Johnilantism Manifesto

Eve

John promptly left the gym.

Despite having initially pushed back his former best friend, he was quite excited to speak to her and hang out again. Seraphina was an interesting person to be around, she was a competent woman with a rich life experience  'thanks' to her old stressful lifestyle that aimed for perfection and no less. He did not get distracted from the essentials though. The boy was barely standing up, the sugar in a boba tea would allow him to be lucid for an hour or two, but he was still freshly wounded and needed protein to heal.

On the way back, he passed by a grocery store and bought a can of meat. This event triggered in him a feeling of déjà vu he now remembered the origin of.

A blue canister with an odd straw exit caught his eye. It was a protection lotion spray for steel, this would come in handy to take care of his prized helmet, one he had already adopted since it had saved his life two or three times already (he had noticed a graze on top of it, and according to Arlo's testimony, it was a deflected bullet impact. The animal attack event was still very unclear to him, indeed, he hadn't had the chance to ask much questions on it yet).

John doubted that Seraphina would already be at the cafe, he had been very fast to dress up. The school was five minutes away and thus decided he would clean himself up a little before meeting the girl. He had already showered but wanted to put on something more classy since he was meeting with his new...boss ?

Back in his dorm, the boy took his time to choose his outfit. A classy suit was obviously necessary, but he also felt like dressing to intimidate. John wished to maintain an imposing image of powerful 'guardian' , one that fitted his new 'henchman' role or whatever he had agreed to (Seraphina would have to do a lot of explaining), not to forget his High tier rank.

This task was rather easy to handle, he put on the school uniform, and instead of the short vest they had to wear for class, used a black trench coat. His reflection in the mirror satisfied him, he felt surprinsingly confident in his looks. Naked he indeed looked like a hollow, but still one of strong stature. Now that the tortured flesh was hidden with cloth, he had a dominant aura.

However, there still was a small itch he couldn't pinpoint, something was missing. He looked around and noticed an old hair gel pot. Yes, this was it. His hair was like his anger, it had to be tamed.

After trying a few hairstyles, he couldn't find one that suited him well. His hair was too long for the helmet cut (which he didnt need anymore since he had an actual steel one). There weren't much options so he just slicked his hair backwards. The style looked good on him, but the white flock sticked out like a sore thumb. He reached for it and plucked it in front. It was way better, but he faced yet another problem.

Now that his hair was out of the way, his face injuries weren't hidden anymore. The black eye had been healing a little but was still showing. And he had bruises all across his forehead and cheeks, near his eyes . The situation was very familiar, it was exactly like the good old days of being a cripple. He reached for the dusty makeup palette on top of the mirror's box and started working his art. John had done this so many times that his speed and efficiency allowed him to be done in no more than a few minutes.

Twenty minutes since he had left the gym. Twenty five minutes since the shower incident.

One last five minutes of speed walking and he saw the familiar coffee shop he had hanged out in so often. On the way there he pulled his sleeves up because of his itching and painful bandaged forearm, he also undid his collar and loosen his tie, he was too tired to put up with the uncomfortable fabric.

Upon arriving, he noticed Seraphina was not alone. Through the glass facade he could see she was with a small crowd, busy socialising, something he hadn't done since the last Joker fight.