Trying not to make too big of a deal of Miss Masher's questionable standards, Lucas clears his throat loudly and then finally begins heading for the door.

"Well, anyway, we should get going, too." Speaking up to get things going once again, Lucas makes a beckoning gesture with his right hand, intending on leading the way.

Although, he doesn't make it very far before being stopped.

"Oh, when I left Calc was still in the back room you guys last saw her in, we should probably go check there for her first. We're better off taking the employee door." When Miss Chievous speaks up to adjust their route, Miss Masher turns to look directly at her face. Pausing for a moment, she seems to determine that her sister's actually being honest, so she turns and starts leading the way to the aforementioned employee door.

Feeling low-key snubbed for, well, he lost track of how many times, the corner of Lucas's mouth twitches a bit before he follows after the two women, with Willy and Jonathan ahead of him as well.

[Heh. Anyway, as I was saying before; you've earned another power upgrade. Did you have anything in mind?]

'Uhh... Um... Yeah, no. Wait, you've never actually really told me what kinda options there are anyway, it's mostly just you sayin' 'no' to anything cool.'

[Ah, right. You've managed to cut me off so many times I forgot that you still don't know.]

'Hey! Don't put it all on me! The first time you asked I was more than halfway dead!'

[Ahem, regardless. Knowing your attention span, I'll try to keep it a bit brief; due to the restrictions of Boss System's capabilities, every power is a form of one physical enhancement or another. There are a few mental powers, but they're just enhancing aspects, not granting anything like psychic powers, so nothing that would likely catch your attention. You're aware of the more standard physical traits of strength, speed, and endurance, so apart from the previously mentioned regeneration, all that remains is pain tolerance, limited invisibility, and each of the seven senses.]

While Lucas is mentally locked up for a moment, Miss Masher has just reached the door, pulling it open without any incriminating creak. This frustrates Miss Chievous to no end.

"Oh sure, now you're quiet, stupid door." As she scolds the non-sentient slab of metal, Miss Chievous makes a point of kicking it once before walking through the open doorway. Hurting her foot in the process, of course.

Miss Masher has trouble holding a straight face while watching her sister's ill-advised antics, which has temporarily shifted into her angrily hopping on the other foot for a few steps while hissing before she eventually walks away with only a slight limp.

Far less concerned with trying not to hurt her feelings, Lucas and Jonathan both openly snicker at her self-inflicted injury.

Miss Masher far more successfully holds the door open for the rest of the group to travel through, eventually entering it after Lucas.

'Ha, serves her right. And uh, you okay there buddy? There's only five senses.'

[...There are seven. I'll refrain from using the technical names as best I can; sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste, and...]

Taking a moment before continuing, 427 lets out a sigh in anticipation of the kind of response Lucas is likely about to make after hearing them.

[Proprioceptive and vestibular senses.]

'The fuck you say? Did you just make those up to mess with me!?'

[No, they're truly the sixth and seventh senses. As they're a bit interlinked, the two together count as one power as far as Boss System is concerned. Proprioception is your sense of self, such as your position in relation to the world around you, as well as muscle control, to put it simply. The vestibular sense is related to your inner ear, gauging head position, gauging when you're in a state of motion, such as when you're in a moving car, as well as balance and coordination. Again, this is trying to put it simply, both are much more nuanced than such short descriptions can fully convey.]

While Lucas quietly chews on this newly gained information, Miss Masher loudly yawns behind him.

Whether it is because Miss Masher is with them or that she doesn't feel like trying the same trick twice, Miss Chievous doesn't attempt to lead the group through any creative detours. Even still, there remains a bit of a distance more before they'll reach their goal.

'Huh, wait, actually... That's... Don't I need that?'

[Hmm?]

'That'll fix the weird problems I've had since coming to this world, wouldn't it?'

[...Well, you certainly are rather clumsy. Normally, enhancing senses isn't entirely advisable as an early power but... Actually, it would be a good idea for you. A lot of your destruction does seem to be unintentional, this should more than correct that issue. Well then, one proprioceptive and vestibular sense upgrade, coming up.]

Trying to find a way to gauge his latest enhancement, Lucas decides to try testing out hopping while using the tile flooring to gauge his accuracy.

[...]

Outwardly, he seems to be playing a game of don't step on the crack. Internally, he's genuinely impressed.

'Three tiles and... Goddamn, I don't even need to take time getting used to this, this is actually pretty cool?'

[Hmm... Perhaps part of why you were having so much trouble managing your strength was because of how lacking you were in these regards. Honestly, it normally is pretty quick to master newly gained abilities, I just wasn't particularly inclined to point that fact out, previously, as I wasn't entirely sure why that wasn't the case for you. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Jonathan has firmly gained complete control over his speed ever since he bound with 011. Maybe there were a few brief moments just to get used to it actually working how he wanted it to at first, but he has precise control now.]

'...I appreciate that you didn't point that out sooner.'

[Mmm, you're welcome, heh. It was bothering me a bit, I suppose I should have considered that you apparently had some form of body dysphoria, which was apparently holding you back more than I realized. It's not exactly every day that someone from another world joins the system, I hardly had any data to work with.]

'Hey, I even told you that I wasn't always like that. You just didn't believe me, did you?'

[...Ahem. Regardless, it seems to now be resolved.]

'...'

Noticing Lucas's regular hopping, Miss Masher has curiously moved up to be walking mostly apace with him, just off to his right side. Noting the regular distance he keeps skipping, she decides to join in on the perceived game.

While she doesn't maintain the same degree of technical precision, the accuracy she maintains would have certainly put Lucas's pre-enhancement self to shame.

Noticing the continued sounds of odd movements behind him, Jonathan looks over his shoulder to see the two powerful idiots hopping over multiple tiles at a time, nearly in sync.

Extremely confused at first about why they had both wordlessly begun this odd game, Jonathan vacantly stares ahead for a few seconds as he continues walking after Willy and Miss Chievous. After a bit of time, his facial expression shifts from confusion to understanding. A clue from 011 stating Lucas's current GDV was all Jonathan needed to realize just what was going on.

At least, in regards to Lucas. Why Miss Masher is doing it too, remains a mystery.

-----

Lucas kills this chapter: 0

Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas deaths this chapter: 0

Lucas total deaths: 10

Lucas current GDV: 10.44 (+.01 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 3.5* (Beyond just local, viral meme tier)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for a few paranoid individuals)

Jonathan kills this chapter: 0

Jonathan total kills: 5

Jonathan deaths this chapter: 0

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 2.19

Jonathan's fame level: 2* (Mostly just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 1* (Only highly paranoid people)

Willy's fame level: 1* (anonymous meme fame, local fame as 'Xenoclast's dog')

Supervillain social circle size: 11

-----

Little character theater:

Jonathan, now also contemplating joining in: Aww, wait a minute, you guys are jumping too far, my legs aren't long enough yet...

Willy, also noticing the odd behavior from the rear of the group, but not having any useful information as to why: ...Bark?

Lucas, already smug about just how steadily precise he now is: Ha! She was a bit short on that jump!

427, amused by the ongoing nonsense: [You're not going to stop doing it until she does first, are you?]

Author, barely suppressing laughter: For real though 427, you could just start listing examples of proprioceptive and vestibular dysfunctions and like... A full half of them apply to Lucas. You should have noticed sooner. And frankly, if a certain someone cared to share more minor details over the course of the story, it would then be more than just half.

Mr. Quacks, putting rubber ducky patterned band-aids over the cracks in the fourth wall: Quack!