Chapter 52 - Inadvertent Flex

When Lucas is about halfway through unlocking the series of two barrel-bolts and four locks, he pauses in the middle of his actions and looks down at Willy waiting patiently by his feet.

"Hey, wanna show Dan, er Black Ash Snow his lookalike?" Lucas asks the pup with a huge mischievous grin spread across his face.

Willy promptly gives a single, excited, bark. After voicing his opinion, he dashes off to fetch it himself.

"Oh! Um, since it's right there, should we bring all three?" As Jonathan makes his timid recommendation, he gets a bark that is clearly a question based on its tone in response.

"Yeah, they're just across the street from each other." Lucas answers on Jonathan's behalf, and there is another enthusiastic bark as Willy hunts down the toys.

The legally distinct Black Ash Snow doll had previously been affectionately chewed and left under the coffee table. The wannabe Josephine chew toy had, somehow, ended up stuck in the cushions of the patched-up sofa at some point. And lastly, the poor little faux Mind Flare model was under said sofa, requiring a few head shakes to knock away the clingy dust bunny companions that came with him.

With the three superpower toys gathered, perhaps three more supe likeness violations away from forming a gauntlet of super lawsuits, Willy manages to stack them together and nose them around until he can comfortably grab all three to carry at the same time by their little left arms.

Willy prances back over to the front door where the two poser supervillains were still waiting for him. With his head held high, he proudly displays his bounty for praise.

Needless to say, both Lucas and Jonathan find the sight quite amusing and laugh accordingly.

'Heh, maybe we should have gotten him three more, then with a single bark he could change the universe.'

[What in the world are you going on about this time?]

'Don't mind, don't mind. Heheh, I really can't help but MARVEL at his abilities is all.'

As Lucas continues to make a joke only he understands, he can't hold back a snort of laughter.

[...]

Since Jonathan is more or less becoming familiar with him by now, he's suspicious of the trigger for his laughter, though Willy attributes it to purely his own efforts.

Lucas rubs his nose while he struggles to suppress any further self-induced laughter, eventually managing to casually grin down at the waiting pup.

"Good job. Should we put them in a bag or something?" As soon as Lucas said 'Good job' Willy's tail began wagging merrily. Once he finished asking his question, he gets two muffled barks in response as Willy keeps his teeth clamped down on the toy's arms without lessening his hold.

Lucas laughs again, though it truly is due to Willy's actions this time.

"Remember, we have other chores to do first before we go see them, you want to carry them all day?" As Lucas asks this follow-up question, Willy raises his proud snoot even higher in the air and gives another bark through clenched teeth.

Lucas, of course, can't help but laugh one more time at the pup being stubborn about something odd, a habit he is intimately familiar with.

"Okay, okay. We'll probably get bags when we get the phones anyway, in case you change your mind later." With this decision finalized, Lucas proceeds to continue unlocking the door as he says this.

Once the trio is out of the apartment and the door is all locked back up, they begin their journey to a high-end mobile service store, which is two subway stops away.

When they're out of the apartment building proper and reach the sidewalk, Lucas and Jonathan both slide on their sunglasses in an exaggerated synchronized motion.

Once they're a block away from the apartment, Lucas remembers the odoriferous olfactory assault prevalent in the nearest station, causing him to look down at Willy with sympathy.

"Uhh, should we maybe just walk all the way there? As bad as it was for us, I can only guess..." Lucas trails off while looking down at the oblivious Willy.

"Oh, um, yeah, probably. I'd rather walk than go in there again myself, that would just be mean to put him through it..." As Jonathan gives his own trailing-off agreement, Willy looks up, shifting his gaze back and forth between the two of them.

As neither of them seems to be about to elaborate, Willy makes a muffled inquisitive bark.

"I'm not completely sure why, but it absolutely reeks at the station nearby. We could barely stand it as it is, I can only imagine the horrible suffering it would be for you." Once Lucas explains the situation, Willy makes a long and low whine before eventually making an affirmative bark.

Making the trek at a slightly brisk pace along the sidewalk, occasionally following 427 or 011's directions on when to change directions, the trio gets noticeably more attention than normal. There's roughly a 40/30/30 split between them, with Lucas being the one with the most looks going his way.

'Uh, not that many people recognize me from the news last night, do they? What's the deal?'

[...You didn't pay any attention to the price range of the suits you purchased, did you? Not even moderately powerful supes will show any clear signs of wealth, even after the currency conversion to purely digital. Those that dare to be so... Conspicuous like you are currently being are always extremely confident in how powerful they are.]

'Oh... Heh.'

[...So you weren't even doing it consciously, you simply wanted to wear the suit?]

'Uh, duh?'

[…]

'Wait, so they think I'm some sort of crazy bad-ass that is confident enough to protect a kid and a dog, as well as myself?'

[If they are even assuming you cared enough about the other two to do so, yes. I'd speculate that most of them think you're some visiting hotshot from far away that doesn't take part in media publicity, hence why they don't already recognize you.]

'Oooh, sweet.'

[...]

Of the curious passersby, those that focus on Willy have the most obvious and pure reason for their looks; who could resist a happy cute dog running around with a bunch of chew toys in his mouth?

The audience for Jonathan is a bit more mixed.

There are a few battle-hardened male supes that leer at him while trying to gauge what power he might have, potentially ready to pick a fight, but ultimately wisely choosing not to.

There are a few girls roughly around his age that have very obvious motivations to their giggles and glances his way. Dressed up as he is, he is projecting far more confidence than normal.

There are also more than a few middle-aged women that would probably adopt him on the spot if they knew he was disowned, desperately wanting to pinch that handsome young man's cheeks, how precious.

The attention headed Lucas's way is the most diverse by far, though.

He gets less battle-thirsty supes watching him than were considering bullying Jonathan, but it is a non-zero amount. One, in particular, has tracked him from the other side of the road for almost a full minute, but once Lucas turns to directly face him and slowly smiles at him he immediately changes his mind and runs off in a rather embarrassing fashion.

A couple of potential brown-nosers seem to follow him with their eyes, but lack sufficient courage to try to approach him.

There seem to be a few people who have either previously seen his antics in person or saw the video on the news last night, gawking at the fresh local celebrity who is casually strutting his way down the sidewalk.

The age range of women that give coy or flirtatious looks his way is significantly larger than Jonathan has been receiving. A small subset of these looks are from women who are assuming Lucas is Jonathan's father, and they would love to get this bonus child in the bargain.

'Uh, while I have to admit I appreciate this unfamiliar attention, isn't there... Too many? I know I'm dressed up, but..?'

[Well, if all of your circumstances were the same apart from your relation with Boss System, you would probably be the most eligible bachelor for a very large region. Financial and physical security in one, especially in a world where there is so much imminent threat to your well-being, would understandably have high appeal. Even if you were disfigured, you'd probably have a surprising amount of would-be suitors.]

'Well, if you put it that way... Wait, could I maybe land some super-model tier girlfriend!? Sweet! ...Oh fuck, she'd probably have to be an endurance supe if we were to be able to do anything... No matter how good my control over my strength got... Fuck! Are you telling me I have to deal with flirty girls but I have no business dating any of them!? THIS IS HELL! I DON'T WANT STRENGTH ANYMORE!'

[…]

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Lucas kills this chapter: 0

Lucas total kills: 6

Lucas deaths this chapter: 0

Lucas total deaths: 10

Lucas current GDV: 8.79 (+.01 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 2.5* (Mostly just local)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 1* (Only highly paranoid people)

Jonathan kills this chapter: 0

Jonathan total kills: 5

Jonathan deaths this chapter: 0

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 1.79 (+.01 net change)

Jonathan's fame level: 1.75* (Just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 1* (Only highly paranoid people)

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Little character theater:

Jonathan, feeling a bit shy after the latest group of giggling teenage girls: Um, do you think we are going to be too busy being heroes to date someone?

Lucas, miserable from his recent enlightenment and suddenly finding a way to vent: Heheh, how many girls do you think want to date a SPEED supe?

Willy is beyond such concerns, and simply enjoys the positive attention that he didn't even remotely get when he was an obviously abandoned, filthy stray.

427, completely unable to deal with Lucas right now: [You just thought of that now? What about dating for the sake of emotional companionship? Wait, no, you have more important things to do than worry about dating regardless! That goes for Jonathan too!]

Author, chuckling: 427, if he thought of it sooner you would have heard him complaining all about it.

Mr. Quacks, unrestricted in his options and ready to mingle: Quack?