Chapter 47: Let’s call him dave

The two sides of the coin may look different, but they are still originated from the same coin. We are all the same. So if you want to stop the heroes’ crimes, you have to start from the very top, and leave the truly good heroes alone. If you can promise to do that, then I can join your organization," Lupingo said.

"You may be right, but that doesn’t change the fact that the heroes are evil, and I don’t care if there are some good heroes. All the heroes are the same in my book, and they must all pay," the villain said.

"Then I can’t join your cause. So now, can you kindly release your hostages?" Lupingo said.

"Release my hostages? There would be no releasing. They would face their death after I am done with you. If you are not with me, then you are against me. So Lupingo, prepare for your death, because you won’t be going back today. This place, this hotel roof, will be your very last stop," the villain said.

"We will see about that."

Back forward fifteen minutes to the past, to the Livestream chat.

[LIVE CHAT]

ModBot: First on the Livestream, welcome to the stream! Be respectful. No backseat gaming. Type !sub to support Lupingo. Type !drops to see today’s rewards, and let’s guess how Lupingo is going to make his entrance.

PogChamp_Pete: LETS GOOOOOO

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx: Lupin! Lupin! Lupin! LUPINGO!

KittyKat_99: When will Lupingo arrive? I am dying to see him already. I know his entrance would be so cool when he arrives, but I want to see him now.

GenericViewer123: Who is the grey guy in costume?

SneakySnake: Who knows? Let’s just call him Dave. He doesn’t matter. The most mid-villain name ever, to make our god shine bright.

(I apologize to anybody bearing the name Dave that’s reading this. This is a fictional fantasy book, so don’t be offended. Thank you, and I appreciate your continuous read 💕💕💕)

VillainFan4Lyfe: Wow, Dave. That name sounds fitting for him. Look at how he is trying so hard with that knife. It’s cute.

PogChamp_Pete: He’s been pacing for 5 mins. Is he gonna do something or just wear a hole in the floor?

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx: Lupingo has not even appeared yet, yet he is like this. The desperation. Love it.

KittyKat_99: Look at him. Who’s he talking to now? He’s probably checking his sub count. Did I just hear Lupingo’s name?

GenericViewer123: Lupingo, stab him in the back. Dave has not noticed him yet.

VillainFan4Lyfe: Lupingo’s whole vibe is "I watched one YouTube tutorial on how to be a badass."

PogChamp_Pete: OMG HE’S SPEAKING

Lupingo (on stream): "Hey, who are you talking to? I am right here!"

KittyKat_99: "I am right here," he says. Lupingo just did a 24-hour charity stream for cat shelters. Dave must be very dumb. He did not even notice Lupingo at the back. The idiot was talking to no one.

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx: LMAO DAVE SAID "Are you afraid to show yourself to the world"

SneakySnake: Dave’s chat is literally called "The Goofy Goobers." What nonsense? Lupingo afraid? For where?

VillainFan4Lyfe: Dave is so out of the loop it’s painful. That expectant face when he said that. He thinks he’s in a comic book. He is a literal comic book villain.

PogChamp_Pete: Lupingo’s face! He’s not even reacting. That poker face. That’s just so cool!

Lupingo (on stream): "Dave, right? Did you book this slot? Because I have a Q&A in twenty minutes."

GenericViewer123: OH MY GOD, THE DISRESPECT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO ASTRONOMICAL IF HE SAID THAT.

KittyKat_99: YEAH, LIKE HE BOOKED AN APPOINTMENT WITH LUPINGO TO FIGHT. THAT WOULD BE. CRYING EMOJI

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx: Lupingo is my spirit animal. "I am very busy?" is the new "Do you know who I am?"

SneakySnake: Dave’s face almost somehow turned red right now. So disappointing that he did not pop a blood vessel.

VillainFan4Lyfe: This is better than any actual fight. The psychological damage is insane.

PogChamp_Pete: Are you guys not hearing their conversation? I am confused.

KittyKat_99: Oh no, I am also confused. What are they talking about now? It’s like they are saying things I shouldn’t hear.

GenericViewer123: Thank God I am using my anonymous name tag. They can’t know me. I am safe.

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx: @GenericViewer123, your name tag is public. It’s not anonymous. We are all in this together. Nobody is escaping. So welcome to the club.

SneakySnake: How didn’t he even know that his chat is public? That’s just disappointing. You just... let him fall.

VillainFan4Lyfe: Yeah, @xX_ShadowBlade_Xx threw a knife and it went flying. It’s over by the heart of GenericViewer123. How fitting.

PogChamp_Pete: You guys leave GenericViewer123 alone. He is no longer on the chat.

KittyKat_99: The conversation is reaching a boiling point! Would Lupingo join them?!

Dave (on stream): So Lupingo, prepare for your death, because you won’t be going back today. This place, this hotel roof, will be your very last stop. What nonsense. He wants to kill Lupingo, all because Lupingo did not join him. Dream on, Dave.

GenericViewer123: NO WAY, MY LUPINGO CAN NEVER DIE AT THE HAND OF A DAVE.

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx: Yeah, GenericViewer123, RIP Dave. Dave’s name is now a meme.

SneakySnake: His villain career lasted less than a minute. How dare he want to force Lupingo.

VillainFan4Lyfe: This is the content I’m here for. Not the fighting, the absolute humiliation.

PogChamp_Pete: The fighting is about to begin. Let’s see what Dave has. Maybe he isn’t completely useless.

KittyKat_99: See how he is throwing tantrums... standing there. Looking at Lupingo. He looks so frustrated.

Genericforbabes123: I almost feel bad for him. All that time used to talk, to speak his heart, now. It’s all gone to waste.

Lupingo (on stream): Sighs, we will see about that.

xX_ShadowBlade_Xx: WHAT IS HAPPENING

KittyKat_99: Dave is about to receive some well-deserved beating?!

SneakySnake: NO WAY. HE’S GETTING A MAKE-OVER FROM THE KING.

VillainFan4Lyfe: This is the best possible outcome. Tom got the boost he wanted, just not how he expected.

PogChamp_Pete: Tom is just nodding. He looks like he’s gonna cry.

GenericViewer123: Look at Dave’s hand! It is vibrating. This is so wholesome?!

Xy_LigtningBlade_Xx: BEST. STREAM. EVER.

.....

Back to Lupingo.

Lupingo brought out his phone, looked at it, then said to the man in the grey suit,

"We are popping up, especially you, Mr. Dave. My viewers want me to beat your ass. And as the good person I am, I have no choice but to listen to their demand. Know that while I would be beating your ass, it would also pain me also. I would be feeling more pain than the one you will receive from me," Lupingo said.

"I don’t understand whatever you are saying, but you said one right and one wrong thing. You are right, you would feel more pain than me. You are wrong because I am the only one that would be giving the pain out. I would receive nothing, Lupingo," Dave said.

The grey man (we would now start calling him Dave; the viewers have decided his name. But note the grey man’s real name would be later known in a future Chapter, if you haven’t guessed yet) released a metal cylinder in his hand. It wasn’t a bomb. It was a canister of compressed gas. With a flick of his thumb, he triggered it. A cloud of fine, dark dust erupted, not at Lupingo, but into the air around them. It was powdered graphite, Lupingo realized a second too late. It was a conductive, blinding, choking cloud.

Lupingo coughed, stumbling back as the dust coated his throat and stung his eyes. His carefully constructed world of control dissolved into a grainy, grey haze of chaos. He immediately wrapped himself in some layers of darkness. He then heard the scrape of Dave’s boots on the wet ground, a sound of pure, predatory intent.

The first blow came at him. It came as a slash aimed at his throat. Lupingo’s reflexes, honed by years of surviving in the world he came to meet himself, saved him. He threw himself backward, the serrated blade whistling past his chin, close enough to feel the cold kiss of the steel. He landed hard on his back on the cold hard ground of the roof, the breath almost driven from his lungs.

Dave didn’t press the advantage with a calculated follow-up. He simply threw himself on top of Lupingo, like a total maniac, a whirlwind of limbs and jagged edges. His knife came down again and again. Lupingo caught Dave’s wrist, the corded muscles in his forearm straining against the other man’s unnatural, psychotic strength. Good thing he did not join their organization, he thought. If one of them is this kind of psychopath, what is stopping the rest from not also being psychos?

The serrated teeth of the blade bit into his shoulder, tearing through his suit and his inner shirt, scoring a line of fire across his skin. This wasn’t a fight. This was a feral assault. Dave wasn’t trying to win; he was trying to annihilate. He bit my hand, his teeth sinking deep into the flesh between thumb and forefinger. Lupingo almost cried out, a sharp, involuntary sound, and his grip loosened.

Lupingo did not know what to feel about the dust that’s covering his vision. Without the dust, his viewers would be seeing how he was being beaten by a psychotic fellow. But because of the dust, he has lost visual aid. He can’t see clearly, which in turn makes the psychopath more dangerous.

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