Baccano!/Recap/1934 Peter Pan in Chains/Chapter Five
Chicago, the abandoned factory.
Nice shares explosion stories as Rail listens. Rail doesn't say anything, but the voice inside his head continues to whisper that he should just blow up everything. He thinks things might have been different under better circumstances, but at this point Rail can't bring himself to befriend his fellow bomb freak--he's too different from humans like Nice.
The only people left in the factory are Nice, Rail, Miria, and a few other members of Jacuzzi's gang. The rest of them left to help out at Dolce.
Nice offers to help out Rail, as a fellow bomb freak. Rail's still freaking out, thinking to himself that it's impossible for him to get close to a human--he just wants Christopher back.
Suddenly, Miria screams. A pair of men in black suits are holding her at gunpoint. The men look around and spot Nice and Rail, and note that they're both covered in scars. They don't know which one is the bomb freak they're looking for, so they just decide to take them both. Miria yells at them to go on without her, but Nice relents. Rail, however, listens to the voice in his head and takes out a bomb to blow up everyone and everything in sight.
However, Rail is interrupted by a syringe to the throat. He falls unconscious, and Nice notices a third man in black. The third man, Rubik, orders the other two to take away Nice and Rail, and to take Miria along as a hostage.
Nebula headquarters.
As he walks down a hallway, the Vice-President notices a familiar face walking by, and returns to his assigned room. He ends up just missing Rubik, who comes up the stairwell with Rail over his shoulder.
Dolce.
Graham rambles about the beauty that is the love between Isaac and Miria as Jacuzzi's gang assists in cleaning and repairing the store.
The gang members talk about Rail, and the fact that he's opened his eyes now. Jacuzzi is surprisingly downcast about the whole thing, though, and the other gang members joke that he's jealous of all the attention Rail is getting from Nice.
Meanwhile, the Poet considers the situation and wonders if there was some external force that brought about this extraordinary coincidence. Sickle is surprised that he's being so quiet, and expresses her frustration at the fact that Leeza and the twins are nowhere to be found, stranding them without information.
Suddenly, a member of Jacuzzi's gang bursts in, informing everyone that Nice, Miria, and Rail have been kidnapped.
Everyone is shocked, but the Poet notices that three people--Shaft, a member of Jacuzzi's gang (who led the gang to Dolce), and Ricardo--reacted differently from everyone else--as if something that they had planned had gone awry.
On the transcontinental.
Sham expresses shock at the unexpected turn of events. Isaac wonders what he's going on about, but Sham tells him it's nothing. He then anxiously wonders to himself how this could have happened--the kidnapping of Nice, Miria, and Rail was never part of his plan.
Alcatraz.
Dragon is just about to tell Firo more about Chane, but he stops himself and goes to sleep. Firo asks him if something's going on outside, but Dragon tells him not to think about it too much and promises not to lay a hand on Firo's friends once everything's over and done with.
Nebula headquarters B6, R&D room--Pharmaceutical Department
A researcher, who is a vessel of Sham, pauses mid-work as Sham processes the information about the kidnapping. Renée, who is ignorant of the researcher's true nature, just asks him is he's feeling all right--even incomplete immortals can momentarily suffer from weakness from bad circulation and the like.
Renée then turns to a man who looks to be an office worker and thanks him for betraying Huey--she calls the man Sham.
Sham takes care to not answer with the researcher's body, as Renée doesn't know about him--he then reconsiders the current situation.
Although the waters containing the consciousnesses of Sham and Hilton had always been kept under close supervision, Sham had managed to catch a Rhythm researcher off guard and had him drink his water. Sham then began to systematically take over more vessels, all unbeknownst to Huey. Currently, his vessels numbered about five times as many as he had been allowed by Huey and Rhythm. He had sent one of his "unofficial" vessels to Renée to leak information about Lamia to her and continued to work along his own plans.
The kidnapping of Nice, Miria, and Rail, however, was not part of this plan.
For Sham, who is practically omnipotent compared to regular humans, this disruption was extremely distressing.
He goes over all of his information, and pinpoints one likely culprit.
Dolce.
Jacuzzi, his gang, and Graham leave because of the kidnapping. The only ones left at Dolce now are the original three factions, minus Graham.
The owner brings out the barbecue ribs everyone had ordered earlier. They enjoy a delicious dinner.
As they eat, Sickle asks Christopher what he plans to do next. Christopher says that he hasn't decided yet, but that he will stick with Ricardo, since she's his boss. Sickle and the Poet are planning on searching for Rail and Frank independently of the twins. They agree to meet up tomorrow in order to get all the facts straight.
Ricardo and Chris leave Dolce right after finishing their meals. As soon as they get in the car, however, Christopher nonchalantly asks Ricardo whether she is Sham or Hilton. Ricardo plays dumb, but Chris points out everything that hints at her being one of the twins--Ricardo heard the explosions on the streets despite Chris himself not hearing a thing, she drove a car surprisingly well for a kid, and they came to this restaurant on a whim and met up with all the relevant people at once. Chris deduces that Ricardo, whether she's Sham or Hilton, has betrayed Huey.
Ricardo promises to tell Chris everything tomorrow, and asks him to wait until then. Chris smiles and tells her that they're still friends, even if she happens to be one of the twins.
The day ends. A new morning dawns on the streets of Chicago, and a little later, Alcatraz.
Alcatraz. Exercise field.
Twice a week, prisoners are let outside to let off steam. This is one of those days, and Firo walks around on his own, wondering if Isaac's been released safely and if Huey's not going to retaliate.
He looks up at the water tower, and notices several falcons--he unconsciously uses his Ghost Memory to identify them as female, and concedes that having the memories of others isn't so bad. Firo is slightly perplexed that there are so many of them flying around, when a woman's voice suddenly speaks to him.
Firo looks around in shock, but he can't pinpoint the source of the voice. The voice continues, much more clearly this time, and expresses gladness that Firo has finally come outside.
When Firo looks around again, he notices that he's one of the few prisoners still left on the field. He looks up and finds that the number of falcons has increased to about a hundred, and they're all circling overhead--right above himself.
The woman's voice gets angry at Firo for stealing her daddy's eye, and just as Firo realizes what these falcons actually are, one of them swoops in and stabs its talons into Firo's face.
Chicago, Union Station.
Isaac disembarks and immediately begins looking for Miria. He can't find Sham around, either, but brushes it off and convinces himself that he'll see Sham again in New York someday.
Suddenly, Isaac notices someone standing behind him and turns around, thinking it might be Miria.
Ten minutes later, Nick and Jack (a member of Jacuzzi's gang) arrive at the station to meet up with Isaac. However, they can't find him anywhere.
Some time earlier, Nebula Headquarters.
Bartolo Runorata walks through the halls with his men, when they find their way blocked by the Vice-President. Carol stands beside him, trembling in fear.
They exchange greetings, and Bartolo tells the Vice-President that they can discuss things properly over lunch later. The Vice-President lets Bartolo Runorata past.
Several minutes later, Nebula Headquarters Conference Room.
Nice deduces from the atmosphere that the people who kidnapped them are likely mafia, but they are much more powerful than the Russo Family. Although she has explosives with her that could help her escape, she doesn't try anything because Miria is being held hostage elsewhere.
The man questioning her, Bartolo Runorata, decides to hear Rail's side of the story.
Rail sits there, terrified. The voice in his head keeps telling him to just blow up everything, but he doesn't even have his bombs anymore.
Suddenly, someone tosses his bag of bombs onto the table. Bartolo explains that the bombs the Runorata Family was to receive had been stolen en route. Nice keeps quiet, knowing that the bombs Bartolo is talking about were the ones they stole on the Flying Pussyfoot.
Bartolo proposes a deal to Rail--he knows that the original amount of explosives was far greater than what had been used so far. Bartolo wants Rail to hand over the remainder of the explosives.
Rail thinks that giving in now would be like admitting his inferiority to humans. He decides that, since he can't even rescue Frank at this point, he should just take his own life. Bartolo notices that Rail's eyes are filled with fear--Rail tries to spit on his face, but a guard blocks it. Bartolo doesn't even get angry, and comments that he has some idea of what Rail actually is.
Suddenly, Chairman Karl Muybridge cheerfully enters the room, and talks about Senator Beriam. Nice recognizes both the Chairman and the name of the Senator. Rail, meanwhile, desperately struggles to untie himself. Karl notices this, and unties Rail himself. He then apologizes to Rail for all the trouble his subordinate caused.
Rail wonders who this subordinate was, and comes to a conclusion just as Renée walks in, wondering why the Chairman called her here.
Renée and Rail notice each other, and all hell breaks loose.
Chicago streets.
Chris and Ricardo are in the middle of a late breakfast when Ricardo suddenly speaks up. She's found Rail at the Nebula Headquarters. Ricardo asks if Chris is going to leave Rail behind like last time, but Chris counters that Rail stayed behind of his own accord.
There is still some time left until the the time they agreed to meet up with Sickle and the Poet. Chris decides that he's going to get revenge on the people in labcoats for what they did to Rail and Frank. Ricardo notes that Chris has changed in the past year, and Chris attributes the changes to Ricardo.
Somewhere in Chicago.
Sickle and the Poet are gathering information separately. At the moment, it is impossible for them to barge into Nebula Headquarters on their own, even with the Poet's Hypnotic Eyes.
Someone suddenly taps Sickle on the shoulder. She turns around and is greeted by a familiar face.
Chicago, Abandoned Factory.
Shaft brings Graham some info--according to some Russo goons, the Wanted Poster came from Nebula's Pharmaceutical Department, and they likely have information on Rail there. Graham and his gang leave for the Nebula Headquarters, but Graham stops Shaft.
Graham then warns Shaft to not take him for a fool--he knows that the meet-up at Dolce couldn't have been a coincidence.
However, Graham smiles and decides that he's going to trust Shaft. The rescue mission comes first.
Alcatraz, exercise field.
Firo realizes, to his horror, that the falcons are vessels of Hilton. As the blood rushes back into his face, he realizes that he can't see anything out of his left eye--the first falcon carved it out of his eye socket, and is carrying it away.
Another falcon dives at Firo, but Firo manages to dodge this one. Next time, however, he's not so lucky--he loses a chunk of flesh off his shoulder.
Firo calms himself, and tries to talk Leeza out of this. Leeza, however, is indignant--she won't be satisfied until she's destroyed Firo completely.
When Firo looks around, he sees that the guards are bringing all the prisoners back inside. There are a few stragglers still left on the field, though--they're Sham's vessels. Dragon pretends to be ignorant and panics, flailing and trying to chase away the birds. He quietly asks Firo to pretend he doesn't know anything about them.
Suddenly, Firo notices a silver disk flying towards him--he crosses his arms in front of his face just in time, as the chakram buries itself into his arms.
Nebula Headquarters, hallway in front of the Conference Room.
Carol panics and asks the Vice-President what is going on. The Vice-President, however, is as calm as ever as he looks over the artworks on display.
When Carol presses him for answers about Renée and the Runoratas, the Vice-President tells her that there's no relation between them--yet. He then decides that he will explain everything to her before they go for lunch with Bartolo Runorata. Carol gets scared.
Suddenly, an explosion rips through the entire floor.
Several minutes earlier, Conference Room.
Noticing Renée's presence, Rail makes up his mind to destroy her immediately. He reaches for his bag, still on the table, when one of the men in labcoats takes out a handgun and points it at Rail, telling him to freeze. At that exact moment, however, one of the Runorata bodyguards also takes out a gun and aims it at the man in the labcoat. For a moment, all attention is focused on these two.
Rail takes the chance to slip his hand into the bag. The man in the labcoat shoots at him, but the Runorata bodyguard is faster--he shoots the man in the labcoat, and the latter's shot misses Rail. The stray bullet grazes the bodyguard's arm, leaving the bag free. Rail then grabs a grenade, pulls the pin, and tosses it at Renée and the people in labcoats.
Hallway.
Carol is knocked down by the force of the blast. The Vice-President takes her along as he shelters himself behind a pillar.
Amidst the smoke, Carol spots Rail making his way out of the Conference Room.
Nebula, Guest Room.
Miria is Gagged And Bound as two men keep watch over her. However, when the explosion occurs and they hear gunshots, the guards leave. Miria struggles frantically, knocking over furniture and causing a ruckus.
Nebula, Guest Room.
Despite the commotion going on outside, Lua sits in silence, thinking about Ladd. However, she suddenly starts hearing loud noises from the room next door, and a muffled voice. She decides to go see what's wrong.
Lua goes out into the hall and knocks on the door next to hers. There is no answer, however, so she opens the door--it's not locked. When Lua enters, she sees Miria struggling to free herself.
Ten minutes later, in front of Nebula Headquarters.
Graham and his men have met up with Jacuzzi and his gang. Graham mentions that Ladd had once broken into this place on his own and made it all the way to the Chairman's office--he suggests that they do just that, and charge right in. Jacuzzi tearfully tries to stop him, when Ricardo and Chris arrive.
Ricardo pinpoints right away that Nice is heading to the building rooftop. As soon as everyone looks up at the building, they hear gunshots and explosions.
Before anyone can do anything, Jacuzzi is already running into the building. The rest of his gang soon follow.
Graham and Chris decide to hold off their fight for the moment and team up for the assault on Nebula Headquarters.
Alcatraz.
Firo pulls Leeza's chakrams out of his arm and legs as she interrogates him and Sham's vessels. She demands to know who it was that stole Huey's eye and who was giving them orders. Dragon feigns ignorance again, so Leeza decides to kill him.
Dragon manages to evade the attack. Leeza laments that she doesn't have much time left until she has to leave, and shows herself--Hilton's vessel Leeza is standing on the prison rooftop. She decides that she'll save the rest of the interrogation for when Firo leaves Alcatraz, and tells him that should he resist, she'll do the same to all his loved ones.
Firo snaps. He tells Leeza that, although he considers taking hostages one of the lowest ways to fight, he will not hesitate to sink to the lowest of the low if she harms any of his friends. He threatens her that he will find Huey Laforet and make him suffer.
Leeza is stunned into silence. She realizes that Firo is dead serious, and the smile disappears from her face.
Suddenly, Ladd decides to enjoy his free time outside. He walks out and looks at the falcons, Firo, Sham's vessels, and Leeza.
Ladd looks straight at Leeza and her falcons, and decides that he's going to have fun killing them.
Nebula Headquarters, Conference Room.
As soon as Rail blew away the people in labcoats with the first bomb, Nice had taken him and fled the room. The people in labcoats follow with guns, and Renée hurriedly follows after them.
Bartolo Runorata is unharmed thanks to his bodyguards kicking up the table in front of him at the last second. Karl apologizes for the trouble and cheerily claims that Bartolo can take his life if it makes him feel better. Bartolo declines and speaks to one of his subordinates--Begg.
Begg tells him that the men in labcoats are all incomplete immortals. The man who had been shot in the head recovers, looks around, and flees.
Bartolo Runorata excuses himself for a lunch appointment and leaves with his men.
Nebula Headquarters.
Nice runs through the building, holding Rail by the arm. She doesn't let go despite Rail's protests.
The voice in Rail's head tells him that nothing matters anymore--artificial beings like him should not exist in this world.
Before they know it, Rail and Nice end up on the rooftop garden.
Alcatraz.
Leeza recognizes Ladd as the man who attacked her before, and sends one of her falcons to carve out his eye.
Ladd, however, bites right through the falcon's throat. Leeza didn't even have time to cut her consciousness from the falcon.
Having experienced death firsthand, Leeza realizes she's trembling in fear. She tosses all her chakrams at Ladd, but he stomps down on one as he knocks away the rest with his metal arm. Leeza screams.
Ladd points out that, despite her screaming, Leeza probably feels safe just because she's unreachable on the rooftop. He then slams his metal fist into the prison wall.
Leeza loses her balance due to the shock of the punch and loses her footing, falling to the ground. She sees Ladd prepare for yet another punch, this time to slam her body against the wall.
Nebula, rooftop garden.
Jacuzzi comes up first, having ended up taking the direct elevator alone.
He is greeted by the sight of Nice and Rail cornered by Renée and the people in labcoats, guns pointed straight at them.
Renée asks Nice to hand over Rail, but Nice refuses.
Two voices suddenly call out to Nice at once. One is Jacuzzi, and the other is Miria, who is with Lua.
Renée decides that they should try taking Jacuzzi hostage. One of her men points his gun at Jacuzzi.
He's interrupted, however, when Graham suddenly arrives and throws a small wrench at his arm. Graham declares that this will be a sad story, but only for Renée and her subordinates.
Rail, however, does not take Graham's Big Damn Hero moment so well. He recognizes Graham and wonders if Nice and her friends are all actually on Graham's side. In his confusion and hatred for humans and immortals alike, Rail reaches for the bag Nice is holding--one explosion would likely kill everyone on this rooftop.
However, he suddenly hears Carol's voice calling to him. Carol is there with the Vice-President.
Recalling the fun times he had with Carol before, Rail thanks her for letting him become at least a little bit human and decides that he'll put an end to himself.
Blindly believing that Chris will be able to rescue Frank, Rail takes a grenade and climbs over the railings in the commotion. He pulls the pin.
Alcatraz.
Leeza falls through the air as Ladd prepares to kill her.
Leeza runs through the thoughts that she, as Hilton, will live on--however, Leeza--Huey's blood relation--will not survive.
As she sheds tears at the thought of being torn from her father, Ladd slams his fist at her.
Rail leans back and falls, letting the grenade drop to the ground first. He quietly looks up at the sky.
Several days later, the words of Salomé Carpenter.
Salomé again laments the loss of Rail--if he had been there, he would have made sure that Rail lived--or at least died in a scientifically meaningful way. However, that was not possible.
At the time of the explosion.
Jacuzzi races towards Rail without thinking as soon as he sees Rail climb over the railings. He jumps over the railings and grabs Rail's arm just as he begins to fall backwards.
Rail is confused for a moment, but the grenade goes off and the impact causes Jacuzzi begins to lose his grip on the railings. Nice takes Jacuzzi's arm, but she can't lift them up.
Miria joins in, jumping over the railings without hesitation and offering her hand to Rail. Rail hesitates.
The force of the explosion creates a huge galestorm, and Miria begins to lose her grip on the railings. Carol, the Vice-President, and even Lua run over to help, but they are left in the dust by another individual.
Isaac runs past everyone and tightly grips onto Miria's arm. Miria begins crying with joy.
Alcatraz.
Leeza cringes and curls up, preparing for the pain. However, the shock she feels is surprisingly light--she opens her eyes and finds herself in Firo's arms.
She freezes when she realizes that Firo took Ladd's punch in her stead. His body is regenerating, but he's still wincing from the pain.
Nebula, rooftop garden.
Miria is still crying, even after everyone has been hoisted back onto the roof. She runs into Isaac's arms.
Renée is confused, but she decides to just shoot everyone in the legs under pretence of self-defence and retrieve Rail. One of her men approaches Graham and aims at Shaft, but he is suddenly interrupted as his arm is twisted. The gun fires as it points straight at his face.
Christopher greets them, excusing his late arrival by telling them that the elevator was crowded.
Chris and Graham decide to team up against the men in labcoats, all incomplete immortals--they don't have to worry about killing anyone.
Rail, meanwhile, does not realize that the voice in his head is gone--but he feels at peace.
Alcatraz.
Ladd wonders if Firo's some kind of masochist, to have taken a punch like that to save a girl who tried to kill him. Firo responds that he doesn't harm women or children. Ladd, however, still wants to kill Leeza--he doesn't have the same taboos against harming little girls.
Firo negotiates with Ladd, telling him out of Leeza's earshot that he will teach Ladd how to kill immortals. Ladd is happy with this.
Leeza stops controlling the falcons and asks Firo why he saved her. She can tell that he's no longer as cold as he was when he threatened Huey.
Nebula, rooftop garden.
Rail asks Jacuzzi why he risked his life to save him, despite being practically strangers.
At the same time, on the west coast.
Firo simply answers that it's pretty normal for anyone to try and save a little girl falling from the roof.
A city by the lake.
Jacuzzi tearfully answers that he was already rushing to help Rail before he realized what he was doing.
Nebula Headquarters, B3.
Renée, having run away from the bloodbath on the rooftop, cheerily decides to take Frank hostage as she walks into the lab.
She is greeted by the sight of unconscious researchers, and suspects Sickle and the Poet. However--
Nebula, rooftop garden.
Nice and Jacuzzi ask Isaac how he made it here--did he meet up with Nick and Jack?
Isaac obliviously answers that he was led here by a friend he made on the train, and a person he became friends with back in Alcatraz.
Nebula Headquarters, B3.
Renée is not surprised to see Sickle and the Poet, but she is stunned by the man standing with them--Huey Laforet.
She had been informed that Huey was still in Alcatraz two days ago, and it would have been impossible for Huey to get to Chicago in that time without an airplane--not likely possible for a convicted terrorist.
Huey greets Renée with a smile, and forces her against the wall with a handheld flamethrower.
He tells Renée that he expects great things out of her research with his eye, and takes off her glasses--he wants something in exchange.
Renée realizes what he's doing and asks for anaesthesia first, but Huey doesn't have any on him--he decides to go ahead anyway and plucks out her eye.
Renée collapses, out cold from the pain. Huey puts Renée's eye in a bottle from the lab and declares that he will be taking Frank back.
Meanwhile, at Alcatraz.
Firo and Sham's vessels have all been taken away for medical attention, leaving Leeza alone. Prison guards spot her, wondering what a little girl is doing here. Leeza plans to cooperate with them and return to Huey's side later with assistance from another vessel.
Mentally, however, Leeza is in denial--Firo is the man who stole her father's eye and threatened to devour him, and yet she felt something like admiration for him when he rescued her.
Ten minutes later, Nebula Headquarters. Rooftop garden.
Karl Muybridge laughs heartily at the mess left behind by the battle.
Although Jacuzzi's gang managed to finally climb the stairs and catch up with everyone else at the garden, the police arrived and they all fled. However, none of them were caught thanks to Ricardo leading them out of a back door.
Rubik tells Karl that this incident caused nothing but losses, but Karl disagrees--they found out some info about Huey, which means that this incident could be called a success.
Rubik inwardly complains about Karl's ever-cheery attitude, and eats a sugar cube.
Karl asks for one, wondering if they're really that great. Rubik refuses to share.
Somewhere in Chicago.
Rail is being carried on the back of one of Jacuzzi's gang members. He reminds himself that he still needs to rescue Frank and wonders if he should use this gang to do it, but the guy carrying him--Sham--quietly informs him that Huey managed to save Frank.
Sham asks Rail if he wants to return to Huey, but Rail tells him that he's not going to, and asks him to pass on a message to Frank--he's going to come back for him.
Rail drifts off into thought, talking to Chris in his head--he's still broken, but he's going to keep living on with these people who are also just as broken as he is.
Huey watches as the truck carrying Frank, Sickle, the Poet, and several of Sham's vessels disappears from the Nebula parking lot.
Huey then briefly exchanges words with Begg, who wonders how he made it out of Alcatraz--Huey responds that he had himself cut into smaller pieces and had his "daughters" transport him here.
Huey asks Bartolo Runorata if he intends on finding the secret of immortality, but Bartolo claims that he has no interest in such a thing. He asks Huey what he's planning to do next. Huey answers that he will be moving on to another location--after he attends the lunch he was invited to.