I sat on the operating table as Mii finished putting the gash around my abdomen. As the roll ended around my back, Mii stepped back so I myself could step down from the operating table. I sighed as I poked my stomach where I once had a scar, "Aww," I said as I continued poking it, "the scar's hidden now."

"Espera," Mii pinched the bridge of her nose, "you like the scar?"

"Yeah I can just look down and it reminds me of you," I said trying to contain my smile.

"Mhm," she turned away and headed out the door, "Nomas te gusta por una razón. You just like it to look tough don't you?"

"Well a hunter's gotta look tough, Mag's got that eye patch thing going on," I said as I followed her out.

"And Dragon Slayer didn't look tough?"

"She has a reputation."

"Ravenous Hound?"

"She's a crazy bitch."

"Devil Girl?"

"She's an espionage specialist, she doesn't have to look tough."

"Hija dé tú..." Mii turned around to face me, "you don't need to look tough to be a hunter."

I chuckled at her sudden remark, of course you have to look tough, no one will respect you otherwise, "please, that's why we keep you here."

"Que?!" She yelled as she neared me, "Hola! Genetic experiment here, helped you take out an army!"

"So? You dress like a witch."

"I'm pretty sure I can do whatever you four do here every week."

I began to smile as an idea crossed my mind, "why don't we make that a challenge then."

"What does that mean?!" Exasperation just rained from her voice.

"Exactly as it says on the tin," I bit on my lip as I thought of the perfect mission to do this challenge, "you go with me to do a mission, if you're the one who lands the last hit then you win."

"Está bien," she smiled, "what do I get to win?"

"I do clean up for a week?"

"Dressed like Alicia."

"As a maid? Sure why not." I had nothing to lose, might as well humor her.

"You're making a deal with a witch," she stated with an outstretched hand.

I gave her a wicked smile, "You sure that's you?"

Mii grabbed on to my back a little too tightly as we rode on my bike. If I didn't know any better I would've sworn she was
strangling me. The sun was starting to rise when Mii started patting my arm rather strongly, when I looked back she poined upwards. Confused I looked in that direction and I saw an old billboard, a rather diisturbing one at that. From the top hung a man from his neck and a few weapons, beside this, in red, was written, "GO HOME BOUNTY HUNTERS".

I stopped the bike as I stared in disbelief. Sure it wasn't uncommon for a bounty hunter to be killed if caught but to do this to a human being, to write in his blood...this was appalling. We were going to need to be careful if the town we were heading to did this. Not even Oblivion could be this cruel to just let some poor sap's body rot. I hated not being able to do anything but I just had to keep going.

"Vamos acer algo?"

I looked at Mii and instantly knew what she was talking about. I shook my head solemnly, there was nothing for us to do. She sighed as I revved up the motor and continued on. We arrived pretty quickly after that and looked for a good place to stop at. Without a bar or pub in sight we stopped at a diner.

The usual sound of plates and utensils clashing together accompanied the smell of bacon and pancakes. Still I paid no attention to it and both Mii and I sat down at the bar. Almost instantly an older woman came over and greeted us, presenting us with a hand written menu.

The usual sound of plates and utensils clashing together accompanied the smell of bacon and pancakes. Still I paid no attention to it and both Mii and I sat down at the bar. Almost instantly an older woman came over and greeted us, presenting us with a hand written menu.

"Hello dears," she said sweetly, "you're awfully young you two. Where you from?"

"Out of town. We're here looking for someone," Mii answered carelessly.

I tried to mask her blunder from behind the mostly empty menu, "We're from another country, we wanted to talk to the leader. Mostly alliances, trade routes, you know, the usual peace talks."

"Sorry dears," the older woman said as she slumped over and used her arm as a head rest, "Alex doesn't talk to outsiders."

This "Alex" was our target, our mission was to take out the leader, simple enough. I just felt Mii wouldn't be able to do it, she was killing for a different reason than last time. It was a perfect plan, we could've just gone through with the bike guns a blazing but I knew this would have more of an impact. We were monsters, she took the Hippocratic Oath, she had no reason to fight this time.

"Well, we'll deal with that later," I set down my menu and slid it towards the waitress, "pancakes and bacon, can you humor me and arange it in a happy face?"

"Sure I can dear," she took my menu and turned to Mii, "how 'bout you dear?"

"Unos huevos re-"

"Again Mii? Scrambled eggs? Don't you like any variety other than scrambled eggs?" Speaking Spanish this North would raise flags, if they didn't think we were bounty hunters, they'd think we were Jalisco officials.

"Calm down dear," she took Mii's menu as she wrote in a small note pad, "so scrambled eggs and a happy face pancake?"
We both nodded and the waitress left after that to deliver the order. I sighed as she went into the kitchen, that was a close one, "Mii, be careful next time, alright?"

"Huh?" She looked at me awkwardly, "porque?"

"Think about it Mii," I said silently between us, trying to see if any of the other customers were paying any mind to our conversation, "think how North we are, Jalisco isn't liked much here. Try not to speak Spanish for once ok?"

"Pero," I brought my finger to my lips and she gave a defeated sigh, "ok..."

We both went silent and I felt terrible, there wasn't anything wrong with her Spanish, it was just not a good idea to speak it here, that's all. "You know, my sister used to do the same thing really."

"Hmm?" She looked up at me, an interested look on her face.

"When she got angry and sarcastic she'd always curse in French," I chuckled at that, it'd always annoy me, now I deal with it everyday.

"Why's that?"

"Mom'd get angry at us for cursing, so she took a French class for a year so she could get away."

"Here you go dears," the plates scraped against the countertop, "just call me if you need me okay?"

"Oh cool," I nodded and smiled, they actually made my pancakes into a smiley face, "thanks."

"You bet dears," after another smile she left to attend the other customers.

I began to dig in as Mii started her own story, "I taught my fiance Spanish."

I choked, "fiance?!"

"Yeah," she tilted her head to the side, "have I never mentioned him?"

I pumped my chest trying to clear my throat, "N-no. Was it when you were working as a nurse in the army?"

She shook her head as she took a forkful of eggs, "des-after, after you know...what happened."

I smiled, her eyes really lit up as she began taking about her fiance, "he really helped me out during those years. I was their total slave, he helped me feel special, no one has had a will like his. No one."

"He was a quiet person," she continued, "but he seemed to know what he was doing. Very level-headed, and so gentle. So, so, gentle. I was so...jumpy and he was so calm. We were like that Chinese picture, the black and white."

"Yin and yang?" I said between mouthfuls of pancakes.

"Yeah, that. Starcrossed, that's what they'd call us sometimes. I always like that word."

I set my fork down on my now barren plate, giving my full concentration to Mii who continued on with her story, "I felt I owed him, I needed to do somthing, so I taught him Spanish. You wouldn't believe how good he was at picking it up. He's the reason I'm here. He's the reason I met you."

She placed down her own fork as I raised my hand to ask for the check, "so Mii why is it I only see you?"

"When I met you we were escaping," we both looked at my abdomen knowing the story a little too well, "he didn't get so lucky, only me and Nafhe. You remember Nafhe right? The girl with the arms from Gray Star. She was one of us, one of the Apostles. Saha was too, poor guy."

"I thought you hated him?"

She shook her head, "I didn't want you to feel bad, he was a great person. One of the bravest of the Apostles, really. He started to lose it after a while, he felt guilt. We did too much."

"Here you go dears," she gave us the receipt and I have her the appropriate amount.

"Thanks dears, now-"

"Oh!" I reached into my pocket and grabbed a sizable tip, handing it to her, "here, thanks for the pancakes."

"Oh...dear...I can't..." she just started at the money I put in her hand, she tried to keep her composure but she was obviously breaking down.

"Go on take it," I said.

"Dear I... I turned you two in!" Oh no, last I needed was an angry mob after us, especially with Mii here. "The Peacekeepers are coming, you two have to leave."

"Here," she handed us a key, I let Mii grab it, "the back exit is by the bathroom, go through it and you'll be in the kitchen, the back door should be there, leave the key by there, anybody asks, you're using the bathroom okay?"

Mii got off her chair, a look of worry prominent on her face, "thank you Miss. Let's go Rock!"

I didn't go with her, there was somthing I wanted to know first. I looked at the waitress, panic was painted on her face, urgency reflected off her eyes, I asked, "why are you doing this?"

"Dear you don't have-"

I cut her off and reiterated, "why are you doing this?"

She slumped onto the table, covered her face with her hands, and whispered, "you're the bounty hunters I hired aren't you?"
"Well that was unexpected..."

"Rock we have to-"

"No, we have time," I ignored Mii and went back to our waitress, "so I don't get to ask this a lot but, why?"

"You really should listen to your friend dear, you-"

"No I don't," I started at her, the other guests seemingly oblivious, "you got us into this mess and you're going to explain to us why you're getting us out."

"This was mine," she said from behind her wall of hands, "even before the war, it's been in my family. Then after the war the government took it from me. I bet you saw the man outside the town, that was my fault. I'm sorry girls..."

"So you're want us to kill someone just to get your restaurant back?"

She nodded slowly, not speaking a word.

"Hmph, where are they?" I finally got off my chair, much to Mii's frustration.

"Look for the building with the dried up fountain," she said, "you both have to leave now."

I nodded, "indeed." I turned to Mii, "let's get out of here."

We walked over to the bathroom and took the door right next to it. The smell of sizzling meat hit us hard as we ran through. Pots and pans rattled as we bumped into them, the cooks yelled as we interrupted their routine. We apologised as best as we could until we reached the door. Mii fumbled with it until the lock clicked. She threw the keys back as light saturated our vision.

Guns clicked as they were cocked and pointed. All five of them.

I gave a light chuckle as I stopped Mii from doing anything stupid. "So I imagine there's five more of you in the front?"

"You two are being arrested for being enemies of the state!" The middle peace keeper said rather pathetically, his gun was even shaking, rookie.

I tsk'ed at him as if in annoyance, "that just won't do, just won't do at all. Why don't you just point me in the direction of the capital building and we'll be on our way."

I took a step forward and the same peace keeper yelled out, "DON'T MOVE! WE'LL SHOOT!"

I chuckled at him as I continued with my pace. Their guns trembled as I stared down their leader, I could literally see him sweat as I came face to face with him, "well how about you just stand down and tell me where I have to go? Where's your leader?"

A smell came from below his torso as he stared at me wide eyed. I chuckled as the other soldiers were a gasp at their leader. "Well...?"

He wrapped his arms around his rifle and held onto it as it were a stuffed bear, "it's just down Downtown." He pointed to the left, "by the dry fountain and library."

I pushed him back and gestured to Mii to follow. She chuckled as she walked over to me. I smiled at her as we looked the guards over. They shot glances of resentment coupled with snake eyes and we just smiled back. We held our weapons on the ready but luckily I had

It took us a while to finally reach it and we had to make sure we weren't about to march into some unsuspecting books but we did find it, the town hall. "Alright," I told Mii as we stood in front of the door, "weapons on the ready, don't attack unless they do."

She nodded and we entered. As we stepped through the doors I surveyed the area as we approached the front counter. A carpet led from the doors to the counter, on either side of the room were doors, and the room had several seats I imagine were for people waiting to be attended. At the counter sat a couple who were nonchalantly playing a game of chess.

"Hi, we were looking for Alex," I said as we aproached it.

"Do you have an appointment?" Interesting, her accent seemed off.

"Alex doesn't take walk-ins anymore since the incident." His accent too...

"If you want," the man handed me a sheet without even looking off the game, "you can register here."

I looked at the paper, it was for the next day, we couldn't stay that long.

"I'm sorry but we're from another country," I slid the paper back but they both ignored it, focusing on their chess games, "we need to talk to your leader."

"Yeah, no. We can't do that," the girl looked at the board pensively before continuing, "besides it's not even-wait. I won! Ha! In your face hun!"

She stood up and fist pumped, "ha take that hun!"

The man just looked at her with an amused look on his face, "yes luv, I get it."

"You're on the bottom tonight hun!" She laughed as she turned to face us, "sorry about that-"
She froze as she stared. Before I knew it she had a pistol and us at gun point. Damn she was fast.

"Hun," she turned to, what I now presumed to be, her husband "get your knives!"

He fumbled as he stood up and unholstered his weapons, getting in a fighting position.

"Black Rock Shooter," she cocked her pistol at me, "you're under arrest for crimes against the state!"

She was quick at deduction. No wonder their accent was different, they're bounty hunters. Well damn. "So how'd you know?"

"Every bounty hunter worth two cents knows you, it's like not knowing Dragon Slayer or Gray. You're part of those big three."

"And her?" Her husband pointed at Mii, knives still poised and ready.

"She has to part of her team, so, let's see..." She placed her hand on her chin, "let's take it from the top. She can't be Black Matagi, she's much to tall be her."

I burst out laughing at that, Matagi would've gotten pissed off at that.

"Right..." She eyed me suspiciously and continued, "even if the rumors are true about Devil Girl defecting to Black Star, it can't be her. She does a lot of solo missions."

I nodded, "she would've probably done it faster than us too."

"Mhm," she tried her best to ignore me, "so that leaves the rookie I've heard about, which would mean why you didn't send Devil Girl if she could've done it faster."

"Ah," the husband said, "to train her?"

She snapped her fingers, "of course!"

"Well you're halfway there," I said nonchalantly, slowly getting ready to strike, "you see, Mii here's a part of the team, but neither is she a bounty hunter or a rookie. Show 'em Mii!"

Within seconds Mii had unholstered her weapon, prepared her hatchet, and thrown it, knocking my assailant's pistols out of her hands.

Without a second to react I launched myself over the countertop, towards my opponent. She stumbled back and slammed against the wall, sliding down it. She blinked, probably trying to process what was going on as I landed another punch to the side of her face.

Her face hit hard against the floor, leaving a few red marks on the carpet. I kicked her again causing her to groan in pain. I smiled, content with myself, this was too easy.

BANG!

The shot whizzed past my torso, the pistol's laser scorched parts of my bandages. Shit, laser pistols, this was getting dangerous fast. She cocked her pistol again and...

Skewed off, hitting the roof as I kicked it at the right moment. The pistol itself flew off and hit the wall. She gasped as she tried to reach for her pistol, instead receiving my heel.

"Please..." She begged, "it hurts..."

"Let her go!" I looked over to the husband, Mii had somehow gotten him into a strangle hold, "You can kill me just..."
He let it hang, Mii picked up for him, "We're not here for them, they won't hurt us anymore."

"It's collateral-" I looked down at the ground, she was sobbing, it almost broke my heart, "all right."

I lifted my foot as she continued crying. I looked over to Mii who let go of the husband. He thanked us as he walked over to his wife and kneeled down beside her.

"Hey luv," he poked her sides but she didn't respond, "luv?"

It was faint but I heard her whisper, "hun, I'm scared."

The faintest of smiles came across his face, "you know what?" He picked her up bridal style and planted a kiss on her cheek, "I am too."

He comforted her as he left. Right before leaving out the door however, he nodded at us, showing his gratitude. I smiled as Mii waved, "Let me guess, reminded you of your fiance?"

A smile I could only describe as truly pure adorned her face, "mhm."

"Well," I picked up the laser pistol from the ground and placed it into the inside pocket of my coat after making sure the safety was on, "let's see if the mayor wants to talk with us." I walked over the the door beside the counter, "I hear you have to make a reservation first."

I opened the door and- immediately pushed Mii into the counter, bumping her hip into it while I ducked. The door had a big gaping hole in it, small metal balls rolled around the floor as I stood up. Buckshot. Shotgun. Damn. One.

"I know ye' out there," a woman commanded from the other side, and, from the sound of it, on the other side of the wall I was leaning on, "show ye'self and I might show mercy."

I chuckled, "you Alex?"

"Alexa Smith to you! What of it?!

"You know we just took out your bodyguards right?"

"And?!"

"You don't stand a chance!"

I somersaulted in taking her off guard. Small metallic pebbles blasting through the air as she tried to fire. Two. I side stepped as she pumped and fired again, hitting the desk behind me. Three. I ran towards the wall and kicked it, bouncing me back with my extra momentum, bullet holes implanting themselves in the wall. Four. Two more. Just had to tempt her into firing again.

I rushed at her when she fired, she was quick at the trigger that time and I barely had time to move. Five. I backed up and knocked myself over the desk. Shit.

"Ha! Got ye' now!"

Six.

I opened my eyes to see the chandelier above my head screaching as it groaned to stay attached to the roof. I gasped as I jumped off the desk and the chandelier fell onto the hole-ridden desk, collapsing it from the middle.

I panted as I looked over the room, small bullet holes made the room reminiscent of swiss cheese. The room kept the same design as the lobby's but had a much more personal feel to it. On the ground was an old shotgun, just as I had expected. It's owner, on the other hand, was against the wall, arm twisted uncomfortably by Mii so as to not allow a chance to escape.

"Who the fuck are you?! Let me go!"

I clicked my tongue at her, "we can't do that, we're here to kill you."

"Who's hiring you bastards?" She literally spat at me, landing on my coat.

Mii looked wide-eyed at me, and let go of our target, she knew me too well. I chuckled as I grabbed the target from the roots of her hair and turned her head towards me so I stared at her face to face. "I was going to answer all your questions before we killed you but..." I slammed her face into the wall a few times, leaving a few blood stains on the wallpaper, "but if you're going to be so bitchy about it, we'll kill you now. Saves us the time really."

She nodded, "wh-who sent you?"

"Hmm..." I bit my lip, trying to decide how to answer that question, "the EX owner of the diner down the street."
She gasped, "...she couldn't...you're lying..."

I nodded, "what country are you running here? Communist? People don't take well to having their things taken."
"My god...I'll give it back, promise," she bargained rather pathetically, "just let me live! You want money? I'll give you money, just, please..."

"Sorry, I got a reputation, to keep. Any last question?"

She sighed, "whatever bitch, just finish me off."

"So Mii," I turned the target around so she could see her face, I could see Mii grimace, "can you do it?"

Mii took out her axe, her hand shook as she did it, she was falling for my trap. Yes, she probably killed many people, but I was certain she hadn't done it once by staring into their eyes. Humans, we're very weird creatures, we can display so much through our little eyes and be affected by what they show.

"I'm not coming out!" I yelled out from inside my room, making sure the door was locked while I was at it.

"Perdiste! Get out from there!" I heard her scream from beside my door.

"No! Cold day in hell I even wear a dress!"

"Tienes cinco segundos!"

"Cinco..."

Wait is she counting down?

"Cuatro."

Shit. What if I...?

"Tres."

No. No. She can't be serious.

"Dos."

I'm safe, nothing she can do to me here. Just relax.

"Uno."

"All right! Muchachas! Now!"

Clang!

I let go of the door, where was that coming from? The ceiling rang violently as somthing clashed against metal. It seemed to be getting closer and closer.

"Mii!" I unlocked the door and tried to open it. The door jerked back, specks of purple could be seen from the other side. She was holding the door tight, keeping me from getting out. "Please! I don't know what you're planning but please...LET ME OUT!"

Clank!
She started laughing as the sounds stopped and the sound of somthing sliding down metal replaced them.
I grew quiet, trying to figure out where they were coming from.

Crash!

A screw rolled to my feet, coming to a stop right in front if it. I looked up, tracing where it came from. The metal cage from the ventilation shaft was off its hinges and on the floor.

"Hey Chooter," I turned around and came face to face with Matagi with a smile a mile wide.

I gasped as I was grabbed from , the only other person small enough to crawl through the ventilation system was...Devil Girl!

"You assholes!" I squirmed as I tried to free myself, "let go Devil Girl!"

Matagi laughed as she got a dress out from the shafts, "look Chooter! We all put our money together to buy the frilliest outfit we could find!"

I forget how many times I screamed that day.

Dead's Poem II

Today marks the day I take my first step
Today I have prepared for the greatest depths
Today's the day of my gambit and bet
Today my plan is finally set

Yesterday I was in the pits of sorrow
Yesterday you left me there to wallow
Yesterday I no longer had your help to borrow
But this will all change by tomorrow

Tomorrow the sun will finally rise
Tomorrow I find what over yonder lies
Tomorrow I'll receive my prize
Tomorrow, yesterday, and today, of you I fantasize

Black Rock Shooter is the property of the artist, Huke, no copyright infringement intended. I would appreciate, support, comments, and constructive criticism. See a spelling/grammar mistake don't be hesitant to mention it in a review, negative or positive. Mii's back full force! Mii's a fun character to have around I feel. Shame I put her in a place where she doesn't get much screen time. Anyways, seems Dead Master's being such a poet now. Lol. I got pretty good feedback because of the last poem so I threw in another one. I feel they're a little too open ended though, but it works out as long as you imagine its Dead Master saying it. Yadda, yadda, advice, yadda, yadda, review, yadda, yadda, sugestion. Honestly people if you made it this far you know the drill. Also special thanks to the beta-readers, Black Maiden and Lord Marik, thanks.

Please and Content,

Ωmega