Back at it again with another chapter ! This one will be the second to last , I think before the big finale . I gotta say , I've had a lot of fun writing this story , granted it was sorta on a whim and there was little to no plan in place for what happened since I just started writing this story while I was cooped up in quarantine .
But I think I'm overall satisfied with the way the story turned out and I hope you all have enjoyed so far .
So Gretel and Hansel are finally closing on Verrocchio , its about time that bastard who betrayed them pays !
With that said , let's get this chapter started !
Hansel sped down the streets with a dark and serious look on his face , Gretel sitting beside him with a similar expression . After they got the info out of one of Verrocchio's men , they wasted no time getting back in their car and going after the bastard who had the nerve to not only double cross them , but also use them as bait to kill off his competitors . In their years of being assassins , Hansel and Gretel had met some mean pieces of work , and while they usually never took any pleasure in killing their targets . Some of them were so horrid of human beings , that they felt that they had done the world a huge favor with killing them .
This was one of those moments ...
Gretel was busy checking all of her weapons , making sure they were all fully loaded and ready to fire . She was just as eager to get back at Verrocchio for almost getting the two of them killed , while she was definitely the more sentimental and kind heart of the twins , even she had a limit to her patience . And Verrocchio had crossed that line the second he opened fire on them back in his office and used them as bait .
" Hey sora mea ... do you ever think we will ever be able to find peace ? " Hansel asked out of the blue .
Gretel looked at her brother confused " What do you mean , fratele meu ? "
" Do you think we'll ever be able to leave this life behind , is what I mean ? " It was something Hansel had thought about from time to time , he had thought about his and Gretel's life . Moving from city to city only staying maybe a few weeks at most at the time , taking any assassination jobs to put food on the table . Was that really what they wanted to still be doing in 10 ... 20 years from now ? It was a sad and morbid thought , one that Hansel didn't like to occupy .
" I ... really don't know fratele meu , it certainly sounds nice to one day just live like ... normal kids " Gretel said sadly .
" Maybe if we made enough money , we could finally call it quits to this life " It was certainly appealing idea , but still just an idea . Hansel let out a sad sigh " But until then ..."
Hansel stopped in front of Verrocchio's office , the place they had stayed at all this time .
" This is our life ... " Hansel shifted the car into park .
Gretel cocked her BAR " Let's just get this over with ..."
They both exited the car , axe and gun in hands . They walk up to the front door and Hansel kicks it open with a surprising amount of force . Hansel scans the room and sees multiple of Verrocchio's men standing there . He quickly throws a flash grenade inside , which blinds everybody inside . Gretel takes point gunning down everybody in the reception hall , anybody that was in her line of fire was turned into swiss cheese .
Hansel followed up after her , moving with inhuman speed , slashing at anybody and gunning down those who were slightly farther away .
They both let out a sigh , as the blood of their enemies now stained the walls
" Let's end this , sora mea " Hansel wiped the blood off of his axe .
Gretel nodded reloading her gun " Agreed "
They proceeded down the hallways , running into more of Verrocchio's men who had heard the gunfire . They didn't stand a chance with the cramp space of the hallways , made them easy targets for Gretel's BAR . Hansel mostly stayed out of the way and kept an eye on their backs , making sure there wasn't any stragglers coming at them from behind . They had spent the better part of a month at this place , so they knew it from the inside out .
They went up the stairs and entered a hallway where more of Verrocchio's men had set up a line of fire between them and Verrocchio's office .
" KILL THOSE TWO BRATS ! " One of them shouted before opening fire on them .
" Shit " They both curse , before they kicked open the door to one of the rooms and took cover inside .
" What do you think fratele meu ? Flash or incendiary ? " Gretel asked .
" I think I'll go with incendiary " Hansel pulled an incendiary grenade out of his coat and waited for them to reload . As soon as they did , Hansel pulled the pin and threw the grenade with expertise into the hallway . Jumping back into the room for cover .
BOOM !
The explosion rocked the building , and the twins couldn't help but flinch at the sheer force of the explosion .
They go back into the hallway to see all of the men's corpses burning and the hallway itself on fire .
" Probably should have gone with flash " Gretel commented .
" Definitely should have gone with a flash grenade there " Hansel grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher , putting out the flames quickly . The last thing they needed was this place burning to the ground before they could get to Verrocchio .
They pass by the now burning corpses of Verrocchio's men , Gretel flinching at the smell of their corpses while Hansel looked away not wanting to look at any of them . Lest they puke their guts , which would be kinda disrespectful for the dead . They may have been their enemies , but even they were human .
The twins tried not to think about too much as they approached Verrocchio's office .
Gretel was kicked the door down , Hansel's leg had already done a pretty good amount of door kicking , so she thought he could use break .
From the doorway , they see Verrocchio sitting in his chair looking almost completely unworried .
" I was wondering when you two were going to show up " Verrocchio calmly said " Come on in , have a seat kids "
" You seem awfully calm for a man who is about to die " Gretel hissed at the man .
" Come on , kids ... there's no need for violence , just come in here and we can have a nice little talk " Verrocchio ushered them inside .
" With pleasure ..." They both step inside and instantly , point their guns at the two bodyguards who were standing hidden by the doorway on Verrocchio's side . Hansel couldn't help but roll his eyes as the bodies of Verrocchio's last two men fell to the floor . How stupid did he think they were ? That they would be so easily fooled by such an obvious trap .
Hansel turned to Verrocchio who now has an extremely worried look on his face .
Hansel could read that expression anywhere , it was the same look a lot of their targets had on their faces .
It usually meant ' I'm fucked ...'
" So you said you wanted to have a ... little talk with us ? " Hansel calmly asked .
" Y-Yes ! O-Of course ! " Verrocchio slowly reached beneath his table " Let's just all calm down here and ..."
Hansel was faster shooting Verrocchio in the shoulder , while Gretel moved quickly to his side and pointed her gun at his face and grabbing the spare gun Verrocchio had hidden underneath the table . Verrocchio held his hands knowing that he couldn't kill these two brats even if he wanted to . So all that was left ... was to negotiate .
Well either that or start begging ...
" N-N-Now let's just ... take it easy here kids " Verrocchio tried to stay calm " I'm sure we can come to a reasonable- GAH ! "
Verrocchio was cut off when Hansel smacked him right across the face with surprising amount of force , making Verrocchio fall to the floor pathetically .
" I had to break it to you Mr Verrocchio but you lost all right to negotiate after you tried to kill us both and use us as bait to draw Hotel Moscow and the Triads out " Hansel eyes looked cold , as if he were an actual vampire .
" T-That was a mistake ! I'm sorry ! " Verrocchio tried to apologize " Look ... I'll double the money ! I-I-I'll triple it ! Just let me live ! "
" Wow , that has to be one of the pathetic things I have ever heard before in my life " Hansel pulled out his gun and pointed it at Verrocchio's head " Word to the wise , Mr Verrocchio if you're going to stab somebody in the back and try to kill them . Make sure you kill them "
" And if you fail ... at least die with some dignity "
" N-NO WAIT ! PLEASE DON'T -"
BANG !
And with a single shot ... it was over .
Verrocchio was finally dead .
" Come on , sora mea ... let's get out of here " Hansel said , as Gretel nodded .
They both walk out of the building and get back into the car , quickly driving away as the sound of police sirens close in on them . Hansel kept his head down as the police passed them , the last thing they needed was to be pulled over by the cops and having to explain why a minor was at the wheel . The car was completely silent , neither of them saying anything . Hansel kinda preferred it that way , having a moment of silence helped clear their heads after a job .
" It was probably a mercy " Gretel said out of the blue , cutting through the silence in the air .
" What do you mean ? " Hansel asked .
" If we hadn't killed him , the Triads and Hotel Moscow would have taken him and I doubt they would have been as quick as we were " Gretel shrugged " So I guess in a way we were doing Verrocchio a bit of a favor , all his men are dead and the other players will seize his territory now . "
" I suppose so sora mea ... I suppose so ..." Hansel said as they drove away , the sky finally turning to day .
A few days later ...
Hansel was busy packing all of his things , and then double checking to make sure he had everything .
Guns ? Check . Passports ? Checks . Ammo ? Check . Spares clothes ? Check . Knives ? Check . Hundred thousands dollars stolen from Verrocchio's office ? Check . Playing cards ? Check .
Gretel always did get board on trips , so it was always a good idea to pack a few board games for the road to not only herself but Hansel occupied .
" Fratele meu , are you done packing ? " Gretel asked coming out of the bathroom .
" Yup , we got everything . Its about time to get out of here " Hansel waited for Gretel to nod , before they both left their room .
They had been staying at a pretty low class hotel called the Ramsap inn for the past few days , while Gretel wanted to leave town immediately , Hansel knew that it would be a good idea to lay low for a few days and let the heat die down first before skipping town once and for all . They had made contact with the smuggler Abas a few days back and he had agreed to smuggle them out for a pretty reasonable price . He was also kind enough to give them a discount , though Hansel suspects it may have something to do with Gretel working her cute and pretty act on him .
They also heard from some of the other tenants that Hotel Moscow had promptly pulled the contract , much to the disappointment of the many assassins and hunters who had came all the way to kill them . Hansel could only suppose that this was Miss Balalaika's way of thanking them for taking care of Verrocchio .
They exit through the back exit and head towards the alleyway , where they had stashed their car they had ... borrowed from days prior .
Hansel looked up to the beautiful morning sky , smiling a bit before getting into the car and heading to the docks .
Balalaika was in her office as per usual for the day , she was busy sorting out all the events that had happened over the past few days . With Verrocchio officially dead , the major players of Roanapur quickly moved to seize whatever was left of the bastards territory . It took a bit of discussing , but she thinks they were able to come to a ... moderately reasonable agreement with how to divide the territory .
Though she has no doubts that a new player from the Italian Mafia will arrive sooner or later to take Verrocchio's place . That was how things worked here in Roanapur , you kill off one head , the guys at the top will just send somebody else to replace them .When the Italian replacement shows up , she just hopes he isn't as much as a pain the ass as Verrocchio was . Nor would he be stupid enough to try any big plays .
And Balalaika had to admit , she was a little disappointed that she couldn't kill Verrocchio herself though she doubts she would have made his death as quickly as the twins did .
Thinking about Verrocchio brought her thoughts back to the twins , she had failed to capture them , a loss on her part . They were much smarter than she had thought they would be , feeling a bit proud of the twins for being smart enough to evade her patrols during that night . With the losses she had taken , she couldn't organize a search for the twins much less go look for them herself . Her men needed her , so they had taken priority .
Balalaika lets out a sigh standing up and walking over to the window that overlooked the city below her . She supposes there was no point in whining about it , the twins had got away . She can only hope that those would be safe .
While she looked over the city below her , her eyes wandered to the docks which she could faintly see in the distance .
' The twins would need to get out of the city somehow ... going through border security is out of the question so the only option left ...' Balalaika thought in her mind ' Is to get away by sea ! '
' And the only smuggler that would fly under the radar enough would be ...' Balalaika's eyes widen in realization , as she knew now where the twins were .
Boris walked through the door carrying a few papers " Kapitan , I have the rest of the reports here - "
" Boris , get the car now ! We're going to the docks " Balalaika walked past him , grabbing her military coat along the way .
" W-Wait , what ? Why ? " Boris asked , walking by her side .
" Because I know where they are now ..." Balalaika said in a low voice .
She could only hope she wasn't too late .
Goddamn ! This has to be the fastest chapter , I've ever written before in my life ! And all in the nick of time too !
That said , I do apologize if this chapter isn't up to quality since I wrote this in the span of like ... a day . So sorry if this seems a bit rushed to you all . But I hope you all enjoyed watching Verrocchio die regardless , this is probably one of my favorite chapters . Well , the one where Eda gets tortured is my favorite , but this one comes into a close ... 4th ?
So the next chapter will be the last , after that is the epilogue . I would like to thank everybody who has followed this story up until and I really appreciate your support .
With that said , Angel Out .