Blood of the Innocent

File 3: Fresh Meat

"In this world, the mafia controls everyone and everything," she said, "Law enforcement, hospitals, even small taxi cabs. If you aren't affiliated or in good terms with the mafia, you'll die faster than a person with dehydration and starvation."

—

Minny began to explain as they drove to the meatshop:

"My organization, Mafia di Proiettilo, is a combination of multiple gangs under a neutral alliance. This neutral alliance allows them to rival each other, with the ability to kill and receive targets on their head, while still benefitting each other in terms of cash and profit. This system has been proven to be quite beneficial compared to other systems formed by previous mafias. The one who came up with this system is the boss, otherwise known as The Nameless King.

No one exactly knows of his identity, for the only one who communicates with the Boss is the messenger. The messenger can only be spoken to by the four Capos, who are the gang leaders of North, South, West, and East Italy. They basically control the gangs within their area, and the members who patrol it.

Butcher is the Capo of Northern Italy, which is controlled by the Bangtan Gang. Sicario is of Western Italy, Faizione is of Southern Italy, and Draiocht is of Eastern Italy. In fact, Butcher is also a gatekeeper."

"Gatekeeper?" asked Persona, "Who's that?"

"A Capo that enlists new members into our organization," replied Minny, "We're here."

Minny and Persona stepped out of the mustang, walking towards the entrance of the meatshop.

Persona noticed something, "Ah! I've forgotten to bring the butcher's knife! I don't have a weapon in case things get a little dirty."

"It'll be alright," replied Minny quietly, "It's not like we'll burst in using an assault rifle. Just take whatever you can and use it to your best potential."

The duo entered the shop, which was full of customers waiting to be given chopped meat. Minny noticed that Butcher wasn't at his usual workplace. Upon that conclusion, she knew that he must've been in the back alleyway. Persona followed Minny, snatching up a little kid's yo-yo. After toying with the yo-yo for a bit, the line broke off. The yo-yo bounced on the ground before coming back to Persona, being repaired by his Magia.

"This is one broken yo-yo," he thought, "Every time I drop the yo-yo using the line, the line breaks. Even when I repair it, the line is so weak that it still breaks. It's like the yo-yo manufacturer scammed people who bought it."

Minny glared at Persona. Right.. he shouldn't be thinking about yo-yo's. He should be thinking about his framer. Minny opened the backdoor, revealing Butcher, who was smoking a cigarette on his break.

"Ah, Minny!" smiled Butcher, "How's it going, cutie pie?"

"I told you to stop calling me that," glared Minny.

"Did you take down the Capo killer?"

Persona opened the door, immediately pointing at Butcher, angered, "Hey! Don't you dare call me the Capo killer! You're the one who gave me the murder weapon!"

"I guess there's no use hiding it," replied Butcher, disappointed, "I'll have to eliminate you both and bring your heads as evidence. Then I'll get away with killing the Capo of the Draiocht Gang."

Suddenly, Butcher threw a knife at Persona. Persona was stabbed in the chest by the knife, but he pulled it out, repairing himself as he did it.

"Careful, Persona," whispered Minny, creating an ice spear, "You're dealing with a Capo. Best of the best."

Minny rushed in, thrusting with the ice spear as Butcher parried her attacks with melee weapons he had created out of thin air. Butcher had a repertoire of weapons at his disposal with the help of his Blade Magia. Minny's Ice Magia was on par with it, deflecting his attacks as well. All Persona could do was watch since he didn't bring any weapon. That is, until he looked down at the yo-yo he was holding.

Butcher was hit in the head by a broken yo-yo. Minny and Butcher both stopped fighting. He looked down, seeing it bounce on the floor. Suddenly, it returned to Persona, who had grabbed ahold of its line. The line was repaired.

"Whoops," smiled Persona with a smug face, "Sorry about that."

"A yo-yo?" chuckled Butcher, "You really thought that was good enough? You're as pathetic as your father, Ziratoni."

"What? What do you mean? What about my father?"

"He was a gang member of the Bangtan Gang. Named The Great Persona. However, he slipped up, looked too much into something, and was killed by someone in the mafia. What a dumbass."

"My father.." mumbled Persona, getting angered, "He always knew what to do, helped my family whenever he could. This job opportunity of his.. it wasn't an offer. It was a cry for help! He isn't a dumbass!"

Persona charged in, grabbing a cleaver that had fallen to the floor. Minny yelled at Persona, telling him not to be hasty. However, Persona was too angered to listen. Unfortunately, Butcher had cut off Persona's shoulder in the process of his outburst. Blood sputtered out of the limb as the bone shined visibly in the sunlight.

Persona didn't care for the wound. He cared more about his own attack, stabbing the cleaver into Butcher's body. Persona let go of the handle, backing away from Butcher.

"You idiot," smiled Butcher, "You're a dumbass just like your father. Even if you damaged me, I still did more damage to you."

But Persona's wounds began to heal as he touched his shoulder, repairing the arm to its limb. Minny gasped. Not only did Persona heal his wounds, but he healed Butcher's wounds too.

"Healing Magia?" laughed Butcher, "That's your ability? Even more, you healed me in the process? It seems like you can't even control your own Magia!"

"Think again," Persona replied, "If you even try to move, think about the consequences."

Butcher looked at his chest, noticing a bulge in the skin. The cleaver that Persona used to stab him... It was inside! Persona healed the wound to entrap the cleaver inside Butcher's body! If he were to move his body, the cleaver would cut his insides, causing internal bleeding. Minny saw her opportunity and pulled out a little machine.

"Talk more about why you killed the Capo," said Minny quietly as she applied the machine to Butcher's hand, "You remember this machine right?"

A little board was placed under Butcher's fingernail. With the smack of a button, the board would lift up, ripping his fingernail off. Minny demonstrated by slowly ripping off the fingernail of Butcher, exposing the flesh in his index finger and causing him to scream in pain.

"Alright, alright!" yelled Butcher, "I killed him for power! I wanted the power!"

"That doesn't make sense!" interrogated Minny, "You're already a Capo! Why would you need more power?"

Suddenly, Butcher began to flail, causing the cleaver inside his body to cut his vital internal organs. This process killed him slowly, and in great pain. Yet it seemed like Butcher would rather take a slow and painful death than revealing his true motives.

"Ziratoni's kid.." whispered Butcher in his final dying words, "Well done.. You're part of the Bangtan Gang."

Minny sighed in disappointment, not gaining any information from Butcher. As she stood up and put away the fingernail ripping machine, she decided to head to the Bangtan Garage: The place where the rest of her gang members are. Since she's the leader of her individual Bangtan Gang, she decided to introduce Persona to her crew.