The Prince of Astoria-Chapter 70: LXX - No Longer A Hero

Etienne stood up and looked down at Jeremy’s beaten and battered form. The area around them was quiet for the first time since the battle started, and Etienne noted how eerily silent it really was. No cars on the road, no people on the sidewalks, every building and business was dark and locked in the early afternoon.

"They evacuated before we started fighting," Etienne thought to himself, "I didn’t even notice. No wonder he was throwing me around with reckless abandon."

Etienne stared at him and shook his head, "Why now? Why today? What happened to make him pick a fight with me in the first place? Was it really because of Mechaboy disappearing..."

Etienne shook his head and looked to his left at the grey windowless INHO building. The cylindrical building, once a beacon of heroism, now looked antagonistic and threatening.

Etienne’s chest tightened as he stared at it. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

"It doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done. Next stop," Etienne thought to himself.

He swaggered over to the building and threw open the front door. The workers near the front scrambled behind desks and held up chairs in their defense.

Etienne ignored them entirely and walked straight through the metal detector not bothering to stop as it beeped loudly.

"So they were watching. It was stupid of me to assume nobody saw just because I didn’t spot anybody. There must be hidden cameras on the exterior of this building."

Etienne strode down the hallway, barely throwing a cursory glance toward the security guards and various office workers. He halted and stared at an enormous poster of Jeremy posing, with the words Senshi Sentinel plastered in fancy font below him.

"Senshi Sentinel..." Etienne shook his head, "A part of me wants to know where he got his name. Too bad he didn’t get to that part of his origin."

"You feeling guilty, Ninjaman?" A familiar voice called out to Etienne. He turned his head slowly and spotted Isatou standing there, with her hands on her hips.

She moved closer to him, "Jeremy meant a lot to many people, Etienne. He may not have been as pivotal to Astoria and Oregon as your parents, but he still helped people for years. Stopped criminals and saved people for years. There have been other heroes in Oregon, and he’s had sidekicks here and there. But throughout the years, he’s remained the foundational piece of Oregon’s hero scene."

Isatou poked a finger into Etienne’s chest, "And you turned him into a bloody mess in the middle of the street! For what?"

Etienne stared at her blankly, "He lured me out here under false pretenses. He threatened me, accused me of things I didn’t do and he attempted to kill me. If I hadn’t awakened, he would’ve burned me alive. Aren’t I the victim?"

Isatou scoffed, but before she could retort, Etienne grabbed the finger she poked into her chest. Tight enough to make the threat clear.

"Did you think I forgot you assisted him with this? You think I don’t know you willingly gave him all of my info?" Etienne asked, searching Isatou’s eyes for an answer.

He pulled out the broken knife from his hoodie and pressed it against her throat, a small line of blood forming.

"Let’s talk more in your office," Etienne stated coldly.

Isatou glared at him and led him down the halls of the INHO headquarters, past scores of office workers and guards.

She led him into a large rectangular room with a large window. She drew the blinds closed on the window and took a seat behind an ornate wooden desk carved with her name.

Isatou clasped her hands together, attempting to stop herself from shaking with fear.

"So what now, Etienne? Are you gonna kill me too?" Isatou asked nervously.

Etienne frowned, "I didn’t kill Senshi Sentinel. You should know that. He still had a pulse after I finished with him. And I’m not going to hurt you," Etienne leaned across the desk and whispered into her ear, "I just want an apology."

Isatou slammed her hands onto her desk, "You don’t understand! He threatened my sister! He threatened my position. He—"

Eitenne glared at her, "Careful now. You’ll understand if I’m a bit jumpy. If you make another sudden move, I may defend myself instinctively. I don’t know what other betrayals you have in store."

Isatou put her hands up, "There are no other betrayals, Etienne. I’m not strong like you; there are only so many things ordinary people can do to protect themselves. I don’t know what happened or what you did, but there’s not many people that can hurt you now."

Etienne frowned and looked away from her, "That’s what you think. I just have a better grasp on my powers. I’m like a sharpened sword instead of a dull one. I still don’t think I could take Ms. Friendly or Isaac by myself..."

Isatou nodded her head, "Look, Etienne, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to just sell you out to protect myself. He said he just wanted to question you. I didn’t think he wanted to pick a fight—"

"Look, it doesn’t matter," Etienne leaned forward on the table and pinched his forehead, "I’m not only here for your apology. I want to know about my data. I know you have a file on me. I remember P.I asking me a bunch of questions so I could be a contract hero. Can you erase that data?"

Isatou opened up the bulky laptop on her desk and began typing, "For contract heroes, any data on them is stored locally in a server we operate. It’s accessible anytime by anybody within the INHO network, regardless of state."

Isatou stopped typing and looked up at him, "That’s true for you too. But, per P.I’s request, when we registered you as a contract hero I received permission to redact your data. If anyone wants to look into you or request you for any missions, they have to call us and specially request it. For other contract heroes, their state’s INHO branch can access their info and request them anytime."

Etienne thought to himself, "Is that why I never went on out of state missions like Nairobi? Because they had to jump through too many hoops for me?"

Etienne glared at Isatou once more, "You still didn’t answer my question. Can you erase it?"

Isatou looked up at him, then began typing on her computer once more, "Ordinarily, no. It’s not allowed. But I don’t think you’re giving me a choice, so I’ll go ahead and do it."

He crossed his arms, "And you don’t keep any backups do you? Or any physical copies?"

Isatou shook her head, "No backups. No physical copies. We don’t need them."

Etienne watched for a few minutes as Isatou typed relentlessly, her focus never breaking.

"Why did you lie about where Nairobi is? Was that necessary?" Etienne asked quietly.

"I didn’t lie, Etienne," She responded, her focus still not breaking, "She’s already in California, helping out against the Mob."

"So she went from my house directly to the airport," Etienne thought to himself, "She really is dedicated. Why do I even care..."

Isatou pressed one last button and looked up at Etienne.

"Done."

Etienne narrowed his eyes, "That quickly?"

Isatou closed her computer and frowned, "I’m the director, Etienne. Deleting a file is child’s play."

Etienne smiled at her, "Thank you for your cooperation, Director Isatou. You can consider this my resignation, I don’t plan on coming back here ever again."

Isatou leaned forward and gritted her teeth, "You don’t know what you’ve really done, do you? I don’t know what your end goal is, but the INHO will hunt you to the ends of the Earth! You’re strong, but do you really think you can stand up to the top ten? To Superstar? To All-Star?"

Etienne tapped his chin and thought to himself, "The number two and number one. The Star Family. Jeremy said something similar about being hunted. When that time comes, what will I do..."

Etienne crossed his arms, "Do you really think they’d send the number one hero after me? Isn’t that a bit overkill, considering Senshi Sentinel pursued me first?"

Isatou’s voice became low, conspiratorial, "You beat a ranked hero to a bloody pulp. Whatever the context, whatever the reason, there is zero tolerance for violence against heroes. Letting it slide would set a dangerous precedent."

Etienne turned on his heel and exited the stuffy office.

Isatou called out to him before he left fully, "Wait! Where are you going now?"

Etienne turned back to her, a scowl still on his face, "You don’t have to worry about that ever again. I’m done being a hero."

He swaggered out of the INHO building and looked at the spot where Jeremy last lay. The crater remained, but Jeremy’s body was gone.

Etienne groaned and thought to himself, "He’s gone. He’s hardier than I would’ve thought. I don’t imagine he’ll be coming after me though."

He walked over to the crater and squatted down. He ran his hands through his hair, "This is nuts. I fought a ranked hero. How am I gonna tell Gabe?"