Every Action, Has a Reaction

Stella had had a good night's sleep for the third day in a row. Since she had had an accident and lost her arm, Stella had not been able to leave the hospital, as new tests were being done every day, and a mechanical prosthesis was already being manufactured for her. Stella knows that her brother has certainly spent a lot of credit on this, but he always says that it is a necessary expense.

Stella feels warmed by this, but she is not used to people paying for everything for her, and it is not a feeling she liked, but she accepted it, at least for now. Stella got up from her bed and sat down in the armchair that Elliot always used when he was here.

She looked at her arm, or what was left of it, which was still bandaged, but quickly shook her head and went back to watching the news on the hologram in front of her bed.

This hologram came from a small gray box on the floor, from where the hologram came out, and where the sound also came from. On the news, there was talk of the same subject of the moment, the death of a colonel who fought in the Great Hegemonic War.

"The police issued an official note today, which said that investigations indicate that it was not a terrorist attack, but a robbery followed by death. The army also issued a note, saying that Brezik's army will not rest until the culprits are found." The reporter said with a serious face.

The scene in the hologram changed, and the front of Colonel Lira's mansion was shown. A reporter with beautiful facial features was interviewing the employees of the luxurious condominium. At one point, even Page, the mansion's maid, was interviewed.

Page was interviewed in front of the mansion's garden that had a beautiful blue and violet flowers. Seeing those flowers, Stella stood up and pointed at the hologram and shouted:

"Bruja! Bruja, come here, please!"

Bruja, who was wearing sleeping clothes, a comfortable light blue shorts, and a sleeveless blouse of the same color, entered the room with drool still dripping down the corner of her lips, with two daggers in her hands. The daggers were entirely black, but their edges were strange. The edges of the daggers were luminescent orange and the air flickered around the edges. The daggers' pommels were a dark gray, almost blackened, and they looked strange because they were square and a little too large. These were Bruja's weapons of choice, plasma blades.

"Where is the bastard?! Know that even if I don't kill you today, someone will still go after your head!" Bruja shouted as she searched the entire room with her eyes.

As soon as she saw Stella pointing at the hologram, Bruja took some time to be able to reason. Who wakes up with their mental capacity at its maximum, right? After a few seconds of an awkward silence, Bruja looked at a vase with blue and violet flowers, which was on a bedside table next to Stella's bed.

"Damn..." Bruja lowered her daggers in a sign of defeat.

She slammed the daggers' pommels into her exposed thick thighs, and the plasma on the blade, as if by magic, turned off.

"Yes! I told you he hadn't bought the flowers! I did, I did!"

Stella jumped from side to side. Looking at Stella hopping around in a hospital outfit, Bruja could only see her as a rabbit in doll clothes. Bruja laughed lightly, as Stella went to her bed to get her card for Bruja to transfer the money she had earned.

Bruja's smile faded at Stella's actions, and it took all of Bruja's willpower not to curse Stella with every swear word she knew. Stella gave her card to Bruja with an innocent smile, and with a cold face, Bruja took her own card. A screen appeared on the card, and Bruja, with much regret, transferred the money.

"Tell me, how do you think he had time to stop and pick up some flowers? The news report said that the whole action lasted no more than 10 minutes, and all Elli talked about was that the food at the mansion was horrible. Between stealing the food, torturing a colonel, and leaving unnoticed, how did he find time to pick flowers?" Bruja asked with genuine curiosity.

Stella put her index finger next to her lips and began to think. Out of habit, she used her left arm to try to support her body on the bedside table, but since that limb no longer existed, she almost fell. Bruja managed to catch her before she fell, and looked at her with concern. Stella pretended that none of this happened, but it was visible on her face as she stood up that not having an arm anymore hurt her to extraordinary levels.

"You know he has this thing about looking enigmatic, so it's hard to know how he does what he does." Stella replied sitting up in bed.

"You haven't slept?" Bruja asked as he noticed Stella's dark circles under her eyes.

"I... really tried, but I couldn't."

Since the accident, Stella has been having strange dreams. So she unconsciously started to avoid sleep. Now, it was common for Stella to go up to two days without sleep. Worried about this, Elliot started sleeping in the same room as Stella, and this helped because when Elliot was around, Stella could always sleep peacefully.

But today, Elliot went out in the middle of the night, and when Stella awoke from a restless sleep, she could no longer sleep. Stella spent the rest of the night watching series and movies, but she had a panic attack, and for fear of disturbing Bruja, Stella preferred to suffer quietly. Stella knew that Bruja's younger brother was also in that hospital, but because of Stella's fault, she could not keep her brother company. Stella felt guilty about this, and the most she could do was not to disturb Bruja's sleep.

Just as Bruja was about to lecture Stella, the automatic door to the room opened, and a haggard-looking Elliot entered. He was only wearing two pieces of his two-piece suit with the tie loosened and the sleeves folded up to his forearm.

He carried a cane in one hand, which had the appearance of a wolf but was much more demonic than a conventional wolf. On the other hand, he carried a black suitcase with gold details, such as the handle. The case had an engraving of a wolf with two horns. In the entire briefcase, there was only one red detail, and that detail was the wolf's eyes, which looked like precious jewels.

"Hm? Are you guys awake already? That's good, I have something to show you." Elliot flashed one of his rare smiles.

Without another word, Elliot claimed the spot next to Stella on the bed, put the suitcase on his lap, and tapped the empty space next to him, inviting Bruja to sit down. Bruja sighed and sat down. She knew what happened when Elliot showed excitement about something, and the result was never good.

Elliot opened the case after some suspense, and a blinding light shone into Stella and Bruja's eyes. Bruja put her hands over her eyes to avoid going blind, and Stella just covered her face using Elliot's shoulder. Bruja looked at Elliot with angry eyes, and Stella looked at him with tearful eyes.

"What was that light?" Bruja asked gritting his teeth.

"Something I asked them to put up, to give a dramatic effect. Did you notice that the light was golden?" Elliot replied with false innocence.

These brothers couldn't be more... normal?!

Bruja sighed internally and focused on the contents of the box. A pistol with a barrel measuring 11.8 inches (29.97 cm). The entire gun was black, but its grip was a beautiful navy blue. All over the gun were ancient rune engravings, all purple engravings. On the side of the gun, there were three magazines. The magazines were blue, almost black, and had veins all over the magazine, looking more like something living than a mere magazine.

Stella and Bruja each took a magazine, and as soon as they noticed its weight, they were surprised. And with a simple look, they both nodded and Bruja took the gun in her hands... or at least tried to.

Bruja looked incredulously at the gun. How heavy can a gun be?! Now trying with both hands, Bruja managed to hold the gun, but with great difficulty, her eyes were wide open and the effort she made was tremendous. She gave up a few seconds later, putting the gun back in place. When Stella went to try, Bruja stopped her, shaking her head negatively.

"How heavy is that damn thing?!" Bruja exclaimed.

"You didn't wait for me to take the magazine out of the gun." Elliot muttered.

Seeing Bruja's irritated face, Elliot decided to change the subject and take the gun in his hands. Even Elliot had some difficulty holding the gun, but he still managed to pick it up with only one hand.

"When it is fully loaded, this gun weighs 44 pounds (19.96 kg). You think it's heavier because it's hard to handle something of that weight having such a small grip." Elliot explained.

"Why on earth is this thing so heavy?" Bruja continued asking.

"The ammunition in that gun is explosive. To contain explosives without it being unstable, the cartridges are special, and to contain those cartridges, the whole structure of the gun is also special. In short, one thing led to another, and this gun turned out like this, beautiful, but very heavy."

Stella, who until the moment had only been watching, touched the runes on the weapon and found them fascinating. Turning her face to Elliot, Stella gave voice to her thoughts.

"Big brother, what do those runes mean?" Stella asked.

"There are few things I did with my father that I enjoyed, but one day, we did something that I remember to this day. We went to the movies and watched a documentary about lost people. The documentary is about a hero, whose name to this day has not been discovered because all the scriptures refer to him as 'He who destroyed the world. This hero was buried with the sword he used, a sword that even after 3,000 years has not rusted a bit. On the scabbard of this sword were runes, and these runes were translated after years of research. The runes read: My justice is won with the blood of my enemies. That's what is written on the weapon." Elliot explained as he rubbed Stella's head.

Stella looked thoughtful after hearing this story, but was soon distracted by her brother's caresses. The 3 of them talked for a long time, about various subjects, but were interrupted by 3 people who suddenly entered the room.

Gustav came in, as usual, looking like a shy person who would rather listen than talk. Margot came in with Tin in her hand, and her expression was not good at all. As soon as she saw Elliot, her eyes seemed to burn with the flames of uncontrollable anger. Jimmy just looked into the room, but soon went outside.

"You filthy pig bastard! How dare you show up at my house in the middle of the night, throw that hairball there, and then disappear right afterward!" Margot shouted.

Stella, knowing that an argument was coming, stood up quickly and took Tin in her hand, who happily licked her face, making a drool-covered mess. Stella giggled like a little girl and walked over to the armchair. She didn't want to get caught in the crossfire. She sat with Tin on her lap and quietly played with the dog while watching the story unfold. Is there better entertainment than a discussion?

"How dare you say that about Tin? Look how cute he is! Are you going to say you didn't spend the rest of the evening playing with him?" Elliot replied pointing at the chubby dog.

"Playing?! Hah! That dog was too busy destroying my furniture and pooping all over the place! You owe me new furniture and expensive carpeting!"

Elliot seemed to feel his chest tighten at those words. The money he stole from the colonel? He paid everyone off, and he also paid for his gun and Stella's treatment, which was not cheap at all. Elliot barely had enough money to buy a hot dog!

"Caham! Let's talk business!" Elliot didn't even change his expression as he gave a fake cough and blatantly changed the subject.

Everyone noticed Elliot's ridiculous attempt to change the subject, but let it go, because the subject interested everyone present, including Jimmy, who was outside. They were all targets of an attempt on their lives, and who in their right mind would feel happy knowing that the people who tried to take their lives were still living happily and peacefully, far from any consequences?

"As you already know, Stella's father was a military man, and with the information she has of how they act, along with the information obtained by Bruja, we were able to find some of those who tried to take our lives. We will go after them today. Let's show that every action reacts. Elliot said.

Everyone stood up in unison as if previously trained, and prepared to fulfill their duties. Margot would stay at the hospital, protecting Stella and Bruja's younger brother. Bruja, Jimmy, Gustav, and Elliot would have a hunting day!