Chapter 13: Intermission; or, the Girls encounter some old enemies but get lucky, and Dido and Kennedy share a moment together
Back at their compound, Dido and Kennedy were going about the task of making preparations for war against Gyrfalcon.
Maria, who had just returned, was being filled-in on the situation by Kennedy.
"So you're saying that our Provider may have turned against us?"
"Pretty much. I mean, how else would those goons have known where to find us?"
Maria looked at Kennedy, to the floor, and then to Kennedy again.
"Well… I told her it was pretty damn stupid when she came up with the idea, but Dido being Dido…"
"Maria…" interrupted Kennedy, "are you telling me something that may hypothetically make me want to kill Dido?"
"Probably.".
"Then please… tell it to me in a way that is less likely to set me off."
"Well, I don't know how many other ways to say it, but here it goes: Dido essentially put a 'Help Wanted' ad in the paper."
Kennedy stood in shock as she attempted to process the information.
"You… what… she… huh?"
Maria procured a copy for her to read.
"Uh… why… do you carry a copy around?"
"For a good laugh."
"Oh. Right. Huh heh heh…"
The ad read as follows:
Looking for help in killing a witch.
Reward: $200,000
For directions, call…
EXPERIENCED KILLERS ONLY
Kennedy waited a moment for the information to process. When it did, she still thought it needed processing. After waiting a few moments, she realized that nothing was going to process, because it was absolutely insane.
Kennedy thought, then, about her house. About her dog. About her poor neighbor.
Kennedy felt, then, that it was about time for a talk with Dido.
Meanwhile, as this was going on, Nadie, Ellis, and Lirio were currently trying not to get shot. Somehow, somebody found out that they were hiding at the church, and fearing for the safety of the Pastor and the town, had decided that it was best to leave town as fast and covertly as possible. Within fifteen minutes of walking down the road, though, they noticed that they were being followed by two men in a gaudy-looking old pickup truck. Nadie recognized, in relief, that they were only the two homosexual bounty hunters she's ran into before. What she feared, though, was how in the world did they get out of prison, and how did they know where to find her?
She would have thought more about these things if it were not for the fact that she was being shot at, and was currently hiding behind a large log about thirty meters away from the road, hoping that the bounty hunters did not find them. Ellis and Lirio were by her side, being made to crouch slightly lower by Nadie for their protection.
"When will these two idiots learn?"
Meanwhile, one of the two approached.
"Alright, hands up! If you come quietly, I promise that we'll only slightly beat you up!"
"Heh heh, revenge is as good as ours!" said the other member of the pair.
Suddenly, Ellis' face perked up slightly.
"Lightbulb."
"Huh? Ellis, what is it?"
"I got an idea."
"Hm?"
After a moment of waiting, the bounty hunters grew impatient.
"Okay, if you don't come out right now, we're just going to have to get you!"
Lirio popped out from behind the log, her boomerang waving in the air.
"Eh! Eh heh!"
"Huh?"
"Little girl, what are you doing? Don't you know you're getting in the way of our bounty?"
"Ah!"
"What is it? Do you have something to tell us?"
Lirio pointed to her boomerang, and then to a fruit that was hanging from a nearby tree.
"Oh, isn't that cute, the little girl wants to show off!"
"Well, go on! But promise us that you will get out of the way afterwards, okay?"
"Eh!"
Lirio pulled back her arm, and let fly her boomerang, which successfully cut the fruit from where it was.
"Hey, that was actually pretty go-"
Ellis then darted out from the side and heated the guns with her powers.
"O-ouch! How did ya-"
She then froze their feet to the ground.
"H-hey! Let us go!"
Nadie then appeared next, gun raised.
"Well, well, looks like prison was good for ya boys. Seems like you lost some weight!"
"L-let us go right now, you sorry bitch!"
"Sorry, but you're going to have to wait for the sun to thaw you guys out. Now, I know for a fact that you guys didn't walk all the way here to get us."
She stretched out her free hand.
"Keys. Giv'm to me."
"Why the hell would we let you steal our ride? Again!"
"Because, if you two haven't figured it out already: you try to get us. We beat the crap out of you. We take your stuff. Now, please hand over the keys and tell us where it is… unless, of course, you want Ellis over here to freeze you in an… intimate place?"
"Uh… uh… no! No! Here, here are the keys!"
He took the keys form his pocket and threw them at Nadie.
"The car… it's just down the road, about a half mile from here…"
"Thanks! Bye!"
"W-wait! You're just going to leave us here?"
"We'll get sunburned!"
Nadie looked at Ellis.
"Well, since you're asking so nicely… Ellis, why don't you give our friends over here a gift?"
"Yes, sir!"
Ellis preceded to reach into her vest pocket and throw a tiny tube of stuff at them.
"W-what is this?"
"Sunscreen" said Ellis.
"Hyuh?"
"SPF 40." She added on.
"Make sure to share! Bye, now~ !"
After walking a short distance, they found the car, an old army jeep. They jumped in, strapped themselves in, and began down the road.
The wind blowing in her face, Nadie let out a laugh.
"This is great! We really showed them, didn't we! Couldn't have done it without you too, Lirio!"
"Eh heh!"
After driving a while, Ellis turned to Nadie.
"This is like what we used to do."
"Hm? Yeah, I guess it is."
"It feels… good."
"Yeah. Even though it's risky, it's nice to have some excitement once in a while."
But still… how did they know where to find us? Who sent them?
After an hour or so, Lirio fell asleep in the back.
"Nadie."
"Hm?"
"No matter where we go… bad men always seem to find us. I know it's because of me."
"Ellis… we've been over this already, you don't have to f-"
"I know. I just want to say… thank you for being there."
"Ah… of course. I'll always be there for you, Ellis."
Ellis leaned in to Nadie, and Nadie put her arm around her.
"But the thing is… you have your powers under control now. Together, we can beat whatever comes our way. I know it."
Ellis, then, smiled.
"Yes, sir."
And once again, the two girls rode off into the unknown, not knowing what was to come, but secure in the knowledge that they had each other.
"Dido."
"Hm? Yes, dear sister?"
Kennedy had found Dido in her own room, sitting at her desk, writing something.
"I… want to have a word with you."
"Yes?"
Kennedy gave a big sigh.
"Dido… you're my friend… but this is beginning to become too much. I mean, sure, those girls have made a mockery of us, but why go through all this trouble just to kill them? Why put our own lives in danger? What's the point?"
Dido stiffened at this.
"My dear sis-"
"No 'My dear sister' this! I'm tired, Dido! I've been gone for a month from home! And what just happened? We could have died! Why should we ris-"
"I know!" Dido shouted angrily.
"D-dido…!"
"I know I risked our lives! I know I put you in danger! I know that I haven't been going about this intelligently! I know you'd much rather be home doing mundane stuff! Don't you think I feel terrible for making your life this way?"
"Dido… I didn't know that-"
"Of course you didn't know! Nobody does… nobody knows that I know what I've done is stupid and insane! I know that I put the life of my closest friend in the world in danger! I know all of this! Don't you think I feel terrible as it is about it?"
A silence followed.
"If you wish, you can go home. I'll arrange for a flight, and you can put all of this behind you."
"Dido… I…"
"What?!"
"Dido, I… Dido…"
Kennedy walked over and gave Dido a hug from behind.
"I didn't know... that you felt regret… I'm sorry, Dido."
Dido put up a hand to touch one of Kennedy's arms.
"It's alright, Kennedy."
"Dido… I'm staying here, with you. I'm here, I might as well see through to the end of it…"
"Kennedy…"
Dido sniffled, and then regained her composure.
"That's the sister I know and love."
Dido stood up, flared her cape, and struck her arms out.
"Dearest sister, our time has come to bring vengeance upon that Gyrfalcon! Only one of us has the right to those girls, and it's us!"
Kennedy followed Dido out of the room, smiling slightly at her friend's regained energy.
"Even now as we speak, we have tracked the wretched bastard to a base in Costa Rica! Our troops are on the move in readying an attack! Once we've dealt with this Gyrfalcon, we shall be free to pursue our targets once again!"
"Okay, that sounds great. But…"
"Yes, dearest sister?"
"What are we going to do with the Homunculus?"
"What, L.A.? I've already deployed him. He has been tasked to observe the girls and keep tabs on them. And also, to deal with any force that may go up against them."
"Uh, are you sure that we can trust him with that?"
"Yes. I know this because if there is one thing in the world that boy loves, it is watching Ellis. And if there is one thing he is good at, it's brining mass havoc to his foes."
Kennedy saw something scuffle along the hall pass her.
"Um… is that…"
"Yes, that is the fleshhound. Isn't he adorable? I was originally going to break him down for spare organic matter, but the demons got attached to him and so I decided to keep him as a pet."
Kennedy motioned to say something, then stopped.
Only you, Dido…
Across the roads of Guatemala, a young man with blond hair, decked in formal wear, carrying a camera in one hand and a picture in another, walked on.
"Soon, my darling Ellis, we will be reunited… soon…" he said to the picture he carried, a picture of the girl.
Hooray! A real chapter for once! Things are working towards a climax here. Hopefully, this upraise in quality should carry on towards the ending.
As before, please leave comments! It's how I know what my readers want!
On another note, I'm thinking at some point of re-writing some of the chapters that I've recently posted, but I'm going to wait until I'm finished with this story. Hopefully, I'm able to write it all done and get it posted by the beginning of August (in short, less than 24 hours from the time of this writing). Here goes nothing!