Adam leaned back against the backrest of the plastic chair, lifting its front legs off the ground and balancing dangerously as he lit one of his cigarettes. The last one in the pack.
When he felt himself tipping backward, he planted one foot against the tower of beer crates in front of him to steady himself.
He took a deep drag and filled his lungs to capacity.
He was so bored.
In front of him, a half-built wall held three empty bottles and some of the shards from two dozen others he had already shattered. On one of the columns beside the wall, a dartboard hung in pristine condition—except for its center, which revealed the concrete behind—reminding him that it was his only source of entertainment whenever he wasn't prowling the streets, carrying out his mission.
He grabbed two darts resting on his belt and tossed them carelessly into the air above him. Then, with lightning speed, he drew his Smith & Wesson .460 revolver and fired twice in the same direction without even looking up.
One dart embedded itself in the concrete, through the hole that was the bullseye's center, while the other followed close behind, splitting the first in half. Their vertical trajectories had been diverted by the bullets grazing them.
He spun his gun around one finger as he released the smoke from the cigarette he had just inhaled.
He was good. Damn good. And he always had been.
Of course, the power of his Angelino helped him make those impossible shots, but before that, when he had been just another kid on the streets, he could pull off similar feats and use them to scam unsuspecting passersby.
During his youth, many bad men had taken him under their wing, admiring and exploiting his talent. They used him as a fair attraction or made him compete in tournaments. The ones with fewer scruples staged entire shows to make proud individuals bet against him.
Adam didn't complain. It was a better way to survive than stealing. Which didn't mean he wasn't exceptionally good at that too.
Everything changed when he was officially adopted and met his partner. Not in the sense that his life became decent and honorable, but rather that the schemes became more complex and elaborate.
The icing on the cake, of course, was the arrival of his Angelino. Now he was the Archangel Squad's bloodhound, its hunting dog, its hitman—everything along those lines.
He finished his cigarette and immediately reached for another, lamenting that it had been the last one and that he would have to go buy more. Either way, he was running low on beer too, and honestly, what else did he have to do with his life at the moment? Going shopping would at least be a change.
Who would have thought that the thrilling mission of leaving his homeland and traveling to this continent on the other side of the ocean to find and protect Omega's number-one target would be so boring?
As he finished his cigarette and lamented his situation, he heard footsteps climbing the railingless staircase of the unfinished floor they had turned into their hideout.
"Adam," his partner greeted him from behind. He tilted the chair farther back and bent his neck to look at her upside down.
Eve was very different from him. While he was more carefree with his loose shirts and worn-out jeans, she was always more fashionable, wearing fine blouses and elegant suits. While he was blond and unkempt, she always kept her long reddish-brown hair in charming hairstyles. While he was impulsive and always looking for a fight, she was methodical and diplomatic. While he was chaos, she was entropy. And that was why they made such good partners.
"I informed Ms. Vernadette about what you told me regarding the Hunter," she continued. "She gave me the impression that she was expecting it. Although Omega fears the Angelino, it seems to have no regard whatsoever for the Master, and it has sent Number Twenty-Nine."
"Twenty-Nine? And to think they sent us on this mission. At the very least, I expected it to be Number Eight or Seven. This is practically an insult. What if we stop playing around, kill her, take Sarah, and be done with it?"
"You know Ms. Vernadette prefers for Sarah to face her Hunter herself."
"Yeah, but... Ugh, I'm terrible at this babysitting thing. You know I'm more of an action guy. And what about the Collector? Can I at least take him out? Come on, cut me loose for a little while."
"The Collector is a minor threat, Adam."
"He's been terrorizing this city for a while now. Almost all the disappearances are his doing."
"That's the city's problem. You know we don't have time to deal with things as trivial as that. Besides, the Collector knows he doesn't stand a chance against us and has been hiding ever since we arrived. We'd waste even more time looking for him than—"
"What? Than what? Smoking four packs of cigarettes and drinking two cases of beer? Because that's what I've been doing most days."
Eve walked over and sat across from him, placing two paper bags on the stack of beer crates that now served as a table.
"Let me guess. Cheeseburger?"
Eve didn't answer. Instead, she focused on her bag, from which she pulled out the unmistakable wrapper of a burger.
"The only good thing about this city... Besides the beer, of course," Adam remarked. "The cigarettes are terrible. Menthol crap."
"You could quit smoking," Eve said after swallowing the tiny bite she had just taken from her food.
"And you could stop being so mysterious and plotting complicated plans," Adam shot back, unwrapping his burger and taking a huge bite before continuing with his mouth full. "But everyone has their vices."
"There's something else. Bad news. Or perhaps good news for you," Eve continued after taking a few more bites. "Ms. Vernadette revealed what may be another reason she sent us here."
"Shoot," Adam said, wiping himself with a napkin, which he dropped onto the sandy floor beside the wrapper from his now nonexistent dinner.
Eve took another small bite, chewed calmly, and then spoke.
"There's a possibility that the Gray Ghost will arrive here in the next few days."
"That... I don't know if I'd call that good news. Exciting, maybe. But good? I don't know. What happened to Lady A? Wasn't she the one hunting him?"
"Ms. Vernadette didn't give me any details. Only that we can expect him within four or five days."
"Maybe less."
"And how is he going to get here? Swimming? I doubt that abomination can take a plane."
"Indeed. It is believed he is crossing the ocean as we speak."
"Fu... What a monster," Adam exclaimed, unconsciously reaching for another cigarette and becoming frustrated when he remembered the pack was empty. "Well, he'll get a nasty surprise when he finds out we're here to welcome him. Do you have a plan?"
"The usual one," Eve replied, still not finished with her food.
"The usual one? Do you think it'll work?"
"It has worked eighty-four times. I don't see why it couldn't work an eighty-fifth."
"Because none of those eighty-four times we were facing the Gray Ghost... But whatever. For a moment, I got excited and thought we'd do something new." Adam sighed.
"If a strategy works, why change it?"
"Whatever you say, partner. And what happens to Sarah?"
"The plan remains the same. We wait for her to stop Omega Twenty-Nine, then we take her to Ms. Vernadette."
"What a boring plan... Well, at least she'll have to thank us for getting the Gray Ghost off her back."
"The entire world will have to thank us for that, if we manage to defeat him."
"When we defeat him, partner," Adam said. "When."