Chapter 10: The Price
The sound of a creaking door was the first thing Black Bear heard when he awoke. He was groggy and nauseous, effects of his tussle with the maid. He was curious about her. Despite her claims, she was far more formidable than anyone he had faced in the past. What bothered him most was the fact that she only had one arm. If her gait and slight, almost imperceptible limp were anything to go by, that right leg was a prosthetic too.
Bear couldn't open his eyes. They had blindfolded him. He should have expected that. Wherever he had been taken, they didn't want him knowing how to escape. On the off chance that he had allies to call upon, they wanted to make sure he could not direct them to his location. Lucky for them, he was all alone. The assassin could definitely hear multiple footsteps, indicating at least three people had entered the room. The door that opened moments earlier was slammed shut and Bear's blindfold was removed. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light, dim as it was. The source was a lantern hanging from the ceiling, illuminating only a small circle around the bound assassin. The rest of the surprisingly spacious room was obscured. There could be fifty people in here and he would never know. He didn't recognise the man who removed his blindfold.
"Black Bear," he spoke, his voice deep and steady. As hard as he was trying to remain calm, his hard gaze and heavy breathing implied he was very angry. "I'm the Wolf." Both of them were silent for a few moments as they studied each other. Bear wasn't certain whether he had heard of this man before or not. If he had, he probably hadn't taken notice, too apathetic or arrogant to ever consider they would cross paths. He was regretting that now. What troubled him most was why he hadn't been killed yet. These people clearly despised him, assumedly for what he did to Usagi. It made no sense to interrogate him. He had no information to offer, no details on the Dead Men, no money to offer in exchange for his life, nothing. They would do well to kill him and be done with it, despite how much he hoped that didn't happen.
"So you're the guy who hired the maid," he remarked smugly, an ugly smirk appearing on his bruised face. "Smart move. I gotta say, when she first showed herself, I thought she'd go down easy. I even told her how bad a call it was to hire her. But, man…she really showed me, huh?"
"You could say that."
"So…why am I tied up in here instead of rotting at the bottom of the ocean?" Clearly, this 'Wolf' had a hard time answering that question. He glanced around the room and squinted, searching for a valid response. None came to mind, judging by the expression on his face.
"I don't know," he admitted. There was more malice and sinister undertones to that remark than met the eye. "I guess I wanted to talk. I don't know how much your employers told you, but I'm the guy taking care of Usagi." The Wolf's tone and manner grew darker, then, as he frowned and shot a menacing glance at Bear. "That apartment you broke into? Yeah, that was mine."
"I didn't break into it," Bear claimed. Though there was undoubtedly no defence for his actions, he was intent to set the facts straight regarding something like this. He elicited no joy from knowing what he did to Usagi. It was an action he had committed before, more than once. Some of the women he killed, others he mentally destroyed. It just was what it was. There was no malice behind it. Or at least that was Bear's outlook on his depraved lifestyle. He was sure this young man before him would disagree. "The girl let me inside. Said I wanted to see the man of the house. After that…well, you know."
Bear did not smile. If he did, he would probably get his teeth kicked in. Whatever it was that snapped in his mind all those years ago, it made it so rape was trivial to him. It came to him easily, like walking or riding a bike for children. It was part of who he was. In his mind, even deep down within the psyche of a villainous man like Bear, he probably recognised that it was wrong, that he was doing something horrible. But it didn't stop him. He was driven by an instinct inside more animalistic than human, one that made him force himself upon others. He never thought about it, partly because he would not be able to explain it. To him, this darkness inside, this instinct…it just was what it was. Wolf looked about ready to tackle Bear out of disgust.
"You're a sick man," he muttered quietly. "You know that? There's something not right in your head. You actually enjoy this."
"And how are you any different?" Bear asked, leaning forward in his chair as much as he could. "Answer me that, Wolf. All of you fuckers in this city are just as bad as me, the catalyst is just different. I get my kicks from doing what I did, you get yours from killing people. Don't tell me you don't fucking blow your load every time you gun down an enemy."
"Every time I kill someone, I have a reason," Wolf retorted. "I kill to keep my comrades alive. And to make sure I'm alive to see this shit out to the end. In my early days…yeah, maybe in my naiveté, my immaturity, I might have gotten off on it. But you change. You grow. You adapt. But rape? That's just…wrong, no matter what way you look at it. Don't even try and defend yourself." Bear scoffed. He knew by that subtle change on Wolf's face, he was startled. Even if he did not want to admit it, he knew Bear was partly right in what he said. Even those he didn't know had been described by his rant. Revy was a prime example, someone who would probably execute innocent civilians if she was pressed far enough and find such an act of slaughter exhilarating. But this man would not give in. He was adamant that he was right.
"You can keep telling yourself how much of a saint you are, but it doesn't change things," Bear continued, intent on making Wolf see his way of thinking. He would probably die here today. The least he could do was convince his kidnapper that they weren't so different, on the same level of filth in this world. And if he earned his life in the process, that was a bonus. "Deep down, we're the same, you and me. Both of us have been thrown into a world where rules don't exist. People can pretend they do, like Hunter and Ulysses. But it's a jungle out there. We're all animals, about time we start living like it. Neither of us were born like this, right? Tell me, what did you want to be when you were a kid?"
"What?!" Wolf asked, bewildered by this line of questioning.
"It's a simple, question, pal," Bear shot at him. "Come on. What was it, doctor, teacher, something like that?" Wolf was silent for a few moments as he shifted his weight. Clearly, talking about his past made him uncomfortable. If Bear survived this, he would be sure to use that to his advantage.
"Palaeontologist," Wolf answered then, averting his eyes.
"Digging up bones instead of burying them, huh?" Bear asked, smiling openly. "Bit out there, but okay. I wanted to be a chef. Pretty fucking stupid, right? And now look at us. Both killers, both stuck like this, both caught up in a conflict we have nothing to do with. Amazing how things change. No matter how innocent a child is, no matter how well-behaved they are, there is always potential to fall. And if you fall far enough…there's no climbing back out. Like us. We fell far, and we hit the bottom hard. Rock fucking bottom. So we're stuck like this forever. Two sides of the same coin, you and I. We just have different views on the world."
"Enough!" Wolf screamed, balling his hands into fists and stepping forward. He looked like he might hit Bear before composing himself and exhaling deeply. "Just…enough, alright? I don't want to hear any more of your shit." Bear offered one more smile before nodding obediently and sitting back in his seat. "When I found out what you did, I wanted to break your jaw. Let you choke on your teeth. Maybe I should have."
"Maybe," Bear agreed. "But it wouldn't have solved anything. Like I said…even if you don't want to hear it, killing is what gets you off, it makes you what you are. I know. I've been in this business long enough. You're an assassin, right? Or at the very least, you're a mercenary. I can see it in your eyes, I can smell it from your insides. You'll be killing for the rest of your life. You're gonna go on slaughtering anyone who looks at you wrong until one day, you try your hand at killing someone better and they take you out instead. Like me…right? I bit off more than I could chew. And now you're going to make sure I never do…what I did…ever again."
"Do you even regret it?" Wolf asked suddenly, eyeing Bear confrontationally. The disgust and anger in his eyes was evident. It was a wonder he hadn't used that Desert Eagle yet. Bear thought on that question. It was simple at face value, but for the Native American, whose mind was convoluted and labyrinthine, it was not so easy to answer.
"Yeah," he answered finally. "Yeah, I do. But not for the reason you're hoping. I regret it because it fucked me in the long run. Kind of like I was doing it to myself, huh?" That horrid joke was met with stony silence, followed by Wolf resting his hand on the handle of his gun. "What I did…it sealed my fate. Made sure I never made it back home in one piece. If I got away with it, if I'd done it and that was that, no trouble…no, I wouldn't think twice about it." Wolf's lower lip curled downwards like a bulldog's once he heard that and his frown seemed to deepen even more. "But, hey, it's done now, right? No going back. I've fallen, like I said. And it's a hell of a climb back up. A climb I'm not willing to make. A climb I'm sure you won't give me the chance to make. Because the only way I'll change is if you let me walk out that door right now. And even then…there's no guarantee." Bear wasn't sure if he should be trying to brownnose in an attempt to save himself or not. But he was never one to suck up to people, even when his life was on the line. He would remain the same to the bitter end. Wolf seemed to consider the situation. It was clear he wanted to kill Bear there and then. But something was obviously staying his hand. He glanced behind him for a few seconds before turning to Black Bear and smirking.
"Well, I guess this is the end," he said theatrically, leaning his back on the pillar behind him and folding his arms.
"I guess so," Bear concurred, poising himself for an execution. He had never been shot with a Desert Eagle before. If he was killed with a headshot, it wouldn't hurt, at least not for long. "So, you gonna show me why they call you the Wolf now?" The man simply chuckled, setting Bear on edge a bit.
"No," Wolf answered, far too much glee in his voice. "No, I'm not." He waved his hand towards the bound Bear. Nothing happened at first. There was only eerie silence and tension in the air. But then he heard the footsteps. First he spotted a white shirt to Wolf's right, emerging from the darkness. It was the maid from the factory. She looked none too pleased to be in the rapist's presence. On the other side, a woman Bear did not recognise stepped out of the shadows and folded her arms. Despite her understandably infuriated expression, there was something more to her. She was far more eager to taste Bear's blood than the others, he knew that right away. "They are," Wolf said then. He pointed to the maid with his thumb. "This is Roberta. Even in her condition, she's still ten times the assassin you'll ever be." He pointed to his left then. "And Revy? She could kick your arse with both hands tied behind her back." A wicked smile appeared on Wolf's face as he anticipated what was about to happen. "They're going to make you regret the fact that you didn't shoot yourself the first time you laid hands on a woman." Bear's heart sank as he realised what was happening. He was not going to be executed or killed quickly like he assumed. No, they would not do him that service. He was going to be torn apart like a wild animal, these two women eager to make him pay for what he did to Usagi. Wolf's smile immediately faded and he donned an expression of dark anger. The last thing Bear felt was his own flesh being torn apart as the maid and the gunslinger massacred him, his blood and guts spilling out onto the floor.