"That takes care of it then," the man said with his voice whimsical and sweet. He rose from his seat while clapping the dust off of his hands right before he picked up his weapon. "Sana…"
"Two coins for you breaking him like a pińata, Clarence," Mr. Breen chuckled.
Clarence smiled and scratched the back of his head. "I'll make that three if I can't… but first…" He looked at Sana and patted her head. "Go to your brother and head to the kitchen. Your big brother and sister will be right behind you, okay?"
"O-okay… big bro-brother," Sana replied, turning her head to Mave who gave her a reassuring nod as she ran to him.
The other two men inside the room watched them reunite with each other through a warm hug as if they've been separated for years before heading into the kitchen through the door behind Mr. Breen. Clarence then took a deep breath and looked around. His eyes wandered through the wooden walls of the shop, to its set of tables of chairs, to the counter and to the ceiling. By the time his vision got ahold of the space between where their door was, he saw a ball of light that seemed like an eye invisible to everyone else.
"I'm conflicted." Clarence walked towards the entrance of the shop and hacked the air in front of him. "I thought that it was a waste to use a spell like this but it turns out that it's not. This makes things even worse."
"What do you mean?" Mr. Breen stepped out of the counter and looked outside.
"It's a ward," Clarence replied and the old man in front of him widened his eyes. "Do we still have any potions in stock? They're coming."
"I'll have to check but I'll have to leave you here, would that be-"
"It's fine," he sighed as he turned to the ice statue at his back. "But I guess I'll have to limit my potential enemies so I'm just gonna ki—"
"The hell you are!" They heard a shout followed by a shadow getting larger and larger until Melvin, who had a hole punched through his shirt and breastplate, entered the room. "You can't kill an informant."
Clarence raised his right eyebrow at Mr. Breen. "Well..."
"Yet," Melvin declared as he raised his hand over to Mr. Breen, who ran back behind the counter to give him a thick and long piece of rope a few seconds later. "not yet anyway, so thaw him out slowly from the top and let me suplex this bitch."
"You're alive?" Mave shouted by the kitchen's door with his sister who looked as confused as him.
"Of course I am," Melvin replied without taking his eyes on their intruder as he wrapped his frozen frame with a rope. "you're making it sound like I died in the first place."
"But the-there was a hand through your chest and I—" Mave glared at him with his left hand resting below his chin. "You're one of those healers aren't you?"
"What a creative kid." Melvin scoffed and turned his head to Clarence with a smile. "So is this guy good to go or nah?"
"Not yet…" Clarence replied with his hand still resting over the sheet of ice which was now as half as thin compared to before. "Just a little bit more and by the way, do you want him to feel pain or not?"
"Who cares? A suplex is all I need to do and he'll be talking in no time."
Clarence's right eye twitched. "Just so you know… I just cleared a ward, and although I don't know when, I'm pretty sure that they're gonna come."
"I don't see how this is related to me doing a suplex." Melvin knitted his brows and looked at Clarence with contempt as he swayed his head.
"What's with the sudden desire to suplex someone?" Mr. Breen asked with the two kids behind him who appeared to have the same question. "Who told you about this?"
Melvin sighed and tilted his head. "Read it in a book, I don't really want to pee at them so I chose the second-best option."
"Cool," Clarence said before removing his fingers from the frozen man. "now suplex this man and help me get that door back together before—"
Even before he could finish his sentence, Melvin moved in with a sudden grunt and wrapped his arms around the man from his back. He raised him into the air at the next second and slammed him back to the ground with a devastating impact that was enough to punch a huge dent on the wooden floor while shaking the shop's foundations.
Melvin jumped back on his feet with a wide satisfied smile on his face and watched their enemy grovel in pain after being awakened from her cold slumber. And once he looked like he was finally recovering, Melvin stepped to the side and kicked in his teeth.
"Hey there buddy… Are you feeling well? Are you still feeling sleepy?"
Melvin gave him a light tap on his swollen chin before helping the man up to a nearby chair. There, he slapped his face hard but this time, the man didn't budge and instead returned his smug smile. After a moment, Melvin gritted his teeth as his eyes were called by the burning sensation on his hand which turned out to be his broken fingers that felt like they were screaming in pain. He let out a slow pained breath and now with his voice high pitched and brittle, he murmured, "I-I guess you're fully awake… you should've... told me…"
"What a funny man." The intruder spoke with an accent that was strong on one's tongue. He slowly curved his lips as he gazed into Melvin's eyes like a beast waiting for a signal before sinking his teeth into his meal. "You do know that… I can free myself right now if I want to, so keep those antics coming. Amuse me, make me laugh and maybe, maybe I'll at least spare the old man once we're done taking the kids."
Mr. Breen frowned.
"No, cause... I tied you like that… but," Melvin raised his eyebrows along with an awkward smile. He took a few deep breaths after and with his voice now shaking, he followed, "no… I tied you like that… and… and… I have a little buddy over here that seems a little too fro-frosty right now and co-could probably let it all out an-another t-time."
"You're supposed to say anytime chief," Clarence added as he stepped forward with his arms crossed. "Umbrell's pretty mad right now so yeah, I'd like to see you try and I can at least promise that you won't like what's going to happen next if you do."
"Oh, nice follow up, Clarence!" Melvin stepped aside to make way for him. "Now this is a standoff!"
"Big words…" The intruder let out a deep laugh and raised his head. "I do not care about how you managed to live through that but don't get cocky. The only thing that keeps me bound is your sense of humor and I'm pretty much interested in smashing your head to the ground as many times as necessary to put that name to the test, Melvin the Undying."
"You sure about not giving him another suplex chief? Might work out this time."
"And as for him," the intruder added with a twisted grin. "don't ever think that this thin ass faggot could stop me or even get a second blow on me!"
Melvin drew his blade after a quick and shallow breath. "Erm… I see… that's very understandable… but look… again… I have this... I have you tied up and I have this sword and I'm not afraid to stab you..." He kept it pointed to the man's forehead as he begged Mr. Breen for help in silence.
"Well… I guess that's it." The man bore his fangs towards his captors has he leaned forward to strain the ropes and tear it thread by thread. "I'll have you know that even if the other team is combing the vile streets of this junkyard of a district, I have a perfectly capable team waiting for my signal to—"
"Hey… guys…"
A familiar feminine voice that came far from the entrance sent a shiver down to Clarence's and Melvin's spine. The two froze in place with their faces tensed up so the intruder, who was about to break himself free, stopped to look at the figure behind him out of curiosity.
There, from the bright world outside the confines of their dim room appeared a figure. A shadow wearing a hat and a dress that shared the same shape of clothes from this district's common folk. The passing seconds were so silent that he could hear his heart beating and the reaction coming from his two captors made him all the more restless as the silhouette of a woman stepping into the porch started to become more defined.
"Ugh… so it did happen huh… It's so dark… did we run out of power again? Why is it so dark, is anyone here?"
Clarence and Melvin stepped back with their eyes wide and surprisingly, the man on the chair felt like he wanted to do the same as the woman who seemed like she was brushing the dust off of her shoulders entered the room with her head down.
"Melvin, are you here? I brought Miss Agatha just like what you told us and I-I guess we should ask Mr. Tom and Azer later for some cleanup since Mr. Peon is at it again. He's playing catch with the kids outside with two decapitated heads and one was swinging this arm an-WHO THE FUCK BROKE THE FLOOR?!"
"Shit!" Melvin squealed and jumped forwards with his arms raised in surrender. "Maya, look, look, this man… right here… bullied me, he bullied us and he's the one who broke the door and stomped his way around here!"
"Y-yeah," Clarence added as he looked away.
"Ain't that right?" Maya asked, glaring at the intruder with her dark brown eyes. Without putting her attention to anywhere else, she threw her hat aside and stepped forward while raising the right sleeve of her dark blue dress.
The man scoffed, returning his gaze to the two men in front of him who still had their reactions the same as before. "And now you brought a woman to—"
He was about to utter another word when a sudden force as heavy as a sledgehammer came and made him bite his tongue. It was though his world tilted downwards without him feeling anything until he realized that his other cheek was already kissing the floor. He felt his blood flowing out of his mouth that he soon noticed that he could no longer close, and before he could scream in panic, his mind went blank and his vision became dark thereafter.
"Woah… who is that?" Mave exclaimed right beside the kitchen door. "She must be their leader… did you see how strong she was?!"
"I'm afraid you're quite wrong there kid," Mr. Breen replied with a hearty laugh before patting his head.
"Then… then who is she?" Sana asked before hiding in the shadow of his brother.
"Maya? Well, being the leader is a complicated matter on its own but if I put it this way… then she's…"
"She's?' The two asked in unison and with a bright smile, Mr. Breen replied,
"She's the manager."