"What's wrong, Carlo? You aren't drinking your wine, you used to practically bathe in the stuff." Hyoubu casually mentioned.
Carlo got a melancholic look in his eyes. "I cannot keep up with the passing years. I am old."
"My family once controlled this country, but that influence is a thing of the past."
Hyoubu was already getting bored of this charade, but he had to wait until they had solid proof to dispose of him.
That's when Magi bowed down and whispered something in his ear.
"According to our research, he has made a deal with the Justice Department."
"In other words, he is licking boots of normals. And for his own safety." Hyoubu's vibe instantly changed as he glared at Carlo. The man he once called a comrade and friend.
At this moment he looked more like a stranger to Hyoubu, who without hesitation gave the order to shoot.
"Shoot him!" he whispered, making sure Carlo couldn't hear him.
***
Andy saw Hyoubu's mouth move, but he couldn't make out what he was saying.
"Shoot him. There's your sign."
After Yo cleared it up, he slowly moved the sniper rifle to aim at the older man's visage as he started sweating and panting.
Andy's finger hovered on the trigger, trembling. His breath came in shallow gasps. He could hear his heartbeat louder than the wind.
If he had pulled the trigger, he would have killed a person; even though he was a criminal mafia leader, it was still a human life.
"Did you hear me, newcomer?! Shoot him!" "Yo urged," he said, looking with disdain at Andy.
But Andy didn't pull the trigger; he just kept panting while he felt his heartbeat go wild.
But because of his hesitation, he saw Carlo's men take out their own pistols and point them straight at Hyoubu and Magi.
His gaze hardened, but he still couldn't pull the trigger; it would haunt him forever, and he wasn't sure if he could ever forgive himself.
Senzo glanced at him and shook his head a little; he was very disappointed. Even though he knew what happened in the anime, he had hoped it would be different here.
***
"Come on now, Carlo. We haven't even finished the hors d'oeuvres yet." Hyoubu remarked, looking at the men in suits pointing guns straight at him and Magi.
But instead of looking worried, he looked rather relaxed, leaning his head on his arms with a smirk on his face; the same could be said for Magi. Instead of trying to defend himself, he just stood there right behind Hyoubu.
Carlo looked at the duo with a blank expression, and with a single gesture of his hand, the men started shooting wildly, aiming at Hyoubu and Magi.
Bullets pierced the two as Hyoubu fell, blasted backward from his chair, and Magi just fell down lifelessly. Both bodies were riddled with bullet holes.
Blood splatters could be seen on the ground surrounding the two lifeless bodies.
Carlo smirked, "Heh. Life is much too short. Isn't that right, Kyousuke?!"
Now Andy was in full panic mode, screaming Hyoubu's name atop the roof. He threw down the sniper and was about to rush toward him.
But suddenly Carlo's whole body limped as if some strings were cut, and the men standing behind him all turned into Hyoubu.
Carlo was alarmed but couldn't do anything while his projection was erased.
The men standing behind him all raised their guns at each other; seeing so many Hyoubus made them panic as their eyes turned foggy and they shot.
Killing themselves instantly, Andy's eyes widened in shock; he couldn't understand anything that was happening anymore.
"Wh-Why?" He stared blankly at the large window; Senzo and Yugiri, on the other hand, were super relaxed.
"As I thought, you couldn't shoot him." Hyoubu casually said, standing on the rooftop now as well.
Andy turned around and saw both Hyoubu and Magi standing there.
"Heh, what's with that look?"
"I told you to shoot him, did I not?"
Raising his hand, he glared at Andy, but instead of panicking, he just closed his eyes and awaited whatever Hyoubu was planning.
"You do not seem to understand your position here. So you must be punished."
Seeing Andy just standing there ready to take anything, he couldn't help but smirk.
"Heh, just kidding. Here is the reward I promised. I had it specially ordered just for you, you know."
He said while putting a small necklace around his neck with the same design as the one he used to unseal his true powers.
"Take good care of it, and never remove it."
Andy's eyes widened in surprise, but he was rather grateful. Hyoubu's wrath is not something he would want to face ever.
Then he took a quick peek at the necklace.
"A limiter?"
Then Hyoubu snapped his finger, and they got teleported back into the room Hyoubu used to meet with Carlo.
Magi formed a black blade and slashed Carlo's head off, but there was no blood or anything, just wires and a metallic sound when it made contact with the ground.
"Wh-What? What's going on here?!" Andy was alarmed, but he had no idea what was going on.
Hyoubu was standing at the window with Senzo next to him and Yugiri seated on his shoulder. Looked through the large window toward the building they had just been positioned on.
"The real one is over there."
"What? Over there? That's the building we were on just now." Andy suddenly said.
"He is a high-level esper. He was protecting his men with ESP from there. He was hoping to defeat the major." Magi explained.
"But by putting you directly above him. His esper powers were negated," he continued, slowly approaching Andy.
"You may not realize it, but your negating ability seems to expand several meters when you are stressed."
"How'd he do?"
"Well, he was at least useful, as expected from you; you always had a good eye for people, Major." Magi said.
Andy looked shocked; it was like Hyoubu had everything calculated from the very beginning. His position, his power expanding under stress, and not taking the shot—he was read like a book.
"Now then, Senzo, take care of him. He has betrayed the espers and needs to be disposed of."
***
Carlo glared at the group in the room where he had just met Hyoubu. "You won't even take action yourself? "Don't underestimate me, Hyoubu!" he screamed.
"I will now destroy you all!"
A massive burst of psychic powers burst forth from the elderly man who looked severely malnourished; you could clearly see his ribcage, and he barely had any muscles.
The whole building shook, and the windows broke as the massive wave of psychic power was launched straight at Hyoubu's group.
Senzo casually stepped forward; having put down Yugiri, he stood in front of everyone inches from the massive window.
"Let's get this over with, old man," he muttered, then the massive wave of psychic energy froze in place.
"I don't feel like ruining this beautiful room, so I'll have to stop you there, unfortunately."
Magi's and the others' eyes widened in shock. How did he do it? Stopping psychic power like that should be impossible?!
They were all alarmed; even though Hyoubu had warned them about his power level, this was beyond their expectations.
Carlo looked just as shocked. The psychic power he was so proud of that had made him one of the world's superpowers and he had used to build his empire was completely useless in front of that rookie he had never even seen or heard of?
"How dare you!" he shouted. Now fully enraged, he mustered every last bit of psychic power in his body and launched it straight at Senzo.
He couldn't care less about Hyoubu and the others; he had to take down that bastard.
Senzo, on the other hand, didn't even blink; he just smiled, and then it happened.
The whole building Carlo was in was crushed; it came crashing down like a paper castle.