Crushed Suns - SCI (Mysteries)

2 - Deranged

"Elio?"

-----------

The brunet looked up. 

"Ri Chu?" 

A strained smile broke his face when Elio spotted his friend. A bruise could be seen blooming on his cheek and above his brow, but his happiness was overpowering to the point he was glowing like the sun. 

"RI CHU! You're ok!"

"Idiot." Zhan-Ming looked torn between smiling and crying his heart out, his hands shaking as he stood, rooted on the spot. "You should've ran! You should've-should've... You shouldn't be here!"

"Fuck it all!" 

Both boys made a run for each other, the shorter faster than the older, sprinting across the red carpet, gun dropped, necessity and panic ingrained in every motion they took until... they couldn't. 

The were so close, only a few steps away from each other when a booming hum encompassed the entire room. The vibrations should have been nothing, simple background noise. But it wasn't. Shocks flew through both boy's bodies, crumpling their nervous system, muscles twitching as if in shock, face contorted in pain. 

The boys fell, gripping their ears.

"FuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuck!!!!!"

"What- WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO US?"

"Ah, so you do like it! I'm so ecstatic. See, it's my newest product! I won't bore you with the name. You don't need to know the details anyway, just that the longer this sound resonates inside your body, you'll slowly go deaf and bleed. Internally, that is. Wouldn't want too big of a mess." The Boss looked like he had stars in his eyes. "What a beautiful way to go, don't you think?"

Elio turned his head, left cheek scraping on the fabric, his smile menacingly wide. 

"Que te folle un pez."

... 

"Increase the volume." 

The humming became loud enough to become even a nuisance to the witnessing cops. The Boss, seemingly unaffected, cackled. The boys groan at the added sound. The monster was enjoying it enough to snack on some fruit, fueling Bai's rage.

"Beautiful~ With a little more, you'll both die from the internal pressure. Then, you'll feel your skull crack. Your brain will pound and then," he crushed a grape, "Poof! The heart is no more! Ha HAHAHAHA HA~ So tell me, Ming boy," The boss walked down the platform to circle around the crippling bodies. 

"What'll it be: refuse, and die together; or accept and be spared? Hmmm?" 

The humm grew in intensity. 

"Tick Tock~"

Bai Yutong couldn't stand it anymore; he was witnessing a downright cruel, unethical torture of two innocent. (Yes, he had caught the part of hiding bodies, but obviously it was unwilling, making this delicate situation all the more complicated.) He made a move to barge in and intervene, but Zhan Yao kept the grip on his arm firm. 

"Would you let go? They're going to-"

"Don't." 

The way Zhan Yao said that had Bai Yutong freeze. He looked at the doctor; so many emotions ran through his face, many too fast to be detected, but all had a common undertone. Bai then noticed the strength of his grip. Zhan Yao was trying to hold back as well. Strange as it sounds, that action put the detective at ease. He crouched back down, attempting to calm himself. It didn't happen. Elio let out a shrill scream, making the detective snap his head up. Zhan-Ming was on the verge of sobs.

"OK, OK! STOP! I'LL DO IT, JUST STOP! STOP IT! Stop it, stop it- STOP!"

"Hmm~ What did you say, little Ming? You want me to stop?" 

Zhan-Ming sobbed, watching Elio convulse. He was useless. Unable to do anything but watch from his place on the floor. 

The boss crouched down, yellow teeth glinting. "Then beg."

"P-PLEASE! PLEASE LET HIM GO! I'LL DO ANYTHING! PLEASE-" Elio whimpered, arm extended. "PLEASE! Please, p-please, please! *sob* Let him live."

The humming died. The boss chuckled, patting the shaking boy, letting out a disgusting purr. 

"Good boy~ Always so hard to negotiate with. I got lucky that this beautiful leverage revealed itself to me. It's been proven quite useful~" 

The short man walked back to his seat, back turned. The atmosphere seem to soften a tad. It was fake. Things are never as they appear.

A fist flew directly at the man's head in a way that showed adeptness to combat. You'd think it hit home by the proximity. 

Wrong. 

It missed. 

The boss dodged. Instead, Zhan-Ming was smashed onto the floor with the chair. He went flying back, rolling on his side, clenching his stomach, and cursing the guard who threw the metal scrap across the room.

"You dare, Zhan-Ming Huanghun? You DARE?!?!" The man's face warped into a thundering rage. "I'll put you in your place. You're willing to kill me? Then I'll do the same. Starting with this flea!" The gun cocked at Elio's head.

"NO!"

BANG!

A bullet flew through the boss's skull. 

The figure glitched. Tech-like sporadic static images glitched. The suit flickered. A metallic structure appeared. Electric shocks sparked in a halo. A broken robotic voice spoke, the deranged smile thrown over his shoulder.

"Ah. S-So i-i-i-i-i-it's her-e!"

"HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" Bai Sir barged out from his hiding spot, gun already disarming the assailants with a bang! Bang! Bang! The surrounding party scattered. Outside, sirens were approaching. The boss laughed, raising a sickly finger to point at the fallen Zhan-Ming.

"1 week." His smile twitched and sparked. "Have fun." 

Beep, beep, beep-

"Shit!" Bai grabbed Zhan-Ming. Zhan got Elio.

beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-

BOOM

The robot exploded.

"GET OUT!"

The carpet caught fire.

"MOVE"

It was spreading across the oily ground.

"GO, GO, GO!"

They rushed out the door.

CRASH

The building was in flames.

WeewoooweeWOOWEEWOOWEEEEWOOOOOOoooooooooooo...

Smoke consumed the lights, blurring Zhan-Ming's vision, impairing his senses till he could no longer tell up from sideways. His only leverage was the two arms dragging him away from the heat. They lead him far away, made him sit. Someone was put next to him. 'Elio,' his brain supplied. 

But he couldn't think. There was noise. Too much noise. 

He lowered his his forehead into Elio's shoulder, wrapping his arms around himself. Zhan-Ming felt so ashamed of he didn't want to look anywhere. He felt grateful that his vision was blacking out; as long as Elio was safe, he could rest. 

The last thing he registered was a mix of navy blue and stained white hovering over them. For some reason, Zhan-Ming felt at ease...