Hollow Shells

SHRULK—!!!

Venus and Veronica watched as their comrade's head imploded violently, causing his blood and brain matters to scatter the floors. Gian-Luca was divided into hundreds of fleshy bits, a final moment that was much too gruesome for the remaining Sins to watch.

"GIAN-LUCA!!!" Veronica screeched at the top of her lungs. She ran over to his body that began to fall, and clutched onto his body while sobbing over his remains. Venus could only watch, frozen with shock at the sight of another corpse being added to his collection of memories. This one was sure to stain his mentality forever. This death was sure to haunt him for life.

"WHY?!?!" She screamed. "WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!?"

"Veronica…" A tear slowly fell from Venus' eye.

"YOU!" She got up and pointed towards the Overseer. "HOW COULD YOU COME IN HERE AND RUIN WHAT LITTLE WE ALREADY HAVE?! HE DIDN'T DESERVE THAT! WHY WOULD YOU—!"

"Silence." The Overseer raised his hand and clenched his palm. The air in the area suddenly condensed into a singularity, causing everyone's ears to pop at the sheer pressure. For Veronica, this pop and pressure would be felt elsewhere internally.

Pop—!

"Ack—!!!" Veronica hunched over, grabbing her chest with excruciating pain. She tried to form the words to speak, but the pain inhibited her from doing so. She felt blood beginning to rise up her throat.

"I've imploded your heart, Veronica," the Overseer told her.

"Y-You w-what—?!"

"It's where your emotional essence had accumulated. One slight manipulation of the emotion in your body, and it all crumbles down into a simple process of condensation." The Overseer clenched his palm again.

Shlurk—!

Veronica felt her heart collapse into a singularity of muscle and blood, of which was a place too tight for all too fit, so with the energy that built-up in tension, it was released with an excessive rebound that would completely erupt all the organs inside Veronica's body.

"ARCK—!!!" She fell forwards, planting flat on the bloody concrete floor. Her body twitched, and twitched, and twitched, until it twitched no more. A pool of blood could be seen forming from beneath her lifeless body. As this all unfolded, Venus had been unable to do anything. His will was left traumatized, and his morale was non-existent. But underneath the frozen movement of his, there was an immense amount of pent-up rage ready to blow at any moment.

"You…" Venus shuddered. He felt his arm begin to rise, followed by an instant clench of the palm. "YOU—!!!"

In the flicker of a second, the Overseer's helmet was abruptly struck by a quick and brutal force of some sort.

CRACK—!!!

The top corner of the Overseer's helmet shattered open, revealing a single eye to see past the tinted mask that'd concealed its face. Across the road, Venus' arm was raised, supported and raised by his other from underneath. He held his position, ready to fire another shot with his ability if the situation called for it again.

"There he is, the Sin of Pride…"

Venus wanted to scream at the Overseer. "WHY WOULD YOU KILL THEM?! THEY COULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL IN WHATEVER PLOTS YOU HAD!"

"Don't be so obvious. None of you would have gone along with our plans no matter what they were. You all resent A.X.A., don't you?"

Venus gritted his teeth. He didn't know what to say.

"I must say Venus, I'm quite disappointed with this result. It took you two casualties before finally taking initiative against me. You could have easily saved those two had you responded with your ability sooner—"

"SHUT UP!!!" Venus screamed. He knew that what he was being told was the truth, yet it was a truth that he wanted to reject, simply due to the guilt that would be harbored if he were to accept his mistake.

"What happened to you?" The Overseer asked. "This is not the Sin of Pride, but rather, the hollow shell left behind. The old you could have resolved this in no time."

"The old me was never me. This is the real me… This is me, truly!"

The Overseer scoffed. "Remember what Chamuel told you? Your ability's strength resides in your pride. Without it, you're a nobody, and you're a weakling. Your pride defines you, Venus."

"NO IT DOESN'T!" Venus instigated another blast from his palms, now shattering the other half of the Overseer's mask. It was done on impulsive rage, but was an effective hit nonetheless. The Overseer was surprised to see his statement contradicted so soon, and with this, his helmet crumbled and fell apart, finally revealing the Overseer's face.

Venus couldn't believe his eyes.

"Midas…?"