"Er, Lord Vex, do you not already know of our condition? After all, you were the one who has been fighting against the Determined and her minions.", one humanoid guinea pig asked.
"I know a whole lot, but why don't you guys repeat this stuff to me anyways. Give me everything. Start from the very beginning. I wanna make sure my deets are correct, after all."
"Ah, I see. Then I will start from the very beginning."
The man began to tell in detail the history of the ratmen village, starting from the discovery of the ore to the establishment of the factories and the mafia, eventually leading to the modern incident regarding the assassination of the sponsors, and finally ending with the invasion of the angelic demon and her subordinates, who destroyed the factories only for Vex to repair and protect them.
"Gotcha. Yep, sounds about right."
"Master Vex, I have a question.", one squirrel humanoid asked. "Have you actually fought the Determined before? If so, why have you come to this place?"
Vex nodded as he propped up his feet, crossing them over one another.
'So the Determined came to this village, took over by force, and destroyed all these factories? But then for some reason, when the people came to see the destroyed factories, brand new ones were just sitting here? That doesn't make any sense.'
"See I actually haven't fought her yet. I've been looking over these factories from a distance. You know she's been sending her subordinates to attack them, but I've been busy keeping the small fries at bay. It was gettin' pretty annoying, so I decided just to show my face so we can work together to take her down."
With blatant lies, Vex acted as if he was the very person who had been defending the ratmen from Claire. They truly believed that the demon who had taken over the city wanted nothing more than destruction, and as such it wouldn't make any sense for her to simply sit back in her throne.
Therefore, there must have been someone protecting them.
Squinting his eyes in thought as he looked up to the ceiling, Vex made an attempt to figure out just what was going on.
'Let's see.... I guess there really is someone who created these factories but didn't want the credit? So they just let me swoop in here and steal it for myself?'
Vex wondered if that was really the case.
'Or maybe they planned to claim they did it soon enough, and I took that honor from them? Haha! Well, they can be pissed all they want. It's their fault for wasting so much time. Even if such a person shows up, I'll just take care of em.'
Vex nodded to himself while checking his watch once more.
"Alright everyone. Now that you all understand what's going on, I think it's about time we truly begun this fight."
Jumping up from his seat, Vex walked forward as the people of the factory followed him with curiosity.
"It's like... eh what's it.... chess? Yeah, that's right. This is kinda like a game of chess. I'm not too good at strategy or thinking or whatever, but I'll let you all know right here. If I'm the king for this side, then the Determined is the king for the other side. The only difference is that I ain't some pushover that can only move one tile at a time."
With a smirk, Vex pointed his thumb towards his chest.
"I'm a Host of Sin. Do you guys understand what that means? I'm strong. Not as strong as Hube or Apathia or Envidia, but I'm pretty damn strong. I'm not about to go down against some angelic demon just cause she can jump on the throne and order around some powerful pawns."
Looking around, Vex noticed that the ratmen were filled with assurance.
The 7 house leaders were known all across the monster realm.
They were an established force, known for their power.
Even in the isolated parts of the monster realm, their existence was at least known. To most they were a group of far off existences of pure power, who would likely never bother with the affairs of the mortals below them.
For Vex- someone who claimed to be the leader of one of these houses- to just show up here in the ratmen village, it made a statement.
The antiheroes who had taken over the city and the Determined who led them were likely the real deal- true legends destined to fight the greatest powers in the world.
But these powers were willing to lend a hand to the people below them, defending them from the antiheroes who raged about taking over city after city.
Even in the human realm, the 7 houses were known by the common people, at least as a story.
The story of the 7 deadly sins and how they first came about, manifesting their power within their first hosts.
These hosts carried within them the very power of sin, and as a result of their existence, sin had spread throughout the world.
The very reason why humans became sinful people were because of the existence of such demons, as their power flowed throughout the world, influencing people.
Yet these beings were not seen as evil in the eyes of the monsters. They were merely seen as powerful rulers. Some were good and some were evil, but this varied based on the individual.
Even so, one thing united the house leaders.
They could control sin in one way or another.
By being driven to excessive sin within their lives, they gained some sort of particular ability pertaining to their respective sin.
"So let me ask you all. Who here doesn't like the fact that the Determined has just marched her way into the city, taking everything for herself?"
"I don't!!!"
The men surrounding Vex shouted out with energy, responding to his question.
"One of you said that there are rumors that the Determined or her subordinates were the ones to build these factories, which I created. Don't you think that's a little wrong?"
"We do!! They shouldn't be taking the credit for your work, master Vex!!"
"Yeah!!! It's unbelievable that they would do such a thing!!!!"
With a smirk, Vex pushed up his sunglasses.
"Isn't that right? So here's the deal. I'm the king here. Imma sit tight and you guys need to go get me some information on the layout of the city. How many people does she have here? Where are they located? I want 20 men to go around doing that. The other 80 who are here, just keep on doing your work as usual. Among the 20, split up into groups of 2 and search each corner of the city. I wanna know everything. Where the enemy queen is, how many troops she has, and if she's making any movements. Return within an hour, got it?"
Picking out 20 of the men, Vex asked if they understood, to which they replied promptly.
"We understand, Vex. We will return soon with the information."
Running off, these men split up and headed in all different directions.
One of these men was Nerdro, and he was paired up with his ferret partner.
"Looks like we're off to get something done for real. We now have a leader who can actually back us, so it's almost like we're back in the mafia again- but this time with a real cause.", the ferret stated.
Looking over, he saw Nerdro with a serious expression.
"I'll show her. I'll show Gina that she made the wrong choice to reject me like that."
----
Nerdro rushed forward with a grin on his face.
Somehow he felt a bit lighter, like he could do anything.
"What's wrong? We're just scouting, right? We should just take a quick peek and then head back, so why do you look like you're about to run off and fight someone?"
"Zark, have you ever been forced to run away?"
The ferret stopped in his tracks as the hamster turned around, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Run away? Not that I remember. When I was serving under Tiffany we weren't allowed to run away, ever. If we did so we would be hunted down and killed off."
With a sigh, Nerdro placed his hand on the shoulder of his partner.
"When Tiffany first stepped up as the head of the mafia, could you do anything about it?"
Zark looked down to the side with shame, his expression bitter as if he was about to spit.
"I couldn't. That bitch just took what she wanted, using her eyes to control everyone."
"Then you get it, don't you? At least a bit. You know what it means to be FORCED into something you don't agree with. When I was in those streets that day, I was forced to abandon my girl. I didn't have a choice. It was either do that, or die. Plain and simple. What did she expect me to do? Die right then and there only for them to take her away anyways? Would that have made her feel any better? Because I ran away I lived. And she ended up living anyways, so it's not like my actions would have made a difference."
Walking over to the side of the alleyway, Nerdro slammed his own fist into a metallic wall.
"Then why the hell does she still hate me for doing it!?!? If I didn't I woulda been the only freaking one to die!! So what, either I die or she hates me!? The only way she wouldn't hate me is if I died there!? She says I abandoned her. That isn't true! She abandoned me!! She didn't even think about my decision. About my life. She only looks at how I ran away, nothing more!!"
The ferret, Zark, bit his lip as his partner went off in the middle of the alleyway.
"I get it man. I do. But she probably doesn't see it that way. No, perhaps she can't see it that way. All she sees is that you abandoned her. That feeling of abandonment.... no matter how much you explain it to her, she won't lose it. Just give up on that one."
Nerdro shot Zark a foul glare as he said this.
"See? You don't get it after all. You don't get what it means to have no choice. I had no freaking choice!!!! Why do I have to be put into this situation where I have no choice but to obey, and then I get punished for obeying!?!?"
"I was in that situation too!!! Do you think I don't regret everything I had to do for that bitch!?!?!"
The two were now furiously panting as they argued, clearly distraught.
"And now that bitch is working for that demon. I.... I want to kill her. I want to kill Gina, I want to kill her overprotective sister who always looked at me like scum.... I want to kill that old boss of yours.... I want to kill them all!!! I want to show them that they messed with the wrong person!!!!"
"Hey man, calm down a second. Kill them all? Have you gone mad? We're out here because Vex showed up, so we now have a fighting chance against the Determined, but don't forget where we are. We can't just go around killing people without the orders to do so. After all, this is basically just a new set of factions, right? And Vex is the new boss of our faction."
These words hit Nerdro harder than Zark thought they would.
"That.... oh.... you're right...."
Looking up with relief, Nerdro began to laugh.
"I guess you're right, aren't you.... this isn't anything new.... that demon.... and the new one we're serving now.... they're the same as before, aren't they? People who are far stronger than us at the top, ordering us around to fight for their cause... and the goal is to topple the enemy."
"That's right. All I've ever done is work under a boss. I once worked under Albert before he threw away his position as the boss to serve the bitch. He betrayed us all. I respected him. I served him. I fought for him. And then he went and became the dog for that woman, and I had no choice but to stick around. But I guess he didn't have much of a choice either. The point is, we gotto find someone we respect to fight for.", Zark explained.
Nerdro was now smiling with bright eyes as he came to a realization.
"You're right.... hahaha.... why didn't I think of that? You're absolutely right.... all we have to do is find a leader worthy of fighting for..."
With a smirk, Nerdro stood up.
"We know that the Determined is enough of a bitch to take in your old boss and that shitty woman and her sister as her subordinates. She probably just wants to see everyone in this city die a horrible death. Well guess what, Determined!!! Your plans were foiled!!! You tried to destroy our factories, but Vex rebuilt them!!! I'll serve him. I'll help him kill that demon, and then we'll take back everything she took from us!!!"
"That's the spirit. We won't let her plans succeed. Now that we have one of the 7 houses backing us, this fight is as good as over. All we gotto do is follow orders."
The two walked off smiling, ready to fight.
----
A humanoid ferret with an extravagant outfit walked by the side of a dark grey humanoid gerbil who had two mechanical limbs- an arm and a leg.
The gerbil wore goggles, yet the eyes underneath them were completely focused on a single thing- completing the task which had been assigned to her.
"Her eminence is so beautiful that I am surprised her beauty did not kill me. Do you not think so?", the ferret stated with a look of awe and bliss.
"Beauty is something which is difficult to measure.... though I have to agree. Her eminence boasts a high value of beauty.", the ferret responded with a slightly robotic tone.
"Isn't that right?"
"What is your reason for accompanying me in this task? Does it require two?"
"I was thinking that we could talk a bit. After all, you're a woman too... despite your strange taste in clothing. And we are both subordinates of her eminence, so it should not matter that some things happened in the past."
"I have determined that you no longer present any threat to my sister, and therefore I will work with you without grudge. However, I still fail to understand why you would wish to accompany me."
The two walked through a series of alleyways, inspecting the scenario.
It was the middle of the day, approaching the early afternoon, and so the sun rose high into the sky above the city which was once covered in smog.
Most people were working right now, so not many were out and about. The two did witness a few former subordinates of theirs, scurrying about to carry out the very orders which the Determined had presented them- to continue watching the streets and prevent any fighting from occurring.
"I just said, didn't I? I wanted to speak with you."
Putting her arms on the shoulders of the robotic girl, the ferret glared into her soul with her bright red eyes.
"You truly do not hold anger towards me? You went as far as to humiliate me, slapping me in front of all those people. Of course.... I suppose I deserved it.... just a little...."
"You deserved every bit of it for laying a hand on sister. Including the torching which her eminence gave you."
The gorgeous red eyes seemed to twitch at this statement for just a moment, but the ferret closed them in acceptance.
"I can't deny that."
The ferret let go of the gerbil, and the two continued to walk together in awkward silence, side by side.
"Forgive me."
While glancing away from the girl, the ferret looked at the ground abashedly.
Fina turned back to see Tiffany standing with her eyes closed, a single tear having slid down her face.
"Forgive me. I.... did something truly horrible to your sister. I was angry. I was.... I... I wanted revenge. I wanted revenge on those girls who laughed at me. I wanted revenge on anyone who called my eyes ugly. I didn't ever want to become THAT."
Tiffany leaned on a wall, unable to support herself in her weak state.
"I know that what I did was unforgivable..... I know it!! Why do you just stand by me and forgive like it was nothing!? You slapped me a few times, and her eminence burned my face before healing me.... but my eyes are fine!!! They're in tact!!! It's as if nothing happened!!! How can you just accept that!?!? Don't you want to slap me around more!?! Don't you want to kill me!?!?!?"
Tiffany was now pleading before Fina, who was merely staring with confusion.
"Was I not clear enough before? You do not currently pose a threat to sister, therefore I will not attack you. I have already received enough satisfaction from slapping you."
Tiffany looked up with surprise, glaring into the robotic eyes of Fina.
There was a hint of kindness in them.
Holding out her mechanical arm, Fina smiled ever so slightly.
"Disagreeing with you and becoming angered would only hinder our objective. Your own mental state seems to be affected significantly by this, which will also affect the objective. Please get yourself together."
Tiffany felt her own mouth squirm about as a flurry of emotions hit her, but she grabbed that cold metal hand and stood up, wiping her tears.
"You're right.... how out of character for myself.... what would I do if someone saw me in such a weak state, so devoid of beauty? Please don't tell anyone about this...."
"Do I have any reason to do so? I don't believe so."
"You truly are an interesting girl, Fina."
"And you are incomprehensible, Tiffany."
The two laughed lightly as they walked through the streets together.