16 July 2018
In one of the cities in America, there is a businessman with a tidy haircut, wearing a blue suit, with a pair of glasses, carrying a suitcase full of money, 4,000 US Dollars in total, walking casually on the side of the road. It is currently around six in the morning, and there are still a few people outside.
This man is currently tasked with carrying a large sum of money to a certain place. His boss decided not to rent an armored car to transport the money safely. He asked him to be the one to deliver the cash in person. He was also asked to act casually so that no one would suspect him of carrying a large amount of money.
Outwardly, this man seems relaxed and looks like the average Joe, just walking down the city. But on the inside, he’s incredibly anxious and cautious because he feels like his life is in danger. He kept thinking that if some thieves or bandits or thugs caught wind of what he was carrying, he would die today. And even if he didn’t, his boss would demand to be paid back all of the money that would be stolen from his possession, possibly twice, thrice, or even ten times more.
Then there’s another thought in his head that a Believer with the power to see through objects could have seen him plainly carrying such a large amount of money. No matter which of his thoughts might come true, they all added an unnecessary, yet unavoidable worry to his task.
The man keeps walking down the city, and he takes a turn into a lone alleyway. He’s already thinking that this location is so easy to instantly change into a crime scene, yet he still walks with confidence and a relaxed facial expression.
He walks deep into the lone alleyway and takes a turn to the right at a three-way intersection.
*!!!!*
And lo and behold, he saw a bunch of thugs hanging around in his way. There are about five of them, all with varying hairstyles, from bald to mohawk to buzz cut, to long hair, and just a guy wearing a biker helmet. They all wear black short-sleeved T-shirts out layered by a sleeveless denim jacket, all wearing a similar pair of ripped jeans. Some of them were either crouching on the ground or sitting on empty abandoned oil drums. They either were flipping knives with their hands, smoking a cigarette, rotating a gun with a finger, throwing batons to the air and catching them, and throwing them again in a loop, and the last guy is playing with fire, as he is a Believer.
*!!!!*
All of the thugs noticed the businessman standing and looking at them.
“HUH?? WHO ARE YOU, GENTLEMAN??”
“That suit, you’re an office worker?”
“Hey! What are you carrying inside your suitcase?”
*!*
The businessman froze, and his body trembled.
*thud thud thud thud*
He immediately turns around and starts running away from all of the thugs.
*!!!*
“GET HIM!!” signals the helmet thug.
“HE’S RUNNING AWAY IN GREAT PANIC!! THERE MUST BE SOMETHING VALUABLE INSIDE THAT SUITCASE!!”
“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
All five thugs immediately stop whatever they were doing and start chasing after the businessman.
*THUD THUD THUD THUD*
A rowdy set of footsteps immediately reverberated through the lone alleyway.
“(NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD!)”
*thud thud thud thud*
The businessman is running with all his strength. He and the five thugs behind him are separated by a 5-meter gap between them, though that gap quickly gets smaller and smaller due to the difference between the businessman’s physical body compared to all five thugs’.
*THUD THUD THUD THUD*
The thugs are chasing him for 60 seconds, and the helmet thug suddenly shouts.
“ALL OF YOU DUCK DOWN!!”
The four thugs immediately did as they were told.
*FWOOOOMMMM*
The helmet thug raises his right arm forward, and it immediately catches fire and burns brightly.
*FWOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM*
The helmet thug shoots out a fireball, the size of a basketball ball towards the businessman.
*FWOOOOSSHHH*
“AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!”
*THUD*
*thud*
The fireball hits his left leg from behind. The immediate heat and burning pain startled him, and he fell down to the ground, and the suitcase was thrown 100cm away in front of him.
“AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!”
*PAT PAT PAT PAT*
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!”
His left calf is burning, and he pats it hard to kill the fire, but it hurts him to hit the burning wound, yet he has no choice but to keep doing it, or the fire will quickly spread throughout his whole body. He quickly tears off a bit of his pants to avoid the fire from spreading, and keeps patting the burning wound over and over.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH!!!”
*FWOOOOMMM*
The helmet thug flies over and past the businessman on the ground and lands next to the dropped suitcase. The rest of the thugs are currently standing near the businessman, watching him experience agony.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!”
“There’s no use in tearing a bit of your pants off! With our boss’s Faith power, he can just burn your whole body effortlessly!” said the bald thug.
“Now be a good man, and answer us! What is inside that suitcase?” said the long-haired thug.
“G-GUUUUUUYYYYYYSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!”
*!!*
Suddenly, the helmet thug, their leader, screams in excitement before the businessman has the chance to answer them.
“MONEY!! THERE ARE SO MANY INSIDE THIS SUITCASE!! LOOK!!”
The helmet thug turns around and holds a pile of cash with his hands.
*!!*
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“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!”
“ISN’T EACH ONE OF THOSE A HUNDRED-DOLLAR BILL, BOSS?”
“HOLLLYYYYYY SHIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!”
“BOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! WE’RE RIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCHHHHHHHHH!!!”
The boss stands up and walks towards the businessman on the ground and turns off his fire on the businessman’s burning leg.
“Tell me, how much in total is the money inside that suitcase? If you don’t answer, I’ll amped up the heat and burn your entire body this time!”
*!*
The businessman was scared to answer. He now has to choose to pay back the large amount of money to the company or be burned to death by the thug leader. There is no good outcome for this businessman, no matter which one he chooses. But at least he is still alive if he chose the first option.
“T-There are 4,000 US Dollars inside that suitcase in total.”
*!!!*
“F-F-F-FOUR THOUSAND FREAKING DOLLARS??!!”
“B-BOSSS!!! EVEN AFTER WE SPLIT UP EVENLY, THAT’S 800 DOLLARS FOR EACH OF US!!”
“Y-YES BOSS!! WE’LL LIVE LIKE ROYALTY FOR A FEW WEEKS!! OR MAYBE WE CAN START A BUSINESS TOGETHER WITHOUT SPLITTING THE MONEY!!”
“WITH THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY, THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS AND POSSIBILITIES, BOSS!! OUR LIVES WILL TURN AROUND!!!”
“YES BOSS!!”
All four thugs are clouded in excitement, thinking of so many paths ahead of them with this much money.
. . . .
“B-Boss?”
“H-Hey, boss? Why are you being so quiet?”
“This is so unlike you, boss!”
“Boss?”
But the boss remains silent.
“Boss?”
The bald thug slowly approaches the boss.
*!*
*FWOOOOOOMMMMM*
“AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!”
The boss suddenly shoots out a flamethrower at close range at the bald thug’s face.
*THUD*
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!”
The bald thug immediately falls to his back on the ground, and he rolls back and forth, holding his burning face and patting it violently to put out the fire.
“IT BUUUUUUUURRRNNNNSSSSS!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGHHH!!!”
“B-Boss? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO, BOSS?”
“WHY DID YOUR BURN BALDIE BOSS?”
“HAVE YOU GONE MAD, BOSS?”
“SAY!!”
*!!*
The boss suddenly shouts.
“If the four of you, a bunch of Non-Believers, would gang up on me, a Believer—”
The boss stares wickedly at the three thugs who are still standing.
“---WHO DO YOU THINK WOULD COME OUT ON TOP?”
*!!!*
“B-BOSSS!! WHAT ARE YOU SAYINGGG??”
“I’M SAYING I’M TAKING THIS MONEY ALL TO MYSELF”
*!*
“BUT BOSS, WHAT ABOUT OUR CREED? ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE?!” screams the long-haired thug.
The boss smiles as he points his open palm at the long-haired thug.
“FUCK THE CREED!!”
*FWOOOOMMMMM*
He shoots the same fireball towards long long-haired thug’s face.
*BWOOOORRRSSSHHH*
*!!!*
But suddenly, someone caught the fireball with their bare hand, gripped their hand and crushed the fireball away.
“W-WHAT?!”
All of a sudden, there is a 17-year-old girl, 162cm tall, with a slender and thin body, wielding a giant green and black scythe, standing in front of the businessman and the three thugs. It was Kobayashi Mari, the Judge of Gree, and she had her Vein Armor active.
“Well, well, well! What do we have here?” said Mari, smiling confidently.
*BANG*
*!!!*
A gunshot sound was suddenly reverberating in the lone alleyway, and someone appeared above the boss. It was a male, and he spins himself down, doing a spinning axe kick.
*BAAAMM*
“UAAARRRGGHHH!!!”
The boss was hit on the top of his helmet, and he fell to the ground, and all the cash in his left hand scattered to the ground. The man who kicked him also lands on the ground next to the suitcase.
The man is Eissen Divalo, the Judge of Greed’s Support, as well as her closest friend.
“I got him, Mari-chan!”
“Good work, Ei-chan!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!”
*!*
Mari looks to her front, and there’s the bald thug, rolling back and forth on the ground, with his face still burning.
“E-EI-CHAN! HIS FACE IS ON FIRE!!”
“M-MARI-CHAN!! GO BUY A GIANT WATER BOTTLE FROM A CONVENIENCE STORE NEARBY!! WE SAW ONE NORTH OF HERE JUST NOW!! I’LL TRY TO KILL THE FIRE WITH MY VEST!” said Eissen as he took off his black sleeveless vest.
“A-ALRIGHT!!”
*BWOOOOSSHH*
Mari instantly jumps high past the buildings around the alleyway, with her Vein Armor still active, to quickly go to the convenience store that they saw beforehand.
*PAT PAT PAT PAT*
Eissen uses his enhanced physical strength through his Vein Armor to pat the fire from the bald thug’s face away.
“PLEASE ENDURE THE PAIN, MISTER!! I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING ROUGH!!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHH!!!”
After 15 excruciating seconds for the bald thug, Eissen successfully killed the fire on his face.
*pant pant pant*
“Made it in time before the fire spread. . .”
*THUD*
“EI-CHAN!! HERE’S THE WATER!!”
Mari arrived and handed over a large bottle of cold mineral water, with its cap already opened.
*SRRRRRRRRRRRR*
*SSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*
Eissen quickly pours out the water into the bald thug’s face. And all of the burning wounds immediately stopped after being poured by a large amount of cold water, slightly relieving the pain on the bald thug’s face. When the large bottle of water is half left, Eissen stops pouring the water. He crouches down next to the bald thug and makes him drink the water.
*Glug glug glug glug*
The bald thug drinks the water with no problem. He passes out after extreme relief shortly after.
“Phew! His face is horribly burnt, but at least his life is safe.” said Eissen, letting out a relief.
“Ei-chan, you think Lily-san can heal him?”
“This seems like a minuscule matter for the Queen of Time. Let’s call her!”
“Ah! But first, let’s handle the main reason we came here in the first place, Ei-chan!”
“Oh, right!”
Both of them stand up and turn around towards the three thugs. They all have fallen on their butts on the ground, shaking trembly without saying anything this whole time.
“URGH!”
The boss also slowly stands up as he’s holding the top of his helmet.
*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM*
“DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
He turns around quickly, swinging his right arm and immediately shoots a flamethrower at both Mari and Eissen.
*GRABS*
Mari reacted quickly and grabbed the boss by his forearm and pointed his flamethrower upwards.
“Say, do I have to punch you really hard in the face, or are you gonna back down peacefully??”
“GRRRRRR!!! YOU WON’T KNOW THE RESULT BEFORE YOU EVEN TRY!!”
The boss lifts his other hand and shoots another flamethrower at point-blank range at Mari’s face.
*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM*
Mari stands still and takes his flamethrower to the face calmly. Eissen also shows no reaction despite witnessing it.
*!*
The boss turns off his flamethrower, and Mari emerges completely unaffected from the flamethrower. There isn’t any smoke anywhere on her face. She was not burned in the slightest.
“As if a flamethrower from a thug leader can even hope to pierce through my Vein Armor’s protection.”
“. . .”
The boss couldn’t say anything in return.
“So, what exactly is going on here? A boss turning his back on his own followers just because he found a little bit of money.”
“GRR!! IT’S NOT A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY!! IT'S FOUR THOUSAND US DOLLARS!! MY PATHETIC LIFE COULD HAVE TURNED GREAT IF ONLY YOU DIDN’T COME!!!”
“BURNING YOUR OWN MEN IN THE FACE JUST BECAUSE YOU FELT GREEDY IS OUT OF THE LINE, DON’T YOU AGREE?!” shouts Mari in response.
*BAAAAMMM*
“AAAARRGGHH!!”
Mari headbutted the boss in his front helmet, and it got cracked immediately.
*WHAM*
*GRAHK*
She lifts the boss upwards and slams him down against the ground. The ground was cracked in a small area on impact, and the boss instantly lost consciousness. Mari stands up and looks towards the rest of the three thugs.
“So, you three are also guilty for hurting this man right here!” said Mari as she pointed to the businessman on the floor in front of her.
*!!*
“N-NO! WE’RE NOT!!”
“Y-YEAH!! THE BOSS BURNT HIM WITH HIS FAITH POWER!!”
“AND WE’RE ALL NON-BELIEVERS!!”
“Hmm. . . Is that true, sir?” asks Mari towards the businessman on the ground.
“Urgh. . . It is true, but they also chased me down, trying to steal the suitcase full of money.”
“Ah, of course! Alright, you three!”
*GRTK GRTK*
Mari clenches her fist.
“CLENCH YOUR TEETH!!”
*BAM BAM BAM*
Before they could even react to her threat, Mari knocked them all out in quick succession by punching them on their head. They all went down and fell unconscious to the ground.
Eissen walks towards Mari.
“Good job, Mari-chan!”
Mari turns around in joy.
“Thanks, Ei-chan! Did I do well alone?”
“Yeah! You’re a lot different now! You remember when you shake your whole body and pisses yourself on your first ever Judgment?”
*!!*
“W-WHAT?? I DID NONE OF THOSE THINGS, EI-CHAN!! DON’T SAY STUFF LIKE THAT TO A LADY LIKE ME?!”
“Hmm, you never call yourself a lady like that, basically all the time.”
“EI-CHAN YOU IDIOT!!”
“I-I apologize, Mari-chan! Let’s just proceed with the Judgment.”
.
.
.
A few minutes later. . .
“*Sigh* Memories of thugs always bamboozled me. They act horribly and harm people and take joy from their actions, yet all of these came from a bunch of problems that occurred in their own home.”
“That’s just how the world is, everyone has their own problems, no matter who they are! Even the ones who seemed joyful all the time, like Leonna-san, maybe!”
“And I guess you too, huh, Ei-chan?”
“Eh? Me?”
“Yeah! I noticed it just now, when I was talking to them. I thought you were silent because you were observing me, but when I took a glance at you, you were spacing out, looking around at this alleyway. What’s wrong?”
Eissen froze for a few seconds. Everything Mari said was true, and he cannot deflect any of those.
“So, you saw me, huh? I apologize, Mari-chan, for spacing out during the job. It’s not that this alleyway reminds me of anything, but rather, the atmosphere about this situation. . .”
“Eh? What does that mean? Now that I think about it, you never really told me anything about your past!”
“. . .True enough! I’ve seen your true colors, Mari-chan! Now, I’ll show you mine!”
Mari smiles at Eissen.
“I appreciate this, Ei-chan! You’re finally telling me about yourself!”
“On a second note, let’s call Lily-san first and ask her to heal this guy’s face! Also, let’s not interrupt our Judge duty with my backstory! I’ll tell you about it once we’re done!”
“On a second thought, I don’t appreciate this, Ei-chan!”
Mari pouts her mouth.
“Fine! You have a point! BUT IF YOU LIE, EI-CHAN!!”
*GULPS*
“D-Don’t worry, Mari-chan! I won’t!”
And they called Lily afterward. She and Light came through his wormhole, and Lily heals the bald thug’s wound. They immediately went back to their own separate Judge duty afterward.
