The Rolling Bootlegs/Day Two

Synopsis
As the sun rises the next day, Isaac & Miria are disappointed to find that the crate they stole the previous night is full of liquor, instead of the money they expected. Disappointed by this, they debate about what they should do with the liquor before deciding to give it to the Martillo Family in return for the honey the family had given them the previous night.

Meanwhile, Ennis has been attemting to track Isaac and Miria down after realizing those two were the ones who had taken the box from Dallas and his gang. She's unable to find them, though, and decides to return empty-handed to Szilard Quates before he decides to kill her. Just as she's about to return, she spots a priest and a nun on the streets, easily recognizing the priest as Isaac.

Firo stops in to the Alveare, talking with Maiza about his recent promotion; though he doesn't begin managing his casino until the next day, he'd decided to greet the employees early before heading to the Alveare. As they talk, they're interrupted by the arrival of Isaac and Miria, who are dressed as a priest and a nun. They offer up the box of liquor they'd stolen to Firo, who recognizes it as the crate the old man he'd helped earlier had been carrying.

Ennis, having followed Isaac and Miria to the Alveare, waits outside for a while for them to exit. She's about the give up and go inside when she sees four figures emerge from around the back--Isaac, Miria, Firo, and Maiza. She recognizes the latter two from her memories, noting that Maiza is the alchemist whose knowledge Szilard wants. Confirming that the two of them are now in possession of the crate, she rushes back to inform Szilard of what she knows while Isaac and Miria are away, since she doesn't want to involve them.

When she does manage to return to the building Szilard and his followers are using as a hideout, Szilard questions her about her whereabouts. When she tells him about her sighting of Maiza, he instantly becomes filled with passion and demands to be taken to him. Ennis worries that Maiza will give some of the liquor to his colleagues, but Szilard dismisses this idea; Maiza hates immortality more than anyone. Overtaken by his desire to kill Maiza, Szilard also provides Ennis with a gun, and his liveliness frightens her.

Somewhere else, Dallas and his friends recuperate from the attack Isaac and Miria launched on them. Knowing that returning to Szilard or Ennis would mean certain death for all of them, Dallas decides not to, instead setting his sights on revenge against Firo for humiliating him the previous day.

Meanwhile, the police have finally left the Coraggioso, leaving the Gandor Family to deliberate on how they're going to seek revenge for their fallen comrades. Berga begins smashing chairs in anger, while Luck chastises him for his outburst despite the fact that he's also angry to the point of near-irrationality. Keith, as usual, remains silent. Luck decides the three of them should pay a visit to the Martillo Family to explain the police presence as well as warn them about the attack.

Isaac and Miria, having left the Alveare, decide it's time for them to leave town. On their way out, they encounter a group of police officers, among which is Edward Noah. They ask him what's going on, and he tells them that a couple of Gandor men had just been killed around this area the night before. Edward then confesses to the two of them that he feels guilt because he thought the crime families killing eachother off would be a good thing, but that he abhorred the culprits behind this crime as well, then walks away. Isaac and Miria react with despair, ignoring Edward's confession; they assume the men they'd attacked last night, Dallas and his colleagues, are the dead Gandor men, and that they are now murderers.

Realizing that if the police or the Gandors see Firo with the box the two of them had gotten off of those men, they might assume Firo was responsible, so they resolve to head back to Alveare and clear the situation up. After they leave, Bill Sullivan and Donald Brown catch sight of them, figuring they're probably the robbers the Bureau of Investigation had supposedly sent them after. However, they don't pursue the thieves, choosing instead to head towards Grand Central Station.

At Alveare, Maiza asks Firo why he looks so uneasy. Firo is about to explain his connmection with the crate Isaac and Miria had given him when the door loudly slams open. In the doorway is Szilard, who only Maiza recognizes. The two greet eachother; Maiza with caution and Szilard with unusual liveliness.

Nearby, Dallas and his friends continue to head toward Alveare, gloating about their plan to kill Firo. Their conversation shifts toward a mugger Dallas once beat up (incidentally, the very same mugger who tries to rob Firo later); Isaac and Miria, who are also in the area, overhear this part of the conversation and mistakenly assume Dallas' group must be talking about them. When Miria tries to get a closer look about who's talking about muggers, she recognizes Dallas and his friends as the people Ennis had saved them from the day before. Not only that, but the group now has machine guns. Because of their limited context for the situation, they further assume that the group is heading to take revenge on Ennis, and resolve to save Ennis no matter what, and thus proceed to follow the three of them to their destination.

Back at Alveare, Firo and the rest of the Martillo executives express confusion at Szilard's presence and worry about the proprietress, Seina, who Szilard would have had to pass to enter the speakeasy. Szilard brushes off their concerns by stating she shouldn't be dead, only hurt, which enrages Randy and Pezzo. As the executives begin to advance on Szilard, Maiza yells out to stop them, pleading for them to escape since Szilard is only after him. The executives hesitate, so Maiza goes on to say that Szilard has killed thirteen of his friends, including his younger brother. Szilard corrects him; he's 'eaten' five more since then, so the number is now up to eighteen.

This realization only serves to further incite the executives' anger. Randy and Pezzo both draw guns and shoot Szilard, followed suit by the rest of the executives. Despite the ensuing rain of bullets, Szilard remains on his feet, and Maiza once again pleads with the executives to run. Szilard reaches down to a large case he'd brought with him, beginning to open it. Firo attempts to get the case away from him with a kick, but Szilard is able to block him and send him back. Maiza orders him to flee and find Molsa and Ronny. Struck by Maiza's resolution, Firo agrees and starts to run off.

Szilard takes out the submachine gun that had been in his case and begins firing at Firo, but Maiza jumps in the way, allowing Firo to escape. The enraged Martillo executives begin to throw stools at Szilard, closing in on him in an attempt to pin him down. However, Szilard manages to back up into the hallway he'd entered from, forcing the Martillos into a straight line. From this position, Szilard begins firing on them one after another. Randy, the only person who'd gotten out of the way in time, stands on guard for Szilard to reemerge, but is stopped in his tracks when Szilard uses Seina's body as cover. He doesn't manage to launch an attack before Szilard shoots him down, too.

Firo emerges from the back of Alveare and runs into Ennis, who attempts to deliver a kick that Firo is able to dodge. Recognizing Firo, Ennis hesitates to launch another attack, but ultimately decides she should continue to attack him since he's probably an enemy of Szilard. Firo is hit by her second kick, but manages to quickly overpower Ennis, asking her to hold off. After getting her pinned down, he asks her if she knows anything about the old guy inside. Ennis warns him that if she tells him what she knows, he might regret it, but Firo releases her, saying he'll just forget it if he doesn't want to know.

Inside, Szilard rebukes Maiza, saying he should have been the one to summon the demon aboard the Advena Avis rather than Maiza. In response, Maiza says that he didn't give away the knowledge the demon gave him because of the condition of devouring other immortals, something he views a flaw in the immortality they have, since it turns even friends against eachother easily. Szilard tries to argue that his intention isn't to spread immortality across the whole world, but Maiza cuts him off and declares that the biggest reason this part of immortality is a flaw is because people like Szilard exist at all.

Outside, Ennis explains to Firo the events aboard the Advena Avis---after becoming immortal, Szilard had devoured a number of alchemists aboard the ship including Maiza's brother before being thrown off the edge of the ship by the survivors. Firo realizes this must have been why Maiza's wound from their duel had disappeared, and why Szilard had remained standing even after being gunned down. Firo insists Ennis shouldn't call "a jerk like him" her master, and Ennis replies that she essentially is Szilard.

Inside, Maiza asks Szilard why he wants to know the formula for the elixir of immortality. Szilard responds by telling him about Paracelsus's homunculus, a being with infinite knowledge but no means of leaving the flask it was born in without dying. He claims his ambition is to make a homunculus like that, but also give it perfect immortality. In the process of talking, Maiza attempts to devour Szilard, but Szilard breaks his arm.

Outside, Ennis explains that she is actually an artificial creation made from Szilard's immortal cells and the cells of an unrelated woman. Because of this, she acts as an extension of Szilard's body, able to recieve knowledge from and give knowledge to him easily, along with being immortal herself. She also reveals that Szilard could choose to kill her very easily at any time, to which Firo reacts with outrage, saying that she shouldn't be bound to the whims of someone like Szilard.

Just then, their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Dallas, who makes fun of them for 'dating' in broad daylight. Both of them recognize Dallas as he and his friends turn their machine guns on them, but a voice from behind Dallas stops him. Luck, flanked by Keith and Berga, holds a gun to Dallas's head, asking him where he got the guns he's using. Thinking quickly, Dallas says they found them with Firo, and further tries to pin the attack on the Coraggioso on him.

Luck asks Dallas how he knows about the attack, then rebuffs his attempts to explain by revealing that he and his brothers had been with Firo the previous night, since he and the brothers are childhood friends who grew up in the same tenement. After explaining this, all three brothers fire shots directly into Dallas and his friends' heads. Firo thanks them, relieved, but Ennis quickly speaks up, warning the men that they need to tie up the dead bodies of the delinquents. However, she's too late; Dallas and the other two regenerate and gun down all five of the people gathered around them.

Back inside, Szilard chastises Maiza's weakness, revealing that he had gained strength and experience from devouring other 'imperfect' immortals who were powerful. While Maiza is still regenerating, he checks the crate of liquor that had been on the table the entire time, relieved to see the two bottles still completely full. Szilard then advances on Maiza, intending to devour him, but stops when he hears machine guns from outside. During this moment of distraction, Maiza drags Szilard to the ground, gets up, breaks a window, and jumps through it. Szilard follows him, but gets hit by a car.

Dallas and his friends celebrate their victory over the Gandors, Firo, and Ennis while running away towards the back of the speakeasy. As they're making their way through the alleys, they hear what sounds like an engine. Isaac and Miria, who are the ones in the car, drive it down the narrow alleyway, slamming into both sides of it as Isaac is not a very experienced driver; he's much better at stealing them than actually driving them. In any case, they plan to use the car to beat Dallas's machine guns, and they serendipitously hear the sound of machine guns as they go over their plan. The two of them speed up towards Dallas's group and run them all over, then hit Szilard, who'd come crashing out of a window, thankfully managing to avoid hitting Maiza. Isaac then puts the car in reverse, running over Dallas and his friends again.

After regenerating, Ennis rounds the corner in pursuit of Dallas's group, but is shocked to see Isaac and Miria in Szilard's car, calling out for her help; Szilard has a knife to Isaac's throat. Angry, Szilard asks why the two of them know her name, but she doesn't answer, and quietly obeys when he asks her to take his place threatening Isaac. With the two of them taken care of, Szilard approaches Maiza, shooting his knees and causing him to fall to the ground. As he closes the distance between them further, Szilard declares that he hates emotions like love and friendship.

Back by the car, Ennis quietly tells Isaac and Miria to run as soon as Szilard touches Maiza. When Isaac and Miria declare that they have to save Maiza instead, Ennis asks if they came here for that purpose, to which they reply that they had actually come here to save Ennis. Touched by this response, Ennis asks Isaac and Miria not to forget her before running towards Szilard, knife in hand.

Unaware of this, Szilard reiterates what Ennis had told Firo earlier about the nature of her existence, revealing her to be a homunculus who had been born with no knowledge at all. Then, he reaches out to touch Maiza, but is both figuratively and literally stabbed in the back before he can start devouring him; Ennis has finally reached him. Just after Ennis stabs Szilard, Firo--who had just been gunned down--rushes around the corner and into the alley.

Edward Noah and a squad of policemen arrive at the Alveare due to reports of gunfire coming from around the premesis. He enters the honey shop only to find the proprietress standing there unharmed but dazed; she claims some strange old man had hit her out of the blue. Investigating further, Edward advances down into the speakeasy, but despite the mess in the room that included clear signs of a machine gun having been fired, he expresses relief; there aren't any bloodstains in the speakeasy at all.

Outside, Szilard expresses resigned disappointment at Ennis's betrayal, deciding to start the process of painfully killing her before she can attack him. As he gloats, telling her to suffer, he's hit in his eyes by bags of pepper from Isaac and Miria, who had connected Ennis's sudden collapse to him. As Szilard is distracted, Firo begins dragging Maiza and Ennis away from him. Slowly dying, Ennis requests that Firo 'eat' her, since there are things she wants to tell Isaac and Miria, and she's scared that she won't be able to go to heaven or hell as a homunculus. Firo denies this idea, stating that he doesn't have an obligation to follow that request and that there is no heaven or hell anyway.

He carries on that Ennis should just continue to live, turning towards Szilard. As Szilard responds, he suddenly feels the sensation of something liquid being poured on his head; Randy and the rest of the executives are behind him, and Randy is holding an empty fuel can. Pezzo follows up by throwing a match at Szilard, and Firo takes advantage of this by advancing towards Szilard. Though Szilard also attempts to thrust his right hand out and devour Firo, Firo stops Szilard's hand with the knife in his left hand, keeping it in place there while he uses his free right hand to devour Szilard.

Just after the process of devouring is finished, Edward bursts onto the scene, seeing nobody injured despite the earlier sound of gunshots. He chastises Firo and the rest of the Martillo Family for the ruckus they'd caused with the gunfire, but Firo feigns innocence. Before Edward can push further, the sound of gunshots ring out again; Isaac and Miria have leapt on top of the car and started firing machine guns, which they took from Dallas and his friends. They then declare that the Martillo Family is innocent before running off. Edward only belatedly recognizes them as the "bandaged bandits", telling his men to give chase while he continues to try and interrogate Firo. Before he can do that, however, Bill and Donald suddenly appear on the scene, asking for Edward's help with something. As they leave, Bill asks Maiza what happened to Szilard. Realizing who Bill is, Maiza responds that Szilard has disappeared, but that he can't elaborate further.

After the police leave, Maiza asks Firo when everyone had become immortal. Firo sheepishly explains what had actually happened: When he had saved Barnes, he'd actually swapped out the liquor in the crate for the ordinary liquor he'd bought. He'd emptied two of his bottles, poured the liquor into them, then poured his remaining ordinary liquor into the bottles that had been in the crate, meaning the elixir of immortality had actually been served at Firo's celebratory dinner the night before.

Meanwhile, Isaac and Miria continue to make their getaway, but they find their path blocked by two policemen. Acting fast, they cry out that they're being pursued by armed men and continue to run. By the time the other group of policemen chasing them rounds the corner, Isaac and Miria have already broken into a run, leaving the two they'd just tricked stunned. They continue their flight down a main street, where Isaac begins to distribute the money they'd stolen from the Genoard family by throwing it madly into the air behind him. The crowd around them scrambles for the money, which prevents the police from taking pursuit.

As they get nearer to the train station, most of their money scattered to the wind, Isaac and Miria discuss where they're going to go next, deciding they'll go to California to try and dig up some gold. On their way into the train station, though, they declare they'll return to visit Ennis and the others.

An unknown amount of time later, Dallas Genoard wakes up inside an oil drum, facing the three Gandor brothers. Dallas expresses shock at seeing the three of them alive, having gunned them down himself, but they pay him no mind. Keith steps foward and drops a deck of cards in the oil drum, which Luck verbally interprets as Keith having been generous enough to give him something to do while he's "on the ocean floor" until he succumbs to old age (not that it would matter anyway, as the deck is filled with 52 jokers). Berga and Luck go on to taunt Dallas by openly debating other ways he could keep himself busy while he's perpetually drowning, none of which are feasible, then further taunt him by asking him to choose which method of entertainment he wants.

At Szilard's hideout near Grand Central station, the old men who follow him assemble only to find Szilard and Ennis mysteriously missing and the building closed off by police, among whom are Edward, Bill, and Donald. As the men express confusion, Bill says that they're all under suspicion for distilling liquor. When the men deny involvement, Bill pulls out an undamaged bottle of the liquor of immortality, and obtains proof of their involvement when they all clamor to stop him from smashing it at once. Donald interjects and says that the Bureau of Investigation knows about their organization and about the liquor of immortality.

One of the men, Police Superintendant Veld, calls out to Edward, asking him to stop the two of them from desroying the liquor. Edward denies his request, choosing the wellbeing of the country over the offer of a taste of immortality as he takes the bottle from Bill and smashes it. Before the men can attempt to lap it up, Donald strikes a match and burns the liquor.

As the three of them leave, Edward resentfully murmurs that the two of them had tricked him. He was told on the way to the warehouse about the concept of immortality, and so further asks why they'd told him everything. Donald answers that their boss at the Bureau had heard about his strong adherence to the law and dislike for criminals and had taken a shine to him after he'd applied. Starting from then, Edward would go on to work for the Bureau, where he would eventually become one of the leading agents.

Back at the Alveare, a short while in the past, Maiza begins to lament after listening to Firo explain what had happened with the liquor, apologizing to everyone for condemning them to life as immortals. Firo and the rest of the executives frantically attempt to cheer Maiza up by saying that they don't mind being immortal at all. Maiza, still downtrodden, asks if Firo would kill him. Firo cheerfully refuses, since Maiza is the only person in the family who knows accounting. Maiza insists that Firo would know accounting if he devoured him, but Firo says that he's dumb enough to forget it right away, and besides, killing Maiza would mean that he has to pay with his own life, as per Camorra law. Maiza concedes that this makes sense, and Firo tacks on that they'd also be lonely without him.

At this point, Ennis gets up from the ground, asking Firo why he'd saved her; after devouring Szilard, the first thing he'd done was use his knowledge to stabilize Ennis. Not answering this question, Firo rushes over and introduces himself to her, then asks for her name. Ennis asks if her name wasn't in Szilard's memories at all, but Firo responds that he wanted to hear her say it himself. The rest of the people present start teasing him for his interest in her, causing him to become embarrassed.

Meanwhile, on their way back to the Alveare, Molsa, Ronny, and Yaguruma discuss the commotion they'd run into on their way back from buying more pepper for the speakeasy. The three of them arrive at the back of the speakeasy to see the rest of the executives making a racket, and Ronny quietly murmurs to himself that he'd noticed everyone was drinking the elixir of immortality, but had chosen not to say anything.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Isaac & Miria
 * Ennis
 * Firo Prochainezo
 * Maiza Avaro
 * Szilard Quates
 * Dallas Genoard
 * Berga Gandor
 * Luck Gandor
 * Keith Gandor
 * Edward Noah
 * Bill Sullivan
 * Donald Brown
 * Randy and Pezzo
 * Molsa Martillo
 * Ronny Schiatto
 * Kanshichirou Yaguruma