Maxwell and Tobin (Chapter)

The Twenty-Fifth chapter of Sins Venials follows adult host Tobin and his friend Maxwell.

Plot Summary
The chapter opens with a man and a woman pick pocketing another man. The woman is a seductress, while the man does the actual stealing.

Suddenly, a man wearing a Gauntlet appears. He catches the woman. His friend stabs the man, revealed to be Lust. The woman is revealed to be Greed, and interesting turn of events. Their assailants introduce themselves as Maxwell and Tobin, with Tobin being the host. Maxwell and Tobin seem very aware of their situation as host and "buddy" of the host, and of the Sins. They soon find Anger.

That night, Lust finds Maxwell bound and gagged in their tent. Maxwell and Tobin leave to get food.

Lust is confused on how the two can so easily find and identify Sins. She get Pride to distract them with her Host Body. However, they identify Pride, and try to kill the host body. Pride leaves the body, and uses it to distract them. However, the two realize the ruse, and Maxwell pretends to be distracted. This distracts Fortune in turn, allowing Tobin to find and bind Pride.

While talking later, Lust reveals to Pride that Maxwell is tied up every night. The next day they defeat the Host of Envy, who also thinks there is something strange with the two. Gluttony is the next one captured, who thinks, since her thoughts are more animalistic than human, that they are just human, much to the chagrin of Lust, who proposes that they're monsters, aliens, or Tarot. Finally they capture Sloth.

Now that every Sin is found, Lust suggests that Maxwell and Tobin should proceed to the Temples. They refuse. Sick of this, Lust makes one of them shed blood, arousing Gluttony's hunger. When Gluttony, after starting to feed on Maxwell, begins to vomit, the Sins really know there is something wrong here.

As it turned out, two former Sins have taken possession of Tobin and Maxwell. Insulting Lust for being in charge yet being dumb, Maxwell reveals himself to be Pride, and Tobin is Anger; more correctly, they are the Vices who stood in for them while the Sins had their Golem bodies who were angry at the lack of gratitude. To get revenge, Maxwell and Tobin do not seal and unlock the Sins, causing the universe to begin to deteriorate, and they could survive by leaving. To try to get them to stop, Lust begins torturing Maxwell. Lust also reveals (or possibly lies) to Tobin that his soul is bound to the Host body, preventing him from leaving.

Finally, Pride decides to be nice to Maxwell. Anger follows suit with Tobin, and the two unlock the Sins, restoring balance.

By the end of this, Maxwell and Tobin return to the Spirit Realm, and tell Pride what they had done. Pride admits that they were better than most candidates for Sins, but would never get in after the uprising. Pride then promises to spread word about the status of former Sins of Maxwell, Tobin, Luxuria, and the other 4 Vices who stepped in for the Sins.