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 with his teeth, Lucas starts cracking his knuckles as he steps out of the bodega, greeted by two particularly cross and aggressively posturing males only a short distance away. One is a certain misguided teenager having a self-inflicted shitty day. The other is a male of indecipherable age, it would be easier to count how many teeth he has remaining rather than how many he has lost, while his distinctive pallor and sunken cheeks further help identify him as the client in the illegal substance transaction.

'Ai, can't say I approve of my boy's choice in friends. Seems he needs to be reprimanded again. Apparently, he's my new GDV farming method, I should just follow him around, cleaning up his messes.'

[I imagine the Superhero Enhancement System would stop giving you tasks before long, assuming he lives long enough to keep it up. He may be the only one with a weapon, but my bet is still on the junkie.]

'Same though, I'm not taking that bet. Wait, I bet on myself, let's go!'

"Hey brat, I distinctly recall saying I had no intentions of babysitting you, what the hell?" Immediately taking on his role as a disciplinary father figure, Lucas has a bit too much fun scolding him.

The teen's attention flicks over to Lucas before going back to the muttering addict in front of him. Seems the switchblade is no more successful in intimidating him than it was against anyone else.

"Just a few dollars… Be good. Be good. Begoodbegoodbegood. NO! They're here, you can't stop them… Be good. Be good…" In a questionable state of mind, the addict falls into a loop of repeating 'be good' over and over again while starting to reach out towards the teen with a mannerism not entirely unlike a zombie.

'What the hell is he on..?'

Preparing to get to work, Lucas reaches up with his left hand to aid in accelerating the consumption of his recently purchased treat. At the same time, he stretches out his right hand and grabs hold of one of the shoulders of the addict, pushing him back a few steps with enough force that definitely should have bruised the whole area. The shove shouldn't have broken anything... At least, not all the way.

The drug-fueled menace only acknowledges Lucas with a shriek that is promptly followed up by further repeated requests of the teen's compliance, now new and improved at a higher decibel. He reaches out past Lucas, even more akin to a zombie than before, his attention fully focused on the trembling teen.

'Ouch, being ignored really does hurt.'

They've raised enough of a ruckus that nearby pedestrians have opted to weave through the passing traffic over to the sidewalk on the other side of the street rather than merely circling around them.

[I'm going to speculate that any testing equipment used to identify a blood sample of his would be corroded by whatever cocktail he is on.]

Lucas gives a brief snort of laughter at 427's comment, raising an eyebrow at the teen that has only backed up a few steps instead of leaving.

"What!? I can't trust you either!" The young teen's voice is surprisingly stable considering how much his knees are shaking while he holds the ineffective switchblade with both hands.

With a soft "Oh." Lucas releases the addict's shoulder. The chemically enhanced faux zombie immediately starts lunging at him.

"I'm sorry I was wrong! Dad, please help me!" With this request, the recently acknowledged adopted son stumbles over his own feet and falls onto his rear, scrambling to increase the distance between them some more before attempting to become upright again.

Lucas and 427 begin nearly synchronized hearty laughter, Lucas finishes shoving the candy bar into his mouth and restrains the junkie from behind.

"THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE! They'reherethey'reherethey'rehere" Shifting to a new mantra, the junkie starts flailing erratically instead of trying to lunge straight at the kid.

'It shouldn't count as an armed fight anymore? That's not enough for the task?'

[Seems it isn't. Probably need to find a way of convincing him to stop his pursuit.]

'Ah yes, let's sit down for a cup of coffee and talk this out.'

[Well, you could… Ah well, you could use the, er, aggressive psychological therapy. Whether you like it or not you're going to end up needing to sometimes… It's not like the world will miss him much, given his state.]

'Dude! Being coy about it doesn't make it ok to kill someone!'

[...You're the one who said it. Maybe I didn't mean all the way?]

'You obviously did!'

During the mental argument, the teenager has managed to put some distance between them, however, he has turned around to watch the situation once he felt secure enough with the given space.

Seeming to belatedly realize this isn't working, the druggie adopts new methods. Lucas makes a particularly sharp intake of breath as the flesh of his right arm is sampled as a delicacy.

"Fuck!" Swearing in a strained voice, Lucas reflexively releases and shoves the heavily medicated gourmand away.

Already having a poor center of balance after his repeated failed lunges, the junkie is propelled a short distance before heavily falling face down onto the sidewalk. With a sickening wet sound on impact, he stops moving, a pool of blood slowly starting to form.

[Well that… Congratulations on completing your minor GDV task for a reward of .05 GDV... A penalty was applied for murder, however, this penalty was reduced given the circumstances as a courtesy… Thankfully he didn't break skin, so you shouldn't have to worry about some sort of disease transmission?]

The teen's gasp is audible even with the distance between them, taking a few faltering steps towards Lucas before stopping again.

'FUCKING HELL! I DON'T WANT SUPER STRENGTH ANYMORE GIVE ME SOMETHING ELSE!'

[I'm sorry… Exchanges are not an option. I know this feels awful for you, but it's better to get acclimated sooner than later… As insensitive as that sounds it is for your own good. If you can manage, try not to outwardly react too strongly in public given…]

Lucas swallows and takes a step away while still facing the corpse. Clenching both of his hands into fists, he sharply turns away and starts walking in the direction of his apartment. While mostly succeeding in maintaining a neutral expression, he can't stop himself from biting his lip nearly to the point of drawing blood, breathing a touch more heavily than normal the whole time. At first, it is only slightly hurried steps, gradually increasing in speed as he gets further away, at least he does to choke back the urge to outright run.

Lucas's mind is just a constant string of increasingly creative profanities for some time. However, his mental state still seems significantly more stable than last time by 427's readings.

After a few blocks, Lucas and 427 speak up nearly in unison.

'Why's he still following me?'

[You know he's still following you, right?]

'...'

[...]

-----

Lucas kills this chapter: 1

Lucas total kills: 3

Lucas deaths this chapter: 0

Lucas total deaths: 3

Lucas current GDV: 2.65 (+.05 net change)

-----

Little character theater:

Lucas, more than just a little annoyed: Why won't he let me have a breakdown in peace!?

427, holding back laughter: [Your new son has strange hobbies...]

Author: You know, a decade of unrestrained super-genius villains messing around to their heart's content has come up with some… Real creative recreational drugs.