Understanding. (4)

"We would need to also market and advertise this properly." Morgannin said as he also joined in the discussion.

"That's right, something to grab attention." Ryan said with a sigh. He had been quiet the whole time, just looking at his coworkers as if they were crazy when they started throwing in their own ideas.

"Like what?" Sonny asked.

"Well, politicians love going through neighbourhoods with giant ass speakers mounted on vehicles and set up impromptu rallies and shit. Maybe we can do something similar." Morgannin suggested.

"That would work, although we would need to find a way to make the rally truly mobile – require as little setup as possible, but the absolute maximum effect." Visuveus said.

"…how about a mascot?" Natalie suggested.

There was a brief period of silence as everybody present suddenly looked to be in deep thought. This caused Natalie to kind of shrink into herself a little, feeling rather self-conscious and embarrassed.

"That's a great idea." Visuveus said with a nod.

"So we would have a mascot character that we would carry around that would serve as a podium, a poster, speaker, megaphone, everything?" Bryant asked.

"How much would that cost?" Sonny asked immediately. "There's no way something like that would work because we'll be going into areas where that thing will be stolen, vandalised or broken for shits and giggles. Fuck that."

"In that case, it shouldn't be a standalone thing." Ryan said.

"Then what should it be?" Morgannin asked.

"A costume." Visuveus replied. "A suit that has everything built in, that way if we do promo, we hit multiple areas in the same day. Stop, hand out flyers, shake hands, leave."

"Perfect! Make sure the materials are cheap, but durable! And design it yourselves so we don't have to pay some idiot to do something we can handle ourselves."

"So we'll be hiring somebody to—"

"Fuck no." Sonny said with a curt shake of the head. "One of you is gonna 'ave to wear it. We ain't hiring anybody else! What if we get people who are different sizes? Then we'll need multiple costumes. Fuck that. Choose amongst yourselves."

There was a period of silence as the four original employees exchanged glances that spoke a thousand words which practically boiled down to none of them wanting to be the mascot.

"Logically speaking…" Visuveus said, breaking the silence. "The one in the suit should be the one without powers, because if something were to happen while we promote, we can't have one of the Powered employees fiddling and faffing about, trying to take a costume off and help. So I should be the one to don the mascot costume."

Silence returned to the meeting room only this time, everybody was staring directly at Visuveus, eyes wide open and mouths slightly agape. They then shot each other looks again, however now they were pleading each other with their eyes for one of them to take responsibility and offer to do it instead. Before they could though Sonny stood up with a grunt and a nod.

"It's sorted then. Vincent, you will be our mascot."

"Wha?!" Bryant and Morgannin asked.

"I will handle the design, then." Ryan said, looking a little too excited about it.

"Wait, what?!" The two asked again, their heads snapping to look at Ryan.

"Good. Get after it – the sooner we get the ball rolling on this, the sooner we can start making extra money."

Sonny turned around and then disappeared upstairs, chuckling as he heard Bryant in particular go off. As he entered his office, he was met by the sight of the older woman, standing with her hands on her hips, shaking her head ever so slightly.

"Ah… I forgot about you."

"Why the fuck did you sign off on Vincent being the one in the mascot costume?!"

"Don't you remember what I said when you asked me why I hired him in the first place? This is possibly one of the scenarios that will be oh so delicious to watch unfold."

"And just how will you watch it, considering how you don't actually go and do any work at the best of times? Will you be on the 'front lines' with those kids, watching everything unfold?"

"Don't underestimate the ingenuity of a former Hero." Sonny said with a sinister grin. "I'll think of something."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the building, Visuveus had already punched out and said his farewells before leaving. The original staff was left behind, getting ready to leave as well. They were already talking about the little marketing stunt, with Ryan and Natalie were excitedly discussing the mascot aspect, while Morgannin and Bryant walked quietly behind them. B was particularly paying attention to what Ryan was saying, eyeing him with a suspicious gaze so strong, that the other man could feel it burning a hole in the back of his neck. They got to their pub, sat in their regular spot, and went on about their evening, with the two mascot planners bouncing ideas off one another. With Ryan having appointed himself the project lead of sorts, ideas were being pitched to him. One thing that was constant throughout the entire evening was that Bryant was staring so intently at Ryan, it wouldn't have been a surprise to see his eyes go red and crusty from having not blinked since the crew left the office.

"…B?" Ryan said, finally no longer able to take it.

"What?"

"Why are you staring at me like that? I can't take it anymore!"

"I have something I'd like to ask you."

"I already know what it is, so just ask."

"Are you sure hazing the possibly evil mass murdering psychopath is a good idea?"

"With all due respect B, you don't know what you're talking abou—"

"Of all the people I have ever met in my life, nobody resembles Pop quite like you do. You both have the same awful, twisted, piece of shit personality, so whether you realise it or not, you tend to lean towards agreeing with his stupid plans – this being one of them. I can hazard a guess as to why he wanted to do this, so figuring out your intentions behind this won't be that difficult. I will only say this once; tread softly, Ryan. What could be interpreted as harmless ribbing to one of us could go down as a serious insult to that guy – because we don't fucking know him."

"You're being overly serious and blowing this out of proportion, B." Ryan said dismissively.

"For your sake, I hope I am."

Bryant then stood and looked at the others, before nodding his farewells and heading home, leaving them behind.

"What a buzzkill." Natalie said with a slight shake of the head.

"Forget about him." Ryan said as he watched Bryant leave, before turning to the rest of the group. "Keep the ideas coming."

The brainstorming session continued into the night, and every free moment of the remainder of the week was spent like this, with concepts taking shape and costume mockups being made. At the end of said week, Ryan had called for a meeting after work so that everyone could review the outfits and decide which was the best. Once everybody was present, Ryan stood up and spoke.

"Thank you for coming everybody we don't have much time as our Mascot Model has a limited amount of time before he has to leave for home. Mr. Model, if you don't mind getting started right away."

Visuveus, who had barely been involved in any of the planning walked up to the table in the meeting room, where he was met by a stack of three boxes. He picked them up and disappeared into the change room as everybody else waited. Sonny, Ryan and Natalie looked particularly excited while Morgannin looked moderately excited. Bryant looed more apprehensive than anything, before looking at Ryan.

"Ryan."

"What is it, Captain Killjoy?" Ryan retorted, causing Sonny to snort and smirk.

"Did you ever confirm what that man's sizes are?"

"Would you leave me alone with that? You've been pestering me about that all damn week!"

"That's because I didn't see you ask him about it even once."

"I didn't need to ask him to get his sizes because unlike somebody who is virtually a talking battering ram, I'm able to utilise finesse to get what I need."

"Finesse?! Oh come off it, Ryan. That dude is bigge—"

"Would you leave me alone, Captain Killjoy??"

"Yeah, leave him the fuck alone, Cap'n Killjoy!" Sonny boomed as he forced his way into the discussion. "Let him do it his way! Stop butting in with that giant head of yours!"

Bryant rolled his eyes before raising his hands and shaking his head, immediately dropping it.