Inside an apartment near Santa Monica Beach...
Three men stood around several high-end-looking computers. Anthony and Lenore were tied to two chairs.
Half of Anthony's nose had been crushed, and half his teeth were missing. His head hung limply, his face covered in blood, as if he'd passed out.
Lenore, on the other hand, was unharmed. Aside from the handcuffs on her wrists, there was even a takeout meal box in front of her. All she could do about her predicament was glare angrily at the men's backs.
A curly-haired, middle-aged man who reeked of alcohol stood behind a Black man working at a computer. Watching the footage on the screen, he anxiously rubbed his chin and said, "Things seem to have gone a little beyond what we expected.
"How did Manhattan Axe get pulled into this?"
A short, stocky, long-haired thug said in a hoarse voice, "Nate, we should pull out. People are dying every minute in Los Angeles.
"Someone's cleaning out the Moretti Family's criminal network. Everyone connected to them is getting taken out, one after another.
"We need to get out of there fast. Messing with the Los Angeles police and that 'Superhero Company' is one thing. Messing with Manhattan Axe is a whole different story."
Nate, the curly-haired middle-aged man, watched Frank and Brian on the computer screen. They were threading ropes beneath the armpits of the last few surviving men in lab coats and hoisting them up.
Then they cut a huge hole in the men's stomachs and made them hold their guts in place while they screamed, lest gravity drag out their innards.
Nate's face crumpled with nerves. He swallowed and said, "Elliot, giving up isn't our way.
"We still have one last target: Stuart St. John. We haven't got evidence of his crimes.