Magnolia (5)

The black van cruised past the cars on the opposite lane, leaving the block behind.

"Ugh..."

Syd Barrett pulled his arm back into his shirt after Sera finished treating his bruises.

Jody sat beside him, gently holding his shoulder, offering silent comfort.

But as Jody glanced at the rearview mirror, she caught the eyes of Roxxy Barrett—watching her through the mirror with a look of thinly veiled displeasure.

The van had been dead silent since they got in, but everyone could feel it—an unspoken tension slowly building between Jody Johansson and Roxxy Barrett.

Roxxy broke the silence the moment she realized Jody had caught her staring.

"His condition's a wreck compared to yours. Mind if I ask—what exactly did you do back there?"

A question like that might've made most protagonists fall quiet or wait for someone else to speak up.

But not Jody.

Because she doesn't back down.

"Your brother might not be sitting here if I hadn't helped."

"That's a bit presumptuous, don't you think?"

"No. I don't."

"Do you really believe without you, we would've been helpless?"

"...No. But I do think you all would've wasted a lot more time. Maybe even twice as long."

"Twice? You're that confident in your own skill, huh?"

Both of them were equally sharp-tongued.

Before things could spiral out of control—before either girl even thought about unbuckling her seatbelt and settling this with fists—Toshi, who had been quietly watching over Betty's unconscious body in the back, tried to defuse the rising tension.

"Roxxy… look, the truth is, Jody—"

But he immediately froze when Roxxy turned her gaze from the rearview mirror to him.

"..."

That was enough to shut him right back up.

Everyone in the van knew—there was only one person who could talk Roxxy down.

So Syd finally spoke.

"We lost thirty minutes… seventeen of them were spent fighting that old hag. Without Jody, we might've missed our window completely."

"..."

That was enough.

Roxxy turned her eyes away from the mirror, back down to her laptop, conceding the point without a word.

"...Let's just put some music on."

Still holding the wheel, Mickey reached over and tapped the car's touchscreen. A few seconds later, a song began to play.

"...??????"

"What the hell is this song?"

"..."

Sera furrowed her brow, confused. Mickey paused for a moment, then responded in his usual flat tone.

"There's an English version, you know."

He switched the clip.

"Like you understand it, Mannix."

"More than you do, at least."

Sera twisted her face in displeasure—and it only worsened when she heard the boys laughing.

"Well, your buddy's Japanese."

She pointed at Toshi.

"Just a few words. I'm nowhere near as good as you, Sera."

"Are you being sarcastic, Mannix?!"

And right then, Toshi began speaking in Japanese.

"お客様,落ち着いてください"

Okyakusama, ochitsui te kudasai.

(Calm down, ma'am.)

"...Huh?"

"そんなに顔を歪めるから化粧が落ちそうじゃねえか"

Son'na ni kao wo yugameru kara keshō ga ochisō ja neeka.

(You keep making that face, your makeup's about to slide right off.)

"Say what now, Toshi?"

"Haiyaaa... えれえ迷惑だ.声デカすぎ.耳がつんざけちまう."

Haiyaaa... eree meiwaku da. koe deka sugi. mimi ga tsunzakechimau.

(Geez... what a pain. So damn loud. My ears are ringing.)

Cue the smug chuckles from the boys in the back. It was clear now—they were absolutely ganging up on her just to mess with her.

"What the hell did he just say?! Hey! Tell me right now! You were insulting me, weren't you?!"

"(Switching back to English) Nope."

"Liar!"

Sera glared at the boys behind her like a cat ready to pounce.

"Here."

Plop.

While still driving, Mickey tossed something her way—a chocolate bar.

"Oh... right. Forgot you don't understand Japanese."

"Hey! What the—💢"

Sera took the chocolate bar with a suspicious glance at the one who threw it to her.

What kind of joke is this now?

"You just used your power. Recharge a little."

At first, she still eyed him warily, but when the mood seemed to settle down again, she accepted it.

"..."

She kept staring daggers at Mickey, but upon inspecting the chocolate, she saw that it was still unopened.

"Mickey… that's yours."

Roxxy noticed and commented.

"I'll just buy another."

The brief exchange actually made Sera feel a little better.

"..."

At least he's got some decency...

She unwrapped it and took a bite.

"…(munch) …hmm… a little too sweet."

She said, chewing.

But then she saw Mickey furrow his brow. And then he asked—

"Was it you, Roxxy?"

"..." Roxxy shook her head.

"Toshi?"

"Nope, I was babysitting Betty."

"Syd?"

"…Ngh."

"Jody? Was it you?"

"?"

Jody looked just as confused as the others about what he was getting at.

That's when Mickey realized—it wasn't Jody either.

"…What the hell's wrong with you, Mannix?"

Sera asked.

"Oh… nothing. I was just trying to find…"

"Find what?"

"Who asked."

The moment he said it, the two other guys burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha!!"

Sera's face flushed bright red. She conSydered hurling the chocolate at him, but it was too tasty to waste, so she channeled her shame into biting it harder instead.

You xxx##+**&*%##-@

Later...

Betty's eyelids began to flutter open, bit by bit. Her consciousness was slowly returning.

Once she was fully alert, she realized she was tied to a chair in a place that looked like a garage.

Two figures stood in front of her:

Mickey Mannix and Roxxy Barrett.

OutSyde Syd Barrett's garage,

The half-Thai, half-Aussie boy was kneeling on the lawn next to the garage, inspecting the golden power capsule.

He rolled it around, opened it, peered inSyde—clearly curious.

Jody and Toshi were crouched nearby. Sera stood behind Jody, peeking over her shoulder.

"Whatever it is, it looks like drugs to me…"

Toshi offered his opinion.

"Yeah… throw it into a pharmacy and we'll never see it again. There's no distinct feature. Gotta hand it over to the lab."

"Roxxy already made contact."

"Nice."

Syd closed the case.

"Your sister always this serious?"

Jody asked out of nowhere.

"She's always like that… why?"

But before the conversation could continue, they saw Mickey—his sleeve stained with blood—poke his head out from the garage door.

"Syd. I need you in here."

"She's being stubborn?"

"Pretty much."

"Got it."

Syd rolled up his sleeves and walked off, leaving Sera, Jody, and Toshi behind.

"..."

They watched Syd disappear around the corner into the garage.

"..."

"I think I know what you're getting at, Jody…"

Toshi began.

"You're wondering if Roxxy doesn't like you, huh?"

"..."

The girls paused for a moment.

But Toshi's laid-back way of speaking made it easier for them to be honest. BeSydes, that short exchange in the van had already made it pretty obvious to everyone.

"I might just be imagining it."

"No, you're not."

Toshi shook his head like he already expected Jody to downplay it.

"...So why? Is it because we're just regular people, so she doesn't trust us? If that's the case, I guess I get it. But I feel like she especially doesn't like me for some reason."

"That's… part of it."

"What do you mean?"

Jody frowned.

"The Barrett siblings… they're really close. They've only had each other since they were babies. And the Barretts were raised to be suspicious—it's part of their family culture. Whenever someone new comes into their lives, they keep an eye on each other's behalf."

Toshi scratched his head.

"I'm not trying to hype him up or anything, but… Syd's always been popular. Plus, his family runs a huge corporation. So it's not exactly shocking that most people who get close to him are after something, you know?"

Even though Toshi said that, he didn't seem any less popular than Syd himself…

"So what are you really saying?"

"Well… it's hard to explain, but you know the old saying… 'A scholar's greatest weakness is a beautiful woman'? Or something like that. Assuming he's not into guys, that is."

"..."

"You're saying Roxxy doesn't like me because she thinks I'll... with Syd?"

"Egypt fell because of a woman, you know…"

"This is so dumb!!!"

Sera burst out.

"Jody? With that idiot??? You're underestimating my friend way too much!"

"No, no, no! I was just explaining it from Roxxy's point of view! Don't take it personally."

Toshi raised his hands in defense.

"Or… maybe… maybe Roxxy just knows Jody used to be a bully…"

"..."

"...Yeah, that's fair."

Jody understood all too well…

Maybe Roxxy just thinks someone like her could never change—and she wouldn't be wrong to think that.

The more Jody thought about it, the more it hurt.

"I'd probably think the same way… If I could go back in time, I'd beat the crap out of that piece of trash…"

That "piece of trash" being 14-year-old Jody Johansson herself.

"..."

Sera gently placed a hand on Jody's shoulder.

"Don't overthink it, you two… Roxxy's actually sweet, deep down. You just have to prove her wrong. That's all."

"Prove? How?"

Sera asked.

"By doing your part. To the fullest."

"..."

"We don't trust people who talk a lot. We trust people who do a lot."

But their conversation was cut off when Syd peeked out of the garage.

"Yo."

All three turned to him. Syd motioned for them to come in.

The moment they entered the garage and saw Betty Morest's condition...

It wasn't a pretty sight.

Bloodshot eyes. A sliced ear. A face too bruised to look at. Sera didn't even want to imagine what she had been through to end up like this.

Most notably, Betty's mouth was stuffed with ice to prevent her from screaming.

That was definitely Roxxy's doing—she was off in the corner, on the phone.

Mickey Mannix stood nearby, calmly wiping blood from a folding knife.

Both Mickey and Syd had their sleeves rolled up, blood splattered up to their elbows...

These were the same boys they'd been laughing with earlier?

In work mode… they were entirely different people.

"She's tough as hell."

"Even you couldn't break her?"

Toshi knelt to inspect Betty—still conscious. Still alive.

"Gonna need Mickey to handle it."

When Syd said that, the girls were confused.

"...Mickey? What's he gonna do?"

Sera asked, unsure.

"This is our last resort when someone's lips are sealed tight. They wouldn't send the weirdo down here for nothing."

Everyone gathered around Betty, but Mickey was the only one seated right in front of her.

"..."

"What's he doing?"

Sera whispered to Toshi—he was still the only one she felt comfortable talking to.

"He's the only one who can see into Betty's memories."

"...What are you talking about? Don't start with the sci-fi nonsense."

"How does the brain store memories?"

"It spreads them into different regions of the brain, duh."

"And in what form?"

"In the form of nerve impulses—"

!!!

Nerve impulses.

When Sera realized…

"...Wait, wait a second—don't tell me—"

"Yep. Nerve impulses are just low-voltage electrical currents. Mickey can tap into that. You should probably turn your phones off now."

"Right… hey, Sera."

Syd pulled her lighter from his pocket and tossed it back to her.

"Hey! You took it again?!"

"Stop whining. It's not like you can't afford a new one."

"So now it's my fault?! You ass."

Mickey began the process.

He summoned his signature wires and plugged one directly into the center of Betty's forehead.

Sparks surged between him and her—thick, visible arcs of electricity.

The electrical field was so intense, the garage lights flickered erratically.

That's why Toshi warned them to turn off their phones—electrical fields naturally generate magnetic fields as a byproduct, and those could mess with electronics.

At this moment, Betty looked like someone who had been struck by lightning. Her body convulsed violently. Jody could even hear muffled screams beneath the ice plugging her mouth.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Eventually, Mickey let go. The electricity died down. The garage lights returned to normal.

Betty's condition was worse than ever.

A scorched smell wafted from her body, and the acrid smoke stung their throats.

As for Mickey—he was completely exhausted. Sweat streamed down his face like he'd just finished a marathon.

Then he collapsed right off the chair.

THUD!

"Mickey?!"

Jody called out in alarm, but Syd stopped her.

"He's fine."

Roxxy immediately rushed over to help him up, handing him paper and a pencil.

Still with his eyes closed, his face perfectly calm despite his ragged condition, Mickey took the items and began to draw the face of someone.

Sera noticed how no one said a word during the process. It was clear they were giving Mickey their full silence—maximum concentration.

She kept quiet too. But curiosity got the better of her.

Sera nudged Toshi with her elbow and whispered,

"What's he drawing?"

"He's sketching the person he saw in Betty's memories… We have to be quiet, or he might forget it."

"How does that work?"

"Think about it… when you wake up, can you still remember your dreams?"

"..."

"Same concept. What Mickey saw wasn't a screen or a photo—it was a memory stored in someone's brain. So once he disconnects, it's like waking up from a dream—it fades fast. That's why he has to get it down right away."

"...But he looks totally wrecked…"

"Of course. We only do this when there's no other option. It drains nearly all of Mickey's energy. And it's risky, too. If he does it too often, the nerves in his brain could burst—it's serious. Too much electrical feedback, you know?"

"...Damn. And he's a trained agent. A regular person would've dropped dead in ten seconds."

"Yeah. And don't worry about the drawing—Mickey's ridiculously good."

"Really?"

Sera looked doubtful. But Toshi insisted.

"He's the real deal. But the stuff he draws? Gives you chills."

And when she heard that…

The memory of something Syd once told her floated back into her head.

["Now that you mention it, you kinda remind me of a friend of mine. That guy's into this kind of creepy stuff too."]

["A guy? Your guy friend?"]

["Yeah. He draws, plays music, but there's something off about him. Every single drawing he makes is nightmare fuel."]

"..."

Sera froze.

"…That guy Syd was talking about… was Mannix?!"