A/N:
I've literally poured myself into this chapter, tearing apart my various version and reconstructing it into something better. Whether you knew the old version or have only read this one, please let me know what you think!
Thank you for notifying me of errors!
All over, civilians and heroes alike were tuning into the news station.
The familiar tune of Breaking News came on. =And now, our report on Y City: The One Kick Woman.=
"Stubbles", the male associate of the Hero Association; a tall man with short black hair and brown eyes. As his name suggests, he has a stubbly beard. While he was putting on his standard black suit of the Association, he was fastening his grey tie as he focused on the television.
=As many know, in a single week the notorious Black Market Dealer Tanaka Kaito became a city-state ruler of Y City. He has the wealth, but where did the power come from? For those tuning in, we at Channel 666 have conducted our own investigative report on the development, and will be sharing our findings now.=
Genos, who was in the middle of reading, looked up from his book to the small television with Saitama, who was slurping up his instant noodles loudly.
=We had sent a reporter undercover, questioning many residents of the city that had become isolated. A wall had been built around the city, a symbol to the people and the government that the city would no longer follow any rules besides the law of Tanaka Kaito. How did this all come to pass?=
Mumen Rider was in the middle of writing when he looked up intrigued.
=Tanaka Kaito's secret is his personal body guard: the one named One Kick Woman. A woman with inhumane strength.=
Amai Mask was lounging in his robe after having enjoyed a shower, staring at the television disinterested with cold golden eyes.
=We will now show you clips of our reporter's interviews. To protect the identities of our reporter and the citizens still living within Y City, their faces and voices have been obstructed. Again, to those just now tuning in: this is Channel 666 with a report on Y City: the One Kick Woman. We will now show the interviews our reporter had with the residents of the city-state Y City. For the safety of our reporter and the residence, their faces and voices have been obstructed.=
The severity of the news report had those that were watching now invested. The channel then began playing short clips of two people in a dark room. The reporter was vaguely male with a distorted deep voice and blacked out head, while the interviewee across from them were various people- various sizes, various shapes, blacked out heads and distorted voices of various pitches.
The interviewee's spoke, =The taxes kinda suck, but it's worth it!=
=This city is the safest its ever been. Tanaka isn't a good man, but monsters haven't been a problem since that woman showed up.=
=I've met the One Kick Woman myself- she's totally rad. She's down to Earth- and she doesn't give a shit! She's like us!=
=Oh, no, she isn't a hero. Heroes try to come here all the time- C and B Class on occasion. She knocks them all back to A City.=
=Her chest is super flat! I thought she was a boy! Haha!=
=I wanna have a super chill baby with her.=
The interviewer hesitated. =I'm... I'm sorry?=
=You heard me.=
=Like laws, there are certain rules in this city. The residents are thankful for the One Kick Woman defeating the monsters that would terrorize us, however she's merely a..."
The interviewee faded out. The reporter prompted her, =The other's appeared to have behaviors akin to Stockholm Syndrome towards the woman known as One Kick Woman. Please, tell us your thoughts. We need to know what exactly is going on.=
She was quiet for a moment, struggling, however the interviewee continued. =To be honest... the city has been flourishing with jobs, especially those in construction. The city has finally known true peace and protection. We've always been an easy target for monsters like other cities in the outer skirts...but I've always wondered at what cost. The woman herself is... strange. She's not your typical villain- she has simple rules. One: not to call her a hero. She is a villain. Two: we're to do whatever Mr. Tanaka says, for his word is law, and if we don't then we'll be "kicked".=
=Is that a death threat coming from her?=
=Yes. Another rule is to not... well... talk about the size of her chest.=
=... I-I'm sorry?=
=Her chest size. We're not allowed to mention how... f-flat she is.=
=I... see.= The reporter cleared his throat.
Another interviewee came on- a man. =The One Kick Woman acts cool and like she doesn't care. But there's shit going on around here. People think living here is so great because she can kill monsters, but the city is going to shit.=
The reporter prompted him, =Please, the world needs to know what's going on. Heroes need to know what's going on. Tell us.=
=First is the quarantine.=
=I'm sorry, the what?=
=The quarantine. Tanaka Kaito's father ran a technological corporation, people forget about that. That Kaito poisoned his father and took it over with his girlfriend. A few blocks around that building were quarantined, people living around there were forced to move and businesses shut down.=
Genoes closed his book as he focused, Saitama downing the rest of his noodles.
Mumen Rider continued writing furiously.
Stubbles sat down and sighed, checking his phone for messages. His work partner would be arriving soon.
=Something is going on there, and that One Kick Woman is helping with it. I don't think she's killing the monsters- they're using them. Not to mention the chaos is going on here.=
=The chaos, could you elaborate on that?=
=A piece of the city had become uninhabitable because of the quarantine. The city has been cut off from the world- businesses are shutting down and food is dwindling with cut off shipments. Yet people think this place is safe- more people are moving in when there isn't enough space to begin with. This city is being brought down into ruin, but we can't leave.=
The news station returned to the anchorwoman on screen, and beside her showed a picture of the One Kick Woman. =No one knows how her inhumane strength came to be. However this woman is single handedly bringing a city to ruin, and no hero has been able to stop her yet.=
After seeing the image of the woman, Amai Mask checked his phone to see numerous notifications. Growing bored of the report, he got up to get dressed for his appointment.
Genos' eyes glowed, taking pictures of the woman's imagine. Saitama froze, staring at the screen with a slack-jawed blank expression. "Huh..."
After recording her image, Genos' eyes dimmed as he turned to his master. "Sensei, do you recognize her?"
Saitama stared at the screen- the woman with short curly brown hair and green cap. Big brown eyes looking innocent. "Yeah... A little..." But from where he couldn't remember. He frowned, "This is going to bug me."
Meanwhile.
Stubbles sprayed his coffee out of his mouth while his partner entered his apartment, witnessing the scene. His partner was a bespectacled young man wearing silver round-framed glasses, having hazel eyes and hair, which he kept in a neat, gentlemanly manner. Like Stubbles he wore a black suit yet with a green tie. His eyes flickered to the television, seeing the young woman on the screen, and then back to his partner who was still coughing.
My, uhm... niece went quiet. She's a NEET, no one really cares about her, not even herself.
Specs knew quite a bit about his partner. They were friends, having worked together so much. Immediately he had a sinking feeling about the woman on the screen- knowing the One Kick Woman special report, and his partner. "Are you all right?"
"Y-Yes," after clearing his throat, Stubbles stood upright and stared at the screen with wide eyes. No... Not her. For God's sake not her.
=We have yet to discover her name, but she is a woman in her mid-to-late 20's. We have also yet to find any traces of friends or family.=
You wouldn't! Stubbles screamed in his mind, trembling as he stared at the television. Specs behind him watched his posture closely. Deciding it was time to bring him out of his trance, he adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. "We need to head out, there's a meeting today."
Brought back to reality, he glanced back at his partner. "R-right... Sorry." Grabbing his suitcase, Stubbles was already pulling his tie down as they headed out of the apartment.
Specs glanced at him again, "She'll yell at you again, you know."
"Huh?" Glancing at him, he followed his line of sighed at his tie. He sighed heavily- right, their female coworker who was adamant on appearance. When they got to Specs' car, he tried to fix it back up. "When is the meeting?"
"We have time," Specs assured. He knew better than to press the issue of One Kick Woman. Stubbles had to know her.
"Great. Just let me know when. I have to... I have to make a call."
Specs glanced at him, but Stubbles was staring out the window lost in thought. Specs sighed, focusing on driving. This certainly wasn't a good time. Their meeting had specifically to do with the One Kick Woman and Y City. Their original evaluation was a failure, sending out C and B Class Heroes that were easily defeated. And now Channel 666 had a special on the situation, no doubted making the Heroes Association look worse since they had no responses to the questions of the public.
Still, Specs held a certain loyalty to his partner. He knew he had to make a personal call, and it would be his job to hold off the meeting until he was done.
Shortly after they arrived at their workplace- the giant building constructed out of special metal and no windows, Stubbles ran off on his own.
!
Scrolling through the news feed of her new touch screen phone, the newly discovered villain One Kick Woman stood atop a building sighing to herself. Seemed like no one was demanding her head on a plate yet- which was odd and disappointing to her. Looking up across the city that now had a giant wall surrounding it, she wondered where it went wrong in the last week.
She'd teamed up with the notorious Black Market dealer, took a city hostage and ruled it with an iron fist, going as far as to tax people to live here. Yet people were complying, even requesting to live here. People weren't scared of her, and to make matters worse the Heroes Association was only sending C and B Class heroes to deal with her- which she dealt with in a single kick; the mere blast of air from the force sending them away.
Friggin' nobodies, she had done her extensive research on heroes, following the website since the Association was first established. How was it that she was only good enough for no-namers?
Her phone started playing a magical anime pop song and she looked down, seeing she was receiving a call. Well, the ringtone was specially customized for the only person she emailed her new phone number to.
Answering it she said, "Hey, Stubbles."
"JUNKI, WHAT THE HELL!"
Her hat was nearly blasted off and she had to hold it down against the force of his shout. She frowned at her phone and shouted back, "Oi! I told you not to call me that! It's a dude's name."
Meanwhile. Back in the Heroes Association, Stubbles found an isolated hallway to make the call. His panic educed fury made him lose sense for a moment. Taking a quick glance around, holding his breath, he realized no one was coming after his outburst. Turning to the wall he hissed sarcastically, "I'm sorry, should I call you the One Kick Woman instead?"
"Eh? Is that what people are calling me now?" She then became excited, "Hey, hey, tell me, what are they saying about me?"
"What is the matter with you!?" He hiss-shouted. Down the hall, his partner peered around the corner, his glasses shining in the florescent light as he eavesdropped. "You went dark on me for two years, Junki! Once in a blue moon you'd reach out, and imagine my surprise when I see a special news report about you!"
"A news report?" He could hear the smile in her voice. "Like talking about how evil I am and stuff?"
"Don't be happy about this!"
"Well I'm not!" She argued back. "I don't get why you're so upset. It's not like people hate me, they friggin' love me. I want to be notorious and take over a city, and people are fighting to live here! I don't get it."
Specs frowned to himself as he watched Stubbles argue silently on the phone. "Is he coming?" Jumping slightly, he turned around to the woman that had snuck up on him. Short and shiny black hair and light blue eyes, wearing a red shirt and black blazer. However the most distinguishable features about her were the unique blue tattoo under her right eye and a mole under her mouth.
She was certainly an intimidating woman, but she was also very serious about the Heroes Association. A small bead of seat rolled down Specs' temple. If she found out Stubbles relation to the villain One Kick Woman then hell was sure to pay. Still, he cleared his throat, "Please, do be a favor and notify the rest of the board that he will be there shortly. I'm afraid it's an urgent matter."
The woman stared him down for a moment, however she nodded. "Fine. He better not take too long. After that special report from 666 News our asses are in hot water."
"Believe me, he knows better than anyone." As she walked away he was able to take a breath. He needed his partner to wrap it up.
Oblivious to the confrontation between his coworkers, Stubbles sighed as he leaned against the wall, pinching the bridge of his nose. This situation was beyond fucked for him. He couldn't even guess where she got her rumored "inhumane strength" from."Well, maybe if you weren't saving people. Technically Y City is the safest city to live in next to A City with all the monsters you defeat." He couldn't believe he was explaining this to her. But his was his reality.
"Hey," Stubbles jumped at the soft sound of his partner's voice. Specs stared at him hard and whispered, "The meeting starts soon. You need to hurry."
Stubbles hesitated as he listened to Junki, "Well it's not my fault," she defended. "It's not like I want to save people. I was ordered to subdue the monsters."
Specs frowned over his shoulder, checking for onlookers as Stubbles froze, his eyes widening. "Wait... 'subdue'?" Specs was quick to look back at him surprised.
"Yeah, I mean... dammit, my vocabulary is shit. But I mean- capture them. I get bonuses for it, so, you know."
He was hardly listening as his mind worked furiously. Looking his partner in the eye he repeated, "You're obtaining monsters attacking Y City..."
"Uh... yeah? That's what I said. You losing your hearing, old man?" While Junki had no idea, his partner Specs eyes widened. He quickly pulled out his phone and quickly typed down the newly gathered information.
Stubbles bent over and spoke intently into the phone. "Junki, tell me, who ordered you to subdue monsters?"
"Quit calling me that!" She shouted again. "That's a dude's name!"
"Sorry, Jun!" He corrected, short of patience. "Just tell me, dammit!"
"Geez, grumpy old man. Well it was big booby lady." Stubbles' eye twitched. "Hey, what's with your job sending me shitty heroes anyways? I just see C and B Class losers. I know my heroes and not even Mumen Rider showed up. Though I guess he just has a bicycle... I'm a respectable villain, you know."
"Jun, I'm going to need you to be very specific for me really quick here." He couldn't stress this enough.
She was frowning on the other end of the phone. "Hmm... Well my boss pays me, like, thousands of dollars. So what's in it for me? Oi, ain't bargaining with villains against your "code" or whatever?"
"Jun!" He snapped again. "I'll buy you a new portable game console with a stupid cat game! The one you were asking for forever! Just tell me, dammit, who ordered you to capture monsters?"
"Yikes. I told you, big booby lady. She's... I don't know, Tanaka's mistress? Girlfriend? Hired slut? Something like that?"
Specs frowned at him, "We need to hurry. The Executive will be wondering where we are," he whispered, referring to the intense woman with the tattoo.
Stubbles nodded, already knowing and feeling the pressure. Looking towards the phone he begged, "Please, Jun, for everything I've given you, please. I'm only asking for this."
Across the line, Junki sobered up. She stared at the ground far below, the winds from high up rustling her hair. Wow, he had a very valid point. He did provide literally everything for her, and she wasn't even sure why. But he never asked for anything in return. She sighed, "All right... Listen, I am a villain, so I don't want word to reach to my boss that I'm helping you, all right? I can't have my fragile reputation ruined. People like me too much as it is."
"Yes, that's fine." Stubble held his phone out and put it on speaker. "Jun, tell me, please." Specs leaned in, ready to type away on his phone.
"I-I can't remember names very well, you know that... But she's a doctor. No- a scientist. She's the one that told me to capture the monsters that attacked Y City instead of just killing them. I didn't ask why, but Boss mentioned experiments going on."
"A female scientist with big boobs," he repeated. Specs typed away quickly. "Can you give me anything else? A name?"
"Eh... Uhm... Gah- Uri... Une... Yu... Dammit, it's ah... okay, forget the last name. Her first name is..." While she struggled, both Stubbles and Specs were beginning to sweat as they held their breath. "Is... Ie... Ii... Isa-Isami! Her name is Isami!"
Specs typed it down and Stubbles snapped the phone shut, both of them briskly walking back towards the meeting room.
!
Junki waited, but it was very silent. "Eh? Stubbles?" After no response she pulled the phone back and realized the call dropped. Her face fell flat, "Jackass." Sighing she tucked her phone into her back jean shorts pocket. "Speaking of, I should probably check in with her." With that she stepped off the building edge and let herself fall several stories.
Hitting the ground, her legs were easily able to absorb the impact. The pedestrians that were walking by were startled, but then startled her in return when she was met with a massive cheer. "It's the One Kick Woman!"
"Oh my god, I love you!"
"Did you fall from that building!?"
"Can I shake your hand!?"
Junki froze like a deer in headlights, blinking as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. "O-oi..." Having lived as a NEET most of her life it was a rough transition having so much human interaction. She was never really sure what to do. People were pulling out phones and taking pictures and she raised her arms up to shield herself, backing up. "Oi, listen, I'm kind of on my way somewhere so-" her back hit a wall.
"Sign my shirt please!"
"Can I have a picture with you!?"
"How much do you get paid!?"
"M-minimum wage..." Times, like, infinity hours, but she suddenly lost her ability to speak well.
She bristled in fear and hissed as several people squealed loudly. "She's just like us! She's so real!"
"What bank do you use!?"
"Do you live in a mansion!?"
"A-a one bedroom apartment-" that was met with a wildly positive response. More questions were fired off at her and she put her hands up in defense, suddenly trying to fend them away. "O-oi! Aren't you all supposed to hate me? I'm a villain and living here sucks!"
"It's not all bad!" A young woman piped up. Holding her hands to her chest the woman spoke from her heart, "You save us every day! I'm so grateful for you One Kick Woman, I've never felt so safe living in this city."
Her stiff smile twitched. "R-right... Uhm..." Her eyes darted up and down the street, searching for something to help. Seeing a shitty little store she pointed at it and shouted, "Look! My favorite shop!"
The lot of them spun around. She didn't have time to be surprised and leapt several feet into the air away from them, needing to escape the crowds. Geez, she couldn't even walk down the damn street or visit a convenience store without getting mobbed by fans. She practically needed a rape whistle. "This sucks!" She complained aloud, jumping from building to building, holding her hat down. "I'm supposed to be a villain dammit!"
Reaching the quarantined area, she landed on the road and kicked a rock out of frustration. The small rock went flying and shattered against a fire hydrant, tilting the thing slightly. "Oops."
Junki sighed as she walked through the deserted streets, reaching up under her cap to scratch her head. Stubbles was pretty desperate, and she wondered what for. She wanted to request certain heroes to come and stop her, but he was more interested in Isami more than anything else. Approaching the Tanaka Technologies building, it was littered with hired mercenaries as guards and scientists running around. She ignored them all and let herself in, finding Isami in her personal lab.
The woman in a lab coat and heels was so focused on her fancy computer with numerous monitors that she didn't realize Junki walked up behind her. "Oi."
"Hm?" Isami glanced back- pretty woman with pretty make up and pretty black hair in a bun. "Oh, Junki."
She glared, "Don't call me that."
"Right, Jun." She spun around in her chair and crossed her legs- pretty skimpy dress and pretty big boobs. Junki was glared at them and groaned in dislike. Isami sighed, frowning at her tiredly. "My eyes are up here, Jun."
"Yeah, I know." She continued to glare at her cleavage. "It's like a canyon... They're fake."
"They're real."
"Lies!" She shouted, stabbing a finger at her accusingly. "You're a scientist- you made them yourself!"
Isami rolled her pretty blue eyes. "Biochemist," she corrected. "Although I could always give you your own pair."
"I have a pair!" She shouted.
"Barely."
Junki . exe stopped working as Isami spun back around to her computer. Typing away she said, "I'm glad you're here, I was about to call you. My experiment it almost complete, however I still require a head."
"God," tilting her head back she complained, "Again? Wasn't the last one good enough?"
"It was too damaged," Isami explained. "I need a live body to extract the head from."
"But I gave you a live body," Junki whined again, taking a random chair from a desk and dropping in it. "I can't keep fighting monsters like this, the public loves me!"
Isami quirked an eyebrow, her glasses gleaming in the monitors light. "Isn't people liking you a good thing?"
"Yeah for normal people," she replied, "but I'm supposed to be a bad guy. You're not exactly a bad guy if people like you."
"You'd be surprised," Isami replied lightly. "Anyways, the last bodies you brought me died shortly after arrival due to their wounds and loss of blood." Turning to her she saw her draped back over the chair limp. She was like a child. "I need one mostly intact."
Junki furrowed her brows up, "How am I supposed to do that? One kick can blast a limb off. Hence my new super awesome name by the way."
She didn't care. "You just need to adjust your strength to 20%." Junki groaned again, dragging her cap down over her face. Isami ignored her behavior, "Simply break the bones in the limbs, not in the chest. They can pass out from the pain, I just can't have them bleeding internally."
"Do I have to?" She muffled in her hat.
"You need to be paid and I need results." Isami turned back to her computer with several monitors. "It's almost complete- the last few experiments were so close. I've nearly created a superior specimen."
Junki made a face in her cap. Superior specimen? She'd seen the horror show in her lab, the experiments she did stitching monster parts together. None of them functioned right and all of them were violent and ugly. Sighing again she adjusted her cap back on top of her head. "You know, my legs are super strong, but my upper body can't exactly carry those things back here."
"I'll arrange a recovery team," Isami waved her off. "Just be sure to bring me a head. Preferably from a carnivorous beast-like monster."
"Yeah, yeah," heaving herself to her feet she left saying, "just tell me when."
!
During the meeting, Stubbles was mostly lost in thought. It was hard to pay attention, and Specs could see his struggles.
The table was lined with executives such as themselves, as well as Minister Officer of Justice Sitch and the chief's of the Y District Branch. The higher ups were talking amongst themselves for the time, discussing how to address News Channel 666's report and the public's demand and hostility towards them.
"Stock Market value is plummeting," a woman said.
A man added, "Our funding is steadily going down as well."
"We've taken serious heat thanks to the failed evaluation and several C and B heroes now out of commission." Sitch was saying. "Unless we have a plan of action we cannot make an official statement."
Specs glanced over at Stubbles. The man had his hand over his mouth, staring at the table lost in thought. The Executive woman glanced over at them, noting their odd behavior. "We can't make a plan of action without proper evaluation!" Another man argued. "It's impossible to get into that city, 666's report is the best lead we have to what the hell is going on in there."
"The woman is incredibly powerful," a woman was saying as her fingers flew over her tablet. "Video footage proves that, however all monsters disappeared after she defeated them, so we have been unable to bring one in for analysis."
Disappeared. Specs remained quiet as he listened to others speak. Stubbles then slowly set his hand down on the table. "They're not disappearing. She's taking them into the city." The room went deathly silent as all heads turned to him.
Specs glanced at him as well, and the Executive spoke up, "You have evidence of this?"
"No, I don't." Keeping his eyes down, he adjusted himself in his seat so he wasn't slouching.
This wasn't good. Specs could clearly see his mood was down- distracted by Junki being a villain. He deiced to speak up, "We received an anonymous tip just before the meeting, which is why we were late. There's no credibility and we have no proof that this is true, but we were told the One Kick Woman was defeating monsters and bringing them into the city because she was ordered to by a woman named Isami."
The woman on the tablet gasped and everyone turned to her. "Tsuki?" Sitch questioned. "What is it?"
Staring at Specs she asked, "Isami as in Uyemura Isami?"
Stubbles was distracted by her reaction as well. "We're unsure," he replied. "But we were told she was a scientist."
"It has to be," she typed furiously again, "Dr. Uyemura Isami, a brilliant biochemist that was inspired by the work of Dr. Genus." Suddenly the room went dark and a blue holographic beam came down, showing Isami's face and body profile alongside a picture of Dr. Genus, young face, sharp features and blue eyes with black hair hiding one eye. "World renowned scientist and founder of the former House of Evolution." The table was shocked.
None more than Stubbles however. Finding it harder to breathe he loosened his tie again. Dammit, Junki... A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. Of course she'd be wrapped up in the absolute worse mess possible. He should have done a better job keeping an eye on her.
"This isn't good," the Executive spoke up. "With unlimited money from Tanaka and resources from One Kick Woman, she's well on her way to creating beings far more dangerous that Dr. Genus. She's not splicing humans with insects and animals, she's using monsters."
"This went from Unknown to Demon Level." A man said gravely.
Oh, dammit to hell. Stubbles' leg was bouncing under the table. He needed to call Junki now. Specs breathed a sigh, sharing his feelings. They couldn't reveal they knew One Kick Woman, however if they could convince her to work with them...
"Dr. Uyemura's work is Demon alone," another man spoke up, "however what about the One Kick Woman? We're dealing with two disasters at once."
"For now we just have to assume she's level Demon as well," Specs took the reins. "We can't prove she's anything more, however with them working together that alone raises risk. We also know that the C and B class heroes weren't close to defeating her. Only A or S Class have a chance at saving Y City."
There was a consensus, and the meeting was adjourned. Going their separate ways, Specs spoke lowly to Stubbles as they walked down the hall with their briefcases. "I'm sorry about that."
"Huh?" Stubbles was fixing his tie again, glancing at him confused.
"About the level Demon against Junki," he whispered, glancing up at him.
"Oh. No, don't be." Dropping his arms he said, "I'm glad you took control when you did in that moment. Thank you." He frowned. "About her..."
"Not here," his partner quieted him to his relief. He didn't realize he had such an ally.
"You two." They both froze. Shit. Turning around they were faced with the Executive. Ah, shit. Crossing her arms she frowned at them. "That phone call. It wasn't anonymous."
Stubbles voice caught in his throat. Neither of them knew what to do, but as she spoke closed her eyes in acceptance. "I don't know who you spoke to, but I can't help but be grateful." They were both confused. This wasn't like her. She was way more bossy and needed to know what was going on, pestering with questions and orders. When she looked at them again they stiffened. "We needed a breakthrough on this. Now we have one. The Heroes Association can recover and we can save the city."
They weren't sure what to say. She walked past them, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. Apparently they didn't need to say anything. Watching her go, they both exhaled. "You know..." Stubbles looked to his friend. "With how famous the One Kick Woman is, and how dire the situation is... this can be dangerous."
Specs smiled at him. "I'm pretty sure 'this can be dangerous' is literally listed in the description for this job."
Stubbles smiled back. "I'll get drinks after work," he said as they continued down the hall.
"You'll need to. It'll be a long shift today."