Gabe tightened the knot on Etienne's tie, then turned him to face a full-body mirror. Etienne wore a designer dress shirt, vibrant red roses blossoming on one side and white tulips blooming on the other.
Etienne pulled on his stacked black jeans and dusted off his boots.
"This feels familiar," Etienne smiled.
"Your mission for today is to reconnect with your friends! I told them an arbitrator is coming to meet them at Barnaby's to discuss your will and final messages, but you'll be there to give them the best surprise of their lives."
Etienne narrowed his eyes, "That seems extremely messed up, but I guess. Which car are we taking?"
Gabe laughed, "If you take one of those roaring monstrosities, they'll know it's you from a mile away. I hope you don't have a problem walking!"
Etienne sighed and made his way down the stairs.
"Hold on before you go, Eti!" Gabe called out.
Etienne stopped immediately, turned to face Gabe, and caught something shiny that Gabe threw at him.
Etienne caught it and examined it.
"I made a locket of that family photo you love," Gabe exclaimed, "That way, if you ever get lost again, your family will still be with you."
Etienne looked up at the larger version and nodded his head.
___________________________________________________________
Etienne looked at himself with the camera of his phone.
"Guess I can toss out the acne cream. I don't have those problems anymore. I definitely should've gotten my hair done though…"
Thud!
Etienne heard a thud, looked over, and saw papers flying into the air as a young woman fell to the ground behind him.
She got up and dusted herself off quickly, whispering sorry as she hurriedly picked everything up.
Etienne reached down and picked up a few papers, saying, "Sorry about that. I was so lost in my phone, I didn't notice you."
The girl stood up with her papers and flicked a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled wide, revealing a full set of fanged golden teeth and teeth caps.
Etienne was taken aback, "Wow, I love your grill. It's very…shiny."
The girl blushed and laughed sheepishly, "Thank you. They cost an arm and a leg to get installed."
Etienne was mesmerized by her smile for a few seconds. Momentarily breaking the hypnosis, Etienne asked, "Sorry, what's your name?"
The girl pointed to herself, "Me? My name is Nairobi. My friends call me Nairo. What nickname do you prefer, Etienne?"
Etienne took a step back, "So you know me, huh? You're not with GoGo, are you?"
Nairo shook her head, "Nope, I'm not. I'm a contract hero. Are you with him?"
Etienne's face twisted with disbelief.
Nairo continued before he could say anything, "I saw in the system you're trying to receive credit for scaring GoGo and his disciples out of Astoria. You sure you two didn't plan this out so you can look good and he can work from the shadows uncontested?"
Etienne balled his fist and bit his lip.
Nairo reached into her pocket and grabbed something. She closed her fist tight so Etienne couldn't see it, "I've been researching your aunt and uncle for an assignment. And I found they are unscrupulous with the people they work with. As long as they reach their goals. I wonder if you are the same way."
Etienne moved to close the distance between them. As soon as he lifted one foot in the air, a giant screw sprouted from the ground and grew in his direction.
He dodged around it and attempted to rush toward her. He was stopped by a hail of screws flying at him faster than a speeding bullet.
Etienne pulled a kitchen knife from his pocket and deflected each one. Another hail of screws flew at him, but he dodged them all easily. Finally approaching Nairo, he threw out a shuriken that narrowly missed her.
She scoffed at him and floated another handful of screws from her pocket. They came rocketing at Etienne, but he switched places with the shuriken and swiftly put his knife to her throat. They both panted heavily.
"My conditioning is terrible now," Etienne thought to himself, "One minute of intense fighting and I'm almost gassed out. At least she's tired too."
"You done yet?" He shouted out.
Nairo looked at him and remained silent. Etienne let her go and pushed her away.
He began to walk past her, dusting himself off, until she called out to him.
"I'm sorry, Etienne! I didn't mean to say that mean stuff about your family. I just…I just…"
"You just what?"
"I just sensed your power and lost control of myself for a second. I don't want to keep holding you up, but Etienne, you should watch out! I think someone in the INHO has it in for you. That stuff I said earlier, I heard one of the administrators say!"
Etienne threw a hand up and walked down the street.