People like Lucas—those who'd had the foresight to invest heavily in Stark Industries—were now swimming in money. But such people were rare… very rare.
Owning a large chunk of Stark Industries stock had turned Lucas into a full-fledged winner at life. As long as Tony didn't pull some world-ending stunt, Lucas could basically live comfortably for the rest of his days.
When Tony found out that Lucas was one of Stark Industries' shareholders, his face turned so dark it could rain. If looks could kill, Lucas would've been vaporized on the spot.
Granted, Lucas held the smallest percentage among all shareholders, but it still gave him the right to attend board meetings.
Lucas would never forget Tony's expression when he walked into the conference room—it was a perfect mix of disbelief and barely contained fury. Naturally, Lucas had the whole thing recorded on his phone for future entertainment.
He wasn't remotely interested in the meeting itself. He'd come purely to piss Tony off. Whatever corporate nonsense they discussed went in one ear and out the other while Lucas daydreamed happily.
After the meeting, Tony wasted no time hunting him down, offering to buy back Lucas's shares—at several times their current value.
But Lucas just laughed in his face. "Sell? Are you kidding me? I earned these fair and square. Why should I give them back to you?"
By the time Lucas left, Tony's heart reactor was practically sparking from stress. He had to swap in a fresh arc reactor just to calm himself down—he swore he could feel the shrapnel in his chest vibrating with rage.
Meanwhile, Lucas casually paid off his entire mortgage and even gave Skye a hefty raise. Skye was so overjoyed she jumped straight into his arms… then blushed and promptly flipped him over her shoulder with a perfect throw.
That move, of course, came courtesy of Gwen's "training." Skye had vibration powers but zero hand-to-hand combat skill, so Gwen had been teaching her a few basic moves in their spare time. Not that Gwen herself was an expert—most of her fighting relied on agility and her uncanny Spider-Sense.
Luckily, Natasha had been living in the apartment complex as well. Officially, she was "on vacation." In reality, Nick Fury had her stationed there to keep an eye on Lucas—though the daily surveillance reports had been toned down since the last incident.
With free time on her hands, Natasha had taken on the role of combat instructor for both Gwen and Skye.
Gwen, already juggling her demanding coursework, hadn't wanted to train at first. But after Natasha knocked her flat three times in under a minute, she decided—fine, I'm learning this. Especially after seeing Natasha's deadly scissor kick; Gwen's eyes had practically sparkled with admiration.
So now Gwen attended classes by day, and at night she returned through the Chocobo Space portal for combat lessons. Her roommate in Boston was convinced she'd gotten a boyfriend and was spending nights with him—which, to be fair, wasn't exactly an uncommon assumption in college dorms.
Time slipped by quietly. Since Lucas's "split action" plan that took down Obadiah, the Devil May Cry Agency hadn't received a decent commission in months.
There had been a few "supernatural" requests, but they all turned out to be fake—clients convinced they were haunted by demons. Lucas had gotten excited at first, carefully preparing for what he thought would be his first real demonic encounter… only to discover it was just paranoia.
After investigating, Lucas ended up telling them to call the police instead—because what they actually had were straight-up homicide cases.
"Seriously," he muttered afterward, "if you're not calling the cops, at least hire a real detective. I'm not built for this logical deduction nonsense."
And that was that. Lucas helped file a few reports, then went right back to lounging in his office chair, where he remained to this very evening.
With Gwen and Skye busy with training most nights, the agency was often just Lucas—and a perpetually sleepy Moogle.
The little furball had been sleeping more than ever lately, as if preparing for hibernation. When it was awake, it wandered aimlessly around the office with a drowsy wobble.
To keep it from bumping into things, Lucas just scooped it into his arms. The soft, fluffy creature felt so warm that it almost made his inner "cute things" side burst out. No wonder Skye was always hugging it.
The Moogle, however, wasn't particularly fond of being treated like a plush toy. It squirmed endlessly, but Lucas simply tightened his hold. In the end, the poor thing surrendered to his tyranny.
That's how the two of them spent the evening—one man, one moogle—until the creature finally lost patience and bopped Lucas on the head before wobbling back to its cushion to continue snoring, nose bubble and all.
Lucas checked the clock. "Alright, time to close up."
But just as he was about to lock the door, an unexpected guest appeared.
A man in a tight red suit, complete with tiny horns on his mask, stood at the door of the agency. It was none other than Daredevil—Matt Murdock.
Lucas blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected the guy to show up in person.
"You? Here? Come on in."
Matt stepped inside without hesitation.
"Nice place," he remarked with a faint smile. "Definitely fits the reputation of one of the best apartments in New York."
He didn't look around—naturally, since he couldn't see—but his voice carried a note of appreciation nonetheless.
"Your echolocation's improved, huh?" Lucas asked, handing him a cup of tea. During their last team-up, Matt had only just started to get the hang of his ability, and its range was limited. But now…
"More or less," Matt replied. "I can roughly make out the layout through ambient sound now."
Lucas nodded. "Impressive. You're a fast learner."
Matt tilted his head slightly. "I can tell you're alone tonight. No Skye? No assistant?"
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "You've got good intel. She's training right now."
"Training in combat?" Matt's lips curved slightly. "Interesting. I can sense something inside her—a pulsing energy, like rhythmic shockwaves."
Lucas blinked. "Wait, you can feel that?"
He wasn't surprised that Matt knew about Skye's powers; he was shocked that the man could sense them just from vibrations in the air.
"She's using that power right now," Matt explained calmly. "You'll feel it soon too."
Right on cue, the floor trembled. It felt like someone was throwing a rave underground.
Lucas sighed. "Yeah, that's Skye alright… getting carried away again."
Moments later, Skye and Gwen stumbled upstairs, covered in dust, looking like they'd been through a warzone. Natasha followed soon after—her usually perfect hair full of dirt, rubbing her lower back with a grimace.
Lucas groaned. "Seriously? You three trying to bring the whole building down? Skye, go knock on every tenant's door and tell them it's fine before they panic. And for god's sake, stop flinging sand everywhere—someone's gonna lose an eye."
With Matt still there, Lucas waved the trio away for now.
The night had only just begun—and something told Lucas that Daredevil hadn't dropped by just for tea.
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