A Familiar Face

The two drove around for at least forty five minutes until they reached their destination. This city was populated to the extreme, almost like Los Angeles. Traffic was everywhere. Any drive further than a few miles would take hours.

Eventually, they made it the Metropolis Grand Hotel. A room had already been booked ahead of time. It was a top floor suite, which gave a beautiful view of the city.

Alice immediately flopped face first onto the comfortable bed. Her body sunk into the soft mattress. The briefcase full of contracts was put to the side.

"Ahhhhh…Talking about business always made me tired." She mumbled.

Sora gently removed her sandals. His hands traced the soles of her feet. He couldn't help but tickle them. The mature beauty squirmed on the bed.

"Fufufu! Sora wait- it tickles!"

The two played around for a while. Alice's giggles filled the room. Eventually, he got up.

"I'll go find us some food. Be right back." He said.

"Alright. Don't take forever." She demanded.

Her eyes were already closing though. It had been a long day. Sora drove around the nearby city blocks. He soon noticed a Big Belly Burger on a street corner. For some unknown reason, he knew this place would have delicious food.

Upon entering the establishment, he noticed the homely atmosphere. A fat middle aged man stood behind the register. His face lit up when seeing the new customer.

"Hiya friend! What kind of Burger ya want? Big Belly?" He smiled at his own joke. Sora gave a wry smile.

"I'll get two Double Belly Floppers." The sleepy man responded.

"Comin right up." The jokester left to relay the order.

As he waited for his food, his gaze wandered. The place seemed pretty popular. Lots of customers were shoveling food into their mouths. Juice squirted out of the burger when they took bites. As time passed, he noticed a picture on the wall.

The same fat man was posing for the camera. His arm was wrapped around the shoulder of a hero. It was Superman. The man of steel was smiling alongside him. At that moment, the clerk returned.

"Ah yeah…that? Supes is my best bud. I see him all the time. He makes sure to stop by for burgers every now and then. If there's any danger, the big guy will handle it." He spoke with absolute confidence.

"I see. Looks like you're quite the superstar." Sora praised.

"You have no idea…check this out."

"Hmm?"

As he handed over the bag of food, he leaned into the young butler's ear. This man left Sora perplexed. Why was he being so friendly? Just give him the food already!

"I may be working as the clerk, but I'm actually the owner!" He whispered.

"...Really? Why go through the trouble?"

"I like to see the faces of people that walk through the door. Anyone that eats here will always be a friend of mine. Superman taught me that."

"Cool. I'll make sure to keep that in mind…" Sora trailed off, not knowing his name.

"The name's John. As soon as ya walked in with that fancy suit, I knew you'd be interesting."

"Um…Thanks."

"Of course, come back again. Uh…"

"Sora."

"Come back again, Sora! All upstanding citizens are welcome." John declared.

As Sora made his way back to the car, he shook his head. What a funny guy. All upstanding citizens are welcome? What a joke.

'Upstanding citizen, huh?' He thought.

The lazy butler drove his way back to the hotel. There was a lot of traffic this time, forcing him to avoid the highway. He decided to take the streets back. Along the way, he noticed an interesting group of people sitting on the steps to the Metropolis Public Court.

Sora quickly searched for a parking spot. Their figures became clearer as he approached. The first man was familiar. He had dyed blonde hair and polarized glasses. A cigarette hung from his lips.

'He's that delinquent leader from the Gotham Warehouse District.' He realized.

"Yo. Fancy seeing you here." Sora called out.

"Eh?!" The delinquent growled upon hearing the voice.

He took another puff of his cigarette before turning around. Once he saw who was speaking, his face turned pale. The group frowned seeing his expression. Something was wrong. They'd never seen him look like that before.

A figure in an all black riding suit stepped in front of the leader. The curvy shape of her body revealed her to be a woman. Unfortunately, a yellow motorcycle helmet covered her features. The visor was too dark. It didn't allow for anyone to see through.

"Shizuo!" Another person called out.

It was another girl, this time with glasses and short hair that stopped at her chin. Her eyes seemed to glow red every once in a while. It seemed as if she was ready to draw out an invisible sword.

Sora raised an eyebrow at the obvious hostility. Other members of the group were tense, as if preparing for a fight. A delighted smile grew on the young butler's face. He didn't mind putting some people into the dirt.

'A japanese delinquent…don't see those everyday.' He thought while eyeing the leader.

Before anything could happen, the leader raised his hand. They all stopped their actions. It seemed that loyalty was strong with this group.

"I remember you. Whaddaya want? You decide to get rid of the witnesses?" The man questioned. His voice had softened much more.

"Not at all. I just found this group of yours quite interesting. Everyone here seems to be unique. Am I wrong?" Sora answered.

"Unique? You must be mistaken. We're just a normal group of people."

"Normal? If that lady with the bike helmet is normal, then I'm your grandfather. Do you think I'm blind? There isn't anything under that helmet." Sora revealed.

He then approached the mystery woman. The masked rider raised her fists in order to defend herself. A sigh escaped Sora's lips.

"If I wanted to fight, you guys would already be dead." He muttered.

"Celty! Stand down!" The delinquent exclaimed. The masked woman followed his order. Sora turned back to the delinquent.

"I'm curious. Was Killer Croc working for you?"

"Yes…he was."

"How did you get control over Grundy?"

"...That's not something I can say."

"You're not going to tell me?" Sora questioned with a smirk. His golden eyes shined for a moment.

"....................."

There was a moment of silence. As the tension grew higher, the delinquent held his tongue. He wasn't going to speak. Sora eventually smiled.

"Fine. How good are you at finding out information?"

"Good enough."

"Good enough? Hmmm. I've been paying attention to your group. Your band of misfits has been on the rise. Be careful though. Gain too much spotlight and someone might get rid of you."

"What do you want." The delinquent was tired of the back and forth. Just because he was weaker didn't mean he would grovel.

"I want you to develop an information network for me. Whatever you're making right now, I'll triple it. Not only that. I'll provide housing and a cover job to misdirect authorities." Sora finally said.

The majority of the group's faces lit up at the offer. It seems like they'd been hard pressed for cash. As expected, they didn't have any backing.

"That seems too good to be true. What's the catch?" The man finally answered.

"The catch? Hmmm…you won't be a gang anymore. You'll forever belong to my estate. You won't ever be able to speak about your true job. On the outside, you'll just be an upstanding citizen." Sora concluded.

'Heh. Upstanding citizen…' John's previous words made the sleepy man chuckle.

"Estate? What estate?" The delinquent asked. He needed more info.

"Take this. If you decide to accept the job, go to this address." Sora handed the man his business card. As he read on, his eyes grew wider.

"Sora…LOCKHART?! The Lockhart Estate?!" He exclaimed.

The group behind him heard his yell. They immediately grew excited at the name. This meant a lot of money in the long run. The Lockhart Estate was well known to those involved in the higher brackets of wealth revenue.

"Alright then. Seeya."

Sora returned to his car and drove off. He'd already spent too much time away. The food would get cold if he remained.

Celty and Shizuo looked at the business card together. Other members of the group peaked over the shoulder. They seemed to be giving it a lot of thought.

"Does this mean we have a new boss, Boss?" The girl with glasses asked.

"Shut up, Anri. I'm thinking!" Shizuo growled.