Ben wasn't any more certain about Agent Haven than he was about Promestein, but the idea of trekking through a desert for a week or more didn't appeal to him, or his companions. The group took a chance on boarding a bus. Fortunately, getting the tickets, boarding, and traveling proved to be a smooth experience. For Emma, it was her first time in a motor vehicle. Ben sat next to her and was privileged to enjoy her reactions. He wondered how well she'd handle a plane.
The next stop on their worldwide journey was Sabasa. The city itself held no significance for the party, but it would be easier to get to the ancient ruins that Gnome considered home from Sabasa than from the Natalia region. It didn't hurt that Ben was the only member of the party that needed a lot of food and water to make it through a desert. Emma didn't mind temperature extremes and required little food or water. Promestein required even less. Ashley received most of her nutrients from semen, and only HAD to eat once or twice a week. The succubus would require only a small amount of food and water while in the desert. The fact that four people required only two people's share of provisions would make the trip easier than it otherwise would have been.
The bus arrived in Sabasa just after nightfall. As usual Promestein ponied up the cash for one of the better hotels. Ben couldn't understand why Promestein, with all her money, didn't get them each their own rooms. He enjoyed the company of the ladies he was traveling with, but being alone in a room with a succubus seemed dangerous to him, even if it was just Ashley, who he imagined must have been the most nonthreatening succubus in history. Still, she had a prodigious appetite for the one thing she regularly ate,like any succubus, plus her medical problem….
"Oh, Benji!" Ashley said brightly, coming out of the shower completely nude. "Time to give me my medicine!"
Ben stared. Unlike most succubi, Ashley tended to dress modestly most of the time. Perhaps it had been because he had first met her on the chilly continent of Hellgondo, but she had normally been fully clothed. Since their relationship had been strictly oral due to her needing assistance with her pills, there had never been any reason for her to remove her clothes. Ben had never seen a woman stark naked in person before. And now there was a completely naked, beautiful succubus in the room with him.
"A guh…" Ben managed.
"Since we're alone, I wanted to give you a little more service," Ashley said seductively. "Why don't you lie down? This could get intense. Don't worry, I won't use my vagina. I know you're saving that. I won't do anything to you that hasn't been done before. I'll just do it better."
Sensing no objections from her prey, Ashley removed Ben's clothes and laid her body on top of Ben's now naked form. She playfully nibbled and licked around his ears and neck. She was satisfied to see Ben's little friend react with enthusiasm, twitching despite the fact that she hadn't even touched it yet. Once she was satisfied that he was rock hard, she sat up and produced a pill. The succubus gently placed it on the tip of his penis. Her mouth followed quickly, taking him all the way down to the root. He gasped as she swallowed. She was happy that he would probably never get desensitized to that. With a satisfied smile, she took it out of her mouth and placed his penis between her breasts.
"I can't beat the sheer size of a minotaurus' chest," Ashley said. "But size doesn't matter. It's how you use them!"
Ben was forced to agree as Ashley moved her breasts up and down around his dick. Of course, her breasts weren't exactly small. Just not as freakishly large as the minotaurus girl's had been. His penis had basically disappeared inside his opponent's chest. He could still see his head poking out of Ashley's cleavage. She could as well, adding her tongue to the stimulation once she could no longer resist. If a tasty cock was going to be pointed right at her face, how could she not lick it? She thought. That proved to be too much, as his ejaculate covered her face and breasts.
Ashley licked it all off eagerly. Before Ben could even finish catching his breath, her head dove back down to engulf him once again. His head nearly spun from the stimulation. This wasn't just Ashley using him to take her medicine, as incredible as that was. Nor was she trying to grab as much energy as she could in as little time as possible. She was actively trying to maximize his pleasure, using all of the oral techniques at her disposal. Despite the fact she wasn't in a hurry, he came twice more in two minutes, her tongue, lips, and mouth not even acknowledging that he was climaxing as she simply added the swallowing motions to her assault as he came. By the third minute he was unconscious.
Since the party was apparently no longer in trouble with the authorities thanks to the mysterious PROTECT agent's intervention, Promestein thought it would be a good idea to take them all to a nice restaurant before they had to begin their desert trek. Morning had been spent shopping for provisions. The plan was to begin their journey in mid-afternoon, when it would be blazing hot, but as with most deserts, nightfall would cool things off considerably. The first day only involving a few hours of travel under the hot sun would be a more gentle introduction to the Safina desert.
The restaurant was small, but had a reputation as one of the best in Sabasa. Even Ben's companions ate prodigiously, as if to prepare themselves for the next three days. That reminded Ben that those three days were only the getting there. They still had to get back.
"So are we just going to walk all the way back?" Ben asked. "Six days in the desert?"
"Assuming all goes well," Promestein said in between bites of steak. "I'll teleport Ashley back here and you'll fly Emma back."
"Why can't we fly and teleport there?"
"Because I'm not familiar enough with the place to safely teleport to that location," Promestein explained, munching on a pickle. "And you don't have the control yet to safely fly. If you get Gnome, then you can take more chances, because on day one, Gnome provides significant protection from injury. The trick will be summoning her while you are using Sylph's power. That took Luka some time. If you can't do that, then we actually do have to walk."
"Given how quickly you learned to use Sylph's power, I'm confident you can do as well with Gnome, Ben," Ashley assured him.
"He hasn't actually learned how to use the power of wind, yet," Promestein cautioned. "Sure, he did something no one has ever done before, but her power has a lot more uses that he hasn't even tried yet. "
"Like what?" Ben asked.
"You can form wind shields to deflect blows. You can also move on the ground with incredible speed. Luka and Heinrich even had sword techniques that took advantage of the power of wind. I'm afraid I don't know anyone who can teach you those, however. Emma, have you ever heard of Lightning Sword Flash?"
"I have," Emma replied. "But I don't know how to do it. I don't actually know any cursed sword techniques either. Those were lost as dragonkins turned to more modern weaponry. I do know about one particular elemental sword technique, though. I can't actually do it, but I know how it works."
"Really?" Ben asked. "Can you teach it to me?"
"Once you get all four spirits, sure," Emma answered. "It's called Quadruple Giga."
"Quadruple Giga?"
"It's a technique that involves infusing all four elements into your sword," Emma explained. "It's not technically difficult to pull off, but it takes a lot of control and strength. It also requires a very good sword, preferably an enchanted sword. Angel Halo fits that bill. Supposedly it enables the wielder to defeat any opponent with one hit."
"Even this Zurith?"
"Not likely," Promestein muttered. "It wouldn't have been enough to beat Ilias, either. What Luka did to Ilias was actually a Sextuple Giga. He added his own power and Alice added her dark magic to Angel Halo. That was enough to do the trick. Thus, you still need the ring."
"There's also the problem of the move taking too long to set up," Emma added. "If you're already engaged with an enemy, you'd never be able to pull it off. So you need me as well. Someone to protect you while you set it up."
"The good news is that Luka's power alone can defeat her," Promestein said. "He only had to use elemental powers on Ilias because he was too inexperienced in the use of his own power. If you have the same knack for Luka's power that you do for Sylph's, you should be able to dominate that demon. I studied his power for decades. I'd stick him with needles constantly and draw it out of him, and use it for experiments. Its potential vastly exceeds that of any god or demon. If you can command it, this might actually be easy."
"Let's drink to easy!" Ashley announced, holding up her glass of soda. Emma clinked her own glass of juice with Emma's.
"Excuse me," a man said, approaching the table. He addressed Emma. "Ma'am, are you a dragonkin warrior? I couldn't help but notice your armor and sword."
"I am," Emma replied proudly.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your meal," the man said apologetically. "But I need your help. I've heard that dragonkins defend the weak against the strong? Is that still a tradition?"
"It is," Emma said cautiously. "I'm afraid I'm already on an important mission, though. Unless your problem is of world ending significance I don't know that I have the time."
The man sighed, looking beaten down by his years. He was an older middle aged man, balding, and seemed as tired as anyone Ben had ever met.
"It's not an end of the world situation," he said. "But it's my whole world. It's my daughter. She's been kidnapped by human traffickers. It happened a few weeks ago."
"That's horrible!" Ben exclaimed. "Ashley, move over and let him sit with us. Sir, tell us about it!"
"Thank you so much," the man said as he scooted in next to Ashley. "My name is Gordon Trafetti. My daughter's name is Sofia. She's my whole world! You see, her mother left her with me when she was born. I raised her myself from birth. Here, this is her picture."
Gordon handed a picture to Promestein, across the table, who was sitting next to Ben. Promestein passed it onto Ben disinterestedly without even looking at it. Ben took it and looked at it. And looked at it. Sofia was not just one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, she was a succubus!
"Your daughter is a succubus?!" Ben asked in disbelief.
"Let me see that picture!" Ashley yelled, reaching across the table and snatching it from Ben's hands.
"Wow!" Ashley breathed. "She's hot even by succubus standards!"
"The fact that she's a succubus explains why her mother left you to take care of her," Promestein observed. "Most monsters take their young and leave the father behind. Succubi are the opposite. They'll often give birth and leave the baby with the father and have no further contact with it."
"That's only true of succubi who don't live in Succubus City!" Ashley said indignantly. "We love our children in our homeland!"
"Do you know where to find her?" Emma asked, trying to get to the point.
"I was able to get some information," Gordon confirmed. "And I was prepared to act on it alone. The police have been no help. They know exactly where she is."
"Are they on the take?" Promestein asked.
"No, I don't think that's what it is," Gordon stammered. "They told me it was political. I don't understand what that means. She was kidnapped! What's political about that?!"
"So a local politician is on the take," Promestein said. "A politician that can order the police to look away."
"So where is she?" Emma asked, growing impatient.
"There's a warehouse district a couple of miles to the west, off Pioneer Boulevard," Gordon answered. "The person who gave me the tip said that a lot of the warehouses in that area do illegal activity."
"Then how will we know which one she's in?" Ben asked.
"He told me that it would have armed guards outside," Gordon replied. "The warehouses that store drugs or other contraband, they try to stay hidden. I'm sure they have armed guards inside, but they don't want to draw attention to themselves. Police helicopters fly over the area from time to time. But these guys, the police won't touch them, so they don't even try to hide. They fear competitors, not the cops."
"We'll get your daughter back, sir," Ben assured him, looking him in the eye.
Promestein shot Ben a dirty look. But Ashley and Emma immediately backed Ben up.
"Whatever it takes, Gordon," Emma said. "If they've got your daughter, they have more girls. We need to rescue them. Are you sure she's there?"
"No, I can't be certain," Gordon admitted. "But my informant said he saw her there just yesterday. I know that she probably won't be there long, so please, hurry! And if she has already been moved…. Well, rescue who you can so at least some fathers can get their daughters back! And put those bastards out of business!"
"Don't worry," Ashley said, rubbing his arm. "I'm glad you came to us. If she's there, we'll return her to you safely."
"Thank you, thank you so much!" Gordon cried, hugging Ashley. "here's my phone number. Please contact me, regardless of the outcome."
"Of course," Ashley assured him. "We'll go to that district right now."
"Tonight," Emma corrected. "Traffickers don't move girls in broad daylight. If they are going to move her, it will be after dark. We'll head over there as the sun is going down, surveille the place, and then move. Expect to hear from us later tonight."
"Thank you," Gordon whispered, tears streaming down his face. "I'm not a wealthy man, but I'll give you everything I have if you just return her to me."
"There's no need for that," Emma assured him. "It's not our way to take money from the weak."
Gordon nodded and rose from the table to return home and await word from Emma. Promestein, her impatience and anger barely contained at the table, nearly exploded.
"Are you three crazy!" she said, whispering and yelling at the same time. "This is not the mission! You could all get killed! At the very least, we're going to lose the day on this pointlessness!"
"Pointlessness!?" Ashley said indignantly, drawing stares from nearby patrons. "One of my people have been kidnapped!"
"To do what she would do if she hadn't been kidnapped!" Promestein snapped back.
"I know that we succubi are perverted," Ashley said in a low, dangerous tone that Ben had never heard from her before. "But consent still matters! We drain who we want to drain! We do not engage in perversions so that… men can make money off of our work! They are probably drugging her!"
"Wow, a succubus on drugs," Promestein said mildly. "What an unusual situation."
"Watch yourself, angel," Ashley said, almost shaking in rage. "Succubi are pleasure seekers, I admit it, but we actually abuse substances far less than humans do. We treasure our good looks and don't want to ruin them by abusing our bodies. They are probably forcing drugs into her and forcing her to have sex with males whether she wants to or not!"
"I'm with you, Ashley," Emma said. "I cannot allow monster trafficking to happen. But Promestein has a point. There's much more at stake."
"You promised him you'd get his daughter back!" Ashley yelled, turning on Emma.
"I did," Emma said, looking down. "And I keep my commitments. But I also pledged my sword to Ben and his cause is more urgent. Ben, what do you think?"
"I think you know what I think," Ben said with determination. "We have to save her. And whoever else we find there."
"You are all out of your minds!" Promestein argued. "This isn't some video game where we picked up a side quest! This is real life! In real life, one bullet is all it takes to end any of you! If it hits me in the right place, even I can die! You are jeopardizing the entire world for one person!"
"No, Promestein, not one person," Ben said. "There are probably others there, and these traffickers are picking up women off the streets every day."
"Some of them are likely minors!" Ashley added.
"Didn't you say that I was like Luka?" Ben asked Promestein. "That this is why you believe I can use his power? Well, would Luka have refused to help someone in need?"
Ben could tell that Promestein was defeated. Her anger dissipated in an instant.
"Yes," the angel scientist said grudgingly. "He would have gone charging in like a damned fool and somehow it would have all turned out all right. I guess I have to believe that it'll go that way for you. I hope to the goddess that you have his luck as well as his heart."
The warehouse hadn't been hard to find. Since they'd had time before nightfall, Promestein had shelled out even more cash to buy a nice pair of binoculars so that Emma could scope the place out.
"I see only two armed guards," Emma said. "Each carrying a nine millimeter. If that's all that's between us and Sofia, this might not be very tough."
"Do you want me to fly around, scout from above?" Ben asked.
"No," Emma said. "You're as likely to crash through the roof as see anything useful. Ashley, can you do it? Be sure to stay out of their line of sight."
"Gotcha!" Ashley answered enthusiastically, taking off. Ben smiled at her new confidence in her flight. Doing that long trip over the mountains while carrying him had really done wonders. If only her gag reflex was as easy to fix.
"Any sign that they might try to move cargo?" Promestein asked.
Emma peered through the binoculars again. "No, doesn't look like it," she replied. "Hopefully they don't have any plans today. I don't want more guests at this party."
"So what's the plan?" Ben asked. "You act as if two guards with guns is easy, but you're the only warrior here."
"I assure you, I have a very sophisticated plan, which I'll tell you about once I find out what I need from Ashley."
That was reassuring. Ben was grateful to have someone with him who knew how to fight. Promestein was smart, and probably far more powerful than she let on, but as she'd said, she was a lab geek first and foremost, with very little experience out in the real world. Probably a lot more than Ben had, of course. He was surprised to find that he wasn't scared. Sylph had been in his heart reassuring him.
"If they start shooting at you, call me and I'll put up a wind shield," Sylph had told him.
"Will it blow the bullets away?" Ben had asked.
"No, but it'll throw off their aim. In theory, you can also move faster than a bullet now. Just don't crash into anything at that speed without Gnome."
Ashley returned. She reported that she had seen no other guards outside. Inside, of course, there were no guarantees, Given that the girls inside would have to be controlled, there would almost certainly be more traffickers inside the warehouse. Satisfied, Emma pulled her pistol out of its holster.
"Let's roll," the dragonkin said, beckoning for the other three to follow. "Stay out of sight as long as possible. Stay in the shadows, don't make a sound."
Following Emma, Ben, Promestein and Ashley cautiously approached closer to the warehouse, staying close to the walls of other buildings, concealing themselves in the shadows the buildings cast. Emma signaled for them to stop at the edge of a warehouse that gave them a vantage point from which to see their target. The two guards remained unaware of their presence. They were right across the street, out in the open. Ben imagined that a sniper could take them out with ease. Is that what Emma intended?
"Emma, so what's this plan?" Ben whispered.
"This is the plan," Emma said abruptly, and strode confidently out into the street, gun in hand.
"Hey assholes!" she yelled as she crossed the street. The men, seeing her for the first time, reached for their sidearms. She put bullets in each of their knees before they could unholster them. Emma put her boot on the chest of one of them, while pointing her gun at the other prone form.
"Your weapons," she ordered. "Give them to me now. Or else the next two rounds go between your eyes."
The two men glared at her, the one under her boot handing her his gun while the other slid his towards her.
"If you're like me, you have additional concealed weapons," Emma said. "So a word of warning. I'm a dragonkin. I'm faster than you, I'm more accurate than you, and even if you manage to hit me, I have far fewer vulnerable parts than you do, and I have armor covering most of those vulnerable parts. I get really mad when people shoot at me. So be smart, choose life, and stay down."
The man under her boot said something unintelligible.
"Speak human, asshole!" she ordered, pointing his own weapon down at him. She signaled for her companions to come forward. The man repeated what he had said, only with more venom. "I don't know what that means, but I'm insulted."
She knocked him out cold with a stomp to his head.
"That was a plan!?" Ben asked. "That wasn't a plan!"
"What do you want from me, slug boy?" she said with a smirk. "I'm a warrior, not a strategist. I assessed whether I could take them, and that's all I needed to know. C'mon, let's go in. Stay behind me."
The dragonkin approached a door and went to kick it open. Before she could, bullets erupted from behind the door, striking Emma and knocking her down. Ben, heedless of his own safety, rushed to her.
"Fucking shit!" Emma cursed, grimacing in pain, getting up before he could reach her and kicking the door down, firing two guns as she entered. Ben heard two grunts as two more men went down. Again throwing caution to the wind, he rushed in, but this time Promestein anticipated his rashness and got in front of him.
"You're too important," the angel said. "Stay behind both me and Emma. Stop being such a Luka! Just for a few minutes! There'll be plenty of time for you to be brave later on!"
Entering the building, Ben saw two men lying on the ground, moaning, Emma had already collected their weapons as well and was cautiously advancing through the warehouse, hiding behind columns for cover. She angrily motioned for her companions to stay behind the columns as well. She motioned for everyone to be quiet. Ben could see her large ears twitch. She was clearly listening for something. She raised a pistol and addressed an unseen figure.
"Come out with your hands up!" Emma ordered. "And you 'd better have something good to tell me!"
A man emerged from a doorway with his hands raised. Unlike the men who had been guarding the building, this one didn't look like a thug.
"Where are the girls!" Emma asked, shoving him up against a wall and pointing her gun at his nose.
His answer was also unintelligible. "Speak human, dammit! Why are you talking in gibberish! What language is that, even? Where did you learn a monster language?!"
"It's Russian," Promestein said, stepping forward.
"Russian?!" Emma asked, bewildered. "Why would any human be speaking a movie language?"
"It's not a movie language, it's a real Earth language," Promestein explained. "I'm guessing this guy is an Earthman. The others probably are as well."
Angrily, Emma sniffed the man. She wrinkled her nose in frustration and gave him a good, long lick.
"Holy shit!" Emma shouted. "I couldn't smell it clearly due to all the cigarette smoke on him hiding the scent, but you're right! How is this possible? There hasn't been a native Earthman here in centuries! The portals were all cut off by order of the President!"
"Correction," Promestein replied. "The legal ones were cut off. I'd heard rumors of illegal portals ever since, but I wasn't sure that any small operation could ever acquire the technology. What we've stumbled onto her isn't just a sex trafficking ring. It's an illegal immigration ring."
"They're using these monster girls to go to Earth, have sex with men, and bring them back here?" Ashley asked.
"Sounds like it," Promestein answered. "These men are all bound to monster girls here, which is why their presence here is stable."
Promestein spoke in Russian to the man. He replied back, stuttering.
"He says the girls are on the northwest side," Promestein translated. "He assures us that there are no more armed guards, just workers. They won't resist."
"Do you believe him?" Ben asked.
"Not for a second."
"Tell him he's going in front," Emma ordered Promestein. "My gun will be in his back. Tell him if he tries anything I put a bullet in his spine. If they start shooting, he's my shield."
Promestein translated. The man nodded his head, trembling. Emma roughly pulled him from the wall and prodded him with her gun. The group slowly approached the northwest side of the warehouse. They reached a door to what was intended to be an office. Emma gestured for the man to open it. He complied, and sure enough he'd been telling the truth. Several women and a couple of unarmed men looked up in surprise as Emma's hostage was shoved into the room, Emma training her weapon on the men. The women, all monster girls, screamed in terror and cowered. Except for one. Ben immediately recognized the one who stood tall. Sofia.
Ben was already familiar with Sofia's beauty from the picture, but what he wasn't prepared for was her bearing. She was confident and authoritative. He had a sinking feeling that she wasn't a victim here.
"What's going on?" Sofia asked. "What the hell do you fascists think you're doing?"
"Fascists?" Emma asked, confused. "First off, I don't know what that is. Second, we're here to rescue you! Your father is worried sick about you!"
Sofia looked uncomfortable, wringing her hands. "He wasn't supposed to know about this," she said ruefully, not meeting Emma's gaze. "I knew I was gone too long this time. How in the world did he find out?"
"Find out what?" Ashley asked. "What is going on here? Are you in charge of this?"
"In charge?" Sofia laughed. "Don't be silly! But I'm here of my own free will. We all are. Those poor people on Earth, they just want to come here for a better life. Earth is such a hellscape now. We help people get here and stay here."
"I thought as much," Promestein said with a smirk, folding her arms. "You're a bleeding heart who wants to save everyone. There are right ways and wrong ways to do it, however. Not to mention, you're 'saving' people by bringing them into a world that may be about to die."
"What?" Sofia asked. "What do you mean?!"
"Believe me, Earth is no hellscape," Promestein said. "These men are Russian. I assume that you're mainly smuggling in Russians, am I correct?"
"Mostly," Sofia answered. "It's one of the worst off countries on that hellhole of a world."
"Okay, you need to quit calling it that," Promestein said. "It's not a hellhole, not most of it, anyway. I know, I still visit Earth every few years."
"You do?" Ben asked.
"I have my own less than legal ways of getting there and back. I literally invented dimensional travel. Their tech advancement, unlike ours, has continued unabated. I couldn't resist going shopping from time to time."
"Is that why this was political?" Ashley asked.
"Exactly," Sofia answered. "There are a lot of politicians who want to turn a blind eye, because they have actual hearts and want to let refugees in."
"Earth has ten BILLION people, girl," Promestein noted. "Even if you could mobilize every monster on this world to bind a human Earthman to them, you'd never be able to bring even one percent of the population here. And where does that leave the Earth women? The Earth children? Please tell me you're not fucking children."
"We do what we can," Sofia said, looking down. "We can only save the sexually mature males, so that's what we do."
"Well, we've got more important things to worry about, so you do you," Promestein said, her patience exhausted. "Just be sure to call your father. He was dying of worry, thinking you were being trafficked."
"Maybe you're right," Sofia said. "Maybe this isn't the way. I just want my life to have meaning, you know?"
"Ahhhhh," Promestein said, smirking knowingly. "So it's really all about you."
Sofia started to say something, but then stopped herself. Sighing, she began to sob. "You're right," she admitted. "I so wanted to be different from other succubi. I'm sure you are familiar with the stereotypes," she added, looking meaningfully at Ashley.
"But in the end, you still just did it for yourself," Ashley said. "I can understand why you did it, though. If Earth is as bad as you say, how can you not help?"
"Altruism is not a thing, whether you're a succubus, human, or angel," Promestein declared. "Even the best among us do things for our own reasons. Even Luka did supposedly selfless things because he liked how people loved him for it."
"It's not like that!" Ben said indignantly. "Geez, you're a cynic! Just because you never cared about anyone but yourself doesn't mean we're all like you!"
"I'm going home for awhile to think things through," Sofia said. "Maybe this isn't the best way. Maybe you're right that I did it all for me. I do so like draining men. I guess I was just talking myself into thinking it was for unselfish reasons."
"You did do it for unselfish reasons!" Ben insisted. "Look at you! You can drain as many men as you want, any time you want! You didn't need to use your body to bring men to this world! You did that because you wanted to help people!"
"While this is fascinating philosophical debate," an accented voice said from behind them. "No one is going anywhere."
Ben turned, along with the rest of the group, to see a bearded man, with at least a dozen other men, all armed, with him.
"Mikhail!" Sofia yelled. "This was all a misunderstanding! Put those guns down now or I won't come back this time!"
"Foolish little girl," Mikhail chuckled. "Do you think this is some mercy operation? Earth men pay handsomely for the privilege of being fucked into a better world by a beautiful monster. Do you know how much I charge for you?"
"You… charge money? Those men… pay you so that they can have sex with me?! I'm not a prostitute! How dare you!"
"You can call yourself whatever you wish to call yourself," Mikhail replied mildly. "I really do not care. But this is not Dunkin Donuts. You do not get to quit or take vacation just because you have second thoughts. I'm afraid you will not be seeing your father again for a very long time."
Mikhail turned to his men and gave orders to them in Russian. They raised their weapons.
"Please tell me that he told them to escort us out peacefully and with no shooting," Ben whispered to Promestein.
"No such luck," Promestein said, shaking her head.
"Ooohhh!!!!" Sylph raged. "These people make me so mad! Ben, use me! Use my power! Show these evil men the error of their ways!"
"Come Sylph!" Ben said, and a gale filled his body instantly. He had visions of trying to be like the Flash and grab the guns from their hands, leaving them utterly confused, but realized that he had never tried to run at such speed before and was more likely to crash into a column or a wall. So he tried a different approach. As the men raised their weapons to fire, he summoned a wind shield. But rather than allow the men to shoot into the wind, which would not have been ideal given that they were indoors and would likely be hit anyway, he thrust the shield towards the men. The result was spectacular. The men were thrown into the air, striking columns, walls, and the ceiling. Their weapons clattered onto the ground as they dropped them all over the warehouse. With but a thought, Ben ordered the wind to scoop the weapons up and deposit them in front of Emma in a pile. When he was convinced the men were all disarmed, he released Sylph, causing the men to crash to the ground.
"What. The. Hell. Was. That?" Emma asked, astonished.
"He really is a prodigy," Promestein said, smiling. "That was all wind element there. Keep this up and you'll be the greatest hero who ever lived."
Maybe Promestein was right. Her compliment swelled his head nicely. He tried to fight it, but it was hard to ignore the admiring smiles of his companions. It was even harder to ignore the embrace of Sofia, who was taller than him, causing his face to plunge into her cleavage.