Authors Note- Hello readers! It's summer, and the weight of the world is off my shoulders! Sorry about the longness of the updating. I got into a little writers block spell. But now it's over, and here's a new chapter!! Oh, and if anyone wants to see some concept art, I've got a teeny tiny picture of Nikki on my account now.
Disclaimer- I don't own the name Nikki Bell or her quest to kill Black Mamba, but all the cool shit she does…that I do own, and hope to use in a book/graphic novel.
Kill Kiddo: Chapter 11
Location: London, England
Date: 9/28/24
"Why are we stopping here?" Montoya asked as we walked into a department store.
"Because," I said through grit teeth. "You are still wearing the same shirt and jeans from when I yanked your eye out of your head. You smell like sweat and blood and people keep watching us walk by and it's making me nervous."
Montoya looked down at his filthy clothes.
"Will your friends American money work here?" he asked.
"I will pay for it."
"You won't leave me here, will you?" he asked.
"I'm a wanted assassin who let a minor see her face." I said. " You're a problem to me alive. You are a bigger problem if I let you escape. Now go."
Montoya looked down uncertainly before walking to the men's section. I turn on my heals towards the restrooms. Thankfully, it was a single room. I walk in, close the door, and pull out my cell.
"BABY!" Ricky greets me. "So? Am I the man? Did you get what you wanted? Hey, did your friend take my wallet?"
"Hey Ricky. You were right—it was Sofie. Rat didn't know anything though. Just dropped another name."
"Tough luck. So… what are you going to ask me about this time?" Ricky asked.
"This is long shot but…Elle Driver?" I ventured.
Ricky didn't say anything.
"Ricky?"
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure she's dead." Ricky said.
"Pretty sure?" I said.
"Well, not entirely after this whole Sofie thing. But…they found a body." He said.
"Cause of death?" I asked.
"You know, last time I checked up on the DiVAS was when me and you first met. Hold up."
Ricky paused, checking something on his laptop I presume.
"Okay," Ricky began. "A woman and a mans body were both found dead in a trailer out in the middle of nowhere. Keep in mind the woman was never identified and the man had a fake ID and a cowboy hat from El Paso, so…"
"So we assume that the guy is River Side-Winder. How'd they die?" I ask.
"Okay, now this was tricky. The whole trailer was set on fire and both of the bodies were burned, but they were able to conclude that they died from the venom of a Black Mamba. Woman had a lot of blood loss. Missing both eyes, although they found one smushed and singed in the bathroom…"
I slam my fist into the side of the wall. Damnit.
"Do you still think you could look into it for me? I mean, I know it's a crapshoot, but Ricky, I'm so close to this. I can taste it."
No answer.
"Ricky? You there?" I asked.
"Are you still in France?" Ricky demanded.
"What? Um, no. The Acuna boy and me caught a train out to London hours ago."
Ricky cleared his throat.
"The French Police are looking for you. Or someone who looks a lot like you with two sai swords and a Latino accomplice. " Ricky said.
Shit.
"Where does it say that?" I demanded.
"It doesn't matter, but there's a bunch of shit here. It says you took the Ayuma and Miroux building hostage and sliced a bunch of people up with a sword."
"That's bullshit." I mumbled. "I only killed one guy."
"Well, I suggest you and your accomplice get out of Europe, like now." Ricky said.
"Thanks for the heads up." I say.
I drop the phone in the toilet, flush, and get the fuck out of there. I run into the men's section and into the changing rooms.
"Acuna Boy!" I yell. "Montoya!!"
The door at the end of the hall opens. Montoya comes out, wearing gray jeans and a black silk shirt.
"What's up?" he asks.
"We're leaving."
I grab him and yank him out of the dressing room. He grabbed onto the broken strap of his guitar case.
"Shouldn't we pay for this?" He asked, gesturing to his new clothes.
"We don't have the time." I say.
"But…your friends passport and money are still in the dressing room…" he mumbles.
I clicked the electronic scrambler in my pocket as we walked out of the door.
"What's going on?" Montoya asked.
Shit. There were already police.
"Go back in!" I whispered.
Montoya and me backed up into the store. As we walked through the isles, I saw a cop talking to a cashier.
Aw fuck. Fuck.
I pulled Montoya back through the storage room.
"We need to get to the airport." I said.
"I thought we were going to stay here for a few days."
"That was before the police found us. Plans have changed." I whispered.
We ran through the back exit. I looked around for something, anything…Aha. A moped.
"You can hotwire that, right?" I asked Montoya.
"Sure." Montoya shrugged. "Give me your knife."
I passed him my sai sword, and turned and looked back to the exit.
A gun leveled to my head.
"Hands on your head! Both of you!!" the cop yelled.
I turned and looked back at Montoya. He made eye contact with me before running away.
--KK--
"Arrange for a squad car to take her away. We'll need extra security…"
"You know, London was so much nicer before you got rid of gun control." I said from down on the ground.
The cop ignored me. It was hard to see from the way they had my face pressed into the gravel, but I think it was safe to say there were at least four cops around me. They had already cuffed me and taken away my scrambler, my sia sword, and my wallet.
"Jesus Christ." One said. "She must have over a hundred thousand dollars in this…"
I roll my eyes. Fucken cops. They've only caught me a twice, and I've only been in a squad car once, and that was back when I first started working for Ricky. When it comes to cops, it's all about finding the right opportunity.
"Her ID's fake, her drivers license is fake…"
Wait for it…wait for it…
"What do you reckon this is?" one cop said, holding up the scrambler.
I flip over on my back and kick the cop's legs out. He falls, the scrambler drops, and the button gets pushed.
As the cops close their eyes to the sound of their ear fixtures breaking apart, I pull my legs through my cuffed arms. I go up to the cop on the ground, yank my sword outa his hands, and put it to his neck.
"Uncuff me." I demand, pulling him up.
" Bitch." The cop moans.
"Uncuff me or I'll rip your throat out." I say.
One of the other cops walks over and, gun put on ground, he unlocks my handcuffs. I walk backward, holding his friend in front of me.
"Wherever you go, we're going to find you." The cop says.
" I'm not looking for any trouble. All of you just walk away. Nobody has to get hurt." I say.
The cop elbows me, right in my old bullet wound. On reflex, I slash his neck.
"SHOOT HER!!"
Why does no one ever listen to me?
The cop wasn't even dead before they started pumping him full of bullets. I twisted his neck, turned him around, and used him as a shield. The cops file out and start pushing me up against the wall. A bullet goes through the cop's side and nicks me. Unlike the last time when I was numbed by adrenaline, I feel it. I sink down.
"Cease fire!" one of the cops says. He walks up to me. I put my sword out to him, and he points his gun at my head.
I catch a movement out of the corner of my eye. The cop gasps and falls forward, a sai sword stuck in his side.
It takes the two standing men a moment to realize that I didn't throw the sword. They hear the roar of the motorcycle, but Montoya is quick. They turn around, and he meets them with his guitar case at thirty an hour. They're both down.
Montoya turns the motorcycle around and stops in front of me. I stare at him.
"What?" he asks.
I yank my sword out of the dead cop, pick up the rest of my stuff, and get on.
--KK--
Mercedes Ayuma—formally known as Sofie Fatale—sat cross-legged on a metal chair. Shirtless and bloody, she had her robotic arm stretched before her on a hospital table. As the doctor behind her wielded together wires inside her shoulder blade, Her mechanical fingers twitched.
"You incompetent fucks!" Sofie yelled.
The five bodyguards on the other side of the room exchanged glances. One of them finally ventured forward.
"With all due respect Miss Ayuma…"
Sofie Fatale screamed. She reached across the table, picked up a sharp tool, and flung it across the room. While normally she would have caught one of the men in the throat, the hand she used was covered in bandages and still numb. The knife slid across the floor.
"I just reattached that finger…" the Doctor mumbled.
"I said I didn't want any police to go after her!!" Sofie yelled. " I said no one finds out about this!"
"This was out of our control, Miss Ayuma. Someone was killed in the building. A person in the lobby called the police."
"You will contact the police." Sofie instructed. "And you will tell them it was a misunderstanding. Give them a different description of the girl. I don't care what you have to do. JUST FIX IT."
Two of the bodyguards nodded, and then exited the room. The doctor used this moment of silence to speak up.
"The damage is pretty severe…" he began.
Sofie motioned for him to continue.
"We're going to have to replace the entire plastic exterior. As for the metal endoskeleton…we can save the forearm, wrist, and shoulder blade, but everything else is damaged beyond repair."
Sofie looked down at her fingers. She twitched them.
"I can move it still." She said.
"I know you're moving it. The wires are sparking at the top." The doctor said gently.
"Piece of shit." Sofie mumbled.
"You know Mercedes," The doctor said, "A human arm would have snapped off in that situation."
A cell phone rang. One of the three remaining bodyguards walked to Sofie and handed it to her.
"I wasn't talking about the arm." Sofie said.
As she opened the phone, a long, metallic screech echoed through the hall. Two of the three bodyguards pulled out their guns and opened the door.
"What is it?" Sofie demanded, closing her phone.
" I don't see anything…"
As the two men looked down, they both pulled their hands to their faces in disgust.
"My god…" one whispered. The other pressed his earpiece.
"Come in. We are up here with Miss Ayuma. Someone has killed two of her guards. We need back up. Come in. Can…Can anybody hear me,"—
Sofie could not see past the bodyguards. All she could see was the long, metal blade protruding from the man's back. The blade retracted, and as the bodyguard collapsed, Sofie saw a young girl in black, drenched in blood. The other guard grabbed her and pointed the gun to her head.
"Who the hell are you?!" he demanded.
The girl looked the man in the eye for a moment. She then rolled her eyes back to Sofie.
"Do you know this girl?" The guard demanded.
The metallic screech echoed through the air once more. Neither the bodyguard nor Sofie had time to react. Sofie saw the line of blood trickle down the guard's throat, and watched with wide eyes as his head toppled off onto the floor.
He collapsed, and a young man behind him sheathed his sword. The two stepped over the bloody bodies and into the room. Sofie first glanced at the doctor, then to the one remaining bodyguard who stood between her and the bloody pair that entered the room. The guard pulled the trigger on his gun.
The girl tucked in her legs and dropped to the ground. Without a sound, she reached out and grabbed the surgical knife Sofie had thrown across the room. She pulled herself up, retracted her arm, and threw the skinny knife at the guard. Sofie closed her eyes as warm blood splattered across her face. When she opened them, the knife was in the wall, and the guard had dropped his gun. Blood oozed thickly out of the two holes on the front and back of his head.
"How…" he mumbled. His eyes rolled back into his head.
The girl stayed in place. Her male counterpart wiped the blood off his sword, and proceeded to Sofie. Without so much as looking at the cowering doctor on the floor, he slit his throat as he walked by.
"Six hours ago," he began. "You were contacted by a woman. She is muscular, and of African decent. She has been identified by the yin-yang tattooed on her ankle and the snake tattooed on her neck as assassin Codename Baby Cobra. You will repeat for us the conversation you had with her, as well as any additional information as to where you believe she is going."
Sofie took a moment and twitched the fingers on her robotic arm. Although the doctor had disconnected her artificial nerves, she could feel a vague burning deep inside her back.
The man walked closer to her, and lowered his face till it was an inch from hers.
"Six hours ago…" he began.
"Shut up." Sofie said. Oddly enough, she began laughing.
The girl stepped forward with her sword raised. As she did, the young man's cellphone rang. He picked it up.
"Target escaped capture from police. She is now on a plane, bound to Ontario, Canada. Sadako and I stayed behind as instructed. Affirmative." The man said.
He listened for a moment, then passed the phone to Sofie.
"Who is this?" Sofie demanded.
"I was hoping to speak with you before you died. How's life, Sofie?" the woman on the other end of the phone asked.
Sofie was beyond fear at this point. She was exhausted. Exhausted from hiding. From running a law firm. From the constant surgery and pain her robotic arm gave her. She was tired of begging for her wretched life. And perhaps it was all the painkillers clouding her judgement, but suddenly, her entire situation was both extremely pathetic and funny.
"Shity." She answered honestly.
"I'm sorry to hear that." The woman said sincerely.
"So…" Sofie asked, glancing over to the two in black. "Who's the young couple? I assume the girl's name is Sadako?"
"You assume correctly. The boy is Akira." The woman said. "You may, however, know them as Mononoke and Serenity."
"THESE TWO? These two are Mononoke and Serenity? They were creating a lot of commotion in Tokyo a while back. Right before they disappeared." Sofie said.
"Five years ago last month, actually. However, they've given up those names and the titles that went with them. They work for me now."
"Funny you're letting me know all this." Sofie said.
The woman on the other end chuckled.
"You don't honestly think I intend to let you live?" She asked.
"Of course I don't." Sofie said. "I just find it odd that you're having someone do your dirty work for you."
"I've been a little busy these past twenty years." The woman said.
Sofie frowned.
"I don't think that's it." Sofie said. "I think…you're worried. This girl…Vernita's daughter…she's very good. And who knows, twenty years is a long time—you've probably lost your edge. I think…maybe…you're worried that this girl might be better then you."
"…Maybe, Sofie. Who knows? I guess I'll find out when the two of us meet." The woman said.
"Oh, and before you go?" Sofie said.
"What is it, Sofie?" The woman asked.
Sofie looked down at her robotic hand. She lifted it up to her head and brushed the hair out of her face. Her arm sparked as she did so, but she didn't care. She swallowed her fear, her pain, her everything. And when she spoke, it was clear, it was calm, and in her opinion, the most fitting last words she could have said.
"I hope with every fiber of my being—you heartless, fucking blonde bitch—that when Baby Cobra finds you, she'll cut you up into little, bloody pieces." Sofie said.
The voice on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment.
"You're going to know what that's like very shortly. Goodbye, Sofie Fatale." The woman said as she hung up.
I hope everyone was okay with the cop part. I would have finished this chapter months ago if I could've gotten over my fear of screwing with Quentin's world of no cops in Kill Bill. Sorry to cut Nikki's part in this chapter so short, but Sofie's final moment wouldn't have fit in well with next chapter. On a related note: next chapter (and possible part of the one after it) Nikki will be recalling her past. These include how she met Ricky, some tripy, gory fight scenes, her life in New York with her boyfriend, and the first appearance of the long time talked about but never revealed Lolita!! (She's crazy.)
Thank you for all your encouragement to keep this going. If there are any errors, I'll be back to correct them. For now, I'm just happy I can finally update something. Any comments, ideas, suggestions, anything, you know what to do! By the way, if any of you want to take a look at some of my other artwork, I recently got a robot picture into Mad Magazine, issue 490. So, until next time…
Here it is, your moment of Zen!