Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman Chapter 659: The Beginning

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The final item on the to-do list had finally been dealt with.

Even though Henry hadn't handled it personally, the matter could at least be considered closed.

Unless one day he discovered that someone listed as deceased in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files was actually still alive.

If that happened, he'd deal with it then.

He couldn't even be bothered to dig these people up himself. S.H.I.E.L.D. had done the legwork for him, and he'd simply taken advantage of the opportunity.

Verifying whether someone was truly dead wasn't much easier than finding them in the first place.

What was he supposed to do—go around exhuming graves?

Actually, using a transaction like this and letting Norman Osborn eliminate his own man wasn't the best approach.

Because it also meant exposing himself to Norman's attention.

To be honest, Henry wasn't worried about the Green Goblin.

He was worried about Norman Osborn.

The Green Goblin was, at most, a guy playing street-level games with Spider-Man—just another neighborhood villain with a fancy suit of armor.

The resources Norman Osborn could command and the destruction he could unleash were on an entirely different level from flying around on a glider throwing pumpkin bombs.

Still, there wasn't much Henry could do about it.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had already sold him out.

If he continued handling his to-do list the old way, who knew how Norman Osborn might react?

Norman wasn't exactly the sort of person who played by the rules.

Trading the Alzheimer's drug formula and its production process in exchange for saving one life and ending another was already worth it in Henry's eyes.

The problem was that handing over those materials hadn't reduced the annoyances around him as much as he'd hoped.

The young troublemakers still came around whenever they got the chance.

Worse, the brat brigade seemed to be growing.

Besides the little troublemaker who appeared most frequently, the kid had started bringing different followers along each time.

Fortunately, none of the newcomers possessed the original brat's courage when it came to provoking Katie.

Usually, all it took was one glare from the tiger and a single roar before the children ran away in terror, some nearly wetting themselves.

Apparently, this was yet another one of Henry's miscalculations.

He had assumed that after reaching an agreement with Norman Osborn, all these petty annoyances would disappear.

Reality proved otherwise.

Even if things hadn't escalated, people still acted as though they had no idea Oscorp had swallowed all the benefits whole and continued trying to get something from him.

Then again, after obtaining the information, Oscorp had gone into seclusion like some martial arts sect cultivating behind closed doors.

Not a whisper had leaked to the outside world.

This was exactly why arrangements without written contracts were troublesome.

If both sides weren't perfectly aligned in their understanding, situations like this were inevitable.

Or perhaps Norman Osborn had been irritated by Henry's little demonstration and was retaliating.

After all, their original agreement had only vaguely referenced Henry's targets.

There had never been any mention of cleaning up the nuisances around him.

Marching directly to Norman Osborn and complaining was obviously out of the question.

Henry was currently considering what sort of warning he could send the powerful businessman.

After all, angering a small fry like him might not cause serious damage, but it could certainly make someone's life unpleasant.

Just as a particularly dark plan was beginning to take shape, the doorbell rang.

It was early morning—the usual time for Maria Thomson, the private caregiver, to arrive for work.

Except...

She had a key.

Why was she ringing the bell?

"Coming."

Henry called out and opened the door.

The person standing outside was not the efficient middle-aged caregiver.

Instead, it was someone far more unexpected.

"Selene?"

"Hello, Bla—"

Henry immediately covered her mouth before she could finish.

At that moment, a voice sounded from behind him.

"Henry, who's at the door? Has Maria arrived?"

Katharine Hepburn appeared.

Dressed plainly as always, Selene looked like an ordinary middle-aged woman.

Her black hair was tied neatly into a low bun at the back of her head, giving her the appearance of a capable professional.

Peeking around Henry's arm, she greeted the actress.

"Good morning, Ms. Hepburn."

"I'm Selene Gallio, temporarily filling in for Maria Thomson and assisting with your daily care."

"Henry recommended me."

"We spoke on the phone about this a few days ago."

Although he couldn't literally see brainwaves, Henry felt as though he could hear static crackling in the air.

Was she using her telepathy?

Katharine nodded in realization.

"Ah, that's right. I remember now. We did discuss it a few days ago."

Henry screamed internally.

No! We absolutely did not!

"And you're Henry's little girlfriend, right?" Katharine continued.

"I remember you're a nursing school graduate."

"Though, honestly, I'm more interested in how you and Henry met."

From the side, Henry narrowed his eyes at the seventeen-thousand-year-old witch pretending to be innocent.

"Yeah. Kate isn't the only one interested. I'm curious too."

What the hell had this ancient monster implanted into Katharine Hepburn's mind?

---

Hey! What exactly are you doing?!

Henry shouted mentally.

A voice immediately echoed inside his head.

This is Magneto's order, Henry boy.

Heh. So that's your real name. Henry Brown.

Where's Maria? What happened to her?

Relax. She thinks she received seven days of paid vacation and went on a family trip.

As long as she's okay. But what are you and Magneto playing at?

He sent me to keep an eye on you.

He doesn't want you helping him, because the X-Men can't afford to get beaten up by you.

But he also doesn't want you appearing on the X-Men's side.

So I'm here to keep you occupied.

He's making his move already? And you're not helping?

I'm very strong now, you know.

Magneto's worried I'll beat up the X-Men too badly, so he simply won't let me participate.

Besides, he has over a hundred people on his side.

As long as you're not helping the X-Men, there's nothing to worry about.

You'd better not screw this up.

Oh? So you think Magneto is going to lose too?

Stop reading my mind. Unless you want to end up like Professor X.

Cheapskate!

Their mental conversation happened in an instant.

Meanwhile, Selene acted like a lovestruck young girl.

Resting her forehead against Henry's chest, she traced circles on his stomach with a fingertip.

"You heartless man."

"Have you already forgotten?"

"Our night of... deep communication."

"We both enjoyed ourselves, didn't we?"

Katharine let out a teasing whistle.

The implication could not have been more obvious.

Henry, meanwhile, was reliving deeply traumatic memories.

He was a Kryptonian.

A freaking Kryptonian.

And yet he had been seduced and thoroughly overwhelmed by a mutant.

And not just any mutant.

The experience had felt like sleeping with a succubus.

When he'd woken up the next morning, he'd been utterly exhausted.

Meanwhile, the seventeen-thousand-year-old witch looked several years younger.

After that one experience, whenever Selene showed up at Magneto's hidden base in the middle of the night while he was conducting research, Henry avoided her like the plague.

What kind of eldritch monster was this woman?

Pushing her away, he straightened his expression.

"Ms. Gallio, please conduct yourself with dignity."

"Oh my."

Selene sighed dramatically.

"Now I'm 'Ms. Gallio.' No longer 'sweetheart.'"

Then she threw herself into Katharine's arms and pretended to sob.

"Katharine, look at him."

"Young men are so unreliable."

As she comforted the beautiful woman in her embrace, Katharine Hepburn shot Henry a disapproving glare.

"Henry, bad boy!"

Henry suddenly realized that, in Katharine's eyes, he occupied the same category as Tony Stark.

That realization left him with complicated feelings.

And now he had somehow fallen even lower—down to the same status as Katie the tiger.

At this point, he couldn't even defend himself.

Although his super-vision still hadn't fully recovered, he could clearly see the provocative, triumphant look in Selene's eyes.

That only made him angrier.

Maybe...

Maybe today should be the day he brought the legendary life of this immortal mutant to an end.

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