𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐃𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐘

Chapter Twelve: Cupidity

╔═════       ═════╗

cu·pid·i·ty |  /kyo͞oˈpidədē/

(n.) greed for money or possessions

╚═════       ═════╝

Once I received my McDonalds order, I said farewell to Rarilee, and left with Ballora. I wanted to get back home relatively quickly so that I could consume my Quarter Pounder.

"That was lovely," I said aloud as we started to walk back to the apartment building. "Despite making me live through a pun, Rarilee's pretty nice!"

"I've never seen her before..." Ballora muttered. "Why would she have claimed to recognize me?"

"She probably mistook you for someone else," I told her. "I mean, look at all the people here! There are so many varieties, someone's bound to look somewhat like you!"

I gestured to the streets, where citizens were walking, chatting amongst each other. One of my favorite parts about The Big City is seeing all of the different people going about their day, communicating and interacting. They were always so interesting to see.

As we walked, I saw a man with large curly hair sitting on a bench smiling as he painted something on a blank canvas, mumbling something about 'mistakes' and 'happy accidents'. Two identical men in hats, one wearing more formal clothing than the other, walked by us in the opposite direction. We passed an alleyway, where an older man with a goatee and hat was talking to another, much younger man in a beanie, and I could vaguely hear him say something about 'needing to cook'.

"Just look around you!" I exclaimed. "There are so many interesting people here!"

"Wonder, stop talking to me," Ballora snapped. "The more you do so, the more likely we're going to be thought of as friends."

"What's wrong with that?" I asked, looking at her.

"We're supposed to hate each other, aren't we?"

I tilted my head. "That makes it sound like you don't hate me," I told her. "C'mon, Ballora, do you still hate me after everything I've done for you?"

"You killed me!" she said indignantly. I groaned loudly.

"For the last time, I did not kill you!" I retorted. "It was Techno that did it! Quackity lied to you!"

"He did not-" Ballora tried to say, but was interrupted by a sudden shout from behind us.

"Hey!"

I turned around to face the two men that had passed us earlier, who were walking towards us.

"Uh...us?" I asked as they approached.

"Yes, you," said the more formal man. Since they were closer to us, I was able to see them better. The one who spoke was wearing a green suit, a black and green striped tie, and a top hat, and a weird fluffy plant was sticking out of his front pocket. The man beside him looked almost exactly like him, but in grey, shabby clothing. Both were staring at us, intrigued.

"Hol' up..." I muttered, before suddenly recognizing them. "You- You're Tumblr Sexymen, aren't you?"

"Sure are," the formal man nodded. "The name's Greedler, and this is Onceler."

"Nice to meet you!" I offered them a grin, but it quickly faded when they did not return the friendly gesture. "Uh, my name is Wonder, what do you need?"

Onceler stepped forward. "Wonder, do you know who this woman is?"

He pointed at Ballora, who looked just as confused as I felt. "Uh...yeah? What about her?"

"Haven't you seen the news?" Onceler asked. "The mayor put a warrant out for her arrest. There's a reward for whoever brings her in."

Ballora took a step back, and I promptly responded with a bewildered "...what?"

"Mayor Hayward put out the warrant yesterday," explained Greedler, his eyes never leaving Ballora. "The reward is $50,000 in cash. My companion and I, we're pretty greedy people, if I'm going to be completely honest."

"Hence the name..." I muttered, before my eyes widened in realization. "Wait, so you're here to take her?"

Greedler nodded, an eerie grin crossing his face as he took a step forward. "We're taking her to the mayor, and we're getting that money."

I glanced over at Ballora, who was glaring at the two defiantly, though I couldn't help but notice the apparent look of trepidation in her eyes. Her bullet wound hadn't fully healed, and the injury would prove detrimental to her fighting skills. I, being a good person, decided to do the noble thing, and stepped in front of her.

"Well, if you want to get her, you're going to have to go through me first," I said heroically. Greedler chuckled, shaking his head.

"If you're the only thing standing between us and $50,000," he murmured menacingly. "Then we won't hesitate to flatten you."

Without warning, Onceler jumped at me, grabbing me by the waist and shoving me aside. My back slammed into the wall, and I let out a shout of shock as he tried to drag me away from Ballora and Greedler. I began to fight back just as the former started forward, a look of combined shock, anger, and nervousness in her eyes.

"Get off of her-"

Greedler stepped forward, grabbing her wrists and pulling her back hard, a venomous smile crossing his face. Ballora tried to fight back, but the bullet wound made it hard for her to do so. Upon realizing that she was injured, Greedler decided to capitalize on his advantage, and drove his knee hard into Ballora's ribs, causing her to double over with a cry of pain.

Now that pissed me off. This asshole thought he could cause even more damage to Ballora, and make me do even more work to heal her? Not on my watch. Plus fighting dirty wasn't exactly moral to someone good like me.

I stamped hard on Onceler's toes, causing him to release me with a shout, and I elbowed him hard in the chest. Desperately wishing that I had my sword with me, I kicked him in the chest before he was able to retaliate, and he fell to the ground. One down.

I then turned my attention to Greedler, dashing over to him and slamming my shoulder into his body, forcing him off of Ballora and tackling him to the ground. He barely had time to let out a groan of pain before I was on top of him, one hand pressed down on his shoulder while I repeatedly slammed my fist into his face and head with the other. Blood started to coat my knuckles as I did so, but I didn't care. Something within me had snapped upon seeing Ballora hurt, and I wasn't going to stop until Greedler had learned his lesson.

After he had been reduced to nothing more than a moaning heap on the ground, I got off of him, panting as I walked backwards towards Ballora, who was breathing hard, one hand on her chest where her wound was.

"Are you okay?" I asked quickly, my voice laced with concern. Ballora nodded quickly, wincing in pain as she walked over to me.

"W-We need to go..." she muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," I said, stooping to pick up the bag of McDonalds food, which I had dropped when Onceler attacked me. The two of us quickly made our way home, greatly unsettled by the day's events.