Chapter Text
Rome, Italy, 2:30 PM.
Warm sunlight poured between the old buildings of Rome as music echoed through the packed street below. Flags waved overhead while parade marchers slowly advanced through the narrow avenue, the sounds of applause and conversation blending together into a constant hum.
Pinocchio tugged irritably at the stiff Carabinieri uniform clinging to his body.
“I hate this…”
he muttered under his breath before the earpiece hidden beneath his collar crackled quietly to life.
“Focus, Pinocchio.”
The blonde cyborg sighed.
“Yes ma’am.”
His gaze drifted toward a nearby side alley where Nicoletta stood alongside Triela and Victor Hilshire, the three posing as an ordinary family taking photographs of the parade.
Triela looked thoroughly unimpressed by the role.
Across the street, through the window of a small coffee shop, Henrietta sat beside Jose Croce quietly observing the crowd outside.
Henrietta stirred an untouched cup of coffee while Jose kept his attention fixed on the parade route beyond the glass.
Looking farther up the street toward the, Pinocchio spotted Emilio standing to the side, holding a set of crutches.
Helmi, his handler, was disguised as a higher-ranking Carabinieri officer, her sharp eyes scanning the street from beneath the brim of her cap.
Just beyond Helmi, Pino spotted a dark skinned man who was holding a flag—pass it to someone else before stepping away from the parade and whisper something to someone, passing a vial to the person before walking briskly away.
“I have eyes.”
Pino spoke into his radio, watching as the fair skinned man crossed the street and headed for Jose and Henrietta.
“We got him, get the supplier—.”
Jose was abruptly cut off by Jean.
“Do not engage unless ordered, understand?”
Pino didn’t answer him but acknowledged it anyway—
‘Prick’
He thought.
Pino never cared for Jean much anyway.
Nico and Pino began following the almond skinned man, with Emilio trailing not far behind.
Rounding a corner the two saw him sliding into a mini van.
“He’s gonna get away,” Pinocchio muttered.
Helmi glared at him.
“Don’t engage—”
Pinocchio had already broken into a jog.
His boots struck sharply against the pavement as he moved directly in front of the van just as the engine started.
The vehicle jerked to a sudden stop.
“Halt! You’re in a no parking zone!”
Pino barked, raising one hand sharply.
Inside the van, the driver froze.
Helmi approached moments later, calm and unreadable as always, one hand resting subtly beneath her coat near the pistol holstered at her side.
“Step out of the car please,”
The driver looked between the two.
“Officer, surely—“
“Get out.”
despite the tinted windshield—Pinocchio spotted at least 4 people inside the van.
The driver, a front passenger and two rear passengers.
The driver sighed and opened his door—as did the front passenger—
Gun.
Pino locked onto the man as he saw him slip a pistol from his pants—
WHACK!
Pinocchio without warning kicked the passenger’s door so hard it left a dent, breaking the man’s nose instantly he stumbled back before his gun clattered to the ground.
Helmi glanced for a split second only to return to see the driver reaching for a gun.
Grabbing his wrist he fired a shot before she twisted it so hard a SNAP sound could be heard.
Crying in pain she shoved him to the ground as the back passenger jumped out with a sub machine pistol.
SHINK!
Pino threw a throwing knife straight through his cranium, killing him intently.
The man on the ground with the broken nose reached for his discard pistol and aimed it at Pino.
Pino reached into his holster and grabbed a Barreta 70 he used to shoot the man dead.
The black man—the supplier—bolted, Pino raised his gun but Helmi stopped him.
“Don’t shoot, civilians are down there!”
The supplier looked back just in time to see Pinocchio lowering the gun.
Confusion crossed the man’s face.
How strange.
WHAM!
Emilio suddenly slammed directly into him, clotheslining the supplier hard enough to send both crashing onto the pavement.
“I got him!”
he shouted back toward Helmi and Pinocchio while struggling to pin the man’s arms beneath him.
Helmi glared at Pinocchio for a brief moment before turning back toward the alley.
The blonde cyborg remained completely stoic.
“Move the bodies before anyone finds this mess,” Helmi ordered coldly.
“Understood…”
Within minutes, a commandeered Carabinieri van rolled quietly into the alley.
The driver and supplier were handcuffed and thrown into the rear compartment while Pinocchio casually dragged the two corpses toward the vehicle alongside the discarded weapons and remaining evidence.
By the time nearby pedestrians finally began noticing the distant gunshots, the alley was already empty.
The van doors slammed shut.
And the three cyborgs disappeared back into the streets of Rome.