Authors Notes : I do not own Black Lagoon
Its been a day since Verrocchio's little talk with them about killing Miss Balalaika and Mr. Chang . The twins didn't manage to get much sleep than they probably should getting at their age , but this job weighed heavily on their minds . How the hell were they supposed to take out the leader of Hotel Moscow , who has a literal army backing her up . The twins were no stranger to taking high risk jobs , but this was taking it a to a whole other level .
A mountain of crumpled papers was starting to build up in their trash can , they were rejected plans on how to execute the job . Every single last one of them , was full of holes and carried too high a risk . On the table , was a structural map of Hotel Moscow's and Triad's base of operations , they had Mr . Verrocchio acquire for them . The Triad's leader should be sufficiently easy enough to deal with , but the problem still came back on how to deal with Miss Balalaika .
Most of the time , Miss Balalaika stayed in her office or other areas of the base , and they were heavily guarded by Miss Balalaika's personal special forces and probably a bunch of other security measures . At best , they would be able to kill a couple of the guards before finding themselves in a world of trouble .
" What if we tried driving a decoy car loaded with explosives and drove it through the front door into the lobby ?" Gretel suggested a crazy idea . They were basically grasping at straws here , so they were taking whatever plan they could get .
" Security does thorough checks of every single car that even passes through the front gate into Hotel Moscow " Hansel shot down the idea . " Plus they're probably aren't just going to let two kids behind the wheel through ..."
" Great ... what are we going to do fratele meu ? Miss Balalaika doesn't seem like the type of easy mark " Gretel asked in worry .
" No , she isn't " Hansel said " She didn't get here this far on sheer luck alone "
" What if we tried to create a diversion somewhere in the city , something so big Miss Balalaika has to show up ?" Gretel suggested . " If we can get her out in the open , maybe we can use a sniper rifle to take her down "
" That's not going to work either , from what I gather from Verrocchio's men , Hotel Moscow has upped security at all of their places , which isn't going to make our job any easier " Hansel let out a sigh " And even if we did somehow manage to snipe , it would just set the rest of her men off on the warpath , there would be nowhere for us to run in this city "
" Well , we're just going to have Mr . Verrocchio get us out of here as soon as the job is done " Gretel tried to argue .
" Honestly , I don't think we can trust or rely on Mr . Verrocchio anymore ..." Hansel said , placing a hand to his chin in thought .
" What do you mean ?"
" Its no coincidence that he purposefully saved the suicide mission for last and won't pay us until its done " Hansel said in anger at the Italian " The man is practically just using us , as his personal suicide soldiers and besides who's to say that after the job is done , Verrocchio will pay us or even let us live after that , we are the only link to his involvement in all this "
" So you think he might double cross us ?" Gretel asked .
" That is definitely a possibility ..." Hansel said in thought " But without him , we have no way out of this city ..."
So many choices , so many variables , so little time ...
The Vampire's worries are growing more everyday and time is running out for them ...
" What if we left Verrocchio and this city behind ? Just run away right now ?" Gretel suggested , honestly she's been dying to get out of this city for a while now . Not because she actually hated the city , but because she didn't like the thought of having a bounty on their heads .
Hansel let out a sigh " That's not much of an option sora mea ... even if we do that , then we're going to be low on cash and we're not going to make it long without much money and then comes the issue of actually getting out of this I mean how are we going to ..."
Hansel had just thought of a great idea and it was thanks to Gretel .
" Fratele meu ?" Gretel asks confused at her brother's sudden stop mid sentence .
" Actually ... that might be a good idea sora mea " Hansel agreed with his sister. " Its about time we left Verrocchio and got out of this city .
" But weren't you just saying a minute ago about how we would then have to deal with a severe money issue and getting out of the city ?" Gretel questioned , surprised that her brother would suddenly agree with her .
" Yes , but then it occurred to me ..." Hansel mischievously smiled " We can just take as much money we need from Mr. Verrocchio "
" Huh ?"
" Think about it , sora mea , we are literally standing in his base of operations . He's got to have money or something stashed away here . " Hansel put a finger to his chin " And I'm willing to bet that particular place is his office
Gretel thought about it from a moment , before nodding " Okay , that makes sense . But what about getting out of Roanapur ?"
" Easy . We can just bribe a smuggler to get us out of here , this place is practically a den of criminals so it shouldn't be too hard to find a smuggler "
" Alright , lets do it . But we should wait until Verrocchio leaves , then we sneak into his office , take the cash and leave "
Hansel nodded in agreement " Get ready "
And so they waited for night to fall ... kinda ironic considering their nickname .
It was a rainy day in Roanapur , like most days have been in recent times . The rain was quite a pain in the ass for many , as it meant having to stay inside , unless one wanted to get soaked . Nowadays , it was quite rare for there to be a sunny day , especially during the raining season in Thailand .
But it was actually kinda fitting , if one thought about the true nature of Roanapur . The darkness it hides , the bodies that lie in the mud after being shot in the back , the women who go out at night when the rain finally stops ...
Rain was just nice for a shithole like Roanapur .
Chang and Balalaika stand side by side , at the docks during late afternoon . The Russian Mafia Boss had called the Triad to the docks , to have a ... secret meeting with him . And not the romantic kind , people usually have .
" I trust you have gotten rid of any unwanted company , have you Chang ?" Balalaika asks .
" Yeah of course , this is all very secretive , if you wanted to go on a date , you could have just asked ..." Chang joked , trying to lighten the mood .
" As nice as that sounds , you can't exactly go for dinner and a movie when you have the smell of blood on you " Balalaika not laughing at all . " But enough with the jokes , Chang , we know who's behind all this now ..."
" Now that's an intriguing subject , how'd you find out ?" Chang asks , not seeming surprised at all .
" It was easy when all the pieces were put together ...the mastermind everything that has happened , is Verrocchio , that Italian schmuck " Balalaika said with distaste . " The assassins were from out of town , but nobody seems to have any clue on where they were , which meant somebody was providing a hideout ..."
" Okay , how did you narrow it down to Verrocchio ?" Chang asked , taking the cigarette out of his mouth .
" Simple . Somebody had to have arranged for transportation to get the assassins into the city and none of the local gangs have the connections to arrange such a thing . Which meant it had to have been one of the players of Roanapur . "
Chang shrugged his shoulders " That makes sense I guess , but how did you know for certain it was Verrocchio ? It could have been Abrego for all you know "
Balalaika smiled amusingly . " Abrego was too scared of me to even think of pissing me off and his men were getting hit as well , though not as frequently as ours were "
" But didn't Verrocchio say he lost a recruiter or something ? "
" That was just a cover , he must have known it would have looked suspicious if he was the only player that wasn't getting his men hit , so he arranged for one of his recruiters to be killed " Balalaika crossed her arms . " But what tipped me off , was how Verrocchio was the only player that was getting hit the least , that was what sealed the truth "
" My , my , that's some fine detective work , you could have been a great investigator . You have my applause " Chang smiled at Balalaika .
" Why , thank you Chang . I am quite proud of myself " Balalaika smiled amusingly .
" Now what about the assassins ?"
Balalaika's smile faltered . " Beg your pardon ?"
" The two kid assassins Verrocchio hired , the ones that were spotted at the Caribbean Bar " Chang gave Balalaika a hard look " The boy and girl from Romania , the ones with white hair and dressed like the actual dead ..."
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Balalaika went silent , as Chang smugly grinned at her . " Did you think , you were the only one investigating ?"
" Yes ... I have uncovered their identities , somewhat anyway " Balalaika said icily .
" What does that mean ?"
" I found what I was looking for in Rowan's shop ... unfortunately " Balalaika said morbidly.
" Rowan , the porn shop guy ?" Chang remembered who the man was . " You called him to your office ? The poor bastard must have been scared hell ..."
" Lets just say the backseat of his pants will never be the same again " Balalaika thought back on how she had to order her men to get Rowan a new pair of pants .
Chang let out a whistle . " I kinda feel sorry for the poor man "
" My specific request was for eastern European kiddie porn and snuff films starring Romanian twins " Balalaika lit up a cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke " An hour later , he came back with over 250 titles for me ..."
Chang was caught off guard by this , he wasn't expecting the kids to be ex-child porn actors . " Damn ... that's fucked up "
" For once , we agree on something ... I spent the last day and a half watching movies made for sick pedophiles and perverts , until I finally found them ..." Balalaika will never be able to forget the shit she saw in those videos , it was enough to make even her sick in the stomach .
" Hansel and Gretel . That's what they were called in the video anyway " Balalaika thought back to Gretel cries during the video , clenching her fist in anger " Following the change of government in Romania , countless children were sold to the black market by institutions that could no longer afford to take care of them . Illegitimate children of a fallen dictator "
" Treated like toys for child molesters and sick perverts , they usually ended up as food for the pigs " Chang finished for Balalaika . "I'm guessing that's what these brats were destined for , so how did they escape ?"
" That ... I'm honestly not sure of " Balalaika answers honestly . " But from what I saw in the videos , the sick fucks made those two kill other children for entertainment . Kids that were in pretty much the same situation as they were . In order to survive night after night , they had to learn how to kill , for the sake of survival "
" Kill or be killed " Balalaika recited part of a poem she knew from war . " Their souls were twisted and broken , their innocence almost completely gone and they descended into the world of pitch black shadows ...into our world "
Balalaika couldn't help but feel sorry for the two , they may have killed her men , but they were just kids who are just doing the only they know how to , to stay alive in this twisted and sick world .
" So basically a couple of stunt dogs for entertainment . That is one fucked up story , quite fitting for our world wouldn't you say ?" Chang took off his glasses . " You know , sometimes I feel like I'm walking through a huge seeping pile of shit ..."
" Well , morality and justice have never really suited me . Words like that are surprisingly similar to the stuff that comes out of your ass " Chang put his glasses back on. " I have about as much sympathy for those kids , as I do for people who preach about world peace while they're dropping bombs on people "
Balalaika had to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying anything about that . " I'm just telling you what I know , you certainly won't hear me talking about stuff like that ..." Balalaika handed Chang a file which he took and read .
" Whatever the reason , Verrocchio's going to pay for this one ..." Chang said , reading the file .
" I couldn't agree more . " Balalaika said darkly , she had a plethora of things she planned to do to Verrocchio when this was done .
" So you're planning to start another war ?"
" I prefer the term controlled conflict and no one can say we don't have a good reason " Balalaika threw her cigar into the puddle in front of her , snuffing it out .
Chang leaned up against the container " So you're saying this is a just war ? Since when has that kind of shit matter to you ? "
Balalaika walked away , not even looking at Chang " Listen , you can join us or you can forget about us , its your call ..."
Chang thought it over for a minute before smiling at Balalaika " Oh what the hell , its not like I need to consult Hong Kong on this. In this world the only thing you can trust in this world is money and power "
" Does this mean , we'll get to see you with a gun in hand again ?" Balalaika was excited at the thought of that .
" Maybe so . But I have a position to protect now , so it is a bit of a pain " Chang shrugged his shoulders and began walking in the direction of his car .
"Oh and Chang ?" Balalaika called out to him , before he could walk away .
" Yeah , what is it ?" Chang turned back to her .
" If you can ... please take those kids in alive "
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Chang mildly chuckled at Balalaika " Going soft on me , Balalaika ?"
" Do I have your word ?" Balalaika asks , dead serious .
" Yeah , sure whatever , but if they shoot at us , I'm making no promises "
" Glad to hear it , thanks baby " Balalaika smiled at him .
Chang grumbled at the nickname , she gave him .
As soon as Chang walked away , Balalaika took out her phone and contacted Boris .
" Yes , Kapitan "
" Boris , Mr . Chang has agreed to our proposal , as of this moment we will form a common front with the Hong Kong Triad " Balalaika said as she walked away.
" Roger "
" Get a message to our fellow comrades , have them stand-by for combat as of nineteen-o- five hours . Is that understood sergeant ?"
" Copy that . Do you predict a snatch mission within the city's controlled battlegrounds . "
" Correct " Balalaika nods in agreement " I also expect there to be chaos on the streets . With all the new bounty hunters in town , its like a festival "
" That just makes things better for us Kapitan , nothing provides better cover than the sound of gunfire "Boris said as he pulled the car up in front of Balalaika .
" That is correct sergeant , this is the only war we can be involved in right now , so lets make it count . Oh and sergeant ?"
" Yes , Kapitan ?"
" Inform all of our men , that if possible , capture the twins alive "
" Understood "
" Fratele meu , its time " Gretel said to her brother .
" I know , pack your things and lets get out of here " Hansel quickly threw on his coat , grabbing all of his weapons on the table .
Hansel grabbed their bag , containing their passports and other essentials and slowly , very slowly opens the door and checks the hallways to make sure there's no one there . The last thing they need is one of Verrocchio's men catching them fleeing .
Hansel made hand signals to give Gretel the okay and she nodded .
They both quietly walked into the hallways and headed for Verrocchio's office , moving carefully and slowly so that if they heard somebody coming they could either hide ... or prepare to take them down . Hansel already had a sleep dart loaded into his crossbow for just the situation .
They both took either side of Verrocchio's office and Hansel pushed the door open to find nobody inside , much to his relief . They both quickly entered and shut the door behind them .
Hansel and Gretel quickly made their way to Verrocchio's desk , and started emptying the desk and the entire office itself of everything of value . Loading everything into their spare duffel bag .
" Hurry sora mea , we won't have long , grab everything of value , money , jewelry , whatever . If its worth something , take it " Hansel said as he loaded another couple grand into their bag .
" Got it , fratele meu " Gretel nodded " You'd think a mafia boss wouldn't just leave stacks of money in his desk "
" The man probably didn't think anybody would be stupid enough to try and rob him , fratele meu "
" Arrogance does bring complacency "
" Quite right , sora mea "
After a few short minutes , they managed to pack literally everything that was worth anything into their duffel . Gretel handed the bag over to Hansel and she took hold of their personal bag . The extra weight might slow them down , but they don't have much of a choice , they're going to need that money if they want to survive after they get out of Roanapur .
" Alright , I think we got everything , lets go "
The twins were just about to make their exit ... when the office door opened .
And Verrocchio and his men walked in .
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A whole minute of silence passed , Verrocchio just took his cigarette out his mouth and looked down his nose at the twins . " Well , would you look what we have here boys ? A couple of thieving kid , caught red handed with their hands in the cookie jar "
" I'm afraid we'll be taking our leave now , Mr. Verrocchio " Hansel glared at the man .
" Now is that anyway to talk to the man who provided you with a hideout and protection from Hotel Moscow ? Talk about ungrateful brats " Verrocchio shrugged his shoulders . " Oh , well boys you know the drill "
At that moment all of Verrocchio's men pointed their guns at the twins , who started reaching for their weapons .
" I know this is ungentlemanly of me to say , sora mea ..." Hansel said reaching for his gun " But quite frankly ... fuck our lives "
" Indeed ..." Gretel threw the cloth she used to wrap up her BAR at the men to blind them .
Gunshots rang out , as screams followed soon after .
Sorry in advance for the cliffhanger , but I couldn't help myself !
The next chapter should come out soon , so stay tuned !