Public Enemies (Villain x Hero)

6

As soon as Ethis woke up he immediately went back to searching. After a few hours, he was finding himself counting the hours and losing the hope of finding him. It ended with Ethis once again retreating to Luca's apartment. After a few days, he had almost entirely given up all hope of finding him at all.

At this point, the chances were slim that Luca was even alive. Ethis had now identified the men who took him as members of the mafia, which would help, as the police had records of the places around the city that they owned.

"Ahh! Welcome Apex, how may we help you?" Don Lorenzo asked as Ethis walked into the warehouse that he supposedly owned.
"I'm looking for someone who I believed was taken by your members."
"Oh my, so straight to the point. Who are you looking for?"
"Luca Frazier."
"Yes, we had him, his brother owed us money but we couldn't find him, so we took Luca to try and lure his brother out of hiding."
"What do you mean by 'had'?"
"We... let him go."
"Where is he now?"
"In some alley."
"Any alley in particular?"
"No idea, sorry."
"It's fine. I'll be going now."
"Wait, come relax, have a drink with me."
"No thank you, I have to go." Ethis explained. He had seen blood splattered across the floor and knew better than to stick around places like that.

Apex immediately began searching alley after alley, new hope rising in him. He heard a groan from the end of one of the alley's after a few hours and rounded the corner with caution. He peaked round and spotted Luca, lying in a curled-up position, barely starting to move. Ethis ran over and knelt down, gently checking Luca over before pulling him onto his lap.

Luca groaned softly and a few tears rolled down his face. Ethis picked him up softly, looking over the many cuts and bruises scattered across his already scarred face. Apex took off into the air and flew to the small corner store near Luca's apartment to pick up a first aid kit. As soon as the old store clerk, Mr Anderson, saw him walk in with the badly injured Luca, he rushed to grab an ice pack and first aid kit. Ethis had always known Mr Anderson to be the type to not ask questions and just help.

"Here Apex, take this, I hope that boy is okay."
"Thank you. He's been through a lot, but I'll let you know if I need help."
"And I will always be here to help."
"Thank you, Mr Anderson." He ended the conversation, his arms now completely full, and took off towards Luca's apartment.