...another chapter, just like the older ones. It's shorter than the others, but at least you got something that...well... doesn't suck for a change.
Krazy Kai
Chapter Ten: Death of a Power Berry Salesman
Summer 26. It was definitely a great day for some.
Those who went crazy returned to their realities. The bar patrons just dismissed the unconscious youth lying on the ground as drunks, which was rather accurate for Karen. Her father was also passed out on the floor, but he was simply unconscious.
Popuri and Gray resumed their normal careers- moping around all day and running around while watering dead flowers. Karen beat Rick over the head several times, interrupting his pathetic work. Jack was not so fortunate.
He woke up in Town Square, surrounded by every citizen of the town. The sun was setting, so everyone had gotten away from their jobs. Well, the bar should have been open, but after everyone began to pass out there the health inspector closed it down.
"What the hell is going on?" Jack blurted out. He was sitting on a bench, but his hands were tied to it with rope.
"Well, you see..." The mayor seemed nervous about how to explain things to Jack, mainly because he was known as 'the blue kid with the sickle'. "According to the Book of the Harvest Goddess, the purging of all sins is scheduled to take place tomorrow, so if any impure souls are left in the village, we'll kinda…get sent to hell…"
"Damn cults," he muttered. "Why am I an impure soul?"
"Killed a chicken," Gray stated.
"Insulted the elderly," Jeff said.
"Nearly cut my head off," Thomas whimpered.
"Locked yourself in a cellar with Karen," Ann blabbed. "I have no idea what you two were doing down there, but I can assume…"
Karen was tempted to toss an empty beer bottle (she always has one of those around, as many probably know) to silence her best friend. However, all the religious nuts would probably put her in the same group as Jack, so she decided to wait.
"E-hay eft-lay us-ay o-tay ie-day in-ay a ire-fay," a Harvest Sprite said.
Everyone stared at the gnome, who quickly scurried back to his cave.
"You city folks are fluent in Pig Latin, no?" Gotz said threateningly. "What'd 'e say?"
"'He left us to die in a fire'…" Jack said regretfully.
"Oh yeah, he's definitely gotta go," Harris said. "Trying to kill the goddess's family, eh?"
As the angry mob approached, Jack closed his eyes. He struggled to try to rip the ropes off, but he couldn't.
Crap! This could be the end. Just like it always is… Wait! I can't let them do this to me. There's gotta be something else I can distract them with. Why can't it be like the city where everyone was too busy shooting each other?
Wait—that's it!
The farmer smiled. He had found an element of Flowerbud Village that was shared with his home city.
"People!" he called, causing them to pause for a brief moment. "Don't you want to stop the salesman?"
The mob began to talk to each other, all of them asking about who he was referring to.
"You know, that guy who comes to festivals and hangs out in the corner conning everyone who's dumb enough to go by him?"
He jerked his head to the corner. "See? He's over there!"
A man, dressed in a jet black suit and sunglasses, turned to face the mob. He dropped the old rotten apple that he was painting red.
"What's wrong with me?" he asked, sounding incredibly suspicious. "I'm just a fellow from the next town. I stop by to bring stuff you wouldn't find in your own town. Heck, I even give children candy!"
Stu, Kent, and May, as if on cue, staggered out of the crowd dizzily. The villagers exchanged glances at each other.
"Wait—there's gotta be something I've done that hasn't been slowly killing the morals of this town!" The salesman panicked as sweat dripped down his face. "…You see, I've been very active in providing homes for the homeless."
"Yeah right," a very irritated Cliff spat. "You took away the cardboard box I lived in to store drugs in it!"
Most of the townspeople were getting uncharacteristically enraged. Perhaps it was fear of the Harvest Goddess's apocalypse, or perhaps they hated conmen as much as anyone else.
"GET 'EM!" cried the clown, leading the mob of normally peaceful human beings to rush at the single man.
"Darn…" The shady man's head moved to several angles, trying to find a way out. He was cornered. "I knew that selling stuff in the corner of the Town Square would cause me nothing but trouble…"
---
Everyone gathered in the Town Square once more at five minutes before midnight. In the previous hour, Jack managed to get untied by Popuri.
Thankfully, since everyone was too worried about the Harvest Goddess, no one noticed that they still hadn't punished Jack.
Kai was sitting with his arm around Karen, who wasn't the least bit suspicious after yesterday's events. He whispered something to her, which was probably 'I love you', causing her to smile. Jack mouthed something to him, which was most likely a threat.
Soon after Jack's threat, the clock struck midnight, meaning that if any evil people were in the village that everyone would suffer. But no one died and, due to the previous events of the tale, the goddess killing people wouldn't be the most farfetched event shown. Everyone must have had pure hearts.
---
"Oh crap, that was today?" exclaimed the goddess, who was lying in bed and looking at a calendar. "Ah, whatever, I'll get that Jack kid some other day…"