Only a day had passed after the incident with Marvel, but Cortex was still angry over the entire thing. Not only could he not stop thinking about how he had let his guard down, but what was even worse was that it all happened in front of Uka Uka, who would probably never let him hear the end of it.
It was downright humiliating. And Dr. Neo Cortex hated being humiliated, especially by someone he didn't even know.
Later that night, Cortex paced around his office, literally red with rage. "Er...I swear...one of these days, I'm gonna find that woman, and I'm gonna wring her neck!"
"Calm down." Uka-Uka rolled his eyes.
"Calm down? Look who's telling who to calm down!" Cortex pitched a book across the room in frustration. "AGH!"
"Look, you gotta admit, that lady's got some nerve, sticking up to you like that." Uka shrugged as he started snooping through a bunch of Cortex's blueprints. "I'm surprised she was the only one. Everyone else just left."
"That's just the thing! Why didn't she leave like everyone else!?" Cortex grouched.
"I like her. She's stubborn, determined, tough...I say this woman's definitely got potential."
Cortex's eyes nearly popped out. "She practically threatened to KILL me!"
"If that ain't potential, I don't know what is."
"Har har." Cortex shook his head and looked over his paper of all the candidates from the ad. He stared at Marvel's name and growled, shutting his eyes. "I'm doomed."
"Whaddaya mean you're DOOMED!?" Uka shouted. "Hire that woman already!"
"NO!" Cortex nearly screamed. "I don't like her!" He faced his desk, then muttered quickly, "She scares me."
"What did I just hear?" Uka laughed out loud. "She scares you!?"
"I mean—I can't remember the last time someone ever showed me up like that..." He thought about that. "Besides you."
Uka grinned. "If you're not hiring her, I am. She definitely needs to be your assistant now!"
"How!? I'm pretty sure she wants me dead, now! Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if she contacted all those other people and now has an army against me!" Cortex exclaimed.
"Only one way to find out. Give her a call," Uka told him.
"Why me!?"
"Don't start this again," Uka growled.
Cortex groaned and slammed his head against his desk. "Fine! But if I'm right, and they all come for me, I'm blaming you."
Uka rolled his eyes. "Like I care." He headed out of the office.
Cortex pulled out the newspaper and flipped to the ad, catching sight of Marvel's phone number. He sighed and leaned his head against his hand, pulling out his cellphone. He dialed her number.
"Mm...yes...?" A tired voice came from the other end.
Cortex raised an eyebrow in confusion until he looked at his watch, realizing it was past midnight. Whoops. "Yes, er...this is Dr. Cortex."
"...Oh." Now she sounded wide awake. "Well, ain't this a surprise...?" She chuckled.
"Yes, well, I've...actually been thinking about what you said..." Cortex sighed again, shutting his eyes.
"I had a feeling you would."
Cortex suppressed a growl at her cocky tone. "...And I was thinking about giving you another chance at being my assistant. What time would you be free for me to...er...chat with you?"
"Well! What a coincidence. I have no plans tomorrow. How about 5:00 at that old cafe near the theater?"
Cortex frowned. "Why the cafe? Why not just my lair?"
"Because I said so," she bluntly answered, and he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, does it work or not?"
Cortex gritted his teeth. "Fine. The cafe it is. I'll see you there, I guess."
"Great. I guess I was wrong about you, Dr. Cortex. You certainly surprised me." Marvel hung up.
Cortex felt a little better knowing that she wasn't actually going to kill him. He hung up as well, feeling slightly satisfied.
"So?" Uka flew inside the room.
"We're meeting at 5 in the cafe tomorrow. I'll interview her then, but...there's still no guarantee she'll get the job, just so you know." Cortex narrowed his eyes at him.
"Like I said before, Cortex...if you won't hire her, I will." Uka chuckled as he left.
Just like they arranged, Cortex headed out to the local cafe around 5:00 the next day. As he headed inside, he found Marvel sitting at a table, waiting for him. He sighed and approached her.
"Well well, the triumphant return. Greetings!" Marvel gave a small wave.
Cortex rolled his eyes as he sat across from her. "Yeah, yeah...let's just get this over with, alright?"
Marvel frowned. "Alright, grouchy."
"So." Cortex pulled out a piece of paper. "Miss Pseredon..." He paused. "I'm pronouncing this right, correct?"
"Yep, just think 'Sarah-Dawn'. But you can forget all that formal crap. Just call me Marvel!" she told him.
Cortex narrowed his eyes. "Fine. So, Marvel...what kind of skills do you think you have for a job like this?"
"An assistant? Please—I've got everything. I mentioned before how I'm stealthy; I'm able to make my way around dark places, I'll gladly get ahold of any item you may need with ease, not to mention I've had extensive training in mixed martial arts and a few other fighting techniques with this here trident." She pointed at the weapon that sat beside her. "Overall, I can handle myself pretty well. Anything else you'd like to know?"
Cortex wrote this stuff down. "Huh. That seems like enough there, I suppose," he mumbled. "How well do you work with others? Like minions, to be more specific."
"Ah. That won't be a problem! I'm totally a people person. The more, the merrier!" She smiled.
"Alright..." Cortex mumbled and simply nodded, writing that down as well. "Now, have you had any other experience with—" He looked up and caught her frowning at him again, so he stopped. "...What?
"Well sheesh, ease down on the enthusiasm there, pal," Marvel said sarcastically. "Seriously, am I not the type of person you're looking for, or what?"
"What?" Cortex repeated. "No—you are!" He held up the paper he had been writing on. "See? This is a good thing!"
Marvel didn't look convinced. "Come on! Just loosen up already, why don't you? Ever since you walked through that door, you're acting like you're being held here against your will or something!"
Cortex rolled his eyes and looked back down at his paper full of notes and questions. "ANYWAY, back to the question. Have you—" Marvel ripped the paper right out of his hands. "Wha—what are you doing!?"
"Alright, enough about me." Marvel tossed it aside. "It's your turn."
"But I'm supposed to be the one interviewing you!" Cortex said.
"Well, as the potential assistant, I need to know some things about my boss, don't I?" Marvel narrowed her eyes. "So, question one: does it actually kill you to give compliments every once in a while?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cortex scoffed.
"A simple 'oh, that's very impressive!' or 'ooh, very nice' would sound better to someone like me. Y'know, just to show that you're actually enthralled by my abilities and not hating my guts," Marvel told him. "Believe it or not, something like that could actually motivate someone to do a better job with their work." She shrugged.
"Okay, fine!" Cortex grouched, before mimicking her, "Oh, that's very impressive! Ooh, Very nice! There, does that make you feel better?"
Marvel just lowered her head, and softly groaned. "We'll need to work on this..." She cleared her throat and looked back at him. "Alright, let's have a practice session. Right now. Give me a couple random compliments."
"Are you kidding me right now…?" Cortex was about ready to just give up.
"Hey, I never said any of these compliments had to be true, y'know," Marvel pointed out with a smirk. "Just try and get the feel of it. Don't be shy!"
Cortex rolled his eyes, but finally complied. "Oh, fine!" How hard could it be, anyway? He cleared his throat, and Marvel smiled, folding her hands together as she waited patiently. "Well. Your head has an...interesting shape."
Marvel blinked. "...Okay. That's a start."
Cortex tapped his chin. "Um...well, your shirt is red. I like red."
"Yes...go on."
Cortex narrowed his eyes. "Let's see...your hair color looks...marvelous?" Marvel chuckled a bit at that. As she tilted her head to the side, he added, "And you have some pretty nice earrings." He took a closer look at them, a bit distracted at this point. "And I love how they bring out the sparkle in your eyes, which really reflects your...exuberant personality..." Suddenly, he snapped out of it, realizing how incredibly awkward that sounded. Immediately, he cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. "So, er—is that good enough?" he quickly asked.
Marvel nodded in satisfaction. "I'm impressed with how well you managed to handle that! See? Giving compliments every once and while won't kill you!"
"I guess not," Cortex muttered, although he still felt extremely embarrassed saying all those things with a bunch of people around. Luckily, no one nearby had seemed to notice.
"Alright, so, next question—" Marvel began.
"Hold up—there's more!?" Cortex panicked.
"Cool your jets; this is the last one. So...how does it feel to have a new assistant?"
"Well—" Cortex was about to answer, but then he froze. "Wait, what? You actually want to help me?"
"Why not?" Marvel shrugged. "You look like you need it, and turns out, you don't seem as terrible of a guy as I thought. I've dealt with much worse people."
Cortex just blinked, trying to make sense of the situation. This had all started with him asking Marvel questions, but he had to admit, Marvel's method of turning things around actually seemed to help quite a bit with his final decision. "Uh...okay...well…" He shrugged as well. "I guess you're hired!" He smiled a little.
"Alright." Marvel nodded, a disinterested look in her eyes.
At first, this worried Cortex, until he realized she was mimicking the way he was acting when she answered his interview questions. "...Not funny," he muttered, though he couldn't hold back a smirk.
"Couldn't help myself." She grinned. "It's a pleasure to be able to aid you, Dr. Cortex!" She held out a hand, and they both shook on it. "How soon do you want me to start working?"
"Er...anytime you're ready, I guess." Cortex was still trying to process everything.
"Gotcha. Well, I don't have much, so I can pack my bags and head over as early as this evening, if you'll allow it." As Marvel stood up and grabbed her trident, Cortex nodded. "I'll be awaiting your orders as soon I am ready, boss." She gave a salute before walking away.
Cortex watched her leave. He felt immensely relieved that he didn't have to search for a new assistant anymore, and he assertively headed for home, determined to tell Uka-Uka the news.
"Excellent!" Uka grinned. "She'll be a great addition."
"I guess so." Cortex shrugged. "We'll find out soon enough."
Uka raised an eyebrow. "I see you still have doubts about her?"
"I don't know. I just—I guess I'm just not used to having someone else besides N. Gin, y'know?" Cortex frowned, looking at the ground in thought. He shook his head. "Ah, forget it. I suppose I'll change my mind after I get used to having her around."
"Having who around?" Nina walked into the room.
"That woman he was ranting about last night. Marvel," Uka told her.
"Wait, you're actually hiring her?" Nina stared at her uncle with wide eyes.
"Yes. She has a bunch of helpful skills, and she's willing to give me a shot." Cortex shrugged. "We'll see how well things go from there."
Suddenly, there came a knock on the door.
"Oh, that's probably her," he muttered. "Could you get that, Nina? I still have to clear out the guest room." He walked away, and Uka followed him.
Nina nodded and walked over to the door, opening it. In front of her stood Marvel, whose eyes were buried in a piece of paper.
"So I thought about what you said back there, Dr. Cortex. And I have to say…were those compliments you said about me actually true?" She joked with a laugh, until she looked up and saw Nina. "Oh!" She immediately put the paper away. "Hello there!"
"Huh. You're Marvel, I assume?" Nina looked her over.
"Yes, yes I am. Who are you, may I ask?"
"Nina Cortex." Nina raised an eyebrow. "Cortex is my uncle."
"Oh, you're his niece? How sweet!" Marvel smiled as she gathered her bags once more and headed inside. "So, where's Cortex, anyway?"
"He's clearing out the guest room." Nina pointed upstairs, just as Uka Uka flew down.
Ah, hello, Miss Pseredon." He greeted her.
"Hello, Great and Mighty Uka-Uka." Marvel bowed.
As Cortex came down the stairs, Uka smirked at him as he flew past him. "I like this woman, Cortex."
Cortex rolled his eyes. "You only like her because she's probably the only one who yells at me besides you," he grouched, facing Marvel. "Well, I got your room set up."
"Great." Marvel began to follow him, but then stopped with a frown.
Cortex turned around. "What?"
"Aren't you going to ask if I need help with my bags?"
Cortex snorted. "You obviously dragged them all the way here; I'm sure you can drag them to your room as well."
Marvel simply shook her head. "Wow. We really need to work on your people skills."
"I could always help with the bags," Nina suggested with a shrug.
"That won't be necessary, Nina." Cortex told her, before facing Marvel again. "Look; you're my assistant, and I'm your boss. Now, follow me," he grouched.
"Very well." Marvel smirked as she followed him.
Cortex stopped in front of the door. "Here it is. Make yourself at home, and we'll get to work tomorrow. If you're hungry, just help yourself to the fridge or whatever, and the bathroom is just down the hall." He simply waved a hand and turned around.
"Thank you," Marvel said politely, heading inside her room.
"Mm-hm." Cortex walked away.
Marvel chuckled as she watched him, noticing how he seemed to avoid eye-contact. She knew exactly why that was, but didn't say anything else. Instead, she sat on her new bed and set her bags beside her. Looking over the paper where she had written Cortex's earlier compliments about her, she smiled. She folded it up and placed it on the table beside her, figuring she would ask him her question some other time.