Chapter 13: The Outlaws

Rock went back to his seat obediently and sat down, holding his hands together on his knees as he waited for Kang to steer the situation. The gun remained trained on him as the conversation went on.

"Why the rush to get away?" Kang asked. "I should think your employers would want you to finish out your negotiations."

"From where I'm sitting," Rock began, "it looks like I have."

"Don't be so pragmatic," Kang whined. "I can see why they sent you to speak with us, but your cheap intimidation tactics won't work here. You'll have to try harder than that."

"You misunderstand," Rock told him flatly. "I'm not trying to intimidate you, I'm just telling you how things are. This is your best chance at survival. Because if you don't accept these terms, your people will die in this city. That's not an exaggeration, it's a fact."

Kang and Enlai regarded him suspiciously, as if trying to deduce whether or not he was telling the truth. Rock knew that what he said had been hyperbolised to try and sway them towards cooperation, but he was also well aware that the gangs of Hong Kong genuinely would be eliminated if they continued to resist. He patiently waited for a response while the two Chinese men came to a decision about how to proceed.

"Should we radio the boss?" Enlai asked. Kang scoffed.

"Don't be ridiculous. We agreed to negotiations to see if these Russians had anything worthwhile to say. As it turns out, we shouldn't have wasted our time. The plan stays as it is."

"You're making a mistake," Rock told him. "You don't know Hotel Moscow like I do. You don't know what they're capable of." He felt a phantom breeze on his face and the image of a young girl entered his mind. He saw her at the other side of a table, stripped of her clothes in a bowling alley, lying in a pool of blood with a katana through her throat. "There won't be anything left but ashes once they're done with you." Kang did not seem troubled by that. Rock knew it was a mistake not to take that threat seriously, but he decided to let these men learn that the hard way. He had given them enough chances already to accept the terms of the negotiation. He cared not for the fate Hotel Moscow had in store for them.

"Things are different around here, kid," Kang told him. "We're under new management, now. The Russians might have pegged us as easy prey, but not anymore. Mister Matsumoto will lead us to victory." Rock had been staring at the floor, but he came to life when he heard that name.

"Matsumoto? You mean…" He remembered the girl who had come to Roanapur and been followed by the Dead Men. Usagi's father had been a high ranking member of the Dead Men, and a former gang leader right here in Hong Kong. As far as Rock was aware, though, he had come home with his daughter to settle down and live in peace. Had he truly taken up arms once more and submitted himself to a life of crime?

"Rahul Matsumoto was once our leader, before that Yankee prick decided he was in charge. But he's dead now. May he rot for a thousand years in the ten courts of hell." Rock wasn't sure how to react. He remembered Usagi well and her short but tragic time in Roanapur. After everything that had happened, he had been glad that her father had taken her home to live in peace. There was a period of time when Balalaika was first gearing up for this conflict that he assumed she would have the Matsumotos killed. Revy had even warned him against trying to save Usagi's life for fear there would be a repeat of the tricky situation he had gotten himself into in Tokyo. But he had no such intention. He had resigned himself to sitting back and letting it happen. That seemed to distress Revy even more, ironically. Now, there was a hint of concern inside Rock, a very faint inkling of regret that tried to break free and encapsulate him. But there was no room for regrets in his weary soul anymore, no room for compassion or the desire to save people. He had done his time with that way of thinking and all it had ever gotten him was pain. He let that fleeting feeling come and go until it was no more and he gave the Matsumotos no more thought.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked the Chinese men.

"We're going to stay the course," Kang told him. "And we're going to win. Enlai, it's time." Enlai stood up and reached behind him, unclipping a walkie-talkie from his belt and speaking into it.

"Chee family," he began. "Negotiations are off. Tell the others to take the fight to them. Get the jump on them while you can." So it was to be war after all. The Hong Kong gangs would take the Russians unawares while they were under the impression the negotiations were still underway. A dirty tactic, and one that would seriously wound Balalaika's forces if it was successful.

"You're going to stay right where you are," Kang told Rock firmly. "We'll need leverage if this goes south."

"You're wasting your time."

"How's that?"

"Like I said," Rock muttered, looking out the window to the left as the faint sound of gunfire reached his ears, "you don't know Balalaika like I do."

(*)

Revy pried open her eyes to see the Wolf setting the phone down. His hand went to the chain around his neck and fumbled with it, a golden crucifix. The assassin looked spooked.

"What's eating you?" she asked. Wolf was looking in the other direction, but his eyes met Revy's after a few seconds.

"Chang gave me my target."

"At last. Who is it?"

"Rahul Matsumoto."

"Holy shit!" Revy exclaimed. "You gotta be kidding me. I guess he had it coming, though, huh?" Clearly, the Wolf had struggled with the idea when Chang told him initially, but he was doing his best to get on with the situation. "Hey. You cool?" Wolf headed towards his motorcycle. He was ready to depart.

"Course I am," he said plainly. "A job's a job. Have to see it through, one way or another." Revy did not say anything. She bore no particular feelings for the Matsumotos. While she could recognise that it was an unfortunate turn of events that they, as she assumed quite recently, would be killed by Balalaika, she would not shed any tears for them herself. But the Wolf had been close to Usagi for a time, and Rahul had been grateful to the assassin for looking after her. He couldn't have been as blasé about this as he was pretending. Then again, he was not quite the same person that he had been at that time. His rampage in Roanapur and detour up the Mekong river had broken something inside of him. Perhaps he genuinely didn't care anymore.

"War is hell," Revy told him sympathetically. "Ain't that what they say? Best to get it over with and haul ass. We'll be gone before sundown." Wolf unzipped the gun bag attached to his motorcycle and removed the weapon inside to make sure it was in working order. It was a Winchester Model 70, a hunting rifle by all respects but a formidable weapon across the board. Wolf adjusted the scope and made sure it was loaded and ready to use. The field telephone went off again and Revy rolled her eyes.

"Fucking thing is popping today," she whinged. "Can't Sis's people wipe their own asses?" She picked it up and jokingly answered with an uncharacteristically chipper 'Ahoy-hoy?'.

"Two-Hands."

"Hey, Sis. What's the word?"

"We've run into a spot of bother, Revy," Hotel Moscow's leader said calmly. "I'll be coming back to the Maria Zeleska shortly and we'll head back, but things have taken a turn out here. These gangs have started fighting again. As I understand, negotiations didn't go as planned. You might want to head over there and lend our good friend Rock a hand." Revy's heart skipped a beat. She set the phone down and went to her own motorcycle. Dutch and Benny must have noticed something was amiss.

"Where's the fire, Revy?" Dutch asked as she hopped onto the vehicle and started the engine.

"These fucking gangs betrayed Hotel Moscow," she explained. "Balalaika says the negotiations went sour. So now I gotta save Rock's ass. He better not have gotten himself killed."

"I told you something would go wrong," Dutch said, turning to Benny. "Didn't I tell you something would go wrong?"

"You're a regular psychic, Dutch," Benny humoured the big man.

"Fucking shitshow!" Revy screeched. "These dumb fucks won't know what hit them when Balalaika's people bring the pain."

"I'll come with you," Wolf offered, getting onto his bike and starting it. The engine roared with glorious fury.

"Be careful, you two," Dutch warned. "If this is going to be as dicey as it sounds, the last thing we need is the cops following you back here. Play it safe." Revy slipped on her helmet and turned the bike towards the ramp that lead down onto the pier. Then, she held the brakes tightly and revved the engine. The back wheel screeched as it moved against the metal of the floor and smoke began billowing up into the air.

"Don't be such a buzzkill, Dutchy," she said playfully. "Ain't nobody gonna ruin this for me. Just you watch, and wait until the smell of blood hits you. Bye-bye, baby!" The bike shredded through the air and jumped the entire length of the ramp, landing on the pier below and heading for the city.

"She hasn't changed a bit," Dutch droned.

"Maybe a bit," Benny rebuked. "But she sure doesn't show it." Wolf was quick to follow Revy, though he was considerably further behind now that she had gotten a head start. He clumsily put his own helmet on as he zipped through the streets after the gunslinger.

Revy thundered towards the meeting point with immense determination, ignoring everything and everyone around her. Several vehicles had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting her as she broke multiple red lights. Most of these instances resulted in crashes and collisions. Revy did not care one bit. All she was concerned with was making it in time to get Rock out of the city alive. There was a chance he had been killed already, but she did not want to think about that. As she drifted and turned to the right, she spotted Wolf in the side mirror several metres behind her, but another vehicle soon obstructed her view. It was a Mitsubishi pickup truck. The people in the vehicle itself were not the problem, but two motorbikes sat in the cargo bed. The riders drove out onto the road and were passed by the Wolf, but they u-turned in the road and started to pursue Lagoon's gunslinger. Revy was keeping her eyes on the road, but she was sharp enough to make a mental note of how close they were getting. The second they reached for their QCW-05 submachine guns, Revy released the handlebars and stuffed her hands into her jacket, removing them seconds later holding her Cutlasses. She pointed them outwards, angling her arms to the back slightly and letting off two shots. The motorcyclists fell into the road, dead.

Revy returned one of the Cutlasses to its holster so she could still steer. As it turned out, the two riders that had been pursuing her weren't the problem. Three more pickup trucks came out onto the road from adjacent streets, each of them ferrying two more motorcyclists each. Predictably, they all did the same as their fallen comrades and gave chase. What they hadn't seemed to have noticed yet was the fact that the Wolf was with Revy. He reached into his own jacket, where his Desert Eagle had been hidden for the purposes of this trip. Then, he let off five shots. Two of the six gangsters fell from their motorbikes and a third fell forward, injured. Now, they were distracted. Revy smirked to herself. It was time to give these thugs a real show. She let go of the handlebars once again and retrieved her second Cutlass. What she did next would have given every gunman worth his salt a serious mixture of fear and arousal. With a swift kick of her legs, she was launched up into the air, where she remained suspended for several seconds. Time seemed to slow down for her as she carefully lined up her shots. She had done a flip mid-air and was now upside down, with her guns at the ready. One shot crunched through the front of the motorcycle helmet worn by the rider to the left. He tumbled onto the path beside the road, brokering many cries of fear from the pedestrians. The next shot caught the second rider in the chest and he was sent reeling from his motorcycle still alive. If the wound did not kill him, the fall into the road or oncoming traffic would. Wolf had to veer out of the way to avoid the body. The third man thought he could end this himself and reached for the submachine gun hanging around him by a strap. Revy was too quick and formidable for him to even lay a finger on the weapon. His brains splattered onto the windshield of the truck behind him, causing it to zigzag for a few seconds and finally collide with a wall. Revy fully flipped in the air and landed back down on her own bike, holstering her Cutlasses and grabbing the handlebars to steady herself in the road.

Wolf came up beside her.

"That was some fan-fucking-tastic shit you just did!" he roared over the sound of the traffic.

"You're really surprised?" she asked, as confident as ever.

"I need to go," he told her. "I'll meet you back at the Maria Zeleska. Don't let that Japanese dumbass die!" Without another word, he turned off to the right and went to fulfil his assassination contract. Revy continued on towards the meeting point, hoping with all the hope that still lived in her dark soul that he was still alive. If the Wolf thought that display had been gruesome, he was in for a rude awakening should Revy find her Japanese partner killed.