AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED, Ethan, Benji, Luther and Brandt had decided to go on a vacation together to Hawaii.
"Benji, you're just way too excited," Ethan remarked, commenting on Benji's current outfit. "Now everyone here knows where we're going."
Benji was dressed in an aloha vintage shirt along with some blue shorts. Moreover, he even wore a straw hat and a pair of sunglasses, and they were only in the airport checking in their flight to Hawaii.
"Don't bother him," Luther said before Benji could answer, waving him off dismissively. "I'll get the boarding passes for you guys." Luther then walked away.
"Isn't it nice having a relaxing day or two without having any threat or organisation to kill us and attempt world domination?" Brandt asked with a relaxed sigh.
"You might jinx it!" Benji exclaimed in a hushed and alarming tone.
"Sorry," Brandt said with a shrug.
"Benji's right though," Ethan replied.
Since they were so engrossed in their conversation about "jinxing", they never saw an upcoming threat in the distance. He quietly assembled his sniper that was separated into parts to not cause suspicion and loaded a bullet. Walter made sure no one was looking at him and he aimed at Ethan's chest.
This is what you'll get for your actions, Walter thought.
He shot the bullet.
It would've killed Ethan, but no, Ethan never dies. Whether by luck or wound, he never dies.
"Ethan! I got the boarding passes!" Luther called as he ran towards Ethan. When he stood in front of Ethan to give him the boarding passes, he felt an overwhelming pain that began to spread from his back. Luther yelled in pain, enough to attract the attention of the surrounding people. Some people began to panic and scream.
"Luther!" Ethan shouted, shocked by the shot Luther had been hit with, he immediately put pressure on Luther's wound nonetheless.
"Oh dear god..." Benji muttered.
Brandt reached for his phone. "An ambulance, now! Someone's been shot!" He said frantically, telling the location to the person at the other end in the process.
"Dammit," Walter cursed as he quickly disassembled the gun.
"Sorry guys," Ethan said. "Vacation's cancelled."
By the time Ethan looked at his direction, Walter was already gone.
* * *
"Whoever shot him wanted me dead," Ethan concluded, sitting down in one of the hallways of the hospital Luther was sent to.
"But why would you say that?" Brandt asked.
"I agree with Brandt. The shooter could be aiming at Luther anyway," Benji added.
"No, before the bullet could hit me, Luther came running to us with the boarding passes. The shooter didn't expect him to get in the way of the bullet," Ethan said, disagreeing with his friends.
"Okay, you have a point," Brandt reluctantly said.
Benji added, "Moreover, you do have many more enemies than Luther. So many that you can't keep track—"
Brandt kicked him in the shin to stop Benji from talking and shot him a glare.
A doctor got out of the operation room and walked towards the three. They all stood up and walked towards him.
"How is he?" Brandt asked.
"We managed to get the bullet out safely. Your friend could still walk, fortunately, but he'll need to rest here for a few days and stay in a wheelchair for a week or two."
Ethan kept silent, feeling guilty.
"May we have the bullet?" Benji asked.
"I'll try to persuade them to give it to you, but you should be able to have it if we haven't thrown it away. I'll go get it for you guys."
And with that, the doctor ran back into the operation room.
Moments later, he came back with a ziplock bag in his hands.
"Here," The doctor gave the bag to Benji.
Benji examined the bullet.
"This isn't any regular bullet," He declared.
"Let me see," Ethan snatched the bag and looked at it.
"We need to examine it in the lab to see what substance that is," Brandt said after he took his turn to look at the bullet.
"Okay, you guys go. I'll stay here," Ethan decided, sitting back down.
Brandt and Benji didn't see the need to question Ethan of his actions, so they nodded and went.
The lab Brandt referred to was more of an underground base they built from an empty but spacious space. Equipment of all sorts was stored there including weaponry, gear, tools, science equipment, et cetera.
Ilsa was in the lab scrolling through a list in a computer.
"What's that?" Benji asked, making Ilsa jump and closed the list instantly.
"I thought you were on the way to Hawaii," Ilsa said, looking at Brandt.
"Sorry," Brandt mouthed with Benji not noticing.
"We have a change of plans: Luther's been shot. We're examining the bullet to check for anything unusual," Benji said as Brandt started to examine it with different sorts of equipment.
Benji and Ilsa waited as Brandt examined the bullet.
"Benji, find out what this substance is using your computer please." Brandt requested as he sent all the information that they had about the substance so far to Benji's computer.
"Oh god..." Benji breathed.
"I take it that it isn't good?" Ilsa guessed.
"It's an extremely rare unnamed substance used to slowly kill a person painfully," Benji winced as he said those words. "There is only one cure, but it's really hard to find. It's almost as rare as this substance."
"We need to tell Ethan," Brandt said as he panicked to get his phone out of his pocket. "How long does it usually take?"
"If not injected by the cure, he has up to two weeks or three. We must get it by then."
* * *
"Don't blame yourself, Ethan. I'll live," Luther mumbled as Ethan sat next to Luther who was currently laying down on a hospital bed.
Ethan sighed. "But still, if you didn't run there, you wouldn't have been shot—"
"And you would've died," Luther cut in.
Ethan's phone started to ring. He took it out to reveal Brandt who was calling him.
"Did you find out what it was?" Ethan asked.
"Yes, we did. And it isn't good," Brandt replied.
"Then what is it?" Ethan asked, getting impatient. He then heard a snatch of a phone.
"It's an unknown substance that slowly kills you painfully in two to three weeks. It's an extremely rare substance and the cure is almost as scarce," Benji replied after snatching Brandt's phone, irritating Brandt slightly. Why does this remind Ethan of the Chimera?
Another snatch of a phone and an "Ow!"
"Ethan, we have to find it as fast as we can. That way, Luther won't suffer too much pain. We only need to try and locate the cure, get to that location and get it, no matter how guarded the place is," Brandt said after snatching his phone back and smacking Benji's head.
"Then get right to it. And fast. Thanks, Brandt," Ethan answered as he hung up.
"What were you talking about?" Luther asked.
"I-it's nothing, Luther. I gotta go now," Ethan ran from Luther's room.
Ethan ran to the warehouse that had an elevator that led to the underground base. In the warehouse, he saw someone there.
A mission? Ethan questioned in his mind.
"Nice weather today, don't you think?" The man asked, looking at the sky.
A mission indeed.
"Yeah, but I always carry an umbrella," Ethan replied.
The man turned around to look at him. "Why so? Rain?"
"Or the scorching sun."
The man walked towards Ethan and passed him a USB flash drive. Ethan grabbed it and headed towards the underground base.
<><><><><><><><>
It's my birthday! XD
I love that gif by the way.
<><><><><><><><>