Weiss, Arc 2: Into the Game
Chapter 5: Deja Vu
…
2008
Near the Mexico-United States Border
…
"Hey, no, no man…"
The Partner begged with a nervous smile on his face, his eyes tearing up and his voice shaking.
But a deranged Mexican Druglord, the first boss of their first major operation, repeatedly stomped the stock of his M4A1 carbine on the ground in response to his victim's pleas. As if he was doing a ritualistic dance that involves human sacrifice. With an animalistic roar, he grabbed Weiss's poor partner by the hood of his jacket and dragged him outside the shabby safehouse where he held Weiss and his partner captive.
"COME HERE!" The Druglord roared
"No! No! T###"Weiss cried, springing out from his chair to chase his partner and their captor.
Leaving the Druglord's Uncle, despite being wheelchair bound and muted, grin maliciously after exposing the two's escape attempt to his nephew. All through the mere rings of a service bell that was tied to his chair.
The Druglord tossed the partner through the wooden door, causing him to writhe in pain on the sandy ground of the American desert, and then grabbed the poor teenager by his waist with a free arm, while the other still held on to the rifle. The Druglord threw the partner onto a makeshift wall made completely out of planks, nearly breaking his back.
In exhaustion and anxiety, Weiss scrambled outside to catch up with his former student and the psycho. While his eyes still glaring at the Partner with murderous intent, he pointed the barrel of the M4A1 to the chemistry teacher.
"T###! No! T###!"
"SHUT UP!"
He commanded Weiss, as he grabbed onto the abused partner again and slammed him to the planked wall. Weiss stepped forward to try to defuse the situation, only to have the gun trained on him once more. The Partner crawled on the ground, stopping only when he noticed that a pit was presented before him … and that the Druglord pressed the gun barrel to the back of his head.
"No. Please. NO GOD PLEASE NO! No, god I don't wanna die!"
"TELL ME WHAT YOU DID W[eiss]!"
Weiss stood in a daze, like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Jesus…I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
"-TELL ME WHAT YOU DID!"
Time slowed down as the gears inside Weiss's head spun and whirled.
He could have avoided approaching a distributor and doing small-time sales, he could have avoided psychos like this Druglord, and he could have avoided all this grief.
Now, after the DEA busted the Druglord's operations in the States due to a drug-fuelled homicide against one of his henchmen. A murder committed none other by the unstable Druglord himself.
In the aftermath of all this, he was about to kidnap Weiss and his partner, his latest employees, and traffick them into Mexico, just like how he moves his drugs into America. Reasonably not willing to be uprooted from their lives and forced to cook for a psychopath that just killed one of his henchmen on a whim, the two tried to poison the Druglord in a desperate attempt to escape. Only to fail miserably after underestimating his paralysed Uncle.
Then again, why did he choose this path again? A rational intellectual like him would have realised the risk isn't worth the reward. He has been in this kind of situation, again and again, multiple times in his life.
…
…
…
Now she sits here, gritting her teeth whilst being tied to a chair in this god-awful place beside another pair of god-awful psychopaths. Cocco Doll and Succulent of the Slave Trade Division. Stuck with them in this claustrophobic office of degeneracy.
"So we should kill them right here right now? Seeing how much they are affiliated with Malmvist, Hilma, and her Drug Division. I think we should do it without making too much noise."
"Not so fast~ I want to have fun with them for a while after we do that. After all, they did rob me and killed my cousin, things that deserve punishment~ don't you agree, my slave?"
Cocco chirps in a sing-song tone as he smacks and licks his lips with a grotesque look of lust on his face, studying the gagged elf who cringed and writhed in his grasp.
"You let go of her!"
Sally bared her teeth and struggled against the rope that tied her down. Too used and complacent with her superstrength, it came as a tremendous shock to be stuck in this state. Her being in this state was like a lion in a circus cage and earning a laugh by Cocco and Succulent.
A creeping feeling now shook her core as the rage has been distilled into despair and fear.
"I like this one; I like her type and her attitude. If kept under my "training", she would be an exquisite product for our esteemed clients! An undead girl who will never grow old." The Slave Trader licked his lips.
Like a tamed beast, she shrunk down into her chair.
At this moment, she was not the Vampire that everyone feared but was no different than the weakest human around, at the mercy of cruel men. She even lost her human skin pigment and reverted to her original pale skin tone. She gave a look of guilt and dread at Eferdora, for she knew both she and her partner were about to be wearing the elf's old uncomfortable shoes.
Then she looked at Weiss, who had been relatively quiet throughout this whole ordeal.
The tallest and the most experienced of the trio studied the two other criminals with hooded stares. Despite keeping her cool, Weiss was also aware of the danger she and her partners were in. However, she seemingly kept her poker face; unlike the Vampire, who showed visible concern for her friend, this woman appeared to be colder than the literal undead.
Now frustrated by her apathy, Cocco Doll lost his perverse smile and focused his attention on the Chemist. He tensed his shoulders and slammed the desk.
"You! Do you realise I have your friends and you in my palm, and you realise what I can do to you? Who do you think you are!"
"I know you can, but you won't…"
Cocco slapped Weiss on the face with his gloved hand. The Chemist merely turned slowly back to face her adversary despite a noticeable bruise on her face. Her partners turned to Weiss at the resounding echo of the slap. And the Chemist continued as if nothing happened.
"Y…you mentioned you are from the Slave Trading Division, right? Which means you are the other Division Hilma mentioned. Hence you and she are part of the same group but of different branches."
"Yea? What changed? I never liked that whore anyways, and you talk too much. Succulent, silence this whore, forever."
"IF you kill my partners or me, you'll be making the most EXPENSIVE mistake of your life!"
Weiss's booming noise sent the entire crowd into silence. She took a few pants to steady her breath as she continued her pitch.
"Even if Hilma doesn't find out which she will… your parent organisation will lose thousands upon thousands worth of gold …"
"So? As if I care, the losses will be on her."
Unaffected by Cocco's counter, Weiss continued her pitch, her words getting more intense for every word that exited her mouth.
"... Just recently, the Eight Fingers have made the biggest profit they have ever seen in decades. Specifically Hilma's organisation, the Drug Division. Do you think she got such a disruption in the industry from those mundane black dust selling? No, it was all thanks to my product. ME!"
"What nonsense are you on about?"
"I don't think you understand where I am coming from. You are staring at the prospect of being the organisation's biggest earner, and elimination of a rival."
Cocco now stared at Weiss with a confused gaze, but Succulent widened his eyes.
"You are the one behind Hilma's new blue stuff."
Glaring at the Eight Finger muscle with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"And I can teach you how to cook it, no alchemical magic, no bullshit. Just people like me and you can cook it."
Succulent and Cocco gave each other a weirded-out look, then the Cloaked Assassin leaned down and whispered to his employer's ear, and an elated smile spread across the Slaver's face.
"Yes, show us how you cook, and we may reconsider."
"You will be freeing them both as well. Without them, I won't cook."
The smile on Slaver's face dropped into an annoyed scowl.
"You think I am stupid? We are not going to give up a hostage like that."
"YES, I THINK YOU ARE STUPID!"
The bluntness of the answer even made someone like Succulent let his jaw agape. This was the first time he saw someone with this much gall and audacity.
"You think this cook will go smoothly with just one cook? No, I need my partners to aid me. If we are doing this, we are doing this MY way. Else you won't even get a cent out of this, by the time when my body is feeding worms … you can forget about getting one at Hilma and forget about sitting in that posh chair of yours. Because you will have bigger things to worry about."
"Pray, tell, and choose your words carefully. Your life depends on it." Succulent asked.
With hateful eyes aimed at Succulent, curling her hand into a fist, Weiss pulled herself together and spoke at a quicker pace.
"...From what I heard from Malmvist, the Golden Princess already succeeded in legally abolishing slavery; despite all your briberies, more than half of your operations have shut down. Even the most profitable Drug Trade Division is suffering setbacks. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together to know your slavery business is now sucking the most."
Cocco heaved his shoulders a bit and shrunk slightly back with an annoyed frown as Weiss craned her neck slightly and stared down at him.
"And you can be a dinosaur who will be stuck at the lowest pecking order of the organization with a branch getting more and more obsolete as the days go by. Think about it, Cocco the pimp letting a literal whore like Hilma dominate him, the irony."
The enraged Slaver slammed both of his fists on his desk, but no words came out of his mouth.
"What do I call you, woman?"
"It's Heisenberg. Remember that name well."
Weiss declared through gritted teeth.
"Untie them, and show them their room, the one to the right of the office."
With a grunt, the cloaked criminal obliged and snapped his fingers. Three thugs entered the office and untied them, and dragged them outside this dreaded place.
Tossing the three of them to the floor of a purplish room that was padded on the walls. A queen-sized bed with satin curtains. Some long chains and manacles meant for some depraved plays were nailed to one of the walls. Next to the bed and chains was a long wooden table.
One of the blurry guards slapped each of the trio with an iron band onto their leg. The length of the chain was long enough to give them the mobility they needed, yet still tied them to this room. The three sat on the bed while the captor left the room, satisfied to see their state of vulnerability.
"Miss Weiss, Now what?"
"Now we wait; we can only wait."
Weiss answered Sally in a grim tone, which greatly frustrates the Vampire, who has been consumed by anxiety.
"You think they will let us go?"
"No, they will probably kill us then fuck us after we finish the cook … literally."
"Yeah no shit! P-Please, tell me you have s…something."
"Probably."
Sally looked around, turning her body slightly and causing the chains to rattle.
She whispered with a tinge of panic to Weiss, who, despite keeping her poker face, had noticeable beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. Then she turned to face her friend, who began hyperventilating, hugging herself, and started breaking down into tears.
The whips, the chains, and the bright yet dark brothel rooms were all coming back. Screams of women and laughs of horrible men haunt her.
"Hey! Hey! Eferdora."
Sally immediately hugged her companion to comfort her.
"W…We will be alright, we will be alright like always."
The Vampire lied through her fangs in between chokes, but the crying hadn't ceased. It just had infected Sally herself. As it was her turn to cry. As the two exchanged their tears in their sorry embrace.
"GET YOURSELF TOGETHER AND GROW A PAIR! BOTH OF YOU!"
The two snapped out of their weeps; while the Elf was stunned, Sally took a minute to process the sheer insensitivity of her companion, and then her initial shock turned into a shaking rage.
"...W…What?"
"Jesus, first, thanks to your brilliant idea to leave Eferdora in an unguarded house in one of the most lawless places I have ever been, now you two chose the worst possible time to whine and bitch."
"Hey! How was I supposed to know we'd get jumped by slavers?! And the last meet you strung us along went so well, didn't it!"
"You don't know? YOU DON'T KNOW?! It is because you are too stupid to use that rotten brain of yours! This is your idea so take fucking responsibility!"
"WE WOULDN'T EVEN BE IN THIS SITUATION IF STAYED AWAY FROM COOKING IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
"You fucking ingrate."
"Excuse me?"
"I SAID YOU ARE A FUCKING INGRATE!"
Weiss snapped at Sally as she stood up and lurched at her, rattling her chains with abusive aggression.
"You little shit, Miss Horkle Yoko or whatever they call you. Without me, where would you and that Elf go huh? Starving and dying like a pauper before you have yourself taxidermied by Dark Hero Moron and then sold away for a fine price to those Adventuring fuckers. Oh, and Eferdora would probably have been fucked into a corpse in this very same room days ago! You're both NOTHING without me!"
*SLAP*
A resounding slap echoed throughout the room as Sally's palm found itself on Weiss's cheek again. This time, however, while the slap made the Chemist clutch her face and reel to the side for a bit, it wasn't the same supernatural slap that sent her flying. So Weiss, giving Sally bloodshot eyes of rage and impulsive revenge, roared and lunged at the Vampire.
The two messily fumbled and knocked each other off the bed, rolling around on the ground with the chains on their ankles rattling.
Holding her companion by the neck and began plummeting her fist at the shorter girl's petite face. While her nails were no longer the magically enhanced claws they were before, it was still sharp enough to leave a nasty scratch on Weiss' face and forced her to let go in pain.
The two lay beside each other, panting with exhaustion, with their backs pressing the ground.
"HEY WHAT'S GOING ON IN THERE!?"
A booming voice from outside echoed throughout the corridors as heavy footsteps can be heard thumping in. When he entered, however, all three of them were sitting back at the bed again. The Elf can be seen in more distress and tears. Something that was not particularly of this sadistic thug's concern, he would prefer to stick it that way.
He turned around and left as quickly as he came.
Sally sneaked Weiss an eye.
"Y…you got it out of your system?"
She asked with a few pants.
"Yea."
"Then think of something before we hit the slammer."
"Already got one. I have a plan…like always."
Weiss gave her a begrudging and understanding look while Sally returned with a cautious one, then proceeded to stare back at the locked door of their cell. Being with someone like Weiss, despite her extraordinary ability to twist people to her will with her words.
Sally, herself has also discovered a hidden skill she never knew she had, the ability to see through one's facade and lies. To her outrage, whether it was her partner's ego speaking or truth from the heart, there was no dishonesty present.
Yet, at the same time, it also brought comfort to her that Weiss told two honest statements earlier. However, honest words may not always be the truth.
…
…
…
"The brothel is just behind this door. According to the assassin, there ought to be an entrance in the building over there too."
"Indeed, that is so. The entrances can also serve as escape routes, and that person said they'd be manned by at least two people. If we're splitting up, we should let you handle the main door, Sebas-sama, while Climb and I take the other entrance. What do you think?"
"I am not opposed to that; how about you, Climb-kun?"
"I have no objections either. Still, what will we do after we break in, Unglaus-sama? Shall we search together?"
"Call me Brain in the future. This one also humbly requests you do the same, Sebas-sama. Then… usually, we ought to move in pairs for safety's sake, but there might be secret tunnels which even the assassin hasn't heard of. We should search the interior as quickly as possible while Sebas-sama makes his assault from the front. Also, there are usually passages that only the boss knows…"
"In that case, should we split up after going in?"
"...We are taking a risk just going in anyway. Might as well try for the best results we can."
The three hidden vigilantes agreed in unison.
Sebas Tian, the head butler of Nazarick, had been to this place once, this was the same place from where they threw out Tuare, a poor slave girl who had been kidnapped and abused before she was rescued by him out of sheer instinct. Now for this impulsive gesture, the organisation behind her bondage misused the Golden Princess's loophole in her slavery laws to put hurdles for him, then even proceed to foolishly send assassins after him.
Now, as a Servant of the Majestic Ainz Ooal Gown, the assassins were rather easy to depose. His job was made slightly easier and more enjoyable with the two new companions he encountered. The Golden Princess's bodyguard, a young boy named Climb, and a swordsman by the name of Brain Unglaus.
With an ability called [Puppeteer's Palm], he managed to make the surviving assassin squeak. Leading him back to where this chicanery all began. Besides his inherent sense of justice, it was the motives of the Assassin to murder him and violate his subordinate, Solution Epilson, that agitated him.
The three now waited outside the entrance of this den of vice and vipers. Ready to strike and cleanse everything within.
There was already a slave wagon parked outside the entrance, and thugs had begun unloading the contents from the cage and moving them into the brothel. The Wagon, with blatant design in its setting, was without a doubt a slave wagon. There was no flesh inside that cage, but crates with shiny reflective things inside.
Climb gave Sebas a look, and the younger warrior knew that despite being an elderly gentleman, Sebas Tian was also a cold-blooded killing machine.
"I feel that taking a few lives is unavoidable, but it might be good to avoid needless killing. We are few in number, after all. Still, if you encounter someone in charge who looks like they're from Eight Fingers, could I trouble you to try and capture them? If we can interrogate a big figure among them, we can reduce the number of lives lost in the future."
To this question, Sebas gave the boy a warm smile and responded:
"I am not a mass murderer, and I did not come here for a massacre. Please be at ease."
These words brought peace to Climb's heart.
However, just before they were about to strike, Sebas held a palm up.
"Wait."
"What's going on? Why stop?"
"The scum inside the brothel are slavers, right?"
"Yes, Sebas-sama."
"Then tell me, what purpose do slavers have with this much amount of strange glassware?"
"Those things looked like…alchemy equipment."
"Something felt wrong, but our plan does not change. Split up and find the secret entrances while I will handle Succulent."
"Of course, Sebas-sama." Climb answered.
Brain nodded, although this trip will give him more than what he bargained for.
…
…
…
Weiss stared at the rows of beakers, boiling flasks, and alchemical equipment with malice. The brothel room was an expanse but dimly lit, a tacky chandelier dangles above her, and dark purple wallpapers made up the walls of this horribly ventilated room.
She stood in between his two allies, Eferdora on her right and Sally on her left. Their main captors, Succulent and Cocco behind them, watching them with predatory eyes.
"Come on, what are you three waiting for? Make something!"
The impatient bastard known as Cocco Doll whined, despite this place having violated too many lab safety protocols for an actual cook. Not that Weiss had the right to complain to the slaver, not that she would.
So she put on her improvised filtration masks, and so had Sally and Eferdora. Cocco and his goon were standing six metres away from them and their apparatus.
Sally took a deep breath behind her mask. Her collar, in addition to the mask, had made it impossible to breathe, not that she needed to. The Vampire stepped forward to the improvised lab with a shaky step.
Weiss put a hand on her shoulder as well as one on Eferdora.
"Before we cook, listen to my instructions when I cook, don't speak, just watch, listen and learn. Else all of us will rest in pieces."
Weiss whispered to her partners.
"But I swear, these bastards will not violate us one bit. You both have my word."
Eferdora looked at the Chemist with teary eyes while Sally gave her an uneasy look. The distrust was blatantly present in her eyes, though it was not as if she had a choice at this moment.
"Let's do this."
Acids, powder minerals, and solutions were mixed and stirred. As the stove burned and the mixture bubbled while fumes and vapours billowed out of the liquid's unstable surface. The choking chemical stench made Eferdora cough, even if she was wearing that mask.
Succulent and Cocco chose to move further from the trio as the smell became unbearable and dizzy inducing.
Eferdora reached a vail of a chemical before Weiss suddenly gripped her wrist.
"No, use this."
Weiss handed a small tube of what seemed to be liquid metal. Sally also paused to look at the exchange. Thanks to the smoke screen, Succulent failed to notice all this.
"What is the holdup!"
"Do you want all of us to explode?! This is science! Not magic; some things just take time."
"Take too long, and you die. I hope you remember that."
Weiss glance at them and then turned back to her apparatus; she was thankful for the toxic cloud concealing the sweat from her forehead. Saying nothing but sneaking a look at Weiss, Sally closely studied the situation while stirring her beaker of colourful chemicals.
For some reason, she couldn't help but notice there were noticeably more wrinkles on Weiss's forehead.
…
…
…
A gloved hand drove through the metal door at its hinges, and the piece of armour that protected this underground enterprise was thrown away like a used handkerchief.
Sebas Tian stepped hauntingly into this house of sin. His first victim, a tall man in armour was baffled at this entrance. The scene of a smartly dressed elderly man committing such a feat was out of this world and shocking.
"Err…Welcome?" was all the dazed bouncer could utter.
Tragically for this henchman, had he snapped out of his daze, he would not have mistaken this monster in the skin of an old man for a customer's butler through self-deception.
"Could I trouble you to let me pass?"
Before the poor guard could respond, he found himself flying across the nearby wall. Guts, blood, and teeth stained the wall. A rotten way to go out.
With a psychopathic apathy in his eyes, the thing known as Sebas Tian strolled further into the room.
There were two men in a relatively well-furnished room, but there wasn't a trapdoor to the brothel that Tuare described.
Those two have no intention to harm him, while they may be despicable criminals working for one of the most amoral in humanity. Unlike the armoured man at the entrance, they might not even be combatants. Outside this place, they may be just your average joe scraping for a living.
"Excuse me, I'd like to ask you a question…"
One of the men let out a terrified scream. His colleague was so terrified that he fainted on the spot. They were not fighters; they were just pointers.
"Ah… Like I was saying, I'd like to ask you a question. It's like this - I would like to go underground. Could you tell me how to go there?"
The cat caught this poor man's tongue.
He has a mother and little sister, and a baby daughter. Betraying the organisation doesn't only mean reprisal for him but for them as well. Hesitance and reluctance clouded his mind; they told him this was an easy job!
Well, it was not like he have a choice, those slavers forced him to work here anyways. And he thought he was lucky to be given paying job, but now fate made a fool out of him.
Then the monster opened his mouth again.
"There are two people who can speak here. I don't necessarily have to ask you, you know?"
The monster's words were cold and crisp. They were just enough to break the pathetic man; he pointed at an area on the ground.
There was a tiny crevice on the ground, separating part of the floor from the rest.
Sebas Tian craned his neck to inspect that area slightly while the man rationalised his decision inside his head. If he was dead, there was no knowing what would happen to his three girls back home. All he needed to do now was turn around and hopefully leave all this behind.
"I see, Thank you. Your usefulness to me is now at an end."
The man froze and trembled with horror, and this skinwalker still retained his unnerving smile.
"But I told you, didn't I? Please, I'll do anything! Just spare me!"
"No."
Tears leaked from the man. He was about to accept his fate. Then he remembered a random encounter he had just a few hours before this.
A Nun dressed in white with short blonde hair and red eyes approached him while preaching to random strangers, meeting him by chance. She asked him whether he felt he committed any wrong recently, to which he admitted vaguely, but he didn't ask for this, but he was too weak-willed to run away, and he needed the gold for his family.
Plus, his job was pretty risk-free… so he sayeth.
The Nun, with a catlike smile, encourages him to be more courageous in fighting his inner evil. As she left, she preached one of the two lines that stuck with him till death.
"When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel safe."
He should have listened to her, as the Monster told him the other line that he took to the grave.
"You reap what you sow."
At this, the man tried to run and make it to the exit. He had to see his daughter, to tell her how sorry he was.
He never had a chance, as his head rolled from his neck, decapitated by the clean cut of Sebas' hand. Then, the monster broke his promise to the boy earlier, as he embraced his nature as a mass murderer. He slowly strolled towards the remaining lower life form in this room.
Casting a shadow over the unconscious man in this room. He raised his shoe and stomped his sole right through the poor bastard's torso.
The other man was awakened for a few seconds to endure the horror as he twitched slightly before falling limp.
Silently while still carrying that thin smile, he dragged the corpses of the three bastards and started mutilating them with his own bare hands. As if making some form of sick art, then placing them at the staircase entrance. Before delivering a ground quaking punch that shattered the staircase in ruins.
His rationale and excuse to himself were that this was a plan to frighten others who intended to escape from this entrance and leave them unable to advance or retreat.
In reality, it was to satisfy his subconscious sadism disguised as heroic righteousness.
Everyone in this room was a criminal, everyone had their vices, but this one was a hypocrite.
As Sebas enjoyed his time in peace while enjoying his grotesque masterpiece, a loud boom followed by the sound of debris and dust falling down caught his attention. It came from deep below the underground brothel. As the Butler frowned and stepped further into the heart of sin and lust.
Audible bang bangs and screams could be heard.
…
…
…
Weiss held up a tray of crystals.
"It's done."
Eferdora and Sally look over the product they made. The air in the room felt heavy as the captive trio stood still. Cocco and Succulent veered over their shoulders to take a peek at the product, a batch of crystals on a tray which Weiss gripped ever so tightly.
The chandelier above the dangled ever so slightly.
Taking a piece of quartz from the tray with careful fingers, Weiss presented it to her captors.
Sally glazed over Weiss's hooded eyes and clenching teeth, then to Cocco's condescending lax ones, followed by Eferdora's fearful ones.
Using eye gestures, Cocco commanded Succulent to collect the piece of crystal. With most of his face shadowed, the criminal muscle approached the trio.
He walked one step, two steps, and three towards them.
Less than a metre.
Sally clenched her fists, Eferdora grinded her teeth harder while Weiss kept her intense stare aimed at the scum before her.
"Wait."
Cocco Doll cried out
"It's white. I thought it was blue!"
"That's right…"
Succulent paused in his footsteps, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"This is not meth."
The Chemist drew her arm back and, with all her might, slung the piece of white crystal at her hated captors.
Out of the corner of her eye, the observant Sally noticed something that sank her non-beating heart.
Succulent was hiding a sly smile.
The Six Arm dived down and launched himself at the Chemist. Like a scene from those poltergeist movies, multiple cuts appeared around Weiss's wrists out of thin air even before her adversary's arm made contact with her, without even drawing his blade.
The Chemist screamed in pain as Succulent gripped her injured wrist and wrestled away the piece of white quartz with ease before sweeping her legs out under her. All this ended with Weiss thrown off her feet, landing just inches next to Succulent's boots.
"You really think, given my years of experience in this trade, I wouldn't notice people like you pulling tricks in moments like this… whatever you were pulling, that is."
He dropped the white crystal without care.
Weiss's eyes widened as she watched the white piece of crystal hit the floor with a soft ping right next to her face. For some reason unknown, she breathed out an exasperated sigh of relief at this. Then she turned back to face the smug Succulent with malice and spite.
Cocco burst out in mocking laughter as he clapped and waltzed forward.
"~You know, I like 'em lively and defiant. It will make punishing you all the more fun! No more Mr. Nice guy!"
"Fuck you."
"Excuse me?"
"I said fuck you Cocco, AND YOUR CORSET!"
Weiss, now all bruised and battered, weakly stood up. Even now, the hateful fire in her eyes still burned, dangerously brighter than before. She then turned to her partners with a look that opened their jaws and eyes further. Now, Cocco and Succulent weren't the only people they feared in this room.
"Sally, Eferdora. Did you remember the promise I made to both of you…"
Then she turned back at a confused Cocco and Succulent, who had lost their smiles.
"Even if we fail here, we will rest in pieces rather than get fucked, but you… you two already fucked yourselves up; you just FUCKED YOURSELVES YOU HEAR ME!? You just FUCKED YOURSELF!"
Normally in a scenario like this, one would lose hope and be desperate, consumed by fear and despair. However, how Weiss's reaction put everyone into question, whether she was desperate or gone mad, no one knows. Not a trace of fear can be seen on her, just pure erraticism. An Unpredictable force of fearless madness.
While everyone was distracted by Weiss's outburst, Sally, being the shortest one of the bunch, trailed her small fingers carefully along the table of their cook. Reaching for the tray of white crystals.
A sonorous metal clang can be heard nearby, acting as some sort of impromptu alarm.
"What was that?!" Succulent cried out.
Another series of haunting sounds followed, this time it was of queasy screams of men. Meanwhile, Weiss turned to Sally, who already noticed her move, and gave her a fiery nod.
The Vampire's nails touched the tray as it curled on its rim and slid it towards Weiss.
Succulent turned back to the Chemist, who swung her tray of solid chemicals at him, launching white crystal chunks towards her enemy. The Six Arm's unseen blade tried to strike the flesh of the bloodied woman, only for her to be shielded by her steel tray and the contents on it.
With a spark made from the blade, steel, and crystals, the room lit up in a blinding white.
The tip of the blade just struck a thick layer of fine crystal Mercury (II) Fulminate.
…
…
…
It was an awful feeling. Sally's ear rang as her vision blurred and shook as she struggled to keep herself on her feet. The whole room was covered in soot, fire, and ashes. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the place started shaking. She dusted herself off slightly by patting some debris off her hair. The metal bands were no longer constricting their legs as they laid next to them opened, with a key next to it. Weiss was no where to be seen.
Eferdora sat beside her, her face blank and blackened. She was staring at nothing at all, with dilated pupils and a half-opened mouth.
"Hey! Hey! Eferdora!"
The Vampire scrambled to her friend to aid her, but the Elf kept staring at nothingness. Even though she was right in front of her, her eyes failed to react.
Sally waved her hand in her face, but there was nothing. Poor Eferdora was shell shocked. She had become a vegetable.
Sally cursed as she slung the Elf's arm on her shoulder to support her. Given her stature, the job became much more tedious. To add to her pain, the silver collar was keyless hence she have to rely on a pathetic human strength to move on.
It was afterward, that she finally took the opportunity to study her ruined surroundings better.
Shattered glass shards and wood splinters caked what was once a well-furnished room. And the whole place was in flames. The chandelier that dangled above them now found itself weighing down on a screaming Cocco Doll, who lost both his arms from the blast earlier. The now crooked chandelier almost cleaved one of his legs in two. The two stumps on his hand leaked blood like a broken faucet.
Seeing the sight of red, Sally quickly steered clear of the bloodied slaver.
Then a truly horrifying sight that forever scarred the Vampire played before her.
Limping slowly into the room was a tall figure almost blackened with soot and blood. One of her hands was blood red, her fingers twisted in all sorts of wrong positions, in addition to the scars on her wrist that she endured earlier. Her clothes were singed, her snow white hair disheveled, caked with blood and ash. A trail of blood flowed from her forehead down to her chin.
Despite her injured state, her intimidation didn't falter, and in fact, it might even advertise the beast within her.
Behind those glasses, she wore hooded bloodshot eyes of rage that aimed their sights on Cocco Doll. Two revolvers with their handles sticking out were tucked in her belt, while her Browning Hi-Power was gripped by an uninjured hand. The grim hot light of flame and ruins was reflected on its polished gunmetal.
Weiss, the creature also known as Heisenberg, stood before her partners.
She approached Cocco Doll slowly and looked him dead in the eye.
"No, no, please! Y-you want money, right?! You want connections, right?! I can give you all that! J-Just let me live!"
Heisenberg raised her semi-automatic and aimed it in between the eyes of this sick degenerate. Cold merciless raging blue eyes glared down at her former captor with malice. And a teary Cocco begged with a nervous smile.
"No…please…H-Heisenberg-sama."
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Three bursts from the American pistol, three brass casings hit the floor, and three slugs of lead mangled and dug into the face, nose, and skull of the once opulent slaver.
Then Heisenberg turned towards her partners, and her rage hadn't been sated yet.
Sally gulped, still stunned at the horror of the display before her. It took seconds for her to realise Heisenberg was looking behind her, where an unconscious, bloodied Succulent lay face down, the hand that used to strike Weiss was detached from his wrist from the blast earlier.
Quickly moving out of Heisenberg's way, Sally ran outside this carnage of a room as fast as she could with her friend on her shoulders, but to her horror, she was blocked by Weiss with the flat part of the pistol.
"Take the guns."
Sally nodded, and she took both of the revolvers from her without saying a word. Frantically tucking them into her belt.
Heisenberg once again raised her pistol and cocked the hammer. Then the floor started to shake, and more dust fell from the ceiling. The trio of outlaws gave each other a look and dashed outside while the ceiling fell and caved on them.
When the dust cloud settled, the entrance to the room that now served as Cocco's grave had been sealed, as well as separating Heisenberg from her two partners from that pile of debris.
The angered American crime lord snarled; despite being so injured, she clawed at the debris pile so that she could deliver the coup de grace on Succulent, but to no avail. Sighing in exasperation as a withdrawal from her tantrum.
"Let's find a way out of here, and then we meet at the safe house."
"Y-yea… sure Miss Weiss."
"We will get out of this in one piece like we always have Sally."
Then Heisenberg separated herself from Sally and Eferdora.
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"What was that?! Did you hear that, Brain-Sama?!"
"Yea, stay here while I go check the surroundings. Be on your highest guard, Climb."
Climb nodded as he stood guard at the halls where the two entered from.
Brain Unglaus rested a hand on the hilt of his katana, stepping carefully through the corridors of the brothel. Passing empty cages meant for human beings, crates full of maid costumes, and whatever weird things this place had in store for him.
He could smell smoke from where he stood. Perhaps an accident happened?
Regardless, the plan hasn't changed, as there was no need for now.
Quick and hurried footsteps could be heard from the other end of the corridor. Brain, by instinct, ducked to a wall for cover and concealment.
From the sounds of it, it was just one person. He should be able to take him down.
"Please…hang on, we can make it! Please wake up!"
It sounded like a girl in desperation, perhaps a victim of the brothel. He can sense the genuine selfless concern in her voice. However, as he was about to reveal himself, something cold within him pulled him back into hiding.
"Why is there something familiar about that voice, yet so different at the same…"
Brain thought to himself as he drew his katana. He hesitated to continue hiding, but whatever that was, it was coming straight in his direction. Looking around, there was no place to hide. So he took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows to face his foe.
Only to lose it completely and the sight before him.
"Shall…tear Bloodfallen?!"
The Vampire that shattered his ego, the monster that broke him, now stood before him in the flesh.
Shalltear Bloodfallen, in turn, returned Brain the same expression of horror he gave her.
This was no doubt the same person he met before. At least they wore the same face. She had a wide-eyed Elf with her, who seemed to be in a trance, whom Shalltear gently put down with care. The Elf continued to stare at the ceiling with unblinking and unreactive eyes.
She looked … different from before.
Brain studied Shalltear from head to toe; she was not wearing the outfit she wore during their first confrontation but a more peasant-like attire unfit for an undead aristocrat like herself. She was breathless and panting and lacked the regal stature she had.
The most eye-catching thing about her new look was a silver slave collar that choked her neck.
Unlike before, when she only relied on her pinkies mockingly, a sweaty Shalltear pulled out a small handheld weapon with a small wheel and a tube. She cocked the hammer, panting breathlessly as she pointed the weapon at him.
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Stefan Havish was a crooked official who covered for the Doll's slavery operations; he was also a regular patron of this sick establishment. Morbidly obese and well-groomed, this boorish man fit the perfect stereotype of a corrupt noble. Too used to abusing women for his amusement, it is only poetic he found his demise and torture at the hands of another monster.
A monster with the same amount yet a different brand of sadism.
Sebas Tian slapped the fat bastard repeatedly with unnatural speed and strength. Heavily bruised and bloodied on his cheeks, the fat naked man scrambled out, crying for guards in an unintelligible voice. Only for the monster to announce in a cold yet polite voice:
"-They are all either dead or unconscious."
With a savage kick, Stefan was sent flying with a hole in his gut, spilling his inside as he bled to death slowly.
"Rest in peace. Or not, as it were."
Were the parting words Sebas gave to Stefan as he turned to search for his next prey.
From a polished surface of a bloodied blade, next to desecrated corpses of blurry man-mountains who were once Stefan's bodyguards. Heisenberg witnessed the gross cruelty perpetuated by both men from her hiding spot.
A sense of deja vu washed over Heisenberg as she reminisced about her time in the mansion with the ninjas and her time back in America. When she thought ninja chicks would be the most absurd encounter she faced, a homicidal butler geezer who came straight out of a slasher film happened to top that all.
Heisenberg pressed her back onto the bloodied wall that was stained with brain matter and blood and took a deep, deep, deep breath.
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One more chapter before this Arc ends.
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Special thanks to Fleece Johnson/Kaco Kamen and CritKhagan for proofreading.
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Shalltear's current influences
Weiss - 15
Eferdora - 10
Nazarick - 0
Each Person/Organization represented something important to the Vampire in the future.
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