Chapter 48: Sir Platinum Strikes Again
Back at the Veridian Hotel, Nathan took his shower, played some games and finally settled into bed.
He opened TiikTuk and checked his coin balance. He had five million worth of coins he hadn’t spent.
He had bought them to trigger the rebate to thirty million which gave him the fortitude skill and forgot about them since.
He brought out his second device and used an alt account to browse through live streams until he stumbled upon one with a hero, Golden boy.
Nathan had first heard of him from Catherine. She mentioned he loved the spotlight and had a reputation for making content at the expense of others.
Of course he had also seen clips floating around: of him roasting fans who asked him questions, mocking smaller streamers, treating people like entertainment.
At that time Nathan didn’t think much of it.
Game is game
He opened the hero’s account which had millions of subscribers. The live icon was on and he tapped it to join.
The stream rendered in two. The first one had Golden boy, a fair skinned young man in his mid twenties.
He wore a golden suit that had a cape, visors and gauntlets that matched the whole scheme. The background of his room looked quite exotic, similar to the one Nathan was in.
He crossed his legs and twirled his finger in the air which emitted faint light particles.
The other part of the screen had a man who looked to be in his mid forties. His eyes looked tired, his shoulders slumped and he wore casual clothing.
Golden Boy leaned back in his chair, a lazy grin spreading across his face. "Alright, buddy. You’re on. What’s your deal?"
The man’s voice cracked. "Please, Golden Boy. My son... he needs surgery."
Golden Boy’s grin widened."A sick son, huh? That’s rough." He tilted his head. "What’s the surgery cost?"
The man blinked, hope flickering in his eyes. "About six hundred grand. I’ve raised some, but I’m still short."
He exhaled before adding. "Please, anything. Even a repost on my pinned post would go a long way."
Nathan looked up the man’s page. His recent posts confirmed what he was saying. His four year old child was sick and needed an organ transplant.
He scrolled further down to be sure it wasn’t fake and realized the issue had started around two weeks ago.
The man had even posted bills, receipts and everything for commenters that had asked.
Golden Boy nodded slowly, tapping his chin. "You know what? I’m feeling generous tonight so I’ll help you out."
The man’s eyes lit up. "Thank you so much–"
"But..." Golden Boy raised a finger. "...I gotta ask. What can you offer me in return?"
The man’s face fell. "I don’t... I’ve sold everything I own. I’m willing to work for free if—."
"That won’t do." Golden Boy said. "I want something that pleases me, you know?"
The chat was picking up as viewers were already sending their thoughts.
[@GoldenBoyStan: LMAOOO this is gonna be good]
[@FlamingAnus069: He’s not gonna help him, is he?]
[@acct80085: I don’t like where this is going]
[@LubeInspector11: He’s making him work for it.]
Golden Boy tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Tell you what. You do the things I request and I’ll consider helping you out."
He flashed a smile. "Don’t worry. It’s nothing difficult."
The man hesitated before answering. "Okay," he said quietly. "I’ll do it."
Golden Boy’s eyes lit up. "Great! First, I want you to sing, anything."
The man hesitated. Then he started singing. But his voice was shaky and Off-key.
The chat erupted in laughter and Golden Boy resisted the urge to laugh.
Nathan watched as the man’s face burned with humiliation but he kept going until the song was done.
"Hmm...not bad but I didn’t exactly feel the passion from it." Golden Boy said with a grin.
"It sounds like I’m forcing you to do it, which isn’t the case, right?"
"Right." The man nodded.
Golden Boy clapped his hands. "How am I supposed to know you’re passionate about saving your son if you don’t put in effort?"
The man lowered his head. "I didn’t... I can sing another song."
Golden Boy shook his head. "No need. I need to know you’re willing to do what it takes to save your boy."
He tapped his visor in thought. "Hmm... How about you bark?"
The man’s eyes widened. "Bark?"
Golden Boy nodded. "Yes, you know... like a dog? Give it everything you’ve got."
The man’s face went pale. "What? But I—"
"You want my support, don’t you? As an A-ranked hero, there’s a lot of things I can do" Golden boy replied with a serious expression.
The man closed his eyes and was silent for some moments as if weighing his options. But moments later, he barked.
His broken, humiliating sound echoed through the stream.
A knot settled in Nathan’s stomach as he watched the stream. He had filed the whole thing as whatever goes but the whole ordeal was ticking him off.
Golden Boy on the other hand, was loving it.
He was basking in the humiliation he was inflicting. The chat was becoming divided, some horrified, others laughing.
[@GTA6Leakzzz: THIS IS AMAZING]
[@User88227449: This is actually disgusting 😕 ]
[@Herogasm333: He’s doing it for his kid. Respect.]
[@TrollKing99: MAKE HIM DO MORE🔥 🔥 ]
[@ligmaBullss: man is desperate as fuck smh]
Nathan read through the messages. It wasn’t uncommon to see content like this especially when Heroes were treated like celebrities.
But seeing a man put himself out there for his son, only to be humiliated, left a bad feeling in Nathan’s stomach.
He grabbed his other phone with his main account.
[Sir Platinum has joined the stream]
A series of animations appeared around his name. Apparently all those gifting had given his account certain perks.
The chat buzzed at his entrance.
[@SirGlazer55: HOLY SHIT!]
[@RandomGuy0012: SIR PLATINUM??]
[@AuraFarmer77: I see he’s using that technique]
[@User8822: He’s here. I kissed you bro 🌟🌟]
[@Herogasm69: @User8822 - Kissed? 👀 ]
[@User8822: @Herogasm69 - Missed* typo]
Golden Boy leaned forward to read the chats. "Sir Platinum? I’ve heard of you. The mysterious rich giver."
He spread his arms to his side. "No doubt you’ve been captivated by my heroics and are here to donate."
He rested a finger on his chin and flashed a smile. "Don’t hold back."
Nathan stared in disbelief and shook his head. He opened the gift page and spammed the button to the man.
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×30]
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×50]
Animations exploded across the stream and Golden Boy’s smile faltered.
"I believe you’re making a mistake Mr Platinum."
But Nathan didn’t respond. He had intended on giving a part of the funds but he didn’t care anymore.
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×100]
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×150]
[User: Sir Platinum has gifted a Galaxy ×300]
The chat got riled up in his favour.
[@GTA6Leakzz: My Goatttt🔥🔥]
[@BrokassViewrer45: Yeah bro is fucking back!]
[@ToeSniffer560: Bro is my hero at this point.]
[@LadyMightGlazer: Fuck Golden Boy.]
Golden Boy had an annoyed expression as he read the chat messages.
The man he had been humiliating was in shock at the amount of gifts he was getting. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.
By the time Nathan had emptied the entire coins into the stream, the man was already in tears.
Nathan typed in the chat.
[Sir Platinum: You don’t have to entertain this miscreant Sir. Go be with your son.]
Golden Boy frowned at the message. "Sir Platinum. You think giving money to brokies makes you some hero?"
Nathan narrowed his eyes. He had never seen it that way. The reason he gave so much was to cover his tracks.
[Sir Platinum: I don’t give a damn about heroics especially if the agency allows people like you in.]
Golden Boy stared at the screen in surprise. "You can’t... What do you even know about heroes?"
[Sir Platinum: A real hero wouldn’t humiliate the desperate.]
Nathan read the message as he sent it. A part of him felt it was cheesy but he didn’t care. Golden boy was getting on his nerves.
The man who had been singing and barking was still there watching the whole thing in shock.
Then he bowed. "Thank you so much Sir Platinum. I don’t know who you are...but thank you so much."
A woman walked into the man’s room asking him what the problem was. He narrated everything to her and she turned to the screen with teary eyes.
"Thank you so much Mr Platinum," she said.
Nathan watched both of them. Then he typed one last message:
[Sir Platinum : Don’t stop fighting. Your son needs you.]
Then he exited the stream.
—
Catherine had ended her stream a few minutes ago. Compared to her previous streams, she had more viewers and fans that looked forward to seeing her draw.
She picked up her phone and scrolled and found Sir Platinum was trending again.
She watched a screen recorded clip of him confronting Golden Boy in his stream and helping a father.
She smiled. "Serves that jerk right," she muttered.
A part of her wished Nathan was around to see this but she shook the thought away.
The whole thing only served to make her more curious about the identity of Sir Platinum. She made a mental note to deliver the art in person if he was in Arkis.
She kept scrolling and soon after she put on her lamp and opened her books to study.
----
Elsewhere,
Frost-Spice sat on a crate, examining blueprints of a tall building.
The gate of the warehouse slid open and Doyle and his comrades walked in carrying two black cases.
Frost-Spice got off and walked to them as they set the cases down.
"Are those?..."
"Yes," Doyle replied. "Your freeze guns. It took us a bit of stress but we got them." He gestured for Frost-Spice to open the crates.
Frost-Spice bent down and slid the locks off. Inside the cases were two heavy sized pistols with bluish cores.
He picked up one of them, feeling the weight and appearance.
"I’ve missed you," he muttered. He clicked a button and the gun whirred to life, its core glowing to life.
Without warning, he aimed the gun at Doyle. The mercenary kept a neutral expression unfazed at the action.
"You’re not scared?" Frost-Spice asked.
Doyle shrugged. "Why should? You won’t shoot me. You want your family alive and..." he gestured to Chase.
"I’m pretty sure he’s faster."
Chase flashed a grin and put up two fingers.
Frost-Spice put the gun down. "You got me."
He turned and aimed at a section of the warehouse.
Satisfied, he squeezed the trigger, letting loose a cold white beam from the barrel.
The beam hit the wall and instantly, the concrete blistered white with frost and ice crystals in a jagged pattern.
From behind, Chase blew a whistle.
He let out a breath and blew off the fog that emitted from the muzzle.
He tested the other one, watching the ice pattern with a smile before turning to face Doyle.
"Alright," he said. "When do I attack?"