Chapter 150 - Realizations

“Oh, the Thieves of Elsewhere? Hmm, they do have a rather solid reputation, don’t they? Wait, just how many connections have you managed to make already, Lucas? It can’t all just be coincidences, can it? ...Wait, you have a connection with Alley Cat, don’t you!? What is it!?” When Mark draws this conclusion, he’s fighting back laughter as he asks Lucas for clarification.

“Wha-? How did you guess!? I haven’t even met them yet, Mary just introduced us over the phone, though, so why should..?” Lucas’s confused expression as he answers is making his face scrunch up to a rather comical degree.

“Ha! You’re going to give them a bunch of money for something, aren’t you!? So that’s why I was seriously considering not charging you rent until you had your HQ fully set up! Bah, I have to now, I don’t want to know what would happen to me if I don’t.” Mark keeps up a good-natured and amused tone as he says this, fanning a hand back and forth dismissively by the end, as if he could somehow disperse the potential bad luck that would arise from pushing against Alley Cat’s influence.

“You probably should make a definitive plan to stop things from constantly delaying it though, or else it will never finish if you phrase it like that. Hmm, perhaps commit to the idea that if there are excessive unexpected delays on something, you’ll resort to throwing money at it until it finishes in a timely fashion? As long as you are always intending on sending a notable portion of your funds Alley Cat’s way, that should stop that end condition from ever getting too expensive.” While Miss Calculated is making this suggestion, Mark is nodding along repeatedly, and Lucas’s confusion has transformed into amusement.

“Seriously, it’s that bad? Though, yeah, that sounds about right. I don’t wanna be stuck halfway there forever, I’d definitely try speedin’ things up with some extra cash if I gotta. I’m pretty sure Mash’ll start breakin’ shit if the gym is what gets held up too, heh. ...Where’d I put the card again?” While Lucas is giving his answer, he has adjusted his hold on his five remaining boomerangs into a one-armed carry and has started patting down a few of his pockets, as if he could feel the difference from a mere business card inside one of them.

Miss Masher’s attention was invoked upon overhearing a few select keywords, turning her head to look at Lucas. Even though her attention has been redirected, she is still gently cradling Sylph with both hands, rubbing the top of her eminence’s head with one of her thumbs.

“Eh? Hey, speakin’ of breakin’ stuff, when do we get ta start? At this rate, we’ll be havin’ dinner first!” While Miss Masher asks this, Lucas has finally remembered which pocket the card is in, reaching for it accordingly and pulling it out.

“Oh right, that’s the real reason we even came here in the first place, yeah? Here ya go Mark, it’s probably better if yer the one to set up… whatever it is you gotta set up with them before they do their thing. What time is it, anyway? ...ACK!” After Lucas finishes handing over the calling card to Mark, he goes to take out his phone to check the time, but just as he touches it, it suddenly vibrates and pings for an incoming message.

His little spook earns a couple of laughs from several of his nearby companions, and he grumbles under his breath incoherently as he reaches in again to pull the phone out from his pocket.

“Oh shit, it really is gettin’ late, isn’t it? Ha! Looks like Mary’s fanboy remembered I exist.” After Lucas glances at the time, he taps to bring up Ji Soo’s latest message, completely ignoring the earlier messages from before the phone call. Before he even finishes reading it, three more messages come in as well.

From Unknown (4:51 PM): ...Do you have any art assets for the site, or should I go grab some stills from the stream VoDs?

From Unknown (4:51 PM): Oh right, my number is xxx-xxxxx, and I just use CoffeeSoul for basically every social media platform there is.

From Unknown (4:52 PM): You better tell Miss Calculated that too, in case she needs to talk to me about her donations section.

From Unknown (4:52 PM): Just in case.

“Hey Mary, you’ll be totes shocked to know that loverboy wants me to give you his number. Uhh, he asked for some art fer the page, I guess we should send a few pics? Ooh, oh, we need to do a Mr. Quacks photoshoot, he’s our mascot after all!” As soon as Lucas says her name, Miss Calculated raises an eyebrow curiously, and then proceeds to snort out a laugh as he finishes his sentence.

“Might as well, not like I have to actually contact him just because I add him in. Hmm, it’s already common enough knowledge that Willy is one of the founding members, even if we bothered to put in all of the effort to find and delete every copy we can of the VoDs, there’s bound to be some stills and such of him already anyway, so I suppose there’s not much point in purposely excluding him from the photos. Also, you could do a couple of shots with a few of us in it as well, to show that the partnership wasn’t only for the sake of the streams?” After Miss Calculated levels her voice a bit to respond to Lucas, she then turns a questioning gaze in Mark’s direction, indirectly asking if he wants to take part.

Mark has just finished entering the contact info for the Thieves of Elsewhere into his phone, handing the card over to Mikah so he can do the same. Looking up at her, his face lights up.

“Of course! Showing off that the alliance agreements were more than mere pieces of paper might even help dissuade some people from messing with Willy and 23. Daniel! Fix your hair! If you don’t, you know I will!” As Mark makes his thinly veiled threat, Dan rolls his eyes. But, he does seem to take it to heart, considering he starts undoing his current sloppy braid while continuing to chat with Willy.

‘Oh, that has definitely happened before, hasn’t it?’

“Oh, it most certainly has.” After Mikah suddenly speaks up, he makes a few low, ominous, chuckles. Even though his eyes stay on his phone as he continues to enter in the info for the newly gained contacts, it’s pretty obvious what made him laugh.

Such a dangerous laugh quickly earns Miss Chievous’s attention. After a few moments, she seems to make an educated guess as to the exchange that caused it, given the shifts in her microexpressions. She looks over at Dan with an amused smile for a few seconds, then shifts her gaze over to Jonathan.

“Oh, Jon too!” As soon as Miss Chievous nominates Jonathan for Mark’s aesthetic upgrades, Jonathan yelps and covers his head with both hands before Mark even has a chance to finish turning his gaze in his direction.

-----

Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 16.94 (+.01 +.01 +.01 = +.03 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 5.0* (Already beginning to receive authentic global attention. His local levels are effectively maxed.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for many paranoid individuals, numerous people have realized he's an impulsive idiot.)

Jonathan total kills: 7

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 5.79

Jonathan's fame level: 2.5* (What fame he does have is predominantly local.)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 3.0* (More than just overly-paranoid people are suspicious at this point.)

Willy's fame level: 1.5* (Anonymous meme fame, local fame primarily as 'Xenoclast's dog', but some strangers know him as William/Willy now.)

Supervillain social circle size: 15 (Ji Soo, finally. Nerd.)

-----

Little character theater:

Jonathan’s eyes dart around the area a few times, and once he spots the signage for the restrooms; he is gone, causing Miss Chievous to go into hysterics. She’s hardly the only one to laugh at his reaction, either.

Willy, turning to look in the direction Jonathan dashed off to: Bark!

Lucas, laughing the second hardest, barely behind Miss Chievous, but then also starting to walk in the direction of the men’s room: I might as well too, though. Gotta look my best, heh.

427, now excited that Lucas managed a perfectly reasonable cause to walk out of range of Mikah’s powers, and even of his own volition: ‘Good, good. Hmm, how to get him to believably pass this information on to Miss Calculated without raising any odd suspicions, though?’

Author, with an amused smile: Poor Jon, it really wasn’t all that bad.

Mr. Quacks, also preening in front of the bathroom mirror, ensuring he’s in tip-top shape for his pending photoshoot: Quack!