The Ho Chi Minh Paper Trail (Rewritten)

by BelisariusMagnus

The follow-up to 'Glass Rocks'. Martin Zappala and Fred Viapiano, business associates of Luca Cavalcanti, arrive at the home of Black Lagoon Company with reconciliation and a job. After a body is found, Black Lagoon Company becomes embroiled in a violent political game between the owner of an illegal recycling racket, a media mogul, and the Vietnamese secret police.

7. Sleeping With Crocodiles

Pacing inside Rock's and Revy's room, Dutch, dressed in a short sleeve beige sweater and forest green sweat pants, asks "How the hell did Jaggi survive? Twice?! Is he Rasputin or something?" Rock, dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and black gym shorts, his hair disheveled, and Revy, dressed in her black tank top and corduroy shorts, each raise their shoulders and stare at each other. Rock says "I survived a bullet to the helmet with only a minor concussion. Revy told me that usually a bullet from a rifle at that range would cause my neck to snap. Luck, I would say." Dutch laughs and says "Rock, that bullet barely grazed your helmet." Rock extends his arms out and says "My point exactly." Benny, dressed in his Hawaiian shirt and beige slacks, says "Hey boss, if Jaggi was in the revenge business, we would have seen him a long time ago. I reckon this is going to be one of those 'lightning striking twice' sort of deals." Rock exhales a sigh and says "There is one problem." Benny looks up at Rock and asks "Pardon?"

Arcing his head back, Rock says "Those pills I sold to Thinh? There were at least five bags, and probably more left on the boat. Plus, the boat. Jaggi's boat. Jaggi's pills. We cost him a lot of money, maybe in the six figures." Revy scratches her neck and speaks out "Does Jaggi even give a shit about money?" Rock snaps his fingers and says "If he doesn't care about money…why did he risk execution in smuggling drugs into Vietnam?" Revy shrugs her shoulders and says "For the kicks? I don't know…the guy is a fucking adrenaline junkie. After acting like an ass in front of the camera yesterday, he probably turned around and said 'Ooo! A tourist! Time to rape and mutilate her'. Or him. I don't even know."

Dutch sighs and says "Revy's right, but I still don't like it. I guess we could just keep this in the back of our heads. Will he show up again? We'll see." Revy laughs and says "Yeah we'll see. That sicko shows his face around me, I'll fucking scalp him to make sure." Benny adjusts his glasses and says "You mean like the last two times?" Revy smirks and says "Hey, I bat at a steady .333. Sometimes you face a dipshit with a sidearm fastball. It happens. If he's smart, he'll fuck off."

Suddenly, someone knocks on the door to the hallway. From behind the door, Martin Zappala yells "Open up! It's the Polish Pope!" Benny sighs and shakes his head, reaching for the door. Opening it, he lets Marty step inside, the latter dressed in his yellow 'Longshoreman of the Month' t-shirt, worn blue jeans, and grey boating shoes. Benny closes the door, turns to Marty, and says "You here to canonize us for our hard work?" Marty looks around, smiles, and says "Nah. I was looking for three wise men and a virgin. Know where I could find them?" "Fuck you, you clown!" Revy yells out, laughing, as Dutch stretches his right arm. He says "You here to give us more work or to make fun?" Marty smirks and says "A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B. Just busting some meaty balls here. All four of yous." Revy grins in annoyance and says "Don't push me."

Marty waves Revy off and reaches for the remote, saying "Gonna need some noise to mask it." As he prepares to turn on the TV, Rock yells "Hold on!" Benny, Dutch, and Marty all dart dirty, confused looks at Rock, as Revy grimaces and looks to the ground. Benny, Dutch, and Marty turn their heads at the TV as Marty turns the TV on. The three watch as a porno involving a Vietnamese man and a Vietnamese woman in a park appears. The three then turn their heads back at Rock and dart dirty, confused looks at him. Rock chuckles in embarrassment and says "Yeah, that was me. Sorry." Marty and Dutch then return their attention to the TV set as Benny stares at Rock and Revy, smirking to himself. His smirk dissipates and is replaced with a stern look as Revy glares viciously at him. Shrugging his shoulders, Marty raises the volume and says "Alright, huddle up. And no, we ain't doing a circle jerk."

The five converge toward the front of the bed as Marty says "The Tổng Cục Whatever is zeroing in on our friend Trung Thanh Hoàng. They are pissed off over being humiliated on international news and they probably think that Trung spearheaded the operation in order to finally get even over that nail bombing. My military connect says that he lives in Đà Lạt and that some intel seeped in about the secret pigs coming there to arrest the little weasel. Now I'm thinking that we all could kidnap Trung and see what he knows. Maybe some dirt on his brother that we could blackmail him over. Some skeletons in his closet. I had a separate job planned out but this is too urgent and must be done first. Hell, who knows? If Trung is cooperative enough, and willing to spill the beans on…well anything, then we could all just leave and go home. 25 grand like I promised."

Dutch scratches his beard and says "If you knew where Trung lives in, why didn't you kidnap or had us kidnap him earlier?" Marty freezes in his tracks, mumbles for a few seconds, and lies "Look…he is a heavily trained agent. Like license to kill James Bond shit. You don't try to snatch his ass off the street. I'm thinking that we wait for his friends to handcuff him, then take his friends out of the picture, and grab him while he can't move. Why ask? What's the fucking problem?" "Just curious Marty," Dutch replies, slightly suspicious. Marty stares at Dutch with a slight look of annoyance and says "When I pay you for your curiosity, then I'll ask for it. Got it?" Dutch smirks at Marty and says "Alright. Đà Lạt it is. You got a plan?"

Marty nods and says "Yeah. After we grab Trung, the cops will be after us. Sorry, can't help in that department. It's a city but not a really big one, not much a dragnet. Anyway, when we grab the little piece of fuck, two of you are going to get out of the car to go make a little noise, just to throw the cops off. We'll then head east, while the heat will zero in on two of you. The two on diversion duty don't have to linger, just take a different route out of the city. Then, carjack a car or something and take the highway 27 route out of the city, through the east. Make sure no heat is on you. Drive for like an hour and a half until you reach a point where the highway splits into two directions. Stop over there, check the place around you…there will be some stores and cafes over there…it will be like a small town. Take the fork to the left, just one left, and then take the first right. Fourth house you see, stop over there. The two on diversion duty are going to hide there for a bit, until it's safe. Five of my people will be there to take the two of you to Cam Ranh. There, the seven will get picked up by your torpedo boat. That's where Benny comes in. Makes sense?"

"Who are we going up against?" Rock inquires, a little nervous. Marty pauses for a second, and then says "At first, the secret police fucks that came to pick Trung up. We hit them hard and fast before they could react. After that, just the local police. They only got S 10s and TT-33 pistols, I think. Nothing you can't handle. Don't linger or they'll bring in some military or special response, and my military connect can't help. Also, there's an air base like 100 kilometers away from the city. I don't know if they got helicopters…but just saying." Rock shakes his head and says "Just two of us versus an entire city's police force? That is borderline suicidal. Unless we are getting the same equipment that we received for the assault on Van Thirith, the plan is crazy."

Marty smirks and says "Hey Larry Flynt, I thought you were supposed to be bad shit, not chicken shit." Dutch nudges Marty and says "Rock is right, the plan stinks. I know you said the dragnet will be weak, but you can't just steal a car on short notice without risking a fight. You are going to have to send someone to pick Rock and Revy up from Đà Lạt. Otherwise, I'm not sending two of my team to die or waste away in prison." Rock raises his eyebrow and says "So it is me and Revy?" Dutch shrugs his shoulders and says "It sounded like you are volunteering. Unless you want you and me to be the distraction team." Rock glances at Revy, who has a blank look on her face, and then turns to his boss, saying "Doesn't matter to me." Dutch turns to Marty and says "Well?" Marty grimaces, grinds his teeth, and seethes "Fucking alright. I send a car to pick them up."

A woman on the TV set is brought to orgasm as Dutch shakes his head, stares at Rock, laughs once, and says "We will discuss the rest of this in the car. We're heading out, so take a piss or whatever. 15 minutes."

Dressed in his dark green military clothes and dark green and red military cap, Hiếu Văn Phạm pulls a cigarette out of a pack of Craven A's and places the cigarette in his mouth, seated in a personal office, a window opened right behind him. As he pulls out a lighter from a pants pocket, a short-haired middle-aged Vietnamese woman dressed in dark green military attire enters his office, telephone in her right hand, and says in Vietnamese, not making eye contact, "You have a phone call." Hiếu reaches for a telephone on his desk and lifts it off the receiver. He nods at his secretary and says "Thank you." The secretary nods and returns to her desk, placing her phone on the receiver. As she closes the door, Hiếu pulls the telephone to his right ear, places his cigarette on the desk, and says "Talk to me."

Leaning against a glass phone booth in a gas station a couple of blocks south of highway QL 27, the phone booth plastered with photos of partially nude Vietnamese and Cambodian women alongside respective phone numbers, Zappala, dressed as he was earlier, says "It's me, Marty. Can you get on an outside line? I'm on the schedule. My number is…" Hiếu sighs and says "I have caller identification. I'll call back in 15 minutes." Hiếu and Marty both hang up their phones as Hiếu prepares to leave his office.

Marty, letting a light breeze tickle his skin, turns his attention to a grey second-generation Ford Explorer. Inside the Ford Explorer, Dutch, dressed as he was earlier aside from now wearing his flak jacket, Rock, dressed in his Jai Yen Yen shirt and beige shorts, and Revy, dressed as she was before, situate themselves on the back seat. A Western European man pumps gasoline into the car, the man appearing to be in his late 50s, with slightly graying black hair that flows just above the bottom of his neck, a thick moustache, and wrinkles on his forehead. The man is dressed in a blue and white horizontally stripped collared polo, denim jeans, and dark blue sneakers.

Marty yells towards the Ford Explorer, saying "Hey Lloyd! Get me a fucking beer!" A couple of Vietnamese patrons pumping gasoline into commercial vans give Marty dirty looks as the man in the polo sighs and turns to Dutch, saying in a slightly high-pitched Toronto accent "Can you…uh…get him a beer? My hands are tied." Dutch sighs and says "Rock, Revy…I delegate." Revy sighs and says "Fucking fine, I'll give the dipshit his beer." She exits the car, steps toward the front side passenger seat, opens the car door, and retrieves a can of Hanoi beer from a case. She calmly strolls toward Marty and the phone booth. As she gets within a few meters of Marty, Revy pitches the can of beer at him. Marty flinches and fields the can of beer with his chest, his back slamming against the phone booth. He glares angrily at Revy and yells "What's the matter?! You got some menstrual chunks tangled in your unshaven twat?!" Revy sarcastically smiles and yells "Take that can of beer, and jam it up your ass!"

Marty grinds his teeth in anger and turns his attention to his beer as Revy returns to the car. As he opens it, the beer flows onto his hands and drips to the floor. "Fucking baldracca!" Marty yells at a volume low enough so that Revy couldn't properly comprehend. Exhaling a deep breath, Marty sips on his beer and wipes his hands against his jeans.

After a few minutes of waiting, Marty flinches in surprise, as the pay phone rings. Marty grabs the phone off the receiver and says "Holy shit, that was quick." Hiếu, standing in a phone booth right next to a concrete wall covered in razor wire, says in a slightly annoyed tone "We have a phone booth right outside the base. Now what is so important?"

Marty takes a moment to collect his thoughts, takes a sip of beer, and says "I'm just giving you the heads up. We are going to take Trung pretty soon. Slight development but I decided to use two of my hired help from Thailand to create a diversion so me, one of the mercs, and one of my guys could escape with the little shit. Would the air force base be a problem?" Hiếu scratches his neck and says "No…unless the diversion involves massive explosions. Actually…I have been contemplating this over a couple of cigarettes. The Tổng Cục Tình Báo are going to arrest Trung in a few hours. This is obvious. What is not obvious is whether or not they believe that Trung was involved in the Van Thirith raid. Given Van Thirith's history with Trung's brother…it seems likely."

Marty raises an eyebrow and asks "Yea, that seems obvious to me as well. Where is this going?" Hiếu menacingly smirks and says "The Secret Police are looking for at least six shooters in the raid, two of them being female. One of the males being unusually tall and muscular. You have stated that you desire to have Black Lagoon Company eliminated once they are no longer useful. Why don't we give them, the Secret Police, EXACTLY what they are looking for? As in, Trung and his five or six or seven mercenaries that were involved in the raid. As in…their corpses, one by one, two by two, however it is convenient for you."

Marty smiles and lightly chuckles to himself, saying "You clever fuck. That shit is just genius. Hiếu, I'm in awe of you. In addition to Trung, I can hand over three men and I think you can call her a woman." Hiếu shakes his head and says "That still leaves you short by one female. Could you spare any of your other associates?" Marty flinches and yells "Hey! Hey, hey! It wasn't easily assembling a network. I'm not giving up good people, okay? The freelancers on the other hand? Fuck 'em. Five is good enough."

Hiếu taps his feet against the floor of the phone booth, pausing for several seconds. After a wait, he says "Very well. I am putting my faith in you. Hopefully your success would result in our personal peace and quiet." Marty arcs his head back and says "Yeah, tell me about it. I'll keep in touch. Take it easy." After a couple of seconds, Marty overhears the line go dead. He pulls out a phone card from his jean's pocket, places the phone back on its receiver, and immediately retrieves the phone. Dialing a series of numbers, he waits patiently for a dozen seconds.

"Xin chào (Hello)?" Tuyết speaks out, dressed in a grey tank top and sky-blue track pants, her hair undone and flowing over her shoulders. She is speaking into a brownish red telephone, right above a red sofa. Marty cringes as his boating shoes slightly stick to the beer-stained floor of the phone booth. After lifting his right leg, he says "I'm at the nearby gas station. Meet me behind the coffee shop. Bring a car, bring two people along, our people, and make sure two of you are ready for batting practice."

Rock, Revy, Dutch, and Lloyd all seat themselves in an outdoor café built with tanned wood and straw, an awning right above the entrance saying in dark green lettering 'Việt Nam Tươi Cà Phê (Vietnam Fresh Coffee).' A coffee bar shaped like a square situates itself in the middle, flanked by stools, looking as if it would also serve alcohol. The four sit at a table at the edge of the café, pouring over menus. A set of napkins and spoons rest on each edge of the table, with a ceramic container full of assorted sugar packets in the middle and two salt and pepper shakers flanking the ceramic container. Dutch folds his menu and says "Good thing it is in both Vietnamese and English." Lloyd widens his eyes, jitters slightly, and nods in agreement, saying "Yeah."

Revy eyes Lloyd and asks "The hell's up with you?" Lloyd cracks his fingers and says "Running on three hours of sleep. I need some caffeine, now." Dutch smirks and says "You sure look like you can use a can of pop." Lloyd raises an eyebrow and asks "Are you from Michigan?" Dutch glares at Lloyd for a few second, contemplates his answer, and lies "No, I'm from Minnesota." "Minneapolis?" Lloyd inquires, slightly animated. Dutch nods and says "Yeah. Caught that from me saying pop instead of soda?" Lloyd nods and says "It's a Canadian thing too. Least in Toronto." Revy snickers to herself and mutters under her breath "Pop…heh. Pop…haha."

A Thai waiter approaches the table and says in mildly Thai-accented English "What would you like to get?" Dutch blurts out "I'll have a cup of green tea and a slice of cheesecake." Rock smirks and says "Did not expect that." Scratching his neck, Dutch adjusts his sunglasses and says "I try to avoid mid-day caffeine when I work. It makes a mess out of my nerves." Holding a pad of paper in his hands, the Thai waiter motions his eyes toward Revy and waits for her response. Taking her cue, Revy reads off her menu "I'll get the…uh...Vietnamese Sweetened Ice Coffee and a bagel with cream cheese." Rock raises his menu and places his right index finger on it. Following it along a menu item, he gingerly says "French Vanilla latte. Put in a little nutmeg. That's it." Writing down Rock's order, the Thai man turns to Lloyd and stares at him. Lloyd gathers his thoughts, his hands slightly shaking, and asks "Can I get two double espressos? Yes, two. Separate." The Thai man's eyes light up as he writes down "Two…double espressos. Not bad. You all here on vacation?"

Smiling to himself, Rock blurts out "Yea. Here for sightseeing." The waiter pockets the pad of paper and asks "Very nice, welcome to Vietnam." As the waiter departs, Lloyd turns left to Rock and asks "Where the fuck is Roanapur again? We're in Pattaya or what?" Rock yawns and looks to his left to Revy, asking "Roanapur is in Trat, right? Trat Province?" Revy and Dutch nod in agreement as Revy says "Yea, Trat. Seriously, you've been living with us for more than two fucking years, and you can't name one Thai city outside of Roanapur, Bangkok, and Phuket." Lloyd yawns loudly and asks "You Chinese or something?" Rock answers "Japanese."

At the sound of hearing 'Japanese', Lloyd starts snickering. Confused, Rock asks "What is so funny?" Still snickering, Lloyd mutters "Oh god…Benny 'Dragon Bananas' Orlandi…" Revy raises an eyebrow and asks "Who?" Lloyd restrains his snickering and says "Nobody…ask Marty if you want. He's a real something."

Standing in front of an eighth generation red Toyota Corolla, Zappala converses with Tuyết, dressed as she was earlier, only with a dark blue buttoned, collared shirt over her tank top, with an unnamed 40-something year-old Vietnamese man, clean shaven with thick black hair and a round, chubby face, dressed in a t-shirt with a purple and red design of a crane and a pond, black sandals, and grey sweatpants, and with an unnamed white 30-something Western European looking man, clean shaven with paper thin black hair, two chunks on both ends of his forehead missing hair, creating a square patch of hair connecting to the rest of his hair, dressed in a horrendous yellow, green, black, and brown horizontally stripped shirt, brown cargo pants, and grey leather sandals. Zappala turns to the Vietnamese man and the Western European man and says "Trí, Jake, one of you has got to head back to the house. The other gets the cash bonus. That's how it is."

Jake points at Trí and, looking at Marty, says in a Toronto accent "Look, Trí Vũ here forgot to come with any chrome, and I think since I made the fucking initiative…" Trí Vũ fumes and leans against the Toyota, yelling in thick Vietnamese-accented English "You just told me to come along! You didn't say bring anything, you dick!" Jake extends his arms out and yells "Woah, what's with the fucking language?!" Trí Vũ points his right index finger at Jake and says "Shut up, Branca. You knew what was going on and you made an idiot out of me!"

Marty palms his right hand against his face, clenches his fingers, as if ready to tear his own face off, and shouts "SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! FOR THE LOVE OF THE POLACK IN THE VATICAN, SHUT THE FUCK UP! Jesus! Alright…Branca! You go with Tuyết," Marty yells out, putting emphasis on Jake Branca's name, as a couple of Vietnamese locals stare at Marty. "Trí, you go back to the house. Say hi to Ngoc and Vibol, and tell them to be ready. Remember, Tuyết…don't jump in to help until either 30 minutes have passed after shit kicks off…or it seems like they spotted you. I'm trying to get these freelancers out of the picture…all silver screen, like we're shooting a Kubrick. Just to make it clear, don't go out of the way. Just, if a goddamn truck is barreling down on them, let it. Unless told otherwise."

He exhales and rubs his hands, and then continues "Now, Tuyết, listen here. This is very fucking important. Like I said before, only two of the fucks from Black Lagoon are going to be staying in the city, basically to make a lot of noise as me, Lloyd, and the two other merc runs off with the paperboy's brother. If those two fucks stay alive, and key word is 'if', you will bring them to the nearby safe house. I expect a call, no specifics, the moment they are in the safe house. I will then give a call, again, no specifics, giving the go ahead. Kill them but don't chop them up. Put them in the car. Dump them someplace where they will get found. Don't shoot them in the head…make it look like they got shot by police and bled out on the way to the safe house. You know what I mean. Make it believable, like you're actually trying to sell it."

Jake Branca nods and says "Alright boss, it's done. Hey Trí, after this shit is over, I'll buy you a beer." Trí waves Jake off and starts walking away, saying "Yeah, you bastard. One beer somehow equals three thousand dollars, bah whatever." As he walks off, Marty turns to Tuyết and says "Alright Tuyết, after Gessa got his watermark, you've been in charge of business in Vietnam. This whole operation, I'm delegating to you. Keep in touch, treat this job like a baby, handle with care. Anything crazy happens, I better know about it. Now, I got to tend to the freelancers. Remember, gray Ford Explorer. Lloyd, my 'cousin-in-law', is driving."

Passing through a mildly dilapidated, rain-soaked residential neighborhood on the right, and a wall of trees on the left, the Ford Explorer cruises along QL 20, having just passed a fork in the road. Yawning, Zappala nudges Lloyd and says "Keep on it, it's gonna snake around and shit. Just follow till you get close to downtown. He lives in a house right before the city gets crowded. Lives next to uhh…you know…those fucking Chinese temples. What the fuck they called? Taos? Pagodas? Padogas? Ahh fuck, you know what I mean."

As Lloyd nods in understanding, Rock, seated with Dutch on the left and Revy on the right, asks "When we get there…what do we do?" Zappala cracks open a beer and says "Alright, the cops aren't supposed to arrest him yet, if my info ain't off. We going to wait for an hour till they pick him up. Then we stop them at a red light, take out the driver, clean out the rest of the fucks, and then grab the jackoff. We're gonna stuff him in the back. Two of yous are going to be running at a completely opposite direction. Do something, shoot in the air…rob a store, anything to make the cops focus on you. I mean, we are going to take him in broad daylight, so someone will call the cops. Just be annoying…a car will pick up the trail and pull you out."

Dutch eyes Zappala suspiciously and asks "And what if the backup does not pick up the trail?" Sighing, Zappala takes a sip of beer, mulls to himself for a bit, and says "Alright, you got my number. You need help immediately or something, you give me a call, just say 'now' or something, nothing specific. Tell me where you are without getting into details like what street it is. Just say a landmark or something, or a restaurant that you see, my friends will know where." Dutch raises an eyebrow and says "Your friends must be locals…" Zappala yawns and lies "Yep."

Four car lengths behind the Explorer, a red Toyota Corolla calmly follows it, driven by Tuyết, with Jake riding shotgun. With the radio playing "Một Trăm Phần Trăm" by Hùng Cường, Tuyết glares sternly at the Ford Explorer and asks "What guns you have with you?" Jake shrugs his shoulders and says "A Beretta 92 on me and a Ruger 10/22 in the trunk, 25 round box magazine." Tuyết mumbles out in confusion "Ruger 10…never heard of it." Jake arcs his head back and says "It's a fucking hunting rifle alright? The kind you use to shoot at four-legged animals." Tuyết cracks up in laughter and shakes her head, incredulously saying "A hunting rifle? A…hunting rifle? Well since our job is to let them die, I suppose you have the right idea." Jake rolls his eyes and forces a smile, saying "Yeah…a hunting rifle. Look, I shoot deer alright? I know what I'm doing." Responding in an annoyed tone, Tuyết mildly yells "I fought in three wars since I was 14. Listen to me…I know what I'm doing. Unless you want to hide in a grassy knoll, that rifle is useless here."

After a long pause, Tuyết asks "So…you and Ngoc?" Jake glares at Tuyết and says "I don't know what you talking about." Tuyết frowns and glances at her rear-view mirror, saying "I think you westerners have an idiom for it. Shitting where eating?"

Rolling his window down in the Ford Explorer, Dutch sticks his head out and glances at the Toyota Corolla. He tosses a cigarette out of the window and pulls his head back in. Reaching toward Lloyd, he taps on his right shoulder and says "Spotted a red Toyota near us. It's been following us for a while. Is that the backup or are we being followed by plainclothes cops?" Highly caffeinated, Lloyd nervously twitches and says "Wwwhat?" Zappala sighs and says "Yeah, that is the backup." "Who is in it?" Dutch inquires, pressing Zappala further. Zappala blinks and says "Tuyết and one of our guys from Canada. Jake Branca."

Rock nods and says "Alright, so we will look out for them. What is the model of the car?" "Red Toyota Corolla," Marty replies, as Revy and Dutch nod in approval. Revy glances at Lloyd and blurts out "What about Mr. Multiple Sclerosis here? He gonna help?" Marty laughs at the nickname that Revy gave Lloyd and says "That was a good one. You're still an asshole to me, but that was a good one." Revy violently grins and gives Marty the finger.

Staking out a white, two floor house with pinkish red roof tiles and a brown granite 'fence' around it, Black Lagoon Company wait patiently for the secret police to arrive. Situated on the opposite end of a street that is surrounded by pagodas of various colors and styles, the three mercenaries and the two Italian-Canadian gangsters sip on beers and converse amongst themselves.

Suddenly, two black Nissan Primera P11 sedans pull up in front of the granite fenced house, each sedan holding two passengers in the front and one in the back. Shortly after parking, the occupants of the front car, two 30-something year-old Vietnamese men and a Vietnamese man in his late 40s, all dressed in dark green military uniforms, exit the vehicle and brandish Mini Uzis. They are followed by the occupants of the rear Primera, two Vietnamese men in their early 40s, and a Vietnamese woman in her late 40s, dressed in the same uniforms, all brandishing Mini Uzis. The six Tổng Cục Tình Báo agents storm the front porch, with the Vietnamese man in his late 40s signaling orders with his left hand. One of the 40-something year-old Vietnamese agents kicks the front door down without warning and runs to cover by the door frame, as the two 30-something year-old agents hold down the porch. The agent that is signaling orders takes point and infiltrates the house, as the remaining three agents follow.

Back in the Ford Explorer, Marty snaps his fingers and says "Alright, get the shit from the back. Try to be a little discreet, I think one of the green shrimps is eying us." Rock climbs out of his seat and into the trunk of the car, reaching into a very long, blue colored ice cooler, the ice gone and replaced with a Remington 870 Marine Magnum shotgun, an Uzi submachine gun holstered inside a shoulder strap, and a Steyr TMP with a shoulder stock attached to it. As Rock pulls the guns out of the ice cooler, Revy lifts her Cutlasses and shoulder straps from under Marty's car seat and Marty looks out a side window, pretending to not pay attention to the police raid. He shifts his eyes back onto the raid and, upon noticing that the two agents have looked away, yells "Now Rocco! Give em the stuff!" Hurriedly, Rock attaches the shoulder strap and Uzi to his left shoulder, hands Dutch his shotgun, and extends the TMP toward Marty, the latter immediately hiding it under the dashboard. While Revy puts her shoulder holsters on and draws a Cutlass with her right hand, Rock climbs back onto the backseat and draws his M9 from under his shirt, his heart beginning to race once again.

Rock closes his eyes and lets his mind drift to calmer places as Dutch and Revy hold their weapons and wait in anticipation. The two Vietnamese agents holding down the front porch nod at each other as the Vietnamese woman and one of the Vietnamese men from the rear Primera drag a middle-aged Vietnamese man with graying black hair and a scar along his right cheek, dressed in a dark grey sweater, light grey sweat pants, and thin, black sandals, the man's arms handcuffed. The agents from the front Primera return to their original seats as the two agents dragging Trung Thanh Hoàng toss him into the back seat of the rear Primera. The two cars slowly accelerate.

Marty taps Lloyd's shoulder and says "Pull up to the front car, to its left. Revy, since you're a good shot, when I start popping off, take out the driver from the second car. Rocco and Dutch, take out the fucker in the backseat of the front car. Got it? Let's fucking do it then." Still on the effects of a quadruple espresso and no sleep, Lloyd sets the Ford Explorer to drive and hits the gas. He quickly makes a broken U-turn, bringing the Ford Explorer onto the same lane as the two Nissan Primeras. He follows the Nissan Primeras as they both make left turns. Keeping a car distance between the Explorer and the rear Primera, Lloyd enters Tự Phước Street, his arms clutching tightly on the steering wheel. He follows them for several blocks until the three cars reach a triangle shaped fork in the road, with the exit on the right leading to a dirt covered road. As the two Primeras switch to the right edge of their lane. Lloyd seizes his opportunity and speeds up to the front car. Revy and Dutch roll down their windows mid-transit.

Rolling down his window, Marty, TMP under the dashboard, yells at the Vietnamese agent "Hey buddy! You know the way to the city?!" The Vietnamese agent darts Marty a dirty look, sighs, and proceeds to point at the dirt road, saying "You follow that dirt road. Then you…" While the agent gives direction, not looking at the Ford Explorer, Marty picks up his TMP and yells "Here's a detour!" He unloads ten bullets from the TMP, the gunfire causing the rear car to immediately brake. The first two shots strike the driver in the left side of his head, sending the agent head first onto the Primera's cup holder, dead. The next three shots strike the window and dashboard next to the agent that is riding shotgun. The sixth and seventh shots strike that agent in his left ribs, as the agent yells in pain and attempts to open his car door. The eight bullet strikes the car door as it begins to swing open, the ninth bullet severs the agent's aorta, and the last bullet strikes the agent an inch to the left of his heart. As the driver's dead foot slides off the brakes, the Vietnamese officer that is trying to escape falls back-first out of the Primera, bleeding to death shortly after hitting the asphalt, the car slowly moving away.

Immediately afterwards, Revy sticks her Cutlass out of her window and fires four shots into the stunned driver of the rear Primera, deeply gashing the left side of his neck. The driver lets his hands go of the wheel and presses them onto his neck, as blood surges through the cracks between his fingers. As that driver bleeds out, Lloyd slams his foot on the brake pad, and Dutch exits the car with his shotgun. He runs to the front of the Explorer, aiming his shotgun at the remaining agent in the front Primera. Rock follows Dutch out of the car as Dutch and Marty unload onto the barely moving front car, shattering the rear windows and sending chunks of leather and flesh out of the car. The agent manages to stick his Mini Uzi out of the rear window that is facing the Explorer. He fires off a few harmless shots before dropping the Mini Uzi onto the asphalt, expiring, his right arm dangling out the window.

At this point, the driver of the rear Primera slumps dead on the wheel, his head pushing the wheel to the left. Spotting this, Lloyd backs the Explorer up to catch the slowly moving Primera. The remaining male Vietnamese agent and the female Vietnamese agent shoot out their windows and proceed to open fire on the Ford Explorer. Lloyd, Revy, and Marty duck their heads as glass and leather swirls in the air amidst the hail of bullets, while Dutch and Rock take cover behind the body of the Explorer. Grinding his teeth, Dutch says "Revy, you got the guy on the left, Rock and I got the woman on the right." Laughing, Lloyd yells out "Haha!" From the Primera, the female agent yells "Bảo vệ tù nhân (Protect the prisoner)!"

The female Vietnamese agent and Revy each exit their respective cars at the same time. Dutch uses the opportunity to fire two rounds of buckshot into the female agent, as Rock squeezes in a shot. Pellets shred the Tổng Cục Tình Báo agent's stomach and abdomen, as the sheer force knocks her off her feet. Falling backwards, with blood seeping out of her front and back, she slams the back of her head against the metal frame of the car between the car door and the rear tire, taking her last gasp of air as she croaks. Meanwhile, Revy zeros in on the remaining agent, draws a second Cutlass, and lunges onto the hood of the Primera. She lands slightly awkwardly on her left shoulder and aims at the shocked agent, who is sitting on the car window and opening fire on the Ford Explorer. As he turns to shoot at Revy, Revy fires off three shots each from her two Cutlasses, the first two shots striking the agent in the right side of his ass, the third shot missing, the fourth shot striking the Mini Uzi in the barrel, knocking it out of his hand, the fifth shot striking the man's right forearm, and the last shot missing. The remaining agent falls out of the car and lands on his back, grunting in pain, his bleeding arm inching toward the nearby Mini Uzi. Seeing this, Revy climbs off the hood of the Primera, runs up to the agent, and fires a bullet through his nose, killing him.

Revy holsters her Cutlasses and unlocks the rear car door. She reaches into the back seat and yanks Trung out by his legs. Revy then grabs him by the throat and lifts him up, saying "Grief us, and I'll spread your fucking brains on the sidewalk." Trung nods, terrified out of his wits, as Marty yells "Oh Goddamnit! My car! Revy! Lloyd! Someone get a clean car!"

Hiding behind the Ford Explorer, Rock spots a distant incoming car, roughly a block away, and runs in front of it, M9 in hand. Rock yells "I got it!" and takes off, running toward a grey Ford Taurus, the car's radio playing a Vietnamese classic rock song "Tinh Yeu Tuyet Voi" by the CBC Band. Rock runs up to the front of the car as the oblivious driver sets the car into park. He quickly runs up to the driver's door, sticks his M9 through the rolled down window, and yells "Let me take the car! Đi ra (Get out)!" The driver, a bald Vietnamese man in his forties, hauling several boxes in the backseat, glares at Rock and yells "No! Go away!" The driver attempts to set the car to drive as Rock reaches for the car door handle. The driver turns his attention back to Rock and grapples with Rock's hands, trying to reach for the M9. Brazenly and defiantly, the driver grabs onto the barrel of the M9 and attempts to pry it out of Rock's hand.

Sweating and rapidly losing control of the situation, Rock yells "Let go! What the hell are you doing?! Let go now!" He feels the man's hands slowly pulling the M9 out of his grasp. Suddenly, Rock jerks his right arm back. His finger slips, slamming onto the trigger.

BANG*

The world around him slows to a crawl as Rock watches the driver slump his head over the car door, blood and brain matter seeping out of his head. His hands shaking and his body overwhelmed with a sharp, empty sensation, as if his insides were scooped out, Rock mutters feebly "Oh no…oh no, no, no. What the…what the fuck have I done. What the…oh damn. Oh man. Please get up, please get up. Say something please. PLEASE!"

The Ford Explorer drives up to Rock, with Marty yelling "Jesus, what the fuck happened?!" Rock places his hands on his head and yells "Oh damn…oh. I DIDN'T WANT TO KILL HIM! HE TRIED TO PRY MY GUN OUT! Oh I really screwed up this time! Oh no Rokuro, look what you did now." Marty raises his eyebrow and says "You gone retarded or something? Whatever, get the fuck out of the way. Dutch, get Trung! Lloyd, you got the driver seat." As Lloyd tries to reach the driver seat, intending to pull the dead driver out, Rock unconsciously blocks his path, still in a frozen state of cognitive dissonance. As Lloyd pushes Rock out of the way, opening the car door and letting the dead man fall out, Marty yells "CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GET THIS STUPID JAP OUT OF THE WAY?!"

A blood pool proceeds to form around the corpse, the corpse lying face down on the asphalt. Lloyd fumbles with the buttons on the car door, accidently opening the lid for the gas valve before unlocking the trunk. Dragging Trung by his neck, Dutch opens the trunk of the car and tosses Trung into it. Realizing what is going on, Trung yells "Wait a minute!" before Dutch slams the trunk onto Trung's head and seals it. Revy approaches Rock and says "Why are you standing like that. Oh…huh." Marty scans the damage on his Ford Explorer and yells "Godfuck this shit to….arrgh! Wait, I got an idea. The distraction team should get into the Ford Explorer and drive west. I'm thinking that should get the cops attention. Now let us fuck on out of here!"

"WAIT!" Rock yells out, trying to make sense of everything and anything, as the song on the radio reaches a long guitar solo. Revy smirks and says "Wait for what? Wait for him to come back to life?" Rock glares viciously at Revy and says "I want to fix this." Her smirk becoming a laugh, Revy counters "Fix this? Like…ya wanna scoop his brains off the road, put it back in like a jigsaw puzzle? Maybe slap some make-up on him or give him an MLB hat? Good as new, eh? HE'S FUCKING DEAD! He's a hunk of meat, it's over! Done! Shit happens! Let's get out of here before the bacon arrive!"

From the corner of his eye, Dutch glances at a trio of green uniformed men running toward them. Raising his shotgun, Dutch yells "Too late! We got guests!" Marty yells "Why did I hire you clowns?!" and aims his TMP at the group, while Revy draws both her Cutlasses. The two, plus Dutch with his shotgun, open fire at the three Vietnamese patrol cops, the cops all carrying Tokarev pistols. The cops all congregate around a granite foot long fence, in front of a grass porch, and return fire. Quickly, Lloyd drives off a few meters away, out of the line of fire, as Marty and Dutch run to cover behind the Ford Explorer. Rock, still standing numbly over the dead pedestrian, is tackled by Revy as she yells "WAKE THE FUCK UP!" Two bullets and a couple of pellets strike one of the cops in the chest, causing the cop to clutch onto his wounds and fall backwards over the granite fence, landing slightly awkwardly after a three-foot drop. The two remaining cops dive to cover behind the granite fence, lying prone, as the third cop groans in pain and fires a couple haphazard shots over the fence. A lucky shot strikes Dutch in the left leg, lodging itself firmly into the interior of his left thigh, almost striking an artery. Dutch falls onto his ass and draws his revolver, yelling "God damn you all!" He fires five bullets at the cops, as one of the officers rises to his knees, aiming his Tokarev. The last three bullets fly toward the rising cop, with one of them ripping through the policeman's chin, killing him and spraying blood everywhere. The officer's dead body tips to the left and collapses, as the unharmed policeman yells out "Giúp đỡ (Help)!"

Using his shotgun for support, Dutch sluggishly crawls to cover behind the Ford Explorer. He turns left and watches Revy drag Rock to cover as if he had been shot. Right next to Rock, Marty slams in a fresh set of bullets into his TMP and jumps out of cover, emptying most of them at the one cop that still has fight in him, the cop standing up to aim at Marty. Two bullets strike the man in his gut while a third strikes the man's left hand, causing the cop to drop his guns and grab onto his gut. Shortly afterwards, his legs buckle, causing the cop to fall on his right shoulder, wounded and breathing heavily. Marty yells at Lloyd and motions him to come closer, and then turns to Black Lagoon Company and says "Revy, you take Emperor Brainlessjima with you in the Explorer and drive off ANYWHERE but east. We will head east. I'm thinking the bullet holes would attract enough attention. Dutch! You can walk? You're coming with us."

The Ford Taurus arrives at the scene, with Marty jumping into the front side passenger seat and Dutch limping along into the backseat, using his shotgun for leverage. Before entering the car with Marty, Dutch turns to Rock and Revy and yells "Good luck! Give Rock a few smacks until he snaps out of it! See you on the other side." Groaning in pain, he climbs into the Taurus and closes his eyes. As the Taurus accelerates eastward, Revy drags Rock onto his feet and pushes him into the front side passenger seat, before taking the driver seat for herself. Without warning, Rock sticks his head out of his window and vomits all over the asphalt and car door. Revy slams her left palm against her forehead and says "Rock! Rocky baby! I'd tell you some bullshit to make you feel happy and stupid, like you love to do, but right now, we are Vietnam's Most Wanted. SO SNAP BACK TO IT!" She angrily sets the car to drive, brushing off shards of glass, and slams her foot on the gas pedal, driving north up a dirt road, as a red Toyota Corolla follows in the distance.

Crawling to the first cop that was shot, the third cop, sporting short, combed back, black hair, thin eyebrows, and a thick moustache, groans in pain and yells "Binh! Ở lại với tôi (Stay with me)!" He reaches the policeman, the man lying face down on blood-soaked grass, and turns him onto his back. To his deep distress, the officer finds that the man has bled to death. The remaining police officer lifts the man's corpse to his chest and presses it against himself, cradling the dead man's head. The officer says "Em trai, xin (Brother, please). Đừng bỏ em (Do not leave me)." He deeply sighs as a few tears roll down his eyes. Silently crying, the officer looks into the distance, northward, and says "Tôi sẽ tìm thấy bạn (I will find you). Chúa giúp tôi, tôi sẽ giết tất cả các bạn (God help me, I'll kill you all)."

Barreling through the opposite lane and sending cars and motorcyclists to the sidewalks, Revy glances at Rock and says "Mr. Okajima…this is really not the time." Rock slowly turns his head to the left, glaring angrily at Revy. Starting to hiss, he yells out "…fuck you!" Revy laughs and says "Sure! Later! Now SHUT THE FUCK UP! Shoot at something! The sun! I don't give a shit!" Growling in anger at Revy, Rock clutches tightly onto his M9 and fires it out of his window, into the sky, sending pedestrians amok as a few scream in response. Satisfied, Revy says "Better. You feeling pissed off? Good, cause we got bacon to fry. Oh look at that, I see a Nissan Primera with the sirens on. Behind you, shoot em." A white and blue Nissan Primera that has the words 'Cảnh Sát (Police)' painted on the sides speeds up to the shell of a Ford Explorer, the cop car occupied by two Vietnamese police officers in their 20s, dressed in dark green uniforms.

"Uh…okay, okay. I got it, I got it. Okay," Rock mutters, shelving his emotions aside as he places his left hand under the top of the windshield frame, the glass long shattered. He contorts his body to the right, sticks his upper torso out of his window, and extends his right arm at the police car, M9 in hand. His left hand gripping tightly for support, he squeezes off bullets, one shot every two seconds, seven total, adjusting his aim as Revy weaves through traffic. The first two bullets miss over the car, the third bullet cracks the headlight on the left, the fourth bullet cracks a hole in the windshield right above the cop that is riding shotgun, the sixth bullets sails over the car, and the last bullet cracks a hole in the windshield right between the two cops. At this point, a Vietnamese traffic cop in a beige uniform with a beige police officer cap jumps in front of the Ford Explorer, Smith & Wesson 10 revolver in hand. He fires off a couple of shots at Revy, who ducks right before he pulls the trigger, the bullets hitting her car seat. She quickly slams on the gas pedal and charges at the policeman, who turns left and attempts to dive. Before he could dive, the Ford Explorer runs over the policeman, crushing him under the wheels.

The Ford Explorer bumps as it runs over the officer, causing Rock to slide back into his seat. The pursuing cop car swerves to the right, avoided the policeman's contorted corpse, as a red Toyota Corolla speeds past the cop car and avoids the dead body. Laughing, Revy sticks the middle finger of her left hand out the window and yells "Hey eat shit ya fuckin' commie cockhounds!" She turns her head to Rock, who has closed his eyes, seething coldly, pushing air through clenched teeth. Revy groans and yells "What the fuck?! Can you fucking shelf it or something?! We are getting chased by police! Whatever, you get shot, I don't give a shit!" She reaches toward the radio, brushing glass shards aside. She turns on the radio, which is giving static. A press of a button and a Khmer rock station comes on, playing the beginning of "Penh Jet Thai Bong Mouy" by female Khmer psychedelic rock and blues singer Ros Sereysothea.

Heading up the dirt road, the Ford Explorer becomes flanked by an incline surrounded with white, tented greenhouses on the left, and a small forest on the right. A second police car pulls up within three car lengths of the Ford Explorer, the police car occupied by a Vietnamese man and a Vietnamese woman in their early 30s, the Vietnamese man driving the car. Overhearing the sirens, Rock sighs and says "I know, I know." He repeats his earlier position and aims his M9 at the police car, firing three shots at the car. The first two shots bounce off the hood of the car, with the second bullet ricocheting harmlessly into the windshield, cracking it. The third bullet passes right under the crack left by the second bullet, exiting out of the rear window. Firing a few more harmless shots, Rock attempts futilely to steady his aim, as the radio ends the song and begins "Dondeung Koun Kay" by Meas Samorn.

Eying the greenhouses, Revy yells "Get back in!" A quick, hard turn of the steering wheel and the Explorer barrels down toward the greenhouses, as the police car zips by, leaving pursuit. Panicking, Rock yells "Revy, what the hell?! We are going to crash!" The first greenhouse approaching, its lab coat wearing occupants scattering and yelling in horror, Revy aims the Ford Explorer at the one plane of glass that isn't shielding rows of machinery. As she gets within several meters of the greenhouse, Revy grabs Rock on his left arm with her right hand and yanks him under the dashboard, as she herself ducks. Steadying the wheel as shards of glass and patches of dirt and clay fly into the car, Revy places her right arm in front of her face, anticipating an imminent crash. Noticing this, Rock drops his M9 and buries his head into his arms, bracing for impact as well, as greenhouse after greenhouse becomes torpedoed by the SUV.

After almost a minute of hearing the sound of shattered glass and screaming Vietnamese botanists running for their lives, Revy peers her head up, only to yell "Oh fuck!" as she finds herself driving head on towards a Vietnamese café, the café barely a straw shack. The male, Vietnamese proprietor and a white, male, Western European patron are in mid-conversation, only to break their conversation when the proprietor points and yells in English "Watch out! Run!" The patron turns around and yells "Oh God, EVERYONE RUN!" The patron quickly grabs a beige rucksack as he and the Vietnamese man scatter and run out of the café.

A loud crash resonates through the streets. Pedestrians, predominately Vietnamese with some American, Australian, and Thai tourists and expats, congregate around the crash. A baby cries out in the distance as the Vietnamese proprietor and his patron walk up to the wreck. A hanging ceiling fan falls off, causing the two to flinch. The Vietnamese proprietor sighs and says "Ten years, into the toilet." The American patron turns around and watches the crowd congregate on him, saying "Some people, huh Kinh? Hope you got some insurance coming in. Check if the idiot survived. Here's hoping it's someone rich." Kính forces a laugh and says "Oh please, I hope so. Maybe they could cover everything. Hey jackass)! Are you still alive?"

The American patron inspects the Ford Explorer and says "What the…holy mother of God, it is covered in bullet holes." Kính gives the American a double take and asks "What did you say?" as Rock and Revy stir back into consciousness, a few cuts and bruises on their persons. Groggily, Rock lifts his M9 off from where his feet are and places it on the dashboard. Spotting this, Kính yells "RUN! They are armed!" The American patron, the Vietnamese proprietor, and most of the crowd quickly scatter, as a few remaining pedestrians glare on in confusion. As Rock climbs out through his window, M9 in hand, the remaining pedestrians quickly take off, realizing what is going on.

Rock, groaning in pain, falls onto a crushed wooden coffee table, as Revy follows suit, landing on Rock. Her Cutlasses in her hands, she spots a Toyota Corolla creeping up to the site. At the driver seat, Tuyết silences the radio and stares on in wonderment, saying "This looks interesting…is that Martin's car?" Seated right next to her, Branca squints his eyes and says "Is that the bitch that we are supposed to have whacked?" Tuyết sighs and says "Đụ (fuck), I think she saw us. Now we have to pick her up. But why is that car here? They were driving north, we went with them and then turned west." Branca shrugs his shoulders and says "It might have something to do with that trail of greenhouse shit." Tuyết closes in on Revy, who is waving at them in the middle of the street, and says "Whatever, we still get paid."

As Tuyết drives up to Revy, she rolls down her window and asks "What happened?" Revy coughs out a little blood and reaches into her mouth, groaning as she says "Ahh shit, a tooth is loose. Rock jacked a car because the Explorer got shot up. Marty, Lloyd, Dutch, and that police fuck are long headed east. Me and Rocky boy went north and then drove through those greenhouses. Notice the mile long stretch of broken glass." Tuyết laughs and replies "You drive like a lunatic. Get inside." Revy waves Rock over to the car, the latter holding his neck in pain with his left hand. Clumsily walking toward the Corolla, Rock says "I think I sprained my neck." He climbs into the seat behind Branca as Revy climbs into the seat behind Tuyết. Immediately afterwards, the car slowly accelerates to a comfortable speed, heading north. Two police cars pass the red Corolla, heading south toward the crash and the trail of glass.

Groaning in pain, Revy says "Goddamnit, now I need a fake tooth. I hope you got some cotton things at the safe house." Branca shrugs his shoulders and says "I don't know. You were supposed to hold them off for much longer. The cops." Revy snarls at Branca and says "I just drove through like fifty greenhouses. I think the cops got their hands full right now. So screw off." Branca opens the palm of his left hand and raises it, saying "Just saying. We get paid for driving you to the safe house, you get paid for being an annoying fuck to the cops. That was the plan. If Marty catches any heat, it's on you." Revy snarls once again at Branca and says "Mind your own business alright? Arrgh, I think I can feel the nerve dangling or some shit. It's a front tooth too, ah fuck."

Looking out of the window, Rock watches pedestrians strolling along the way, a few talking amongst themselves and pointing at the trail of crushed greenhouses. A sharp pang resonates through his chest, as Rock huddles into his seat, leaning on his right shoulder. His hands shaking frantically and his chest feeling in short supply of air, he closes his eyes and futilely tries, with all his might, to wipe his mind clean of all that has transpired.

Seated in front of a table, in a narrow kitchen, a forty-something year-old, slightly light skinned, North Indian man sticks a white porcelain spoon into a Styrofoam cup of Tom Kha Kai soup, scooping up coconut broth, coriander, shitake mushrooms, and chunks of chicken. The man is sporting a thick, black moustache and connecting goatee, and is wearing a black, silk dastar turban. He turns left and peers out of his apartment window, taking in the Roanapur breeze, glancing at walking pedestrians from a third-floor view. Returning to his soup, the Sikh man takes another spoonful of it, and then leans forward at a straw hanging out of a coconut, taking a sip of coconut milk. The man turns right, eying a small stove right next to the table he is eating off of. Past the stove, and into a beige colored hallway, he spots another table, the table covered with newspapers written in English and Hindi, a plastic bag with a few napkins in it, and a paperback copy of an English translation of 18th century Chinese novel Hóng Lóu Mèng (Dream of the Red Chamber).

A knock reverberates through the apartment, followed by another. The Sikh man raises an eyebrow, setting his spoon into the soup. He climbs out of his seat and wipes his mouth with a hanging rose petal patterned towel. Placing the towel back on the rack, he steps into the hallway, a door on the right and a living room on the left. The Sikh man peers through an eyehole, spotting a skinny young Thai woman in a sleeveless green dress, a short blue skirt, and black high heels, her hair tied into a bun. The Sikh man's eyes light up as he smiles and brushes his goatee with his fingers. Straightening his shirt and pulling up his pants, the Sikh man removes the chain on the door and opens it, cheerfully saying in North Indian accented English "Hello!"

Suddenly, the Thai woman takes a step back, as the silencer of a Beretta 92SB strikes the Sikh man across his left cheek, drawing blood. The Sikh man falls on his right shoulder against the door frame, yelling in Hindi "Kyia bakwas hai (What the crap)?!" Before the Sikh man could say anymore, a Western European looking man covers the Sikh's mouth with his left hand and aims the silenced Beretta at the Sikh's heart with his right hand. The man with the silenced gun has bushy, black hair and is wearing a red Nike replica jersey of the South Korean national football team, a gold chain with a gold Catholic cross, black leather gloves, blue jeans, and dark grey sneakers. Behind him, a young Vietnamese man stuffs a handful of Bhat into the Thai woman's right hand, saying in English "Here you go, now get out." The Vietnamese man is sporting buzz cut black hair, holding a silenced Beretta 92SB in his left hand. The Western European looking man pushes the Sikh man further inside the apartment, his Beretta aimed at the man's chest, as the Vietnamese man locks the door behind them.

Twirling the silenced pistol in his hands, as if signaling the Sikh man to shoo away, the Western European man blurts out in a slightly nasally west New York accent "Hey Viên, you got the door?" Viên checks the door to make sure it's locked, and says "It's locked, Mr. Orlandi." Orlandi smirks and keeps walking forward, causing to terrified Sikh to trip and fall onto the wooden floor, his right hand landing on the newspapers. Standing right above him, Orlandi leans forward, the Beretta out of the Sikh man's reach, and says "Mahaveer Singh, we want a little chat with you. That all." Orlandi turns to the novel on the table and picks it up with his left hand, scanning it. Shrugging his shoulders, Orlandi says "Never got around to reading it. Is it any good?"

He and Viên exchange a few laughs as the Sikh man crawls away and into a living room, the living room sporting a black and beige vertically stripped fabric couch flanked on both sides by huge bookcases filled to the brink with books, VHS tapes, and vinyl records. Opposite the couch is a small black TV with a VHS player right above it, the VHS player held in place on top of the TV with medical gauze under it. Raising his hands in surrender, his entire body shaking, Mahaveer frantically says "If you want money, I have little. Please, I am not involved in anything!" As the two gangsters approach Mahaveer in the living room, Orlandi tosses the book onto the couch and blurts out "We are looking for one of your friends, used to live here. Went by the name of Pongsak Shinasarn." Mahaveer raises an eyebrow and says "Pongsak? …he left. I don't know where. He gave me his share of the apartment as a gift and then left. I don't know where. Please don't kill me! Waheguru, mujhi rakshah karnah (Wonderful Lord, please protect me)."

Orlandi stomps on Mahaveer's left knee cap, sending a jolt of pain through his body. Grinding his teeth, Orlandi angrily threatens "If you don't give that cocksucker up, I'm going to take that doo rag on your head and shove it up your asshole." Furious and in pain, tears of agony rolling down his eyes, Mahaveer yells "Fuck you! Bhenchod (Sister fucking) scumbag!" Stomping again on Mahaveer's left knee cap, Orlandi continues "Give me Pongsak, or I'll chop you up into bite sized pieces and feed you to the homeless. We can do this all day, you paki fuck." Mahaveer lunges his right fist at Orlandi, who simply steps back and out of the way. Returning to Mahaveer, he points his silenced pistol at Mahaveer's right knee cap and fires a shot, drilling into it and spraying blood on the floor. As Mahaveer begins to scream in pain, Orlandi places his right shoe over Mahaveer's mouth, partially to silence his screams, partially to infuriate him more. Laughing, Viên says "Congratulations, now you have no legs. Keep this up, and your balls will be next."

Removing his foot from Mahaveer's mouth, Orlandi turns to Viên and says "That's a pretty good idea. Maybe if you give me that rat fuck, I could conveniently forget my friend said that." Seething through his teeth, Mahaveer says "I would tell you if you would stop insulting and attacking me, arrgh! Ghinonah jahnwer (Disgusting animal), I'll tell you, argh my legs!" Orlandi extends his arms out and says "I've been waiting since last week, buddy." Catching his breath, Mahaveer says "He said that he stole money from some dangerous people, that he needed to get out of the country. He gave me his half of the apartment, gave me some money, and asked me to help him find someplace to live in India. He went to Lucknow! How did you even find out about this?! He said that the people he stole from blamed someone else!"

Orlandi smirks and says "A little eagle directed us to you." Clearly confused, Mahaveer yells out "What?!" Ignoring the remark, Orlandi menacingly inquires "Now where in Lucknow?" As Orlandi aims his pistol at Mahaveer's crotch, Mahaveer yells in fear "Mahanagar Colony, I forgot where! He may have moved, I haven't spoken to him in months!" Satisfied with the results of the interrogation, Orlandi reaches toward a black telephone on a receiver and tosses it at Mahaveer's face, saying "Enjoy the day." He and Viên exit the apartment, laughing to each other, as Mahaveer lets out a stream of tears, both of his legs in great pain.

Sitting in a bathroom in the Bougainville Trading Company, seated on the closed lid of the toilet, Fred Viapiano feels his phone vibrate in his slacks pocket. Dressed in a collared, buttoned shirt consisting of a blended design of vertical stripes of various shades of green and brown, with the stripes perpendicular on the sleeves, dark brown slacks held up by a black leather belt with a stainless-steel buckle, and dark grey boating shoes, he reaches into his right pocket and pulls out his cell phone. Putting his cell phone to his ear, Viapiano asks "It's done, right Benny? You got it?" Standing outside a payphone, across the street from a department store, Benjamin Orlandi answers "India. In…ugh…Lucknow I think he said. Last known in…Mahanagar Colony." Viapiano stretches his left shoulder, rolling it, and asks "That's all you got?" Orlandi shrugs his shoulders and says "All he could give me. I think he was telling the truth. Maybe get that friend of yours, that government friend, to help?" Viapiano grimaces and says "She still owes me one favor, and she's probably going to use this to weasel out of it. Alright, fuck it. Thanks Benny, you did good. Take a break to Phuket or Singapore or something, for a week." Orlandi nods and says "No problem. Good luck." Orlandi hangs up the phone and exits the booth. He turns to Viên and says "I'm taking a vacation. See ya."

Seated in a red Toyota Corolla, the car parked in a driveway and the front seats empty, Rock and Revy groan in pain, glaring at a two-floor brick townhouse. As Tuyết and Branca inspect the exterior of the house for any surveillance, Revy uses the opportunity to say "You really need to get your head checked out or something. I almost caught a bullet for you, dipshit." Closing his eyes and favoring his neck, Rock seethes through his teeth and says "I am not used to killing innocent people that had nothing to do with it. Maybe you are." Laughing through the pain, Revy touches her loose tooth with her right hand and says "You keep getting more full of shit by the day. It's actually kind of impressive."

Rock clenches his fist and slams it on the headrest, shouting "I was supposed to have it under control! All the variables were supposed to be accounted for! What kind of an idiot civilian grabs a gun out of my hands like that?! Fucking moron…Goddamnit!" Revy groans and shouts "Yeah, what kind of an idiot just freezes up in the middle of the O.K. Corral?!" Rock clutches his kneecaps and shouts "That wasn't supposed to happen! Stupid! Stupid, stupid man! He'd be home enjoying a cold beer if he…argh! Did I freeze up?! Yeah, well I didn't want an innocent man's blood on my hands!"

Raising her right arm up and driving it down, slapping her right leg in a mix of annoyance and exasperation, Revy says "Then that's your fucking problem. Deal with it. It's fucking done. I almost got shot tackling you to the ground, you dumbfuck! If that, I don't know what…that mental shutdown that you had earlier today…if that is going to be a recurring problem, then maybe you should keep your contributions to anecdotes and looking pretty and stupid. Yea, maybe you should do that, so I don't get fucking killed!"

He starts quietly muttering "And she doesn't even care…" "What did you say…" Revy coldly mumbles back. Rock stares her in the eyes and coldly, sarcastically taunts "Big Revy, angry Revy, scary Revy. Oh, so scary. Miss 'I don't give a shit who I run over as collateral damage'." Revy's mouth agape, she laughs, touching her dangling tooth, and replies "No, I don't give a shit, mister silk sheets, oh so fucking clever, ego large enough to sink the Lagoon, hypocrite dickhead. Hey everyone, it's Rokuro Okajima's world, we're all just living in it! Doesn't give a shit how many people his mouth got wasted, his hands are squeaky clean, and now he had his first real fuck-up, the whole planet gotta stop and tell him 'Oh don't worry, it ain't your fault. You just had a bad childhood or daddy never loved you. Poor wittle you!' Fuck you, you asshole. Either get over it or raid the fridge for liquor. Just leave me the fuck alone already."

Rock, boiling in anger, his fists clenched, shaking, his breathing labored. Revy checks herself in the mirror, fiddling with her tooth, saying "What? You wanna sock me or something?" Rock coldly compromises, slowly speaking "Fuck…you." "Huh. Yeah okay," Revy replies nonchalantly, ignoring Rock's tantrum. Rock exhales, and with venom, speaks "You child-killing, psycho sack of shit."

A look of complete shock overcomes Revy, as she accidently tears the dangling tooth out of her mouth, blood seeping out. As blood drops fall from the top of her mouth onto her lips and lower teeth, she musters a confused and paralyzed "What?" At his limit, Rock hurriedly opens the car door slightly, kicks it open, and slams it in front of Revy. After slamming the door, he extends his right hand at Revy and clenches his fist. He wedges his right thumb between his right index and middle finger, forming the Eastern European/Japanese equivalent of the middle finger. He points the tip of his thumb at Revy and coldly speaks "You twisted, soulless fuck!"

As he walks up to the steps, Branca approaches him and quietly says "Fuck happened?" Rock frowns and places his right hand on the back of his neck, saying "Nothing, forget it. I just want to go inside. Can I go inside?" Branca exhales an exasperated sigh and says "Alright, the front was swept anyway. C'mon, get in before you make a crowd." Rock waves Branca off and says "Yeah, yeah."

Still frozen from what transpired, Revy fixates her eyes on Rock as he enters the townhouse. Her shock slowly morphs in barely contained fury, as she grinds her bloody teeth and clenches her fallen tooth in her right hand, the roots of the tooth digging into her skin, cutting it. Her entire body shakes in anger as she puts her right fist an inch through the driver seat's headrest, the headrest slightly dangling over the seat. She continues to flail around, punching and kicking the driver seat, as Tuyết runs up to Revy from the rear of the driveway, waving frantically at Revy to stop destroying her car.

Stopping at an old, almost empty gas station, Lloyd hurriedly exits the car and pulls out a credit card. After swiping, he chooses the cheapest gas available and hurriedly stuffs the gas pump into the car's gas feed. Groaning in pain, Dutch presses onto the wound in his left leg and groans "Wonderful! Ran out of gas after I get shot. If I end up like Lieutenant Dan…" Marty gestures at Dutch to be quieter and says "Take it easy, you'll live. Just don't draw attention to yourself." Dutch nods in understanding and pulls out a cell phone.

Eying the cell phone nervously, Marty asks "What you doing with that?" Dutch winces in pain and replies "I'm calling the safe house. Making sure the two are alive." Marty cracks an annoyed smile and says "They should be at the safehouse by now." Dutch groans and replies "I'd imagine. Would like a status report right about now." As Dutch presses a couple of buttons on his cell phone, Marty rolls onto his seat and mutters under his breath "Shit."

Putting his cell phone to his right ear, Dutch says "Revy, you there? Oh, hey Tuyết, can you put Revy on? Thanks." Another pause, and then Dutch continues "Hi Revy, you in one piece? Good. And Rock? What? I don't care, is he alive or not? He is breathing? Good. Revy, as your boss, I want a straight answer. We will save the human resource discussions after the job is done. What? Okay, thank you. My leg's a little fucked up I'm heading to the boat after I'm patched up. Tell Rock to clear his head or something, drink a beer or whatever. Revy?" Pocketing his cell phone, Dutch groans and says "Well, that's that. Now can we address this hole in my leg now?"

"Got any Kings?" Ippolito asks, wearing a sleeveless white shirt and black track pants, seated on a folding chair at the stern of the Lagoon, his elbows on a round, metal table with a parasol in the middle, opened. Opposite him, Benny, dressed in his Hawaiian shirt and beige slacks, nonchalantly looks at his cards and says "Go fish." Groaning, Ippolito pulls a card out of a deck and says "I'm collecting more fours than the Ashes." Benny laughs and says "You're not supposed to say what cards you got."

Scratching his chin and looking at the vast waters around him, the Lagoon anchored out in sea, Ippolito says "Let's make this more interesting." Benny, raising an eyebrow, asks "Interesting…how?" Ippolito looks to the port of the Lagoon and spots a shirtless, sunglasses wearing, slightly hairy-chest Western European looking man lying on a beach chair with a tanning mirror in his hands. He is completely bald and clean shaven, skinny, in his mid-40s, and is wearing brown cargo pants. Snapping his fingers, Ippolito yells out "Hey Eddie-boy! Here this out!" The rest of his body completely motionless, Eddie extends his right arm upwards and gives Ippolito the middle finger. Waving his right arm up and down and rolling his eyes, Ippolito turns to Benny and says "Alright, this is gonna be a little crazy."

Confused, Benny inquires further "What do you need?" Ippolito leans his head forward and scratches the back of his neck, saying "I'd do this myself, but in this case, it's gonna take three to tango, you know?" His confusion turning into ever growing horror, Benny's eyes widen as he mutters "What?" Ippolito sighs and extends his arms out, saying "I need you to play pitcher and Eddie to play fielder. Maybe you could take a turn catching." Now completely terrified, Benny scans the Lagoon for an ideal place to abandon ship as he nervously asks "Excuse me?" Oblivious to Benny's emotional state, Ippolito says "It's something I wanted to do since high school. Look, I know it's risky, but Eddie only pitches fastballs down the middle, so as long as nothing bounces between the cracks, we're good." Jumping out of his seat, Benny yells out "NO! I DON'T WANT A FUCKING THREESOME!"

At the sound of that, Eddie bursts into such hysterical laughter that he falls out of his beach chair. Ippolito looks incredulously at Benny, only to realize what just transpired, cracking a few laughs as he says "Alright, I did just realize that the past minute, I sounded like a bona fide fag. Nah, your asshole's safe. If I wanted that, I'd commit a felony." Benny lets out a few laughs as Eddie returns to his lawn chair. Heaving a sigh of relief, Benny says "Those choice of words really had me worried there. Anyway, what's up?" Ippolito looks to the sky and says "Before it gets late. I want to play baseball with hand grenades." Benny blankly looks to his left and right, and then at Ippolito, saying "Pardon?" Ippolito shrugs his shoulders and smiles, saying "C'mon, just a few of them. I'm sure you got a few to spare." Benny cracks a few nervous laughs and says "That's extremely dangerous and stupid. I don't think Dutch would like it if the deck got damaged. So, no, I can't."

Looking into a video camera, Eddie, still as he was before, says in a Toronto accent "I'm Eddie Ventimiglia, and you are watching 'Stugots'." He immediately turns his camera toward Benny, holding an M26 hand grenade in his right hand. Lifting his left knee up as he prepares to pitch, Benny throws the grenade down the middle, the pin still attached. Squaring the ball up, Ippolito winds up and swings the bat, sending the grenade into the sky. The grenade travels thirty-five meters away from the Lagoon, before landing safely into water, sinking into the Gulf of Tonkin. A wide, beaming grin on Ippolito's face, he turns to Benny, the latter's mouth agape and smiling in shock. Laughing while shuddering, Benny blurts out "I cannot believe we just did that!" Ippolito laughs and says "I was on the RIT team. I played lead off."

Eddie presses a few buttons on the video camera and says "I got it. Marty and Freddy VIP are gonna shit their pants, ha!" Ippolito shakes his bat around and says "One more, without the pin." Benny laughs and waves Ippolito off, mumbling "Ah fuck you. Ha." Ippolito stretches his back and says "Ain't kidding." Benny lets out a nervous laugh and walks toward Ippolito, pointing his right index finger at him as he says "You fucking crazy, man. Like why?" Ippolito shrugs his shoulders and says "Hey, just one. And I'll be happy." Benny glares at Ippolito and says "Only because you played lead off in college."

Returning from a side door on the Lagoon, Benny nervously holds a M26 hand grenade in his right hand. He returns to his original pitching position, exhales a deep breath, and grasps tightly on the grenade's body and the spoon. He puts his left thumb through the ring and says "Ready?" Ippolito opens his mouth and slightly grins, showing teeth. He nods and says "Was born ready, Tampa boy. Can't wait until my Blue Jays shit on your brand-new Tampa Devil Rays." Benny darts a dirty look at Ippolito and says "Are you sure you want to say that to me? I mean I'm holding a hand grenade right now."

After another deep breath, Benny pulls the pin after a struggle and pitches the grenade to Ippolito. Ippolito swings the bat, only to miss the grenade and lose his grip on the bat, the bat falling into the water, as Benny and Eddie run to the bow of the Lagoon. Quickly reacting, Ippolito scoops the grenade up and pitches it away, the grenade sailing toward the water surface before exploding an inch above water. The grenade sprays shrapnel, harmlessly out of the Lagoons range, as the loud thump resonates through the three men. Returning to the stern, Benny asks "You okay?" Ippolito nods and gives Benny the thumbs up sign, as Eddie awkwardly mutters "Didn't get that on camera." The three stand in silence, mulling over the stupidity of what transpired. Exhaling another breath and swinging his arms together in a clapping motion, Benny says "NCAA baseball player, eh?" Ippolito laughs and says "Nah, intramural."

Seated in front of a kitchen table, Revy opens her mouth and allows Tuyết to stick a cotton ball into the space left by her missing tooth. Nodding at Tuyết, Revy reaches into her wallet and opens it. She flicks through a few 10s, 20s and 100s in American bills, as well as a few 50,000 Dong notes. Grimacing at Tuyết and extending four $100 American bills, she says "Sorry about the car. Here's $400. Ask Marty for another $400, out of my pay. That should cover the repairs." Tuyết exhales a sigh and says "Just give me $500 flat. I'll fix it myself." Revy pulls out another $100 bill. Tuyết pockets the $500, and says "Do not break anything on or in my car ever again. Do you want me to see if Rock is okay?" Revy snarls at the ground and says "Fuck him, I don't care. Self-important dipshit."

Suddenly, Ngoc steps into the kitchen, dressed in a black tank top and sky-blue gym shorts, eating peaches out of a can with black, steel chopsticks, skewering the peaches with her chopsticks. Tuyết glares at Ngoc and says "We have forks in this country." Ngoc chews on a chunk of a peach, blankly staring at Tuyết as she mashes it in her mouth. Swallowing, Ngoc says "Vibol is too cheap to buy any." Ngoc turns to Revy and skewers another peach, saying "Rock told me you took out two of those agents by yourself alone. I'm impressed." Revy laughs sarcastically and says "Oh yea? Well maybe Rocky-boy and you can find a nice quiet room and GO FUCK YOURSELVES!" Ngoc glares at Revy in shock and musters out "What?" Revy waves Ngoc off and says "Whatever, leave me alone." Ngoc glares furiously at Revy, dumps her chopsticks into the can of peaches, and quietly turns her back to Revy, exiting the kitchen and coming face to face with the door to the outside on the left, a hallway on the right, and a staircase in front. She climbs up the staircase, muttering under her breath "Người Tàu (Chink)."

Arriving at the top of the stairs, she reaches a hallway with various doors on each side. On the second door on the left, Ngoc peers in and finds Rock being tended to by Vibol in the bathroom, the latter dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and black track pants. She looks ahead to find Branca heading out of a room, and approaches him.

An amused smirk on her face, she leans in and whispers "Hey Jake, want to go someplace private?" Smirking Branca replies "This room here is empty." The two step into a bedroom, the bedroom empty aside from a pair of mattresses on the floor, the mattresses crudely covered with cheap, light blue bed sheets. Ngoc locks the door behind her as Branca removes his shirt, exposing his somewhat hairy chest. He drops the shirt on the ground as Ngoc removes her tank top and unbuttons her light gray bra. Her tank top and bra falling onto the ground, she brandishes her exposed breasts and pushes Branca onto the mattress, before jumping onto him herself. Removing her eyeglasses and setting them on the ground, she sinks into a hungry kiss, before moving toward the left side of Branca's neck. A smirking, horny look on her face, she stands on her knees and drops her gym shorts, revealing light pink, yellow, and light blue horizontally striped panties.

As Branca reaches over and pulls down on her panties, Ngoc bites her lip and says "When this shit is over, I'm taking you someplace nice and quiet for a while." Pulling Ngoc's breasts towards his face, Branca mumbles "You read my mind."

Dressed as he was earlier, Trí Vũ enters the bathroom, only to look in surprise as he says in Vietnamese "I thought the bathroom is empty." Vibol nods at Trí and says "A few minutes." Trí nods at Vibol and then turns to Rock, saying "Hey you. How it go?" Rock grimaces and shrugs his shoulders as Vibol places an ice pack on the back of Rock's neck. Pressing onward, Trí asks "Looks like you got action there. Got shot at?" Rock nods and says "Just about."

Trí grimaces and says "Okay. Careful there, friend." He heads down the stairs, turns around, and walks into a sparsely decorated living room. He spots a red leather couch and crawls onto it, sprawling himself out on it. He reaches toward a remote and points it at a small television set, turning on a music video station that is playing "Những Lời Dối Gian" by Tú Quyên. He stretches his back and yawns, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

"Does anyone got any soft food in this place?! Before I fucking starve to death!" Revy yells out from the kitchen as Trí jolts out of his slumber, mildly annoyed. He rubs his forehead and yells back "You have hands! You can walk! Check the fridge!" He turns to the TV and notices that it is playing an advertisement for a soccer match between Đồng Tháp F.C. and Hà Nội T F.C. Climbing out of the sofa, Trí enters the kitchen to find Revy seated by the table as she was earlier, glaring furiously into space. He opens the fridge and pulls out a yellow and green can of canned sweet corn, a logo of a rising sun over a field covering the body of the can. He sets the can on the table, pulls a knife out of a cupboard, and places the knife on the can of corn. Looking at Revy with a blank look on his face, Trí says "Here. Have fun." Revy snarls at Trí and says "Oh yea? Maybe I'll shove this can up your ass. Bet that will be fun." Trí wags his right index finger at Revy and coldly says "Don't threaten me." Revy musters a "Hmph" and grabs the knife off the can. As Revy aims the point of the knife at the can, Trí calmly steps out of the kitchen and returns to his sofa, this time seated.

Tossing the lid on the ground, Revy sticks her hand into the moist can of sweet corn kernels, scooping up a handful and clutching them in her hand. She pulls the blood-stained medical cotton ball out of her mouth and drops it on the table, stuffs the kernels into her mouth, and greedily chews them. Can of sweet corn in her left hand, she gets off her seat and walks toward the stairs. Heading to the top of the steps, she passes by Jake Branca, the latter with his clothes recently back on. Jake nods at Revy and says "Hey." Revy simply nods at Jake and stuffs another handful of corn into her mouth. Turning toward a door on the left, Revy opens the door to the bathroom, only to find it empty. Grimacing, Revy turns to a door on the right.

Opening the door, she spots Rock sitting on a mattress, drinking a cup of coffee from a white porcelain mug. As she opens the door further, she says "Rock, what crawled up your ass and…wait, what you doing here?" She spots Ngoc standing across from Rock, drinking a cup of coffee as well. Ngoc blankly glares at Revy and says "We are just having coffee." Revy stares coldly and says "Ah huh." Sniffing, she asks "And what's that smell? The fuck?!" Ngoc angrily points her right index finger at Revy and says "Piss off. It was me and Jake. That's where the smell came from. I don't give a damn about your stupid boyfriend." Rock's eyes light up as he jumps off the mattress, yelling "Wait! You did it on this mattress?! That's what that was?! Ugh, you could have warned me!" Ngoc walks away with her coffee and sardonically speaks "Mattress is broken-in. Have fun. Or smother each other with it. I don't care." She exits the room and closes the door behind her.

Rock points at the mattress and yells "There are human fluids on it! She told me it was water! Ugh!" Revy slaps Rock's coffee out of hands, the porcelain cup shattering and spilling. Rock groans and stares at the shattered porcelain, sarcastically speaking "Very nice, that coffee really had it coming." Revy tosses the canned corn aside, spilling its contents, and grabs Rock by the back of the neck with her left hand and covers his mouth with her right, shoving him forward and slamming him against the wall with enough force to make Rock's elbow leave a dent.

She leans in, muffling Rock's groans, her breath reeking of dried blood and corn syrup, coldly muttering "You think you're always the smartest man in the room, the big dick calling the shots behind the screen. That you're gonna have the whole island of Roanapur wrapped around your finger, and that a seagull couldn't shit in the streets without you knowing about it. But you ain't special, and you ain't something new, and boy does that really piss you off, huh? You just chasing that little win like you're trying to draw a Kilroy in some back alley hoping some random drunk stumbles in and realizes that you once existed and apparently mattered. And I'll level with you, sure, you can be interesting, and I've had worse lays, and I have a good time around ya, but if you ever, EVER, think that you are somehow a better person than me, then you can go crawl into a hole and die. This ain't 1995 and you ain't daydreaming as Robin Hood no more. You're just another vicious killer, like everyone else."

Rock suddenly grabs Revy's right wrist and pries her hand from his mouth, groaning "Would you rather have wanted Luca to shoot you first?" Revy's grip on his neck tightens, as does the muscles in her neck, as her face flexes in anger. She mutters "The first hit was free, but like a fiend, you kept coming back for more and more." Rock shoves her away and clenches his right fist, arcing his arm back and cocking a haymaker. He throws his strike ands stops himself an inch from Revy's chin. Revy coldly stares at his knuckle, and then back at Rock, and then smirks "What you waiting for, pussy? Here's your moment. Like I said, the first one is free."

Ngoc re-enters the room, speaking "Hold on, forgot something", finding Rock's fist hovering under Revy's jaw. She raises an eyebrow, and then finds the spilled corn and shattered mug. Nodding to herself, she says "Wow, you two really are meant for each other. Like you came out of American trailer park." Revy, her eyes dead, turns to Ngoc, ignoring Rock. The spectacled gangster now commanding her attention, Revy approaches Ngoc and slams her right elbow against Ngoc's forehead, knocking her glasses loose and sending Ngoc to the floor. Revy immediately pounces on Ngoc, mounts her, and reaches for the back of her head, clutching hair. She then slams Ngoc's head on the ground repeatedly, as Ngoc quickly pulls Revy closer, sticks her fingers in Revy's mouth, and fishhooks her right cheek, dragging Revy's head to the ground and forcing Revy to release her hold.

Reversing position, Ngoc fishhooks Revy until her head slams on the ground, then climbs up and drives a sharp kick into Revy's ribs. Ngoc prepares to stomp on her head until Rock intervenes, shoving Ngoc aside and then landing a straight on Ngoc's chin. As Rock attempts an uppercut, Ngoc steps back, dodges the uppercut, and then drives a knee into Rock's stomach. Rock, almost keeling over, is unable to stop Ngoc from clasping his head in a Thai plum clinch, who then drives her right knee into Rock's nose, breaking it and drawing blood. Rock falls onto his back, stunned, and groaning in pain. As Ngoc prepares to drive a kick into Rock's back, Revy, now on her feet, drives a stiff hook into the back of Ngoc's head, sending her crashing to the floor.

"What the fuck is going on here?!" Branca yells, entering the room. He spots Ngoc lying on the ground, turns to Revy, and, enraged, yells "You fucking bitch!" Branca charges Revy, only to get a kick to his left shin and a sharp right hook across his chin. Catching Branca by the back of his head, Revy slams him face first into the wall, busting open Branca's nose. As Branca joins Ngoc and Rock on the cold, wooden floor, Tuyết, Vibol, and Trí enter the room. Waving her hands up and down, Revy yells "Step right up you fuckheads! Step right up for the ass-kicking of a motherfucking lifetime! C'mon, try me you dipshits! Give it a shot!" The three remaining Vietnamese gangsters immediately swarm Revy and tackle her to the ground, restraining her. They lift Revy up, kicking and screaming, and carry her out of the room. Walking toward the open bathroom door, the three toss Revy into the bathroom and shut the door on her. Vibol and Trí hold the door shut as Revy attempts to push her way out of the bathroom. Tuyết returns to the room with the mattresses, only to verify that Rock, Ngoc, and Branca are all alive, if somewhat in pain. Tuyết returns to the bathroom door and yells "If you don't calm down, we will lock you in the trunk of my car! Stay there and shut up, you crazy bitch!" "FUCK YOU! FUCK YOUR FUCKING FAMILIES! I'LL FUCKING KILL EVERYONE RIGHT NOW! EVERYONE! EVERYONE!" Revy yells out, in hysterics, ready bludgeon everyone in her path with nothing but her fists and her rage.

Sitting on opposite mattresses in the mattress room, Rock and Revy pensively look at the ground, Rock's nostrils filled with rolled up tissues. Revy climbs off her mattress, steps toward the door, and attempts to open it, to no success. She turns to Rock and coldly says "They put a chair under the knob." Rock grimaces and nods in response. Revy coldly stares at Rock and returns to her mattress, shifting her gaze to the wooden floor.

Situated on the sofa, with Ngoc and Jake on separate chairs, the latter with a bandage over his nose and the former with a few bandages on her face and an ice pack on the back of her head, and with Tuyết, Vibol, and Trí seated on the couch, the five gangsters glare at a telephone mounted above the sofa. Jake shrugs his shoulders and quietly says "It will be like putting down fucking animals. Rabies and shit. I think the bitch has them." Ngoc nods at Branca and says at the same volume "The piece of shit is rabies personified. I can't wait until I put a hole in her gut and watch her bleed to death. To think we would have to deal with scum like that after 1979." Tuyết darts at Ngoc a tired, annoyed look, and says in Vietnamese "Oh would you please shut up. You spent 1979 collecting government checks in Vinh, Ms. Phùng, so do not talk like that." Ngoc Phùng grinds her teeth and says "Yea, I wished I lived in the north, so I could have wrapped my hands around their necks." Tuyết shakes her head and groans in frustration. She closes her eyes and tries to let her mind drift away.

Suddenly, the mounted phone rings. Tuyết reaches up and pulls the phone off the mount, as the four remaining gangsters listen attentively. Tuyết puts the receiver to her ear and says "Yeah?" Marty, dressed as he was earlier, standing in a payphone on Nguyễn Trãi Street in Cam Ranh, with a small dockyard in the distance, says "Payphone me up. I'm waiting." The sky is a reddish orange hue as the sun sets on the horizon. Tuyết replies with "I'll be at one soon," and hangs up the phone. She turns to the four gangsters and says "I'll be back. He wants a payphone."

Standing outside a payphone near the 'Việt Nam Tươi Cà Phê (Vietnam Fresh Coffee)', Tuyết stares into a piece of scrap paper with a phone number on it, and dials the number. After a short pause, she hears Marty on the other end "I'm assuming that's you." Tuyết arcs her head back and says "Yes, it's me. Both Rock and Revy are in the safe house, as I already told you earlier over the phone. They crashed your Explorer into a café, then spotted us. The girl is a complete degenerate. I seriously think that the bitch should consider heroin as a way to self-medicate. She broke the headrest in my car seat for no reason, then she nearly beat Ngoc and Jake unconscious and had to be restrained. She suddenly went insane. It is becoming very tense in the safe house."

Marty nods to himself and asks "How's Ngoc and Jake? They okay?" Tuyết leans into the glass wall of the pay phone and closes her eyes, saying "Yes, they're fine." Marty nods once again and says "Okay, listen, and listen good. Tell Rock and Revy that their boss is fine. The bullet didn't break anything or cut anything serious, and it was safely pulled out and shit. The guy is just limping. Now the roads…stay in the safe house. Fucking pigs are setting a dragnet. Tuấn called me and said that what you all did is now on international news. So yea, keep your head down for a bit, till the heat cools off. We'll cool off in Cam Ranh. Meet us there tomorrow. Try to make it before sundown. Give me a call when."

Tuyết rubs her nose and asks "And what about what you wanted us to do about Rock and Revy? Should we proceed with the plan you gave us?" Marty sighs and asks "Did you see that bitch talk with her boss on the cell phone?" Tuyết raises an eyebrow and replies "Not…really. Why?" Marty grimaces and looks up, his cheeks puffing up. He says "Well, I did, well, the other way around. So no shit, we can't proceed with the plan. Whatever, I'll just pay the fucks what's owed and call it a day. This is making it more complicated than it has to be." Tuyết nods to herself and says "I understand. I'll relay the news to the rest of them. Hopefully Ngoc and Jake do not do anything stupid."

Returning to the safe house, Tuyết locks the door behind her and approaches the four, the latter still at their seats. She huddles around them and quietly says "The roads are under heavy surveillance. We have to wait until tomorrow." Ngoc nudges her head at Tuyết and asks "And those assholes upstairs?" Tuyết shakes her head and says "Not going to happen." As Tuyết continues and says "Plan doesn't work any…" Ngoc ignores Tuyết and proceeds to the staircase, saying "I piss on the plan." Tuyết immediately grabs Ngoc by her right shoulder, turns her until they become face to face, and tightly grabs Ngoc by Ngoc's chin with her right hand. She then curls her left hand into a fist and hovers it in front of Ngoc's face, glaring furiously at Ngoc, appearing to be debating on whether or not to punch her. Suddenly, Branca pulls Tuyết off Ngoc and says "Take it easy."

Tuyết glares at Branca, and then at a slightly terrified Ngoc, and yells out "You all naturally stupid, or is this for a special occasion?! Does anyone realize that we have millions of dollars at stake?! Our money?! You will throw all that away?! I mean what the hell! I didn't go through three fucking wars just to sell jewelry and hash to tourists in Nha Trang! And I don't want to hear no more about fucking China, alright! I'm fucking tired of being reminded of it, Ngoc! You think I enjoy being reminded of how my parents got their brains shot out by those shit eaters from Peking?! If the word China or 1979 or the Spratlys or whatever gets spoken within a five-meter radius of the space around me, I'm going to rip someone's fucking eye out! Now you! Ngoc! And you too Jake! I don't want to see you in the same room with our guests again! I don't care what happened! If something like that happens again, I'm going to assume it's the fault of either of you. And we will have a problem. Buddha give me strength, we will have a serious problem. I swear, I will beat on you until my hands develop arthritis!"

Ngoc grimaces and nods at Branca. Branca scratches the back of his neck and says "Okay, we'll lay off." Ngoc grimaces once again and says "Sorry." Tuyết clenches her fists and raises them in the air, ready to slam them onto a table. Lowering her arms, she yells "I don't want your apologies! And I shouldn't have to be repeating myself! When I say something to you, to any of you, it becomes law! Am I clear?! Good! Now get out of my way!" Tuyết exhales a sigh and storms up the stairs. Reaching the top, she approaches a door with a chair leaning against it. She removes the chair and knocks on the door, saying "You calmed down over there? I'm letting you out. If you are in the same room with Ngoc and Jake, I expect you to get out of the way immediately."

After hearing silence for a minute, Tuyết draws a CZ-75 from a holster on her right leg, hidden under her track pants. She carefully opens the door and peers inside, CZ-75 in her right hand. She spots Rock and Revy on the same mattresses as they were on earlier, both in complete silence. The two look up as Tuyết says "Your boss is fine. Minor wound, no bone damage. He is just limping a little. The police have set up surveillance on the roads, however, so you two are sleeping over. To prevent any more problems, you two will sleep in the attic. It was cleaned out three days ago, don't worry. I will bring up a mattress, two pillows, and some clean bed sheets. It is not excellent, I know, but I am not running a hotel. Do you want a smoke?"

Revy turns to Rock, grimaces, and forces a meek smile, saying "Yea." Rock nods and says "I'll have one." Tuyết holsters her CZ-75 back where it used to be and pulls out a gold pack of Vinataba unfiltered cigarettes. She pulls out three cigarettes, and then hands two to Revy. Rock climbs out of his mattress and approaches Revy, taking one of her two cigarettes. He mutters "Thanks" and places the cigarette in his mouth. Tuyết pockets her pack of Vinatabas and pulls out a lighter. She lights her own cigarette, then Revy's, and lastly Rock's. The three proceed to smoke as Rock asks "You fought in three wars? Sorry if I'm intruding." Tuyết nods and says "The Civil War, the war in Cambodia, and the defense against the Chinese invasion in '79." Rock grimaces and nods, saying "You seen a lot." Tuyết blankly nods and says "I done a lot." Revy takes a drag of her cigarette and melancholically blurts out "These cigarettes are pretty fucking harsh. Where'd you get them?"

Flushing the toilet, Rock approaches the sink, dressed in nothing but red and black plaid boxers. He turns on the faucet and washes his hands, letting warm water run through his fingers. A few drops spray onto his taped-up chest. He approaches a hand soap dispenser and pushes on its top, only to get nothing. Washing his hands without soap, he kneels down and opens a cabinet under the sink. He stares at the contents of the sink curiously, his curiosity slowly replaced with horror and an accelerated heartbeat.

Rubbing his eyes, Rock leans forward and surveys a pair of beige carpets folded and rolled up under the sink. Stuffed into the cabinet, along with the carpets, is a few rolls of plastic stretch wrap. Exiting the bathroom, he walks up a new set of steps that have been lowered onto the hallway from the roof. Reaching the top, he pulls the steps back up. Right before he seals the steps, Rock grabs a piece of rope hanging on the bottom of the steps and pulls it up with the rest of the steps, making it impossible for anyone to enter the attic from the hallway. Rock then turns toward an old, unplugged TV set, lifts it up, and quietly places the TV set over the steps, as added security.

Rising from bed, dressed in only her black bra and her black thong, Revy asks "Rock, fuck you want?" Rock places his right index finger to his lips and says "Shh." His arms on the back of his head, Rock mutters "We have a problem." "Oh you think?!" "Shh!" He approaches their bed in the sparsely decorated attic and whispers "I think they are going to kill us." Revy glares at Rock with a perplexed look on her face, stares in deep thought, and then whispers "What you found?" Rock nods and whispers "Two carpets and plastic wrap, under the sink. Not in the closet or in the garage, but under the sink. In the cabinet. In a bathroom. Where it's easy to wash blood." Revy places her hands on her face, rubs her eyebrows, and mutters "Ah fuck."

She stares blankly in deep thought, and then asks "Did you pull up the stairs? Did you hide the rope from their reach? Did you seal it?" Rock nods and says "Yes to everything." Revy nods, and the scans the lone window in the attic. She speaks "I have a full mag in Cutlasses, you got your M9. Let me think…" She nods at Rock and says "Bring them here, make sure the safety is on, hide them under the sheets." As Rock collects the guns, Revy groans and says "Should have gotten a burner phone with me. Well, too late now." "So, what are we doing here?" "Now?" Revy frowns and nods to herself "Now, try to get some sleep. Ignore the crocodile downstairs." "Sleep? How the hell can you sleep in a situation like this?" Rock speaks, exasperated. Revy lies down on her mattrass and answers "Quietly. We play it by ear. Only eat what hasn't been opened, stay close, eyes in the back of our heads. If we get in any cars, only the backseats. Anyway, they're not going to get us in our sleep, we'd see them coming a mile away. We'll deal this tomorrow morning."

Rolling onto his own back, Rock exhales a few breathes. His heart rate accelerating once again, Rock closes his eyes and clenches tightly on his blanket, terrified as to whether he will live to see tomorrow. A frog croaks in the distance, as an owl hoots on a nearby tree, while the shroud of darkness lulls Revy into slumber.