“What?”

“His assistant? No villain runs a territory by himself. Every big name out there has an assistant or two. Or are you going to fill another position in his organization?”

Understanding dawned on Jennifer. She now understood why the bikers had come in earlier. Did everyone that came in had the same idea as Anthony? Jennifer believed so. Why else would everyone be leaving their names with her? They wanted to be in his father’s future organization and thought Jennifer was their way in.

“An assistant? Wait, is that what everyone is thinking? Come on, my father doesn’t even have an organization yet.”

Anthony smiled at that. He totally misunderstood Jennifer’s words. “Which means he will in the future, and it’s always better to join a company at the start-up phase.”

“Most start-ups failed.” Jennifer warned.

“Some succeed. Though not without help. Help my son could provide.”

Jennifer couldn’t help but scoffed. “What kind of help would Bradley be able to offer?”

“He knows the King’s,” Anthony raised his hand before Jennifer could begin. “I know you are from the King’s as well, but you just live here. Bradley knows the players in town, and not just those well-known ones. Let’s admit it, my boy couldn’t cut it as a hero and he’s not much of a villain as well. However, he has been in The Game for a few years and you don’t survive that long without learning a few things. Bradley knows the underbelly of this city better than most. If your father wants to take over the city, Bradley can help him.”

“Take over the … where did you get that idea?”

“Nothing to get anxious about. Everyone knows that’s the eventual goal of The Sweet Fist. Why else would H.A.V.E ranked him as a C?”

That was news to Jennifer. She had heard of the Heavenly Association of Villainous Entertainment of course, but she didn’t know her father was a member, much less what rank he was at. Anthony continued.

“By the way, Bradley got the job from H.A.V.E.”

“What?”

“The job to ruin your diner came from H.A.V.E. Bradley picked it up from some stupid app the company has. He doesn’t know who posted the job, evidently that part is secret, but the hirer state that your diner must to be destroyed within a week.”

“An app? My diner was going to be destroy because some idiot put out a hit on it … on an app!”

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. This is just a friendly piece of information from Bradley. A free piece of information to show what he can bring to the table.”

Jennifer stayed silent and Anthony gave her time to think about it. Unfortunately for the old man, Jennifer wasn’t thinking about his son but her own future. Everyone believed that her father was aiming for the King’s, but Jennifer had her doubts. Her father had told Night Leopard he was just passing through, and Jennifer had no reason to doubt him. What’s more, from what she knew of her father, creating a criminal organization was beyond him. Jennifer had to admit she was surprised by her father’s combat prowess, but it’s one thing to know how to fight, and quite another to run a criminal organization. Much less to create one from scratch!

Jennifer just didn’t think her father had it in him. He didn’t seem like a very detail-oriented person and Jennifer just couldn’t imagine him as a criminal mastermind. However, if he really wanted to form an organization, he would need a lot of help. He would need an assistant.

Jennifer had heard of the assistant of course. It was practically a stereotype. In most supervillain organization, the leader would be a powerful supervillain but behind him, or her, would be an ultra-capable assistant. Almost always female, the assistant was the one who took care of the day-to-day running of the organization. She was the manager of the group, and the one who ensured that everything got done. Jennifer had never considered the possibility of being a villain herself, but from what Anthony was saying, most people were assuming that she would be her father’s assistant. To Jennifer’s own surprise, she wasn’t totally against that idea.

Jennifer didn’t have any powers but like most people, she once had dreams of being a superhero. She did take up some classes when she was younger but was unexceptional. Age, reality, and family took care of the rest. Now she had a chance to be in The Game and found the offer to be very enticing.

“I will talk to my father. I will put in a word for Bradley, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Fair enough. When will you be speaking to The Sweet Fist?”

“No idea. He is going to lay low for a few days.” Jennifer mixed the truth with the lies. “Waiting for the dust to settle before making his next move.”

At this moment, a young woman walked into Jennifer’s Place. Jennifer didn’t recognize her, but that’s almost par for course for today. She took a seat and one of the waitresses went to take her order.

“Smart play,” Anthony said. “As expected of an experienced villain. Some of the young villains nowadays actually go on the internet to boast about their latest caper. It is as if they are begging to get caught.”

A waitress then walked up to Jennifer and whispered to her that a customer wanted to speak to her. Jennifer looked over to the customer who had just walked in. The woman didn’t look like a villain, but who could tell? She turned back to Anthony.

“It’s a poor comparison. My father came from a different era of villainy.”

“Yeah. An era when villains knew what they were doing. Maybe Bradley can learn something from your old man.” Anthony answered. “Talk to your father and then come over to the gym. I’ll be waiting for your answer.”

With his job done, Anthony left. His casserole was only half eaten. Curious, Jennifer took a bite and realized that Anthony was exaggerating. It wasn’t good, but it was hardly the worst casserole Jennifer had ever taken. Would she pay money for it?

Maybe it was time to get a new cook.

Jennifer signaled a waitress to clear up and approached the woman who was looking for her. Jennifer walked with confidence. If she was going to be a supervillain’s assistant, she needed to start acting like one.

“Hi, I’m Jennifer. I heard you were looking for me?”

“Yes. Hi, I’m Candice. I am your father’s agent.”