YOU'RE UNDER ARREST! (Part 2)

The conflict could break out at any time!

'Fuck…

What should I do?'

And while Laffitte gained time to think of some alternative plan with which to get out of this difficult situation and Fred patiently waited for his rival's next move, the public followed with interest, expectation and impatience the development of this great drama

So many eager spectators had gathered that the popcorn and soft drink sellers in the area were making more than inside the theaters. However, unlike in theaters, there was no obligation to remain silent here.

"If the fight starts, will we have to fight too?" David asked as he ate some popcorn. "Are they really friends?"

"Fred has a very strange concept of friendship" Said Perona, sad for not being able to eat anything in her current form. "In every place I have visited with him there have been [friends] whom he has wanted to kill or who have wanted to kill him."

"He has one or two of these [friends] on each island more or less" Stephen said while stealing a popcorn from David. "But with this one in particular he doesn't get along so badly

You should see him with the marine Francis"

Fred and Laffitte had practically stolen all the attention of the people in and around that square. Nobody... not the pedestrians, not the reporters, not the police, not even Fred's team, No one was paying attention to anything other than the confrontation that could destroy the square they were in.

¡And that included the two captured kidnappers who had already overcome their deep depression! 

'Now or never'

Taking advantage of the fact that their captors had diverted their attention from them, the captured kidnappers attempted to escape into the crowd.

However, they underestimated the elite of FreedSteel team!

"HEY! THEY'RE RUNNING AWAY!"

Before they could mix with the crowd David acted and threw his chains to catch them. Unfortunately David was eating popcorn and thought that Perona had them under control, so he couldn't act in time and was only able to catch one of them in time. 

However, Stephen wasn't the only one who reacted and reacted too late, David ran after the runaway kidnapper. And upon see that the demon who massacred his team run after him the scared kidnapper took a desperate measure.

He took a 16-year-old girl as hostage. A young naïve girl who was observing almost hypnotized the country's young hero without being aware of what could happen to her.

"STAY AWYA!" The kidnapper shouted like a madman, placing his knife on the girl's neck, making her bleed slightly to show that he wasn't bluffing. In addition, with his other hand he pointed his gun at anyone who dared to get close. "LET ME GO OR I'LL CUT THIS GIRL'S NECK!!

I SWEAR!!!"

With the young girl life in danger and the possibility that that crazy man would shoot them, people once again dispersed around that kidnapper. They were all afraid of ending up also becoming victims or, to a lesser extent, being responsible for the death of that young girl if they tried to act as heroes.

And also as collateral damage, attention was also completely diverted from the duel of glances and accusations between Fred and Laffitte, to which almost no one was paying attention anymore.

'This breaks my plan to get Laffitte out of the way before the promised day...' Fred thought at an absurd speed as he reformulated his plan 'A problem that no longer has a solution, but in practically every problem there's some type of opportunity, no matter how small and insignificant it may be…'

Before the bureaucratic police could draw up a plan of action Fred had already left Laffitte side, moved through the crowd and calmly entered the area devoid of people with the kidnapper and his sobbing hostage in the center to act as negotiator.

"You, the idiot with the knife," Fred said casually while peeling a banana. "What's your name?"

But unlike Fred, the people around him, the hostage and the kidnapper couldn't be so relaxed, especially the kidnapper. Seeing that he was facing Fred directly, he panicked even more as he sensed that he wouldn't get out of this alive.

"Fu.. fuck…" Stuttered the kidnapper. He was so nervous his hands were shaking, affecting his aim and hurting the hostage. "My… name… is Co…"

"Corpse Project, that will be your name" Fred interrupted while eating his banana to further reinforce how irrelevant his enemy was to him. And to make him understand that he had no control over the situation, Fred gave him several options. "Corpse project, you can choose two options right now

The first... carry out your threat and try kill that innocent woman if we don't let you escape.

In that case, the exact moment you try, whether you succeed or not, I'll catch you and...

Make you wish you had never been born."

That arrogant and confident attitude that conveyed that he was in control of everything, his death god aura who seemed to be pressing his heart and soul with his hand, his simple although cruel and accurate words and above all, that sadistic smile thirsty for human blood famous throughout the guild ended up destroying the kidnapper expectations of being alive the next day.

"Fu.. fuckkkk…" Stammered the kidnapper, who began to cry as he sensed that nothing Fred did or said was a bluff. "No... not that..."

However, that would only be the first episode of his descent into madness...

"You know, many people have abused this phrase to the point of emptying them of content, as has happened with words and phrases like [gourmet], [fascist], [easy open] or [I love you].

They've been used too lightly lately, so much so that they have lost the true meaning that gave them that majestic power" Said Fred, theatricalizing the first part of his new intervention in a very good mood to end in a very threatening way. "But I don't take those words and phrases lightly.

I'm really going to catch you and do things to you so, so, so horrible that you'll wish the condom you dady used to prevent your unwanted existence had never broken."

At this point the kidnapper was already completely paralyzed

"…uffm…"

Paralyzed and terrified by what could come next

"But cheer up, the second option is to turn yourself in to the Sherif and spend some time in jail away from me." Fred continued with his speech, once again theatricalizing very good vibes, but this time with excessive sarcasm in the second half. "There're rumors… unfounded, of course… that he's corrupt and accepts bribes."

Who knows, maybe instead of ending up in prison you can buy your freedom

What do you say? It's a great option for you!"

But Fred got no answer.

"…"

And Fred, faced with this lack of response, carelessly advanced towards the dangerous kidnapper before the fearful and disbelieving gaze of the hostage and everyone who was watching him

"What's happening? You cannot speak? Can't you choose any of the options?" Fred said with excessive sarcasm, a few centimeters from the face of the totally paralyzed kidnapper. "Of course you can't speak or even move!

Side effects of being poisoned by me"

Before Fred began to play his role as negotiator he took one of his new small and light poison needles with [Red Light, Green Light Mark 12] and transformed it into a common mosquito in its hybrid form. That mosquito, after a small detour, landed on the kidnapper, biting him and poisoning him without him or anyone else noticing since they were totally distracted by Fred's performance.

With this method Fred won easily, avoiding the risks and saving the lady in distress in an epic way in front of the entire crowd. A girl whom Fred caught in one of his muscular arms before falling to the ground because her legs were shaking with fear.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! I love you!" Said the rescued girl, who was in a rare mental state that was torn between fear, relief, joy, fainting, euphoria and the most exaggerated teenage fan phenomenon available "I owe you my life Fr...Fred-sama

No... I don't know how to repay you..."

"Don't worry, miss, it's over now" Fred said, still holding her in one of his arms without leaving her on the ground, among other things because she grabbed his arm with all her strength. Seemed like she didn't want to let him go. "But will you excuse me for a moment?

We have to deal with a bad guy first"

"Yes, of course" The girl responded without making the slightest effort to leave Fred's arm and step on the ground again, perhaps never again in her life. "Anything you want."

This was certainly unexpected and disturbingly, but Fred made no bones in front of her or her enthusiastic audience, who seemed to like what they were seeing. After all, Fred didn't need two arms for what he was going to do next with the paralyzed kidnapper.

"You know, I would like to fulfill the first threat I told you, but unfortunately I don't have time to devote to you" Fred said calmly to Corpse Project while resting his free arm on his paralyzed head. "And I don't want these beautiful streets to get even dirtier with the blood of scum like you."

 And these were the sweetest and most beautiful words Corpse Project had ever heard!

'Oh God!' Thought the paralyzed Corpse Project, who apart from celebrating like never before would also cry with happiness if it weren't for the fact that even his tear glands were paralyzed. 'Thank you!

I'M SAFE! I'M NOT GOING TO DIE TODAY'

But before he could realize...

"For that reason"

Fred grabbed him by the head with his free arm and threw him into the air with all his strength. Corpse Project flew over all the people, fountains, small buildings and some boats on his aerial journey to the port before he fell into the sea, from which he could never leave alive again.

Not because he died in the fall, or because he was an Akuma No Mi user, or because he didn't know how to swim. He was simply unable to move his body to return to the surface thanks to Fred's poison.

"Drown to death without having the slightest possibility of doing anything to prevent it." Fred said sadistically while performing one of his favourite low-cost torturous deaths... before changing his acting register to that of a seductive hero to talk to the girl who was still clinging to his muscular body. "Something similar to what that bastard intended to do with this beautiful lady whose neck is bleeding and whom I have to cure right now."

The cut wasn't deep and didn't bleed too much, but it was still a wound in a very delicate part

"No… it's… not necessary…" Said the girl, completely red like the drops of blood that ran down her neck. She thought she was about to faint, Fred's face was too close to hers. "It's just a small cut."

However, Fred wouldn't take no for an answer, much less if he had to cure a collateral victim of one of his problems, especially when this girl seemed to have a slight fever. She was very red and her body temperature was very high.

"Yes, a small cut...

A small cut that will cause pain, stinging and discomfort for days if there's not infection.

But we can avoid all those unnecessary setbacks in a few seconds with a single sip of...

Wound Welder Mark 37! On sale at FreedSteel in one month! Book it now at the Slowagon offices!" Said Fred in his merchant mode to publicly display a bottle of his new product, and then return to his seductive hero mode to finish the exhibition "Open your mouth and say...

Ahhh…"

It wasn't difficult to get the injured girl to open her mouth so that Fred Li could make her swallow her medicine, after all she had been with her mouth open all this time, breathing very hard and occasionally swallowing saliva.

Once drunk and waiting some seconds for the medicine to take effect, Fred passed his hand in front of her neck, turning all traces of blood into rose petals, revealing a pristine neck without any cut marks.

"INCREDIBLE!"

"It was real!? I cannot believe it!"

"I need to have several of these at home"

Many of the passers-by attending the show had already read in the newspapers about the miraculous effects of the FreeSteel company's Wound Welder that, no matter how much they searched, they hadn't yet been able to find in the stores where the products made by Fred and his associate were usually distributed.

Some came to believe that the product they read about in a news story a few months ago was some kind of hoax. But upon seeing its live effects, knowing its release date and where to pre-order it, many quickly ran to the Slowagon company offices before was too late.

But no matter how many people rushed to take advantage of this business opportunity, most simply wanted to witness the living legend before them, like the girl held in Fred's arm. A girl who finally agreed to step back on the ground when she saw her group of friends, also Fred fans, sneaking glances at her.

"Thank you… thank you… for everything…" The girl said enthralled after coming down from her heaven while touching her hair with a genuine fuck-me face. "My… my name is Marta."

"And my name is Fred" Fred said as he bent down to kiss the back of her hand, as was customary among the upper class of the country. "Delighted to help you, Miss Marta."

Due to the accumulated tension, the excitement of the courtesy kiss or perhaps due to the loss of nutrients after using the regenerative medicine… the girl fainted, falling on top of her friends who were biting their nails with envy. But Fred no longer paid attention to his teenage fan club, he wanted to address a broader audience and that's why he climbed onto one of the empty stages that were previously used for political marketing.

"I'm happy to help you and all of you!

I love being able to always be of help to good people!

I love the people of Ballywood!"

And inspired by the tactics of one of the most hated beings in Fred's soul, the young bounty hunter, doctor, scientist, lawyer and businessman resorted to the most basic populism to win over the practically already convinced masses.

"Freeeed!!! WE LOVE YOU!"

"You're our hero!"

"I WANT A CHILD OF YOURS!"

"ME TWO!!!"

A relatively pitiful spectacle that ignited the base instincts of the hundreds or even thousands of people who had gathered in that square, who looked at Fred with admiration, optimism, enthusiasm, passion, hooliganism and even some lust. However, his trusted team had a totally different reaction to seeing him act this way.

"Is just me or is disgusting to see him behaving like this?" Perona said, totally outraged at witnessing so much falsehood, "This is not the real Fred!

AND WHY ARE THERE SO MANY GIRLS CRAZY ABOUT HIM?

He's not that handsome!"

"As my mother says… fame, success, money, confident attitude, a lit stage and a good beard are the best makeup for men

But the feeling is mutual Perona-chan.

I REALL WANT TO HIT HIM!" Stephen said as he passed his big hammer from one hand to the other before sheathing it again. "But he made a good promotion, so I'll forgive him a little."

"KYAH!"

Everyone on the FreedSteel team was pretty much at odds with the crowd except... 

"FRED-SEMPAI!!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!!" Yelled David, who joined the stupid mass, making his way to be in the front row "YOU'RE SO COOL!!!"

Fred was very popular in Ballywood, so popular and generally loved that…

FIU!

A sniper tried to blow off his head while he was taking a mass bath

Chaf!

But unlike other popular idols in the US, Fred had prodigious hearing that allowed him to hear the bullet approaching his head, reaction capacity to avoid death, controllable hair, ability to transform part of that hair into armadillo armour in the event that the bullet was imbued with Hakim, the ability to turn the bullet into rose petals 

And apart from that he also knew where the shot came from!

Although only a few were insightful enough to realize that that distant, silent shot to kill Fred existed in the first place.

"Stephen" Fred whispered through his mini den den mushi "2 Kilometers, in the cathedral, in the…"

"I know," Stephen interrupted. "Continue with your show."

Stephen needed no instructions or directions to know where the shot came from or what to do next. From the shoulder of his armor appeared a miniaturized cannon with a silencer for silent assassination missions. A compact and silent cannon that made practically no noise when fired, but whose power and range had nothing to envy of the largest and noisiest sniper rifles.

And in Stephen's hands or shoulders became an excessively deadly and silent weapon in a square full of people who shouted excessively.

FIU!

Chaf!

Stephen's silent shot completely hit the sniper hiding in the bell tower, however...

Din! Don! Dan!

"Hey? Bells ringing now?"

"Is it already 12 noon?"

"Is my watch wrong?"

Unfortunately Stephen made a tiny mistake in his calculations by overestimating the resistance of his enemy's head and that's why the shot didn't go as unnoticed as he wanted by the people of Ballywood.

"Interesting..."

Especially Laffitte, who was the only one in the square capable of perceiving everything that had happened from beginning to end, something that Stephen also perceived.

"You'll find the corpse without a head… and perhaps without the upper part of the body… in the bell tower of the cathedral" Stephen told Laffitte without trying to hide his displeasure towards him, he was terrible at acting "You'll be able to clear the cost of cleaning and repairing the hood with the sniper rifle he was carrying."

After seeing the power of Fred and his crew, their popular support from the people he theoretically served and remembering how close he came to falling into his enemy's trap, Laffitte understood that there wasn't much he could do right now. At least not without taking excessive risks in digging his political, social or even literal grave.

His only option was to sneak away while Fred and the crowd still forgot and ignored his presence.

"We'll see you, Fred" Laffitte said as he left with his men and the suspect that Stephen gave them, knowing perfectly well that Fred would hear him even when he was on a stage with his show several meters away. "Don't forget to pay for the repair and cleaning

Or we'll see each other too soon…"

"Don't worry, we're just here for tourism" Stephen responded on behalf of Fred, who told him exactly what to tell him through the mini den den mushi "We'll pay the bills, have a good time for a few days and get back to work."

---

After finishing the improvised show, signing autographs and saying goodbye to their crowd with a kind excuse, the FreedSteel team got moving again to complete their… touristic… tour.

And obviously during the journey they discussed everything that had happened and could have happened so far.

"Fred-senpai! Stephen-sempai!!

You're so cool!" David said almost through fanboy tears as he hugged Stephen, the only one of his idols who accepted hugs. "Thank the gods you came to help when the police came!

Otherwise we would have fallen into their trap one way or another!"

"Boss…

I'm also a bad-thinking paranoid with too much imagination just like the corrupt sheriff said to you ooooooooor…" Perona said, looking at Fred extremely inquisitively. A look that didn't deviate even a millimeter from the eyes of Fred, whom she was chasing flying in her ghostly form. "Did you know from the beginning that this would happen and you used us as bait to expose those scumbags as part of your plan?"

"That's exactly what happened" Stephen responded as he pointed at Fred without the slightest trace of guilt when accusing him. "I didn't know, it was all his doing."

"Ahem…

We'll talk about this when we get to the hotel room.

But first we have many other things to do" Fred said quickly changing the subject "By the way…

"David, Perona... how much money do you have left after your buying spree?"

A change of topic that was acceptable on Perona's part, since she had been waiting for this question.

"Sorry Boss, but we spent all the money" Answered Perona, partially imitating Fred's usual cockiness after countering an enemy evil plan with an even more evil plan. "We can't give you anything back."

Horo-horo-horo!"

"Have you spent 1 million berries in less than an hour buying stupid things?

Impressive, but I wasn't asking so you could give it back to me" Answered Fred responded with his usual cockiness after countering an enemy evil plan with an even more evil plan "Part of that money was to pay for the possible damage you could have caused while we were away.

I guess I'll have to deduct the repair costs from your future salaries."

"WHHHHAAATTTTT!?"

A plan so evil that left its victims in shock, especially David, who fainted.

"YOUR'RE EVIL!" Perona shouted, almost on the verge of crying at such injustice as she harassed Fred with Negative Hollows "A MONSTER! AN ABSOLUTE DEMON!!

YOU SHOULDN'T BE CALLED DEMON HUNTER! JUST DEMON!!"

A cry of indignation and useless attack that greatly amused Stephen.

"STEEL! STEEL! STEEL!!"

And a lot more to Fred

"MUA HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Fred laughed evilly as he picked up the shrunken and fainted 30cm David. "Lessons to learn from today…

Fight with moderation to avoid causing collateral damage

Don't spend more than necessary, even if it's money that someone else has given you

Be responsible for your own actions

AND...

Never mess with me or my people…"

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You'll be able to see 8 chapters in advance in my Pa-treon

pa-treon.com/user?u=83938371