Mits uses the mop handle to move the indicated tile out of the way so Lev won't have to deal with that part of the equation while balancing on shoulders.  Downside is that the buzzing sound gets REAL loud and customers immediately gripe.  Some at least get some satisfaction in finally knowing where that doggon bug was hiding.

"Pretty simple.  Mittens squats like so."

Mittens does a half squat.

"Lev uses Mittens' hips as ladder for feet.  Mittens holds his hands to steady him while he climbs up from behind.  Once he's on the shoulders, I stand.  Tada.  If you can step up a staircase two steps at a time, you can climb a Mittens no problem.  Once he's up there, you hand him the things.  Oh.  And Lev.  Keep your feet as close to my neck as possible.  A wide stance will hurt."

Lev's nose showed a small tinge of a darker shade at the mention of being a cheerleader amidst the arcade. No pressure at all... just, don't fall off a person. What's the worst that could happen.

"Uhm... ya! No problems at all!" He'd give a slightly nervous chuckle before walking over. Step one. Ladder. He'd make his best attempt to follow said instruction, stepping lightly, taking very careful breaths. It's like the first time climbing a tree! That didn't end horribly... this shouldn't either!

The bat boy was, luckily, was far from being the heaviest person to balance. He'd go a great length to follow Mitten's instructions and guidance in the process though, keeping a solid balance despite what may have been a big case of the nerves.

Beth quickly offers aid in making sure the boy doesn't fall and offers her shoulder to help Mittens bear the burden. Then carefully holds up the requested items. "Careful.." she says quietly, worried for poor Lev.

She is glad to have summoned the items in question, but wishes there was something she could summon that would help with balance.

Some of the kids do indeed chuckle at Beth's tease.  When Mits squats, one of the teen boys catcalls and whistles, but very quickly shuts up from the "what's wrong with you?" looks he gets.  "What?  I was just playin'"

Getting on the shoulders is kinda scary.  But when she stands up straight, Lev discovers that the human ladder is a tiny bit too tall!  Fortunately he's agile enough to lower his head and arch his back in time to keep from hitting his head on the hard ceiling above the floating one.  Beth helping steady things keeps Mits from wobbling from that sudden unexpected shift in weight.

"Oopsie daisy!  Thanks Beth!"

Some of the kids in the arcade gasp from the close call.  Lev discovers a dilemma.  The cicada is visible.  Right where he expected it to be.  But letting go of his handholds means the nerve-racking trial of balancing without any handholds.  But he has to let go in order to make the shot!  And as if that weren't enough, the bug is pretty close to the wiring of a lighting fixture.  Would an off shot damage it?

Lev took a few breaths to calm and steady himself. The shot would be in jeopardy if he tried to make it without support, but needed to let go of the hand-holds to even do so. He took a moment of thought before an idea came to mind.

He'd give a shakey attempt at balancing up, carefully letting go of the handhold, and moving to - very lightly- use the framing that held the tiles up as a means of balance, cautious not to put any weight that'd cause it to fall, and carefully maneuvering the rubber band around to be in both hands, and fiddling with the paper clip to bend it into a more V-like shape. Given the need for balance, he couldn't use his other hand to draw the rubber bands back with the paper clip.... but there was one idea in mind, maybe a dumb one.

"No-tack.... wires. Gotta-clip." Lev said carefully as if he had something in his mouth... which wasn't all too off, as, to compensate for being unable to drawback with his other hand, he used both hands to keep hold of the frame balancing, pinching the ends of the rubber bands between thumb and the joint of the index finger, very carefully bring his head back to draw the rubber-bands with the paper clip v-dart back.... taking aim to, if luck or skill was in his favor, nail the Cicada.

[For context: Think of it like how a ballista fires in terms of launching mechanics?]
This message was last edited by the player at 08:30, Fri 25 Feb 2022.

While Lev is lining up his shot, Mits is showing signs of fatigue.  And with everyone focused on the kid with his head in the ceiling, nobody notices the grade school age kid sneaking up on Mits with an impish look on his face, eyes focused on her tail, and hand reaching out to grab it...

Bethany reaches out to take the boy's hand to shake it. "Nice t'meetchya! But we're kinda busy! Please don't startle the balancing people or they will fall and get hurt. You wouldn't wanna hurt the nice kitty and fluffbat who are trying to get rid of the annoying noise, would you? I'm sure she'll let you play with her tail when this is over if you're a good boy." she gives the boy a bright smile.

Beth says, "Put a foot on my shoulder, Lev... it was supposed to be both of us holding you so Mittens wouldn't get tired quickly..."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:01, Sat 26 Feb 2022.

SMACK!  The paperclip takes out a wing and a couple legs!  The annoying noise is immediately silenced!  Cheers erupt from gamers of all ages!  Now all that's left is to retrieve the bug.

The boy is completely defused by Beth.  He's not sure if he's in trouble or just made a friend, so he runs to hide behind his adolescent big brother.

Mittens wobbles, but maintains her death grip on Lev's ankles.  "Thanks, Beth.  I normally should be able to keep going for several minutes.  But Mittens underestimated how much she'd exerted herself today."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:13, Sat 26 Feb 2022.

Lev gave a somewhat nervous silent cheer at the shot hitting its mark. There'd be no room for error though if he wanted the bug out from the ceiling. Following Beth's advice, attempting to -very- carefully move his other foot to Beth's shoulder, not going any faster than the death grip on his ankle.

"Successful hit! Now to -get- the bug... which, may I have the bug net? And sorry, forgot to balance out weight to both!" His tone was a mix of nerves and excitement. Bug beat!

To Mittens, Bethany says, "No pro-blaim-o, Mittens. And underestimations aside, you did suggest we be a triangle, not a pillar. So it's not that you didn't think to have help, you just got caught up in the moment once it was go-time!"

Bethany handed Lev the bug net with one hand while holding his freshly-placed foot with her other hand. "Good shot!" she cheers, managing to resist the urge to bounce.

"'sall good, Deadeye!" Mits answers, "Just get 'er done!"

Beth is 2" taller than Mits, so the shoulders aren't perfectly even.  Good news is that retrieving a dead bug with a net is way easier than hitting it with a slingshot.

"Just leave the stupid bug up there!" a worried girl asserts, "C'mon down!"

"Nah then it'll rot and stink up the whole place," an indelicate guy contradicts, "Those are some really BIG bugs."

"Eeeew!" several girls object.

Lev retrieved the net with caution, and was careful with the bug net, retrieving the hit Cicada slowly with the net, before bringing it over to himself.

"Got-it-got-it! Can go down now." He'd refrain from adding a slightly scared 'please' at the end, trying to adjust his tone to something a bit more triumphant... lotsa people present, and sounding like a scaredy bat wasn't the best option.

Beth ewes with the other girls at the idea of a rotting bug leaving a stink, wrinkling her nose and sticking her tongue out between her teeth and lower lip.

Bethany reaches up to take the net off Lev's hands, then helps Mittens help Lev down with her other hand. "WOOOO!" then adds quietly, "And you didn't see any others up there, right?"

Mits expertly matches Beth's half squat when it's time to make a human ladder for Lev to descend.

"Sweet!  Yay teamwork!  And gaming can happen minus annoying noise!"

She offers high fives to her teammates with a big grin.  Ken returns from the bathroom and looks relieved at the absence of insect noise.  He claps for the heroes and several others join in the applause.  Mits takes several actor-like bows.

Lev gave a sigh of relief as he was finally on -ground-, shaking his head in response to Beth about seeing any others. "None seen or heard ma-, uhm, Beth!" He'd return the high five, before imitating the actor-like bow.

"No more loud noise, so we can now enjoy the games... -aaaand lotsa cheering." He'd give a slightly nervous chuckle, whispering to what seemed to be fellow bug-hunting allies! "Thank you both by the way... and sorry for the slight bit of risk with the person-ladder idea."

Bethany says, "All's well that ends well. Why don't you two sit down to take a load off your clearly now-tense bodies and Mittens, I'll give you a shoulder rub."

She ushers them over to a place to sit in order to do so. As she does, though, she takes note if this is the kind of arcade that serves snacks, or even pizza.

"Go team Frogger!" one guy cheers.

Various laughs are had at the moniker, but it really fits.  Customers return to gaming and chat up about how easy mutants have it with their superpowers.  Some take umbrage and counter with, "Superpowers?  Whatever.  Anyone coulda done that."

Mits smiles and winks at Lev.  "You betcha!  And thanks for your contribution.  If it helps, nobody was ever in any real danger.  I can feel danger before it happens.  Annoyances like a kid yoinking my tail while I'm focused notsomuch, so Beth you're still my hero.  For that and the rub."

She sits where indicated for Beth.  No food or drink is prominently displayed on the forbidden things sign.  Ken takes out a calculator and punches in some numbers.  "190 split three ways is $63.33 each."  With that he starts making out some store credit gift cards for the heroes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:53, Sat 26 Feb 2022.

Lev snickered a bit at the moniker, but nodded, giving a small cheer in return.

He did raise his ears a bit at some of the conversing but otherwise kept his focus towards the two that he worked with for the bug hunt. He'd give a enthused smile and thumbs up towards Mittens. "Uhm... good-to-hear! I was a little worried... but good to hear it wasn't too bad an idea then!"

He'd take a seat as well, glancing towards the bug caught. He'd put it in a jacket pocket quietly, not wanting to cause his new hopefully friends any 'ews' about the bug.

Upon hearing about the $63.33 though... he'd give a beaming grin towards Mittens and Bethany, whispering another ecstatic 'thank you!', given he had -not- thought to ask for any reward out of it.

Bethany hadn't though to ask about a reward either and is wowing at the idea of sixty-three dollars worth of credit. She rubs Mittens' shoulders as she listens to people talking about mutants having it easy. "Powers are nice!" she calls out to the objectors. "But friendship is nicer! I'm glad you all have the super power of gaining friends! And I'll be friends with anyone that wants a friend!"

She grins over to the hiding kid. Then turns to Lev. "So. What did you want the bug for? You never answered me about that..."

Mits gives Lev a smiley thumbs-up.  And a confused look for putting a dead bug in his pocket.  Boys!

Beth gets lots of weird looks.  Nobody her age says stuff like that.

Mits laughs, though.  "Whatareya, a Care Bear?  Ultimate cute!  Thanks for the massage, Rubsalot Bear."

Ken heads over and hands the gift cards over.  "Thanks again.  Just...  Nevermind.  Oh and no gum."

He points at the sign again.  Mits rolls her eyes and tosses her gum across the room into a wastebasket.

Lev looked towards Bethany, doing an internal 'drat' at the question being asked a second time given she is very much not leaving to go find a ladder, and it would be undoubtedly rude to try and just side-step it a second time....

Collecting bugs as an excuse doesn't exactly work if you just pinged a wing and legs off of said bug. He'd very quietly respond, careful to make sure only the two could hear. "... If I say, promise not to tell anyone?"

Bethany giggles and unzips her jacket to show a carebear shirt underneath that says "Hug Dealer" with Cheer Bear at the center.*

"Yup. Guilty as charged. Total carebears fan."

* https://i.etsystatic.com/29398....3255973225_dek7.jpg

She then looks curious at Lev and says, "HmmmmOK!" she leans closer to listen.

"Oooh.  Top Secret Agent Man.  Mittens must know!"

Mits busts out laughing at Beth's shirt!  "Hug dealer!  That's beyond awesome!"

She pops a pez from her Spider Man dispenser into her mouth and offers one to Lev and Beth.

"... Sooo, I may or may not catch bugs for... erm.. snacking-purposes. "

Lev's nose turned a significantly darker shade, the batboy's facial expression very much that of embarrassment. He looked down, very deliberately avoiding direct eye contact at that. Something else was whispered as well, though it was much more quietly said, Lev, speaking to himself sort of in this case. Though, the keen of hearing might still catch it.

"Please don't laugh...."

Mittens smiles brightly at Mittens. "Thanks!"

To Lev, Bethany widens her eyes and says in a hushed tone, "...oooOOOOooo.... wow..."

She is silent a few seconds before says, "I can honestly say I've never tried that before. But I was always curious since people overseas-" she stops herself lest she give away the secret by accident. "Well you know. Anyway! Thanks, Mittens, for working out a reward for us... oh!"

Bethany calls out to Ken, "Thanks, Ken! You're a cool guy!"