FRIENDS: ENZO AND JIELE

"No, no, that can't be! He's dead! I watched him die!" Jon agitatedly exclaimed in disbelief.

"It is Jon, I saw him myself," Myles assured.

With visible agitation, Jon turned around and threw a heavy punch straight at a nearby trash bin, causing it to deform and leaving a crater where he had struck.

"I ran into him a couple of days ago. He threw me off the top floor of a building with ease. Whatever happened to him before, he's stronger now, and he's back for a reason, Jon. We need your help," Myles said to Jon.

Now perplexed and confused, Jon stood for a little while, utterly awestruck, as he racked his brain.

"We lost friends that day," Jon said, his eyes filling up with anger. "All that couldn't have been for nothing," Jon lamented.

"I'm sorry, Jon, but there's so much that's unknown. We don't know what's coming. Wasting time now will put everything at stake. We need your help, Jon."

Pulling himself together, Jon replied, "If I'm going to come with you, I need to see someone first."

"Alright," Myles agreed.

They both walked to the end of the alley, revealing large brick walls rising up to tall buildings from all corners.

Jon walked close to the side of the wall, grabbing hold of a loose brick arranged with others and pulling it out. The opened section now revealed a red button. Jon tapped the button, and a little hatch beneath the concrete floor opened, revealing a dry sewer passage.

Jon and Myles proceeded down the ladder into the passage below.

In the sewers, as they came up against a dead end on the path ahead, Jon pushed another brick placed at the side of the wall. This caused a section of the wall to gradually break open, revealing a door leading into a room.

The room inside revealed a wide space divided halfway by a glass fence in the middle of the room, having a console of several screens at one end, and on the other side of the wall, a surveillance and control center--, and another section a transparent board covered in scribblings and writings like equations of physics all over, with a counter, where several tools, devices, accessories and apparatuses were keep.

There was a couch just close to the site where the board was.

"What is this place?" Myles asked in awe.

"It's a hideout, my base of operations," Jon replied.

"I knew it, you never stopped," Myles said excitedly.

"The syndicate has been operating from the shadows since my team disbanded," Jon explained. "However, thanks to this facility and the help of my friends, we've been able to stop some of their operations, and also keep a close eye on them."

"An agent of CREED!" A voice screamed out in fright from a room ahead.

Myles immediately took a stance, ready to charge at the approaching target.

"No, stop!" Jon rushed to stop Myles from attacking. "They're my friends, the ones we're here to meet" Jon said as he held Myles back.

Walking into view, a tall boy in a striped shirt and jeans trousers wearing glasses, and a girl with striking pink hair wearing black leggings with shorts and a pink sweater, both seemingly in their late twenties, approached Jon and Myles.

"Hi" the pair said in unison as they raised their hands waving lightly at Myles.

"This is Enzo Pierre and this is Jeiel Pierre," Jon said motioning with his hand respectively at both of them. "They're my friends.

"We met in this city a while after my former team disbanded.

They've been of great help to me in fighting against the syndicate," Jon introduced.

"Oh my God! I can't believe I'm standing before an active CREED agent!" Jeiel panicked.

"Get serious Jeiel, you're friends with Agent Mane and this intrigues you? You never seize to amaze me." Enzo bickered.

"Guys, come on, let's get on straight to business," Jon intervened.

"Anytime now, Julius is going to arrange with the press to convey a huge lie to the world," Enzo said.

"With the kind of influence he has, we don't need to guess how that's going to end," Jeiel added.

Walking towards the monitor, Jeiel took a seat and interacted with the keyboard. The screen lit up, displaying a live feed from various locations in the city.

"Recently, our suspicions pointed to District Incorporations having a hand in leading and funding the syndicate, and it turns out we were right," Enzo said.

"Hmm, this doesn't make sense, though. How did they find out I've been onto them?" Jon wondered aloud.

"Just after I met Mark, there I was thinking you were just interested in rendering community services," Myles said, releasing a slight chuckle.

"Regardless, Myles, this is the most public appearance they have ever had since their origins," Jon said. "They must've been really intent on eliminating me."

"Something tells me we're going to be seeing them more often from now onwards. They seem to be prepared to come into the public eye," Jon added, his voice tinged with suspicion.

"I was chased through the sky and shot down on the day Denumbit caught sight of me, and now you were openly assaulted. I don't think this is a coincidence. It could actually be the syndicate behind Denumbit's return," Myles contemplated.

"If that's true, it means they've gotten their hands on some high-tech, their weaponry and accessories are advanced and one of a kind. That's really, really bad for us," Jon exclaimed, concern etched on his face.

"If they've been onto us here, then they must have a spy up at CREED HQ. We're gonna need to get back immediately!" Jon insisted.

"We can't trust anyone right now then" Myles conferred.

"Jeiel and Enzo, you guys stay here and keep an eye on Julius Briskly and all his whereabouts, it's not safe out there for now. Myles and I will head back to CREED HQ," Jon commanded.

"I'm gonna need that gear Enzo." Jon said looking straight at Enzo.

"I thought you'll never ask" Enzo replied joyously as he rushed to another corner of the room, tapping a button which caused a section on the wall to slide open, revealing a display casing equipped with a stylized vest, a black long sleeved top and trouser with on wall and a black mask that covers the lower face section.

"Three times stronger than kevlar, these fabrics ought to protect you when you're not hardened, they possess a diffusion feature that allows you to pass your etherea-cell between it's molecules. The vest packs all accessories you might need, including your comms." Enzo elaborated.

"Perfect, I'll take it to go" Jon replied.

Enzo quickly proceeded to packing up the gear in a little case and handing it over to Jon.

"Be safe Jon," Jeiel said as she walked up to Jon, latching firmly onto him giving him a tight hug.

"Oookk?? This is weird, I'll be in over here." Enzo muttered loudly as he turned around heading towards the lab section.

"Come on, Myles, we'll take my shuttle," Jon said as he left the grapple of Jeiel, leading the way out the room.

"You have a shuttle?!" Myles asked in utter awe as he followed behind Jon.

Taking a brief pause at the door, Jon turned facing Enzo, "You know what to do, Enzo, if anything goes sideways," Jon reminded Enzo just before giving a nod of assurance.

"I got you" Enzo assured, exchanging a smile with Jeiel from over the counter where he stood.

As Jon and Myles made their way through the sewers back to the surface, they couldn't shake off the sense of urgency and foreboding that hung in the air.

Meanwhile, Enzo and Jeiel remained in the hideout, monitoring the live feed from the city, gathering data and files related to the syndicate.