Chương 21: Chapter 21 - A Trap? Here?

After a period of silence, the old man finally spoke up again.

"Would you like to go inside and buy some for your, -erm…"

"Sisters," Styxx completed the man's sentence,

"We were here to buy other things but if they want some I don't see why not?"

"Yayyy!!" Bastet and Fenrir cheered jumping up and down before running into the store holding each other's hands.

Styxx followed behind them while Tara stayed back to walk with the old man.

"Do you know Onii-sama?" Asked Tara straightforwardly,

The old man turned to her and smiled cryptically.

"Who knows?" he laughed,

….

After the girls bought the most expensive figurines of Killshot, much to the joy of the old man, they continued with their shopping. They walked into the most expensive clothing store and just as they were going to be walked out by the staff due to their plain clothing, Styxx flashed a diamond-encrusted black Bankcard and the employee's attitudes changed really quick.

Once the girls grabbed their own small mountain of clothes and shoes, Styxx calmly paid for it and swiped his hand making it all disappear to the surprise of those looking on, and they simply walked out. Then, they moved on to the furniture where the same scene played out, to Styxx's annoyance.

Once everything was done, Bastet and Fenrir asked for some sweets, and he happily obliged to get them some.

"Onii-sama, I believed I heard some girls saying that there was a food truck that sells these really delicious crepes just a couple blocks away from here," said Tara,

"Sounds great, lead the way, Tara," said Styxx,

Bastet and Fenrir happily skipped along just a few feet in front of Styxx and Tara, when suddenly they all stopped when they passed by an alleyway. The ears on their heads perked up and twitched in the direction of the alleyway.

"What do you girls think?" Asked Styxx, looking in the same direction as them.

"She sounds weird," said Fenrir,

"I smell two people, one female, and one male,"

"She sounds desperate but… ha-happy?" added Bastet,

"A trap, perhaps? Maybe for a Hero? Her call for help sounds anxious but Bast-chan is right, I can hear undertones of anticipation and joy in her voice. She's young too, around my age," stated Tara,

"Those depraved giggles and ignorant laughs from the man means he has no idea he is being used, and depending on who it is, he is expendable,"

"Amazing girls, as always, but I'll take it from here," said Styxx as he handed his debit card to Tara.

"Go on ahead with your sisters and wait for me, I'll take the banana and strawberry crepe, please,"

"Yes, Onii-sama," Tara said, she then took hold of both Bastet's and Fenrir's hands and walked towards the food truck in the distance.

He waited for a little while to make sure he wasn't followed by the curious girls and then slowly walked into the alley. Sure, the girls were strong, and no one is really a threat in this city anymore but the time for their first kill is still far off and will be put off as long as he can help it. There was never a need to taint the souls of innocent children as far as he was concerned, especially not those girls, after all, they have been through enough in their lives.

He walked the near-deserted alley and then turned into a dead end. Once he turned into the dead-end alley, he finally saw the source of the cries for help and the one making those annoying and depraved sounds.

A pig-like man was towering over a teenage girl and had her pinned against the wall. His disgusting-looking tongue was hanging out of his mouth as drool leaked from the corners of it unto the cold cement.

Styxx didn't even attack the pig and just slowly walked towards them his eyes on the girl. He knew this was a trap, but the pig didn't seem to know that. Once the girl caught sight of Styxx walking towards from over the shoulder of the orc the look of fear in her eyes was slowly replaced with a look of ecstasy.

Suddenly the squeals as if a pig getting slaughtered rang out through the alley and the pigman fell back on the ground with a heavy thud. With a quick glance, Styxx notices the four stab wounds on the squealing pig writhing on the ground, two on the groin area, and two on the stomach.

He continued to walk towards them, he stomped on the face of the pig shutting up those ear-grating squeals that were getting on his nerves, and continued climbing his body to finally reach the girl who was still leaning against the wall with a huge smile full of ecstasy on her face and a caressing a bloody knife near her face.

Now that the fat pig didn't block his view, he could now see the person that originally caught his attention.

"Finally a Hero! Have you come to save me~?" the girl said with a giggle.

The teenage girl was cute even by his standards, long blonde hair put up into two buns, a school-like uniform covered by a long sleeve sweater where Styxx guessed she usually hid her knives. The two sharp canines slightly sticking out her mouth, the stench of blood that came out her pores as if she bathes in it, and the crazy look in her eyes told Styxx everything he needed to know about the girl in front of him.

"You poor thing, you can't help yourself, can you?" Styxx said softly,

"Eh?" her smile turned stiff somehow knowing what his words meant, the look of ecstasy faltering.

In that moment of hesitation, Styxx took full advantage and lifted her up by the sides of her head. In a panic at the sudden attack by the mysterious boy, she stabbed out of reflex right in the side of his chest in between his ribs. The girl let go of the knife fully expecting her release but much to her surprise, she didn't even hear a whimper and his hands still firmly grasped her head.

She looked at the knife sticking out of his chest in shock, the scene that she was used to was nowhere to be seen. The was no delicious red or the whimpers of pain, it was as if she had stabbed into a pillow.

Styxx looked down at his "wound" and back at the girl before completely putting it out of his mind. He knew he was stabbed out of reflex, it was purely a survival instinct, that was the reason he didn't kill her on the spot for attacking him. Just because he didn't react, didn't mean he didn't feel the knife piercing his body, in fact, he felt all 3 inches dig into his chest cavity and make a hole in his left lung. Anyway, it didn't matter, in a few seconds, the knife was pushed out and fell to the floor. The only evidence of the attack ever happening was the hole in his shirt.

"Don't move," Styxx ordered softly,

Hearing his words, the blond girl went limp as she was raised to his eye level by her head. She watched as the sunglasses slowly disappeared as if disintegrating from his face and revealing the most hypnotizing pair of eyes she had ever seen. There was no need to struggle, the girl thought to herself, everything would be fine as long as she can stare into his eyes. Those pair of swirling silver eyes felt more beautiful to her than the first time she laid eyes on blood.

Then those swirling whirlpools began to change colors, different shades of blues and purples flashed one after the other before stopping on a dark red color.

"Don't blink," he said,

There was no need to, she was so transfixed on his eyes that she felt blinking would be a waste of time. Suddenly, she felt a small prick in her head and the pain kicked her out of the little fairy-tale she was having, and then like a sack of potatoes she was dropped right back unto the cold, wet concrete.

"Hey! What did you do to me?!" the girl exclaimed holding her head,

When she looked back up to see the boy's face she was once again faced with a pair of sunglasses, an unexpected pang of disappointment ran through her heart not being able to look at his eyes again.

"I gave you freedom," he simply stated.

" I scanned your body, I isolated the part of your brain that received those unhealthy impulses from your quirk, then I focused my laser vision through your eyes and into your brain. It was simple and instant lobotomy, I also got rid of some of that brainwashing that cluttered your brain,"

" Eh?" was the girl's only reply to his words.

" There will no longer be an unquenchable thirst for blood, your quirk no longer has any say in your actions. Blood will still be delicious to you as it is required for your quirk to work, it will no longer be a need that you have to consume but a choice, it will no longer drive you insane. The undoing of your brainwashing should be apparent in a few days, you should be able to think clearer your thoughts will be less jumbled. Which should be a good thing, your mind is a mess, girly,"

Styxx begins to walk away, leaving the girl on the floor with tears streaming down her face.

"Why would you help me?! After I tried to hurt you?! Is it because you're a hero?!" the girl called out from behind him.

Styxx stopped walking but never turned around.

"Hero? I'm no hero, but you can be if you want. From this moment on you can be whatever you want to be, a hero or a villain? or maybe neither? You can have a normal life now. It's up to you now, you're free to choose," Styxx said before continuing to walk.

"Oh! And the voices in your head? Their supposed to help you better assimilate those you turn into, learn some meditation to quiet them down. Also, eat some veggies! You lack nutrition,"

Styxx turned the corner and went on his way to meet the girls that were patiently waiting for his return with delicious crepes in hand.