7

Muslim quarter, Roanapur

"You look terrible," Rock remarked as he saw Revy on the bed of a small apartment. Jane is busy tending to her wounds.

"I feel terrible," Revy replied weakly.

Luckily, for Revy, the shanty roof broke her three-story fall and she hit a bed. It saved her life, and Benny and Jane quickly recovered her. They took her to a safehouse in the Muslim quarter of the city. It was best place to hide, especially if you are hiding from the 24K drug syndicate and the CIA. Jane had several Muslim friends, to Benny's chagrin because she is a devout Hindu. Dutch and Rock arrived a short time later.

Revy was very lucky she did not suffer any life-threatening injury from her dance with the devil. The most serious is her dislocated shoulder and minor concussions. However, she endured a massive amount of punishment. Her face is swollen like a hamburger; she is covered in hematomas and cuts.

But the greatest damage is on her ego. Here she was, pound-for-pound the best fighter in Roanapur, and she was manhandled and beaten by another woman.

"What happened, Revy?" Dutch asked, still in shock to see Two Hands in such a state.

"I got my ass kicked, Dutch," Revy mumbled. "That bitch…she is the only one that soundly beaten me."

"Who is she?" asked Rock.

"I don't know. She is taller than I am, and she has a muscular physique. She is very strong, she lifted me like I was nothing. She is also very quick, her reflexes are clearly honed by experience. Maybe she's military. She uses mixed martial arts; boxing, jiujitsu, grappling, even goddamn Keysi Fighting. I never fought anyone else like her."

"My guess is that she is CIA," Jane suggested.

Revy nodded. "She said something to me. She said I killed her friend. Maybe she is talking about the CIA agent killed on the exchange with the chip."

"But we didn't kill that agent," Benny said. "It was Kao's men."

"I wouldn't make any difference," Dutch said. "CIA thinks we did it, so they send their best team to hunt us down."

"That CIA agent could have killed me easily," Revy said. "But she didn't. She even let me escape. I don't understand."

"Maybe she wants us alive, Revy. Remember, we have the chip that they want," Rock answered.

"Let's just give the chip to them," Benny suggested.

"I agree with Benny," Rock concurred. "That chip brought us nothing but trouble."

"That's bullshit, Rock," Revy said. "They will still hunt us even if we surrendered the chip. I can see it on that bitch's eyes. She wouldn't stop until we are all behind bars."

Dutch nodded. "Revy is right."

Rock sighed. "So what's the plan?"

"I don't want to stay on the defensive. We are going on the offense," Dutch said.

"How, Dutch?" Benny asked.

"Kao. He is the key to this. We will hurt his organization, until he himself bleeds."

"What about the CIA?" Revy asked.

"We need to know who they are," Dutch replied. "And we're going to need Jane's help."

Jane looked at her watch. "I have no previous engagements."

Revy stood up, her face carved in determination. "I have to train hard. So when I faced that woman again, I'll be ready."

Yellow Flag Bar, Roanapur

The Yellow Flag bar is rough place. It is the favorite hangout of gangsters from all over Roanapur. Fistfights and gun battles are common, especially on a Friday night when everyone is drunk and rowdy. The bar was already rebuilt several times, destroyed mostly by Revy Two Hands and most recently by the mysterious maid named Roberta.

Tonight, another woman is raising hell on the bar. Mikasa Ackerman felt right at home.

The man weigh at least 200 pounds, but Mikasa effortlessly tossed him towards the window. Glass crunched and blown into thousands of pieces as the man flew outside and hit the pavement hard.

One patron tried his luck against the CIA agent. He swung hard, firing a haymaker at Mikasa's face. She simply ducked, the fist grazing her hair. Mikasa pumped her right fist upward, catching the man in the jaw. He fell unconscious on the floor beside several more groaning human beings.

Another one pulled a switchblade and stepped forward to stab Mikasa in the back. She avoided the stab and slapped the knife out of the hand of the gangster. Mikasa then punched him in the mouth, breaking several teeth and sending him withering on the floor.

The last one didn't want to tangle with the woman, but he grabbed a beer bottle and threw it towards Mikasa's head. The agent spun and hit the bottle with a roundhouse kick. The bottle dissolved in a million pieces like a clay pigeon caught by a shotgun blast. The patron was scared to death and he quickly bolted out of the bar.

"Stop! Please!" Bao pleaded. "What do you want?"

Mikasa walked towards the owner of the Yellow Flag. She reached over the counter and yanked the ex-ARVN soldier by his collars. "I want the Black Lagoon!" Mikasa thundered. "Where are they?!"

"I...I don't know! I haven't seen them in a while!"

"You do know where I can find them!"

"No! I swear I do not know! They are pirates, they move from place to place! They have several safehouses but I don't know where! I swear to God!"

Mikasa drew her Desert Eagle and jammed the muzzle on Bao's chin. "Swear to me!"

The door of the bar opened, five uniformed officers appeared. They drew their service revolvers and pointed them to Mikasa. "Freeze!" Chief Watssup of the Roanapur Police barked.

Mikasa released Bao who scampered away.

"Drop your weapon, miss," Watssup ordered.

Suddenly, the whole left wall of the Yellow Flag exploded in a shower of rock, plaster and glass. A huge SUV drove straight into the wall, driving like a bulldozer inside the bar. Mylius Zeramuski is on top, pointing a nasty-looking Gatling gun at the startled police officers. Other members of Titan team came out of the SUV, rifles ready to fire.

"Drop your guns," Mylius ordered in deeply-accented English. "Or Old Painless will turn you into Swiss cheese."

Outgunned, the Roanapur officers had no choice but to drop their revolvers to the floor.

"Who the hell are you guys?" Watssup asked.

"You don't need to know," Mikasa replied. "We are not here to fight with you. We are here to find the Black Lagoon gang. After we get them, we will leave immediately. So it would be easier for you to just tell us where they are."

Watssup shook his head in disbelief. "No one knows where they are. You can try at the harbor, though. That is where they dock their PT boat whenever they are in town."

Mikasa motioned her men. "Let's go," she said. They were quickly gone in only a few seconds.

"Jesus," Bao remarked as he massages his neck. "Another crazy bitch."

Watssup grunted. "This city can't get enough of them."