I checked the m16 magazine for what seemed to be the umpteenth time in this hour alone. Call it nerves, call it a way to ensure that I know for sure that I have rounds in my rifle so that I don't die, call it what you will, the fact of the matter is that i'm about to do one of the most stupidest, if not reckless things that I have done in this miserable life of mine.
Sigh. Shoving the magazine back into the rifle, I sling it over my shoulder. My hand moved into my pockets by pure reflex to grab a cigarette to smoke. A cigarette that was not there. Tch. Great, the physical void in my pockets in which the packet of cigarettes was supposed to be in was just simply not there. Really driving in the idea that this situation was quite bad. Well, it was a moot idea really, I always seemed to be in a bad situation, it's a twisted specialty of mine you see?
Out of the corner of the building that I hid behind, I eyed my target. The big, apparently most grand building in this entire damned city, if what the twat Alex said was correct, then i'll find them here. The bosses of all these people that are currently after my life. The plan is simply, stupidly simple you see? Barge in, kill the leaders and then go. An act that is just fucking stupid as it is dangerous, but an act that will no doubt buy me some precious time. It's a classic thing really, kill the officers and the rest of the troopers scatter like flies, at least that was how it was for me.
The sun was still high in the sky….Tch, I wish I had a watch or something. It took me probably an hour or two just to fucking get here. What do you know, navigating an unfamiliar city with no map and just by street signs is quite difficult. No, the most inconvenient thing about all of this was the simple fact that I didn't have a watch. Which means that I didn't know the fucking time. It could either be high noon, or nine o clock, I wouldn't know and simply couldn't tell.
Time is important. It tells you when to strike and when not to strike. It tells you when it's breakfast, lunch, and dinner time. It tells you when your shift is over and…ah you get the fukcing point. I don't have a watch. So I can't just stay here and observe these men around the hotel to get a read on when they ended and started their patrols, it would be fucking pointless. I can't just count manually either, I have too many things to look at. I am many things, but a multi-tasker is not one of them.
…
I rest my head against the cool brick stone of the building that I hid against.
Time.
I don't have enough of it.
Running my hands against my hair, I sigh one last time, and put the fifth revolver in my mouth. My body wasn't in the condition for a stunt like this, but there simply was no time. This truly was do or die. And I don't plan on dying, not now at least. With a terrifying feeling in my heart, I walked out into the street. And straight for the hotel. Straight for the two men in suits who were obviously standing guard there. Straight for them who saw me, and yet stood still. Not out of fear, but out of confusion, out of not knowing what to do. They were probably not expecting something like this, so their brains made the logical decision. The decision to do nothing. And that decision will cost them their lives.
Without hesitation, I pull the triggers of both revolvers in my hands twice, my arms slightly twisting to absorb the recoil. Within a moment, both men drop to the ground motionless. And within a moment, loud screams and all sorts of noises assault my ears.
Kicking the door open, I see three men in front of me. The images of mp5's in their hands quickly flash through my head as I fire four rounds, killing the two out of the three and leaving the third. Seeing him already with his eyes on the iron sights of the compact submachine, I quickly and desperately, panickedly hip fired both revolvers in my hands twice each, the rounds somehow miraculously hitting their target and killing the man. As a final result, expending all the ammunition in the revolvers that I held.
Civilians burst out of the doors in front of me, panicking even more as they saw me and the dead men. With a chorus of yelping, screaming, screeching and yelling, they frantically made their ways back whence they came, pushing and shoving each other for safety. There were so many of them that I couldn't even properly see any hostiles.
It was almost too late when I spotted them. Bastards were trying to hide amongst the panicking guests to try and get a closer shot at me. Throwing each of my empty revolvers at both of them, I saw them flying at, and hitting the heads of the men that I was aiming for, momentarily stunning them as I grabbed the revolvers from my mouth and coat jacket. One moment, and four shots later, two rounds from each revolver each, both men were dead on the ground.
I quickly move further into the building, making the patrons of this ever so fine establishment panic even more as they try and get the hell out of the way. My objective here is the elevator.. To my knowledge the leaders would be at the very top floor, and the view from the outside suggested that this was a very huge building. Meaning that if I took the stairs, I would soon end up as a dead man.
No, the elevator was the best choice. Time was the biggest factor here. They don't know what I'm doing here, and hopefully I attacked them so damn fast that they don't even know WHO I am. Yes, amidst this confusion I'll take the elevator and get to the highest floor as soon as possible. And then, kill their bosses. And then haul ass.
Taking a left towards a hallway, I see two men at the end of it, taking cover behind another hallway as I click my tongue. Displeased that I don't have a clear shot. Now what hell am I supposed to do? I can't rush them, not if I want bullets in my body. I'm not superman, so I won't be able to react in mere milliseconds the moment they turn the corner and fire at me IF I charged at them. The M16 won't work either. I can take these guys out with the m16 via penetration through walls, but if I get flanked…well, let's say that I'm not confident in my ability to quickly react with such a rifle in close quarters combat. At least with my ak47 I had a folded stock, but this… i'm nervous just holding this unfamiliar rifle.
Glancing back at the two men behind cover. I can hear them start speaking into what I can only assume as a radio. Shit. I don't have time for this! My eyes quickly rested on the fully loaded hotel cart next to them in the open. Without any thought and hesitation. I leave my cover and fire two shots at the hotel cart. The second shot after a delayed second after the first as I soon heard two cries of agony as both men fell to the ground.
Immediately running down the hallway, I instantly spot two more men coming down the hallway in which the previous two men were taking cover from. Diving down immediately, I try my damndest to ignore the flaring pain in my body as I empty the remaining shots in both revolvers, shooting three rounds each from the revolvers in my hands. Watching them fall as I quickly stood up, not even having time to for a simple sigh.
A quick glance at them is enough to make me furrow my lip in displeasure. These two men that I had just all so recently killed had tactical vests on you see. Complete with knee and arm pads, these two dickwads also had mp5s. Which leaves me with two options. A, either they're sweaty larpers who think that they're a special ops counter insurgency team, or b. They are, or at the very least, former special ops. Options that I am not comfortable with.
Pulling out my last remaining revolver, I stand up shakily as I brush off all of the dust and grime, forcing myself to move forwards. Looking down the hallway in which my enemies had come from, I found what I was looking for. The elevator. Starting at a slow, unsteady jog, my body soon picks up momentum as I sprint to the elevator.
Then suddenly, I hear an audible ding, and I see the elevator doors seemingly open slowly. Ah shit. Here we go again huh?
Time once again slowed down, one, two…Jesus, there were six guys, All with their guns almost raised as they started to get out of the elevator. I looked at them, and they looked at me. Once more, that all too familiar spark of recognition flared up. Only this time, they instantly raised their weapons.
It was too bad however, I had already drawn my revolver on them before they even saw me. With one hand pulling the trigger and the other reaching into the back of my pants for the Stechkin, Something was telling me that I would be regretting this action as soon after the first shot, I could feel my wrist becoming insanely sore from the recoil.
As the first man was felled by my bullet, I see the others instinctively try and rush out, to cover the most ground in the shortest amount of time in order to kill me. I kill the second in short order, moving on to the third who was already right in front of me, the bullet flying right by my head as I pull the trigger, already moving on to the fourth, not bothering to check whether or not the bullet connected. Just one, even one millisecond of hesitation could mean my death here.
Luckily for me, the fourth man's line of sight was blocked by the man I had just killed, So I caught the bastard with his gun at an awkward angle. Most likely a result of not wanting to flag his fellow comrade. A result that ends with him dead as I pull the trigger.
The two remaining men are in the elevator, each taking cover behind the steel cover that the elevator had to provide. Dammit, again? Aiming to the left of the opened elevator doors, I shoot at the top left corner of the elevator, fully prepared for it to miss, my Stechkin already in my other hand at the ready in case I mess this up.
Time seemed to slow down as I focused for just the briefest of seconds on this shot, and stopped slowing down the moment I pulled the trigger, a scream of agony followed by a fall out of cover made the other guy in the elevator readjust for just the tiniest of moments. A mistake that I pounced on as I pulled the trigger…And soon killed the man.
A dead thump could be heard as I threw the last revolver away, walking to the elevator with my stenckin at the ready, my ever immortal frown on my face as I dragged the bodies out of the elevator with all haste….Wait a minute…haste?
…. Sigh, what the hell am I thinking?
There surely will be more of them, more than I can handle…what if?...No…No, they've heard the shots already, there isn't enough time to pull something like this off…
…Calm down me. Think logically, but more importantly, fast here. I obviously don't have enough bullets to kill every single one of them. They know I'm here now and are no doubt scrambling to catch me. They know that I am on the lowest floors, so they're sending men to catch me immediately….
…At most I'll have like two to three minutes tops… sigh, god, Buddha, Allah, whoever's out there, please, just make things go my way. Just this once eh?
Picking up the bodies in the elevator, I drag them out, paying no mind to the blood as I let them fall limp upon the ground once I let go of them. Unslinging my m16, I grimace at the lack of a cigarette in my mouth as I begin my loathsome action.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The gunshots seemingly did nothing to faze her as she sat still on her chair. The panicked voices of the guards outside of the room indicated that they were confused as all hell as to the current situation. They didn't know who was attacking them, the report was that a single lone gunman started this whole thing, but judging by the sound of the gun shots, it was hard to say now.
Could the gunman have linked up with his friends to have created more havoc? Could the gunman have been a distraction? So that a force could sneak in? There was also the question as to why. Why was the gunman doing this? Was this a hired hit? Was this attack related to a gang? Nobody knew, and it panicked them even more.
Sofiya Pavlovna knew.
She kept silent however, not bothering to waste her breath. It was pointless after all, because at the end of the day, HE was going to die. Killed by her hands and that would be it. She would finally let go of the past, finally cutting off this loose end that for some whatever reason refuses to be cut.
She scowled.
It was an insane, stupid, outrageous plan. But it just might work. And that was what made her furious. Even now, his mind was still sharp.
It was a simple plan. Go in, hit them, hit them hard, kill their leaders and then make like a tree and leave. A simple plan, yet extremely effective if carried out correctly. At first thought, one might scoff at this plan. Attack? The headquarters of all the criminal bosses? All alone while they've sent out everyone to hunt you down? You would have to not only be insane, but also incredibly retarded as well.
And that is precisely why it would have worked. Nobody had thought that he would go through with an insane plan like this in the first place. They all thought he would continue to run and hide like the rat he is. But they've all forgotten that even a cornered rat will bite back if pressed enough. And she supposes that yes, indeed that traitorous spiteful bastard has been pressed. But that will change. Instead of being pressed, he'll be dead, once he reaches to the top floor, to her that is.
She leaned back against her chair now. The thoughts exited through her mind. It was odd now that her head was somewhat clearer. The fact that he knew to come here along with the fact that he managed to just…well, walk straight into hotel Moscow without anybody noticing anything, the fact that in the initial moments of his first appearance, the her men, battle hardened veterans from Afghanistan, and even a small number from the Chechnya war, could not find him.
She closed her eyes.
Things were going smoothly. Too smoothly for him. And the fact that he chose to attack this building and this building alone, when no one else was here…Well nobody else but her that is. And yet he still continued on the attack. It would only mean one thing. Somebody was helping him, and ratting her out.
She had a traitor in her midst.
This was a hunt. The beast was on the prowl. And someone was helping him. A…Judas if she had to put it into terms….No matter, she'll deal with him, after she deals with the beast. The question here was how. How would she kill him? Would she lure him out into the open just like with that kid? Or would it be more discrete? To avoid any more unwanted attention on her and her men?
She clenched her teeth.
She was miserable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hid behind the clothed trolley with sweat in my eyes, and a death grip on my stechkin. Keeping silent, I gulp as I see the elevator doors open and the men leave, their alarmed looks and cries as they start aiming their guns down the hall. If only they merely looked left at the trolley that was right next to them as soon as they exited the elevator….If only.
Aiming down the sights of their weapons, I watched them look at the blood trail that began from the entrance of the elevator, all the way down the hall and towards the left hallway that was connected to it.
They looked at the bodies that were placed by me. All of them spaced apart from each other. They looked at the spent bullet casings, specifically the m16 rounds that littered the hall. They looked at the bloody mess, and nervously looked at each other. Then, they nodded their heads, and their hunt began. A fruitless, unnecessary and stupid hunt. But most importantly of all, an entirely fabricated, controlled hunt that was set up by me.
I watched as they followed the blood trail down the hall. I watched as they noticed the empty m16 magazine lying on the floor, I watched as they turned the corner and continued cautiously following the string of far spread out bodies. Their eyes never left their iron sights as they slowly made their way. Unknowing and unaware of my presence so close to them. As far as they're concerned, they're about to find yet another m16 magazine, and as they explore further, they'll find the m16 itself, with even more dead bodies, and I'll be at the very top, killing their leaders and then hauling ass.
Pausing for a brief moment, I sweat bullets as I stand up and run the short distance to the elevator. My eyes furrowing in nervousness as I pressed the button to get to the top floor, my pistol already aiming towards the door, ready for the slightest hint of movement. I still had twenty rounds in the damn thing after all.
I grimace and cringe physically as the elevator doors slowly close, each and every second damn near giving me a heart attack as the seconds count down. Finally, the doors shut and I gave myself a slight sigh of relief. The first part was over. Now comes the second part. Statistically and logically speaking, this should be somewhat easier. After all, they're eyes and ears are on the ground floor, they wouldn't be looking at the top, where all their bosses were. So that means that the best and most easy option would be to just zerg rush them.
Leaning against the steel walls of the elevator, and with an ever resting scowl on my face, I prepare to fight. Dreading every single moment on this seemingly long elevator ride. All those memories of me on the battlefield flashing in my mind as I run my hands through my hair.
It truly was do or die now.
The problem was, I wasn't sure if I could do. And somewhere deep inside me? I couldn't care less if I died.
After all, Living was hard. And dying? Now that was easy. Easy as all hell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chang was furious when he heard the news. Reports of one of the doll face's men, assaulting the hotel in which everyone met and conducted business. It was an important place, more than a place even, it was a symbol. So long as that symbol existed, so long as it stood tall as it was proud, then crime would last forever in his little Libertalia.
He was in the car now, silently cursing as he watched his driver drive as fast as possible, driving past cars and ignoring red lights much to the disdain and displeasure of the people around them.
He grind-ed his teeth, the reports were bad. Over ten men were dead, the lone hotel Moscow man that assaulted his symbol of crime couldn't be found as of now, with the hotel staff and defenders searching for him frantically. Along with the final addendum that his boss, Doll face, was presently in the hotel, saying nothing as she mysteriously sat on her chair. At least, that's what the staff report.
She clearly knows something, and yet she refuses to divulge her information.
He sighed, had she gone rouge?
Did she decide to side with the Americans? Take this opportunity to eliminate everybody in one fell swoop? No, it couldn't be. If she wanted to, she would have chosen another date, when EVERYONE was present, and chosen a LOT more men to commit this attack.
So, that could only mean that her man had gone rogue. But if so, then why?...What the fuck was going on?
"Dàgē, we just got a confirmation call. It's from one of the liaisons from hotel Moscow." It was Li, his second in command, sitting right next to him. Li could only sigh as looked out the window, not wanting to see Chang's face whilst he was giving him the bad news.
"And?"
"Same thing that they've been repeating for the last couple of hours. Their boss went to the recovery section of their mansion to look for the new guy, er, the guy that called you baby sir. Upon discovery that he wasn't there in the bed, she stormed off into the hotel with specific orders as to not bother her."
"..." Chang said nothing now, resting his chin on both of his interlocking hands, a scowl forming on his face as he couldn't make rhyme or reason as to why this was happening.
"If only this made even a modicum of sense…" He muttered slowly and softly, his brow furrowed in complicated thought.
"...!" Then finally, it hits him, like a truck going at mach 4.
"...No…No, it can't be…it just can't…"
"...But if it is....then I am going to make that bastard suffer with my own hands!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as the elevator doors opened, and as soon as I caught sight of the men waiting for me in front of the elevator, I gripped the pistol grip so damn hard that I'm pretty sure that the wooden handle cracked. My fingers bled, with pieces of wood puncturing my hand, but I didn't seem to care much.
My attention was entirely and wholly focused on the mass of men in front of me. Nine. Nine men. All of them looked as surprised as me. Great, they didn't expect me to come. Now the question was, could I kill all of them?
Within the slight millisecond that the elevator doors opened, I pulled the trigger hard. So damn hard that the battles in the Panjshir valley flashed through my mind. With that dreadful helicopter now seemingly appearing in front of me as my index finger squealed in pain.
I was brought back to the times where I had to constantly fire my bolt action Lee Enfield so damn fast it was almost a machine gun, I was brought back to the times where artillery and mortar rounds were constantly and unrelentingly dropped around me.
It only takes a couple of seconds to fully deplete the twenty round magazine of the Stechkin pistol. I should know, especially with first hand experience. But those couple of seconds seemed to drag on for eternity. As it would for this whole entire unfortunate pickle that I find myself in.
I could have sworn that I could see each and every single spent shell casing fly through the air, seemingly wanting to linger far longer than it was supposed to. It was as if I could see each and every single ring of pure fire that the pistol formed, releasing those deadly pieces of lead that it harbored within.
..It was as if my very life was flashing before my eyes. If so, then I wouldn't be surprised, because it always seemed to happen. Which was a terrible thing indeed. After all, I get to see two and do two things that I absolutely loathed and hated. Relive my life, and kill people. Just fucking great no?
My eyes were beginning to water, and thus I blinked, and thus, as soon as it began, it soon ended. By the end of it all, I saw naught but the crumpled corpses of my foes lying on the ground, wholly unprepared for my unexpected appearance. The blood pool and the spent shells mixing and giving off a disgusting stench as I took a cold, mechanical step forward, my eyes looking around the room. Checking for my seemingly endless hordes of enemies.
Clap, clap clap.
A slow reverberating clap could be heard. In fact, it could easily be mistaken as a congratulatory, celebratory clap, the one that someone makes when an action is done, and they approve of said action.
I looked to the source of the clapping, it was further ahead in the room. The pistol smoke was already dissipating by this time, and yet, I still strained my eyes to see the clapping person. It was a blurry sight, mainly due to the room's lights flickering on and off for some reason.
Finally, after a moment, I could make out the silhouette, and I could make out and recognize that it was approaching me. Great, just great, looks like I have a phantom on my hands here eh?
Raising my pistol up once again, I take aim and pull the trigger. The empty clicks remind me that I'm out of ammo.
..Shit. Quickly, I look down near me, trying to pick up the weapons of the men that I just smoked. A fatal error. As soon as I took my eyes off of the figure, I just barely avoided a boot to the face. Turning my head up, I somehow will my exhausted body to put both my arms up, blocking a blow to my face, my arms damn near shattering in the process as I jump back a little, making distance from my enemy.
As soon as I do that, the lights flicker on one more, and I see a fist going straight for my face, once more. With my left arm, I try to put it against their swinging fist, in an attempt to stop their strike and use my hand to grab their joint and to immobilize their arm when their hand connects against mine.
A punt to my stomach stops that plan. Staggering me back via excruciating pain, it takes all I have to not throw up right then and there. Looking up, I get a clear picture of my attacker now…Shit.
"American CQC, you're a real big boss huh?" She asks mockingly, looking at me as she raises her fists once more as she gets into a fighting stance, ready to kill me.
"Well…well..well, Comrade Pavlovna, I thought I smelled the horrid scent of sulfur in the air-" I was cut off by a jab to my chin, which I barely dodged.
"WE. ARE. NOT. COMRADES." She hisses out, almost venomously even, getting into her next stance as she eyes me up.
"...So it seems." I reply haggardly. This was bad. There was no way in hell that I was going to beat her. Not in this condition anyways, hell, I'm not even sure that I could beat her even in optimal conditions.
"So it seems indeed. These are terrible times you know? just like it was when you left me." She started speaking in a low tone, moving in to close the distance, with my pulling back as a result.
"It was a terrible time when I left? I was under the impression that you were already having a terrible time to begin with! Just like me." I reply half mockingly/half desperately. Frantically looking around the room for anything that can Help my escape.
"We are not the same, so don't even try to get smart with me you miserable little rat."
"Hey, at least you got that part right, I am miserable. Quite miserable indeed…" My words trailed off as I focused on one part of the room, narrowly avoiding a roundhouse kick to the head as I ducked.
Taking this opportunity, I closed the distance, entering into her personal space, trying to do…what was it called again? Well, whatever. I was gonna sweep her leg, grab her collar and pin her to the ground, with my elbow poised against her throat.
Apparently I caught her in surprise, and it worked…Much to the detriment of my body. My eyes were mere inches away from hers now, her ragged breaths feeling warm off of my cold pale face. She struggled now, no matter, all I have to do is apply a little pressure and there isn't much she can do.
After a couple more seconds, she furrowed her brows at me and reluctantly stopped struggling, looking me straight in the eyes as I continued to maintain my hold on her. She was like a rabid, feral beast, I'm not taking any chances here.
With my elbow on her throat, I gradually applied more and more pressure, hoping to knock her the fuck out so I can get out of here quick. Thankfully, she was the only one there, otherwise I might have just died on this little suicide mission-Gah!
A pain in my forehead got me off of her, my head spinning as I looked at her dazed.
"I REALLY hate that about you, you know? You have no strength at all, and so you decide to use cheap tricks to take me down. Just like how you tricked me into believing that you were my comrade. All so you can make me suffer!" She snarled now, her body posture as murderous as her words venomous as she pulled out a knife that was strapped to her boot.
Shit, there goes my one chance at ending this fight fast! And I need it to end fast! I'm on a tight schedule here, any moment and the other men under her command can get here!
She came forward in a straight forward stab, aiming for my abdomen. I stepped to the right, attempting to grab her knife hand, only to have her free fist connect straight to my head.
It takes everything I have to not fall onto the ground, it takes everything I have to even balance myself upright. Come on body! Don't fail me now!
I see her now, readying herself for a charge-no scratch that, she was already charging, her knife poised for my throat this time…Crap, it really was or die!
I stepped slightly right, and in response she shifted a little to the left, so imagine her surprise when I shifted to the left?
Narrowly avoiding her knife, I put all my weight into her, pushing her down onto the ground, my arms thoroughly wrapped around her as I do so, making sure that she couldn't raise and use that knife of hers.
"You really don't learn do you?" She hissed, her cheeks red for some reason, probably due to all of this tiresome fighting.
"Well, it's the only damn thing I can do." I say, continuing to hold her, hoping that she will tire out soon so that I can end this ridiculous farce.
She struggles expectedly, Wiggling and trying to worm her way out of my desperate hold. Her sweat glistened off of her skin as I stared at her uncomfortably. Not even wanting to be put in this situation in the first place.
She pauses for a second, a look of hesitation on her face as her expression changes, once from a look of fury to one of calm, well, a forced calm, but still calm. Shit, she had a plan. This combination of pause and calm prompted me to jerk my head back, only for me to be met with extreme pain, particularly on my pointer finger which was wrapped around her back.
She took my hesitance and used it to worm her free hands, not nearly as restricted by my frontal bear hug, around to her back, where my hands were conjoined, pinning her down!
"GAH!, SHIT!" The pain was immense, But I can't let go, not if I don't want a bullet embedded in my skull, that is!
"ARGH!" She immediately followed up with yet another breaking of my fingers, causing me to slightly loosen my hold on her.
"Hhg!" This time it was my pinkie.
I tried my best despite the pain to hang on, and to tighten the hold, but it just wasn't happening.
"Oh my god you sadistic woman! A normal person would at the very least yell at me to let go!" I wheeze through the pain, my hands hurting so goddamn much.
"I told you, didn't I? I'm a ten year vet." She said calmly, moving on to yet another finger. This time, managing to succeed in its task in breaking my hold on her. My arms just didn't have any more strength. Scratch that, it seems my body just couldn't handle anymore.
No matter what I did, no matter how much I urged, willed my arms to hold, they just wouldn't listen to me. And soon, I was pushed off of her violently, landing on my back as the lights flickered off once more.
A moment passed, then another moment, and then I saw it. Her face. I made out her Baikal blue eyes throughout the temporary darkness, and next her face…. For some odd reason, something was in her eyes, causing some sort of liquid to gush forth from her beautiful blue eyes. Huh, figures it could happen, I, at the very least, would like to think and believe that I put up a helluva fight eh?
"..."
"..."
"..."
A second passed, and for some reason, I could see her lips slightly waver. Almost like she didn't want to kill me.But alas, they soon curled up into a vicious scowl. Guess it looks like I really am not making it out of this alive huh?
"...Why?" She finally asked, her voice slow and small as she gazed right into my fish-like eyes.
"Why?" She repeated in a low tone, almost as if she was whispering
"..." I look away from her gaze, turning my head to the left, my cheek touching the cold floor.
"...I…believed in you." I said flatly, uncomfortable with her gaze.
"....!"
"I believed In your skills and in your power….The replacement Kapitan that took your palace was suspicious, shady…Anybody who questioned him, or pissed him off, smart and dumb included, soon found themselves either dead by suicide via twenty five bullets embedded in their back or a in a sharashka. Either way, both were pretty bad…the replacement Kapitan was a shady bumbling idiot, So I figured, hey, if you were broken out of your prison by me, and promptly returned to duty…maybe my chance of living would increase exponentially…that's why." I uttered out, still avoiding her gaze, fully expecting the knife to pierce my body at any given second.
"..."
"..." A pregnant pause followed soon after, making my wince at each breath taken, dammit woman! If you're gonna kill me, then do it now!
"What the fuck are you talking about?" She asked, her voice now in a normal tone, sounding confused.
…What?
Turning my head, I look at her, and to my surprise, she is…for some reason, baffled?
"...You…weren't asking why I led your rescue?" I asked, stumped, not entirely sure what was happening here, but hey! If I'm not getting shanked, then I'm fine with that as well!
"....Wait a minute, you're lying! The rescue was Boriss idea! You were already long gone by the time they launched the rescue operation!" She huffed, her fist now clenched, and pulled the collar of my shirt to her.
"...Ah, so that's the game he's playing…He's smart, i'll give him that…" I muttered, this new found piece of information now being analyzed in real time as I finally put the puzzle together.
"...I, who was the beast of panjshir, disappeared in the underground bunker looking for you, split off, and apparently long gone, when they finally found you, Borris had someone to put this entire debacle on…me…I was the odd one out…I didn't have an alibi…And thusly, he could just essentially blame everything on me…and sweep the entire situation under the rug…" Holy shit, finally, something that I managed to piece together, that shit, Borris is the reason why everybody was out to kill me!
"...But that still doesn't explain the Americans….SHIT!" It was becoming more and more clear now. My memories with Borris, specifically with me, him, the local Mujaheddin cell leader, and the American agent…my call to the American agent on the walkie talkie, me telling them that there were to nukes, with me just disappearing right after telling them, and me without calling in again to report on the situation and whether or not the problem was properly diffuse.. Hah… Why does it have to all come flying back to me in my darkest hour?
"...What? Borris? Game? Underground hanger? The Americans? The fuck is going on here?" She growled, pulling on my collar even harder now, my face a few inches away from hers once again.
"Hah, for it to be crystal clear now, right here, right now in this circumstance….God must have a sense of humor…" I scoffed now, it was just ridiculous as it was ironic.
"You!" She started up again, her nostrils flaring up in anger as she looked at me, still unsure of what was currently happening.
"Don't you see? Borris played you, just like he played me. I have to thank you, if it weren't for you, I would have never figured it out." The who damn picture was clear, but the problem still persists, A very cranky and murderous Sofiya Pavlolvna was currently atop of me, ready to kill me at any moment.
"YOU!...No…no, you're lying…there's just….there's no way…" She said, shaking her head softly as her grip on my collar never loosened.
"There's no way in hell that you would believe in anything, me the least." She scowled, avoiding my gaze now as I tried to bafflingly read her actions, her grip so tight now that I could practically feel my shirt collar start to tear and rip.
"And Borris He's my second in command, he's one of the few men left from the very beginning, I would trust that man with my life and he would mine…There's just no way…" She mumbles now, furling her lip in displeasent thoughts.
"...You do know that you literally have me in a death grip right? One wrong move, one lie, hell,even one misspoken word? Could and would literally mean my death, why on earth would I lie now, of all places?" Alright, this was good, just keep on talking, keep on making her talk, and soon enough, you'll have a chance, an opening to escape.
"...Yes…Now that you do mention it…I do…" She looks at me now, her face close to mine as a pained expression engulfs her face.
"....You know…I had resolved myself to kill you, right here, today…."
"...." I say nothing, instead opting to look at her grimly in silence.
"I'm going to ask you one thing, and one thing only."
"..."
"What is your name?"
A pang of unpleasant pain resonated in my heart as I avoided her gaze once more. What now? Should I tell her a fake name? An alias?...No, she wouldn't believe me in the first place…but why does she want to know my name? It shouldn't even fucking matter, I'm probably not even born yet, it's irrelevant. As it is stupid.
"...You…know damn well in hell that it doesn't matter. My name is irrelevant, whatever the hell it is that you're trying to do is irrelevant. It won't matter, it shall never matter." I say with a pursed lip. My heart, beating irregularly fast for some reason.
"I'm not going to repeat this. If you don't want to die this instant, then tell me your name." She repeated, her calm voice, seemingly and mistakenly mixed with just the slightest twinge of desperation for some odd reason.
"..."
"Come on you bastard, I deserve to know at the very least your name." She said hoarsely, while I still avoided her gaze, not being able to bear looking at her.
"...Sigh." A myriad of thoughts and emotions raved through my mind as I lay there, pinned down by Sofiya Pavlovna. Should I tell her? It wouldn't mean much if I escaped, after all, technically, Hikigaya Hachiman probably hasn't even been born at this point in time!...But what if I don't escape? What if I die? At that point it wouldn't even fucking matter…So why? Why would she want to know my name?
"Why though?" I ask, my voice surprisingly hoarse as I want to know why she wants my name so bad. It just doesn't make a lick of sense after all.
"...Please."
"..." Before I knew it, my mouth was already opening.
"It's…" I started, only to stop myself, the words seemingly stuck in my mouth.…Why the fuck am I doing this?
"It's…" Come on you bastard, it's just two words, it's not that hard!... Why the fuck am I even thinking this?
"It's…" Why do I want to tell her my name? And why does my heart hurt so much?
Her face was practically millimeters from my face now, I could feel her warm soft breath against my cheek, no doubt desperately waiting for my stipid name to come out of my stupid mouth.
"...Hikigaya…Hachiman-umph!" I said, turning my head just as the lights flickered back on, only to be met with… an incredibly soft sensation on my mouth…well my lips specifically.
…Shit.
I saw her eyes widen as our lips still briefly joined together. My eyes no doubt widened themselves as I pulled away frantically, the back of my hand resting gently on my lips as I didn't say anything, still dazed at the sudden event that had just happened.
She didn't say anything either, her eyes were wide open, just like mine as she gasped for air, looking somewhat mortified at what had just been ordained. Her lips slightly trembled as her cheeks flushed a rosy red.
Before I knew it, a resounding slap, and a sharp pain could be heard in the room. And then a swift darkness befell me as I was…how do I put this?...Knocked the fuck out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up discombobulated, disgruntled and dismayed. My hands were zip tied to the arm rests of the chair as were my legs…The feeling of cold water splashed over my body didn't help either…Along with the blindingly bright light that shined in my eyes as I looked away in irritation.
"Well well well, look at what the cat dragged in." A familiar voice said, bringing me to focus as I turned to the source of the voice, squinting my eyes to make out the silhouette that comes with it.
"You know, I have to give it to you. You played us, played us like a damn fiddle. Outsmarted us at every single FUCKING turn…But look at you now, looks like you got you're just desserts didn't you?"
"...All because you got to fucking greedy, and tried to take us all out at once, in one fell swoop…Clever plan, where did you get the inspiration from? A John Woo film?...well it doesn't matter, point is, you failed, your a fuck up. You lose. Game over…mr beast of Panjshir."
The owner of the voice stopped right in front of me.
"..."
"...Now normally, I wouldn't do that shit, getting my hands dirty…i'm the boss now, can't have me dirtying my hands…it sets a bad example for the men you see? I, as the boss, sit back, relax, sip some nice tea and enjoy watching the carnage from afar…"
"But for you? I'll make an exception just this once. You see, you insulted the entire sun yee on triad. Made us look stupid, made us look weak, made us out to be incompetent buffoons that couldn't even find one fucking man…in an entire city that wanted said man dead!"
"...You couldn't though." I reply snarkily, my head still groggy as I pause in confusion.
"...That look on your face! Surprised aren't you? You're probably feeling like absolute shit now, splitting headache? Grogginess? Why that's because our very own doll face smacked ya hard buddy. REAL HARD" Chang exclaimed, looking at me now as he held my broken fingers that were previously made to be so by Sofiya Pavlolvna not so long ago.
"I see that dollface roughed you up before we came…Broke your fingers too…we can't have that now can we?" He asked, just before forcing it back into place, the pain almost knocking me out as I yelled in agony.
He moved on to my next finger…and forced it back into place much to my dismay and immense pain.
"What's the matter? You can handle fooling the entire city, you can handle slandering our good names, you can handle dishonoring us, but you can't handle a little medical treatment for your boo boos? Talk about being ungrateful." He said mockingly, moving onto the next finger as I arched my back straight up against the chair that I was bound to.
"My…boo boos are irrelevant…Are you that petty and spiteful that you would do something like this? You are one big fat sore loser-GAH!"
"You see? Now, that was a mistake. You just insulted me in front of my men, in front of my colleagues even. How could I call myself the leader of the Thailand branch of my organization if I let that slide?"
"Now, I know your type, always thinking that you're so clever, that you're always one step ahead, that you can make others out to be fools and get away with it…Which is good, because I always make sure that you lying, pathetic types will always dies a cruel, miserable, torturous death"
"You see that right there? Behind me? That there is a camera. You sir, are going to die. And this camera is going to capture your last miserable moments. You will be made an example of, and every single person in the world shall see you in tears, sobbing and begging for forgiveness when half an hour has passed, that I guarantee."
"But first, let's get some introductions here now shall we?"
"I am Chang, leader of the Sun Yee on Thailand branch, anyone want in on the footage?...No? Just me? Well alright then, suit yourselves. And this…This right in front of me, is THE beast of Panjshir…"
'Tell me again, what name were you going by again? Something..something Sokolov? Aleksandr Sokolov?...No, it started with a Y, I'm sure of that…"
"Yuri…Yuri Sokolov." I say, cutting him off as I glance all around me. The scenery looked hopeless as everyone present in the rooms was heavily armed, and by the looks of it, eager to just shoot me and be done with it.
"Ah, yes, that was it. Yuri Sokolov…Has a nice ring to it, too bad it's not your real name now isn't it?"
"..."
"Ah, now there's another mistake, When I speak to you, you ANSWER!" He exclaimed, a cruel scowl plastered on his face as he rammed a knife on the very middle of my hand, causing me to scream out in pain.
"...You know, there's no point in torturing me if you want me dead, you're literally contradicting yourself. And wasting precious energy at that stupid." I gasp out, managing to just barely collect myself throughout the searing pain that I feel.
"...Fair point. But I don't really care if you talk, if you talk, it's just a bonus, what I really care about is THIS!" twisting his knife, my hand flared up in even more pain as I cling onto my consciousness.
"You've made a mockery of me, you've made a mockery of every single criminal organization in this fair city…We've grown lax as of late, it's about time to show everybody the reason why we're the top dogs!" As soon as he said that, his fist connected against my stomach, causing me to cough up blood, I couldn't even scream, my lungs felt like they had just gotten nuked to hell and back.
"....This suit cost ten thousand-...You know what, it won't matter, you'll pay ten fold for this." He said calmly, his suit now splattered with my blood as he pulled the knife out of my hand, causing my hand to tremble uncontrollably in extreme pain.
"Now, where do we start? You're eye? Or maybe your arm? Oh so many locations to start with…what to choose, what to choose…although, I must admit, I mayhaps have gotten a bit rusty, after all, it's been YEARS since I last used these techniques that I learned in the mainland…"
As soon as he said that, the lights flickered off, causing everyone in the room to flinch.
"Dammit! When is the lighting going to get fixed?" Change cursed, looking at his subordinates as he prepared to give them a scolding.
Shit! Now was an extraordinary opportunity!..Come on, please, my body must surely remember how to break from binds, I did this shit all the time back in Afghanistan!
"Come on, you're embarrassing me in front of everyone! We'll have to edit this part out of the footage, and ugh! It's so damn troublesome!"
Come on, come on, come on! Think!...I need to get out of these zip ties…wait a minute…ties…tying my shoelaces, yeah, that was it! But the problem was whether or not I could pull it off fast enough with everybody in the room watching me.
…Shit, alright, I'm sure I can just undo both of my shoe laces and stuff it into my pocket fast enough, if I take both, they might think that I'm wearing sketchers or something…If I play things right…then it might just not be game over yet.
Desperately and furiously, I manage to take them off and stuff them into my pockets just in the nick of time. Turning around, Chang looked at me as he began to speak, his silhouette barely visible in the dark as my eyes have yet to begin adjusting to the darkness.
"You are quite the lucky devil, you know that? Well, no matter, as soon as we get the lights back on, you're dead. Simple as that."
Creak.
The door opened after this, another figure soon entered the room, a figure that I recognized instantly. Even in the darkness.
"Oh, why hello there, how nice of you to join us, doll face!" Chang said, turning around to talk to her.
Taking this moment, I took out a shoelace that I had previously stuffed in my pocket and desperately weaved it as fast as I could around my right arm's zip tie. A second later, I pull as hard as I possibly can, enduring through the pain as I refuse to so much as grunt at the pain inducing action.
"You still haven't shot him? I didn't take him alive just for you to play with him like a petulant child." Sofiya said, her voice a neutral calm as she kept Chang distracted, to my benefit.
With my right arm free, I have an easier and faster time threading around the zip tie on my left arm, and as a result, successfully breaking the zip tie and freeing my other arm. Somehow my stabbed, and brutally punished arms not even hurting that badly, instead, somehow, defying all odds and logic and becoming number with each passing second…Must be adrenaline or something. The other armed men in the room miraculously did not notice any of this somehow.
Great, now the only problem was my legs. I can't risk physically reaching down to my legs with my arms again. It's been a couple of seconds now, and they're eyes have most likely adjusted to the dark, if they're not idiots that is.
So that only left me with one choice of action, physically leaning back on the chair and forcing it to tip slightly, and not only that, but to hold it tipped long enough for me to wiggle my feet out from both chair legs that they were zip tied to. Which was even more risky, because I would simply get shot the moment I did any of those things.
"Move out of the damn way, I'm tired of this little rat being alive. And besides, he tricked me, he tricked all of hotel Moscow, and because of this, he tricked you, and seriously altered the status quo…It's my responsibility to set things straight. If you won't kill him, then I will."
"Oh? What's this? Why are you so eager to kill him just like that? You said it yourself, he tricked you, he tricked all of hotel Moscow. If you don't make him suffer, if none of us make him suffer, if all of us kill him, just like that, then imagine the shame we would face, the mockery, the humiliation…You know just as well as I that there are times where we as leaders have to lay down the law…and this is one of those times!" Chang argued, making logical sense as I still racked my head around trying to escape from the zip ties binding my legs to the chair.
"...Fine." Sofiya finally said after a long pause, her voice tense as she quickly shut Chang up with her response.
"You want him to suffer…I want him to suffer. We will both get what we want." She said slowly, pulling out something from pocket, squinting at her silhouette closely now, I could make out the form of a revolver.
"This Nagant model 1895, holds seven shots. I will shoot him seven times, and I will avoid his arteries or any places that will kill him. Will you be okay with that?"
"Now, we're talking! But are you sure that you can hit him in this damn darkness?"
"Pfft. I didn't earn the nickname Balalaika for nothing. Besides, I've fought fierce battles during nights darker than this."
"...Well alright then, be my guest! Fire away!" Chang said, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically to my liking, but then again, literally NONE of this was to my liking so the point and thought was moot.
She turned around now, her silhouette getting closer and closer to me at each passing second, her revolver in her hand becoming more and more uncomfortably clear to my liking.
She stopped in front of me now. Her Baikal blue eyes seemingly shining through the darkness as I can make out my figure reflected in her eyes.
"..."
Slowly but surely, she raised her revolver right at me, aiming for god knows which areas of my body.
"...This isn't fair…Just when I find a hint to the answer.." She muttered out in a low tone, barely audible, but I managed to catch it.
".." Shit! She was right there, if perhaps she moved closer than I could do something like grabbing her gun… what the hell can I do? How do I get her to step closer to me?
She cocked the hammer back now, her hand that held the revolver slightly trembling as she aimed down the barrel.
"I'm sorry, but I've hotel Moscow to care for…you…you were just too late as you were unlucky." She faintly whispered in Russian.
"You have to be made an example off..And it's my duty to the men to make sure that you are."
"...I promise that I'll end it with the final shot."
Shit! I gotta speak now, otherwise she really will shoot me!
"...SHOOT THEN!"
"...!" That seemed to surprise her, stopping her in her tracks slightly as she looked at me in the dark.
"Shoot! You're only going to kill a man!" I say in English, receiving a whistle from Chang in the background.
"Che Guevara!, either you're a terrorist, socialist, or just wanted to seem cool one last time before all of the pain, either way, I commend your arrogance, it'll only make beating the living life out of you all the more satisfying later!"
Still keeping my eyes on her, I spoke to her quickly in Russian, telling her a blatant lie in one last ditch effort to save my skin from pieces of lead penetrating it.
"...If you're gonna shoot me, then ill tell you something…"
"..."
Even in the darkness I could imagine her raising her brow to this.
…For some reason, I could hear a faint rumbling…Oh well, not like it matters, this was more important.
"...The night that you were rescued…There's something that you should know…"
She lowered the revolver slightly now, slightly intrigued.
"...Your wooden horse…ah, forget it!" I say, baiting her as she took one more step to me unknowingly.
"What? Come on and spit it out already!"
"Uh, doll face? What are you waiting for? Shoot him?
"...The man who captured you, did he ever talk about your father?"
"..." A pause, and a cautious walk up to me with her revolver still aimed directly at me.
"Uh, what the hell are you doing? Shoot him already!"
Yes, come on! One more step, just one more step and I could pull this off!
"Did you know that your father was a scientist?"
"WHAT? How did you…How the hell could you possibly know that? I never told you that!" She took one more step towards me.
Bingo. The rumbling was getting louder now too as well. I know that I should ignore it, but it's getting quite annoying.
As soon as I could, I grabbed her revolver with my right hand, resulting in her firing a shot in surprise, luckily it didn't hit me, so i'm good. With my left hand, I grabbed the back of her neck and mustered all of the strength that I could, and forced her down into my lap. With a surprised yelp, she foolishly let go of the revolver and I now held it in my right hand. Next, I quickly changed my left hand's position from the nape of her neck to the front of her neck, forcing her into a choke hold as I pointed the revolver right into the mass of silhouettes that stood before me.
"Well well well, it seems like we're at a crossroads now!" I say mockingly, taunting them as they remain silent, trying to comprehend exactly what the hell had just happened.
"...Sigh, dollface, did you really just let that happen to you?"
"...Yeah yeah, I know, real embarrassing huh?" She said a rather worryingly calm tone, it's almost as if-
Guh!
A swift head butt from the back of her head directly onto my nose quickly released my grip on her as she immediately wrenched the revolver from my hands, now aiming it directly at me as she still sat on my lap.
"You never learn do you?"
"Like I said, It's the only damn thing I know!" I say, holding my nose in pain.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, as If on cue, bright lights flashed from behind me, illuminating the room as everyone in front of the chair was seemingly blinded. And now the rumbling was deafening as immediately, the windows broke, glass shattered, and I felt the presence of men beside me and behind me.
And soon I saw a familiar looking canister rolling on the floor right in front of me…
Wait a minute..
Was that?
…
SHIT!
BANG!
"..."
"..."
"..."
After a brief second, I shakily opened my eyes, only to see everybody temporarily blinded. Well, except for me and Sofiya that is.
Nonetheless, it didn't seem to matter, either way this was looking to be bad news for literally everyone involved, I:E me.
Soon smoke started to engulf the area around me, great, what was this huh? A spec ops team?
"Shit, there's a girl, do we shoot her?" One of the intruders asked, hesitance apparent in his voice.
"No, the commander said no killing, just knock her out and besides, I recognize her, she's the leader of hotel Moscow, take her along and make it quick, we don't have all day."
"Wait what-" Sofiya managed to utter out at least a semblance of a sentence before being knocked out.
Immediately after this, I felt the zip ties that bound my feet get separated.
"It's an honor, oh venerable beast of Panjshir. But please, let us make haste." He said calmly, helping me out of the chair as led me to the area behind the chair that I was previously bound to.
The windows were broken, and I could see two helicopters floating in the air as I was prompted to get onto a rope ladder that hung precariously from one of the helicopters.
…
Sigh, I suppose this was to be expected, in some weird twisted way or another…But really? Really? Why?
WHY?