A/N: Okay, so a few weeks ended up being a few months...
Sorry about the delay but I was struggling with writer's block and motivation, mostly due to IRL stuff and other distractions, not to mention another outside force that's currently affecting everyone but let's not focus on that.
I finally got around to finishing this chapter, and let me tell you all is going on in this one. There are also a few new characters that I've introduced that may make sporadic appearances later on in the story.
Hopefully, the wait will be worth the read, so feel free to follow/favourite the story and drop a review if you feel it deserves it.
As always, I hope you enjoy the new chapter and I'll see you next time!
It had almost been a month since Callum had joined the Exchange Program and moved in with his homestay, Cerys. They were getting along quite well and were practically inseparable if the young satyr had anything to say about it. Amanda Finn, their coordinator, was quite happy with how things were going for them, so long as they weren't pushing any boundaries that they shouldn't be, though she suspected that they were edging very close to them knowing both of them as well as she did. Otherwise, things couldn't be going better for any of them.
It was a sunny Friday morning and the troublesome pair were making their way down to the local bank to take out funds they received from the ICEP, though it ended up being the same day that Amanda had come to check up on them, so the ICEP agent decided to tag along while she was there and to keep a close eye on them to make sure they didn't get up to any mischief.
The blonde liminal currently had her left hand intertwined with her host's as she walked by his side with the side of her head resting on his shoulder. "I can't believe that we've been together for a month now. Seems like only yesterday that we wandered into each other's lives." She said with a joyous smile on her lips.
Callum gave her a nervous smile in return as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, feeling Amanda's gaze on the back of his head as he did so. "Well, we're not officially together, but living with you for the past month has been enjoyable."
"Yeah, it's just a shame we can't enjoy our time together as much as I would like us to though," Cerys replied in a more sensual tone as she pressed herself closer to him, now clutching her other hand onto his arm. "I mean, imaging all the fun things we could be doing if not for the stupid laws."
"Those 'stupid laws' exist for a reason, Cerys," The redhead agent spoke up in a stern tone from behind the pair, causing the host to flinch in response. "relations between humanity and many of the liminal species are still fragile, and for that reason, the ICEP put regulations of conduct between host and homestay in place to prevent any potential political backlash."
Despite currently finding himself in hot water right now, Callum looked back at his old friend with a sceptical look on his face. "No offence, Am, I understand wanting to keep things sweet with the other species, but to me what the government is doing with this whole 'no touchy' rule sounds like a load of bull."
The young satyr also looked back at the government agent, giving her a pout. "I bet they're doing it just because they couldn't even attract a succubus' attention if their lives depended on it."
Amanda let out a sigh of frustration, seemingly unable to get her point across to the host and homestay in front of her. "Their reasons aside, these are the laws we're stuck with, so I'd appreciate it if you two could try a little harder to reframe from breaking them."
Cerys dropped her pout and looked away from her as she sulked to herself. "Fine," She started as she pulled Callum's arm closer to her, now holding it in between her cleavage as her host's face had now gone bright red. "but they can't do a damn thing if we're just cuddling."
Callum did his best to keep his composure, seeing as they were out in public. "I get how you feel, Ceri, but you don't exactly make it easy for me at the best of times…"
The homestay just looked back up at him with a teasing look on her face. "But Beau, it wouldn't be fun if I made it easy for you now, would it?" She said in a seductive tone as she gave him a wink.
The human looked away from her and sighed in defeat as she soon giggled to herself and began to nuzzle her cheek against his shoulder. He couldn't wait for the day that the government would make the amendments to the exchange accord, but when that day would come, he doubted that the satyr currently clinging to him would give him any sort of respite, not that he would mind though.
Amanda looked back at the pair and thought about how close they had gotten in such a short time. They may be a pain to deal with now, but after the exchange accord gets amended, she didn't doubt that they were going to be together for the long haul. Though she always felt a pang of jealousy every time the satyr pressed herself up against her old friend, the government agent wondered in all the years she and Callum knew each other why he never looked at her the way he looked at Cerys. Having known him for so long, she thought that they would've gotten a little closer than just good friends.
Before she realised it, the group found themselves outside the local bank, their destination for the day, though the agent made it a point to the host and homestay to not get too clingy while they were in there. They entered the building and found that it wasn't too busy right now. For the most part, it was mainly humans going about their daily business, though there were a smattering of hosts with their homestays here and there. One pair immediately stood out as they made their way further in. The host was a slightly overweight man with a neatly-trimmed brown beard and not much hair to speak of on top of his head, wearing a white dress shirt, black suit trousers that were more than likely a size too small for the man, as well as a pair of brown leather shoes and black-framed glasses on his face. Standing next to him was an elder devil woman wearing a black cold shoulder top, tight-fitting blue jeans that reached halfway down her calves and a pair of red short heel wedge shoes, though the trio immediately recognised the woman from the long purple braided hair running down her back, purple horns, purple bat-like wings protruding from her back and the long slender purple spade-tipped tail sticking out from the back of her jeans.
Phaedra looked over her shoulder at the group and a smirk soon crossed her face as she locked eyes with them, her own eyes sparking with a small amount of chaotic energy across her purple slit irises and black sclera. "Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise, and here I thought I'd end up dying of boredom in here." The she-devil said out loud, which garnered the attention of her host standing next to her.
"Oh, Phae," Callum answered with a smile on his face. "fancy seeing you here."
The elder devil sauntered up to the host with her hands held behind her as she gave him a seductive look. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me." She replied in a sultry tone before giggling to herself.
The human's face went bright red as he broke eye contact with her. "I assure you that this is merely a coincidence…" He said in an embarrassed tone.
"I don't know, Beau," Cerys cut in as she gave him a teasing look. "I've seen you glancing at her chest a lot every time we meet up at the store."
"I do not!" Callum exclaimed in defence, causing his homestay to snicker to herself.
Phaedra also giggled to herself at the human's outburst. "Aww, don't worry, Cal. I don't mind if it's you." She said before she leant forward to allow him a better view of her generous cleavage. "I'm quite flattered." She added in a more sensual tone.
The host groaned to himself in embarrassment as the two liminal women continued to giggle at his reaction.
Amanda soon stepped in to stop things from getting too out of hand. "Good morning, Phaedra. I hope you're doing well." She said to the she-devil with a polite smile.
The elder devil turned her attention away from Callum and gave the government agent a polite smile in return. "Good morning to you too, Agent Finn. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important now."
As she said that, her host came up from behind her and looked at the devil with a stern look on his face. "Phaedra, how many times must I tell you not to wander off by yourself? Are you trying to get me into trouble?"
The man's homestay looked up at him in annoyance. "What's the problem? I'm just talking to a couple of friends." She replied as arcs of chaos energy started sparking around her body.
Amanda didn't like where this was going and quickly put her sunglasses on before she swiftly stepped in between the elder devil and her host to avoid a potential altercation between them. "Alright, take it easy you two." She said to them in as stern a tone as she could muster whilst she did her best not to upset Phaedra any further. "Phaedra, I understand wanting to go off and talk to people you know, but you can't just wander off from your host without permission." The agent then turned to the host, giving him a stern look. "And Mr Lambert, I understand that you're just performing your duties as a host, but you must understand that Miss Lucifer is still a person at the end of the day. She craves interaction like any of us, so there's no need to be so overbearing with her."
Mr Lambert merely scowled at her. "Tsk, I have to be with that devil. There's no telling what she'll do if I don't keep an eye on her."
The man's attitude towards his homestay agitated Amanda greatly and she quickly found herself in a heated discussion with him. While this was going on, Phaedra decided to take the opportunity to move to Callum's free side and leant her shoulder against his, much to the young host's surprise.
"That man is such a pain in the ass to deal with," She said before she shot him a seductive look. "he's not nearly as nice as you are, Cal."
Cerys decided to have a bit of fun and leaned against his other shoulder as she flashed her host a sexy smirk. "See that, Beau? She's jealous that I've got such an amazing host all to myself." She added in a sultry tone.
Callum groaned to himself at their combined teasing. "Will you girls give a guy a break already?" He pleaded to them, though they only responded with giggles of amusement at his request.
All of a sudden, the front doors of the bank were forcefully flung open as a group of large liminals charged into the building brandishing automatic firearms. They all looked like large bipedal crocodilians, covered from their snouts to the tips of their tails in scute-like scales and teeth lining the length of their massive jaws. One of the individuals was taller and a great deal bulkier than the others leading the group, easily distinguished by his scarred left eye.
He raised his weapon and fired several rounds into the air, startling everyone inside and causing people to drop to the ground in fright. "EVERYONE ON THE FLOOR! NOW!" He shouted in a bellowing tone as his grunts spread out and barked orders at people whilst pointing their weapon at them.
Mr Lambert was taken off guard by this, though Amanda took the opportunity to hide behind him and pulled her phone out before she frantically typed at the screen. Cerys pressed herself against her host in fright and wrapped her arms tight around his torso as she buried her face into his chest with tears running down her cheeks. Callum immediately wrapped his arms around her tightly as he attempted to comfort her. Phaedra looked on in anger as these 'sobek' went about terrorising the people around her.
One of the sobek moved up to their group and pointed his rifle at them. "DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT WE SAID?! GET THE FUCK-!"
Before he could finish his demand, Phaedra charged in with incredible speed, her body surging with chaos energy as she struck at his weapon with her clenched fist and shattered it instantly. The large liminal looked down at his broken weapon in shock before the she-devil threw a chaos-infused fist straight at his face, sending him flying towards the wall behind him as several of his large broken teeth flew out of his jaw. Before Phaedra could compliment herself, the one-eyed sobek managed to blindside her and slammed the butt of his weapon into the side of her face, sending her toppling to the ground with a hard thud.
"Phae!" Callum shouted in a panic as the satyr in his arms looked down at her with a look of distress.
The government agent looked around from behind Mr Lambert with worry just as she finished and sent her message. She was now frozen in fear, now imagining what might happen to the she-devil. Phaedra's host however didn't seem to show any kind of concern for her whatsoever. Phaedra managed to prop herself onto her side as she rubbed the side of her face in a vain attempt to soothe the pain. As she tried to regain her bearings though, the one-eyed sobek loomed over her with a menacing look on his face. The she-devil for her part only looked up at the reptilian with a scowl on her face.
"That's was pretty impressive," He said in a low growl as he cocked his weapon and pointed it at her. "but I don't have time for nuisances like you."
"PHAE!" Callum shouted as he pulled away from his homestay and ran towards the she-devil as fast as he could.
"CALLUM, DON'T!" Cerys screamed in a panic as he left her grasp.
The one-eyed sobek glanced over at the human running towards them with his good eye before he turned to face him and pointed his gun right at him. Callum skid to a halt and held his hands up with a panicked look on his face, which the sobek found rather amusing. "Quite brave of you, human. You know this devil?" He said to the host with a smirk forming on his face.
Callum felt himself trembling, but despite that, he looked back up at him defiantly. "Hey, don't you dare lay a hand on her!"
The sobek couldn't help but chuckle at the human in amusement. "Is that so?" He said as he slowly walked over to him. "Alright, I won't touch your girlie."
Callum took a deep breath as he lowered his hands slightly, though his relief was short-lived as the one-eyed sobek pressed the muzzle of his weapon against his shoulder. Before the host could react, the sobek fired a bullet into his shoulder, causing his human to scream in pain as he fell to the ground on his back, now clutching at his wounded shoulder hard.
"CAL!" Phaedra shouted in a panic as she used her wings to get onto her feet and rushed towards him as fast as she could.
Cerys and Amanda also had panicked looks on their faces as they rushed to his side. "CALLUM!" The blonde screeched as she knelt to his side and pressed her hands on his hand clutching at his shoulder to slow the bleeding.
"Callie, hold on!" Amanda yelled as she knelt to his other side and took off her sunglasses before she grasped at his arm in an attempt to comfort him.
Phaedra soon reached his side and knelt next to the satyr before reaching out to the human's shoulder. "Ceri, move your hands out the way!" She said in a panicked yet demanding tone, to which she instantly complied. The she-devil then moved Callum's hand away from the wound as blood was slowly oozing out of it. "I'm sorry, Cal, but this is going to hurt."
Before the host could reply, Phaedra created a crimson magic seal over his wound and Callum gritted his teeth in an attempt to suppress his pained grunt. After a moment, the bullet slowly started to pull out of the wound and was soon floating just under her hand. She tossed it to one side before she pressed her own hands hard against his wound. She charged her hands with chaos energy before she shocked his shoulder with it, causing the host to scream out in pain momentarily. She then stopped shocking his shoulder and removed her hands to reveal that the bullet wound was now sealed and cauterised, much to the group's relief.
Callum looked down at his shoulder in amazement. "Holy shit, that's awesome…"
Phaedra let out a sigh of relief before a small smile crossed her lips as she grasped his hand gently. "I'm just glad you're okay for now."
The one-eyed sobek was still looming over the group with his face still pulled into a menacing grin. "Consider yourself lucky, human, because if your devil friend tries any funny business again, the next bullet is going in your head." He said before he started walking towards the front counter of the bank while speaking up to his goons. "If the devil tries anything, start killing hostages until she gets the message!"
Now left to their own devices, the girls returned their attention to Callum who was still laying on the ground, still trying to recover from being shot so suddenly. Cerys had tears streaming down her face as she wiped the blood from her hands and knelt behind him, resting his head on her lap before she placed her hands on his cheeks and caressed them gently in an attempt to comfort him.
Callum looked back up at her and placed a hand on top of hers with a smile on his face. "Don't worry, Ceri, it's going to be okay."
The satyr smiled back down at him as she raised an arm to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Don't scare me like that, Beau. I thought I was going to lose you."
"Yeah, but we're still in a shit situation," Phaedra added with a despondent look on her face. "these guys look like they'll snap at the slightest thing…"
"No thanks to you," Mr Lambert responded, looking at his homestay with an irritated look. "you'll end up getting us all killed."
The she-devil looked up at her host in annoyance as chaos energy sparked across her eyes. She didn't have time to deal with his accusatory comments right now, Callum was her biggest concern considering his current condition.
"Well, the police should be here soon," Callum said to try to defuse the situation between them. "it won't be long till this is all over."
"Unfortunately, with the current laws of the exchange accords, human officers won't be able to arrest liminal criminals without breaching the accord," Amanda explained in a calm tone. "they won't be able to do anything in this current situation."
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!" Mr Lambert shouted in a hushed tone to avoid getting the attention of the sobek. "I didn't sign up to this program to be shot at by some scaly bastards!"
The government agent gave him a harsh gaze, which immediately shut him up. "Your bigoted remarks aside, the situation isn't completely hopeless." She then turned to Callum and the two liminal homestays with a smirk on her face as she held up her smartphone to them, making sure none of the sobek were looking at them. "Our reptilian friends here will be in for quite a surprise."
The young host looked up at her with a quizzical look on his face. "What do you mean, Am?"
Amanda placed her phone on the ground and gave him a confident smile. "The ICEP has prepared for a situation like this. The police might not be able to apprehend liminal criminals, but we have special forces made up purely of liminals who are trained to handle a crisis such as this."
Callum looked down at her phone's screen and saw the top message of her email menu addressed to an S Johnson with a single line of text.
Send in MON
In the skies over Idaho, a black transport helicopter was flying from Boise towards Twin Falls at full speed, keeping as steady as it could in the warm air currents. Inside the passenger cabin, there was a blonde ICEP agent with long blonde hair tied into a high ponytail dressed in a typical women's black business suit and a pair of sunglasses on her face with a tablet on her lap. With her, there were also five other women all dressed in yellow and black combat fatigues with the initials MON on the back of their Kevlar vests, though all five of them were different species.
The first was a tanned-skinned jinko with amber slit eyes and short white messy hair with rounded furry ears on top of her head. Her arms and legs were covered in white fur with black strips, her legs ending with black clawed tiger paws and her arms ending with large padded hands also ending with black claws. She also had a long feline tail sticking out from her backside covered in white fur and ringed with black stripes.
Sitting next to her was an oriental looking ryu-jin with blue slit eyes and long auburn hair tied into a very long braid that ran down her back. She looked very much like a bronze-scaled lizardman, except that she had short stubbed antlers sticking out from the top of her head and the tip of her tail ending with tufts of auburn fur.
Sitting opposite them was a wight with pure white skin and bright red eyes with white irises. Her long blonde hair was styled with long bangs on either side of her face and a long wavy ponytail tied with a thin braid of her hair.
Next to her was a gazer with pale grey skin, long messy black hair and a large singular red eye in the middle of her face. She also had a thin layer of black mucus covering her hands and a large and extremely bushy black tail, which in itself wasn't too out of place if not for the ten black tendrils sticking out of it, all ending in a large singular red eye each.
Finally, at the back of the cabin was a Caucasian human woman with shoulder-length black hair and bright blue eyes. She looked out of place amongst the other MON agents, though she had such an air of confidence around her that no one dared question her being there.
After a while, the government agent knocked against the entryway of the cockpit to get the attention of the pilot flying the helicopter. "How long till we get to our destination?" She asked him in a serious tone.
"ETA thirty minutes, Ma'am," He replied over the roar of the rotors.
She nodded in confirmation before she turned to the MON agents and stood to her feet, grabbing a hold of a nearby hand grasp to keep her balance. "Alright, ladies. We have ourselves a bank robbery in downtown Twin Falls. Security footage shows twelve armed sobek, they have the building locked down and have thirty civilians and employees held hostage. Police have surrounded the building but are unable to engage, and that's where you come in." She then tapped at her tablet for a moment before she flipped it around to show a floor plan for the building. "They're holed up in a single-story building with a large entry area with offices and a small vault to the side of the building. We have multiple angles of approach, so I'll let you girls organise how best to siege the building."
"Mrs Johnson," The dark-haired human spoke up to get the government agent's attention. "do we have any confirmed ID's on the individuals committing the robbery yet?"
The blonde human shook her head in response. "Not yet, but their ringleader should be easy to single out. Large, bulky and blind in his left eye."
"So basically, built like a shit brickhouse and can't see for shit?" The jinko asked matter-of-factly.
"Simply put, but not inaccurate," Johnson replied in a serious tone. "but don't underestimate him. Any of those sobek could rip you girls in half if they grab a hold of you. Try to take them out from a range, and if failing that, take them out from behind. If you can keep them from opening their jaws, all the better."
"Subduing the criminals should be simple enough," The ryu-jin spoke up. "but what should we do about the hostages? With the building's layout, it'll be hard to keep them safe if the hostiles are spread out." She added in a concerned tone.
"Don't worry about it, Jun," The gazer responded with a grin on her face, showing off her fanged teeth. "from the looks of it the building should have a skylight. I should be able to snipe them off with my babies." She said as she gently caressed the top of one of her eye tendrils. "You and Tiana can do your whole martial arts shenanigans, and Liz over here can yank the hostages to safety with her phantom hands." She added as she hooked a thumb towards the wight sat next to her.
"For the millionth time, Ginette, it's Elizabeth," The undead interjected in an annoyed yet prim and proper tone as she furrowed her eyebrows at the gazer. She then raised a hand as her arm was slowly enveloped by a large transparent four-digit clawed hand, larger than even the natural claws that the jinko of the group possessed. "call me that again and I'll 'yank' you out of this helicopter faster than you can blink with all eleven of your eyes."
Ginette couldn't help but chuckle at Elizabeth's threat. "You know you love it, Liz." She replied with a smug grin as she raised one of her eye tendrils next to her head and clamped it shut, giving her the image of her winking at the wight playfully.
Elizabeth turned her attention away from the gazer in a huff with a pout on her face as she dematerialised her phantom claw and crossed her arms under her breasts, much to Ginette's amusement.
Once done with teasing her wight squadmate, for the time being, she turned her attention to the human MON agent sat at the back. "Even if all that fails, Elsa here can wreck their faces single-handedly." She said in a teasing tone.
The dark-haired human turned her gaze to Ginette with a look of annoyance on her face, her eyes now glowing with a faint blue hue. "I wish you wouldn't call me that." She said as the air around her seemed to get slightly colder.
"Why not, Christine?" The gazer asked in a cheeky tone. "With your abilities, it suits you so well. It's a hell of a lot better than your current callsign."
Christine sighed to herself in defeat, not caring enough right now to deal with Ginette's nickname for her as her eyes stopped glowing. "Can we just focus on the task at hand here?"
"The captain's right," Jun interjected in a stern tone. "we should concentrate on the task at hand if we are to successfully apprehend these criminals."
"You say apprehend," Tiana cut in with a smirk as she punched a closed fist into the open palm of her other hand. "I say beat the living shit out of them."
The ryu-jin looked towards the jinko with a hint of concern in her eyes. "Must you always be so aggressive about everything? We could get seriously injured if we're not careful."
The feline liminal looked back at the reptilian with a loving smile on her face. "Don't sweat it, Babe. Those assholes don't stand a chance against the two of us together." She responded as she winked at her.
Jun gave her a loving smile in return as her cheeks blushed bright red. "It's good to hear that at least one of us is confident."
Christine stood to her feet and looked towards the government agent. "Ma'am, can I take a look at the building's floor plan for a second?"
Agent Johnson merely smirked back at her and tossed her tablet towards the MON agent. The dark-haired human caught it with ease and made her way to the centre of the passenger cabin as she looked over the floor plan. She noticed that apart from the skylight, there was also several air ducts running from the top of the building, all the way down to the offices and the vault entrance itself.
The human MON agent smirked to herself as a plan of attack started to form in her mind. "Okay, I've got an idea of how we can tackle this." She then looked over to the gazer. "Ginette, position yourself by the skylights and start taking out any hostile firearms on my signal."
Ginette gave her a mock salute as she winked at her using one of her eye tendrils once more. "Copy that, Cap."
Christine then looked over to the jinko and ryu-jin pair. "Tiana, Jun, see if you two can sneak into the air ducts and infiltrate near the vault entrance. That'll be the last place they'll expect to be attacked."
Jun nodded in affirmation. "As you wish, Captain."
Tiana groaned in annoyance at the plan. "Can't say I like crawling around in tight spaces, but if it gets me closer to beating up some assholes, then I can't complain too much."
The squad captain then turned her attention to her last squadmate. "Elizabeth, once the hostiles are distracted, I want you to prioritise extracting the hostages. Take out anyone that tries to get in your way."
"You can count on me, Captain," The wight answered in a confident tone, now in a slightly better mood after Ginette's teasing earlier.
As the MON agents continued to discuss tactics, Johnson pulled her phone from her pocket and looked at the messages she got from her co-worker that led to MON's deployment. Amanda Finn did well to notify her on such short notice, but the blonde did worry for the junior agent's safety. She just hoped that they could get to Twin Falls before the situation could get any worse.
Back in the bank, Callum and his group, as well as all the other hostages had been rounded up and corralled to the back of the lobby area with most of the sobek keeping an eye on them. The young host was still laying on his back with a hand grasped over his wounded shoulder, his head still laying on Cerys' lap as she continued to caress his cheeks with her hands to comfort him. Amanda, Phaedra and her host were sat right next to them, the government agent and the she-devil worried about his well-being while the devil's host was too busy panicking to himself to show any concern. The police had not long set up a barricade in front of the entrance of the bank, it being the only way in and out of the building. Despite officers not being able to engage, the group of sobek was starting to get anxious about the situation they were in.
It wasn't long till the one-eyed leader of the group forcefully barged out of the offices, nearly smashing the door off its hinges as he exclaimed to himself in frustration. "Sobek damn it all!"
One of his lackeys standing watch over the hostages looked back at him with a worried look on his face. "Everything alright, Boss?"
The one-eyed sobek whipped his head around and snarled at his subordinate, causing him to flinch in panic. "Of course not! Those idiots can't get the fucking vault door open!" He yelled in anger.
"Maybe we should've brought some explosives with us?" The lackey asked though he wasn't given any time to regret his choice of words as the leader slammed his tail into the side of his snout, causing the sobek to topple to his side as a few bloodied teeth flew out of his mouth.
"NEXT SMARTASS GETS THEIR HEAD FUCKING RIPPED OFF!" The boss yelled in pure rage.
He then suddenly noticed his other lackey that was taken down by the elder devil earlier, still laying on his side in agony with chaos energy coursing violently across his skin, rendering him unable to move. A wicked idea popped into his head as he looked back at the she-devil sat with the hostages, still sat by the side of the human that tried to save her earlier. A menacing grin soon curled onto his snout as he started walking towards the hostages.
"Hey, devil bitch!" He shouted, earning the woman's disapproving look. "How would you like to do us a favour and open the vault for us with that magic of yours?"
Phaedra stared daggers at him as she clenched her fist in annoyance, causing sparks of chaos energy to intensify around it. "What makes you think I want to help you bastards?" She asked in a venomous tone.
The sobek leader let out a low guttural growl as he looked down at Callum and cocked his rifle. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to your boy toy now, do you?"
Cerys, who still had her host's head resting on her lap looked up at the sobek leader with a panicked look on her face. "No, you can't do that!" She shouted in protest as she got up and stood up between the reptilian and her host. "He's been through enough already!"
The leader merely smirked at the satyr as he turned to face her and pointed his assault rifle at the woman. "If you don't move that sweet ass of yours real soon, there'll be plenty of bullets going through you and him." He said menacingly as he cocked his weapon.
Not wanting to risk another altercation, Phaedra got up onto her feet and spoke up to get the sobek's attention. "Fine, I'll go. Just don't hurt anyone else." She said begrudgingly, feeling sick to her stomach at the idea of having to help them with their crime.
The blonde satyr looked over at the elder devil in shock, surprised that she would agree to do this at all. Couldn't Phaedra take out the group of sobek with her powers if she wanted to? Couldn't she put up some sort of barrier at all to protect them at least? So many questions and scenarios went through her mind as her panic started to set in as she continued to stand in front of Callum protectively.
While this was going on, the leader looked towards one of his goons. "You, escort the devil and her boy toy to the vault. If she tries anything, shoot the human in the head." He said commandingly.
The grunt nodded in affirmation and started making his way towards the young man in question. Cerys saw this and tried to get in the way but was stopped as the elder devil grabbed hold of her wrist suddenly. The satyr turned around and tried to protest but Phaedra placed her free hand on the girl's shoulder and gave her a pleading look, which caused Cerys to freeze in place for a moment.
"Cerys," The she-devil spoke up in an uneasy tone. "don't worry, I'll make sure he's safe. I just need you to stay calm and trust me, okay?"
The blonde was starting to tear up, uncertain if she could completely trust her after Callum was already shot in the shoulder trying to protect the elder devil. "But Callum already got hurt because of-!"
"I know," Phaedra interjected as she clasped both her hands onto the satyr's shoulders comfortingly. "but I promise you I won't let anything else happen to him because of me. Please, trust me." She pleaded.
Cerys eventually broke down as tears started flooding from her eyes, now wrapping her arms tightly around the devil as she buried her face into Phaedra's shoulder and sobbed to herself. "Keep him safe…" She muttered in between sobs. "Please, Phae, keep him safe…"
Phaedra placed a hand on top of the blonde's head and stroked it gently in an attempt to calm her down. "I will so don't worry. This will be over soon."
After a moment, the two liminals separated as Amanda came up behind Cerys and placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her eyes focused on the she-devil. "I'll keep an eye on her, just don't do anything reckless, okay?"
Phaedra nodded in response, trying her best to keep herself calm. "I'll be careful."
During the exchange, the sobek grunt went up to Callum and lifted him onto his feet forcefully, eliciting a grunt of pain from the human. "Get moving, we haven't got all day." He said commandingly as he placed a hand firmly on his bad shoulder.
"Ow, watch it! My shoulder's still killing me here!" He exclaimed in pain, though the grunt paid no mind to his discomfort whatsoever.
The grunt in question then looked over to Phaedra with a look of impatience on his face. "You, head towards the offices," He commanded as he pointed his gun towards their location. "and stay where I can see you. I don't want no funny business now."
*Tsk* "Fine," The she-devil complained out loud, though she complied anyway for Callum's sake.
The small group soon made their way through the offices and past the security room, now walking down a short corridor until they found themselves at the front of the vault door. There they saw a couple of sobek trying their best to pry open the large vault door with nothing but brute strength, though their efforts were in vain with the door still firmly shut.
One of the sobek at the door looked back as he noticed the arrival of the group. "Why the hell are there hostages here?" He asked in an annoyed tone. "We've got enough crap to deal with without having to babysit hostages ourselves."
"Don't worry," The sobek holding Callum hostage started as he pointed his gun towards Phaedra. "This young lady here has kindly offered to assist us in our efforts."
The elder devil in question merely crossed her arms and huffed to herself in annoyance.
The other sobek by the door smirked to himself as he and his partner stepped away from the door and gestured her towards it. "Then, by all means, show us what you can do."
The sobek with Callum pointed his rifle towards the human for enthesis. "Or else the little meat bag here goes bye-bye." He said in a sadistic tone as Callum flinched at the action.
Phaedra panicked for a moment at seeing this but then realised that doing so wouldn't help matters. She calmed herself down as she stood herself in front of the vault door. She then took a deep breath as she placed her open hands close together in front of her and started to create a crimson orb of chaos energy between them. She concentrated for a moment as it grew larger and started to compress into a disk shape. Satisfied, she manipulated it towards the edge of the door and the disk started spinning at high speed as it started to shear through the steel bolts, sending sparks flying from the side of the door. The sobek looked on with smirks on their faces as the elder devil in front of them just made their lives so much easier, still holding Callum in their grasp to make sure she wouldn't try anything.
One of them picked up their rifle and started making their way back down the corridor. "I'll go keep an eye on things in security. Make sure she finishes the job, and when she's done…" He trailed off as he cocked his weapon before making his leave.
The other sobek nodded in understanding, knowing exactly what he was on about. Callum's face went pale at the thought of what they had planned for them, while Phaedra continued with the task forced upon her whilst trying to figure out a way for her and Callum to get out of the situation in one piece. It was then that the she-devil heard a slight clanking sound coming from above her and she glanced up quickly to see a large ceiling vent cover right above where Callum and the sobek were currently standing. She wasn't sure what was causing it, but she figured that whatever it was might at least be a good distraction in dealing with these two sobek holding Callum at gunpoint. With that in mind, she slowed the spinning of the chaos energy disk, causing fewer sparks to come off the grinding as a result.
The sobek currently standing idle took notice and picked up his rifle, now making his way towards her. "Hey, why the hell did you slow down?!" He shouted in annoyance as he pointed his weapon towards her back. "Don't you care about what happens to you or your boyfriend here?!"
Phaedra looked back at the sobek in annoyance as the disk kept spinning. "If I push it too hard, the disk will detonate and we get shredded by shrapnel. Is that what you want?"
The sobek let out a guttural growl in response. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm hardly concerned about a bit of shrapnel. Now, I suggest you hurry up, otherwise, I will start ripping you apart limb from limb."
All of a sudden, the vent cover dropped from the ceiling and landed on top of the head of the sobek that was threatening the she-devil, stunning him for a moment as he clutched at his head in pain. As the other sobek holding the human hostage looked up in surprise, a slender ryu-jin woman in yellow and black combat fatigues jumped down from the vent on top of the sobek next to Phaedra before jumping towards the other and struck him with a roundhouse kick aimed at his head. The sobek hit the wall hard and lost grip of the human hostage, who stumbled forwards away from the reptilian as he slumped against the wall in a daze. The other sobek got up and recovered from his dazed state before he turned to fire upon the ryu-jin but before he could pull the trigger, he was struck in the side by an orb of chaos energy, which detonated and flung him against the wall hard. He soon fell in a heap on the ground, now paralyzed as Phaedra looked down on him with a smirk on her face. The remaining sobek started to get back on his feet, though this didn't last long as the ryu-jin used a leg sweep to knock him off balance, causing him to stumble to the ground. Now lying down on his front, the ryu-jin followed up with a scissor kick to the back on his head, knocking him unconscious.
Now feeling safe to do so, Phaedra rushed to Callum's side and knelt next to him. "Callum, are you okay?!" She exclaimed in a panic as she slowly helped him sit up straight.
The young host groaned in pain as he sat up straight with the elder devil's help. "As good as I can be right now." He replied as he smiled at her, despite his pained expression. "Thanks, Phae."
The she-devil smiled back at him with tears in her eyes. "Thank the Sins." She said as she wrapped him in a gentle hug in an attempt to comfort him, which he reciprocated. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe now."
Now straightening herself out after taking down the sobek, Jun pressed her fingers against her earpiece. "This is Yang. Successfully infiltrated the structure, two hostiles confirmed incapacitated and two hostages secured. Still waiting on Yin's current status, over." She said in a calm and collected manner.
"This is Mama Bear," She heard Agent Johnson reply over the comms. "copy that. Rendezvous with Yin as soon as possible. Beholder, Wraith and Avalanche are ready and raring to go."
"Copy that, Mama Bear," The ryu-jin replied. "will get into position ASAP, over." With that, she turned to face Callum and Phaedra to check on their wellbeing. "Are either of you harmed?" She asked in a concerned tone as she crouched onto one knee, just then noticing the wound on the human's shoulder. "Don't worry, sir," She continued as she pulled from one of her pouches what looked like a tube of toothpaste. "I have something that should help with your injury."
Phaedra pulled away from Callum as they both turned their attention towards the MON agent. "It's fine, it's already been treated." He said to her, despite still having a pained expression on his face. "I'm sure you have-"
"Please," She interjected as she uncapped the tube and squirted a dollop of balm onto her scaled hand. "it will disinfect the wound and should also soothe the pain. Though it may sting a little initially."
Without given the chance to respond, the ryu-jin pulled down on the collar of his shirt to expose his cauterised wound and started rubbing the balm onto it. The young host let out a grunt of pain at the stinging sensation he felt from the wound right now. Satisfied, Jun removed her hand from his shoulder and the human could already feel the stinging ease off a bit.
"There, that should help," She said as she stood to her feet with a barely noticeable smile on her face. "but for now, stay here. We'll make sure no hostiles make their way back in here."
"Be careful," Phaedra interjected as she stood up straight. "there's still one of those assholes nearby."
They then heard a commotion from further down the hall, the sound of one of the sobek and a woman tussling with each other. After a moment, the sobek they heard came flying into view as he was hurled towards the wall and his back collided with it, making a massive dent in the wall. He slowly pulled himself out of the wall as a tanned-skin white-furred jinko woman in yellow and black combat fatigues walked into view with a smirk on her face. The sobek charged her with his jaws wide open in an attempt to rip her to shreds, though the jinko ducked under him as his jaws snapped shut and responded in kind as she thrust an open palm towards the bottom of his jaw, knocking his head up sharply as he stood stunned in place. The MON agent pulled an arm back and struck a closed fist into her opponent's stomach, causing him to hunch over in pain but before he could recover, the jinko grabbed one of his arms with both of her large padded hands and threw him over her shoulder. The sobek landed on his back hard and before he had the chance to realise what was happening, the MON agent was standing over him and punched him hard in the chest as she let out a loud exclamation. The sobek was now curling up into a foetal position as he wrapped his arms tightly around his chest, now unable to fight back.
The jinko smirked to herself once more as she smacked her hands together several times in satisfaction at a job well done. "Jeez, you guys are a bunch of fucking chumps, you aren't even worth my time." She said mockingly to him.
"Is that everyone in this sector?" Jun asked her squadmate.
Tiana looked over to the ryu-jin with a massive grin on her face as she held her hands behind the back of her head. "The offices and security room are clear, so don't sweat it." She replied in a carefree tone as she gave her a wink.
The ryu-jin saw that the sobek currently curled up in pain next to the jinko was still conscious and she took the opportunity to pull out her firearm and fired at the sobek without hesitation. There was now a tranquillizer dart lodged in the reptilian's chest and after a moment, the sobek feel unconscious.
Tiana pouted at her squadmate as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What the hell was that for? I already dealt with that asshole."
Jun holstered her tranquillizer gun and gave the jinko a loving smile. "Better to make sure he's out for the count. Wouldn't want anything bad happening to you now, do we?" She said as her cheeks went slightly pink.
The jinko gave her squadmate a seductive look as she stepped over the now unconscious sobek and sauntered over to the ryu-jin before she wrapped an arm around her and pulled her head to her bosom, causing Jun's cheeks to turn crimson at the sudden affection. "That's why I love you so much, Babe." Before Jun could protest, Tiana pressed a finger to her earpiece. "This is Yin. I've hooked back up with Yang; we'll be in position to strike soon, over."
"Copy that, Yin," Johnson responded. "Let's get a move on. The longer we wait, the more danger the hostages will be in." She continued in a stern tone.
"That's a copy," Tiana replied before separating herself from the ryu-jin. "come on, Lizard Lips. Time's a-wasting." She said to her squadmate in a flirtatious tone.
Now it was Jun's turn to pout at the jinko with her cheeks still bright red. "I wish you wouldn't embarrass me in front of others like that." She said in a meek tone.
The feline MON agent looked back at her with a teasing grin. "You know you love it." She replied with a wink.
The ryu-jin shook her head in response, despite her still reddened cheeks and the slight smile curling onto her lips. She took a moment to recompose herself before looking back towards Callum and Phaedra. "Sir, Miss, if you would like to follow me, please."
"I thought you wanted us to stay here," The human replied with a confused look on his face as the elder devil helped him back onto his feet.
"Don't worry, we've got a better hiding spot for you two lovebirds!" Tiana shouted to them before turning the corner of the corridor.
Callum's cheeks went bright red at the comment, though he looked to his side to see Phaedra giving him a seductive look. "I think she might be on to something there." She teased as she prodded a finger playfully against his cheek.
*Sigh* "Now's not the best time for jokes, Phae," He said to her in an embarrassed tone, earning a giggle from the she-devil.
"I know," She replied before her tone grew serious. "but seriously, we should get moving. I don't exactly want to still be here when these guys eventually wake up again." She continued as she looked at the unconscious sobek around them.
"Duly noted," The host said as he started taking slow steps forwards with the elder devil holding him up for support. "the sooner we get to safety, the better."
Phaedra couldn't help but smile back at him with slight redness on her cheeks. "Don't worry, you're safe with me."
It didn't take the group too long before they reached the security room, which was a small office space with a pair of chairs and a desk facing a wall, which was mounted with several monitors hooked up to the video cameras set up in the building. It was currently unoccupied as the security guards were rounded up along with the rest of the hostages. The two MON agents gestured Callum and Phaedra to go inside. The human and elder devil pair did so and Phaedra wasted no time in helping her friend into one of the office chairs.
"You two stay in here and lock the door behind you," Jun instructed in a calm tone. "we'll deal with the sobek with the rest of our squad. Open the door for no one and keep an eye on the monitors." She added as she pointed at the screens at the back of the room. "Once the hostiles are dealt with, make your way out the front entrance of the building."
Phaedra nodded back at the ryu-jin. "Right, I'll make sure no one gets in." She replied in a serious tone as she raised an arm now coursing with chaos energy.
Tiana smirked at the elder devil as she was leaning against the wall in the corridor with her arms crossed right behind her squadmate. "You have spunk; I'll give you that much." She complimented her before she stood up straight and started making her way back into the offices. "Yang, let's go."
"Right," Jun responded before returning her attention to Callum and Phaedra. "alright, just stay in here and stay safe. We'll come back to you when it's safe to do so."
"Yeah, you too," Callum replied in a concerned tone. "those guys a pretty dangerous."
The ryu-jin gave him a warm smile at his concern. "I wouldn't worry. We've handled worse, but your concern is appreciated." With that, she made her leave to go after her squadmate. "We'll be back soon."
With that, Phaedra shut the door and locked it, and for extra measure, she erected a small chaos barrier in front of it. "There, that should stop anyone getting in."
Callum swivelled the chair around to look at the monitors. "Yeah, but I'm still worried about Ceri and Am. They're still out there and in danger." He said in a worried tone as he gripped the ends of the armrests hard. He hated the idea of being stuck in here while they were still in harm's way.
He then felt Phaedra lay a hand on top of his arm and squeezed it comfortingly, earning his attention. "Don't worry, Cal. They'll be in safe hands soon enough." She told him with a warm smile on her face.
The host smiled back at her before turning his attention back to the monitors. He stared back at the screen showing the main lobby and managed to spot Cerys and Amanda with the rest of the hostages, sat there in worry for his and Phaedra's safety.
"Please, be safe…"
Back in the main lobby, Cerys and Amanda were sat next to each other, anxiously waiting for Callum's and Phaedra's return. The satyr was currently hugging her legs to her chest and had her head pressed on top of her knees, sobbing to herself over the situation her host was currently in. The government agent was rubbing her hand over the homestay's back comfortingly in an attempt to calm her down.
"…Callum… Please, come back soon…" Cerys said out loud in between sobs.
Amanda continued to rub her back comfortingly. "Hey, everything is going to be alright. I'm sure they'll be back soon."
The satyr's sobs started to die down, but she still feared for their safety.
Not too far from them, Phaedra's host sat there with a furious look on his face, annoyed beyond belief that his homestay hasn't come back from helping the criminals yet. In his mind, he couldn't believe that she was taking her time when his life was on the line.
"What's taking that hell-spawn so damn long?" Mr Lambert said out loud in a frustrated tone. "Doesn't she realise that we're done for if she doesn't hurry up?"
Amanda looked over to the man, annoyed by his needless complaints. "I'm sure she'll be back soon. She can take care of herself just fine."
"Then why the hell isn't she back yet?!" He exclaimed in anger. "I bet she's run off with that scrawny bastard she's been fussing over!"
Cerys stopped her sobbing upon hearing the man insult her host and looked up at him in anger. "Hey, that's my host you're talking about! And for your information, they wouldn't run off without us!"
"Like hell, they wouldn't!" The rotund human shouted back at the satyr. "I bet you now that he's gone off somewhere with that demon bitch to give her a good-!"
*SMACK*
The entire room went silent as everyone looked towards where Mr Lambert was sat, his glasses clattering to the ground as the man now clutched at the side of his face as it began to swell. Amanda still had her arm stretched out from slapping the man with all her strength as she looked at him in contempt. The only thing that could be heard right now was snickering from several of the sobek, amused that the obese male was utterly humiliated by the young redhead government agent.
"I suggest that you keep your thoughts to yourself, Mr Lambert," Amanda started in a stern tone as retracted her arm, lest she was tempted to give him another smack for saying such horrible things about Callum and Phaedra. "and once this is all over, we're going to have a long discussion about your future with the exchange program."
Mr Lambert couldn't even answer her as he started whimpering to himself over the stinging sensation in his cheek, not to mention his pride being damaged.
The one-eyed sobek just about had enough of this particular human's incessant whining. He had very little patience for the situation as is, what with the struggle they had with the vault door. The last thing he wanted was for this rotund human constantly complaining like he was the only one being inconvenienced by being taken hostage by him and his group. Even the young man he shot in the shoulder complained less about his injury than this man did over a mere slap in the face. Having lost the last of his patience, he walked over to the obese man and pointed his rifle at his head, much to the shock of the other hostages as they started to panic.
"WAIT, DON'T SHOOT!" Mr Lambert shrieked in fear as he raised his hands above his head in a vain attempt to beg for his life.
Cerys was terrified at this point, so much so that she was unable to look away from the man that was about to be shot in the head.
"CERYS! DON'T LOOK!" Amanda yelled as she wrapped her arms around the satyr's head and pressed the girl's face to her chest to obscure her view.
The sobek leader merely smirked to himself as he cocked his rifle, ready to pull the trigger. "This should shut you up."
Just then the skylight of the building shattered to pieces, broken glass clattering to the ground just in front of the hostages. Amongst the falling shards of glass was a dark figure with many tendrils sprouting from their back, their large eye now glowing red as the tips of their tendrils did the same.
Their target, the sobek and their firearms.
Each of the eye tendrils locked onto a target before Ginette fired off small laser blasts from them, each one either blasting apart an assault rifle or knocking a sobek to the ground by the sheer force of the blast. The gazer was now on the ground level, but somehow, she was floating only a few feet off the ground herself as her main eye focused on the one-eyed sobek, still glowing with red energy. She then fired off a larger laser blast from her large eye which blasted the sobek leader away from one of the hostages before he collided with a wall. Some of the sobek that got back up tried to make their way back to the hostages, but Ginette was having none of it as she continued to fire laser blasts from her eye tendrils at them.
"Everybody, stay down!" The gazer shouted to the hostages, to which they complied without question.
Two of the sobek thought it best to charge at the gazer herself from behind, but that plan went out the window as another figure dropped through the now shattered skylight. This new paler figure landed right next to her squadmate and quickly stood to her feet as large phantom clawed hands started to materialise around her arms. Elizabeth smirked at the two sobek as she launched her phantom hands at them, which they then clasped their large semi-transparent digits around their snouts, both preventing them from moving forwards and keeping their jaws shut tight.
The wight started to saunter up to them with a smug look on her face, still maintain control of her phantom hands. "I do apologise, but I believe this establishment is not for the likes of ruffians like yourselves. So, I'll have to kindly ask you to leave the premises immediately." With that she used her phantom hands to lift the pair of sobek off the ground before forcefully throwing them through the front doors of the bank, smashing them off their hinges. The two sobek now laid outside unconscious, ready to be detained.
Happy with herself, Elizabeth directed her attention to the hostages. "Everyone, please make your way out of the building in a calm and orderly fashion! We will cover your escape!"
The hostages didn't think twice as they all stood up and started rushing towards the front entrance with haste.
Now realising it was safe to do so, Amanda soon got up onto her feet before going to help the satyr homestay up. "Cerys, we need to get going!"
"But what about Callum and Phae?!" Cerys exclaimed in worry as she got up onto her hooves with the government agent's help.
"I'm sure they'll be fine; MON should have the building secured now!"
The blonde didn't like the idea of leaving her friends behind, but she trusted Agent Finn's judgement. She reluctantly nodded in agreement and the pair were soon making their way out of the bank, now safe and sound.
By the time that most of the hostages made their escape, Tiana and Jun had made their way into the main lobby to assist Ginette and Elizabeth in taking down the remaining sobek, though while they were distracted, the one-eyed leader was able to recuperate from the attack from earlier, staggering to his feet before he rushed towards the nearest MON agent. Elizabeth had just thrown another sobek off to the side with her phantom hands as she noticed the larger sobek charging right at her. She turned to face him and launched her phantom hands at him, grasping the digits around his snout to prevent him from opening his jaws, though that didn't deter him as he continued to inch his way towards her, despite the wight putting all her strength into her phantom hands to try and hold him back.
"Ladies?!" Elizabeth called out to her squadmates with some worry. "I would kindly ask for some assistance in dealing with this rather muscular gentleman here!"
A grin crossed Tiana's lips as she heard the wight's plea for help. "Don't worry, I'll deal with the asshole!"
The jinko sprinted towards the large sobek and proceeded to throw a left hook at him, knocking him off balance slightly, though he was able to regain his balance quickly thanks to his massive tail. He responded in kind by grabbing hold of the offending limb before he easily threw the jinko towards her undead squadmate. Tiana ended up crashing into Elizabeth and they both toppled to the ground with pained grunts, causing the wight's phantom hands to dissipate. The sobek leader was glad to regain use of his jaws again but he wasn't given much time to enjoy the fact as he was hit by a cartwheel kick from a petite ryu-jin that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He tried to swipe at the reptilian woman but she easily cartwheeled over it before she hit him with a sidekick to the side of his chest, causing him to stumble back momentarily. Before he could move up to attack her again, the jinko from earlier was back on him with the ryu-jin close on her heels. Tiana ducked under his jaws and thrust her fist straight at his abdominal muscles and Jun quickly followed up by jumping over her squadmate to deliver a flying roundhouse kick to him. The one-eyed sobek was hardly phased by this, taking a step back as he spun around and swung his massive tail at them as the ryu-jin was just landing from her previous attack. The pair of MON agents were caught unaware as the tail slammed into Jun, who was then slammed into Tiana as the pair were sent flying across the room by the attack.
"YIN! YANG!" Ginette yelled in a panic, but thankfully both the jinko and ryu-jin were slowly stumbling back to their feet.
The sobek leader was about to charge at Elizabeth once more, but Ginette charged up energy in her main eye before firing a large laser blast and the large reptilian.
The wight took the opportunity to press a finger to her earpiece. "This is Wraith to Avalanche! We're having issues with the remaining hostiles; requesting back-up!"
"This is Avalanche," Their squad captain responded in a cool and calm manner. "that's affirmative. I'm on my way."
Thankfully for Ginette and Elizabeth, the one-eyed sobek was stunned by the gazer's attack, but behind them, three of the other sobek were starting to get back on their feet, raring to rip something apart. Thankfully, Ginette had a couple of her eye tendrils looking behind her, ready for such a situation. The gazer quickly spun around as she pointed all her eye tendrils at the three sobek ready to attack them.
"Crap," Ginette cursed out loud. "we've got hostile at our rear."
"I'm somewhat more concerned about the rather large fellow right now," Elizabeth answered with some worry. "he's already back on his feet."
Tiana and Jun had just got back up on their feet too just as another pair of sobek were making their way to them. "These bastards just don't know when to quit." The jinko said confidently as she took on a fighting stance. That's when she noticed that her squadmate was still slightly hunched over with an arm wrapped around her chest, trying her best to suppress the pain she was feeling. "Babe! Are you alright?!"
The ryu-jin groaned to herself in agony. "I think I might've broken a few ribs from that previous attack; not sure if I'll be much help right now."
Tiana was suddenly filled with rage as she eyed up the sobek in front of her and brandished her claws. "YOU ASSHOLES ARE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" She yelled; her voice full of fury.
The sobek leader was now laughing to himself menacingly at the predicament the MON agents now found themselves in. "Looks like you girls picked a fight you can't win. How do you expect to get out of this?"
Just then, something miraculous happened. A sheet of ice formed from the front entrance and quickly travelled down the centre of the room. The ice cascaded towards the sobek and within moments, all but the one-eyed sobek had been encapsulated in thick ice from the neck down. None of them was able to move an inch they were that frozen solid.
Ginette looked over her shoulder towards the large sobek and smirked at him. "By using our 'Trump Card'."
Moments later, they could hear footsteps from the front entrance, slowly getting louder as the seconds ticked by. Soon a human woman with shoulder-length black hair and glowing blue eyes wearing the same combat fatigues as the other MON agents strutted into the room as frost emanated from her body.
"It's good to see you, captain," Elizabeth spoke up with a sense of relief as her features relaxed at her squad captain's presence.
With the majority of the sobek frozen in place, Tiana took the opportunity to pick up Jun into a princess carry. "Took your sweet as time, Cap." She said with a smirk on her lips.
Christine glanced towards the jinko and ryu-jin as she started to make her way towards the sobek leader. "Yin, get Yang out of here. Ambulances are waiting on standby."
"On it," Tiana said without hesitation as she quickly made her way out of the building with Jun in her arms.
As the two MON agents made their leave, Christine now focused her attention towards the one-eyed sobek, her eyebrows now furrowed as patches of ice was now forming underneath every step she took. The sobek eyed up the strange human woman with his good eye as he let out a low guttural growl, though this didn't affect the MON agent whatsoever.
Christine came to a stop, now only a few feet away from the sobek as she looked up at the massive reptilian in front of her, not intimidated in the slightest. "You're in violation of the Interspecies Exchange Accord. I suggest that you surrender peacefully while you still have the chance." She spoke in a cold tone with hardly any emotion in her voice.
The sobek was unable to prevent his hands from shaking with anger. Who did this woman think she was, expecting him to surrender after coming this far? She may possess some sort of ice magic, but she was still only human. All he had to do was reach out to grab her and rip her in half. Hell, he didn't even need to go that far.
After a moment, he made his move. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" He yelled before he opened his jaws as wide as he could and attempted to lunge at her to snap her head from her neck.
This was not to be, because as soon as he attempted to move closer to her, he soon found himself encased in a pillar of ice wider than he was with only the tip of his snout exposed to the world outside his new prison. The pillar itself was tall enough that the tip of the structure poked out through the shattered skylight. His body was now chilled to its core, his head frozen at such an angle that he was blind to what was going on in front of him.
Christine had her right arm raised above her head; her hand swathed in plumes of frost. She merely smirked to herself as she lowered her right arm to her side once more. "Christine Winter. Monster Operations: Neutralisation."
As things began to calm down, Ginette couldn't help but applaud her squad captain as she continued to float in place. "Nice work, Cap. Good to know that having a jötunn hybrid on the team is coming in useful."
"Quite," Elizabeth added as she looked up and down the large ice pillar in the centre of the room with a look of disbelief on her face. "but was it rather necessary to go to such lengths?"
The jötunn hybrid spun around on her heel and held her arms behind her back as her eyes stopped glowing and frost stopped emanating from her body. "If you have any better ideas on how to subdue a large reptilian liminal, I would like to hear your suggestions." She answered as she quirked an eyebrow at her undead squadmate.
Elizabeth made to give her own opinion, but she prevented herself from speaking at the last second. She, as well as three of her co-workers, was unable to stop the large sobek despite working together, but their squad captain had succeeded in subduing him without even breaking a sweat. She would be wasting her breath trying to tell Christine how to do her job. This was not helped by the fact that the gazer floating next to her was snickering to herself, presumably over the fact that the wight had been stunned into silence by their squad captain's comment.
She eventually sighed to herself, admitting defeat. "Then I will retract my previous statement, Captain."
It was then that Tiana came back into the bank to assist them once more. "Jun's with the paramedics now; they should be taking her to the hospital soon." She explained with a hint of worry in her voice.
"Don't worry," Christine said as she gave the jinko a warm smile. "I'm sure she'll be just fine. You can head straight for the hospital with Johnson once we're done here if you want."
The feline liminal couldn't help be grin back at her squad captain. "Have I ever told you how awesome you are?"
Before the conversation could continue any further, two figures came walking through the open doorway between the main lobby and the offices, a young human male limping his way through with the assistance of a purple-haired elder devil woman.
All the MON agents turned their attention towards the pair, but Tiana was the first to speak up as she held her hands behind the back of her head. "Hey, you two lovebirds are alright. I'm guessing you guys enjoyed the little show we put on for you?" She asked as she gave them a wink.
Callum was currently stunned into silence as he examined the room, all the sobek were now either laying on the ground unconscious or frozen in ice. He found it hard to break his gaze away from the one-eyed sobek currently frozen in a massive pillar of ice. "…Yeah, that was something else…" He spoke hesitantly as he now shifted his gaze towards the only other human in the room. "…How did you-?"
"Human-Jötunn hybrid," Christine cut him off as she gave the pair a smirk. "I have my biological father to thank for my affinity for ice." She then sauntered towards them as her smirk morphed into a warm smile. "Don't worry, you guys are safe now. And as for our scaly friends here," She then glanced back at the one-eyed sobek as she smirked to herself once more. "they'll live, but don't expect them to be going anyway anytime soon. Well, except back to their home country that is."
"Right…" The host replied as he also quickly glanced at the ice pillar once more before returning his focus to the hybrid. "Well, thank you for saving us."
"Yeah, thanks for the help," Phaedra added as she gave the MON agent a polite smile.
"You're welcome," Christine said as she winked at them. "anyway, it looks like you could do with a paramedic checking you over. Ambulances are waiting outside."
"Yeah, we'll go do that," Callum responded before he and the elder devil started to take their leave. "anyway, thanks again. Take care."
"You too," The MON captain waved them off as they left the building. With that, Christine turned to her squadmates and addressed them. "alright, ladies. Let's get these criminals detained, shall we?"
"Right!" Her squadmates exclaimed as they saluted to her before they made to start detaining the sobek.
With that, the hybrid turned to face the sobek leader trapped in the large ice pillar once more as she sighed to herself. As amazing and useful as her ice powers were, they were a pain in the ass to clean up after.
Callum now found himself in a hospital bed wearing a tacky gown as he tried his best to rest up. He hadn't long had an x-ray scan to see if the bullet he received in the shoulder earlier had done any significant damage. Thankfully, the bullet had failed to hit any bone and he only sustained a flesh wound from the ordeal, which had already been tended to thanks to Phaedra's quick response earlier. Though the doctors had suggested that he stayed overnight to be on the safe side. Cerys was currently sat by the side of his bed, clutching at his left arm with both hands as she stroked her thumbs across his skin in an attempt to comfort her host after what he'd been through. Amanda had been with them earlier but had to leave to help Agent Johnson deal with the aftermath of the bank robbery. She had offered to take the satyr home, but the blonde homestay had insisted that she stay with her host at the hospital for the night. Amanda would have tried to persuade her against the idea, but she had neither the time nor the patience to deal with Cerys' stubbornness at the time. She just hoped that the pair had the self-restraint to avoid doing anything that could get them into trouble.
And now it was just the two of them all alone in the room with a great deal on their minds.
They were sat in silence until the satyr plucked up the courage to speak up. "I still can't believe you did that." She said out loud in a despondent tone.
The host looked over at his homestay with confusion written all over his face. "Did what?"
"Saving Phae like you did…" Cerys replied as she tried to hold back her tears. "With all those armed thugs around, you could've gotten yourself killed, and you nearly did…" She was practically weeping to herself now as the tears started rolling down her cheeks.
Callum couldn't bear to see her so upset because of him, so he leaned over and placed his free hand on hers. "Hey, it's okay." He began as he started to stroke the back of her hand with his thumb. "I know I got hurt but it's only a flesh wound; it'll heal in time."
"But that's not the point!" She shouted suddenly, causing the host to flinch. "You threw yourself into danger without thinking, and I nearly lost you…" She added as her voice grew despondent once more. "…I don't know what I'd do without you…" The blonde began to sob to herself once more as tears filled her eyes.
She was right, he did run in to help Phaedra without thinking and look where that got him. A victim of gun violence, all because he had to play the hero. But he couldn't exactly leave Phaedra to die, so his heroics was somewhat warranted, even though he ended up paying the price for it. Still, he ended up worrying Cerys to no end because of it and that made him feel guilty.
Eventually, he pulled his hands away from her, causing Cerys to look up and him in confusion. "Beau?"
Callum had scooted over to the other side of the bed and sat up against the headrest as he patted his hand against the space he just made. "Hey, come here." He said as he gave her a warm smile.
The satyr couldn't help but return a warm smile of her own as tears continued to trickle down her face. She wasted no time as she got onto the bed and snuggled against his side, resting her arms on his chest as she nuzzled her head against his good shoulder as her cheeks went red.
Her host smiled down at her as he wrapped his arm around her waist and began stroking her hair with his free hand. "I'm sorry, but Phae was in a terrible spot, and I couldn't just leave her."
"I know," The blonde interjected as she drew circles on his chest with her finger. "but there must've been a way for you to help her without throwing yourself into the firing line."
"If there was, I didn't have enough time to think of it."
Cerys shook her head in disbelief as she continued to snuggle closer to him. "You are too sweet sometimes, I'm just glad I still get to do this with you." She replied as she moved a hand up to his shoulder, which caused the human to wince in pain briefly due to his wound still being sore. "Oh, I'm sorry, Beau." She said apologetically.
"It's okay, it just stings a bit, that's all," Callum tried to reassure his homestay.
Suddenly, an idea sprang to the satyr's mind. Without hesitation, she straddled her host, much to his surprise and pulled down on the collar of his gown. Before he could question her actions, she pressed her lips against his wound. It stung, of course, but he could also feel the light warm tingling sensation of her lips as they pressed lightly against his exposed skin. It wasn't like the times when she'd tease him by nipping at his ear sensually, which were numerous at this point, but it was a loving tender kiss that seemed to warm up his very core.
"Ceri, what are you doing?" He questioned as she continued to plant kisses on his shoulder.
She stopped momentarily as she looked up at him with loving eyes. "I just want to make you feel better. It's the least you deserve after what you've been through today."
Before he could protest, the satyr continued her ministrations as she went back to kissing his wound. Callum couldn't deny that despite the slight stinging sensation, her tender kisses were sending his mind reeling with pleasure as he shut his eyes in bliss. He knew that as her host he should stop her from doing this, but he didn't have the will to put up any resistance as he held the sides of her waist gently. He was so caught up in her affections that he didn't notice as she started kissing along his collarbone, up his neck and even down his jawline. By the time she stopped, he opened his eyes to see her now face to face with him, only a few inches away as they stared into each other's eyes.
"Beau?" She asked as she stared longingly at him with half-lidded eyes, waiting patiently as if begging for permission.
And there he saw it. Her picturesque face, her glistening tanned skin, her sparkling green eyes that bore into his very soul, not filled with lust, but with pure devoted love. He knew that if they continued further that they'd risked getting in trouble with the ICEP, but looking at her right now, he knew that there was no way in hell he could deny her what she wanted.
Despite a moment's hesitation, he finally caved in. "Oh, screw the damn accord."
Before Cerys could ask what, he was on about, he leant into her and gently pressed his lips against hers. Though the blonde was initially surprised that her Beau had taken the initiative, she soon smiled to herself as she reciprocated his affections, gently placing her hands on his shoulders as she deepened their kiss. After a moment the pair separated and locked eyes with each other, Callum's lips pulling into an embarrassed smile, while hers pulled into a teasing smirk.
"Wow," She paused as she sensually bit her lower lip. "look at you, Beau. Breaking ICEP guidelines? What would Agent Finn think?"
"Hey, how do you expect a guy to hold back when you give me that look?" The host tried to defend himself, despite his reddening cheeks.
Cerys' smirk soon pulled back into a loving smile. "Well, you're just lucky that I feel the same way you do." She then edged herself closer to him once more as her cheeks went a brighter shade of red. "You do know that you'll have to take responsibility for this now, right?"
Callum couldn't help but smirk at her. "Well, we can't exactly go back now."
The satyr smirked back at him as she gave him a seductive look. "Seeing as we've come this far, we might as well make the most of it."
"I couldn't agree with you more, Ceri,"
With that, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gently pushed him back against the headrest as she pressed her lips to his once more, the host now wrapping his arms around her waist tightly as their lips started gently smacking against each other. They both knew now that they had to be careful with trying to avoid having the ICEP find out about their rapidly maturing relationship. Whatever the future had in store for them, they knew that they were firmly in it together.