Cadell individually cracked each finger of his right hand with his thumb as The Voice chuckled mockingly. There was no terrified, trembling child behind the previously guarded door. Only a table with a hologram projector on it. At least things made a bit more sense now. Not once had he sensed any signs of terror in the building.

A hologram appeared seconds later, displaying a well groomed black man in a black suit. Apart from a small horizontal scar on his forehead, nothing stood out.

“Hi. I’m Ejiro. It’s a pleasure to–”

“Where’s the kid?” Cadell interrupted.

There was a pause. The man leaned back in his chair. “This message is recorded. I’m assuming you said something. Hence the pause mid sentence. If I timed it right, it makes me look like a genius. If I timed it wrong, well, I’m not so much of a genius.”

Cadell raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“There’s good news,” Ejiro said. “There was no kidnapping. You, my friend, were tricked. Everything was fake. Apart from the emotions. They were very much real. I told that woman I’d murder everyone she loves if she didn’t play her role properly. I’m glad everything worked out.”

The excitement on the man’s face kept Cadell on edge. It was a simple broad smile, maybe charming in a different context.

“For over twenty years, I’ve been hired to assassinate many types. Politicians. Civilians. Criminals. Royalty. But never have I been asked to eliminate a superpowered vigilante. You’re going to be more than just a masterpiece, my friend. You’re going to be my magnum opus.”

Cadell folded his arms. Being called “friend” twice by a random assassin was a lot more annoying than you would think. He wanted to portal punch this dude into the Amazon Rainforest.

This guy’s such a bozo, The Voice boomed.

I know, right? Corny. Bozo, bozo.

Bozo, bozo, bozo

Bozo, bozo, bozo, bozo

Murder everyone in this city, boy.

See, this is why we can’t have fun.

“Do you know how many clients chipped in for this?” Ejiro continued. “You have a lot of enemies in this country, but I guess that’s inevitable when you spend every waking hour beating the shit out of criminals. Thanks for listening to this completely unhelpful speech and buying me time to prepare. Every second counts, right? Meet soon.

BOOM!

The hologram projector exploded but the impact was immediately relocated by a portal, shaking the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa.

There wasn’t a trace of surprise on Cadell’s face. Exploding devices were too common in his line of work. “Every time.” He shook his head. “Every damn time.”