The Vampire Twins

For some days, it had been raining over Roanapur. Though it was normal for this time of year, something dark had come to the city, which had their eyes on some of the irredeemable souls of the underworld and made Roanapur a truly dark place.

When the twin boy and girl, who'd caught another victim to 'play with', the girl wondered about something she'd read. "I can't think of his name, Fratele Meu. Who was it that said: 'The ultimate love is cannibalism'? Edgar Allan Poe?"

Her twin brother, who was cleaning his knife, answered. "I don't think so, Sora Meu. Wasn't he a necrophiliac?"

While their victim, who had multiple stab and gun wounds on his body, tried to gain consciousness, the twin girl asked. "Richard Matheson?"

The twin boy tapped his finger on his mouth. "I couldn't say for sure."

Then, the girl glanced at their victim. "I wonder if they were ever treated to this scent?'' She grabbed her big rifle and aimed at the man, who stood up and ran for the doorway, screaming in horror before the girl shot him in the legs before her brother sliced the man's head with his big axe! "The smell of life flowing out from the body."

"The scent of rust and sea salt."

"The smell of man's last breath."

Both twin siblings glanced at each other, forming a grin as the smell of death was like heaven to them. "It's true, we're very fortunate, Sora Meu."

"I wonder how long before the people of this city start the move?"

The twin boy glanced at their dead victim. "This is our 8th. I guess we did kill a few we hadn't planned on killing." Both siblings then held hands, giving each other a kiss. "Everyone will be coming to try to kill us now. I really can't wait, Sora Meu."

"Yes, Fratele Meu." The twin girl said before inhaling the loving scent of blood. "I can't wait either."

Meanwhile, at the Lagoon Company's apartment

Laura and Revy both looked out the window, staring at the pouring rain. Laura sighed as she took a sip from her beer. "It's been raining like this for 3 days now. It's so depressing just to stare at it."

"No shit." Revy stated before putting her arm around her girlfriend's waist. "It's even more boring that we haven't had a job for 2 days or we could have some fun time with our friends, since Shenhua is out for a job she has to do for Mr. Chang in Taiwan and Cynthia's visiting her mother in the US with Rica."

Just then, the phone rang. "I'll get it." Laura said as she walked over to the phone and answered it. "Hello, Lagoon Company." Hearing it was Balalaika's second hand man, Boris. "Oh hi, Mr Boris." Listening to what he had to say, Laura raised an eyebrow. "Okay... so I take it the meeting is cancelled?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I'll call you in within the next few days, work something out." Boris answered through the phone.

After Laura hung up the phone, Dutch, who was sitting on a couch, asked. "What's up, Laura?"

Laura glanced at Dutch, stating. "The meeting with Hotel Moscow got cancelled." Before she then frowned as she suspected something. "Boris didn't say why, but my instinct tells me that it's got to have something about those murders last month."

Dutch nodded, agreeing with Laura to why the meeting was cancelled "Probably, yeah. And I'm pretty sure that won't end well."

Revy sat on another couch, sighing. "My God... five corpses already and now even Big Sis is getting nervous."

Laura sat next to her girlfriend, agreeing with her. "Yeah, even though homicide isn't exactly front page news in this city... but when they're targeting Hotel Moscow, that's a different story. They've found five corpses, all linked to the Russians."

Dutch however stated. "Ladies, that information is out of date. There are 6 now."

Hearing that the so-called 'psycho' has already killed 6 people from Hotel Moscow, made Laura and Revy worried. Theorizing, Laura stated. "Who the hell would do this? It almost sounds like some brainless nut job is putting gas on an open flame. Or it could be someone who has a really big problem with Hotel Moscow. And we can be sure that in this city, where the balance of power walks a tightrope on its hands, we'll all be dripping in blood when this ends."

Revy held Laura's hand, softly rubbing it, giving each other some courage as though things looked dark and bad, they still had each other.

The next day, at a secret location

With several armed men from all the crime syndicates standing guard outside, inside a building, Chang had organised a meeting with the most powerful crime lords of Roanapur: himself, Balalaika, Abrego and Verrocchio.

"Another one's been killed." Balalaika started saying, with another one of her men being killed. "An accountant this time. Are we in Beirut? Mogadishu, perhaps?"

"That's enough already." Abrego tried to ease the situation.

Chang then told Balalaika. "Do I need to remind you why we decided to meet here today? This is an era of coexistence. And I'd like to preserve this equilibrium we've managed to reach through all the bloodshed and bullets, Miss Balalaika."

Balalaika then looked seriously at Chang. "Is that so, Mr. Chang? Maybe you can refresh my memory? When did I say I wanted coexistence?" She asked as she'd never planned on coexisting with any other crime lord, having plans to take over the city one day herself.

Verrocchio gave a small chuckle as he lightened a cigarette for himself. "Again with that mouth of yours. A fucking peasant Ivan bitch who thinks that shit don't stink. Priceless." that earned a glare from Boris, who was present at the meeting. "Go back to digging your potatoes." Verrocchio insulted Balalaika.

Balalaika however formed a grin at Verrocchio, firing back with another insult. "Well, I guess we can't be all Italian, right? Which reminds me, I've heard that pasta tends to smell like a pig, is that true?"

"Fucking bitch!"

"Okay, I think that's enough." Chang called, wanting this meeting to go smooth and controlled. "Or have you forgotten why we're all here? All of us hold grudges against each other over one thing or another, right? However, it's also in our own best interest to cooperate at this time. If you've got business to discuss, then I'm all ears. But you can feed your personal honor to the dogs. That's just something you accept in our line of work." Chang then told what got on his nerves as well. "Miss Balalaika, this may be news to you... but some of my men were hit as well." That got Balalaika's attention, not knowing that the Triads were also hit as hard as Hotel Moscow "A member of the 14K and directly affiliated executive in a whore house on Rachiada Street. They were killed the same way as yours were."

"What's going on, Chang?" Balalaika asked, not liking this at all and called to all present. "Someone's here is trying to shift the balance of power!" Before she then angrily glanced at Abrogo who looked away suspiciously. "Abrego! Look at me!"

That shocked Abrego while it also made him angry at being accused of trying to kill both Hotel Moscow and men from the Triads. "Hey, what the Fuck! I've got nothing to do with this shit! You and I, we had some issues between us in the past, but I thought we worked that out!"

Balalaika rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine then. So do us all a favor and ask Verrocchio who did this."

Verrocchio looked away, denying his involvement. "That's bullshit and you know it, Fry Face! It happens that we lost one of our recruiters as well."

"So what does that make? 9 bodies?" Balalaika asked.

Verrocchio then told Chang. "Listen, no one from this city would pull something like this. It's probably some drifter. Someone who doesn't know how things work around here."

Chang gave a nod. "All right, if we can agree that these killings are the work of some outsider, we can start working together to hunt down whoever is responsible. Also we make a declaration, we don't need our people to kill each other out there. Any objections?"

Balalaika didn't like this idea of working together. "I don't like this. It's a goddamned farce.

"Shut the fuck up!" Verrocchio warned Balalaika.

"Balalaika, I wouldn't be so hasty if I were you." Chang advised her. "I doubt it's in your best interest to rip this entire city apart."

Boris handed Balalaika her coat, which she accepted and asked while scoffing at Chang "Is this a social gathering, Mr. Chang? Are we going to be playing a hand of gin and rum next?" When Boris opened the door for his boss, Balalaika told everyone before leaving. "Let me be absolutely clear about this. The reason we came here today was to make our position known. Hotel Moscow will not tolerate people who obstruct our operations. Whoever dares will be destroyed, denounced, then we'll kill his family, his friends, even the pet dog if we feel it is necessary."

After Balalaika left the meeting, Chang sighed with some disappointment, having hoped that Balalaika and Hotel Moscow would be more open to coexistence like the others. But seeing that Balalaika never truly wanted coexistence, Chang felt some worry grow in him. "That went well."

The next day, in the evening at the Yellow flag

Being bored of spending their time mostly inside the apartment, Revy and Laura decided to get a few drinks at the Yellow Flag bar. However, it wasn't long before Laura was challenged by 3 other guys for a game of poker, who were eager to win from Soldier Girl since she unexpectedly won from them last week, winning over 10.000 dollars. Though Laura didn't play poker much during her time at the US marines, she did have the talent for it.

Laura, after drinking the last sip of her rum, put her glass down before glancing at the other 3 guys. Two of them, being named Liu and Anong, both being of Thai descent, while the 3rd was from Sweden named Olaf.

With Laura having won most chips so far, which was 4600 dollars, Liu and Anong both had only 1000 left while Olaf had 3400 dollars worth of chips. The Swedish smuggler glanced at Laura for a short moment, scratching his chin before looking down at his cards. Laura formed a small grin, knowing what Olaf was going to bluf.

Liu, being the dealer in this round, glanced at Anong, who placed 100 dollars of chips as he was the Small Blind of this round. When it was Olaf's turn, he placed 200, as he was the Big Blind. Laura didn't show any emotion, placing 200 as well.

And when it was Liu's turn, he took his time for a minute.

Olaf smirked at him as he asked. "What's the matter? Too afraid to lose?"

Liu glared at Olaf, taking all his remaining chips. "Raise. All-In."

Anong gave a nod. "I'm going All-In too." And placed his remaining 1000 in the middle of the table.

Olaf gave a small chuckle. "Now we're talking. All right, I'm gonna call on that one." and placed 1000 as well in the pot.

Laura didn't say anything and placed 1000 as well before Liu then drew 3 cards from the deck and placed it on the table, being a Diamonds Jack, a 5 Hearts and a 7 Diamonds.

Revy watched his girlfriend play from the bar, hoping that her girlfriend will win from those assholes again. She mentally thought while taking a smoke. 'You boys have no idea that you're about to get fucked, again.'

Olaf then challenged Laura by betting half of what he'd left, being 1200. Laura waited for a moment and saw that he was gulping while Liu formed a little grin. Laura knew she had to be careful as she looked at her cards before saying. "Call." And placed 1200 dollars on the table too.

Liu drew another card, being a 3 Hearts before Olaf gave a small sigh, placing the rest of his 1200 on the table. "All-In."

Believing that this could be the finishing round, Laura said. "Well... I think I'll go All-In too." And placed all her remaining chips in the pot, despite the fact that she didn't have to raise the stakes, but did so anyway.

Liu sighed as he drew from the deck the last card, being a Queen of Hearts. "All right, show down." He said as he opened his 2 cards, showing it were a 5 Diamonds and a Clubs Ace. "Pair of 5." Before he sighed again while he shook his head, feeling he had already lost.

Laura gave a shrug as she glanced at Anong, showing he had Hearts Jack and a 7 Hearts, showing he had Two Pair, having the high hand so far.

Olaf then chuckled as he showed his cards, having the remaining Clubs and Spades 7 in hand. "Ha! Three of a Kind! Guess you didn't expect that, did you, Soldier Girl?" He asked Laura.

Soldier Girl however, formed a grin and slowly showed her cards, having a 4 Clubs and a 6 Spades, surprising the 3 other guys. "Straight, from 3 to 7." Laura said before smirking. "I win."

Anong groaned. "Argh! No! Not again!"

Olaf nearly snapped. "You... you cheated, you fucking bitch!" Before he was this close to drawing his gun, but Laura was quicker and drew one of her guns between Olaf's eyes.

"Don't even think about it, you Swedish piece of shit." Laura said with a very serious look on her face. "Do you want to know what happened to the last person who lost in a game of poker against me and thought he could just shoot me and take all the money for himself? He didn't have any hands left to play cards or hold a knife and fork ever again."

Olaf started to sweat, being very scared of Soldier Girl's face. But as he glanced around, he noticed that everyone in the bar held their hands on their guns, ready to shoot if he tried anything funny.

Olaf then yelped in fear as Revy drew 1 of her guns and aimed at his head, warning him. "You heard my girlfriend, Swedish pig. If I were you, you should just be a good loser, pay up and get the fuck out of here."

Bao, the bartender warned them. "HEY! Revy! Laura! Don't you fucking dare to start shooting in my bar again!"

Laura ensured Bao with a small smile. "Relax, Bao. Olaf and the guys were just about leaving, right after paying up, right?" Before she glared at Olaf, forming a smirk.

Olaf nodded heavily. "Uh... yeah, sure!" And put his 2500 dollars worth of cash on the table and then quickly walked out of the Yellow Flag.

Revy and Laura then seriously glanced at the 2 Thai men. Anong shook his head as he placed his money on the table, while Liu ensured while raising his left hand while placing his cash on the table using his right hand. "Don't look at me like that. You won fair and square, Laura." Not getting into more trouble, both Liu and Anong gathered all the chips and sat on a different table.

Laura counted the money, forming a little smile. "And another 10.000 to place in my secret bank account." Before she rolled the paper money and handed it over to Revy, trusting her girlfriend to keep it. Revy placed Laura's money inside her shirt, between her web-tattooed breasts.

Both sat back at the bar, ordering from Bao more rum. After a few sips, Laura told her girlfriend. "Normally it would be a bit quieter in here, but since that lunatic is on the loose, pretending he's The Punisher or something, everyone here is carrying a gun. It almost feels like we're in the middle of a parallel universe where everyone is Clint Eastwood."

Revy gave a shrug. "I wouldn't blame them, baby. These days, Roanapur is like popcorn. It's just simmering on heat right now, ready to pop any minute."

Laura put her hand on Revy's lap, showing she wouldn't let anything happen to her. And Revy smiled at her girlfriend, willing to do the same.

Bao then stated. "Have you heard, ladies? Apparently there's a bounty."

"How much?" Revy wondered.

"50 grand, in US dollars." Bao answered.

Revy and Laura both formed a grin, being interested to claim this bounty. "Wow, Laura. They're really serious about taking that lunatic down. What are we waiting for?" Revy said, wanting to get out into the streets and find that crazy killer.

Laura however thought about it for a second. "I would gladly join you on this hunt, baby, but the problem is: we don't have any leads. Otherwise it'll be a wild goose chase."

Revy felt that Laura had a point, but stated. "Yeah, I guess you're right, but, if it's an outsider, he or she shouldn't be too hard to find."

Laura nodded. "True, the city is not that big after all and any outsider would be easy to spot." Before she then glared as it reminded her about the Lovelace maid, Roberta, aka the BloodHound of Florencia. "Just like when we had to deal with that fucking house maid that nearly killed you."

Revy held her hand and softly rubbed it, stating that Laura should calm down and that that part of the past is long gone. Trying to keep their heads on the 'killer', Revy theorized. "Well... since nobody knows who this guy or woman is, it could mean that someone in this city is providing a hideout."

Being back with her mindset on the killer, leaving the maid Roberta out of her mind for now, Laura agreed with Revy. "And since nearly everybody has a grudge against Balalaika, it could be anybody. And that's what has everyone on edge."

Bao shrugged while cleaning some glasses. "Well, I don't give a rat's ass what happens as long as my place doesn't get destroyed again." He reminded them about the last time his bar was destroyed.

While the door of the bar opened, Revy assured the owner and bartender. "Relax, Bao. You worry too much. You know this is a neutral district. No one's gonna start anything in here."

Suddenly, someone else entered the bar, who was a female blond, wearing sunglasses, a short top with a symbol of a hand giving the middle finger and the words 'Just do it' on it, a short green jean skirt and high heels. The women walked over to the bar with a smile, greeting Laura and Revy. "Well, if it isn't Two-Hands and Soldier Girl."

Revy and Laura glanced at their back, being surprised to see it was Eda from the Rip-off church, not wearing her nun's outfit anymore.

Sitting close to them while leaning against the bar, Eda said. "My. You two are drinking the cheap shit again, aren't you? Business ain't so good lately, Robin Hood?" She teased them, knowing that Lagoon Company didn't have that many jobs lately and calling Revy 'Robin Hood' since she started to do some good deeds for the people of Roanapur lately.

"Eda, what the fuck?!" Revy asked in surprise, not believing to see Eda without dressing as a nun for once.

"Hey, Eda." Laura said while raising her glass, but then wondered as she raised an eyebrow. "Never seen you without your nun's outfit. What the hell happened? You quit from the Rip-off church or something?"

Eda just chuckled. "Not at all, baby. Still being part of the church. I'm just wearing this outfit to better 'blend in with the crowd'." Before she then asked Laura in a flirty way. "Say, why don't you come along and drink with a real woman, baby?"

That Eda was flirting with Laura, made Revy very angry. "Back off, Eda!"

Laura however stayed calm and said in a polite way before drinking her rum. "As much as tempting as that sounds, I'm already taken." But while drinking her rum, Laura mentally thought while forming a grin. 'Unless you're willing to fuck both me and Revy together, Eda.'

Eda pretended she was moaning. "Aaaah, c'mon! You don't know what you're missing, baby."

Revy had enough of Eda's attempt to steal Laura from her and tightened her fist. "You better back off, Eda, or you want me to completely fix that face of yours!?"

Eda raised her hand. "Relax, Two-Hands. I didn't come here to pick a fight with you." she leaned closer to them and stated "I've got a story that might interest you. 1 that might be worth some money."

Seeing her point, Revy asked Eda "You're talking about this bounty, right?"

"You heard?" Eda asked with some surprise.

Laura then stated. "Actually, we were just talking about it."

Boa nodded. "I doubt there's anyone left in the city who doesn't know about it."

"Well that sucks." Eda said with some disappointment as she preferred to tell Revy and Laura herself, but then shrugged. "Ah well, at least I don't have to waste time explaining it. So what the hell are we waiting for? Let's go get it. Some of the eager ones have already started, you know. Goes without saying that the mafia is getting involved, but they're are freelancers coming too. From what I hear, the Yun brothers, Big One Emilio, Ronny CK..."

This worried Bao as more and more freelance assassins were pouring into Roanapur. "Fuck me. It's almost like an Assassin Olympics."

Eda nodded while adding. "Yeah, but that's not all. Green Tooth Johnny for example, what a jerk that guy is. When he actually came in, he ordered an elephant gun from the church. I don't know what the hell he was thinking." Eda finished with a small chuckle.

Laura shook her head in amusement as someone actually needed an elephant gun to hunt down this one killer. "What the hell does he think he's up against? A fucking dinosaur? If he uses that, he'll be shooting the guy right through the ceiling."

That made Revy chuckle in amusement. "I'd love to see that."

Eda then advised. "Better get our asses and gear if we want a chance of getting that money. 50 grand is too much to ignore."

"Yeah, no shit." Revy said. "So do you have any other information, Eda?" She asked.

Eda nodded as she told both Revy and Laura. "There's one thing I've just heard. Early this morning; the Caribbean Bar on Buran Street was completely destroyed last night. And I hear that Hotel Moscow is ready for war." That shocked Revy and Laura, knowing how far it could go if Balalaika would release her full private army on the city. "I guess a collector of theirs was killed, so Fry Face is pissed."

"Sweet Mother of God." Revy said worriedly while holding her crucifix necklace on her neck.

The next day

Balalaika was looking around a massive crime scene, with a lot of blood and bullets on the floor of a building as childish laughter echoed out before she walked out of the bar.

"Hey! What a pleasant surprise." The Chief of police said.

"Yeah, sure. So is there anything you wanna tell me?" Balalaika asked.

"They found 1 of the waiters alive, though he won't last long." He answered. "But he made a statement. Apparently these brats showed up at 4pm. Twins dressed like they were going to a funeral all in black. And from the sounds of it, they were spooky little brat straight out of the Shining or something. The bartender get1 look at them and tells them 'This is no place for kids, you gotta get out of here.' But before he could throw them out, they pull out business cards and said:

Flashback, the night before

"Most of the time we meet our guests at Ms Balalaika's place." The girl said.

"But we were told there might be some guests in here. Didn't they tell you?" Her twin brother asked.

"Go around to the back." The bartender told them.

"Thanks, mister." The girl said before she and her twin brother walked to the back of the bar. "Our guests will recognize us as soon as they see us. We'll use that corner, okay?"

"If the bartender had contacted you, he might not have been killed, but he sealed his fate when he decided not to disturb you so late at night." The Chief told Balalaika. "Not long after that, your collector arrives as usual to pick up the night's earnings from the bar. The collector asks how the night's been going, he tells him nothing special happened. But then outta nowhere…"

Private Sakharov and Menshov of Hotel Moscow were talking with the bartender when the boy walked up to him. "Hi. Would you like to play with us?" He asked, getting a confused look for both Russians. "Please, mister, let's play." He said before grinning evilly.

"Oh hell! Sakharov, it's them!" Menshov said, making his comrade pull out his gun but the boy pulled out an ax from his trench coat before swinging it into Sakharov's midsection, wounding him greatly and making him fall to his knees as he held his wound!

"They figured it out. These men have good instincts, Sora Meu." The boy told his sister, who walked up to him.

This caused the other customers to begin to panic as they tried to flee while the girl said to her brother. "Fratele Meu, I don't think we're any good at this yet."

"It can't be helped, can it? So what do you think we should do, Sora Meu?"

The girl kissed the teddy bear on her hidden object. "I guess we have no choice now." She answered before revealing her hidden object, which was a very big machine gun. "We'll call upon an angel for every 1 of them. They do say heaven's a nice place after all, don't they?" She asked as she aimed her big gun.

Sakharov tried to reach for his gun but was stopped when the boy put his foot on his hand and brought his ax down to slice his head, killing him as his sister started shooting at everyone else. And when Menshov tried to flee, the girl turned her attention to him and quickly shot him in the legs!

"Soa Meu, we should bring that 1 back with us. We can play with him." The boy suggested.

"Oh yes, sounds fun."

"Yes. It'll be lots of fun."

Back in the present

"So after they loaded the collector into the trunk of their car, they went back in and kept shooting until they're sure everyone's dead." The Chief finished.

Boris lifted the yellow line for Balalaika to go through. "Did anyone see the license plate? The make of the car?" She asked.

"A black sedan. A Japanese make, and that's all we know. Course we're currently investigating its whereabouts." The Chief answered. "And 1 more thing: they're white, but not from an English-speaking country. They kept addressing each other in some other language. And every time they addressed each other, they used these words: Soa Meu and Fratele Meu."

That got Balalaika thinking. "Listen. I want this to stay local, do you understand? The last thing we want is for the military to get involved." She told him while walking away as she heard the Chief talking about a bounty that had been placed on the children.

Balalaika and Boris got into their car before it drove away while the blonde Mafia leader started smoking a cigar. "That man disgusts me. Honestly. However, it's my mistake. I simply didn't account for this type of threat. I thought if I sent them out in 2-man cells, they'd be safe."

"Sakharov and Menshov were completely blindsided by this. No 1 thought that the assassins were children." Boris told her.

"Remember the war, Sargent. Half the enemies we fought were children. Not even the purest of souls would think of children being killers. I suppose, with time, that goes for us as well." Balalaika reminded her right-hand man as she took a drag from her cigar and blew out the smoke.

"You're absolutely right, Capitan, let this be a lesson for us." Boris said in agreement.

"Comrade Sargent, I cannot allow our forces to be weakened any further. Assemble an investigative team from outside the organization. People we can afford to lose."

"Right."

"I've long lost count of how many soldiers we've had to put in the ground, Comrade. I'll never get used to it no matter how many die." Balalaika said with sadness for her fallen comrades.

"Since the day we took our oath, we've all been prepared to die in battle. Like any of us, Sakharov knew the risks involved."

"I won't let them kill again, Sargent. And I will have those brats pay for Comrade Sakharov's life with their blood. I won't rest until they're dead." Balalaika vowed with a dark look in her eyes.

The next night

Despite the enthusiasm to claim the bounty on the psycho, after several hours of patrolling the streets, Laura and Revy eventually decided to stop and returned to their apartment. Eda promised to keep them in touch if anything comes up.

And so, while it was pouring rain again all day, Revy and Laura barely did anything, besides helping Dutch on the boat or Benny to pick up a new compartment he'd ordered as he was too scared to walk the streets with a maniac on the loose. The two lesbian pirates couldn't blame Benny, as he wasn't the physical type and didn't shoot a gun.

While Laura was lying on the couch, reading a magazine about some new movies coming up and Benny was busy on his computer in his room, Revy was preparing dinner in the kitchen, which was beef vegetable noodles.

The moment when Revy was finished and placed everyone's portion on a plate, Dutch came in from the front door, having been soaked because of the rain. "Damn." He said while taking a towel to dry himself.

Revy, who held 2 plates with noodles in her hands, asked Dutch as she walked out of the kitchen. "So, what's happening out there? Has anyone managed to catch the fish yet?"

"Nope." Dutch shook his head. "And it ain't getting any better. 1 mistake and we're all fucked. I'm talking about a real shit storm." He put the towel down as Revy offered him a plate, which he took. "Thanks."

After Revy offered the other plate with noodles to Laura, she put down her magazine and took the plate. But before taking a bite, Laura asked Dutch. "You sure you didn't hear anything interesting about that 'psycho'?"

While Benny came into the living room, having smelled another one of Revy's delicious meals, Dutch explained. "There's one thing I've heard from Balalaika. She's planning to use the service of 'Visotoniki'."

That surprised Laura. "Visotoniki? You mean her commando unit?"

Revy, who came with 2 more plates, one for herself and the other for Benny, had heard what Dutch said and spoke how crazy this decision from Balalaika was. "Crazy bitch. Does she want to rip the whole city apart?"

Still having a fresh memory of seeing the Visotoniki when they were facing against the maid Roberta, Laura had done a little research about Balalaika's private army, having found out that Balalaika's commando unit were known in Russian as the 'Visotoniki' "Christ. With those soldiers under her command, who were trained to possibly fight and win World War 3, we're totally fucked if we ever cross with those guys."

Revy sat next to her. "Exactly. That's what makes Hotel Moscow different from all the others. They're disciplined, unified and show no mercy."

Taking a bite from Revy's made noodles, Dutch stated. "I'll tell you one thing; I stay the fuck away if those guys are pissed off. A 200 miles radius at least."

For a few minutes, nobody said anything, other than enjoying Revy's food, which gave them some relief. Laura then spoke "I wonder if this 'phantom killer' even knows who he or she is dealing with? If so, this guy or women must be insane."

Dutch agreed with Laura, but then stated. "It's rare even in this place, but you come across them sometimes here and there again. Seeds of evil, nothing but trouble. Even among the garbage of the underworld they're considered outsiders. Usually these folks go wild, cause a lot of damage and then they're wine up dead. But ever so often you get one with instincts like a beast and a sharp mind, and they manage to survive. Being unhinged is the only way these people know how to live, they leave nothing but death and destruction in their wake."

Revy then added after swallowing some of her noodles. "The one thing they all have in common is hate. People like that they hate everything and everyone." She then shook her head, feeling pity for those kinds of people. "Eventually... these kinds of people are so filled with hate that they eventually don't remember why they hate or hate to begin with. They then suck on everything around them to go out in blaze of glory. The other problem is that they're the only ones who know what's going on inside their heads. That's 1 thing I learned while I was in prison."

Suddenly, the phone rang. As Benny picked it up, Laura was surprised to hear from her girlfriend that she had once been in prison. "You never told me that you were in prison."

Revy gave a shrug. "Sorry, baby. I guess I should have told you before..."

Benny then held up the horn. "Laura. She asked for you. It's from the lady of the hour, so to speak: Miss Balalaika."

Laura raised an eyebrow as she put down her plate and walked over to Benny "Balalaika? What does Big Sis want now?" She asked while taking the horn from Benny, who gave a shrug as didn't know. Laura then asked through the phone "Yes?"

"Hello, Soldier Girl. I need some help with knowing some words. Does a word called 'Buna seara' mean anything to you?" Balalaika asked through the phone.

Laura thought for a moment. "Hmmm... buna seara. It sounds like a romanic language, like Italic branch, but..."

"I thought, given your occupation in that Japanese business you might recognize it." But then Balalaika rephrased that. "Oh, excuse me, I meant 'former occupation'."

"Buna seara... buna seara... it sounds familiar but I can't really remember what."

"Okay, then how about this other phrase, 'Fratele Meu'? Anything will help. Whatever comes to mind. A place... a name..."

While still thinking hard, Laura stated. "Hold on... I remember when someone from the European branch came by and taught a coworker out there I had to protect from my former boss Kageyama, those words sound somewhat familiar but I can't be sure..." But when she was in thought, she glanced at the magazine she read, telling of the new horror movie: Dracula is Alive. That was when it hit Laura while she gasped. "Vampire!"

"What did you say? What do you mean by that, Laura?"

"Those words, they've something to do with vampires. And they come..." Then, Laura finally remembered what language it was. "Of course, it's Romanian. Those words are Romanian."

"Are you absolutely sure, Soldier Girl?"

"Yes! Like I remembered; the guy that came to the company's headquarters back in Japan was from Romania, as it was that coworker's job to know the language by heart." Laura stated.

In Balalaika's office

"Thank you, Laura. I'll be sure to return the favor." Balalaika thanked Laura and hung up the phone. She then glanced at Boris. "Well, Laura recognized the language. Apparently these kids are from Count Dracula's homeland."

Boris was surprised as he stood up from his chair. "They're Romanian." Before he slapped himself on the head. "Ugh! Of course they are. There were Romanian troops in Kabul. Damn! I thought those phrases sounded familiar. I should have known." Boris shook his head, blaming himself for not recognizing those phrases before.

Balalaika sighed. "As people get older, remembering things becomes quite the task, Sergeant. It's the same with me." Before she then wondered how those messed up kids from Romania would become such killing maniacs. "Rowan, the owner of the porn shop on Rachiada Street secretly distributes blackmarket videos, doesn't he?"

Boris gave a nod. "Yes, I believe so. What about him?"

A few days later

Balalaika and Chang were meeting to discuss the current situation. "I take it you've swapt this place clean already."

"This is all very secretive. If you wanted to go on a date, you could have asked me." Chang said.

"Well you can't exactly go for dinner and a movie when you've got the smell of blood on you." Balalaika replied. "Chang,we know who's behind this now."

"I see. That's an intriguing subject. How did you end up finding out?"

Balalaika got out a cigar and lit up while answering. "As a matter of fact we found what we were looking for in Rowen's shop."

"Rowen?" Chang asked. "So I take it you invited him to your office. Poor bastard must have been scared to death."

"Let's just say that the backseat of that Benz will never be the same."

"That's unfortunate."

"My specific request was for Eastern European kiddie porn featuring Romanian twins, and snuff films as well. An hour later, he had 250 titles for me." Balalaika said. "I spent a night and a half the next day looking through videos for pedifiles and perverts until I eventually hit the jackpot: Hansel and Gretel. That's what the little brats were called in the video. After the local dictator was overthrown, many children were sold to the black market by institutions that could no longer afford them. Illegitimate children of a fallen dictator."

"Turned into toys for child molesters. They usually end up as pig food. That's what these brats were destined for. So how did they escape it?" Chang wondered.

"For added entertainment, the perverts filming this stuff made these kids take part in the killings. They were required to kill other children, kids who were more or less in the same situation as them. In order to stay alive, these kids desperately learned ways of killing their victims that would satisfy their twisted audience. Kill or be killed. At some point, they must have just accepted it, their innocence long forgotten. They descended into the world of shadows." Balalaika explained.

"Like a couple of stunt dogs in the movies, huh? That's 1 dark fairy tale, but somehow fitting for our world, wouldn't you say? Oh well, morality and justice have never really suited me. I have as about as much sympathy for those brats as I do people who preach world peace and start dropping bombs on their neighbors." Chang said with no sympathy for the twins.

"I'm just telling you what I know, Chang." Balalaika said as she took out an envelope from her coat before Chang took it. "All we really need is profit and trust. Once we got to Rowen, the rest was easy."

Chang took a look at the contents of the envelope. "I see. So this is the source, huh? Having 1 of your own killed does work as the perfect alibi."

"Those kids were intended for show. No 1 ever taught them any manners. All they know how to do is cause trouble and spread disaster. Your men just happened to get caught in their wake."

"Whatever the reason, somebody's gonna have to pay for this." Chang said while adjusting his shades.

"I think we're long overdue for a little house cleaning in this city." Balalaika said before taking a drag from her cigar and blowing out the smoke.

"I definitely wouldn't miss those tiresome meetings. Does this mean you're planning to start another war?" Chang asked.

"Personally I prefer the term controlled conflict. And no 1 can say we don't have good reason." Balalaika answered while dropping her cigar.

"So you're telling me this is a just war? And since when has that kinda thing ever mattered to you?"

"If it provides an excuse, then it matters. But I could care less about it being just or not. Join us or forget about it, it's up to you."

"Oh what the hell? It's not like I need to consult Hong Kong on this. In the end, there's only 1 thing you can trust in this world and that's brute force." Chang said with a grin.

Balalaika smiled. "Does this mean we'll get to see you with a gun in hand again? I'm looking forward to it, baby." She said in a flirty tone.

"I don't mind getting in on the action every once in a while, but in my position, it's not that simple. And another thing, please don't call me baby. I really hate that nickname." Chang said before going his own way.

Balalaika went her way as she got out her phone and contacted Boris. "Comrade Sargent, Chang had agreed to our proposal. As of right now, we'll be fighting alongside the Hong Kong Triads."

"Roger."

"Get a message to our fellow comrades: stand by for combat as of 1905. I predict regulations 217, case number 5. Do you copy, Sargent?"

"Assume combat as of 1905. You predict a snach mission within the city's controlled battle grounds."

"Correct. I also predict chaos. With all the bounty hunters in town, it's like mardi gra down there. But we can justify this attack without a full-scale war." Balalaika said with a smile.

Later on

Verrocchio, who secretly had been the 1 who ordered the twins to come to the island to kill the other crime bosses, especially Balalaika and Chang, was going mad because it hadn't gone according to plan because of the bodies that kept piling up. When 1 of his men tried to reason with him to cut losses, he only began to beat him up very badly in a rage until another informed him that the twins had arrived, making him sweat in fear before they entered, having made the decision of turning on Verrocchio and killing him on a murderous whim when Chang and his men had arrived outside just in time for the rampage to start.

Meanwhile

Revy and Laura were both feeling uncomfortable, while lying together on the couch, watching the ceiling. Only a few hours ago, the rumors that the killer were in fact 2 and were children had been confirmed, which didn't go unnoticed by the 2 lesbian pirates while being on patrol to look for their target. But once heard that the assassins are children made Revy not feel well of hunting them down and killing them. And Neither Laura felt comfortable with the thought of killing children.

Revy sighed. "Baby... I don't know if I can do it."

Laura, while rubbing her arm, shook her head. "Me neither..."

"I... I killed children before... but... I don't want to do that! Not again!" Revy, frustrated, kicked the pillow that was close to them.

Laura held her close, trying to calm her down. "I know. I know you're not that killer anymore. Just... calm down."

Dutch then came into the living room, having heard Revy's yelling. "Hey, is everything okay here, ladies?" But upon seeing Revy's state, he sighed. "I guess you've also heard the news that the killers are children."

Just then, the phone rang. This time, Revy took the call. "Yeah?"

It was Eda who was calling. "Revy, the cops are on the move. Looks like half the force is here. They've set up a roadblock behind me. Apparently it's the Verrocchio family, something happened at their place." For a moment, she didn't hear Revy give any answer. "Revy, are we just gonna sit and watch this from the sidelines?"

Revy glanced at Laura as she didn't know if they should go for it or not. Laura placed her hand on Revy's shoulder, showing that no matter her choice, she would stand beside her.

"Revy, are you even there? C'mon! The bounty is raised to 80 grand! You or your girlfriend don't wanna miss that opportunity, right?!" Eda yelled at the phone.

Revy thought about it quickly before she answered and loaded one of her cutlass pistols. "Where are we meeting up?"

Laura gave a nod and loaded her pistols too while Eda told through the phone where to meet. "Joey got a room at the Palcana Square. Now hurry your asses up!" And hung up the phone.

As Laura put her guns in her holders, she told Dutch while going to the door with Revy. "Dutch, we're out for a little while. See you later." And shut the door behind her and Revy.

Dutch sat down on the couch with a beer in hand, showing some worry on his face, knowing somehow how bad this'll turn out. "Shit. The fuse is lightened and away we go. There ain't no stopping it now."

While on the way to the place, Laura asked her girlfriend. "Baby? You sure about this?"

Revy sighed as she stopped and looked at Laura. "Look, I know I said I wouldn't kill any children, and I won't do it. Despite what those kids did the past month, they're still children. Hopefully, we'll be able to find some other way."

Laura formed a smile and both shared a kiss before going further.

An hour later, near Palcana Square

Revy stood close to the big window, with over a dozen other freelance assassins, ready to kill the twins for the bounty. Even on top of the apartment and on top of the buildings across the streets were filled with many other assassins.

Joey then told the others while having listened to the police radio "The fire was at the Verrocchio place. Sounds like commissioner Watsap is questioning the Triad about it right now. I'd say this route just got us closer to the gold." he formed a smirk.

Though others were eager to shoot these brats for a big ransom, Revy was constantly in her thoughts of how she and Laura could get the ransom without killing the now called 'Vampire Twins'.

Laura was standing at the other side of the apartment, standing close to Eda. The Soldier girl noticed something and whispered to Eda. "You actually notice something, Eda?"

Eda nodded. "Yeah." she then called to Revy to join them "Hey, Revy. Come here."

Revy had heard Eda and passed by the other assassins, joining her girlfriend and Eda. "What is it, Eda?"

Laura was the first to state. "Listen, baby, me and Eda just realized something. Take a look around."

"What do you mean, baby?"

Eda then spoke. "It's Balalaika. She's got the biggest score to settle with those brats, yet she's not even here."

Revy nodded. "Yeah... now that you're mentioning it."

"If this is where it's going to get down, then we would have been shot out of the area right now. So where would the twins go?"

Knowing from experience in the military, Laura said. "Well, they're just 11 year old kids, but if they have a target it has to be Balalaika. I say that this was just a diversion, so Balalaika could use the Visotoniki to finish the job with them herself. We are just people who are in the way."

Revy glanced at her girlfriend. "And the thing about soldiers, no offense baby, is that they're all pragmatic. They won't act on speculation. The kids are looking for a blind spot."

Eda loaded her gun and stated as she glanced at the idiot assassins. "Yeah, and these idiots think this is a deer hunt in Montana or something. But these are no deer. These twins are coyotes. They won't be easy prey."

Laura then added. "These twins aren't that stupid to fall for a trap like this. If they did, they would be resting under a tombstone by now." Before she then asked her girlfriend "What's the fastest trip that will get us to Hotel Moscow? We're gonna have to use backstreets."

Revy got an idea. "We'll cut out through Chalquam Market and then it's just straight to Saatanam Street."

Laura gave a nod. "Right. Now let's leave this assassin party quietly so no one will get the idea of following us." Eda and Revy both nodded and quietly exited the room, with none of the assassins noticing that Soldier girl, Two-Hands and Eda had left as they were too focused on their target to appear.

A bit later

The other assassins were keeping lookout for the car, as they thought their bounty would be. After a few more minutes of waiting, they saw the car speeding through the streets and began shooting at it until it crashed and they saw the girl, only to find out that it was a decoy and Joey told them that they were headed south to a fishing port.

But they were all wrong, as the twins were heading through the nearby alleyways. "I'm glad we decided to do that, Soa Meu. And since it only cost 5,000, we didn't even have to spend that much money."

"That's true. Though I do feel sorry for him. He said he was an orphan." Gretel said with sympathy.

"It's not our fault though. It's either kill or be killed, remember? That's what this world is all about." Hansel reminded his sister.

"You're right, Fratele Meu, it wasn't our fault." Gretel said with a smile.

As they continued to run through the alleyways, they were avoiding getting shot at by Balalaika's soldiers, who were just trying to lure them into a trap by making them go in the directions that she wanted them to go and it was working perfectly.

Suddenly, Balalaika and Boris heard a gunshot they weren't familiar with. "Which team was that?" Balalaika asked.

"None of our troops are stationed in that area." Boris guessed. "It could be a bounty hunter." Before he then contacted his radio. "All units report back!"

Coldly, Balalaika ordered. "Eliminate any interference."

In that same street where the shot was fired, was Eda, holding Hansel and Gretel at gunpoint. "Hold it! Don't move a muscle you little brats. You know, it's not safe for kids to be roaming the streets this late at night. Especially if the entire city is on a manhunt and you happened to be the price." Before she formed a smirk, ready to kill them to claim the money for their heads.

Above Eda, Revy and Laura were keeping their friend 'cover', but in reality they couldn't draw their guns. Laura glanced at Revy, who shook her head while mentally thinking. 'I can't do it... I just can't... C'mon, Eda, don't do it!'

Eda gave a chuckle. "I guess neither of you have been saying your prayers lately."

Gretel walked over to Eda with a sweet smile on her face, which confused Eda. "No, it's okay. Hey, can I ask you a question? How much are we worth? What's the bounty being offered on our heads?"

Eda was a bit afraid of the girl's creepy smile and took a few steps back "Uhh... 80 grand." But then held the gun at her head. "Don't move!"

"Wow! That's pretty good." Gretel said while taking out something out of her bag, which was a lot of cash, surprising Eda. "If you don't mind, I'd like to discuss something with you. You see, I have all this money here from Verrocchio's office. I don't mind fighting you here if I have to, but we still have some things we wanna do." Before she held the money close to Eda, offering her. "Will you accept 100.000 dollars and pretend you never saw us?"

Eda chuckled. "Ha! Get the fuck out of here. I'm not getting played by some kid."

"What about 150.000?!" Gretel asked while throwing lots of money into the air, surprising Eda even more, realizing how much money it is. "Well?"

Laura and Revy hoped that it wouldn't end into a bloodbath and Eda would take the offer. "C'mon, Eda. Let's just take the money and get out of here. This is more money than what's on the kids' heads." Revy called, making Eda look up before the twins looked up too.

Though Laura agreed with Revy, Soldier girl knew that their cover was blown. 'Shit.'

Hansel and Gretel saw Laura and Revy, both of them giving a small gap as Laura reminded them of someone. 'Mamma...' Gretel mentally said. But then glanced back at Eda, offering her again with a smile. "Well, it seems your friends agree with us. What do you say? 150.000 and you pretend you never saw us?"

Eda however formed a greedy smile as she had a 'better idea' "I got a better plan, you little brats. We'll take the money and take your lives for the bounty!"

Back with Balalaika

Boris walked over to his boss, confirming. "We've confirmed the target's position. The American and Chinese women from Lagoon Company and the sister from the Ripoff church are there too."

Balalaika sighed with disappointment, hoping that neither Soldier-Girl or Two-Hands would be stupid enough to disrupt her plan to kill the twins to avenge the death of her comrades. Especially because of the wonderful, sexy time they gave her. Coldly, she told Boris. "They have nothing to do with our operation. You may crush them if necessary."

Back with the twins

"But I'm offering you 150.000 dollars?" Gretel said with an innocent voice.

"Doesn't matter, you little brats!" Eda called. "That bounty is as good as ours."

Revy frowned that Eda was this greedy. "Damn you, Eda!"

Gretel sighed. "I guess this means... we're done talking."

Eda and Gretel then opened fire on each other before some Hotel Moscow soldiers and opened fire as well. "What the fuck?!" Eda asked as she pointed her gun at them.

"DON'T DO IT, EDA! THAT'S HOTEL MOSCOW!" Revy and Laura said together before Laura jumped down and pulled Eda out of the line of fire.

"It's the Russian, Soa Meu. They came after us." Hansel said to his sister.

"They have."

"I know: wouldn't it be fun to confuse these guys? If we can eliminate a few, they'll probably return to their base." Hansel said.

Gretel liked that idea. "That sounds like a good idea. We split up so we can hunt down the Russian separately."

Hansel gave his sister a short kiss before saying. "Good luck, Soa Meu."

"You too."

"I love you."

"I love you too." Gretel said before they split up.

Back with Balalaika

"Fine." Boris said into the comlink before telling his Capitan. "Target was lost in combat."

"That's fine. What's important is that we've shown ourselves to the enemy. Proceed under the assumption that they've taken the bait." Balalaika told him.

"Roger." Boris said before speaking to the soldiers. "All units, you've got the go-ahead."

After being informed and confirming that only target 2 had taken the bait, Balalaika gave her orders to her men to let target 2 think he had the upper hand while lighting up a cigar. After that, she then told Boris after checking her watch. "Sargent, it's time. Take command of the final squad."

"Best of luck, Capitan." Boris said before walking away to carry out his orders.

"Thanks. That goes for you too, Sargent." Balalaika said before beginning to wait while smoking her cigar. "Now then, time to put an end to this monstrous killing."

Meanwhile

Both Laura and Revy angrily walked through a street, with Eda being pissed off at both of them and telling them. "What the fuck was that!? I thought you two were all in for the money, but instead you wanted to take those brats' offer and let them walk away, while we could have more money! How am I supposed to go back to the church empty handed, huh?!"

Laura stopped and grabbed Eda by the collar and pinned her to a wall. "You goddamn ungrateful bitch! You should be thankful that I saved your ass from those guys from Hotel Moscow! If you had just taken those kids' money, we wouldn't be in this shit right now! But no, you rather wanted to be greedy and now we don't have anything at all!"

Revy agreed with Laura and yelled at Eda. "Laura is right! It's your fault that we're now empty handed!"

"My fault?!" Eda shockingly asks before she shouted back. "I know what this is all about, you never wanted to kill those brats, weren't you!"

"NO!" Revy pulled Eda away from Laura and grabbed Eda by the collar. "I DIDN'T WANTED TO KILL THEM BECAUSE I MADE A VOW I WOULD ONLY KILL THOSE WHO REALLY DESERVE IT, BUT NOT CHILDREN!"

"GRRRRR! You fucking pussy!" Eda yelled back. "You've gone soft, Revy! What the hell happened to the most coldblooded killer that Roanapur had ever known, huh?! Where the hell is that woman who didn't give shit for anyone?!"

"THAT FUCKING BITCH IS GONE, YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?"

"WHY YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

Eda and Revy both held each other at their collars, with Laura being near to beat the shit out of Eda. But after some time, all 3 sighed with disappointment. "Ugh... what the hell. All 3 of us have fucked it up. It's over." Revy stated.

Eda looked down sadly. "Yeah. I didn't even get a penny out of this."

Laura sighed. "Let's just go back home and forget about all of this."

Eda and Revy both gave a nod. "Let's go, baby." Revy stated as she and Laura walked away.

"Hey, hold on a second!" Eda called to them both. "You can't just leave me here!"

Revy and Laura both stopped and glanced back at Eda. "What do you mean?"

"What the hell do you think I mean?! I can't walk to my car alone when there's a full scale war going on. You have to come with me, we're friends, are we?"

Laura and Revy both exchanged a glance before they sighed with annoyance, knowing that despite Eda acting like a bitch towards them, they couldn't leave her alone in the streets.

15 minutes later, they escorted Eda back to her car. As she stepped into the driver's seat, Eda said. "Hey, thanks for getting me to my car." She then apologized. "And uhm... sorry about earlier. I know I can be bitchy sometimes, but..." Before she glanced at Revy. "You've really changed for the better, Revy, I give you that."

"Thanks, Eda."

When Eda started her car, she opened her window and stated. "Hey, no hard feelings, alright? Maybe we should have a few drinks together when this is all over? It's on me. I'll call you if anything comes up." Eda then drove away, back to the Ripoff church.

Revy sighed as she and Laura walked together through the streets. But after a few minutes, Laura felt something and made Revy stop. "What? What is it, baby?"

Laura glanced at her girlfriend with a serious look "We're not alone..."

Suddenly, both heard a gun click behind them. And from the shadows, Gretel appeared with her machine gun at hand. "Hi there."

Not moving, Revy asked her. "How long have you been following us?"

"A while." Gretel answered "I was waiting for you two to be alone. I didn't want to face you both with that greedy meany women around. And since me and my brother noticed you weren't going to kill us anyhow, I thought it would be easier with the two of you."

Feeling she was holding the machine gun close to their backs, Laura asked her while she and Revy held their hands up "What do you want from us, kid?"

"There's something I want you to help me with. As soon as my brother kills the Russian lady, we'll have to get out of here right away." Gretel stated as she and her brother needed a way to escape Roanapur. "But we already killed Verocchio and his men, who were supposed to arrange that for us."

Taking her chance, Laura slowly turned herself, looking at the 11 year old girl. To gain her trust, Laura slowly dropped her guns on the ground. Seeing that Gretel wasn't killing them, Revy followed Laura's example and dropped her cutlass guns.

"Yeah, you're right, young lady." Laura said "Me and my girlfriend were never planning to kill you."

That interested Gretel as she asked. "Really? Then why did you join those other men to hunt us down?"

Revy sighed as she stated. "To find another way." Two-Hands then admitted. "Look, despite everything that you and your brother did... you're still a kid. And I swore... never to hurt a kid again..."

Seeing that Laura and Revy aren't as bad as they looked, Gretel formed a smile.

"So, I guess that because you need to leave town, you're looking for someone who can provide you and your brother an escape, right?" Laura asked, seeing already where this was going.

Gretel gave a small giggle. "You're really smart, Miss. I'm looking for an escape specialist who takes the job seriously. Would you mind telling me who that is?"

Revy nodded. "Yeah, our company does make deliveries from time to time unnoticed by the authorities. We can take you to our boss, but... it'll cost you."

Gretel gave a shrug. "Oh that wouldn't be a problem. My brother and I have gathered lots of money from people we've killed before." but then wandered "But... how do I not know you would break that offer before we arrive at that company of yours?"

Laura then told her as she kicked both her guns to Gretel's feet. "Here, you can hold on to our guns till we arrive at the place and give you a way to escape the city. What do you say?"

With the look in Laura's eyes, Gretel could feel she could trust them. She takes the guns from the floor and puts them in her bag. Laura and Revy then escorted Gretel to Lagoon company, but not before Revy made a phone call to Dutch, telling him about the situation and the offer they'd been given.

Later at dawn with Balalaika

As Balalaika was still waiting, smoking another cigar, she sensed that her prey was here and told him. "There's no need to hide, why don't you come on out?"

That was when Hansel came out from behind a tree and walked up to her. "You knew where I was. That's really impressive, lady. And your soldiers are pretty good too. I chased them around for quite a while, but I couldn't kill a single one. So what do you wanna do now? Maybe we could use this time together to talk. Let's see, maybe we could talk about that soldier of yours. A normal person would have died a lot sooner, but that man just didn't wanna let go. Up until he died, he kept yelling: 'Capitan! Capitan!' And when he finally died, he went 'Ahhhh' like that."

"You don't say." Balalaika said as he blew out the smoke from her cigar.

"You're a good person, lady, but you know what?" Hansel said as he got out his ax. "It won't be very long before you end up like that man. It's just a shame you don't have much time left to talk."

In that case, I've got some bad news for you: I'm sorry, little boy but this is it; the end of the line for you. But before that happens, you're going to apologize for all the trouble you've caused. You're going to kneel before me and beg for forgiveness." Balalaika countered.

But Hansel only laughed. "Hahaha, you're funny, lady."

"I said kneel!" Balalaika told him before he was shot in the right leg by a sniper, making him fall to the ground! When Hansel looked at his leg, he tried to throw his ax at Balalaika, only for his hand to get blown up by another sniper round. "As I said: the end of the line. If you were able to think rationally, it would have been obvious to you. But as you were pursuing us, you were being led to your death. Take a look at yourself now: a pathetic little brat who's beyond all repair and like it or not, this is where you're gonna die."

But Hansel just grinned and said his last words. "You're funny, lady, but what are you talking about? I'm not gonna die. I can't die... because I've killed so many people in my life. We've killed many. Many, many, many people. It means we get to live forever."

"That's quite the interesting religion. It's a wonderful thought, I suppose." Balalaika said before taking a drag from her cigar and blowing out the smoke. "However, as everyone knows: no one lives forever, that's just the way it goes. Now then, I suppose I could just torture you before I kill you. Considering what you did to my comrade, there's no question it would be appropriate. But unfortunately, I'm not as sadistic as you. It would bring me no satisfaction. So I think I'll just sit here and watch as you take your last miserable breath. Judging by your wounds, you have about 10 minutes at best. I dedicate these last few minutes before you leave this world to Comrade Sakharov's and Menshov's souls. May they rest in peace. Although, I'm certain you wouldn't be able to understand." And when Hansel began to cry, Balalaika told him coldy. "Don't cry, you fool."

And when Hansel finally died, Boris contacted his Capitan. "Capitan?"

"Sargent, I'm finished on my end."

"That was hard, Capitan. Just watching gave me the chills."

"I'm sorry. I had to have my revenge and you humored me."

"Capitan…"

"I'm getting too old for this. I feel...I feel exhausted." Balalaika admitted to herself.

Several hours later, at sea

Aboard the Black Lagoon, which had left Roanapur already before the sun was rising, were on their way to deliver their new client to a safe location. Below deck, Revy and Laura were sitting in the quarters, while Gretel was singing to them her favorite song.

Someday I want to run away

To the world of midnight

Where the darkness fill the air

Where it's icy cold

From the control room, Benny and Dutch could both hear Gretel singing. "Girl sure can sing. Hard to believe it's the voice of a homicidal maniac."

Benny agreed with Dutch. "Yeah."

"A devil with the voice of an angel."

Where nobody has a name

Where living is not a game

There, I can hide my broken heart

Dying to survive

There, no one can see me cry

The tears of my lonely soul

I'll find peace of mind

In the dark and cold world of midnight

Being amazed by her singing voice, Laura and Revy both clapped for Gretel, who made a humble bow. "That was amazing." Revy said.

Laura agreed. "Where did you learn it?"

Gretel giggled "I heard it on TV. It's 1 of my favorite songs of all time. You know what else?" Before she asked as she walked over to Revy and Laura "You are both the first people I sang it to... well, not counting my brother." Then, without warning, Gretel sat in between Revy and Laura. "You know, I could already tell you two were different from anyone else, as I can see ahead who's nice."

Revy chuckled as she moved her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, well... I wouldn't be the woman I am today... if I hadn't met my Laura."

Gretel then glanced at Laura and said. "You know, you really remind me of my mommy."

That surprised Laura. "Really?"

Gretel nodded and took something out of her pocket, which was a photograph. Gretel unfolded it and showed it to Laura and Revy peeked to see it, making Two-Hands surprised. "What the...! Laura, that lady looks almost like you."

Laura couldn't believe it, as if she was looking at an alternate version of herself. "My God... you're right. So... she's your mother?" Laura asked.

Gretel nodded. "Mmm-hmm."

Meanwhile

Dutch got a call from his radio and answered. "Is this Balalaika?"

"I presume you know why I'm calling, Dutch?" Balalaika asked knowingly.

"Yeah. To be honest I'm surprised it took you so long." Dutch answered.

"You are aware of what you're doing, right?"

"Yeah. And the compensation reflects the additional risks."

"This isn't your good deed for the year."

"I look like a philanthropist to you?"

"Just checking. Anyway, it helps me to determine the appropriate response."

"Sounds like we both gotta do what we gotta do, am I wrong, Balalaika?" Dutch asked as he began to change course.

"We're heading south, Dutch." Benny said while walking up to him.

"You're right, Dutch. In fact I've already made a number of arrangements."

Dutch looked at the radar screen and saw a few vessels nearby. "No doubt. I think I see some of those arrangements now."

"No regrets and no hard feelings, I trust? Good luck, sailor."

"Roger, Capitan." Dutch said before breaking contact.

"The Vietnamese Navy?" Benny asked.

"Yeah. And they're out in force. The long reach of Hotel Moscow." Dutch answered, knowing that it was Balalaika's work.

"So are we gonna fight?"

"Not if we wanna live. This is a torpedo boat and they're equipped with missiles. Looks like we'll have to visit old Big Horn Elroy." Dutch answered.

"Right. I'll contact him." Benny said before going to do just that.

After an hour, Gretel felt bored. "Huuuuh. I bet the water and the sky are beautiful today. But I won't get the chance to see it. No fair."

"I'm sorry." Revy said.

Gretel gave a small shrug. "It's alright. I'm used to it."

"Have you never seen the sea?" Laura asked.

"No. Back when we were in Cicely, and we lived at the orphanage, the only thing we got to see were those grey cement walls. I was born in a small town in the mountains. It was a dark and lonely place."

That got Laura thinking. "A certain dictator passed a law that made abhorsen illegal. His plan was to have a workforce for the future of the country. But in reality, most were too poor to provide for their children. Many families had no choice but to put their kids in state-run orphanages. The secret police found many uses for the orphans. The dictator was killed but the orphans remained, born of his policies and abandoned by all."

"Once we were sold to the Mafia, all we ever saw was blood and darkness. They would kick us so hard that at nights I couldn't stop peeing blood. Every night my brother and I would talk to each other. And we always wondered: why was it that God wanted us to suffer like that? But you know what? After a while, we stopped wondering because we realized something. The other children would be brought before us. They'd be crying and they'd be beaten to death with bats while the adults would all be laughing. My brother and I started to laugh too. And while we laughed, we realized that this was how the world really works. My brother and I eventually escaped the mafia and went to search for our mother. But by the time we found her, she was already dead, having died of an illness."

And when Gretel told them how she believed how the world worked, Laura was in tears while Revy hugged Gretel, telling her. "No! That's not the way the world works! There's still good in this world and I'm proof of that! Blood and darkness are just a small part of it, but it's not all the world has to offer!"

"Hey, it's okay, Miss." Gretel said before getting an idea. "Hey! How about I give both you nice ladies a gift?" Before she pulled her pants down and her dress up, showing her private parts, thinking it was okay to give to them as a gift.

And when that happened, Revy left the cabin emotionally, while Laura put Gretel's pants back on, telling her in a motherly way. "That's wrong for a child your age to do. And despite the fact that you think it's okay, it's really not. Promise me you won't do that again."

Gretel looked into Soldier Girl's eyes and promised she wouldn't do it again. "Never again. I promise."

Meanwhile outside

Revy was still sobbing when Benny found her and walked up to her. "DAMN IT! WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO THOSE KIDS?! EVERYONE IN HER LIFE BETRAYED HER! THEY TURNED HER INTO A FUCKING MONSTER!"

"Revy, you can't fix all the world's problems. Sometimes it's best to look the other way." Benny told her. "If only someone had shown them some compassion, they might have gone to school, made friends and lived happily ever after. But that didn't happen. Not all stories have happy endings, you know."

And when they arrived to meet Big Horn Elroy, Laura took Gretel's hand as they got off the boat. "Thank you, Miss. Maybe 1 day we'll have a picnic. It'll be wonderful."

"Yes. Wonderful." Laura said with a smile.

But then, Gretel was suddenly shot fatally by Elroy, shocking Laura and Revy both before Soldier Girl immediately embraced her, with Gretel softly speaking her last words as she slowly smiled. "Mamma... Mam..ma..." Before she died from her wounds.

After Elroy explained that it was Hotel Moscow that paid him a lot of money and that he had a son who was in his 30s dying of cancer, he left them alone, leaving Revy and Laura to sob over Gretel's body before they boarded the boat and headed back to Roanapur, but with Laura being emotional below deck while Revy comforted her, as Laura had never felt this way before, which was a starting point that she started to doubt her life as a pirate. 'What have I become? What have I become?'

Later on

The night after Lagoon company had returned to Roanapur, Laura and Revy went to the Yellow Flag. All the 2 lesbian pirates wanted was to take their minds of the incident with the twins, especially with Gretel's murder, who Laura and Revy felt compassionate with after hearing her awful backstory and what she and her brother had to go through.

Laura and Revy didn't say much as they sat at the bar, drinking their 3rd glass of rum. After placing their empty glasses down, Revy and Laura both told Bao simultaneously. "Refill."

As Bao poured in another glass of rum for Laura and Revy, he wandered as he noticed their bit of depressed state. "Having a rough day, I suppose?"

Laura sighed. "You have no idea."

After Bao had left to serve another customer, Revy said after taking only 1 sip. "Poor girl... she didn't deserve what she went through... or her brother..."

Sadly, Laura gave a nod. "Yeah..."

That was when someone came to join the 2 women at the bar, which was Eda, now wearing her nun outfit again. "Hey, hey, hey! If it isn't my 2 favorite gunslingers!"

"Hi, Eda..." Revy and Laura said depressed without looking at her and raised their glass, before taking a big sip.

For a moment, Eda was confused why her 2 friends were like this, but having heard what had happened to the twins, Eda felt some sympathy for them. "Look, I know that killing a bunch of kids is below your level, I understand that. But we cannot change what has already been done."

Laura gave a glare to Eda "Shut up, Eda!"

Eda raised her hands "Hey, relax, Soldier-Girl."

"Just drop it, Eda." Revy told her. "We're not in the mood to talk about it."

Eda puts her arm around Revy. "It helps if you talk about it."

"No, seriously, we don't."

Eda sighed, seeing they weren't going to tell her by themselves. So, playing along with Revy and Laura, joining them to drink away their sorrows, Eda then asked the bartender. "Hey, Bao! Same thing." Bao nodded and poured a glass of rum for Eda as well.

And so, after having drank like 7 Bacardi rum drinks together, Laura and Revy began to loosen up. But not feeling to tell where there are people around, they left the Yellow Flag to go for 'a walk', telling Eda what had happened.

Hearing what the twins had to go through, being betrayed by everyone in their lives, which made them change into psychotic killers, shocked even Eda.

They all sat inside Eda's car, taking a smoke. "My dear Lord Jesus... I just never figured that those twins had to go through... so much pain." Eda stated.

Revy then gave a small sob. "I just wish I could've... helped them..." Before Laura gave a sad nod.

Seeing them like this made Eda think it would be unwise to bring them home or back to the Yellow Flag. So, she offered. "Wanna have more shots at my place?"

Laura and Revy exchanged a look at each other, before Laura asked. "Won't sister Yolanda be pissed if you take friends into the church to have more drinks?"

Eda shook her head. "No, no, not there. I mean a motel room or something. I got some extra strong liquor in the back of my car. I was going to save it for some other time, but we could finish it together." She offered.

Revy didn't seem to mind, with Laura responding to Eda. "Let's go." Before Eda started the car and drove away.

A half hour later, after finding a motel room, Eda, Revy and Laura had been taking some of Eda's liquor, making them even more drunk. While Laura was leaning against the wall, Revy was sitting on the bed, with Eda sitting next to her.

Revy snickered after she drank a whole bottle of whiskey. "You're such a... FUCKING bitch, sometimes, Eda!"

"What are you talking about? I'm totally... FUCKING honest with you! I would have done that, if you just weren't in the freaking way!" Eda gave Revy a small push.

Clearly they were talking about something that had happened to them before Revy met Laura.

Taking a big sip from her bottle of rum, Laura asked Eda with a grin on her face. "Hey, Eda? What you were... offering when you came in... telling us to hunt down those twins for the bounty? To drink... with a real woman?"

"Yeah..." Eda snickered. "What about it, soldier girly?"

"What was your real intention, hmm? Getting me drunk so you could fuck me?" Laura chuckled.

Eda gave a shrug. "Perhaps..."

Revy grabbed the bottle from her "Don't even think about... getting near my girlfriend!"

Eda frowned at Revy for taking her drink and tried to take it back from her. "Hey! That's mine...! Give it back...!" But Revy pushed her away. "C'mon, don't be such a wuzz. Give it back...!"

Laura snickered as she threw her bottle away and sat in between them, holding them close to her. "Hey, no fighting here...! You're both very important to me...!"

They then laid down on the bed, with Revy and Eda in Laura's arms. Eda began to stroke Laura's belly, seeing some of her big dragon tat. "Oh Laura... your tattoo is so... sexy..." Before she unbuttoned a few buttons of her Hawaiian shirt to take a better look.

Revy held her hand from opening Laura's shirt even more. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What? I just wanna take a peek at your girlfriend's dragon tat. There's nothing wrong with that." Eda formed an innocent smile.

"I know what you wanna do, Eda. You wanne take this chance to fuck my girlfriend!"

Eda snickered, admitting to Revy. "Okay, you got me. Yeah, I was... maybe going to go a little further."

Revy rolled her eyes. "Oh really, now?" Before she then formed a smirk "Ain't I good enough for ya?"

That earned a surprised look from Eda. "What? Of course you are... What other women wouldn't want you, Two-Hands?"

Laura formed a lustful smile as she gave a passionate kiss to Revy, before giving a passionate kiss to Eda too, which surprised her at first but then gladly returned. As Laura broke the kiss, she softly rubbed both Revy's and Eda's cheeks. "If you want... you can also... share me..."

After Laura's suggestion, Revy and Eda shared a smirk before they both slowly unbuttoned Laura's Hawaiian shirt, revealing her chest and showing her big Chinese dragon tat, which Eda admired before touching Laura's breasts, which Revy did as well before both began to suck on Laura's nipples. "Hmmm...ahh. Ugh! Oh fuck yeah! Keep sucking them! Oh yes!"

And after they were done sucking on her nipples, Revy then removed her shirt, showing her spiderweb tattooed boobs to Eda, which she admired a lot, which resulted in a lustful make out session. "Mmmmm. Mmmm. Mmmmm."

"Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Mmmmm." Revy moaned as their tongues danced with each other.

Laura used the opportunity to pleasure Eda as she put her hands under her nun outfit, massaging her breasts, making Revy and Eda both smirk before they took off their clothes, giving their full attention to Laura before they took off her pants and began performing a joint cunnilingus on Soldier Girl. "Ahhh! Oh shit! Yeah! Oh fuck yes! Fucking eat my pussy! Don't stop until I'm... fucking dry."

"Ohh. Aaahhhh! Ahhhhhh!" Eda moaned as her tongue licked Laura's pussy while also rubbing against Revy's in a tongue kiss.

"Aaahhhh! Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhh!" Revy moaned.

"Oh yeah, I'm... about to... fucking...CUUMMM!" Laura moaned before she climaxed, making her girlfriend and friend drink up her juices until she was dry.

After Laura reached her climax, Eda moved herself up so she could sit on Laura's face, making Soldier Girl eat her pussy while Revy went pussy to pussy with her girlfriend. "Oh yeah! Fuck yes, Soldier Girl! Eat it, bitch! Eat out my pussy!"

"Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Mmmmm." Soldier Girl moaned as she tasted Eda's juices while feeling her Revy's pussy rubbing against hers.

"Oh yeah, baby! Fuck! This feels so... fucking good! Oh shit! Pussy to pussy is always my favorite part of sex with you!" Revy moaned out in lust.

And after they climaxed together, Eda and Revy did 69 while Laura masturbated herself, reaching another joint climax before they finished their passionate night with a threesome pussy to pussy, making them climax all together again before finally going to sleep. And the next morning, all 3 woke up with a big hangover, taking some aspirin pills and having breakfast together, along with a morning smoke before Revy and Laura left, having made a new friend in Eda, with the blonde having a mutual feeling about Two Hands and Soldier Girl.

There you go, my dear friends, the Vampire Twins chapter is complete. Sorry for the lack of details for the lemon part but it was all I could think of and I didn't want to make the chapter really, really long. But I promise to go into more details in the next bonus chapter, which will be about Cynthia and Frederica. And true me, you'll all love it, especially with a dear friend of mine helping me out. Rate and review and I'll see you all soon, my dear friends.