Drim stared at the now-empty living room of their apartment. It was the 17th of Bipriber, their moving day. They had gotten a call from their uncle the day before that everything would be in order on the 20th. Since it would take a few days to get to their new location, they decided to leave well in advance. They were mostly ready to go first thing in the morning, having packed over the past couple of days.

  All that was left to pack was a few essentials they would need to get by such as toothbrushes and cooking utensils. There wasn’t much in the living room to begin with, but Kada had insisted on bringing the couch and TV along. The items would have been too much of a pain to bring along normally or too expensive to ship, so she melted them down into the bucket she bought at the mall. It was on the verge of overflowing, so she secured the top with plastic wrap and heavy duty tape.

  The other three Fiends had already headed outside with their things, and were waiting on Drim to finish up his last check to make sure they weren’t forgetting anything. There were still a few items left such as the beds and appliances, but overall it just felt very empty, as if they’d never lived there. The leader felt a little sad that they were leaving it behind. Pointless sentiment, you’re better off without it.

  Drim left the apartment to find it snowing, causing Pox, who was on the man’s head to hide deeper in the hood, away from the cold. The others had gotten impatient and were playing around in the apartment’s snow-covered parking lot. Phon and Xard were throwing snowballs at each other while Kada was building a Snow Pox.

  It was strange seeing them mess around without using their Curses. If anyone was to stumble across them, and ignore their weirdly colored hair, they would seem like just a regular bunch having fun on a winter day. It was moments like those that reminded Drim that they were still human at their core—something that wasn't vividly clear at times.

  He wanted to join in on the merriment, but they were planning on walking to the train station normally, so they would be late if they didn’t leave soon. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t have any fun. Drim slid a vine up to the roof and used it to swipe all the snow down onto the three below.

  “So, it’s probably a little late to ask this, but why don’t we have a car?” Kada inquired to the rest as they were digging their luggage out of the frosty pile that had been dumped on their heads. “We could just drive there ourselves, and it would have been extremely useful all this time.” Neither Drazaj responded for a little bit while thinking about the issue. It was a valid point that they hadn’t really considered in the past.

  “Do any of us even know how to drive?” Phon asked the group. “I basically just teleport everywhere, so I didn’t really see the need.”

  “Essentially the same for me,” Xard reported. “Since I lived in a city which had decent public transportation, and I could walk most places, it didn’t seem too important.”

  “Kind of hard to get a driver’s license when you’ve only ever been a dead person or a wanted criminal,” Drim raised a good point.

  “I can drive… Oi, knock those looks off your faces,” Kada bellowed as the other three looked at her in shock. “They taught it in my high school, so I got a license through that. I’ve never owned a vehicle myself, but I’d borrow a friend’s car a lot when I lived on my own.”

  “Yup, still surprising,” Phon shrugged. “Well, we may consider getting a vehicle you can drive in the future, but it wouldn’t have been good for this trip anyways. Where we’re going would be like a week-long road trip, while the train is only a couple days. I don’t think we’d really want to be in even closer quarters for that long.”

  “You have a point,” Xard agreed. “Though I do wish you would at least tell us where we’re going. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never lived anywhere else so this is exciting, but some indication would be nice.”

  In response, Drim looked up at the sun, then pointed off in a direction that seemed to be to the East and stated, “That way.” Xard looked displeased with that answer at first, but then seemed to accept it as definitely something the boy would say and moved on. They weren’t telling the two rookies their destination in fear of spawning objections which could lead to a heated debate—feeling it would be better to just let them see for themselves first.

  Just as they were about to head out, a massive rumbling rolled in from the street just up ahead. Dozens of heavy footsteps were crunching through the snow, heading right for them. In mere moments, the parking lot of their apartment complex was surrounded by police. The officers formed up tightly, doing their best to not leave any gaps while drawing their guns and pointing them at the four Fiends.

  Right behind them came several police cars, moving slowly along the roads because of the snow. When they stopped, even more officers flooded out to join the rest. None of them were wearing full swat gear like the time the Drazahs had been confronted at the museum. This led Drim to believe this had been a spur of the moment decision, or they would have come more prepared.

  However, there was one among them dressed differently than the rest. He drew their eyes the moment he stepped out of one of the cars. The man was wearing a trench coat and fedora, making him look like a detective straight out of an old-timey detective film. And the sunglasses he wore clashed with the outfit a bit, but the snow was quite bright from reflecting the morning sun, so Drim didn’t think twice about it.

  The presumed detective pushed through the line of police and stood in front of them. He drew his trench coat back a bit, exposing the gun holstered to his side. The man rested his hand on the grip and addressed the Fiends. “Hello Drazahs. It’s been a while. You too, Ms. Susten. I have not met your redheaded friend before, but I assume he must be Xard Randex.”

  The detective's gaze drifted towards the last-mentioned man as he continued. “So, you really did kill that drug dealer. I knew it had to be you. A warrant for your arrest was being processed, and I couldn’t wait to bring you in for questioning. It’s a shame that our justice system is so frugal. Once it was revealed the victim was a criminal, not a single person could be bothered to continue.”

  The voice of the detective was really starting to bother Drim, it seemed eerily familiar. Before he could question it, though, Phon had blinked and announced, “Oh, you’re officer Tusmon. The one who has a huge crush on Kada after she saved you. Looks like you got a promotion.”

  “I’m afraid to disappoint you, but I don’t have feelings for Susten,” Tusmon replied snidely. “I will admit, however, that I do have something of a bit of an obsession towards all of you.” That comment weirded Drim out a little, and it appeared to have a similar effect on the rest of his friends.

  The detective continued, ignoring their strange looks. “I appreciate what you all did for me that night. I can never repay the debt for saving my life. But I am first and foremost a police officer. I have seen what you all can do firsthand, and I am confident that what I saw was only a fraction of your full potential. Threats like that must be contained, especially since you are all wanted criminals.”

  “After that night, I couldn’t get you all out of my head, and I begged my superior to put me on your case. No one in the Constead police force was very motivated to chase after the Fiends For Hirel because of the threat to our lives, so he was more than willing to make me lead detective whose sole purpose was to bring you in.”

  “I recognize your aura,” Phon brought up when it seemed Tusmon was finished speaking. “I’ve seen it all over town. You’re the one behind all the fake jobs, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, that was me,” the officer admitted instantly. “The goal was to track the time it took from when the job was accepted, to when you arrived at the location, and then use that information to pinpoint your hideout. Your data was never very useful, Vixen, since you’d always just teleport, but your brother was quite valuable. Instead of being there myself, I had a different officer each time wait nearby in civilian clothing to monitor. I always tried to make sure I was far enough away that I wouldn’t be noticed by you, but close by enough that I could respond if needed. I guess I underestimated how far you can see.”

  “Fortunately, it appears that was the only thing you clued into. Once I had a general idea of your location, I made sure myself or another police officer was always nearby to monitor and follow any of you they saw.”

  It was Kada who chimed in this time. “Wow, that’s really smart, but super creepy. Also, all those fake jobs were super annoying, y’know. I mean, not for me since I never got to respond to one, but the other two always seem really annoyed by them.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “I admit that I have been becoming something I’d rather not,” Tusmon confessed. “I know this is not the example I should be setting to my other officers, but I will do whatever it takes to bring you all in, regardless of what that turns me into. I have done so much these past weeks I’m not proud of.”

  “I tracked down every single person in the area who you did a job for. I questioned every thug in every back alley in the area who might know something. Even losing myself sometimes if they wouldn’t cooperate. When that kid from the school called to report you, it killed me to deny him any help, but I had to make sure that you all weren’t on to me. Thankfully, someone called in the gunshots as a separate incident, so we were eventually able to respond.”

  “Hmph, guys like you are the reason I don’t want to be a cop anymore,” Xard hissed. “You wasted all this time and effort going after people who aren’t actively hurting the community, when there are so many genuine criminals out there you could be searching for. And all these cops here, how many crimes are going on right now that won’t be stopped since you dragged them into your little crusade?”

  “Judge me all you like. I know what I’m doing is right,” the detective responded coldly and arrogantly, so certain of himself and his mission. “All of these office are here because I called in every single favor I’ve ever accumulated in my career. A few days ago, I got a report from one of my scouts that you all were purchasing luggage, so I knew you’d either be moving or leaving for an extended period of time soon.”

  “Then today, one called in that you all were seen here leaving with said luggage. So I knew I had to take this chance. I’m well aware that there is a very high probability that you Fiends will escape, but if I didn’t at least try, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.”

  “Dude, it's been like two and a half weeks,” Phon ranted like she was annoyed to no end. “Don’t you think that’s a bit too fast to have gone full crazy? Well, I’ve had enough of this. Farewell ,officer Tusmon. I hope we never meet again.” When she finished speaking, The Vixen began to lift her hands to her eyes to teleport them away.

  As if he had been expecting it, Tusmon reacted instantly. He whipped his gun out of its holster, and fired right at the woman without warning. The bullet hit directly in the middle of her left hand as it was moving up her body. Phon let out a pained yell, but it was drowned out by the detective ordering his fellow officers, “Don’t let her cover her eyes!”

  Those who were already aiming at Phon took shots, and the rest began shifting their sights towards her. Xard had already begun sprinting towards their target when the first shot was fired, and managed to get in front of her just in time to block the incoming hail of bullets with his spread out body, absorbing their impacts with his Curse. One bullet had snuck by and hit Phon in her left elbow as she was collapsing towards the ground. Another went through Xard’s legs and hit her in the right thigh. Purple blood was splattered all around her as she writhed in agony.

  “Kada, cover!” Drim, who hadn’t said a word yet during this altercation, shouted as he dashed towards his sister. He was still near the apartment, so he did his best to stay in line behind Xard’s cover. Kada did as she was told and sprung into action. She melted all of the snow in the area, save for a small circle around Phon.

  While the girl hurried over to join the rest of the group, she drew the liquid white in a half-dome around them facing towards the police, then resolidified it when she was firmly behind, creating an unfinished igloo. To Drim’s dismay, when it resolidified it didn’t turn into solid ice as he had hoped, and the bullets kept coming through as if nothing was there. It seemed her Curse did not work that way even when it was transmuting water. He then shouted the only idea he had which had a chance of working, “Keep rapidly melting and unmelting the snow, it should stop the bullets.”

  Kada trusted his directive, and miraculously, it worked. The bullets began getting caught in the snow, trapped by the sudden changes in states of matter, and slowly worked their way down to the ground as she rapid-fired her Curse. It seemed to be causing a lot of strain on her, though, so Drim didn’t know how long she could keep it up.

  However, with the immediate threat out of the way, he could refocus. Xard was currently crouched down next to Phon, and seemed to be in just as much discomfort as the other two from holding in all the energy from the bullets. The leader wasn’t sure which of the three would give up first, and he knew they were rapidly running out of time. Doing his best to stay calm, he grabbed the ribbon off of Phon’s hat and began tying it around her eyes.

  At the same time, several vines shot out of his back and flew all over the parking lot. They picked up the various pieces of scattered luggage. When someone was teleported with Phon’s Curse, anything they wore, and anything they were holding went with them. Drim guessed that as long as the vines were still attached to him, they would count as an extension of himself, and their belongings would be teleported too, even though he wasn’t holding them directly.

  When he finished tying the ribbon and making sure it was on tight, he issued orders to the others. “When I give the word, Kada, leave the snow unmelted. Xard, use your built up energy to blast the snow at the police. Spread it out as much as you can to dampen it. Phon, I know you’re in a lot of pain right now, but as soon as Xard explodes, I’m going to need you to teleport us. It doesn’t matter where or how far, just anywhere but here. Can you do that?”

  His sister, clearly struggling, just barely managed to force out, “Okay… I’ll do what I can.”

  “Alright then,” Drim resolved himself while he pulled their luggage in close. “Get ready… Now!”

  Immediately, Kada released her Curse and fell back on her butt from exhaustion. Xard jutted up and spread out his limbs again then sent a full shockwave of energy from the entire front of his body. The snow and the bullets that were still trapped inside were sent flying to the officers. Drim wanted the energy weakened and spread out so the bullets would only cause minor injuries to the police, and to as many of them as possible, in the hopes of slowing them down.

  Phon yelled again, much louder than before. Her whole body started to shake, and her wounds began spouting even more blood than before. Drim was just about to tell her to stop, but the four of them were suddenly on a rooftop, and with all their luggage. The leader did a quick survey. They were on top of a building not even a half a block away from their apartment. “You did great,” the brother praised his sister who had started to pant wildly.

  Kada leaned back onto the roof and grumbled, “Oh Cosmos, that was too close. Your quick thinking really came through for us, though, Drim.”

  “Yeha, if you hadn’t taken charge, I’m not sure all of us would have made it out of there,” Xard agreed, following the woman’s lead and slumping down on the roof.

  “Really, it was you guys who did everything,” the leader rebutted. “I’m incredibly thankful, but I’m going to need to keep relying on you. I doubt we’re in the clear now. We need to get Phon’s injuries taken care of, and we also need to get to the station before the train leaves. If we don’t, there won’t be another until tomorrow, and we’ll be stuck here all day with the whole city on high alert. Kada, what time is it?”

  The Fiend pulled out her phone, blinked a few times to focus, and read out, “Uhh, 372.”

  “The train leaves at 400,” Drim reminded them. “Normally that would be plenty of time to get there, but we need to get Phon patched up first. I doubt they’d let us on the train with one of us bleeding everywhere.”

  “Fir.. aid kit… my bag…” the injured girl whimpered.

  “Great, that means we can do it here if we have to,” The Slayer said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. “I’m not sure how safe we are here, though. We’re out of sight for now, but I’m sure the police will start scouring the area soon. Phon, I hate to ask, but is there any chance you can move us further away?”

  The Vixen’s body started shaking again, and she began screaming in pain. This time, Drim was ready, and had covered her mouth with his hand to muffle the sound. To his horror, two lines of purple blood began flowing from underneath Phon’s ribbon, following a path similar to Kada’s Curse mark. If the situation wasn’t so dire, he definitely would have compared them as twins to see the reaction. He felt his sister’s mouth start to move so he removed his hand.

  “Sorry… Can’t…” Phon struggled to say. “Ph..science hurt too.”

  “It’s okay Phon, I’m sorry I made you try,” her brother sincerely apologized. “No matter what happens from now on, don’t use your Curse, and try to move as little as possible.”

  “I saw though…” the woman added, leaving the group surprised she could still talk at all. “Cops all over… city… Main roads… all blocked.” The Slayer figured that he would need to go ahead and treat her now. If he moved her in her current condition, it could cause her tremendous amounts of pain, especially if they needed to dodge police. He began digging through Phon’s bag and pulled out the first aid kit. As long as they weren’t noticed, he should be able to get it done quickly.

  As if his mind was being read, a boisterous voice rang out from nearby. “Don’t think you’ll be able to get away so easily, Fiends,” Tusmon proclaimed. On cue, a loud whirring noise filled the air, and a helicopter was flying right towards their apartment.

  “Zjik! This is bad!” Drim exclaimed. It would likely only take the helicopter a few minutes to notice them. “We’re out of options. I’ll carry Phon to the train station and administer treatment along the away.”

  “Alrighty then!” Kada blurted with a surprising amount of energy, jumping to her feet. “I’ve rested enough. Xard and I are strong against bullets. So while you do that, I’ll go back to the apartment and do my best to keep them busy.”

  Xard stood up as well and declared, “Then I’ll go and make as much of a distraction as possible to try and keep as many as I can off of you.”

  “Thank you both,” Drim was earnestly appreciative. “Normally I would scold you for doing something so dangerous and hasty, but I’m afraid I don’t have that luxury right now. Before you go, Kada, my bag is waterproof. Melt everything else we have and store it in there. We’ll deal with sorting it again later.” The girl did as instructed, and just before she and Xard were about to leave, the leader demanded, “If you don’t make it to the train safely… Just be there, got it?!”

  “Roger that.” Kada gave him a salute before she jumped off her side of the building.

  “You got it.” Xard gave a nod before dropping out of sight.

  Discord, , and Amazon Release (Pending), can be found on the Fiends For Hire .