Bullet VII

Benny leaned back in a small armchair he had placed on the deck of the ship, so he could take advantage of the breeze and coolness of the night, and began to read one of Dutch's pornographic magazines.

He thought his boss had good tastes.

Since Dutch had briefed him on what this new job was going to be like on the way to Roanapur, Benny decided to skip the briefing and stayed at the Black Lagoon to relax a bit.

Unfortunately, he was too distracted to appreciate the girls in the magazine. Benny was worried about Revy. He had worked for a couple of years with her, long enough to know that the storm had not yet passed.

Benny knew she would take the job, impossible for her to turn it down with that juicy amount of money at stake, but it would be terribly uncomfortable working with Revy.

He sighed wearily, cursing his brilliant idea to steal the money from that fucking bet.

Then, in the silence of the night, Benny heard a noise. He got to his feet, thinking that an intruder had broken into the boat, but that was impossible, the local thieves and druggies knew it would be a death sentence to do that. Benny leaned back again, dismissing that threat. No one would be as crazy as for...

Benny noticed the two small, smiling children who hadn't been there a moment ago, holding a thick rope and duct tape.

" Hi!" -they said.

"AHHH!"

The kids pounced on Benny.

"Here's the situation...". -Dutch began. "I got a little job, Rev', but it's kind of fucked up."

"It'd be boring if it wasn't. How fucked up is it?"

"It involves an escape from a maximum security prison, and to Inter-Pol."

"Shit..." -Murmured Revy. Now that was fucked up, a new level. What the hell had Dutch gotten himself into these days? "I don't know if I like Dutch, you know I've got a nice track record. If I get caught by those bastards, I'll never see the light of day again."

"Don't worry about that, it's just a casual stroll in Taiwan, where accidentally a rat will climb up to the Black Lagoon without us noticing. Then, that rat will get off with us in Bangkok." -Explained Dutch. "Just like that. $100,000 payoff."

Revy let out a long whistle. Imagining that kind of money, she felt her mouth water.

In a secluded corner of the warehouse, Shenhua listened to everything while trying to hold back a smile. That group of idiots really didn't know that this was really the final part of the operation. They would have to get the "rat" out of prison first, with all the complications that entailed.

Chang was a son of a bitch who couldn't tell you "good morning" without lying to you, but she thought Dutch was a real asshole for not properly discussing the details of the operation. Or maybe Dutch didn't care in the face of the juicy sum of money Chang promised him, as was in her case, and was simply playing dumb.

In the midst of his thoughts, Shenhua saw the translator raise his hand, as if he were a student in the middle of a class.

"What's wrong?" -Dutch asked.

"Yeah, well... What the hell do I have to do with all that? I'm not a military man, nor am I a genius strategist, hell, I don't even know how to use a weapon. I don't see the point of me being here listening to all this talk." -Said Rock, who was sitting on the couch.

"That's because you know how to speak Chinese.". -Replied Shenhua. "Fang Jian, the rat who is to go up to the Black Lagoon. only knows how to speak Chinese. Your job will be to translate what he says, and maybe what the locals say too, that's all."

"And why don't you do it, Miss Shenhua?" -Rock asked. "You also speak Chinese, I think it would be most appropriate if you do the translating."

"Because I wasn't hired for that."

"I see." -Said Rock. "In that case, I'm afraid I'll have to turn this one down..."

Shenhua pulled a knife from his sleeve and casually tossed it at Rock, who let out a small squeak. The knife had embedded itself inches from his testicles. "It's not your decision to refuse or accept anything, asshole. This was requested by Mr. Chang." -said Shenhua, toying with a second knife. "I remind you that you owe him a debt."

"You should have explained it to me earlier!"

"Oops, I forgot to."

"Hey, don't do that again." -Advised Revy from across the warehouse, folding her arms and leaning against the wall. She pointed her finger at Shenhua. "Did you hear me?"

"Don't worry about him, I don't plan to hurt the translator. I just wanted to scare him a little."

"I don't give a shit if you hurt him or not. What I care about is that you just damaged the fucking chair, and it costs money to repair it, bitch. We'll be deducting that from your pay." -Replied Revy. "Stop throwing your fucking knives, or I'll shove them up your ass."

"I'd like you to try. I wonder if you'll be able to use your guns after you lose all the fingers on your hands."

Revy let out a dog-like growl, and Dutch spoke up to defuse the situation. "Shenhua's right, Rock. This job was given to us by Chang, sorry dude, looks like you'll once again be dragged into our crazy shit."

"I just don't want to get caught in the middle of a shootout."

"There won't be one. Like I said, our job is just to be the transport."

"...Revy's coming with us?" -Rock asked suddenly.

"Hell yeah." -answered Revy instantly, who in no way intended to miss out on the fun. "But don't even think I'm gonna be watching your ass and all that shit."

Rock, however, sighed in disappointment. "There will be a shootout, we confirm."

"Fuck you Rock."

"In any case, as Shenhua said, your involvement will only be the bare minimum, limited to translating whatever our rat says." -said Dutch. "Look on the bright side, you'll get away from this city you hate so much, take a nice boat ride and get to visit Taiwan. Think of it as a little vacation."

"Can I take the kids? They've never seen the ocean, and I'm sure they'll like it. Besides, I don't like the idea of leaving them unattended for the duration of the trip."

Dutch frowned. They were going on a serious job and the Black Lagoon was no fucking daycare. Besides, there was another equally if not more important matter. "You want me to let those little monsters roam my ship, and they can kill us all?"

The base fell silent, where the crack of Rock's knuckles could be heard as he clenched his fists tightly. "They're called Hansel and Gretel." -Said Rock, glaring at Dutch. "Don't you ever call them that again, or we'll have a serious problem.". -He warned.

Dutch didn't say anything or do anything, just looked at Rock silently. But Revy smiled with amusement.

Not out of derision, but because she was again impressed by how Rock could go from being a goofy kid to a hard man instantly when it came to the twins. She'd seen Rock do that before in front of Chang and Balalaika, but now he had the balls to go and threaten Dutch, to his face.

Now, the only thing Revy wondered, was if Dutch would kick Rock's ass and she'd have to step in so he didn't kill him.

"Okay.". - But fortunately for Rock, Dutch simply held up his hands in a reassuring gesture. "Hansel and Gretel. Got it. But I insist, I don't like the idea of going with them, I don't want my ship to look like Balalaika's base."

Rock opened his mouth to respond, but Revy quickly intervened to stop the very imbecile from saying anything dumb again, and this time Dutch actually beat him up.

"Don't worry, those brats are already so destructive, they learned to control themselves a little bit while you were gone.". -Said Revy, still smiling. "There's no point in arguing with this idiot about them either. He's not going to abandon them, so, if you want Rock to go with us to Taiwan, his kids should go too. Simple as that."

"Are you sure about that Revy?" -Dutch asked.

"I wouldn't bother speaking up for them if I wasn't really sure. Besides, you never saw them in action, they're really good. And we could use some extra hands."

Dutch thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Very well, I'll take your word for it then. The kids can come with us."

Revy noticed Rock gave her a grateful look, she simply replied with a thumbs up.

"Very well. Then we'll meet tomorrow to continue preparations." -said Dutch, heading towards the exit. "I need to get extra fuel and more weapons. So I'll have to buy equipment from the Church of Violence..."

He opened the door, and found Benny handcuffed on the floor and wearing a muzzle made of tape. The twins stood beside him, weapons in hand.

" Hi!" -they said.

"NNNHHH!" -Benny exclaimed.

Dutch quietly closed the door.

"..."

"Dutch? What the hell was that?" -Revy asked.

"I don't know." -Responded Dutch. "Maybe I imagined it?"

Dutch opened the door again, but the kids and Benny were still there.

"Hey." -Said the little girl. "Shutting the door in the face of someone who's talking to you isn't-"

Dutch closed the door once more. "Rock, do something about your damn kids!" -He exclaimed.

"What? What do you mean?" -Rock asked as he stood up.

"They're here, they kidnapped Benny!"

Rock hurried over to the door, and when he opened it, sure enough, there stood the twins and a handcuffed Benny.

"Oh, there you are Boss."

"Hi Boss!"

"NNNHHH!"

"Kids, doing that ain't right!"

After untying Benny, everyone, with the exception of Shehua, who had retired, went to The Yellow Flag at Dutch's suggestion to calm the tense mood a bit. While that helped a little, Benny preferred to stay as far away as possible from the twins anyway, who were watching him calmly making him shiver.

"That's enough." -said Rock to the twins sternly. "Stop picking on Benny."

"Aww."

"Okay Boss."

Rock gave Benny an embarrassed smile. "Sorry man, these kids like to play a little."

"Well it didn't look like a game to me.". -Responded Benny, offended. On his wrists had been left the marks of the ropes. "How can you deal with them every day?"

"I've gotten used to it. If it makes you feel any better, they tried to skin me when we first met."

"No, that doesn't make me feel any better at all!"

"Actually, we weren't going to hurt the four-eyed one!" -interjected Gretel. "We just used him as a hostage as a security measure, you know, in case Anego's friends hurt you."

"Anego?" -Rock asked.

"The snarling, violent bitch they call Revy. That's Anego."

"Ah."

"Hey, don't take it so easy!" -Bramed Revy, banging loudly on the bar and clinking glasses. "I never accepted you calling me that."

"You said you didn't care what I called you!" -Replied Gretel.

"Well, I do care now. Stop calling me that, stupid."

"Calling a girl stupid is a little..."

"Shut up Rock."

"I get it, now in addition to being a grumpy, violent bitch, you're bipolar." -said Gretel, shaking her head. "You're really messed up in the head."

"Fuck you, you stupid asshole!"

Before the situation escalated, and Revy butchered the girl, Dutch stepped in. "How come they knew where we were?"

Hansel was the one who answered. "Well, we were following Boss when the snarling, violent, bipolar bitch kidnapped him."

"I'll remember that, you little motherfucker."

The boy ignored her." It wasn't too hard to do, since Boss wouldn't stop whining the whole way." -Said Hansel, earning a complaint from Rock, but he ignored him as well. "And when they got to that warehouse, and we saw that there were strange people there, well, we caught the four-eyed one as a security measure. That's all."

Gretel nodded. "But you guys sure are lucky. When that shitty Chinese woman threw the knife at Boss, I was about to come in and kill you all!" -She stated, shocking those present. "Fortunately for you guys, it looked like she was just playing around. But I'll be sure to return that game to her someday."

Dutch raised both eyebrows. "So you guys saw and heard everything that happened in there?"

Hansel nodded. "That's right. You guys, you should have someone keeping an eye on the surroundings and improve the security of your base. I mean, there was an open window. And if we could sneak in through there, anyone can do it." -He smiled arrogantly. "But then again, we're also experts at sneaking into hard-to-reach places."

"The only window in the warehouse, it's just a small grate."

"We are small." -replied the boy.

"But the grate is almost on the ceiling, several feet up." -insisted Dutch, refusing to believe what the boy was saying.

"Like I said, we're experts at sneaking through hard-to-reach places."

Dutch felt his throat very dry, so he refreshed himself by taking a long drink of the beer Rock had served him. In a nutshell, those kids had followed Revy to the base, kidnapped Benny, snuck onto the base and eavesdropped on every conversation they had.

And all of that without anyone there even realizing it.

"What's up Dutch? For a Nigga, you're looking pretty white right now." -Joked Revy, but her voice sounded too strained. She was breaking out in a cold sweat too. On the other hand, Benny was spooked and Rock was simply smiling. "Like I told you, these kids are good."

"Yeah, I guess you were right."

"I'm always right."

Hansel and Gretel gave a polite bow. "Then, we look forward to getting along with you." -They said in unison.

The Lagoon company members simply looked at them, beginning to regret the decision to allow those children to travel with them to Taiwan. Rock, on the other hand, raised his thumb as a mode of approval.

"Those are my good kids."

Chang, from his office in Bangkok, was waiting for a call from one of his subordinates. He had previously confirmed that the lines were secure, so there would be no need to talk in code. Chang thought that was a pity, as it was amusing. The phone rang, and he quickly answered.

"Cho."

"Mr. Chang."

"Tell me everything is ready."

"It is, Mr. Chang. Xian Ye already took care of the arrangements and got the Lagoon Company a safe house for them to walk around freely." -Cho replied. "We also got him toys that go 'kaboom' to do remodeling if needed."

"The lines are secure, Cho. No need to talk in code.". -Chang said.

"...And why didn't you tell me before? I'm with people here, you made a fool of me!"

Chang smiled. "But it's funny isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, it makes me feel like I'm a spy... But that's not the point Mr. Chang! Xian Ye really showed off this time, he got a good amount of explosives and detonators, besides, he also got bulletproof vests."

Chang nodded with satisfaction. Preparations were going better than expected, at least Dutch was going to have a good base and necessary tools. The rest would depend on his ingenuity and good luck.

"Excellent. By the way how much explosive are we talking about?"

"Ah, yes. These are also of a good quality, it's C-4 plastic explosive, you know, you have to check them very carefully to be able to detect them. Don't worry about that."

Chang frowned. "Cho...how much explosive did they buy?"

"...About 100 kilograms."

Chang almost fell out of his seat. That amount was an exaggeration. "Are they out of their minds? You have to blow a hole in a wall, not send the prison into space!"

"Y-Yes, I'm very sorry Mr. Chang. The supplier said he wouldn't take a deal for less than that, and explosives aren't that easy to come by."

"Who the hell is it? I want to have a little chat with that demanding supplier."

"It's Koko Hekmatyar, sir. She sends her regards to you and Fang Jian."

"...That bitch."

Chang sighed. Leaving Xian Ye in charge of the shopping was a mistake, and now that bitch knew he was really the buyer, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Maybe he could use the rest of the explosives for something else in the future.

"Never mind. What about plan B?"

"This one's done too. We have mercenaries ready to support or supplant the Lagoon company if necessary."

"So... what about C?"

"Well, let's just say there's a bullet that has Fang Jian's name written on it."

"Okay, good job. Get your asses out of there, it's time for Dutch to go on a field trip to Taiwan. And give our friend Fang Jian a call so he can go pack his bags."

"...Wasn't there no need to talk in code anymore?"

"I don't care."

Dutch returned to his base feeling satisfied. The negotiation with the old harpy from the Church of Violence had gone well, and he was able to get extra weapons and ammunition at a good price. In addition, he also got a new toy for Revy, just in case, that would be a surprise.

A small reward for her for being so good in his absence.

Also, he had received a call from Chang, saying it was now to go to Taiwan. Dutch would have preferred to have a couple more days, but if Chang said it was time, then it was time.

As he entered the base, he saw that Benny, Rock and Revy were gathered around a table and devouring food from small plastic trays. But as he approached, he noticed that they were actually carefully inspecting the food, as if they were disarming a bomb.

He also noticed that the children were missing...

"Where are Hansel and Gretel?" -Said Dutch as he went straight to pour himself a glass of his Whiskey.

"They're outside, keeping watch.". -Responded Rock. "I told them it wasn't necessary, but they insisted."

"I haven't seen them."

"Of course you didn't, but I'm sure they did see you."

Dutch shivered, then took a long swig of his drink.

Those kids made him nervous, he had no idea how Rock had managed to get used to them and act normal. But he remembered that Rock wasn't exactly a very normal guy, after all, no one right in the head would have decided to stay in a city full of mobsters, murderers, thieves and any criminal scum in existence.

Revy held up his fork and showed Dutch the strange object he had stuck in it. "What do you think this is Dutch?"

Dutch frowned. "Some kind of tube."

"It's what I was afraid of.". -Revy sighed and set the object down on the table. She shot Rock an angry look. "That's the last time you go shopping alone, asshole."

"How was I supposed to know? The store looked fine, I mean, it was clean!"

"The golden rule about shopping at a fast-food store in Roanapur, is that, if you don't see rats in sight, then it's not a good place." -Responded Benny, chewing on something that appeared to be a fried egg, but he decided not to give the matter a second thought.

"That's disgusting."

"Maybe, but rats aren't going to go eat something that can kill them, get it?"

"Ugh, I guess you're right. I'll never buy fast food again."

Revy gave up with chewing the piece of chicken, or what appeared to be chicken, and spit it out onto the table, much to the chagrin of the two men. "I've wondered for a while, but how the hell do you eat normally? Because, if you buy this shit on a daily basis, it's a wonder you're still alive."

"This is the first time I've ever bought fast food, I usually prepare my own food.". -Rock replied.

"...Do you know how to cook?".

"Of course I do, what kind of useless adult doesn't know how to prepare for their own food?". -Revy, Dutch and Benny were silent. Rock shook his head. "I figured as much."

"You think you're better than us because you know how to cook? Well now you'll be our fucking cook until we're done with this job, for free and without any complaints, or I'll shove this fork up your ass." -Rvy threatened, pointing his fork at him. "Did you hear me?"

"...What's your problem with going around sticking things up people's asses?"

"It's a habit I picked up in prison."

"What a fun way to pass the time."

"So is knocking teeth into idiots who make smart remarks."

Benny decided to put those two's discussion aside, got up from the table and walked over to Dutch. His boss was leaning back in a chair with his feet up on a desk. "So, are we ready for work yet?"

"A little anxious to go?"

"I need money." -Benny replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, money is an excellent motivation to do a job well. And as for your other question, yes. We're all set. I got a call from Chang and he wants our asses in Taiwan to get his friend out of prison." -answered Dutch, hoping if one of them would pick up on the little detail.

And it was, Rock was the first to jump. "Wait Dutch. You said get out of prison..."

"That's right."

"Weren't we just supposed to be your transport?"

"I'm glad you're speaking in the plural, and paying attention to those details, but yes. There was a slight change of plans, you know how these kinds of operations are."

"No, I don't know what they're like, nor do I want to know." -Rock replied, frowning. "Are you out of your mind? Doing that is like 100 times more dangerous, and illegal."

"Please Rock, anything to do with us is illegal. Think about how we're just going to help a poor man unjustly incarcerated."

"...Is that true?"

"Probably not, but as long as we get paid we don't have to care."

"Hang on a second there Dutch. This idiot is right about this." -interjected Revy, much to Rock's surprise. "We can't go from being just a transport to being the ones to haul that guy's ass."

"Why not?"

"Because we get paid too little." -she replied, holding up one of her fingers. "Don't you think it should be, I don't know, like $200,000?"

"Wait, that's not right either!" -Rock exclaimed, though he must have figured she'd say something along those lines.

"Hmm, you're right, $300,000 should be fine, plus extra for the inconvenience we're going to have."

"That's not what I meant either!"

"Well like it or not, that's the way it is Rock.". -answered Dutch, ignoring his claims. "We'll take care of getting Chang's man out of prison, you just worry about translating what he has to say, or when it's needed, and everything will be fine. okay?"

"Would my opinion be of any use in this?"

"No."

Rock sighed wearily, knowing there was nothing he could do. "Then I guess it's all right."

"I'm glad we understand each other. Now, go pack your bags, kids. We're going on vacation to Taiwan."