Furthermore, I wonder how many plants there even are that could be qualified as Magic Bullets. Perhaps every drug that we take, every medicine created from flora requires some small amount of bewl. If so, maybe the requirement is so low that our eyes do not turn grey from using them?

-From Professor Shokolov’s Journal, 24th Entry

A man sat in the interrogation room of the police station. Despite his situation, he smiled to himself. He had an apple in his hand that he ate as he waited for the officers to return. While he did, some of his interrogators conversed outside.

“Not a single one of them’s going to confess,” the officer said, running a hand through his hair.

“I’ll go bring in the chief. Take away their food for a bit, maybe that might change some of their minds,” his friend replied. The prisoner inside heard barely whispers, however. It didn’t matter, anyway.

****

AxEl waited near one of the exits of the warehouse. There was a phone in front of him, one of the newer models that was getting exceedingly large. He stared at that phone while Nook and Anagen talked about other things beside him. Most of their force had departed the town to avoid suspicion, which left just them and about two other enforcers in the warehouse.

They had some leftover dynamite hidden in the warehouse, despite the protests of Anagen. I’ll get rid of it once I’m done.

The phone rang and all three of them turned their faces towards it. AxEl picked it up and clicked it instantly.

“What did you get?” he asked the enforcer on the other end. He heard heavy breathing and the sounds of someone running.

“They’re leaving! I don’t know why but they’ve got every car going down the street!” NilA said.

“Where are they going?” AxEl asked, standing up. Nook and Anagen looked worried, but he could bother with them later.

“I-I don’t know!” NilA replied.

“Did one of them confess?” AxEl asked further.

“N-no! I’ve been tailing them like you asked, but they didn’t say anything about a bust or a lead,” NilA answered.

Damnit, where are they going, then?

“Slow them down as much as you can. And tell me where you are right now,” AxEl told the man. Anagen and Nook started towards the door and AxEl followed, keeping the phone near his head.

“You two! Make sure no one gets inside,” Anagen said to the remaining enforcers who nodded.

They left the warehouse and hopped into one of the vehicles. Anagen stepped on the wheel and they all lurched in their seats as they took off. On the road, they took twists and turns every junction to reach the destination.

“Left here!” AxEl shouted and Anagen swerved the car left. The tires let out a noise, not unlike a screech but softer, as they turned towards the direction AxEl had pointed.

“Are you sure we won’t just get pulled over for driving over the speed limit?” Nook asked.

“It’s a small town and the entire police force is headed towards somewhere else. We just have to be safe enough to avoid getting pulled over,” Anagen lectured, even as her eyes were focused towards their destination. They finally caught up to the police force, who were moving somewhere they couldn’t discern.

The police cars took turns and a junction later, Anagen followed so as to not arouse suspicion. She slowed down and tailed them, but not too obviously. Still, a few times they passed by the police patrol cars and AxEl felt a spike of fear, but that dissipated just as quickly.

They found the majority of the vehicles parked near a pharmaceutical building. Ironic, Nook noted. Anagen parked the vehicle a few blocks away, near a grocery store on the same street.

AxEl immediately jumped out of the vehicle. He had his hood over him, covering his dreads. He stepped into the nearest alley and saw a metal stairwell that led up to the top. Nook followed and Anagen did too, locking the vehicle behind her.

He began to climb the steps quickly, metal ringing underfoot. “What are you doing?” Nook asked as he followed a step behind.

Above him, AxEl pulled out a stick of Firewire and began to smoke it without abandon. “Scouting. What are they doing here?” he said as he took a few puffs. He inhaled some and coughed afterwards, hands on railing.

Nook caught up and placed a hand on his back. “Give me that,” Nook said as he took a few puffs himself. AxEl brought himself up and continued climbing, his eyes grey and his steps quick.

Anagen struggled the most between the three of them, but Nook passed her the stick as well. “Be quick about it,” AxEl said from above, nearly having reached the top. They did so soon after, and found AxEl jumping the spaces between roofs towards the building the officers had surrounded.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Nook ran to the edge of the building and gulped as he took a jump, surprised at the distance he leapt. Anagen followed after, and her leap looked more graceful. Showoff, Nook thought to himself.

They ran and caught up to the last building. AxEl looked over and saw officers huddled around. He then glanced up at the roof of the building and saw light glinting off from under a tarped protrusion.

“There’s a sunroof,” AxEl said. He then backed up and took one last lunge. AxEl landed on the other end, rolling to soften the blow. He walked towards the sunroof and pried one of the cloths aside to look in.

His eyes had difficulty adjusting, but soon he recognized the general shape of the equipment. It was the same kind found in Shokolov’s lab. There were plants out in the open, however, and those were yellow tinged with purple.

This is where they were making it, AxEl thought to himself. He watched on as they ripped the equipment from its position, moving it aside and putting it into boxes they’d brought with them.

“Pack it up! The location should be cleared up in the hour,” chief AnIn said. Nook and Anagen joined him as they watched the chief go over to someone who was poking at one of the machines.

He turned it on by accident and a flask shattered against the floor.

“Sorry about that, chief,” he said, though AnIn said. He went near the device and turned it off before expertly dismantling it into its component parts.

“Bring one of the smaller boxes. This one’s delicate,” he said. He put it into a cardboard box and handed it over to someone else. This continued, as he shouted orders on how to take apart the tools. Tableting machines that were small enough to fit in one of the boxes were placed with care. Pipettes were lined up and gathered. It seemed like they wanted the entire place clean before someone returned.

AxEl adjusted his head and a shadow on the floor of the room shifted. AnIn glanced at it for a moment and looked upwards at the light peeking through the sunroof. AxEl grabbed Nook and Anagen, then jerked them backwards, away from the glass.

“Get someone onto the roof, quickly,” he said, and AxEl heard. He grabbed the both of them and ran towards the other side of the roof. Muffled sounds of people running drew closer, and AxEl took a leap back to one of the other buildings.

The door slammed open and guns cocked, but no one was there. The officers looked around, muttering to themselves. But AxEl was on another building entirely. He hid behind the bulkhead, out of sight of the officers and dared not to breathe.

How did he know how to take it apart? He looked over at Nook, who had the same look of understanding on his face.

“Roof’s clear, chief. We’ll be down in a minute,” one of the officers said, and Anagen let out a small breath.

****

The town of Minahret wasn’t ready for what came to it. Questor Ohlas stomped through the lit streets of the town in the middle of the night. The few stragglers that saw him shuffled away quickly after noticing his ash grey eyes. He couldn’t blame them for it, but it made conversation hard. Usually, he would’ve put on sunglasses to avoid the looks, but night made it hard to justify those.

Besides that, he wore a long overcoat and a black duster on his head that hid the glow of his eyes. Ohlas walked until he came upon the local police station. He saw two officers exit and stop. They reached for their weapons before he brought out his badge and showed them.

They nodded, offering him their help, but stood aside as he entered the station. A fan was running in the distance and he saw the front lobby empty. Good, he thought to himself. His job would be easier this way.

He’d been through enough stations to know the general layout of the locations. He flashed his badge where he needed to and reached his destination. The office of the local police chief, AnIn.

Ohlas opened the door and looked inside at cluttered room. He stepped in, announcing his presence to the only other occupant.

“Chief AnIn,” he stated. The burly man looked up from the papers he was signing and regarded him with a confused expression.

“You’re under suspicion of harvesting, synthesizing and distributing Tonguewisp hash over HuedoLupan. Come with me quietly, please,” Ohlas said, holding out his badge.

AnIn stared for a moment, taking a deep breath before putting his pen down on the table. “And you’re surely convinced of this because?” he asked.

“Evidence was found linking one of the suspects you have imprisoned in the station to a suspected dealer. A suspect you let go on lack of evidence. Come with me quietly, please,” he delivered the last word in a mocking tone.

“You do realize the suspicious nature of your visit, correct? Those same suspects I have locked up in the cells here are the key that might lead us to the actual culprit behind the Tonguewisp trade. If you lock me up now, it would take months to assign a new chief, at which point any lead we would have would be rendered moot,” AnIn reasoned.

Ohlas stepped forward, stuffing his badge back into his pocket. “Be that as it may, you’re still under suspicion. If you’re so convinced of your innocence, you would have no problem answering a few questions for us.”

AnIn scoffed. “I know your tactics, Questor. You’ll beat a confession out of me, no matter how false.”

Ohlas walked to the front of the desk and fixed AnIn with both of his eyes. “I will not ask a third time.”

AnIn sighed, then pulled back his chair and stood up. He rounded the table and walked ahead of the Questor as they both exited the room.

“Do get the door on your way out,” AnIn said. Hmph, Ohlas scoffed as he took the door handle in his hand. Just as he was about to turn it, he felt something large tackling him from behind and fell onto the carpeted floor of the office.

Ohlas looked up and saw AnIn grappling him. AnIn kicked the door backwards and it closed behind him.

“I can offer you a deal. Forget about this and I will offer to you a cut of the profits,” AnIn said. Ohlas broke the man’s grip easily and shoved him backwards. They both stood up from their positions on the ground, AnIn standing in front of the door.

“I keep it secure. My work is clean, my workers impeccable and the quality of our Tonguewisp pure. If you take me out now, you’ll only replace me with someone more ruthless or more careless.”

Ohlas brushed the dirt on his coat and stared at AnIn. “We do not parley with criminals,” he said.

AnIn pulled out his gun, but Ohlas had appeared next to him. In an instant, a fist as hard as rock caught him across his face and he blasted backwards into the door. The wood burst out of its hinges and his head hit the concrete wall behind it. AnIn fell unconscious, sliding down onto the floor. Chips from the door lay around him, leading a trail back into his office.

A sound akin to a miniature explosion echoed around the police station. Ohlas slowly walked out of the room, careful in his approach of the chief’s body. A crowd gathered around him, but none acted. This is going to be difficult to explain.