Chapter 28: Bogeyman Is A-Coming

Revy stuck her head out the window of the car and watched the Silver Sun for any sign of movement. It stood at the very end of the Strip in full view, with flashing neon lights and multiple drunk criminals gathered by the entrance. None of them looked like any of Alejandro's men, but that was not to say they weren't inside. Rock had parked the GTO about halfway up the length of the Strip beside a dreary-looking bar with an underground casino beneath it. Across the street, several prostitutes had also gathered to advertise themselves to the many drunks stumbling passed them.

"Not the most inconspicuous place they could have picked," Revy mumbled. "You sure this is where they'll be, Rock?"

"If I'm wrong, you can take me out on the Lagoon and kick me overboard."

"Hah! You're gonna regret saying that."

"What the holdup, you guys?!" came Shenhua's piercing voice from the back seat. She was sandwiched in between Sawyer and Lotton and her patience was clearly waning. "Only reason we come is because of money you promise!"

"No," Revy corrected her. "I promised you could pick these assholes clean when we're done with 'em and keep whatever you find. You sure ain't getting paid out of my pockets." Shenhua proceeded to sulk in the back of the car.

"Maybe I pick you clean instead, dumb slut." Revy ignored her and continued to watch the nightclub, but it was apparent that the others were becoming bored. Even Rock was on the verge of falling asleep. It was uncertain what exactly Revy was hoping to see, anyway. Alejandro's people wouldn't be showing themselves outside the nightclub for fear of being seen, despite the fact that the Strip was the safest place they could be in the city. Alejandro himself was another story. Rock seemed to believe he would travel separately from his companions and keep on the move, meaning he could theoretically be anywhere in the city. But if his hypothesis was correct, the massacre that would ensue shortly would bring him out of hiding and Revy would have no trouble dispatching him.

"What's the time?" Revy asked. Rock lazily lifted his arm and glanced at his watch.

"Almost nine."

"Fucking A." The Japanese man looked confused for a moment, but an expression of understanding quickly spread across his face.

"Ah, I see."

"What?" Revy asked, her hands almost twitching at the thought of using her Cutlasses.

"You're waiting for it to start. Most nightclubs will be open for the majority of the evening, but the real partying doesn't begin until nine. The Silver Sun will fill up like a supermarket at Christmas and the music will be at its loudest. They'll never see you coming."

"Well, well," Revy began her verbal applause. "You were paying attention after all." Sure enough, as soon as the clock ticked over passed the hour, throngs of people rushed inside the building and the gang could hear the music from here as it got louder and louder. It was going to be a real bloodbath once the shooting started, especially seeing as how Alejandro's people would be taken utterly by surprise. Had they attacked earlier, they would have been noticed and the resistance would have been considerable. But now, the New Order enforcers would be lucky if they even heard the gunfire start.

"Alright, Chinglish, time to roll out."

"At last, we been here forever!" The four of them exited the GTO and Revy rapped the palm of her hand on the roof to signal for Rock to wait there. Then, they all started walking the remaining length of the Strip.

The Silver Sun was a large building, with four floors and a large outside area around the back, but there were no bouncers or doormen like one would expect to see. The security staff inside would be used to criminals getting into drunken brawls and the occasional shot being let off. Somehow, though, Revy suspected they would leave well enough alone once her Cutlasses were unleashed and the nightclub would empty as quickly as it had filled up.

"So, what happen once we inside? You have plan?"

"Rock thinks these guys have been staying here for a while. They must be paying to have a whole floor empty just for their use. When we get in there, we'll head upstairs. They're probably on the top fucking floor."

"Nuh-uh," Shenhua squawked. "Bottom level have dancefloor and top two strip clubs. But second floor have private lounge, very expensive. If Colombian as rich as you say, he be there."

"Well, alright," Revy said happily. "You know how we can get up there?"

"Two stairways at back of dancefloor," Shenhua explained. "Also fire escape in side alley, lead straight to lounge."

"That settles it, then. You and me, we'll head inside and take the stairs. Your freaky friends can use the fire escape and flank these fucking beaners."

As instructed, Lotton and Sawyer headed into the side alley and began to ascend the rusty steel steps of the fire escape. When they reached the second floor, they waited by the window that would lead into the lounge. Once they were given the signal, they would enter. Revy and Shenhua went inside and did their best to push passed the crowds of dancing men and women. The interior was huge, not far off the size of a ballroom, and several flashing strobe lights and disco balls hung from the ceiling. There were several pedestals either side of the three different bars in sight, upon which scantily clad female dancers would perform for the many onlookers. As the two women continued forward, it became increasingly difficult to navigate the partyers and Revy, losing her temper, pushed the two men in front of her to the side. One of them tumbled to the ground, taking three more people with him, while the other ended up flying over the bar and knocking a line of drinks. Revy just placed her hands on her hips and looked around her in what could only be described as disgust. Fortunately, the space around her opened up considerably as the people nearby decided to give her a wide berth.

"Look at this fucking place," she grumbled. "What's wrong with getting a drink at the Yellowflag?! Nice and fucking simple. This place is a dump."

"What?!" Shenhua asked in a whiney voice, unable to hear what Revy was saying over the deafening sound of the music. Revy rolled her eyes.

"Just follow me, Chinglish!" she said, louder now. Then, she proceeded to start pushing her way through any and all who obstructed her. Some of the more drunk men tried to argue and complain, but the two women just kept walking and ignored them. When they eventually reached the other side of the dancefloor which was clearer, they headed up the stairs towards the upper floors.

Firstly, they came out onto a landing with a flight of stairs that lead to the third floor, but there was also a closed door here too. That was presumably the private lounge, judging by the two men standing guard outside. They were watching the women, but they did not say anything.

"Alright, you ready, Chinglish?" Shenhua was glancing out the window and something was clearly on her mind. She suddenly turned away from the door and laid one hand on Revy's shoulder.

"Me think doormen your job," she said coyly. "I have idea. Try not die before fun begins?" Without warning, she suddenly started trotting up the stairs to the third floor. Revy, having no time to question her, just let it be for now and approached the two men guarding the lounge. She came to a stop just in front of them and folded her arms.

"So, you boys gonna let me through or what?" she asked. She was well aware that they weren't, but she certainly enjoyed toying with her victims before showing them what she could do.

"Piss off, lady," one of the men told her bluntly. "This is a private party, get it? You should go back down where you belong."

"Hey, Santiago," the second man said to the first. "She looks like she could be one of the dancers. You think we could get her up on that stage in the back?" Revy had to internally laugh at their attempts at humour.

"I don't know," Santiago said sarcastically. "How's about it, chica? How much for you to shake your pretty little ass for us?" Revy grinned, baring her teeth like a hungry dog.

"In your dreams. Oh well…" Without warning, she took her Cutlasses in hand and lifted them into the air. The two men were so surprised that they didn't even reach for their own weapons in time. "I tried asking nicely."

Santiago's brains were splattered across the wall behind him in a matter of seconds, while the other man didn't even bother trying to defend himself and made a rush to head into the lounge instead so the men inside could help him. Revy started letting off shots at a terrifying rate and the man was brought to his knees, his back peppered with bullet holes and blood soaking his cheap black suit. It was only when he fell forward onto the ground that the others inside took notice. The lounge was actually a series of different rooms, all separated from one another by large walls, and each room had incredibly loud music playing just like the dancefloor below. With any luck, the men in here would all be dead before their comrades in the adjacent rooms noticed. As they made to reach for their weapons, Revy started to gun them all down two by two. Her first victims were sent crashing into the drinks cabinet behind the bar. Next, the group of men gathered around a small table to the leftmost wall were mowed down mercilessly and the sound of the Cutlasses doing what they did best cut through the air. Now that the remaining men had time to ready their weapons, Revy started running forward to avoid the shots that were fired her way. She vaulted over the bar swiftly and came down on her two feet in a crouching position, the bar itself now between her and the attackers. As she reloaded her weapons, she spotted the drinks that somehow remained on the remnants of the cabinet and a large bottle of Bacardi caught her eye. She holstered one Cutlass and grabbed the bottle with the intention of throwing it in the direction of her future victims, but she couldn't help herself and the bottle had been unscrewed and shoved in her mouth before she could show restraint. Leaving three quarters of the bottle's contents, she screwed the lid back on and lobbed it over the bar like a grenade. The resulting smash was enough to startle and distract the men, with at least one of them roaring all manner of insults due to the fact that something had gotten in his eye. It was unclear whether this was alcohol or glass.

Revy wasted no time and leapt up onto the bar like a hungry puma. Alejandro's men, suffice it to say, did not react in time. They were shot full of holes and their lifeless bodies tumbled to the ground, contorted and twisted around one another like a rat king. That was one room cleared, anyway. Revy jumped down from the bar and headed to the left side of the room from the perspective of the entrance. Once she was through the door, she found herself in a much larger and more open interior full of more New Order members. Near the door was a bar, though none of the men sitting there had noticed Revy even enter, and towards the back was a third door that presumably lead to the final section of the lounge. She silently wondered if Alejandro might be in there, if she could end this before it even really began. There was no time to waste, though, as she would soon be noticed if she kept standing idly. She jumped up onto the bar like before, but this time she ran the length of it and shot each man as she passed him. Once she reached the end, there were six bodies on the ground. The others were too busy dancing and stumbling around drunk to realise that their doom was imminent. Revy hopped into the air when she had no more bar to run along and lifted her legs up towards her body. As soon as the soles of her boots made contact with the wall, she kicked herself into the air and started to flip around while suspended. During the brief window when she could see the men before she would land, she took the opportunity to gun as many of them down as possible. It was a complete bloodbath as more than ten men all found themselves massacred before the realisation dawned that they were under attack.

Revy once again landed on her feet with the agility of a cat and she held her Cutlasses out from her body as if to emphasise that she was far from done. As the men retrieved their larger weapons in the form of assault rifles and SMGs, the window to the far left of the room smashed and a large blade soared through the air, impaling one of the men. A second of the Taiwanese woman's kukri then appeared from outside and a further three men were decapitated before Shenhua herself entered the room through the very window she had smashed. On the far right, another window was shot to pieces by Lotton's Mauser and he followed Sawyer inside from the fire escape. Her chainsaw shredded through the remaining five men with ease while they struggled to decide which of the four intruders demanded their attention the most.

"Very good!" Shenhua excitedly commended the room, admiring the carnage that had taken place during the last few minutes. Considering none of the guests from downstairs seemed to be fleeing, it was safe to say their killing spree up here had gone completely unnoticed. "This good idea after all."

"At least you're enjoying yourself," Revy joked. "Told ya we'd have a good time, didn't I?"

"For once, you right."

Revy went around the room kicking the bodies to make sure they were all dead. Once she was satisfied, she went to the back and kicked in the final door. Sure enough, there was a single walkway down the middle of the room with multiple women dancing for the men tossing dollar bills at them. They all turned around and stopped what they were doing, noticing the many bloodied bodies from the other room. Revy just smirked as she walked in as proud as punch.

"Sorry to break up the world's most depressing bachelor party," she told the men. "But we've gotten a complaint about some inappropriate activity from this floor. Something about some 'New Order' from Colombia disturbing the peace. Know anything about that?" The men all nervously went to reach for their weapons while the women on the walkway ran through the curtain on the wall to the backstage area. Revy leaned forward and allowed Shenhua to hop up onto her back and into the air, her kukri doing a wide sweep of the room and slicing through most of the men that had been standing there. Revy was quick to put the last few out of their misery while they took off in hopes of following the dancers backstage, where it would be safe. One of the Colombians was still alive, hopelessly dragging himself along the floor and leaving a trail of blood behind him as he went. Revy watched him curiously, but she decided not to let him bleed out and came up behind him. He froze as soon as the Cutlass was pressed against the back of his head.

"Hope you enjoyed the show, 'pendejo', 'cause it's the last one you'll ever see." The last shot rang out and the man's blood sprayed the floor like spilled paint. And so it was done, the bulk of Alejandro's people totally annihilated. There hadn't been too many, after all. Maybe thirty in total between the three rooms. Still, it didn't surprise Revy too much. The New Order hadn't exactly been an enormous, sprawling organisation to begin with, and she suspected the majority of their forces came from Hawke and the runaway FARC members. Not to mention those Revy had already killed in Venezuela. And now, Alejandro was even more alone, with only the men he travelled with left to protect him. If this plan worked and he actually did come out of hiding, it would be a walk in the park to put him down. Revy just hoped Rock's conclusions were right and the Colombian didn't have some secret horde of men to call upon.

"We done already?" Shenhua asked, sounding almost disappointed that the killing hadn't gone on longer. "They not put up good fight."

"You're never happy for long, are you?" Revy asked, poking the last man with the toe of her boot. Considering she shot him in the head, it was debatable if she was trying to test if he was still alive or simply playing with her food, so to speak. "Guess we got them all. You got any plans?"

"Oh yes, many plans. That why I help you kill drunk men for free." The sarcasm in her voice practically gave off a smell.

"I don't know about you, but I sure could use a drink. Killing always makes me thirsty."

"Yellowflag so boring these days. We go home now. You follow if you want." Revy glanced at the small table near the walkway, where two large bottles of El Jimador tequila sat, unopened. These men had been drinking already, but it looked like the party was only getting started. Revy plucked the two bottles up from the table greedily and resigned herself to a night of getting drunk in the apartment shared by the other three. At least it would be a change of scenery.

"Fucking A."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The next chapter and the rest of Act 2 won't start going up for a while, in maybe a month or so, but the break won't be too long and the rest of this Act should all go up fairly consistently over the course of a few weeks.