# # #
Deadguy dumped a stack of checks onto Jill's desk. “Since when did I become a Professional Gopher,” he questioned.
“Gopher,” she replied.
“Yeah. Go for this, go for that...”
“You are whatever I tell you to be because I sign your paychecks,” she answered coldly.
Our Hero's shoulders slumped. “What's going on,” he asked, a softness in his voice.
Jill was taken back by this. “What...do you mean,” she questioned, sounding more like her old self.
Deadguy leaned closer. “Something's going on,” he said as if sharing a conspiracy thought.
Their boss blinked a few times, then looked around. “I don't know,” she muttered.
“Miss Nemo,” Ian's voice broke the scene. Deadguy spun around, ready for a fight. “Is everything all right?”
“Will be once I knock your teeth out,” DG growled.
“Deadguy! Stand down,” Jill ordered, the cold tone returned to her voice.
“Did I come at the wrong time,” Ian asked innocently.
“Ever since you were born,” Our Hero replied, crossing his arms.
“I apologize for my employee's unwarranted rudeness,” Jill stated.
“It's perfectly alright,” Ian said. “I tend to put some people on edge. I must have one of those faces.”
“Your face has nothing to do with you being a jerk,” DG remarked.
“Deadguy,” Jill cried out.
Our Hero pointed at Ian. “Something's off about him,” he explained. “I don't know what it is, but he's part of something.”
“That's really convincing,” she remarked. “Just because you don't like him, doesn't automatically make him some sort of villain.”
The two Heroes stared each other down. “Fuck it. Nevermind,” Deadguy huffed as he stormed out. He brushed past Valkadaidan and Kiri.
“Hey Deadguy,” Kiri said as the door eased shut. She turned to Valk. “What's going on?”
The Dragon-Blooded shrugged.
“Glad you two are back,” Jill announced. They looked over to see Ian standing beside their boss, an unnerving grin of satisfaction on his face.
Deadguy sulked at Lupie's, poking at the plate of nachos with a chip. The music changed to fit his mood. “Lovely,” he grumbled.
A woman with magenta hair slid into the other side of the booth. “Hey, Deadguy,” she greeted.
He looked at her, trying to remember her name. He knew she was one of the bosses here... “Amanda,” he recalled. She nodded slowly. “What's up?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” she answered. “You've been prodding your food for thirty minutes now.”
Our Hero put the chip down and sighed. “Something weird is going on and I think it's going to cost me my job,” he explained.
Amanda leaned forward. “Oh?”
Deadguy looked out one of the large windows that showed the street outside, trying to collect his thoughts. How do you treat an employee before you fire them,” he asked finally.
“I just fucking fire them,” she remarked.
He nodded in approval.
“If you do end up getting fired,” Amanda continued. “Maybe it's for the best. Go out and start something new.”
“What? Like moonlighting heroics,” he commented.
“You could start a micro-brewery?”
He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “Nah. Saving the world is all I know how to do.”
Amanda stood up as a few customers walked in. “You'll think of something,” she reassured. As she left, she grabbed the tab off Our Hero's table. “On the house,” she remarked.
Deadguy walked into the Office of the Professional Heroes the next day to find Valk and Kiri packing up their desks. “Um...what's going on,” he asked, confused.
The Dragon-Blooded and the Techie exchanged guilty looks, then went back to packing.
“Deadguy,” Jill's stern voice sliced through the silence.
“Jill, what's all this?”
“We are moving to a bigger building with the aid of the city.”
“And you were going to tell me...when?”
Jill glared at Our Hero. It was a look she gave their enemies before she verbally ripped them to shreds. “Deadguy, your services are no longer required,” she said coldly.
“My services? What, did you find someone else that can come back from the dead?”
“You're fired,” she stressed. “Now leave the property before I call the police.”
Deadguy looked to his now former teammates. Valkadaidan was devoid of any emotion, while Kiri looked as if she was about to cry. He turned back to Jill. Her face was a mask of bitter anger. He walked over and snapped Masamune off it's resting place.
“Hey,” Jill yelled. “That's property of the Professional Heroes.”
He stopped and flipped the weapon in the air. He grabbed the larger end and held the handle out to her. “Then take it,” he challenged.
The two stood in silence, staring each other down. Jill huffed and crossed her arms. “Fine, take it,” she relented, turning away from him.
He flipped Masamune back to grab the handle and stormed out. The early December cold did little to cool the burning anger and pain deep inside him.
Deadguy was no longer a Professional Hero.
END
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