Baccano!/Recap/1934 Alice in Jails/Chapter Five Let's Break Out

Alcatraz.

It's been several days since Huey first called Firo down for a chat. There's been no word from either Huey or Missouri, and Firo's getting anxious just waiting. He mumbles to himself, wondering if one of the three other prisoners that were shipped with him might be a plant from another organization.

The cells on either side of his are both empty tonight--earlier that day, Dragon responded to another inmate's taunt by biting off a chunk of his ear. He was taken straight down to the dungeons. Gig, the large black man, never returned to his cell that day, either. Strangely enough, as if rounding out the trio, the nervous white man was also taken to the dungeons after attempting to escape.

Firo hears footsteps coming down the hall. The guard comes into his cell and shows him a planted knife--Firo knows the drill. The guard leads him down to the dungeons.

In the pitch-dark holding area of the dungeons, Ladd plays with the chains around his feet. Suddenly, a very cute voice starts talking to him--Ladd realizes that it's the "fairy" that Isaac was talking about, and asks her what she wants from him.

Ladd hears the locks outside being opened, and soon a little girl with black hair and golden eyes opens the door. The girl, Leeza, tells him that Ladd's good friend Graham is getting in their way, so she's going to take Ladd hostage to kill Graham. And then she'll kill Ladd, too.

Firo arrives at Huey's cell. Huey asks him is he's made his choice, but Firo's answer is a refusal to negotiate--if Huey wants to cut a deal, he's going to have to go to the Martillos to make things official. Huey doubts the chances of such a negotiation going well, and wonders if Firo doesn't want his information anymore.

Firo responds that he's already got a pretty good idea of how Huey is communicating with the outside world. Just as he's about to explain, however, the door opens from behind him. The guard is lying unconscious just outside the door, and the nervous white man from earlier is standing behind the doorway.

Huey asks the man if he is indeed Felix Walken, the assassin hired by Nebula. The man laughs and claims that he's sold that name away long ago.

A few days earlier, Madison Square Garden.

After realizing who Claire is, a panicked Spike orders his men to retreat. Claire is about to go after them, but Ex-Felix intervenes and throws Claire off balance. Ex-Felix asks Claire where he bought the name. Claire doesn't want to elaborate too much, but tells him that the name previously belonged to a hot lady around 30 years old. Ex-Felix expresses his surprise at how quickly the name is being passed, and turns away.

Claire asks Ex-Felix to pass on a message to whoever his employer is: "Pick your fights better". Ex-Felix agrees to tell his boss and is about to leave, but Claire asks him one last thing--who did Ex-Felix sell his name to?

Ex-Felix tells him that he did not sell to one man, but three--an Asian man, a black man, and a white man.

Present time, Alcatraz dungeons, Huey's cell.

Dragon steps in from behind the white man, followed by Gig, the large black man. Huey realizes that all three of them are plants from Nebula, but corrects himself--it's actually four people, if he includes the one that brought all three of them out of the holding areas and into this cell. The white man concedes, and a prison guard holding a rifle steps in.

Firo is confused, so Huey explains that the four men are Felix Walken, the assassin hired by Nebula. They step towards Huey, who wonders if Firo's willing to offer him any help. Firo refuses.

They are interrupted by footsteps echoing from the hallway. Everyone freezes for a moment at the sounds get closer and closer... then it stops right behind the half-open door.

After several seconds of silence, the door is thrown open with a sound resembling an explosion, and Ladd gleefully walks in. An unconscious Leeza follows, wrapped up in chains, one end of which is in Ladd's hand. Huey whispers Leeza's name, which is enough for Ladd to recognize the man he's been wanting to kill all this time.

A few minutes earlier, dungeon holding area.

Leeza, holding her chakram from a safe distance, announces that she's taking Ladd hostage. She taunts him and asks how it feels to be chained up and unable to move. Ladd takes this quite well, and guesses (he can't quite see her) that Leeza is wearing the face of someone who thinks they'll never be killed. Leeza agrees, saying that there's no way Ladd can kill her right now, but the reverse doesn't apply.

Ladd warns Leeza that he would lose to Graham in a straight fight, despite Graham's unwillingness to kill anyone. Leeza justifies that as the reason she's taking Ladd hostage. Ladd counters that unlike Graham, he has no qualms about killing anyone, even women or children--as he says this, he gets up. Leeza realizes that Ladd's feet aren't chained, but too late. She's knocked unconscious when the chain whips towards her.

Present time, Huey's cell.

Ladd grins and tosses Leeza against the wall. She his the wall and lands on the floor, unmoving. Ladd begins ranting about how he's going to kill Huey--the guard decides to intervene, but Ladd takes the rifle and crushes his arm. He shoots off the guard's right ear, knocking him unconscious.

Gig attacks Ladd, charging at superhuman speed. Without missing a beat, Ladd drops the rifle and lands an uppercut on Gig's face. The white man lunges for the rifle Ladd dropped, and Dragon goes for a bite to Ladd's throat. Ladd punches Dragon with his right hand, but Dragon catches the fist in his mouth and bites down. Ladd doesn't even flinch as he brings Dragon's entire body down on the white man, as if using a boxing glove.

All four assassins are now unconscious. Huey's curiosity is aroused as he watches the world-renowned killers being taken down so easily by one man. Ladd decides to get to Huey next. Huey confirms with Ladd that he's interested in killing immortals because they don't believe they can be killed--and promptly reveals that his friend Firo is also an immortal.

Firo, who had been watching on the sidelines the entire time, reluctantly gives Ladd a Self-Mutilation Demonstration and admits to being immortal. Surprisingly, Ladd reacts by laughing happily and thanking Firo. He explains that he can see the fear of death in Firo's eyes, especially now that Huey is around. Ladd concludes that this must mean that there is a way to kill immortals.

Ladd tells Huey and Firo that he'll be giving them a tiny bit of time to discuss the situation. Hell, he'll take them both on if they decide to do that.

Firo tells Huey that when it comes to his fear of being overtaken by Szilard's memories, he doesn't care anymore--as long as his friends and family are fine, he doesn't care even if he is, as Claire says, a figment of someone's imagination. Huey wonders why Firo's saying all this now, of all times, and Firo responds that it's because he doesn't know when they'll get a chance to talk again.

New York, investigation headquarters.

Victor finally has a chance to speak with his investigators after the Elson Hill incident. He suspects that by now, Firo's either been devoured by Huey or turned to his side. Edward disagrees, saying that they shouldn't underestimate the kid--he's seen Firo climb up the ranks from a street urchin to a Camorrista. Firo's someone to watch out for.

Alcatraz, Huey's cell.

As they face down Ladd, Firo continues his strange speech to Huey. He confirms that Huey called Felix Walken a 4-man team.

Suddenly, Huey falls to the floor, unable to move. There's a sharp pain in the back of his neck. From what he can see of Ladd's confused expression, he had nothing to do with this.

Firo moves his right hand towards Huey's head and adds that Felix Walken was actually a 5-man team.

Some time later, Leeza awakens--she expresses her shock at having been unconscious for exactly 1 hour and 27 minutes, and realizes that she is in her father's cell. The door is wide open, and the guard lies collapsed outside. Huey lies on the floor. Leeza screams, runs over to him, and pulls out the knife lodged deep in his spine at the back of his neck.

To Leeza's relief, the wound heals and Huey awakens. However, he feels that something is wrong--his left eye won't open. Huey has a good idea of what's happened to himself, but out of curiosity, decides to ask his daughter--the daughter who worships him like a god--to confirm what has happened to him. Leeza puts her fingers over his left eyelid, and realizing that his eye is gone, screams.

Mentally, Huey makes a detailed note of Leeza's reaction. Then he confirms to himself that he is indeed the worst human being imaginable, and, smiling, decides to continue his experiment.