The Prince of Astoria-Chapter 62: LXII - The Hostage

Etienne sat on the couch in the living room, reading the multitude of messages from Money slowly. The TV blared in the background loudly as Gabe attended to his normal duties close by.

"Good afternoon, this is Ellie Moreno with the SNN, your Super News Network. Six months have passed since the public last saw or heard from the King of Esoterica. Speculation continues to grow that the king is currently missing. The Esoterica Royal Family refuses to comment on the matter."

Etienne grabbed the remote and turned the TV down. He tapped on a voicemail from Money and put it up to his ear.

"Hey Prince," Money began. His voice was distressed and raspy, far from his usual demeanor, "I know you’re busy and still acclimating to regular life. If I went through what you did, I might never show my face outside again."

There was a quiet sound in the voicemail, like Money was holding back a sob, "But Etienne, if you’re still committed to helping the Fellows. If you’re still committed to helping me, then I need your help. Desperately. Julian and the Good People Movement have shown their hand."

Money paused for a second and took in a deep, shaky breath, "Look, I can’t talk about this over the phone. Just know they are trying to do something that will affect all of Astoria, even all of Oregon. Just...get back to me when you can. Call me, drop by my apartment, whatever. I don’t go into work until 6 every day, and I’m off on Sundays. Thanks."

Etienne threw his head back and looked at the ceiling, his mouth agape.

"All of Oregon?" Etienne thought to himself, "I’ve been underestimating the problems here. I should’ve never let Melpo slide just because he wasn’t an active threat. There are other ways to cause problems besides fighting and blowing things up. Although he’s done his share of that too..."

Etienne turned and saw Gabe with a wide eyed expression, having paused in the middle of his cleaning.

"Are you going to visit Money now? Shall I get the car?" Gabe questioned.

Etienne shook his head and slowly stood up.

"Nope, not this time. I don’t know why, but I want to take the bus into town. It’s still pretty early; I’ll be there before he has to go into work."

Gabe nodded his head slowly and hesitantly resumed his cleaning, "I understand. If you change your mind, just call and I’ll come pick you up and drive you the rest of the way."

Etienne raced upstairs to his bedroom and flung his closet door open.

"I’m sorry, Money. I should’ve seen the number of calls and texts and assumed there was some type of emergency. I don’t know what I was thinking..." The thoughts raced through Etienne’s mind.

Etienne pulled out several pieces of clothing and tossed them onto the floor before finally settling on his usual hero attire: the oversized cowl-neck hoodie and baggy black cargo pants.

"I guess I’ll wear this. If there are any calls for me, then I can slip away and take care of it without worrying about what I have on. But just for today, I really hope there are no requests."

As Etienne put his clothes on, his phone rang on the bed across the room.

"Must be Money," Etienne thought to himself, "Let me tell him I’m coming now."

Etienne grabbed his phone and looked in confusion at the caller ID: Unknown Number.

Etienne stared at it for a long time and thought, "No one should have this number except Gabe, Alex and Nairobi. Could this be Alex?"

He paused for a second longer before answering it.

"Hello?" A familiar voice spoke softly.

"Isatou? That’s a surprise. Why are you calling me directly? And why is your number—"

She cut him off, "Etienne. I need you to come to the INHO headquarters immediately. There’s an emergency. Please. There’s no time." Her speech was flat, almost robotic.

Etienne scratched his head and paced around his room, "Alright, I’m coming to you. Once we hang up, put the request in the system so everyone can see it."

Isatou made a disapproving noise, "I couldn’t, Etienne. I don’t even have my phone; they took it. This is someone else’s. I only called your phone because your file was up on my backup computer."

Etienne rushed downstairs and threw open the closet door, grabbing some of his weapons.

"Okay, okay. Just keep your head down. I’ll call Alex and Nairobi and—"

Frustration seeped into Isatou’s voice, "Alex is missing and Nairo is out in California assisting the Gamers. When we hang up, just beeline here."

There was an awkward silence on the line for nearly a minute as Etienne finished suiting up.

Isatou broke the silence as he reached for the door, "And Etienne? Please hurry. And bring everything."

She hung up the phone abruptly.

Etienne rummaged through the boxes quickly and stuffed every weapon deep into his hoodie.

He dashed to the front door.

He paused with his hand hovering over the door and turned around. He spotted Gabe staring at him from the living room.

"Isatou is in trouble. It’s weird. I don’t know. I’m going to the INHO headquarters."

He walked out of his house and shoved his hands in his hoodie. Etienne saunters down the hill toward the middle of town.

"So she’s being held hostage, or she’s being blackmailed into pretending she is. Either way, she’s in danger."

After a few brief minutes, Etienne arrived at the transit station. He looked at the signs and stood next to the one labeled ’Portland’.

"It has to be the Black Company, right? They have a few members with a vendetta against me, and this is an easy way to lure me out. Could be...Ms. Glitch. Maybe taking revenge for Protag...I guess we’ll see..."

He waited in the biting cold and watched as buses filed in and out of the station.

"The details aren’t lining up, though. We drank throughout the night, and she left in the morning, so how could she be in Cali already?"

A bus finally stopped in front of Etienne, letting out a low hiss as passengers made their way off. Etienne stepped onto the bus and showed the driver a ticket on his phone. He made his way to the back and sat on one of the ugly multicolored seats.

He stared out of the window silently for the duration of the three-hour bus ride. He pondered the motives behind the hostage situation, the identity of whoever perpetrated the situation and, most importantly, how he would approach them.

After three excruciating hours, Etienne stepped off the bus and shoved his hands in his pockets. He walked from the Portland transit station to the INHO headquarters, covering half a mile in less than five minutes.

He stopped just short of the front entrance and stared at the man standing in front of the building.

The man was tall, well over seven feet, but cartoonishly muscular. He wore a black suit emblazoned with flames. A large black iron club, nearly as big as his entire body, hung on his back.

"Who are you? Are you the one holding this place hostage?" Etienne called out, being sure to keep his distance.

The man shrugged, "Why don’t you take a guess?"

Etienne took a hesitant step forward, "You must be...Mr. Friendly, right?"

The man laughed heartily and slapped his knee, "Man, it would be terrible for you if I was, huh? But no, I’m not, try again. And I’ll even give you a hunt, I’m not associated with the Black Company."

Etienne tapped his chin, "Okay...you must be one of GoGo’s other executives. I remember he said he had few out in Cali..."

The man’s jovial demeanor fell away and he frowned, "Are villains the only people that exist in your world? Come on, think Ninjaman! Think about who called you; think about where we are!"

He motioned to the INHO building behind him and smiled, "I know somebody you know has mentioned me quite a bit. So who am I?"

Etienne’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head, and he took several steps back, "You’re...you’re Senshi Sentinel. Alex’s master."

Senshi Sentinel smiled from ear to ear, "Bingo. I am the Senshi Sentinel, but you can call me Jeremy."