“You guys should stay back I'll handle this.” Joe said, as he came to a stop in front of the wooden gate. He gestured with his arms for Shelly and Viola to get behind him, and they obliged.

He unsheathed The Black Blade and gripped it firmly. He raised it over his right shoulder, before he brought it down diagonally with a powerful swing.

Metal struck wood and the gate immediately crumbled. Countless pieces of broken wood feel to the ground as the entrance to the Trash Can was blown wide open. Joe's lips curled into a smile before he sheathed the blade back.

He turned around to face his companions. “Preety cool, right?”

Viola looked at him with sparkling eyes, the smile on her face growing wider. It was safe to say. she was impressed.

Shelly on the other hand, didn't show the same enthusiasm. She didn't show anything. Her eyes were dull. As she walked past Joe, she said, “we should keep moving. We have to find that bastard.” Her fists clenched as she moved to the entrance.

Viola followed closely behind her but not before giving Joe a sympathetic glance.

Joe was slightly deflated by that response. He wanted to do something cool, in hopes of cheering Shelly up even if it was momentarily.

Joe also wanted Mikey dead, he was just as mad as she was. But he also wanted to ease Shelly's pain. Because he also played a role In her sadness and rage.

If he didn't tell Shelly to catch those boys after they stole from Dorothy. Maybe Shelly wouldn't have gone after them, maybe she wouldn't have caught one of them. And maybe John would still be alive. Joe knew that was a lot of maybes, and he couldn't have predicted how things were going to play out. But even so, he couldn't help but blame himself for it all.

He exhaled and shook his head, trying to focus on the task ahead. These what if scenarios were not helping. He trudged to the entrance following closely behind Shelly and Viola.

As soon as he stepped inside the Trash Can his nose was immediately assaulted. A foul stench invaded his nostrils and he had to cover his nose immediately. How he didn't puke right then and there was a mystery even to him. His throat turned bitter from the odor and he couldn't help but wince.

The source of this discomfort was obvious. As far as the eye could see, the Trash Can was submerged in garbage. Piles of trash that mimicked mountains were everywhere. If it was disgusting and really old, Joe was probably looking at it.

Children ran up and down these ‘mountains’ playfully. Some used them for climbing, while others used them as slides. Others were even gathering all the mud they could find to build what looked like a garbage snowman.

Joe's eyes fell on a boy no older than 14, he came across a half eaten rotten apple. The boy didn't waste a second before he bit into it, even though it sounded as hard as rock.

Before Joe could even fully process the scene before him, a voice came crashing down from above.

“What are you doing here Viola?”

Joe's eyes immediately darted to the source, he found a young boy located at the summit of one of these mountains. He slid down with practiced precision before walking towards them. Flanking him on either side were two boys. They all wore tattered shorts and were walking barefoot. Only a few of them were wearing shirts, while the rest exposed their frail upper bodies. The boy who spoke was the only one with a circular ink smearing his right cheek. By the look of things, he was the leader.

He stood 5m away, and the other boys did the same. His gaze drafted to Viola. “Shouldn't you be at work Viola? “ His eyes then darted suspiciously between Shelly and Joe, “and who are these people you brought with you?”

Viola stepped forward. “I'm here to take my brother back and Joe and Shelly are going to help. They want to bring down father.”

The boy chuckled at Viola's words. “You can't seriously believe that to be possible right? We both know father can't be beaten. Especially not by guys like this” he gave both Joe and Shelly an odd look.

“But they can do it!” Viola argued, her voice energetic. “This guy right here defeated Red!” She pointed at Joe with a confident expression.

“That's impossible! You're telling me a guy like that defeated one of Mikey’s Big 3?”

“Yes. These guys are strong Levi. They can actually do it. They can bring down father."

“Why? Why are you suddenly turning on father Viola” Levi asked, “father is the one who saved you and Ed. He even gave you a job. Why betray him?”

“We both know that place can barely be called a job. A lot of our friends have been dying almost everyday. Even John died to day!”

Levi’s eyes widened in surprise after he heard that.

“No more Levi. I'm going to stand by Shelly and Joe. We'll take down Father and save everyone!”

Levi was quiet for a few seconds almost as if lost in thought. “Look Shelly. I'm willing to look past your betrayal because I'd like to think that you're still one of us. I won't report you to father, but these friends of yours need to go. I'm trying to help you. If you fight against father, all of you will get killed.”

“No Levi. We're not turning back!” Viola refused to budge.

“Well I guess you leave me no choice.” Levi turned around to face the rest of the children. “Guys!” He shouted, his voice sending a loud echo that shook the garbage mountains. “Viola has betrayed us. She has chosen to go against father! We can't let her get through!” Levi turned to face them, and a crowd of the other kids gathered around him.

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Everyone picked a brick, pole, stick and basically anything else they could use as makeshift weapons. Levi retrieved a rusted knife from his pocket, before saying. “Sorry Viola, You're not getting through.”

Viola was about to say another word, when Joe crept up from behind her. He gave her a pat on the shoulder as he stepped foward.

“You guys should stand down, don't make me hurt you!” Joe cracked his knuckles looking to spark some fear into the young boys.

It seemed to work. They gave each other nervous glances and their hands started to tremble.

"Don't let him try to get to you! We can do do this?” Levi tried to galvanize his troops despite looking worried himself.

Joe didn't wait for the boys to come to him, he became the aggressor. He closed in on them faster than they could comprehend. They all felt something strike them at the back of the head before they collapsed to the ground.

Joe had struck all the boys with precise neck chops and knocked them out cold. He made sure to hold back his strength as much as he could to ensure that none of them were badly injured.

“I just knocked them out. We can come back for them later, for now we have to keep moving.” Joe explained, glancing at Viola behind him.

She nodded with understanding and continued to lead them through the Trash Can. They took several twist and turns, the route was like a well designed maze. If Viola wasn't with them, Joe was certain they would've gotten lost. During their 10 minute walk Joe also slowly began to adapt to the sickening smell that plagued the Trash Can. It wasn’t easy, but he eventually managed to do it.

Viola halted as they came face to face with their destination. She pointed at a building straight ahead, “that's the place. That's where father is located. “

The building itself was made of bricks. It was two floors high and looked stable and secured. It was by far the best structure Joe had seen in Perina. He glanced at Shelly and she nodded. All the of them trudged forward before coming face to face with a large wooden door.

When compared to the gate, it looked far more sturdy and imposing. But Joe didn't have time to play around. He kicked the door with his right foot and it flew off its hinges. It crashed into a wall and shattered to pieces. Producing a loud and dominant echo.

The three of them entered seconds later. The room was a long hallway. They found themselves in the middle and two paths were presented to them. Both ends of the hallway had a small window which allowed natural light to seep in. But more importantly, on either side there were a set of stairs that led further up the building.

The bottom floor, was empty which suggested everyone was likely to be upstairs.

“I need one of you guys to help me go check on my brother. He's located upstairs on the right side of the room. But one of you has to go to the left hand side. There are children there who also need help. We need to split up.” Viola said.

“What about Mikey? Where is he?” Shelly was the first to ask.

“He's upstairs." Viola replied. "It doesn't matter which side we take. We'll see Mikey’s room at the center of the second floor. His room is sandwiched In between two rooms, so no matter which side we take, we'll find him.” She explained.

“Allright then.” Joe spoke up, “I'll take the left. Shelly you go with Viola.”

Shelly nodded and they went their separate directions.

Shelly and Viola reached the staircase on the right and they scaled up to the second floor. It's there Shelly saw something unbelievable.

Both sides of the room were on was stacked with colossal cages. Children no older than 16 occupied by these cages. Many of them were coughing painfully. Others were heavily Bandaged. While some were even missing limbs. The children were all sobbing. The pain clearly too much to bare.

“Useless!”

At the center of the room a voice boomed. If belonged to a tall women wearing a purple dress. She held a black staff as she battered what looked to be a young boy relentlessly. She brought down the staff like a hammer, and only stopped once the boy was unresponsive. Her black staff became soaked with blood. She heaved, before slowly turning around.

“What a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here Viola. Shouldn't you be working?” She asked as she walked towards them. She dragged the boy like a bag, smearing a trail of blood behind her.

She came to a stop 8m in front of them. “Do you know what this boy did?” She lifted him up. “This idiot allowed one of my reliable boys to get captured. John is probably dead and it's all his fault.” She threw the body and sent it tumbling to Viola's feet.

When she saw it, Viola immediately fell to her knees. “Ed!” She rushed to check his vitals. Fortunately, he was still alive but was hanging on by a thread. “How could you do this Claudia?” Viola shouted, with tears flowing down her face.

“That brother of yours costed me a useful boy. He's lucky I didn't just kill him. Although the blame should also go to that good for nothing Stan. He was supposed to make sure something like this didn't happen. Its a miracle that boy even came back with the potions!” Claudia could not hide her irritated expression.

After a long while, her eyes finally fell to Shelly, “huh? And who are you supposed to be?” She asked, almost as if she only now just noticed her.

Shelly didn't bother with her question, her eyes fell to Ed. “That's the boy from earlier. So he's Viola's brother?” Shelly immediately clenched her fists. “What the hell did you do to this boy and all these kids!” Her rage was evident in her eyes.

Claudia's eyes darted around the room. “All these kids you see here are my patients.” She said proudly. “It's my job to ensure they are fully healed so that they can continue to be of service to Mikey.”

Shelly's voice grew louder. “So you're only healing them because you want to continue to exploit them and send them to their deaths. “

“Exactly, “ Claudia replied. “Isn't that a healer’s job. You fix them up so that they can continue to fight. As long as they draw breath, it is a healer’s job to make sure they get back up to fight until their bodies drop”

“No, that's wrong!” Shelly shouted. “A healer is supposed to protect them, so they don't get hurt in the first place. That's what it means to be a healer. What you're doing I'd wrong.”

“Is it now? Well girl, what are you going to do about it?” Claudia firmly gripped her staff.

Shelly stepped foward. Glowing green orbs smothered net hands as she did. [Skill Activation: Green Fists]

“I'm going to make sure, you never get anywhere near these kids again!”

Claudia smirked. “Well then, It's see if you can back up your words girl.”

[Left Hand Side Of The Building]

Joe climbed the stairs and reached the top. He came into a strange room. From either side of the walls he found children In cages.

Thses cages weren't closed but the kids stayed put. There were about 10 of these cages and 3 children occupied a single cage. Most of them were unconscious, and the few that did remain looked exhausted. They were barely keeping their eyes open and were all incredibly thin. They looked like skeletons. Joe couldn't belive what he wss seeing. But he knew the one responsible for this.

A man stood at the center of the room. He wore a stylish red suit. His boots shimmered as he took casual steps towards Joe. He had a stick with a piece of meat in his right hand. “So it's you. You must be the boy Red tried to won us about. When I received his signal, I thought his Mana Stone had broken by accident. But now I'm starting to think that's not the case.”

His footsteps oozed confidence and he came to a stop 7m away from Joe. “You have some nerve showing your face here after what you did boy.”

Joe tightened his grip on the Black Blade. Ignoring the man's words completely.

“What did you do? What the hell did you do to these kids!” Joe's voice boomed.

“That is none of your concern. I should be the one asking why you've entered Mikey's territory.

Joe pointed his blade at the man. “I'm here to kick the ass out of that Mikey of yours. And I'm going to save these kids. I'll start by making you pay for what you did to them!"

The man chuckled. He took a big hard bite out of the meat on his stick. He said while chewing “Well then, I want to see you try.”