Beautiful Dragons

by Matthew James

  Confused, he answered it and put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

  22

  Surprisingly, the Third Floor survived the explosions and fires better than expected. It was completely dilapidated and needed to be gutted, but from what Violet could tell, it wouldn’t be coming down around them anytime soon.

  The air was thick with a noxious odor, and the floor and walls were still damp from the fire department’s hoses. The fire station was right down the street. Its close proximity was the only reason the entire building didn’t burn to the ground. They had been on the scene almost immediately.

  Together, she and Roman stepped through, pushing along the now awake Koji. Freddy and Darla had dropped them off out back and quickly said their goodbyes before pulling away and disappearing in a torrent of rain. There was no offer to help the two professionals with the next phase of the mission. Their share was over with, and they’d done an admirable job.

  The only thing coming next for Roman and Violet was a fight. It was a fight that Freddy and Darla didn’t belong in.

  “Please don’t kill me,” Koji begged. He stopped and tried to turn back but was coaxed forward by Roman who shoved him hard in the back.

  “That all depends on your cousin,” Roman said, gripping his gun in one hand.

  The two men continued past the first few rooms, but Violet didn’t. Instead, she stopped and looked through the doorway on the left—her room. Where it all started... It was nothing more than a charred husk of itself and the memory of her forcing the girl into the closet stung.

  “This is all because of Mako,” she wheeled on them, pushed past Roman, and punched the defenseless Koji in the stomach. His hands were bound with zip-cuffs behind his back, making it impossible for him to defend himself.

  He cried out and dropped to his knees, gasping for air. She balled her fist and raised it to hit him again but was restrained. Roman had grabbed her wrist.

  “No,” he said, getting a venomous look in return. “That ain’t right, Vi.”

  Violet tried to pull free of his unyielding grip but was yanked back and lifted off the ground and slammed into the left-hand wall. “I said, no!”

  She struggled but soon stopped, sobbing. “They killed my family!”

  “But he didn’t.” Roman titled his chin towards Koji.

  “They’re all to blame—every last one of them!”

  “Maybe, but killin’ him now doesn’t lead us to Madame. It won’t bring your sisters back either. We need Mako for that, and the only way he complies is if his cousin here is unharmed.”

  As Violet’s anger subsided, Roman released her and set her down. He wiped a tear from her face and turned to look at Koji. “If numbnuts here wants to live, he better pray that his cousin cares for him as much as he thinks he does.”

  “You’re right…” Roman looked back at her. “He didn’t kill my sisters. Neither did Mako or Madame.” She looked up into his eyes. “I did.”

  “Bullshit,” he countered, “Yao did this, not you.”

  “But they were my charge. I am the eldest. Therefore, I’m the one responsible for their deaths.”

  Roman laughed. “You think if I die here tonight that my bosses back home are gonna feel the same way? Do you think they’ll bat an eye if I die? No, they won’t. They’ll just replace me with another sap who thinks he’s doin’ somethin’ great for his country and the world.”

  “They aren’t your family.”

  Roman’s shoulders sagged a little. “No, they’re not… And I won’t pretend to know how that feels.” He turned and hauled Koji to his feet. “But this is where you get your closure.”

  Violet shook her head and followed him further down the blackened hallway. “Killing Mako won’t solve anything.”

  “I never said it would,” he agreed, glancing over his shoulder. “All I said is that it’ll bring you closure. Even after this, we aren’t finished yet. There’s still the matter of shuttin’ down Madame’s reign of terror.” He grabbed the back of Koji’s shirt and stopped. “This isn’t just about vengeance.”

  She nodded. They still had an obligation to take down the evil mistress of Tokyo. Saving countless girls from living a life of slavery was more important than her revenge, she knew that.

  First, Mako. Then, Madame.

  It would be a large undertaking, but Violet was prepared to join her sisters in death to complete the mission. She had always been okay with dying if it meant bettering their ultimate goal. The other Dragons believed the same thing.

  Each room was like the one before it, obliterated and in ruins. Jade had been in the room they just passed and Indigo in the next. Thankfully, their bodies, whatever was left, had been removed and taken care of by the coroner’s office. Crime tape was positioned in foreboding X’s across the doorway of every room. While not falling apart, the entire five-story building had been condemned and closed off.

  Breaking a window and climbing in, Violet quietly unlocked the back door and stood aside as Roman pushed Koji in. They left it wide open too, giving Mako a clear way to enter. They didn’t want to cover their tracks. That wasn’t the point of coming back here.

  Violet almost ran into Roman as he stopped. They were exactly halfway down the damp corridor. It’s there that they’d make their stand.

  Koji’s phone call was short and sweet…and effective. Leaning in, Violet had listened in as Roman delivered Mako his instructions on where to go and when to be there. They placed the call en route to the brothel.

  “Third Floor. One hour,” Roman said. “Be there, or Koji dies by her hand.” He was about to hang up but put the phone back to his ear. “Oh, and it won’t be pretty either. Our girl is a little peeved.”

  The threat is what began Koji’s constant blubbering. His confidence in his cousin coming to his rescue seemed to be razor thin. Even if for some reason Mako didn’t show, they at least got his attention, which means they got her attention too.

  “Please,” Koji begged again, “I’ll do anything!”

  Roman grabbed his face, pinching his cheeks together while covering his mouth with his palm, shutting him up. Then, he yanked Koji forward, so he was only inches from his face. “Shut the fuck up and play your role if you want to survive. If you don’t do what you’re told, I’ll make sure that Violet carries out her part of the agreement and you’ll die very, very painfully.”

  “And slowly,” she added.

  He nodded empathetically. “Okay. I…I’ll do as you say.”

  They left Koji to stand by himself and entered the rooms to his left and right, Violet on one side and Roman across the hall from her. Both drew their guns and waited, standing just inside the doorways.

  “Don’t try to run either,” Roman whispered. “I don’t miss.” He nodded to Violet. “Neither does she.”

  Koji didn’t acknowledge them. His eyes were locked on something at the end of the hall. From the look on his face, someone had silently arrived.

  The sound of booted feet moved towards them, as did a set of softer, jabbing steps. The heavier footfalls came in uncontrolled clunks, and with each step, Violet became more and more on edge.

  He isn’t alone.

  Feeling like the people were close enough, Roman signaled for Violet to move. They both spun out of their doorways and aimed their weapons down the hall, stopping at a familiar, albeit, ruined face. She looked terrible with multiple cuts and a swollen shut right eye.

  “Willy?” Roman asked, his voice cracking.

  While seeing that their friend was still alive, Violet was more concerned with the man holding a gun to the back of her head. Mako just stood there, his face lacking any emotion. The only movement he exhibited was his hard eyes flicking back and forth between Violet, Roman, and Koji.

  “As you can see,” Mako said, “I have something that you want, and you have something that I want.”

  “So, it’s a trade then?” Roman asked, getting a nod in return.

  Willy stayed silent, and Violet cou
ld see why. Even from where she was standing she could see that the agent’s jaw was broken. Mako had done a number on her and beat her to within an inch of her life. She had apparently survived the blast and tried to put up a fight. There was no telling which of the injuries were sustained when.

  “You’re a monster,” Violet said, gripping her pistol tighter.

  “Only when I have to be…” his demonic eyes met hers, “like you.”

  “I am nothing like you!” Violet shouted, fully stepping out of hiding. She kept her gun leveled on Mako and stepped forward, only a few feet from Koji’s left shoulder. She kept the cuffed man between herself and his cousin.

  “We’re more alike than you think,” Mako said, grinning slightly.

  Violet paid no attention to his gruesome eye and grit her teeth.

  “Liar! I fight to free those that you enslave!”

  He shrugged. “Whether you believe me or not is inconsequential. The only thing that matters are the lives at stake here.” He shoved the gun in harder, making Willy stumble a little. “I have no doubt the three of us can survive this altercation.” He smiled. “But what about your friend?”

  “And what about your family?” Roman asked, turning and leveling his gun at Koji. “Surely his life means somethin’ to you, or you wouldn’t be here.”

  He nodded. “True. Koji’s life does mean something to me,” he adjusted his aim and shot Koji in the forehead, dropping him with a spray of blood, “but not that much.”

  Violet was out in the open now, but she quickly sidestepped back towards the cover of the doorway. Half-inside of it, she yelled, “You’re insane!”

  Mako smiled wide like the shark he was.

  “Don’t do it!” Roman ordered. “You kill her, and we kill you.”

  “Quite right.” He started backing his way down the hallway, gun locked on the back of Willy’s head. “But what about them?”

  Bullets tore into the burned-out hall and thankfully, Willy saw it coming before Violet and Roman did, diving to the side, entering the room to her right. Unfortunately, she took a round to the thigh and groaned in protest, unable to do much else.

  But she was alive, which was more than Violet could say for herself and Roman. Nearly caught in out in the open, they each ducked back into their rooms as bullets destroyed the weakened walls around them.

  “What do we do?” she asked, blindly firing into the fray.

  “Cover me!” Roman shouted. “I’m going after Mako!”

  Before Violet could protest, Roman sent half a dozen rounds towards the unknown number of gunmen. Then, he turned and ran, moving away from the newcomers, emptying the rest of his magazine as he did.

  “Help Willy!” he yelled, not looking back.

  Violet drew her second gun and gave him the cover fire he wanted. Keeping the shooters pinned down, Violet quickly backpedaled the same way as Roman. But instead of continuing the entire length of the hall like she knew she should, she stopped and entered Willy’s room, doing as Roman said.

  Plus, it was the right thing to do. Willy proved to be a trustworthy ally.

  “You’ve looked better,” she muttered, kneeling next to the prone woman. Willy just rolled her eyes and motioned for Violet to give her one of the guns. Complying, Violet handed it over along with a fresh mag and moved back to the doorway to check on the progress of the gunmen.

  Three men carrying smaller model assault rifles came her way. Needing to level out the odds, she snapped up her left hand and got off of a quick shot and hit the rearmost one in the shoulder. Knocked back, he tripped over something, and Violet put a second round in his chest.

  He tripped over Koji.

  More automatic gunfire sent her diving back into the room. The bullets tore through the walls as if they were made of tissue paper. She knew they needed to move, but with Willy’s leg bleeding heavily from the gunshot wound, it would surely slow them down. They would be sitting ducks out in the open hall.

  Violet moved to Willy’s head and grabbed her shoulders, attempting to get the injured woman to her feet. The floor beneath them gave a little. It gave her a crazy idea. Instead of lifting Willy all the way, she dragged her to the other side of the room, leaning her against the wall.

  “Watch the door.”

  Willy nodded and turned her attention to it. Luckily for them, the rest of her body was in good working order, and her aim was steady.

  Violet moved to the foot of the bed and stomped on the floor. It creaked and split a little. She pointed her weapon at the bowing floor and one by one she drew a circle of bullet holes about two feet in diameter. When finished, she expelled her empty magazine and loaded in her last.

  Keeping an eye on the door, Violet jumped up and down, driving her boots into the decimated wood floor. On her fifth attempt, Violet’s right foot blew through all the way to her knee, and when her butt struck, the rest of the floor gave way, and she plummeted through.

  Eight feet later, she landed on someone’s bed, grateful the destruction to the third floor of the building didn’t spread further than it did. The second level looked mostly unscathed minus the weakened, sagging ceiling.

  Multiple gunshots rang out through the makeshift exit, and she looked up and watched as Willy half-dove, half-fell through headfirst. Violet rolled out of the way and allowed her wounded comrade to land. But Willy’s uncontrolled entry caused her to hit the edge of the bed and glance off, rolling across the likewise wooden flooring.

  With her mouth stuck shut, she did her best to cry out in pain. Her thigh was the first part of her body to hit, opening the wound more. What would save her from bleeding out was that the wound was on the outer third of her leg and away from any major arteries.

  It would be excruciatingly painful, but that’s it. And with Willy’s past, Violet doubted this was her first major injury while on the job.

  She rushed forward, scooped up Willy under the armpit, and headed out the already open apartment door. They moved to the closest stairwell, all while looking for signs that Roman was okay. There was no way for her to go back up and help him without leaving Willy behind.

  Sorry, Roman, but you’re on your own.

  23

  Wanting nothing more than to shoot Mako in the back of his head, Roman refrained from doing so. If they could capture and interrogate him, maybe they could find out just how deep Madame’s syndicate went. It would be a bust like no other, especially for someone that the bosses back home deemed a nuisance.

  “Gotta slow him down,” he said through gritted teeth.

  He lifted his pistol and fired off three quick shots, clipping Mako in the lower leg with one of them. Stumbling, Mako fired multiple shots over his shoulder but limped forward, forcing Roman to take cover as he moved. He followed as quickly as he could, darting from doorway to doorway, not being able to run full bore at the man.

  But he did hit him. Once in the stairwell, Roman would easily be able to catch up to him and take him down for good.

  Peeking out of Violet’s room, he smiled when he saw the trail of blood Mako was leaving behind. It was as close to a trail of breadcrumbs as he’d get. Carefully, he inched out of the doorway and moved to the stairs, peeling the yellow police tape from his body as he did.

  Another shot made him duck and move over to his right and further away from the door. He flinched when the bullet ricocheted off the floor.

  The floor? he thought. If Mako was goin’ down, the bullet should’ve been angled up. Then it hit him. The roof!

  Staying low, he glanced into the stairwell and confirmed Mako’s intention. Trace amounts of blood worked their way up from the third floor. For whatever reason, Mako was, indeed climbing his way higher. The only thing Roman could think of was that he wanted to get to higher ground after being wounded.

  It’s what I’d do.

  Gun up, he started forward again but stopped and knelt at the foot of the stairs, listening intently for footfalls. Gunshots echoed from behind him, causing him to second guess leav
ing the girls behind. No, I did the right thing. He needed to trust that Violet and Willy would get to safety. They were the toughest SOBs he’d ever met.

  A creak of wood got him moving again. He hauled ass up the first set of stairs and paused on the landing in between floors. More blood greeted him, and the flow seemed to be getting heavier by the step. Mako’s climb was putting additional pressure on the wound and causing it to bleed more.

  Maybe the prick will bleed out?

  A bullet ripped into the wall next to Roman’s head, and he dove left and fired up the upper half of the stairs. A figure spun away and moved off, clunking his way higher and higher. Picking himself up off the floor, Roman kept his eyes fixated on the fourth floor but didn’t move.

  Patience.

  After another ten seconds, he began his ascent.

  The fourth floor was a bold contrast to the one below. It was mostly untouched, minus any damage caused by fire and smoke. Roman could see some charring and whatnot, but otherwise, it looked somewhat okay—fixable even. From what he could see, the floor had somewhat survived but was no doubt unusable.

  Something caught his attention, and it froze him in place for a couple of seconds before he realized what it was. A series of booms reverberated around him. Cocking his head to the side as he listened, Roman’s eyes widened.

  Mako was making a run for it.

  Foregoing his practiced caution, he followed suit and continued up, taking the stairs two at a time. He did, however, stop every half floor, just to make sure he wasn’t getting duped into running into a trap. The trap Roman would’ve set was to duck into the shadows just inside the door to the roof. But he liked to think that Mako wasn’t thinking straight and leaving himself exposed.

  Now, on the landing between the sixth floor and the roof, Roman expelled his half-spent magazine and loaded in another. Being a veteran of the business, he knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as point and click. Mako would most definitely put up a fight. The Gilded Blade leader was a pro too. The difference was that Roman tried to put maggots like him in the ground. Mako bred them and raised them to be monsters. Roman had been in Japan long enough to know the kind of horrors Makkino Wu was responsible for.