CHAPTER 358 NEW GIG

CHAPTER 358 NEW GIG

“Sign here, initial here, here, and here-no wait there,” I said pointing to the contracts. Justice, Giga, and Last Heroine happily signed. Brimstone wasn’t so willing to.



“I am from hell. Why do I need insurance?” She asked. The she-demon’s horns glowed red a little, signifying she was angry.



“Because this is how the world works,” I said. “You do realize that there are currently 3 separate lawsuits filed against you, right?”



“No,” she said, her tail whipping back and forth as she leaned against the arm of my sofa. “It’s hard to get someone to serve you papers in hell.”



“I bet,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Brimstone, you are in the land of the living. You need to start playing by the rules. Granted you don’t need healthcare, but everything you do has consequences. That hole to hell you opened for that serial killer. Someone else fell into that hole. Granted they were lucky you closed the portal to hell, but still, they hurt themselves. These documents would insure that victim is paid to help mitigate the issues caused by their broken leg.”



Brimstone frowned, tsking as she looked at the papers like they were bugs. “I wasn’t even born on this plane of existence. How can they expect me to pay anything? I don’t get paid.”



“And now, you do,” I said, tossing her a passport and license. “Your name is Lilith Brimstone. Born in New Castle 20 years ago, you have an apartment 2 doors down from here. In fact all of you have apartments here.” I tossed the girls keys to their new apartments.

“What?” Justice asked, excitement clear in her voice.



“Yep, I’ve had trouble finding a secret lair, so I decided to buy the apartments next to my own.”

New Castle was part of a country called Frankfort. Stupid name, but still a country. About the size of France it wasn’t overly large, but a section of the map that made up the US. The United States wasn’t really a thing in this world though. Hundreds of years ago the people that laid claim to the country sectioned off areas to govern. Because super powers had always been a thing there were a lot of different aspects than what I was used to. Instead of dollars they used money called francs. Useless in my Status Screen, I was less annoyed since I was so rich in the world.



My parents owned a lot of the city and old me had been focused on the hero work. He had saved millions and owned his own businesses in New Castle. I decided that if I was going to push the Sentries out, it was best to do it right.



“What about my current apartment?” Giga asked. The big woman had reluctantly shrunk down to her normal 7 foot height. Wearing her leather Viking attire she was easy to spot, but I was happy she was part of the team.



“Live where you want,” I said. “I bought them outright. I have a rent to own agreement included in the packets. As long as you work for me for a year, you will own them outright.” That was how long I hoped it would take to fix the city up, and how long I expected it would take to seduce all of them...if I felt so inclined. These women were adults, not the scared girls in Apocalypse world. I was more willing to spread out here.

“Are they furnished?” Last Heroine asked. She had a scar running across her forehead, another across her cheeks and nose, and another 2 running down her face, 1 on either side of her nose. They both went down her lips and ended at her chin. Though they were ugly, I couldn’t help but think they made her more beautiful. Thick lips, beautiful face under the scars, she had a rocking body that was hard to look away from.

“I have a list of stores in the area where you can buy most of what you need. They should already have an account for LOV. Just charge it to that and show your ID,” I said. It had been a couple of days since our fight with the Sentries, but most of this had been in the works for a while. It was expensive, but I hoped to bring the Sentries down and reallocate their current funding to my own.



“Sign the documents and you will officially be an employee of our new company, LOV. Healthcare and salary included. I know it’s not a huge amount, but should be enough to help you survive. Since most of you were doing this on your own time, it should help.” Justice looked through the documents until she found the pay.

“75,000 Francs?” She asked, amazed. “That’s as much as I make-” She cut herself off, trying not to give her day job away.



“Not bad at all,” Last Heroine noted.



That was the tipping scale for Brimstone. She took the documents and signed as well. I had suspected she preferred Earth to hell. I had a pretty good idea what her secret identity was. Yes she was from hell, but she couldn’t be the sexy demon walking around town. She had a human form, and if my guess was right she loved to go to the mall to shop. With actual documents in hand that proved she existed I would have to make sure she didn’t open any credit cards to go on a shopping spree.

The girls finished and I took the top documents. “I will file these with my lawyer. Accounts with your hero names have been started at the local bank. You will have a direct deposit come in...” I continued explaining the last items to them. Which turned into tours of their apartments and excited talk from all of them. Even the stoic Last Heroine and Brimstone had trouble hiding it from their faces. Their Haki was alight with joy and excitement.

Hero work was a thankless job. Each of them did the job because it was their passion. Their calling to help people. Deep down they were normal people. They had 9 to 5s. Bills, families, hopes, dreams, and worries. Each had proven time and again that they didn’t do it for the glory. Giga did it for the challenge, but for all of them there were no ulterior motives to want to help people.

“What’s the catch?” Brimstone asked as we moved to step out of her apartment. I gave her a confused look, my own joy reflecting that of the other girls. “For all this. What do you get out of it?”



“I don’t think there is a catch,” I said. I wasn’t in my costume. Revealing my identity had been one of the few things I didn’t mind showing to these girls. I only knew Justice’s identity for sure, but I doubted it would be long until I learned the other girl’s. “I don’t expect you to put in 6 hours of patrolling a night. I simply want you all to continue what you are doing. If I can call on you for help, great. If not, I’m sure you are busy with either your real lives or your own hero work.”



I eyed each of them one at a time. “Back when the Sentries were formed, what...60 years ago?” I asked.

“76,” Brimstone said.



“Oh yeah? Were you there back then?” I asked. She didn’t answer, but her Haki hinted that maybe she had been. “Back then the Sentries actually stood for something. I’m sure they were normal people that made mistakes, but they had the grace to accept punishment and move on. These current Sentries...its like their own little club. Back door deals, favors, bribery. All of it happens and they each know about it. Hell, I was almost kicked out once for refusing to lie on the stand about Nightwalker’s whereabouts during a certain event.”

In the log book he had said he was on duty. But I knew he hadn’t been. That night we fought Killjoy. Lots of collateral damage, lots of lawsuits afterward, the only person that hadn’t been there was Nightwalker. The lawyers focused on his disappearance from the night, saying something shady had been going on. Our lawyers settled, and I thought nothing of it. Weeks later the body of a set of twins were found. The dark wounds on their bodies had resembled wounds Nightwalker caused, but I had pushed it out of my mind. Naive about the depravity in the Sentries.

“Mom! Dad!” I said excitedly as I opened the door. “What a surprise. How can I help you?” I walked them in, passing my room. Julie was mostly dressed inside, but was too nervous to come out. I left her to decide what to do. We stopped in the kitchen/living room area. “Care for a drink? Mom, I have your favorite.”



“What’s that?” She asked, staring at my apartment with a frown.

“Alcohol,” I said simply. “Do you really care what kind?” She had a drinking problem that she hid well, but old and current me wasn’t a fan of her or my dad. She sniffed, hiding her anger, but didn’t retort.

“This isn’t a social visit, Weston,” My dad said. He was a little shorter than me. I had been adding mass to myself with my Fusion skill, making myself taller so it wasn’t overly obvious.

“Then what? Another blind date?” I eyed Hancock behind them. I didn’t know her in this world. This one...was different. Normal Hancock had been someone that knew she was the most beautiful woman in the room. This girl was surprisingly off. Almost modest with her beauty as she wore a pair of glasses, tied her hair behind her head, had no makeup on, and wore a simple T-shirt and jeans.

“No, this is Hancock Brooks,” my mother said, both stepping away to allow me to get a better look at her. “Her parents are missing and we thought we might as well send some work to your little...detective agency.”

“That’s mighty nice of you,” I said. They knew a little of what I did, but their heads so far up their own asses I doubted they knew I was the late great Chargefist. “Tell me about what’s going on?” I directed to Hancock.

“My um, parents are missing,” she admitted nervously. She had a slight blush, signifying she knew who I was. The bachelor of the Walker fortune. But to my parents I was the black sheep.

“I wish I had that problem,” I said with a laugh, eyeing my parents. They got the idea.



“Weston,” my dad said, annoyance clear in his voice. “There is no need for that kind of talk. The Brooks are old friends of ours. I would appreciate professionalism.”



“Ah yes, of course,” I said. Back in the day my folks had threatened to cut me off at least every other month if I didn’t show them respect at all times. Once I received a lot of my trust and showed that I was good at buying businesses that made money, they stopped by less and less. Since they couldn’t make the threat to cut me off, they didn’t like to be around me. “Well, mom dad, thanks for stopping by. I’ll be sure to take care of your friend. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Normally I came to a world and found that my family or those around me were different than old me had thought. Like my dad in Invincible. I thought he didn’t like me, but his Haki had shown he really cared dearly for me. But in this world I could feel that my parents really did hate me. Which was fine, I hated them too. I had been kidnapped as a kid once. 2 weeks it took them to scrounge up the money for the ransom. They actually took the money for it out of my trust which was why it took so long. After I found that out, they were dead to me.

They tried to fight it but I firmly escorted them out. When they were gone I knocked on my bedroom door and headed back to Hancock.

“Sorry about that, family drama,” I said. It wasn’t too hard to keep my hands off of her since I could feel how nervous she was to be in my apartment alone. “So, walk me through what you know.”



“Are you uh...really a detective?” Hancock asked, stepping away to look around the apartment.



“Something like that,” I said as Jullie walked out into the room. “This is Julie, my associate.”



“Associate?” Julie asked with a frown. A little hurt.



“You didn’t want to meet my parents,” I retorted. She blushed and looked away. Ashamed with how nervous she had been. I couldn’t blame her. My parents were known for ruining lives of people they didn’t like. As a lawyer, Julie hadn’t been shy about going after my parents or their friends. “Julie helps me with my day to day. What can we help you with?”



“My parents,” Hancock said, feeling a little better with Julie there. “They disappeared a few weeks ago.” With that I received the notification.



Hero World Quest



Find Hancock Brook's parents.



Reward:



Bonus Copy



I was supposed to get a Bonus Copy for joining the X-Men. I guessed I would be able to get one sooner now. I decided to stick around since there was a quest, although I would have preferred more Viltrumite blood or whatever I received to increase the form.



“Police?” I asked, as Tabi jumped from the ground onto Hancock. The poor woman about had a heart attack, but as Tabi purred she calmed down. At least Tabi understood this wasn’t actually Hancock, not yet at least.

“They said there were no clues. No signs of foul play. They...haven’t been very helpful,” Hancock admitted, petting the cat.

“You’re supposed to bribe them,” I said.



“What?”



“Nothing,” I said. “Well, no time like the present. Let’s check it out.” Grabbing my jacket I ushered them out the door.