Chapter 99
"Marie! Perfect timing. Could you remove these handcuffs? Hmm? My hands are so uncomfortable."
"...Be quiet, 8148."
"Eek... You're being extra fussy today..."
When Marie looked down with a cold expression, Jamie rummaged through her clothes and handed something over.
It was...
"Will this make Marie feel better?"
"...!"
It was a $10 bill.
"Ugh..."
In fact, prison guards were very poorly paid.
Because of this, many guards accepted bribes in exchange for providing conveniences to prisoners.
Marie was no exception.
Marie, while thinking Jamie was dangerous, once again knelt before the temptation of money.
"...But you have to stay quiet, okay?"
Clink.
"Wow! So comfortable!"
With her handcuffs removed, Jamie waved her hands freely and hopped around the cell like a rabbit.
An outlaw with a $98,000 bounty was now free to move, but Marie had the complacent thought that Jamie wouldn't be able to do anything.
That was because this was Pelican Western Federal Penitentiary.
Located in California, it boasted the West's highest security level with heavily armed soldiers guarding the outside.
Above all, Pelican Penitentiary was located on an isolated island separated from the mainland.
Even if a prisoner succeeded in escaping, all that awaited them was a sea with rough waves.
Unless they were a seal, no one could leave here without a boat.
"Marie, has anything good happened to you lately? Your face looks prettier than before?"
Moreover, as Jamie showed such a friendly attitude to the guards and splashed money around, Marie's heart towards Jamie was gradually softening.
"8148. Aren't you giving me a letter this week?"
It was also Marie's job to deliver the letters Jamie carefully wrote every week.
Marie, who was hoping to get a good sum again this week for delivering the letter, but...
"Nope! It's okay! From now on, I'm going to deliver them myself!"
"Oh? Well, if you say so."
She said she'd deliver them herself from now on.
Feeling disappointed, Marie clicked her tongue and tilted her head.
...Hmm? What? She'll deliver them herself?
Jamie was a vicious criminal among vicious criminals with 0% chance of release.
So how could she deliver letters to others herself?
Finding it strange, Marie was about to ask Jamie, but...
"Like a good child~"
Jamie had already turned her head and was singing that incomprehensible song again.
Ah, it must be a joke.
Maybe Jamie was under the delusion that she could leave this prison alive.
Jamie showed signs of mental instability, sometimes smiling happily like this, sometimes crying as if the world was ending, and sometimes raging as if her heart was torn apart.
In other words, Jamie was crazy.
How can one understand the mental state of a crazy person?
Marie decided to just do her own work.
Swish—swish.
But surprisingly, guards didn't have that much work to do.
After quickly finishing her paperwork and getting bored, Marie looked towards Jamie again.
"They told me to just listen well~"
Jamie had been singing a song Marie didn't know since earlier.
Still, it had quite a good melody, so Marie, curious about what song it was, asked Jamie, "...Hey, 8148."
"Hmm? What is it, Marie?"
"What's that song? It seems like I've never heard it before."
At Marie's question about the song, Jamie answered with a childlike smile, "Oh, this? The man I like the most taught me. He says it's a song from his hometown."
"The man you like most? Where's his hometown?"
"...This is a secret. He's not originally from this world."
...This crazy bitch's head is spinning again.
Marie made a disinterested expression upon hearing Jamie's answer, as if she expected it.
"...Oh, really?"
"Yeah, the person who sang this song is called 'Spider', isn't that a funny name?"
"It is."
Originally, Jamie would occasionally spout nonsense like a crazy person.
What did she say that one time?
That the identity of the South Brotherhood was actually the mayor of San Francisco?
You should say something that makes sense.
Still, knowing that having a conversation with a crazy person was better for passing time than being alone in this desolate prison annex, Marie continued to talk to Jamie, "Who's this man you like? Is he an outlaw too?"
"Yeah, our boss."
"The TKK boss... That $150,000 bounty outlaw?"
Intrigued by the mention of a big shot, Marie moved closer to Jamie's cell bars.
"You're the TKK deputy leader, right? So were the TKK leader and deputy leader dating?"
"...That wasn't the case. That man had another woman he liked."
"I guess the TKK leader had high standards. To like another woman instead of you."
"That woman was my sister. My twin sister."
"...What?"
Jamie James had family? And a twin sister at that?
I'm sure there was nothing like that in her personal information...?
While Marie was confused, Jamie continued speaking, "Since we were young, my sister and I were always one. One when eating, one when drinking, one when sleeping. But... no matter what, we couldn't share a man."
"..."
"My sister liked that boy first. That boy seemed to like my sister, too. I was sad, but... I thought it was fine as long as they were happy. But then..."
Jamie had trouble continuing her next words, then...
Bang.
She made a gun-shooting gesture once and let out a hollow laugh.
"One day that man shot my sister. Right in front of me. Heh."
"..."
That laugh was somehow sorrowful yet chilling.
"Do you know how it feels to see the man you love shoot the twin sister you love right in front of you?"
"...No."
"It's not as bad as you might think."
While saying it wasn't bad, Jamie's eyes began to fill with something pitch black.
"But it's like... It feels like half of my soul has been torn away. My sister and I were always together. I feel a bit... empty."
"..."
"I feel empty... like I'm going crazy and can't bear it."
...Then isn't that not being okay?
Marie wanted to ask but couldn't.
Whoosh.
The appearance of Jamie she had seen for years already... felt too chilling today.
Was it a mistake to associate with this crazy bitch?
Because Jamie was the only prisoner confined in this annex, Marie was also the only guard.
Of course, there were several armed soldiers stationed outside, but only these two people were here.
Marie, who had spoken to Jamie due to the boredom of her duty, felt a deep chill and unconsciously backed away from Jamie's cell.
But then...
"So I have to meet that man again. To do that, I need to get out of here, right?"
"...What?"
"Fortunately, there are still kids who follow me. I have many kids who will help me."
"What are you talking about?"
As Marie tilted her head at Jamie's incomprehensible words again...
BOOM—!!!
"...!!"
Suddenly, an earth-shaking explosion was heard.
"W-what...!!"
But that wasn't the end.
Bang—!! Bang bang—!!!
"Aaaaargh—!"
"Aaaagh—!"
Gunshots and people's screams.
Moreover, those terrible sounds were getting closer to the annex where Marie was.
"Damn it...!"
Click.
At this, Marie immediately drew her gun.
But...
Bang—! Bang—!
Bang bang bang—!!
"...Ughhh!"
The opponent's skills were good.
Marie was hit in the arms and legs by bullets that penetrated the wooden door and collapsed.
Creak.
What came in next after opening the door was...
"That's...!"
A group wearing white masks.
TKK...!!
As soon as she identified the intruders attacking the prison, Marie shouted towards the cell, "Jamie James!! Y-you're crazy!! How dare you attack a prison directly managed by the federal government?"
"..."
"From now on, the federal government will search for your organization and you with burning eyes!! If you're caught again, you'll surely die next time!!"
But despite Marie's threats, Jamie didn't seem to care at all and rather had a bright expression.
"Then Marie. You know, my original bounty was $98,000, do you think I can exceed $150,000?"
"...You crazy bitch."
Clank.
Meanwhile, the TKK members finally opened Jamie's cell door.
"Boss."
"...Gonzales."
The man called Gonzales immediately knelt on one knee upon seeing Jamie.
Jamie looked down at him and asked, "Kid?"
"We found him. But... we lost him."
"...I see, that's to be expected."
Jamie knew best what kind of man Kid was.
Jamie... had seen Kid since he was six years old.
It brings back memories...
When she first saw him, he was just a snotty crybaby boy who didn't even know how to hold a gun.
That crybaby grew up to become a handsome man... and Jamie loved him.
But because Jamie's twin sister, whom she loved more than herself, liked him first... Jamie neatly folded away her feelings.
Kid, Jenny James, Jamie James.
The three of them were always happy when together.
But now, neither of them was by Jamie James' side.
She felt empty.
If she didn't do something, she felt like she'd go crazy.
"...Gonzales, gun."
When Jamie reached out her hand, Gonzales placed a revolver in that small hand.
And then...
"J-Jamie James! Even now...!"
Bang.
Thud.
She first silenced the noisy guard Marie.
But Jamie wasn't satisfied with just seeing Marie's blood.
"...I want to stretch my body a bit, Gonzales."
"Our members are still confronting soldiers in the main building."
"...I see, then I should go there."
Kid left, Jenny James died.
Now TKK had only Jamie James to follow.
"I'll kill all the soldiers. Let's release all the imprisoned ones too."
"...Pardon? What are you planning to do with them?"
"Isn't our organization struggling a bit now? We need to recruit some new faces."
In fact, TKK had been struggling since Kid left.
That was also why they couldn't rescue Jamie right away. They didn't have enough people to break through the prison's tight security.
Jamie, who knew this fact all too well, muttered while spinning the revolver on her finger, "Kid is strong.... We can't face him unless we regain our strength."
"...Then."
"We'll recruit people here... and go to San Francisco."
"...!"
Right now, San Francisco was completely under the control of the South Brotherhood.
Which meant...
"That city was originally ours. We should take it back."
It meant war would start again between TKK and the South Brotherhood.
"...I'll obey your orders."
"Good. Gonzales. I'm counting on you from now on. You're the deputy leader now."
After finishing their conversation like that, Jamie slowly walked out of the prison into the sunlight.
"Haa..."
Freedom after 4 years.
But now Jamie was more happy about the fact that she could meet Kid again.
There were many things she wanted to ask Kid when she met him.
Why he killed her sister, why he imprisoned her here.
— My name isn't Noah. I'm not originally from this world… I have to leave this place someday.
...Jenny and Jamie.
Whether the two of them were just tools to Kid, and so on.
"...Sister, are you doing well there? Aren't you lonely? Wait just a little bit."
After asking everything...
"Kid and I will come soon. We're always one, right?"
She planned to send Kid to her sister so she wouldn't be lonely.
"...Let's go, Gonzales."
"Yes."
The worst gang in the West, TKK.
The organization created to bring money to its master had a new goal.
To bite off the neck of the master who abandoned them.
— I hope you can help me return to my original world.
What nonsense.
Kid, you can never escape from here.
Kid would be blocked by the dogs he raised at the last threshold of returning home and have his whole body torn apart.
Jamie planned to give all of TKK, who had been thoroughly played by Kid, the gift of seeing Kid fall into the abyss of despair and wail in his final moments.