"Alright, remember the plan," Lif cheered, clapping his hands together. "This is a heist for fun! We are here for chaos and money- or whatever. That is what they want, is it not?" He grinned, staring up at the tower above them, labelled 'Abasaba Weaponry Co.', and laughed. "At least we will not be dropping a bomb down its elevator shaft, no?"
"What?" Haru snorted, rolling her eyes and readying her weapon. "Alright, run me through it one more time. Lif and I are taking point to clear the lobby, Ica is creeping upstairs and into their data centers to search, and Fox, Charlotte, watch our backs?"
"Yes!" Ica grinned, and kicked open the door. "EVERYBODY ON THE GROUND, I DO NOT WISH TO KILL YOU!!" He cheered, sweeping right, and Haru shoved her way in, swinging left. A guard was reaching for a button on the wall- nope. With an explosion of gunfire, the guard slumped sideways, bleeding- no, not blood. Dye. All part of the act.
Gaining confidence, understanding her role, Haru pushed forward with Lif, slipping through the lobby. Another guard, and this one fired at her- Haru winced as the bullet punched into her shoulder, bruising before falling uselessly to the floor, her own gun sending him back, staggering, and falling.
The lobby itself was gorgeous- all marble and fancy technology, with a grand holographic display in the center of the room, showing a woman proudly standing before a table of weapons.
"Here at Abasaba, founded after the Pempan military took presence in Mir, we pride ourselves on our creating amazing weapons to power our soldiers in battle. Recently, we have also branched out into a number of cybernetic augments designed to aid humans without magical capability- and thanks to generous sponsorship from the Elevated, we have even begun to research ways to potentially protect the SOUL!!" The woman grinned from ear to ear- au contraire to Haru swinging around the pedestal and blasting somebody's jaw with her gun, his neck snapping to the left, eyes bulging as he fell, probably alive, coated in red dye.
"Easy as can be," Ica laughed, slamming a crowbar into the gap between two elevator doors. "Charlotte, help me get to the server room?"
"By the way," Haru yawned, briefly covering her mouth. "Is it really fine to have our faces exposed like this?"
"We do not," Lif replied as if it was the simplest thing imaginable.
"What do you mean?"
"Ah yes, see that is my magic- though you would expect somebody like Ica to have it!" Lif grinned, chuckling warmly. "I can… how to say… I can change light, and the cameras think we are all young men with brown hair! We look the same- it is easier that way for me, I am not good at… multi-tasks, I think to say. Now, let's go!" he added, chuckling, and walked over to the elevator with Haru on his heels as Ica wrestled with the doors. Lif took the crowbar slowly, forcing them open wide, and stepped inside.
"We'll stay here and watch the lobby," Charlotte sighed, staring drily, and Fox glanced up at her, then shook her head.
"Lif! You stay here! Let me take the elevator with Haru?"
"Sure," Lif smiled, stepping out, and Fox dashed in as Ica punched the button for the third-to-top floor.
"You know where the server rooms are, I assume? Jeez, I feel kind of dumb, walking in without all the information like this," Haru added, muttering quietly, swallowing.
"I do- pulled the building blueprints from old royal archives. When it comes to things like weapons, they have to be explicitly approved by royalty and the entire buildings documented- data centers are on the top floor." Ica winked, laughing.
"Then why are we going third to top?" Fox angled her head, blinking, wide-eyed like an owl.
"If they are hiding anything, well, you know. There are seventeen people on the board here, and offices one through seventeen are on the second to top floor. Yet there's an eighteenth board member office on this floor- just in case, they said. If I wanted to lie to the Queen, and I was stupid, arrogant, prideful enough to think I'd get away with it… this would be where any sensitive information is held."
"Wow, genius much?" Fox joked, rolling her eyes and leaning into Haru's side as the doors dinged open- Haru staggered back. No monologue, no speech, no arrest- a bullet slammed into her forehead, and she fell, seeing stars, wincing and clutching at her head as Fox glanced at her in a panic and vanished. In the air, kicking a guard into the floor, she fired off her shotgun into the next as Ica advanced, shooting.
She tried to sit up, vision blurry, still, and slowly hauled herself to her feet, staggering out of the elevator. By the time she'd gotten into the hall, the guards were unconscious, and Haru groaned, straightening as Fox returned to her side.
"You okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Thank god they aimed for me, huh?"
"Which one?" Ica snorted. "Only one god you knew of in your home world, girl? Anyway, yeah, thanks for that miss infinitely stretchy skin- that looked so weird, your forehead warped- wonder if your bones share some of that flexibility."
"Whatever," Haru muttered, wincing. "Head hurts, let's hurry up and investigate."
"Alright," Ica nodded and hurried on, rounding a corner. They've probably called the police by now- I've got signal jammers set up by a few of our grunts on this place's antennae and the ones within a few blocks, so we're fine, unless they find a way around them."
"Plan so good you didn't even need to tell us all the details," Haru snorted, pulling slugs from her belt, reloading.
"After this, we're off to the top floor," Ica shrugged, trying a door- locked. Haru took a moment as Fox raised her leg and kicked the door off its hinges, looking around slowly. It looked like… any old office building, really. Could this really be the place of people who'd kidnap Alex, and manipulate a god? Something about the notion seemed wrong.
"Ica, Fox, Haru, come in." A flat voice buzzed from Haru's pocket, and she ripped her radio out quickly, recognizing the voice of Eileen, the blue-eyed, honey haired elf.
"Yes?"
"This company is strong, evil or not. An arch-demon is en route. Hurry."
"What-"
"Fear not. For now, I am holding her back."
"You're what-?!"
"You should not underestimate a healer, so long as she is an elf. Hurry."
-
Eileen tucked her head against the breeze, watching the human soldiers install a signal jammer- she could feel… something, amiss. Magic, surging powerfully and unbidden. Coming from… there. The mountains to the east.
Swallowing, Eileen narrowed her eyes; humans could never understand the way that people like her saw the world, and while it was no fault of theirs, she had to wonder how they survived as well as they did.
There. With gray skin and striking, statuesque features, a woman was leaping miles at a time- mountaintop to mountaintop. Coming straight for the Abasaba tower.
Should I intervene?
Alex… I don't love you. I hardly knew you. Why do I care, about the politics of non-elves.
A memory flared, briefly, behind her eyes. A blue-eyed, blonde-haired woman, skin mottled with blood, bruises. Nerves exposed. Gored. Choking. Begging for death. Shaking her head, Eileen readied herself, lip curling back, and raised her staff, sending an arc of golden, glittering light high into the air… and she grabbed the arch-demon; for she was too magically explosive to be anything else- slamming her into the ground with enough force to create a small crater. Already running, Eileen barked at the humans to stay, grabbing one of their radios in passing.
"Ica, Fox, Haru, come in."
No response. The signal jammers? She could only hope they heard.
"This company is strong, evil or not. An arch-demon is en route. Hurry."
There was static- a voice, but she couldn't make it out.
"Fear not. For now, I am holding her back… you should not underestimate a healer, so long as she is an elf. Hurry."
A pause. "I hope you can hear me."
Eileen dropped the radio and rushed forward, pouring magic into her steps. When she arrived at the crater, just outside the city, the arch-demon was only just climbing to her feet, and Eileen frowned, standing above the potential adversary, planting her staff. The demon, up close- was even more gorgeous, with long white hair and strikingly golden eyes, charcoal-tattoos spiraling around her body as if painted.
"You are here to defend Abasaba, correct?" The elf raised her eyebrow. "I cannot allow that."
"An elf?" The demon blinked as if shocked, eyes widening. "I've heard stories, but what is one doing here…?"
"I cannot allow you to defend Abasaba." Eileen repeated, staring.
"You think you can stop me?"
"I do not know," Eileen admitted, swallowing, remembering that face- the light leaving those blue eyes. "Elves are to be without sympathy. People die. That is how the world works."
"You're not like the stories, I can tell that much," The demoness frowned, narrowing her eyes, starting to slowly pace toward the edge of the crater. "What do you care if I kill a few mortals? I'm contracted to protect the CEO of Abasaba."
"There is no threat to the Ceo. My comrades are killing nobody. Sleeping potions, and that is all. They seek no death- only information. However, regardless of whether you believe me- you will not pass."
"I…" The arch-demon glared, a smirk tugging at her lips. "I do believe you, I think. My job is to verify, though- I can't take the word of an elf."
"You will not leave this dent in the earth," Eileen repeated, planting her staff.
"Then let's find out if you can stop me," The arch-demon snarled, laughing and flying forward; Eileen channeled her strength, planting the staff harder and twisting- with a sound like thunder, the nearest trees splintered, beginning to fall, and the demon staggered back. Eileen pushed forward, channeling again, leveling a bundle of pure, unadulterated force with the demon's chest- she'd only just recovered from her staggering before being sent off her feet, spinning through the air and slamming through a tree before colliding with a boulder, hitting the ground, eyes wide, shocked.
"What the…" The demoness winced, climbing slowly to her feet.
"You will not pass," Eileen repeated flatly. There was no emotion now; only certainty. "It seems I cannot kill you. Yet containment is enough."
"Forget this," The demon snarled, and leapt- not for Eileen, but into the air. Frowning, the blonde elf lifted her left arm skyward, inhaling, channeling…
The sky glowed white, and the arch demoness jolted, unable to scream as a bolt of lightning rammed into her body from the sky- she was falling, now, and hit the ground with bone-shattering force, twitching, coughing.
"G-God…?" The demoness wheezed, as Eileen approached.
"No. I can be killed. I became a healer to cover my weakness. I am still of human body. Your kind ripped me limb from limb, after all." Raising her staff, Eileen slammed it down, into the dirt, packing the arch demoness in rock, dirt, earth, starting to back away as the force of gravity grew stronger, stronger. Slowly, Eileen walked off, leaving behind a growing sinkhole, packing the arch-demoness deeper and deeper into the ground.
Finding the radio not long after, she grabbed it and pushed to talk… nothing. Rain and mud must have killed it. Shrugging, Eileen continued on, toward the rendezvous.
-
"Nothing here- at all." Ica nodded, sweat sliding down his temple. "Eileen, are you there?" Having taken Haru's radio, he barked nervously. "Is the arch-demon almost here? Hello??" The rain was picking up- from the light sprinkling a half hour ago to a torrent, rain lashing the windows, lightning flashing.
"Eileen has gone radio silent!" A woman's voice came through, laughing. "One hell of a light show though- she brought a storm in, it's starting to rain pretty hard!! Cobalt here, get to the roof! If you're ready?"
"We are on our way!!" Lif's voice, over the radio. "Indeed, we see no arch-demons! I fear even I could not easily handle one of those!!"
"Let's go," Haru nodded, shoving into the hall and looking around- guards soundly asleep, snoring comfortably.
"I'm good- they're clean. Not so much as an unexplained receipt- these guys are about as by the books as it gets, except that they're taking funding to research soul transference from a group in Ravenwood- and even that's documented and run by officials. Most experiments denied, funding from the group is thinning… no yeah, these guys are straitlaced. I knew Starria would be the culprit," Ica added, sighing. "Alright, back to the elevator."
Moments later, the three piled in, and as they rose, Haru jolted, ears twitching- gunfire. When the rooftop door opened, Charlotte was there, waiting with Lif, standing among a handful of bodies. Cobalt was circling, and a soldier tossed out a rope ladder- Lottie leapt into the vehicle, Lif started to climb. Confused, Haru stepped forward, starting to climb as well, and when Lif was pulling her in, helping her buckle, she shouted.
"Why are they dead?!"
"They started it!!" Cobalt came over a speaker above her, laughing. "Had to shoot them before they took me down from the sky, sorry. Didn't know Charlotte was about to burst through.
"You good?" Charlotte raised an eyebrow as Fox nimbly dashed into the seat beside her.
"I mean, I got shot in the head, didn't do much," Haru shrugged.
"Wrong," Charlotte smirked. "Kept count. Took out six soldiers in the lobby before you got hit more than the one to the shoulder. Did well. Y'know, survival is a win, right? Reminds me, not every victory has to be earned in a bloodbath."
"I just wish I could contribute more," Haru winced, as Ica climbed in, panting raggedly, shoving his glasses higher on his nose.
"Fuck I need to get contacts," The twink wheezed, climbing up next to Charlotte and buckling himself in. "Fucking glasses…"
"What's the deal with Eileen?" Haru asked sharply, sitting forward a bit.
"She handled it," Cobalt responded over the speakers. "Knocked her out, didn't kill! Suffocated her almost to death."
"Jeez… just how strong are elves??" Fox snorted, leaning sideways into Haru. "Ugh, Haru, let me suck the rain off your tits, will you?"
"Sure- wait what-" Haru jolted as she realized what the shorter girl had said. "Hello?!"
"Hah! I knew you'd say yes," Fox giggled, leaning sideways into Haru. "Smashing success, huh? Can't feel bad for the ones who died- shooting at a military helicopter is kinda…"
"Don't worry! Serial number doesn't exist on this one, even if there are cameras, they'll never know it was us!" Cobalt beamed. "Just got to hope word doesn't get too far that an elf was here- that'd be the one we struggle to hide from if Eileen keeps tagging along!" The bird was rising though, turning, already sailing over the city, then the forest, leaving city lines.
"A-Anyway," Haru shook her head, swallowing. "What did you mean, Charlotte? About victory being survival?"
"If you want to get stronger, then you will," Lottie answered, crossing her legs. "It's just how the world works, you know? Still… you're doing more than you think."
"I'm not hardly contributing at all-"
"I had fun," Charlotte snapped back. "Finally a mission I didn't feel like killing myself. You stood up to Aurelia and it worked. That's two things you've done that even I couldn't do on my own- and I could kill a thousand men without dying, if I pace myself! Give yourself some credit, Haru- being a hero doesn't only come from killing, and it's not a full time job, either."
"I…"
"Shut up, Haru." Lottie winked. "Let miss foxy there suck and let's go celebrate our win. Tomorrow, next weapons company."