D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

After gaining Sue's reluctant acceptance they headed outside to find Stone eating what had to be a second onigiri. This one only had a single bit taken out of it after all. Despite this though, as soon as Stone spotted them, he held open his palm and let the food vanish somehow. "So ready to go?" asked Stone

"Yes, it seems so" said Kat

"I didn't know you had a spatial storage ability Stone" said Sue, "You can use that to smuggle all sorts of interesting things…"

Stone rolled his eyes which made a grinding sound as the orbs rotated in their sockets. "All you young kids always think that. You really think we haven't developed enchantments to scan through them? In fact, because of a few problems way back when, they're normally much more thoroughly searched then plain old hidden pockets or something. You'd be more likely to smuggle a bomb in your coat that even a half uneaten sandwich in a spatial pocket"

"Really? Why? I mean, sure they have enchantments for it but… why so thorough?" asked Kat

"Well," said Stone as he started to move towards the box of supplies for the group "the big issue is that in the past, before this Hub was even founded, there was quite a few issues with Spatial storage. Originally it was almost impossible for demons with that as a skill to get a job in any Hub, and they were perpetually brought in for stealing even if they were innocent. It's one of the many skills that was rarer in the past so it wasn't a big deal.

"Then Greed started to really make use of it for transportation, started forcing marriages or at least children, between two people with the skill and tried to get as many people with the skill as possible. To the shock of many, apparently it actually worked. It's one of the skills that's very easily inheritable or so they say. I'm not sure if it's still the case.

"Anyway, once a bunch of people had it, the concern over theft and smuggling came roaring back, so every faction even Greed, wanted some way to check the contents. So they put the best minds to the job. I'm talking Rank 7 and 8 powerhouses, perhaps even Rank 9, just to get this done.

"By the end of it, spatial detection enchantments were everywhere and even the poorest business had them as standard features that would scan a spatial pocket and catalogue all the items inside. At this point nobody even stores anything valuable in them unless you're a courier because everyone and their mother gets access to the scanning enchantments along with the records of them. So you can't actually hide anything in them. I mostly use mine as a lunch box because I got the version that stops time"

When Stone finished speaking, he took out the three earmuffs and threw them at the Succubi who easily caught them out of the air. They plonked them on their heads and got ready to enter the mine. Stone of course, pulled on his own set and lead the way.

The path was exactly the same as last time except when they reached the wall Stone turned part of it into a door instead of throwing the girls through. Once on the other side, Stone lead the way. The area had been cleaned of rats but the stains remained. As they walked, it was more likely they were stepping on blood then stone. It was simply everywhere, and the miners had no real reason to clean it up.

Still, it only took a further twenty minutes to get to the spot marked by the arrows. Stone looked them all over before he tapped on the earmuffs and took his own off. The Succubi did the same, and Stone started talking. "Right, so, once I open the hole you'll have to go straight into action. I actually had to reinforce it after the cleaning crews came in because the rats were already breaking through so you'll need to attack straight away.

"Secondly, I can't really leave it open. I'll be making it into a door with one of those vault door locks. You'll just need to turn it, but you will need to interact with the door. This means if you need to run, don't expect to be able to get straight through the exit. Finally, if you don't finish by the time I come looking for you, I'll be sealing things up again. If you could somehow direct me to where you are that would be great but I understand it will be hard.

Oh and one more thing. I've got you all some heavy duty lamps this time. They won't break from anything less than a full powered hit from a Rank 3, so you should be safe to keep them on you" Stone passed over the lamps in question, but they had no noticeable difference to last time. The only thing Kat noticed was that the tops of them were coated in red.

"Sounds good" said Kat and Kamiko at the same time as Sue winced.

"Do I really have to jump down there with these two?" asked Sue "They might be getting punished, and at least a little crazy but I'm not. Is there no better way?"

Stone raised an eyebrow "I'm paying you for this job you know. I can just… retract that?"

"Wait she's getting paid?" said Kamiko shocked

Stone raised his eyebrow higher, surprising Kat because it actually climbed above his face, hanging just by a tiny bit of stone "Yes?" said Stone confused, "She volunteered sure but the money on offer is pretty decent for a days work, especially a Rank 1."

Kamiko and Kat turned to glare at Sue. "What, jealous you fools have to do this for free?"

"No…" said Kat with a glance at Kamiko to see if she was on the same wavelength, "we're more annoyed at how hard you've been making this. Sure, if you were doing this for free and to help out we wouldn't expect much in the way of professionalism… but if you're getting paid that's a whole other ball game. What's with all the complaining? We aren't forcing you to be here, but we need to know you're in. I personally, was willing to allow whatever complaints as long as you actually helped…

"But hearing that you're complaining and getting paid… it rubs me the wrong way? How can we trust you to actually do the job if you can't even handle speaking with us politely?" Kat's tail flicked in annoyance as she explained her reasoning. She didn't think it was too much to ask. She'd seen a few 'volunteers' in her time on Earth who really only did something either for the social credit or because someone else signed them up. They weren't the best, but they were still better then nothing. Kat's forbearance for that behaviour disappeared when it was a job though.

Sue clicked her tongue and said, "You can't tell me this ain't a shit job though"

"Sure, but YOU picked it" said Kat flexing her aura slightly, just enough to brush against Sue's own who shuddered when she felt it on her own.

"Fine fine" grumbled Sue, "I'll go down in the deep dank rat hole and get covered in blood but no I am NOT happy with this. I'll wait up here till the first lot are cleared though. Kamiko might have to as well. My shield is good, but if there's so many rats she's covered I dunno if I can keep it running"

"Deal" said Kat, even as Kamiko looked more hesitant. Kat had no such concerns though, believing in her regeneration and strength to get her through. She put her headphones back on and glanced at Stone. He held her gaze for a few seconds before nodding, and started shaping the stone. First, he raised the area around them, making it so you'd have to take a large step over the lip to get access to the hole. Once that was complete, he started removing the Stone, and the other Succubi threw on their earmuffs.

When the hole opened, Kat could feel the wave of sound and gained a new appreciation of her earmuffs. Still, she readied herself to go down it but Stone had other ideas first, pulling a large chunk of rock from the ceiling he hurled it down the hole just as the rats started bubbling up, nearly breaking into the upper section.  The rock splattered hundreds of rats as it fell, crushing those that attempted to climb up, and many of the ones below as well. Stone held up a hand in Kat's direction and hurled down three more, smaller but still large, rocks into the hole, making sure to send them in different directions before motioning to Kat.

*Well. Here I go. Into the hole. Filled with rats. Oh so many rats.*