The sun had set on another day in Trenton. Everything was as it should be; people were out and about, hanging out with old friends. A cafe named the Gentle Bean was brimming with all sorts of people, bringing in others in a question of what was so magical about it. A man with chestnut colored hair sat inside near the front door, quietly eating a donut and drinking some coffee. As he put down his coffee, his waiter tripped as a put some sugar cubes on the table.
“Oops! Sorry, Joe! I’ve been super clumsy all day today!” The waiter, named Benny, said, cleaning up spare sugar particles off the table. He and Joe had known each other ever since high school and had lived together to save money. They had planned to move away to the city when they had saved up enough.
Joe was a businessman for a game board company and Benny picked up odd jobs around Trenton for their jobs. He, unfortunately, got fired easily due to him being forgetful of tasks. The longest job Benny had been at was being a waiter.
When the cafe’s crowd died down, Joe and Benny drove back to their home. As soon as they got home, Joe threw himself on the couch and immediately fell asleep. Benny sat on the armchair next to home and continued sewing a small picture for their kitchen. The room was quiet until the phone rang. Benny stared at the phone, waiting for it to stop ringing. He was afraid that Joe would wake up if he had answered it.
The telephone machine beeped, “One new call from… Unknown Caller.” Benny stood up and went to go click the off button, but decided to listen to the caller.
“Hello, Benny. This is Winnifred from the Department of National Defense. We need you and Joe to report here as soon as possible. Delete this message after the tone.”
Benny and Joe had received calls like this many times before. Under their disguise of being normal people, they actually worked for an underground safety group that would deal with crimes that did not make it to the news. Since it was a such a big thing for the two, one of them had to switch jobs constantly to avoid people getting suspicious.
After Joe had woken up and finished complaining how the Department of National Defense called too late, they were on their way. The company was located underneath “Wine Me a River”, a local Italian bistro.
Winnifred, the boss, greeted the two as they entered the central hub, “Welcome. It took you longer than usual to get here, Mr. Bennet. Mr. Joseph, did this have anything to do with you?”
Joe snapped out of his haze, “Uh, well… I got home…”
“He just woke up from a nap, ma’am! That’s all” Benny pat Joe on the back, calming his friend down. He smiled at him and tugged on his sleeve to continue walking.
“Anyways, we have another call of an attempted robbery by Sam Wells. This time, it’s located at the Ocean’s Way Aquarium. Do you think you’ll be able to stop him in time?”
Joe and Benny nodded. Winnifred continued, “Good. I expect you to be there in the next hour. Be careful, agents; it was rumored that Sam might be using the animals to his advantage!”
And so, the heroes went off to the aquarium.