The Battle at the Sex Trafficers' Compound (Dice Changes)

The sex traffickers' compound looked like a run-down, dilapidated, blocky concrete structure. Broken glass windows and trash everywhere to sell the illusion of no human presence, but the Dice Changers knew their friend was in there and knew they could bust the criminals in there right here and now. After being dropped off by the game store manager (their mentor, who sold them their dice sets), Nick and Trevor sneaked up to the fence, climbed, which caused the metal fence to shake but not loud enough to cause a scene. They took out their thier dice sets from their hoodie pockets and became their dice heroes: Sheeren (a half-orc warrior) and Yayben's young half-elf girl version. Yayben cast an illusion spell that made them camouflage with the dimly lit area, leaving only their shadows dancing on the ground. They found a well-lit room filled with guys with guns playing a card game and surrounded by boxes, cases, junk, and trash. The duo looked inside to see if they could find their friend in there, but he wasn't. They moved across the wall and looked into their other room, but there was either no light or too dark to tell what was in there. Then came upon a room of sleeping kids. They were in bunks with disgusting mattresses and uncleaned blankets.

"Should we go in through here and save the kids?" asked Sheeren, whispering.

"No, that will endanger them, not to mention we have no idea what kind of security they have," whispered back Yayben. Her heart sank at the state the kids were in.

"Let's try and find a less dangerous spot," whispered Yayben as she led the duo around the corner of the building and found a couple of guys with guns smoking and joking. They leaned up against the brick wall of the warehouse, not even caring to look outward.

"This is our chance. I'll shoot them, and you charge, but keep quiet," ordered Yayben as she disabled her spell and fired a magic missile at the guards. Once hit, one guard died instantly while the other was grazed in the arm, and his gun shot out of his hand. He tried to take out his walkie-talkie, but before he could radio for backup, Sheeren decapitated him with his sword. Yayaben and Sheeren looked around for any more bodies before heading inside. In the narrow hallway, there were a couple of guards beside a couple of doors on opposite sides, but they were asleep. Yayben cast her camouflage spell again, and the duo sneaked down the hallway, trying their best not to wake up the guards until a lot of shouting was heard. Then one of the hallway doors was blown open and crashed into the wall on the other side, releasing a ton of smoke. Then out of the smoke, an elf warrior wearing golden armour tackled Sheeren. Once pinned, the elf warrior looked at Sheeren and then quickly got up. It was Goldleaf, Arron's dice hero.

Weeks before, Arron was kidnapped alongside a girl named Mia. The two had tried and failed to escape multiple times and were brutally punished as a result. After that, Arron decided to give up and hope that his friends would find a way to save them. Until one day, a kid handed Arron his dice set back. The kid's face and body were covered in bruises, but he said something that struck deep within Arron's heart: "I managed to survive and grabbed these as soon as I could. I know they hold the key to our freedom," said the kid as he smiled the biggest smile. Arron's heart melted, and he knew he needed to try harder. For days, he, Mia, and several other kids tried to come up with a plan to escape but kept hitting obstacle after obstacle. Until one day, Arron was thrown into a room where a big, burly man with a thick, hairy chest and a beer belly sat on a white chair that looked like it was about to collapse under the man's weight.

"Well, well, well, it would seem you're plotting another escape. Tell me how you plan to do it, and I might be gentle with Mia, but if not. I'll be rough with her as you watch," threatened the man. Arron clenched his fists tightly, trying to keep his composure. Then a minion with a gun busted in.

"Boss, our backdoor team tried to radio something in, but the signal was cut off, and they haven't been responding," reported the minion.

"What? Surely it's just the walkie-talkie acting up again, but check the area just to be safe," ordered the boss as the minion nodded and slammed the door shut.

"Now that you were given some extra time, tell me how you plan to escape this time?" asked the boss as he walked over to Arron and held a knife to his chin. Arron slowly reached into his pants pockets, held his dice tightly in his fists, and became Goldleaf, who swung his sword, stabbing the boss and then bashed his shield against the boss's head over and over until there was nothing left but blood and brains. Goldleaf then busted out the door and quickly killed the two guards outside the room and ran throughout the hallways. He found a room full of criminals and quickly cast a powerful divine energy blast that launched a guy toward the door and exploded, causing a ton of smoke to spread. Goldleaf used this to kill any remaining criminals and then saw a shadowy figure and launched himself at it, only to find it was Sheeren.

"Sheeren, Yayben, what took you so long?" asked Goldleaf, not caring about the damage or attention as the guards woke up, but before they took aim, Yayben cast a magic missile, and they fell dead.

"We're here to rescue you, but it would seem you don't need it," answered Sheeren jokingly.

"I wish that were the case, but for now we need to free the rest of the kids and get them out of here," said Goldleaf. Sheeren and Yayben nodded and followed Goldleaf. The maze of hallways and rooms was overwhelming, but Goldleaf learned where everything was and thus knew where most of the kids were. They killed all the guards without mercy or hesitation once they reached the dark room full of kids. Goldleaf flipped the switch, and the kids groaned until they saw the trio of heroes and climbed out of their beds and raced toward the trio. A loud, thunderous rumbling was then heard shaking the room. The kids hugged and screamed for safety. The trio and the kids ran down the hallway and saw several guards running with guns, only to be shot by spells by an unseen threat. Several other dice heroes turned around the corner. They were members of a cult that the dice heroes took down nearly a year ago.

When the cult first learned about where the sex traffickers' compound was, several of them began finding former members. After all, it was the cult that was holding back the criminals and stopping many of their operations, but after the cult blew itself up with many members dying, getting arrested, or running away, they were forced into hiding, which allowed the sex traffickers to continue their operations without much fear. One of the members of the cult found Jack, the son of the cult leader, and he decided to join them to finish what his father could not. That night, the cultists gathered all their remaining members in 3 pick-up trucks and 2 vans. They drove up to the compound, Jack grabbed his dice set and became Kamoss; others became their dice heroes while others loaded their guns. The caravan of vehicles drove into the gate and sent spells and bullets into the warehouse doors. Busting into the warehouse and killed all the criminals without mercy or care. They pushed into the warehouse, continuing their rampage, even taking several casualties themselves. Kamoss continued to lead, casting several spells and using shield spells to redirect bullets back at the criminals. They then reached the maze of hallways and left bodies everywhere they went. He then led his group around the corner and saw the Dice Changers with victims.

"Ha, so you did manage to find this place too," said Kamoss to the trio.

"Kamoss, we are not your enemy," said Sheeren as he stepped forward, sword and shield drawn in a defensive stance.

"Are you sure? Because where and how were going to take those kids? Neither of us knows how to drive, nor do our masters. However, I agree to a truce until these evil-doers are all killed," said Kamoss as he held out his hand to Sheeren.

"Wait, how do we know you won't just take them and force them into your cult to replenish your numbers?" asked Goldleaf as he readied for a fight.

"We do not have the means nor the dice sets to do so. Also, we're the only ones who have a fast means of escape," countered Kamoss.

However, before the conversation could continue, several police officers busted into the area and began to shout orders.

Days before, the police were alerted by an unknown caller who gave details about a potential hideout for sex traffickers and their victims. After some research and looking through camera footage, the police concluded that the caller was onto something and began a sting operation on the compound. However, they were surprised when the cult struck first and knew they had to step in before things got too chaotic. They breached the outer fence and surrounded the warehouse; they found the cult cars empty and saw the carnage left behind. They quickly made their way through the warehouse while others were on the outside ready to support or arrest anyone who came out. They quickly surrounded the dice heroes and began shouting orders, thinking they were in league with the sex traffickers.

"GET ON THE GROUND!" shouted several policemen and SWAT members as they tried to get closer. Only for the dice heroes to cast a shield spell and hunker down, protecting the kids. They were screaming and crying the entire time. However, before the dice heroes could explain anything, shots and a couple of explosions were heard, and the police radios were asking for backup on the upper floor. The dice heroes took this chance as a way to escape by creating a cloudy mist to cover them as Yayben cast a camouflaged spell. This allowed the dice heroes to bring the shield down and attack, but not kill the police. They also ensured the body cams were destroyed. Kamoss, Sheeren, and Goldleaf pushed through the wall of bodies and ran down the hallway to the back half of the compound. They ran up the flight of stairs and saw the bodies of several officers lying dead, with a couple caught in a shootout with the criminals. The criminals were behind a barricade of tables and chairs and had a massive machine gun firing relentlessly down the hallways. Its bullets ripped the corner of the wall apart, but that didn't stop the trio of heroes from charging into battle once more. Kamoss cast a shield spell, redirecting the bullets back but in random directions. The sheer amount of firepower and speed was weakening the shield, but luckily the machine gun ran out of ammo, and the criminals ran away to find more. Kamoss, Sheeren, and Goldleaf charged behind the criminals and killed them all. Once they cleared the first area, they made their way back, finding more victims and cowardly criminals trying to use the victims as human shields. This only ended in their gruesome deaths at the hands of the trio.

Yayben, meanwhile, had cast a shield spell on her and the kids. While the rest of the cult fought the police, one by one they were either gunned down or arrested. Leaving Yayben by herself. Bullets would hit the shield but were vaporized on contact. However, Yayben began glowing and soon was replaced by a middle-aged half-elf; she kept the shield up until she glowed and was replaced by an elder half-elf woman, then a young human girl, then a middle-aged human woman, then an elder elf woman, then a young elf girl, then an elder elf woman, until finally she appeared as a middle-aged elf woman. The true incarnation of Yayben, and she reinforced the shield and began casting healing spells on the cultists, which made several come back from the brink of death and continue their assault. Then the police radios went off.

"Hold your fire, hold your fire, the fantasy nerds are on our side," ordered the police chief. The police stopped shooting, but still held their guns up. Several protested and questioned the order.

"I know you all have questions, but they are not the enemy. If you have them under arrest, let them go. Take any wounded outside and begin clearing this place out," ordered the police chief.

The police chief was once an ally to the cult and their operations; however, once the cult was taken down, he questioned their practices. After learning about the location of the sex traffickers' hideout, he had a couple of theories on who it might've been, but nothing too definitive to confirm his suspicions. When the police first arrived on the scene, he took a team up the stairs only to be shot at by the massive machine guns. He and his team tried to fire back, but were pinned by the sheer barrage of bullets, and their cover was being ripped apart. Until a trio of fantasy heroes appeared and charged at the criminals, not even caring to acknowledge the police that were there. When he saw that the heroes killed every last criminal, he was impressed and knew his people might be fighting the rest of the heroes since he knew there had to be more in the building. The trio of heroes then walked back and nodded toward the chief. They then glowed and appeared as Nick, Jack, and Arron, all high school sophomores. The shock on the police's faces made the trio anxious, which in turn made the boys fear the worst.

"They're just kids? But how?" asked one officer.

"The dice," answered Jack.

"Jack, you're not supposed to tell them that. This is supposed to be a secret," complained Nick.

"What? This is the police chief; he knew my dad, and I trust him with our secret. This whole thing will be buried in paperwork and forgotten soon enough. It's how it's always worked," reassured Jack.

"Not this time, son. I know the cult was working with us, but ever since your messy breakup, we had to fire many good officers who were a part of the zealots. Not to mention many had assaulted my offices and will need serious medical attention. I know I just ordered their release, but if you ever get involved with another one of my operations again, you will be arrested, and all your hero identities will be released to the public," threatened the police chief.

"Understood, sir," said Jack at the same time.

"That also goes for you two," said the police chief, pointing at Nick and Arron.

"Understood," said Nick and Arron timidly.

After the operation, Jack and the cult drove away. Nick, Trevor, and Arron were picked up by the game store manager, Mia, and the rest of the victims were taken by the police and quickly called any parents and guardians who were available to pick up their missing kids. It was the end of a great evil and the second villain the Dice Changers had fought and won against.