The following is a non-profit, fan work based off the respective works of Rei Hiroe and Christopher Nolan
All rights belong to the original creators, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., and Madhouse Inc.
The Bluefire Phoenix presents...
A File from Operation Dusk Hour...
Chapter XI: Outlaw Torn
I swear to god if Benny told me to be patient one more time, I'd fucking kill him! We'd been in Sydney for two weeks and I hadn't seen him. Oh but Benny kept swearing that he'd show up.
After that I'd storm out of the cabin and onto the streets of the city. The first couple of times I forgot where I was. I hadn't been around a large group of native English speakers, let alone quote-unquote civilized people in years.
They just don't appreciate a good string of expletives in public. Hell they don't even appreciate guns the way I do. In Australia anyway. Say what you will about us Americans, we love our guns.
Benny would have a fit if he knew I had smuggled my Cutlasses under my light jacket. I didn't care. I'd rather have Dutch yank off my fingernails with a pair of old pliers than go out unarmed. Safety statistics be damned.
Tokyo reminded me that so called civilization wasn't free of the dangers of my world. And I wasn't going to make that mistake again.
So I aimlessly wandered the streets with my guns stowed away. Every time I saw a man with a tie on yanked my attention. My hope flowered for a moment then died when I determined it didn't belong to Rock.
I wasn't so lovelorn bitch sniffing out the man of my dreams. Actually as a lover, Rock wasn't great. Or even that good. No…he was pretty bad.
There was something about that night though. Something deeper. In the time leading up to that Rock had grown distant. He spent his time split between his room and the offices of Hotel Moscow. What he was doing there was anyone's guess.
Then one day he came home while I was having a smoke and a drink by the docks, watching the way the light of setting sun danced on the water. He joined me. We sat there well past dusk.
Nothing particularly interesting was shared or revealed. Words were exchanged but nothing gained. It was…pleasant to just talk. I had never had such an alleviating conversation, with its aimless nature.
I don't know what happened next. One of us made a move. Like I said, it wasn't good at all. But there was a…passion behind it. But as we mingled amongst my bed sheets I realized I wasn't sure what was driving that passion. It certainly wasn't romance.
The next morning he was gone. That night he failed to return and the city went even further into hell.
Not long after I was puking all the time. That's when I learned the bastard knocked me up. Benny and Dutch basically chained me to the wall while the brat grew inside of me. Nine months without a smoke or a drink. If that wasn't a human rights violation, I didn't know what was. Pretty soon Dutch brought in a doctor; I got rid of the kid, and stole a boat from the docks.
I spent every moment since then hunting for Rock, trying to figure out what happened, what it all meant. But I never wanted to see Lee. Honestly I never thought about her, my mind focused on Rock. I didn't even know her name for fuck's sake until I came back.
Did I hate her? No, she didn't ask to be born. My only thought now was why did I let her come in to my fucked up world?
I turned to look into a shop window. My reflection stared back at me. Heavy bags under my eyes, hair starting to grow back; I barely recognized myself anymore.
But behind the stress and the hair, I saw Lee. The girl was a suborn brat, I'd give her that. I barely acknowledged her presences and yet she followed me around like I was a god walking the planet, her very existence hanging on my every word.
She had never asked about Rock despite spending all the time she wasn't staring at me on staring at that picture of the two of us. What would I say about him anyway? I couldn't call him an asshole for leaving her at literally the earliest second. Pot meet kettle.
Besides he didn't even know she existed.
Would I tell her that he was a good person or a ruthless mastermind?
That I nearly killed him multiple times when we first met?
What about our relationship? How would I describe it?
I kicked a discarded can as hard as I could. It clattered down the sidewalk a bit. Every time I went there, every time I tried to figure it out, I…I just got angry. I wasn't sure if I that rage was for me, or him, or something else.
Even though I saw a lot of myself in the kid, I saw way more of Rock. Not just in the hair which refused to cooperate on the right side even after I cut it.
Her manner was mild. At dinner she was always polite. She dressed her best even when it seemed impractical. Hell she wore that yellow dress every chance she got. I was convinced that it was made of that shirt I bought Rock when I first met him. At least someone got some use out of the damn thing.
A large crowd had started to grow around me. A nearby clock said it was just after lunch time. I noticed there were quite a lot of cops prowling around.
These weren't the easy pushovers from Roanapur. No these were professionals with an actual budget and proper training. Not the kind of fuckers I would cross alone.
Their presence sent a wave of caution over my body. I wasn't sure why so many were around.
The crowd seemed to grow bigger and bigger. I realized I had entered a large plaza. At the far end was a large stage filled with a bunch of greying old men mixed with a variety of young bloods. Many of the people in the crowd were holding up signs with political leanings.
I had stumbled into some sort of rally. Fuck me. The three things I actively tried to avoid: motivated assholes, police officers, and politicians; all conveniently gathered in one location to screw me over.
Officers were now everywhere, patrolling the perimeter with armed soldiers accompanying them. I never thought the words would cross my mind but I regretted bringing my guns. If shit went down and I got caught, I'd more than likely be off to prison.
I wasn't going to let that happen. I wasn't going to put L...I wasn't going to wait that long to find Rock.
Instinct kicked in and my eyes went up to the nearby buildings. Blended into the windows were sniper perches. It took a while but I counted them out. There were four of them set up but there was a pretty decent blind spot right in the middle.
A wave of static hit me. It was like the calm before the storm. Nobody was that incompetent. Nobody. I turned around and tried to get out of the plaza. I might as well have been stuck in a glacier.
My ears started to ring.
Smoke started to fill the air.
Panicked screams mixed with haze.
Just another fucking day in the office. A stampede erupted. I moved to the side near the edge. The police and soldiers had dispersed into the crowd.
The men and women on the stage were being escorted off to the side. I didn't hear any shots fired or see any of the VIPs drop.
I looked up to where the blind spot started. A man dressed in black combat armor with a dark orange trim was climbing down. He was using the chaos below to hide is escape, I assumed. Well hopefully he was interested in becoming my ticket to a quick buck.
We met up near the center of the plaza. My heart stopped. It was him! Wilson. His aged face was that of an old soldier, cold and stoic. He paid me no mind, briskly crossing the plaza.
My vision started to blur. Spots of pain erupted in familiar places all over again. Where was I? Gotham? The dock?
No, no, no. I wasn't going to let the past interfere this time! I reached into my jacket just as the old man past. My knees gave out. It took all my energy to keep from collapsing.
The world came back into focus. I looked up to see the man from Jakarta. The man in the coat! He was standing not ten feet away from me! His figure was cloaked in haze but his gaze was aimed directly at me. Though, his eyes were hidden behind an impenetrable pair of sunglasses and a fleshy mask to hide his facial features. He appeared to be talking on an ear piece.
I jumped up to my feet. What the fuck was he doing here? And why was he looking at me so specifically?
The man slowly turned around and started walking away. I followed him down an alley. He wasn't getting away this time. The chase led me into a construction site further downtown. He stopped in the middle of the skeletal framework of a building. He was trapped by the equipment and supplies scattered about.
I pulled my pistols out and joined him, aiming right at the back of his head. "Alright you fucking weirdo, who are you and what the hell are you doing here?" I growled. My thumbs cocked my weapons. The man just started to laugh.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Hey, I'm back. Again. I know this one is short, but I'm a little busy at the moment. Believe it or not I have a life outside of this. Getting back to school, starting my own original project, charting out other projects for this site, and general new year disorder. I should be back to cranking out chapters pretty soon.
So it is finally coming down, here at the official halfway point. Plans in motion. Chaos in the streets. Good times.
Until next time, it is a thin line {so when does one become the other}
