Chapter 8: Steelport, Here Is The Squad


Carlon stared and puzzled at the object he recently stole from the SNG, or Steelport Guard as they were also known as. The bomb was carefully placed and stored on one of the walls of the huge cavern that the netherworld tower is located in. Even if the bomb were to 'accidentally' go off, the resulting explosion would be far and away from Carlon's home. But even then, thoughts still flooded his head. What kind of city is Steelport to have a military police division stationed as the highest level of law enforcement, one of which that surpasses even the SWAT? If anything, it must have something to do with The Syndicate using Steelport as their base of operations. So far, he was moderately impressed by the level of weaponry and tech that the SNG tried to use against him. But the tanks... That might be a problem in the future. In fact, he was thinking intently about those heavily armored vehicles as he stared at the bomb he stole. How, in all of evil, is Carlon supposed to go up against a tank? Sure, Carlon has the use of the sanctuary shield spell to stop the cannon fire for a split second, but without a forward gate or a waypoint gate, Carlon would have difficulty regaining the mana, and waiting for all of it to regenerate while being chased by cannon fire would be considered even more difficult.

After a while, Carlon shook his head and walked onto a floating platform that levitated him back to the netherworld tower. If anything, Carlon would settle with avoiding attention from the law enforcement, both reasonably understood lower ranks and unusually unorthodox militaristic approaches. Which left him the only conclusion that would benefit his plans and presence in Steelport. He needed a disguise. He needed a car. And more importantly, he needed a forward base of operations.

As the floating obsidian platform transferred its current rider to the netherworld tower's throne room, he stepped off and onto the balcony, proceeding into the throne room's foyer. "Gnarl, I do believe we are in need of a subtle approach to ascertaining a foothold in this city."

Gnarl, not being too far away from his master as usual, piped up. "Subtlety is a necessity when one needs to be sneaky. But if that were the case..." Gnarl came into Carlon's view. "What do you have in mind?"

Carlon plonked his armored rear onto his throne and explained to his advisor. "For one, we need a stable netherworld gate in a hidden location. We can use that gate to further our goal. Since I nearly had the misfortune to fight a tank, discretion will have to be a premium. Furthermore, I do believe I am in need of a vehicle and a disguise."

"Hmm... Then I do believe that the elite minion squad I formed will be useful for this request of yours." Gnarl said in glee, reaching above himself and grabbing at the hanging crystal lantern that dangled above his head, which was attached to his back. He then reached into his tattered red and gray robes for something.

Carlon tilted his head as he watched Gnarl. "... What are you doing?"

Gnarl fetched what appeared to be a double-sided hand mirror. "Just taking out a trinket, sire. ... Oh. Now that I think about it, this is the first time that you have seen this in use in person! Allow me to demonstrate." Gnarl held the mirror in front of himself, using it to shade himself from the hanging crystal rock that hanged on the stick. He then chanted something to it. "Ancient mirr'r in mine own handeth, I beseech thee. Alloweth me seeth, heareth, and speaketh with the beareth'r of this enchant'd item, did connect by this enchantment. connecteth to... Mud and his elite minion squad."

Gnarl then spun the mirror as one would a bamboo copter or Chinese top and it levitated in place. Its spin slowed and slowed till it swayed to a full stop, the mirrors surface now showing the image of a brown minion perusing into a garbage can. A green minion could be seen from a distance away, knocking down a payphone and some parking meters and stealing the coins. They seemed to be located in a dark alley. Carlon nodded and understood. "So you use that mirror to contact me through my helmet?"

The brown minion turned his head around as he heard a familiar voice. "Mastah? You is here?"

"In a moment, Mud." Gnarl said, then turned to Carlon. "Yes, sire, I use this hand mirror to connect to you in the same manner. Though I use the crystal heart instead, since using it can grant me several more viewpoints than a simple hand mirror could allow."

"Mm! So what do you have in mind here?" Carlon asked.

"I'll be getting to that, Sire. Ahem. Mud, I am now talking directly to you. There has been a development, and I do believe that your squad's... skills... are now in need. Oh, and be at your best behavior. Our master will be shadowing your next operation from my position. Now, listen carefully, as I'll need you to do something."

"Yes Gnarl!" was Mud's reply, saluting to no one in particular.


Mud was a very happy minion. Of course, he is usually a very happy minion when he got to do what he wanted. Bashing people, breaking objects, stealing money, and serving his master are generally the things that made Mud a happy minion. But now, he has the opportunity to do, like, more of the things that he wanted to do. Suffice to say, Mud felt very proud of the moment. He wore SWAT heavy armor and a SWAT helmet that was modified to have his ears poke out of it comfortably, with a flag that was installed in the top of the helm that had the banner of the Saint Killer. The helmet's banner was that of a white fleur-de-lis set in a purple background, with a red X that crossed out the fleur-de-lis. He also carried a police baton with several screws screwed into one side in one end, and a steak knife that was taped onto the other side on the same end, essentially creating a crude bladed and spiked tonfa at one end of the weapon. He saluted to no one in particular, though still proud to serve the forces of evil, and shouted out. "Yes Gnarl!"

"Do you see that newspaper dispensary? Steal some newspapers and peruse into the available foreclosure listings."

"Er... Okay." Mud moved for the news rack and broke into it. After pilfering the coins that the rack had contained, Mud then spread around the sheets of printed paper indignantly and messily.

...

...

... Mud realized that he couldn't read. At least he knows someone nearby who did. "Coot! Where is you?"

A blue minion perked his head up from looting, which was wearing what looked like a torn black vest and a graduate's cap. The blue minion scrambled over the body he was looting and approached Mud. "Yes? Do you need me for something?"

"Yeah. Mud is not good with wordy reading. So, Mud called for you. You is good with speaking words and reading words, yes?"

Coot nodded. "Yes I am." He said, meekly.

Mud pointed to the rummaged pile of newspapers and smiled. "Gnarl wants us to find a thing called 'four-close-sure listings'. Find them!" He said, not hiding his disdain to a lesser ranked minion.

Coot looked down at the ruined pile of newspapers, then looked up at his minion comrade with a deadpan stare. Casually, Coot reached to the newspaper rack and pulled from it a fresh newspaper roll, opening it and perusing the articles for what Mud wanted him to look for.

Mud sneered as Coot was distracted with the paper. Mud hated that Coot was the literary type. Or really, the only minion in their squad that was sophisticated enough to be called the brains of the group. But as smart as Coot was, Mud believed that he was also just as stupid. Even though it wouldn't make sense to gauge someones intelligence to their idiocy, Coot knew better to correct Mud on the grammar of his leader's words. Coot had several head drubbings from the many times he corrected Mud as punishment. Coot now knew better. Oh, and counting was also punishable. Coot would have reached the number 100 long ago had Mud not decided to terrorize the blue minion and punish him for it. Although, due to recent events, counting seems like a skill that is very much needed within this new world of theirs, so Mud would 'allow' Coot to count when counting was needed. Or read when reading was needed. Or talk good when talking good was needed.

As Coot perused further into the newspaper, his ears perked up. "Ohhh... I think I found something that might be good."

"What is it, Coot? Mud, get a little closer to Coot and look over his shoulder." Gnarl asked.

Mud sighed and did so, but making sure to 'accidentally' drub his elbow into the blue minion's back. The blue minion rewarded Mud by holding the newspaper up to Mud's face and pointing at a particular box that Mud couldn't possibly read. "This here. It says there is an apartment that is available." Coot said.

"Hmm... An apartment in the Brickston neighborhood, in the Stanfield district? This is almost too good to be true! Which neighborhood are you in at the moment?"

Mud would have answered had it not took him ten to twenty seconds remembering what area he was in. Coot undermined him by beating him to the punch. "It's in Ashwood. It's not too far from here."

"Then I will entrust you to appropriate the apartment. Mud, I entrust you to find a place of open earth within the building so we can direct the minion diggers to create a new netherworld gate there. I will tell them the longitude and latitude coordinates of the location there and... Well... We'll improvise from there! Now, go forth, minions! And make your master proud!"

Mud and Coot both saluted. After that, Mud elbowed Coot's back again for fun, and then went about gathering the rest of the elite minions in his squad. He knew of two minions that was close by. "Snake? Rake? Come to Mud, we has new mission!"

Snake came around a corner, wearing a black jacket with a black eye patch, which was jingling with so many coins that was 'found'. "Hissss, what is it this time, Mud?" Snake said, a little agitated about something. No doubt from being summoned by Mud.

Mud came up to Snake and looked around for Snake's tribe brother. "Where Rake? We need Rake for mission too."

"I here." Rake said, coming into existence right next to Mud and Snake. He was wearing a hoodie, which was colored in purple with a white faded fleur-de-lis that was crossed with what looked to be blood on the front. This minion wore a white bandana on his head.

Snake immediately pounced him and slapped him around. "You hiding from me again? I told you to hold all the pretty coins, but you were here whole time? Rake, you slinky stupid slacker!"

"Snake, we has mission." Mud said, bonking Snake's head with the blunt non-fatal end of his modified baton. Snake rubbed his sore head and removed his hold on Rake, which prompted Mud to lower his modified baton. "Besides, Bill is in charge of carrying all loot we pick up. If you see Bill or Bill's truck, Give to Bill or drop in truck. Now come with Mud. We need to gather rest of squad." Mud turned around, expecting Snake and Rake to follow behind him. Oh, and Coot, but he didn't care about him.

Traveling down the alley, Mud and company turned and found a Criminal sports utility truck that was decorated in what looked like cloth rags and rope with several small miscellaneous items that was either tied on or welded onto the vehicle. The truck bed was littered with various items, mainly various coins and dollars of differing values. There was also a stolen toilet seat, a blow up doll, a car door, an uplifted parking meter, and a trash bag. Three other minions were spotted by Mud as he approached.

Bill, with his truckers cap and wife beater T-Shirt that was worn over a bullet proof vest was casually chewing a cigar. It wasn't actually lit, but he didn't really care. So long as he gets to be the driver of the vehicle he calls 'Trucky', he wouldn't have a conniption. Last time he had one was when a red minion accidentally dropped a cigarette lighter onto a seat and burned a hole in the leather, and proceeded to beat everyone with a crowbar. That was when Bill announced that any time he starts driving, all red minions must be firmly seated in the truck bed. The green minions would also sit in the truck bed, but the reason for that was because of the horrid stink the greens made. Nobody wants to be in a sealed cabin with a green minion. NOBODY.

Speaking of reds, Flames and Bake were cajoling with one another to burn whatever kind of trash they could find as a means to pass the time. Flames had a pair of leather pants with his arms through the pant legs. The pant legs was shortened by fire to allow his hands to reach. That or it was accidentally burned shorter as Flames would spit fire into his hands, only to burn his sleeves/pant legs shorter as a result. The hat he had worn was a fireman's cap. If the minions could summon the mental capacity to understand on how funny it was that a red minion was wearing a fireman's cap, they would regard the spectacle as ironic and hilarious. Sadly, the only minion here that knew the definition of irony was Coot. "Hmm..." Flames would say to Bake. "... Ooh, throw a burn ball at that!" He said, pointing at a wad of paper positioned on top of a trash can amidst all sorts of burnable trash.

Bake, ironic to his name, had appropriated a crocheted cap that was Rastafarian in design. Or 'rastacap', as some or most people prefer to call such a hat. Bake also wore two pairs of panties onto his shoulders, where his neck would occupy two of the panty holes, while both of his arms would occupy a single hole of each panty. He also wore a flasher's coat. The coat had to be heavily modified since it kept dragging and catching onto the ground, tripping Bake. Not any more, since anything that so much as touched the ground while Bake was standing was carefully burned away by him. To Bake, it was a nice coat no matter how burned it got. Speaking of burns, Bake threw a fireball at the piece of crumpled paper and instantly lit it up. "Alright. My turn. You throw burn ball at..." Bake said, contemplating Flame's next target.

Mud approached the truck and made a headcount of the remaining minions, and realized that there was one missing. Mud started looking around for the final member of the minion crew. Snake and Rake already headed for Bill's truck and dumped their findings into the truck bed, coins clattering with the spoils of theft and murder, which then shouted to the reds that there was a new mission for the squad. Mud looked left and right, but found no one that matched the soon-to-be-described missing member. "Bill. You know where is Heals?"

Bill looked down and at Mud, taking out his cigar. "Hmm... I think I saws Heals somewhere... Maybe he's on pee-pee break?"

"Gnaaah, what Gnarl thinking?" Mud said, walking past Bill's Truck and not caring if Gnarl could still hear him talk aloud. "Putting Mud as leader of elite minion squad and thinking Mud be one to rally troops. Grah. Heals! Come here! Mud needs Heals! We has new mission!"

"I come, no worry about me." A blue minion said as he approached from a now soggy area. This final minion wore several chains around his neck, most made of fake metal and jewelry, and some being literal chains. Upon his head, he wore a customized pimp hat. It was light blue, that matched his skin color, with red and black tiger stripes and a white feather. Mud was not sure how Heals got a hat customized for himself. It could be that he asked very nicely enough to Gnarl or The Overlord and they got him the hat as a result. That or threatened someone in a clothing store to get him the customized hat. One thing Mud hated about Heals was how whimsical he could get sometimes. Between Coot's apparent smartness and Heals' daft aloofness, Mud had a lot to deal with between the blue minions, what with Coot one-upping him, and Heals... well... being Heals.

For good measure, Mud bonked him on the head and pointed to Bill's truck. "Pee-pee break is over. We is going on our first mission. We go and make netherworld gate in apartment place!"

Heals shook his head from the bonk, but then nodded and followed after Mud. "I hopes there is neighbors in apartment place having lots of shiny things and pretty ladies."

Mud lead Heals to Bill's vehicle and gotten into the passenger seat of the truck, as Heals and Coot took the backseats. The reds, Flames and Bake, and greens, Snake and Rake, would fight among themselves where they would sit in the truck bed, amidst all the loot they stolen in their current run. By an act of attrition, they have finally decided to throw the toilet seat and car door out to make room. Once they appropriate a netherworld gate at the new forward base, they would dump their loot and then continue looting things. Once Bill saw that everyone got a seat to themselves, he started the ignition of Trucky and used a stilt to reach the pedals.

Despite the incredibly horrible idea to let a minion drive any vehicle of any model, Bill's proficiency in driving was barely equal to that of a student who barely passed the drivers exam. At least Bill learned not to be a lead footed driver, and learned to slow down during turns. The minions who were unfortunate enough to ride in the truck bed hated it when Bill started skidding and handbrake strafing the corners. Or doing stunts. Or crashing. Or get chased by the law enforcement during their time driving in Steelport. But this ride would warrant no dangerous activities for the moment. No drive-by flamings. No slicing tires either parked or moving. And definitely, no getting the authorities attention. Bill would have loved to run someone over, but again, he'd rather not get the attention of the authorities for the moment.

After running several stoplights and driving between several scores of cars, Bill finally decided to pipe up during their 'leisurely cruise', stopping at a red light for what might have been the first time in his life. "So uh... Where are we going?"

Mud scrunched up his face. "Uh..."

Coot decided it was time to break the circle of stupidity. "We take a left here. Go straight until I say left or right."

Mud scrunched up his face more. "How you know where we is are?" He said, feeling as though Coot deserves another bonk onto his head.

Coot procured a square from his person and showed it to Mud. "See?" Coot said. "This GPS says to take a left and go forward."

Mud slapped the GPS out of his face and snarled. "Grah, why didn't you tell Mud about this?"

Coot sheepishly leaned back into his seat, doing well to avoid Mud's drubbing distance. "I don't like it when you bonk me on the head, so I kept silent."

Mud would have bonked Coot on the head for that comment alone, but decided against it. "Myaaaah, Mud don't care. Tells us when we need to turn and get this drive over with."

"Hey!" Bill exclaimed. "Don't tell me you no like Trucky!"

"No no, Bill. Mud likes Trucky." Mud explained. "But Mud rather get to bashing heads soon. ... Oh, and capturing apartments. That too."

"... Right." Bill said.

"No, left." Coot said. All the browns in the truck turned to stare at Coot, agitated as he said something smart/dumb without them understanding what he meant. "... Uh... Left turn."

Bill stared at Coot with a deadpan stare, then turned back to his reckless driving, making a left as Coot instructed. Mud however, got fed up and decided to give Coot a gentle bonk on the head. It was almost as though Mud was saying 'We know, so stop reminding us!'


As Bill stopped Trucky on a vacant spot in front of the apartments, Coot gestured to everyone that they were at their destination. Mud opened the front passenger door and jumped out, brandishing his modified baton and eyeing the offending building.

Once all the minions got out of Trucky, Mud turned to his fellow minions and spoke as authoritatively as he possibly could. "Alright, you slime covered maggots! We be going into there and taking over apartment place! We split in four teams. Flames and snake, make sure no one go in or out at front door. Rake and Bake, stay with Mud until we come to back door and do what Mud said for Flames and Snake to do, but for back door. Bill and Heals go with Mud to go in and take everyone alive. Everyone is to bash them till fall down, but no killy!"

Snake's face had an unhappy expression to it. "No killy?"

Mud furrowed his brow at the green minion. "No killy."

"Aw."

"But what about me?" Coot said, curious as to his role in the plan that Mud was telling them about.

"You is to go to apartment owner's office and make sure that you learn all there is to do in apartment owning."

"... Really?" Coot said, a little confused by Mud's tactical logic.

"Yeah. You is smart with reading words and numbers, just as much as speaking words and numbers. If peoples calls on owner's phone, you answer and convince that no problem is here."

Coot seemed to understand the logic after being explained the tactic. After all, this WAS supposed to be their first covert mission, and preventing anyone inside from calling the authorities would be good for the squad. "Oh. Okay, I get it!"

Mud turned around and huffed, remembering why he hated Coot. Sure, he was intelligent, but he was tactfully dumb too. Mud strongly believes and stands by the fact that he made up that Coot was still as smart as he was stupid. He raised his baton into the air and shouted his battle cry. "CHAAAAAARGE!"

Mud lead his squad into the rundown apartment complex, kicking open the front door and causing havoc in the entire complex. Many of the people, mostly crack heads, squatters, and winos, thought that it was yet another SWAT raid. That is until their doors were busted open and hell broke loose upon them. Many people were subdued and beaten until unconscious, while the few that tried to escape were either pounced by wrist blades cutting their hamstrings or had fire thrown at their faces.

Coot's job couldn't be any more simpler. Once they found the landlord's office, Coot waited till Mud and the squad had subdued the landlord, who was such a frail and skinny bodied looking goth that might have been bulimic, before getting appropriated to the office. The whole place was very messy, and the desk had a pile of papers that nearly reached halfway to the ceiling. No wonder it had went into foreclosure! They must have forgotten to pay their mortgage loans or something of the sort. Coot understood that in order for The Overlord to use this apartment complex as a forward base, Coot would have to understand and manage the bills and rent, with a little help from The Overlord's massive stockpile of stolen cash. However, for the sake of subtlety, the only way to get interest is to pay with interest. Namely, the current tenants will have to visit The Overlord to become enslaved. They would then apply for jobs so that they would pay for their share of the rent for an exorbitant amount, living on only the bare essentials. Food, water, and shelter. There was no need for electricity, internet, entertainment, or any form of diversion when they will work for the minions master, both body and soul. And if Coot needed to roll with his elite minion squad again, he would get the landlord enslaved and have him work in his stead. The perfect crime.

As Coot settled himself into the swiveling desk chair and got to work sorting through the mess of stacked papers, a phone started ringing and Coot froze. He turned and spotted the phone as it blared its alarm, signaling that someone was on the other side of the connection. Coot decided to wait for the voice mail to pick it up.

Caller: Heeeeeeyyyyy, it's meeeeeee, I decided to give you a call on your work phone~! Sadly, you didn't answer your cellphone, so I can only guess that you must have misplaced it. Again. Did you misplace your cellphone again? Or are you gonna make the same excuse that you were mugged again and the muggers thought your phone was worth more than your life? Yeah, like I would believe that! Anyway, I'll be coming over to tell you that I bought a new shirt that I just know that you are gonna looooooooooooooove~!

Coot shook his head. Yeah, picking up the phone to someone's female friend was a bad idea. But as Coot shook his head, that was when he noticed Heals was in the room with him, and next to him. "... Heals, what are you doing?"

Heals slowly reached for the phone, a coy grin on his face. "She sound like pretty lady."

"Heals, no, don't." Coot begged, waving at his tribe brother. Heals neared his grubby claws closer and closer to the phone, which eventually forced Coot to act instinctively and push Heals away. "Heals, no! We can't let anyone find out about us! Go be a naughty minion somewhere else and let me handle the delicate work!"

Caller: Hey, what? Who is this?

... Coot realized that he accidentally picked up the receiver of the phone. "... Uh... This is... Um..."

"You talking to Coot now." Heals said, with a whimsical smile.

Coot threw a lamp at Heals' head and tried to fix the new problem that just happened. "Ignore him! He's just, uh... My special needs brother!"

Caller: You're certainly not Fred. Who is this?

"Uh... My name is... Coot."

Caller: Why do you sound like that?

"Uh... It's just something I developed when I got older." Coot said, deciding that what the woman caller referring to was his conversational acumen and intelligent sounding accent. It was hard to tell the truth in a veiled way, but Coot didn't have it in him to lie to this girl. The best he will have to do is lie by omission.

Caller: Oh. Okay then. Anyway, is Fred there?

Coot tried to think of something. "Uh... Depends. Why do you need to call Fred?"

Caller: That is between me and him, and I don't know you that well. Put him on the phone please.

Coot looked up and saw Mud dragging off yet another apartment tenant from an open door, helped by Bill. What would he do in this situation? Coot thought. "I'm sorry, miss. He has... been arrested and taken away."

Caller: Oh nooooooo~! Is he okay? I hope it's not one of his stupid neighbors trying to blame him for something in front of the cops again. But still, how long ago did they take him away?

Coot looked back at the door and tried to think of something without lying. "Pretty recently. Listen, I'm going to hang up now. The situation here is currently very awkward for everyone, and the apartment will be getting new management."

Caller: Ugh. I kept telling him to pay his loans and mortgage fees too! ... Oh well. Anyway, is it safe for me to just come over there and pick up his stuff?

"All of it has been confiscated."

Caller: ... What?

"Yeah. Like... all of it."

Caller: ... You don't sound very sure.

Mud had finally peeked into the room, which prompted Coot to motion to him that there was a problem. "Uhh... Please hold." Coot covered the receiver so that his voice wouldn't be heard by the lady caller. "Mud, help!"

Mud entered with an exasperated groan. "What you do?" He said, approaching Coot, ready to use his baton for any needed bonking.

Coot explained. "I was going through the bills and financial papers on the desk when the phone starts ringing. I didn't pick it up and let the voicemail take the call, but then Heals decided to try and pick up the receiver because I guess he wanted to talk to her. By instinct, I tried to stop him, but now there is a woman trying to find out about some guy named Fred and says she's coming over to pick up his stuff or something and... and... I don't know what to tell her!"

Coot's reward for explaining the problem was rewarded with one of Mud's bonks with his baton. Mud then bonked Heals for good measure, since Mud heard his name and was sure that the other blue was to blame. Mud then turned to Coot. "Alright. Mud will say some stuff to you, and you repeat what Mud says in your smarty way to woman. Got it?"

Coot nodded briskly. "I got it." Mud then started whispering into Coot's ear as softly as he could. Coot nodded and relayed what Mud said, but in a more grammatically correct and intelligent way. "Listen. You can't come over because there has been an attack at the apartment. A lot of people have been taken away for their own good, but there is a lot of fighting still happening inside. Right now though, a breaching team is raiding the apartment and I would not recommend coming here right now."

Caller: Oh my god.

"And to tell you what is best, I suggest staying away from the apartment." Coot relayed from Mud.

Caller: Why? Was there a meth lab in one of the tenants spaces?

Coot looked at Mud and Mud nodded, telling Coot that there really was a meth lab in the building. What coincidence! "Yes. Some chemicals leaked and it must have been the cause to start the fighting. Everyone will be detained for questioning and processing, but that's pretty much protocol, you know?"

Caller: Wow... This opened my eyes a bit. You know, Coot, you seem like a nice guy.

Coot scoffed. "Oh, I wouldn't call myself nice." Mud would have to agree with Coot, but didn't voice his opinion.

Caller: But even so, thank you for telling me that Fred is with the authorities. Will there be a chance for me to talk to him again?

Coot listened to Mud more and relayed to the caller.. "I'm sorry, but I think he's still being processed with the rest of the people in the apartment."

Caller: Okay... Well... I'll call this number at a later time then. Could you please set a note down somewhere that says that a person named January is going to call again? It's so that when it reaches the new landlord, I can hopefully get some answers to some of my questions about Fred and if he's okay. If he's going to be tied up with the authorities, then I guess it's out of my hands to try and contact him.

Coot nodded and got a paper and pencil ready. ... Why was Coot even doing this? He did some messy scribbles on a piece of paper that took 15 seconds before Coot answered. "... Alright, jotted that down. I'm to assume that you are this January person?"

January: Hehehehehe, you guessed right~! But I guess this is now the moment we stop talking and say our goodbyes, huh?

"Yeah... So uh... Bye." Coot said, finally breathing a sigh of relief after Heals' blunder.

January: Byyyyyyeeeeee~!

And with that mess sorted out, Coot relaxed into his desk chair and hanged up the phone, only to be kicked down by Mud. Mud looked down on Coot and scowled. "Yous be in very big trouble, Coot."

Coot shielded his head. "What did I do?"

"Mud said you to convince people no problem was here. And here, Mud found you talking to lady on phone. You had a job, Coot!" Mud said, bonking Coot's head with his baton again. Mud then flipped his baton around to the more lethal end and smashed the phone to pieces. After the telecommunication device was broken beyond repair, Mud then turned to Heals. "And you! Mud did not say you would leave Mud's side like that!"

Heals shrugged his shoulders. "I heard pretty lady voice and followed."

"We has mission to do still, Heals! Come with Mud and help squad with apartment capture."

Coot got up from the floor and decided to speak up. "Mud! One of the people that lives here is called Fred, and I need him for his knowledge of running this apartment. Can you talk to Gnarl to ask our master in, maybe, enslaving Fred so that he can tell me all I need to know about how to manage an apartment?"

Mud turned to glare at Coot, looking to be ready to bonk someone again if they spoke out of line or when asked to answer a question or perform a request. Instead, Mud languidly bobbed his head and contemplated the request from his underling in the squad. The bobbing turned into nodding, followed by a sigh of frustration. "Fine. Won't be easy for Mud. You owe Mud for this." Mud gestured to Coot and turned. "Come. You is done here. Mud no want you doing more muckings of Mud's plan."

Coot paused for a little before sighing and feeling grateful that he wasn't getting bonked on the head again by Mud, then followed him.


After 'arresting' the tenants and landlord of the apartment, much of the debris that was used to block the upstairs was cleared away. Many of the pesky neighbors that were found was knocked unconscious, burned, and crippled, only to be dumped in a pile together in the basement. Many that were still conscious, either burned in the face or unable to walk, were watched carefully by a goblin looking creature with a truckers cap and a crowbar. Mud came back with Heals and Coot in the basement, Joining Bill.

Upon entering the bottom level of the building, Mud looked around at the lowest level of the apartment, which was the basement. The floor was hard with solid cement, with a lot of items that was stored down here for safekeeping or were used for something, like furniture and shelves of stored files, a water heater, circuit breaker, and cable box. Mud scampered over the concrete flooring and inspected it, as though trying to decipher if there was some hidden treasure underneath the cemented barrier. After wasting minutes of looking at the floor, Mud decided to speak to a minion that he knew was smarter than him. Mud wasn't going to ask for Coot's advice, however. "Hmm... Gnarl, floor is covered in flat rocky stuff. Concrete, Mud thinks is called. Mud no see any way minion diggers can dig through."

"That is quite alright, Mud. Just start striking the floor to break and shatter the concrete. The diggers will make minion gates underneath you, which will help to push all that broken concrete out of the way for the main netherworld gate." Gnarl said, giving Mud the idea he needed.

Mud nodded. "Then we get even more minions to help break away rocky floor!" Mud then turned to Bill. "Bill, Mud needs you. Attack the floor and smash it up! Coot. You watch people as Mud and Bill break floor. You no let them use hand phones! If you see them using one, smash it!"

Bill nodded and left his position, only for Coot to occupy it seconds later. As Coot carefully surveyed and watched the people that he was now responsible for, Mud and Bill got to work striking the concrete floor, chipping away fragments of the man-made stone to try and reach underneath, mining till they reach dirt. It was tedious work, where successful strikes slowly chipped away at the concrete flooring of the base, but they slowly, ever so slowly, neared the soil underneath. At least Bill's weapon worked very well in jostling loose concrete and separated the cracks further. Crowbars are useful like that.

After finally reaching the earth underneath the floor, the color of soft soil being found with Bill and Mud's destruction of the concrete floor, Mud cackled in joy. "Here we go! Make the hole wider!" Mud demanded from Bill, and the both of them proceeded to strip away the concrete radially.

And then, finally, Mud and Bill's hard work was rewarded. Obsidian spikes punctured through the bare dirt, nearly threatening to stab both Mud and Bill. Nearly having their hides punctured, they jumped out of the way and let the minion portal settle in its new place. This is just one of five gates that was needed to breach to establish a dark domain. At least now, the elite minion squad had all the help they will ever need. Mud's face contorted into a sadistic smile. He can now get more minions under him to make way for more gates.


A/N: Kind of a long read here, but I felt as though the previous minions in the first story needed some development.