Chapter 359 - 359. Mansion?

There were only about three hours before those that had been responsible and had not escaped were taken and the areas damaged taped off. Many investigations were ongoing but it was deemed safe for the city to resume the normal activities. Garnet came to Art and brought him away where his parents were on the phone looking to speak to him. By the time he got back the group had been waiting for another hour yet. 

"So, my house is completely shut down for the entire investigation. Apparently, the theory was that my mother and father had some hero corp information in their labs. Unfortunately, they just had their personal projects and that means the house was attacked for no reason. The only thing that we were lucky for was that the guy who set off the bombs was caught and spilled a ton of information. My brother is also fine, just a minor concussion." Part of Art was happy about this and the other was unhappy. 

The home that he had grown up in was damaged and would never be the same. His bother had been hurt. However, he felt that this was karma for what his brother had done to him and the family as of late. But there was still more that was nagging at Art about it. 

"Art, when you were giving us the tour of your mansion, you told us where everyones' bedrooms and labs were. That damage from the news was right under your brothers' bedroom. Don't tell me you find that an odd coincidence." Asher had already run through the scenarios in his head. 

"While you were on the phone we all bounced ideas off of each other. Asher and I decided the best theory." Jane was not too happy to say this since she knew how Art's brothers' actions had affected him. "Maybe your brother was really trying to protect you. He made you look weak, not part of the family, and sent you away. He might have known that the research your parents and him were involved in was risky and could bring harm to you, especially with the results of your evo shot giving you two super powers." 

"You know that you are saying that most of us in this group will be in danger, right? We all received similar doses of the evo shot and have rare super powers or two. Or even new super powers…" Art was trying to say that it wasn't only him in danger but they had all accepted this while they spoke and bounced ideas off of each other. 

"Sammy and I come from a family where we usually get elemental super powers related to weather. But we have two of the purest ones out of our entire family. We know there was something different since day one. It is the reason that I am happy to have all of you standing here with me. We are getting stronger every single day and we have already done some amazing things. Just imagine what we will do with a little extra pressure from some unknown villain group trying to learn more about the double dose evo shot." The shrug that Louis gave Art was craziness. But it was reassuring as well. 

"You are all not the same as me. Not at all. But, you are all my family now whether Asher wants more siblings or not. Don't expect me to bail on you all  just because of a villain I would arrest later anyways." Cara didn't care in the slightest about the situation developing. This would be their new normal since they were aspiring heroes. There would always be a hidden villain and they were just learning that lesson earlier than other heroes. 

"I'm just here because I know heroes get a discount on their snacks at restaurants. I'm going to eat this city out of house and home. Plus you guys are good friends and stuff." Laura barely whispered the last part since she was trying not to be mushy in the moment. 

"I agree, better than good friends. I didn't know what I was capable of. I feel like I would have stopped learning and just become a forest ranger or something. But now I will rescue millions of people from natural disasters and a few hikers who go off trail." Jackson was a perfect example of how getting out of his comfort zone had benefited him. The group had more than helped him with this and now he was on the way to being a hero that exceeded his dreams. 

"I don't know why everyone is looking at me. I feel like the wind around us is always happy. There's plenty more to explore when you help me get to the sky." Sammy felt that she couldn't say much more without cheapening their words. 

"Well, you heard everyone. We are still standing here beside each other. Let's head home." Art began to pull Art along toward their home. The rest of the students had left earlier since they had been released. The group had only waited for Art so they could be there if he needed it and to plan out how they would handle the developments on the city. 

"You know, maybe we need a separate training building and maybe a new place to call home.": No one knew what Art was thinking and just stared at him for a while since he was just standing still and not heading out with them. "I have access to the money in my account now so I might as well have a place built for everyone. Any ideas on where I should build our headquarters and new home?" 

"Oh yeah, build us a mansion." Asher joked and then realized that Art was still looking at everyone for confirmation. 

"I think he's serious… Or did Art break? We can call the hospital if we need to get him a room and an evaluation." Lara was equally shocked and trying to figure out if Art was losing his mind. 

"I would have the biggest garden ever if I had the chance. I might win the lottery one day." Jackson was still believing that Art was joking and began to daydream of what he would do with a massive mansion to build. 

"No no no, he's serious. Look. That's the serious face he gets when he cooks." Cara was easily able to see the difference in the looks that Art had on his face and pointed it out. 

"No way are you buying everyone a mansion to live in. That's just crazy." With a proper strict tone and hands on her hips, Jane stepped in to talk Art out of it.

"Why? My family has more money than we can spend and I was planning to build a headquarters anyways. This will just serve another purpose as well. Plus none of you can stop me and you can keep your old homes. You will just have another. It's the same as having a vacation home." The following shrug was met with the astonished faces of everyone. In the next moment, Art was already texting someone on his phone. "It will be all set up in a week. Just remember you all can move in any time you want. We are family after all." Art finally moved from his standing position. 

"We will need a durable practice space as we progress. We all have super powers that can get a little out of hand and need special places t train properly. Look at my super power. What happens as I grow and can literally send lightning bolts out? It will be way worse if I discharge all my lightning at once like I did at the Riktor tournament. In a year or so it might double, we are all growing in to our super powers still." Louis had a decent point. If some of them continued to get stronger they would need a safe place to train that didn't put others' at risk. 

"Exactly why Art is thinking about getting a headquarters. Heroes usually sleep at their headquarters. Firemen do the same thing and even police do. They need to be ready fro an emergency. He might be calling it a house but he is really setting up the supports for when we are a full on hero group that takes jobs." Asher made the connection and knew that this was going to happen at some point. 

"We all did just get prize money for the tournament and we could just pay him back. But this, how would we pay this back?" Jane was arguing the point that Louis and Asher had made. 

"Simple. You protect my family while I protect yours. This is an investment. I can get top of the line security measures so that villains have less of a chance to bother us when we are heroes. We all know that a villain is never just when it comes to ignoring family members." This was the lesson Art had taken away from the current events.. If he had a safe place for his family he would use it all the time.