I'd Like to Change My Reincarnation Subscription, Please

Ch18 - Vandalism

"Oho, what do we have here?" As Lucas approaches, both the hooligan and Jonathan have expressions mixed with both confusion and surprise. The older teen starts to straighten up, however, before he has a chance to start acting like a tough guy Lucas has already reached out for the duffel bag. "Good good, I was just thinking I could use some fun. Thanks."

Without any pomp and circumstance, Lucas simply grabs the straps of the duffel bag and turns back around to leave the way he came. Both teens are shocked at this brazen behavior, frozen in place for a few moments. Once the would-be-vandal fully realizes the situation, he goes to catch up to Lucas.

"Fuck you, give that back." Spitting this out, he gets cut off by Lucas suddenly spinning around and swinging the duffel bag at him. His eyes widen as far as they can in the brief moment before impact. Lucas has a shit-eating grin on his face, reaching up with his left arm to cover his face with his elbow just in time.

With a sudden violent hiss, the duffel bag explodes from the force of all the aerosol cans bursting near-simultaneously. Both people involved are thrown away from the explosion, however, the hooligan also gets the additional pleasure of the force of momentum from Lucas's swing as well, causing him to move diagonally away instead of in a straight line out. Thankfully, the duffel bag was made of a fairly sturdy material, so it mitigated a significant portion of the force released.

The immediate area is instantly misted with a sudden wet rainbow-colored firework, covering the forward-facing sides of both people involved, leaving a clear outline on the ground behind them where their bodies blocked the instantaneous detonation of paint.

Since Lucas was mostly prepared for the sudden burst he only staggered back a few steps and was briefly winded. He successfully blocked his eyes, nose, and mouth, however, the right side of his face did not escape the surprise assault of modern art.

On the other hand, the hooligan was much less fortunate. He is knocked on his ass a few feet out, eyes tearing up with burning pain. The only small blessing is the physical impact from the bag started forcing him to exhale as the paint covered him, so at least only his outsides are coated in paint. To say he is winded would be a bit of an understatement. But hey, at least he's alive, that's an accomplishment when facing Lucas's strength, really.

[…Congratulations on completing your minor GDV task for a total reward of .11 GDV. While you technically disarmed him, I'm not entirely sure how you got full credit since you vandalized the area in his place. Boss System certainly seems to have double standards.]

'Hah! You said it too!'

"That… Was… FUCKING SICK!" Having regained his breath, Lucas can't help celebrating his accomplishments. Casually releasing the straps from the late duffel bag, like that litter would make any difference at this point, he staggers a few steps over to lean against a nearby wall. He erupts with jovial laughter, which doesn't help with leveling out his breathing.

Still in his original position facing into the alley, Jonathan stays silently in place with wide eyes for a few moments more. Taking a longer time to process what just happened than the time it took to occur, his face slowly breaks into as huge of a grin as Lucas has.

"That was crazy! Holy shit! Wait, are you okay?" Finally giving a vocal response, Jonathan heads over to check on Lucas, who turns to face him. "...BWAHAHA LOOK AT YOUR FACE!"

Lucas bursts out uncontrollably laughing again upon seeing Jonathan's reaction. Once he calms down a bit he pulls off his hoodie to mostly wipe clean his head and hands with its inner lining before they dry off too much. He simply puts it back on when he's done since his clothes are already covered in paint anyway.

The overlooked hooligan mostly has control over his breathing by now, although he hasn't bothered getting up off the ground yet. Heavily irritated by the paint, his eyes are tearing up so much that there are now clean streaks in the paint running down his face. Peeling off his vibrantly colored denim jacket, he also pulls off his tank to try and wipe his face off with the back of it.

"Fuck…" The unsuccessful vandal starts to raise his voice and immediately coughs a few times. "Fuck you asshole!"

"Yeah yeah, fuck me. If I catch you about to do something like that again, I won't be as nice next time, heheh." Satisfied with his results, Lucas leaves to continue back in the direction of the subway with an energetic Jonathan in tow.

Once they're a bit of a distance away from the alleyway, Jonathan can't help speaking up after glancing at Lucas a few times.

"Um, while I have a bunch of questions I p-probably shouldn't ask… I still, um, how did you know..? No, never mind. Uh, anyway, you still want to go to the store... Like that? Not that I mind… It's pretty funny." Jonathan can't help the smile on his face as he keeps suppressing his laughter at the riot of smudged streaks of color still left on Lucas's hair and face.

"Eh, whether I go back now or later it'll be just as hard to clean anywho. Figure there's not much point in wasting the time walking back just to go out again. Besides, if anyone tries to mess with me, I'll just mess up their face!" Lucas cracks another grin while saying this, after he's done with his declaration he rolls up the right sleeve of his hoodie and flexes his arm, doing a perfect 'Rosie the Riveter' pose. Not that anyone other than him catches the reference.

[Ah, intentionally working on your public image I see. A very… Creative approach.]

'Eheh, might as well right? Man, I can't get over how awesome that was. ...I'm fucking high off the fumes aren't I?'

[Ahem, a bit.]

Lowering his sleeve, Lucas continues towards the subway station while outwardly seeming to be randomly chuckling to himself, an amused and slightly confused Jonathan dutifully following half of a step behind him to his left.

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Lucas kills this chapter: 0

Lucas total kills: 4

Lucas deaths this chapter: 0

Lucas total deaths: 4

Lucas current GDV: 4.33 (+.1 +.01 = +.11 net change)

Jonathan current GDV: .64

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Little character theater:

Jonathan, vibrating with excitement: That was so cool!

Lucas, smug AF: Hehehe, even better than I hoped.

427, incredibly confused: [No but really, how did you get full credit? I don't…]

(Windows error tone) SYS427.exe has stopped responding. [OK]

Author, rebooting 427: Try not to think about it too much, 427.