Lag 6.2 (Draft) (Patreon)

Lag 6.2

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –​

Being back in school was, somehow, a thrilling and boring experience simultaenously, Greg mused. After a week of being around just his mom and certain other people, it was honestly a treat to just see other people his age in a pressure-free, non-family environment.

Well, it was.

At least for the first five minutes.

That substitute somehow managed to beat their old teacher when it came to the power of inducing boredom and that was honestly saying something when you considered the old man put himself to sleep at least once or twice.

Although, after giving it some thought, that was probably more because of how old he was than how boring he was…

Either way, class was not a fun time. In fact, it wasn’t for the constant rush of energy in his veins keeping both his body and brain in a constant state of readiness, perpetually prepared to burst into action at any moment, the blond might have found himself copying his friend and using the class to catch up on his sleep.

Try as he might, the substitute couldn’t have captured Greg’s attention in a million years.

The sight of a flood of new faces in the hallway had been interesting for a minute or two, but even then Greg’s interest had faded quickly with nothing to actually do as he walked side by side with Sparky.

But this…

Quest Gained

Asserting Dominance

Winslow High has been said to be a mini-Brockton Bay with the way junior members of each gang populate it’s halls. With the ABB shattered to pieces, young members of the Empire now consider themselves the real power within these halls. Show them they’re wrong.

Objectives

Make the Empire students back down [ ]

Rewards: 1000 XP, Nerdy Glasses, Increased reputation with former ABB students

Bonus Objective: 

K.O. the highest leveled Empire student [ ]

It took a moment for Greg to realize he was smiling like a madman, face a tight rictus of excitement as he watched the  A half-instant later, the expression was within normal ranges for a carefree smile, or so he hoped. 

Really, it didn’t matter.

What did matter was right in front of him. 

Excusing himself from a quiet Sparky, Greg walked up to the semi-circle of students surrounding one familiar bottle-blond bastard and his usual posse of juniors standing just a few feet behind him trying to look threatening. Said bastard loomed over a smaller student — a freshman by the looks of him, and Japanese as well — perfect prey for an Empire stooge.

Before the asshole could slam the younger, bespectacled boy up against the lockers one more time, the superhero in disguise felt it was time to announce himself.

"Hey, dickhead, you better drop that kid before I drop your ass!" 

The words did their job, catching the attention of said dickhead with ease. The bully slowly turned his head in the direction the voice came from, annoyed confusion crossing his face as he spat out the words, “Who the fuck…”

Greg didn’t even have to muscle his way through the semi-circle after he announced himself, the small gaggle of students not tightly gathered enough for him to bother as he strode through with Sparky at his heels, leaving both blond boys and their respective companions staring at each other with vastly different expressions.

The Japanese kid’s gaze hurriedly flicked to both boys in front of him, looking the perfect mixture of nervous and more than a little scared as the confrontation played out. The surrounding students just looked on curiously, which Greg thought was more than appropriate, considering… Observe.

Jun  “Johnny” Eto  Lvl 2

Student

HP: 110/110

Small, fragile and very, very nervous, Jun has spent his first two years at Winslow hiding in the shadows of several larger and stronger ABB wannabes as he focused on his education. Dangerously close to pissing himself.

“... wait...” Malcolm Duncan spoke up first, his expression actually becoming more confused than annoyed as he gave his former victim a once-over. “Veder?”

The smile on Greg’s face actually faded at that, the boy in the blue hooding mirroring Mal’s look of confusion. The hell? “Yeah… it’s me. Surprised?” He raised an eyebrow, head tilting to the right slightly. “No, like, are you actually surprised or like… is it a joke or… what?” Seriously, do I look that different or was Mal always just that dumb?

“No. Shut up. ” The bully shook his head, annoyance flaring back into his tone and looks. Mal narrowed his eyes as he slammed the boy in his grip back up against the wall, eliciting a loud racket from the lockers at his back and a groan from his current prey. “The fuck do you want?”

Alright, then. “... I dunno.” Greg paused, the blonde cupping his chin as the expression on his face crept back into a grin. After a moment, he continued with, “I guess it kinda depends on if you want me to shut up orrrr you want me to tell you what I want.”

The twitch in Mal’s eye didn’t go unnoticed by Greg, the sophomore’s grin widening even further as he let his taunts work their magic. Deciding to rub it in a bit more, Greg gave a simple shrug and added, “Not for nothing but, I think all that hair dye probably killed a chunk of your brain cells if you can’t figure which one it is.”

Taunt Lvl Up!

16→17

Magical.

Really, that was the only way to describe how quickly Mal’s focus had shifted.

For all the Empire-aligned junior cared, the scrawny bespectacled kid he had been putting the fear of God into no longer existed. Thick fists opened up, dropping Jun on his butt with a pained groan and what might have been a stifled curse from the Japanese student, and Mal turned to face Greg fully.

Greg, however, glanced at the student on the floor. “Stay right there, you’re gonna love this. It’s gonna be hilarious. Trust me.” Met with nothing but a bewildered look from the other kid, the blond winked at him before glancing back up at one angry Malcolm Duncan.

His shoulders squared as if to intimidate, the older boy rounded on a smiling Greg Veder, the boys standing behind him already shouting out words of encouragement for Mal and various insults toward Greg.

“You really think you’re funny, don’t ya… Veder?” The junior’s words were met with a few murmured insults from the lackeys several feet behind him. “You think you can talk shit to me for whatever fucking reason popped into your stupid little head?”

“...” Greg’s smile seemed to freeze in place, his teeth making an audible clicking sound as he shut his mouth. After a moment of silence, he nodded quickly. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. The attempts at intimidation were laughable honestly and the blond was pulling on whatever control he had over Gamer’s Mind not to burst into hysterical laughter in the middle of all this. Please don’t laugh right now.

The dark scowl on Mal’s face shifted to a malicious grin, clearly taking Greg’s silence for nervousness as he took a few more steps forward. The halls were still loud with students who had no interest in the confrontation still making their way to class, but even then, Greg could still hear the crack of Malcolm Duncan’s knuckles above all that, the taller boy clearly itching for a fight. “Got any more shit to say before I kick your retarded ass, Veder?”

Plenty, in fact.

Case in point...

“Mal, I am picking up some real subtle hints that you are a dumb musclehead with more bottles of peroxide in your bathroom than you have brain cells,” Greg shot back at the bully without even the slightest hesitation. “However, I’m guessing you still wanna fight?”

The dark scowl returned, Mal’s devious grin nowhere to be seen as Greg’s taunt hit home for the third time. “I’m gonna kick your shit in, Veder.”