60 Nubian Prince

[Date: June 2023]

He took a slow breath to calm himself and another look at his target. With the path clear and no interference in sight he moved.

With confident steps he put up an air of control even though excitement filled his chest.

As he closed in, seeing his target unaware, he cleared his throat.

"Excuse me sir." He said with relief that his voice didn't crack.

His target turned around plate full and shrimp in hand.

"You're Nubian Prince right?...I mean of course you are." He started stuttering emotions getting the better of him for asking such an obvious question. "…I just wanted to say how much of an inspiration you are. I've been following your work since you started in Detroit, you're the reason I wanted to become a hero in the first place…"

He stopped as he noticed his 'hero' look at him not and swallowed his food.

Nubian Prince put his plate down and wiped his hands with a napkin.

"Nice to meet you kid. What's your name?" Instantly he felt relief as he took the taller dark skinned man's hand in his own and shook it.

"Darren Dolohov sir…" He saw Nubian Prince raise his eyebrow at him. "Uh, I mean Side Strike sir." Nubian Prince smiled at him.

"Nice to meet you Darren. Just remember when in costume it's always your hero name, it's company policy." He said gently.

"Yes sir…Nubian Prince …sir?"

"Just call me Gerald while we are here. And enough with the Sir stuff, we're both heroes here. Plus you are making me feel like my father."

"Uh, yea of course, sure thing Gerald." Side Strike said.

"You're pretty new right kid? How many years in the business?" Gerald asked.

"Just started last year…well I mean I went thought the Academy and graduated last year."

"And how are you finding it so far?"

He hesitated to answer but felt he should say the truth to the person he admired the most.

"Uh… honestly it is not what I expected." He hesitated.

"In what way?" Nubian Prince asked in earnest interest.

"Well…" he started. "Once I graduated I thought I'd be out there in the field doing good, you know, catching bad guys and helping people. But it's been a lot less field work than I thought and a lot more media focus I guess..." he paused briefly "like they are having me do a lot of Tik Tok videos every time I go out. They say it's for community outreach but I think it's mostly because I gained a big following during my academy days."

He saw Nubian Prince smile and chuckle.

"It's just part of the job Darren. Trust me you'll get your time in the field, you'll get your hands dirty and if you stick long enough you'll get to see stuff you wish you hadn't seen. Every hero here has a few cases they wish they hadn't seen, gruesome stuff." He saw Gerald tone turn somber as if remembering memories he wish he didn't have.

"You'll get to help people personally and that's important don't get me wrong but the media stuff, the movies, the commercials the sponsorships the Tik Tok's that important as well." Darren listened intently.

"That's how the company makes money and that's how we make money. And make no mistake money is how you change the world. You see I've been in this business for a decade and a half. Saved a lot of people and lost quite a few. You never get to save everyone you have to remember that kid." Gerald said as a matter a fact.

"But you know what I'm most proud of?" Darren didn't smartly didn't answer the rhetorical question.

"It's the Maya Center for Excellence." Darren looked confused for a moment trying to figure out where he heard that name before.

"It's the private school academies I've founded." Nubian Prince supplied helpfully. "Five schools about three to four hundred students each half the seats go to low income inner city kids. Every year over two hundred students graduate and go to college on scholarships that would have never had the opportunity otherwise."

"Almost all the kids graduate college and make six figures within five years." He continued proudly. "We have a sixty percent year over year alumni donation rate. People giving back to help other students. We've created a community that improves people lives more and none of it could have been possible without my money, fame and influence as Nubian Prince." He finished off with a satisfied smile.

Darren took a moment to absorb his words.

"I see. I never really thought of it that way." He finally said, feeling a bit ashamed.

"Don't worry kid you're young, you're just starting out. Just remember if you want to change the game you first have to play it. Take for example…" he said and looked around the room until he found his target.

"Starlight." He pointed Darren at the captain of The Seven talking with a group and eating snacks. "How many people do you thing she saved in the past few months? Maybe a dozen maybe two, maybe less. But how many people do you think the HomeLight foundation helped? Hundreds." He said and looked back at Darren.

"So you have to decide for yourself how you want to help the world. You can do the time and take the money to make a difference or you can buy fancy cars and bling for yourself." Nubian Prince paused and looked at him intensely then turned back to the table and picked up his plate.

"It's all up to you Darren."

"I understand. I have a lot to think about."

"No worries kid. Now come on lunch is almost done make sure you eat up." He said loading up his place with shrimp. "We're spending the rest of the afternoon on de-escalation techniques. We'll be running through quite a few scenarios. Make sure you pay attention and do your best. Had a chat with the big man himself he's making it a sticking point to reduce the number of lawsuits."

"Yea sure thing." Darren said and started to load a plate of fried rice and lemon chicken for himself. As he was putting the much needed sustenance a thought just struck him.

He'd been so into the conversation that he didn't really notice until now, he felt compelled to ask.

"Uh, Gerald, I hope it's not rude of me to ask but-"

He didn't get to finish as Nubian Prince answered.

"I was born in Detroit. Parents from Sudan so I know the accent. I put it on for the cameras." He said with a small smirk.

"It's all part of the show kid." He finished with a wink and left to talk to another group of heroes.