Cutscene: Knight In Plastic Armor

  – o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

  Thursday, April 7th, 2011

  "... But seriously, holy crap on a cracker."

  "Mmhmm."

  "Sparky..."

  "I know, right?" Sparky raised a hand to his brow, slowly wiping the sweat off his forehead with a rag that was far too stained to merely be called dirty. Ignoring the streaks of black and brown the dishcloth left behind on his face, he dropped his hands to his hips and nodded his head. "Looks good, don't it?"

  "No, no, nononono," Greg turned to face Sparky, his palms against his cheeks in a perfect imitation of Kevin McAllister. As shocked as he was, the grin on his face was wide enough to strain his cheeks, his teeth on full display. "This… how, Sparky?"

  The two of them stood in Sparky's basement, bright lamps lighting up the dimly lit area as they both stared on the items Sparky had laid out on top of his ping-pong table.

  It had been a while since the two had met up, with Greg having left Brockton with his mom as soon as school had let out for Spring Break, and Sparky deciding to use his newly freed schedule to catch up on band practice.

  To make a long story short, Hershey Park wasn't as fun as Greg remembered. His mother enjoyed herself and they got to spend some time together but overall, Greg found himself growing slightly more irritated the first few days he was stuck in Pennsylvania.

  Not getting anywhere, his active skills - barring Observe, of course - remained stuck at where they were, especially when they were still so low…

  It was like having an itch he couldn't scratch inside his own head, almost maddening. It had actually gotten so bad that his mom thought he was sick or something, what with how often he had been sweating and his eyes darting up and around constantly as he hoped for a relevant blue screen to appear in his field of vision.

  After two and a half days of that insanity, Greg had found out that some of that stress was alleviated by constantly throwing himself into certain activities with his mother, e.g., waking her up early to go for runs around the resort and then spending the rest of the day swimming, go-kart racing, laser tag, and something his dad had always tried to get him to do, the batting cages.

  Unexpectedly, it was a lot more fun and far less stressful with his mom cheering him on than with his dad there, just waiting for him to screw up so he could say something. Either way, the rest of his stress had eased away when he started gaining levels from these activities, the continual rising of his abilities letting him calm down.

  His mom was more than a bit surprised, though, when Greg turned down roller-coasters, buffets and chocolate tastings for repeated day of sports and physical activity, before simply shrugging and joining him with a smile. He knew that she was simply brushing it off as him growing up.

  Greg didn't even think about correcting her, the idea of telling her about his powers let alone trying to explain them too ludicrous to even think about. (+ 7 to Breath-Holding, +2 to Blunt Force Resistance, + 4 to Driving Skill, + 3 to Gunplay: Rifles, + 5 to Blunt Weaponry, +4 to Observe, + 3 to Reflexes, + 2 to Stamina, +7 VIT, +3 STR, +2 SPD)

  Now that he was back in the bay, though, Greg was ready to dive into some serious shonen style training, the idea of actually getting somewhere with his powers far too appealing to pass up.

  However, when he had shown up to Sparky's house with his inventory ready with everything they would need for another day of skill grinding - plus some snacks, of course -, Sparky had shut him down quick, declining his offer.

  After Greg had whined repeatedly, asking his friend why over and over until the long-haired teen's eyes was twitching, Sparky relented somewhat, telling Greg he'd explain why if he "would just shut up already!"

  With that, Greg lead Sparky into his house, the blond spending an obligatory couple of minutes saying hi to Sparky's mom and making awkward small talk before his friend dragged him down to the basement.

  That's when Greg saw what Sparky had been working on, immediately pausing on the stairs to bask in the amazing-ness that was in front of him.

  Of course, Sparky then pushed him down those same stairs but Greg didn't really mind that much, simply jumping to his feet to continue enjoying the beauty that was presented to him.

  Greg knew the materials that had gone into it. He had paid for them, after all.

  Pieces of silver-colored plastic armor from a knight costume they had picked up from a party supply store, some white hockey pads, blue fabric, silver spray paint, a couple of stencils, white sneakers and a blue striped hoodie from the thrift store by the Docks.

  All of that had gone into making this awesome costume that looked far better than what a hundred and seventy bucks worth of materials should have made. The idea that Sparky had spent who knows how long on a costume that he didn't even know would give him any bonuses… well, that was just awesome. He even put in a couple belts.

  Whipping around, Greg grabbed Sparky without warning, the teen letting out an uncharacteristically high-pitched squawk of surprise and pulled his friend into a tight hug. "Dude, I can't believe this! You spent all your time making this for me?"

  "Mmm…" Sparky let out a slight groan as he tried to fight Greg's hug slightly, his struggle getting him nowhere. "I slept nineteen hours yesterday, so I don't know where you're getting this 'all your time' BS from."

  "I'm serious, Sparks," Greg said with a laugh. "You ever need anything, I got your back… like a chiropractor."

  "Shut up forever."

  Sparky's nonchalant rebuttal didn't even faze Greg, his grip slightly tightening. "I don't think I say this enough," he sniffed, "but I love you, man."

  Wrapped in quite literally the tightest hug of his life, Sparky rolled his eyes and let out an exhausted sigh. "First, you say that almost every other time we hang out. Second," his lips quirked up into a kind smile over Greg's shoulder, "...gay."

  – o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

  (Five Minutes Later)

  "And your parents just," Greg gestured toward the costume on the ping-pong table, "... didn't say anything about this?"

  "Mom was busy sculpting the whole week," Sparky replied with a roll of his eyes, "and I just told Dad that it was for a convention that was coming to Brockton in a couple weeks."

  Greg nodded at his friend's words, eyes once again locked on the costume. "Still can't believe you made it so well." According to Sparky, his mom had always tried to get him into art stuff but the only things he really had a heart for was music and making clothes, a far cry from his mother's favorites of painting and sculpting. Still, she encouraged him anyway.

  "Eh."

  "No, it's awesome, seriously," the blonde said with a wide grin. "It's all in one piece too."

  Sparky turned to face him. "Okay, and?"

  "Nononono, you don't get it," Greg said, eyes wide. He grabbed hold of the costume on the table, holding it up to the light. "I observedthe costume. It's all in one piece."

  Sparky raised an eyebrow, leaning back slightly as if to create some distance between him and the almost physical force that was Greg's excitement right now. "Okay," he replied, drawing out the last syllable for a second longer than normal, "...and?"

  The blond grinned. "It's all in one piece."

  Sparky gave his friend a tight smile, the bags under his eyes somehow sapping most of the warmth from his expression. "Which means?"

  "This. [Equip: Saber Costume]." The costume held aloft in Greg's hands began to dissolve into motes of blue light, similar to his mana glitter, and flew over to his body as they began surrounding the blond in a haze of blue. , Greg stood there fully dressed up, the fitted better than any professional could have achieved. "I can equip it all at once."

  "Nice."

  "What?"

  "Nothing, really," Greg replied with a grin. "New perk. Lets me put on clothes quicker."

  "Mmm, dope." Greg wasn't exactly sure what that meant but as it was accompanied by a raising and lowering of Sparky's eyebrows, it was either somewhat sarcastic or uncaring. Either way, Sparky turned his back to Greg, walking around the basement to pick up all the materials he had used to make the costume over the last few days. "I'm already making a second one, by the way. Should be quicker cause I already know what to do. Might make a couple more, just in case."

  After a moment's pause and a tilt of his head, Sparky spoke up again. "Honestly, that looks a lot better on you than I expected it would. It looked kinda meh before."

  Greg grinned, offering his friend a thumbs-up. "Thanks, bro!"

  Sparky grunted again, bending over to pick up a length of soft, blue-looking cloth.

  Glancing back down at the perfectly-fitted costume that he now wore, Greg thought back to the bonuses the suit offered, already feeling the bonuses it offered. "Wish those stat bonuses could work for other people," he muttered aloud.

  "Hmm?" Sparky raised his head from the table at the far end of the basement, one end of a tape measure between his teeth.

  "Well," Greg gestured, "if my stat bonuses worked for other people, I could get some awesome gear for you and we could be partners but... the bonuses only work for me, you know."

  "Even if I would agree to that… and I wouldn't… partners in what?"

  "Hero stuff."

  "Hero?" Sparky blinked, tilting his head to give Greg an inquisitive stare. "You're not a hero, you know that, right?"

  "Yeah, I am," Greg replied, obviously confused. "I mean, I haven't saved any lives yet, but I've stopped criminals."

  "Nah, brah. You beat up some Merchants who weren't committing a crime and you fought a Ward." Sparky clicked his tongue and shot Greg a slightly mocking smile. "You're not even a Rogue at this point. You're basically a villain."

  "Bu-"

  "The whole point of this costume," Sparky said slowly, finger held up, "is so that nobody can match you to everything you did before."

  Greg opened his mouth as the reality of what Sparky had said hit him like a hunk of bricks. "...shit."

  "Eh, it'll get better," Sparky smirked. "Least you look like a hero now. Shiny knight and all that BS." After a moment, he blinked and shot Greg an odd look, lips pursed. "I can't believe that I'm asking this, but do you not have a cape name yet?"

  "Good question…" Greg shrugged, raising his eyebrows as he stared back. Have I really not picked a name yet? It's been forever almost. "Huh, guess I don't. You'd think that'd be item number one on my list of things to do, right?"

  "Yeah, totally, whatever…" Sparky replied with a roll of his eyes. "Just make one up then."

  "I can't just do that, Sparks," Greg replied with a slight whine in his voice. "You know how many capes are out there? I'll have to spend forever on PHO looking for one."

  Sparky shrugged his shoulders. "Go use my computer in my room, then. I'll be down here for a bit." He let out another sigh gesturing around the basement cluttered with fabric, silver costume armor and other miscellaneous items Greg could tell had gone into the costume on his body. "Gotta… finish cleaning up all of this."

  With a grin, Greg gave his friend a thumbs-up. "Thanks, Sparks!"

  As Greg turned to run up the stairs, Sparky shouted behind him, "Don't forget to take off the costume, genius!"

  "Got it!" Quickly shifting back to his normal clothes in a flash of light, Greg ran up the stairs, slamming the basement door behind him.

  Sparky sighed again, slumping his shoulders as he stared at the mess around him that he guessed would take him the better part of an hour to finish arranging. "Ughhh… could have offered to help, you know."

  – o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

  (Fifty-Five Minutes Later)

  Picking a name hadn't honestly taken all that long. In fact, he was easily able to pluck a name from PHO's wiki of available cape names within fifteen minutes. His name had actually come from a minor Hero from California who had died in the last Behemoth attack, some low-level Trump with a super flashy costume.

  The name by itself, while not exactly a perfect match for the way he saw his powerset, was still pretty dang badass. As appropriate for someone of his innate badass nature, it hinted at power while not being a bragging douche about it.

  Unlike Legend or Dauntless, he didn't feel the need to brag about himself. Not to say he didn't want to, of course.

  Either way, with his name picked, Greg had decided to spend the rest of his time messing around on PHO, specifically trying to see if he could get back into the PHO spirit.

  It had been a while since he had been on it. The only friend he had on there, GStringGirl, had probably been wondering where he'd been, especially considering his ban had been up for a while. Seeing as she wasn't online right now, Greg simply began to scroll the forums, drink in hand, only stopping when he saw a few threads that seemed to concern him.

  Two threads, in particular.

  Frowning, Greg leaned away from Sparky's computer and took a big gulp of the drink in his hand, frown only increasing as the burn hit his throat.

  He didn't even get why people on PHO hated him so much. He was no worse than half of the people on there. In fact, he was damn sure he was better than half of the people on there, considering actual gang members and supervillains used the goddamn forum.

  Sure, Greg admitted to himself, he had made some off-color references and a few jokes in the aftermath of Endbringer attacks. He had, at one point in the aftermath of a Leviathan attack, made a joke about how the one time a Kaiju actually came to Japan, they got their shit kicked in far worse than what a Little Boy or a Fat Man could pull off.

  And maybe, just maybe, he had asked around to see if anyone had any Glory Girl upskirt shots. Was that so wrong? Although, that was probably the tipping point for his last ban, now that he thought about it.

  Taking another swig from the bottle, Greg placed it down on the table and leaned forward again, deciding to go to the second thread that had caught his attention.

  "Giant. Fucking, Dicks. All of you," Greg growled, directing his ire at the forum-goers on PHO.

  Him, a Nazi?

  Really.

  Also, fuck that Gil the Original King. Gilgamesh was a shit character, and everyone knew it. Sure, he was cool as all hell, but he was still shit.

  Reaching for the bottle again, Greg raised it to his lips only to pause as Sparky's door opened, his haggard and dirt-covered friend walking in.

  "Hey, brah…" Sparky froze as he saw Greg, his eyes widening slowly.

  Greg lifted a hand in greeting, letting go of the computer mouse. "Sup."

  "Bro, are you…" Sparky's jaw dropped, his eyes blinking rapidly as he looked between Greg and the object in his hand, "... don't tell me you're drinking hand sanitizer?"

  Glancing down at the bottle of Purell in his grip, Greg nodded slowly. Quickly taking another swig to the sound of Sparky's choked protests, he placed the bottle down just as fast, a hand rising to his lips to wipe off the liquid from his mouth.

  "... Nigga, what the fuck?"

  "Oh relax, it's just like water, really," Greg gave his friend a slightly sheepish grin.

  "... Really, brah?" Sparky was clearly unconvinced, what with the way his fingers seemed to be twitching at his side. "Like water?"

  "Yeah, you know, if water burned your insides."

  "...bro."

  "It also gives me a nice buzz, so there's that."

  "...bro."

  "...I'd offer you some, but…" With a snort, Greg stuck his tongue out, "... bad idea, y'know."

  "...bro."

  "By the way, I found a cape name. How do you like Prodigy?"

  "I swear to God..."

  Spoiler: STATUS