Chapter 5: Chapter 4: “Where Lawrence finds his little piece of heaven”

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Villain: Lawrence Lakewood

[ Status ]

 

Rank: D (You’re a zero to the left)
(10) Quests before rank-up

Reputation: None (Your mom barely recognizes you)

Feature Points: 0 (Do you even have a place to drop dead?)

[ Meta-Ability ]

Criminal Mastermind: Every time you do anything a teeny tiny chance you’ll trigger a chain of events that will help you on the long run

[ Features ]

No unlocked features at the time (Get to work, you lazy fatso)

 

[ Quests ]

– Welcome to the Dark Side:
It’s fun with the baddies! You don’t buy it? Try and see!
Goal: Perform your first morally incorrect action (0/1)
Reward: Free Feature Voucher

– The Badder, the Merrier:
What’s better than a cool villain? A cool villain and his cool sidekicks! So what are you waiting for? Get one for you, too!
Goal: Obtain your first minion (0/1)
Reward: 10 Feature Points

– First Stain:
Fear! Respect! Appreciation! And more fear! When a villain’s deeds grow famous, so does the villain’s name! And who doesn’t want to see people flicker at the sole mention of his name? And so, it is your turn to make this meek neighborhood to know your name!
Goal: Make your name grow famous around the local area (0%)
Reward: Free Feature Voucher

 

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“Oi oi oi oi oi! Wait a little sec!” A vein popped on Lawrence’s forehead as he looked at his brand-new Status. Surprise and joy over his new condition as a meta, confusion and distress at his Villainous morality, they were all temporarily forgotten.

After all…

“You, little, BASTARD!!!“

Yeah, the Root was kinda messing with him too much.

Joe, God of men’s realm, among other titles (such as the Even Reckless-er Imbecile, the Cervantes of Chaos, Ehit’s Lazy Brother, He Who Cannot Be Named Because Nobody Really Knows Him (And Those Who Do Don’t Like Him Anyways), among other, less kind names), had manually tinkered with Lawrence’s status, and part of his personality was embed in the user interfaces. The result of his actions was just this… sardonic, to say nothing else.

“Where’s this coming from?! None of my Meta Society classes said this kind of thing was going to happen!”

One of the main changes in society with the arrival of metas, was the implementation of the Meta Society Studies mandatory subject, studied since highschool. The purpose of the class was to both be better informed, and to be prepared in case you formed part of the lucky new generation of metas. After the Third Generation woke up, and the appearing of metas was catalogued as a repeated event rather than a one-time-only thing, the LHU set as a top priority the establishment of a help program for potential rookies at a global scale.

Turns out, a world-wide organization with massive influence in just about everywhere helped speeding up things more than one would think.

Figures.

Before 2020 came in and the Fourth Generation was powered up, Meta Society Studies was already a mandatory subject on most developed countries.

Of course, the States Union was not the exception.

Still, never in all the classes he took he remembered the Root acting like this.

Part of that was because it actually didn’t but how could he possibly know that?

“This isn’t happening.”

The giant holographic screen only he could say, of course, made denying useless, however.

“Okay, put your act together. Inhale, exhale… Inhale, exhale…”

First of all, he had to get out of the bathroom. The echo of his own voice being his own company (undesirable biased Root besides) wasn’t helping at all with the already tense situation his brain found itself into. Add that to the clean-white walls that looked like they were closing in every second, and he felt like he was trapped in a mental hospital.

“Yeah, not the best place to reflect on my own actions and uncertain future.”

Not that he was looking forward to it either.

With an unsteady pace, Lawrence left the nerve-wracking bathroom (funny how it was just now that he noticed how nerve-wracking said bathroom was) and sat, or rather, threw himself in the beige couch that so much helped him with this kind of problems.

A few minutes of nervously tapping his fingers later, he decided he wasn’t about to calm down, at least not with this situation on hand. Instead of trying to settle, he decided to blow off the steam and go for a walk (again).

So he changed to a light shirt, put on a winter coat, grabbed a scarf and left for a bit of pure air.

Ten minutes later he got back, changed his pajama pants for something decent, his fluffy mules for moccasin shoes, and left again, hoping nobody noticed.

Half of the neighborhood did. They, however, deemed it unnecessary to point it out.

And five minutes after that he returned and put on matching gloves.

The giant tattoo on his hand was honestly hard to miss.

 

 

• ••••

 

 

The day was even chillier than usual, and the wind actually crashed more than blew Lawrence’s clothes like a handful of glacial knives. He now regretted not having brought thicker clothes.

Even so, most of his mind was still going on with the new problem in hands.

Namely, the fact that he was now a villain.

“What the hell what the hell what the hell what the hell what the hell!!! I asked to be a hero! Who the hell confused HERO and VILLAIN?! They don’t even share a single letter!!! Forget about their meanings! Huh? Me? Making evil stuff?! No way in…”

He stopped right there and thought on his own words for a second…

“…”

And realized something.

“… I kinda fit in the villain’s role, don’t I…?!”

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Yes, indeed! Someone who up until now has had a life absolutely devoid of any important events, with no concern for social relationships whatsoever and absolutely no interest in being correct.

“I’m totally a villain-in-the-make?!”

Yes, he was.

“Siiiiighhh…”

He stopped at the entrance of a building that caught his attention, temporarily forgetting about his internal dilemma.

The walls were painted cloud-white with a relaxing tone that made Lawrence stiff body feel at ease. Giant stainless polished glass panels revealed the true nature of the establishment, protecting the shop’s content from unwanted clients. The entrance took the shape of an arch, decorated with golden ornaments, and a giant sign hung above it.

“Cloudsweet Café” it read in stylish golden letters in a lilac background.

The design per se would’ve attracted Lawrence’s attention, as he was a great fan of light and elegant styles. What was truly keeping his eye fixed on the establishment was not the way it was built…

But rather the things they sold.

“Whoaaah…”

His eyes darted around frantically trying to appreciate even the slightest of details… as a million sweets and deserts lured him to the inside of the café like an expert fisherman’s bait.

Cakes and pies and tarts and tartlets of every size and color. Baked pastries, cinnamon rolls, custards and jellies, meringues and creams, soft and hard candies, puddings and flans… It all seemed enough to send Lawrence to the sweets’ heaven.

And then there were the chocolates.

Gods those chocolates! Had Lawrence the stomach and the wallet for it he would eat all the chocolates at display, and even those that weren’t.

Dark chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate, bitter chocolate, sweet chocolate, chocolate with almonds, chocolate with peanuts, marshmellow and chocolates, chocolates bars, chocolate bonbons, chocolate cakes…

“Oh my gawd…”

The minute he had set his eyes on the café, he knew it.

He had to go in.

The doorbell rang, announcing a new client, and Lawrence took a step inside.

The first surprise came with a wave of warm wind that had him finding his scarf and coat unnecessary. It was just the right temperature to find himself comfortable. There was a clothes rack at the entrance with a small fee for safe usage. Lawrence paid and hung his winter clothes on it as he ventured further into the shop.

The inside was as cozy and elegant as the outside. Impolute white tables and chairs; black ‘n white tiles to match spider lamps hanging on the ceiling and granting a pleasant illumination, accompanied by the windows that somehow seemed to be perfectly placed so that sunlight bathed the inside without being too bright or too dark.

“Ah… this is… this is truly a paradise…”

“Mr. Customer? What can I do for you?”

In all his admiration, Lawrence hadn’t noticed the employee closing on him, and so he nearly jumped on his surprise.

“What the…?! O-Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you, miss…”

It was a… girl? Lady? Hard to know. She looked around her early twenties but the air of innocence around her reminded him of pure highschool girls. She was wearing a white buttoned blouse with lilac skirt and an apron to match. Her short dark-brown hair swayed in the wind… despite the fact that there was no wind whatsoever. Her eyes, he noticed, were an interesting shade of toasted honey, big and beautiful…

Like an angel.

Wait wait wait wait, stoooop! Hold your horses, Romeo! It’s not the first time you see a cute girl, and you’ve certainly never felt this shocked! Put your act together!

He blamed it on the heavenly atmosphere inside the café for that comparation.

But now he just couldn’t shake out the feeling that little white wings sprouted from the back of her waist.

I wonder if that halo is just my imagination…

“Mr. Customer?”

“Ah, yes…” Lawrence shook his head and refocused. He was making the lady wait. “I’m sorry, I was distracted by the place… It really feels great.”

“I’m glad you feel that way! I’m the owner, main cook and waitress, Emma Lane. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” She put her hands behind her back and leaned forward slightly. That brought her face closer to Lawrence, who had to make use of all his serenity not to get flustered about it.

Just what the hell?! Being so cute has to be a crime! Agh, calm down, you!

“I-Is that so…? It’s actually amazing that you do so many work on your own. Are you short on employees?”

“Ah, no. The Cloudsweet’s actually a local business. My little sister and I run it alone.”

“Isn’t that hard?” To be honest, Lawrence didn’t know much about working in a café… but even an amateur like him could venture that one would need at least two waiters and two cooks, plus the one in charge of cleaning and the person in charge of keeping the store provisioned. That was, if your order was made on the spot and you didn’t buy one of the pre-made sweets.

But, for some reason, he suspected everything he ate here would be just-made.

Only two people doing that work? It was impressive, at the very least.

“Oh, no, not at all! Elaine is great taking care of customers, she usually handles the orders by herself. I just have to handle the kitchen!”

“Hmmm…” Lawrence looked around and noticed only a couple of old men were currently inside.

“It’s usually this empty?”

“Well, it’s early morning after all…”

“Oh, yikes, I forgot…” According to his smartphone, it was little past seven-o-clock.

“Anyways, would you like to order?”

“Ah, yes. That’s the reason why I came here after all…”

“Very well then. Since it’s this early and the other customers have been taken care of, I will do the whole process. It’s been some time since I play waitress…”

“Heeeh…” A figurative lightbulb lit up above Lawrence’s head and it occurred to him that maybe it was time to discretely score himself a few points.

“Well, with your looks, Miss Lane, I can’t imagine any way it could go wrong.” He tried to sound as casual as possible.

Aaand bingo! He could see the compliment had gotten to her, since her cheeks were slightly red and she was fidgeting with the notebook she had taken to write down his order.

“Awawawah… Er, I mean, thank you, Mr…”

This time it took him his whole calmness and strength of will not to laugh. Awawawah? What kind of reaction is that?

“The name is Lawrence. Lawrence Lakewood” and he stretched out his hand.

“A pleasure to meet you.”

 

 

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