The rescue at the baseball stadium had driven the media frenzy surrounding you to new heights. It was the only thing that anyone could talk about across the nation. Who was the mysterious masked hero? What was the deal with the alien invaders? And how was he getting away with such blatant copyright infringement? You try to drown out the noise and focus on doing what you do best. Lounging around the garage and training.
Mitsuru didn't actually have much to say about the enemy copying her weapon. She shrugged it off – they already have the ability to travel through infinite dimensions, and that isn't going to change with them making a replica Sledgehammer. You're more concerned about the underlying technology giving them a leg up, but if Mitsuru isn't worried, you're not worried.
Two mostly calm days after the stadium incident, Mitsuru calls you over to the computer. "What's up?"
"We spoke about the money a few days ago – and I said that I'd have something substantive for you in a few days."
"Oh, right. So, am I getting a raise or something?"
Mitsuru adjusts her glasses, "That is to say, we received our first royalty payment for the merchandising line. With the manufacturer and retailer fees, we are left with a big portion of the proceeds. I've given you your thirty percent cut after routing it through some privacy conscious foreign banks."
Well, that sounds dubious!
"And how much did we make?"
"The videos of you fighting and summoning girls have blown up now that people know it's real, you were the number one trend in the world a few days ago. Since we planned ahead and had merchandise, toys and write ups already prepared – we were perfectly positioned to take advantage of the phenomenon. They flew off the shelves, and in total you took away fifty million dollars."
"…"
"…"
"F-Fifty?"
"Yes."
"Million?"
"Yes."
"Fifty million freaking dollars?!"
Mitsuru is too slow to plug her ears. She winces and hurriedly shoves a small plastic card into your hand, "Give or take. In fact, here you go! A new bank account with that money in it. Now, I couldn't move the lump sum into there without arousing unneeded suspicion, so you've been promoted to the COO of our company. You're earning one-hundred thousand dollars a month. You can finally move out of the crap shack you call an apartment. Or pay child support for your five hundred wives."
Do banks even insure this much cash at once?
"A-Anything else I should know?"
"No, that's it. Keep doing what you've been doing, and I'll keep working on our equipment. Oh, by the way, the leftovers from the Gundroid have been put into the printer. You have enough for ten cards now."
"I'll hold off on making any new ones right now."
"I saw an interesting selection in the logs actually, I didn't take you for that kind of person."
You hold up your hands in defence, "I stepped away for a moment and Rias did it."
"How convenient."
Mitsuru is not convinced.
It's not like you need her approval or anything! You walk away and begin to think about all of the amazing things you can do with your newly earned money. Mitsuru's right, you would like a private space to call your own that can handle more than two people at a time. You'll have to wait a while to accumulate the funds to buy a big penthouse outright. At least the property prices in this city aren't as insane as they can be elsewhere.
You're pulled out of your careful considerations by your phone vibrating. You swipe left before checking the caller ID and are surprised to discover that it's Rias. "Hello hubby, how are you doing?"
"Fine, thanks. What's the occasion?"
"I just wanted to have a chat with you, that's all."
"Okay – has anything interesting happened on your end for the past few days?"
"There's always something. The fallen angels make sure of that. We also got to meet Issei's girlfriend!"
That explains a lot, actually. "Oh, Issei has a girlfriend?"
"I was rather surprised myself. He always seemed so adamant that he was going to form a harem and all, but it seems that she's domesticated him, so to speak." Rias giggles at her own joke, "She's a girl from Kuoh Academy."
And probably someone you've never heard of. Mitsuru's griping about things being convenient rings a little hollow when she digs out universes like this one where the horniest man in existence can settle down like that. It makes it much easier for you to claim every girl from the ORC, and the other devil's peerages too. A world filled with singletons, divorcees and widows. It's kind of sad now that you think about it. Part of you would like to meet Issei, but you'd probably have to press a card to make that happen. Maybe in a pinch.
"She sounds nice. Mitsuru just got finished talking to me about the income from her stupid merchandising idea. I'm getting paid one-hundred-thousand dollars a month now as the COO. I don't even know what to do with that kind of money."
Rias hums, "To be truthful, I don't either. Everything has always been provided to me by my mother and father. The Gremory clan is very affluent, yet I find myself without the need for anything expensive. Recently I have started to fill my wardrobe with some cute outfits for our dates."
"Cute cute, or sexy cute?"
"Both!"
That tracks. "I'd like to move out of the 'love nest' and into somewhere bigger and nicer. Also, it's way too hot in the summer. But what else could I even spend it on?"
"A sports car?"
"Heh, that might be fun. Getting to feel like a big shot for once in my life."
"Fufu, you'll need a pair of beautiful women for those lonesome arms as well. Akeno would love to strut her stuff while hanging off of you."
Images of Rias and Akeno wearing sexy evening dresses and escorting you to a high-class restaurant flood into your head. Oh yeah, you definitely want to try that – even if it's just once and never again.
You shift topics, "How's your mother been?"
Rias giggles, "You can call her by her name, hubby. She's my mother, and your future wife. Perhaps you'd like to take us both to the bedchamber at the same time?"
You flush red. It always gets to you when Rias teases you like that; "I think I'd need to work up some serious courage to propose that."
"There's nothing strange about it," Rias insists, "We're devils after all. You should stop thinking like a human when you're dealing with us."
You shrug to an audience of none, "I don't know how a devil thinks."
"Aggressive, greedy, foolhardy. I would say that you are nearly there – laying claim to a mother and her daughter is exactly what I'd expect from a high-level devil."
"Hey, that was your idea."
"You could have said no."
"I don't think I can say no to you."
"Aww. You're too sweet."
Speaking of girls from Rias' world, "What did Asia and Koneko think of being brought through?"
"I did warn them, so they were ready for it. Asia was very eager to help anyone in need. Koneko isn't one to be open with her feelings, but she does stay in the room when the ORC fanclub watches the show. She pretends that she doesn't know anything about you."
Curling up on the couch and enjoying your adventures huh? Even so, you're going to need to break the ice with her if you want to add her to your burgeoning harem. Asia seems more open to the idea, even though the chaste nun hasn't had her first lewd thought yet.
"The rest of the club's members are hoping to meet you soon too!"
"Sure. I'll try and get more cards for you guys soon. Xenovia's probably interested, right?"
"Yep!"
She'll probably try to make a baby with you as soon as she steps through to your side…
"I'll make sure she gets an invite to the party then. I'll summon you and Akeno soon so we can hang out. I have a few errands to run today."
"Okay hubby! Message me any time. Bye! Love you!"
"Love you too."
She hangs up. During the discussion you ended up wandering into the gym to get a little privacy. May as well run your routine while you're here, unfortunately Chun-Li is occupied at the moment. No in-person training and shower fun this time. Your body has changed radically even after just a month or two of work. You used to be a pretty normal looking person – but now you can see your biceps and pecs growing by the day.
Unless you do some serious weight training, it's unlikely you'll get any bigger than this. That's just fine by you. You don't need to be a bodybuilder to fight evil, and you don't want to look like a character from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Not unless you have to. You slap your cheeks and stop your mind from drifting any further. It's time to get serious. Chun-Li will be angry if you miss out on your daily training.
And you do not want to make Chun-Li angry.