The process went smoothly for the heroes after that; Plague Doctor gave Logan the gold standard of fake IDs, taking only the knowledge of his intention to win the freshman 15 as compensation. As for the crystal he towel snapped, Logan could only obtain its cast-off following another round of cutting and polishing. He looked greatly pleased, despite the meager amount, guarding it at all times on the way home.
Paper finally broke the stalemate, asking "Is there a need to be so wary, mr. Carrello?"
"I don't know any Carrello; my ID says Antonio Sanchez right here, see?"
"Do you trust us that little, you wouldn't even share a single secret?"
"I doubt you all trust me completely either. Isn't that why Scissors is sitting right behind me?"
"Since there's no need for face then, I'll ask away," Scissors declared, dropping all pleasantries.
"I'll answer what I'm comfortable with," Logan responded with a grin.
"Are you planning on dating our nemesis?"
They asked this in unison and, except for the currently driving Rock, watched him carefully.
"No, we worked together several years back. Why are you so interested?"
Paper spoke up for the group this time.
"You probably won't ever experience this but, when we first started our group, we had a serious nemesis problem."
Rock began listing examples,
"There was King Rhino, who kept bragging all over town that we were his girlfriends; the midnight bandit, who straight up stalked us; Spore man, who we caught stealing our garbage; so many nasty people...."
Scissors then got to the point,
"She may be a person I'll never stop trying to put in prison, but at least I know there'll never be a creepy moment when fighting her... Unlike some people here."
If Logan was drinking a beverage when she said that, he'd surely perform a spit take. Instead, his smile grew awkward.
"My old clothes were covered in goop! No, never mind; the excuses I give won't be taken anyway. Any more questions?"
Why yes, they still had plenty of questions. The only problem is, until the competition ends and they make their payday, it'd be better to leave about half the list unasked.
Just as Scissors was about to shake her head, though, Rock suddenly spoke up.
"I'm not good at those flowery words like Paper, so I'll just ask you straight up: what is your power? I know it isn't a speed type, no matter how much you pretend otherwise. You can't fool a sports medicine major!"
Logan sighed, causing a slight chill to run through the vehicle.
"I'm a cultivator..."
"What, those bums!?! The ones that live under bridges swapping dirty manuscripts with doodles in the margins?"
"I will speak no further on the matter, for my own safety," he responded, shutting down any conversation for the rest of the ride home. This state of affairs didn't last long, however, as a smell of untold deliciousness wafted out from the living room to dissipate their gloom.
"Does your grandma's cooking always smell so good," Logan inquired, his stomach roaring like a dragon.
"She's not our grandmother, and today must be a special occasion," Scissors responded, her stomach growling like a tiger.
Rock finally put the car in parked. Immediately, the four made a mad dash for the door. What they saw upon entering, however, made their blood run cold.
Old lady Baba had laid a huge spread out directly on the coffee table. But, while the food smelled more tantalizing than the finest perfume, it looked like a crime scene. From top to bottom, you had monkey brain soup, roasted heart, liver and onion, haggis, and black pudding. Nearly all the organs were represented.
"You dearies feel more like granddaughters to me than tenants. So, now that this is a boarding house once more, I've decided to bring back an old tradition: scary movie night!"
"Oh, did you make anything for me Baba," Paper asked.
"I fried up some ink glands, just like you like them."
"Yaaay!"
"I'm sorry, scary movie night?"
They turned to see logan having broken out into a cold sweat. Old lady Baba seemed particularly pleased with this development, immediately adding fuel to the fire.
"Oh yes, I even specially picked out the scariest ghost movies the girls could recommend. Didn't they tell you?"
He saw they now also bore malicious grins.
"I've been bamboozled!"