Marvel-ous Ninjutsu

00130. Everyone has their own priorities.

After Adrian agreed to work with Ezekiel, a contract was drafted a few days later with a few clauses in place. The first clause was the loan Ezekiel was giving Adrian for his business was an advanced payment for the overall job. The second clause was if the job was completed on time the company would receive a bonus payment.

The last clause was a signing bonus for Adrian himself. Ezekiel gave the man five hundred thousand dollars for accepting the job. When Adrian read over the contract with the help of his wife who was currently a paralegal. They both had the same thought, Ezekiel was crazy. But Adrian still signed the contract with his wife's blessing.

After Ezekiel accepted the contract back he said, “With your signing bonus I would recommend buying a house in Brooklyn close to the project.”

Adrian glanced at his wife who said, “We've always talked about buying a house somewhere just outside the city limits where it's less crowded.”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “You can do that if you want. But it would advise against it for two reasons.”

Ezekiel smiled as he held up one finger and said, “The first is your commute time into the city. You would be looking at an hour drive or more just to do anything in the city. Longer if you're coming out to Brooklyn to oversee the project.”

Ezekiel raised another finger as he said, “You would be making a terrible financial decision.”

Adrian shared a look with his wife before he asked, “What makes you say that?”

“Because of the job you're doing here for me and what will be built here afterwards. Hold on a second and I’ll show you.”

Ezekiel pulled out his tablet and typed on it for a moment before he placed it on the table. He then pulled out a small device with a cable and plugged it into the tablet before he hit a button on the side of it. Adrian and his wife jumped in shock as a realistic 3D model appeared in the air, just above the device. After getting over his shock Adrian asked in wonder, “How did you do that?”

Ezekiel smirked as he said, “This is just some technology I made with the help of a friend. He designed the hardware portion and I programmed the software.”

“Who's your friend, Tony Stark?” Doris asked jokingly.

“Yup.” Ezekiel said with a smile.

Adrian jumped up from his seat and pointed at Ezekiel as he said, “That's why you look so familiar! You were all over the news with Tony a while back! You beat up all those people in that Vegas casino!”

Doris opened her mouth in shock and wanted to say something but couldn't. Adrian, who was still standing, asked, “Are you really a mutant? I mean, you look normal to me. Aren’t mutants supposed to look different?”

Doris recovered quickly and slapped her husband's arm as she said, “You shouldn't talk like that, it's rude.”

Adrian looked a little embarrassed as he sat back down and said, “What, it's just a question.”

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “Doris is right, it's rude, but it's fine. I personally don't mind it, but I wouldn't recommend doing that to anyone else. As for your question, yes I'm a meta-human which is the proper term to use for someone like me.”

Adrian smiled sheepishly as he said, “Sorry, I got a little excited since I've never met a mut… Meta-human before.”

Ezekiel waved it off as he said, “It's not a big deal. And for the record, you’ve probably met a few meta-humans before and never knew it.”

“Really?”

Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “There’s a good chance. A lot of them look normal, just like me.”

“Umm, Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” Adrian asked.

“Go ahead.”

Adrian frowned a little as he asked, “You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but what's it like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, what's it like being a meta-human?” As Adrian finished his wife slapped his arm again as she shot him a glare before she turned to Ezekiel and said, “You don't have to answer that.”

Ezekiel started to laugh for a few moments before he said, “Man that was good. And here I thought Tony was the only person who would ask a stupid question like that.”

Adrian was hit again by his wife as Ezekiel shook his head before he smiled and said, “You know I’m just as human as you are, I just have a little something extra is all. Does it make me special? I guess, but you could say the same thing for anyone else. Everyone is different and unique when you really take the time to think about it. Maybe they don’t have powers, but that doesn’t make them any less unique or special.”

Adrian and Doris nodded along before Adrian said, “I never really thought about it like that before, but it makes a lot of sense now that you mention it.”

“Most people don’t. But that’s fine. Also we got off topic.” Ezekiel said as he pointed back at the hologram floating over the table.

Adrian rubbed the back of his head as he said, “Sorry.”

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “It’s fine. But like I was saying. This area will be the future site of a few projects I am working on. But one of the main one’s is the headquarters of Vibe.”

“Vibe? You mean that website that has videos?” Adrian asked.

Doris shook her head as she said, “It’s more than a website, it’s a whole platform and it’s growing bigger by the day.”

Ezekiel nodded before he said, “Our current user base is around fifty-five million people. But in the next six months that user base should at least triple. It really depends on how an upcoming project goes.”

Adrian glanced at his wife as he asked, “Is it really that popular?”

“I don’t know the actual numbers, but I don’t see why not. Some videos have tens of millions of views.” Doris said.

Ezekiel nodded and moved the hologram around to show an overview of the area and marked a few spots as he said, “It is, which is why I said you should buy a house around this area. Within the next five to ten years, all the properties around this area will explode in value. I’m also slowing buying up more properties in Brooklyn so I can add more to this project down the road.”

Adrian shared a glance with his wife before he said, “We’ll have to think about it. But thanks for the advice.”

Doris nodded in agreement before her watch beeped a few times, which she glanced down at before she said, “I don’t wanna be rude, but we have to pick our daughter up from the babysitter in half an hour.”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “It’s fine, the main reason for our meeting was getting the contract signed.”

Adrian stood up and extended his hand as he said, “Thank you again for giving me this opportunity.”

Ezekiel stood up and shook his hand as he said, “You’re welcome.”

After shaking Doris’s hand Ezekiel said, “Also, I’m not sure if you have plans tonight, but I’d like to invite you to dinner.”

Adrian glanced at his wife before he said, “I’m not sure if we can, our babysitter doesn’t work past five.”

“Oh, you don’t need a babysitter, you can bring your daughter with you.” Ezekiel said.

“She’s a little young though, I’m not sure how well she would do in a restaurant.” Doris said.

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “It’ll be fine. I’m going to bring a kid myself, so it’s not a big deal.”
 

“Oh you have a kid? But you're so young.” Doris said.

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “I just look young. As for kids, I have a couple. But it’s a complicated situation with them currently.”

Doris frowned as she thought there might be a custody battle going on before she said, “Sorry to hear that, but hopefully it all works out for you and your kids.”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “I’m sure it will.”

Ezekiel reached down and turned off the hologram projector as he asked, “So can I pick you guys up around six?”

Doris shared a quick glance with her husband who nodded before she said, “Sure six o'clock sounds great.”

Ezekiel picked up his tablet as Doris asked, “Is there a dress code we need to worry about?”

“No, it’s going to be a really relaxed evening. So just wear comfortable clothes.” Ezekiel said.

After Adrian and his wife left, Ezekiel locked up the building he was using and then portaled to his training room. Once there he changed back to normal and texted someone, ‘Get ready, I’ll pick you up in an hour and a half.’ A thumbs up along with a grinning emoji was the response.

Theo shook his head before he moved upstairs to his bedroom and had his clone dispel before he walked upstairs to hang out with his family. As he walked into the kitchen his dad said, “Perfect timing, come help me with dinner.”

“What do you need me to do?” Theo asked as he walked over to his dad.

Jacob was in the process of setting out some bowls on the counter as he said, “I was thinking of homemade mashed potatoes to go with the fried chicken I’m making. Can you wash and peel them? I already have a pot of water on and heating up.”

Theo moved to the kitchen pantry as he said, “Sounds good to me, dad.”

Theo pulled out a bag of potatoes from the pantry and moved to the kitchen sink where a little step stool was. After he stepped on it he could easily reach and use the sink, so Theo poured out the potatoes into the sink and turned on the water. After that Theo tossed the bag into the trash can underneath the sink and then pulled out a peeling knife from a drawer.

As Theo started to wash and peel the potatoes, Jacob began to hum as he pulled out a large mixing bowl from the fridge with chicken that soaked in buttermilk overnight. As Jacob started to prepare chicken pieces by coating it in a flower and breadcrumb mix he broke out into a song.

“Well, it's alllll right. Riding around in the breeze. Well, it's alllll right.” As Jacob started to sing, Theo began to hum along knowing the song pretty well, since it was a favorite of his dads.

“If you live the life you please. Well, it's alllll right.”

“Doing the best you can. Well, it's alllll right.”

As Jacob began the next part of the song Theo also started to sing along as he peeled potatoes. “As long as you lend a hand.”

Jacob smiled before he sang the next part as Theo added the chorus, “You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring. (At the end of the line.)”

“Waiting for someone to tell you everything. (At the end of the line.)”

“Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring. (At the end of the line.)”

“Maybe a diamond ring.”

Theo was in sync with Jacob over the next few verses as they sang out, “Well, it's alllll right. Even if they say you're wrong. Well, it's alllll right.”

“Sometimes you gotta be strong. Well, it's alllll right.”

“As long as you got somewhere to lay. Well, it's alllll right.”

“Every day is Judgment Day.”

Over the next couple of minutes Theo and Jacob became lost preparing food and singing until the end of the song when they heard clapping. Both of them turned around to see Daniel, Issac and Milly as they stood by the kitchen entrance, each one with a smile on. Daniel looked down at Milly as she asked, “What do you think Milly, does your dad and Theo have a music career ahead of them?”

Milly shook her head as she said, “No, daddy needs to make me cookies.”

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