Lucky Dog 1 translations 10 Ivan route 08 best

Part 3: Daivan

Chapter 10 Best

The Valkyrie

Hiding in the chunk of shadows, I inch my head forward and peer towards where the beam of headlight’s coming from.  There…

Honus: Are you still alive, Mr. Fiore?

…He probably hasn’t noticed where we are.  The fucking bastard raises his voice before giving a hearty and provoking laugh.

Honus: Heehee, hahaaaahahahaah!  I told you!  I said that you’d have nowhere to run!  You’re targeted not only by us, but also by your own allies!

Honus: You don’t have anyone on your side!  None!  Not a single one!  I’ll crush you in this filthy alley like the rat you are and watch you die!!  No?  You don’t like that?  You scared?!

Gian: I think he’s saying something.

Ivan: Probably practicing for a school play.

In the darkness, I think I see Honus make some signal.  Several engines start up, and the metallic sounds of several guns being loaded overlap each other.  …They’re coming!

…So … is this what they’d call being a cornered rat?

The tank-looking cars and gangsters slowly approach us from both sides.

     

Holy!  They’re shooting!  …They still haven’t found us, but this is a pretty shitty situation.

Gian: If we return fire … I guess they’d find our position, wouldn’t they…?

Ivan: Yeah.  Wait on it.  Just a little more…

     

Whoa?!  That was close!!  …They’ve reached the driveway around the apartment opposite us.  …The blasting of machinegun fire sends flashes into the dark.

A crash from above.  Did they break open the door we’d escaped from?

I look up … and, just as expected, there’s a guy with a hat poking his body out the escape route and pointing his gun this way.

Gian: Fuck!  They broke down the door…!

I immediately aim the fucking heavy shotgun.

     

Hitman 2: Gyaaah!!

Gian: Whoa?!

Ivan: Ack?!

A huge hammer flying down at us from above.  A shockwave of pressure and sound bombards Ivan and I, forcing us to the ground.

The sound of wood – of the building – crumbling mixes with the dying wails of people as they reach my ears from above…  And then, a beaten-up body crashes down to the ground.

…So the dynamite’s finally gone off.

Honus: Wh-What was that?!

GD Soldier E: U-Uwah?!

The gangsters on the street break into panic as well.

Ivan: …Run!!

Ivan’s yell pierces through the ringing in my ear, still throbbing from the force of the explosion.  Unsteadily, I get up and run.

The half-destroyed building creaks and scattered bits of it fall all over us as Ivan runs ahead, hunched over.  In front of us is the Mercedes’ white body…

     

Ivan: Get in!!

     

Ivan screams and, firing wildly, jumps into the open driver’s seat.  I also follow…

Gian: …Tsk?!

…Behind the Mercedes, at a blind angle from where Ivan’s clinging to the driver’s seat, some guys toting machineguns dance out of the shadows.  I fire the shotgun without even aiming.

     

GD Soldier E: …Guh!  Gyaaah!!

     

Something flies like a cloud of dust with a whoosh! from the gangsters’ bodies, their faces, their heads … as they all drop their guns and roll to the ground with a bloodcurdling shriek.

My feet freeze for a second at the screams … before I come to my senses and climb into the Mercedes’ passenger seat.

Just as I close the door…

…the Mercedes’ ignition and engine roar.

     

Click! and the ray from our headlights slice through the night ahead and the lit world greets our eyes.

GD Soldier F: Fuck!  Fire!!

     

The rust-colored gunfire flutter before us like waving flags, and several bullets hit the car’s body and its hood … but they only ricochet, digging only a little into the sheet metal.

Gian: That’s Mercedes for ya!  They’re not even making a dent!!

The Mercedes suddenly speeds up and cuts through the screaming men trying to flee, and the few who don’t run fast enough are sent flying like puppies.

     

GD Soldier G: Gyaaaah!

‘Is this what riding in a space rocket feels like?!’ I almost yell as the car accelerates again.

Gian: H-Hey!  They’re blocking off the way.  We’ve gotta back up or else…!

Reflected in our headlights’re the red Fiat and some pitch-black sedans barricading our way.  Instead of backing up, though, Ivan keeps his foot on the gas, and…

Ivan: Brace yourself!  We’re chargin’ through!!

Gian: Wha?!  A-Are you an idiot…?!

…Ooh crap!!  The gears of the Mercedes lock, and the car slows to a crawl…  It trudges towards the herd of cars in low gear.

Honus: …Why you…!!  I’ll teach you not to underestimate us!!

     

Honus fires away and the bullets dig some holes into the front window.  But, the Mercedes mercilessly tears forward.

Honus: Ee!  Eeeeah!!

Just before we get to run him over, Honus jumps aside with a squeal.  Then…

     

…the Mercedes plows ahead, trampling the black sedans and the red Fiat under the tip of its bumper.  …Awesome!!

     

The Mercedes pushes forward like a bulldozer, shoving the sedans blocking the road aside like cardboard boxes, denting them and even turning one over onto its side.

Gian: …Holy shit this car is awesome…!!  No wonder why it’s so expensive!

Ivan: Hiiheheeh!!  There’s still more where that came from!  You ain’t seen nothing yet!!

The Mercedes’ tires groan and its white body’s ruthlessly covered in scratches, but it keeps on moving, tossing aside all the cars blocking our way.

     

And then, our headlights illuminate a dark street.

Honus: …Fuck!  Chase theeem!  Kill theeeem!!

Behind us, Honus’s scream and the sound of the sedans’ engines hastily trying to start up reach us through the blanket of exhaust.

Gian: Holy fucking shit, that was awesome…!  Totally awesome!!  We are soooo totally awesome!!

I don’t know what the hell I’m saying anymore.  I just…  If I don’t shout out the words clanging around in my brain like bouncy balls, I think I’m gonna explode.

Gian: That was aaaaawesoooooome!!

Ivan: …Yeaaah!!  Wasn’t that the coolest thing ever?!

The words leave Ivan’s mouth like he’d hurled them.  In response, I bump my shoulder to his.

     

The Mercedes weaves through the few cars on the road and gallops forward.

…That was the best.  If only this Mercedes really were a space rocket…  …Childish thoughts start entering my head.

And then … we could go straight to the moon from here!!

     

It’s then that the flash of headlights sparks across the rearview mirror hanging smack between us.

A crack of gunfire from behind us.  One bullet strikes the rear bumper and clangs off, leaving a noise that triggers the instinctive reaction to duck.

Gian: Hooboy, they’re chasing us!

Ivan: Hmph, stupid trash!

Ivan smiles a toothy smile and, twisting his head back to look behind him, turns the wheel.  The tires shriek as the Mercedes swivels its rear around…

     

Gian: Whoawhoawhoa!!

He turns at a signal-less crossroad, and the car transforms into a beam of light as it flies down the main road.

Gian: Don’t tell me you’re gonna use the crumbs’ cars as a shield!

Ivan: Nope, I just wanted to get onto a straight road!

Ivan howls as he changes gear.  The Mercedes mercilessly pushes aside the other cars blocking our way with its bumper as it cuts through.

But … the guys pursuing us are just as merciless.  They even cross into the opposite lane as the ten or so black sedans tenaciously chase us.

Among them is the crimson Fiat as well.

Gian: Uwah?!

One shot flies through the back window and into the car.

Ivan: Tsk!  …Duck down!  They’re coming!

Ivan grabs my head and shoves it under the passenger’s seat.  It was then I noticed … a red line dribbling from his hair down his cheek.

Gian: Y-You idiot!  You’re hit!!

Ivan: It doesn’t hurt so it’s just a scratch!  …They’re here!!

But … the distance between cars chasing us and us gradually shrinks.  We’re getting dragged down by the traffic on this straight road.

Gian: Gwah!  Those bastards…!

But…

Ivan: …Come on … come to me, baby, come on!!  Hehe, just a little more…!

…The idiot bares his teeth around his bloody face … and laughs.

Gian: All righty, it’s all on you!

I recline in the seat and cross my arms as I laugh.  …Yeah, I guess idiocy is contagious after all…

The Mercedes, the beam of light charges through countless intersections, ignoring the signal like it’s the law.

Behind us, the sound of horns and brakes explodes.  …The guys chasing us…  I think we’ve lost a few, but they’re still after us in a group, with the red Fiat at the center.

A shot, probably coming from the Fiat, digs itself into the Mercedes’ rear.  I duck, but beside me…

…Ivan howls.

Ivan: Here it coooomes!!

Gian: Huh?!

     

The Mercedes climbs over the gentle slope like it’s bouncing up and down a playpen of down feathers, piercing through Daivan as it flies down one of its main streets.

It’s a wide, two-way street, dark as the night sky but illuminated here and there by street lamps.  It’s on this road the Mercedes throws its beams of light.

Gian: Wh-what the—?  …We’re sitting ducks here!!

A crowd of headlights, so many they look infinite, follow behind us.  This time, the black cars pitch closer, trying to scissor us in from both sides.

Gian: H-Hey!

Ivan: I’ll show you … what she’s really made of!!

Ivan sets the gear to the top … and then throws his entire body weight behind his foot as he stomps on the gas, pressing pedal to the metal.

A moment passes…

     

The car twitches like a massive instrument.  The roar of metal and fire intricately meshing together wells up.

     

Gian: Wh-What?  …Whoa!!

With a Clang! we suddenly sprint forward with tremendous speed.  My body’s shoved into the seat by an invisible force.

     

Ivan: Here it comes!  Here it cooooooomes!!

Gian: G-Guh … what … is this…?!

The speed, faster than anything I’ve felt before, makes my stomach cramp … like a fist squeezing my gut tight, like I’m about to fall off from someplace tall.  …That’s some intense speed.

Next thing I know… …I can’t turn my neck around.  Instead, I look into the rearview.  Our pursuers, their headlights and their shadows, are about as small as a coin tossed into a well…

Gian: Wh-What … the hell is this?!  This is awesome…!!  This puts the roller coasters at Coney Island to shame…!!

Ivan: That’s my Valkyrie’s war cry!!  Haahaha!!  Ain’t she the best?!

Gian: …Huh?!  What’d you say…?!

Ivan: That’s the war cry of 200 supercharged horsepower!!  The pure white Valkyrie who rips through the night!!  Those small fry don’t even deserve to kiss her feet!!

Gian: …Pff.

Ivan: …Huh?!  You!  You laughed just now!!

Gian: Yeah, but, I mean … that’s hilarious!  That name sooo doesn’t fit!

Ivan: Sh-Shut up!! Don’t laugh!!

     

     

And then, a job well done.  The war cry disappears.

There’s not a trace of the headlight from the cars chasing us.  They were completely left in the dust…

…setting the whole ‘Valkyrie’ part aside and all.

Man, Germans are amazing.  They’ll survive far into the future.  They might even be able to make some machine that goes to the moon and stars for real…

We…

Gian: …Pff … pffhahahaha…

Ivan: Hah!  …What… …Haha … hahahaha!

We just laugh for no reason whatsoever.  …No, if this isn’t the time to laugh, then when is?

For the first time since the Mercedes’d charged onto a main street and driven into the city suburbs, Ivan finally switches the gear back to normal.

Meanwhile…

Cavalli: …Why those…  Those stupid … those those fools!  Just what are they thinking…

The old man … Counselor Cavalli, looking even older than usual under the dim light, mutters curses under his breath…

Cavalli: …That idiot doesn’t even think about his situation … and, on top of that, Giancarlo, too…!  Alessandro’s spoiled him far too much…

In the heavily ornamented guest room, in front of a table adorned with a piercingly white cross, the old man paces aimlessly slowly back and forth.

Cavalli: Those fools…  That stupid idiot Ivan will … uhm … probably not be…  Rosalia, I’ll give them a harsh talking-to…

Rosalia replies to the hesitating old man with a cold and clear voice.

Rosalia: There will be no need for that, Grandpa.  I knew this would happen.

Cavalli: Eh…?  What did you … Rosalia…?

Rosalia: You and the other elders are too harsh on him.  He has his own job and promises to keep, so you shouldn’t keep him shut in a room like a child…

Cavalli: N-no, that’s…  Th-That was all for his sake…

Rosalia: I had Grandpa call him to dinner today to set him free.  …I didn’t think that he would really come.

Cavalli: Wh-What … did you …?  You … had me…?

Rosalia: …If he actually did come, I would have discussed the future … something very important with him and Grandpa.  But, it can’t be helped…

Cavalli: What…?!  S-S-S-Something very important…?!  D-Don’t tell me you’re seriously…?

Rosalia: I wanted to tell him that ‘There are more important things for a man than the future.’  I know how he is.  …I love gentlemen like that as well.

Rosalia gives a small sigh.

Rosalia: A car, please, Grandpa.  I must be returning to school now.

Cavalli: Eh…?  Weren’t you … going to … stay the night?  It’s … it’s already so late, so…

Rosalia: Tomorrow is Monday, and worship starts early in the morning.  …I would really rather go back on my scooter, though.

Cavalli: N-No!  No, no, no!  You can’t take something so dangerous…!  …I understand.  I’ll call some guards … and a car…

The old man hastily walks away…

…when the little girl, when Rosalia … lowers her head, just a little bit, and her small lips tremble.

Rosalia: …Stupid…

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