1 Friday, October 15, 1998
That cold night in Gold City, there were no crimes to be avoided by the local hero who lived there ...
Or used to live
Who was there was Adam Smith, his partner. Actually, it was not your partner. The twenty-two-year-old survived that night to tell a story; and so he did.
His face full of hope and determination now showed just nothing. It was empty. Adam had not yet gotten over the night he had lost his best friend and mentor. His tousled brown hair fell over his face and his black eyes, as that night expressed nothing, stared into the infinite, anguished emptiness in the dark corner of the bar. That bar was the same one that used to go with John, "Golden Phoenix." He was a superhero. He had the ability to fly and was incredibly strong. The Phoenix punches were like a building compressed into a single fist falling into the evildoers' faces. John Brunner looked invincible.
He just looked. Was not. Adam had seen it.
He was drinking another beer when a woman entered the bar. It was remarkable for her clothes, she should not be there. But it didn't matter to her. Charlotte knew everything: that John was Cetan, the Phoenix partner, and that she could make a lot of money by interviewing him.
Charlotte Pendleton was a twenty-three-year-old reporter, a newcomer to Golden News, the city's largest journalism company. An incredibly beautiful woman, and what she had of beauty was also of intelligence. He had red hair and green eyes that they could charm any manipulative bastard. Would it be like that with Adam? She would find the answer to that question in the next few minutes when she would try to get the words out of Adam's mouth. Anyway, she'd already given the checkmate, already had what she needed to get everything he had to say.
"Cetan." She sat on the bench next to the man and looked him in the eyes, as if asking a question already knowing the answer.
"Who?" It was his strong breath, Adam nervously swallowed the dry spit.
"I saw you heading towards the explosion last week."
"You must be confusing me with someone else, sorry." He takes another sip of beer.
"You are a partner of .. Golden Phoenix? That guy who wore a strange uniform and, I don't know how, knew how to fly too."
It was clear that the girl knew everything, and it was no use hiding the truth.
"How much do you want to get out of here and keep your mouth shut?" He sighed and finally dropped the glass.
"You know I could just take the money and go around spreading that Cetan is just a drunk, right?"
"You're pissing me off, just say what you want and get out of here."
"Are you nervous, superhero? I just want you to tell me a few things, I'm from the newspaper." Charlotte smiled. It was one of those smiles Adam hadn't seen in a while.
"What do I earn with that?"
"My sympathy, cool, right?"
"I'll say whatever you want if you want to get out of here as soon as possible."
They both laughed out loud. Their laughter was interrupted by the question the reporter would ask next:
"How did Phoenix die?"
