Chapter 103: Lead The Way

SlurpPAK was built from the blood and sweat of twin brothers, Nolan and Nathan Gregory.

Having discovered from a very young age that they had a knack for making lemonade pop-up stands, they had gradually scaled up over the years.

That, had ultimately led them to founding the small startup just three years ago.

Despite coming with its fair share of roadblocks and problems, both brothers had managed to keep their company afloat, slowly but steadily giving it a foothold in the beverage production business.

At least until their ’little spat’ with multi-million-dollar enterprise, Stellar Enterprises.

At first, they had believed they had finally hit it big time, their efforts finally paying off in spades.

But when the enterprise began its frankly unreasonable demands of assimilating their company under them, they had refused... more so when a rather unsavory offer made its way to their table.

Naturally, Osborne had felt he could slap them across the face with a pretty tidy sum, keep their mouths shut, and call it a day so he went right ahead and did just that.

Unfortunately for him, both brothers were one of the rare few who couldn’t be bought with money, and neither were they the kind to compromise their morals at the expense of it.

To that effect, every hail and storm that followed afterwards from Stellar Enterprises, they had tried their best to weather.

For the most past, they were hanging in there, but it just wasn’t as it used to be.

If before, they’d managed to keep the company above the water, now they were actively sinking and looking for a way to get back on track.

It also didn’t help that the last couple weeks and a month had been wrought with personal problems of their own in the form of Nolan’s bad health.

Since they were kids, he’d been battling with sickle cell disease, one that came every now and then and often without warning.

This time though, it had gotten so bad, that Nathan had even considered selling off the company, just to get him the best possible treatment.

Ironic, when one considered how they’d refused to sell out their company nearly a year ago.

In any case, the younger twin had seriously tried moving ahead with the plan, having already informed their staffs ahead in fact, many of whom had been wondering why their company was suddenly going on a temporary shutdown.

However, his elder brother was far more obstinate than a mountain goat and refused to give in to the sickness, and likewise selling the company.

Thankfully, he had managed to recover, and was healthy again... for a while, at least.

During the downtime when it had happened though, SlurpPAK had naturally lost the remaining customer’s they’d managed to strike a deal with before Stellar Enterprises poached them all away.

Now, upon arriving back at the office, they were finally going through their company mail with their administrative staff, reviewing each one to see if there were clients they could salvage the former relationships they had by offering unusually low discounts amongst other things.

It was also why, it really didn’t take long before they stumbled upon the only actual offer to formulate a line of beverages from one Aiden North.

Meanwhile, amidst the hustle and bustle of excited buzz at Luna Park in Coney Island...

"This shit is fucking rigged!" Casper cussed as he punted a baseball at the stack of cans!

Like a wall of brick, they stood ramrod, refusing to budge as the booth operator who looked to be in his late forties shamelessly laughed and extended a hand whilst grinning much the same;

"Get good, kid. Now pay up. You’ve already given it three tries."

"No, no, no," Aiden casually held out a hand, the youth standing right next to his buddy as he looked at the man with a thin, reserved smile.

"I’m still here, remember?" he added and the man snorted with a slight roll of his eyes whilst audibly muttering;

"Like as if it’s gonna change anything..."

"But sure. Whatever you say, kid." the man furtively reached out under his counter and set the strength of the cans by pulling on a nifty, string-based contraption he’d made.

"Give it a shot." he gestured a moment after, flashing both youths a toothy grin that was anything but welcoming.

Considering Casper was a familiar face to him--having come here a quite a number of times with his equally athletic girlfriend--he’d more or less estimated his strength.

It was also why he’d assessed that Aiden would be much the same without taking any chances.

Just to be on the safe side though, he did the smart thing and ticked up the strength a bit more.

As for Aiden, he took his stance, his form relaxed as he stared at the stack of cans.

Then, with an explosive throw, the baseball struck the center of the cans, sending them scattering across the counter the stood on!

"As I live and breathe..." Casper looked over to his buddy in genuine surprise, same as the booth operator who inwardly remarked in notable shock;

’That wasn’t supposed to happen...’

Aiden on the other hand, simply shrugged. He really hadn’t done anything else asides throwing with all the strength he could muster.

Yeah. Definitely.

"Fuck yeah!" Casper boisterously exclaimed a moment after his initial surprise had worn off.

Slapping a dollar onto the counter, the blonde-haired youth then demanded with a smug grin;

"Where’s our prize and ticket, old man?!"

Letting out a sigh, his gaze begrudging, the man reached out to the headset hanging up top.

At the same time, he moved over to the register in the corner, checked out the prize and inputted a name into the computer, which eventually led to the thermal printer ejecting a thin yellow strip.

Tearing off the slip, the man handed it over to Casper a moment after and begrudgingly said;

"Here. Your prize."

"You’re not welcome." Casper theatrically pulled the ticket from his hand with a smugger grin while Aiden casually collected his prize, placing it into his sling backpack.

At the same time, he was also getting another reward.

-

[Quest Completed!]

[Title,{Aw, they grow up so fast}, applied.]

⸢Exclusive Quests

› Knock ’em down! Down!!!

└ Knock down the rigged cans – [0.5 LP Awarded!]

-

What would have previously worth only 0.25LPs, had netted him half a Life Point instead.

Aiden had to say, for as mildly annoying as the title’s actual description was, it was a serious game changer.

Meanwhile, as they vanished into the sea of brightly-dressed individuals whom had come for the park attractions as well, the booth operator bent over to pick the baseball Aiden had tossed.

’Hmmm...?’ the man suddenly frowned as he raised up the spherical object.

’What the hell?! Why is it so heavy and sturdy?! Did they switch the ball on me?!’ he demanded of no one in particular as he kept staring at the ball like it had personally betrayed him.

Aiden on the other hand caught his expression from the corner of his eye, his smile amused as he chuckled to himself;

’Yep. {Midas Touch} is pretty busted...’

Granted it had cost him 0.2LPs to improve the structural integrity of said object, he honestly wasn’t bothered as he had quite a shore of LPs to reasonably dispense.

Besides, he was literally getting them back and then some with this farming spot he’d arrived at, hence making it a worthwhile tradeoff.

In any case...

"Next up," Casper excitedly raised a finger and declared immediately afterwards;

"Hoops!"

Hands tucked in his pocket, Aiden trailed behind his rather exuberant buddy with an amused smile.

Dead-set on getting that grand prize, Casper had literally mapped out all the attractions at the bustling fairgrounds beforehand.

To that effect, he and his buddies had effectively distributed themselves across the sprawling venue, complete with one intriguing contraption or the other the moment they’d arrived.

Theo had headed straight to the whack-a-moles. Benjamin had gone kart racing. Larry picked the shooting range. Clyde went for the arcade machines.

At the same time, the rest of their peers had equally distributed themselves, mingling and running into each other from time to time across the lively grounds.

It was also why,

"Babe! Babe! Let’s try this out!" Clarissa suddenly appeared next to Aiden, an oversized, pink party goggle framed in word ’Queen’, resting on her features.

It also helped that the two ’e’s’ served as the opening for the tinted black lens, one Aiden couldn’t help but laugh at when she raised her head up to look at him.

"It’ll only be a minute!" the lady added, her expression giddy and her toes bouncing.

"Alright, alright..." Aiden replied with an adoring smile.

"But first," he turned his attention and called out to Casper whom was well ahead.

Turning around upon hearing his name, his eyes finding Aiden’s, the coal-haired youth simply gestured to the lady whom was currently clutching his arm with a palpably excited energy.

Immediately, the blonde-haired youth understood and Aiden said;

"I’ll meet you there soon!"

"Sure! Don’t take too long, if you can!" Casper saluted, then executed a clean twirl as he vanished into the crowd afterwards.

"Now then, Your Highness," Aiden angled his head downwards, giving the lady a light wink.

"Lead the way." he gestured with a hand and she promptly did just that.