By the time the elevator doors have opened enough that Miss Masher and Lucas feel comfortable walking through them to enter the 8th floor; Jonathan had already shut off his phone, pocketed it, and walked over near the elevators at a normal pace. He has Mr. Quacks sitting in the outer chest pocket of his suit, his little yellow head sticking out of it staring at the ceiling, and he is holding Mr. Quacks’ ladyfriend in both hands, keeping her hidden out of sight for now.

Miss Masher exchanges brief greetings with Jonathan upon seeing him, but goes to continue walking towards the changing area. However, when she realized that Lucas stopped to stand directly in front of Jonathan, the two of them grinning at each other like complete idiots, her curiosity gets the better of her, so she walks over as well to see what’s going on.

Trying not to laugh prematurely, Lucas clears his throat before addressing Jonathan.

“Hey there, kiddo. You said you have something to show me? Did you happen to find a friend for Mr. Quacks?” While Lucas tries to help ham up the upcoming introduction, Miss Masher subconsciously realizes that whatever is about to happen deserves to be documented, pulling her phone out to snap a few shots of the foolish Lynns.

Jonathan’s smile somehow manages to grow further as he opens his cupped hands, revealing his newly acquired rubber duckie.

“Meet Quackette!” Much like back when he did Mr. Quacks’ introduction, the joy in Jonathan's voice is utterly unmistakable.

Miss Masher snorts out some laughter as she keeps taking pictures, and Lucas’s face lights up as he looks Quackette over.

“Oh my god look at her, she’s perfect! That little bow, those lashes... Mr. Quacks is very fortunate to have her.” Lucas can’t keep up his serious act any longer and bursts out laughing after he finishes giving his praise, still crouching down a bit from when he was examining the newest addition to the rubber roster.

Not that this disheartens Jonathan any, considering he starts laughing too.

Once Lucas calms down a bit, still wearing a huge grin, he straightens up and then stops himself from rustling Jonathan’s hair, completely aware of how filthy he currently is.

“I guess the next time we go to the DVO we gotta add her in too, huh?” When Lucas teasingly asks this, Jonathan nods a few times.

“Of course! Oh, um, she needs a proper title though… We’ll have to th-think about it, since Mr. Quacks is the m-mascot already...” Given Jonathan’s tone, he seems to be seriously contemplating what position Quackette will fill in their villain organization.

Miss Masher starts laughing all over again, though she’s finished taking pictures for now and has put her phone away.

“You guys are too much, haha! Good thing Maria isn’t here, she’d probably try to steal Quackette and say she should be our mascot instead, then, pfft.” When Miss Masher says this, Jonathan protectively cups his other hand over Quackette again, hugging her close to his chest, making Miss Masher laugh again and hold her hands up in defeat.

Lucas chuckles a few more times, then turns to head to the changing area, but he’s still facing Jonathan.

“No rush, we should also figure out a title for 23 anywho, since it only seems right that it gets a proper position too. Ya gonna hang out around here for a bit?” When Lucas asks this, Jonathan nods a few more times and Lucas continues speaking.

“Alrighty then. Here, hold my phone for now, Mark will probably message me first when there’s any word on Josephine, in case ya were still asleep. Catch ya in a bit.” Making good on his word, Lucas pulls out his phone and hands it off to Jonathan before walking off.

Jonathan gives an enthusiastic “Okay!” as he takes the phone, waves to Miss Masher, and then heads back over to settle in on the armchair once more.

Miss Masher, still chuckling, returns the wave and heads off in the direction of her own changing room, knowing the direct route to her goal, unlike Lucas.

‘Hey, uhh… Which way is it again?’

[...Keep going straight a bit, then a left…]

427 ends up needing to provide directions right up to the very door of the room.

While the two mighty morons are off in their showers at opposite ends of the floor from each other, Jonathan curiously looks up at a recently arrived elevator. He doesn’t think much of it at first when he can’t see anyone inside, as they may just be out of sight of the slowly opening doors.

But, when there still aren’t any signs of an inhabitant even after the doors are completely open, he is immediately wary. He does not doubt that mischief must be afoot.

Speculating that the only way she’d be nearby yet would be if she ran over, which he doubts she’d done since then he’d have heard her footsteps, Jonathan’s self-preservation kicks in and he shouts out “No!” and then runs away at top speed, going over to hide in Willy’s private room.

He was already too far away to hear it by the time it happened, but Miss Chievous began laughing hysterically at his reaction.

Now that she’s alone, she doesn’t bother maintaining her power, turning visible once she’s about halfway between the elevator and the lounge area Jonathan was previously occupying. Casually strolling over, she brazenly claims the armchair he just freed, still laughing the whole time, and pulls out her phone to similarly play a game.

Roughly a quarter of an hour later, Lucas is in the changing room once more, now redressing in his freshly-cleaned suit with damp hair. As he’s looping his belt around, he pauses when 427 makes a curious hum.

‘Eh? What’s up?’

[...Either Boss System is feeling impatient, is just that concerned about the situation, or is simply ignoring the Z-axis. Alert; a new moderate GDV task has been assigned. Please mitigate the casualties and property damage about to be caused by the overdosing supe in the restrooms of the cafe diagonally across the intersection from here.]

‘I… Uhh..? Maybe Jon can, but..?’

[...You’d better hurry up. You need to at least legitimately try to help.]

‘...Right…’

Before he’s even finished buckling his belt, which he was actually trying to hustle a bit while doing, there are a few timid knocks on the changing room door.

“Um, h-here’s your phone back. I g-guess I’ll take the stairs..? I’ll call the elevator for you before I go, though. H-how do we… explain why we’re rushing over to e-everyone?” While Jonathan is saying this, Lucas finished buckling his belt and opens the door, showing the fact that he’s already wearing his shirt and pants, at least.

“Ah, thanks. Uhh… as a cafe, it’s gotta have at least a little bakery section too, yeah? We’ll say we wanted to get snacks since we still don’t know when dinner will be? So you went ahead to get in line early?” When Lucas posits this scenario, Jonathan nods repeatedly.

“Okay, I’ll, um, s-see you there!” Once Jonathan finishes saying this, he tosses Lucas’s phone onto the bench in the changing room and dashes off.

Lucas sighs as he plops down onto the bench next to his phone, tugging on his first sock.

‘Don’t blame me if Jon finishes before I even finish getting my shoes on, I’m rushing as much as I can over here!’

[...I know. As long as you are legitimately working towards preparing to go there, and then proceed to do so once you’re sufficiently ready, all with the full intention of helping, then Boss System shouldn’t fault you for it. The issue last time was how obviously you weren’t even trying to take part.]

‘I had to test for, uh, scientific purposes!’

[...]

-----

Lucas’s total kills: 7

Lucas’s total deaths: 11

Lucas’s total assists: 1

Lucas’s current GDV: 17.43

Lucas’s fame level: 6.0* (Local fame is completely maxed, he’s creeping up on minor celebrity status even on a global scale. Thanks, internet.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.0*

Jonathan’s total kills: 7

Jonathan’s total deaths: 2

Jonathan’s current GDV: 6.10 (+.01 net change)

Jonathan's fame level: 4.0* (Local fame is near-max, but everyone thinks of him via his affiliation with Lucas, and not often just for him, alone.)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 2.5*

Willy's fame level: 4.75* (Recently increased thanks to a new wave of memes featuring him and Mr. Quacks.)

Mr. Quacks’s fame level: 5.25* (Recently increased thanks to a new wave of memes featuring him and Willy.)

Supervillain social circle size: 15

-----

Little character theater:

Jonathan manages to run to the elevators and hit the call button, then run away again, fast enough that the idly chatting Miss Masher and Miss Chievous only notice the air currents from his passing.

Willy wasn’t disturbed by Jonathan’s previous entrance to, nor his sudden departure from, his reserved nap-room as he is far too busy chasing that dream-squirrel.

Lucas, lacing up one of his shoes: Boss System can’t blame me for making sure my shoes are tied right, yeah? It couldn’t possibly want me to risk tripping while I’m running over there!?

427, trying not to laugh at Lucas reinforcing the reasons for his delays: [Of course, of course. Just… don’t dawdle more than necessary. You know, I’m actually a little surprised that you came up with a good story cover as easily as you did?]

Author, grinning and trying not to laugh: It’s because Lucas’s first thought when he heard ‘cafe’ was that he hopes they have giant chocolate chip cookies there!

Mr. Quacks, holding Quackette close to him in Jonathan’s pocket, ensuring her safety during the mad dash: Quack!