Baccano! - Volume 22 - Chapter 27

Chapter 27 There’s No Way We Won’t Be Interrupted

“Whoa. Hey, we’ve got a problem here, Me.”

“Yes, I, it’s definitely problematic.”

The twins’ search for the bear had led them to a clinic in New York City.

A crowd of rubberneckers had come chasing the rumors that a bear had appeared at a hospital, and several men in suits were standing in front of the clinic’s gate.

“Those look like cops, don’t they?”

“Yes. Fairly sharp ones at that. They may have connections to the DOI.”

As the twins were mingling with the onlookers, peering into the clinic, a car stopped on the road beside them, and several men and women emerged from it.

“…Hey, Me. Those fellas… They seem kinda nasty.”

“They certainly do, I. According to the photo we were shown, the fellow with the wrench is on the watch list here in New York.”

“Whoa, what’s up? Who’s work site is jumpin’. Somebody die?”

The clinic had been quiet the previous day. Wondering about the crowd, Ladd Russo strode through the gawkers.

“Let me tell you a sad, sad story. This mystery crowd is blocking our way. It’s a strange new normal, and my heart is— It’s flummoxed! From here to infinity! What should I do? How can I reclaim my old normal?! Who stole it?! Was it the Martians? The Venusians? Or are we Earthlings supposed to keep fighting senseless wars with each other?!”

“Um, Mr. Graham? Mr. Graham?”

Nader had said he was going to get ready for the casino party, so they’d split up. Only Ladd, Graham, Lua, and Shaft had come to visit the clinic where their friend worked. Ladd couldn’t have cared less that the general public was watching, and Graham was following him, swinging his wrench around. As a result, the onlookers in front of the clinic immediately understood that somebody dangerous had shown up, and they scattered.

The guards who were posted at the clinic’s entrance didn’t budge. Instead, they turned wary eyes on Ladd and Graham.

“Those men are probably with the cops,” Shaft said, but Ladd didn’t care. He kept going, attempting to walk past the men and into the clinic.

“Hold it. Clinic’s closed today.”

“C’mon, do we look sick to you?” Technically, what he and Graham did could be considered pathological, and Lua’s color was never good, but Ladd didn’t let that stop him. “Well, we’re part of whatever’s in there. You’d better let us through.”

“H-hey!”

The guards hastily tried to stop him, but just then, a voice called from inside the clinic. “Oh, hey! Is that you, Ladd?! C’mere a sec and look at this! It’s really something!”

Right after that, another voice said, “Hey, don’t just call strangers in h— Huh? Ladd?”

Ladd smirked at the perplexed guards. “They’re calling me. Not much to do about that, huh?”

Shaking off the guards, he walked into the clinic, and then he saw something he genuinely hadn’t expected: a huge grizzly bear, nearly ten feet tall—and beside it, Isaac and Miria, who seemed all worked up.

“…Grrrr…”

The bear was growling deep in its throat, but it didn’t seem actively hostile. Isaac and Miria were petting its back without getting swatted, which meant it was obviously pretty used to people.

“What the hell is this? When did this place turn into a vet’s office?”

“Hmm… I could examine them, technically, but animals are outside my field of expertise.”

At the sound of the voice, he turned. The doctor Who worked for was standing there.

“Hey, Mr. Gray Magician. I came to give you a proper thank-you for looking out for Lua and Who on that train. What’s going on here?”

“It’s a lost bear, or so I’m told. A mafia syndicate’s escaped pet. It was apparently drawn here by the smell of the dried meat we were sending to the soup kitchen.”

“What’s the world comin’ to these days, eh? Where’s Who? Did it eat ’im?” Ladd asked casually.

At that, the door opened, and Who himself emerged. “If it had, would you go avenge me?”

“I dunno. Even I couldn’t tell you how bears think about life and death.”

“What, that’s still the standard?” Who gave him a cold look.

Ladd let it roll off him; he was gazing at the enormous bear. He’d never seen anything like it before.

Isaac, the one who’d called him into the clinic, ruffled the fur on the bear’s back. “You just missed Firo. He was here until a minute ago, but he left for work.”

“Yes, he’s businesslike! Time is money! The Gold Rush!”

Listening to the giddy couple, Ladd sighed at missing his chance to ask Firo about Melvi. Then his focus shifted to another person. The neurotic-looking bespectacled man had been glaring at him sharply for a while now.

“And? Who’s the guy who looks ready to grouse about his job to his turtle?”

“Oh, uh… That’s Victor; he’s the man who took me to Alcatraz!”

“Don’t go around tellin’ people that. And are you just gonna ignore that bit about the turtle?!” Victor snapped, cutting Isaac off. Then he walked up to Ladd. “…You’re Ladd Russo, right? Never thought I’d see the Russo Family’s button man walking around in broad daylight. It makes me wonder if there’s any point to my damn job.”

“Yeah? Are you with the DOI? Just for the record, I’m freelance now. Whatever I do, it’s got nothing to do with the Russo Family, get me?”

“Huh… Ricardo Russo? Well, I doubt they can do much either way. Forget that. I’m more concerned with what you’re up to here in New York.”

“Hey, that’s great to hear. Are you a fan? Here’s the problem, though. I can tell you’re the kinda guy I hate the most.” Ladd narrowed his eyes and rubbed his prosthetic left hand, his lips curving. “There’s a big ol’ bear in front of you, plus a hitman like me, fresh out of stir. And there you are cool as a cucumber… Don’t tell me you think you can’t die.”

Victor frowned for a moment, but his composure promptly returned. “And what if I do?” he asked, joking around.

“Well, lessee here. I owe this gray magician, the doc, so I can’t make corpses on his turf.”

“Smart choice. Although some might assume you got cold feet,” Victor said, issuing an open challenge.

Ladd seemed to get it. He set a hand on Victor’s shoulder and smiled sunnily. “So, see, I’m thinking I’ll repay him.”

“Huh?”

“If more people get hurt, that’s more dough for the clinic, right? I think an injury that’ll take thirty years to heal up all the way is best. How ’bout that?”

“How ’bout shit?! Some murder-happy hitman with no thoughts, pride, or even hits to take thinks he’s threatening me? Don’t you underestimate me, boy. Don’t delude yourself into thinking basic violence can do a damn thing against the powers of the state. You may go around butchering people, but the nation has tens of millions of lives in its hands. The only lives you can control are the ones you can see and periodically jeopardize with a bullet, you feebleminded twit,” Victor snarled, veins standing out on his temples.

The agent beside him spoke up. “Uh… Assistant Director? You sound like a dirty cop who’s hiding behind the state.”

“Shut the hell up! Forget that—just pitch this guy out on his ear!”

The moment Victor looked at his subordinate, Ladd raised his right arm high.

Isaac quickly attempted to mediate. “Whoa, easy, don’t fight—”

But he didn’t get to finish.

The grizzly, which had been crouching quietly until then, suddenly got to its feet.

“…! Dammit!”

Victor hadn’t been expecting this.

When Firo had asked him to come take custody of a bear, he’d wondered what was up. Seeing how big the thing actually was had shaken him for a moment, but after learning that it belonged to the Runoratas, Victor had decided to use their pet as a bargaining chip.

Unfortunately, while they were getting ready to transport the animal to a Division of Investigation facility, in walked Ladd Russo, menace to society.

He’d assumed even this guy wasn’t foolish enough to take a swing at a bear. Victor had been goading him into attacking in the hopes of creating cause for an arrest, but for some reason, the bear had made a move before Ladd did.

Hey, what gives? Why’d it get up all of a sudden?

It had been behaving itself earlier. What had changed? Victor sharpened all his senses, searching for the difference…

…but there was no need to concentrate too hard. He picked up on it right away.

“…?”

Ladd, Isaac, and Miria also seemed to have noticed it. They were looking around, mystified.

“What’s that noise…? Where’s it coming from?”

It was an eerie groaning sound, seemingly man-made.

MeanwhileThe Martillos’ underground casino

“…Interesting.”

The underground casino was closed and quiet, the scars of Ladd’s rampage still fresh.

Inside, Firo was dismantling slot machines.

He’d also taken apart a brand-new slot machine of the same model, one they hadn’t installed yet. All the parts were spread over the floor.

During the mind-numbing work of carefully examining each individual part, Firo had come to a conclusion.

All these slot machines had rolled triple sevens on command. It was incomprehensible. If that had happened during normal business hours and customers had seen it, they would have suspected the house had done it deliberately and begun avoiding the place.

On the other hand, if he’d done that to them in the middle of the casino party, they would have gotten hate from the neighboring syndicates, too. Since they were an independent organization with their own territory, Firo and the rest of the Martillo Family had been braced for hostility from all quarters, but it would be extremely irritating if that hostility was forced on them by Melvi Dormentaire.

He’d hoped to find a way to break out of the situation as quickly as possible, but that was unlikely to happen now.

“What’s the matter, Firo? What did you see? Did drowning in this sea of gears and screws and extremely man-made things finally enlighten you as to the value of Nature?”

Christopher Shaldred, who’d come to the casino to guard it, was peeking in at him with a sparkle in his red eyes. His employer, Ricardo, had come with him, and she—although Firo still assumed she was a “he”—also seemed interested in what Firo was doing. The kid was beside Christopher, watching him work.

“Well, it wasn’t anything supernatural. Just stage magic… Nah, that would be rude to stage magicians.” Firo shrugged, then smiled wryly. “Bottom line: Melvi Dormentaire’s just a swindler.”

“Oh, you mean the guy you’re settling the score with tomorrow? The one who was with that redhead when I got here…?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“And? And? What trick did this Melvi character use?” Christopher looked deeply interested.

Firo started to answer. “It wasn’t even anything that clever, just brute force stuff. He— Hmm?” He broke off. “Do you…hear something?”

“…Yes…? It’s probably outside.”

A unique sound, like a cross between a moan and a bell, filtered into the basement casino.

Outside, it was probably pretty loud.

Firo cocked his head, wondering if it was some sort of siren. Christopher stared for a moment. “Huh? Wait… I’ve heard this before.” Rifling through his memories, he promptly found the answer he was looking for. “Oh! It’s Salomé!”

“Salomé?”

“One of Huey Laforet’s men.

“The oddball who made would-be homunculi like me and Adele.”

Central Park—at this point in time, Manhattan’s biggest spot for rest and recreation—was already approaching a hundred years old.

On a plot of land well over a square mile in area, a variety of plants lived and thrived, turning the park into a green oasis among the skyscrapers.

Since the beginning of the Depression, many people who’d lost their jobs and their homes had bunked down here, and public order deteriorated until the government got serious and took steps. At this point in history, that slow process of recovery was just beginning.

However, at the moment, a certain area had been cleared of vagrants and regular visitors alike.

An odd group had gathered there, and a peculiar moaning roar was echoing from its center.

As that strange noise blared, a man was loudly declaiming words that were even stranger.

“Oh… Is this quake in mine ears the wrath of the gods, or the conceit of man? Wherefore doth the machinations of the modern age eviscerate the formless sky, encouraging their very existence? A seed stirs in my chest, sends a tremble to my brain, says it’s not yet enough, not enough. They grow towards a birth-cry that would consume my very soul… The seam has rent; mend it and foster a new desire in this body, which nurses a new life! My mouth shall give birth to a child called Want! And she shall scream out her first breath! Come, O undeveloped world! Stillness, may you shake and dance with silence! Negate the thrum of the world, stop the time of all creation! Ti—gwagobha!”

The man who’d concluded his speech with an odd shriek had thick whiskers on his cheeks and a hat that he wore pulled down low. His friends simply called him the Poet, and he’d screamed because Sickle—a beautiful woman with long blond hair and a dignified gaze—had slammed a roundhouse kick into him.

“You could have covered all that with ‘It’s noisy.’ How can you stand to make that much of a racket?” Sickle said.

Climbing unsteadily to his feet, the Poet went on, as long-winded as ever. “The victors ever falsify the era, while the defeated always chronicle history. My body has been restored by benedictions, marking invisible scars on my history with love and resentment. Destruction breeds more destruction, until at last it will blot out the sky. The scars of the brokenhearted defeated engrave history into the heavens. Erelong, it will become a roaring, swirling torrent and sweep away the era of the victors! O victors who sing the praises of the era, fear and tremble! Lashed by fraudulent rain, suffer and writhe at the applause of the losers! Thi…mrggh…”

“Is that supposed to mean ‘I’m against violence, and you’ll pay for this’? I told you to knock it off multiple times before I kicked you, and you ignored me. That’s why this happened.”

Beside Sickle and the Poet, who were having one of their usual exchanges, the sound went on and on.

Salomé was wearing an odd speaker-like device, which was the source of the sound.

“Sheesh… And here I was wondering why he’d summoned us so suddenly. What is Salomé doing?” asked Hong Chi-Mei, nicknamed “Chi,” an Asian man with bandage-wrapped hands.

“Luring out a bear, or so he says,” Sickle told him.

“A bear? In the middle of the city?” Chi wondered whether the man had done so much research that he’d finally lost his marbles.

Frank—a huge child who was over six feet tall—answered him. “U-um. It’s the Runoratas’ pet. It ran away. So Mr. Salomé said he’d catch it… I hear the bear’s way bigger than m-me…”

“…If a bear that size is wandering around town, the police will shoot it dead in no time. That is all.”

“That’s why he said he’d catch it first…” The speaker was a girl in a thick coat who wore a stocking cap pulled down all the way over her eyes. Her soft voice was drowned out by the noise Salomé was making.

“He bragged that this noise would control nearby animals, but I’m not sure how much I believe that…,” said a woman with a beautiful design tattooed on her face.

Salomé was currently broadcasting a “sound that would lure out a specific animal species” from a set of wearable speakers. The storage battery that powered the speakers was attached to his back.

Storage batteries were mainly used in electric cars, but Rhythm had miniaturized theirs.

The history of electric cars was a long one. Invented in the latter half of the eighteenth century, they swept the world before the development of the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine. By 1899, an electric car that could surpass speeds of sixty miles per hour had been developed.

Edison, the famous king of inventions, had manufactured his own prototype of an electric car, while Japan had begun to produce electric cars domestically in 1934. In tandem with these innovations, battery technology had continued to evolve.

Meanwhile, Salomé had improved batteries for his organization’s private use. The one he was wearing had been specifically designed for the speakers on his back.

After traveling through bizarre and complicated circuits that Salomé had personally developed, part of the direct current that ran from the battery was converted into alternating current. A sound amplifier powered by multiple systems that ran in parallel, some using direct current and others using alternating current, produced the unsettling sound (which had also been developed by Salomé).

That sound echoed far and wide. It might have been audible miles away. Salomé intended to circle Central Park, broadcasting that sound far across Manhattan to lure out the bear. However, as Sickle and the others watched this experiment, their eyes said, Salomé’s great at making things, but he’s always been crap at using them.

In addition to Sickle and the others, there was a man in a swallowtail coat, a muscular man with glasses who was naked to the waist, and a man in a skull mask. Nearly all the members of Lamia were present.

“Why did he bring us here for this?!” Tim bellowed to be heard over the noise.

Adele put her lips close to Tim’s ear so she wouldn’t have to yell. “I’m not sure, but he may want people to think this is a circus performance to avoid causing a panic if the bear actually does show up. We do look like a circus, after all.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that.” Looking at his crew of outlandishly dressed subordinates, Tim sighed. I swear, if my brother ever sees me like this…

Even as he thought about his big brother, who worked for the Gandor Family as their torture specialist, Tim kept his guard up, warily scanning his surroundings.

After they’d spent about fifteen minutes slowly moving through the park, out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw it appear.

An enormous bear, close to ten feet tall. The Runorata Family’s pet.

“Whoa! It actually showed up!”

Then he realized something else.

As the bear bounded toward them on all fours, it was bringing several things they didn’t need along with it.

Fifteen minutes earlier

“What’s that sound, Me?”

“It sounds a little like Charlie’s bellow, I.”

When they heard the distant noise, Juliano and Gabriel exchanged looks.

Carefully analyzing the echoes that bounced off the skyscrapers, they guessed that the sound was coming from the direction of Central Park.

Then the door of the clinic opened, and an enormous bear shambled out.

A woman screamed, and any remaining rubberneckers scattered like rabbits.

“Yes, that’s definitely Charlie, I!”

“He doesn’t look like he’s hurt. That’s great. Let’s take him home, Me.”

The two tried to get closer to Charlie, but then they saw the men who’d been guarding the gate go for their guns.

The second they saw it, the two were in motion.

Juliano and Gabriel launched themselves off the ground, pulling knives from their jackets and throwing them in perfect sync. As a rule, one twin fought with a knife and the other used a gun, but they’d chosen their current weapons to keep the noise to a minimum.

The knives struck the men’s guns squarely, and the sudden impact made the Division of Investigation men fumble their weapons.

“Who the hell are you?!” the men screamed as the twins appeared out of nowhere.

“We’re here on behalf of the Runoratas. We’ve come to collect that bear, our master’s friend.”

“Trying to shoot the young master’s pal… You people are messed up.”

“……! The Runoratas!”

The men almost panicked, but they promptly recovered. As they tried to level their guns again, the bear lunged heavily through the gate.

The DOI men weren’t sure whether to aim at the Runorata goons or the bear, and then things got even more confusing.

“This is fun… Let me tell you a fun story. Yahoo! It’s a bear! Ain’t it great, Shaft?! We were waiting outside for Ladd, and instead, out comes this stocky, shaggy beast! It’s a real bear, a real live bear! What a powerful build! What a beautiful coat! And a surprisingly winsome face! And those sharp teeth! If this guy were a car, I bet he’d be real fun to take apart!”

“No, no, no! You’re gonna get hurt, Mr. Graham! And even if it was safe, don’t take animals apart!”

“Hey, don’t worry. My sis told me to take good care of all animals except humans. Actually, I think the bear is gonna take you apart instead, Shaft. You okay with that?!”

“Not at all! Please don’t jinx me like that!”

Graham Specter, the man who did nothing but invite confusion and chaos, had forced his way in.

Making matters worse, Victor stuck his head out.

“Dammit! Stop that bear, men! We’ll have the city in a panic!”

As Victor drew his gun, Isaac and Miria darted out, standing between him and the retreating bear.

“Whoa, whoa! Hold up! I think this guy’s probably fine!”

“He didn’t eat us, you know?”

“You think that’s any reason to relax?! Get out of the way! Move it! Move it! Muo—gwuff?!” Victor abruptly flew into the air mid-shout, did a flip, and slammed into the clinic gate.

“Ah, sorry, there. You were in the way. My fist bumped into you as I went by.”

Ambling into view, Ladd cheerfully walked over toward Graham and the bear.

In the midst of the confusion, Cookie was listening to a “voice” that seemed to be calling him.

There are various theories about bears’ hearing. Some say they can only hear as well as humans, while others say their ability to detect high-pitched sounds is far superior. Still, others say they’re more sensitive to low frequencies.

While individuals vary, Cookie—or Charlie—did have better hearing than the average bear. Although Cookie himself wasn’t aware of this, it was likely a product of the various types of training he’d been put through at the circus.

He’d go toward whatever was calling him.

It might mean food.

Or a new show there.

He might find new “small person” friends.

Maybe the people he loved and missed were waiting for him.

With these hazy emotions in his heart, the grizzly began lumbering through town.

Before long, his pace was a little too fast to count as a walk, until finally he was in a full run, leaving the uproar behind him.

He never noticed Isaac and Miria clinging to his back.

The present

“What the hell is that?!”

The thing that had appeared in the park really was Carzelio Runorata’s pet bear.

Even stranger, Tim thought he could see a man and woman hanging on to its back. A vaguely familiar man and woman, in fact.

Then two motorcycles burst into the park, following the bear.

Are those…Carzelio’s guards?!

They were Runorata Family elites who had originally worked directly under Bartolo, then had been assigned to guard Carzelio. Tim knew about the twin bikers, but given his boss was allied with the Runoratas, he assumed they wouldn’t end up fighting each other.

However, the occupants of the vehicle crashing through the park fence after them were bad news.

One of them was Ladd Russo.

Meanwhile, a young guy with a wrench was gleefully doing a handstand on its roof, even though the car was traveling pretty fast.

What is this?!

Not only that, but something was clinging to the back of the car.

The bespectacled man’s clothes were shredded, but he seemed to be hanging on to the rear bumper of his own free will. What was he doing?

There was one thing Tim didn’t notice: In the sky above Central Park and the chaos about to ensue, several birds were wheeling overhead.

Somewhere in New YorkChané’s room

“Chané? Salomé and the others are about to fight some people they probably shouldn’t in Central Park.”

Chané Laforet turned to look at her little sister.

Leeza was currently staying in Chané’s apartment with her. According to their plan, she would find Huey’s enemies in town, and then Chané would promptly go intercept them.

That said, they hadn’t spotted any obvious enemies since Nader’s escape the previous night.

“Salomé is icky, but… What should we do?”

Chané had no reason to hesitate. She wasn’t particularly close to Salomé, even if he was her father’s subordinate. Still, since he did work for her father, she should probably go save him.

As her heart continued its transformation into a machine, Chané stood up slowly. Her expression was blank. She seemed to be asking for the group’s location.

Leeza averted her eyes slightly, then asked a searching question. “…You’re going?”

“?”

“Nader isn’t there, but somebody else you don’t like is… No, it’s not just you. I’m also… I’m not…”

Chané realized something was off.

Despite being younger, Leeza was quite mature, often coming off that way more than Chané did—except right now, she was trembling with some kind of emotion.

Terror.

Right now, Leeza was clearly terrified of something.

“…”

Deciding this was important, Chané wrote a question on the notebook that sat on the table.

“Who is there?”

Leeza’s eyes swam uncertainly. Then, remembering the fear she’d experienced, she said his name. “…It’s Ladd. Ladd Russo.”

“…!”

And so the second “crazy ruckus” of this incident began in Central Park, some distance from Ra’s Lance.

It might as well have been an evening pre-event for the final ruckus that would happen at the casino on the third day.

All while the sun was still high in the sky.