Doom watches Foley walk out the door and nods at his mother, who follows him out into the Agora street. Doom stands back, turning his eyes to the owner behind the counter.
He walks over and puts his gloved hands on it.
“I understand you pay a tribute.”
The man behind the counter isn’t sure what to say.
“They force me. They said if I don’t pay the tribute, they’ll burn down my store. Everything I own is in this building.”
Doom sighs.
“Do you sell Jawbreakers?”
The abrupt question surprises the store owner who nods and pulls one out from beneath the counter. He hands it to Doom, who holds it in the palm of his gloved hand.
“Tough little things, aren’t they?
They threaten to break your teeth if you’re not careful. Most people would never put one in their mouth for fear of exactly that. Instead, they’ll delicately lick the Jawbreaker until it loses layers and then, when appropriate, put it in their mouth to suck on.”
The store owner nods.
“A lengthy process, that is for certain. Gino Carelli doesn’t have any tact. Any foresight or vision. He’s this Jawbreaker, you see. What he relies upon is the fact that no-one dares try and bite into him. He realizes that he’s stronger and tougher than most, so if they attempted to sink their teeth into him, he’d break them all.
But worse than that, it extends further, doesn’t it?”
Doom taps the jawbreaker on the counter, but only dents it.
“You can beat him around. You can give him a good smack upside the head, and he just keeps coming. A jawbreaker until the end.”
The storekeeper looks a little lost.
“I.. I can’t do anything about it, sir.”
Doom scoffs.
“No, you can’t.
But I can.”
In one sift motion, he closes his gloved hand into a fist and holds it up. Carefully and slowly, he pours the now crushed jawbreaker out of his hand.
The storekeeper looked stunned.
“Gino Carelli may be a Jawbreaker and to the ordinary folk such as yourself, that may just be enough. But to someone like me who’s made a life solving problems of great difficulty, Gino barely registers on the scale.
I crush problems like Gino Carelli.
Because a Jawbreaker only works if you sink your teeth into it, or are too afraid to do so. I am neither.”
Doom walks away, leaving the storekeeper to chase after him.
“Can you stop him for me!?”
He pleads.
Doom laughs.
“For you? Absolutely not.”
He peers outside the door to Foley, who waits for him.
“But for him… All will bow before Doom.”