章 14: HEARTFELT VILLAINRY
Genie Tower, New York.
A small crowd of people gathered outside Genie's tower. They held protest signs with different phrases denouncing Genie's use of his powers. There were even a few signs that called for him to submit himself for arrest and subject himself to the state. Obviously, these people were not very intelligent, there were even a few misspelled words on their protest signs. Perhaps these few fools still believed that Genie was merely only a man with a powerful quirk. Logic can't always explain human reactions like this.
"GENIE IS A MEANIE!" A small Chibi Genie shouts, holding his own sign from within the crowd.
The crowd doesn't seem to make much notice of him and is very content with just being angry at something. They were busy shouting their own slogans and chants.
"ARREST GENIE!"
"YOU CAUSED MY WIFE TO LEAVE ME!"
"MY FATHER DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Meanwhile, the man himself was not even in his building at this time. He was at a hospital in Afghanistan, Kabul. He was in a room filled with children, who had not had any shelter after riots in the city. The children were happy to see him, most of them were abandoned by their parents or left homeless on the streets. They had only taken shelter inside this hospital because Genie promised to pay their bills. According to the media, he was off doing some evil Villainry here.
"So I just do something like this," Genie said while twisting a long balloon to make a balloon animal.
His steps look way too complicated for anyone with a human brain to follow. He would twist the balloon, make a loop, step through the loop a few times, and jump rope with the balloon until finally finished the result.
~ balloon squeaking noises~
A Genie clone appeared before the children in an auctioneer's attire and began trying to sell to them.
"Alright, alright~, see what we got here is something rare, never before seen~" the auctioneer genie introduced happily.
"Oh WOW~ We got some millionaires in the audience, don't we? I better up my game~" the auctioneer genie straightens his tie while glancing at two children who were in the front row.
"Now, this is the perfect house! What better place to live and make an entrance in the streets of Kabul, than your very own, Bouncy House House!~" Auctioneer Genie announced enthusiastically, waving his hand to show off the bouncy house to the children.
Inside the Bouncy House House, everything was a normal-looking house, with a working fridge, kitchen, sink, and other amenities. It had a magical pantry that allowed someone to find whatever they wanted for food when they opened it. Except everything was made out of very soft bouncy fabric, inflated from Genie's balloon animal trick. There were small child-sized Genies bouncing around inside having fun. There was a special magic coating that Genie placed on this, to make its inside expand infinitely as more children came to live there. As well as 'Adult Repellant', which would not allow anyone over the age of 18 to enter the house.
"Yahoo~"
"Yippy~"
The small Genie child clones bounced around inside the Bouncy House House, cheering.
"Now, let's talk about the price of this lovely estate. I'm sure you generous and esteemed nobles can afford such a price." Auctioneer genie said, talking eloquently while looking at the two children he claimed were millionaires earlier.
"Let's start this price at One Small Jigg." Auctioneer Genie stated while Genie gasped at the exorbitant price behind him.
"HOW DARE YOU?!" Genie berated his clone.
"I'm sorry Genie, but I'm a businessman first and a philanthropist second. I don't give freebies." Auctioneer Genie stated with a serious attitude on his face.
"I-I'll buy it." One of the child 'millionaires' at the front, who Genie had kept encouraging, finally spoke up.
"See, I knew they could afford it." Auctioneer Genie nodded smugly to the other Genie.
"Going once, Going twice!~..." Auctioneer Genie said, dragging the final one out while looking around the room.
"Tough crowd," Genie mumbled to himself, seeing the quiet looks of the children.
Well, he couldn't be blamed. The riots had happened recently and they were not in the happiest mood at the moment.
"Sold!~ To the millionaire in the ragged attire." Auctioneer Genie then appeared and started shaking the kids' hands vigorously.
"Now, I accept my payment upfront. You owe me one small jig." Auctioneer Genie said with a no-nonsense expression on his face.
"I-I don't know how." The kid responded sheepishly.
The kid looked around the room at the other children, then at the Bouncy House House, and finally back to Genie. The kid started to do a little dance, but it was awkward and a bit silly. So Genie also started to dance.
"Look, it's not difficult for anyone to dance. I mean look at me. I'm doing okay, despite my two left feet!" Genie encouraged the kid, while also dancing stupidly with his feet being both left feet.
"Hahaha~" The kid laughed, watching Genie bumble around with two left feet. It didn't look like dancing, more like struggling to move.
"Oh Wow~ A laugh and a smile? I was right about you. You really are millionaires, to pay with an entire smile? Wow~" Auctioneer Genie exclaimed while taking a picture of the laughing kid with his camera.
Soon the entire area of the hospital was filled with occasional laughter and the sight of small children trying to dance like Genie. Yes, Genie was here doing some real dangerous villainry. Watch out world!
...
In another universe, the lands of Fantasia, the Fairylands.
A man sat quietly on his wooden bed. He was wearing black armor and missing his left arm entirely. In the corner of the room, there was his weapon and a metallic prosthetic he used for his missing left arm. The armor he wore carried an aura of madness to it, despite it being lifeless, while the weapon, a giant sword, was better described as a hunk of metal than an actual weapon. It was so huge and the blade was dull enough, that it couldn't be called a sword. Just a hunk of metal.
The man had naturally black hair, but there was an unnatural patch of white hair that had formed on his head. His eyes seemed to have dulled and lost the natural luster of a living man. The man had long eyelashes and a masculine appearance. On the back of his neck, was a bloody mark, known as the Mark of Sacrifice.
The man was holding an old bronze oil lamp in his hands, contemplating something deeply. The oil lamp had arrived at his bedside while he slept, and he hadn't even noticed it. This was not common for him, since he barely ever slept deep enough to be caught unaware.
This man's name was Guts. And for the past few days now, he had felt a sense of loss. He had finally managed to heal Casca, but he couldn't even remain near her out of fear of hurting her. Even with the Fairy King's help, she was completely healed of the trauma caused by Giffith, but the situation was not perfect. She had forgotten him, or at least most of what they had. She was afraid of him.
So, he decided not to think about what to do next yet. He slept off his confusion, only to wake up to this lamp next to him.
He stood up, put on his metal prosthetic, grabbed his sword from the corner, and went to meet Schierke, the young witch in training, for her opinion.
...
(AN: Riots happened to a friend of mine who was in Kabul 2 days ago... say a single prayer for those children and everyone else affected by some of the riots. I don't think it was big enough to make the news. If everyone just said a single prayer, we could have a thousand prayers.)
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット