Before dealing with Black Mask, there was a brief conversation between Gwen and Allen.
Allen was ready to call Black Mask to his new office, arranged to give a sense of elegance and comfort, if you ignore the scale model of the Death Star in a display case, the Darth Vader figure, the collection of old comics on the wall, and not to mention a few waifu figures in another display case, was there a need for this? No, the truth is no, Allen simply didn't want an office that smelled like an old man, yes, with everything Allen has done lately, it's easy to forget his humble origins, but Allen doesn't forget that not long ago he spent sleepless nights painting Gundam robot scale models to give them away to his viewers.
"Allen," Gwen interrupted, her tone showing concern, "You should start the livestream this time."
"Are you okay with that?" Allen asked, puzzled. He understood that girls prefer not to appear in livestreams, and they have obvious reasons, which are to avoid all the problems that would arise if people knew their relationship with Allen Walker.
Gwen frowned, she couldn't scare George and Elena, her parents, by appearing next to Allen Walker in another world.
Of course, for Allen, the live stream is already part of his life; however, he has no problem stopping it for a day or two. Besides, Allen can earn credits and golden tickets just by recording and uploading videos.
He had already edited and uploaded the entire arc of the Steppenwolf invasion and his fight against the Justice League, although he hasn't checked how the video is doing in views and likes, he's certain that it's doing well because his credits have increased a lot since he uploaded the video, which indicates that it's at least very viral.
Gwen approached Allen and sat on his lap. "You know your community prefers live interactions instead of edited videos. Once is okay, but denying them the chance to see live what you've done in DC two times in a row will drive them crazy," the blonde said while pinching Allen's cheek. "Don't you want millions of people after your head?"
Allen snorts. "They can try." Then he wrapped his arm around Gwen. "However, you're right."
Allen thought for a moment. "In fact, the disadvantage of a video is that everything they're seeing has already happened, so it prevents them from fully immersing themselves in it and generates fewer tickets," Allen replied, embracing Gwen's waist.
Credits are the crystallization of the viewers' time, they use their invaluable time on Allen in exchange for having a good time.
Golden Tickets are the crystallization of positive emotions, excitement, happiness, and amazement, even fans in love with Allen generate tickets by crystallizing their "love."
"I'm always right; you should value that you're with me~," Gwen said conceitedly and with a hint of flirting, which surprised Allen because Gwen may seem confident all the time, but inside she's enduring embarrassment at these displays of affection.
"You're right, I'm lucky to have you." Allen kissed Gwen's cheek, making the girl emit smoke from her head. Allen shook his head and smiled. "You win, but what are you going to do, Gwen?"
He decided to change the subject, or Gwen might faint.
Gwen took a deep breath and then crossed her arms thoughtfully. "I think I'll just wear a mask on my face and sunglasses."
Allen smiled amusedly. "If you go out with your superhero mask, you'll fill the world's news, but that's not a bad thing; in the end, it will only be revealed that Ghost Spider has a close relationship with Allen Walker."
In that sense, he was right. Whether Ironman or Hulk, both have a public friendship relationship with Albino Allen, and they are also superheroes, which puts him in a similar situation to Gwen, no, in fact, she would be better off because she wouldn't reveal her secret identity.
Gwen sighed and decided to accept it. Relationships involve a certain degree of commitment; she can't always be behind a screen watching Allen suffer hardships no matter how fun that may be. She must support him if the opportunity arises. Besides, deep down, she wants to spend more time with him, even if she won't admit it.
Gwen felt Allen's hand on her waist and almost let out an embarrassed groan. 'I thought it would be easy to act like this, but I was wrong! How can Mary and Natasha do these things so easily?' Gwen cursed the momentary internal impulse that led her to sit on Allen's lap.
But she felt jealous. Technically, she should be the first, but between them, there is always a barrier made by her embarrassment and shyness that prevents her from being more like his girlfriend.
Allen remained calm; he knew his Gwen and knew how bad she was at these things, so he simply hugged her, not going further, letting Gwen get used to having a little more intimacy.
"It's amazing how far you've come," Allen said, his tone showing respect and affection.
Gwen blushed even more at seeing Allen's gaze so close and trembled, but she gathered courage, took a deep breath, and looked Allen in the eyes.
"I thought that if I didn't make an effort, the day of our wedding would come, and we wouldn't even have held hands..."
Allen opened his eyes as his heart was struck at the same time as his mind; a slight blush appeared on Allen's cheeks; it was almost impossible to see him embarrassed, but Gwen Stacy had managed it.
"Gwen?..."
"G..."
Gwen quickly realized what she had said, and her mind collapsed. She jumped off Allen's lap like a cat whose tail was stepped on and ran out the window.
"I'm going to get some air!" the girl shouted before fleeing apparently.
[Host, are you okay? Hehe, seeing a womanizer like you being struck down is quite satisfying.]
Allen leaned back in his chair and covered his face. 'This time I lost, but...'
Allen controlled his embarrassment as his gaze turned serious. Some topics must be addressed sooner or later; one is the future when Allen will have to get married. As for how many women and how he will do it, that's another issue, but it's a matter of making a decision; he can't go around seducing women without being ready to take responsibility for it for the rest of his life.
"Okay, I'm aware of that, and I'm not running away from reality," Allen said confidently and with conviction. "I don't intend to let go of any of them for the rest of their lives."
[I'm glad you're not just a one-night playboy, Host.]
Allen smiled and shrugged. "Even if I'm a bastard, I have my principles," Allen said, looking out the window. "Gwen, I know you're glued on the other side, there's no need to be ashamed."
Indeed, Gwen was stuck to the wall, listening to Allen's words. Her face was flushed as she couldn't process everything that had happened; he just said he wouldn't let her go for the rest of her life?! That means... Gwen felt dizzy.
...
It took a while for Gwen to calm down and come back to continue with the arrangements...
...
Rogue opened the door somewhat dismayed. In front of her was an elderly delivery man with glasses who seemed familiar. However, she couldn't recognize him immediately. Still, what caught Rogue's attention the most was his age; he should be seventy or eighty years old; he should have retired by now.
'I didn't know this was an exploitative restaurant, I won't order pizza again' Rogue promised in her heart.
"Good morning, I'll pay right away," the girl said with an uncomfortable smile.
"Thank you, young lady," the old man replied in a friendly tone. "You know, it's hard being a god; people expect you to do everything, but when you do, they're terrified. It's very contradictory."
"Sure"
She took out the money from her pocket while trying to understand why this conversation came out of nowhere, but she attributed it to the old man's age. This made her feel annoyed because there should be someone in management who's okay with a man of this age delivering pizzas.
Rogue handed over the money, feeling scared even though she was wearing gloves; she couldn't skimp on precautions, and that feeling of anxiety didn't disappear. Rogue looked at the old man and gave him an extra tip.
"You're very kind, miss," the old man smiled at Gwen. "I just wanted to tell you not to worry; things will get better for you."
Rogue was perplexed for a moment and then smiled. "Thank you, I hope so!"
...
Rogue entered and took several deep breaths, calming herself down. Everything went well, as long as she would not touch anyone she would not have to hide from others. "How could I have been about to go to NYC if I can barely handle receiving the delivery guy?"
"Huh!" Rogue opened her eyes and remembered the old man; he was the old man Allen met in New Mexico. "His name was... Stan Lee? Wasn't he supposed to be rich or something?!"
Rogue thought for several minutes without an answer and decided to let it go. However, it was very strange. "The old man also acted mysteriously with Allen; I don't think he's a spiritual guide traveling the world or something." Rogue sat down to eat when she received a notification that Allen had started his livestream.
"Damn it!" Rogue grabbed two slices of pizza and rushed to her room to watch the beginning. 'I hope you're ready, Allen; your video caused a stir in the world in the wrong way...' the girl thought with concern.
...
*Back to DC*
Allen crossed the light door with Harley, Gwen, and of course, the villain Black Mask. They all stood in a completely white place similar to the one Allen uses when he meets a new master.
[Host, the new subsystem will take a little time to configure]
Allen nodded and explained to the curious Harley and Gwen that they had to wait a few minutes, while Allen decided to start his livestream.
[On live]
"Hello, missed me? Of course not, it's only been a day..." Allen said sarcastically to the Chat interface. He might complain a lot about his Chat and find it exhausting to do a livestream, but in the end, he loves being accompanied in his adventures/misfortunes by his faithful and beloved viewers.
– You're a piece of shit, Allen?!
"Huh?" Allen was shocked; the first thing he saw was angry comments and insults toward him.
– I can't believe you'd really dare; you disappoint me!!
– I thought we had something special, you bastard!
– You're a son of... >:v
"What's going on?!"
Allen couldn't comprehend the wave of insults and blasphemies in his Chat. The system, Mary Jane, Natasha, and the newly integrated moderator Diana were deleting offensive comments in heaps and banning people by the thousands, but the negative comments were endless. It's worth mentioning that Allen's viewers reached fifty million in the previous livestream; as soon as he started, there were already more than two million viewers, and the number was increasing massively.
– :/
– :v
– Screw you, Allen!!!
– Fu*k you!!, you're a piece of shit!!!
– Your ancestors should be ashamed!!
A vein popped on Allen's forehead. Yes, these idiots are his viewers, a group of people who explode against Allen at the slightest dissatisfaction. But Allen wouldn't stand for it.
"Shut up, you bunch of shits!"
– D:
– D:
– D:
– D:
"What the hell is wrong with you guys?! Behave, or I'll start banning every one of you!! Don't challenge me, you sons of bitches, I'll stay alone in the Chat!"
People were dumbfounded to see Allen explode.
It had been a while since Allen had gotten angry like this, perhaps since the prank with the hundred sex dolls. People who didn't know him at that time or hadn't seen his videos before the system didn't know that Allen could get angry to that level.
The chat started calling out, and the other half came out to defend Allen and rebuke the collective reaction.
"Tell me what the hell happened?" Allen paid attention to the comments and realized it was all because of the video. People were very angry because Allen excluded them from seeing the whole event live. Of course, the video didn't have everything; it simply focused on Allen's battle against Steppenwolf, then against Diana, then against the Justice League, and would end with Allen's most impressive fight in space against Superman.
"Maybe it was a waste..."
Allen had just finished his livestream not long ago and didn't want to turn it on so soon again, even though technically it was a friendly encounter because Allen didn't intend to kill the Justice League; everything was impressive.
"That's okay; I'll give you half the reason; it was a shame you couldn't see it live, but that doesn't mean I forgive your attitude. You're my community, and I appreciate you, but I won't allow you to act like this, and I don't care if you end up hating me; I'll make you behave with slaps like your father!!"
– I'm sorry... I got carried away...
– It wasn't my intention, I'm sorry:"(
– I regret nothing :v (Banned for two days)
It's impossible to make everyone behave or change their way of thinking, but Allen's words made most of the viewers apologize. It's worth mentioning that among the dissatisfied viewers were many who took advantage of this incident to insult Allen simply because they hated him.
Allen had a lot of experience managing large groups of people and managed to calm down his community.
[...]
The system was pleasantly content to see its host being able to handle millions of furious people; that demonstrated the level Allen had reached as a content creator.
"All right, just calm down... remember, I'm not a streamer, my content isn't limited to live streams. You might prefer this format, but I won't tolerate insults if I decide to upload a video or do a podcast someday."
The viewers, like scolded children, nodded.
After that, Allen smiled and decided to explain to everyone what had happened and that he was now on a mission to try to rehabilitate some psychopath from Arkham as the new Director of Arkham Asylum.
...
– Are you crazy?! o_O
– If it were that easy, the many psychologists who were in Arkham trying to improve the mental health of the prisoners would have succeeded.
– It's impossible; you can't even control yourself, how are you going to cure someone else?
– Aren't you the guy who decided to drive a sedan into space and then fight a grizzly bear barehanded?? If anyone's crazier than them, it's you...
"Haha, you son of a..."
...
[Host, the subsystem is ready]
"Oh!"
[Activating... 50%... 78%... 98%... Welcome "I am the system Allen sensei will rehabilitate you, by his balls, or kill you in the attempt, with a lot of violence!!"]
Allen had a drop of sweat on his forehead upon seeing the name of the new subsystem. "Well, it's a concise and straightforward name that leaves no room for misinterpretations..."
===
A/N: Patreon.com/mr_aizen