Ticket (before battle)

... Hey.

You guys are, uh... late.

Is she... is she drinking right now?

Those who are falling apart tend to rely on the very thing that's breaking them.

.......

... *scoff*

Wha - that you? Red Color? You're here, too?

What... the hell, man... I gave you back your bundle of liability unhurt, didn't I?

I didn't think you were the type to hold a grudge.

I'm just here to make sure you get yours.

Alright. Stop rushing me and sit down over there for a second.

This bad boy's got a few more swigs left in it.

Junk like you probably don't have the eyes to recognize it, but this is quality liquor.

Old Parr...

I don't know about quality, but the name certainly suits you.

*sigh* Ha ha. You know what?

I was like you once. Bold... proud... feeling like I could take on the whole City all on my own.

Back in my day...

... little shits like you wouldn't even have dared to talk to me.

... Ain't ever seen a sod at the bottom of the barrel worth their boast.

This is why greenhorns who haven't had a taste of the War... don't understand...

A mere mention of my name, "Valencina of Famiglia Bognatelli," would summon all kinds of high-and-mighty Fixers and Syndicate officers outta their trenches just to grovel at my feet. You know that?

I lived up to my family name... I was in the front lines, cuttin' 'em all down with nothing but a rifle and a bayonet.

Whatever famous fuck the opposing Corporation sent out, I met 'em all in the field of battle, dueled them, bored a new hole through their heads, tore 'em apart...!

... All that glory and honor... worth a whole lot of nothing now, aren't they?

Look at you. Going so low as to take a kid hostage to stop just one man.

Fuck you!

... I wouldn't have had to pull that stunt with the kid if I didn't have to get so up-close to Ticket.

If I gave Red a fair fight with a fucked-up eye, he would've slaughtered the shit out of me...

*sigh* Textbook. Gimme another drink.

Yes, Master.

I just need to get through this... And they'll reinstate me.

Valencina.

I've... hah. I've been waiting for decades at this point.

I used to order those low-ranking fodder to grovel at my feet like dogs with a wave of my hand...

And now that they outrank me, they think they're some hot shit...? Motherfuckers, looking at me like I'm beneath them... Impudent little shit...

Have you really... never concerned yourself with this question?

The question of what the House of Spiders is really trying to make?

... I think it's obvious. A killer. The House is making the best assassin on the market... for all Fingers to use... a blade that can cut through anyone, anything... probably.

Don't you find something amiss listening to yourself?

You've dedicated decades of your life to it, but you don't even know what it was all for.

I don't know... Fucking hell, why... do I have to bother knowing shit like that...?

Ticket... Ticket's all I need to get it all back...

My rank, in the shitter...

All those decades wasted in this shithole...

It'll... It'll all be worth it in the end...

... Huh.

Once you've spent too long hanging from the web...

... the sky will seem to grow closer and closer,

deluding you into thinking that you can soar into the sky with your own wings.

But you will realize...

You have any idea how I honed that Ticket of mine, day after day...?

... that you're not flying, but grasping at the empty air.

... Bring me Ticket. Now.

Ungrateful little bitch. She doesn't even know what sort of shit her own Nursefather's going through...

After all that I've taught her...

Oh, dammit... my head. I shouldn't have taken that bomb shot...

The hell are you doing there in the corner?

Mom...

I'll... I'll do better next time...

I'm sorry...

... Dammit, I really messed her up, didn't I...?

Hey, Ticket. Clean yourself up with this. You're not looking pretty.

.......

... I mean your face. You're bleeding from the nose.

Hehe.

What are you smiling about? You're all bloodied up...

Mommy, I...

I'll be your Golden Ticket.

Not some s-sh-shitty scrap paper.

.......

Can you really do that for me, Ticket?

Yes!

Don't overestimate the significance of your conditional affection.

Time to get up. Haven't you emptied more than enough bottles for a day?

... So impatient.

.......

The thing is, with my Ticket...

I had to beat that girl head to toe more than a few times before any fire sparked in her eyes.

In that regard, I suppose my Textbook here has something to be proud of.

You see, this one doesn't cry.

Lucio, stop limping around. That wound's nothing serious.

Yes, Master.

... I don't bloody get it.

Oi... Why do you even listen to someone who thinks you ain't worth shite?

She beats you all the time, talkin' down to you like that... I doubt she even sees you as a person.

... Watch your words.

My master was generous enough to take me, a vagrant with nothing to my name, under her wing. She fed me warm food and put a roof over my head. I would've ended up in a corpse pile somewhere in the Backstreets without her help.

Which is why... it is only right that I obey her with all my heart.

Huh...

That's right. It's pointless to question and think. Just do exactly as you're told - exactly as I taught you.

It's the one thing you're good at, isn't it?