CHAPTER 444: SUGAR DADDY.

[Viktor: Get your ass over here. I have a job for you.]

No sooner was he out of Suzuka’s hideout than a message reached him. Reading through it, Dante was struck with a bit of nostalgia. It hadn’t been that long since he last got a gig from his fixer, but with everything going on lately, it felt like ages had passed.

A short bike ride later, Dante arrived at Joy Street. Instead of going through the arcade as usual, he made his way to the back and used its door. A certain someone popped his head out of a nearby room, and when his eyes met Dante’s, his face went completely pale.

"What’s up, Boris? You look like you saw a ghost."

"A-ah! Dante, it’s been a while." Said the big guy. "How have you been?"

"Great. You?"

"I’m doing great, too."

The conversation seemed to die just like that, and the atmosphere became even more awkward. Sensing it getting on his nerves, Dante moved to scratch the back of his head only to touch the port panel of his MLP. He had yet to get used to it, even though a month had already passed since the surgery.

"C’mon, man," His smile strained. "If you got something to say, just say it."

"I..."

Guilt quickly colored Boris’s face. He looked a little conflicted, and even when it seemed like he made up his mind, hesitation was still apparent in the way he motioned for Dante to enter the room. Checking for eavesdroppers, he then turned to Dante, looking rather nervous. It took him some time, but he finally asked the question.

"Was it really you?"

Dante could already guess what the big guy was referring to, but he decided to play dumb.

"I have no idea what you’re talking about." He said with a smile.

"Vik almost lost it the other day. He was pulling his hair off!"

As he recalled, the fixer didn’t look too good when he visited a week ago. Dante was well aware that he had caused him a lot of stress, but it was far from the first.

"C’mon, man, you gotta tell me." Said Boris. "You aren’t going to wipe the city next time you fight that guy, right?"

Pointing at him, Dante gave the big guy a quizzical look.

"You aren’t wearing a wire or anything, right?"

"A wire? Why would I-" His face paled even more, causing Dante to burst out laughing.

"Just look at you, man. Don’t tell me you have been pissing yourself all this time."

"Hey! I’m not joking, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I can tell that much." Dante chuckled. "Not sure why you’re asking me those weird questions, but I’m not worried. Everything will turn out just fine."

"That’s what you say, but..."

"Where have you been lately, anyway?" Dante interrupted. "You weren’t here last time I dropped by."

"Last time," Boris raised an eyebrow, then seemed to remember. "Ah, I was at the Owl’s Lantern that day."

"The Owl’s Lantern, huh?" Dante raised one corner of his mouth. "Look at you, being more proactive. Did you shoot your shot yet?"

"Well..." The big guy looked a little hesitant to answer, but he couldn’t stop the smile from taking over his face. "Actually, I invited her out to dinner the other day, and she accepted."

"Seriously!?"

"Yeah."

"Way to go, man!"

Dante held his hand up, and the big guy dapped him, color slowly returning to his face.

"Just to be sure, when you said dinner," Dante said. "You didn’t mean you’re going to eat her, right?"

"Hey, I’m taking this seriously-"

Partway through, Boris realized that it was another fat joke, causing him to tighten his grip on Dante’s hand, almost crushing it. The two continued their talk, catching up as if they hadn’t met for months. Sometime later, a tired-looking man appeared at the door, fixing Dante with a glare that forced silence onto him. He had forgotten all about the reason he came to the Triple Jackpot.

~[ ]~

"The client is Veronica Vale." Said Viktor. "She wants us to gather evidence of her husband’s affair."

As he listened to the briefing, looking over the files he had just received, Dante’s expression darkened little by little. Turning to his fixer, he shot him a displeased look.

"Really, Vik? Are we that starved for work?"

"Not really." Viktor shrugged. "No one wanted to take this on, so I’m having you deal with it."

"You got to be kidding me..."

"After all the stress you put me through, the least you could do is take this off my back."

"Oh, c’mon!"

Last week, he was fighting the world’s most powerful Genome, and now he was being told to spy on a man and catch him cheating.

"Anyway, the husband is Nickolas Vale. He is the director of a small company that owns a number of clothing stores around the city. Recently, he has been leaving work around three in the afternoon and only returning past midnight. He says he’s working on expanding his business, but the wife doesn’t believe him."

"I really don’t need to know the drama." Sighing, Dante got up. "Well, be thankful I got nothing better to do."

"Just... don’t blow anything up this time." Said Viktor.

"I won’t promise anything," Dante replied.

~[ ]~

’Alright, Volcan,’ Dante thought aloud. ’Can you get your friends at the surveillance system to look for this guy?’

[Right away.]

Climbing onto the Raven, Dante took off. The files contained info on the target’s daily routine, but it was already four past noon, meaning he was already on his way to meet his secret lover.

[Nickolas Vale has left his office at exactly 15:30,] Volcan said. [Instead of his personal vehicle, he seems to have rented the service of a self-driving taxi. He is heading toward a location in Westwing.]

’Westwing?’

Bringing up the files once more, Dante checked the target’s photo. They were talking about a thirty-eight-year-old man with two children, one five, the other ten. Neither was at an age to enter a university, so unless he had some other relatives living in that area, Dante didn’t see why he would be going there.

’Seems like things are going to be straightforward for once.’

Volcan brought up a miniature map with the target’s location and destination marked. Hurrying up a little, Dante managed to arrive just as the target got off his ride. Pretending to be passing by, he got close enough for Volcan to mark the man, allowing them to directly track his location.

Nickolas went into a nearby building, likely heading to a cafe on the second floor. Instead of following him inside, Dante crossed the road and went to a different shop on the opposite side of the road, but not before dropping a Scorpio-bot to follow after the target.

’This guy... he’s really sloppy...’

One would think a rich man would choose a better place to meet his side chick. The cafe was far from discreet, with large glass windows that gave a view of the interior in its entirety. One can see everything from the street, so it felt a little pointless to hire someone to track the man down.

’There she is...’

A young girl soon showed up, and the man stood up and greeted her with a hug. She looked around twenty years old, likely a college freshman.

’Guess our target is someone’s sugger daddy.’

The hug alone should have been enough evidence, but Dante felt like he needed more. There were many ways it could be interpreted, so it was better to get something more concrete.

That line of thinking was what led to Dante following the two around for a while. They went around some expensive shops where the girl did all the shopping, and Nickolas did all the paying. Dante was already getting tired of the whole gig by the time they stopped by a fancy restaurant for dinner. Thankfully, he got what he needed soon after.

The sugar daddy had paid the price, so it was time for the baby to do her part. The two of them got a hotel room, and once he had video footage of them entering it, Dante decided to end things there and head back.

’That took longer than I thought.’ He thought.

[Indeed.] Volcan replied. [If only they had kissed at some point in the last five hours.]

’Well, I guess it would be weird for them to get it on in public.’

The guy was pushing forty. If he were to go around kissing a girl half his age, it wouldn’t take long for him to go viral. If that were to happen, his wife would be the last thing he would have to worry about.

’Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to think about this anymore.’

Having decided to go straight home, Dante had his resident AI cut the videos and send them to the fixer. Minutes went by with no reply. Dante didn’t think much of it and went on his way.

While passing through a wide road in the City Center, Dante came to a stop at a red light. He had passed that same road many times in the last few weeks, and each time, his head would turn in a certain direction, and he would remain like that until the cars behind him started blaring their horns.

His gaze was locked on a certain tower, his eyes studying the flaming shield glowing at its center. As he continued to stare, a notification popped up.

[Viktor: There is something we need to talk about...]

Staring at it for a good second, Dante heaved a sigh and lowered the visor of his helmet. He was about to open the message, intending to read through it as he drove. Something flashed in the corner of his eye at that moment, and as he turned to look at it, his entire body experienced a violent shock.

His perception was already enhanced to the max. He saw a car speeding in his direction, looking like it was completely out of control, so he was preparing to get out of the way. Before he could move, something else crashed into him from the opposite direction. His body was flying into the air. The damage must have been far beyond anything he had experienced before, because his focus faltered for just a moment, and before he knew it, his body was lying on the cold concrete.