2.d.ii
Corporate Man became aware of The Greed
infestation while investigating Halloween Wholesale Ltd, a company that dealt
exclusively in holiday related merchandise.
Incidentally, HWL would one day be responsible for bringing color
coordinated Christmas lights to Halloween, Valentine’s Day, the 4th
of July, St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter.
They have yet to crack the Thanksgiving market.
After a merry
chase, Corporate Man tracked The Greed into the Jorgeson Bluff neighborhood,
one of the largest trick-or-treat destinations in the city.
Back then,
when The Greed traveled from person to person, he didn’t invade their bodies,
per se. His presence already existed
within the host and his manifest-psyche (what would one day become his
gelatinous slug-like sewage form) had yet to become a physical thought-form
projection of himself, so it drifted superficially from one carrier’s mind to
another.
Ironically, he
was a slipperier catch in those days, but his host minds were generally quite
obvious.
Generally.
The kid was
wearing a Rocket Man Rik spacesuit. It
was his third such costume of the evening and he’d been revisiting the houses
that gave out full-sized candy bars or lesser candies in fistful quantities. He planned to store the candy and sell it
school when everyone had eaten the last of their Halloween goodies.
“What are you
supposed to be?” the infected, Rocket Rik wearing boy said.
“I’m Corporate
Man,” said Corporate Man. “A hero for capital–”
“Never heard
of you. Your cape looks more like a
tie. Should be Nerdman.”
“And you look
like a greedy little boy who’s taking advantage of the generous people in this
fine, upstanding neighborhood.”
“Shut up,
Nerd.”
The white
stripes running down the sides of the boy’s space suit glowed a brilliant
blue-white that was so bright in the orange, atmospheric haze it made Corporate
Man’s eyes ache.
“You aren’t
adhering to fair business practices and at such a young age I feel you may
never escape corruption.”
The boy’s
voice became harsh and garbled. When he
smiled his teeth were a dull sickly green.
“I get them younger and younger these days. Can’t you see the futility of your efforts,
Corporate Man?”
“I’ll give up
on the American people when I’m dead,” said Corporate
Man.
“If that’s
what it takes,” The Greed said.
He
pounced. His glowing space suit left
light traces in the air, his movements becoming a luminous blur. Corporate Man sidestepped and batted the
child aside. The boy stumbled and
crashed into a mailbox, opening a gash above his eyebrow.
“Is that what
you intend to do, Corporate Man? Beat up
this small boy? Why don’t you break his
nose or fracture his legs to teach me a lesson?”
Corporate Man
took a step back and gritted his teeth.
“Oh, don’t
think we’re done fighting just because you’re conflicted about hitting me,” The
Greed-boy said. He lunged forward,
swinging. Corporate Man blocked the
punch and dodged a swift kick from little-boy legs.
“Don’t give
in. Fight it,” Corporate Man said.
“What on Earth
are you talking about,” said Greed-boy as he attempted a leg sweep.
“Life’s not
all about money and how much stuff you can accumulate.”
“Oh, dear
me. Are you trying to reach out to the
little boy I’ve inhabited?” Greed-boy asked.
He shook his head.
“Pathetic. Simply pathetic.”
Greed-boy
charged forward, lowering his head like an enraged bull. Corporate Man spun away and locked his arms
around Greed-boy’s neck.
“Fight it,
damn it. Fight! Can’t you see that you have more than enough
already?”
The Greed-boy
struggled, but Corporate Man maintained the headlock.
“All the money
in the world can’t buy happiness. You’ll
end up isolated and alone.” Corporate
Man tightened his hold. “Share. Be giving and generous. That’s the way. You’ve more than enough candy to go around.”
“Hey! Hey, check this out,” a voice called from
across the street. “Dude’s beating up a
little kid. Trying to steal his candy.”
Corporate Man
looked up. A teenager with glowing red
hair and a bright skull painted on his face was motioning in Corporate Man’s
direction. He wore a black body suit
with the bones of a human skeleton emblazoned upon it, glowing in that black-lit
blue-white.
“Dude, that’s
totally bogus. Let’s kick his ass,” a
larger teenager said. This one was
dressed like a devil. There were five
boys in all. Corporate Man dragged
Greed-boy away from the pack and continued his attempts to reach the mind of
the child inside.
“Dude! Dick’s trying to get away. After him!” called out devil teenager.
“Fight The
Greed, boy. Reject him!” Corporate Man
yelled.
“Uh oh,
Corporate Man, it looks like you’ve made some friends.”
“Oh shit. Uh… shit,” Corporate Man said, picking up the
boy and running. The teenagers broke
into a sprint. “Come on kid. Do you think your rocket man guy would be
such a greedy bastard? He’d be ashamed
of you if he saw you. You aren’t fit to
wear his uniform.”
A spasm shook
the boy’s body and a loud gurgle belched from his mouth. It smelled like asparagus and wet dog. The teenagers were almost upon them.
“You have to
decide. Who are you? The Greed or a space hero?”
The boy’s jaw
flew open. Corporate Man twisted away
from the gaping mouth, angling it toward the teenagers. A dirty, milky blast of fluid erupted from
the boy’s gullet, spraying the angry, teenaged mob.