Chapter 58: Date? Kidnapping? Huh?
[Coast City]
"Jasper Hughes."
Carol had never been invested in the tales of heroes and villains. She always believed they were part of a completely separate spectrum from humans.
To her, it was difficult to relate to them because while they might share the same emotions, their lives and ways of dealing with things were totally different from those of the average human.
However, this time, something was different.
"How are you so different?"
For the first time in her life, she had been interested in a person with powers.
Jasper had powers, ridiculously strong powers. She had seen it during the confrontation with Lady Shiva and Cheshire.
But it wasn't his powers that interested her.
"He truly is intriguing."
She sat on the couch of her private apartment, away from her main house.
Whenever she wanted to spend time alone or had work to do on her own, she came to the apartment.
"He is weird," She muttered, reading through a few articles about him.
She was aware that Jasper had killed the Joker, embarrassed the Justice League, and established himself as a 'villain' in Gotham.
Everyone knew that.
And she also knew the fact that the villain was a tag given by the heroes and not by the public.
However, the thing that interested her the most was his desires.
She read through the documents she had collected on him, going through each of them carefully.
"A business district in the middle of Gotham," Her lips curled upwards, "He is brave."
She was interested in the fact that Jasper did not necessarily go around displaying his power. He did not dedicate his powers to wreaking havoc or helping others.
He was selfish and greedy, but he only used his powers when necessary.
"Above all else, he is a businessman." She was attracted to the fact that he was passionate about business just like her.
Now, she knew people – villains and heroes – who ran businesses.
But none of them 'focused' on those businesses.
Most of those businesses were a way of funding for their groups, their gadgets, or a way to live a double life – making sure that the general public was never able to associate their superhero or villain identity with their business life.
However, Jasper was open about his life. He did not have a dual identity.
He was a businessman with powers.
That was his identity, and she found it very amusing.
While there were villains like Penguin who ran businesses, for the majority of their story, those villains were without superpowers or their power was negligible.
But Jasper was far stronger than any of them. Someone like Penguin wasn't even a comparison.
She chuckled, "He is like the picture-perfect example of a TV show villain."
Or more specifically– Villains that were handsome, charismatic, rich and had superpowers.
Until now, she had only seen such characters on television or read about them in fictional books – so when she learned about Jasper, she was pleasantly surprised.
It was especially surprising how much he was able to achieve in such a short period.
"He went from working for Penguin to creating his own district."
She was getting more and more interested in him, his story, and his goals.
She lay down on the couch, going through the recent memories.
And that…
Made her downcast.
She placed a hand over her eyes, covering them from the light as she tried to rest.
"The past few days have been nothing but painful…"
She had learned about her father's illness and how he barely had any time left to live.
She learned that her family and friends were ready to pounce the moment her father was to die – in an attempt to obtain the keys to his business empire.
No one was trustworthy, and she hated that fact.
After all, she cared for very few people.
And she loved even fewer people – but those that she loved, she loved greatly.
And her father was her greatest love.
Nothing was as close to the love a daughter had for her father.
As familial love was the greatest love.
"Please…"
She felt weak, which was something that she never showed anyone.
"Don't take him away from me."
With that request, she slowly drifted into sleep.
With nothing but a hope that her father would be with her.
After all, he was the only family she had.
Yet, just as she was about to fall into the comfort of sleep – a certain sound woke her up.
*Riiiing*
A doorbell.
…
…
[The Bronx]
I heard a knock on the door, and I knew exactly who it was.
It was seven-thirty in the evening, and our reservation was in half an hour. So, without dilly-dallying, I walked to the doorway.
And–
"Wow…"
Rarely had I seen her in anything except white or black. And this was one of those rare instances.
"How do I look?" I heard her ask in a soft, hopeful voice.
And, by God, she looked amazing.
An off-shoulder floral dress with a spaghetti strap, made entirely of varying shades of pink. The majority of the dress consisted of a soft shade of baby pink, whereas the floral patterns were of a darker shade of dusty pink.
Her blush-colored heels were tall and could kill, and to top it all off – she had a pretty Hermès bag that was most definitely the highlight that she aimed for.
But it was her uneasy-looking self that felt like the highlight to me.
She was beautiful, drop-dead gorgeous, to be honest, yet she was not used to dresses – which was evident in the way she kept pulling at the dress.
The awkward look, the pretty dress, and the soft yet lovely makeup made me view her in a way that I rarely saw her in.
"D-Don't stare at me," She said, turning her head to the side; not meeting my gaze, "I… tried putting in a little bit of effort."
And I would be a damn liar if I said that the effort didn't pay off.
"Maybe it's time you change your style," I said, "This looks perfect on you."
"Stop…" She muttered before slowly turning to look at me.
I wasn't as prepared as her, as all I did was go for formals.
"We should get going," I suggested, "Our reservation is in half an hour."
And, well, after all the hard work, I just wanted to rest for the time being.
…
…
Carol peeked through the peephole and saw a girl in a FedEx uniform standing outside the door.
It was almost eight, so Carol was certain that this was probably the girl's last trip.
But the thing was–
"I never ordered anything…"
She wondered who might have sent it, but it was also true that there were many people who wanted to get on her good side by sending gifts.
Sighing at the possibility and not wanting to keep the poor girl waiting, she opened the door.
And the moment the door opened, the delivery girl put on a fake smile.
"Ms. Carol Ferris?" She asked, at which the Ferris heiress nodded.
"That's me." She said, returning the smile.
Seeing Carol nod, the girl took out a signature page for the confirmation of the delivery.
However–
There was something extremely wrong that Carol noticed.
"What is this?"
She muttered as she read the sender's name.
She was shocked.
"Star Sapphire Corp–"
But she could not complete reading the name as the girl in front of her had different plans.
The girl took out a small can and sprayed a form of gas on her face, knocking Carol out within seconds.
"Congratulations, Carol Ferris, as you have been selected by the Spectrum of Love."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
[[A/N: Read 25+ chapters ahead on:
https://www.patreon.com/Greedyfrog
]]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone