Chapter 36: Misty-Eyed Mayhem

The street was quiet enough so that the line of cars could all pull up across from their destination. There must have been eight vehicles in total, filled with enforcers for the Coterie, with the car at the back containing Ikemba's men. The ACR's leader brought the car at the front to a stop and turned to face Usagi beside him.

"This is the place," he told her. She looked passed him out the driver's seat window, scanning the three-story building for any signs of life. "These Mexicans do not have a place in the natural world order, so they slink about out here where the shadows are darker and they can do whatever they like without attracting the wrong kind of attention. They will lead you to the person you seek." Ikemba then adjusted the rear-view mirror and used it to check on the Trinity in the back. Amusingly, Andromeda was wedged in the middle, between the two men as if to keep them away from one another. "I hope your wounds have healed by now. These men are vicious."

"They are ready," Usagi answered for them. But she was right. They had taken a couple of days to rest up and they should now have been ready to get to work.

"It's time," Ashur's voice came from behind her. The Wolf opened the door and stepped out onto the street, followed by the other two. Almost all of the Coterie members joined them, lined up in the street as though preparing for a war. They would not be heading inside. This was a job reserved solely for the three assassins. They all stood there idly as the last of the Coterie enforcers lined up alongside them, their eyes collectively watching the building that must have served as the headquarters for this Mexican gang. Whether it was the actual cartel or a splinter group that had ordered the attack on Usagi the other night was not clear, but it did not matter. They would die just as quickly.

The Wolf was the first to move, strolling across the road unenthusiastically and making his way towards the front door as if he just intended to knock and ask to be let in kindly. Andromeda and Ashur followed closely.

"You have a plan for this?" Andromeda asked. "Or are we just raising hell in there like a pack of wild dogs?"

"I thought we'd just get in there and see what happens," Wolf replied, his voice calm but doing nothing to hide the real fury bubbling up beneath the surface. He was eager to begin the slaughter. "Let instinct take over. Work our way through these maggots one floor at a time."

"Sounds good to me," Ashur concurred. "The boss will probably be up top. Remember to leave him breathing so we can squeeze some answers out of him." Ashur and Andromeda took their places either side of the door while Wolf stood there unmoving for a moment. He raised one arm into the air to give Ikemba the signal. The ACR's leader stuck his hand out the window and fired a single shot into the air to alert the Mexicans that their enemies had come for revenge. It didn't matter if they looked out the window and saw the Coterie members, they would not be prepared for the other three.

It must have been amusing to imagine what these men saw next, the front door of their sanctuary being smashed inwards, flying off the hinges and landing in the middle of the room, taking one of the men with it. After that, it was the Wolf who lunged from the cloud of sawdust that concealed him. His blade was out of its sheath at the back of his belt quicker than the others inside could reach for their guns and he sunk it into the throat of three different men within seconds. He was quick enough to dodge two shots meant for him before bringing the blade in from the side and taking off the hand of the closest shooter. While he was incapacitated, Wolf took him as a human shield. His comrades were reluctant to attack for fear of killing him. That hesitation would cost them dearly. Wolf slit his hostage's throat and grabbed his hair, pulling his head back to increase the spray of blood and blind the others in here as best he could. The second man who had shot at him was then impaled and gutted, his insides spilling out onto the ground.

Several more men rushed into the room from upstairs to assist their allies. Wolf took a second to count them before shutting his eyes and smiling. He placed one hand on his chest and the other, his blade still gripped tightly, was extended formally while he bowed. Andromeda then showed herself, hopping up into the air and using Wolf's back to step onto and leap higher into the air. Three of the men were gunned down before she even hit the ground. She landed with one foot directly beneath her and the other outstretched to give her some leeway in case she needed to evade their attacks. As it happened, they began to open fire and she leapt sideways, doing a full turn in the air as she did so and pistol-whipping the nearest man to her. Two more smacks of her Remington's handle to his stomach and testicles respectively and he was on his knees. That was when she planted the barrel to the base of his jaw and fired, spraying his brains across the ceiling.

While the remaining men in the room attempted to aim and fire, terrified though they were, the two killers each took a step to the side in opposite directions to make way for the third assassin. Ashur barrelled forward with inhuman speed and shouldered his target into the far wall. The man's ribs must have cracked from that impact alone. Ashur continued his onslaught, jabbing the man to his left with a fist to the mouth. Despite the quickness of the attack, the Mexican's jaw looked like it broke and he crumbled to the ground. Wolf's left eye twitched at the sight. The black man finished by taking his AMT Automag III in hand and mowing down the remaining men as they attempted to flee upstairs.

There couldn't have been too many more left now. Before heading upstairs, Ashur reached out and attempted to open the door to what they assumed was a back room of some kind. It was locked, but Ashur kept twisting until the door gave way and the frame shattered. Once it was open, the three assassins all headed inside expecting more gang members to gun down. Instead, they were met with a small group of girls all curled into balls beneath their blankets and bedrolls, petrified that they were to be killed. There were around twelve of them altogether. Some of them couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. Clearly, this gang was involved in sex trafficking. The three assassins all exchanged a look before nodding at each other and leaving the room. They left the door open for the girls to flee, which they did eagerly once the Trinity disappeared upstairs. Usagi's people outside would know not to fire on unarmed civilians.

(***)

"Lock it! Lock the fucking door!" roared Rafael, his Beretta 92 aimed at the doorway while his men both locked it and began piling whatever clutter they could find up against it to prevent the invaders from entering.

"They're dead," cried one of the men. There were seven of them in here, minus Rafael himself. What remained of the rest had been abandoned below, now at the mercy of the mystery attackers. "They're all fucking dead, boss!"

"Is it the Colombians?" another asked. "Abrego?"

"Have any of you clowns looked out the fucking window?!" Rafael spat, using his free hand to part the blinds with two fingers and look out on the street below. There were a lot of them down there, just waiting. "It's the Chinese bitch. She's set her attack dogs on us. If Miguel had done his fucking job the other night, we wouldn't be in this mess." The other men all became nervous at the mention of Miguel's name. After the attack on the warehouse failed while he oversaw it from a safe distance, he returned here to report that the men he sent had all been wiped out. Rafael responded by having his eyes gouged out and his body thrown into an alley for the hounds to feed on.

The sound of shooting came from the other room and they heard the last of their people cry out in pain. Those cries were silenced quickly before all sound left the building and they heard only their own breaths while they waited for what was next. The anticipation was unbearable. They heard nothing, not even the footfalls of the attackers. Rafael had been watching the door ever since the shooting began, but he turned back around now and looked out the window expecting to see the Chinese men below still watching the building idly. Instead, he was greeted by a quick flash of movement before the window suddenly shattered inwards and he was knocked on his back. Someone entered through the window and began shooting as a second person started to try and force the door open against the mountain of clutter. A third shoved a blade through the cheap wooden ceiling and smashed a hole in it big enough to let himself through. The debris against the door also shifted and a tall man with dreadlocks made his way inside. All three of them let loose and slaughtered the other men in here, leaving only Rafael alive. Once the shooting stopped, the woman who had come through the window grabbed him by the ponytail and lifted him up. He was powerless to struggle, but all she did was sit him down in a rickety chair before joining the two men. They all lined up in front of him. He just sat there, his shaking hands clutching the seat beneath him and sweat dripping from his horseshoe moustache. He could have sworn their eyes glowed yellow in this darkness, like three real ravenous wolves had made their way into his lair for a feast.

"Dios mio," he breathed shakily. It was incredibly difficult to maintain his composure, considering his entire gang had been wiped out in a single night. He was at the mercy of the three strangers. "Who the fuck are you?"

"He wants to know who we are," the black man said mockingly.

"That's funny," the woman added. "A man as dangerous as him, I figured he'd know us well enough by now."

"Maybe we need to remind him what he did," the other man chimed in.

"Alright, enough of this shit already," Rafael said defensively. "I get it. You work for the girl. Matsumoto turned out to be resourceful, leading you to my doorstep. So…how much is it going to cost me to get you three jokers to turn around and leave me be? You've already destroyed everything I have." He almost couldn't believe the words coming out of his own mouth. It was anger and false confidence born of intense fear. He just had to hope it worked to convince them he wasn't afraid of them. That way, he might be able to bargain for his life.

"We're looking for information," the black man said, standing in the middle of the other two. "Information's worth more than gold these days."

"Who told you how to find the Coterie?" the other man asked. "And be real specific." Rafael began to panic.

"Er…I don't know for sure." He could tell their collective patience was wearing thin by the second, but he was not lying to them. "It was an anonymous tip, for Christ's sake."

"What did they sound like?" the woman questioned him. Her tone of voice was intense, as though she already knew the answer and simply wanted confirmation. Rafael recoiled in the seat, fearing a beating for what he was about to say.

"I don't know that either." The three strangers gave nothing away. "The voice was all scrambled. I couldn't tell you who it was if you gave me a thousand years to figure it out."

"That's disappointing," the woman said. Rafael had obviously outlived his usefulness.

"Wait, wait!" he pleaded, desperate for any chance they would spare him. "I don't know who it was, but they told me a mutual friend asked them to pass the information along, like someone else wanted that girl dead. If I had to guess, I'd say the person who called was an information dealer. A middle man that the girl's real enemy used to get us to go after her." Rafael and his people were trying to operate in the area and the Coterie's presence here threatened them. Whoever this mutual friend was, they must have known that. The knowledge of where Usagi would be the other night would have been worth a lot to her enemies, and it was just the thing Rafael needed to decide to launch an attack against her. The three strangers all looked at one another.

"Looks like that's all we're getting out of him," the white man said.

"He isn't much use to us anymore," added the woman. They all raised their guns and aimed them at Rafael's face.

"No," the third man in the middle agreed, "he isn't."

(***)

Rock watched Dutch through the window of the apartment as Lagoon's leader ascended the steps towards the door. The television at the other side of the room was on, but none of the others were paying attention to it, least of all Rock himself. He had learned long ago how to ignore pointless, miscellaneous background noise and was employing that talent right now, just as he was also ignoring the sound of Benny talking disruptively on his cell phone. The door creaked open and Dutch stepped inside, fanning himself with a folded over newspaper.

"Goddamn," he moaned. "It's hotter than hell out there."

"You get into any trouble?" asked Revy, who had her feet up on the table and a cold slice of pizza in one hand.

"Nope. Hopefully it stays that way. Any calls?"

"Nah, phone's been quiet," Revy told him. "Not a damn peep out of anyone." They had only been back from Vietnam for a couple of days so a quiet period was almost welcomed. On occasion, Roanapur would go through a dry spell when it came to work shortly after any large-scale conflict or dangerous situation. During those times, it would become concerning for the criminals that operated here as most of them would suffer in terms of profits. Lately, though, Lagoon Company had been lucky to find enough work to keep them busy. Sure, it hadn't exactly been smooth sailing since the 216 were dealt with, but things were as close to normal as they had been for a while.

Rock continued to look outside at the road below while the others talked. There were things he had gotten involved in lately, affairs he saw fit to meddle in against his better judgement. At first, some emotions had come to the surface in response, old and frail emotions that rarely reared their ugly, troublesome heads. But he was happy, content. He knew what he wanted and had no qualms about doing whatever was necessary to obtain it. Too long had he spent as the puppet and the emotional and physical punching bag for those who thought themselves better than him. This city was rife with those people, but he was a slave to its allure no longer. He wanted freedom, amongst other things. For once, it truly felt like he had it.

Revy…I didn't come back here to go back to my old life. I came here to forget. I came here 'cause I'd rather see through whatever's gonna happen than turn back.

You're gonna regret it, Rock.

He did. For a long time, he came to rue the day he gave up the chance to get away from this city. But the funny thing was that he hadn't felt like that since the business with the Grey Fox team. Now, he was totally acclimatised to the world of darkness that had been so toxic at one point. He was not a slave anymore, a puppet. He was the puppeteer.

The sound of tyres screeching against the road caught his attention, drawing his gaze to the line of vehicles that had just turned the corner and were now making a beeline for the boathouse. There must have been three Jeep Cherokees, all of which had M2HB gun turrets mounted on top and manned by what appeared to be mobsters. The convoy came to a stop outside the boathouse and the men in the turrets aimed upwards towards the apartment. Rock leapt out of his chair to avoid being hit.

"Get down!" he yelled, falling below the window just in time to save himself from being killed. The turrets tore shreds through the steel walls of the apartment and boathouse alike. Within seconds, shattered glass and pieces of shrapnel littered the floor. Rock had his hands on the back of his head and was not in a position to check and see if the others had been hit. When the shooting finally stopped, he first shook the broken glass out of his hair before looking around the room. Everything was in pieces, but the other three had been quick enough to take cover so they hadn't been hit. Dutch and Benny were crouched down behind the couch while Revy had managed to turn the table over beside her while she was lying on the ground. Rock put his back to the wall and looked out through one of the bullet holes to get a better look at the strangers. It was difficult to tell who they were working for, exactly. They could technically have been working for any of the cartels or gangs operating in Roanapur, but Rock couldn't think of anyone who would have a reason for targeting Lagoon Company. None of the men were Chinese. That ruled out who first came to mind.

One of the Cherokees' doors flew open and out stepped Alejandro. He looked up at the apartment as if trying to deduce whether or not the occupants had survived the attack. He had an SIG P210 in his hand, silver in colour with a pearl white grip. An image of the Virgin Mary had been painted on the pearl. What struck Rock as odd was that the vehicles that these men were using all had Colombian licence plates, implying they had been imported from South America directly. Someone like Alejandro would have been taking a big risk by doing something like that if he wished to avoid drawing the attention of his former companions in the cartel. Plus, it wouldn't have been difficult for the New Order to source equipment right here in Roanapur. Rock's mind flashed back to a couple of years previous, when a similar situation to this one resulted in the destruction of the Yellowflag. That was when he realised what was going on. He turned to face the room and locked eyes with Revy. He could tell she knew it was Alejandro, and he also knew her bloodlust was powerful. She was eager to kill him. They had to flee before she ran headfirst into danger and got herself killed.

"We need to get down to the torpedo boat!" Rock said suddenly.

"Agreed," Dutch answered, coming to a standing position slowly and dusting off his shoulders. "Alright. Everybody on me. We need to be quick about this."

"Can you hear me, Lagoon Company?!" Alejandro's booming voice came from below. "I know you're alive in there! You send that Chinese bitch down here before I come up and skin her alive!" They all made to move to the door leading to the boathouse, but Revy just stood on one spot. Unbeknownst to the others, she had taken her Cutlasses out of their holsters. She wanted to unleash them on the Colombian man.

"Revy!" Dutch called, holding the door open but lingering there to make sure she would follow. "It's time to leave, understood?! Now haul your stubborn ass down these stairs before I drag you down myself!" Revy gave him a dirty look, but she hesitated no longer and reluctantly stuffed her guns back into their holsters. Then, she rushed out the door and down the steps with Dutch in tow so they could get away from here.