Volkov made his way down into the basement, where he was greeted by the sight of a badly bruised man strapped down to a steel chair.
Besides him was a man of smaller stature, around 5,5 or 5,6. He had short red hair, with a long scar across his right eye. In his hands was a large metal rod with bumps scattered across it.
Boris meanwhile, stood in the corner with his arms crossed.
The man strapped in the chair glanced over at Volkov, a sick grin played on his lips. "Couldn't get answer outta me so you bring in a chick, what you think she'll suck the answer outta me?" The man said with a laugh.
Volkov sighed as he crossed his arms, "Despite my feminine appearance, I am indeed male, same as you."
The man smirked. "Well shit you look the part, besides beautiful, I ain't interested in nothing but your mouth." The man said with a chuckle, he then coughed violently, spitting up blood and what looked to be a chipped tooth.
"I've tried everything," Xavier said with a sigh as he placed down the metal rod. "He won't talk."
Volkov placed a hand on his chin as he studied the man, he noticed several tattoos on his neck, indicating he was part of the Burnway gang.
The Burnway gang was in operation all across the British Isles and in parts of northern France. They often clashed with the organization, stealing low-class anomalies and turning their cores into various drugs, which were sold for profit.
For the most part, the organization ignored their antics, as it was difficult to predict where they'd strike and their operations were loosely organized at best.
Yet for them to go after organization equipment, was a death wish.
"You're Burnway?" Volkov asked curiously.
The man scoffed. "You got eyes don't ya?" He replied with a chuckle, "Don't tell me you're blind, like Mr. Brick over there."
Volkov nodded. "So you're clearly a fool, why else would your gang steal equipment from us, was the basic freedom you had not enough?" He asked curiously, yet his tone was stern.
"We ain't steal shit mate." The man answered, "I told them and I'm telling you, you've got the wrong guy."
"Is that so?" Volkov asked as he approached the man slowly. "So who stole it?"
"I don't fucking know." The man answered, "All I saw were two guys slipping into an unmarked truck."
"So you're saying they aren't part of your gang?" Volkov asked. "Yeah, I don't know who the hell they were, so I didn't even bother." The man answered before glaring at Xavier, "yet this small pint sized SHIT kidnapped me!"
"He's lying." Xavier cut in, "he was talking with the other suspects, from what I caught of their conversation, they were twins." Xavier then sighed as he crossed his arms, "They handed this guy 17 thousand dollars, American cash, and called him their little messenger bird."
The man chuckled before silently cursing to himself. "Shit, I thought I could pull a fast one." He said softly with a grin.
Volkov's eyes narrowed. "You're a messenger, for whom?"
"Oh yeah, I'll just spill my guts because you asked nicely, I'll tell you my address, my bank information, and where my diary keys are hidden." The man said sarcastically.
"So you're really playing this game?" Volkov asked.
"Do your worst, there's nothing you can do that this little shit didn't." The man said, gesturing his head toward Xavier.
"Are you sure about that?" Volkov asked menacingly.
— — —
Meanwhile, upstairs, Marcus was pulling out hairs in frustration, figuratively speaking of course.
"Stop!" Marcus exclaimed angrily. "You're gonna kill me if you don't stop!" He shouted, narrowly avoiding Sang-hee's hand, which was now charged with decay touch.
"Come on ya little chicken shit, you can threaten to kill me, but I can't do it back?!" Sang-hee exclaimed with joy as she avoided a book Marcus threw at her.
Marcus was genuinely panicked, he tried to remember where it all went wrong.
He taught her how to control her ether flow, and instructed her on how to infuse it with her hand, yet instead of it fading into darkness, it just rapidly accelerated the age of a hair that fell on her hand.
Luna watched with a conflicted expression, her mind clearly churning with thought.
"Sang-hee please!" Marcus begged as he was cornered in the kitchen. "Bro please don't do this."
"Aww, are you gonna cry?" She asked teasingly as she approached Marcus with her hand outstretched.
"I'm gonna turn you into a goddamn fossil boss, hang your remains in my room like a trophy." She said with a wicked laugh.
Marcus knew he had to do something quick, it was too soon for him to go out like this, yet he couldn't just kill her either.
Not only wouldn't that sit right with his conscience, but he was pretty sure murder counts as a felony, even in self-defense.
That's when it happened, that's when Marcus was hit with a stroke of genius.
"Look!" He exclaimed, pointing at the front door. "It's an anomaly!"
Sang-hee almost immediately turned her head around, scanning the living room with a skeptical expression.
However, that was all the time Marcus needed.
He swiftly moved into action, lowering himself and tackling Sang-hee to the carpet.
Her tall frame fell onto the ground with a thud.
She landed on the ground hard, Marcus quickly straddled her, placing both his hands on her arms.
Sweat ran down his forehead as he breathed an uneasy sigh.
"Get the fuck off me!" Sang-hee shouted in anger, struggling to lift Marcus up. Her eyes burned with rage as she glared at him, gritting her teeth.
"What is wrong with you!" Marcus shouted at her, spit flying out of his mouth, "You're fucking insane!"
"No, I'm not!" She declared with an angry scream, "I wasn't even going to kill you!" She spat, "just shows how much of a bitch you are!"
She then laughed viciously. "You remember YOU held me hostage with an ether blast, I didn't even flinch, yeah, look at you though, about to piss your pants in fear."
"What are you even talking about!" Marcus shouted at her, "It's not like I did it out of nowhere, you pushed me to that point!"
"Just like you pushed me to mine." Sang-hee hissed, "I told you to play nice, but you just had to insult me."
Sang-hee smiled as she breathed heavily, "Don't get scared now, you have to face the consequences of your actions."
Marcus began to feel a surge of emotions, from anger to fear.
His emotions quickly overwhelmed his already fragile mind, leading to him smirking as his mind went into a loop, until eventually he began to find his current situation funny.
Marcus began laughing softly as he stared down at Sang-hee, before quickly falling into hysterics. "Ha, you're fucking crazy." He said with uncontrollable laughter, your nuts, like a child lost in her mind."
"You're calling me crazy?!?" Sang-hee said in disbelief. "Look at yourself, you're cracking under pressure that doesn't even exist."
Marcus continued to laugh, tears began streaming from his eyes and down his cheeks. "You're insane Sang-hee, I get that now."
"Leave him alone!" Luna called out from the living room, "Get away from Marcus!" She exclaimed as she held out her palm towards Sang-hee, a small sphere of ether spun rapidly in her palm.
Sang-hee only laughed in response. "You're telling the wrong one!" She said with a joyous expression.
She was obviously relishing in Marcus's breakdown.
"Disarm yourself!" Luna demanded, her eyes narrowing, "I have no qualms with using force."
Sang-hee cackled, kicking her legs into the air as a satisfying expression fell over her face.
"Yes, do it!" She exclaimed with joy. "Kill us both!" She exclaimed as she freed herself from Marcus's weakening grasp.
She quickly flipped the situation on its head, now she was the one straddling Marcus, who lay on the ground laughing with his tears pooling.
"Come on then you freak of nature! Why don't you kill us both!?" She exclaimed, holding herself closer to Marcus, barely inches away from him.
"She's crazy." Marcus repeated to himself, "Luna, she's crazy." He said between laughs, however his laughter was not of joy, but pain, genuine pain that had resurfaced due to Sang-hee's antics.
Luna looked down upon Marcus with a saddened expression, silver tears welling up in her eyes.
She looked up to Sang-hee, who staddled Marcus as if he were an animal.
Without a second thought, Luna fired a bolt of ether toward Sang-hee, aiming directly for her head.
Sang-hee dodged it effortlessly, almost as if she expected the attack. The bolt of ether smacked into the back wall leaving a small crater before dissipating.
Sang-hee looked back, staring at the wall where her head had been just moments ago.
She chuckled, an impressed grin playing on her lips, "Unlike this dumb fuck you actually had the balls to shoot." She then turned back to Luna who had a distressed expression.
"But you're weak like him, that or he made you soft," Sang-hee said coldly as she rose from the still laughing Marcus.
"But I couldn't care less, take him."
As Sang-hee departed from Marcus, Luna immediately rushed to his side. Dropping to her knees she placed a hand on Marcus's cheek.
Sang-hee sighed as she made her way back towards the living room, sitting in the chair she was in before everything had started.
Suddenly the door to the basement swung open, revealing a panicked Volkov. "What happened?" He asked as he examined the house with a scrutinizing eye.
It was long before he noticed the mumbling Marcus sitting on the floor, and the calm Sang-hee sitting in the living room.
"What did you do?" He asked her with a furrowed brow.
His tone was stern and laced with anger.
Sang-hee shrugged, "I didn't do anything." She answered, "he showed me what you asked him to, then went into the kitchen."
"Then show me," Volkov asked skeptically. "And if you can't pull it off, I'll handle you personally."
Sang-hee shrugged, before raising a hand up and waving it into darkness, revealing that she did indeed know how to do it.
Volkov raised an eyebrow. His expression was full of shock and surprise before he quickly corrected himself.
"I see." He said with a nod of his head, turning his attention towards Marcus. "I guess he's stressed, can't blame him."
Volkov then sighed. "Get ready, I got a lead on the case, we're heading out in a few minutes." He said before turning back toward the basement.