CHAPTER 48: XLVIII - THE SHORESIDE SAFEHOUSE

"Can you stop moving!" Alex yelled aloud. His voice was barely audible through the whipping wind as they flew atop his hoverboard.

Etienne shifted slightly, still trying to get comfortable on the cramped, flat vehicle, "Would you prefer I stand up and hold on to you?"

Alex sighed and shook his head, "Look, we’re already near Seaside. Let’s get off and walk from here. That’ll be less conspicuous too, in case Team Wet is watching us."

Etienne nodded his head, and Alex shakily lowered his hoverboard to the ground. Etienne hopped off quickly.

Alex touched his chest, and a video game-like blue menu appeared in thin air. There were six items in the circular menu, simply labeled 1 through 6. Alex pressed 1, then clicked a small confirm button below the menu.

The menu and his hoverboard disappeared. Futuristic white armor covered all of his joints, along with his head and feet.

Etienne looked him up and down, "When did you learn you could do all of that?"

Alex adjusted the armor slightly on his elbows, "During puberty, like most people. They say your ability is a reflection of your personality. I wonder what part of my personality is responsible for this."

The two of them walked down a decrepit, cracked road. Weathered brown and gray buildings flanked them on all sides, packed into cramped rows.

Alex looked around wearily, "So this is Seaside, huh? It’s a lot different from Astoria."

Etienne shook his head, "My parents said Seaside is what Astoria would be if they tried to rely on the government instead of taking matters into their own hands and funding their town."

Alex stepped over some debris in the street, "Growing up, I heard a lot about the good the Fellows do throughout Oregon. Why did they never try to help fix Seaside?"

Etienne stopped abruptly, "That’s a good question. I think it had something to do with Seaside’s government. I remember my parents coming here a lot when I was a kid and talking to them."

Etienne pointed to a sleek black three-story hotel, standing out strikingly among the storm-worn brown and grey homes. The lines in the parking lot were freshly painted, and it was full of luxury cars.

Alex glanced at Etienne, "This just looks like a hotel."

Etienne stared up at the giant glowing sign at the top of the building, "This is the place Isatou gave us. Their suspected hideout is in Seaside, the Beach Town Inn."

Alex groaned, "How the hell are we supposed to find them in this enormous place? They could be anywhere in there, if they’re here at all."

Etienne pointed to the third floor, "You see how there are no lights on at all in any of those rooms? With how many members they have, and how elusive they are, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say they’re using that entire floor for their operations. At the very least, it’s a good place to start."

Alex nodded his head, "I can work with that. There’s no need for us to go in together or search the same areas. You take the left half and I’ll take the right."

Etienne crossed his arms, "And how do you plan to get in?"

Alex pulled out small tool out of his wrist armor. The device looked like a large USB with a small grey and black screen. He put the device away and sauntered over to the front entrance.

"Still doesn’t trust me fully, huh?" Etienne thought to himself.

Etienne put his hoodie on over his head and walked over to an emergency exit door on the side of the building.

He leaned against the wall next to the door and knocked on it hard. He waited for a few minutes before knocking on it again. An exasperated hotel worker swung the door open wide and looked around the area. The worker peeked behind the door, scanned the area one more time, before shaking his head and closing the emergency exit door.

Etienne easily slipped past the clueless worker and walked down the corridor with his hands in his pockets.

"I got in easier than I expected; now, where are the emergency stairs?" Etienne thought to himself.

Etienne walked down a long, narrow hallway for a while, decorated with strange patterns. He halted at a plain-looking door with a simple picture of stairs on it.

He pushed it open and thought to himself, "I love how predictably most buildings are laid out. It makes sneaking in and navigating so easy."

After walking up the short staircases, he pushed the door open to the third floor.

"What the hell?" He called out audibly.

Immediately upon entering the third floor, he observed how ruined and destroyed it was. Doors had been blown off their hinges, and light fixtures were busted and on the floor. Scorched papers and burned computers were scattered in the middle of the hallway.

"It looks like a storm came through here. I guess they already removed any evidence..." Etienne thought to himself.

Among the large desktops and scattered papers was something else. Etienne reached down and picked one up. It was a miniature desktop computer, with the whole thing being small enough to fit in the palm of his hand.

"I wonder what they use this for..." Etienne thought to himself.

Etienne examined it for a while before dropping it and turning his head slowly. A constant noise was humming from somewhere down the ruined hallway. Etienne stalked down the hallways, clinging to the shadows between the flickering lights. The noise grew louder as he made his way down the hallway. After a while, he pinpointed its origin: the large public bathroom situated at the far end of the hall.

As Etienne crept into the bathroom, he finally deciphered the noise.

It was an unfamiliar man’s voice, speaking loudly and confidently, "...The elites have been hiding a certain truth from you, but I’m here to reveal it: strength is everything. In fact, they’ve done more than hide it; they’ve handcrafted this modern world to make you weak. Soft. Comfortable."

Etienne peeked from behind the last corner into the bathroom. He spotted Dirty Bomb flexing in the mirror.

The voice continued, "Be strong. Be disciplined. Be relentless. Because in this world, nobody’s coming to save you. You are your own salvation."

Dirty Bomb turned his head toward the corner and frowned. He straightened himself up and grabbed his phone, pausing the podcast.

"Ninjaman. It’s you. I would think you’d be a little better at sneaking and staying hidden."

Etienne stepped behind the corner, "That was never my specialty. I’m a different type of ninja."

Dirty Bomb looked in the mirror one more time and adjusted his glasses before turning to him fully. Dusting off his reflective yellow jacket, he questioned, "Oh really now? And what kind of ninja is that?"

Etienne approached him slowly, "You did all of that out there, right? Trying to clear any evidence of the Black Comapny’s crimes?"

Dirty Bomb pulled back the sleeves of his jacket and revealed his arms glowing a brilliant orange color, "Nah, man. It was like that when I got here."

Etienne pulled a shuriken out of his hoodie and threw it just over Dirty Bomb’s shoulder. He switched places with it and raised his arm to throw a punch. Dirty Bomb put out his arm behind him, and Etienne watched as it shifted from the burning orange to a blinding white. As the light reached its peak and his vision washed out, an overwhelming sound filled his ears. All other sounds dissipated, replaced by a continuous ringing in his ears.

Etienne dropped to one knee and covered his ears, blood seeping between his fingers.

Dirty Bomb circled him triumphantly, "I’ve already seen that before, Ninjaman. Do you think so-called ’villains’ are NPCs who will let you hit them with the same attacks over and over? Newsflash, we’re improving, getting stronger and developing countermeasures, just like you are for us."

Dirty Bomb put his hand out toward Etienne, and his skin glowed orange under his jacket, "Unfortunately for you, there are no countermeasures for me."

Etienne pushed himself off of the ground and stood up shakily. He raised his hands up in front of him and held up two fingers. Two clones of Etienne appeared from a puff of smoke, looking significantly more energetic than Etienne.

The two clones launched a dual attack, one attacking him with uppercuts and head kicks and the other sweeping his legs.

Dirty Bomb stumbled backwards and barely avoided being pummeled. By the relentless attacks.

Etienne exhaled slowly and straightened out his clothes. He walked over to the Dirty Bomb slowly and calmly.

Dirty Bomb struggled to keep up with the precise attacks, especially as they increased in speed.

"You think this little trick will stop me, Ninjaman?" He asked between exasperated breaths, "As soon as I get an opening, I’ll blow your little shadow clones away!"

The shadow clones paused for a moment, and Etienne plucked the glasses off of Dirty Bomb’s face. He put the glasses on and saw a red HUD, with the words: COMBAT ANALYSIS MODE: ON, displayed prominently.

Etienne dropped the glasses on the ground and stomped on them.

"The Black Company always has such interesting gadgets. So that’s how you’ve been keeping up with me. Now what will you do without them?"

Dirty Bomb backed up until he hit the back wall of the bathroom, "Nothing at all, Ninjaman. My primary mission isn’t to fight you. It’s to clean this place up. And if you happened to get caught in my deep cleaning—" All of Eli’s skin glowed orange, "Well that’s too bad for you."

Etienne appeared before Dirty Bomb before he even noticed he moved. He stretched his arm fully, stopping about an inch away from his chest. As Dirty Bomb looked down at Etienne’s arm, Etienne’s arm shot forward and his body snapped into the one-inch punch. Dirty Bomb was sent flying directly through the back wall of the bathroom and hovered dozens of feet above the ground.

Dirty Bomb grinned. His skin did not stop glowing, and before he fell, it started. His body was surrounded by explosion after fiery explosion, and Etienne’s eyes widened as the explosions spread and engulfed the bathroom of the hotel. Before the explosions could envelop his body, Alex picked him up and flew him into the air.

The two of them watched as explosions swallowed the entire third floor. Etienne turned and watched as Dirty Bomb smashed into the hood of a cheap car.

The side and back windows shattered, but the front window stayed completely intact. Dirty Bomb waved to Etienne and Alex and crawled toward the front window. He reached into the front window with his hand, and it disappeared. The glass of the front window seemed to ripple like water. He crawled through the front window and disappeared from sight.

Alex flew down to the old car and sat Etienne down next to it.

Etienne examined the front window and touched it, to no avail.

"More metahuman nonsense. It’s getting hard to keep up. Did you find anything in there, Alex?"

Alex tapped his chest and disengaged his first form, letting the metal pieces on his joints fall to the floor.

He bit his lip and turned away from Etienne, "No. I didn’t find anything."