NOVEL WEB Chapter 24: Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18: THE SHAPE OF CHAOS
...
The Council Chamber
The Observer Council had never been this loud.
Even before he opened the door, Mr. P could hear them. Shouting. Flames crackling faintly. The low hum of psionic energy thrumming through the walls as Greed and Genna barked at each other and Lust's absence loomed like a phantom over them all.
Mr. P pushed the door open, crooked tie and dented thermos in hand, sunglasses hanging low on his nose.
"Well," he said brightly, "I see you all started the roast without me."
The room went quiet for just a second.
Then Genna's voice cut through like a blade.
"You've crossed the line, Shinomiya. And this time, even you won't joke your way out of it."
Mr. P strolled to his chair as if nothing was wrong, setting his thermos on the table and sitting backwards on it, arms draped over the top.
"Oh," he said lazily, "and here I thought you lot had crossed the line by waiting this long to call me. Priorities, priorities…" He clapped his hands softly. "So tell me... where's my darling Lust? Haven't seen her today. She sleeping in? Or something more… or maybe taking a shit?"
That did it.
Zero's eyes lifted at last.
The faintest twitch of his jaw. A silent clenching of his fist beneath the table.
"I'd advise you," Zero said coolly, "not to test me, Paku."
But the others didn't even let Zero finish.
"You... " Genna snarled, rising fully now, flames curling from her arms. "You're the one who created that thing! That thing that nearly burned Eden to ash! And while we fought and bled to contain it, where were you? Watching? Laughing?"
Sera's psionic voice cut in like icewater. "Or perhaps collaborating. We should have known your games would catch up to you."
Greed's hands slammed the table, his voice a growl. "We've spent the entire night trying to clean up your goddamn mess, Shinomiya. Luther razed three sectors. Killed hundreds. And you? You sit in your little lab and make jokes while we burn am sure."
Even the quietest sin of sloth who replaced the previous sin, finally muttered: "You've crossed a line even for you, P."
Mr. P just sat there, thermos in one hand, sunglasses slipping a little lower.
"Oh," he said after a long pause, "so this is what gratitude sounds like."
Genna barked something incomprehensible and hurled a chair.
It shattered on the wall beside him.
He sipped from his thermos and smiled faintly.
Zero rose slowly to his feet.
"Where were you," Zero said finally, voice low and cold, "when it happened? When your creation unleashed hell on this city. When soldiers died. When civilians screamed. Where were you, Paku Shinomiya? What could possibly have kept you so… preoccupied?"
For a long moment, Mr. P didn't answer.
He just stared at them. All of them.
And then.. finally... he stood.
Straightened his tie. Adjusted his sunglasses.
And began walking toward them.
Every step slow, deliberate.
When he spoke, his voice was quiet.
"You know," he said softly, "it's funny."
They all glared at him.
"You sit here in this pretty little circle, with your pretty little thrones, and you throw stones like children with dirty hands."
He stopped just short of Zero's chair.
"Do you really think," he asked, almost whispering now, "that I wasn't here? That I didn't feel every second of it? Every scream. Every spark of divine resonance? Do you think you're the only ones who bear the weight of this game?"
Genna snarled something and lunged... but before she could reach him, two of his clones appeared at the doorway, one lighting a cigarette, the other holding a tray of coffee.
Genna incinerated them both.
The smoke curled lazily in the air.
And then Mr. P leaned down, set his thermos on the table, and murmured:
"You all forget something."
Silence.
"I built this city. I rebuilt it for you. I know every crack in these walls, every thread of your little divine tapestry. Did everything for you selfish pretentious bastards. "
"Never complained... now your have the nerve to ask where was I... I mean, did i help built this city ...yes, Was I forced? yes but technically blackmail is a better term to use... So is it my responsibility, ahhhhhh i don't think so."
He straightened up, eyes behind the sunglasses glinting faintly.
"So here's my question," he said softly.
"When the mirror finally breaks… who do you think it'll show staring back at you?"
No one answered.
And then... the alarms began to wail.
...
The Uproar
The whole council chamber shook as muffled shouting rose from far below.
Through the great glass windows of the Spire, they could see it.
Crowds. Hundreds of them. Banners waving. Fists in the air.
Soldiers struggling to hold them back as the mob roared:
"Kill that thing! Kill Luther!"
"It killed my family! Why is it still alive?"
"Are we even safe anymore?"
More rocks hit the base of the tower.
Greed finally snapped, slamming both fists on the table.
"These ungrateful bastards..." he spat. "Zero. Give me the word. I'll silence them all myself."
But Zero… only smiled faintly.
And turned his gaze on Mr. P.
Who stood there, hands in his pockets, sunglasses reflecting the chaos outside.
"Ohhh no... what must we do?" he asked, mock-innocent. "So many loud voices. So many fragile egos. What shall we do?"
...
Hours Earlier
In the quiet of his lab, Mr. P leaned over his console, cigarette dangling from his lips.
Typing.
A single encrypted message.
Sent to Clone 3.
_ "Cause a scene. Stoke the fire. Sections 3 through 9 offline. Take Luther from the Cradle. Reduce it to dust. Keep him safe. He'll heal. And tell them to sing loudly this time."
Then he leaned back in his chair.
And smiled.
...
The Confrontation
Later, as the council chamber emptied... Greed and Envy storming out to "calm" the masses, Greed muttering curses under his breath... only Zero and Mr. P remained.
Zero stood at the great window, his back to him.
"Paku Shinomiya," he said quietly. "What is the meaning of this?"
Mr. P lit another cigarette.
"You tell me," he replied.
Zero turned. His face impassive.
"Are you retaliating against me?"
For the first time in years, Mr. P's grin faltered.
And something sharper slid into his voice.
He took a long drag. Let the smoke curl between them.
And then he stepped forward.
"You listen here, you bastard," he said, low and fierce. "I've done everything you told me to. Everything. I've left. I've built. I've eaten the shit you spat at me for years. And now... now... you dare stand there and accuse me?"
Zero's eyes narrowed.
"What," Mr. P hissed, his voice breaking just slightly now, "what the fuck can I do when you're holding my son hostage you bitch?"
The last words hung in the air.
Heavy.
Quiet.
Zero said nothing.
And after a long, long moment, he dismissed him with a single gesture.
Mr. P laughed once... short and bitter... and left the room.
...
Zero Cracks
When the door closed behind him, Zero sank back into his throne.
The Throne of Foresight.
And reached for his threads.
But the moment his fingers touched them, his vision flared white-hot.
His eyes burned.
And he gasped, doubling over, clutching his head as the future dissolved into static.
The threads snapped in his hands.
One after another.
Until he was left with nothing but the faint, mocking echo of Paku's laugh.
And then... Envy burst through the doors.
"Prophet!" she cried, breathless. "He's gone! Luther is missing. The Cradle is destroyed."
For the first time in decades, Zero's calm shattered.
He rose to his feet...
And whispered, "Shit..."
...
The Rooftop
Later that night, Mr. P stood alone on the rooftop of the tower.
The city below burned faintly. The mob still roared somewhere far down the streets. Banners flapped in the ash-choked wind.
At his feet lay the body of one of his dead clones, slumped awkwardly against the railing. He'd dragged it up here himself.
He took a long drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke into the black sky.
"Well," he murmured. "Nice seeing chaos once in a while."
He glanced down at the dead clone, grinning faintly.
"You'd have liked this part."
And he laughed softly, the sound carried away on the wind.
Below, Eden trembled.
Above, his eyes glinted in the dark.
...
END OF CHAPTER 18: THE SHAPE OF CHAOS