"I love you, Mari... That's why, I'm doing this."
Burning her image into my mind, I step out as the girl meets me half way.
"Sorry."
I apologise to her as she doesn't seem all that shocked as if she predicted this outcome.
"...I knew, from the beginning. You wouldn't abandon her. So, you chose to lie, again."
"I see... You knew all along, huh? Nothing gets past you it seems."
"I, will stay up here, with her."
"Yeah," looking ahead, the past flashes before me; the time I spent with that man, "...I got a score to settle."
...
Positioning myself meters away from the door, the pounding ceased awhile ago as I assume he notices something's amiss.
Taking my firearm out, I aim directly at the door as I also hear his slowly cock. A short silence follows as I wait for his move; though with an unexpected shot, a bullet soon followed by several pass as I roll for cover.
A loud crash resonates throughout the apartment; as the door falls, the man confidently steps in as I peek out of cover to fire a shot. However, I miss by a tremendous amount as he follows with a shot of his own which connects against my chest.
"Haha! The Roach is alive after all."
Clutching the throbbing pain, the bullet was unable to pierce through my body armor, but the pain is agonising.
"Yeah, alive and kicking... No thanks to you, Cobra,"
I quickly distance myself from him as he smirks with a laugh.
"I assume you didn't take well to my parting gift."
"Nor the other gift, you sick bastard."
If there's anyone which I can accuse for my attempted murder, it's him. The Cobra, in other words, the Boss's Left Hand. We never got along, even the times which we had to work together; we opposed each other. Sure, the Boss didn't take kindly to that; but no matter the punishment, I could never stand the guy.
"Not to matter, still, I'm surprised you're back; a traitor it seems. I know who you've been with, and what you're planning."
Slowing converging on my position, I switch from one place to another. As much as I hate to admit, once the Cobra sinks his teeth in you; you're down for good.
"Yeah? Save it for your funeral; though of course there won't be one. Once this is all over, no one would even know you're dead."
"Hah! Then..." quickly drawing his firearm, I leap out of his view and slide towards the couch in the connecting living room for cover. All whilst firing blankly as he doesn't so much as budge from the miss fire.
The bastard's cocky, that's for certain; however, his advantage is knowing that I've always been crapshot, one who has a hard time hitting a target more than an arm length away. The only times I've ever killed is through other means, or simply executed with the barrel against one's skull.
"You're rustier than usual, Roach... Or should I say, you're complete crap with a gun as I remembered."
Clicking my tongue, I fire off the last shot in my magazine as it misses once again as I curse aloud.
"This is laughable, it's not much of a showdown. You know...-"
Renewing the magazine, I face the direction in which I last saw him, however, he's no longer there.
"The Boss, heh, he was worried 'bout you. Said perhaps his little Roach crawled into yet another hole."
Feeling his presence behind, I quickly turn to fire; however, he kicks the gun out of my hand as he points his directly at me.
"No hard feelings Roach, you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, my friend."
"Tsk, so it was you all along. You ticked off the Boss and now you're going to pay that price. The Red Hats are taking over your territory."
"Heh, hahaha. Come on, Roach. We've been together long enough to see the bigger picture. Territory? Who cares about small districts?"
"...I knew something was up. Otherwise, The Red Hats wouldn't have willingly taken over the districts; they had no choice but to retaliate."
As much as Mafia's go, they can get pretty brutal and sometimes have inhumane ways to deal with things. However, there is a code among the Mafia. And breaking it will result in war where no one wins.
"You're planning to take over the entire city, aren't you? Was it you that edged the Boss over?"
The Boss has mentioned in the pass of his ambitions and one was to kick The Red Hats out of the city. But that's not speaking realistically, there's no way they'll just up and leave. So the only option is to crush them entirely.
"...I get it all now."
I opposed the Boss of his grand scheme of being unrealistic. As much as I was able to give my honest opinion, I was still afraid. But thinking of the collateral and the future of the city, it would not prosper like the Boss's envision.
"You really were the one behind the attempted murder. But, all for this? Are you just completely insane? It's only a matter of time before The Red Hats come busting in."
"The Red Hat's aren't a problem."
He states so with confidence despite his statement several years ago.
The Red Hats, though new they had the brains to survive The Clearing. At one point in time, there were several Mafia's groups situated across town. The Red Hats were fairly new to the business but they knew what they were doing, as the law cracked down on many regulations; the police moved in with force and ultimately chased out all but two.
"Though small in size, we can't underestimate The Red Hats, that was what you said."
There was a meeting after months of bad blood, but the Boss of each side came into an agreement to share the market.
"Oh, it's great to hear that you actually remembered my words. Yes, I did say that. But that was long ago. In time, they'll all fall together."
"Tsk."
Quickly taking hold of his firearm, I push it away before giving him a point blank shot on me as it fires into the back of the sofa. With my ears ringing from the loud crash, I push myself into him while using the momentum to swing him over my shoulder and onto the floor. Now equipped with his firearm, I aim down at him and click; only to notice the lack of ammo in the magazine.
"Are you kidding me!?"
With a roar like thunder, he rises back up as I ready to counter his move. However, with one swift strike, it becomes obvious that I lack the reflex I once had as his fist crashes like a brick against my arm.
Striking him with my leg, he endures it as I soon found myself thrown into the air before crashing into the glass table, shattering it. Not even given the chance to properly recover, the sofa flips overhead as I just barely break away.
"When the tough gets going, you flee, don'tcha, Roach?"
As I retreat behind yet another sofa, he confidently calls out.
"You always did. But, today's different, isn't it? You can't afford to. Only one of us will leave here."
An object clatters against the ground in front of me as I almost leap away, before realising it's the gun he kicked my way.
"Let's enjoy ourselves for a bit. I always wondered what you'd do in a fight you can't run away from."
"Tsk. Always toying with your prey. It'll surely be the end of you."
"Fortunately I've yet to have a meeting with death. But a job's not fun if the prey doesn't fight back."
The man's nothing but confident, he's probably the one with the most experience in combat. Most likely because he's the one who always starts them, and finds reasons to. But given that, he's damn good at his job, I'll give him that. But as a person, he's lower than a measly Roach. Because he genuinely enjoys it, he gets a high whenever someone's at his mercy.
This surely won't be an easy fight, in truth my instincts are telling me to run. Run. Run until this whole thing blows over, take another name, live another life. But, I can't afford to back down, not now. Even if that was the decision was the one I countlessly repeated before.
...
As the sound of lead filled the apartment room, I'm left in better shape than anticipated which leads me to believe he's yet to get serious. If he wanted to, he could easily end this bout in a matter of seconds. I have no real means to defend myself, but if I fall here, there's no telling what he'd do with Mari and the girl.
But-
Kicked in the chest, he grabs me by the collar with a sadistic smirk before throwing me against the side cabinet.
"Y'know, Roach? I always dreamed of this moment."
"Heh, yeah?" still laying against the cabinet top, I've no strength left to move, "Can't say, I'm comfortable being in your dreams."
With him breaking into laughter, I too join as it seems I've broken to the point of insanity. Grabbed by the shirt, I'm soon smashed against the nearing display cabinet. Kept up by his singular arm below my chin, I gag being unable to breathe.
"Not feeling so hot now, Roach?"
Grasping at his forearm in attempt to release myself, his strength is unmatched.
"██████"
Unable to speak anything of intellect, my sight wears thin as something hard presses against my chest.
"I know you got a plate under there, but, it sure hurts, doesn't it?"
With breath like burning alcohol, he drills the barrel of his gun against my torso. No bullets have penetrated, but it sure hurts like hell. I'm sure a few of my ribs are broken, not to mention the plentiful amount of bruises I must have.
"I'll be seeing you, Roach."
*thump *thump
Being unable to break free, I'm left suffocating on the verge of death.
However, a solid click resonates through the soundless apartment; the sound of dry fire. As though I was given yet another take at life. My body drops with a thud as I cough desperately for air.
"Ha, hahaha!"
A maniacal laugh roars out.
"You sure have the devil's luck, Roach. Just how many times will he save your ass?"
"Because, he and I have a contract."
"Is that so?" loading in a new magazine, he points the barrel to my head, "Then how will he save you from this?"
"He won't. I was talking out of said, ass."
"Oh, Roach. Oh so humorous. Y'know, I always wondered what you'd say when you were really about to die. Like say, that one time at the warehouse? When shit hit the fan, you remember that, right?"
"Hmph."
"How the hell did you manage to pull yourself outta that?"
By that and the keyword being warehouse, I can only assume it was that one job. In his words, it was an easy gig, cause for him, he only needed to oversee the package at the drop off point. Verifying its integrality was up to me. In other words, I had to run the back end and stick my nose where it sure as hell don't belong and I got caught red handed.
Snooping around is your thing so why the hell are you so bad at it? It's because, I still believe he offered them a tip. He wanted rid of me and it would've worked if I didn't have a back up plan; an escape route. Fortunately, he isn't the one to tie up all the loose ends, and having the luck of the "devil", in his words, I barely escaped with my life.
"Tell me something, Cobra. On that night, you wouldn't happen to know why the alarm went off would you?"
Cracking a wise ass smile, it's more or less admitting to it.
"No hard feelings, aye? Just wanted to know if you were tough enough. Course, I myself, as great as I am, couldn't have gotten out. Which was why I needed you out."
"Oh I'm so pleased to hear you were feeling a teeny bit insecure."
"...I can end you right here, Roach. Watch it."
Firmly grasping his piece, sure enough, one bullet from this distance can kill me, devil luck or not.
"Yeah? But something tells me you have more to speak of, else I would've already bit the bullet."
Feeling my strength slowly return, it sure as hell ain't much but it will suffice. All thanks to that concoction the girl fixed up in the morning I bet. Guess I owe her for a lot of things.
"Tell me something, Roach. What's the point? You got out, so why are you back? Throwing your life, 'specially for someone like you who cared for nothing but his own life."
"What, are you getting soft on me? What's the deal, and the hell does it matter to you?"
"Hah, well sorry. Feeling what'dya call it... sentimental, yeah. This is the same Roach who'd blow an entire prefecture up full upstanding civi's if it'd mean his own survival."
"..."
More ugly memories resurface as I fight the urge to gag, cringing all the way. I'm in no way classified as good, not by a long shot, and that's stretching it. I hid it what I truly felt away, locked it up and tossed into the depths of my mind; to the point where I may have started to enjoy it.
Closing my eyes to focus, I begin analyzing the situation inside my mind, perhaps looking into the depths of it.
"Oi."
A voice calls out, but I pay it no attention. As it stands, in a few moments I really will die. Suddenly, a the sound of a single gun fire. An agonizing pain shoots out from my core, as I'm sure this time the bullet penetrated even if just a bit.
But yet. I still keep my eyes shut and endure the excruciating pain.
"Tsk, what. Are you dying on me already? Fine. So then-"
Feeling the pressure of his finger connecting against the trigger, I shift my body over in an instant. A loud bang reverberates causing my ears to ring, however, I don't hesitate. I dive between his legs as I sweep one off balance before throwing my weight against him into a shove. Knocking him into the position I was in mere seconds ago, I grab hold of his arm while using my other to place pressure against it, enough to make him scream before dislodging his elbow.
Now armed with his gun, I point it at him; watching him curse as he clutches his injured arm.
"Ahhhh @#$%! Roach!! You-!"
Quickly turning to me, he charges into me with his heavy weight into the back of a sofa. But before he could follow up, I empty the clip at point blank. Red dyes his entire body as he staggers back before falling.
Unlike myself, he had no body armor and yet still would've managed to win the shoot out.
"..."
Staggering, I pick myself up as I observe what was once the most dangerous man I knew.
"..agh..."
Gazing at me, he continues coughing up blood as his hand weakly clutches his chest. I'm more than amazed at how he's still breathing.
"...Tsk."
I can't even begin to feel relieved as my body aches in more ways than several. Despite the outcome of the battle, a much grander one will soon take place that'll decide the fate of this city.
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