The Prince of Astoria-Chapter 55: LV - The Aftermath

Mina crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She stared at Nairobi with clearly visible contempt on her face.

"Tell me again what happened, Nairo. Who is Ms. Friendly?"

Nairobi exhaled and kept her gaze fixed on the ground, "I already told you. Ms. Friendly is an assassin for the Black Company. She works under a division called Team Wet, and they have several unranked metahumans working for them."

Keita kneeled down next to Shota’s barely conscious body, "You should’ve warned us, Nairobi. You should’ve made us listen."

"She did warn you," A voice called out from a short distance away. Etienne slipped his hoodie over his head and ran into the crater Shota had made.

"If I remember correctly, she tried to warn you. Remind me again what you said, Keita."

Keita snarled and popped up. He got directly into Etienne’s face and didn’t bother to contain his anger, "This is a conversation between former and current members of the Gamers. No outsiders allowed. We don’t need your finger-pointing games right now."

Etienne sighed, "You all just refuse to listen to other people—"

Mina shot a dirty look at Etienne, "That’s enough out of you," Mina turned back to Nairobi, "Now please enlighten me. Who in the world could’ve done this to Shota? And is this Black Company the same one as all the rumors and urban legends? That elusive criminal organization is real?"

Etienne crossed his arms and huffed.

Nairobi nodded her head, "Yes, based on how strong and organized they are, this is definitely the same Black Company as the one from the rumors. Ms. Friendly is one of a few extremely powerful metahumans they have at their disposal. She’s less warrior and more force of nature. The ability she used, ’Anti-Blizzard’ she called it, was this overwhelming firestorm that covered a half-a-mile radius and swallowed absolutely everything. Shota had to use most of his time limit to survive it."

Mina looked down at Shota and noted the faint burn marks across his body.

"Anti-Blizzard...I would love to meet this Ms. Friendly and give her a piece of my mind," Mina stated flatly.

Nairobi continued, "It wasn’t just her though. There was another one. A local gangster named GoGo with a scary ability. Once he snaps his fingers, if you’re in his line of sight, he can teleport you ten thousand kilometers into the air and leave you hurtling toward the ground."

Mina bit her lip, "That’s a deadly combo. There are some real monsters out here. I want to go after them both, but it’ll have to wait."

Nairobi looked at her confused, "Wait, what? You’re leaving?"

Mina glanced at Shota before turning back to Nairobi, "It’s time for us to pull out. We’ve helped how we can, but we have our own responsibilities. I’m not leaving you high and dry though. Not only did I find the last two safe houses with Isatou, but I already checked out one of them."

Etienne’s eyes widened, and he moved closer to Mina, "You did? What did you find?"

Mina shook her head, "Nothing at all. By the time I got there, the old apartment building was little more than a smoldering crater. There wasn’t even any rubble to pick through."

"I’m slowly starting to piece all of this together," Etienne thought to himself, "They knew about which safe houses we would visit, and different members of the Black Company were assigned to each. They were tasked with destroying their respective safe houses, along with any heroes coming through to oppose them."

Thump-thump-thump.

In the distance, a loud noise was cutting through the already hectic afternoon. Etienne looked and noticed it immediately, a huge red, white and blue helicopter was approaching. The medical helicopter came in low over the field, its rotor blades ripping through the air.

"We’re going to be taking Shota back to California to get healed up," Mina stated flatly, "And we’re not coming back, at least not for now."

Nairobi’s face twisted in confusion, "What about helping us with any requests that pop up? We still have one more safe house, we don’t need to be distracted by random crimes."

"You all investigated three safe houses in one day," Keita chimed in, "During that time, I only had a single request come in. You’ll be fine."

Mina nodded in agreement, "The last safe house is in some dilapidated apartment building on the outskirts of Portland. I can’t be sure, but from what Isatou and I gathered, that place has been abandoned for a long time, unlike the others, which were abandoned recently. I doubt there will be any surprises there, unlike what you ran into at the other two, although I’m not completely sure of that."

Trees and blades of grass danced and twirled in the artificial wind as the chopper circled once, twice, then began its descent into the clearing beside the enormous crater.

The helicopter touched down slowly, and the side door flew open before it even settled fully. Two flight medics jumped out, their oversized gear clanking, heads ducked low as they sprinted towards Shota. They moved quickly and careful, their orange jumpsuits contrasting with the greens and browns of the area.

Keita approached Nairobi and grabbed her hand softly, "I’ll say it again, Nairo. We miss you out in SoCal. The hero scene is really boring without you."

Nairobi looked away from him, "I appreciate everything you all have done. Keep me updated on how Shota is doing, and tell him I’m sorry for dragging him into this mess. Making him have to protect me."

Keita sighed and walked to the helicopter. He called out, "You didn’t make him do anything. He did what he wanted to do. That’s the kind of guy he is; you know that."

Mina followed Keita to the helicopter but stopped abruptly.

"Are you sure you don’t want to come with us, Nairo? We still have a spot for you. I’m sure Shota talked your ear off about it, but we would love to have you back."

Nairobi glanced at Etienne, then looked back at Mina, "I appreciate the offer, Mina. But I’m fine here. I have a new team now, and they need me. Tell Brian I said hello."

Mina nodded her head slowly, "I understand. The invitation is always open to you, so just let us know if you change your mind. As for Brian...I’ll tell him...if I see him..."

The two flight medics worked quickly, strapping Shota to a backboard, starting an IV, checking vitals, all in a few seconds. Within minutes, they were loading him into the helicopter’s belly. Nairobi and Etienne watched from a distance as Keita and Mina boarded the helicopter with Shota and the medics.

Once the doors were closed, the engine roared. The helicopter lifted, nose dipping slightly before it climbed into the air. As it rose above the treetops and disappeared into the distance, Nairobi and Etienne stood in the field, watching until the sound faded to nothing.

Nairobi turned to Etienne, "You got here quickly. How close were you?"

"I was in Canby at the flower festival with a friend. It’s only two or three miles from here thankfully. I feel bad though. I should’ve just come and looked into the farm with you two."

Nairobi shook her head, "No, Etienne. You just investigated a safe house this morning. Your whole life can’t be dominated by hero work, no matter how righteous that may feel. You have to have a life outside of all of this or you’ll go crazy. Besides, you couldn’t have known that Ms. Friendly would be there."

Etienne scratched his chin, "Alex and I were attacked by Dirty Bomb at our safe house. This seems to be a coordinated effort."

Nairobi sighed, "Of course it’s a coordinated effort. I think I see why the Black Company is so revered and feared. Their power is unreal, and their strategies are just as impressive."

Etienne nodded, "Mina said there probably won’t be anybody at the last safe house, but I don’t believe that. We need to gear up and try to prepare for anything. We may even have to prepare for the possibility that Ms. Friendly will be there. Are you ready?"

Nairobi looked down at her arm and rubbed the light burn marks on her arms and legs, "I need a little time to recuperate and gather some things. I’ll be ready by tomorrow. Should we have another team meeting at your mansion to fill him in on everything?"

Etienne shook his head, "I’ll give him a call and get him up to speed. You said tomorrow, right? So, should we all just meet at the location of the last safehouse?"

"That’s not a bad idea. I’ll meet my sister in person and fill out the report on exactly what happened here. I’ll get the safe house location while I’m there."

"Report?" Etienne thought to himself, "Are we supposed to be doing paperwork after our missions?"

Etienne looked up at the clear blue sky, completely devoid of any clouds.

"I’m tired of the Black Company getting the jump on us. I’m tired of being on the back foot. I want to be proactive instead of reactive."

Mina hit her fists together and smiled, "Let’s find the Black Company, and beat them!"