Etienne paced around the kitchen frantically, nodding his head back and forth. He rambled, "I might have to rethink this hero thing. These guys aren't just criminals, they're serial killers and maniacs. These monsters are killing dozens, if not hundreds of people, and my job is to round them up so they can get delivered to some cozy jail cell? So they can enjoy their three square meals a day and wait patiently while their criminal buddies cook up a plan to bust them out?"
Gabe watched this mental break nervously.
Etienne shook his head, "No, no, no! This system is…outdated. Maybe it worked fifty or sixty years ago when Speed and Star put the fear of god into everybody, and the worst thing criminals did was rob local banks."
Etienne paused, locking eyes with Gabe. "Maybe our home doesn't need new heroes. Maybe it needs a ninja."
Gabe opened up a laptop that sat on the kitchen counter, "Before you start planning to dismantle the current hero system, did you want to hear about what we found on the laptop?"
Etienne's mood immediately changed, and he moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Gabe, "The one from the townhouse I burned down?"
Gabe tapped away on the computer, "My specialist was able to determine this is Lionel's computer, so I guess that tells us who was living there. There are some insane levels of encryption on here, more than some military servers, so we haven't been able to crack everything."
Etienne nodded his head, "Did you find anything useful?"
Gabe navigated through the computer effortlessly, "For the most part, no. We mostly found video games and weird message boards, but we did discover one thing. We were able to recover a text message thread with your Uncle Elliot. An invite to Easter dinner, with an address attached."
Etienne's eyes widened, and he remained silent.
Gabe continued, "We researched the address, and it's a house not even listed on most GPS software. There's no info on it anywhere online, no price, no record of its construction, nothing. I think this is where your extended family lives now."
A flood of emotions overtook Etienne. Anxiety, happiness, relief, and skepticism all tugged at him.
Gabe watched as his face changed and interjected, "Now, Etienne, before you think about just running to the address and beheading everyone you see, there are two things I need to say. First, we need to approach this under the assumption that there will be metahumans. Not only will there be metahumans, but they may very well be as strong as that Ms. Friendly you encountered. You saw Lyle with GoGo's Disciples, right? I don't think it's a stretch to say your extended family may be collaborating or partnering with other gangs. Possibly even the Black Company."
Etienne hung his head, "You're absolutely right. I need to train before I even think of approaching."
Gabe's expression became more sullen, "That's not the only thing. Secondly, if I'm going to keep assisting you on this revenge mission, I need something. I need you to go to that house and find an email, a letter, anything at all that links your aunt and uncle to our parents' death. I can't aid you in some bloody killing spree if the target could be innocent. That is non-negotiable."
Etienne sighed and nodded his head slowly. He sat on an empty part of the kitchen counter and put his hand on his chin.
"Okay," He answered calmly, "Uncle Elliot used to host a private email server at the old house. He never let us go near his office because he didn't want us messing it up. I didn't see anything like that when I was there, so he must have moved it to their new place. I'll infiltrate the place and steal the hard drives from the server. Even if he deleted them, it should still have a record of every email sent and received."
Gabe's eyes lit up, and he practically beamed with joy.
Etienne jumped off the counter and mumbled, "Let me go get ready."
Gabe shouted out, "Absolutely not!" Etienne stopped in his tracks.
"Do you know what today is, Master Etienne?"
Etienne pondered for a second, "Hmm…I'm not sure. What is it?"
Gabe scoffed, "Today is Sunday morning. You have the All-White Party to attend this evening. Remember? To assist the Fellows?"
Etienne rolled his eyes and moved towards the fridge, "How could I forget? You know, when I was talking to him, I got the feeling that he wanted me to join the Fellows rather than assisting them.
"You certainly have a right to join. I remember your parents and their friends standing in this very kitchen devising plans to get someone, anyone, to assist them and give them funding for the Fellows. And now it is one of the largest venture philanthropy organizations in the world. Are you sure your parents wouldn't want you to go that route instead?"
Etienne closed the fridge and looked at Gabe. He shook his head and walked slowly out of the kitchen, calling out, "I'm headed to bed. Wake me up around 6."