Chapter 15: Tick-Tock Bonanza

It was total anarchy in the streets of Hong Kong after the fighting resumed. Before this trip, the hostilities between Hotel Moscow and the gangs had been true gang warfare; precise, clean and quick. Now, it was complete and utter madness. Several police cars drove passed Revy, but luckily she had her Cutlasses concealed and they did not suspect anything. Time was running out and she had to get Rock to safety soon or there would be hell to pay. Balalaika would leave without them if she had to. She couldn't risk holding on for them by the docks in case the authorities came around and somehow managed to get clearance to come aboard the Maria Zeleska. A large jeep was close behind the police cars with Chinese writing on the side of it. Beneath the writing, in English lettering, was 'SDU'. The Special Duties Unit were Hong Kong's armed response team, equivalent to American SWAT forces, and they were only deployed in the event of terrorism or seriously out of hand criminal activity. Revy drove her motorcycle as fast as she could without burning out the engine. This was not looking good. Soon, the entire city would be impossible to move in without being taken in for questioning. They absolutely had to be gone by that time.

Currently, Revy was near the edge of the city and the ocean was in view, but she turned in more central and headed to the area between the city centre proper and the outskirts, where Rock was meeting with these gang members. If they had laid one finger on him, Revy would show them true dread. She broke several red lights once more, only narrowly avoiding driving into a dump truck, and steadied herself in the road. It didn't take that much longer for her to arrive at her destination. There were no gang members outside the building, which was odd. Revy decided to proceed with caution. She kicked down the sidestand and removed her biker jacket, hanging it from the handlebars. Her Cutlasses were in full view, but she did not care right now. She took them in her hands and kicked in the door of the building. There were five bodies in the entryway.

"Goddammit," Revy moaned quietly. Hotel Moscow's men had not been shot, the Chinese gangs had stabbed them to death once negotiations went awry. At the sound of the door being forced in, some of these men emerged from the room at the very top of the stairs. Revy had the advantage, and she abused said advantage to its utmost. Her Cutlasses pointed upwards, the bullets she fired tore up through the stairs and peppered holes in the men from below. They were all dead without even knowing where the enemy was. Revy hurried up the stairs and immediately pointed her guns into the room. Rock was there, frustratingly held hostage by one of the two men within. The second, in his pinstripe suit, had his own weapon pointed at Revy. She had two guns, however, and that gave her the edge. The first man that held Rock with one arm had the other holding his Type 59 handgun to the Japanese man's head.

"Revy," Rock said, surprised. A look of guilt appeared on his face, guilt at the thought that Revy had been forced to save him yet again, but it soon disappeared and Rock did not speak, letting the situation play out however it would. Revy noticed this and that made her angrier.

"Let me waste this bitch, Kang!" the man in the pinstripe suit said erratically.

"You can fucking try," Revy spat back. "But I can promise you'll go the same way as your dipshit friends, out there. Only I'll make it slow, this time. Real slow."

"This one has claws, Enlai," the first man said. "I wouldn't be so quick to rush to your death."

"Damn straight," Revy told him firmly. With one gun on each of them, she could take the shots and kill them both here and now, but she did not want to risk losing Rock. That was when she remembered the night in the Yellowflag, when Rock urged her to take the opportunity to kill Fritz while she had it, despite the chance that he might lose his life because of it. Revy was uncomfortable with the thought, and the idea that Rock was so okay with dying. That was very unlike him. She tried to bury these thoughts down so she could focus on the current situation, but the damage was done and she had become distracted. Enlai took that chance to shoot her. The bullet caught her in the shoulder, sending her reeling back out through the doorway. She had to scramble behind cover to avoid being shot.

"You're gonna fucking pay for that!" she shrieked.

"I don't know if you heard the news, stranger," Kang said aloud. "We aren't dealing with Hotel Moscow anymore. The fighting has resumed."

"Oh, I heard, alright," Revy retorted. "Had to shoot my way through half your guys just to get here. Fucking amateurs. You train them to shoot with pellet guns or what?" Enlai made a noise implying he took offense to that.

"Is that so?" Kang asked. "I'll be sure to pay you back for their deaths."

"You said it yourself, negotiations are off. So why don't you let him go and I can be on my way?"

"And leave ourselves vulnerable?" Kang asked. "What do you take us for? When Balalaika comes for us, we'll need a little something to bargain with." Revy smirked at that to begin with, but that soon became full on explosive laughter after a few seconds. The two gangsters looked at one another, thoroughly confused.

"Oh, man," Revy groaned. "You two really fucked up there. You actually think Balalaika gives a shit about us? She's already on her way back home. She'll be sending a death squad to tie up any loose ends here, and that's if you're lucky. I'll be surprised if she even leaves Rock alive. Some bargaining chip he turned out to be." Revy knew Balalaika would never order Rock's death, not at this point in time. While he did qualify as a loose end in this situation, with how things had gone, Hotel Moscow's leader could not justify eliminating him unless he talked to the police about them. And he was far too clever to snitch on them like that. But Kang and Enlai did not need to know that, if they were under the impression that Rock was useless to them they might consider letting him go. On the other hand, perhaps they would kill him. It was uncertain. Revy just needed that split-second while they came to their conclusion so she could act.

"Goddammit, Kang!" Enlai yelled. "Why the fuck did we keep him here?! We could have been out of here by now!"

"You think it's my fault?!" Kang roared back. "I don't remember you coming up with any better ideas!"

"I wasn't the one who took the damn kid hostage!"

"He was sent by Hotel Moscow to negotiate! How was I supposed to know they-?!"

"Sorry to break up your little love spat," Revy interrupted. While they had been arguing, Revy had come out from behind cover and pointed her guns at them both. Now, she had them by the balls. Kang had let his guard down and loosened the grip on his gun, effectively removing any risk to Rock's life. Revy gave the two gangsters one last toothy grin and the last thing they saw before their lives were snatched away by her Cutlasses was the face of death. Rock recoiled when the shot went off and watched as Kang went limp and crumbled to the floor like a falling building. The smoke from Revy's guns streamed up into the air as she holstered them. Rock looked at her and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Revy…I…"

"Save it for later, shitforbrains!" Revy ordered, grabbing the collar of his shirt and dragging him out the door. They had to move. "I wasn't lying when I said Balalaika is heading back to Roanapur. Sis is probably at the ship already. If we want to make it back in one piece, we gotta move!" And move they did. Revy threw her jacket back on and Rock hopped up on the back of the motorbike, holding onto her tightly as she drove like a maniac back towards the dock. The traffic was worse, now, and the occasional siren or flash of red and blue light forced them to take a longer detour to their destination so they would not attract any attention.

"Revy!" Rock called over the noise of the motorcycle. "I know why the fighting started again. It's Rahul Matsumoto! He took control of the gangs and now he's waging war against Hotel Moscow!"

"Figured as much," Revy answered. "Wolfy heard from Chang. Turns out his target was Rahul. He's probably dead already."

"Damn it!" Rock exclaimed. "Why would he do something like that?"

"Wolfy or Rahul?"

"Rahul," Rock clarified. "It doesn't make sense. When he left Roanapur, he didn't want anything to do with this life anymore."

"I'm surprised you still care, Rock," Revy said venomously. That seemed to shut him up. "But now ain't the time, partner. You better pray we get back before Sis takes off or you'll be spending the rest of your days in a Chinese jail cell."

It seemed luck was on their side when they reached the dock, as the Maria Zeleska was exactly where it had been before and none of the city's police seemed to be around this part of the city. Yet. Revy drove the motorcycle up the ramp and onto the ship, squeezing the brakes and coming to an abrupt halt. She removed her helmet and let her hair hang loose. Balalaika was here, accompanied by Boris. The Wolf had returned, as well, and he was alone. Presumably, he had killed Rahul after all.

"Not a moment too soon, Two-Hands," Balalaika remarked.

"Sorry, Sis. Had to shoot my way through an army of those assholes on the way there."

"Not to worry. Sergeant, inform Pavlovski to set a course for Roanapur. It's time to return home."

"Aye, Kapitan," Boris replied obediently.

"I'd rather be out on the open sea by the time those police lapdogs come sniffing around here. This whole situation is messy enough as it is without trying to explain our presence here."

"Wasn't sure what to think when we heard the shooting," Dutch told her. "I assume it's safe to say not everything went as planned."

"You make it sound so minor, Dutch," Balalaika told him with amusement. "We were double-crossed, simple as. They took us unawares and now they're paying the price. When my people are done here, the Triad will move in and expand their territory. As I understand it, they've been looking to move into the area of Hong Kong previously occupied by the Dead Men. They'll have no better opportunity after our operation here is concluded."