Etienne walked down the road to the beach and scanned the area. An overwhelming darkness covered most of the beach, only a few areas near the center were lit. Etienne walked over to one of the lights and spotted Nairobi lying in the sand. She stared up at the sky in a daze.
"Nairobi!" He yelled out, startling her.
Nairobi turned and looked at him before lying back in the sand.
"Good evening to you, my prince!" Her voice was lethargic, "Looks like you need to stamp out some problems in your kingdom."
Etienne sighed and sat down next to her, "Is that what you called me for? So I can hear you crack jokes?"
Nairobi sat up and flashed a shiny golden smile at him, "Would that be a problem?"
Etienne looked off toward the ocean, "Is this what you do during your patrols? I thought the INHO would be watching our every move when we're on missions."
Nairobi laughed, "You really don't know anything about the hero world, huh? They might do that in New York or California, but here? Until four months ago, there were almost no metas, no villains, no heroes. That means no INHO oversight. Things are changing quickly, but the INHO is slow to catch up."
Etienne scratched his chin, "So, why did you—"
"Why did I call you here?" Nairobi frowned, "Man, Etienne, you ask the most boring questions. There was a disturbance in this area a few hours ago. People said they heard gunfire, but there's nothing. I searched for bullet casings, blood, anything to identify what happened. But there is nothing."
Etienne stood up, "I got it. We can start looking in the parking lot."
Nairobi pulled out her phone and waved it around, "Already did that, handsome. While I was searching, I ran into a civilian who saw what happened. A streamer by the name of Daddy Dusk. His real name is Joseph Chan. He streams his walk to the pier and always makes sure to capture the beautiful sunset."
She paused as she scrolled through her phone, "Luckily for us, he was more than happy to share it."
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An older man spoke indistinctly as the video shook and jumped around. The waning sun caused a glare in the video at several points.
He walked down the sidewalk, past the beach parking lot. Before he got close to the pier, the man heard a loud noise from the sole car in the parking lot. He turned around and looked at it closely. The car shook violently, nearly lifting off the ground.
"Kids these days…go home with that nonsense!" The man yelled out and shook his fist at the car.
The car continued to shake back and forth.
The man walked over to the car slowly and was startled as the driver's side door burst open.
A man crawled out from the driver's seat, covered in blood. He tracked blood across the ground as he attempted to crawl across the concrete to safety.
A handsome young man with wavy blonde hair stepped out of the backseat and walked over to him. He held a strange weapon that looked like a staple gun and kneeled down next to the criminal.
He put the strange weapon to the back of the man's head and robotically said, "Sorry, man. I don't know what beef they had with you, all I know is it's time to end it."
With a bright flash and a deep booming bang, the back of the man's head exploded into blood and viscera. The young man looked disgusted at the sight and picked up the body by the underarms.
"Hey Thalia, come help me out with this!" The young man yelled toward the car.
A masked man came out of the opposite back seat and leaned against the car.
"You popped your killing cherry, big bro! You should be more excited!"
The young man continued to drag the body toward the car, "This is my second kill, dude. And I told you, call me Melpo when we're out here. Even if nobody is around…"
Melpo's voice trailed off as he spotted the older man staring at the scene.
Thalia pointed the same strange-looking weapon at the old man but Melpo motioned for him to stop.
Melpo placed the body down carefully and ambled over to the older man.
He put on a big smile, "Hello, sir! My friend and I are heroes from out of town. The INHO gave us an execute on sight order for this individual. I do apologize for the disturbing scene. Because of the nature of our work, our privacy is important. Is that device on your neck currently recording?"
Joseph looked down at the camera on his chest, then back up at Melpo, "Uhh…um, no, it's not. I don't start recording until I get to the pier."
Melpo smiled even wider, "That's great! And sir, I did also want to ask, how much of that interaction did you see?"
Melpo held the gun in his hand and stared Joseph directly into his eyes. The quiet intensity in his pupils forced Joseph to look away.
"I didn't see anything. Not a thing."
Melpo holstered his weapon and pulled something out of his back pocket.
"My—my…" Joseph could not get the words out as Melpo held his wallet in his hands. Melpo pulled a picture out of the front of the wallet.
"You have a beautiful wife, mister…mister…" Melpo flipped through the cards in his wallet, "Mister Chan! Do you have any kids?"
Before Joseph could answer, Melpo cut him off, "Actually, don't tell me. I plan on moving to…" He stared at Joseph's driver's license, "Presley Street soon. Make sure to say hey if you see me."
Melpo put the license back in and handed it to Joseph.
"Now, Mr. Chan, what did you see today?"
Joseph stood frozen in fear. Thalia stared at him from the car. Melpo smiled at him warmly. Joseph put his wallet in his back pocket.
"I didn't see anything. I wasn't even here."
Melpo laughed, "Good man! I left a little surprise in your wallet. Go get a little something to eat or order something on pay-per-view. Head on home and enjoy your night."
The last sentence felt less like a suggestion and more like a threat. Joseph quickly turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction.
Etienne's eyes were wide as Nairobi powered down her phone.
Etienne exploded with questions, "Who was the man they killed? And where is the car? And most importantly, who is the 'they' that wanted this man assassinated?"
Nairobi's face was solemn, "I was asking the same question. Around this same time, a few blocks from here, there was a large explosion in an apartment building."
Etienne was taken aback, "Another big explosion? There are way too many unexplained violent crimes recently."
Nairobi looked into Etienne's deep brown eyes, "That's why I called you Etienne. I don't think they're unconnected; I think the explosion at that factory and this one were connected. And I think those two assassins are in league with our serial bomber. I need your help finding out the link between them."
Etienne was silent for a while. He mulled the thought over in his head for some time before turning to Nairobi, "Okay, Nairo, I'll help you. But in return, you have to join me. At least for the time being."
Nairobi flashed her grill and shouted out, "I thought you'd never ask!"