Authors Notes : I do not own Black Lagoon
It was a rainy night in Roanapur and by the way , the clouds were moving and lightning and thunder followed , it looked like it was going to be a rough night .It started raining down hard , since morning all the way to night , and by the looks of it , it showed no sign of letting up .
" Hey fratele meu , who was it that said ' The Ultimate Form of Love is Cannibalism ' , I can't quite put my finger on it . Was it Edgar Allan Poe ? He gave plenty of romantic advice didn't he ? "
" I don't think so sora mea , wasn't he a necrophiliac or something ? Even if he did say that quote , I don't think its wise to take romantic advice from somebody who performs sexual acts with corpses . That is just plain disgusting . "
" True enough , I suppose . How about Richard Matheson ? "
" I don't think its him either , didn't he deal primarily in fantasy , horror and science fiction genres ?"
" You may be right ... " Gretel let out a sigh , as the blood from the man they had just killed started to leak out . " How many does this make ?"
" I don't know sora mea ... maybe 25 or so for Hotel Moscow ? We've been killing off plenty of their men , I'm surprised they haven't sent an entire army out to kill us yet ..."
Gretel locked hands with her brother . " We'll be fine fratele meu ..."
" I know we will , I just ... won't ever get used to this scent " Hansel looked at the bodies of the many men they killed .
The smell of life flowing out from the body ...
The scent of rust and sea salt ...
The smell of blood and gunpowder ...
The smell of a man's last breath ...
It was all thoroughly disgusting and yet somehow ... they both seemed to have gotten used to it .
" I heard from one of Mr . Verrocchio's men , that Hotel Moscow has placed a bounty on us . Fifty grand and that's in US " Hansel said morbidly . " That means that pretty much everybody in this city who wants to make a quick buck will be gunning for our heads ..."
" After we finish our last job for the night , we'll have to lay low for a few days before the next attack " Gretel suggested , wrapping up her BAR .
" I agree , lets get out of here before anybody shows up "
And so they left the bodies behind to rot , to be discovered by their comrades , only adding more fuel to the flame .
As they drove away the lightning in the sky , indicated that a huge storm was coming and it was heading straight for them .
It was a rather boring day for the office of Black Lagoon , they hadn't received any new jobs for the day and the only they really had planned was a meeting later Miss Balalaika , regarding a job she wanted them to do another time . While Dutch and Benny saw this as an opportunity to relax , the gunslinger Revy of Black Lagoon didn't share the same sentiment .
She was completely and utterly bored , she was practically dying for a gunfight or something , anything ! Anything was better than laying here drinking beer and eating pizza all day long , and she couldn't go out to practice with her Cutlasses , because it was raining , just her shitty luck .
The phone rang and Rock went to go answer it .
" Hello , Lagoon Company " Rock greeted the person on the line in a business manner , as he recognized the voice on the other side " Oh hi , mister Boris ... what ? The meeting is cancelled ? Well , okay then "
" Yeah , sorry about that , I'll call you in the next few days and we'll work something out "
Rock nodded hanging up the line .
" What's up Rock ?" Dutch asked .
" Apparently the meetings been cancelled , he didn't so why but I think something must have come up ..."
Revy interest peaked at this , cracking open a cold one " Dutch , do you think its ...?"
" Probably and I'm pretty sure that won't end well ..." Dutch shrugged his shoulders .
" What are you two talking about ?" Rock was confused by what they both meant , taking a seat parallel to Revy .
" Have you seriously not heard anything about it ? There's been a bunch of murders recently " Revy said taking a sip of her beer .
" Not to sound callous , but murder isn't exactly all that uncommon in this city " Rock knew this fact very well , not long after coming to Roanapur .
" Yeah , I know that murder isn't exactly front page news , but when they're targeting Hotel Moscow along with the Triad's , than that's a whole different story ..." Revy explained , looking rather grim about the news . " Several corpses and places have been attacked and burned to the ground , all with ties to the Triad's and the Russians , and that's just in the last month "
" Yeah , the first attack was a month ago on drug lab run by the Triad's and laundry mat that was a front for illegal gambling for Hotel Moscow " Dutch explained , pushing his glasses up .
Revy sighed , leaning back onto the couch . " In any case , it means some asshole is pouring gas on an open flame and in this city , we'll all be knee deep in blood when that happens "
Rock let out a sigh , he didn't know why ... but the bad feeling in chest told him , that a storm was coming .
And he was hopeless to stop it .
In the dark corners of the city of Roanapur , a meeting takes place in an abandoned restaurant , several armed men all with different alliances wait outside . As their leaders , discuss among themselves , how to deal with the growing threat looming over their heads .
" Another one's been killed , an accountant this time . Are we in Beirut ? Mogadishu perhaps ? " Balalaika crossed her arms , anger clear on her face " Cause I do not like what I see here "
" That's enough already ... settle down " Abrego tries to cool the tense atmosphere .
" Do I need to remind any of you , why we decided to meet here today ? This is an era of coexistence and I would personally like to maintain this equilibrium we've managed to achieve from all the bloodshed and bullets " Chang narrowed his eyes to the lady in red . " Miss Balalaika ..."
" Is that so Mr. Chang ? Perhaps you would like to refresh my memory , but when did I ever say I wanted coexistence ?"
Verrocchio scoffed at Balalaika . " There you again with that mouth of yours , an ivan from the countryside who thinks she's the Queen of this city . Give me a fucking break "
Boris scowled in the shadows , behind Balalaika , while Balalaika herself only maintained her calm nature , chuckling a bit at Verrocchio . " Well , I guess we can't all be Italian , which reminds me , I've heard that Italian's tend to smell like pigs , is that true ?"
" Fucking bitch !"
" That is enough ! Out of both of you ..." Chang took control of the situation before any more insults could be hurled . " Or have you forgotten , why we're all here ? All of us hate each other over one thing or another , however , it is also a time where we should all be cooperating for the sake of our benefit "
" If you've got business to discuss than I'm all ears , but you can take your personal honor and feed it to the dogs for all I care... " Chang looked among the faces of his fellow mafia leaders " That's just something you all accept in our line of work ..."
Seeing as nobody raised an objections , Chang decided to move the discussion forward , turning to Balalaika .
" Miss Balalaika , you may not be aware of this ... but some of my men and dealings have been hit as well " Chang recalled everything that has happened in this past time . " It all started at the same time as your people started getting hit , a drug lab in a warehouse by the factories was hit and I ended up losing some of my men . Also recently a member of 14k and one directly affiliated executive of the Triad's were hit , at a whorehouse on Rachiada street . Killed the same way as your guys were "
" What the hell is going on Chang ?" Balalaika asks , her voice icy " Somebody is trying to shift the balance of power ! Abrego !"
" Hey , hey ! What the fuck !? You and me had issues in the past , but I thought we worked that shit out " Abrego held his hands up in defense .
After a few seconds , Balalaika accepted his honesty . " Okay then , lets direct our attention to our last suspect ..."
" Don't be ridiculous Fry face ! " Verrocchio looked away . " As a matter of fact , we've also lost one of our recruiters "
" Look , maybe we're all overthinking this , whoever committed these murders is obviously some out of town drifter that doesn't understand the people he's messing with " Verrocchio turned back to the group " Somebody who doesn't understand how things work around here ..."
" Alright , if we can all agree that the perpetrator is someone from the outside . than I suggest we all work together to hunt down this assassin "Chang suggested stuffing his hands in his pockets. " Also we'll make a declaration , a temporary truce if you will , we don't need any bloodshed between us when we're trying to hunt down this mystery killer . Any objections ?"
" I don't like this . This whole thing is a goddamn farce " Balalaika objected , being the only one of them to object .
" Tch ! Shut the fuck up ..." Verrocchio cursed her under his breath .
" Miss Balalaika ... I wouldn't be so hasty if I were you " Chang tries to appeal to Balalaika " It wouldn't be in the Russian Mafia's best interest to burn this whole city to the ground "
" Oh , I'm sorry was this supposed to be a social gathering Mr. Chang ? Are going to be playing cards or something next ?" Balalaika scoffed , putting her jacket on , as Boris opened the door for her . " Let me make one thing clear , the reason I came here today was to simply make our position known ..."
Balalaika gave a cold look to every single person in the room .
" Hotel Moscow will not tolerate anyone who obstructs our operations , whoever dares will be ... taken care off " Balalaika walked off with Boris by her side . " That's all I have to say "
Chang let out a sigh . " That could have gone better ..."
" You think ? " Abrego comments .
On the other side of town , when night has completely fallen and the rain has finally stopped , people of all sorts gather at the Yellow Flag , a neutral bar in a neutral district not owned by any of the major players in Roanapur . It was a relatively good place to get a drink , if you weren't fancy and didn't give a shit about the possibility of getting shot or stabbed . Which was quite common at the Yellow Flag , when one thinks about it .
Rock couldn't help but look around the bar , with an uneasy feeling in his heart . " Look , everybody in here is carrying a gun of some kind . Its like we're in parallel world where everybody is literally Clint Eastwood but extremely drunk and high most of the time "
" Why wouldn't they be ? Right now there's some lunatic out there , wandering the streets who thinks he's some sort of punisher " Revy asked , taking a swig of her drink .
" Punisher ..." Rock repeats the word " One who gives out punishment ... but punishment for what ? And who exactly ?"
" Who fucking knows ..." Revy shrugged her shoulders , resting her drink down . " Right now Roanapur is like popcorn , its just simmering on heat right now , waiting for the right moment to burst "
" Hey Revy , have you heard ? Apparently, there's a bounty now " Bao said , leaning on the counter .
" How much ?"
Bao held up fix fingers . " Fifty grand and that ain't in local currency either , its in US dollars "
" Holy fuck ... that's a lot of money " Revy whistled , chuckling at the reward . " They're really serious about this , we should have a go at it too "
" Well, do you even have any leads on who your target even is ?" Bao raised an eyebrow at Revy .
" No , but if its an outsider , they shouldn't be too hard to find " Revy said picking up her drink .
" Its true , an outsider would stick out like a sore thumb and the city isn't all that big after all " Rock put a hand to his chin in thought . " At least that was the case with the Lovelace maid "
" But nobody seems to have a clue on where this outsider is , which means somebody is providing a hideout or they've found one for themselves " Revy nodded in agreement . " We just don't know who it is yet , and that's putting everybody on edge "
" Well , I don't really give much of a rats ass about it , just so long nobody shoots up my bar again " Bao talked as he cleaned one the glasses .
Revy gave an amused chuckled ." You worry too much Bao , this is a neutral district , nobody's going to start anything here "
Revy didn't even hear the bar door open and a familiar blonde walked in .
" Well , if it isn't the infamous Two-Hands " A familiar voice called out to Revy , making her to turn in surprise , as said voice plops down on the seat next to her .
The blonde leaned up against the counter and playfully smiled at Revy . " Drinking the cheap shit again , are you ? Business ain't so good lately ?"
" Eda , what the fuck ?"
" Who's she ?" Rock asked , looking over her shoulder , before he finally recognized her . " Wait a second , you're ... that sister from the Rip Off Church !"
" Well , well , I see you've brought romeo along with you . " Eda charmingly smiled at Rock ." Hi there , how you been ? How about you ditch this boar of a girl and come drink with a real woman "
" Of course , I know your night isn't complete until you're getting banged by a stranger , but Rock is off limits , fuck off " Revy stated bluntly .
" Wow , you're scary when you're mad . You hear that romeo ? You never know when she's on the rag , she's pretty irregular ..." Eda both joked and teased Revy at the same time .
Rock could only nervously chuckle , as Revy growled . " You asked for it bitch ! Lets take this outside !"
" Now , now , don't get your panties in a bunch Two-Hands , I didn't come here to pick a fight with you " Edalooking Revy in the eye . " I actually came here to tell you a story , one that might interest you and be worth some hard money ..."
" You're talking about this bounty , right ?" Revy raised an eyebrow at Eda .
" You heard ? " Eda asked .
" Actually Revy and I were just talking about that " Bao butted into the coversation " I doubt there isn't a single person left in this city who doesn't know about it , by now . "
" Oh , well that sucks cause it completely ruins the story , but I guess it saves time for me having to explain it . So what the hell are we waiting for ? Lets go get em " Eda said sitting up straight " Some of the eager ones have already started . I mean it goes without saying that the mafia are also going to be involved , but there are freelance assassins coming into town . From what I hear , the Yun brothers , Big One Emilio , Ronny CK ... "
" Fuck me , its like assassin Olympics !" Bao said surprised by the news .
" Yeah and that's not all , Green Tooth Johnny for instance ..." Eda chuckled amusingly . " What a joke that guy is , he actually came in earlier today and ordered an elephant gun from us . What the hell was he thinking ?"
Revy laughed at the story . " Somebody must have told him , he was going up against a dinosaur . If he shot a human with that , he'd be busy all night long scrapping them off the pavement "
Unknown to them , two pale haired children passed by the bar as they were talking , looking rather grim , as the sky started cracking of lightning and thunder .
" We'd better get our asses in gear if we want a chance at that money , fifty grand is just too much to ignore " Eda crossed her legs , leaning back in the chair .
" Yeah , no shit . So you got any other information Eda ?"
" There's one other thing I heard . Early this morning the Caribbean Bar on Burian Street was shot up , two of Hotel Moscow's people were killed . I even heard that one of them was a collector , so you can guess that Fry face was pissed ..."
Both Revy and Rock turn to Eda in surprise .
" When Fry Face is pissed ... you know that Hotel Moscow is gearing up for a battle "
Balalaika stood outside the Caribbean Bar , standing over the broken glass . From what she can tell from the outside , the bar itself wasn't in bad shape , just some of the windows were broken and bullet holes were in some of the wooden walls , but otherwise the bar was relatively fine . The police had called her there , to discuss regarding the matter of the attack and her men getting murdered . Balalaika looked at the white calk where it outlined Private Sakharov and Menshov's bodies .
The other attacks hadn't bothered her as much as this one did , but Sakharov and Menshov were part of her original unit , so this one was personal . All the others that have died so far , were just some off the street criminals and mercenaries she had recruited . This will make 8 of her men , that assassin has killed .
Balalaika clenched her fist , before turning away , to see the Watsap approach her , much to her displeasure .
" Miss Balalaika ! What are surprise !" Watsap greeted her with his usual grin .
" Yeah , sure whatever , tell me what you know and make it fast " Balalaika was not in the mood to deal with this cop .
" It looked like we finally a lucky break in this case , we have several witnesses that actually saw the perpetrators that killed your men "
Balalaika interest piqued at this . " Who are they ? The witnesses ... and the assassins "
" Well , the witnesses were pretty much your average joe's and workers at the restaurant " Watsap flipped through his notepad , reading the statements given to him . " They all gave statements that match up perfectly with each other and I think we finally found our killers "
" This was the statement the bartender gave , apparently at around 4 AM , your collector showed up at the approximate time , asks how business was for tonight and the bartender says it wasn't a great night , nothing too special " Watsap stopped at a specific page and started reading .
" But the fire show started after your men walked outside the bar , witnesses say they saw a car , a black sedan japanese make , drive up the street , roll down the windows and suddenly opened fire ! Your boys didn't even have a chance to react , they were gunned down instantly ...but that wasn't the end of it , the bartender said he saw your collector still alive even after the drive-by ." Watsap voice got dark , there was certainly no light at the end of this story .
" The bartender saw the circle around and came to a stop and he didn't believe his eyes when the perps came out of the car ..."
" Who are they ...?" Balalaika asks , dead serious .
" That's the kicker of this story , two kids hopped out of the car and - "
" Wait ... what ?" Balalaika interrupted " What did you say ?"
" I said two kids jumped out of the car , a boy and a girl around age 10 or so , dressed like they were going to a funeral or something , they walked up to your collector and shot him in the head , killing him instantly " Watsap repeated .
'The assassins ... were children ? ' Balalaika thought in her head in shock , she had fought against child soldiers in the past ... and she didn't like it one bit . Those children were forced to fight their country's wars and they suffered for it .
" What did they do after that ?" Boris asked , prompting Watsap to continue .
" Oh well , after they killed your men , they entered the bar and looked like they were about to murder everybody inside ... but from what witnesses tell me , the little girl froze up "
" She froze ?" Boris raised an eyebrow .
" Yeah , when the witnesses started begging and crying for their lives , the girl froze up and couldn't pull the trigger . They say she looked she was on the verge of having a breakdown right then and there . After that , they just got in their car and left , after they busted all of the phones in the bar so that you couldn't be contacted " Watsap finished reading off the statements . " Gotta hand it to those brats , they did a good job "
" I see ... thank you officer " Balalaika thanked Watsap and walked away , ducking under police tape .
" Oh and by the way , the two kids were white but they weren't from an english speaking nation " Watsap suddenly remembered " They kept referring to each other as ... uh what was it ... 'sora mea' and ' fratele meu ' I think "
" The girl also kept repeating some phrase ... 'imi pare rau ' I think it was "
Balalaika nodded , walking away with Boris . " Watsap , keep this info under wraps , the last thing we want is for the military to get involved ."
" Of course , I like this city the way it is too ..." Watsap smiled at Balalaika " Oh and Balalaika ! We're joining in on the hunt ! The bounty's open for civil servants too right ?"
Balalaika did not say anything , but only walked away , her face neutral but her eyes betraying a whirlwind of emotions .
After , they got into their car and drove off , Balalaika threw her cigar out the window . " That man honestly disgusts me , I feel like I want to puke just by being around him . But I will admit that this was an error on my part ... "
" I thought that if I sent them out in two man cells they would be safe ..." Balalaika looked out the window at the passing buildings .
" Sakharov and Menshov were completely taken off guard , I mean who could have expected to suddenly be shot at , just as you're leaving a bar ?" Boris tries to cheer Balalaika up " And who could have expected the assassins would turn out to be children ?"
Balalaika let out a sigh . " Remember Panjshir ? Half the enemies we fought were children ... "
Balalaika thinks back to her days at war , sure she felt alive at times fighting in a proper battle , but there were some fights that weighed both her and her soul down . Panjshir was one of them , she wasn't proud when she ended hitting that child sniper a 100 yards away , she didn't feel any sort of happiness when they won a battle but their fallen enemies were that of children that should be in school and every kill she took back then , seems to coming back to her .
Balalaika can't help but wonder if these two twins are her and her units punishment for what they did in Panjshir ... was this their punishment ?
Balalaika thinks back to her men that have died so far , all of them were killed in cowardly fashions but yet ... they were all killed instantly , none of them suffered .
Balalaika eyes widen at this realization , she should have expected this , perhaps there was hope for these twins yet .
" We'll take this to heart and increase our caution , we can't afford any more losses " Boris said to Balalaika who was silent . " Kapitan ?"
" Oh sorry Boris , I was just letting my mind wander off for a bit " Balalaika took out a new cigar and lit it up . " Its rather odd when you think about it sergeant ..."
Boris turned to Balalaika " What do you mean , Kapitan ?"
" Think back to all the deaths that have occurred so far , what do the victims all have in common ? "
" Um ... they all had ties to Hotel Moscow ? " Boris made an obvious guess .
" Close but no , I mean pertaining to the way they died ..."
" They were all shot to death ?"
" Again close but no ..."
" They ..." Boris wracked his brain for the answer . " All died instantly ?"
" Correct sergeant , all of our men so far have died instantly , which means that they didn't suffer "
Boris raised an eyebrow at Balalaika . " What does that have to do with anything Kapitan ?"
" Don't you think its rather odd that those would go through the trouble of revealing their identities , just to make sure Corporal Menshov didn't suffer ? They didn't have to ... but they did " Balalaika said , she knew exactly what those twins were doing , they were showing mercy to their opponent .
" Maybe they were just making sure the job was done ?" Boris countered .
" That is a possibility , but I don't think that's what it is , based on Menshov's wounds the bullet pierced both of his lungs , he would have suffered through a long painful drawn out death , if the twins hadn't killed him ..."
" They were ending his suffering " Boris finally put it together .
" Yes , they were . " Balalaika couldn't help but feel glad that her men didn't suffer at the very least . " There's also the fact that they let that whole bar full of witnesses live , even though they must of known that it would mean getting discovered "
" It would seem that these twins may have more human to them , than we thought "
" It would seem so ..." Balalaika thought back to the child soldiers she fought in Panjshir . So many of them had lost their humanity , the war twisting their minds until they became hollowed out husks of their former selves , their only purpose being following orders . But the twins were different , they still maintained some level of morality and weren't sadistic in their ways of killing , they were even soft enough to let witnesses live .
" Sergeant listen to me , for now we keep the identity of the assassins hidden is that understood ?" Balalaika waited until Boris nodded before continuing . " I don't want our combat power to dip any further , so I want you to increase awareness among our men "
" And if possible ... I want those twins alive "
" Yes , Kapitan "
On the other side of town , where the Italian Mafia had their territory stake out , Hansel and Gretel were resting in their room , its been a few hours since the morning attack and they were exhausted . Verrocchio has been pushing them to do more and more jobs each and every day , it was sometimes hard to keep up . Verrocchio gave them the night off , so they decided to just rest for now , they were going to need it .
Hansel was by the table again , cleaning his axe and guns , while Gretel was sitting on the bed , in deep thought over what had happened at the bar . Neither of them speaking to each other , which was not a good sign .
Hansel was not liking the tense air in the room , he knew he had to say something . " Sora mea ... can I ask you something ?"
" What is it , fratele meu ? "
" Back in the bar ... when you went inside to take care of the witnesses ... you froze " Hansel referred to this morning " What happened ?"
...
...
...
Gretel went silent for a moment before opening her mouth to speak . " It didn't seem right "
" Huh ?"
" It just didn't seem right ... all the other people we killed so far , they were targets and at least had the capacity to defend themselves , but those people ... they were begging for their lives , begging us to let them live ..." Gretel looked at the floor sadly . " I just didn't want to go through the same thing with that man at the laundry mat "
Hansel knew who she was talking about , ever since that night , they've been working extra careful to make sure they never had to deal with any witnesses . But this morning was a mistake , they ended up missing their shots on one of their targets and had to go outside to end his suffering . They didn't like inflicting pain on others or hurting people , but it was all they knew on how to survive . The least they could do was make sure the targets didn't suffer before death .
Hansel got up from his seat at the table and walked over to his sister , giving her a hug , which she gladly accepts .
They enjoyed the comforting silence as much as they could , holding each other in an embrace , it was one of the few times in their lives they could feel ... at peace .
The sounds of someone knocking on the door drew both of their attention and Hansel pulled away to go answer it . Opening the door , Hansel sees Verrocchio's man standing there , with their usual stony expressions .
" What is it ?" Hansel asked tiredly , rubbing his eyes .
" The boss wants to talk to you , both ya " The man gestured towards Gretel .
" We'll be there in a minute ..." Hansel let out a sigh , closing the door .
Hansel turned back to his sister , who was already in the process of putting on her dress . " I heard , we shouldn't keep Mr. Verrocchio waiting fratele meu "
Hansel silently agreed , it wasn't professional to keep clients waiting for too long .
After getting dressed , they walked down the hallways to Verrocchio's office , Hansel stifling a yawn with his hand . They may be assassins but even they needed sleep .
Entering inside , Hansel and Gretel see several other men in the room , they all made way so that they could stand front and center in the middle . Verrocchio was also there , reclined in his chair and smoking a cigar .
" Hansel , Gretel , glad to see you two could make it . " Verrocchio grinned at them , standing up from his chair and walking over to them . " I apologize for calling you here so late at night , but we figured it would be a good idea to keep you two briefed "
" Its no problem at all , Mr . Verrocchio " Hansel tried to reassure him , but his tired eyes betrayed him .
" Well , first of all , everybody give these two a hand ! " Verrocchio clapped for them , which prompted his men to clap , albeit a bit surprised " Thanks to these two kids , that Ruskie Bitch and Chink fighting power is finally weak enough and its all thanks to you two !"
Hansel and Gretel shifted uncomfortably at the people clapping at them , they weren't used to this type of thing .
" All the preparations have been made to finally take down those two " Verrocchio turned to one of his men " Christopher , if you please ?"
" Of course sir " The same man from before walked up to Verrocchio and started reading off a file " We have just received our first few rounds of shipments from the Ripoff Church and have delivered payment to Sister Eda . We are still waiting on the special order items you requested "
" Good , good ... everything's coming together " Verrocchio grinned smugly , proud of himself .
Hansel was getting tired of this , both figuratively and literally , he just wanted to get paid and leave .
" Well , if the job is done , than it was a pleasure doing business with you Mr . Verrocchio " Hansel quickly wanted to put a stop to this " We'll take our payment in cash , debit and accounts are not acceptable "
" Whoa , whoa , whoa ! Hang on there kid ... the job ain't over for you two yet ?" Verrocchio smugly grinned at them .
" What do you mean by that ? The deal was to simply weaken Hotel Moscow's and the Triad's forces enough , what else could you possibly want us to do ?" Hansel raised an eyebrow at him .
" Nothing too special , your last and final job ... is to simply kill that ruskie bitch and chink "
Hansel and Gretel's eyes widened in surprise , Verrocchio was literally asking them to kill Miss Balalaika and Chang . And that was not going to be easy .
Killing off their subordinates was one thing , but taking the heads out themselves ? That was just crazy ...
" Just kill off that bitch and chinese , and you'll get your payment " Verrocchio lit up a cigar .
" What if we don't want to accept this final job ? What then ?" Gretel asks , gritting her teeth .
" Then you don't get paid , plain and simple , sorry kid but that's just the way business works here " Verrocchio looked down on them .
Gretel looked like she had some colorful things to say about that , when Hansel stopped her , gripping her arm . " We'll accept the job ... but we'll need time "
" Take all the time you need ..."
" Very well , lets go Gretel " Hansel glared at Verrocchio , before walking out of the room with his sister .
Once they left the office and were out of earshot , Gretel spoke to Hansel " That man is sending us on a suicide mission ..."
" I know sora mea , we could probably take out Mr . Chang , but Miss Balalaika is a whole another story " Hansel thought about the many difficulties with this problem .
" What are we going to do ? "
" I don't know sora mea ... but we'll have to figure it out soon " Hansel said in anger .
At the Black Lagoon company's office , the team was busy doing absolutely nothing but sitting around drinking beer .
The silence in the room was interrupted when the phone rang and Benny went to answer it .
" Hey Rock , its for you ! Its the lady of the hour , Miss Balalaika " Benny called Rock over and handed him the phone .
" Hello Miss Balalaika " Rock greeted politely .
" Good evening Rock , I hope I'm not interrupting anything important " Balalaika responded back in a professional manner .
" Oh no , don't worry about it , we weren't doing anything important " Rock looked over the leaning tower of pizza boxes and cans of beer . " So what do you need ?"
" If you could , I need you to translate some foreign phrase to me , I can't seem to make heads or tails of it "
" Well , I'll try , what's the word ?"
" The words were specifically 'sora mea ' and ' fratele meu ' " Balalaika repeated the words to Rock " Any idea what they mean ?
" ' Sora mea ' and ' fratele meu ' ... that sounds so familiar , I think its a romanic language from the Italic branch " Rock scratched the back of his head . " But I can't be too sure "
" Okay , how about this next phrase , imi pare rau , any idea what that could mean ?" Balalaika tried the last phrase .
" Imi para rau ... " Rock repeated the words and his eyes widened in realization . " I got it ! I know what that phrase means !"
" What does it mean Rock ? Tell me ..."
" Its definitely Romanian , it directly translates to ... I'm sorry " Rock finally recalled what the words mean .
" The words mean ... I'm sorry ?" Balalaika asked in surprise .
" Yeah , I remember it because a lot of members of the italic branch in Romania tended to say it a lot to their bosses when they screwed up or something , that's how I know it " Rock thinks back to his few business trips to Italy , it was actually a pretty nice place all things considered.
" I see ... thank you very much , Rock . I'll be sure to return the favor sometime " Balalaika thanked Rock before hanging up .
" What did he say ? " Boris asks .
" The kids are from Count Dracula's home country " Balalaika answered , tapping her finger against the table .
Boris slapped his hand against his forehead ." Those kids are from Romania , Romanian troops in Kabul were speaking similar words , I thought those words sounded familiar "
" I wouldn't take it too hard sergeant , with age comes fading memory ..." Balalaika advised " Myself included "
Balalaika thought long and hard about everything she could regarding Romania , after the change in government , several children were sold to the black market by the very institutions that were supposed to care for them , but no longer could . If the twins are as young as she thinks they are then ...
" Sergeant . Rowan , the owner of the pink shop on Rachiada street , secretly sells illegal black market videos doesn't he ?" Balalaika had thought of an idea , but she almost wishes it wasn't true .
Boris nodded " Yes , I believe so . What about him ?"
" Bring him to me , tell him I would like to have a small chat with him "
" Understood Kapitan " Boris nodded , before leaving the office .
Balalaika stood up from her seat and walked to the window , looking down on the city below her . She can see the clouds growing darker , showing that is going to rain once again . She sees her reflection in the window , the scars on her face , from when she protected that little boy in Afghanistan .
She prays that her idea does not come true, there are some evil in this world , that still gets to even her ...