Chapter 52: Iron Gang
Yuki activated her powers once again. Her father had a series of white question marks floating above his head. Likewise, Ed had the number '365' floating above his head, but the color was blue. A thin blue thread traveled from Ed out the window. When she concentrated on it, she felt her vision shifting to follow the thread.
Her consciousness traveled very far very quickly. Soon, she stopped. She looked around at her new surroundings. She seemed to be in an office. It was brightly lit with an oak desk, red couch, and several fancy paintings on the wall. In front of her was a familiar man. A skinny and tall man with short black hair and thick sword-like eyebrows. 'Governor Bustion?' It was the Florida Governor that had attacked them. He was covered in blood and seemed to be gravely injured. He also had white question marks floating above his head, though the color seemed dim compared to her father's.
Suddenly, the door opened. "Eeeek!" The woman that entered the room shrieked in a high-pitched voice. "Gov-Governor, what happened to you?!"
Yuki looked at the woman. The number above her head was a black '1'. A black thread led from her towards the governor.
"Good. I'm glad you're here." Governor Bustion smiled. He flicked his fingers and a tiny wisp of golden flame struck the woman. She only managed to scream for a brief moment before her body was burned to nothingness. All that remained behind was a greenish-looking soul, which floated right into the governor's body. The white question marks above his head appeared just a tiny bit brighter than before. His injuries didn't seem to heal any, but she could feel that he had recovered some energy. Fortunately, it didn't seem like he could see her.
'Just what are the numbers?' She wondered as her consciousness started to return. However, she noticed threads running in all directions as she traveled back. She decided to follow them. All of the white threads consisted of question marks or high numbers. The black threads also had various numbers. She found someone with a black number '2' and followed him for a full two days. The number changed to '1' on the 2nd day. Then he died shortly afterwards. The medics seemed to think it was caused by a heart attack.
'Black is death. White is life. What is blue?' She kept following the blue threads and watched many individuals. All of the blue threads with low numbers turned black as she watched. Blue threads with large numbers continued to count down. Eventually, she found a blue thread that turned white. Finally, she understood. 'Blue is chance. Something is threatening their life but there's still a tiny chance to change it? I should warn Ed.' She felt her consciousness shift as she quickly began to make her return.
"Ugh." She groaned as she began to wake up. Her head throbbed badly from a headache. She opened her eyes and saw the familiar hospital room again. Her father was looking at her with worry. "Where's Ed?" She questioned.
"He left. You've been out for an entire week. What happened?"
"Oh." She nodded and explained what she had come to understand about her powers.
"Mm. I see." Mr. Sai rubbed his chin. "It's likely that white represents the person either living a long time, living indefinitely, or being beyond your power to understand. Black should represent unavoidable death that occurs in the near future. Blue is a combination of the two, with neither possibility being definite yet. If they resolve the issue, then they've changed their fate and the number will increase while turning white. Otherwise, only a black death remains for them."
"Ed only has 358 more days then! I have to warn him! Where is he?" She questioned.
"358 days." OP Baldy nodded. "It will probably take around that long for Governor Bustion to fully recover from the injuries I gave him. He's probably waiting until then to snuff out the little snake that appeared in his backyard."
"Dad! Where is he?!" She questioned again.
"I don't understand why you care so much about that boy." He sighed while shaking his head. "He isn't right in the head. Anyways, he hasn't left the city yet. Let's go. I'll let you warn him before we leave the country."
...
One week earlier.
Ed glanced at the unconscious Yuki before speaking, "I'll be leaving now. I already kept my end of the bargain, and I've got some things to do since I'm here anyways."
OP Baldy nodded without care, indicating for Ed to leave.
'Let's see. Since I'm here anyways, I might as well move my plans forward a bit. Dupe can handle some of the initial recruiting without me. There's three things I've been needing to do in this city. Guess I'll start with Blood-Lust.' He took his mask off his hip where it was attached to his belt. Then he put it on. The mask had already been published in newspapers all over the country. Plenty of copycats had sprung up, but that didn't really bother him. If a copycat amassed forces, then he could just kill him when the time came and take the goods for himself.
He returned to the territory that Blood-Lust ruled. A frown appeared on his face. 'What the hell happened?' It looked like a tornado had gone through the streets. Buildings were demolished beyond recognition. There were hardly any people left hanging around here. He saw a familiar beggar that worked as an informant for Blood-Lust.
"Hey." He grabbed the beggar by the shoulder. "What happened here? Where's Blood-Lust?"
"Eh?" The man's eyes opened wide. "You don't know? It happened not too long ago. The hunters swooped in and wrecked the place. Almost every member was captured and sent to the cage. Blood-Lust put up a good fight, but what sinner group can possibly withstand the full force of the Hunter Association?"
"Which members still remain?" He questioned.
"I wonder..." The beggar rubbed his two fingers together. "Can't quite seem to jog my memory.
"Here." Ed reached in his pocket and pulled out a stack of cash. Money was as easy to obtain as water to him.
"From what I know, only World Walker and the pink mist lady got away. They're currently staying with their old enemy. Seems they're worried about another attack coming, so they chose to make peace with the Iron Gang and join them temporarily."
"Iron Gang? Why do sinner groups always choose such stupid names?" He scoffed. "Thanks." He turned and left the beggar behind. 'Well, I wasn't particularly interested in anyone from Blood-Lust other than World Walker to begin with. Dupe never mentioned them getting wiped out, though he did mention some kind of fight going on. Seems like the fight finished within the last few days."
'I need to hurry up and find him before the authorities capture him. He's going to be my personal taxi after all.' He grinned while fumbling with a small device in his pocket. He had removed the mana-collar from within Yuki's head and repaired it back to maximum capacity. World Walker would become his first slave and serve as the much-needed transportation for Harmony.
Ed headed for the Iron Gang's territory. It was past the east river. This led to less conflict with Blood-Lust compared to other gangs, which is probably why World Walker could convince them to temporarily shelter them. 'Their gang should be weaker than the original Blood-Lust. It should be relatively easy to handle. The problem will be restraining World Walker before he teleports away.'
It was night by the time he reached his location. The territory here was much nicer than Blood-Lust's territory. It appeared normal at first glance. Small businesses, clubs, and bars lined the streets. He went to a large club and waited in line. Various flashing lights and loud music could be heard every time the door swung open. He reached the front of the queue and the bodyguard frowned. "Looking for trouble, you masked-freak?"
"No." Ed shook his head. "Tell your boss that Forge is here to see him. I trust he'll know what to do."
The guard hesitated a moment before nodding. He opened the door and spoke with another guard, who stepped out to temporarily take his place. Soon, the original guard returned and nodded. "Follow me."
Ed followed behind the man. The club was full of people dancing to the beat. It reeked of sweat and alcohol. He went past them and entered a much less crowded VIP section. A fat man with tan skin sat on a black couch. He wore a fancy white suite with blue stripes. However, it was overshadowed by the large iron jaw covering the man's chin.
"Iron Jaw." Ed said as he took a seat across from him.
"Mm." The man nodded while rubbing the brass knuckles on his fist. "So, the famous Forge of Harmony has come to pay little old me a visit. That or a copycat anyways. What is it you want from me?"
Ed was just about to speak when his eyes widened in shock. A red-haired woman popped up from underneath the table between them. It was Jessica from Blood-Lust. She sat down next to Iron Jaw and leaned against him while licking her lips.
'I'd rather not think about what she was just doing...'
"Ed, long time no see." She smiled seductively towards him. "I tried convincing World Walker to go pick you up, but he didn't trust anyone with all the chaos going on. Now look at how well you've done for yourself. I bet he regrets it."
"Iron Jaw doesn't seem to be under your control?" He replied. "Doesn't seem like your style."
"Humph!" Iron Jaw snorted. "As if I'd ever let her control me."
Ed glanced back-and-forth between the two and decided not to press that line of questioning. The loud music was increasing in tempo and getting on his nerves, causing him to frown. "Let's cut to the point. I want to capture World Walker. My chances of succeeding are near nil if I work by myself. Name your price to betray him. All you have to do is hand him over to me unconscious and the deal will be considered complete."
"Oh?" Jessica smiled. "What did we ever do to you? He saved you from the academy and this is how you repay us?"
"Mm." Iron Jaw nodded in agreement. "I'm in an alliance with him right now. I can't just betray him."
"Is that so." Ed replied. "Allow me to explain. World Walker betrayed my friend. As a result of that, I lost my father and all four of my limbs. As you can imagine, I'm quite a bit pissed off about it. So, here's how this is going to work. Option one. You cooperate and hand him over to me. I'll pay you for your services and everyone is happy. Option two. I kill every single member of the Iron Gang and torch your territory to the ground. Now, which will it be." His eyes mocked the man as he urged him to choose.
"You've got some guts brat!" The fat man stood up and crashed his brass knuckles into each other. A yellow glow covered him as his body became covered in a mix of dull-colored iron and brass. He seemed to be absorbing the metal properties of his iron jaw and brass knuckles.
"Why do people always choose the path of hell when heaven lies just next door." Ed sighed as he stood up.
Iron Jaw wound his right arm back and threw a punch with all his might and weight behind it. Ed casually caught the first with his left hand. "Weak." He sighed again while shaking his head. 'The iron only seems to strengthen his skin. Is he retarded? His strength is only comparable to ordinary espers. He might as well just shoot a steam rifle instead.' A steak of flame shot from his other hand and covered the man's iron body.
"AGHH!!!" Iron Jaw screamed in agony as he let go and rolled on the floor. However, the flames did not extinguish. Drops of metal, which were really his skin, covered the floor. Once the metal layer was penetrated, it was all over. The man quickly burnt to ash. Screams and shrieks erupted throughout the club as the music abruptly stopped playing. The crowd stampeded as they pushed and shoved each other trying to exit the building.
"Now then, Jessica." Ed grinned. "Would you like to cooperate?"
She shook in fear for a moment, but her eyes quickly turned sharp. A blast of pink mist shot towards Ed! He raised his arm and a strong blast of green wind blew the mist away. "Fortunately, I have an alternative method to make you cooperate." He grabbed her by the head.
"AHHH!!!" She shrieked in pain as Ed created a hole in her skull. Normally, he'd turn off the pain receptors, but he couldn't be bothered to do so right now. He quickly implanted the mana-collar within her skull. "All done!" He cheerfully said. "You've heard of mana-collars, right? I just implanted one in your head." He pulled out a small remote and pressed a switch.
"AGHHH! STOP!!!" She screamed and begged. She banged her head against the ground repeatedly due to the pain.
"Relax. It was just a weak shock. I can make it fatal whenever I want though. So, will you cooperate with me? World Walker should trust you quite a bit from what I know."
"Ugh." She held her head in pain as tears covered her face. She forced herself to nod in agreement.
"Excellent. Let's get started then." Ed smiled happily to himself as they left the deserted club.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
SnoozySloth
SnoozySloth Welcome, new readers that have caught up. Don't forget to add the story to your library and praise it to the highest heavens. Or your parents. Or your dog. You know, whichever. I'm not picky.
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