Chapter 3 – The Monster Laughs and Carries on His Mission
Before the events that transpired in the shopping mall, in a nearby Boobies, Spike Spiegel was sitting quietly at a table. A waitress had already asked for his order, but he told her he was waiting for someone.
The atmosphere was tense.
There weren't many customers today, and the waitresses seemed somewhat nervous when walking out to a table.
This could be attributed to Volnus' recent actions. The group of thieves were making hits more and more frequently, and as if that wasn't enough a bunch of fakers were stirring things up where they weren't. More officials were involved in trying to break this case than you could imagine. And even though they've begun to narrow down Volnus' possible location, sometimes the group throws them for a loop.
As a result of all the chaos, there is a certain area of the galaxy where everyone is paranoid about when Volnus might strike next.
Spike glanced around the restaurant. Seeing no one particularly suspicious, he let out a sigh. "I wonder why they're even targeting places like this." he muttered to himself.
It was certainly a mystery to everyone why such a sophisticated group of thieves would enjoy picking on an establishment such as Boobies the most.
A few tables away from him, an odd couple were chatting with excitement. A man dressed in an outfit that made him look like Sherlock Holmes, accompanied by a woman wearing an elegant white dress.
"Wow, do you think those Volnus guys will show up here?" the woman asked loudly. The man smiled and nodded as if he had infinite wisdom.
"But of course! Why wouldn't they? I'm sure we'll be able to catch those thugs today." he said.
Everyone in the building could probably hear them, but no one paid them any mind. The man was apparently boasting about how he would find Volnus and capture them.
Though, it is questionable how one man thought he could do what an entire sector of official forces couldn't.
"Should have figured other bounty hunters would be on the hunt for those
guys." Spike said.
"So if we actually run into Volnus, what are you going to do?" the woman questioned the man with a somewhat worried tone.
The carefree man spoke with bravado, "I'll beat them up of course! And then we can bring them in for the prize!"
"Incredible!"
"Unless, of course, they're stronger than I am. In which case we'll have to think of a very elaborate trap."
The woman nodded, understanding and accepting anything that came out of the man's mouth.
Spike was trying to ignore this couple's loud conversation, so he closed his eyes and sipped his drink. It wasn't even a few moments later that the man was holding a magnifying glass to Spike's face.
"..."
The man dressed as an old-fashioned TV detective looked through the magnifying glass with great intensity. "You seem somewhat suspicious, friend." the man exclaimed.
Spike smirked and moved his face away from the magnifying glass. "Just your humble bounty hunter, Sir. Nothing to see here."
"That so? Then you must be hunting down Volnus as well!"
"Hey, not so loud." Spike scolded the man.
–
In the kitchen, several cooks had stopped working and waitresses were standing around, all wearing nervous faces.
The manager had received a mysterious letter. No one was sure how it was delivered, or by whom. The manager swallowed hard as he unfolded the letter to read it. A bead of sweat rolled down his brow, and the middle-aged man opened his mouth to read the letter.
"Attention all employees. This is a member of Volnus. I command you to evacuate your building within the next ten minutes. If you do not comply... we'll... blow you to smithereens..."
The tension in the air rose at an incredible rate. The words the manager read were hard to swallow, and the employees were scared stiff. In less than a minute, however, they were thrown into a panicked frenzy. The gravity of the words had finally set in. Everyone rushed to evacuate their patrons.
Volnus' plan was being set into motion, like the tipping of dominoes.
–
"Spike Spiegel, huh? Nice to meet you! I'm Isaac Dian." the strange man introduced himself, sitting across from Spike.
The woman next to him chimed in without missing a beat, "And I'm Miria Harvent!"
"You see, the two of us have been following a path of justice for quite a long time, and our next good deed was capturing these Volnus guys that were making everyone worry so much!"
"Quite a long time" was an understatement. Though, somehow, the two strange people sitting across from Spike failed to realize it themselves, they had been following this "path of justice" for nearly two-hundred years.
"We're not quite bounty hunters..." Miria said.
"But that won't stop us from completing this good deed!" Isaac finished.
Spike was astonished by the innocence these two showed. Silently, he listened to the couple exchange a few more words, so casually. It almost seemed like they had completely forgotten what they were even doing.
"Everyone!" a voice screamed. A waitress came flying out of the kitchen and nearly tumbled over the counter. "E-excuse me, this is an emergency!" Everyone in the area was silenced by the panicked shouting of the young woman.
"U-u-ummm, you see, Volnus has demanded that we evacuate! If you don't, they'll b-bomb the place! Please, if you'll leave orderly but quickly!"
Murmuring among the patrons began. No one ignored the shaky voice of the waitress, however. Rather, everyone started to make their way out of the building. Few were as frightened as the poor girl.
The building was emptying itself. The waitresses, cooks, most of the patrons. Even people in the parts of the building that didn't really relate to Boobies were evacuating for fear of a bombing.
When all was said and done, five people remained in one area of the building.
"Shouldn't you two be leaving now. You can leave Volnus to me." Spike casually spoke to Isaac and Miria. The two shook their heads.
"Capturing Volnus will be our good deed! We an help you, too."
"We're pretty incredible, you know!"
The manager of the building came out of the kitchen, throwing down his hat on the counter and quickly trying to take his leave. On the way out the door, he noticed the three customers still sitting at a table and chatting idly. So he rushed over.
"E-excuse me, you three should really get going!"
Spike stood from his seat and walked across the room to another table.
"Sir, you need to leave! Now! Before –!"
The manager couldn't finish his sentence. Nearly losing his balance, he started to scream and run out, leaving the last of the customers behind. At the table where Spike was now standing was a very large man. Looking like he could easily lift three cars in one hand, the man towered high over Spike, even while sitting casually at the table.
"So you must be a Volnus member. Am I right?" Spike asked. The large man looked down on the bounty hunter and laughed.
"Indeed, I am. And now that you've seen my face, I can't let you go."
"That's okay. I had no plans of leaving the bounty behind."
"Ha! You think you can take me on, little man? I'd like to see you try! But... I'd rather sit still for now. At least wait for our departure."
Isaac and Miria had crept up on the side of the man opposite from Spike. Leaning in to hear the conversation, they became baffled by the word 'departure'.
"Where is he going?" Isaac whispered.
"Maybe his buddies are coming to pick him up." Miria responded.
"Hm, maybe. But Miria, how are they going to find him if he stays in here?"
The large man laughed once more. "You two are really funny, you know that! Listen, I like you guys, so I'll let you in on a little secret. Since I know you won't make it out of here with you lives, I'll tell you my name. My name is Behemoth. Or at least that's what my friends call me. I don't even remember my original name."
"You don't remember your original name?" Isaac parroted.
"That must be sad..." Miria followed.
"Nah, it's fine. Behemoth suits me, doesn't it?" the large man questioned as he stood from his seat. The only words one could find to describe such a person was a "monster" and even that didn't seem to do him justice.
Soon, however, another monster would be entering the scene.
"Well, no offense, Mister Behemoth. But we'll have to beat you up now." Isaac spoke nonchalantly. Miria nodded. Behemoth simply laughed.
"You little runts couldn't take me on in a million years!"
"Even so, we must never give up!"
"We'll be heroes of justice!"
Behemoth's laughing ceased. "You two are nuts. Have it you way then!" Behemoth curled his thick fingers into a fist. He brought the monstrous fist over his head and prepared to swing it down on the odd duo. Spike simply sat back and watched as Behemoth swung down with all his strength. Isaac and Miria dodged the fist, but it still managed to scrape them up with back draft alone. Isaac's hat went flying off behind him.
"Is he stronger than you, Isaac?"
"Hm... I'd say so..."
"So we'll have to set up a trap!"
"Yes, but we'll need some time. I never really thought this through..."
Behemoth's punch left a crater where the odd duo stood mere seconds before. He let out a huge, bellowing laugh. "Now you two know now to challenge me so recklessly! None of you are gonna live in the end, anyway, but might as well enjoy your last moments, right? Besides..." a smile spread across the monster's face, "The show is only just about to begin!"
After Behemoth said these words, the entire building began to rattle. A small tremor spread throughout, and then the building returned to a still state. But something felt off.
Spike walked over to the windows curiously.
"Hey... what exactly did you just do?" he asked Behemoth.
"The greatest heist of the century. We're stealing the entire building!" Behemoth let out another bellowing laugh. Isaac and Miria followed Spike over to the window and looked out in awe.
"Like that time we tried to steal the museum!" Miria commented.
"We couldn't pull that off, though. These Volnus guys are really amazing."
The three simply watched the scenery from outside pass by.
–
"First a bombing at a mall, and then the bastards steal an entire building?" a man shouted angrily at his assistant, "Tell me this is some sort of joke, Tracey! That's freaking insane!"
"Well, Sir, you are the one who said stranger things have happened."
"I did! But hot damn, I wasn't expecting this. I need a smoke..." he said, pulling a cigarette from his desk drawer.
"That's the fifth one in the past two hours, Sir."
"Ha! It's been one helluva day."
–
"Dandy, look!" QT exclaimed, pointing out a window at the Boobies, being carried away by a large ship.
"Whoa, what the hell's goin' on up there?"
"I wonder if it's the work of those Volnus guys."
"Could be. Hey, QT, get out of this traffic and just follow them. With any luck, they'll lead us right to a rare alien specimen!"