Etienne leaned his head against a cold brick wall and closed his eyes. The overwhelming crowd noise from the people standing in front of and behind him, in addition to the thumping techno music, was deafening.
"I feel so out of place, I should've worn something else…" Etienne thought to himself.
As a cold gust of wind blew past, Etienne shivered and looked down at himself.
His cropped biker jacket hugged his body like armor. His shiny leather pants reflected the moonlight. He tapped his knee-high platform boots on the ground and they made a deep hollow noise.
Etienne looked around at the people near him. They dressed in sweatpants and pajamas, with big coats draped over them.
Etienne leaned to the side and tilted his head to read the sign of the establishment.
Go-Go's Girls.
Etienne placed his head back on the wall and watched as the line in front of him crawled forward.
After half an hour, Etienne stood in front of a large bouncer holding a tablet.
"What's your name?" Etienne spoke with an exaggerated accent, "Blessing Onushi! I'm glad I can finally get inside, it's cold as hell out here!" As he said this, Etienne nudged the bouncer on the shoulder and laughed. The bouncer looked at him blankly for a moment, then returned his gaze to the tablet.
The bouncer's voice was monotone, "Yeah, I don't see your name on the list. Unfortunately, we're not allowing any newcomers into Go-Go's right now. Sorry."
Etienne threw his head back and groaned loudly, "Man, I'm trying to party, baby! You can't make a one-time exception for your boy?"
The bouncer slowly reached for the gun on his waistband, "I said newcomers aren't allowed. Hurry up and get out of line before we force you out."
Etienne put his hands up and backed away from the bouncer, calling out, "Chill man! You got it, you got it!"
He slinked off into the darkness, and as soon as he was fully out of view he jumped up onto an adjacent building.
"Well, that was worth a shot," Etienne thought to himself, "Time for plan B."
Etienne jumped from one building onto another and then dropped himself down into an alley on the side of the club. The oppressive and complete darkness made it impossible to spot the source of the hushed voices and light footsteps.
He felt along the wall of the club until he touched a large box mounted on the side of the building. Etienne moved his hand along the front of it until he touched a small handle. Etienne touched the various wires, aligned messily inside the box.
Etienne brought his arm back and punched straight through the box. The sparks flying from the power box provided a small amount of light, and Etienne watched as the hidden figures scurried around the alley, looking for the source.
"It might have been easier if I punched through the wall. I can't catch them off guard now, they're probably on high alert already."
Etienne felt along the wall, slowly sliding his fingers across the bottom, then making his way to the top.
After a few seconds, he noticed a tiny window far above the ground. He traced the outline of it with his finger.
"I lucked out! One of those little bathroom windows…I can still sneak in."
Etienne bent the frame of the little window and slid the glass out. After setting it down on the ground, he slithered his way through the tiny window.
He landed face-first in the tub with a loud thud.
"Definitely still rusty," Etienne thought to himself while groaning.
Etienne pulled back the curtain of the shower and examined the bathroom.
Flashlights under the door provided a tiny amount of light to the bathroom. Even though he couldn't make out the details, Etienne spotted feminine products and various bleach sprays scattered across the bathroom.
Etienne stepped out of the tub and picked up one of the bleach bottles.
"Someone here likes to keep it clean. Let me help them out…"
Etienne unscrewed the top of the bleach bottle and set it on the floor. He turned back to the counter and began to sift through the various little boxes and bottles. He bent down and opened the cupboard, and he stared at the various sprays and products. Pushing some window cleaner to the side, he grabbed out a cylindrical bottle of rubbing alcohol.
He opened the cap of the rubbing alcohol and poured it into the bleach.
He opened the door slightly and sat the dangerous mixture down in the hallway outside.
Etienne sat down on the bathroom floor near the door and placed his back against the wall. He hung his head and began to listen to his surroundings intently.
Heavy boots stomped in the hallway outside the door, and a few gruff-sounding men barked out orders. After a minute or two, intense coughing began from a few different individuals.
A young man yelled out, "Aye, we need to get out of here! There might be a gas leak!"
Someone else called out, "I don't know what it is but it's getting hard to breathe."
Etienne took his belt off and held it in his hand. He cracked the door open slowly and crouched down low.
He leaned up against the wall, and he turned his head back and forth slowly.
Despite the hallway being as dark as the alleyway, Etienne's vision began to improve, and he started identifying everything around him.
"I'm finally starting to get used to it again."
Etienne heard heavy footsteps approaching from his right. As they grew closer, he swung his belt like a whip and caught one of the figure's legs, tripping them.
Before they could recover themselves, Etienne stood over them and punched them in the face, knocking them out cold.
Etienne patted the man down until he found a pistol tucked in his belt. He held it in his hands, turning it slowly. He ejected the empty magazine and slammed it back in. He pulled the slide back and let the bullet in the chamber fall to the floor.
Etienne put the pistol in his waistband and grabbed his belt once again.
He skulked down the hallway until another young man came running past him. Before he knew what happened, Etienne wrapped the belt around his neck. With their backs against each other, Etienne bumped the thug's knee and lifted him off his feet.
The thug thrashed and fought, scraped and scratched at the belt for a while, before abruptly stopping.
Etienne put two fingers against the young man's neck and held them there. Etienne's head dropped and he sat down next to the cold body.
"Damn it man! People are so fragile…"
Etienne sat up quickly and shook his head. He continued to march down the hallway, a deep scowl now formed on his face.
He made a left and saw two guards with masks on standing guard by a shabby wooden door.
"They have gas masks on standby? They're a bit more prepared than I thought. Luckily, they're not too quick on the uptake."
Etienne grabbed the pistol out of his waistband and threw it at one of the guards, hard. It smashed into his temple and knocked him out cold.
The other guard pointed his gun around frantically in the dark. He shouted out, "Who's there? Show yourself now!"
Etienne began to walk up slowly. As the floor creaked under his weight, he picked up the pace.
The guard opened fire randomly.
Ducking and dodging, the walk shifted into a full sprint. Etienne jumped up and dropkicked the guard through the door. The guard flew through the wooden door and the door splintered, wood flying everywhere.
Etienne got up and dusted himself off. An orange light illuminated the room, and a man behind a desk stared at Etienne with wide eyes.
The man adjusted his plain tan business suit and straightened his posture. He rested one of his hands in his pocket and asked, "You're the intruder, aren't you? Who are you really?" His voice was calm and steady, despite the chaos and alarms blaring around him.
Etienne reached down and grabbed the pistol he threw at the guard. He pointed it at the man's head.
"I'm just a concerned citizen."
The man nodded, "Well, Mr. Citizen, my name is Jeremy Dow. I'm the general manager of this club and an executive member of GoGo's Disciples. Do you understand what that means?"
Etienne moved closer, pressing the pistol against the man's forehead.
Jeremy put his hands up and backed up slowly, "Careful there my friend. Those things aren't for threatening you know…"
Etienne looked into Jeremy's eyes, "You know what, you're right. You seem reasonable, I guess there's no need for that."
Etienne broke off the slide of the pistol and crushed it up, like crumpling paper.
Etienne stepped into the corner opposite of where Jeremy stood and crossed his arms, "The things I've been hearing about this club recently are… well…frankly they're concerning. I thought I'd have a chat with the owners about it, but nobody was taking my calls and they turned me away at the door."
Jeremy shrugged his shoulders and dismissively responded, "Sorry about that. You're here now though, what do you want?"
Etienne smacked his teeth, "No, no, no Jeremy! Like you said, you're just the manager. You don't have the power or clout to enact the changes I'm trying to make. I need to meet your bosses."
Etienne walked over and stood directly in front of Jeremy.
His voice was cold and quiet, "Here's what we'll do, Jer: you are going to have a night like this one every single night until next Saturday, that's seven days. I'm being very generous. I'll make sure it's shut down every single day within 30 minutes of it opening for the day until all of your bosses meet me here. If they decide not to come, then next Saturday I will burn this place to the ground."
Jeremy got loud and his pale skin turned a cherry red, "Stupid kid! Do you think you're the first metahuman who's come in here and tried to threaten me! Do you know who you're dealing with? Maybe I should show you what happened to the last one!"
Etienne shrugged and moved toward the lone window in the room, "Do what you please. Just understand there's a reason nobody is coming, even though you keep pressing that panic button."
Jeremy took his hand out of his pocket and growled at Etienne.
Etienne continued, "Because you're such a reasonable guy, I feel like I can count on you to do this. I mean, if you told your bosses one little meta is terrifying you, they'll probably do something about you before they do something about me. Remember Jeremy, Saturday!"
Etienne snapped his fingers and the dim orange light went out, making the room pitch black save for the window.
Jeremy ran over to the window to attempt to lock it closed, but Etienne had long since escaped.