Screams, cries, lamentations, but nothing reached Mammon in his momentum to harm. He who felt nothing, neither pain nor suffering, was completely indifferent to the grimaces of our two friends.
After the presentation, "You're doing it on purpose, get out of your hiding place if you don't want to lose your eyes and ears," said Mammon.
"I admit you're talented, considering you were able to enter this human atmosphere," he added.
"It's been a long time since the world has had to deal with you... Mam...no."
"Ahhh, yeah, you know me? I'm flattered!" With a radiant smile.
"Come on, my dear mysterious acquaintance."
"I wasn't even born when you were locked away, but I know your cruel ways of helping, and you haven't changed!? The legend was true..."
"So, I have a question for you: normally, you don't directly target the one who makes a pact with you, so why did you kill Johnny?"
"What are you talking about? I had nothing to do with his death, and besides, he wasn't even dead. You recovered him and made him your avatar, didn't you? Plutus..."
Plutus: Mammon is often compared to this Greek god of abundance because he is a personification of material wealth. Plutus and Mammon were like rivals, since Plutus was a god, but Mammon was a mere spirit who thought Plutus's way of acting was outdated.
"But you came with other people into my kingdom? And what do you complain about, Master Plutus? I haven't harmed your dear and beloved humans, for now."
"You would do better to return from where you came, Mammon. You know the rules, don't you?"
"Ahhh, come on," replied Mammon. "Gods don't have the right to intervene in human destiny, blah blah blah, nanani, nana?"
"Open your eyes, Master! All that is over. How long has it been since humans have prayed to you? You're a god nobody remembers. We've all been forgotten since the day that Jesus revealed his existence."
Mammon replied with anger: Plutus and the ancient gods of mythology had been forgotten in favor of the all-powerful creator, and that drove them crazy. But he had decided to respect humans' decision without intervening. The problem is that when a god is no longer prayed to, he loses his powers and disappears little by little. So Mammon understood that he too had an avatar through which he would act from now on.
His master remained calm and decided to convene a meeting with the ancient gods and discuss it... Meanwhile, he took DJ and threw him out of the sphere that Mammon had created to make them suffer.
"You won't harm the offspring of these children or anyone, because I'm going to give my avatar everything it needs to fight you. Trust me, old friend."
He took the two mysterious men he had brought with him and DJ, and disappeared through a tornado of gold coins.
"Nooooooooooooooooo!"
"You don't have the right," said Mammon with a sorrowful and angry face. His aura swirled around him like a black whirlwind.
When he disappeared, Roxane realized that her friend had disappeared and that she was alone with Mammon.
"Don't be afraid, my little darling. You want to live, don't you?"
"Yes, yes," replied Roxane.
"Repeat after me: I am money, I live only for wealth, and I will die for wealth, and I swear and approve of being your servant until the end of my life."
Roxane repeated Mammon's words. Once she finished, a power surged through her, and she was transformed into a different person, much more responsible. She wore a red jacket with a rabbit mask, and then, whoosh, she appeared in front of her house, so cool and confident...
She had become Mammon's avatar.
As for Johnny, nobody knew where he was.
Plutus teleported DJ and the two other people to Nigeria to meet his old friends and discuss his new mission and gather the ancient gods, the forgotten gods, at a certain point where some of them had become humans or meta-humans. Some gods were still worshiped, even in a more modern way.
Once they arrived, Plutus woke up the two young men who were with him, DJ and the young boy who was at death's door.
To summarize, when DJ and Roxane knocked out Johnny and left him for dead, Johnny's grandmother implored Plutus to save her grandson. Only two conditions: the second was to worship him all their lives and swear allegiance to him. As for the other condition, it was that Johnny would become his avatar. So the old woman had no choice but to accept the forgotten god's conditions, who gave her power and strength because for years, nobody remembered him.
"Where am I?" said DJ when he opened his eyes. There was still a blur in his head, and when he turned his face to the left, he saw Johnny's grandmother.
"Oh no, I didn't mean to do that, Grandma. I didn't agree, it was Roxane...", with a fearful look. He was so scared that he bit his tongue and it bled when Johnny's grandmother replied.
"I know it's not your fault... It's in the past now. Focus on your new life," added Grandma.
"New life? And where is Roxane?" asked DJ.
"You're asking too many questions, kid, for someone who was about to be devoured," said Plutus with a smile and his hands in his pockets.
"From now on, you should forget about your little girlfriend. Not that it would make a difference, but at our next meeting, you wouldn't think twice before killing you," he added.
"But wait, sir, what's the project? I want to go home!" said DJ.
"Calm down, Junior!" A calm voice, a voice that seemed familiar, and the voice asked him.
"Why didn't you run away when you were in control of the situation with Roxane? I thought you were the one giving orders, DJ... Huh, man?"
When he turned towards the voice, DJ burst into tears like a baby and ran into the arms of his best friend.
"Johnny... Johnny! Fhum! Fhum! I'm... I'm sorry, bro! I never meant to... You're alive, man!! Thank God!" cried DJ in the arms of his best friend Johnny.
"Hon hon, kid, from today on, you'll only say thank you to me," added Plutus.
"Hiennn, but who are you, anyway?" replied DJ.
"Fhuumm, you can't know everything. Don't be stupid! He's an ancient god named Plutus, and it's Grandma who really knows his existence, DJ," said Johnny.
"And to be brief, it's thanks to him that we're both alive, and in return, we have to worship him and praise him. You see, our souls no longer belong to us. We live to serve him, man," added Johnny.
"I feel like I'm making the right choice by choosing Johnny as my avatar. You're intelligent," added Plutus.
Our two friends are still alive, but what does he really expect from his avatar? And what about Roxane and Mammon? What have they become? The council of ancient gods? And why isn't Johnny surprised to be saved by a god he's never heard of... The next chapter will tell us. See you in the next chapter.