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2024-10-29 19:42:56While 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 counts. I'll start compiling a list with various cuisines just to be safe.]
By now, it has been over half an hour since Mind Flare first approached the duo. While it had been purely conversation in the beginning, after some time Mind Flare had begun helping them shop as well. He'd made a series of suggestions, personally fetching them in the appropriate sizes, going on in great detail as to the designer, materials used, and so on.
Every so often, one or more of them would ferry a few things over to the diligent service bot. Poor thing.
As their time spent with their new-found super-villain friend reached the twenty-minute mark, Lucas and Jonathan had relaxed enough to start fooling around in their normal trollish fashion, much to Mind Flare's delight.
Once they've conquered the first floor with a 100% exploration rate, the three of them have fallen into a holding pattern near the service bot, wanting to wrap up the first wave of purchases.
Mind Flare quietly gives the service bot some instructions to start arranging for delivery, pausing to type a few things into the register terminal. Ooh, a coupon, sweet.
Holding the topside of the lower half of his left arm up to the scanner, Lucas somehow keeps an unchanging expression.
'Don't think about how many digits the total is. It doesn't matter. Don't think about it. Fuck, that's a lot.'
[Well, once your villain organization is set up, you already have enough to clothe any new members for quite some time... Hmm, I feel like that attempt at a joke fell short.]
'It's the thought that counts, you tried.'
[Ah, no wonder you make so many bad jokes.]
'...While that is funnier, it still hurts.'
Despite his wounded pride, Lucas does smile a bit.
From the entrance of the store, some loud, inarticulate shouting can be heard. Mixed in is also some long, dragged-out laughter. Their source's levels of sobriety remain dubious at best.
Given the way Mind Flare's expression sinks a bit as he sighs, this doesn't seem to be a rare occurrence.
"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen, it seems I have some other... Guests which require my attention. Perhaps I will have the opportunity to rejoin you anon. Either way, it has been a pleasure." With these parting words, Mind Flare performs a partial bow with a flourish. Lucas and Jonathan mimic the action, with far, far less elegance. Jonathan lets a chuckle slip out at their poor attempt.
'I fear that the upcoming schadenfreude is too much to resist.'
[On who's account?]
'Yes.'
[…]
Once Mind Flare has set off with a steady click-clack serving as his accompaniment, Lucas gently elbows Jonathan and lowers his voice to a whisper.
"Ya think it would be too rude to stay and watch for a bit? I feel like a show is about to start." As Jonathan listens to Lucas saying this, he gets his own expression of anticipation.
"Um, I think he likes us enough to not get too mad? Probably?" With his equally quiet response, Jonathan seems to be on the same wavelength in regards to staying for a bit longer.
Having reached a consensus, the duo moves a bit away from the register before settling in to watch the upcoming performance. The poor little service bot continues packing up the recently finalized transaction, ignored.
Halfway between the check-out counter and the entrance, the soon-to-be entertainers near each other. One party travels in a smooth rhythm while the inebriated pair... Not so much.
"Good afternoon gentlemen. Is there any way-" Mind Flare starts to address the pair of men, getting cut off partway through.
"What? No dress? Innit what's yous so famous fer?" The taller of the sauced pair, who slouches onto his companion at nearly 2 heads in height shorter than Mind Flare, slurs out this statement. The pair burst into such raucous laughter that you would think they were told the greatest joke of all time.
'I take it back, it's not just the thought that counts. You're flat-out funnier than these idiots. Do they have a death wish coming in here like that?'
[...Such a low bar.]
Lucas lets out a snort of laughter, delayed enough that Jonathan is aware that it isn't at the drunkard's question.
[No matter how much liquid courage they've had, I can only assume at least one of the two is enhanced in order to make them think they could remotely get away with this.]
'Mmm right, no way they'd live up till this point otherwise. I don't have high hopes for it being much longer though? Hey, what is MF's power anyway? All I've heard is he's a mental type.'
[I imagine you'll be seeing it yourself before long. His -36.72 GDV isn't just for show. Also, that's a significantly better value than it probably should be, seeing as he tends to spoil the designers that catch his interest.]
'Ooh shit. Fuck 'em up, bro.'
[Some hero you are.]
'I don't hear a GDV task alert?'
[Ahem. That shouldn't be the only time you behave.]
'Tch, I'm pretty good, don't pretend.'
Smiling to himself, Lucas faintly wishes he had some popcorn.
Mind Flare no longer maintains his fake smile, falling into a resting bitch face. Seeing that the drunks seem to be awaiting a response, he snorts softly before answering.
"If you have no intentions of shopping, I will have to kindly ask for you to leave. You are disturbing my other guests." Giving his polite threat, it seems he's aware of the audience not far behind.
"Oh yeah? Who says I'm not a cuzum... Cutsom... Customer?" After initiating philosophical debate and blindly grabbing something off of a rack nearby, the 'taller' mistake works his way over to the earnest service bot, which has mostly cleared off his station by now. His punchy compatriot laughs at this perceived comedy gold.
As the pair approaches Mind Flare, he smoothly sidesteps out of the way, pivoting so as to always be facing them.
Given the way the unfortunate randomly selected shirt is slammed down onto the counter in front of it, the service bot doesn't bother with any greetings and simply scans in the merchandise. Seeing the price come up on the screen, the would-be customer promptly expresses his dismay.
"The hell is thiz? You makin' fun uh me?" Completely disregarding the bot before him, he spins to face Mind Flare. "Don't think I'm scared of yous. Er'body knows us mental types are resistan' 'gainst each other. Just 'cus people make a big deal 'bout you fer throwin' on a dress don't make you special, fuckin' fairy." As he proverbially throws down the gauntlet, he makes a gesture with his right hand and a rack nearby starts to lift from the ground. Floating in place, all of its merchandise remains on it.
'Yo, screw this guy. Asshole.'
Given the way Jonathan is gritting his teeth while balling his hands into fists, he doesn't seem far off from joining in the fray. Lucas puts a hand on his shoulder and presses down a bit, just enough to hold him in place without hurting him.
Mind Flare crosses his arms over his chest, taking a few menacingly slow steps towards the instigator. His gaze shifts over to the laughing fool next to his opponent, narrowing his eyes slightly with a look of concentration.
Before the chemically courageous antagonist can lift his improvised weapon by more than an inch, Mind Flare has already finished off his friend.
With hardly any delay at all from the moment Mind Flare focuses, the head of his target erupts with force reminiscent of the late paint-filled duffel bag. Also, yielding a similar end result, given the coating of blood and brain matter on the surrounding area. The bloodied blast radius reaches far enough to also include the spectating duo.
Barely processing what he just witnessed, the drunkard swears and seems to put more focus into his efforts, starting to lift a bit faster. However, it is to no avail.
Mind Flare's attention is centered on the drunk for roughly a second and a half before his target's skull forcibly turns itself inside-out. With the process being a bit slower this time, the sights and sounds of his brain detonating are even more apparent.
'OH FUCK!'
While Lucas wasn't sure what to expect, it certainly wasn't this. He jumps a bit, releasing Jonathan in the process. Beside him, Jonathan draws in a sharp intake of breath, choking and coughing on the misted blood of the late troublemakers.
-----
Lucas kills this chapter: 0
Lucas total kills: 6
Lucas deaths this chapter: 0
Lucas total deaths: 6
Lucas current GDV: 4.47 (+.01 +.01 = +.02 net change)
Jonathan current GDV: .74 (+.01 net change)
-----
Little character theater:
Jonathan, busy spitting out other people's blood: Bleh!
Lucas, clearly shook: 427, why didn't you warn me how dangerous he is before coming here!?
427, after hesitating a bit: [...Why do you think I tried giving you advice on how to interact with him?]
Author, after sighing: Now I'm feeling sympathetic for the poor service bot that has to clean everything. There may or may not be an entire team of bots for this express purpose.
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Vol 2 Ch 7 - Ongoing Onerous Obligations
“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
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Vol 2 Ch 6 - Whole Latte Shopping
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
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Vol 2 Ch 5 - The Worst Part of Waking Up Is Almost Endless Tasks
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
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Vol 2 Ch 4 - Coiffure Conundrum
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
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Vol 2 Ch 3 - Chaos in the Streets, Asleep in the Sheets
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
