With the flush starting to slowly fade from his face, Lucas slams the door of his apartment shut by leaning back against it heavily. Taking a few deep breaths, he then kicks off his shoes and goes to set the pizza plus partners down on his coffee table. Once his hands are free, he heads back over, re-locking the door. Feeling some semblance of security, he heads into the kitchenette to wash his hands, grabbing the confiscated jagged knife on the way and tossing it into the sink before promptly ceasing to care about it.
Returning to the patched-up sofa, now wielding a butter knife, Lucas closes his eyes for a moment in silent directionless prayer before opening the box to see the damage.
"Nooo, my baby! Look how they massacred my boy." He mourns aloud, witnessing the majority of cheese and sausage being stuck to the lid of the box rather than the pizza itself.
[Technically, you're the one who did it.]
'Shush, you're not helping.'
Diligently freeing the toppings from the tyranny of cardboard with his trusty butter knife, at least a third of it directly goes into his mouth rather than back onto the mostly naked pizza. Partway through his efforts, he stops to crack open a beer.
[...Just have one.]
'What!? No! Four! I might be feeling better but I still deserve it!'
[No.]
'...Three.'
[Two, take it or leave it. I refuse to watch you get drunk again so soon after your last disaster.]
'Tch, you win, mom.'
After a few sips of beer, then abusing a garlic knot as if it owed him money, Lucas resumes his pizza reconstruction surgery. Very sloppily. Now the cursed patch of carpeting is much more flavorful with pizza sauce and cheese, it's officially a meal.
'So like, can you tell me about your last host, or is that confidential or somethin'? I feel like hearing about an actual working superhero from an insider perspective has gotta be better than anything on TV.'
[Hmm... I don't see why not. It was Maynard Wray, ah you probably know him better as Steelex. I'm not certain the extent of details that the public knows, but he was one of the last superheroes to be eliminated by the villains, ending the war. He also had one of the all-time highest recorded GDVs, at 257.63.]
With impeccable timing, Lucas was mid-drink when that number was announced, directly resulting in the increased alcohol content of the surrounding area.
'SO MUCH!? Wait, it's another power-up every 5 points? That's...'
[51 additional enhancements beyond the first initial one. There are greatly diminishing returns on repeat enhancements of the same type, but obviously, it still makes a significant improvement compared to having not stacked an individual enhancement multiple times.]
'Goddamn... Do I want to know how long that took?'
[He had been in service as my host for 16 years. He had begun once his initial strength power had fully developed naturally while he was 16, and the supervillains Sphinx Oath and Thunderia had worked together to... conclusively eliminate him not very long before his 33rd birthday. Ah, but since that was a decade ago, if he had survived then he'd currently be 18 years older than you. I'm a little surprised you haven't really reacted to his identity? It isn't my intention to brag, but he was kind of a big deal.]
'Eh? I have no idea who anyone you named is. But sounds like he must have been impressive?'
[You... Wait what? No, how? You weren't a small child at the time, there is no way you hadn't heard of him, Sphinx Oath too for that matter. Ah, both Sphinx Oath and Thunderia are still around, you definitely know of them!]
'Huh? I'm not from here. It's only been like, a month. You didn't know? I figured your whatever system is what brought me here in the first place once I met you.'
[YOU WHAT!?]
Lucas just slowly raises an eyebrow, crushing up the now-empty first can of beer and tossing it at a nearby small garbage can, missing entirely. Resuming his attack on lunch, the poor pizza's days are numbered.
'Oops. Wait, you seriously had no idea? Is there a file or something you can read about me?'
[I've already loaded it and am reading it again now... There is nothing about... Not being from this world? The only strange thing is that your GDV made it as high as it did before being detected, particularly since no large-scale good deeds are found.]
'...Going from talking about someone with 257.whatever and saying my 2.5 is high feels like you're just trolling me.'
Finally sated, Lucas puts the sole remaining garlic knot in with the surviving half of the extra-large pizza and shuts the box, going to bring it and the remaining four cans of beer to the fridge.
[Considering how desperately we've been searching for someone with over 1.0 GDV since before the war even concluded, suddenly finding you at your initial 2.3 GDV is a surprisingly large amount. So in a sense, that does give some credibility to your... Claim. Please elaborate?]
'Oh, uhhh... Well, for starters, where I came from is probably better compared to before the war even started here? Also, no one at all had superpowers. Things stayin' under control was all on law enforcement and people actually having morals. Though without any super-geniuses, our technology wasn't quite as good..? Not too far behind pre-war status though from my understanding. I had an uhhh, incident, and then when I died next thing I knew I woke up here, same name but kind of a different body.'
[Really? That does seem to be due to a force outside of the Superhero Enhancement System... What was your incident? Perhaps the details will help clarify why this occurred.]
Walking past the crumpled can on the ground, Lucas awkwardly lifts it with his toes and deposits it into the initially designated garbage can. With a nervous chuckle, he scratches the back of his head while glancing at the wall to his left.
'So uhhh, there was this girl I sorta got along with and we had a uh, mutual understanding... Ahem, anyway, I turned her down when she wanted to go steady. So, this other guy that had one hell of a thing for her wanted to defend her honor or some nonsense and picked a fight with me. While he was being a tough guy and gave me a shove I lost my balance and fell, hitting my head on a sharp rock and that was the last thing I know.'
[…]
Lucas heaves a deep sigh, going over and plopping down onto the sofa sideways, his legs propped up on one arm of it and his head against the other. He left some cleaning supplies abandoned on the coffee table as the soiled carpet earns some more time to enjoy being flavorful.
'It was a lame death, I know.'
[...Seems that information is of no help in speculating the cause.]
-----
Lucas kills this chapter: 0
Lucas total kills: 2
Lucas deaths this chapter: 0 (Brain hemorrhage doesn't count since he's talking about a death already included in the count for chapter 1)
Lucas total deaths: 3
Lucas current GDV: 2.5
-----
Little character theater:
Lucas, after making an exaggerated sigh: You're judging me so hard right now aren't you?
427, trying to be polite: [...It's not like you got to choose your method of death.]
Author, rolling their eyes: Would you be happier if I let you get an aggressive kiss from truck-kun? Deal with it.
Lucas spends some time lounging on his patched-up sofa, waiting out the peak of laziness from overeating. With his laptop balanced on his stomach, he pokes about between a few different games, but doesn't really get into any of them.'After everything that's happened recently, I'm completely out of it, sheesh. Also, it feels a bit weird knowing you're always just… Over there listening 427.'[If you're not gonna be relaxing anyway, you could always go out and…]'I am NOT going out grinding minor missions. Bleh, I was always the type to skip unnecessary side quests in RPGs.' Lucas mimes a gagging motion in the middle of the thought in a demonstration.[...Just saying. It may feel li
After a peaceful night spent at home failing to come up with a satisfactory supervillain name for himself, Lucas now sits hunched over a half-eaten bowl of soggy generic store-brand cereal. With a distinctive brown cowlick and his eyes barely open, he sulks down at the offending cereal in a futile attempt at pinning the entirely of the blame for his failure upon it.'This is way harder than I thought it would be. Any other time you could ask me for random villain names and I totally would come up with a bunch, but now that it's for myself I'm just… It doesn't help that there aren't any cool thematic words for simply being stronger than normal.'[Perhaps a change in scenery would help?]'...You really want me to go questin', don't you?'
Upon having decided it has received sufficient affection, the cat gets up and saunters off into the depths of the bodega. With a heavy heart due to the ephemeral nature of feline whims, Lucas goes up to the service bot to diligently buy his candy bar and goes to leave while stuffing his face with chocolatey goodness.[...It seems your newly gained son has gotten into trouble again.]'Ahh, the burdens of being a young single father. Did he finally piss himself?'[Not yet, at least. Alert; a new minor GDV task has been assigned. Please prevent the armed dispute in front of the convenience store. Seems the drug deal left one of the parties involved unsatisfied.]Holding the remainder of the chocolate bar w
As Lucas does his best to ignore his underaged stalker, he makes it to about half a block away from his apartment building before finally having enough of it. Abruptly stopping, he suddenly spins around to try and catch the young teen in the act. Before Lucas's eyes have a chance to completely focus on the familiar too-large black jacket and baseball cap, there's suddenly a blur and he's gone.'Woah what?'[Oh, that's how he was able to keep up with your pace. Seems he's in his early developmental stages for super speed. He does look like he's about the right age for your average naturally occurring enhanced individual.]'Uhhh, then doesn't that mean that messing with him was actually like, really dangerous? Wait, what the hell did he need my help for then
Lucas stares down at the switchblade peacefully resting on his coffee table in front of him, uncertain as to whether he should laugh or cry. Still not directly responding to Jonathan yet, he grabs the knife and hits the button to spring it open, manually closing it and repeating this action a few more times before tossing it back to Jonathan in a closed state. Before finally starting to speak up, Lucas can't help giving a small sigh."Why give it to me? It doesn't do me any good, you need it more than me. And you're welcome, brat." Sinking back into the sofa again, Lucas re-crosses his arms and can't help sighing yet again before continuing. "Yes, I'm a strength supe, you're one of a very short list of people that are aware of the fact. Before you even ask, I've only recently gotten my powers and as you may have guessed I don't have complete control over it yet, though it seems I've
With a pale blue jersey-knit shirt and a pair of gray drawstring sweatpants folded neatly beside him, Lucas sits on the edge of his bed, facing his dresser while rubbing his face with both hands.'What the hell has been with yesterday and today? Ugh. I think I have some new socks still in the packaging, really need to take him shopping for everything else though. Uhhh, how expensive would a small new wardrobe be? Shit, need to go grocery shopping too... Don't tell me one day after becoming a so-called hero I'm gonna have to go steal shit to be able to take care of some random-ass homeless kid?'[Ah, actually, the request for financial assistance went through, I didn't really have any good opportunities to bring it up in the time ever since it was processed. I recently submitted an additional request for assistance su
As he waits for Jonathan to finish up in the bathroom, Lucas scoots forward and refreshes the bank account's website again. Somehow, it is still the same unbelievable amount, the reality of this is finally starting to sink in a little bit into Lucas's mind.While Lucas continues to openly stare at the screen, Jonathan opens up the bathroom door and comes out dressed in the soft pale blue tee and gray sweatpants with a towel draped over his shoulders. Holding up an end of the towel with one hand, he's still drying his hair. With an expression of hesitant worry across his face, Jonathan looks around a bit before seeing Lucas watching him with a raised eyebrow from the patched-up sofa.Jonathan flashes a cheerful smile once he makes eye contact with Lucas, practically skipping over towards him. Lucas can't help barking out a sho
After they've finished cleaning up post-meal, Jonathan sheepishly admits he'd prefer for Lucas to stay home while he naps and wait for him to go out shopping. He expresses how it would be too awkward for him to wake up alone in someone else's apartment, in far too many nervous words. Consenting to his request, Lucas ends up lounging on the sofa, doing some research on his laptop computer while Jonathan burrows into his bed and immediately passes out like the sleep-deprived child he is.Leaving a few tabs open with a couple of different recipes for dishes he's considering making for dinner tonight, Lucas ends up sifting through 2-3 bedroom apartment listings in the general vicinity.'I know I try to be easygoing when I can get away with it, but getting this comfortable with the idea of living with a complete stranger so qu
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