Chapter 14: Partners

(Huff~)

"How long has it been? 1 year?"

(Sigh~)

A lot has happened since I met her…

She has a fancy red dress shirt with frills on her collar and wrists now.

A short black skirt with some stockings.

Black leather shoes, and a… bunny hair clip which she uses to tie a ponytail on the side of her head…

Of course all of those were all either stolen or salvaged from the heaps of trash littered throughout Omega Sector.

We also found a rocket launcher not too long ago.

It was an infantry grade quad launcher.

I gave it to her as a ranged weapon… which I find quite ironic now, as her sword literally has infinite range.

Oh, she's a bit taller now, I think she grew an inch or two.

(Huff~)

But that's about it for the… good news…

"BOTTLE!" "BOWETTTTTLEEEE!!!"

Ugh, there she goes, can't even get a good quality smoke break with her awake.

Bottle sizzles his cigarette on the concrete next to him.

"I'M COMING!" He replies, as he walks nonchalantly to Gesus.

>>>

General Bottle and Gesus has caused quite the ruckus during their time in Omega.

The destruction of the MPD outpost was just the start of their chaotic journey.

The underground Food Fight arena? Gone, reduced to ashes with a several dozen high explosive charges.

The barber shop in Sector 5? Burnt to the ground from Gesus's infinity sword.

One of three central banking centers of Omega located outside of the Omega Wall? Cut down by Gesus then subsequently blown up with termite charges in a failed bank robbery attempt.

Not to mention the hoards of Food People disappearing every week.

Although the Military Police Department knew of Bottle's existence and his associations with the past events, their hands were tied.

The chaos within Omega grew with each new disaster these menaces to society were causing.

Of course there were other factions and gangs that caused similar disturbances, but the damage that Bottle and Gesus was causing was like that of an iceberg to a ship.

The damage was too critical to be ignored, as most of the time there was a huge power vacuum in which all the other factions fought religiously for.

Like water flooding the hulls of a ship.

As such the MPD had to intervene.

The power balances in Omega shifted as quickly as a week.

And soon… it would come to them or so they thought.

A secret meeting was held.

Five of the richest people on earth.

Each commanding a fraction of the world within their fingertips.

Why were they afraid of seemingly miniscule conflicts?

They weren't rather the costs associated with them were too high.

(Sigh~) "Eh-hem! As I was saying, we have a serious problem in our hands."

The man who spoke was Steve Works, the owner of Pineapple.inc, the 5th most richest person in the world.

He was a shrewd man, having been cloned from the original Steve Jobs, he was the 312th of his kind...

With his black turtleneck sweater and balding temple he was a near perfect copy of the original.

"Food Fight, the multi-billion dollar entertainment and advertising project? GONE! with 600 billion dollars in damages!"

"The Central Banking Center? GONE! With 250 billion in lost capital!"

"The barber shop in Sector 5? Wiped from the face of the earth, with 1 trillion dollars in damages!"

"In just a year, these shit heads cost us 1.8 trillion dollars!"

Steve Works pinches his eyes in as he mumbles, "So..? Any ideas?"

The others present were also quite notable, the man who sat to the left of Steve Works was Max. V. Vermillion, the 2nd richest person on earth.

He was colossal in nature, his body as that of a greece statue.

However, the man was covered with scars and wounds which he flaunts by wearing robes that of a Roman.

On his shoulder rests a lion's head as the rest of its body hangs behind Vermillion like a cape.

Having killed the lion with his own hands he had stuffed it to the point where it had the same bulk and girth as if it were still alive.

His face was jaded, his hair spiking out like an anime protagonist, his eyes that of a predator.

This man was true to his form, having gotten his wealth through the most simplistic service available, violence.

He spoke with a deep voice, as if he was growling, "Dam.. I really liked that barber shop, the cutter there gave me a good cut…"

Across from Vermillion was the 3rd richest person on earth, Martini Tus.

Although she was in her thirties now, her features were still quite elegant.

Her hair was a deep shade of blue, cascading down her back like a river, with bangs dripping down the front.

Her eyes are a bright, almost electric yellow, and they seem to sparkle with a mischievous energy.

She is tall and slender, with a curvaceous figure that is accentuated by her impeccable sense of style.

Her clothes were stylish as she looked, a transparent coat with white fur, a white dress shirt with a simple and thin red ribbon around her neck.

A skin tight latex leggings with two black straps over her shoulders, resembling that of snakes.

And a pair of glossy white sneakers, which had LED lights which just glimmered in energy.

As her looks might hint, she gained her wealth through entertainment.

From the media industrial complex, to porno industry, to even world wars, she has monetized every experience you could imagine.

Even something as miniscule as watching the sun go down has been recorded and monetized.

She is a collector of sorts, for every moment is an event, and every event is… a story.

For the world is her entertainment.

(Huff~)

Martini puffed out a smoke as sweet as cherry, she lowered her gentle hand.

In a quiet tone albeit intentionally lagged she replied, "Just… throw money… at it"

(Huff)

Although it may have seemed as a joke to Steve Works, it was a great idea, or rather it always worked with previous difficulties.

But she was rebuked by the 4th person at the meeting, Plankton.

"Are You Blind!" He yells, "He costed us 1.8 Trillion dollars in one year!"

"May I remind you this is the same General who survived World War 10!"

"The one that we started by throwing trillions of dollars in funding?"

Plankton was the 4th richest person in the room.

Having found success in life after draining the entire ocean to run the Krusty Crab out of business, he then later monopolized all the available water sources.

Sitting on a miniaturized chair on the meeting table he continued to bark at the other's incompetence, "ARGHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Our wealth will plummet if we try to get rid of him like that!"

"Hell why are we even here if all five of us aren't even here!"

It was true, the 1st richest person wasn't present at the meeting, his marble seat laid empty.

At that moment Vermillion had a brilliant idea, "Alright, how about just build a rocket to Mars? Then we blow up the earth?"

Plankton's eye bulged out as anger consumed him, red veins appeared as if the eye was being corrupted.

Plankton grabbed his antennas and gave a deafening cry, that of a banshee before slamming his head on the table.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" (SLAM!)

(Huff~) Martini raised a question, "Where is the first… anyw-?"

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" Steve Works yelled.

The room came to a silence, as if the room itself held its own breath.

After Steve Works adjusted himself he spoke with a clear and direct tone, "We have two possible choices."

"We can destroy him quickly and fast using everything we have… Or…"

"We can first see what he is capable of, and then destroy him SmArtLy!"

"Now I've already thought of a plan, but I need to make sure that all of you are with me…"

Steve Works tugged his turtle neck sweater as if he was in discomfort then continued, "I am requesting… 15 percent."

The room bursted into madness.

Plankton exploded, "W-What! You expect all of us to hand over 15 percent of our assets to you?!?"

"...No"

Vermillion barked back, "Ha, can you act more like a rat?"

"What?" Steve proclaimed.

"Listen here Steve Works, the days of bankers, lawyers, doctors, and whatever the hell the old world had is over."

Vermillion stood from his seat, casting a towering shadow on the table, "All these places that you listed, were mostly your ventures."

"The simple fact is that no one here cares."

"1.8 Trillion is pocket cash to us, we make millions by the second, it doesn't even matter if Bottle destroys half the world."

"Heh, you know what I think..?"

"Your scared"

"Being the 5th richest person on earth doesn't exempt you from being poor. Rather, you're awfully poor now that I think about it."

"In fact, I think you're not even qualified to be the 5th richest person anymore."

Steve couldn't speak, his tongue seemingly twisted and frozen.

Steve knew all too well that his wealth had been handed down to him over the generations, compared to the others at this table it was a known fact that his wealth was what you would consider 'old.'

Pineapple.inc was not even close in terms of generating wealth, the masses were too poor to afford any of their products.

Even the most avid of Pineapple.inc supporters were either killed or looted by other criminals and thugs.

All Steve had were… company assets… which were all too useless in this new world.

"Figure this crap out by yourself rather than bothering us next time."

Vermillion walked away leaving an unsettling tone behind.

Plankton, who had a bloodied head from slamming it against the table, spoke, breaking the eerie silence, "I'll be honest, although I don't like vermillion…"

A pause came over Plankton, "You know what, fuck both of you I'm out of here."

(Huff~) "I guess… it's over…"

All of the others left, leaving Steve Works behind.

He slumped in his chair, his head in his hands, and his shoulders shaking.

Tears dripped down to his chin.

Steve cried that day for the first time in forever.

>>>

Pineapple products increased their price to only cost half of your soul after the events of the secret meeting.