[color=yellow][b][u]We Don't Talk About Lennart![/u][/b][/color] ------------ Leo the Tiger speaking; you know me as the Marching Wonder. After the embarrassing scene of the GSAF raiding Tesla for their faulty cybertrucks, only to make a run for it when Lennart the Viking Lion, Sweden's counterpart to Leo the Patriotic Lion, suddenly showed up (due to him overhearing a comment a secret agent made to Elias and deciding out of curiosity to investigate), as well as making the whole city panic and temporarily turn into a ghost town, Super C has a new policy for all of us, G-52s and allies alike. What is it? It's simple. We don't talk about Lennart! There will be times where it will be appropriate to mention the Viking Lion in terms of his duties as Leo's parallel, in the context of his home nation of Sweden, and in his current role as Sweden's ambassador to the U.S. (in addition to any duties he might have in Sweden's Parliament, known as the Riksdag). Otherwise, nobody is to say anything at all (although the Cat of Steel might make an exception to the rule, such as if the public asks us a question, and we are allowed to answer it within reason). The good news is that Lennart did not go berserk when he suddenly appeared in Austin. In fact, it might have been for the better that he did, because now the GSAF are afraid to even think about invading Sweden, which we now know that they were planning to do. Yet the reaction turned out just the way we expected it. Everybody fled. The terrorists fled so fast, they dropped all their weapons, and the C.I.D.F. and police department of Austin were easily able to confiscate them all. I guarantee you that they are all suffering night terrors because of this, not just nightmares. The bad news is that if we do violate this new policy, the G-52 app will buzz to let Super C know about it while flashing purple and gold, the colors of the Minnesota Vikings. We looked at this when we met at G-52 HQ to test the app after T2 and Bendraqi added some more updates. Lennart was present as well, and because the doctor was able to calmly handle talking to the Viking Lion, Super C erased his previous policy stating that they could not see one another in person. (This was after the two were helping with cleanup after various storm damage, and Super C didn't notice until too late that the two had finally met, even though it was by accident. They are now allowed to talk to each other in person when it is appropriate to do so. However, Bendraqi is also under the new rule that he can't speak about Lennart.) "All we need to do now is figure out what to do if somebody does mention his name," Super C concluded. He tuned to Lennart and said, "Obviously this doesn't apply to you. In your case, you need to let folks know you're coming so that there isn't so much panic." "Of course," Lennart replied. "The GSAF may have panicked anyway, but the general public needs to conquer their fear of me." "So of all those things America produces," Chuong spoke up, "they chose to proceed in creating the absolute ugliest vehicle in modern history? This awful thing?" He was referring to the cybertrucks. "Yup," said Zachary. "Yet it sells for some reason. It's not reaslly an efficient or reliable vehicle, but it does what it does, even in bad weather. It's still overpriced, but don't forget, this is Elon Musk we are dealing with here. Now as a reminder, Lennart has skeletonized versions of his weapons, meaning they are lighter and sharper. They're also custom-made for him from our era for his combat needs, making him at least 12 times faster against his enemies." "In other words," Marshall added, "just don't mess with Lennart. But I have an idea for a creative punishment idea for us American G-52s and allies, and that's this: if Lennart is mentioned outside of Sweden and during his ambassador duties with Leo, the punished must not only wear a Minnesota Vikings jersey for one week, but must learn to lead a marching band to perform the theme song for the football team while being recorded on video." (The marching band would be most likely the Drumbums or even my showoff band, but the penalty was to learn to be a drum major.) Being a Dallas Cowboys fan, Zax naturally shouted, "I am not wearing that purple and gold!" "You mean the colors that represent Kriegland, too?" Frank C. asked. (There was also a Frank S. that lives in Uganda, so to tell them apart, we use the initials. Frank C. was the drum major of the Florida Death Drummer Corps once upon a time when he was still a villain himself; now that he has turned over a new leaf, we have been able to reunite him with members once in that corps. A select amount of them now play for the GMB, or G-52 Marching Band, and the GDABC, or G-52 Drum and Bugle Corps.) "No, no, no, no!" Juno objected. "I am not wearing Vikngs merch!" "Then don't talk about Lennart if it's not related to the current business," Marshall concluded. "The only people who should be talking about Lennart the Viking Lion the most are Swedish people. Okay; maybe the other Scandinavians can get a free pass, too, but Lennart is for Sweden to focus on in the end. Lennart is Sweden's concern, not ours." "What he said," said Elias. "I agree," added Valkyrie Cat. "He's for us to worry about the most," Gustav put in. After giving it some thought, Super C replied, "I like it! An excellent solution, Marshall! It's going in the rulebook immediately. Vikings merch and everything." "If you're not experienced in conducting music like me and some others," I added, "you might struggle with this one." "Still, we're not taking any chances," Cripto added. "That way," Lennart put in, "nobody risks jinxing themselves if I were to show up." "Exactly," said Super C. "Do note that in your case, the new rule for you, as mentioned, is that you must give us a word of warning that you are coming. As I said, though, you did nothing wrong in that circumstance. The fault in that scene was that of the public; they were panicking too much and making false assumptions about you." "Understood. It will make life easier for all of us." Then Shadow Lord Roxbury, one of the Royal Pagans, arrived. He was wearing Vikings merch, being from that part of the country. After we explained to him what we were discussing, he asked, "Would that apply to me, then? I live in Minnesota, and I am a Vikings fan." "For you," said Marshall, "it would result in marching punishment around the stadium the Vikings play their home games at before you go into the stadium." "Okay; never mind, then." "It's best not to take any chances," Super C chimed in, and Leo added, "Indeed. You wouldn't just be doing the marching punishment; you would have to do it in front of and inside a stadium full of people." ---------- Several rounds of tests followed, and Super C had to verify to the app that he was not giving demerits out. Cripto tested it, for instance, by saying, "How many of you know that Lennart is the big reason the Viking fanbase has grown so big?" Several others also volunteered to comment; another comment, referencing previous cases of sports fans rioting over the Super Bowl in Philadelphia, was, "Look at this place; it's like a war zone! It's as if Lennart and his troops ransacked the place!" (The public actually said this after the last time the people of Philadelphia rioted over the Super Bowl, but the rioting came to an abrupt halt when CNG and its successor, IC2, started killing everybody. All together, 1,249 people died as punishment for the rioting.) ---------- We also tested Lennart's half of the bargain by having him enter Cripto's basement without warning, doing so through a portal. Cripto, of course, wasn't scared of him. But the app did buzz, except it was flashing blue and yellow, the colors on the Swedish flag. "How would you penalize me for it?" he asked when the rest of us got there. (Some went ahead and went home, including me.) "I haven't figured that out yet, but it probably would involve you not being able to leave your castle for a period of time," Super C replied, "in addition to the fine you would owe me. I'd start that at about $2,500, or some other amount like that, because all you do is show up, and the town becomes a ghost town. The policy of you being in there forever if you have a major meltdown one more time is still in effect, but you didn't have a meltdown last time. The public just assumed you were going to have a meltdown." "Right." ---------- Cripto made sure to let his "army" (all those canon characters) know about the new policy, while Leo told the rest of his "army" (all his other parallels) the same thing. Each of them agreed to it, and each one agreed to the penalty as well. Afterwards, Cripto's parents arrived because they needed help with something, and thankfully for us, neither one of them panicked when they saw Lennart. "You did spook us," they said, "but we know it wasn't on purpose." (It unintentionally made for another test, so Super C voided the demerit.) "Sorry about that," Lennart apologized. "Your son's basement is a frequent meeting place for the G-52 Organization. Fortunately, we got everything done that we needed to get done here." "Sounds good." Cripto helped his parents with their problem, and we allowed him to answer any questions they had about Lennart. After they left, we sat down to relax for a bit, and Cripto grabbed three decks of playing cards so that he and Super C as a team played against Lennart and Leo as a team in a game of samba, a canasta variant. ------------- [color=blue][b]THE END[/b][/color]