Standard Debt Repayment Schedule
There are certain traditions involved in the repayment of debts within criminal circles. Rather like the sequence of dares in A Christmas Story, there is a particular means of escalation that allows for maximum terror while also allowing for maximum repayment. While there are a few villains so vicious as to prefer killing the borrower, most would simply rather get the money. Or the favor, or whatever the agreed upon collateral was.
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It is at this point when the "concrete shoes" may begin to be a threat. Most people are afraid of drowning, barring a few who can breathe underwater (and that one guy who can control sharks with his mind).
It mainly exists as a threat, with the most common story being that everyone knows that one super Verti who was supposed to be able to fly and completely panicked and drowned even when it wasn't meant to actually kill them. So whoever is being threatened should calm down and pay back the money.
...
It is at this point when the "concrete shoes" may begin to be a threat. Most people are afraid of drowning, barring a few who can breathe underwater (and that one guy who can control sharks with his mind).
It mainly exists as a threat, with the most common story being that everyone knows that one super Verti who was supposed to be able to fly and completely panicked and drowned even when it wasn't meant to actually kill them. So whoever is being threatened should calm down and pay back the money.
I like it! And Verti is just a victim of a very simple and reasonable procedure to motivate for punctual repayment. Nothing nefarious to see here.