Tuesday, 9 pm.

“King, guess what? Caleb found him! I told you he would cuz my boy’s good at that kind of stuff, hee!"

Rica lay the mighty King Ghidora across her lap to clean his barrel and finish the story.

“Remember I told you that monster said a name, Palladian? Turns out it was a sheet press company in the South Bronx. But they got bought out, so I couldn’t find them because the name Palladian doesn’t exist anymore!”

The 12 gauge shotgun listened as Rica spoke.

“But Caleb dug deeper and found out the buying company closed too. And the only thing left from the old Palladian is that half abandoned factory on Oakpoint ave. And you know what that means?”

Rica wiped King Ghidora’s barrel, and whispered cryptic words to him.

“That monster took those girls there…and when I see him...when we see him...”

Rica trembled as her blood boiled. When she thought of the man who put her in that box she squeezed King until her fingers turned red, and loaded three shells in his chamber.

“I know King, I’m okay. And yes, we’re going hunting” Click! Clack!

Pocket Jacks

“Hupp, Hupp, there it is! Bam! Now gimme my money, haha!” Tara slapped two jacks on the table with little girl glee. The three other players slammed their cards frustrated at Tara's hot streak. The gambling crime boss just won six grand in Texas Hold'em at the Candlelight bar in the South Bronx.

Eight of Tara’s crew hung out with her at the Candlelight. Including Kitty, Bling and Ian who each sat at the bar joking with cute girls and hip patrons. Good music, great vibe.

Bling-ling-ling-ling-ling! The sound of jewelry pouring out of a treasure chest, Bling-ling-ling-ling!

“Yo, your phone is ringin, B!” Kitty yelled at Bling who entertained two young ladies at the edge of the bar. Bling’s phone rang in his jacket pocket next to Kitty. Curious and evil, she reached in Bling’s jacket pocket and checked the caller ID.

“What the hell?” Kitty recognized the number and answered his phone.

“Hello, Rica-chan? Why are you calling Bling’s phone?”

“Eh? Kitty-ne-chan? Umm, here’s a better question, why are you answering Bling’s phone? How suspicious!”

“What? Don’t flip this on me little sis, I only answered because I saw you calling. Now spill it! Why you callin Bling?” Kitty asked.

“Umm.....Bling and Ian said they were going to bring me Swedish fish and candy and stuff.” she responded.

Kitty didn’t buy it, “That’s the creepiest shit you ever said to me. Why would you want them bringing you candy?”

“Cuz candy tastes good. And I have a sweet tooth….”

"I bet you do!" Kitty replied with evil.

Bling, finally, arrived to check his phone. "Yo Kitty, who you talkin to on my phone?”

Kitty giggled at the confused Bling and answered, “I’m talking to a little girl who wants candy.” Bling grabbed the phone.

“Hello, who dis?”

“Bling-san, are you really busy?” replied a sweet Rica.

“Rica? Hey, yeah man. I mean, you know, wassup?”

“I um...I need a ride.”

“A ride?...Is that all you need?”

“Yes...I can the handle the rest.” she whispered back. Bling understood.

“I hear you lil mamma..but um, how about if I bring Ian too. We’ll all take a ride. Is that cool?”

“Yes, that’d be great!” Her voice raised.

“Cool, give us ten minutes. We’ll be by you. Click!” Bling hung up and turned to Kitty who heard the conversation. He asked her, “What do you think?”

“I think you and Ian should give her a ride. And Bling, you boys watch her back!” Kitty replied.

Bling laughed, “Trouble making little girl!”

“Yeah she is, and she’s after my heart, hee hee! So please take care of her!” Kitty demanded.

“Little boss, you know how I get down...Yo Ee, we gotta head uptown real quick!”

Within a minute Bling and Ian left the Candlelight bar. Tara saw them leave and asked Kitty.

“Hey, where those two Nimrods goin?”

“To keep a promise to Rica,” said Kitty

“To Rica? Really? She called those two Pocket Jacks and not me? Man, she’s crazy like Reyna! Whateva yo, come-on ya’ll, let’s play some cards!” said Tara.

Only Kitty caught Tara’s worry for Rica and the boys in her statement. That’s fine, because Tara’s the boss. And a boss can never, ever, appear worried or rattled. Not in the Bronx.

Sour

When Bling and Ian reached uptown they stopped at a deli on the corner of Rica’s block.

“What’d you get her, B?” Ian asked Bling who carried a bag full of candy, he responded.

“I got her...Swedish Fish, Sour Skittles and watermelon Sour Patch Kids. I think she’ll like that.”

Ian agreed and placed the bag in the back seat and, there she was.

“Ne! Bling-san, Ian-san, I’ve never tasted sour Skittles before, hee!” said Rica, who somehow magically appeared in the back seat of the car. Scaring the crap out of Bling and Ian.

“What the fuck! How did you? When did you? What the hell are you little girl?” they yelled.

“Nya, ha ha ha, you guys have no idea how Rifle Girls work! I was already outside my house and I saw you guys drive up to the corner store. And just as Bling got out, I got in, like the shinobi that I am!" her happy answer.

“Girl you a sneaky mongoose!” said Bling.

Ian added, “Yeah, and why’d you do that? We coulda killed you!”

Rica showed them an evil smile, then tore open and ate a handful of Sour Skittles.

“Ya! you think you could’ve, nom nom, but I’m too...oh my god! These are so sour and so good..yum!” full sour face.

The boys erupted, “Ha! Look at your face!”

Embarrassed, Rica fought back, “Don’t laugh at me! I had to show you guys I’m not playing around...nom nom, oh, but these are so good!”

“I’m happy you like them, and we know you bad lil mamma, but what’re we doing? Are we takin it to somebody tonight, or what?” Bling asked, noticing Rica’s tactical black clothing, and her rifle bag.

“Yes, one person. And rescue four girls. I’ll tell Boss Tara to give you boys my cut from the Gustavo job.” She was serious.

Ian responded, “Slow down, Rica, we’ll talk about the money another day. Who’s this guy we’re goin after?” Ian wanted facts, and Rica gave a straight answer.

“The last monster in that trafficking crew. But the Turks want him too. If they kill him first they’ll take the little girls. We can’t let that happen.”

Bling didn’t care, he had Rica’s back, “Whatever you wanna do little boss, you quarterback I got you. What about you E?”

“You already know my answer, B! Plus we got two aluminum bats and two .45’s in the back, let’s fuckin go already!”

Enough said, Bling gunned the car engine and peeled off! Skrrrrrrrrrt! Destination, South Bronx, the monster's lair. But Bling had a question for Rica.

“Yo, little boss. Let me ask you, why’d you call my phone? Why didn’t you call Kitty or Tara?”

Rica blushed. “Eh? Why’d I call you?...umm...you promise not to laugh?”

“Aw man, by you asking that means we’re guaranteed to laugh, so now you gotta spill it! Why’d you call Bling’s phone?” Ian stared at Rica waiting for an answer while Bling laughed and drove.

“Eh...well...I called you guys because...because...Because it’s SO COOL that Tara and Kitty have two awesome bodyguards like you two and I want to be cool and have two awesome bodyguards and-”

“What? Ha ha ha!” Bling and Ian exploded in laughter, Rica couldn’t say another word, “Ha ha ha, yo she wants the look, yo!” Bling slapped Ian’s shoulder while the two tried to contain their amusement. Rica felt silly.

Ian cheered her up,“Were messin with you, man. We’re actually fuckin flattered.”

Bling added,“Yeah, yo. You know you made the right choice callin us lil mamma, cuz ain’t nothin happenin to you! Not while we’re here, ya heard!”

Rica felt invincible, now she had goons! “You guys are so cool!” she yelled at them and then informed them, “Ok, so the name of our gang, whenever we do jobs, is ….ahem...The Dreaded Sweeps, now it’s an old Transformers ref-”

Bling and Ian erupted in laughter, again. “Ha ha ha!” And Rica pouted, “What’s so funny? It’s a cool name?” Bling and Ian laughed all the way downtown.

These Guys

“You think I don’t see you there?...I see you. I knew you were coming. I knew I couldn’t trust that idiot. I’ll bet he’s dead in Texas, or worse ha ha,...Hey! hey, little girl come here!”

The ugly man in charged gestured for the youngest girl of the four, Nisa, to come over to him.

“No!” she hid her face amongst the other girls, angering the man.

“I said come the fuck here!” He grabbed Nisa and kicked the older girl defending her to the ground. All four girls screamed, they were all shell shocked by the man in charge. The man forced Nisa’s face to look out of a small window. He was crazy.

“There, look!” He pushed her face against window, she cried.

“Stop fucking crying and look! You see that truck? That truck is full assholes from your country and they want to kill me and take you all from me. But no one wants to pay me...and the way it’s looking now...I may cut my losses!” He pulled a gun and showed it to Nisa and to the other girls.

“On the other hand, I kill them Turks out there in that truck, and take one of em hostage then hey, hey! Ya’ll could speak that gibber jabber, yeah? Then I can get the money!”

Nisa and the other girls feared this man who grew more unstable every day he confined them. And now he saw a truck outside, that added to his crazy.

Palladian

Rica and the boys, also known as, The Dreaded Sweeps, arrived on the abandoned sheet press factory block. Rica scanned the small buildings and wide dark space between them. “Yup, he’s here.” She mumbled to Bling and Ian.

Bling drove slow while Ian peered into the dark parking lot and darker factory, “Can’t see a damn thing!” Ian muttered and turned to Rica, “So what’s the plan, little boss? We kick in the front door or what?”

Rica didn’t answer right away. Her eyes focused on the dark factory, shotgun in her lap.

“Yes, you two go through the front. The monster won’t expect you. But be careful, because he’s expecting them!”

Bling and Ian both asked, “Them? Who’s them?” And turned to Rica. But she wasn’t there, only an open back door.

“Yo, where’d she go?” Bling yelled. Both men scanned the dark and saw a small figure in black, jump on a light pole then over the factory fence, and vanish…

“Did you see that? She just jumped over that fence-” Ian muttered and Bling denied it, “Nah, yo! I don’t know what I just saw...no little girl moves like that….nah yo...”

Ian pulled the back door closed, and the two drove around the large fenced in compound to the front of the building. That’s when they saw them. “B, slow down, clip the lights!”

Bling shut the lights and car off and coasted in neutral down the dark block. One hundred meters ahead, a black SUV parked away from the the factory entrance. And unlike the abandoned cars parked around the facility, this SUV sparkled new.

“Fuck me dude, you think it’s the Turks?” Ian asked Bling.

“Could be them or the cops! Let’s chill here for a second-”

“B, Look!” Ian pointed at the side of the factory building and saw the oddest thing. In the shadow, behind the fence they saw something, someone crawling on the ground.

“Hold up? Is that dude...crawling? Wait! yo,he’s crawling to that truck!” said Bling.

“He’s got a gun in his hand. I think he’s gonna ambush that truck! What's goin on here, haha?” laughed Ian in a whisper. Then the shit hit the fan.

The driver’s door opened on the black SUV and out jumped a heavy set driver aiming a suppressed Heckler & Koch .45 UMP at the shadow man crawling behind the fence.

The crawling man, seeing the driver’s door open, jumped up and ran behind a shed near the fence. The driver shot at him, Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop!

The shadow man returned fired with a handgun and three more men hopped out of the SUV, all with suppressed HK-UMP’s. They were here to kill this shadow man, and take those little girls from him.

The three other men opened fire on the shed. The shadow man popped out and fired one shot, hitting the driver between his eyes, Thwack! The driver dropped like a rock.

“Hey, hey, you ain’t so tough you fucking illegals!” the shadow man yelled and ran along the side of the fence to the front of the building. One of the remaining three killers chased the shadow man and shot at him through the fence, Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop!

Bullets grazing him, the shadow man ran to the factory front entrance. If he could lure the three gunmen into that dark factory he’d kill them, take their truck and split, with maybe one girl...the little girl, Nisa.

Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop! “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” yelled the shadowman, the bullets ricocheting close. He had to get to the door entrance and, Pow!

In a fleeting moment, the shadow men felt nothing as his body reeled backward to the ground. Something hit him hard across his cheek...He knew that, and he saw everything. It happened so fast his mind couldn’t grasp it right away. But on his way down, he saw everything.

He saw the man outside the fence shooting at him stop and re-aim his HK-Ump at..too late.

BOOOOOOOOOOM! CLICK CLACK! BOOOOOOOOOM!

From the ground the shadow man heard the roar of the mighty King Ghidora and watched the man with the HK go down, with a hole in his chest.

“Ninja girl? No! No no no no no no! Fuck you you’re dead!” The shadow man snapped at the sight of Rica Reyes, who just saved his life. He leapt at her from the ground and grabbed her shotgun with both hands, and Rica…sweet Rica…kicked him in his balls, Thwack!

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!” The shadow man stumbled backward and watched Rica duck and cover from the shots fired Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop! The last two Turks from the truck fired at both Rica and the shadow man. And Rica fired back, Boooom! Click! Clack!

King Ghidorah’s steel pellets grazed the Turks, who split and dropped out of Rica’s sight. The shadow man took the opening and ran into the factory, past Rica. “No me jodas!” Rica yelled in Spanish at the fleeing shadow man and chased him.

The two Turks outside the fence rallied to follow Rica and the shadowman into the factory. But before the Turks reached the door a hail of bullets flew from behind. Bling and Ian, firing Glock .45s at the Turks.

One shot from Bling and Ian struck each of the Turks, one in the head, one in the back, but not lethal shots. The Turks ran to the side of the building and out of the gun range of Bling and Ian. And returned fire! Tat Tat Tat Tat! Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop! Tat Tat Tat Tat! Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop!

..A straight up South Bronx shootout, and no one around to hear.

Belly

The shadow man AKA The man in charge, ran top speed into the factory, unarmed, and into the main office area where he held the four girls captive. Only one girl mattered, Nisa.

The four girls screamed when the man entered the office and slapped at all of them, looking for Nisa, who hid in a corner. He grabbed her, “No! no touch!” Nisa cried the only English she knew, to no avail. The man picked her up and hurled a chair at the office entrance at the exact moment Rica reached the door.

Crash! “Ya!” Rica screamed and blocked the flying chair with her shotgun, but one of the legs hit her head full on. Rica fell backward on the hallway floor with a thud, “Oof!” she cried.

“Ninja!” shouted the man and grabbed her shotgun. “No, get off!” Rica yelled and kicked at the man, and he kicked back hard! “Yaaa!” Rica screamed at the strike to her side and let go of her shotgun. The man kicked again and she blocked with her arms, she yelled. The man was strong and his kicks damaged her.

“Hey, hey!” he flipped the shotgun and aimed it at Rica, and she braced to evade and strike when.

“Rica!” yelled little Nisa. The four year old pushed the shotgun barrel away from Rica's face. The man, furious, jabbed the shotgun butt at Nisa’s face!

“No!” Rica leapt between Nisa and the man and blocked the shotgun butt with her right palm and pushed Nisa back with her left hand. So fast, the man couldn’t keep up when Rica then roundhoused him in the gut, POW!

“Koooooooooffff!” All of the air exhaled from the man as he fell back, but he caught his balance, and didn’t let go of the shotgun. Rica charged him at full speed, and he aimed the shotgun at her, but she dropped and punched the barrel up. Boom! he shot the ceiling.

“You little” he yelled and felt a sharp pain in his gut, and saw a seven inch blade sticking out of him. “What?” The man couldn’t believe it, when did she stab him? He stumbled backward.

Rica pounced and yanked the shotgun out of his hand. “Gimme my King!” she screamed and struck the blade deeper in his gut with King’s buttstock. The man screamed, he was in trouble and he knew it, time to go. “You stay away from me!” he yelled and ran bleeding into the dark of the factory.

“Rica? Rica?” Nisa ran to Rica and the other four girls joined her. “Nisa! all of you stay here, I’ll come back!” Rica told them and stepped into the dark.

“Rica, no!” Nisa held Rica in a ‘please don’t go!’ gesture. Rica understood and promised Nisa, “I’ll be back!” And ran into the factory. Click! Clack! With mighty King Ghidorah, locked and loaded.

Sweeps

“Nah B, don’t move too fast!” Ian and Bling, still outside the factory chased the two Turks around the side of the factory. Until Bling saw one Turk and lowered his weapon.

The Turk with the headshot lay dead. They watched his partner run top speed toward the fence, and away from them.

“You see that? They don’t want none of this, E!” Bling laughed and Ian joined him,“Fuck yeah, B, we the Dreaded Sweeps!” Ian and Bling slapped five and turned serious, “We ain't done yet Pa!” Ian growled and the two ran back to the factory front.

Lair

Heat and darkness, the monster’s lair. The mongoose could hear him and feel his fear. She ran faster. Plink! the sound of metal and a dim light. There, twenty feet ahead, she could see a room, then him. She fired a shot.

Boooom! Click Clack!

The man ducked behind the door, “You get away from me, you're not real, you're dead!” he bellowed and swung a crowbar at Rica, who dodged his blow and cracked his knee with her shotgun barrel, Pow!

“Aaaah! Fuck!” he screamed and swung the crowbar again from the doorway, Whoosh! Crash! Striking the concrete wall just missing Rica’s face. She charged again, ripping her seven inch blade out of his stomach, “Arrrrh!”

The man bled out from the hole in his gut, but monsters don’t die easy. He swung the crowbar downward, she blocked with her shotgun and smacked him with the butt stock. And finally, decided to finish him.

Booom! Click Clack, “Raaaah!” Rica shot his right knee at point blank. He fell on that knee and swung that crowbar again, Boom! Click! Clack! She fired again and blew the fingers off his crowbar hand, the iron bar landed with a clunk in front of her...and King was out of ammo.

“You..I’ll kill you!..” The man lifted on one leg, still ready to fight. Rica stood in front of him and with her hair in her eyes and a cruel smile replied, “No, you won’t!” then charged at him. He was ready.

“You come here!” he tried to grab her when she charged, but she vanished, dropped and kicked him full force in his bloody gut. “Aaah!” he screamed and reeled back falling and knocking down a locker. And still...

“Raaah, fuck you!” He yelled at Rica, who stood motionless in front of him. The man’s rage lifted him for a final charge. On his last leg and bleeding he would kill her! “Aaaaahhh!” he charged.

And Rica...sweet Rica...pinched a striker, Tiss! and plucked a small ball out of her palm at his face. When the man saw the ball in his face, the fuse burned and the ball exploded.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! An M80, courtesy of that boy Caleb.

Rica ducked and covered her ears for the explosion. When she rose up she saw smoke everywhere and could hear Bling and Ian calling her in the dark. Her ears rang but she heard the man still breathing, “Good!” she thought.

The explosion blinded the man and blew off his nose, and his face. Rica leaned in and whispered, “I warned you...” The man whimpered and bled.

“Yo Rica, we gotta- Oh shit!” Bling stopped short and Ian asked, “What'd you do to him?”

The grim-loli turned and faced Bling and Ian, and what they saw, and what they would later tell Tara is....Rica's face...it wasn't Rica...it was someone...something else. And that person answered them...

“...I did...what I promised him I’d do...Now let's get those girls and go...” and she vanished, into the dark.

....