Sticks and Stones...

(Gun to ya head, name me 3 Michael Jackson songs off the top of your head that aren't on the Bad or Thriller albums.)

(James POV)

I quickly jump off and desummon Nue, dropping right next to Angel and picking him up in a bridal carry with my bottom arms. "Hey, hey, Angel, can you stay awake for me?" I snap my fingers in his face, trying to get him not to succumb to unconsciousness. "Just stay awake for me, buddy; I'll get you a room and fix you up in no time, kay'?"

My snapping eventually yields his good eye cracking back open and looking at me, trying to focus upon my form. He tries to reach up and grab my face, but his arm falls limp. I quickly grab it before it falls on his face and let it down. "Round deer, he—" I cut myself off as I realize something important.

'Shit, I don't know what'll happen if RCT is used on somebody without cursed energy; it's basically holy.' I grit my teeth and desummon round deer before quickly running in the hotel. I slammed the door open, surprising Vaggie and Nifty, who were watching TV and eating a sandwich while playing with her spear, respectively.

"James, what the fuck?" Vaggie yells as I rush Angel upstairs and put him in a random room, laying him down on a bed, and Vaggie and Nifty stood next to me. "Oh my god, is that Angel Dust? Nifty, asked. 'How the hell do you know who he is?" Nifty shrugged at Vaggie's question. "I watched some of his stuff; he's pretty good, y'know?"

"Can you guys take this seriously? Go get some bandages or something!" I raised my voice at them, and they quit arguing and went to go get medical supplies. I quickly turned back to Angel to see him still staring at me, his mouth trying to form words. I quickly cut him off, half summoning maximum elephant, still in a shadowy state and pouring a small stream of water onto Angel's tongue.

He greedily drinks down the water, and soon I stop; he licks his chapped lips and takes a deep breath. "Sinners don't die, Darkside; I would've just come back if you let me bleed out." A smile grew on his face as he talked. "Well, I couldn't just let my second favorite Spider-Man just bleed out on our front lawn, right?" I try to joke back. He let out a small chuckle, coughing almost immediately after and turning over. "Look, I've been through this before; just let me rest for a bit, and I'll be outta your hair, kay'?" 

My smile disappears at his words; he really wanted me to just leave him here, alone and barely breathing… How fucked up is hell? I tried to say something else, my hand raised up to try and tap him on his shoulder to talk to him, but Nifty and Vaggie busted the door open, bandages, ice packs, heat packs, and various other items in hand. 

Together we all treated his wounds, ice on burns and bruises and alcohol on his cuts, yet throughout the treatment he didn't even wince once; he just stared at the ceiling, almost like he wasn't even here. sooner than later he looked half decent, not exactly good, but like someone who could live to see tomorrow. Nifty and Vaggie already walked out, giving the excuse of 'guy time' being needed. 

A frown was plastered on Angel's face, putting his arms around himself and almost looking as if he was trying to become smaller, shrinking in on himself. "... I'll let you rest for now, okay? Just give a shout to one of these guys, and I'll come running." I summoned about 4 bunnies from Rabbit Escape. "Keep him safe, alright? If he asks you to get him something, call me." The bunnies stood on their hind legs and gave me a salute, running to Angel's bed and cuddling against him. 

He flinched away from them at first before slightly poking them until he fully embraced them in his 4 arms. I walked to the door, yet right before I went out, I heard Angel Dust mutter under his breath. "Damn weirdo…" I looked behind me and saw him grabbing one of the rabbits tighter, trying to relax, but I could see his muscles tightening, his instincts still on one hundred. "Stop doing all this shit and just skip to the end already." He said it very quietly, his voice shaking as he said, almost sounding as if he was on the brink of tears. I bit my lip in frustration and gently closed the door, leaving Angel in room 69. 

Dear Diary,

Three days ago Angel Dust stumbled in the hotel, bleeding and bruised beyond hell; it made me feel sick. He didn't even flinch once when we were treating his wounds; it looked like he was detached, not even there at the moment. It makes me sick how someone can sink into that much despair and apathy, how someone could disconnect from their emotions like that… I swear I'll fuckin' kill Val.

But before I can do that, I must know more about souls. I thought that I could just see and affect souls because I have Amery's alongside mine right now, yet from what I know this universe doesn't work like that. I know souls exist, and they can be affected, but I can't really do anything to them, so I need data first. Amery recommended I try opening the six eyes at Angel Dust the next time he asked for food, so when my rabbit came to me, I went to his room and fed him, one eye slightly cracked open.

What I saw was an illusory purple chain wrapped tight around a mound of energy in his chest. While he was eating his food, Angel saw me and… I could see him almost tear up before putting his smiling mask on and offering me 50% off oral for treating him… I just walked out. I felt horrible.

Is this what hell does to people? Not even having them think that any act of kindness would be out of selflessness, but only for personal gain. Yet, I can only blame myself. What the hell was I thinking? "SuRe, Let's StaRE At ThE AbuSe VicTiMs ChESt AfFteR ThEy CamE tO yOu." I'm such a fucking idiot.

[A splotch of black ink covers the page, the tip of a pen broken off.]

I still got what I needed; I knew what souls looked like now, and I could see their physical representation through energy. I thought I could circumvent my lack of soul knowledge using binding vows to ask Amery to give me her soul, yet for some reason binding vows didn't even work in the slightest when that was on the table.

I tried rephrasing it multiple times, yet nothing happened for me or Amery. Now I have two theories for this. 1. Since Amery is just a soul and doesn't even have cursed energy, she can't participate in binding vows. 2. Souls aren't recognized in jujutsu. I can't be certain in either of these theories, as I can't prove any of them.

I've also recently tried to look for Valentino, scouring Sin City and checking in every other strip club and bar I could find, but I just couldn't track him down. The thing is though, I know he's still out there; on the news it showed one of Velvette's photos where he's in it, so where the fuck is he? I remember the show's creator, Vivzipop, saying that sinners can't leave Pride, so he's still in this ring… He's just hiding from me.

I don't like it, but I have an idea. What if Valentino let Angel come here as bait or something to lure me out into a trap? It has a bunch of holes in it, of course, knowing Valentino isn't that smart, his "protectiveness" over Angel, and his overall attitude. But there's still something, something inside of me that screams something is fishy.

Whatever… Right now, I'm going to try and meditate to try and figure out my own soul; I think it would be good practice for actually interacting with them. I have a little idea about using domain amplification to try and cancel out the effects of a contract, but that's actually a baseless theory in every way possible.

Tomorrow, I'll use Ghost With The Most and develop a lie detector or something while I go to Roo. I'm thinking of a sort of mask to detect half-truths and lies.

James out.

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