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The Girl Who Embodies the Hope of the Future – Part 03

Guests screamed as they scattered in all directions. Smoke rose from the gun barrel aimed at the ceiling.

And then, one of the chandeliers lurched and plunged straight down, directly toward Victorique. It glinted like a sharp sword.

“Victorique!”

A small East Asian young man tumbled into the room from the elevator hall. Victorique’s silver hair fanned out as she slowly turned around.

Kazuya Kujou leapt. “Watch out!”

He scooped up Victorique’s tiny form and rolled on the floor. Groaning from the pain of slamming his shoulders and back, he lifted his head. Victorique raised her gaze, looking in the same direction.

The chandelier gleamed as it plummeted, crashing down with a thunderous noise right where Victorique had stood moments before. Shards of glass exploded like fireworks. Only the iron framework remained, bare as an unearthed dinosaur bone.

“Victorique! Are you okay?!”

“You’re late,” Victorique said, not showing any indication that she had been waiting for him all this time. “You stupid, useless, pumpkin-headed…” Her voice trailed off.

“You seem all right. Thank goodness!” Kazuya sighed with relief, then snapped to attention. “Hold on. I got up here as fast as I could! I pretty much had to climb on foot. My thighs are killing me, but… never mind that. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

He looked around and saw a cackling elderly woman in a black mask, wielding a gun, and Bon and Coup lying in a pool of blood.

“I can’t believe you’d return to such a dangerous place,” Victorique muttered.

“Because you’re here. So, is it safe now? Let’s get out of here quick.”

“No, the danger persists.”

“I see. Good. Let’s head down—wait, what?!” Kazuya gave a start.

Victorique nodded. “The culprit likely planted a third bomb somewhere.”

“They what?!”

“The guests searched the entire hall but found nothing. Hopefully, everyone can make it downstairs before it detonates.”

Guests exchanged glances. Some rushed for the emergency exits, while others frantically searched for the bomb.

“The third bomb!” Kazuya blurted out. “I think Coup de Grâce said something about it when he left us behind.”

“What is it? Spit it out quickly!”

“Well, uh, he mentioned something about hiding the most powerful bomb to wipe out all the guests on the top floor in uh… Where was it again?”

Scratching his head, he racked his brain. Victorique nudged him impatiently, urging him to remember, while the guests crowded around Kazuya, telling him to hurry.

“Hmm… Oh, right.” Finally, he remembered. “He said he hid it in the Apocalypse within the Apocalypse.”

Kazuya’s words baffled the guests.

“What? What does that mean?”

“Huh?”

“Where’s the bomb?!”

“I see,” Victorique said, pointing at the Tobacco Road cake.

Kazuya turned. His breath caught. The guests let out a collective gasp.

At the very top of the spiraling Tobacco Road cake stood the miniature version of the Apocalypse—the symbol of La Guardia’s success—glowing brightly.

Realization dawned, and everyone screamed in horror, scrambling to escape.

Kazuya rushed against the wave of people, leapt, and lifted the base of the cake. It wobbled since Victorique had eaten most of the lower part. Panic spread further.

As Kazuya hoisted the cake, he staggered left and right. People scrambled away from him. The cake blocked his field of vision, so the guests gave them directions from a distance.

“To the right! Just a bit more to the right!”

“Too far right… Move a tad to the left!”

“Toward the window… Outside… No, not here!”

“Don’t shake it too much, or it’ll go off sooner!”

Conflicting instructions added to the chaos.

Finally, Kazuya reached the shattered window, and threw the cake.

Against Manhattan’s night skyline, the massive cake floated magically.

And then…

With a deafening bang, it exploded mid-air.

Fresh cream, sponge cake, flowers, and strawberries fluttered in the air. Images of tobacco fields followed, a modest farmhouse, factory in a rural town, a double-decker bus in a victory parade, figurines representing farmers, factory workers, Cigarette Girls in blue dresses.

The miniature replica of the Bluecandy family’s history dispersed slowly, drifting down far below. As if signaling the end of a tale of success.

The wind gusted, sweeping across the hall. Windows rattled. Some glass cracked anew. Guests screamed and shouted in relief.

Kazuya’s legs gave out, then he quickly returned to Victorique’s side. Victorique, still wrapped in gray cloth, stood beside Kazuya. Her long hair fluttered in the wind. Then, Victorique fixed her gaze on La Guardia.

La Guardia stood tall amidst the chaos, observing the fading history of Tobacco Road, before glancing back at Victorique. Her eyes glinted from behind the black mask.

“It seems you and everyone else have narrowly escaped death.” She smirked. “The amateur detective who seems to be suffering from drug addiction. Cheeky brat!”

Victorique remained silent. Then, she lowered her head and spoke softly.

“The false queen of the New World, La Guardia.”

“The impudence! Perhaps I need to teach you a lesson. Let me show you what becomes of peasants who dare challenge a queen. You may meet a miserable end! You seem quite confident in your intellect. Then let’s have a contest, shall we?”

Victorique gazed silently at La Guardia, summoning strength into her weary limbs. Despite her unsteady footing, she slowly rose. Kazuya instinctively lent her a hand.

Noticing Victorique’s wobbling, La Guardia chuckled sympathetically. Then, she grasped the hem of her dress, bent her knees, and tilted her head. A sense of foreboding rippled through the guests.

With a glint in her eyes, La Guardia proposed, “Shall we flip a coin?”

The hall stirred. Some guests were unable to contain their cries. Victorique remained silent, merely nodding.

“What’s this about flipping a coin?” Kazuya asked.

Younger guests clustered around Victorique, cautioning, “Hey, think twice,” “No one’s ever seen that old lady lose,” “Some families lost everything and ended it all!” trying to dissuade her.

Wearing an emotionless look, Victorique replied, “You’re on.”

La Guardia laughed with delight. “Hahaha! You fell for it. I see what you’re thinking, young lady. It’s a fifty-fifty, and you’re betting on that chance. That’s what they all think. But unfortunately, I always win. I’m a CEO with a hundred percent success rate. Now…”

“It’s not a hundred,” Victorique countered with unexpected certainty. “It’s fifty.”

La Guardia sighed in exasperation. “I said it’s a hundred. Well, never mind. So, what shall we wager? CEOs usually bet companies, which are as valuable as their lives. But from the looks of it, you’re just a pompous, miserable immigrant without a penny to your name. Like me, on the day I arrived here… penniless.”

“Exactly.”

“In that case…”

La Guardia’s eyes widened behind her mask, glowing like will-o-the-wisps in the dark. The wind howled. They widened further. The cloudy whites of her eyes were bloodshot.

“Let’s bet our lives!”

“W-Wait, what?!” Kazuya exclaimed.

“Silence!” La Guardia barked. “What else does this wretched immigrant have besides her young life? Apart from her intellect and rashness, what possessions does she have? You’re just one of the millions of pathetic, broke children in the New World!”

“Very well. I will bet my life,” Victorique said curtly, hiding uncertainty.

La Guardia laughed triumphantly. Her silver hair writhed. Brandishing the gun, she opened her mouth wide in utter delight.

“Ahahaha! This is priceless!”

Victorique appeared tense. The guests watched anxiously.

“Is that so?” Victorique said.

La Guardia flashed a cunning smile.

Kazuya straightened up. “Hold on just a moment. You can’t be serious about betting your lives. A nineteen-year-old vs. a hundred-year-old?”

“I-It’s okay,” Victorique said softly.

“What?”

“You may rest easy, Kujou.”

“Are you sure? You seem confident, but your eyes keep darting about. I don’t feel good about this.”

“I-I said it will be okay.”

“Really?”

“Um, there’s something I want, s-so I intend to give it my all.”

La Guardia observed their conversation with a smirk. She seemed to derive pleasure from ruining innocent youngsters. Exhilarated, she was already anticipating victory.

The surrounding guests exchanged glances, whispering. Who would emerge victorious: Wonder Girl or Grim Reaper?

Younger guests nervously began to cheer for Victorique.

“Y-You can do it, Wonder Girl!”

“Go, Wonder Girl!”

“Don’t let Grim Reaper win.”

La Guardia whirled around to face the crowd. “Be quiet.” She exhaled sharply. “What exactly do you think you’re doing? How could you possibly believe this enigmatic, clearly broke immigrant could be your Wonder Girl? Hahaha! Don’t make me laugh. That’s called a delusion. Let me set the record straight! Wonder Girl is not this young, cocky brat, nor is it the stupid and naïve grandmother. It’s me! I am the New World’s Wonder Girl. Look! Behold my magnificent figure! I am the Super Miracle Girl with Wonder Power! The eternal, hundred-year-old, girl of tomorrow!”

“W-Wonder Girl,” another youth muttered in a shaky voice, cheering for Victorique.

Then, a voice, older, hidden in the crowd, implored, “Wonder Girl, please. You can do it.”

“Please avenge me,” another added.

“My husband also fell victim to Lady La Guardia!”

“My daughter, too. She was such a kind-hearted girl.”

“Give me back my son!”

“Yeah!”

“Take her down!”

“We couldn’t… For decades, we couldn’t do anything!”

Their voices rose like smoke signals.

“Wonder Girl!”

“Wonder Girl!”

“Wonder Girl!”

La Guardia’s laughter rang even louder. “Too bad, my odds of winning are a hundred! They always have been! Ah, this is amusing!”

Her ecstatic cries dampened the hopeful atmosphere in the hall like icy water poured over flames. Silence fell. All eyes stole glances at Victorique.

Victorique lifted her head. A quivering voice emanated from beneath the gray cloth.

“Shoddy, tacky, phony queen. Let’s have a pleasant match.”

Despite her words, Victorique grew paler, barely able to stand without Kazuya’s support. Anxiety spread throughout the hall, people murmuring restlessly.

“However, you need not wager your life,” Victorique added. “I have no interest in hastening the death of an elderly.”

Kazuya peered at her with concern. Victorique looked up at the golden lizard-shaped pipe, her green eyes gleaming.

“I’ll take anything else instead. Let’s see… How about that golden lizard pipe of yours? You seem to love it. I don’t particularly want it. Hmph, but it should be enough for someone of your… stature.”

“Huh? This thing?”

La Guardia glanced down at the pipe in her hand, puzzled.

“Y-Yes. It shall be my modest spoils for tonight’s victory.”

“This is a souvenir from Egypt given to me by Mr. and Mrs. Emigré. It was unearthed from the tomb of an ancient queen. Hmm… I see. You want this, huh?”

La Guardia furrowed her brows and put on a disturbing smile.

“Interesting. You’re the one who’s going to lose anyway. Very well, you have a deal. It’s time for the showdown!”

She burst into laughter, her thin, parched lips splitting apart. Victorique nodded gravely in response.

The guests held their breath as they sized up the contenders.