“Damn him!” Victor exclaimed as he strode across the dark sidewalk, stepping into puddles of orange light cast by the iron street lamp. “Damn that unyielding and distasteful man!”

Taro fell instep with Victor. Given that he was nothing but a soul floating endlessly through nothingness, bound to a body to which he did not belong, there is no reason for him to appear in the form of his previous body. There was also no need for him to walk, as his ghostly form could travel endlessly through the sky.

“Who are you talking about this time?” Taro said in a bored voice, examining his manicured nails.

“Who do you think?” Victor snapped, kicking the loose stones strewn about the sidewalk. “My archnemesis! The wrath of my life! The blackness infesting my heart!”

“That sounds like a medical condition.”

“Of course I’m talking about Rohan!” Victor’s eyes narrowed as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Rohan...What is his problem? What is this terrible mind that evades me so?”

“Are you two in some sort of lover’s dispute?” Taro said, cocking an eyebrow.

Victor glared at Taro. “If that’s how you want to perceive it, you foolish deviant, then go ahead. What am I supposed to do about it?”

Taro narrowed his eyes. “Are you seriously going to use me to solve your interpersonal problems?”

Victor glared at the floor, examining the cracks in the sidewalk. “You are here to do what I ask of you, right?”

“I suppose that is the case.”

“How can I get Rohan to stop his vile hatred of me? I have done nothing wrong!”

“Well,” Taro said, “you are right about that. No matter how hard you try, you really can’t do anything wrong.”

Victor slammed his hand through Taro’s form. Though it had no effect on him, Taro jumped, frowned and said, “What did you do that for? What is your problem?”

“How dare you blame me for being unable to be a supervillain! That’s why I contracted you! Because I can’t do it myself and I don’t know why! And, come on. Don’t tell me that you were actually offended by that,” Victor said, narrowing his eyes. “Frankly, I don’t care if you’re offended or not, but I will not let myself be disrespected by the likes of you.”

“Very bold of you to assume that you deserve my respect,” Taro said, but he still seemed miffed by Victor’s behavior.

Despite holding tremendous power, while in a contract, Taro was essentially powerless. Taro could not be harmed while in his current form unless his vessel, Victor, was harmed. Despite this, he could not avoid the automatic fear response that he experienced when Victor lashed out at him. If he had been in solid form, he would be unable to defend himself. And this was the problem.

“Why don’t you just join his pursuits?” Taro said, standing beneath a particularly radiant lamp that caused his form to drop in opacity. “If you are really that concerned with what he thinks —”

“I don’t care about what he thinks at all!” Victor snapped, turning away from him. “I could care less whether or not foolish man is fond of me. He is my enemy after all. I just can’t understand why he’s so dismissive.”

Taro cocked an eyebrow. “Maybe because you defy everything that he stands for?”

Victor rolled his eyes. “What is it exactly that I so defy?”

Taro snorted. “The fact that you want to destroy the world or some lofty, ridiculous goal like that?”

“I want to do no such thing,” Victor snapped. “All I want to do is wreak havoc and be known as the best Daemonic Practitioner there ever was!”

“I see,” Taro said, curling his lip in displeasure.

“You should be on my side,” Victor snapped. “You are a demon! You should want me to be evil. You should love evil.”

Taro wrinkled his nose at Victor. “What are you talking about? Demons aren’t inherently evil. Demons are just creatures that feed off of negative energy.”

“Which is why you should want terrible things to happen?”

Taro sighed. “Not all of us want a life of aimless destruction. Many demons try to live a good life by minimizing harm.”

“So you’re saying you are some kind of saint right?” Victor snapped, glaring at Taro. “You are some higher power, excellent judgement of character and a fantastic, upstanding individual?”

“I claim to be no such person. I’m not the best judge of right and wrong, believe me,” Taro said. “But it isn’t because I’m a demon. It’s just who I am. But if you want to get on his good side, you should do whatever he wants.”

“What, destroy the Parasite sucking the life from everyone in the country?” Victor said, rolling his eyes. “What a joke. Why would I want to fight a force that is on the same side as me?”

“You asked me how to get on Rohan’s good side. Whether or not you follow my advice is none of my concern.”

Victor groaned. “I suppose you’re right.”

“He did give you a chance to join him,” Taro pointed out. “Right before he left.”

“Why did he even leave? He wasn’t completely healed yet.”

“Yes, but Lukas did say that there was going to be another purge,” Taro said, giving Victor a sideways glance. “He wants to prevent that. Since, again, he is not very inclined toward committing evil deeds.”

“I just don’t understand how he can leave without any consideration for me,” Victor snapped. “He always has done this.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I go against his moral compass in any way, he never tries to convince me to switch sides! He acts like he doesn’t even care!”

“Is he supposed to care?” Taro just stared at Victor, shaking his head in disbelief over the fact that a man could be this stupid.

“We were rivals throughout our entire lives!” Victor exclaimed, crossing the road and sitting down on the grass surrounding Monument Park.

Monument Structure had already been restored to its former glory, moonlight glittering off of its peak.

“Rivals…?” Taro muttered. “Don’t you just mean you were best friends?”

Victor rolled his eyes. “You love to come up with ridiculous names for simple concepts. We were not best friends, we were rivals.”

“You are so weird.”

“I did not ask for your opinion on my general state of well being!”

Taro rolled his eyes. “Why did we even come here?”

Victor sat up from the grass, glaring at Taro. “You foolish mortal need not know the truth behind all of my intentions!”

“What? You are much more mortal than I am. I can live up to a millennium, goddamn it.”

Victor suddenly clapped his hands together once, sharply. “I know what I’m going to do,” he decided.

“And what kind of plan are you referring to now?”

Victor whirled around to face Taro, mischief shimmering in his eyes. “Do you remember the Cessation Sword nonsense that Rohan was talking about?”

“The sword that Prince stole from the Parasite’s house that is the only thing that could kill her?”

“That’s right. I am going to succumb to my sense of darkness and steal it from them and destroy it! Then, nobody will ever be able to challenge the parasite again!”

Taro stared at him. “What actually is wrong with you? My god, you are deranged.”

Victor suddenly snapped to his feet, eyes narrowed.

“What’s wrong?” Taro asked.

“There’s trouble,” Victor said.

Taro crossed his arms and sighed. “Don’t confused borrowed power with your own talent.”

“What are you talking about?”

Without warning, Victor caught the blur of a figure spring out of nowhere. He threw his arm over his face in time to catch the leg careening towards him. The light beneath which Victor stood suddenly extinguished, plummeting the park into darkness. Before Victor’s eyes could adjust to the darkness, something smashed into Victor’s stomach, sending him careening into a tree.

Victor leapt to his feet and pressed his hand against his chest. There was no need for sight. The following occurred in only a split second. He felt a rush of pain swell through his arms, like knives stabbing him from within. He visualized the black force field surrounding his body and, with a shout, released the energy building up through his body.

He felt the presence of a large form inches away from his nose, and then it whirled away as void-black tears shot through the air, flinging the figure away from him.

Victor felt pangs of pain and power surge through him as he dashed toward the figure, but before he could attack again, he heard a cry of protest.

“Wait! Wait! Vicky, it’s me! It’s just me!”

“Marquitta…?”

Victor stopped dead in his tracks. Eyes now adjusted to the dim lighting, Victor beheld the form of Marquitta, who was lying on the grass, laughing.

“My, my, Victor!” she exclaimed. “You’ve grown so strong! Quite strong indeed. Remember when I could knock you out with one kick?”

“I remember it well, Miss Marquitta.” He smiled and flopped onto the grass beside her, unable to contain his excitement.

“Oh, there is certainly no need to ‘Miss’ me anymore, Victor! You are an adult now! It is not like you ever needed to call me that in the first place, correct?”

Marquitta was a dark skinned woman intruding into her middle ages, hair molded into a perfect poof-like shape atop her head. She wore a red tailcoat that traveled down her legs and a black outfit. The red top-hat she typically decorated her head with gave her the appearance of a circus ringmaster.

Victor helped Marquitta to her feet and pulled her into a hug that she returned with great enthusiasm. “How long has it been since we’ve last seen one another?”

“It’s always too long,” Victor said. “How have you been?”

“Oh, I’ve been peachy, you know how it is, don’t you?” she said, placing her hands on Victor’s shoulders, examining him with great warmth in her eyes. “I have heard that you indeed got yourself into much trouble here, yes?”

“Not enough trouble, if you ask me,” Victor laughed. “I didn’t know you were visiting here.”

“I did not know either!” Marquitta said. “Oh, this is quite a shock as any to me. I was called in here for work.”

Victor cocked an eyebrow. “Work? Really? What bank are you robbing this time?”

Marquitta cast him a sidelong eye and tutted. “I do not like your attitude there, boy! You know I do not simply rob banks for the hell of it! Come now!”

Victor laughed and gave Marquitta a good natured punch on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t be insulting you like this unless I knew you could handle it.”

Taro stared at Victor and Marquitta, mouth agape, as if he couldn’t fathom the idea that Victor has the physical capability of talking like a human being.

“Marquitta, why don’t you help me out with something, now that you’re here?”

Marquitta’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Of course I would love to! What do you need help with?”

“Stealing a sword.”