Part 2 : Checking of List
....: "NULL."
Roberto: "No shit! Jackass."
...: "Still as dramatic as ever. Poisoning a man in front of your kids? Bold."
Roberto: "Quiet. Just clean the fucking mess."
...: "Still breathing. You want me to finish him?"
Roberto paused. He looked up at the ceiling, like something was echoing from the past.
A voice rang in his head—distant, broken, remembered.
---
[FLASHBACK]
Roberto's body was slumped over someone's shoulder, drenched in blood, his breathing shallow and ragged. He was unconscious, but he could still hear the man carrying him:
> "We're almost there, brother... just a few more steps... hang on…"
[END FLASHBACK]
---
Roberto (whispering): "BEEP..."
...: "What? Again?"
Roberto: "Nothing. I'll take care of it."
... (sighs): "La Lama… you've turned soft. This wouldn't have happened ten years ago."
He loads the bullet engraved with his name back into the chamber. His hand was shaking as he gripped the gun.
...: "Okay, I'll be down there in an hour. I'll bring someone to handle the cleanup. You—finish the job. Make sure this time... he doesn't walk away."
Roberto: "Yeah. Leave it to me... Thanks, Saqit. I owe you one."
Roberto slammed the phone back into its cradle, jaw clenched.
---
He walked back into the kitchen, determined to end it.
But the floor was smeared with blood... and the fork was drenched in it.
Null was gone.
Roberto spun around—
Null charged at him like a bull, slamming him to the ground. Blood streaked across the tiles.
Null's leg was bleeding—he'd stabbed himself with the fork he was eating with, just to stay awake.
But it wasn't enough for him to stay standing—so he brought Roberto down with him.
On the floor, Null took control.
He punched Roberto, hard. The impact knocked the gun out of reach.
Thump!
Roberto yanked Null back, trying to gain the upper hand. He mounted him, raining punches.
Null pulled at his jacket, resisting, slowing him down.
Roberto landed a flurry of hits. Null's grip loosened.
Roberto stood—
Null crawled toward the gun.
Suddenly, Roberto choked him from behind.
Arms locked tightly around Null's neck, their backs arched, stomachs facing the ceiling.
Null gasped.
His face turned red, breath slipping. His vision blurred.
His hand reached for the revolver—
But the barrel was long. He couldn't aim it back.
Null's grip started to weaken.
> Null: "You're not killers. You're architects of balance.
You take a life only when it restores order."
> BEEP: "Balance, huh?
What happens when we're the ones that tilt the scale?"
> Null: "Then kill us."
---
Null's eyes snapped open.
He grabbed the gun, aimed at himself—
Thumb on the trigger. He squeezed.
Click… Bang!
Blood sprayed.
The bullet tore through Null's shoulder—and struck Roberto in the chest.
Roberto's grip broke.
Null rolled to the side, gasping, coughing. He clutched his bleeding shoulder.
Roberto collapsed, eyes wide.
Blood filled his lungs.
One word slipped out:
"Ellie…"
It was his last breath.
Grunt! The pain surged through him—enough to burn away the last effects of the drug.
Null pushed himself up, grabbed his revolver, and holstered it with a grim breath.
He took one last look at the man who was once his brother, lying on the floor motionless on pool of his own blood.
Ellie slowly stirred.
The sharp sound of the gunshot had ripped through her drugged haze like a siren in a dream.
She blinked hard—disoriented, her limbs heavy.
The sunlight flickered in her eyes.
Then she saw it.
Roberto.
Motionless. A pool of blood spreading under him, staining the tile red.
Her breath caught in her throat.
"No... no, no, no..."
She crawled toward him on her hands and knees, dragging herself through the broken glass and spilled macaroni.
"Roberto!" she sobbed, shaking his blood-soaked shoulder. "Wake up... Please... please wake up..."
Her eyes flicked up—there he was.
Null.
Standing over them, silent, shadowed, watching. Covered in blood, with his and her husbands, Expression unreadable.
"You... you monster..." she whispered, voice raw, trembling with rage and disbelief.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she shielded Roberto's body with her own.
Null picked up cloth, wiping off his face with blood. Then pressing it hard against his wound on his shoulder. Exhaling slowly through clenched teeth.
He stood there, silent for a moment, Eyes locked at Ellie— watching her crumble beside the body. Finally with a deep and heavy voice, broked the silence..
"It was not my intention to do this here, in his family presence. But he had it coming"
Ellie: "I don't care what he did in the past. He was a good man now. He had a family! He had us!"
She looked up at Null, grief burning into fury.
Null: "I'm sorry... But I have got unfinished business"
He turned, pausing at the doorway.
Before stepping out, he looked back over his shoulder—through the arc of his arm.
Then he marched into the sunlight, leaving blood, silence, and broken things behind.
Click!
The car door swung open.
Null climbed inside, breath still uneven, shoulder burning.
He paused for a moment, the weight of what just happened still heavy in the air.
Then, slowly, he opened the glove box and pulled out a small, worn handbook.
Inside were five names—each written with precision.
The first was already crossed out: Shinkai Voss aka Oni
The second read: Roberto Mancini aka La Lama.
Null glanced at the name for a second.
Then, using his bloodied finger, he dragged a line through it—crossing it off.
He tossed the handbook onto the passenger seat, gripped the wheel, and with a deep breath—
SLAMMED his foot on the pedal.
The engine roared as the car peeled away, leaving behind silence… and a ghost.
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