After the incidents that happened at the hospital, the couple were so scared of their son that, it was unimaginable. Cyrus does most of the upkeep since he was more excited than scared. Anytime it was time for breastfeeding, Jane would always make sure to cocoon herself in order to limit the need for too much physical contact with the baby. It was inevitable though as no matter how much she insulated herself, the baby's g would have to touch her nipple nonetheless, he would ten make sure to occasionally vent his anger at their isolation from him, Jane would occasionally shiver slightly as the tremors ran through her. It was nothing as serious as what he did to the mysterious lady though, just an occasional playful reminder that he was displeased with the way they treated him.
Of course that didn't happen too often with Julius and Cyrus, Julius' lifelong dream had always been to have the coolest kid in the universe. The couple had posted printouts all over town in search of a babysitter for Stoneson and it's been two weeks now still no applicants. It was bedtime and Julius was just about to climb in beside his wife when suddenly. "Ring! Ring!" His phone rang, startling him since he wasn't expecting a call at the moment. "Hello?" He picked it up and whispered a sleepy hello into the receiver. No answer. He was about to hang up when a female voice spoke on the other side of the phone. "I'm Serena, a babysitter and I saw your printouts in town when I was actually on the hunt for a job." Julius was overjoyed, "sure, sure it's late now though so meet me tomorrow at Hola Amigo Italian restaurant for your interview. Eight am sharp, the virtue I cherish the most is timeliness, bye."
His sour mood immediately brightened. He then went to bed and slept like a baby. Cyrus had heard the conversation and he thought something was wrong, he felt a lump in his throat after hearing the prospect of a babysitter, and the worse news was that she would be hired probably the next day when he had to attend his usual calls of duty!
What if the lady had an ulterior motive? It could be anyone random person hired from the streets to assassinate the baby! "No! I must talk him out of it. No babysitters! I could get a girl from the Avengers Academy to help with the babysitting." Cyrus resolved as he went to bed.
Early the next day, he went to Julius and voiced his concerns but the latter laughed it off. "No one is born of yet to kill my son!" Cyrus sighed deeply as he bid goodbye that he had been called upon. It was seven am and Julius was already giddy about having a babysitter for his son. He took a dip in the steaming hot water filled jacuzzi as he splashed and splashed in joy.
"Seven forty five, it's time to leave now!" He muttered as he pecked his wife and told her he would be back with good news. Needless to say, Jane was confused beyond measure but she swallowed hard and decided to wait for his return.
In a five star hotel bordering the city, an elegant looking, young lady had just entered, "Buongiorno! Piacere di conoscerti!" The guard welcomed her after opening the door for her with a heartwarming smile but was ignored.
The lady had the demeanor of a goddess her that made her slightly arrogant, anyways she had just what it took to be arrogant as well. Curves in the right places, big bright brown eyes with an auburn hair, silky smooth face as if moulded from solidified milk, her full lips had a small mole right on top of it with a fiery red lip gloss over them, walking with the gravitas of a goddess, her hips swayed with the wind.
She easily caught everyone's attention as every single head turned to take in her exquisite features, causing a stir in the restaurant, married women who had been there to enjoy the morning breeze started quarreling as doubtlessly the stranger took their husbands' breaths away, making the wives want to strangle her to death.
Some ballsy guys tried to approach her table but she would just ignore them as if they never existed, they all left looking sullen and dejected.
She took a classic looking dark shade and wore it, then started tapping lightly on her phone's screen. Ignoring all the flirty stares from the guys and of course the women who were also staring daggers! Everyone wondered who this lady was here to meet as it was evident that she was waiting for someone.
The last jigsaw piece to complete their puzzle came right after, a middle aged man walked in majestically few minutes after, he stopped at the door and looked around, obviously searching for someone.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, the lady lifted her head and saw the man, then waved at him to come over. The man then walked all smiles to her table and sat across from her! People who were close enough to their table strained their ears to eavesdrop but to no avail, they then gave up and resumed eating their meals and whatever business they had doing. "Who's that guy at all? What right does he have over that pretty damsel?" Someone questioned.
"Oh c'mon don't tell me you didn't recognize Julius of O'Neil industries, the multimillionaire in NYC?" No one knew who answered the guy's rhetorical question but it sure did cause an uproar in the restaurant.
The whole place sank into turmoil, as people whispered among themselves, one would see groups of two or three people gathered , as if butting their heads in their frantic tête à tête. Meanwhile it felt as if the two were immersed in a world of their own, completely isolated from the chaos around them.
It was true though, there seemed to be an invisible energy barrier surrounding the two, it was so minute that it was negligible hence no one managed notice it. "Calmati! Calmati!" Guards swooped in to calm everyone down frantically yelling in their Italian language. Soon the place quietened down as everyone heard a loud clear voice exclaim, "you've got the job!" Naturally, their attention was drawn to Julius and his mistress, they noticed that the duo had just stood up and were leaving the restaurant, both grinning from ear to ear.
This was a strange sight as Julius' marital status was common knowledge. Why on earth should he cheat on his wife? "Maybe..." A skinny guy with an unkempt beard stroked his chin as he thought hard about the conundrum before them, then his eyes suddenly brightened. "Yes of course! Why didn't I think of this before?"
He punched himself in the face hard enough for his pale face to turn as pink as frozen pork. Once again, attention switched from the duo that were already out by now to the thin man, who looked fascinated at his success at stealing the spotlight onto himself, he then addressed them with a puffed up chest and a glint in his eyes, "don't you all know that Julius had been having childbirth problems? Need I tell you more?"
They looked confused at first but then some were able to put the pieces together and with wide eyes, one proclaimed loudly, "you mean his wife seems to carry the problem so he wants someone that would give him a child?" They all nodded in approval.
Julius had noticed the glares everyone cast at him as he walked out of the restaurant but he was too happy to care about that.
He drove he lady back to the Villa to show his wife, who voiced her disagreement without having to sugarcoat. "Young ladies like this one are troublesome, they would only care about how they would look and ignore the baby no matter what's going on!"
"Let's put her to the test and we'll see what happens." Julius whispered into his wife's ears and she agreed. "Okay you've got the job young lady. I have something to do in the bedroom so stay with the baby for the meantime."
After saying that, Jane went upstairs into their bedroom and quickly logged onto the surveillance system using her phone, overseeing whatever was going on in the sitting room. Moments later Julius also joined her after giving the supposed babysitter a flimsy excuse.
They watched quietly together and after about ten minutes, Jane said, "not bad, I assumed Stoneson would zap her the moment she comes into contact but seems they're getting along quite well. No one noticed the constriction and the color change of the lady's pupils as she played with Stoneson.
**********************
Meanwhile, a group of five kids within the ages of ten and fifteen were standing in front of a giant screen with a handsome looking man behind them. "Okay go in now." The man whispered softly and then the screen split into two on its own volition, revealing something inside.
It was a long mechanical arm that had a ball on the end, more like an eye socket as it had an eye embedded in it.
The eye blinked a few times as the mechanical arm slithered forward, facing the five kids, their bodies stiffened for a moment as the eye cast a beam of light on them, scanning them from head to toe. They then disappeared from the spot and the eye went back behind the screen, the latter closed back on it.
It then displayed the five kids in a jungle of sorts. The man paid close attention to the happenings on the screen. This was the Avengers Virtual Combat Training platform.
The kids felt a dizzying sensation after the scanning, their bodies were in free fall for a few seconds. When they regained perfect control of their eyesight, they realized that they were falling fast from the sky towards the ground.
In fear and instinctive reaction, they frantically "flapped" their arms, forgetting that they weren't birds! But things were more organized in the training platform than they thought as barely three feet from the ground, they felt weightless and landed gently on their feet.
Cyrus looked around as soon as he stepped on the floor while the others were still memorized by the most recent happenstance. This was a group of five, two boys and three girls.
The two boys looked like carbon copies of each other, the other was Cyril, Cyrus' twin brother they were both eleven. The most beautiful of the three girls was Amy, with her exquisite icy blue battle gown, and silky smooth skin and blonde hair tied in a neat ponytail behind her. She looked like a goddess. The other two girls were Bianca and Elsa, Bianca held a war hammer over her shoulder while Elsa was unarmed, just like Amy. Cyrus held a sword in his hand and Cyril was holding two daggers.
"Battle formation!" Cyrus shouted and everyone converged to form an arrowhead formation, Cyrus in front, acting as the main assault force with Bianca and Amy flanking him on both sides, Elsa stood between Bianca and Amy, with no active offensive skills but attributed with light, she served as support. Last in line was Cyril, who was agility based and gifted by space, was behind for sneak attacks.
Looking at the screen, their instructor couldn't help but smile, his students were prodigal, the battle formation they chose surprised him as well, he knew Cyrus being the leader, was behind the idea.
It was impressive that they had not been on a battlefield before but showed such mind-boggling wisdom was worthy of praise. He rarely smiled as very little elated him, this was leagues beyond his expectations.