"You want to what?"

The man sitting in front of Bain was short, with slicked-back black hair and a ready grin. Dressed in a classic tweed suit, his green eyes inevitably kept sliding away from Bain's crimson ones, and his hands moved constantly. Whether they were messing with his tie, fiddling with his suit's cuffs, or just gesticulating at the air, his hands never stopped moving. He'd introduced himself so quickly Bain hadn't caught his name, and it was too far into the conversation to ask what it was.

Due to the odd habit, Bain had been forced to ask what the man had said several times already, and it was beginning to show. Beads of sweat were starting to build on his wide forehead, and his already rapid speech had somehow quickened. "As I was saying, Rampage, it would be an excellent idea to publicize your territory and outsource the information to other supercities. I'm sure Tantrum or Bastion would be interested in sending their monsters over to as friendly an establishment as the one you and your notable father have created, and it would greatly increase your Rep at the same time. Provided you hired me for a three percent or even five percent advisor's fee, I'd be happy to guide you through the steps towards optimal media coverage regarding your territory. How does that sound?"

If he was honest, Bain had been lost at 'Rampage.' Brain grinding against itself, Bain slowly asked, "So what you're saying is... you want us... to import monsters from other cities... like cargo."

The man nodded sagely. "That's what I'm saying, more or less. Of course, we wouldn't be referring to them as cargo - they'd be semi-permanent and occasionally permanent guests. Depending on how you advertise it to certain higher-ups, you could probably get it so that the cities would forcibly deport their monsters here. It'd be a win-win for everyone involved! You get more money, and they lose their problem population. I swear, I'm a genius, or my name isn't Tyler Dayton."

Tyler Dayton, Bain thought, filing the name away. Out loud, he asked, "What about the monsters? Won't they be angry that they're being removed from their homes?"

Tyler waved it away casually, still avoiding eye contact. "Oh, they'll be fine. Monsters are pretty hardy, after all. A bit of moving will do them good, I swear. Besides, you'd be profiting! Why wouldn't you do it?"

The door to the office opened, and an eight-foot shedding with nine milky white eyes and four razor mandibles skittered in. Tyler nearly jumped out of his seat. Bain made no move to reassure him, instead walking towards the shedding and bending down, grinning. "Hey, Dad. How are you doing?"

The shedding's mandibles twitched oddly as Nahma spoke through it. It had to be pretty important, Bain realized. Nahma seldom possessed the sheddings anymore. "I am doing... fine. The body is coming along nicely, although I need to be nearby personally to finish it. This shedding's name is Abylos, by the way. Thank him for me once I am done speaking through him. I wished to deliver my message as personally as possible, and he volunteered to give up his will briefly."

Bain nodded. "Sure thing. What else do you need?"

The shedding's eyes made an audible snikt noise as they blinked. "I require significant amounts of bedding, construction materials, and nutritious sustenance. Largely meat-based, but nothing cooked."

Bain was startled. "Wait. What? Can't you get a few hundred rats?"

From behind him, Tyler piped, "Actually, if you want to improve your public image, it'd be a good idea to go vegan. An all-green diet would prove enormously beneficial towards improving the consensus on monsters and their dietary preferences."

Both Bain and Nahma slowly turned to look at him, and Nahma asked in a level tone, "Who are you?"

Tyler walked forward readily enough, extending a hand for a handshake. "The name's Tyler Dayton, Mr. Nahma, and it'd be-" He paused and awkwardly retracted the handshake as he realized that sheddings didn't have hands. "-be my pleasure to assist you in running your territory."

Nahma waved it away dismissively with a thick foreclaw. "I need no help in running anything, human. Please leave and do not come back."

Taking a step forward, Tyler stammered for a moment. "Now wait just a minute, I can be of real help to you and your..." He looked Bain up and down for a moment, his lip slightly curling unconsciously. "...son here. Otherwise, I'd be forced to take my work - and my discounted price of two percent - to some other hero." He hooked his thumbs in his suit, certain that he'd made an offer no one could refuse.

Nahma refused. "Then do so. As I said, I do not need you. Please leave."

He stated the final portion with eyes narrowed and mandibles twitching. Tyler recoiled but pulled himself together after a moment. "Very well. I shall take my services elsewhere." He left in a huff, straightening his suit as he did.

The moment the door closed, Bain collapsed into a chair with a sigh. "Thanks. That guy was getting on my nerves."

Nahma's forehead wrinkled slightly, the plates making up Abylos' forehead contracting. "Then why did you not remove him yourself? He is in your territory, in your building, with your permission. Request that he leave. If he does not, demand that he leave. You owe him nothing. He owes you respect."

Bain blinked. "I... didn't really think about it. Thanks."

Conceding the gratitude, Nahma stated, "I do need those supplies, though."

Bain frowned. "I'm all for handing them over, but... why do you need them?"

The possessed centipede thought for a moment, staring at the wall. "Tell Abylos that I require him to slide you to my location immediately."

With that, the shedding's eyes flooded with color, going from white to pink to a dark red sheen in a matter of seconds. Shaking his head, Abylos hissed in confusion, "What is-" He froze as he realized Bain was crouched a foot from his face and promptly tripped on his words. "Oh, the Monsterbest Beginner placed wanted travel mind talk."

Bain did a double-take. "What?"

Abylos coughed loudly. "Pardon. It is my genuine pleasure to make your personal acquaintance, Bain. How can I help?"

After a brief moment where he tried to remember what exactly Nahma had told him, Bain asked, "Nahma wanted you to slide me to wherever he is. Can you do that?"

The shedding nodded happily. "Of course. Please hold on to..." He trailed off, eyes going round as he realized something.

Bain tentatively pushed, "Abylos? You all right?"

Snapping out of it, Abylos nodded. "Yes, of course. Please grab onto me. I will take you to Nahma promptly."

Bain shrugged. "Okay." Leaning forward, he put one massive claw on the shedding's face, and Abylos' lower half promptly began to writhe in uncontrollable excitement. Before Bain realized what 'sliding' meant, Abylos had already done it.

It was an incomparably uncomfortable experience. It felt as though Bain was trying to squeeze through a crack that a sheet of paper couldn't fit through, and then horizontally, and then in a direction that he was pretty sure didn't exist. Several seconds later, he popped back into existence far underneath Centropolis' surface.

Except, not quite so far as he'd initially thought. The cave he was standing in was enormous, with a domed ceiling supported almost entirely by colossal stone columns. It had to be at least four or five hundred feet up, Bain estimated. As for the full size of the room, Nahma could probably line up his entire body around the perimeter of the cave ten times over without making contact with himself. It was genuinely massive.

The area that Abylos had dropped him off at was higher up on the sides, with a balcony ringing the whole cave. A part of Nahma's head poked out of the side of the wall from a tunnel seemingly built for the exclusive purpose of allowing Nahma to see what was going on. A shallow double staircase led up to the viewing area, and it was around Nahma's head that Bain saw creatures moving around.

They had absolutely nothing in common. One of them was a moving puddle of darkness, with overflowing green eyes acting as the only consistent feature of its continually shifting body. Another was a four-foot bug-looking creature with a white mask, a pale lance attached to its back with no visible adhesives or latching. Yet another was an ashy-looking humanoid, flames sparking in and out of existence over his skin as he crouched, playing with what appeared to be a scaled ball.

Bain made a low whistle as he looked around. "What's all of this?"

Nahma noticed him and grinned widely, his massive mandibles spreading wide to reveal the maw of teeth behind. "I have had an excellent idea, Bain. I have discovered that teaching small monsters how to survive brings me great happiness, so I desire to keep many of them until they are prepared to leave. I require supplies to take care of the more fragile ones."

One of his antennae moved forward, prodding the shadowy puddle until it formed a rough humanoid silhouette, wavering slightly as it stood. "This is Murk. He desires to one day obtain a perfect form. I may need to search outside of Centropolis to find one. Until then, he has decided to use a form he saw a year ago. Am I correct, Murk?"

The green eyes, oval and large, turned to look at Bain. Narrowing slightly, the humanoid shape dissolved back into the puddle and roiled for a moment. Seconds later, it seeped upward into a close copy of Bain himself. There were several details that it had wrong, such as the paler color on Bain's newest arm and the seam just under his chin, but it was otherwise remarkably similar to him.

Nahma whacked Murk, and the shadowy creature promptly plopped back into a puddle form, an arm growing out of its top to rub at its head. "Murk! I have already discussed with you that we do not take on the forms of our allies! They find it uncomfortable, remember?"

A disgruntled hiss emanated from the puddle, an odd mix of Nahma's voice and what had to be the voices of sheddings. "But why? They're all so strong, and I'm..." He trailed off and miserably added, "I'm just me."

Bain crouched to get on Murk's level. "That's not a bad thing, you know."

Murk looked up at him, squinting in clear irritation. "How is that not a bad thing!? I'm a puddle without a shape!"

Bain poked him. "Exactly! How is anything supposed to hit you when you don't look like anything? You're practically untouchable!"

He blinked. "I... had not thought of it like that."

Nahma beamed proudly. "Do you see why I spoke so highly of my son now? His kindness exceeds explanation. Did you know that he runs an entire section of the city above? Humans are required to do anything he asks of them!"

Murk's incredibly vague expression shifted to one of awe. "Really? They don't attack you or anything?"

Bain shook his head with a grin. He wasn't one to demand attention, but there wasn't a man or monster on the planet that didn't like praise. "Yeah. It was pretty hard to get my territory, though. I had to become a hero first, and before that, I had to be a sidekick."

Sliding across the ground to a small rock, Murk shifted his body into a vague lump aiming upward. "Nahma! I have decided that I wish to be a hero!" Glancing over at Bain and deflating somewhat, he asked, "What does a hero do?"

Bain smiled widely as the bug-knight and the ashen child quietly approached and sat down. "I have a lot to teach you."