Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 397 LAWYER UP

$50,000 wasn’t terrible for a stash of money, but it wasn’t the best. I needed more money for my future plans. Unluckily for me, old me let Professor Xavier talk him into a trust. Since I was 17 he didn’t think I could be trusted with $3 million dollars. He was probably right, but still I had plans. There were a lot of amazing inventors in Marvel World. I needed to get them some funding to start building me cool gadgets. 

Since my quest didn’t say I had to defeat Killgrave to finish it I decided to kill him. Not in a very violent way though. I didn’t want to risk getting the Villain title in the Marvel World. So I simply dropped him from a very high altitude. I was sure to say whoops when I did it, so whoever was watching me knew it was an accident. I didn’t double check he had died, but I was pretty sure the purple man was turned into wine. 

I focused on my main problem as I flew. I had an idea on how to get my money, but I needed a…lawyer. An idea came to me, making me put on a wicked smile as I landed back inside the now empty warehouse. The warehouse workers had taken the hint after the fighting started and skedaddled. The only people left were Jessica and Tabi. 

“Where’s my red devil?” I asked.

“She ran off a bit ago,” Tabi said, licking her paws. “I was just told to watch them.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled. “I’ll catch up with her later.” I moved to Jessica Jones as Tabi stepped off of her. Jumping up to my shoulder she took her place around my neck. 

“Hey, you alright?” I asked. Nudging Jessica as I tried to wake her up. I brought a Spark to my finger and zapped her nose with it, causing her to jolt awake. 

“What?!” She yelled, flying backward along the floor to try to get away from me.

“It’s alright!” I said, raising my hands. “Calm it down. He’s gone.”

“What? Who?” She asked, looking around. She was in a business suit like Killgrave had been in. Dirty and some of it ripped she was more than a little roughed up by the chakra blasts. 

“When, where, why,” I finished for her. “I’m Weston. Do you know your name?” I said the words loudly, staying in my spot away from her. 

“Jessica,” she said, wiping her nose as she got up. Looking around the room her Spiritual Energy was a catastrophe of emotions. Anger, rage, confusion, wonder, worry, hunger, shame, shyness, happiness, hope, fear, and a few others mixed in. I let her have her moment as she tried to catch up to the present.

It took time but she eventually asked, “What happened?” 

“I think you were being controlled,” I said. “The reject from the blue man group was controlling you with his mind. Acting as a bodyguard or something.”

“Yes,” she said. “We-he started that a while ago. K-Kingpin, right?” 

“Yes,” I said, nodding. 

“Where is he?”

“Kingpin? His penthouse probably.”

“No, K-Killgrave?” She asked, a memory flashed in her mind making her feel sick. 

“Dead,” I said simply. She locked eyes with me. Hope in her gaze. I decided I would need to double check he actually was dead. From the feelings rolling off of her he really deserved it. 

“Why?” She asked. 

“Uh…not sure what you mean.” I wasn’t about to admit to killing someone. 

“Why did you help me?” She asked. 

I shrugged. “Don’t know,” I lied. “I knew something wasn’t right. Decided to step in.” 

She nodded and the tears began to flow. “Thank you,” she mumbled, wiping them away. “I-it was bad.”

“I’m sure,” I said with a nod. “Do you um…need anything. Money?”

“I uh…” she looked through her pockets. “I don’t have anything. I don’t know where I am.” 

“Come on, let's get you home,” I said. “Go make a friend.” I mumbled to the cat. She nodded and jumped off. Moving to Jessica, Tabi made her fur fluff out, her way of flirting I guessed. “This is Tabi, my cat.” 

“I…remember,” Jessica said confused. “Did she…go into you?”

“Not in a sex way,” I assured. “She and I can fuse for a time. She’s a hellcat. And a lesbian, so don’t get too familiar.”

“I’m not a lesbian,” Tabi said. 

“What?! Now you talk?” I asked. “Did you hear that?” I asked Jessica. My eyes wide as I pointed at the cat. Jessica’s eyes bulged looking from me to the cat, confused. 

“He’s fucking you,” Tabi said. 

“It’s called, fucking with you,” I clarified. 

“Whatever,” Tabi said, jumping up to Jessica. The girl stiffened but as Tabi purred she slowly relaxed.

“Are you really from hell?” Jessica asked. 

“No, this idiot just thinks it’s easier to tell people that. Trust me, I am from a place much farther away than hell,” Tabi said. “Now pretend I can’t talk or I will regret showing you.”

“Oh, she likes you,” I said with some humor. “You’re lucky. You must have a rare blood type like me. Only special people can hear her voice.”

“He’s fucking you again,” Tabi mumbled. “Don’t listen to half of what he says. He is a huge womanizer.”

“Tabi…you talk too much,” I said, giving her a look. She huffed and I looked back up to Jessica. “Sorry, we are weird. Are you good to fly?” 

“I think so,” she said. I lifted off the ground and she did the same. “So you can fly too?” 

“Yep,” I said. “Pretty cool. How did you get your powers?” 

“Uh…chemical spill,” she said. 

“No way, me too,” I said. “And Demoness…now that’s a coincidence.” I doubted it was. “Uh Demoness was this red dominatrix lady that kind of helped me take Killgrave down. But she mainly got in the way.”

“Oh, thought I imagined that,” Jessica said as we continued to float upwards. When we were high enough in the air Jessica stopped. Looking around she pointed and we flew in the direction. I didn’t ask her any questions. Her emotions still all over the place I flew and practiced my Nen. 

After my fight with Jessica I realized I needed to focus on coating my body in Nen more. Only a few weeks out of Cthulhu world and I was already rusty. I had to coat my body in it 24/7. I brought it up and let the power smolder on my skin like an aura. 

Eventually we got to somewhere Jessica recognized and we landed outside of a large building. “My friend lives here,” Jessica said. Nervous and ready for a breakdown I wasn’t sure what to do. 

“You need anything?” I asked, pulling out a few grand and passing it to her. She didn’t move for it. “Besides money? I’m pretty strong, I can help you. Or listen if you need that.” I felt her Spiritual Energy harden. 

“No, I uh need to cry for a week I think. I’m good at that though. I would like to thank you when I start feeling myself. I just did a lot of bad stuff for Killgrave. I-I need some time,” she said.

“No problem,” I said. “Tabi, stick with her, alright?”

“You don’t-”

“I planned on it,” Tabi said. She could tell that Jessica was a wreck barely holding on. “Try to call me when I’m not having a good time.” 

“Yeah yeah, I expect to hear about that pillow fight later,” I said. I reached out and grabbed Jessica’s hand. She tried to jerk away, but I put the money in her palm. “It will help. Rent a bunch of romcoms and order pizza for the next month. I slipped my number in there if you need to talk as well.” With that I lifted off again. Focusing Nen all around me I increased the power. I had to be able to use a bunch all at once and keep it out all day. I had to get stronger. No more relying on Tabi to make my fights quicker. 

Heading to the X-Men loft I hoped they had a spare business suit there. I had to have a meeting with a lawyer in the morning and I might as well look good. 

—

I walked into the office in the early morning hours. A school day I was enjoying this whole no worries lifestyle. I had money in my status screen, and my Inventory was stocked. I had been playing with the Inventory ability more lately. I had found that size really did matter. 

It could fit items about the size of a small chair. But mass mattered. I could put in a standing coat rack but not a desk. There was apparently no end to what I could hold. And multiples of the same item would stack, but I hadn’t run into anything too cool yet. Still considering robbing a few places blind I decided to hold off until I finished my current quest, which was to look into what happened to me. So far I knew Oscorp had something to do with it, maybe Kingpin, and probably Doctor Connors. Not much else though.  

The elevator out of order, I ran up the stairs of the office building. Finding the small office was easy. Nelson and Murdoch was the local law firm. A simple internet search had led me to the new up and coming lawyers in Hell’s Kitchen, but they didn’t have too many reviews online, we would see how their service was. 

Just inside the door was a pretty blonde woman. She was sitting on her phone at her desk. As I walked in she put it down. Eyeing me up and down she sighed. “The dentist is another floor up.”

“My teeth are perfect,” I said, flashing her a toothy grin. “I was in need of a lawyer.” 

“Oh, great,” she said sitting up. “What are you looking for?” 

“I need to dissolve a trust,” I admitted. 

“Like a will?” 

“More like…I don’t know.” I slapped the satchel at my side. “I have all the legal documents here. I don’t know what all you-” I stopped talking as a red haired woman walked out from the back. A thin white stick preceding her, she struck the floor and walls with it as she came out from a side hall. She was about 5 foot 7 inches tall. Her red hair was more auburn, so darker. A slight curl to it she had a very beautiful face that was hidden by the thick black sunglasses. In a gray dress suit her curves were well hidden as well. 

“Oh, hello,” I said, making sure to match the same inflections in my voice as a few hours ago. I smiled wide as the woman’s Spiritual Energy became annoyed, worried, and angry at me. She knew who I was. 

“What can we do for you?”

“You mind hearing me in private?” I asked shyly. I played the perfect young teen. But the redhead wasn’t buying it. 

“I’m not sure we can work with you,” she said. 

“It’s a little soon to say that, don’t you think?” I asked. “Haven’t heard what I came to offer yet.”

“I think I can guess,” she said. Her Energy was in turmoil, wondering if I knew her identity. It was obvious I did, but she hoped I didn’t. “We don’t handle that type of thing.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. “I’ve been asking around. I heard you guys handle most anything. Put up a big fight for the little guy. Are you really not interested?”

“Of course we are,” the blonde said, standing up. 

“Karen-” the redhead hissed. 

“Hush,” the blonde ordered. “Let me see those documents. As you can see Matilda is a little visually impaired. I have to scan them into a program that reads the words off.” 

“Oh, is she blind?” I asked. “I just thought she liked to wear sunglasses inside.” 

“Ha!” Karen said. “I think she likes to as well.” She led me down the hall to a small office. On the door it read Matilda Murdoch. “Now sit here. I’ll talk to Maddy, and help get the stick out of her ass.”

“It’s a pretty big stick. Let me know if you need help,” I said.

“Ha! I like you,” Karen said, jostling my hair as she walked out. Shutting the door on her way out I heard whispered yelling from the 2. I ignored them as I looked around the office. Janky was the best way to put it. The desk and chairs were second hand and didn’t match. The computer was a couple of years old, and the rug at my feet had some stains. On the wall was a framed diploma and on the desk was a picture. 

Though she was blind I could imagine her picking up the picture and running her hand along the glass. Remembering what it used to look like before she lost her eyesight. Grabbing the picture it was as I expected. A young girl on the lap of a man in a boxer’s outfit. Shirtless, shorts on, boxing gloves at his side, both had wide smiles as they stared at the camera. 

“That’s my dad,” Matilda said as she walked in with a huff. 

“I assumed,” I said, setting the picture back down. “Sorry for the ambush, but you left me so abruptly last night.” 

Matilda stiffened before sitting down. She frowned as she looked in my direction. “I thought you would play the idiot.”

“I can do that,” I said. “I’m really good at it, but I don’t like beating around the bush. Thanks for dropping your business card at the warehouse by the way. Made it really easy to find you.” She stiffened again, staring at me…or my general direction. I doubted blind people could stare. 

“You’re joking,” she mumbled, letting out an annoyed sigh. 

“Jeez, you are good,” I said.

“How the hell did you find me then?” She asked. 

“I’m a really good guesser,” I said. She gave me an even more annoyed look. “Listen, I uh actually do need some legal help. I’m in the neighborhood, thought I might as well use the one lawyer that I beat up yesterday.”

“What the hell happened there anyway?” She asked. “One second I was fine, the next…it was like a fog went over my mind.”

“That’s why I wanted you to go after the fatman. The purple nurple, Killgrave. He can control people. He was controlling that super girl, and not in a good way. Pretty sure he made her do some very bad stuff.” 

“What happened to them?” Matilda asked. 

“The girl is better. I got her to her friend’s house. A buddy of mine is also watching her. The guy…went on a trip,” I said.

“What kind of trip?” 

“Listen, you don’t want to know, alright? You really think a guy that can control people can be trusted to roam the streets?”

“Did you kill him?” She asked, pressing the issue. 

“Not that I know of,” I said. The answer vague enough to not trip off her own lie detection skill. She frowned but dropped it. 

“I am willing to listen,” Matilda said. “What’s your legal problem?” 

“So a few months ago…” I gave her my backstory. Walked her through the trust and different things set up. 

“Alright,” she mumbled. “You did all this over the last few months? Why the hell do you need the money?” 

“Investments,” I said. 

“Can you provide information about the investments?” 

“Maybe? But I’d rather not,” I said. 

She frowned but thought for a little bit. “There is some precedent. You were under duress from the death of your family when you signed all this. If you really wanted you could go after the company for more.”

“I’m good.” 

“Probably for the best. I can file some suits. You don’t have a guardian, so it should be fairly cut and dry.”

“How long will it take?” I asked. 

“Few weeks at least?” She asked. “Also it will cost you a few grand.” I threw some money on her desk. She frowned but opened a drawer and dropped it in. “Fine, I’m your lawyer.”

“Perfect. Now the other matter,” I said. “I’d like to work with you on it.”

“Kid, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I work-” 

“Alone? Yeah that would have worked great for you against the guy last night,” I said. “I’m not looking to start our own detective agency. But you might have more clues that I need help getting. The fatman is involved in this somehow, and I have no idea where to find him.” 

“The guy is like a ghost,” she mumbled. “How did you find out about him anyway? I only recently heard his name.”

“You have your secrets, I have mine,” I said.

She frowned but let it go. Leaning back she thought for a moment. “I’m considering joining you on this. You actually have a foot in this fight, whatever it is, and I want to find the kidnapped kids.”

“Good,” I said. “Any idea where to start?” 

Matilda frowned, thinking more. Eventually she asked, “Would that Jones girl have any ideas? If she followed the…fatman, maybe she knows something.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I said. “When do you want to check with her?” 

“Tonight,” she said. “I only work at night.” 

“Ah cus you don’t want to be seen in your outfit?” I asked. 

Her face turned red. “No!” She yelled. 

“Sorry,” I said, chuckling. “It looks great on you. I mean, top notch. But have you considered a whip as a weapon? It would really finish the whole sex dungeon fant-” 

“Get out!” She yelled. 

“What? I’m paying you a compliment,” I said.

“Get out, now,” she said, her Haki actually blushing as she pointed to the door. 

“Sorry,” I said, getting up. “See you tonight?” She cursed but waved me off. I laughed, knowing I would. I was liking this Demoness girl a hell of a lot more than I thought I would. I was already picturing her in her outfit. Part of me wanted to extend this investigation out so I could have more time with her, but only time would tell. 

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