Icafia

Chapter by Uni
-------
Bebe yawned lazily, fumbling with the pricey room key. Wary of hidden assalients that may be behind the door, she opened it carefully. The room was cold, damp and dank. it reeked of mothballs and mildew, evident from the stains on the wall and the bed. The bomber stared blankly at the large stain on one bed with distaste, walking slowly to the stainless one and dropping the 629 and trenchcoat.

\"Damn Hotel. Fucking gougers..\" She rambled, taking the minute pain in her leg out on the pitifully expensive rooms.

Her leg wounds were healing nicely, the bleeding had stopped for a few hours without re-opening. She took a deep breath, coughing on the thick air.The two rooms were connected by a door on the far end, somthing that had to be unlocked both ways. Bebe wandered around, stealing the mints on both pillows before hearing the soft murmer of voices on the other side of her wall. The thin walls let forth a few soft, but clear voices.

\"Where\'s Solo gone?\"

\"Fucking bar, where he always is.\"

\"what are we supposed to do with these codes for the new building, then? I mean, if he\'s not here to take them...\"

Bebe popped a mint into her mouth causally, listening to the two workers bicker. Icafia buisiness, no doubt. Blegh... she recoiled from the ancient chocolate.

\"Wanna head down to the pool since he\'s already a half hour late?\"

\"Won\'t he be pissed?\"

\"Hey, HE\'S late. Ncolski\'s been generous enough to give us a day of vacation, i\'m gonna use it\"

\"What about the building codes?\"

\"Bring them with. In case Solo deciedes to come around\"

Bebe coughed out loud, having to unknowingly started to munch on the second mint. It was like they sat for weeks and weeks in the sun, then someone decieded to get the bright idea to stick them on her pillow. The workers immediatly stopped with thier conversation, hearing the cough clearly through thier wall.

\"IDENTIFY YOURSELF!\" They yelled, thier voices coming closer to the wall for clarity. Bebe looked around, wiping the chocolate crumbs from her bed.

\"No se habla ingles, senor!\" she yelled out with a smile while lying on the bed, playing with the wrapper, listening to the small talk from the other side. Confused, the workers tried again but much less forcefully.

\"I said, Identify yourself!\"

Bebe chuckled, drawing back on the eight grade spanish she used to know, and had been somewhat using for a while as cover.

\"¿Qué quiere usted de mí? ¡Sálgame solo, o soplaré un hoyo en usted con mi 629! (What do you want with me? Leave me alone, or i\'ll blow a hole in you with my 629)\" Bebe laughed as the workers fumbled what to do,\"No como hace no de todos modos. ... (Not like I won\'t anyways...)\"

\"Uhhhh Pardone...moi\" one attempted to appologize.

\"That\'s french, idiot!\" The second worker responded, knowing a bit of spanish himself. \"Lo siento\"

Bebe grumbled some incoherant words, before falling silent. The two bickered amongst themselves for a while, before exiting the room to take a dip in the pool as previously planned. After writing a note for the others, the bomber donned her trenchcoat on before following closely behind in the worker\'s shadows, the six twenty-nine tapping her hip.

____________________________________________

Outside, Mercedes gathered everyone from thier duties to congregate in the hotel rooms. She herself had paid for the night\'s stay, dancing around with Bebe about the exact origin of said money was. No need for the bomber to hear that, it was more important just to find everyone and get a good night\'s rest. Akane was talking with the two gasoline clerks, inching away from them so slightly. They didn\'t need a commotion now, and she was holding back the urge to slice these two creeps\' heads off. Leo was sitting in the shade of a great tree a bit off, looking intently on the malfunctioning gauntlet. There was a high pitched scream from the machine momentarily, Leo\'s eyes lit up before dropping the gadget in an electrical shock. He rubbed his hands for a second, before picking up the gauntlet once to try again. Next to him were a few random pieces of machinery torn off from miscleanous places around the area.

Mercedes looked for the thief in the small town for a second, before catching the sight of the doors to some bar being thrown open angrily. Sean walked out, staring at somthing small and brown in his hands. His fingered some small white peice of paper for a while, before stuffing it and a few id\'s into his back pocket. Mercedes let out a high whistle, catching the attention of her new comrades. Akane said her tearful goodbyes, before running over to the girl without the truck. She\'d go back for that later. Leo screwed something in place on the gauntlet before hauling the rest of the scrap metal slowly to Mercedes. The thief wandered over to the girl, catching her off guard with his numerous scrapes from his scuffle.

\"HOly poop! What happened?!\" She asked innocently, checking out the damage. \" And what happened to part of your ear?\" Sean took a deep breath to go into a rant against the pyro bitch, before Akane broke in.

\"What\'s up?\" She asked, eyeing the two men behind her who slowly wandered around by the pump. They knew she\'d have to go back to it eventually. Mercedes clasped her hands together behind her back, rocking on her heels.

\"Bebe got us a room... Number.... oh.. uh....two something...\"

\"You don\'t remember what it is?\" Leo asked

The girl ground one foot into the loose gravel, drawing an exasperated sign from a few.

\" Well.. Heh. Not the exact number... Damn, i was right there, too!\"

Akane rubbed the bridge of her nose. \"Well, we can at least walk around there untill we find her. Or, at least jog your memory. She might be asleep already, for all we know. Let\'s get going.\"

They nodded, heading back towards the truck. The two gas station clerks got the hint, taking off after seeing the group walk unhappily in thier direction. They had given the task of parking over to Mercedes; a bad move in the first place. After a few dents, dings and gashes into the cars around thier parking spot, she managed to put the front two wheels over the barrier. With a truck that huge, it took up nearly four spots across, and stuck out quite a bit in the back. After bringing the truck around by the hotel, they entered into the building.

Awkwardly standing with her enormous railgun in the lobby of the hotel, Mercedes bashefully walked up to the hotel manager, scratching her head.

\"Say.... What room where we in again?\"

\"Who are you?\"

\"Mercedes\"

The man went to work on his old computer, searching for the girls name.

\"It\'s not in there\"

\"But...I....\" She stopped short, forgetting that she registered with her alias. She stood there silent for a second, before drawing the attention of those behind her.

\"What\'s wrong now?\" Sean asked impatiently, tapping his foot.

\"I...uhh....\" She dabbled, figuring how to say it without causing a ruckus. A gunshot rang out in the silence, muffled by the walls and doors, but still clear. All four turned to the source of the sound, looking to each other for a second.

\"Found her!\" Sean yelled with a sarcastic laugh.

\"Again?\" Leo asked, \"Can\'t she stay out of trouble?\" There was a second gunshot, followed closely by a third one. Mercedes outran everyone else, coming around the corner to the hallways leading to the pool. A fourth shot rang out, the sound was deafening this time. The group rushed behind Mercedes, coming to the pool door in a short few moments. Two more shots were fired. Blood was evident on the ground, and there was a pained, unarmed Bebe huffing with breath; she turned with a smile to the door, before jumping out of the way of another bullet.

_______________________________________________________

She had followed them stealthily, un noticed by the two who held onto the codes for a new building. They had finally started rebuilting Icafia... or possibly just moved to a new building. Ncolski did control a lot of the area, come to think of it. Thier voices trailed down the stairway to the pool; she waited untill the door had shut comptelty before entering after them. After few steps down the stairs; cold metal pressed on her head. Not quiet enough... she signed. The second one came around the corner, brandishing a pistol at her as well.

\"What\'s the matter?\"

\"Thought you could fool us with some poor spanish accent?\"

\"Not really. It was worth a shot, though\"

\"Ncolski\'s put a large reward to the person who kills you. You\'ve made her unhappy\"

\"The whole fucking world makes her unhappy. I should be honored by that, you know... i\'m just not\"

\"I\'m not for petty speeches, so, without delay...\" the man said, finger pressind down on the trigger. Bebe moved her head for the bullet to pass with one jerk, elbowing the guy in the ribs before sending him down the stairs. The second man fired once at the Bomber\'s head, making her duck. Such an awkward postion put pressure on her bad leg; Bebe lost her balence and skidded down the slick stairs. His gun went off again, Bebe twisted to avoid getting a bullet to the head. She planted one leg on the bottom step, throwing her into the door of the pool.

Slamming back on it\'s hinges, the door closed momentarily. Just enough time for Bebe to get her trusty 629 from her hip holster. She drew the gun, slidding a bit closer to the pool. With a crash the door was open again, the second gunman aimed and ready. They each got a single bullet off nearly at the same time, his striking her gun. The force sent it skittering into the five foot deep end of the pool. Her bullet was a bit more sucessful, tearing right into his shoulder. The man rocked back momentarily, before regaining his drive to press on. Bebe, on her feet, mourned for her gun, wishing she had a backup with her. The worker staggered forword, shooting lamely at the Bomber\'s feet. She hopped back away from the shattering metal, pushing heavily on her legs and re opening her wounds.

\"Jesus Christ\" she bitched, watching the blood spread from loose water on the pooldeck. She caught a glimpse of the pool door, lined with anxious faces. Bebe laughed briskly, turning to face her opponent again with added vitality.