Bullet XXIX

Lutz was dead.

He finally succumbed to the gunshot wounds and died, with his eyes open and an indifferent expression on his face. Valmet proceeded to cover her body with a white sheet. Afterwards, she and her colleagues, Lehm and Ugo, decided to hold a moment of silence for his small but honorable funeral.

It was a sad day for Koko's squad.

"Hey!" -Lutz exclaimed, rising stiffly from the armchair where he was lying and slapping the sheet away from his body. He pointed accusingly at his companions, who had begun to burst out laughing. "That wasn't funny, you assholes!"

His shout only made them laugh louder.

From a corner of the room, with a phone in her hand and pressed to her ear, Koko smiled. Despite the difficult situation they were going through, it was good that they were in a joking mood. It made her feel calmer and more relaxed.

However, not all of her bodyguards were comfortable with the idea that they were still in town.

Tojo and the rest of her squad had stayed on the new, more discreet boat they arrived in Roanapur on, because she didn't want to attract attention with such a large group, although in the end that was to no avail, so Koko proceeded to make a call and inform Tojo of everything that had happened so far.

After the failed attack on Chang, she and her squad returned to the shabby hotel where they were staying, which was located in the red-light district. If Roanapur had seemed like a horrible place to live before, this part of the city was even worse.

But it was a good place to stay hidden, at least that's what Koko thought, no one was crazy and reckless enough to go into a place like this to look for trouble...apart from them, of course.

In any case, as expected, Tojo was not at all happy after hearing the report. "Return to the ship."

"Denied."

After that brief exchange, Tojo sighed regretfully. He probably already knew that she would refuse right away, but he still didn't give up. "Listen, Koko, the little chaos you made in that office won't last long. Soon there will be a lot of very pissed off gangsters chasing you, if they aren't already hunting you down. And I don't need a casino to bet on that."

"I am aware that Chang will send someone to chase us. ". -Said Koko. "But with no idea which direction we went in, they'll be searching blindly, Tojo. The odds of them finding us right away are absolutely low."

"Possibly, but we shouldn't assume that.". -Replied Tojo. "In your situation, overconfidence could easily prove lethal...I think Lutz is a clear example of that."

Koko grimaced. Although Lutz's wounds had already been treated, which were not very serious, and the risk of death had completely disappeared, Koko felt responsible for what happened. Chang's provocations made her lose her head, and as a result, he almost killed her bodyguards.

Koko was not stupid, she knew very well that they were still alive only because Chang concentrated more on running away than fighting, since he had expressed his desire not to kill her and because of the disadvantage he was at in that office.

But that had now changed, they had already declared war by trying to kill him and Chang would not stand idly by and wait for death. Besides, he had the full backing of his organization to hunt them down and Roanapur was his territory, now Chang was the one who had a huge advantage over her and her squad.

Tojo was right, it was time to slow down and pull back.

But Koko continued to insist simply to make him angry. "Maybe. But second-guessing ourselves can get us killed just as quickly. So you want me to act like you, a scaredy-cat, instead of...?"

"Scaredy-cat? Who said anything about being scared?" -Tojo snorted, taking the bait. "What I am saying is that we should be cautious, Koko. There's a time for bold actions and a time for caution and reasoning, and under these circumstances I think caution is called for. You know, that thing that keeps you from doing something stupid."

There was silence. And then she sighed softly. "Yeah, I know, I was just messing with you. So, what do you suggest we do?"

"Well...". -Tojo paused, apparently considering his boss's tediously limited options. "You're not wrong that the odds are in your favor, at least for the moment. I suggest you stay hidden for a few days, no sudden attacks, until the waters calm down a bit. Maybe Chang thinks you left town and you could take that opportunity to-"

"-counterattack when Chang has his guard down."

"-really get away."

"..."

"..."

"That's it!". -Tojo exclaimed, losing her patience. "You have too much thirst for blood and violence, young lady! No more Tarantino movies for you, they're a bad influence!"

"No, wait, you're being irrational!" -said Koko, shedding anime-style tears. "I've only seen Pulp Fiction five times!"

"How many times do you intend to watch the same damn movie!?"

After sealing the deal with Chang to take care of the problem he was going through, Revy headed to Rip Off Church to talk to Eda about business.

The chance to kill someone and get money were two things Eda was quite fond of, one of the reasons the two of them got along more or less well, so Revy couldn't think of anyone more ideal for this particular job.

Besides, much to her chagrin, she had to admit that bitch was good with guns and in fist fights.

Without bothering to knock, she entered the church and made her way to the main room, where Eda normally lounged when she wasn't tending to business. Just as she expected, she found Eda there, lying on one of the armchairs while Rico was fanning her to soothe her heat.

Which Revy thought was kind of stupid, considering she was dressed in an annoyingly hot nun's outfit that covered her from head to toe.

If she was that hot, she should just take off her clothes and stay naked.

"I detect obscene thoughts, and they don't come from Rico.". -said Eda, turning her head as she saw her enter. "Oh, no wonder, it's you. The walking definition of a tomboy."

That idiot had already started with her bullshit. But Revy wasn't going to fall for her usual game of pissing herself off and proceeded to very professionally inform her of her job proposal. Oi, move your ass, you lazy bitch, let's go kill a spoiled brat."

"But who do you think I am?"

"A whore."

"I am a sister consecrated to Christianity, not a fucking hitwoman. Get out of my sight, you lustful heathen!". -Eda pointed her finger at her. "Rico, hurry up and throw holy water on this bitch to scare her away!"

Perhaps due to the fear of violent retaliation if he did not obey the absurd order, Rico panicked and dropped the fan, which fell on Eda's face, reaching for holy water almost in desperation. Finding a small bottle loaded with it, the priest threw it hard in the direction of Revy.

Of course, Rico was also afraid of her, so he deliberately missed in his attack.

Only for the small bottle to break one of the church windows and get lost in the streets of Roanapaur, all under Revy's blank stare.

"Rico, you asshole, what the hell are you doing?!". -Eda pulled the fan away from her face and shook her fist in a threatening manner, frightening the poor priest. "Get a broom and clean up this mess!"

The priest let out a tired sigh and quickly left the place to obey the new order. Revy watched him leave, shaking her head. "He'll get tired of you someday and send you to hell."

"He did that once before, but I beat him up and sent him to clean the toilet as punishment. Since then, Rico has been more docile and obliging, but he hasn't spoken up again by way of protest for a job improvement."

"Is it working?"

"Not in the least." -Eda smiled. "But it's better this way, it saves me the trouble of hearing his voice." -She waved her hand, indicating for him to take a seat. "So, what was it you said about killing who?"

Revy settled into one of the armchairs in the living room. Then she grabbed the bottle of wine without asking permission and poured herself a glass, placing a few ice cubes in it, ignoring the complaint Eda blurted out. "To a spoiled brat who came to town recently."

"The psycho girl who was with you the other day? I wouldn't go near her for all the money in the world."

"Nah, not that brat, at least not yet, I'm talking about another one.". -Revy took a long sip of her drink. She wasn't a fan of wine, but she had to admit that old Yolanda had good taste. Maybe that was the reason Eda was always raiding her wine collection. "The story is long, so I won't tell you the whole thing because I don't feel like it. But the thing is, this brat has some bodyguards and she's looking for trouble with Boss Chang, he wants her dead and plans to pay well for that job, that's where we come in."

She noticed how the sister suddenly became more serious. "Oi, you want to get me into a poison job, bitch?"

The Church of Violence was one of the very few neutral zones in Roanapur, as Yolanda preferred not to be loyal to anyone and thus maximize her profits by selling weapons, and sometimes information, to the different gangs in the town.

This also served as a shield to stay out of trouble and not get involved in the middle of the power struggle, so Eda was wary of the idea of working directly for someone from a major organization such as Boss Chang, as this could put the neutrality of the church at risk.

In short, a 'poison job'.

But Revy dismissed his concern with a wave of her hand. "Relax your tits, it's not an official job or a favor for the Triad, it's just a simple errand that any mercenary can do. I was simply the first to accept, I came for you because I know you're a greedy, bloodthirsty bitch, just like me."

Eda was silent for a moment longer, and finally spoke the words Revy wanted to hear.

"How much does that bastard pay?" -Revy pulled out a crumpled ball of paper she had in her pocket and threw it in her face. She opened it and read the contents, letting out a low hiss. "Damn, there's a lot of zeros here... I like it."

"So, are you in?"

Eda smiled and gave a thumbs up by way of approval. "Hell yeah, there hasn't been much work lately and I'm bored, I could use a little action."

Revy smiled back, that was another thing they both had in common; the need for action. "Then get off your ass and get out of that ugly nun outfit, we've got a brat to kill."

"What's my church clothes got to do with it?"

"I'm not going out on the street with you dressed like that, you look like an idiot.". -Replied Revy. "Besides, a fight is almost certain to happen and I don't want you in my way because you can't move properly in that shit you're wearing. So stop being a pussy and take that off."

"No, what you want is to see me naked."

"...That too."

Eda let out a small laugh and, under Revy's watchful eye, began to remove her clothes.

Koko and her squad were trying to eat something unidentifiable, the hotel manager had called it 'lunch', occasionally lifting a piece of it on a fork to inspect it between them all with worried and confused frowns. None of them were expecting a delicacy, considering the kind of place they were sheltering in, but this was a new level.

Lutz was the bravest, and to the fearful looks of the others, he ate the first bite of a piece of meat. "Oh, that's not bad at all.". -He said, starting to eat with enthusiasm.

'At least he didn't die instantly.'. -Koko thought, sighing in a mixture of relief and resignation. 'Let's start with the least complicated...'

In her current situation it wasn't the time to get fussy, so she proceeded to poke a boiled egg with her fork, which was the only decent thing among all the suspicious looking food.

Kyu.

"¿¡...¡?"

However, she froze when she heard a strange noise the egg made. Her bodyguards heard it too and stopped, except for Lutz, who was still eating without a care in the world. Koko began inspecting her plate all over, desperately trying to find the source of the noise.

In the meantime, Valmet decided not to take any chances and threw her boiled egg on Lehm's plate, who let out an indignant shout. The two of them started slapping each other's hands to see who should keep the strange eggs, until they decided it would be best to give them to Ugo.

But he rejected them by blocking his plate with a piece of bread, sending the eggs toward the other end of the room, causing them to crash against the wall with a thud. "Hey!" -Said Lutz, trying to bring order to the squad. "The food may be horrible, but that's no excuse to play with it!"

His teammates' response was to place all their portions on his plate.

"Stop it, I can only eat so much!"

Ugo looked at him with concern, noticing that he had already eaten half of his strange egg. "You shouldn't eat that."

"It's delicious, it's a real waste that none of you crybabies eat it."

However, his provocation didn't work and Koko gave up on her plate, pushing it to the center of the table. "Listen, I know it's reckless, but I think the best and healthiest thing to do would be to look elsewhere for food. I just can't take this shit."

Valmet looked at her, "Didn't Tojo tell you it was best to wait here?"

"Oh, that's what we did. We've been here for what, two hours? And nothing's happened, no one's attacked us." -Koko gestured to her second in command who, judging by how he had already risen from his seat, agreed with her on the idea of finding another meal. "Anything interesting to report?"

Lutz held up his hand, his face a little paler than usual. "My stomach hurts."

"...That's not what I meant, but you really shouldn't have eaten that egg."

Lehm put his finger behind the blind and pulled it away from the grimy window to check the street. After a moment, he let out a growl by way of laughter. "Well, other than the two whores fighting across the street, no, there's nothing interesting or dangerous to report."

Koko returned her gaze to her only female bodyguard...if you ignored her tomboyish behavior. "See? There's no immediate threat. I don't think a simple search for decent food will cause us any trouble."

Valmet looked at her blankly for a long moment. "Do you realize that whenever you say that, a problem happens? The same thing happens when Lehm opens his mouth."

"Hey."

"Face it, man. You have terrible bad luck, and I'm pretty sure it's because you touched that weird doll that one time."

"...It was just kind of cute, and I thought it would make a nice gift for Chiquita."

"Sure, a devilish doll is a wonderful gift.". -Valmet replied, returning her attention to her boss. "Anyway, it sounds like a bad idea to me and we shouldn't leave here."

Koko suddenly had an interest in stirring the suspicious food with her fork. "Look, I know I've bitten off more than I can chew, but this time it's different, okay? Nothing will happen this time because we won't pick a fight with anyone, just food."

"Hey, don't look away, you fucking brat.". -Valmet pointed her finger at her and started acting like a bully, causing Koko to shrink back a little in her seat. "Look me in the face and say it again, say 'we won't have any trouble' if we get out of this hotel, Princess. Come on, say that again if you believe it! Do it, do it right now!"

Ugo rose from his seat to pull Valmet aside, dragging her to a corner of the room and beginning to scold her for bullying her boss. Koko gave him a grateful look and then stood up, clearing her throat.

"Anyway, all in favor of looking for less dangerous food?" -Ugo, Lehm and Valmet, the latter not at all pleased, nodded. Koko quickly noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Lutz?"

"In the bathroom." -Responded Ugo, shaking his head. "I warned him not to eat that egg."

The easiest place to disappear without a trace was a town like Roanapur. A fugitive could merge into the mass of anonymous faces, and the more urban it was, the more changeable the population, so no one really knew their neighbors. It was perfect.

But Eda and Revy, thanks to their seniority and dangerousness in the town, did not take long to discover where the brat and her bodyguards were hiding.

"The red-light district, huh?" -said Eda, lighting a cigarette. Giving in to her companion's insistence, and wanting to give her a good show, she had changed out of her nun's attire into a much more comfortable one. "The brat is either desperate, or she's a very smart bastard. Either one of those two options makes for tricky prey to catch."

The red-light district was a tangle of dead ends, winding, narrow streets that made it a most pitiful maze. Drunks staggering through the streets, creepy and perverted men, battered whores, obviously addicted to hard drugs, and pimps who wouldn't hesitate to shoot anyone who looked strange to them.

A difficult place to fight, but an easy place to run and hide.

"Nah, it just makes it all the more fun.". -commented Revy beside her, not the least bit concerned about all those difficulties. "This information better be reliable, because if we came all this way for nothing, I'll shove your nun outfit up your ass."

"Have I ever failed you, bitch?"

"Yes."

"Okay, wrong question, have I ever lied to you?"

Revy folded her arms. "Many times."

Eda averted her gaze. "...Anyway, I got the information from Bao, if you want to stick something up someone's ass, then stick it up his ass."

Revy's original idea was to go house to house searching, beating up any idiot who could offer information that would help them find their prey, but Eda opted for a quieter and more efficient method; going with Bao.

After all, Yellow Flag was the best place in town where one could acquire information.

Bao, for only a modest part of the payment offered by Chang, apart from the promise that they would not bring trouble to his bar, gave them the desired information. Even with all her knowledge and contacts, Eda was not able to match the extent and speed of the information network with which the bar owner dealt.

If the man wasn't such a jerk, she would have been willing to propose some deals.

"Whatever, when do we move?"

Eda looked in the direction of the hotel where their prey was hiding, which was just across the street. An old building of only two stories, it barely qualified as a hotel. The only entrance and exit seemed to be some front doors. Funny thing, and sad, that was the best thing about the area.

The girl they were looking for at least had three bodyguards according to Revy's information, along with a vague description given by Chang, but Eda wanted to make sure there were no unexpected surprises, so they had been watching the hotel for quite a while, looking for a good time to launch an ambush.

But the waiting was starting to make Revy impatient.

Eda didn't blame her; surveillance was deadly dull. Sitting here, sitting there. Then something stupid would happen that would expose the prey, or the hunters, and upset the whole plan. Then came the panic and bang; a gunfight. Something Eda wanted to avoid if possible.

The last thing they needed was to have a whole street full of crazy cokeheads shooting at them at point blank range.

"Easy, girl." -Said Eda. "Or I'll lock you in a room with Fish and let him talk until you die.". -She smiled as she noticed how her companion tensed at the mention of that guy's nickname. "But seriously, how far did you get with him? Is he already your man, or do you just use him to soothe your itch?"

Revy let out a warning growl. "So what if that's so? It's none of your business."

"Come on, come on, come on, spit it out, don't be shy. Or did you think I wasn't going to notice your little fit of jealousy the other day at church?" -She gave Revy a couple of playful nudges, unable to keep her sadistic streak from swelling a bit at the rare opportunity to see her embarrassed. "So, did you fuck Rock yes or no?"

Her companion's expression gradually twisted, until she let out a long sigh.

"It's not like it's just my thing, I mean, he's flirted with me a little bit and before he left for Japan, he mentioned that we would make a good pair. ". -Said Revy, finally loosening her tongue and speaking quickly due to nervousness. "What the hell does that mean, should I take it as an indirect confession, because he is too shy to tell me up front? But then again, Rock is like that, he spouts that kind of bullshit, so I don't know if I should take him seriously or not. Because if I make the first move, and it turns out the asshole was just messing with me, then things are going to get weird between us and I'm going to have to beat the shit out of him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute, this is happening too fast for me!". -Eda exclaimed, her eyes wide. The idea was just to distract and annoy Revy a bit, she didn't expect a revelation to come out of nowhere. "At what point did all that happen!?"

"A few days ago."

"No, not that! Well, actually, yes, but what I mean is, since when did you and he hook up?"

Revy let out another growl from the back of her throat, it was obvious she didn't like talking about such things. However, she answered anyway, maybe because she just wanted to get it out of her head. "I don't know...I guess Rock caught my eye when he adopted those brats after they make a mess at the Balalaika base."

"Make a mess..."

"Yeah, they were shooting at everyone and blowing grenades all over the place." -Revy shook her head, but smiling with amusement. "You should have seen it, they destroyed a good part of Balalaika's hotel. She was really pissed."

"That's not the best of starts.". -Murmured Eda, a bit disappointed by the far-fetched context of the first crush Revy had. But then again, she was already expecting something like that. After all, romance and Revy didn't mix well at all.

As for the details of the destruction of the Hotel Moscow at the hands of the twins, Eda simply decided to ignore them to avoid worsening her own mental health. The little fuss they had caused with Rico the other day at the church was more than enough, and frightening, for her.

"And then I started taking more interest in Rock during a job for Boss Chang in Taiwan, where we almost got killed, because we raided a maximum-security prison to get one of his guys out who was an idiot and let himself get captured."

'Wait a second, what's this about raiding a prison?' -Eda thought, frowning. 'Were they the ones who made that mess?... Wait a fucking second! Should that count as a date for them!?'

"So..." -Continued Revy. "A few days after we got back to Roanapur, I realized I liked Rock, which was moments before I went to fight a big guy deflecting my bullets with his fucking sword at a strip club."

"Stop, everything you say is wrong!". -Eda burst out, finally losing her patience. Eda began to slap her companion on her head. "What the hell is that!? Instead of a clichéd romantic arc, it sounds more like a series of random events, or the plot of a B-action movie!"

Revy began slapping back at her. "Prison aside, I wasn't planning on getting involved in any of that other shit, okay!? Somehow, I got dragged into every single one of them!"

"Why does everything you do somehow end in blood, violence and death!?"

"Because I'm an action girl, not a fucking fifteen-year-old schoolgirl!"

"And one more important thing, don't give me that 'I realized' bullshit. I want details of your crush on Rock, bitch, details!"

"Rock doesn't treat me like a cold-blooded killer and he's nice to me, makes me laugh and has a nice ass. What more details do you want, bitch!?"

"That's not enough, tell me about your feelings, doubts and insecurities!". -Eda grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and began to shake her. "Give me my romantic arc!"

Revy put her hands on Eda's face, trying to push her away. "Get off me, you asshole!"

However, their absurd fight was interrupted when Revy suddenly stopped trying to push her away. After slapping her in the face one last time, she pointed in the direction of the hotel. Turning to look, Eda saw a small group of people exiting from inside the building, three adults and a teenage girl, heading towards a parked car.

She didn't recognize any of them, however, the girl-teenager looked strangely familiar. But she quickly let it go, the important thing was that now their prey had left their lair and they had a good opportunity to launch an ambush.

"There she is, that's the little bitch that almost killed Mr. Chang!". -Said Revy accusingly.

Of course, her partner either knew absolutely nothing about discretion, or she didn't give a shit. Either option was equally valid. Her voice was too loud and that group froze for a few moments, then they slowly turned to look at them with nervous expressions on their faces.

"Err, ignore her, friends!". -said Eda, with a forced smile. "She's got the wrong people!".

"No, I recognize the little bitch, that's her.". -insisted Revy, oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

Eda got a vein on her forehead from her companion's stupidity and again began to shake her. "Do you want me to slap you!?"

"What the hell is wrong with you now?!"

"Don't go around yelling and pointing at our prey, you idiot! What are you, a fucking rookie!?"

Before they could continue with their new, absurd fight, their prey's car started up and sped off, leaving behind a small cloud of dust and the two women with a stupid expression on their faces. "Oi, Two Hands."

" Yeah?"

Eda pointed at the vehicle, which was getting farther and farther away. "They're getting away."

After a moment, Revy nodded. "Yeah."

"Then don't just stand there and let's go after them, asshole!". -Eda roared, then shot off towards where they had left the parked car, which was Benny's if she didn't misremember.

Revy clicked her tongue and quickly followed.

The brat was running away in a hurry and they had a good head start, time was precious and every second counted, so Eda decided to take a leap, deftly sliding across the hood of the car to save time.

"Gyahhh!"

But she miscalculated the thrust and ended up passing by, falling backwards onto the ground. Instead, Revy got into the vehicle like a normal person, staying on the passenger side. Then, she poked her head out of the window with a frown on her face. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"I tried to do something cool, you know, like in the TV series!". -Eda stood up as she grabbed her ass, sore. Her clothes were now stained with dirt. "The Dukes of Hazzard are a big lie!"

Revy started banging on the horn to hurry her along. "Stop wasting time and get in the fucking car!"

"I knew it, I had a feeling this would happen!". -Valmet exclaimed, pointing her finger accusingly at Koko, who was desperately trying to ignore her. A difficult thing to do, considering that they were riding together in the back seat of the car.

"Okay, okay, I admit it, it was a bad idea!". -said Koko, raising both hands in a show of calm. "But don't you think this is actually Lehm's fault!?"

Her second in command, who was riding in the passenger seat, turned to look at her, indignant. "My fault!?"

"Yeah, you said 'There's nothing interesting or dangerous to report'! I think this qualifies as dangerous!"

"But if they just looked like they were just two whores fighting, it's not my fault those fucking hitwomen are dressed so hot!"

"I'll charge you with Chiquita that you got turned on by two unknown broads!"

"Hold on a second, Chiquita has nothing to do with this!"

Valmet again joined the discussion. "It doesn't matter if they're hitwomen or whores!" -she said. "The point is they want to kill us, so shut up and throw a grenade at them, I know you have one in your pocket!"

"I can't, I left it at the hotel!". -Lehm replied.

"Why!?"

"Because we were supposed to go out for food, not a fight!"

As they argued, Ugo swerved to turn a corner. Although the streets were not crowded, they were narrow and the few parked vehicles made driving a bit difficult. He didn't know the town either, so he simply retraced his steps.

As he looked up into the rearview mirror, he saw that there was no one behind them.

"Looks like we lost them.". -said Ugo. Immediately after, a car came out from inside a street, with a woman hanging out of the window with two guns in her hands...who started shooting at them. Although Ugo moved the car in time, the bullets ripped off one of the rearview mirrors. "Or maybe not."

"You guys don't get tired of raising death flags!?". -Said Valmet.

"Oops."

"Close them off!" -Ordered Lehm, now calmer, taking off his seat belt to then raise his machine gun. He was smiling, as if he was enjoying it. "And I need you to hold the car steady as long as you can for a moment."

"I thought the idea was to escape." -Ugo replied, surprised at what he was about to do.

"It still is, but this is a good chance to stop them."

"You don't have a clear shot..."

"I'm a sniper, you're a driver. Do you understand the difference?"

Ugo nodded, tightening his grip on the steering wheel, and then made a sharp turn to be right in front of the enemy vehicle. A hail of projectiles hit the rear of the car, causing Valmet to rush at her boss, throwing her over the seat to prevent her from being hit by the bullets.

The other driver was smart enough not to stay still in the same place, as if she did she would end up as a sieve, and began to move her car in a zigzag pattern to try to dodge the bullets. The other woman, the one who was shooting at them from the window, almost fell out of the car, but managed to catch herself and quickly took refuge inside.

Lehm continued to shoot at them as best he could, taking into account their fast movement and instability, filling the enemy car's hood and windshield with holes, causing his pursuers to lose control of their car and end up crashing into some garbage containers, scattering debris everywhere.

Satisfied with that, Lehm entered the car again and settled back into the seat.

"This is when you get us out of this one, Ugo.". -He said, then tilted his head as if he had just remembered something. "By the way, where are we going?"

"Downtown." -Responded Ugo, heading towards a straight street where they had arrived at the hotel. "More room to maneuver, and if there is traffic it will serve as protection for us."

"Then take us there, maybe we can stop to buy something to help Lutz with his diarrhea."

"Oi, what the hell are you doing!?". -Said Revy. "There's no place to come through here!"

"Sure there is!" -Responded Eda, much to Revy's fear, looking away from the road for a moment to look at her. "I just have to make place!"

Their prey again took the advantage and were speeding away.

Revy could only curse her bad luck, and the bastard with the machine gun, because if she didn't get the bounty on the brat's head, then she'd have to deduct the Benny car repair from her last job's pay, or he'd start whining and she'd have to beat him to silence.

Although that didn't seem all bad to her.

However, Eda had not the slightest intention of giving up on her hunting. So she decided to enter one of the many markets in the town, and now she was speeding through it, not caring if she ran over any poor bastard who wasn't fast enough to get out of the way.

Several stalls, mainly selling clothes, were smashed to pieces by the car, unleashing an outpouring of angry and indignant shouts and screams of fear, which were almost drowned out by the noise of the engine.

"At least you know where the hell you're going!?"

"They went through the Hamfon district, that street is all straight until they reach an exit that leaves them in the downtown!". -Said Eda, smiling. "This is a good shortcut that leaves us almost at that exit, but for that we have to turn left at a corner!"

"So what!?"

"So that will be the perfect time to ram them!"

Then, she brought her left foot down hard and pressed the accelerator until she hit the ground. Benny's car made a jerky motion, the engine bellowing like an enraged beast, and lurched forward, nearly causing Revy to hit her head on the car's dashboard.

"You're crazy, this car is not death-proof!" -Revy exclaimed, putting on her seatbelt. "You're going to kill us!"

"The world will be better off without us!". -answered Eda with a wild laugh. "So repent while you can, you sinful shit, because hell awaits us if I fuck up!"

The wild race had lasted barely two minutes, and they were almost there towards their destination, leaving behind a partially razed marketplace and a bunch of scared and pissed off people.

Revy was seriously considering hitting Eda and taking control of the car from her to stop the madness she was about to do, but at that moment, her prey's car appeared out of nowhere, crossing right in front of them.

But instead of ramming it head-on as Revy thought, Eda used the handbrake and turned the steering wheel sharply to the side, causing Benny's car to skid and start spinning like a top.

Because of this, the rear of Benny's car hit the brat and her bodyguards, pushing it forward and dragging it into a building, all accompanied by a shower of sparks, pieces of metal and the screeching of the wheels as they were dragged along the ground.

Finally, with one last piercing screech of metal, both vehicles came to a halt.

Her ears were ringing. She could taste the blood in her mouth and feel it on her face...but that was okay, probably, since it meant she was alive enough to be able to feel something.

Dazed and her head still spinning, Revy sat quietly and breathed, just breathed, and waited for her crazy heart rate to calm down.

'Fuck...we're alive!' -She thought incredulously, glancing at Eda, who had her face pressed against the steering wheel. Indeed, her friend/enemy/pain-of-her-existence was also alive, and letting out moans of pain. 'Maybe this bitch really is protected by God...how convenient.'

After a moment, Eda lifted her face from the steering wheel and smiled at her. Her sunglasses were crooked, and a trickle of blood ran down the side of her mouth and nose. "Hehehe, sweet Lord, I can't believe that came out right."

Too sore to even think about moving, and since they were in no danger of bursting into flames, Revy closed her eyes and let her head rest on the dented back of the passenger seat, allowing herself to enjoy a little of the satisfying sensation her body produced from surviving a near-death experience.

"What went right? You almost killed us." -She replied. "I'll never get in a car with you again."

"I know it's hard for someone as bitter as you, but think positive; we got the brat. And stop whining, it's not the first time you've been on the verge of death."

Well, that was true. Although Revy would rather die her way, or not die at all, not in a fucking car accident because of a psycho nun.

Then she looked down at her legs as she felt something warm between her thighs. She thought it was blood, but instead, there was another suspicious stain in the middle of her pants.

"Ah, shit...I can't believe I pissed myself."

"...Squirt."

"It's piss, piss, okay?!"

Eda dropped her face back onto the steering wheel. "Whatever, go and check if the brat is dead. And if she's not, finish the job, I've done my part."

Revy shifted slightly in her battered seat. There was pain, but no creaking bones or sudden spurts of blood. Slowly, carefully, and cursing at the cramped interior of the vehicle, she kicked open the door, because it was stuck.

When she crawled out, she had to lean on the car for a moment, as she was still a bit dazed.

Although the crash was violent, they only ended up with a few minor bumps. But now that the dust cloud had cleared a bit, Revy saw that the brat's car ended up upside down, with its wheels pointed at the roof. She shook her head, still not believing how they hadn't broken a bone or worse.

After a moment, having recovered enough to walk, she headed for her prey's car to get the job over with. However, Revy stopped as she found the interior of the building a bit familiar. It looked like it was some sort of coffee shop; there were tables, chairs... but also a counter and a shelf full of liquor.

Then, someone poked his head behind the counter and she finally understood where she was.

"Oh, boy..." -Revy couldn't help but smile. "Of all the places in this fucking town, we had to end up here...but what a shot."

" Goddamn it, Two Hands!" -Bao exclaimed.