(I forgot to post this before) ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌
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Interference/A Bad Premonition
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Missed call from TM
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Missed call from TM
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Missed call from TM
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New unread text message from TM
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TM: Hey.
TM: Did I say something really out of line last time or are you just ignoring me because you feel like it?
TM: Boy, I know you've got your phone on.
TM: Did you die or something?
TM: Ttyl, you said. But when's later?
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"Hey, your phone's been buzzing for a while now. Are you sure you don't want to check it?"
In response, C2 finally picked up the phone, glancing briefly at the phone before sliding it into one of his pockets, resuming what he had been doing for a while now; meticulously polishing the golden thing on his lap.
Jan honestly couldn't help but stare. Sure, he technically knew about Timcanpy, C2's odd and obviously custom-made golem, but that didn't mean that Jan wasn't surprised – and kind of delighted as well – to see it this close at hand.
"Was it a terribly persistent telemarketer?" Timothy, or Tim, asked from down below; he was doing his homework lying on his stomach on the ever-cluttered floor of Jan's workshop.
The latter was nothing unusual. The hero on his couch however, that was a pretty novel thing, especially so since it was a hero in their civvies; the only thing that didn't really fit the image of a normal teenage in jeans and an upturned hoodie was the beautifully crafted domino mask that any true fans would be able to recognise despite the few opportunities to see it up close.
"No," C2 said, continuing to polish the golem on his lap. He offered up no elaboration, strengthening Jan's impression that there was something very wrong about it all. Like, Jan didn't exactly mind the hero dropping in, not even during the day, but like why?
To ask or not to ask; that was the question. "Are you in trouble, C2?" Jan asked at last, testing the waters. "If your lease is up, you could just crash here, you know? Heck, you could move in if you like; we've got plenty of rooms available. I'd even consider paying you to be my research assistant. How do you feel about working on Chili Bomb 2.0?"
Predictably, the mention of the Chili Bomb 2.0 had the hero lift his head. He still didn't say anything though, and that was pretty damned unnerving and all.
"Jr.," Tim piped up from down below. "I'm thirsty."
Jan was just about to snap at Tim to go get his own drinks when he realised that yes, clearing out for a bit might just be for the best.
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Jan might not be what could be classified as a regular civilian. Officially speaking, he was, but in practice, he wasn't. Sure, there was his father's connection to the Agency, and sure, there was Jan's connection to C2, however, both were the type of connections that could not be spoken of to outsiders. Granted, Jan now had an insider of sorts in the form of Tim, but he sure as heck wasn't going to burden a nine-year-old with his worries and grievances. Well, such had been the plan at any rate.
"My dad was a bastard and a drunkard, gambling addict and thief," Tim had commented when Jan had made an offhanded comment about his absentee scientist of a father. "I still think you got the better deal…"
And Jan supposed he really had; his dad still visited on rare occasions, and typically sent birthday and Christmas presents as well, and even if the former was usually a bit late, it still showed that he tried, right?
It was probably mostly guilt however; Jan had seen it back when his father had last returned, acting jovially yet lying him straight in the face. Granted, Jan hadn't been much better himself.
"Sad to hear about your friend, Leon, was it?"
Leo.
"I heard he had to move abroad with his uncle…"
Was it to be considered mercy? Consideration? Or was it due to the fear that his own son might end up the same?
The man even offered to forward letters to 'Leon', as if oblivious to the fact that Timothy already had Leo's number and knew it had been stopped working at this point, and that his social media accounts were as dead as the one who started them.
His father really was an idiot. Certain days, Jan wondered what kind of face the man would make if he ever learned just what Jan had been up to in his absence; not just chasing Akuma with Leo, but getting involved with C2 and Phantom Thief G, and designing the latter's equipment. His father would probably freak, especially if he ever learnt about the latter. It was all kind of satisfying though, knowing that the one who thought they were doing the fooling was the one being fooled in return.
Well, shitty absentee father or not, Jan still remained filial enough to continue sending him ugly ties every Father's Day.
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"Turns out I'm out of tea," Jan announced, pushing a small cart in front of him, because he sure as heck wasn't going to tempt fate by carrying three large mugs of steaming hot chocolate, or entrusting it to one of his robots, because last time had ended pretty badly.
Tim flashed a grin and a thumbs up behind C2, who seemed to have abandoned his earlier golem-polishing efforts in favour of looking over Tim's math homework.
"This one and that one and that one as well," C2 said quietly, pointing them out on the paper while Tim cursed under his breath and set about erasing the answers.
A hero in his civvies helping out a phantom thief in his civvies with his math homework; well, it definitely made an image, and it was likely one that certain tabloids would pay some very, very good money for. Really though, Jan was in no need of it; he had far enough pocket money already. Besides…
"Thanks," C2 said, taking the cup handed to him. "I'm honestly a bit of a wreck right now."
Yeah, no shit. Jan figured the mask did not just shield the other's identity but also some fairly impressive bags underneath the eyes; he could pick up as much just from the sound of his voice.
"Huh," he offered simply, handing a cup to Tim before taking the remaining one for himself. "Wanna talk about it?"
It was probably none of his business, with him being a civilian and all. However, with the hero effectively having chosen to descend upon his doorstep, that kind of made it his business now, right?
"It's nothing, really," C2 sighed, slouching back down now that the homework had been taken off his hands.
And yeah, that definitely didn't sound like nothing. Still− "Is there a particular reason you can't talk about it with someone over at the Agency? They've got to have therapists over there, right?" −Or at the very least, people better educated and equipped to deal with…whatever this was.
"Tried that, didn't work," C2 said, offering up a somewhat dismissive wave. "They wouldn't stop pestering me about shit…"
Shit, huh?
"I mean, I get it, like, I'm not exactly into using healthy coping mechanisms, but hey, at least I'm doing something, right? We've all got our ways of dealing with the shit we've been through, and I just so happen to prefer keeping busy above sitting around talking about my…" C2 trailed off and said nothing for several moments. "Actually, sorry about that," he said at last. "There's so much emotional baggage to unpack, so let's just throw away the entire suitcase."
Yeah…
Jan turned slightly, opting not to think of it, at least not for now.
"You weren't this bad before though," Tim commented. "You've been pretty chill since the whole abduction incident…"
Abduction incident?
Jan spun back around, rounding on C2. "What abduction incident?"
C2 actually flinched; it was small, but Jan was observant, so he definitely saw it.
"I wasn't kidnapped!" C2 hissed, attention zeroing in on Tim. "G, put that phone away or so help me God!"
Jan simply looked on, thinking hard. If there had really been some sort of abduction, then how in the seven Hells could he possibly have missed it?
Wait…
Jan put down his cup of hot chocolate and went to snatch up his tablet, quickly bringing out the first thing that came to mind and turning it towards the others. "This?"
C2, already pale enough, positively blanched. Tim answered in his stead.
"Yeah, that one, that one!" he said. "The Agency made up some bullshit excuses about being on high alert due to some threat or whatever, while having a bunch of people running around looking for him!"
Yeah, Jan had definitely heard about that. He hadn't been around though, because the incident had coincided with him being out of town to attend a large science fair halfway across the country.
The thing is, Jan had sort of, maybe, planned on asking C2 about it, but he had been busy with other stuff and then Tim had made contact and then−
"What happened?" Jan asked, putting the tablet back down before returning to the area by the couch. Jan would have brought the thing with him, but instincts told him it was probably a whole lot safer not to do so.
"Nothing happened," C2 hissed, setting the cup down with a bit more force than necessary before wiping his mouth. "Got into a fight, got a concussion, and called an acquaintance to come and pick me up instead of reporting in."
Plausible. Still− "Got into a fight with who?"
"Nobody you know," C2 snapped. "And nobody you'd ever like to meet either."
Curious.
"Was it the yellow-eyed villain of Third District you warned me about?" Tim asked, and going by the twitch that followed, the guess likely wasn't all that far from the truth.
Still− "What yellow-eyed villain?"
"Nobody," C2 deadpanned, getting back to his feet. "There are far bigger issues at hand."
"Bigger issues?"
C2 looked towards Jan. "There's a barrier covering much of the city, and odds are, it's nothing good. My ability to sense the presence of Akuma isn't working, and my intel has it that the villain boss is coming back to town."
Villain boss? "The Millennium Earl?"
"The Millennium what now?" Tim frowned. Odds were that he didn't even know a lot about the Earl; Tim hadn't given any real indication of having much knowledge about Akuma at all, barring the fact that they existed, of course.
Jan hadn't intended to tell him much either, since C2 hadn't. But− "The Millennium Earl is the villain that creates Akuma. The Akuma disguise themselves to hide amongst the population and at night, they go out to kill people. In time… in time they will grow more powerful, and then…"
"They'll evolve," C2 commented, if somewhat reluctantly. "It's not pretty."
Tim's head lowered slightly. "Okay," he said simply. "So, you came here to warn us?"
Yeah, because that would make some sort of sense.
"Why us though?" Jan asked, watching as C2 called Timcanpy back to his side. "We're kids. It's not like we can do anything…"
Actually, Jan resented that; he was a kid, sure, but he was shitload more capable than a lot of adults. Sure, he was still self-aware enough to realise that he still had ways to go, not just in terms of maturity but also in terms of acquiring knowledge and experience, but−
C2 shook his head. "I'm not here to ask you to help out," he said, letting Timcanpy climb inside his upturned hood. "The Science Division's pretty capable…"
Well, they obviously had to be, but Jan sensed that there was a definite 'but' in there somewhere. Still− "You wanted to tell someone what was up, just in case the shit hits the fan, right? Did you also drop a hint with that acquaintance of yours?"
"That guy?" − Cue another dismissive wave. − "That guy's a bust. The fat guy basically ordered a hit on me, and the guy was basically like 'Yeah, I'm sure it's just some mistake. Even if he's a bad guy, I don't think he's the type of guy to order a hit on a minor', as if the fat guy didn't already try to get me killed back when I was ten!"
Whoa. Jan was really starting to see that whole suitcase thing now.
"I got a bounty on my head when I was like nine," ten-year-old Tim supplied, still sipping his hot chocolate.
"Yeah, and you were about one theft away from getting a legit hit on your head by the time I got to you," C2 deadpanned. "So, once again, please don't steal from the mob, because it's very likely to get you killed."
Yeah, that definitely sounded like sound advice… coming from someone who was likely a little too involved for comfort, given the factual tone in the first part. That wasn't the part that captured the brunt of Jan's attention however.
"You said the guy said that the fat guy wouldn't order a hit on a minor?"
"…Yeah."
"And how old are you again?"
Jan had always known that C2 was definitely on the younger side, but he hadn't thought much about how old, just young but definitely a few years older than him. Now however, having gained new insights, Jan felt like he at least had to ask.
"Old enough to drive and to work the nightshift but not old enough to drink or smoke, but allegedly young enough to warrant not getting killed despite being a major nuisance…" C2 surprisingly admitted, though the latter part was more of a quiet mutter than anything as the hero stood up, called for Timcanpy and headed for the exit, leaving Jan and Tim to stare after him.
"Yeah," Tim said, once the hero was out of sight. "I think he needs to talk someone. Or punch someone. Possibly both."
Yeah, someone. Like that acquaintance of his, for example. Still−
"Why punch people when you have a flamethrower at hand?" Jan commented, his tone quite light-hearted despite his heart feeling quite heavy. "But anyways, you done?"
"With my homework? Sure."
"And with pretending not to know basic algebra?"
Tim frowned down at his math homework. "Is that what this is?"
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