The rest of their journey through the subway system is largely uneventful. Jonathan merrily amuses himself, Lucas is awkwardly trying to make heads and tails of recent events, and the physical manifestation of chemically enhanced depression continues his noisy slumber.
Disembarking at the station that Lucas is pretty sure is closest to MF Fashion Boutique, the adventures of unemployment man continues on the journey alone. Someone that was going to enter that particular train car heard him from outside the door and simply went elsewhere.
As Lucas looks around the area he can't help but comment.
"Oh, by comparison, this platform is lacking in both art and aroma. Truly a pity."
"R-rather than lacking, I'd call it an improvement. Um, d-do you know the way or..?" Jonathan can't help but wrinkle his nose with distaste when giving his response. After speaking, he glances in Lucas's direction and waits for him to lead the way.
"Eh, it's probably hard to miss. I have a vague idea of where it is. I think." Shrugging while he speaks, Lucas starts the journey up to the surface. Jonathan sighs softly and shakes his head, still smiling slightly through the process, eventually following after him.
'Oh 427, my trusty GPS~!'
[...I had a feeling you were going to ask. Yes, you're going the right way. It's mostly a straight path in this direction, I'll let you know when you need to adjust your route.]
'Hells yeah. Just don't suddenly tell me to make a sharp left turn into a wall and say recalculating.'
[..? Excuse me?]
'Ah, never mind. Wouldn't be anywhere near as funny if I explained it.'
[...Okay. I'll assume it's a reference to your original world.]
Lucas gives a hum of acknowledgment, being rewarded with a confused look from Jonathan. Not that Lucas has eyes on the back of his head to notice. Only some smeared paint remnants.
Even in the center of the city, some distance away from where Lucas is used to roaming, things are more or less the same. A parade of vehicles, largely comprised of taxis, a cacophony of noise from human civilization, and the same crowds of indifferent people. Stuffing his hands into his artistically enhanced hoodie's pockets, Lucas takes in the local cultural displays created predominantly by disillusioned youths.
'Hmm, their color theory is lacking. Maybe the kid I interrupted was more capable than most, he at least carried a better pallet. Woah, that's a huge dick. He was definitely compensating for something.'
[...Everyone's a critic.]
Lucas smiles and chuckles, at this point Jonathan has enough evidence to really suspect Lucas is insane. Oh well, at least he's nice to him... In a roundabout way... Sorta.
[Oh, new area, same events. Alert; a new minor GDV task has been assigned. Please prevent the pending vandalism in a side alley, which is coincidentally a sharp left turn from your current location. It's even technically into a wall, since it is a straight dead end.]
Lucas snorts out a laugh and looks over his shoulder at Jonathan, catching the confused expression on his face this time.
"Let's make a little detour. This may seem a bit familiar." As he says this, Lucas turns to head down the alley without bothering to check if Jonathan is actually following.
This time Lucas is greeted with the sight of a teen in an ill-fitted red and white tracksuit. Bearing a bleached undercut that has distinctly black roots, he wields a spray can of black paint in his right hand and has a second can of an unseen color awkwardly poking out of a pants pocket. He's currently positioned facing an employee entrance door for one of the local businesses, a thoughtful look on his face as he's shaking the can.
Jonathan smiles a bit as he takes in the sight, thinking that Lucas just used his 'ability' again to know this was taking place.
'Oh come on, what an amateur. TWO!? I need to stop him just on principle at this point.'
[…You regularly make me reconsider where your priorities lie.]
As the most-likely-personally-motivated teen finishes shaking the can of spray paint and seems to be about to begin his artistic process, Lucas loudly shouts out a sudden "Hey!" Which immediately startles the teen into dropping the can with a noisy clatter that reverberates a bit throughout the alley.
"Oi, whatcha think you're doing, punk?" Lucas has a broad grin while saying this as he walks closer to the surprised youth. Realizing it's a stranger instead of whoever the teen feared being caught by, he lets out a brief sigh of relief.
"Come on man, you nearly gave me a heart attack. This doesn't have anything to do with you, just let it go, yeah?" While he asks this, the youth bends over to reclaim the dropped aerosol can. Lucas gives a thoughtful hum and pauses a moment before replying.
"No can do. Heh, what do you think happened to the last guy I caught in the act?" Lucas points at himself with his right thumb, indicating his distinctive choice in fashion. The grin still hasn't left his face, though now he has an inquisitively raised brow as well.
As the teen straightens back up with his reclaimed contraband, he can't help giving Lucas a confused look. Taking in the display of modern art, his face slowly takes on a look of horror. Seems that such a vague threat led to some interesting theories in his mind, far more menacing than the truth.
"Dude, what the hell! Fine, whatever!" Thoroughly spooked, the teen hurls the can of paint in his hands at Lucas's chest and turns to run around him out of the alley. Catching the can and holding it up in one hand, he shakes it a bit in Jonathan's direction near the entrance to the alley.
"Hey Jon, grab the other one too!" Before the teen makes it very far, Jonathan catches Lucas's command and quickly snatches the other can from the fleeing teen's pocket in passing. Turns out it's red.
[Congratulations on completing your minor GDV task for a reward of .05 GDV. There weren't any penalties, it seems half went to Jonathan as he got credit as well. I believe I may have mentioned before, when easy tasks are split between more people than necessary there is a bit of point loss. Hmm, didn't he only have .63 before?]
'Eh? I think so? Why?'
[He's up to .7 now. He must have had full intentions of helping you a few times by now but didn't actually get the chance?]
'Oh, huh. Expected of my trusty sidekick. Oh, still need to talk about hero, er, villain names with him.'
[...Why are you like this?]
With the stymied vandal out of sight, Lucas goes up to Jonathan with the paint can in one hand and his other hand raised for a high five. Though not all the way up, he probably couldn't reach.
Turns out, Jonathan had to hop up a bit to reach even still. It's fine, he has the energy to spare.
"Nice one, kiddo. Though I guess we shouldn't go around publicly shouting each other's names when doing stuff like this? Should we do code names or something?" Having been amused by Jonathan's limited reach, Lucas can't help ruffling his hair a bit as he says this. Getting a brief glare and his hand swatted away in return, Jonathan then stuffs the paint can he had previously confiscated into Lucas's hand in order to protect his hair.
"Oh, oh! We can start using our villain names! Have you picked one out yet, I did! I wanna be Jackknife!" Once he enthusiastically announces his choice, he pulls out his switchblade from the pocket of the sweatpants he's wearing. At a speed too fast for the naked eye, he pulls the blade out and stabs at the air in front of him a few times, hopping a bit in his antics.
'...I keep underestimating him thanks to how awkward he is. He'd probably be a bit threatening right now if he wasn't happily grinning to the point he has dimples. Kinda makes me wanna pinch his cheeks.'
[He can, and quite possibly would, cut you if you tried.]
Lucas's act of resisting the temptation of squishy cheeks is made easier by the fact he is currently dual-wielding spray paint cans. Chuckling at the jovial mini-villain, he decides to gauge his reaction to 427's proposed name.
"I was thinking... Maybe Xenoclast?" Lucas has an uncharacteristically tentative voice while asking this. Jonathan doesn't disappoint, settling in place a bit with his face lit up.
"Ooh, how imposing! I like it!" After giving his approval, Jonathan flicks his switchblade shut and pockets it again. He was probably endangering himself more than anyone else the way he was waving it around anyway.
'Right. Imposing. Some heroes we are.'
[...Recalculating.]
As 427 completes the joke he wasn't even previously familiar with, Lucas guffaws uncontrollably. At this point, Jonathan has already started getting used to what a lunatic he seems to be.
-----
Lucas kills this chapter: 0
Lucas total kills: 6
Lucas deaths this chapter: 0
Lucas total deaths: 6
Lucas current GDV: 4.39 (+.05 net change)
Jonathan current GDV: .7 (+.04 +.01 = +.05 net change)
-----
Little character theater:
Jonathan, suddenly distracted, pointing at the aerosol cans still in Lucas's hands even in the theater: Hey, what are we gonna do with those anyway?
Lucas, smiling fiendishly: Oho, I have a good idea.
427, mildly concerned: [You're going to make a mess again aren't you?]
Author, forcing a neutral voice until they begin coughing uncontrollably: Whatever do you mean 427, Lucas only considers good, clean, fun like the upstanding citizen he is, right?
Eventually, Lucas manages to compose himself. Before exiting the alley, however, he turns to face Jonathan with a grin."Hey, wanna find out if you're faster than an explosion?" As he says this, Lucas shakes the two cans of spray paint in front of Jonathan.Initially, Jonathan's expression is faintly confused. Before long though, he ends up with an even larger grin."Oh! Oh! What do you have in mind?" As he asks this, Jonathan initiates overly-energetic mode, his desire for mischief self-evident. He's nearly prancing in place, distinctly reminiscent of a dog that just got asked if it wants to go out for a walk.Stifling a laugh at Jonathan's enthusiasm, Lucas goes back into the alley and holds both spray cans ou
Having recently arrived at a major four-way intersection, Lucas and Jonathan stare up at the massive building diagonally across from them. Multi-tiered stone steps lead up to a corner entrance, its double-wide glass doors are held open with large free-standing signs with the store's current promotional information on them. Above the broad entryway is a sign with "MF Fashion Boutique" written in a large and elegant font.The outer walls are completely transparent, the floor-to-ceiling windows showing that every floor has a double-height ceiling. The first six floors display a mix of tables and myriad racks on racks of merchandise, with the occasional male mannequin or other such promotional displays. Beyond these six floors, the remaining ones still have a few promotional displays, however, there are walls covered in posters and tapestries blocking off further sight inside behind the
As Jonathan diligently takes inventory of every single style of clothing on the first floor, Lucas is slowly being buried under a mountain of fabric. Not that he has been putting up any resistance, if anything he keeps verbally directing Jonathan to grab more things in his size as well. While he is unaffected by the weight of what he is carrying, he feels tired from watching Jonathan zipping back and forth.[...Are you two planning on buying the entire store?]'Pfft, look how excited he is. Besides, we both should probably have several changes of clothes left at each of the apartments we get tomorrow anyway, so no harm in getting a bit extra. A lot extra. This really is a lot, isn't it?'[Just how do you plan on getting it all home?]
While the mighty cloth mountain, as sung in legend, was once the tallest point at the checkout counter, it has been trounced by the glorious shoe tower. Insignificant before its regal splendor, Jonathan has to hand the shoebox he bears to Mind Flare to add to its majestic parapets.[Oh dear. You probably won't make it to the grocery store tonight at this rate. Is there anything you're in the mood for, I'll start researching restaurants in the area for you in advance?]'Uhh... Not really. Apart from being rude, I'm worried if I ask Jonathan right now, we'll end up with a third joining us. And making the plans for us. Whew. At least hearing Jon's version of the exploding duffel bag incident was pretty funny. I guess MF is a bit... Lonely?'[Probably, on multiple
No longer being supported by telekinesis, the rack of merchandise heavily crashes back onto the ground. Surprisingly, only a single shirt slips off of its hanger onto the ground, otherwise, all of the remaining merchandise stays more or less in place.Mind Flare sighs heavily, every ounce of his body language expressing how absolutely done he is. Pulling a handkerchief out from one of his suit jacket's pockets, he carefully dabs some of the blood off of his face, taking care not to smudge his makeup. After doing this, he wipes his hands off a bit as well, dropping the handkerchief onto the soiled floor once he's done. Then, he raises his right hand to blow out two short whistles using his thumb and index finger.With far less care than Mind Flare had used, Lucas pulls his hoodie off to wipe his hands and face on the inside of
After some time spent in spoiled luxury, Lucas is lazily reclining in the front area for floor eight. Without any traces of Jonathan in sight, Lucas eventually asked a bot to go hunt him down.'Ya know, either that robot has better fashion sense than me, or it was someone else that picked the clothes out.'[I wasn't tracking Mind Flare at the time if that is what you are insinuating. Though he does have a whole team of designers staying here, so it wouldn't be too weird to have a person hand select it.]He has an absentminded look on his face as he rolls the bottom hem of the shirt between his right thumb and index finger. The soft fabric is certainly a much higher grade than something he'd expected to get for free. Also, the entire outfit of; a dark green hal
Taking longer than was really necessary, Jonathan eventually settles on light blue pajamas covered in cartoon fishes and a dark blue tracksuit with a few vertical white stripes. With these painstaking selections bagged to go, Lucas leads him off for the grand finale of the trip, the suits.Ever since Mikah left, 427 and Lucas have been having a constant back and forth.[-Also, while being aware of other supes nearby is clearly beneficial, when we're at a large organization HQ like this there is obviously a very high concentration of them. Though yes, I will admit, that ones that there would be a reason I cannot inform you of them in real-time are worth advance notice.]'As long as you admit to your mistake.' After a bout of comical posing, Lucas's attention returns to reality. Once again aware of the presence of the patiently waiting service bot, he loudly clears his throat before speaking."Ah, yes. Very good, we'll be wanting several each. Does it cost anything extra for putting in custom orders?" Given his cadence and choice of words, one could almost forget how ridiculous he was being mere seconds ago. But not quite, it was just too much.He'd probably deny it all the way to his grave, but Lucas is rather enjoying the absurdity of superpowers in this world, and this new villain lifestyle. You can get away with anything."Only the cost of modifications selected would affect pricing. The suits available in-store ready-made are largely to allow distinguished villains to tI'd Like to Change My Reincarnation Subscription, Please Ch29 - Unfounded Smugness
Lucas and Jonathan—dressed decently but nowhere near as fancy as yesterday—are most of the way to Cat’s Paw Cafe, pointedly not utilizing the stinky subway station to get there.‘Ya know, it’s been surprisingly peaceful, yeah? Though, not havin’ people gawk as much as yesterday is kinda nice. All that attention was gettin’ old fast.’[Ahem, well, fortunately, Boss System approved my long-term task priority filtering proposal.]‘Oh? Whassat?’[Compared to before, now it requires an opt-in before being bombarded with every single task in range. Before receiving alerts—and therefore penalties for ignoring them—we’ll run the calculations of the tasks’ estimated impact vs. potential unwanted attention. This effectively weeds out a majority of minor tasks—plus some moderate ones—by accounting for how suspicious it would be for you to know the event was taking place, let alone be believably compelled to interfere. I knew there was no need to ask if you were interested in activating it immedi
Once the allotted thirty minutes have passed—precisely down to the second—427 tentatively undeafens Lucas. At first, all he can hear is a booklet’s pages being flipped through, followed by Lucas grumbling.Hesitantly removing the remaining sensory suppressions one at a time, 427 nearly sighs with relief upon discovering that Lucas is standing in the kitchenette by the new automatic drip coffee maker—thankfully dressed—in the midst of poorly attempting to demystify its instruction manual.‘How the hell is this so complicated?’[Ah, making good on your promise to Jonathan?]‘Oh, thank fuck; yer back. Took ya long enough.’[…Hello, again, to you, too.]‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. Welcome back. So, anywho, can ya scan through this or somethin’ and tell me how to use it?’[…I already looked up the instructions from everything’s model numbers earlier. First, measure out—]427 guides Lucas through measuring and grinding a serving’s worth of coffee beans and setting it up in the machine with such in-d
For a few peaceful minutes, Lucas delights in demolishing the delicious delicatessen delivery. As Jonathan reaches for his coffee cup to gauge if it’s cool enough for a sane person to drink, he ends up cutting himself off with a yawn, earning a side-eye from Lucas.“Hey, ya barely got any sleep, yeah? Instead of havin’ caffeine, shouldn’t ya go take a nap?” Upon Lucas’s question, Jonathan pauses, looking at the contents of his mug with an obvious longing. “I’ll make ya a fresh one in like half an hour; I’m sure 427 can figure out howta use whatever newfangled machine ya got,” Lucas continues, his eyes also fixed on the beverage.[…I suppose I appreciate your vote of confidence.]Jonathan’s gaze lingers on the coveted coffee for a moment before he sets it back on the table. As soon as he lets go of it, Lucas lays his claim upon it.“Um, o-okay, yeah. I just, um, sh-should take a shower first,” Jonathan stammers as he stands.Lucas hums an agreement around a mouthful of coffee.[Did y
Thankfully, there are no further interruptions during the rest of this round of deliveries. Or even during the next one, either.Once Jonathan finally has the fourth and final load of freight, he makes a detour to a delicatessen. More specifically, the one where he previously purchased yesterday’s breakfast.After equally uneventfully acquiring milk, third breakfast for himself, and first breakfast for Lucas—since he’d totally only eat sugary baked goods if real food wasn’t conveniently available—he makes his way home.With his back to the recently re-locked front door, Jonathan reclaims the last armload of supplies as he looks at Lucas’s still-shut bedroom door.‘…Our food will still be too hot to eat for a little while; I’ll make some coffee first.’Jonathan may or may not be making up excuses to keep putting off waking up Lucas in the hopes that he’ll do so on his own, knowing full well that he probably won’t.While taking longer than necessary to decide which appliance to christen
“Ah! Um…” Jonathan’s face scrunches up a bit as he looks over his pending purchases.‘Can we at least turn off tasks while my hands are full? I really don’t want to drop everything and have it get broken or stolen by the time I get back to it… It will be annoying enough having to run back and forth a bunch.’[Requesting temporary task suppression… Permission granted; disregarding minor tasks for one hour at no penalty, effective immediately.]Jonathan barely represses his urge to sigh with relief.Before Ji Soo works up the nerve to express concern over Jonathan’s vacant stare at the wall behind the service bot, Jonathan’s attention returns to reality and redirects to said bot.“Um, c-could you hold some of it for a few minutes once I’m done paying? I-I won’t take long… Like, five minutes?” Before fidgety Jonathan even finishes asking his question, the bot is already nodding.“Certainly. Do you wish to use a private scanning kiosk to complete your order?”‘I’m surprised it’s even an
Jonathan, however, doesn’t hear the utterance of recognition. Unaware, he continues his quest for a coffee maker.A short time later, Jonathan stands--while quietly grumbling--before a row of two-in-one coffee/espresso machines.Behind him is a sea of drip coffee machines, with cold press equipment further off to the side. Alongside the arrangement of two-in-ones sits a selection of espresso machines, both automatic and semi-automatic.‘How are there so many!? What even are the differences? Wait, no, don’t answer that. The technical details will probably just be even more confusing.’[Understood.]Although Jonathan notices movement in his peripheral vision, he doesn’t outwardly react to the recent arrival at the end of the aisle. Instead, he pulls out one of the two-in-one machines set at eye level, rotating it so he can read the back of the box.“Ah! Don’t get one of those! That entire line is overpriced trash,” the newcomer blurts out, muffled by the layers of carbon-filter fabric f
After the harrowing--see also; totally normal--experience of getting his hair professionally cut, Jonathan blinks a few times as he looks himself over in the mirror. ‘Oh, wow. That’s way better.’ He’s now sporting a long-top, backswept, tapered hairstyle with a rounded back. Given how clearly tense he was throughout the entire cutting process, a trendy skin fade would have fairly obviously been too much for his liking. After giving Jonathan a few moments to make his mental evaluations, one of the hairdresser’s dreadlocks uses a soft-bristle brush to clear away the loose hair clippings around the collar of the barber cape. A few other coils of his hair organize the various tools he used, setting them aside for cleaning. Meanwhile, he quickly sweeps aside the bulk of the rogue tufts of hair on the ground in a much more conventional hands-on-broom method as he uses the mirror to make eye contact with Jonathan again. “Lookin’ good, mon. Well? Whaddya tink?” His question pulls Jonath
Once Jonathan is finally en route to the hairdresser...[Safe distance from Mikah’s power detected. Alert; you have exceeded 10 GDV. You have one enhancement available.]‘Oh! Um, you said before that rank three vision should be good enough to see through Maria’s powers, right?’[Correct, rank three should be sufficient as long as her target is in motion. Rank four would be necessary to see anything stationary, given the current strength of her powers. Please be aware that going beyond rank three for any individual enhancement has additional requirements.]‘Three should be good enough to avoid most of her pranks... Use my upgrade on vision.’[Please confirm that you would like rank two vision.]‘Yeah.’[Understood. Please close your eyes during calibrations to avoid nausea.]Jonathan slows from running at enhanced speed into a normal-paced jog for a few steps, then stops and shuts his eyes.[Bzzt... Calibrations complete.]He opens his eyes and looks around, blinking several times.‘Wo
The duo’s fiery funnel further forces the growing multi-car pile-up towards the middle of the street for a few seconds longer. Finally, the flames falter and fade. After a short delay, the wind wanes as well.‘Oh, I shouldn’t give them any extra reasons to think I’m a threat.’Jonathan swiftly shuts and pockets his switchblade as he follows the sidewalk. While doing so, his attention flicks between the ongoing chaos in the street and the front door of Howling Cartographer’s HQ lobby.Ashley steps through the door with Jason right behind her. They both take a moment to appreciate their destructive handiwork with smug expressions. Considering that Jonathan is conspicuously the only person still in the immediate vicinity, they quickly focus on him.Before either of them manage anything beyond a glare, Jonathan raises both hands in a submissive gesture, showing that he isn't wielding a weapon. "I-I just wanted his gun!"Ashley's exposed eye squints with amusement, the not hair-hidden cor