Bullet III

"Why is this place full of fucking Chinese people?". -Said Revy, noticing the Asians in the place. Some were chatting amongst themselves, others were sitting, eating and drinking something, while others were just standing around. She and Rock walked around for a while until she grabbed the arm of one of the Balalaika men walking by. "Hey you."

"Two Hands? You look bad... What happened to your face?" -She opened her mouth to answer, but he interrupted her. "Never mind, I don't want to know. What are you and the Japonski doing here?"

"We came to pay Sis a visit, but it seems we accidentally ended up in a Buddhist temple. What's going on here, is Jackie Chan signing autographs here or what?"

"Mr. Chang and the Kapitana are in an important meeting. You shouldn't be here right now."

Revy let go of the man and motioned him away with a sharp wave of her hand. The Russian looked at her sullenly before walking away. "That explains why so much Chinese. Chang's here, shit, what a fuck-up."

"Chang, the Triad boss you mentioned earlier?" -Rock asked.

"Yes, and that means two things; he's either doing business with Balalaika, or he finally declared war on her and we're all going to die." -Responded Revy, he looked at her with dread. "Nah, I'm kidding stupid. I don't think it's that. There's a tension in the air, but it's not because of a war between them. Something else is going on."

"Then let's get the hell out of here. I've already told you I don't want any trouble with the Russians, let alone the Chinese."

"And to have traveled all this way, worse, to have traveled with you all this way, for nothing? No way. Whatever happens between Sis and Boss Chang is not our problem, we just came to collect a debt, so stop being such a pussy and let's go." -Revy said and then started walking with long strides.

Rock looked at her for a moment, debating between leaving the place as fast as possible or following her. But he finally followed her, as he was curious despite the possible danger.

After all, what could go wrong?

There were two boys sitting on a small bench, they were almost identical. The only difference, apart from the fact that one wore a skirt and had long hair, was their gender. They were happily singing a song while cleaning some guns. One, the girl, was cleaning an assault rifle almost as big as she was, while the other, the boy, was cleaning twin pistols.

"My friend's got a boyfriend, man, she hates that dick~, She tells me every day~"

"He wants more money just to stay at home~, Well, my friend, you gotta say~"

"I won't pay, I won't pay ya, no way-ay-ay-ay-ay Na-na, ¿why don't you get a job~?

"Say no way, say no way-ah, no way-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay Na-na, ¿why don't you get a job~?"

Balalaika shook her head, while Chang had a forced smile on her face. "This is what I've had to put up with." -Chang said. "I don't know where the hell they learned that song from, but they seem to like it, because they've been repeating it all the way here."

"Some kids shouldn't be singing that. It's not right."

The twins became aware of her presence. "Oh, ¿are you our new Mistress?" -asked the girl, looking at Balalaika with a smile on her face. "How do you do, my name is Gretel."

"Same here. My name is Hansel." -said the boy, without stopping cleaning his weapons even though they were already so polished that it reflected his face on them. Unlike his sister, he was serious. "When are we going to kill someone? We haven't done it for hours and I'm getting bored. I need blood."

"Forgive my dear brother, he's a bit of a psychopath."

"You say that, dear sister, but you're the one who stuck that man with a stick in the-"

"AH! ¡I don't want to know!" -Balalaika interrupted. "There's no need to tell that. Keep the grisly details to yourselves."

"But it was kind of interesting." -Hansel insisted. "I've never seen an anus expand so much. She used a golf club."

Gretel nodded vigorously. "But I put it in backwards, the thick bottom part first. Naturally he resisted, but with a motion like this-"

"I said I don't want to know!"

Hanse and Gretel looked at each other and smiled. "I don't like her." -Said Hansel.

"Yeah, it's the same with the man with dark glasses, her reactions are not that funny, she screams too much and her face is scary.". -Gretel replied.

"I feel sorry for her though, it sure must be hard to have to see her ugly face every day in the mirror."

Balalaika felt her anger and confusion grow to alarming levels. She elbowed Chang in the ribs to remove his shit-eating grin.

"Ogghhfff!"

"You said they were deadly assassins. I just see a couple of very ill-mannered brats." -Said Balalaika.

"Yeah, they have the ability to piss people off really fast.". -Said Chang in a choked voice. "But what I said is true, these kids are... huh?"

"What?"

"Look, they're gone."

Balalaika turned her head sharply to look at the twins, and sure enough, the two had vanished. "But what the...?"

Chang pulled out his cell phone and called one of his subordinates. "Cho?"

"¿Yes, Mr. Chang?"

"The twins are gone, I don't have them anymore. I'm sorry."

"...You mean Miss Balalaika killed them? That was quick."

"No, but it was close. I mean they literally took off, ran away right under our noses."

"Oh, boy. This is going to get ugly, I'll let our colleagues know."

"I'd appreciate it a lot. And while you're at it, lock up and secure the building. Those monsters must not get out on the streets."

" Roger that, Mr. Chang. By the way, I was informed that Two Hands was spotted here."

Revy in the building, just now? Chang didn't know if it was a good or bad luck. "Ah, okay. If you run into her, send her with me right away. We may need her help."

"All right sir. I'll see you later."

Chang ended the call and sighed wearily as he put his phone away. He turned to Balalaika. "Okay, here's the situation..."

But she wasn't there either. She had abandoned him.

"Oh, of course. Going solo on the hunt for two highly trained twins who specialize in killing is a fantastic idea." -Chang said and then unsheathed his twin guns and grinned wildly. "But I guess there's no choice."

"What the hell are you doing talking to yourself?" -Said Balalaika, suddenly appearing.

Chang's smile disappeared, being replaced by a stupid expression. "Huh?"

"And what the hell are you doing with those guns?"

"You... I was... Where did you come from?"

"From the bathroom, I went to piss while you were talking on the phone. What's up with that?"

"...A lady shouldn't say the word 'piss', ¿you know?"

"We are criminal scum Chang, formality and appearances don't apply to us."

"It's easy for you to put aside appearances, Fry face, but I still have a handsome face." -said Chang, lowering his guns. "Still, I think that-"

"Yeah, I don't care."

"Excuse me?"

"Nobody cares. Now, what's the situation with the kids?"

"...Well, right now those bloodthirsty little twins are roaming freely around this building with no one to stop them, so we're screwed. But, the good news is that I've already alerted Cho to alert my boys. I think you should do the same and call your comrades to warn them what's going on."

"How am I supposed to do that? I don't have a cell phone."

"What? What do you mean you don't have one? But we've exchanged texts and calls."

"Well that's just it, I don't have one of my own, I always use my men's phones, ¿shouldn't I?"

"Hell no Are you crazy or what? ...wait, does that mean your men saw the messages I sent you...? Oh boy..."

"Of course not idiot, I make sure to delete messages and call logs, I'm not stupid."

"Phew..." -Chang sighed in relief. There were messages that were for her eyes only. "Look, I'll lend you mine, but I want it back."

Balalaika stretched out her hand, demanding the phone. "Yes, I'll give it back to you. I'm not a fucking thief."

"And how do you explain stealing my heart?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just make the call. Every minute that passes the twins are more likely to cause chaos." -A loud explosion shook the building. "... Never mind, it's too late."

"What the fuck is going on?!"

The attack was sudden, one minute after Chang had reported that the twins had escaped. Chang's men quickly got into formation and communicated the report to their Russian 'allies'.

However, it was too late. Hansel appeared on the scene, calmly walking through a doorway, only to throw two grenades into the middle of the room.

The explosion had sent a few soldiers flying, and stunned the rest for a few moments. Moments that Gretel took advantage of, appearing behind her brother, to throw with surprising ease a thick and heavy wooden table to use it as a support and shield, and then start shooting with her assault rifle at anyone who crossed her path while she hummed a song cheerfully.

Instead, his brother Hansel preferred a more direct method, as he drew his twin pistols and launched himself directly at the enemy, using his small size and speed to his advantage to move around the room while firing at point blank range and avoiding the enemy's projectiles. All with a big grin on his face.

"Why is it that whenever you're around there's always a fucking shootout!?" -Rock exclaimed, who had been caught along with Revy in the crossfire and had taken cover under a small table.

Unlike him, Revy was perfectly calm, but with his guns ready for action. "Nah man, this sure is on you."

"I knew this would happen! You always end up dragging me into this kind of shit!"

"Welcome to the land of the free, asshole."

Another explosion rocked the room, thanks to another grenade from Hansel, blowing up the small table that served as a shelter and leaving them even more exposed.

"We're going to die!"

"Stop crying already!" -Shouted Revy as he stood up in the middle of the shooting. "Can someone explain to me what the fuck is going on here!?"

To Rock's surprise, that actually stopped the shooting. Balalaika and Chang's men immediately cheered.

"Look, ¡that's Two Hands!"

"Revy Two Hands is here...! But what's wrong with her face? Is it really her? Her face is all puffy and purple. It's kind of grossing me out."

"You moron, of course it's her. Only Two Hands dresses like a whore and uses two guns like Mr. Chang. Besides, no other babe is as hot as she is! I mean, ¡Look at that ass!"

"Wait, I recognize that shit she's got on her face It's morphine overdose! Damn, it had to be just now, finally her excesses got the better of her!"

"It's not that idiot. Otherwise how could she be here, and talk normally?"

"Pufferfish." -said a Russian as he recoiled in horror. " Pufferfish do that, I've seen it before. Poor Alexey ate one last week and got poisoned, his face became deformed and just as grotesque as Two Hands!"

"Grotesque or not, she still has a nice ass!"

"God... What happened to Alexey?"

"H-He died. Pufferfish poison is lethal In less than six hours it killed him!"

"No way... ¿¡Then her hours are numbered!?"

"Hurry, get a doctor!"

"Shut up, you assholes!" -roared Revy. "You're just spouting pure bullshit!"

The twins also stopped and came back together. "We're playing." -Responded Gretel, as if it was the most normal thing in the world." We got bored of being with nothing to do and wanted to play a little."

"What a way to play. This isn't Syria, Afghanistan or Africa for some fucking kids to use guns." -Replied Revy.

"Revy... saying that's not right!" -Said Rock.

"I don't care."

Hansel put a hand on Gretel's shoulders. "Sister, that woman is different from the rest of those scumbags."

"Yes, I can sense a different air about her. Shall we play with her?"

"I'd love to! But first let's eliminate the scarred woman and the man with dark glasses. If the three of them team up, it could be dangerous..."

"Why wait, let's play!" -interrupted Revy to then fire at the twins. They quickly hid behind the table. She continued firing without stopping. "Get out of there you little motherfuckers!"

"Watch out!" -Signaled Rock as he saw a grenade go off behind the table heading for Revy. But she shot at it while it was still in the air, setting off another explosion that sent her to the ground. "Revy...!

"I'm okay, I'm okay." -She said jumping to her feet. She dusted off her clothes. "But these brats sure like to blow stuff up, they must be fucking Arabs!"

"Hey, saying that isn't right!".

"I don't care!"

"Two Hands, stop, you're destroying the Kapitana base!"

"But I didn't do anything!" -Another grenade landed next to Revy, right in front of Rock's face, who let out a shriek, but she simply kicked the grenade to another side of the room. Again, the explosion rocked the building. "See? It's their fault. Enough bombing, you fucking assholes!"

"That's what your mother said last night!" -Responded Hansel, still hiding.

"Why don't you come and say it to my face, you fucking sissy brat!"

"We would, but your face makes us sick to our stomachs!" -Responded Gretel this time, then threw another grenade.

But this one was different. The grenade exploded as it landed, but released a very thick black smoke that quickly covered the room.

Chang and Balalaika's soldiers quickly rushed to the attack, as they knew that this grenade was to cover the twins' retreat. There was chaos and confusion, as many screamed and ran everywhere in search of Hansel and Gretel, but the smoke made it impossible.

After a minute, the smoke began to clear. By the time it finally disappeared, the twins were gone.

"Hey..." -Said Revy, looking around as she realized someone was missing. "Where the hell is Rock?"

Rock thought he had seen it all after Roberta's confrontation, but Roanapur once again broke his own record by sending those two kids to him. During the confusion, and half choking on the smoke, he was kidnapped by the twins and dragged somewhere in the building for some reason unknown to him.

But it turned out that the kids were just as confused.

"I told you Hansel, this is not the one the man in dark glasses calls 'Cho', nor 'Xian Ye'. This is another one."

"¿Can you blame me, sister? They all look the same, maybe it's one of them."

Gretel tilted her head slightly to the side and stared at her hostage. Rock had the involuntary memory of the maid. That little girl, despite being a killing machine, was kind of cute. "No, no, there's something different. ¿Sir, you are from China, in the service of the man with black glasses?"

"You mean Mr. Chang?"

"Ah, so you're under his command."

"Not really, I've only heard a little about him." -Responded Rock, smiling. "And, as a matter of fact, I am from Japan."

"You are unexpectedly calm despite being kidnapped, sir."

"My name is Rock and...you might say I have some experience with kidnappings. But this is the first time it's been done by kids."

"Japan, China, Korea...you all look the same, even without one of you taking your skin off. ¿I wonder if God ran out of imagination when he created you?" -Hansel said and then let out a small sigh. "Well, it looks like I made a mistake. Never mind, how do you want to do it Gretel, with the short knife or the long knife?"

Rock was alarmed to see the boy draw two knives, both very sharp and scary looking. "Wait, wait! What are you going to do with that?"

Hansel looked at him as if he were an idiot. "It's obvious, isn't it? Skin you."

"Why!?"

Gretel let out a small giggle. "Don't worry sir, we're professionals at this. We can make you feel pain, or feel lots and lots of pain. Your choice."

"Neither! ¡I like my skin where it is!"

"But I've already got my knives out." -Hansel complained.

"Then put them away!".

Gretel laughed again. Unlike the scarred woman or the man with dark glasses, and any other victim in general, this man amused her with his screams. He too really showed his fear and didn't bother to feign bravery or courage, unlike many others who were under Hansel's cruel but entertaining game. Also, his facial expressions were more amusing to him.

"No, no Hansel. Don't hurt him."

The male twin looked at her, surprised. Gretel had always been the softer of the two, but she had never asked him not to hurt someone before, so that confused him quite a bit. "Uh...okay, dear sister. But are you sure?"

"Uh-huh. I kind of don't feel like hurting him. And it's already fun for me without the need for us to have to cut him to make him cry or curse."

"Well, it's not so much for me." -Hansel complained, pouting, which would make Rock look cute if the kid wasn't threatening to skin him, but putting the knives away anyway.

"There, there, we'll get another toy later.". -comforted his sister. "Besides, we wouldn't have much time to play quietly either, we've already stirred up this hornet's nest and we should leave before we get stung."

"I guess you're right."

With that said, both twins began to walk away. The most rational part of Rock's brain told him that he should keep his mouth shut and take advantage of this opportunity to get out of this terrifying situation without getting hurt, and get as far away from those little monsters as he could before they changed their minds.

"Wait!" -Rock said helplessly. The children stopped to look at him. "You guys... Why are you doing this, why are you starting a war against Mr. Chang and Miss Balalaika?"

Hansel shrugged.

"We're not trying to start any war, we made all this fuss simply because it's fun.". -answered he. "It amuses us greatly to listen to the cries and cries of pain from our playmates; men and women who think they own the world, when they are nothing more than vomit in a toilet. Even more so if they insult and curse us while clamoring that this one or that one will get us and kill us, along with a lot of other stupidity."

"But that doesn't apply to you, does it sir? You're different from all that mafia and criminal crap that abounds around here, Mr. Rock." -said Gretel. "We're not so twisted yet that we can't tell the difference between that, well... Hansel doesn't give a damn, but he's really messed up in the head."

"Hey, we're twins, so you are too sister."

She ignored him. "In any case, as my brother said, you were kidnapped by mistake, the target was another one."

"I...I don't get it, what's the fun in hurting others?"

"We wouldn't know exactly. Hmm...when you eat something delicious, you feel like eating the same thing again, don't you? Well, the same applies to us, but instead of eating, it's hurting and killing people. At first we didn't like it one bit, but after we were forced to do it so many times, we ended up liking it." -Gretel closed her eyes and gave him a bright smile. "As time went by, we understood that that's what we existed in this world for. Now it's the only thing we know how to do."

Rock backed up a few steps, confused, scared and sad for those kids, not quite sure how to react. What kind of horrible shit had the two of them had to endure to end up like this? Rock couldn't even imagine. It wasn't fair...

"It's not too late yet...". -Rock said, feeling tears stinging his eyes. "You guys have only had to suffer the darkest part of this shitty world. But I know that, somewhere, there's hope for you guys to have a normal, peaceful life! It's still not too late to walk away from that shitty darkness filled with madness, blood and death!"

The twins looked at him in silence for a moment.

"Heh..."

"Fu..."

"Hehehehahaha!"

"Fuahahahaha!"

The children exclaimed. Surprising Rock by their laughter, which echoed through the place.

"Sis, you were right." -Said Hansel, the first to recover. "This man is funny. It's the first time we've met someone like that."

"He certainly is a nice person; don't you think so? I mean, it's the first time someone cries for us, isn't it?" -Said Gretel.

"Yes, but I also think he shouldn't cry in front of other people in the future."

"That's true. If you continue to show that weakness in front of others, someday you will meet a horrible person and end up like us... But wouldn't that be sad, Hansel? To let a horrible person hurt this good man?"

"Hmm... I guess so, it would be a shame.". -said the male twin after a moment's thought. "So you want to kill him to prevent that?"

"...Really Hansel? All you think about is killing. You can really tell your brain has gone dry and rotten."

"Like I said, we're twins. That means you're just as crazy as I am."

"In any case, you're not entirely wrong. But I didn't mean to kill him, I meant to protect him." -said Gretel.

Hansel shrugged his shoulders. Sometimes even he didn't understand his sister's reasoning, but it had been a long time since he had last seen his sister so interested... nor so alive. And that gave him something that gave him happiness, though it was a very different one from the happiness of when someone was killed.

It felt odd, but not exactly unpleasant.

"Would it do any good to deny me?" -He asked.

"Nope~."

"Ah, that's fine then."

"Wait a minute!" -Rock exclaimed, not understanding anything the twins were saying. "What are you guys talking about?"

"I'm simply taking your word for it, Mr. Rock. You said that, somewhere in the world there was hope for us, away from the darkness Right? ". -Said Gretel to then take a polite bow. "Then, me and my brother will be by your side until we find that place. I hope we can get along."

"...What! I know I said that, but...!"

"There's no point arguing with her, she's very stubborn. Once she's made up her mind, she won't change it easily." -Hansel said and then imitated his sister and bowed. "I hope you can continue to amuse me from now on, Boss."

Rock looked at both children not knowing what to say. Then, he let out a tired sigh." Oh, boy..."