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

By the afternoon, the Fiends For Hire were already approaching the mountain range to find their potential candidate. The helicopter Nathym had built was exceptionally fast, even able to outpace some of the fastest skycrafts. It would likely prove useful in the future for expanding the scope of their operations, but since Mallea was the only one able to fly it currently, relying on it would be too problematic.

During the trip, they were able to get a little bit of information from Phon. The Fiend they were going to meet was named Ahvra. She was stationed out in a mountaintop laboratory in the southern part of the continent. Phon had infiltrated it once before, years ago, for a request. She then got into a fight with Ahvra where she lost miserably. When they asked her about Ahvra’s curse, she would freak out, clutch her arms, and start rambling as she rocked in her seat. The word ‘flows’ stuck out as a common denominator in all of them, however.

As they drew closer to the mountain range cresting over the horizon, they noticed the lab Phon had mentioned resting on a snowy mountaintop. There was a clearly marked helipad on the roof, and Mallea began heading towards it to land. “I don’t think it will be that easy,” Phon murmured. “She doesn’t really take kindly to visitors.” On cue, holes opened on the four corners of the roof. Turrets rose up from inside, and immediately began firing on the helicopter.

Mallea swiftly dodged the incoming fire as Kada yelled, “See! I knew a laser turret would come in handy!”

“Well, then quit bragging and start firing ,” Xard yelled back at her. Kada shifted from the back, where the four Fiends were sitting, to the front passenger seat next to Mallea. She grabbed the controls in front of her as a panel lit up. The laser turret was mounted on the underside of the helicopter and could aim in full 360°. The opposing turrets had markers placed around them on the panel, indicating where Kada should fire.

As Mallea continued to nimbly dodge the incoming fire, Kada discharged a massive array of laser bullets in retaliation. It wasn’t long before the first turret was smoking, followed by a small explosion, rendering it inoperable. “Oh what’s this, homing mode?” Kada wondered as she looked at her options. She pressed it and the turret markers changed colors.

A new prompt that read ‘Hold to Charge’ displayed itself in front of her. Kada held down the trigger and a meter began to fill. Once it was completely maxed out, she released and 3 beams of light shot out from the turret. They weaved through the air, the light somehow bending right towards their target. Each laser struck their respective turret, utterly annihilating them. “We don’t know what other weapons or traps she might have,” Drim announced. “So drop us off, Mallea, and go park the helicopter somewhere safe until we call for you.”

Mallea swooped the helicopter over the pad, and the four Fiends jumped down onto it. Just as Mallea was starting to fly away, walls shot up from the helipad around them and then a roof closed overhead, trapping them. There was a moment of pitch black, but then a light blinded them as all the walls lit up brightly. “Welcome back, Vixen,” a voice rang out. “I always had a feeling you’d come back, so I’ve been prepared.”

“Hang on guys, I’ll get us out of here,” Phon said as everyone was blinking, trying to get adjusted to the lights. She went to move her hands to cover her eyes, but then metal cables shot out from the floor. They wrapped around Phon, securing her arms to her sides.

“You were foolish to return,” the voice mocked her. “Don’t forget, I know all about how your curse works. I’m sure one of your friends has one that could help you out. So I’m not going to take any chances.” There was a hiss, and what looked like a yellow fog flooded the cage. As the four of them started to lose consciousness, the voice laughed maliciously. “Thank you all for signing up to be my test subjects for life. The old ones were getting boring.”

The Fiends woke up inside the cage around roughly the same time. It was pitch black again, so Kada pulled out her phone to shine some light. According to her clock, only a few minutes had passed. They were all unharmed, but now Phon was missing, and the cage they were in was noticeably swaying. The same voice from before clicked on and said with annoyance, “Ugh, that gas didn’t knock you out for as long as I had hoped, but it doesn’t matter. Be good kids and sit still. I have some catching up to do with the Vixen, I’ll get to you all later.”

“Well obviously we’re not gonna sit still,” Kada retorted after the voice had vanished. “I’ll melt the walls and get us out of here in a second.”

“I’d hold off on that,” Drim stopped her. “Judging by the swaying of the box, I assume we’re not on the roof anymore. I’m guessing we’re being suspended, probably off the side of the mountain. Are you confident you can melt only the wall and not the floor too, so we don’t fall to our deaths?”

Kada paused and thought for a moment. “Maybe you guys should try something first.”

“Allow me,” Xard said with confidence. He moved next to the wall, and absorbed one of his rings. Then, he pressed two fingers against the wall and fired, creating a small hole. He repeated this process around the wall until holes dotted a large circle. Absorbing his missile ring, he pressed his flat palm against the center of the circle and released the energy. The circle of metal blasted off, leaving them a nice gap to escape from.

As Drim suspected, they were indeed dangling over a large drop. He attached several vines to both the cage and the far away lab, and then reeled them in until the cage was as close as it could get. It was a decent enough distance that they could jump over to it without too much hassle. Kada went first, jumping through the side of the building, melting it as she went, and rolled onto the inside floor as she landed. Drim and Xard followed behind, jumping through the opening she had created.

They found themselves in a hallway, but not one that would be found inside a normal home. It definitely had a feeling befitting a laboratory. The floors and walls were sleek and pristine. It was clear that someone took the time to clean and maintain them. The group followed the hallway, unsure of the proper direction to go.

As they walked around, they opened any door they came across. Some were normal rooms such as a kitchen and bedroom, others were ones that’d only be found in this kind of place. There was a room with several large tubes filled with green liquid, with what appeared to be deceased animals floating inside them. Another room was pitch black to the point where they couldn’t see the other end, and the floor, unlike everywhere else, was grimy. They heard an unfamiliar pained groaning, and decided to walk away after closing the door slowly.

After realizing they had gone the wrong way and turned around, they eventually stumbled across a large metal door. More turrets popped out, making them confident this is where they were supposed to be. Kada and Xard stepped in front of Drim to shield him from the incoming barrage of bullets. There was a combination of clinking and plopping sounds as bullets, and those turned into goo, hit the floor.

Kada melted the remaining bullets in the turrets as she had done once before to the police officer’s bullets in Constead. Vast amounts of metal slime were leaking out of them. Xard lashed out a few energy blades to destroy them for good measure. Kada walked up and pressed her hand against the door. “Oooh, this is made up of all kinds of layers and metals,” Kada stated. “For anyone else it’d take forever to break through, oh well.” She walked through the door as if it wasn’t even there, the two boys following closely behind.

They found themselves in a large room full of machines and computers. Phon was sitting in a chair, still bound in metal cables. The one whom they had to assume was Ahvra was bent over one of the consoles, muttering to herself. “Ehhhhh? They’ve made it this far already? Well the turrets should hold them off. Ehhhhhhhhhhh?! The turrets are destroyed?! Well there’s no way they’re getting through my security door!”

Ahvra spun around to admire her security, but was greeted by three Fiends staring at her. “Wahhh!” she shrieked in surprise. “Uhh I mean, Ahhh! You’ve made it here at last!” Ahvra pointed at them furiously. “Who knew you all were so eager to become my guinea pigs?!” she boasted.

While her personality gave off a bit of a mad scientist vibe, her aesthetic didn’t match the vision they had of someone that Phon would be terrified of. She did have an unbuttoned lab coat that went down to just above her knees. It was the traditional white, but they could see that the inside was a different color. It was magenta, which bled a bit to the outside from the cuffs of her sleeves and up her arms in a flame-like pattern. The same pattern was around the bottom as well.

Her other clothes definitely did not match someone who was revered as ‘evil’. They seemed like they belonged to a child. She had on blue pastel shorts that barely covered her hips and a pink tank top with a flower in the center that could hardly contain her busty figure, like it was almost about to tear. It was also raising the whole piece, exposing her midriff. No matter how someone would justify it, they were definitely too small for her.

Her hair was magenta, identically matching the color of the inside and pattern on her lab coat. The hair itself was fluffy and wavy, and went all the way down to just below her butt. If they had to guess, it would seem she had not cut it in at least ten years. Her eyes were a pale yellow. They couldn’t see her Curse Mark, but she was obviously a Fiend.

Ahvra grabbed a bizarre looking broom that was leaning against the wall and pointed it at them. The handle of it was clearly sectioned off in parts, similar to that of a collapsible walking stick. The bristles seemed to be made of metal, making it look adorned with hundreds of sharp needles. “Get down on your knees and surrender. I don’t like fighting, but I can guarantee you don’t want to go against me!”

She spun one of the sections of the handle and the head began to shift. The needle-like bristles began to spin and spread out as fabric unfurled between them. The tip of her broom had transformed into a large fan, and she didn’t hesitate swinging it. A massive gust of air rushed past the three Fiends, nearly knocking them off their feet. This had to be caused by her curse.

Ahvra followed up with, “That was just a warning shot, and it was only a fraction of what I can do! No matter what, I won’t kill you though, on purpose anyways. I wouldn’t be able to run tests on you if you died, but if it happens accidentally, I’ll just bring you back. There’s no escaping me, even in death.” As she delivered her spiel, her body suddenly shivered. No one took any stock in this, except for Phon, whose eyes were suddenly bulging out of her head.

“Hey guys,” Phon called over to them. “I think her time is--”

“Quiet you!” Ahvra yelled at her. She wiggled her fingers menacingly in Phon’s direction, causing Phon to immediately flinch.

This didn’t keep Phon obedient permanently, however. “Seriously, if you guys do nothing and just don’t agitate her for a minute, I think we’ll win this. She’s almost out of time.”

“You know what, I’m feeling generous today,” Ahvra announced. “If you three just abandon the Vixen and turn around now, I’ll let you all leave, no strings attached. I can’t just let her go since I warned her before, but I have no grudge against any of you. Goodbye now!” Her body shivered again, for longer this time.

“She should run out any moment now,” Phon seemed convinced.

“Actually, I don’t even want her now, just take her and go. I’m really busy and have a lot of work to do, so I can’t entertain you all any longer. Farewell!” Ahvra’s body began to shake uncontrollably, and she gripped her broom tight to help keep herself balanced.

“Any second now…” Phon assured them.

“Please leave!” Ahvra cried out pathetically. A moment later, something astonishing happened, causing all of the Fiends eyes to widen immensely as they stared at her. Ahvra then let out a large sigh.

“Hahhhhhhh, I need a nap. If you all will excuse me, I’m going to go lie down.” Her demeanor had changed completely. That boisterous and emotive attitude from before had vanished. Her words were completely hollow, with no expression or intonation, almost as if she was a machine speaking. Likewise, her eyes had drooped, and she looked barely alive, and utterly exhausted.

None of this was the surprising part. Ahvra had shrunk. Except that was the wrong word for it. She appeared to have de-aged several years. Her body had reverted to that of a small child. The clothes that looked like they were about to burst earlier, now fit her perfectly except for the lab coat. Her arms seemed to reach about halfway through the sleeves, leaving lots of drooping excess. Both her hair and the bottom of the coat now just barely scraped the floor.

“We’ll continue this after,” Ahvra said as she walked past the Fiends, seeming to not care about their existence in the slightest. “Please try not to break anything.”

Kada’s eyes had been shimmering intensely since Ahvra’s transformation, and her body had been trembling. It appeared she had reached her breaking point. She rushed up behind Ahvra, wrapped her arms around her head and hugged her close, lifting her in the process. “Oh Cosmos, she’s so cute! I can’t get over how adorable she is, and the way she seems so dead inside to contradict with her appearance just makes it better.

As Kada began to sway Ahvra back and forth, mumblings came from the area buried in Kada’s grasp. “Stop. Please stop… Okay, I surrender, just call your dog off of me.” For someone in distress, her monotone voice didn’t really emphasize it. Xard grabbed Kada by the scruff of her collar and pulled her away. “Ugh, if I’m going to be forced to stay conscious, I’ll need something to perk me up,” Ahvra said, still without even the slightest bit of inflection.

She went over to a minifridge in the room and opened it up. It was completely stockpiled with energy drink shots, and she began pounding them one after the other until an unhealthily large pile was at her feet. “Ahvra’s curse requires a lot of energy on her part, especially when she uses it on herself,” Phon explained to everyone else after Kada had finally melted away her restraints.

“Yes it does, and now since I had to use it up entertaining all of you, I won’t get much work done today, how bothersome.” Ahvra said that after she had finally stopped chugging. “I can guess why you’re here. It’s not to kill me, or you would have done it already and not been so careless. It’s not to rob me or you’d be currently taking advantage of my weakened state. So I must assume it is to kidnap me.”

“Well, try and recruit you, but yes,” Drim responded.

“Semantics. I refuse,” Ahvra said without hesitation. “I have plenty more research I need to conduct, and with my current resources, I won’t run out of new material to discover for quite some time. Come back in 20 years when I might have free time.”

“Come on Ahvra, there’s no way you’re satisfied running experiments on just a handful of normal people anymore,” Phon rebutted. “If you come with us you’ll have access to a whole wealth of new potential studies.”

“Quiet you,” Ahvra said, wiggling her fingers towards Phon again. “That is quite the tempting offer, but there’s no way I could take your word for it. Remember when you promised to never disturb me again. Last time I let you go because you provided me with some useful information and data. If you wanted me to join you and leave this place, you’d have to provide something worth at least tenfold.”

Drim walked next to Ahvra, crouched down, and whispered something to her. Judging by the length, it appeared to only be a single sentence, but her eyes grew wide from hearing it. Ahvra spontaneously turned into the same adult form she was in when they arrived and shouted, “Really?! I’m in!. What are we waiting for?! Let’s go!” She then immediately turned small again and apologized in monotone. “I’m sorry for the outburst, it was rather uncouth of me. I also understand that I’m jumping the gun a bit. You probably have many questions and things you want to confirm before I officially sign on.”

“Right now I’m mostly curious as to why you’re only emotive when you’re big,” Xard mentioned.

“That would require a lot of explanation,” Ahvra remarked. “I will try to keep it as efficient as possible. It would probably be simplest to start with this.” She began lifting up one of the legs of her shorts causing everyone but Phon to reflexively look away.

“Ahh, what are you doing?!” Kada gasped while peeking through her fingers. “A small child shouldn’t expose herself to adults like that!”

“I am older than all of you, I’ll have you know!” Ahvra shouted in her big form again before reverting back.

“How do you know that?” Drim asked, “Did you look up information on us or something?

“No, I can see your ‘time’,” Ahvra stated as if that was something regular people would understand. She let out a small sigh after seeing everyone’s dumbfounded looks. “I can see I need to explain more. It is part of my curse.” Ahvra’s eyes suddenly went completely white, then several rings of yellow began rippling all around.

“The black and red boys are both 18, the red boy is slightly older. Oh, happy belated birthday blue dog,” Ahvra said when she looked at Kada. “It seems you just turned 22 a few days ago.”

Everyone looked at Kada with confused looks to which she muttered, “What? I didn’t want to make a big deal of it, we were busy. I did treat myself to some good food on your money, though, Drazahs. Thanks!” Kada gave an innocent, happy smile.

“I’m 24, so that makes me the oldest among you,” Ahvra seemed to say with pride, even though her voice didn’t change. “You may call me Big Sis, if you like and… hmm what’s this.” Ahvra’s gaze turned to Drim and the ripples in her eyes increased in speed and volume.

“There is something wrong with the black boy.” She walked over and placed her hand over Drim’s heart, having to get on her tip-toes to reach it. “There is another time here, in his heart. It’s very weak, but it’s there… Oh, the time flinched when I talked about it. So bizarre.” Ahvra’s eyes turned to normal and she looked up at Drim.

“You’re interesting. May I dissect you?” Everyone seemed unnerved by this sudden inquiry. “I’ll make it as painless as I can, and I’ll put you back to normal after. Come on, it’ll be fun!” Ahvra began tugging on Drim’s shirt through the sleeves of her lab coat. “For me anyways…” She smirked to the side with a slightly twisted grin.

After reading the room, Ahvra backed off. “Oh right, we got off track. I was going to show you all my Curse Mark. Don’t be weirded out, I give my full consent to be looked at. I’d turn big, but then some stares may have a change of intent.” Once again, Ahvra began to lift one of the legs of her shorts, causing everyone to look on, hesitantly. Her Curse Mark was tattooed on her upper left thigh. It was an hourglass, but there was a cracked hole in the bottom half, causing sand to leak out the side.

“I know I have mentioned the word ‘time’ on several occurrences now, and this Curse Mark centers around time as the motif, but my curse does not specifically revolve around time.” Ahvra elaborated. “Rather, I can see and control ‘flows’. By that I mean things that flow: water, wind, and so on. I can also see the flows in your body: the blood in your veins, and the electricity in your nerves and brain. In the black boy’s case, I can also see a green flow inside of him but I can’t seem to control it. I assume that is due to his curse that the Vixen explained to me before.”

“As to what I mean by control, I can do three things specifically. I can change the speed of the flow, reverse its direction, or stop it. I’ll give an example.” Ahvra grabbed another one of the energy shots from the fridge and undid the cap. She began pouring the liquid onto the floor, but mid pour, it stopped completely. Then, after a brief pause, it flowed back up into the bottle. Ahvra then let it pour out on the floor entirely.

“I should clarify a few things. Now that the liquid is fully on the floor, I can no longer control it. When only some of it was on the floor it was still flowing so I could move it all back up. I can only control active flows, this is why I used my broom to make wind. I can’t make it with my curse, but once it’s there, I can manipulate it as much as I want.”

There are also some flows I am better at controlling than others. Liquid and wind are easy, but something like gravity is a lot harder, and I haven’t practiced it much because it’s so exhausting.” Ahvra let the bottle fall to the floor but she managed to slow its descent. She seemed to be struggling a great deal to do even that much. “Even though the liquid before was affected by gravity, it still counted as a flow of liquid.”

“Flows inside a person aren’t too different. However, for whatever reason, flows inside a Fiend are exponentially harder to control. That is how I defeated the cowering Vixen over there, and why she’s so afraid of me. I stopped the flow of her blood. Because she was a Fiend, it didn’t kill her outright, but I imagine it was quite unpleasant. Isn’t that right?” Ahvra looked over to Phon, put her fingers flat over her mouth, and made what sounded like the most fake sounding chuckle possible. This was most likely the result of her emotionless voice.

“See! Evil!” Phon yelled as her whole body trembled. “I hate her, and her stupid curse!”

“Lastly, as you saw before with my own body, I can control the flow of time,” Ahvra continued. “But it’s not how one might expect. I’m not changing the time of the universe, or moving forward or backwards in it. Rather I’m changing the ‘time’ of an object. I can make something or someone older, or I can make them younger. For example…”

Ahvra pointed her hand towards Drim and he vanished from sight, leaving his clothes behind. There was ruffling beneath the mound of clothes, and then a small head poked up through Drim’s hood. It was a baby version of Drim, but he didn’t seem to be aware of what was happening. Instead, he was smiling cheerfully at everyone and giggling. “People retain their memories when I change them, and are aware of the change, but their personality and intelligence becomes whatever it was or will be at that age.”

The eyes of the other three lit up, and both Kada and Phon took out their phones. Phon started recording video while Kada took several photos using the rapid snapshot function. “So, this is Drim as a baby, huh,” Xard said while staring at the happy pink blob. “I have to admit, he’s pretty cute and really seems to be enjoying life. It’s crazy to think how much he’s changed, he doesn’t seem bothered by anything like this. If I recall correctly, he was hypersensitive to anyone ‘evil’ and would start bawling. Does that mean he doesn’t see his mother as evil anymore, or did she revert to being a baby as well?”

Baby Drim had started trying to crawl over to Phon, his head was caught on his hood and he was dragging his shirt and cloak along with him. Suddenly, he stopped, stood up properly, and wrapped his shirt around his body. “No, I’m normal,” Eleen’s voice came from the baby. “I can’t seem to properly communicate with Drim, however. Please change us back soon.” The baby’s demeanor returned to normal, plopped on his bottom, and began sucking his thumb.

“I see, so that must be Eleen Drazah in there,” Ahvra concluded as she looked at the baby. “Interesting, meeting her under these circumstances. My mentor was wholly obsessed with her. To think she wanted to desperately save you, but you’re still alive, in some sense anyways. I’ll change the pitiful woman trapped in a baby back to normal.”

Drim grew again, just as suddenly as he shrank. He immediately wrapped himself in his cloak and sent a shrewd piercing gaze towards the group. It made everyone flinch, including the usually unflappable Ahvra in her emotionless state. After a brief recovery to calm down, Ahvra spoke again. “So, when I changed the black boy into a baby just now, that was the end of the usage of my curse. If I had left him as a child, he would have grown up normally, potentially into an entirely different person than the one you all knew.”

“Incidentally, I can not de-age someone until they are unborn, nor can I turn them into a fetus. The lowest age I can make them into is the day of their birth. On the other end of the spectrum, I can make someone grow up to be exactly 105 years old. I don’t know why it’s that specifically. Even if someone would die before then or would live beyond it, that is the limit, and if they would die before then, they don’t die when I make them that age. So, I can not actually kill anyone with my curse in that manner, but I do possess many other deadly techniques.”

“I’m starting to see why Phon claimed her to be the strongest Fiend,” Xard acknowledged. “She could just turn anyone she sees as a threat into a baby and then dispose of them as she saw fit.”

“My curse, while strong, is not entirely infallible,” Ahvra clarified. “Turning someone into a baby, especially a Fiend, requires a lot of my energy.” She said this while chugging another energy shot. “I’m also somewhat morally against it. My goal is the study of life and all it contains. Changing someone into a baby unlocks the potential of making someone immortal. There can be no life without death. Though, if someone gave me a big juicy chunk of information, I may grant them a shift in time as a reward.”

“So what’s this ‘study of life’ business about?” Kada asked, finally looking up from her phone since she’d been scrolling through pictures of Baby Drim.

“Geez, I still haven’t gotten to the initial question, but fine,” Ahvra relented. “I want to know everything there is to know about the concept of life: how it works, why it exists, its purpose. I understand the fundamentals, such as how someone is conceived and born, but I want to know why every life is different. The scientific answer up until now has been differences in brain patterns, chemicals, and DNA. With the introduction of Fiends, though, there has been definitive confirmation of souls existing as separate entities.

“I also want to know how it works in case someone else tries to figure out and abuse it, such as trying to bring back the dead. Then I would be able to counteract them. People should not try to revert what has already been done. It will only lead to suffering. That said, I am wholeheartedly for changing the future. If we learn how to control life, think of how we could enhance and modify it.”

“Yup, you lost me at brain patterns,” Kada shrugged.

“I see there is no intellectual conversation to be had with this one,” Ahvra sighed. “Oh well, that is to be expected of a dog. Well, back to the red boy’s initial question about my emotions. It has to do with my ‘time’. I became a Fiend at 14 years old, so ten years ago. When that happened, my ‘time’ was frozen. I stopped aging entirely, and my body is forever stuck at that age. I can use my curse to temporarily change my age, but it is always fighting me and trying to revert back to my 14 year old self.”

“To remain in any age other than 14 it requires continuous use of my curse which drains a ton of energy. I find that whatever my natural age is supposed to be is the easiest to maintain for long periods of time. The form you saw me in would be what I would look like if I aged to 24 naturally. As to why I look younger than most 14 year olds, it is because I always looked younger than normal people my whole childhood, and I hadn’t quite hit puberty yet. Through my curse. I was able to verify that I was only about a week away from starting it.”

“It’s so not fair!” Ahvra yelled, briefly changing to her Big Sis form.

“So, why my emotions only come out in adult me, it's because I actually turn them off when I’m normal,” Ahvra explained. “I turn off the flow of electricity in my brain that controls emotions which saves a surprising amount of energy for me to use in other ways. I’ve since associated being emotional with being big, so I turn my appropriate age instinctively when I need to let something out. Today is definitely the most emotive I’ve been in a long time. However, I understand that it does not incur a healthy psychology to bottle up emotions. So, once a month, I watch several movies from different genres and let my emotions run wild.”

“That’s quite complex, but I get the gist of it,” Xard related. “I have an issue with anger from time to time, so I’m a bit envious of being able to shut it off.”

“I could shut it off for you,” Ahvra offered. “But it would also shut off all of your other emotions as well, and you wouldn’t have free control to change it back as I can. Though this could prove an interesting experiment, are you volunteering?” Xard waved his hands and shook his head, intently declining.

“Alright, I have a question now,” Drim announced. “It’s hazy, but when I was a baby, I thought I heard you mention about your mentor and how they were a Drazah supporter. Can you tell me about them?”

“I’m afraid there is not much that I know about it myself,” Ahvra confessed. “I know that she was a scientist working under the Drazahs, but I never even knew so much as her real name. She was very private and mysterious. There is a picture of her on that desk over there if you’re interested.” Everyone’s eyes drifted over to the frame sitting there. In the picture was a somehow even younger looking Ahvra and a woman in the same lab coat that Ahvra was currently wearing. There was a sharp pain in Drim’s chest, causing him to keel over and clutch at his heart. Thankfully, everyone’s attention was focused elsewhere so no one noticed.

“Time to pay up,” Ahvra suddenly proclaimed. “I shared a lot of information with you all, so I expect reprimation. Specifically, I want to know about your curses.” Ahvra pointed at Phon. “Wimpy Vixen, when we first met you barely understood your curse’s true potential. Have you progressed?”

“Err yes, and don’t call me wimpy, little shrimp,” Phon hissed. “I can now teleport myself and others freely with the only limit being the scope of my vision.”

“Impressive, you’ve definitely grown and now you need a new name,” Ahvra ascertained. “You are no longer Wimpy Vixen, I now dub thee ‘Rude Convenience’.” Before Phon could retaliate, Avhra had moved on to Drim. “Your sister explained to me that you could control plants. Is that the extent of it?”

“Well, actually, it’s more that I can consume the energy of old plants and use it to make new plants. I can then control them however I wish,” Drim absolved the misunderstanding.

“Oh ho, now that’s much more interesting,” Ahvra listlessly showed interest. “With that and having another living soul inside of you, you may very well prove integral in resolving many of my speculations about life. You have truly earned the title of ‘Useful One’. Next, Dog.”

“Oh, me?” Kada stood at attention. “I can melt any non-fauna solid into a liquid and control that liquid to an extent until I turn it back.”

“So you are not only a dog but a ‘Wet Dog’,” Ahvra quipped. “Red boy. Go.”

“Err, I can absorb kinetic energy and then redirect and release it in a method of my choosing,” Xard answered.

“I see, then going by your radiance, you are ‘Dandy Mirror’!” Ahvra declared.

“You seem to be having fun giving everyone names, Ahvra,” Phon said with a smirk as she drew close to her. “But why don’t you tell everyone the name the people have given you, the name that spreads terror in so many bounty hunter’s hearts.”

“Nope,” Ahvra immediately declined.

Phon burst out laughing at this. “Ahahaha, it’s such a great name. It’s the only time I approve of them using alliteration because it’s so perfect. Look, it’s so embarrassing that she doesn’t even have the courage to say it!”

Ahvra’s body quivered a little but her face stayed dead. “There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just a name after all. I’ll say it. It’s w….” Ahvra’s words became such quiet mumbling that no one could hear her.

Phon clearly wasn’t going to let her get away with that. “Oh, what was that? We didn’t hear you.”

“I said, it’s wid….” Once again it ended in incoherent mumbling.

“Hmmmmmm?” Phon held her hand to her ear and got uncomfortably close to Ahvra.

Ahvra grew big and yelled, “I said it’s Wittle Witch’! Now hold still so I can freeze your blood!” Phon immediately panicked and went to hide behind Drim. Now small again, Ahvra asked, “Is everyone satisfied with their questions now? If we don’t get moving soon, I’m seriously going to pass out from exhaustion.”

“There’s one last thing before we go,” Drim mentioned. “I want you to stop my blood.” He was immediately met with strange stares from everyone. “I feel it’s important to know what my sister’s been through, and I’m just generally curious if it can turn someone as strong willed as Phon into the whimpering mess hiding behind me.” Drim pointed his thumb behind his back.

Ahvra sighed again. “You all are really trying to kill me, aren't you…? Fine.” She went and chugged down every last energy shot still available. Then without warning, she lifted her hand towards Drim. He could feel his body starting to react. First, his fingers and toes went numb, then his whole body felt cold. Pressure started to build up, his veins began popping up on his skin. His body started feeling tight, as if his skin and veins were constricting around him. Lastly, he felt like he was going to rupture any second, his whole body would explode soon and he collapsed on the ground.

When he hit the floor, Ahvra released her curse. Slowly, Drim’s body began to feel normal again, but he felt awful. Eventually he stood back up and groaned, “Yeah, that’s horrific. I’d definitely classify it as a form of torture.”

“Alright then, now let me get packed and then we can head out,” Ahvra said to them as she tied up her hair into a large messy bun. “All of my data is already backed up and you can provide me with any new equipment I need once we get there. So, I just need to pack my personal effects.”

“Is there anything we can help out with?” Kada asked her.

“I don’t want you guys to pack anything, you’d probably just mess it up,” Ahvra rejected her. “However, if you bring me all my clothes from my room, that would save me some time and energy.”

Phon went to go fetch luggage to pack everything while Kada and Xard went to Ahvra’s room. They left Drim behind to recuperate while Ahvra started gathering her things together. He caught himself staring at her and was beginning to understand why Kada thought she was so cute. Every action she took from walking to reaching for things made her look like a small child trying her best to act like a hard-working adult.

In particular, what Drim found most adorable, was the way she carried things. Since her arms were so short, they only reached about halfway in the lab coat. As such, she didn’t have full access to her fingers. In combination with her naturally small hands, she had to carry anything larger than a ball with both hands by pinching the item between them as the ends of the labcoat’s sleeves draped down.

While she was packing, Ahvra’s poorly constructed bun came undone and she had to redo it. Her hair was definitely unusual to Drim and he felt the need to ask about it. “So, have you never cut your hair your whole life?”

“No, it’s an annoying thing with my curse,” Ahvra corrected. “For normal people, when I change their age their hair matches what would be a reasonable haircut for that age. However, whenever I make myself older, my hair grows as if I had lived that long without cutting it. Then, when I revert back to this form, it stays. Even if I went back in time to being a baby, it would stay this length.

“I used to cut it all the time, even getting quite good at it, but I kept changing my form too much so it got annoying. Eventually, I made myself 105 years old and decided to stick with that length. It should never grow longer than this so I figured it would be best to just get used to it.” Drim accepted that answer and let her get back to packing.

“Jeez, you sure do have a lot of clothes,” Kada commented when she and Xard returned with two piles of clothes.

“That’s because I need clothes regardless of what size I am,” Ahvra defended her wardrobe.

Kada picked up a small shirt from one of the piles and teased, “Y’know, I thought this about the clothes you were wearing, but these small ones definitely don’t fit your age.” It was a yellow shirt with a bunny on it.

“It’s because it’s hard to find clothes that size for adults, okay?!” Big Ahvra cried out before turning back. “In order to save effort and money, I buy children’s clothes for everyday use. Normally, I change into adult clothes when someone breaks in but you guys appeared so suddenly that I didn’t have time. I appear in adult form whenever there’s an intruder to try and dispel that stupid name.”

The four Fiends sat around as they watched Ahvra slowly pack all of her things. Kada seemed to have the same feelings as Drim in terms of Ahvra’s charm, as she often cheered her on with lines such as, “Do your best Ahvra,” even though she was only doing something mundane.

Ahvra picked up her broom at one point and twisted the handle again. The bristles turned into ones that would adorn a regular broom and the handle shrunk in size. This would clearly make it easier for the smaller Ahvra to use. Also, a couple of them noticed a familiar brand near the base. “So your broom-weapon-thing is made by the Enigmatic Engineer, then?” Xard asked.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you know of them,” Ahvra responded. “Yes, when their inventions were becoming popular, I deduced that they were most likely a Fiend. I commissioned this from them since I wanted to see what they were capable of. It is quite impressive to say the least. In addition to being a regular broom and its battle capabilities, it can also turn into a mop, duster, and a man-catcher that latches around people’s necks.”

“The Engineer’s name is Nathym Cyper,” Drim let her know. “He recently joined our group as well, and it is planned for him to be your partner in this.”

“I see,” Ahvra stated. “That should make the task you presented to me more feasible. Kind of a shame honestly. It leaves less for me to discover, but it will make it more likely achievable in your lifetime.”

“Our lifetime?” Kada wondered.

“My current hypothesis is that I’m unable to die from aging,” Ahvra explained. “So unless something else kills me, I will likely outlive you all.”

Eventually, she was all packed, and barely seemed to be hanging on to consciousness. They all headed down the hallway as Ahvra guided them towards the stairwell that would take them to the helipad. Drim had already called for Mallea to come pick them up. On the way, Ahvra stopped suddenly by a door that some of them remembered as the one where the weird groaning came from. “Oh, I should probably let them go.”

Ahvra opened the door and stepped inside. A light automatically turned on and three cages could be seen, each housing a different person. They all had dazed looks on their glossy eyes but perked up when Ahvra began speaking. “This is farewell everyone. I’m letting you all go early.” She walked over to a keypad and started pressing buttons. The restraints around their ankles came undone.

Ahvra turned big and started to well up. “Lusk, your spleen was particularly immaculate. Girni, I did some work on your womb, so your chances of having those kids you want should be increased. Marden, your small intestine is smaller than most people, but don’t let that get you down. It’s how you use it! I had so much fun dissecting and experimenting on you all. Good luck with the rest of your lives!” The floor below each cage started to descend, and Ahvra continued to sob until they vanished from sight.

She turned small again as she walked back out the door, and everyone’s eyes, including Phon’s this time, were almost bulging out of their skulls. “Oh, I have it set up so they leave through a bottom passageway if you’re wondering where they went. It’s a precaution so they can’t act hostile towards me.”

“Yeah, that’s not even close to why we’re shocked,” Xard blurted. “Who are they and why did you have them locked up in the first place?!”

“Oh, that,” Ahvra looked exhausted by the mere thought of having to explain it. “They’re various people that have tried to infiltrate this place. Many people over the years have tried: bounty hunters, raiders, political officials, private detectives, even a real estate agent once. After I capture them, I give them a choice. If they let me use their bodies for experiments, I’ll let them go after a set amount of time.”

“My curse can heal wounds through an abstract method. Essentially, I just reverse their time to before I did the tests on them, and then bring them back to their current time. It acts as a nice reset, so they will be no worse for wear when they leave. All it costs them is their complete obedience and a bit of mild suffering. How long they are forced to stay is based on how much they annoyed me, but I’ve never kept anyone more than a year and some as little as a week. Rude Convenience is the only one I ever let go immediately, since she gave me a lot of useful information. Of course, the other option is death, but no one ever took that option, though I’m sure some wished for it by the end.”

“Alright, let’s keep walking!” Drim ordered the group, pretending to ignore the explanation they had just received. Thoughts were drifting through all of their heads about the person they had just invited to join them.

When they got to the helicopter, Mallea and Ahvra loaded everything in while the rest got situated. Eventually, Ahvra came clambering into the back. She was having trouble getting in with her small form so she briefly turned big to get inside. Everyone gazed at her with varying expressions as she sat on Drim’s lap and turned small. Then, she immediately turned big again and burst out laughing. “Oh man, I knew this spot would make you guys have the best reactions!”

Small again, she continued, “That aside, there is nowhere else for me to sit because my things took up all of the cargo space, as well as the front seat. Due to Useful One’s inherent abilities, I calculated that this would be the safest place.” No one raised a fuss after that explanation, and they soon took off. A few minutes later, Ahvra took out her phone and a big red button appeared on the screen. She ruffled up her sleeves to free her fingers so the screen would respond and pushed it.

There was a loud explosion off in the distance even though none of them could see it. It seemed Ahvra had blown up her laboratory. Before anyone could question her motive, she preemptively answered, “There, now no one can steal my research. If you’re wondering about the test subjects, if they were unable to get out of the blast radius in time, there is no way they would make it back to civilization alive, but they were all pretty strong.” Unexpectedly, Ahvra didn’t put away her phone and started typing on it instead.

“Texting someone?” Kada asked her, seeming genuinely surprised she would have someone to contact.

“Yeah, my Dads,” Ahvra answered. “I’m letting them know I got kidnapped again.”

“Again?” questioned three of them, with only Xard asking, ‘Dads?’

 

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