hand kept moving. He didn’t know why he was doing it. Surely the bullet would go right through and hit him anyways, but somehow he knew it was the right action. Once his hand was directly in the line of fire, he opened his palm. The bullet hit directly in the center of Xard’s left hand, tearing through the glove, but it didn’t penetrate his skin at all. The bullet instantly lost all momentum and clunked to the ground.

Xard suddenly felt a wave of pressure inside of him, stemming from the impact point on his left hand. He wasn’t sure what the feeling was, but he knew he had to get it out of his body. He could feel it worming around inside of him, and guided it to his right hand, where the pressure shot out of the tip of his right pointer finger, and up towards the sky; ripping through the tip of his glove with ease.

“What the? What did you do?!” Mr. Valker yelled, looking at his gun to make sure nothing was defective. “I guess I just wasn’t close enough,” he said as he began taking steps closer. He had been halfway across the courtyard originally but was now about ten feet away. He raised his gun again, and was aiming to fire.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Xard protested back at him while holding his hands out. “At least tell me why you’re doing this! Did I ever do anything to you?!”

“Che, you think I’m stupid enough to reveal all my reasons to you? You’d just use that time to escape!” Mr. Valker snapped at him.

“I’m one of your students. I at least deserve to know why. I get that people would normally be upset when confronted with a murderer, but this seems to be on a more personal level for you. I just want to understand, okay,” Xard insisted.

“Fine then,” Mr. Valker said, still refusing to lower his gun. Xard doubted that he would, but it was worth the slim chance. “A few years ago, my fiancée was killed by a man with red eyes. I didn’t know what it meant then, but after those Drazahs revealed what Fiends were, I knew. I also knew that every single one of them were murderers, every single one of them took away a loved one from someone else. Every single one was evil and had to die! That’s why I started killing them. Someone has to. They deserved to die more than anyone else!”

Mr. Valker’s face grew bright red in anger. Xard guessed it must be painful reliving these memories, but there was something he had to confirm. “I take it you’ve killed a fair few then. Tell me, did a single one of them wrong you personally? Did you have proof that any of them were bad people, or did you kill them just because of what the world turned them into?” Xard questioned as calmly as he could.

“What does that matter?!” Mr. Valker rebuked. “They’re all killers. None of them could possibly have a single shred of decency in them! And you… you’re worse than all the others! You killed someone you cared about on top of it. How could you possibly do that to someone you loved?! You’re the first proper Fiend I’ll ever kill, but you won't be the last. I heard those Drazah brats are stomping around here. Since my cover’s blown, after I’m done with you, I’ll go kill them next…! If no one else will eradicate the evil from this world, I’ll do it myself!”

Mr. Valker firmly aimed again and shot three times, sending multiple bullets soaring right at Xard. However, Xard didn’t even look. From the middle of Mr. Valker’s outburst he had been looking down at the ground, causing a few of his hairs to fall in front of his face. Fury had slowly been building in him, and suddenly he felt the same calmness he felt when he found out about Warig. This man needs to be stopped!

Each of the bullets landed a direct hit on Xard; two in the chest and one in the leg. They seemed like clean hits, vanishing into his clothing, but there wasn’t even a scratch of damage. Xard looked up and glared intensely at Mr. Valker. He could feel his hair pulsating, and anyone looking closely at him would definitely notice his golden eyes glittering more than normal.

Without a word, Xard lifted his right hand, extended his pointer finger and thumb, making a finger pistol, and pointing it right at Mr. Valker. Xard guided the energy swirling inside him towards his finger tip, and released it in three equal bursts; the same as the bullets that hit him. He hadn’t even aimed, but knew that he was shooting right where he needed to.

The first energy bullet knocked the gun out of Mr. Valker’s hand and sent it flying. The other two hit both of his kneecaps, causing him to collapse on the ground and writhe in pain as blood pooled beneath him. He had begun to shout obscenities, but that was quickly drowned out by the yelling of someone else.

“What’d I tell you Drim! If you want to find a Fiend Killer… Then follow the Fiend!” Xard looked around for the source, and found Drim and Phon standing atop the school's roof; a second later they were standing right next to him. “Wow, you sure did a number on him, little red. Looks like he’ll bleed out soon if we don’t do something,” Phon said before nodding towards her brother.

Drim walked over to Mr. Valker, who was writhing on the ground in pain, and held his hands out over the bloody kneecaps. Vines shot out and wrapped tight above and below each knee. “That should stop the bleeding,” Drim muttered as he held his palm out flat. A blue plant materialized in his hand, then began rapidly scrunching up and twisting. Eventually just a ball of goo was left floating there.

A long thin thorn shot out of Drim’s wrist and into the goo, coating it. He bent down, and jabbed the thorn into Mr. Valker’s neck. “This works as a fast-acting sedative. He’ll be asleep in less than a minute,” Drim said after he retracted the thorn and reabsorbed both it and the goo.

Xard wanted to say something, but Phon beat him to it. She crouched down next to Mr. Valker’s head and said, “You know, not a single one of those Lesser Fiends you killed was a bad person.”

“How could you possibly know that?!” Mr. Valker shouted with the last remaining energy he had.

A sadistic smirk stretched across Phon’s entire face, as she stared him in the eyes and said cheekily, “If they were, you would have turned into a Lesser Fiend yourself.” Suddenly. Mr. Valker’s face contorted wildly; not from any physical pain, but rather it seemed to be struggling with the reality just imposed on him, and took it as a mental blow. Phon watched adoringly for the next few seconds until he lost consciousness.

“So, this was your job, huh? Catch the Fiend Killer? I didn’t even know there was one,” was all Xard could think to say at this moment.

“I doubt many people did,” Drim mentioned. “He was quite careful about his killings. It took us a lot of research to even track him to this school. Even then we were only confident that it was someone who attended this school. We weren’t even sure if it was a teacher or a student. I guess he got so riled up when he met you today that he got careless.”

“Well to be honest, we actually didn’t really track him to the school,” Phon added. “More like we investigated this school because you attended it. That led us to believe that there was a murderer operating in this school, and a Fiend Killer at that. We really didn’t know what we’d be facing. I honestly thought it would at least be a Lesser Fiend since they were able to kill so many others. Oh, and you made great bait by the way.”

“I guess I should take that as a compliment,” Xard said, surprised at his own words. He wasn’t mad that they had used him. It was a smart tactic, one that he may have used if he were in their position; whatever it took to get the job done and save people. “I have to ask, though, why didn’t you step in once he started shooting at me?”

“We wanted to see what you would do,” Phon said with seemingly no remorse. “Also, we were pretty confident that you hadn’t fully awoken to your curse yet. So, we figured this would be a good chance. Y’know, character development and what not. Not to worry, though, we were ready to step in at any moment if we thought you were in any real danger.” Xard looked over to Drim since he didn’t really feel he could trust her words, and he nodded in confirmation.

“So, what will you do now?” Drim asked.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Xard responded. “I plan to just forget this ever happened and go back to my regular life.”

“Heh, not sure that’s going to be possible,” Phon chuckled as she pointed behind herself towards the school. Xard looked over and there were countless eyes peering out from every window, all glaring at him. “Now, how about we take this conversation somewhere a little more private.” Phon lifted her hands to her eyes and then a second later the three of them were up on the school roof.

Xard looked down at Mr. Valker lying on the ground, and a few seconds later, the scene was swarming with police. “Wow, that was a fast response time, but they were there the whole time… weren’t they…?” Xard asked, a little depressed since he already knew the answer. After the first shot was fired, a couple minutes later he felt several eyes watching him from behind. He guessed someone must have called it in after that first gunshot.

“Yeah, they have been there for a little bit now,” said Drim. “I guess they must have realized you were a Fiend, and been too wary to act. Plus, they were aware that we were on the premises as well, and most likely didn’t want to take the risk.”

“Even with so many of them…” Xard sighed sadly as he watched the scene unfold. An ambulance had arrived and was now carting Mr. Valker off. “How cowardly can they be?!” Xard suddenly yelled out, unable to hold himself back. He could feel pressure building up in the back of his eyes, like he wanted to cry. He felt a sense of betrayal from those policemen, not that he knew any of them.

“You know something, I actually wanted to be a police officer… before I became a Fiend,” Xard confided. “At first I thought that I didn’t deserve to be one after I murdered Warig. That I was beneath them, since I gave into my anger and couldn’t properly uphold justice. Seeing them now, though, how sad they are. Refusing to come when someone calls just because they’re afraid. Refusing to act because there’s someone stronger than they are... No, I see now that I would never have fit in among them. Unlike them, I can’t just stand idly by when I know there’s something I can do!”

About a minute passed and the three of them just stood there in silence. Xard hadn’t looked at the other two since they got up there, he was too absorbed in his own thoughts. “Oh, are you done?” Phon cut in. “That was a great speech and all, albeit a little boring. If you want, I can help you work on your monologuing... Anyways, that doesn’t change that you need to figure out what you’re going to do. I doubt that you’d be happy staying here.”

Phon looked at Drim who then dug into his backpack for a scroll, which he then handed to her. Phon handed the scroll out to Xard, prompting him to take it as she said, “Regardless of what you do next, this will at least remove one shackle.” Xard unfurled the scroll. It was a diploma with his name on it.

“How… how did you get this?” Xard asked, confused, wanting to cry even more now.

“It was our payment for completing the job,” Phon answered. “The principal was kind enough to give them to us in advance. Three diplomas; one for me and Drim since we never actually went to school, and one for you.”

“You cheeky bastards,” was the only comeback Xard could think of. “You knew from the start that I’d end up an outcast, and I played right into your hands. Thank you for this.”

“I did say you were good bait after all,” Phon snidely remarked. “You know, if you’d like, you could join us. I’m guessing you probably have heard stories about us and think of us as criminals. We’re not all bad though, if you get to know us, well Drim’s not anyways. You wouldn’t have to commit crimes or do anything you didn’t want to do. You could even just focus on requests that help people. Don’t worry, you’ll get some time to think it over… Ten, nine, eight...”

“Wait, that’s not enough time dammit!” Xard rebuked, but Phon just kept on counting. When she got to about three he shouted, “Fine, I'll do it! I’ll join…! Jeez could you have a little more patience, damn she-demon.”

“Hurray... we got a new member...” Phon cheered half-heartedly as she barely waved her arms. Then she pointed at her brother and commanded, “Drim, do the thing!”

Drim pulled out a popper and pulled the string. A small blast of confetti shot up into the air, was immediately caught in the wind and swept away, where it rained down on the puzzled police officers.

“Wow… you guys sure know how to make a guy feel welcomed…” Xard droned in monotone.

“Alright, I guess we should go ahead and get Kada then,” Phon said as she moved her hands to her eyes again. Kada appeared in the middle of the three of them. She was now wearing a tracksuit instead of just the bikini from earlier. She was also balanced on one leg, with both arms raised, and her other leg sticking behind her horizontally. It appeared she was attempting an ‘attitude’ ballet pose. After a second of her realizing the change of her surroundings, she lost her balance and collapsed.

“Dammit Phon, you have the worst timing!” Kada cried out as she rubbed the parts that had hit the roof. “I had finally gotten the students to complete a 28 person human pyramid with me on top, and we were about to take the picture!”

“What’s up with the tracksuit,” Xard asked, surprised that he was the first one to comment on it.

“Ugh, one of the other teachers got upset and forced me to wear it,” Kada grumbled. “Oh and hi Xard. I guess this means you guys got him to join, huh.” The three of them nodded which prompted Kada to charge at Xard and tackle him while hugging. “Yay, this means I’m not the noob anymore!”

“Well, there’s your welcome,” Phon chuckled again. “I’m assuming you’ll be moving in with us then. Would be kinda hard to work with us otherwise. We’re stationed in Constead for now, but we definitely won’t be here forever. If you have any regrets or second thoughts about leaving your past life behind, now’s the chance to change your mind.”

Xard pushed Kada off of him, looked up to the sky, and without even hesitating said, “No, I’m ready to move on and start a new life.”

“Good good, now all that’s left is to figure out is who will stay in what room,” Phon pondered. “Since you’re a boy, you can’t really stay with me or Kada. Two per room is a little tight though… Hmm, maybe we could put a futon in the living room…”

Phon started muttering to herself before Drim interjected, “If you’re worried about that kind of stuff then I’m the last person Xard should share a room with.” Both Phon and Kada looked at him confused with tilted heads. He stared at them both for a second and then added, “Xard’s gay… Didn’t you notice?”

“Ehhhhh, really?!” both Phon and Kada hollered out in unison. Xard was just as shocked as the other two. He had only ever told his parents and no one else, not even Warig. He didn’t think he gave off any telltale signs or really fit into any of the big stereotypes. So, he had absolutely no idea how Drim could have figured it out.

“Well, I wouldn’t be too worried over that either, Drim isn’t really my type after all… Well… Huh,” Xard spouted out a mess of words. He had never really taken the time to look over Drim properly. The scary face would likely deter people at first glance, but now that he was looking closely it didn’t seem scary at all. “You know now that I really look at him, he’s pretty cute, isn't he?”

“Cosdammit, not another one!” Phon whined. “If we hadn’t just made you an official member, you can be damn sure I wouldn’t invite you now!. If you dare flirt with him I’ll beat you to a bloody pulp,” Phon hissed as she pulled her toy gavel and bashed it against her palm, creating a resounding squeak noise. Xard noticed that Kada instinctively flinched at the sight of it, and wondered how many times she’d been hit.

◆◆◆

Kada and Xard were approaching the front door to his house. Drim and Phon had gone ahead to buy things they would need for an additional person, as well as to get the apartment set up. It had been decided that Drim and Phon would share a room since they were siblings, and that Xard would take Drim’s old room.

“So, are you sure your parent’s won’t have a problem with this?” Kada asked as they approached the front door.

“Yeah…” Xard replied with a sigh. “About a year ago, I came out to my parents. They’re super religious, so of course they didn’t approve. Ever since, they’ve basically been treating me like I don’t exist. If anything, they’ll probably be relieved that I’m leaving.”

The two of them entered the house and Kada followed Xard towards the stairs. They passed the living room on the way where Xard’s parents were watching tv. Wow they didn’t even turn their heads or greet him at all. I guess I can’t comment though, my own home life wasn’t great, Kada thought to herself before she headed up the stairs to Xard’s room.

They packed up a couple boxes of Xard’s belongings. Kada had told him to pack light since there wasn’t much room at the apartment. After Xard was content with everything, they headed down the stairs. Kada headed to the door, but Xard paused by the living room for a moment.

He turned towards his parents, who still weren’t even looking at him and said, “Mom, Dad, I’m moving out. I assume you had your suspicions, but I was the one who killed Warig, and turned into a Fiend as a result. I found other Fiends who are willing to take me in. There’s a good chance that I’ll be labeled as a criminal as early as tomorrow. So, it’s likely the police will come to ask you some questions. Please be prepared for that, and you’re free to tell them whatever you like.”

After Xard had said his peace, he headed back over to Kada. She wanted to ask him if he wasn’t going to say anything else, but felt she didn’t have the right to intervene. Just as he was about to pass through the door outside, a soft voice came from the living room. “Goodbye son,” said Xard’s mother.

Shortly after it was followed by his father saying, “Good luck out there.” Xard froze when he heard those words, and Kada could see tears dripping down his face. After a few seconds, he bashed his hand against the doorframe then headed outside. Kada followed after him, through the frame that was entirely destroyed on one side.

Fiends For Hire Job Report			Job No. 000020
Status: Completed	Date Received: 2/4/2077	Date Accepted: 2/4/2077	Date Completed: 2/5/2077
Client: Principal of Constead South High School (Didn’t actually get his name, didn’t feel it was important - Phon)		Reward: Diplomas for Drim, Phon, and Xard Randex. 500$ and reimbursement for expenses.
Original Request: N/A. Client was met in person and was convinced that there was a serial killer in his school, and that we were the best candidates to deal with it.
Requirements for Completion: Flush out the serial killer and see that he/she is either murdered or arrested. (Additional) Recruit Xard Randex
Job accepted by: Drim Drazah Phon Drazah Kada Susten
Additional Notes: (Phon) Would say that the job was handled about as well as it could have been. We barely did any work and the bonus objective was completed. Yay for completionism. (Drim) Kind of sad that it ended so soon. Phon and I have never actually been enrolled in a proper school before. It was an interesting experience. (Xard) Not really sure what I should put here. Hi, I guess. Still a little annoyed you all came in and uprooted my life, but I realize my life may have been in danger otherwise. Thank you. (Kada) Wait, doesn’t this mean that I’m the only one of us who actually completely made it through high school? Ha, suck it, scrubs!

 

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