Chapter 037

"What do you mean you see the world on fire?" Alex asked as he leaned against the surface and looked down standing on the roof.

There was a taxi standing in the empty alley and both he and Matt were waiting for the owner of the taxi to emerge. He had gone into a storeroom which was used by some of the Russian gang members as a temporary hideout.

"I am blind but you can say I see more than others. I feel stuff, way more than what humans can. Vibrations, air density, temperature, every little micro change in the surroundings." He looked at him for a moment before ending. "All these things come together to build an impressionistic painting. Kinda like seeing the world on fire."

"I can't imagine a life where I have to see the whole world burning every single moment."

"You get used to it."

Alex nodded his head.

He already knew about Matt's powers and his background but as he can't act like he knows everything, he needed to pretend to not know about it before.

Anyway, he thought of it as a way to bond with Matt.

No matter what world you are in, connections will always help you out in life. That was something that Alex knew very well and having a deeper friendship with Matt would only help him out in the future.

'At least I would have a lawyer in case I got sued.'

He thought as Matt suddenly asked.

"What about your powers? Where did you get them from? They are rather… unique."

"Yeah, I guess having a shadow wolf as a pet is a rare thing." Alex replied, already prepared for this type of question.

As his powers weren't the usual kind and there was not even a record of him having gone through an experiment or even an accident, it was really hard for him to explain his powers to someone.

It was only Matt asking currently but in the future, more people will ask about it, especially Shield.

So, it was really important for him to stick to a story. Even if it was a made up one.

"Um, l honestly don't know where I got my powers from. It was like a dream but I wasn't sleeping. Someone asked me to choose between being a hero and villain and I choose to be a hero, thinking it's the right way. When my eyes opened, I had these powers."

Matt listened keenly to Alex's words, being confused at what he was saying at first but noticing that his heartbeat was running normally and there were no particular changes to his stress levels, he chose to believe him.

Even if the story Alex was telling him was really hard to understand, it at least wasn't a lie.

"Who asked you to choose?" Matt asked.

"I don't know. Pretty sure it's someone really powerful." 

"How does your wolf function?"

"It's kinda like a soul and it lives within me. I feel it and I call it out whenever I want. It protect–"

"He's here!"

Matt suddenly cut him off, hearing footsteps emerging from the storeroom. Alex looked down and saw a bearded Russian man opening a door and moving towards the taxi.

"How are we gonna get the information out of him?" He looked at Matt and asked.

"Leave that to me. Just use your wolf for a little intimidation."

"Got it."

They jumped down from the roof when the Russian was opening his taxi door. He was startled when Matt and Alex suddenly appeared right behind him.

"What the fuck?" Realising who they were, he tried to run away instead of trying to fight but Matt grabbed his hands and slammed his head into the roof of the taxi.

A painful groan came out of the Russian mouth as despair filled his heart.

"What, what do you want?" He grunted. "Leave me. I'm even thinking of leaving the gang."

"I don't care about that." Matt held his head and grinded it on the taxi. "Now, the only way I will let you go is if you tell the truth. Only the truth! Otherwise, I will show you hell and let me tell you what hell looks like."

He gestured towards Alex who focused the stable energy inside him and formed the wolf in front of him, terrifying the Russian and startling Matt a little who was seeing his wolf for the first time.

"I haven't fed it for a while and Russians are one of it's favourites. So think before lying."

The finishing touch was the wolf growling towards the Russian man who had already lost his will at this point.

"Where are they hiding the heroin?" Matt asked in a heavy voice.

"I don't know- Aghh!" Matt slammed his head again making blood flow out from his head.

"Last chance!"

"I'm talking. I'm talking! Don't hurt me more please!"

"Say."

"11th Avenue. Behind Troika restaurant. There's an abandoned building. They are hiding all the material there before transporting it outside the city."

"What about the enhanced with them? Those people with special abilities."

Alex perked up his ears when Matt asked that, curious to know about it too. In his mind, there was a suspicion that the enhanced people were mutants. 

But he had no way of confirming it.

"I don't know. Vladimir hired them from someone. I don't know who but he hired it due to you two. He was sure that you will try to do something while they are relocating."

"He's smart." Matt muttered, pulling the Russian gangster in front of him. He tried to struggle but it was of no use. Matt punched him in the face and he got knocked down on the ground after hitting his taxi.

"He will be out for some hours. At least until someone finds him lying here. We can finish our work by then."

"Yeah." Alex nodded, glancing at the Russian gangster before pulling in his wolf. 

Then, both of them left towards the warehouse.